1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:03,400 Speaker 1: Cable news is ripping us apart, dividing the nation, making 2 00:00:03,480 --> 00:00:05,920 Speaker 1: it impossible to function as a society and to know 3 00:00:05,960 --> 00:00:08,720 Speaker 1: what is true and what is false. The good news 4 00:00:08,800 --> 00:00:10,840 Speaker 1: is that they're failing and they know it. That is 5 00:00:10,840 --> 00:00:14,840 Speaker 1: why we're building something new. Be part of creating a new, better, healthier, 6 00:00:14,880 --> 00:00:17,960 Speaker 1: and more trustworthy mainstream by becoming a Breaking Points Premium 7 00:00:17,960 --> 00:00:21,520 Speaker 1: member today at breakingpoints dot com. Your hard earned money 8 00:00:21,560 --> 00:00:23,400 Speaker 1: is going to help us build for the midterms and 9 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:27,400 Speaker 1: the upcoming presidential election so we can provide unparalleled coverage 10 00:00:27,400 --> 00:00:28,640 Speaker 1: of what is sure to be one of the most 11 00:00:28,640 --> 00:00:32,320 Speaker 1: pivotal moments in American history. So what are you waiting for? 12 00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:52,120 Speaker 1: Go to Breakingpoints dot com to help us out. Good morning, everybody, 13 00:00:52,120 --> 00:00:54,040 Speaker 1: Happy Monday. We have an amazing show for all of 14 00:00:54,040 --> 00:00:55,840 Speaker 1: you today. We're going to dispense with the normal stuff 15 00:00:55,880 --> 00:00:58,240 Speaker 1: at the top because we've got bread major breaking news 16 00:00:58,280 --> 00:01:01,080 Speaker 1: that's happening literally right before we started filming, so we 17 00:01:01,120 --> 00:01:02,640 Speaker 1: went ahead and scrambled the show to bring it to 18 00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:04,679 Speaker 1: you as fast as possible. So we're gonna go ahead 19 00:01:04,959 --> 00:01:07,920 Speaker 1: and start with this. The Putin regime in Russia has 20 00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:12,000 Speaker 1: announced new strikes all across Ukraine and specifically on the 21 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:16,000 Speaker 1: capital of Kiev in Ukraine, launching missiles, cruise missiles and 22 00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:21,000 Speaker 1: a variety of other air assets against critical energy infrastructure. 23 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:22,880 Speaker 1: We have a little bit of video that was released 24 00:01:22,880 --> 00:01:25,720 Speaker 1: by the Russian Ministry of Defense. Here you can watch 25 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:29,120 Speaker 1: a cruise missile which was launched from Sea Crystal. There 26 00:01:29,160 --> 00:01:31,840 Speaker 1: are two separate missiles that were launched there. That was 27 00:01:32,040 --> 00:01:36,040 Speaker 1: hundreds of missiles that reigned all across the country of Ukraine. 28 00:01:36,240 --> 00:01:39,399 Speaker 1: That happened in the early hours Washington time. We have 29 00:01:39,440 --> 00:01:40,959 Speaker 1: a map, actually we can go ahead and put that 30 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:43,920 Speaker 1: up there on the screen. This is a map that 31 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:48,320 Speaker 1: just shows you all of the strikes across the entire country. Notably, 32 00:01:48,320 --> 00:01:50,640 Speaker 1: there is the city of Leviv, which is all the 33 00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:53,560 Speaker 1: way there in the western part of the country near 34 00:01:53,560 --> 00:01:57,040 Speaker 1: the Polish border. That is the major thoroughfare for a 35 00:01:57,080 --> 00:01:59,320 Speaker 1: lot of the NATO armaments that are making its way 36 00:01:59,360 --> 00:02:02,200 Speaker 1: into Ukraine. So largely untouched city has only been bombed 37 00:02:02,520 --> 00:02:05,800 Speaker 1: or struck a couple of times. Other places Kiev and 38 00:02:05,880 --> 00:02:09,760 Speaker 1: other five different places across the country in retaliation for 39 00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:12,160 Speaker 1: the Crimean bridge attack that we're going to be getting 40 00:02:12,160 --> 00:02:14,760 Speaker 1: to a little bit later in the show. All current 41 00:02:14,800 --> 00:02:20,720 Speaker 1: indications show that they tried to target critical infrastructure and 42 00:02:20,800 --> 00:02:22,600 Speaker 1: yet as usual, you know, we don't have a lot 43 00:02:22,600 --> 00:02:25,440 Speaker 1: of the footage because things are happening so quickly right now, 44 00:02:25,480 --> 00:02:27,799 Speaker 1: but it's horrific. I mean, you could see downtown Kiev 45 00:02:27,880 --> 00:02:32,280 Speaker 1: in the middle of rush hour being bombed maximum retaliation 46 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:36,000 Speaker 1: against civilians. There was a children's playground that was literally struck. 47 00:02:36,080 --> 00:02:39,280 Speaker 1: You know, it's supposedly in retaliation. It shows you also 48 00:02:39,320 --> 00:02:42,680 Speaker 1: that the Russian precision guided munitions are not as good 49 00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:45,880 Speaker 1: as or at least they have expended some of their 50 00:02:45,880 --> 00:02:48,600 Speaker 1: best weapons in the early phase of the war, moving 51 00:02:48,639 --> 00:02:54,000 Speaker 1: to less accurate type of munitions, and unfortunately it's just 52 00:02:54,040 --> 00:02:57,640 Speaker 1: wreaked horrific damage all across the country. And it is 53 00:02:58,160 --> 00:03:01,519 Speaker 1: a sign of the escalation in this war that unfortunately 54 00:03:01,960 --> 00:03:04,880 Speaker 1: is a result of Putin has his back to the wall. 55 00:03:05,200 --> 00:03:09,440 Speaker 1: The bridge attack really was a big moment for the war, 56 00:03:09,840 --> 00:03:13,000 Speaker 1: both in the way it was received in Russia amongst policymakers, 57 00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:16,000 Speaker 1: also for Ukraine. You know, came after that warning from 58 00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:21,280 Speaker 1: the US intelligence community about Ukraine launching extra judicial assassinations 59 00:03:21,440 --> 00:03:24,720 Speaker 1: inside of Moscow, basically throwing up the flag saying hey, 60 00:03:24,760 --> 00:03:26,840 Speaker 1: we know that you're planning something, maybe don't do it. 61 00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:29,000 Speaker 1: It's possible that this might have been one of the 62 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:31,919 Speaker 1: things that they were trying to warn them against doing. Regardless, 63 00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:34,640 Speaker 1: we are now in a new phase of the conflict, 64 00:03:34,720 --> 00:03:37,680 Speaker 1: with Putin and others saying the gloves are now coming 65 00:03:37,680 --> 00:03:39,920 Speaker 1: off and all of that. That's exactly right. I mean, 66 00:03:39,960 --> 00:03:44,240 Speaker 1: for a while now, the hawkish, most hawkish faction within 67 00:03:44,360 --> 00:03:47,640 Speaker 1: Russia has really been upset with the prosecution of this war. 68 00:03:48,120 --> 00:03:50,840 Speaker 1: They wanted strikes that look a lot more like this. 69 00:03:51,240 --> 00:03:52,880 Speaker 1: We know also, and we can put this up on 70 00:03:52,920 --> 00:03:57,240 Speaker 1: the screen. This is highly relevant. So Russia just appointed 71 00:03:57,280 --> 00:03:59,600 Speaker 1: a new commander for the war in Ukraine. This was 72 00:03:59,600 --> 00:04:02,760 Speaker 1: sort of a different approach to put one person in 73 00:04:02,840 --> 00:04:04,920 Speaker 1: charge of the entire operation. There's a lot of speculation 74 00:04:04,960 --> 00:04:07,160 Speaker 1: about what this meant, but a lot of folks noted 75 00:04:07,600 --> 00:04:11,760 Speaker 1: this dude's Seravkin. I'm going to go Cerovican. He was 76 00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:14,800 Speaker 1: known for, you know, his veteran of the war, the 77 00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:17,359 Speaker 1: war in Syria. He is known for being sort of 78 00:04:17,400 --> 00:04:21,040 Speaker 1: a brutal, gloves off kind of a guy. No accident 79 00:04:21,120 --> 00:04:24,000 Speaker 1: that he's put in charge and then just days later 80 00:04:24,400 --> 00:04:28,039 Speaker 1: you have these attacks across all of Ukraine. And I 81 00:04:28,040 --> 00:04:30,360 Speaker 1: think there's a couple things that we know at this point, 82 00:04:30,960 --> 00:04:33,279 Speaker 1: you know, and this is very early. We're just getting 83 00:04:33,279 --> 00:04:35,800 Speaker 1: details in about where exactly these strikes hit and what 84 00:04:35,880 --> 00:04:38,840 Speaker 1: sort of infrastructure they took out. It seems very very 85 00:04:38,839 --> 00:04:42,360 Speaker 1: clear they were designed to take out the electricity and 86 00:04:42,520 --> 00:04:46,320 Speaker 1: water capabilities of Ukrainian civilians or reports of outages across 87 00:04:46,400 --> 00:04:49,400 Speaker 1: the entire country. And then also, I mean seems very 88 00:04:49,400 --> 00:04:53,159 Speaker 1: clearly designed to sort of terrify the citizenry. The strikes 89 00:04:53,200 --> 00:04:56,000 Speaker 1: in downtown Kiev. This is something we haven't seen since 90 00:04:56,040 --> 00:05:00,000 Speaker 1: the very beginning of this war, when Russia was successful, 91 00:05:00,320 --> 00:05:03,520 Speaker 1: you know, pushed back from those regions. Now you have 92 00:05:03,640 --> 00:05:06,719 Speaker 1: citizens who and yesterday they were out sort of like 93 00:05:06,839 --> 00:05:09,280 Speaker 1: enjoying the last bits of summer out at that cafe, 94 00:05:09,440 --> 00:05:11,839 Speaker 1: sort of feeling a bit of normalcy in their lives. 95 00:05:12,400 --> 00:05:15,520 Speaker 1: That is now completely upended. And I think it's worth 96 00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:18,240 Speaker 1: saying we're going to get to more with the bridge 97 00:05:18,279 --> 00:05:22,360 Speaker 1: that Ukraine successfully was able to cripple, not completely decimate, 98 00:05:22,400 --> 00:05:26,960 Speaker 1: but to cripple, which was a humiliating strike for Russia. 99 00:05:27,520 --> 00:05:31,320 Speaker 1: You know, Ukraine hit what was a critical piece of infrastructure. 100 00:05:31,360 --> 00:05:33,840 Speaker 1: This bridge was something that was being used by Russia 101 00:05:33,880 --> 00:05:36,680 Speaker 1: to you know, bring troops in to supply their troops. 102 00:05:36,680 --> 00:05:39,960 Speaker 1: So they're hitting a critical piece of sort of military infrastructure. 103 00:05:40,440 --> 00:05:43,680 Speaker 1: And the response here is basically to terrorize citizens. I mean, 104 00:05:43,680 --> 00:05:45,960 Speaker 1: that's really This is supposed to strike fear in the 105 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:52,080 Speaker 1: hearts of all Ukrainians, and you know, it's it's unfortunately predictable. 106 00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:55,000 Speaker 1: It's something that we've been concerned about for quite a 107 00:05:55,080 --> 00:05:58,120 Speaker 1: while now, as Putin does become increasingly desperate, as on 108 00:05:58,200 --> 00:06:00,719 Speaker 1: so many fronts he's been you know, getting puts and 109 00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:05,240 Speaker 1: effectively losing this war. So the Hawkish faction is delighted 110 00:06:05,240 --> 00:06:07,360 Speaker 1: this morning. They've essentially gotten their way. These are the 111 00:06:07,400 --> 00:06:09,560 Speaker 1: types of actions that they've been pushing for for quite 112 00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:12,600 Speaker 1: a long time. Yeah, just to underscore that, Ramzan Kadirov, 113 00:06:12,640 --> 00:06:15,320 Speaker 1: you know, the Putin's tiger, the leader of Chechnya, he 114 00:06:15,360 --> 00:06:18,520 Speaker 1: put out this message this morning quote we warned you, Zelenski, 115 00:06:18,600 --> 00:06:21,240 Speaker 1: Russia hasn't really started yet. Stop complaining like a sucker, 116 00:06:21,240 --> 00:06:23,240 Speaker 1: and run away before it gets to you. Run Zelenski 117 00:06:23,279 --> 00:06:26,160 Speaker 1: without looking back. Now, I am one hundred percent satisfied 118 00:06:26,200 --> 00:06:29,680 Speaker 1: with how the special military Operation is conducted. So for context, 119 00:06:29,920 --> 00:06:32,440 Speaker 1: Kadirov was one of those people who was very vocally 120 00:06:32,520 --> 00:06:35,719 Speaker 1: criticizing the Russian military and Putin for not taking the 121 00:06:35,760 --> 00:06:38,520 Speaker 1: gloves off. He's saying he is now quote one hundred 122 00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:41,960 Speaker 1: percent satisfied, meaning and this also fits into what I 123 00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:44,919 Speaker 1: think controlled opposition in the Kremlins looks like, which is 124 00:06:44,960 --> 00:06:47,960 Speaker 1: that they allow all the piece nicks are either drafted 125 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:50,960 Speaker 1: or thrown into prison. Everybody's the most hawkish, they're allowed 126 00:06:51,200 --> 00:06:53,800 Speaker 1: to have face, and then they're like, hey, we're just 127 00:06:53,880 --> 00:06:56,359 Speaker 1: listening to the criticism, and that criticism happens to be 128 00:06:56,560 --> 00:06:59,719 Speaker 1: we should continue to escalate the war. Now. Putin actually 129 00:06:59,720 --> 00:07:02,599 Speaker 1: gave it speech early this morning Washington Time, where he 130 00:07:02,640 --> 00:07:05,480 Speaker 1: specifically said that this was in retaliation for the quote 131 00:07:05,560 --> 00:07:09,240 Speaker 1: terrorist attack at the Kirch Bridge in Crimea. He says 132 00:07:09,240 --> 00:07:12,760 Speaker 1: that Russia's military had quote used long range, high precision air, 133 00:07:12,840 --> 00:07:15,320 Speaker 1: sea and land based missiles in the strike and warned 134 00:07:15,320 --> 00:07:17,520 Speaker 1: he was going to repeat them. He claimed that the 135 00:07:17,520 --> 00:07:21,760 Speaker 1: targets were military. He says, if attempts to carry out 136 00:07:21,840 --> 00:07:25,760 Speaker 1: terrorist attacks on our territory continue, Russia's response will be severe, 137 00:07:25,800 --> 00:07:27,960 Speaker 1: and at the level of the threats that are facing it, 138 00:07:28,320 --> 00:07:31,800 Speaker 1: nobody should be in any doubt. That was on top 139 00:07:31,880 --> 00:07:35,480 Speaker 1: of a message that was put out by Medvedev, who 140 00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:37,880 Speaker 1: was used to be the President of Russia kind of 141 00:07:37,920 --> 00:07:41,360 Speaker 1: the caretaker in that fake scheme to legitimize Putin as 142 00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:44,480 Speaker 1: the autocratic ruler for basically his entire life. He put 143 00:07:44,480 --> 00:07:47,640 Speaker 1: out a message on telegram also saying that the strikes 144 00:07:47,640 --> 00:07:50,720 Speaker 1: on Ukraine are quote the first episode, and that quote 145 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:53,440 Speaker 1: there will be more. He said that Russia is working 146 00:07:53,440 --> 00:07:56,920 Speaker 1: to dismantle the Ukrainian political regime. On top of that, 147 00:07:56,960 --> 00:08:01,600 Speaker 1: President Zelenski actually appearing above ground in Kiev making it 148 00:08:01,680 --> 00:08:04,119 Speaker 1: clear like we're not going to be intimidated. He says, 149 00:08:04,160 --> 00:08:07,440 Speaker 1: we are dealing with terrorists, dozens of missiles and Iranian drones. 150 00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:10,880 Speaker 1: They have targets, energy facilities throughout the country. Such time 151 00:08:10,880 --> 00:08:13,840 Speaker 1: and targets were specifically chosen to cause as much damage 152 00:08:13,920 --> 00:08:16,960 Speaker 1: as possible, and he said the Kiev will survive all 153 00:08:17,000 --> 00:08:20,000 Speaker 1: of these Ukrainian attacks. So that is the posturing, you know, 154 00:08:20,040 --> 00:08:21,800 Speaker 1: at the high, high level. But I think that we 155 00:08:21,880 --> 00:08:23,400 Speaker 1: can say and it's crazy for me, you know, I 156 00:08:23,400 --> 00:08:27,720 Speaker 1: actually started my career covering Serovican because I was covering 157 00:08:27,720 --> 00:08:29,720 Speaker 1: the Battle of Aleppo and all that stuff during the 158 00:08:30,200 --> 00:08:32,400 Speaker 1: during my time as a Pentagon correspondent, So it's weird 159 00:08:32,640 --> 00:08:34,440 Speaker 1: in order to see him come back. And I think 160 00:08:34,480 --> 00:08:36,120 Speaker 1: that one of the fears that I had at the 161 00:08:36,200 --> 00:08:37,800 Speaker 1: very beginning of this war is that we would get 162 00:08:37,800 --> 00:08:40,680 Speaker 1: to this point, which is that how did the quote 163 00:08:40,720 --> 00:08:44,120 Speaker 1: unquote Battle of Aleppo and really Asad regain control of 164 00:08:44,160 --> 00:08:47,720 Speaker 1: all of Syria by barrel bombing the population and killing 165 00:08:47,800 --> 00:08:52,120 Speaker 1: approximately half a million, you know, civilians, with absolute no 166 00:08:52,440 --> 00:08:56,240 Speaker 1: thought and total impunity, with no regard for the loss 167 00:08:56,240 --> 00:08:58,720 Speaker 1: of human life. That's essentially what the Battle of Aleppo was. 168 00:08:58,760 --> 00:09:02,199 Speaker 1: They took a great city, ancient city, and basically leveled 169 00:09:02,240 --> 00:09:04,840 Speaker 1: the entire parts of it, which were full of the opposition. 170 00:09:05,200 --> 00:09:08,960 Speaker 1: Same pretty much across the entire country. That's also whenever 171 00:09:09,000 --> 00:09:11,480 Speaker 1: we saw Russia use cluster munitions, munitions which they have 172 00:09:11,520 --> 00:09:14,439 Speaker 1: seen them use in Kiev. So I think that, unfortunately, 173 00:09:14,440 --> 00:09:17,640 Speaker 1: this will be a harbinger really of Soroviacan's way of 174 00:09:17,679 --> 00:09:21,040 Speaker 1: doing war, which is effectively total war. Declare war on 175 00:09:21,080 --> 00:09:25,080 Speaker 1: the population, Declare war on all civilian infrastructure, put aside 176 00:09:25,160 --> 00:09:29,320 Speaker 1: any of the waves that we would consider humane, not 177 00:09:29,360 --> 00:09:31,720 Speaker 1: even human, put aside, like the rules of the Geneva 178 00:09:31,760 --> 00:09:35,400 Speaker 1: Convention and so much more, and just decimate the infrastructure, 179 00:09:35,520 --> 00:09:39,480 Speaker 1: decimate the population, make it unlivable until they bend the knee. 180 00:09:39,760 --> 00:09:43,040 Speaker 1: And that is a grinding war of attrition that now 181 00:09:43,160 --> 00:09:46,280 Speaker 1: will we're not just seeing on the front line where 182 00:09:46,320 --> 00:09:48,120 Speaker 1: we're seeing the back and forth between the Ukrainian and 183 00:09:48,160 --> 00:09:52,079 Speaker 1: Russian military now with the air component. As I said previously, 184 00:09:52,400 --> 00:09:55,800 Speaker 1: Russia's best precision guided munitions are basically gone. They've been 185 00:09:55,880 --> 00:09:58,840 Speaker 1: used up. They don't have access to microchips that they 186 00:09:58,840 --> 00:10:02,000 Speaker 1: had previously. They're actually them out of dishwashers and other 187 00:10:02,400 --> 00:10:05,319 Speaker 1: clients is to keep their missiles going. So but they 188 00:10:05,320 --> 00:10:10,320 Speaker 1: have a massive stockpile of traditional almost like World War 189 00:10:10,440 --> 00:10:15,000 Speaker 1: two era stuff, and unfortunately, what's the last place on 190 00:10:15,040 --> 00:10:17,760 Speaker 1: Earth that will sell them weapons North Korea. North Korea 191 00:10:17,800 --> 00:10:20,600 Speaker 1: also has a hell of a lot of stockpile of 192 00:10:20,679 --> 00:10:22,760 Speaker 1: exactly these type of musions. Is really what the North 193 00:10:22,800 --> 00:10:26,160 Speaker 1: Korean military relied on as part of its war campaign 194 00:10:26,160 --> 00:10:28,160 Speaker 1: against the South, should it ever have to do so. 195 00:10:28,200 --> 00:10:30,199 Speaker 1: The point I'm making is that they have a tremendous 196 00:10:30,200 --> 00:10:34,400 Speaker 1: amount of traditional military power that they will likely try 197 00:10:34,440 --> 00:10:37,120 Speaker 1: to draw on and combine the air operations with their 198 00:10:37,160 --> 00:10:41,040 Speaker 1: ground tactics in order to stop the political opposition all 199 00:10:41,080 --> 00:10:43,640 Speaker 1: across the country. I don't expect the Ukrainians to fold, 200 00:10:43,800 --> 00:10:45,720 Speaker 1: of course, but I do think that there will be 201 00:10:45,800 --> 00:10:48,880 Speaker 1: a tremendous loss of life over the next month or so. 202 00:10:48,960 --> 00:10:50,760 Speaker 1: That now they were in the new phase. Yeah, I mean, 203 00:10:50,760 --> 00:10:54,240 Speaker 1: this doesn't change the reality that Russia is losing, but 204 00:10:54,400 --> 00:10:56,720 Speaker 1: it does mean, you know, the idea that there was 205 00:10:56,720 --> 00:10:58,920 Speaker 1: this going to be this sort of like grinding stale 206 00:10:59,000 --> 00:11:01,760 Speaker 1: made and round the winter, you'd basically have a sort 207 00:11:01,760 --> 00:11:05,679 Speaker 1: of status quo situation with perhaps the Ukrainians making small 208 00:11:05,720 --> 00:11:09,719 Speaker 1: gains at small advances, you know, characteristic of what the 209 00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:13,200 Speaker 1: past week or so has been like. That logic is 210 00:11:13,400 --> 00:11:16,560 Speaker 1: on the window now because even as Russia, you know, 211 00:11:16,800 --> 00:11:19,400 Speaker 1: the facts on the ground remain that they are on 212 00:11:19,440 --> 00:11:22,160 Speaker 1: the back foot, foot that Putin is in a desperate situation, 213 00:11:22,640 --> 00:11:25,160 Speaker 1: that he's having all these issues domestically in terms of 214 00:11:25,240 --> 00:11:28,679 Speaker 1: sort of you know, disgruntled population that isn't really on 215 00:11:28,720 --> 00:11:32,360 Speaker 1: board for what he's doing here. But the Russian military 216 00:11:32,400 --> 00:11:36,040 Speaker 1: still has tremendous capability to inflict tons of pain, death 217 00:11:36,160 --> 00:11:39,800 Speaker 1: and damage on the Ukrainian population. And so this is 218 00:11:39,840 --> 00:11:42,840 Speaker 1: a stark reminder of that fact. It is, you know, 219 00:11:43,040 --> 00:11:46,400 Speaker 1: a devastating new phase of this war that is almost 220 00:11:46,400 --> 00:11:49,440 Speaker 1: certainly going to come with increased civilian casualties, and it 221 00:11:49,520 --> 00:11:52,120 Speaker 1: is a sign that it's a signed both of desperation 222 00:11:52,240 --> 00:11:54,520 Speaker 1: but also that at this point, you know, the Hawks 223 00:11:54,520 --> 00:11:57,400 Speaker 1: are in control, they are getting their way, and this 224 00:11:57,480 --> 00:11:59,600 Speaker 1: war is likely from here on out to be prosecuted 225 00:11:59,600 --> 00:12:02,600 Speaker 1: and much more to their liking than with any sort 226 00:12:02,720 --> 00:12:05,800 Speaker 1: of you know, governors or restraints or abiding by the 227 00:12:05,840 --> 00:12:08,280 Speaker 1: sorts of rules of war that you would ultimately open. 228 00:12:08,360 --> 00:12:10,559 Speaker 1: I mean, listen, it's an illegal war to start with, 229 00:12:10,600 --> 00:12:12,560 Speaker 1: so let's be clear that it's not like they've been 230 00:12:12,760 --> 00:12:15,360 Speaker 1: playing in some sort of a humanitarian way to begin with. 231 00:12:15,880 --> 00:12:20,920 Speaker 1: But this represents a really frightening and brutal escalation of 232 00:12:20,920 --> 00:12:24,120 Speaker 1: this conflict, and it comes on the heels Sager, as 233 00:12:24,120 --> 00:12:27,199 Speaker 1: we've been mentioning of this successful Ukrainian attack. We think 234 00:12:27,200 --> 00:12:29,720 Speaker 1: it was a Ukrainian attack anyway, Russians are blaming Ukraine. 235 00:12:29,800 --> 00:12:31,880 Speaker 1: Ukraine is more or less taking credit, although they haven't 236 00:12:31,840 --> 00:12:34,880 Speaker 1: one hundred percent unclear exactly how this all went down. 237 00:12:35,320 --> 00:12:40,239 Speaker 1: But this vital bridge that has both you know, incredible 238 00:12:40,440 --> 00:12:45,200 Speaker 1: strategic and sort of psychological importance to the Russians. That 239 00:12:45,360 --> 00:12:48,200 Speaker 1: goes between or it still does. They didn't take it 240 00:12:48,200 --> 00:12:51,440 Speaker 1: all down, but it's been severely damaged. Goes between Crimea, 241 00:12:51,640 --> 00:12:54,680 Speaker 1: which of course Russia's or illegally annexed back a while ago, 242 00:12:55,080 --> 00:12:58,120 Speaker 1: and the Russian Motherland. This was a pet project of 243 00:12:58,240 --> 00:13:02,439 Speaker 1: Putin himself somewhere costs between somewhere four billion and seven 244 00:13:02,520 --> 00:13:06,160 Speaker 1: billion dollars. When it was open and inaugurated, Putin himself 245 00:13:06,240 --> 00:13:09,679 Speaker 1: drove this construction truck across it. So this was a 246 00:13:09,800 --> 00:13:14,480 Speaker 1: major sort of psychological and pre propaganda piece for Russia 247 00:13:14,559 --> 00:13:17,360 Speaker 1: and also has incredibly vital significance in terms of just 248 00:13:17,400 --> 00:13:21,960 Speaker 1: like restocking resupplying their troops. It appears Ukraine was able 249 00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:25,079 Speaker 1: to successfully damage that. Yeah, so let's go ahead and 250 00:13:25,160 --> 00:13:28,240 Speaker 1: start that, which is that we have video originally we're 251 00:13:28,240 --> 00:13:30,480 Speaker 1: going to begin our show on this. You can go 252 00:13:30,520 --> 00:13:33,240 Speaker 1: ahead and see this is a car that's driving all 253 00:13:33,559 --> 00:13:36,320 Speaker 1: across the bridge at the time, immediately struck there and 254 00:13:36,360 --> 00:13:39,559 Speaker 1: the car itself blown out. You could see what happened. Essentially, 255 00:13:39,640 --> 00:13:41,599 Speaker 1: Let's go to the next one, guys, just so we 256 00:13:41,640 --> 00:13:44,880 Speaker 1: can show people the actual images. So that's the side 257 00:13:44,880 --> 00:13:48,400 Speaker 1: by side image taken of the Kerch Bridge, as you said, 258 00:13:48,480 --> 00:13:52,280 Speaker 1: very strategically important to the Russian regime, to Putin himself, 259 00:13:52,440 --> 00:13:55,360 Speaker 1: who made it, kind of the legacy of supplanting Crimea 260 00:13:55,400 --> 00:13:59,920 Speaker 1: officially back into the Russian Federation on fire. They were 261 00:14:00,120 --> 00:14:04,000 Speaker 1: stored effectively some passage along the bridge, but it was 262 00:14:04,320 --> 00:14:07,640 Speaker 1: a major psychological blow, not only because it was one 263 00:14:07,679 --> 00:14:11,080 Speaker 1: of Putin's pet projects, but also because, as you said, 264 00:14:11,240 --> 00:14:15,160 Speaker 1: it was a key weapons supply to the Ukrainian front 265 00:14:15,679 --> 00:14:19,320 Speaker 1: for the Russian military. So a couple of things happening here. 266 00:14:19,720 --> 00:14:22,800 Speaker 1: Number one, which is that, as we've said previously, Putin 267 00:14:22,960 --> 00:14:26,360 Speaker 1: updated rhetorically their nuclear doctrine to say that they would 268 00:14:26,360 --> 00:14:29,200 Speaker 1: have a first strike nuclear weapons in the event of 269 00:14:29,360 --> 00:14:32,920 Speaker 1: territorial integrity being breached. Now, territorial integrity is in the 270 00:14:32,960 --> 00:14:35,600 Speaker 1: eye of the holder, and regardless of what we think, 271 00:14:35,760 --> 00:14:39,600 Speaker 1: Putin considers Crimea to be part of Russia. So this 272 00:14:39,960 --> 00:14:44,240 Speaker 1: bridge strike between the Russian the or existing Russian Federation 273 00:14:44,320 --> 00:14:46,960 Speaker 1: and now Crimea, which is disputed to them. It's all 274 00:14:47,040 --> 00:14:50,120 Speaker 1: Russia to them. This is effectively a strike on their 275 00:14:50,120 --> 00:14:53,760 Speaker 1: domestic territory, which explains part of the reason why they 276 00:14:53,800 --> 00:14:56,360 Speaker 1: had this military response that we just talked about in 277 00:14:56,400 --> 00:14:59,600 Speaker 1: the first place. Also, it was seen, as you said, 278 00:14:59,800 --> 00:15:03,560 Speaker 1: the Ukrainians kind of effectively taking credit but not really 279 00:15:03,800 --> 00:15:07,960 Speaker 1: officially put this up there on the screen all across 280 00:15:08,040 --> 00:15:11,160 Speaker 1: the entire country, ahead of the missiles that are raining 281 00:15:11,240 --> 00:15:14,800 Speaker 1: down on the city this morning. People were wishing Putin 282 00:15:14,920 --> 00:15:18,440 Speaker 1: a happy birthday because the strike or the bombing had 283 00:15:18,480 --> 00:15:22,840 Speaker 1: actually occurred on the very same day as Putin's seventieth birthday, 284 00:15:23,040 --> 00:15:26,160 Speaker 1: and the Ukrainian government erected these pictures like as a 285 00:15:26,240 --> 00:15:29,760 Speaker 1: posted stamp all across the city, with people taking selfies 286 00:15:29,920 --> 00:15:33,840 Speaker 1: taunting the Russian regime across the entire country. It really 287 00:15:33,920 --> 00:15:36,240 Speaker 1: was seen as a major strategic victory and it was 288 00:15:36,320 --> 00:15:40,360 Speaker 1: cheered and hailed inside a KIV. Now, the fascinating thing, 289 00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:43,520 Speaker 1: Crystal is, as we said, nobody is one hundred percent 290 00:15:43,640 --> 00:15:47,840 Speaker 1: certain how exactly this all went down, Right, Initial indications 291 00:15:47,840 --> 00:15:50,240 Speaker 1: are that it seems to have been some sort of 292 00:15:50,360 --> 00:15:53,560 Speaker 1: truck bomb. Now again you have to take out what 293 00:15:53,600 --> 00:15:56,800 Speaker 1: the Russians are saying. They have claimed that they've arrested 294 00:15:56,800 --> 00:15:59,840 Speaker 1: the quote unquote military operatives who are responsible for this. 295 00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:02,000 Speaker 1: I don't know. I mean, it could be anybody that 296 00:16:02,120 --> 00:16:05,400 Speaker 1: being said, you know, it's not like the Ukrainians weren't 297 00:16:05,400 --> 00:16:07,800 Speaker 1: clearly it probably behind it, or some factor of the 298 00:16:07,920 --> 00:16:11,960 Speaker 1: Ukrainian government was behind it. And the extent the abilities 299 00:16:12,040 --> 00:16:15,320 Speaker 1: and the technology that they used. We still don't have 300 00:16:15,440 --> 00:16:17,880 Speaker 1: a lot of indication on what they did. But like 301 00:16:17,920 --> 00:16:20,440 Speaker 1: we said, it does appear to be some sort of 302 00:16:20,480 --> 00:16:23,320 Speaker 1: a truck bomb. That's the leading us that's a leading 303 00:16:23,400 --> 00:16:26,520 Speaker 1: theory at this point, but no one has no doubt 304 00:16:26,680 --> 00:16:29,360 Speaker 1: exactly it could have come from this truck. It could 305 00:16:29,360 --> 00:16:31,600 Speaker 1: have There been theories that it was, you know, came 306 00:16:31,640 --> 00:16:34,640 Speaker 1: from the water, that it was some sort of missile strike, 307 00:16:34,720 --> 00:16:37,200 Speaker 1: but I think the leading theory at this point is 308 00:16:37,240 --> 00:16:39,760 Speaker 1: some sort of truck bomb. There's all kinds of videos 309 00:16:40,080 --> 00:16:43,800 Speaker 1: circulating online of the moment when this bridge explodes. There 310 00:16:43,840 --> 00:16:46,840 Speaker 1: seems to be a large like tractor trailer that is 311 00:16:46,880 --> 00:16:49,360 Speaker 1: sort of going up the bridge right when the whole 312 00:16:49,400 --> 00:16:51,920 Speaker 1: thing lights on fire. In terms of the extent of 313 00:16:51,960 --> 00:16:54,080 Speaker 1: the damage, as I said, the whole thing wasn't taken out. 314 00:16:54,120 --> 00:16:58,480 Speaker 1: It looks like a couple of lanes collapsed, and there 315 00:16:58,560 --> 00:17:01,200 Speaker 1: was a train that was actually going across the rail 316 00:17:01,280 --> 00:17:03,840 Speaker 1: portion at that point that also caught on fire. Now 317 00:17:03,920 --> 00:17:07,199 Speaker 1: Russia is making a big show of reopening some lanes 318 00:17:07,240 --> 00:17:10,879 Speaker 1: to car vehicle traffic. And also they were able to 319 00:17:10,960 --> 00:17:13,639 Speaker 1: run a train across the rail portion, so they're trying 320 00:17:13,680 --> 00:17:16,400 Speaker 1: to demonstrate, like, see, it's not even that badly damaged 321 00:17:16,720 --> 00:17:19,479 Speaker 1: portion of it. Definitely was very badly damaged, but there 322 00:17:19,480 --> 00:17:22,320 Speaker 1: are some parts that they were able to get operable again, 323 00:17:22,480 --> 00:17:25,399 Speaker 1: so it's not a complete loss for them. However, I 324 00:17:25,440 --> 00:17:29,560 Speaker 1: really don't think that you can overstate how psychologically important 325 00:17:29,640 --> 00:17:31,720 Speaker 1: this bridge was. I was looking into it more and 326 00:17:32,320 --> 00:17:36,560 Speaker 1: when it was opened and completed, Russia state controlled media 327 00:17:36,840 --> 00:17:39,640 Speaker 1: called it the construction project of the century. They called 328 00:17:39,680 --> 00:17:42,640 Speaker 1: it a work of art, they said. One television correspondent said, 329 00:17:42,640 --> 00:17:45,080 Speaker 1: we've been waiting for the Crimean Bridge for over one 330 00:17:45,119 --> 00:17:47,919 Speaker 1: thousand years, adding that the opening of the bridge was 331 00:17:47,960 --> 00:17:50,679 Speaker 1: the main global news development of the day. So in 332 00:17:50,760 --> 00:17:54,399 Speaker 1: terms of sort of actualizing their view that crime is 333 00:17:54,440 --> 00:17:56,920 Speaker 1: part of their territory and as the symbol of Russia's 334 00:17:56,920 --> 00:18:01,240 Speaker 1: sort of new imperial ambitions, this bridge was really a lynchpin, 335 00:18:01,560 --> 00:18:03,919 Speaker 1: and it was also just kind of, like you know, 336 00:18:03,960 --> 00:18:07,159 Speaker 1: on a logistical and practical level, really important for the 337 00:18:07,200 --> 00:18:10,159 Speaker 1: population of Crimea who had been cut off to the 338 00:18:10,240 --> 00:18:13,520 Speaker 1: Ukrainian side, and so prior to this you could only 339 00:18:13,560 --> 00:18:17,640 Speaker 1: get there basically by boat or by like by ferry 340 00:18:17,760 --> 00:18:20,440 Speaker 1: or by plane. So the fact that this bridge was 341 00:18:20,480 --> 00:18:23,159 Speaker 1: put into place, and it was very complicated logistically and 342 00:18:23,200 --> 00:18:26,080 Speaker 1: all of those things that was really important to putin 343 00:18:26,200 --> 00:18:29,879 Speaker 1: and to it was really celebrated across Russia. So you 344 00:18:29,960 --> 00:18:34,760 Speaker 1: had this initial reaction from Ukrainians who were absolutely delighted 345 00:18:35,200 --> 00:18:38,280 Speaker 1: and kind of understandably so at such a significant military 346 00:18:38,920 --> 00:18:43,480 Speaker 1: win for them and such a blow to Russia's ambitions. 347 00:18:43,880 --> 00:18:46,560 Speaker 1: They were posting the memes, they were really excited, and 348 00:18:46,640 --> 00:18:49,959 Speaker 1: then there seemed to be a sort of setting in 349 00:18:50,160 --> 00:18:52,960 Speaker 1: over the weekend of okay, what's this going to mean next? 350 00:18:53,000 --> 00:18:55,000 Speaker 1: And of course this morning we have the answer of 351 00:18:55,400 --> 00:18:58,679 Speaker 1: how Russia would ultimately respond in a way that you 352 00:18:58,680 --> 00:19:02,840 Speaker 1: know is Marxists significant and frightening escalation and also really 353 00:19:02,960 --> 00:19:06,480 Speaker 1: is designed to sort of terrify the civilians and remind 354 00:19:06,520 --> 00:19:09,439 Speaker 1: them that there is no normalcy as long as Russia 355 00:19:09,480 --> 00:19:11,840 Speaker 1: can continue to strike in downtown keep in other places. 356 00:19:12,080 --> 00:19:15,000 Speaker 1: And unfortunately this really is a harbinger of what happened 357 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:16,880 Speaker 1: this morning. Put this up there on the screen which 358 00:19:16,880 --> 00:19:20,919 Speaker 1: is almost immediately after the bridge attack, the hardliners, like 359 00:19:20,960 --> 00:19:25,879 Speaker 1: we had alluded to Medvedev and Medvedev, Kadirov, many of 360 00:19:25,880 --> 00:19:28,840 Speaker 1: the others inside the Kremlin and on telegram were urging 361 00:19:28,920 --> 00:19:33,720 Speaker 1: Putin to face and have a harsh military response. In fact, 362 00:19:34,080 --> 00:19:37,040 Speaker 1: there was an interesting story that broke over the weekend, 363 00:19:37,160 --> 00:19:43,000 Speaker 1: which was apparently intelligence included from the presidential Daily brief. 364 00:19:43,080 --> 00:19:46,000 Speaker 1: So this most sensitive intelligence that exists in the US military. 365 00:19:46,040 --> 00:19:47,480 Speaker 1: And I don't know why exactly it was leaked, and 366 00:19:47,480 --> 00:19:48,720 Speaker 1: I still don't really know what to make of it. 367 00:19:48,800 --> 00:19:52,520 Speaker 1: Crystal Yeah, which is that they said that President Putin 368 00:19:52,560 --> 00:19:56,280 Speaker 1: had faced quote direct criticism for the war in Ukraine 369 00:19:56,560 --> 00:19:59,679 Speaker 1: to his face in a recent meeting with his military 370 00:19:59,800 --> 00:20:02,600 Speaker 1: vice Now I took that with great interest because the 371 00:20:02,640 --> 00:20:06,040 Speaker 1: Times is trying to spin it as perhaps criticism for 372 00:20:06,119 --> 00:20:07,879 Speaker 1: doing the war in the first place, right, And I 373 00:20:07,920 --> 00:20:10,280 Speaker 1: was like, well, what's more likely that this guy still 374 00:20:10,320 --> 00:20:13,560 Speaker 1: has his head and had criticism to Putin's face, And 375 00:20:13,640 --> 00:20:17,520 Speaker 1: it wasn't for actually being tough enough. And unfortunately, given 376 00:20:17,560 --> 00:20:19,679 Speaker 1: the makeup of the people who are closest to Putin 377 00:20:19,880 --> 00:20:22,400 Speaker 1: and around him, it almost certainly had to have been 378 00:20:22,640 --> 00:20:25,040 Speaker 1: that type of criticism. The reason it was actually reported 379 00:20:25,040 --> 00:20:27,920 Speaker 1: to President Biden in the Presidential Daily Brief, it appears, 380 00:20:28,280 --> 00:20:31,920 Speaker 1: is because such criticism is unheard of in Russia now, 381 00:20:32,040 --> 00:20:34,280 Speaker 1: people you know, like Kadirov and others, they can say 382 00:20:34,280 --> 00:20:37,200 Speaker 1: stuff on telegram, but in terms of what you say 383 00:20:37,200 --> 00:20:40,200 Speaker 1: to his face, it appears according to them, he's been 384 00:20:40,200 --> 00:20:43,280 Speaker 1: increasingly more isolated, and the most isolated in his entire 385 00:20:43,359 --> 00:20:46,959 Speaker 1: career as president of Russia perhaps is in his entire life, 386 00:20:47,240 --> 00:20:50,000 Speaker 1: seems to be a total health freak, even continuing being 387 00:20:50,080 --> 00:20:52,760 Speaker 1: like twenty feet away from other people well signing document's 388 00:20:52,840 --> 00:20:56,920 Speaker 1: very odd, you know, clinical behavior. That being said, what 389 00:20:57,320 --> 00:21:01,960 Speaker 1: is coming across is that he is facing increasing pressure 390 00:21:02,200 --> 00:21:04,600 Speaker 1: from the people around him, and it's not the type 391 00:21:04,600 --> 00:21:08,200 Speaker 1: of pressure that we want to see. The controlled opposition 392 00:21:08,280 --> 00:21:11,199 Speaker 1: and controlled descent which is allowed within the Kremlin and 393 00:21:11,240 --> 00:21:14,960 Speaker 1: the Putin himself seems to respond to almost every single time, 394 00:21:15,359 --> 00:21:17,639 Speaker 1: is that of mister president, you need to ramp up 395 00:21:17,680 --> 00:21:19,760 Speaker 1: this war. You need to ramp up this war. I 396 00:21:19,800 --> 00:21:23,480 Speaker 1: think in a sense it completely tracks because how are 397 00:21:23,680 --> 00:21:28,200 Speaker 1: all those people supposed to survive like their regime depends 398 00:21:28,280 --> 00:21:31,240 Speaker 1: not only on Putin, but all of them have committed 399 00:21:31,280 --> 00:21:35,680 Speaker 1: some pretty serious atrocities for many years before that. They 400 00:21:35,840 --> 00:21:38,760 Speaker 1: need to ensure their survival, their strength, and their attachment 401 00:21:38,800 --> 00:21:41,080 Speaker 1: to the military, because the Peacenicks and all the other 402 00:21:41,119 --> 00:21:44,560 Speaker 1: people who've ever advocated for stronger relations with the West, 403 00:21:44,640 --> 00:21:47,600 Speaker 1: those people are all either dead or their exiles. They 404 00:21:47,600 --> 00:21:50,520 Speaker 1: don't really exist. They don't exist anymore. Yeah, I mean, 405 00:21:50,640 --> 00:21:52,160 Speaker 1: and this is something we've been trying to point out 406 00:21:52,160 --> 00:21:54,480 Speaker 1: the whole time. There's oftentimes, you know, on social media 407 00:21:54,520 --> 00:21:56,720 Speaker 1: and even in the mainstream prices, there are these clips 408 00:21:56,720 --> 00:22:01,720 Speaker 1: floating around of like descent on Russian state television, but 409 00:22:01,760 --> 00:22:04,159 Speaker 1: if you listen to what they're saying, none of them 410 00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:06,680 Speaker 1: are out there like and that's why we should give 411 00:22:06,760 --> 00:22:09,040 Speaker 1: up on this war and go for peace. It's all. 412 00:22:09,320 --> 00:22:12,000 Speaker 1: That's why we need to escalate, That's why we need 413 00:22:12,040 --> 00:22:13,879 Speaker 1: to be more brutal. That's why we need to strike 414 00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:17,320 Speaker 1: critical infrastructure. That's why we need to directly strike government buildings. 415 00:22:17,359 --> 00:22:20,720 Speaker 1: That's why we need a general mobilization, and bit by 416 00:22:20,760 --> 00:22:23,520 Speaker 1: bit by bit, and especially within the last few weeks, 417 00:22:23,760 --> 00:22:27,560 Speaker 1: you've seen Putin extremely responsive to the direction that that 418 00:22:27,800 --> 00:22:31,360 Speaker 1: more hawkish faction wants to take the war. And it's 419 00:22:31,400 --> 00:22:33,959 Speaker 1: also a reminder for all the people who are you know, 420 00:22:34,080 --> 00:22:39,320 Speaker 1: wish casting like Putin's Putin himself falling and his regime falling, 421 00:22:39,960 --> 00:22:42,000 Speaker 1: these are the people that are likely to take the place. 422 00:22:42,119 --> 00:22:46,199 Speaker 1: It's not like a Douvish pro piece faction that is 423 00:22:46,320 --> 00:22:49,040 Speaker 1: likely to fill the void here if ultimately Putin falls, 424 00:22:49,040 --> 00:22:51,119 Speaker 1: which I don't think there are enough signs yet to 425 00:22:51,119 --> 00:22:53,440 Speaker 1: say that he's in danger of that, even as he's 426 00:22:53,520 --> 00:22:57,280 Speaker 1: facing significant domestic discontent, and I do think that that 427 00:22:57,560 --> 00:23:00,880 Speaker 1: is very real. I mean, they're facing both the situation 428 00:23:01,040 --> 00:23:05,680 Speaker 1: where some of these blows have been undeniably humiliating for Russia, 429 00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:08,120 Speaker 1: and then also the fact that you know, is one 430 00:23:08,119 --> 00:23:11,800 Speaker 1: thing for the population which does largely support the idea 431 00:23:11,920 --> 00:23:15,600 Speaker 1: of this quote unquote special military operation. It was one 432 00:23:15,600 --> 00:23:18,159 Speaker 1: thing to like support it in theory. It was another 433 00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:20,920 Speaker 1: thing to be willing to, like yourself, go out and 434 00:23:20,960 --> 00:23:24,080 Speaker 1: fight and die. And that has completely that has shifted 435 00:23:24,080 --> 00:23:26,040 Speaker 1: for a lot of folks the way they feel about this. 436 00:23:26,080 --> 00:23:28,720 Speaker 1: And it's just undeniable that you have hundreds of thousands 437 00:23:28,760 --> 00:23:31,520 Speaker 1: of military age Russian men who have fled and are 438 00:23:31,520 --> 00:23:33,880 Speaker 1: looking to flee the country at this point. So it's 439 00:23:33,880 --> 00:23:36,119 Speaker 1: a lot of chaos on the Russian side, and clearly 440 00:23:36,160 --> 00:23:39,440 Speaker 1: now we know what the response to that chaos ultimately is. 441 00:23:39,840 --> 00:23:43,359 Speaker 1: Right after the Crimean bridge was struck, as you said, 442 00:23:44,240 --> 00:23:47,160 Speaker 1: these more hawkish faction I mean immediately taking to social 443 00:23:47,240 --> 00:23:50,560 Speaker 1: media channels like telegram to express that now is the 444 00:23:50,600 --> 00:23:55,119 Speaker 1: time for punishment, saying let's ask the question, if this 445 00:23:55,200 --> 00:23:57,680 Speaker 1: is not a reason for really decisive measures, then what 446 00:23:57,800 --> 00:24:02,080 Speaker 1: is it at all? People demand rev So you know 447 00:24:02,320 --> 00:24:04,719 Speaker 1: this morning we know at least what phase one of 448 00:24:04,760 --> 00:24:07,879 Speaker 1: that response ultimately is. Yeah, the only question is is 449 00:24:07,880 --> 00:24:10,199 Speaker 1: this going to be the new day to day of 450 00:24:10,280 --> 00:24:12,920 Speaker 1: the war or is this going to be a one 451 00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:16,280 Speaker 1: off action? That's I mean, they have supply constraints, as 452 00:24:16,320 --> 00:24:18,239 Speaker 1: I alluded to. They do have a lot, but they 453 00:24:18,280 --> 00:24:20,280 Speaker 1: don't have that many precision guided weapons, so they don't 454 00:24:20,280 --> 00:24:23,040 Speaker 1: necessarily want to blow all of it every single day 455 00:24:23,080 --> 00:24:26,320 Speaker 1: and not accomplish their total strategic objectives. On the other hand, 456 00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:29,159 Speaker 1: this new commander literally made his name by bombing and 457 00:24:29,400 --> 00:24:34,000 Speaker 1: basically you know, erradical like killing hundreds of thousands of 458 00:24:34,040 --> 00:24:37,560 Speaker 1: civilians in Russia, so it wouldn't be outside of the norm. 459 00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:42,000 Speaker 1: Will they concentrate new firepower solely on the Ukrainian positions 460 00:24:42,040 --> 00:24:46,280 Speaker 1: militarily or are they going to make everything open for warfare, 461 00:24:46,359 --> 00:24:49,119 Speaker 1: attack the civilians and attack the military. A lot of 462 00:24:49,160 --> 00:24:52,800 Speaker 1: that depends on what they do. This could probably, I think, 463 00:24:52,920 --> 00:24:55,560 Speaker 1: is a new phase of the war in that it 464 00:24:55,640 --> 00:24:59,040 Speaker 1: does show us again that almost every time when he 465 00:24:59,119 --> 00:25:01,600 Speaker 1: is presented with the yacht, he doubles down and goes 466 00:25:01,640 --> 00:25:04,520 Speaker 1: for escalation. Everything I've read about the man shows that 467 00:25:04,760 --> 00:25:08,240 Speaker 1: in his best times, when he was probably mostly there mentally, 468 00:25:08,400 --> 00:25:12,880 Speaker 1: that was already his modus operandi now include the crazy 469 00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:15,480 Speaker 1: constraints of whatever his mental state is on top of 470 00:25:15,600 --> 00:25:17,880 Speaker 1: having his back up against the wall, and the political 471 00:25:17,920 --> 00:25:20,359 Speaker 1: survival of his regime. And I think that we pretty 472 00:25:20,400 --> 00:25:23,760 Speaker 1: much have our choice. Which is unfortunately a segue to 473 00:25:24,119 --> 00:25:28,640 Speaker 1: another very important thing that happened over the weekend, President 474 00:25:28,680 --> 00:25:34,120 Speaker 1: Biden making his thoughts clear about nuclear armageddon. Let's put 475 00:25:34,119 --> 00:25:37,120 Speaker 1: this up there on the screen. This is from the President, 476 00:25:37,560 --> 00:25:41,760 Speaker 1: who remarks that he made at a Democratic fundraiser. Personally, 477 00:25:41,760 --> 00:25:43,760 Speaker 1: I think he should give these remarks to all of us. 478 00:25:43,920 --> 00:25:46,800 Speaker 1: But here's what he said. That the danger of nuclear 479 00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:50,679 Speaker 1: armageddon is the highest since the Cuban missile crisis. Biden 480 00:25:50,800 --> 00:25:54,120 Speaker 1: said that Putin's threats to use tactical nuclear weapons are 481 00:25:54,200 --> 00:25:57,240 Speaker 1: not a joke. He says, quote, we have not faced 482 00:25:57,240 --> 00:26:02,200 Speaker 1: the prospect of armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban missile crisis. Quote. 483 00:26:02,240 --> 00:26:04,880 Speaker 1: He is not joking when he talks about the potential 484 00:26:05,000 --> 00:26:08,640 Speaker 1: use of tactical nuclear weapons or biological and chemical weapons, 485 00:26:08,840 --> 00:26:13,120 Speaker 1: because his military is you know, might say, significantly underperforming. 486 00:26:13,359 --> 00:26:16,040 Speaker 1: And he says, quote, I don't think there is any 487 00:26:16,119 --> 00:26:19,920 Speaker 1: such thing as the ability to easily use tactical nuclear 488 00:26:19,920 --> 00:26:24,080 Speaker 1: weapons and not end up with armageddon. So President Biden 489 00:26:24,480 --> 00:26:26,880 Speaker 1: echoing something that you know, we've said here on the show, 490 00:26:26,960 --> 00:26:29,520 Speaker 1: which is like, listen, once you go nuclear, whether it 491 00:26:29,560 --> 00:26:33,399 Speaker 1: has a tactical quote unquote use on the ground for 492 00:26:33,440 --> 00:26:37,119 Speaker 1: an operation, or strategic use like an ICBM, once you 493 00:26:37,200 --> 00:26:39,479 Speaker 1: break that threshold, all bets are off. And we are 494 00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:41,760 Speaker 1: almost certainly going to be in a war with Russia, 495 00:26:41,920 --> 00:26:45,080 Speaker 1: especially given what the Baltic States have made clear in 496 00:26:45,119 --> 00:26:48,320 Speaker 1: response would be and President Biden making it very clear 497 00:26:48,600 --> 00:26:52,879 Speaker 1: that he believes that. Now, the question then arises, if 498 00:26:52,920 --> 00:26:56,240 Speaker 1: you believe that, are you going to change you as policy? 499 00:26:56,600 --> 00:26:59,719 Speaker 1: I mean, since you seem to believe that, what is 500 00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:03,560 Speaker 1: your you know plan for an off ramp. I will 501 00:27:03,600 --> 00:27:05,679 Speaker 1: say Chrystal, I was heartened at one thing that the 502 00:27:05,680 --> 00:27:07,960 Speaker 1: press did not tout as much, which is in the 503 00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:10,840 Speaker 1: same speech he did say, and I want to give 504 00:27:10,920 --> 00:27:13,359 Speaker 1: him credit for this. I and my team have been 505 00:27:13,400 --> 00:27:15,359 Speaker 1: looking for a ways in order to give him an 506 00:27:15,359 --> 00:27:18,040 Speaker 1: off ramp as much as possible, so he does at 507 00:27:18,119 --> 00:27:20,240 Speaker 1: least have it in his mind. I haven't yet seen 508 00:27:20,280 --> 00:27:24,280 Speaker 1: that in any leaked private communications or active diplomacy with 509 00:27:24,320 --> 00:27:25,800 Speaker 1: the Russians. As far as I know, it has not 510 00:27:25,800 --> 00:27:28,119 Speaker 1: happened yet at the presidential level. I know that there 511 00:27:28,160 --> 00:27:30,520 Speaker 1: was a brief talk once, I think between the Foreign 512 00:27:30,560 --> 00:27:34,560 Speaker 1: Minister and the Secretary of State. There's some quasi, you know, 513 00:27:34,600 --> 00:27:37,680 Speaker 1: interactions happening, but nothing at the highest highest level, nothing 514 00:27:37,720 --> 00:27:41,399 Speaker 1: in Turkey that is significant enough in order to report 515 00:27:41,440 --> 00:27:43,440 Speaker 1: to anyone. So on the one hand, he says nuclear 516 00:27:43,520 --> 00:27:45,639 Speaker 1: armourgatting as possible, I'm looking for off ramps. On the 517 00:27:45,680 --> 00:27:49,400 Speaker 1: other hand, there's no actual policy yet pursuing that end. 518 00:27:49,480 --> 00:27:51,520 Speaker 1: So who knows. I mean, I don't know where. I 519 00:27:51,560 --> 00:27:52,920 Speaker 1: don't know where his mind is at. And this is 520 00:27:52,920 --> 00:27:55,240 Speaker 1: always a difficulty with covering Biden. One day is the 521 00:27:55,280 --> 00:27:57,760 Speaker 1: guy comes out of Afghanistan the other day He's like, no, 522 00:27:57,800 --> 00:28:00,440 Speaker 1: we're committed to an unending war in Ukraine. Well, who 523 00:28:00,480 --> 00:28:03,280 Speaker 1: are you right? Yeah, and I definitely co sign your 524 00:28:03,480 --> 00:28:06,119 Speaker 1: thoughts that these sorts of comments like it would be 525 00:28:06,160 --> 00:28:09,120 Speaker 1: important for the American people to understand their totality, give 526 00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:11,920 Speaker 1: us President Biden's thinking and not just have it reserved 527 00:28:12,000 --> 00:28:15,960 Speaker 1: for donors in New York City. However, there was a 528 00:28:16,000 --> 00:28:21,159 Speaker 1: lot of pearl clutching about these comments from leaders. You 529 00:28:21,200 --> 00:28:25,000 Speaker 1: had Macrohn saying we must speak with prudence when commenting 530 00:28:25,040 --> 00:28:28,640 Speaker 1: on such matters. You had former Secretary of Saint Mike 531 00:28:28,680 --> 00:28:33,280 Speaker 1: Pompeo saying that these comments were reckless and demonstrating maybe 532 00:28:33,320 --> 00:28:36,760 Speaker 1: one of the greatest foreign policy failures of the last decades. 533 00:28:36,800 --> 00:28:39,200 Speaker 1: Here's a quote, Oh my goodness. First of all, those 534 00:28:39,240 --> 00:28:41,560 Speaker 1: comments were reckless. I think that even more importantly, they 535 00:28:41,600 --> 00:28:44,000 Speaker 1: demonstrate maybe one of the greatest foreign policy failures of 536 00:28:44,040 --> 00:28:46,760 Speaker 1: the last decades, which was the failure to deter Vladimir 537 00:28:46,800 --> 00:28:50,040 Speaker 1: putin the same way the Trump administration did for four years. 538 00:28:50,400 --> 00:28:52,840 Speaker 1: When you hear the President talking about armageddon at a 539 00:28:52,920 --> 00:28:55,640 Speaker 1: random as a random thought, just musing as a fundraiser, 540 00:28:55,760 --> 00:28:58,800 Speaker 1: that is a terrible risk American people, listen. I am 541 00:28:58,960 --> 00:29:02,560 Speaker 1: personally hard to hear that at least this is somewhere 542 00:29:02,600 --> 00:29:06,480 Speaker 1: in Biden's mind, the awareness of what an incredibly dangerous 543 00:29:06,520 --> 00:29:10,080 Speaker 1: situation we're in right now, The fact that he really 544 00:29:10,160 --> 00:29:13,240 Speaker 1: seems to at least on some level, understand that we 545 00:29:13,280 --> 00:29:16,600 Speaker 1: are facing the most significant potential nuclear crisis since the 546 00:29:16,680 --> 00:29:20,000 Speaker 1: Cuban missile crisis, that there is no like little bit 547 00:29:20,040 --> 00:29:23,000 Speaker 1: of nuclear war. This idea of quote unquote tactical nuclear 548 00:29:23,040 --> 00:29:26,080 Speaker 1: weapons and an ability to manage the escalation of that 549 00:29:26,440 --> 00:29:29,600 Speaker 1: is somewhat fanciful. I am very heartened to hear those comments, 550 00:29:29,640 --> 00:29:32,600 Speaker 1: even as I indicated I would prefer them come directly 551 00:29:32,600 --> 00:29:36,200 Speaker 1: to the American people versus a leak from a donor fundraiser. 552 00:29:36,960 --> 00:29:39,800 Speaker 1: The other thing to say about this ultimately is that, 553 00:29:40,120 --> 00:29:42,800 Speaker 1: you know, it seems like, as best we can tell 554 00:29:42,840 --> 00:29:45,480 Speaker 1: from leaks from the administration and some of the offhanded 555 00:29:45,480 --> 00:29:48,160 Speaker 1: comments that they've made, at the beginning of this war, 556 00:29:48,560 --> 00:29:52,800 Speaker 1: when Russia's military failures were so clear, there appeared to 557 00:29:52,880 --> 00:29:55,480 Speaker 1: be a lot of arrogance from the Biden administration. You 558 00:29:55,520 --> 00:29:57,400 Speaker 1: had all those comments leaking that were like, you know, 559 00:29:57,440 --> 00:30:00,000 Speaker 1: we need to end Putin's regime, and like, the only 560 00:30:00,120 --> 00:30:02,560 Speaker 1: way out of this is ultimately for Putin to be gone, 561 00:30:02,600 --> 00:30:05,520 Speaker 1: even had Biden making some comments to that effect, actually 562 00:30:05,640 --> 00:30:09,000 Speaker 1: multiple times saying, you know, calling Putin a war criminal, 563 00:30:09,080 --> 00:30:11,080 Speaker 1: saying that he must go, and these sorts of things. 564 00:30:11,400 --> 00:30:14,120 Speaker 1: And I think that arrogance at the beginning of this 565 00:30:14,280 --> 00:30:19,520 Speaker 1: war really short circuited the best possibility of coming to 566 00:30:19,600 --> 00:30:23,200 Speaker 1: some sort of ceasefire and peace deal early on. Now 567 00:30:23,560 --> 00:30:25,640 Speaker 1: when you want to talk, and we were talking about 568 00:30:25,640 --> 00:30:27,320 Speaker 1: off ramps at the time, and it took a lot 569 00:30:27,400 --> 00:30:29,520 Speaker 1: of heat for that ultimately, and you still take a 570 00:30:29,520 --> 00:30:32,760 Speaker 1: lot of heat for saying things like that. Now thinking 571 00:30:32,840 --> 00:30:35,720 Speaker 1: of how to find that off ramp is just increasingly 572 00:30:35,880 --> 00:30:39,720 Speaker 1: incredibly difficult, even as you know, these latest strikes that 573 00:30:39,800 --> 00:30:42,800 Speaker 1: really hit across all of Ukraine are a reminder that 574 00:30:42,840 --> 00:30:45,560 Speaker 1: the people who suffer the most the longer this war 575 00:30:45,640 --> 00:30:48,720 Speaker 1: goes on is ultimately the Ukrainians. And then you layer 576 00:30:48,760 --> 00:30:50,800 Speaker 1: on top of that the chance, as Biden puts it, 577 00:30:50,800 --> 00:30:54,160 Speaker 1: for nuclear armageddon, and you really have a horrifying situation. So, 578 00:30:55,000 --> 00:30:57,520 Speaker 1: you know, I'm glad to see this is at least 579 00:30:57,600 --> 00:31:01,440 Speaker 1: somewhere in the thinking and the president's mind that we 580 00:31:01,480 --> 00:31:05,240 Speaker 1: are at this incredibly perilous, terrifying place, but we have 581 00:31:05,320 --> 00:31:08,840 Speaker 1: yet to see the US policy to match this kind 582 00:31:08,880 --> 00:31:11,640 Speaker 1: of rhetoric, and ultimately, you know, what they do is 583 00:31:11,680 --> 00:31:14,200 Speaker 1: what really counts. Yeah, I think that is what I 584 00:31:14,200 --> 00:31:16,360 Speaker 1: would underscore more than anything, which is that on a 585 00:31:16,400 --> 00:31:19,040 Speaker 1: policy level, nothing is reflecting it. And I am really 586 00:31:19,080 --> 00:31:23,400 Speaker 1: concerned that these comments on nuclear armageddon happened behind closed 587 00:31:23,400 --> 00:31:27,200 Speaker 1: doors to a billionaire, not on camera, like what is that? 588 00:31:27,600 --> 00:31:30,000 Speaker 1: To his credit, I encourage everybody to go and watch it. 589 00:31:30,080 --> 00:31:32,520 Speaker 1: President Kennedy, in the midst of the Cuban missile crisis, 590 00:31:32,640 --> 00:31:36,440 Speaker 1: before things were quote unquote solved, did a primetime address 591 00:31:36,480 --> 00:31:39,160 Speaker 1: from the Oval Office where he's like, look, here's the evidence, 592 00:31:39,360 --> 00:31:41,880 Speaker 1: here's where my head's at, here's what I'm thinking, and 593 00:31:41,920 --> 00:31:43,840 Speaker 1: here's what I'm saying to the Russians. This is the 594 00:31:43,880 --> 00:31:46,040 Speaker 1: way that we resolve it. I think pretty much the 595 00:31:46,200 --> 00:31:49,360 Speaker 1: entire country at one point either watched or was familiar 596 00:31:49,400 --> 00:31:52,720 Speaker 1: with what the President said in that. President Biden, if 597 00:31:52,720 --> 00:31:55,160 Speaker 1: you believe we are closer to nuclear Armourgeddon than any 598 00:31:55,160 --> 00:31:57,720 Speaker 1: time before the Cuban missile crisis, why would you not 599 00:31:57,840 --> 00:32:01,200 Speaker 1: then be clear about that to the American peace. And unfortunately, 600 00:32:01,240 --> 00:32:02,640 Speaker 1: I think that you and I know the answer to 601 00:32:02,640 --> 00:32:05,479 Speaker 1: that question, which is if people knew how close that 602 00:32:05,520 --> 00:32:08,600 Speaker 1: we were, And I really don't think that most people do. Like, look, 603 00:32:08,640 --> 00:32:10,440 Speaker 1: you know, I love this show, A lot of people 604 00:32:10,560 --> 00:32:13,160 Speaker 1: watch it. But let's not pretend even not just our show, 605 00:32:13,200 --> 00:32:15,160 Speaker 1: I'm doing my own monologue on this today. Most people 606 00:32:15,160 --> 00:32:18,160 Speaker 1: don't read the news or are vaguely familiar with what's happening. 607 00:32:18,160 --> 00:32:20,200 Speaker 1: I don't think they have any clue about how close 608 00:32:20,240 --> 00:32:22,760 Speaker 1: we are. Well, there's only one way to solve that, 609 00:32:22,960 --> 00:32:26,720 Speaker 1: which is to really create a major event in which 610 00:32:26,720 --> 00:32:29,920 Speaker 1: you're like, here's where we are, here's the potential solutions, 611 00:32:30,080 --> 00:32:33,000 Speaker 1: here's my position with Russia, and that's where we go 612 00:32:33,200 --> 00:32:36,400 Speaker 1: from there. Instead, it's to say this stuff behind closed doors, 613 00:32:36,600 --> 00:32:38,520 Speaker 1: for those who are kind of quote unquote in the know, 614 00:32:38,680 --> 00:32:41,240 Speaker 1: to be like, oh my god, we're so close to 615 00:32:41,320 --> 00:32:44,240 Speaker 1: some sort of nuclear crisis with Russia, and then you 616 00:32:44,320 --> 00:32:47,200 Speaker 1: continue policy as usual with Ukraine. That is on Well, 617 00:32:47,240 --> 00:32:50,200 Speaker 1: and that's the reason why he doesn't do that major 618 00:32:50,240 --> 00:32:53,760 Speaker 1: address and really lay out the risks, because the fact 619 00:32:53,800 --> 00:32:56,400 Speaker 1: that we're in this place is in part at least 620 00:32:56,520 --> 00:32:59,680 Speaker 1: due to his administration's policy. Yeah, and so the minute 621 00:32:59,680 --> 00:33:02,160 Speaker 1: you reach realize how close to the edge we are 622 00:33:02,240 --> 00:33:05,320 Speaker 1: and what a truly terrifying situation is, then you know, 623 00:33:05,400 --> 00:33:06,880 Speaker 1: the American people are going to go, well, how the 624 00:33:06,880 --> 00:33:08,640 Speaker 1: hell did we get here? Why did you let us 625 00:33:08,680 --> 00:33:11,880 Speaker 1: get to this place? Where has been the consideration of 626 00:33:11,920 --> 00:33:14,400 Speaker 1: the risks of the strategy that we've been employing here? 627 00:33:14,400 --> 00:33:16,560 Speaker 1: We haven't heard anything about this up until now that 628 00:33:16,600 --> 00:33:19,360 Speaker 1: we're on the brink of nuclear war. So that's why 629 00:33:19,400 --> 00:33:21,520 Speaker 1: the comments have to be sort of like hidden behind 630 00:33:21,520 --> 00:33:25,800 Speaker 1: closed doors at some Democratic Party fundraiser, because to acknowledge 631 00:33:25,880 --> 00:33:28,800 Speaker 1: the risk of the situation is to acknowledge the failure 632 00:33:28,840 --> 00:33:31,440 Speaker 1: of the policy that has led us up to this point. 633 00:33:31,600 --> 00:33:33,160 Speaker 1: So I think that's why you don't hear it. But 634 00:33:33,200 --> 00:33:34,880 Speaker 1: I mean, certainly the media isn't going to do the 635 00:33:34,960 --> 00:33:38,840 Speaker 1: job of helping the American people understand what a frightening 636 00:33:38,840 --> 00:33:41,480 Speaker 1: place we're in right now and the consequences of this action. 637 00:33:41,920 --> 00:33:44,280 Speaker 1: This is what we've been terrified of the whole way 638 00:33:44,440 --> 00:33:49,880 Speaker 1: along that with so little known debate effectively, so little discussion, 639 00:33:50,080 --> 00:33:54,120 Speaker 1: so little debate, so little wighing of any potential negative 640 00:33:54,120 --> 00:33:57,800 Speaker 1: consequences of the actions, we would sleepwalk our way right 641 00:33:57,880 --> 00:34:01,040 Speaker 1: exactly to this point, and sadly that is exactly what 642 00:34:01,080 --> 00:34:04,720 Speaker 1: has happened, and the missed opportunities early on to the 643 00:34:04,760 --> 00:34:07,280 Speaker 1: extent that there were. And there's no guarantees in terms 644 00:34:07,320 --> 00:34:09,960 Speaker 1: of ceasefire talks or peace deals or any of those things, 645 00:34:10,160 --> 00:34:12,800 Speaker 1: but there is no doubt that in those early days. 646 00:34:12,880 --> 00:34:16,320 Speaker 1: You remember Ryan Griham's the only person at White House 647 00:34:16,320 --> 00:34:20,000 Speaker 1: press briefing that even asked the question, Hey, what about diplomacy, 648 00:34:20,200 --> 00:34:22,239 Speaker 1: Hey what are you doing to pressure the Ukrainians to 649 00:34:22,280 --> 00:34:24,480 Speaker 1: try to come to the table and try to try 650 00:34:24,480 --> 00:34:26,520 Speaker 1: to come to some kind of a deal so we 651 00:34:26,640 --> 00:34:30,640 Speaker 1: don't end up in this hellish dystopian landscape. There was 652 00:34:30,719 --> 00:34:33,640 Speaker 1: no pressure from the press. They never explained the downside 653 00:34:33,760 --> 00:34:35,759 Speaker 1: risks of the actions that we were taking. And so 654 00:34:35,840 --> 00:34:38,439 Speaker 1: that's in part how we end up in this place today. Yeah, 655 00:34:38,480 --> 00:34:41,040 Speaker 1: I think, and let's move on now to the next block, 656 00:34:41,200 --> 00:34:44,440 Speaker 1: because I have found this with very great interest, Crystal, 657 00:34:44,920 --> 00:34:48,120 Speaker 1: which is that I have often thought with Trump that 658 00:34:48,200 --> 00:34:51,320 Speaker 1: his superpower is just saying what a lot of people think, 659 00:34:51,680 --> 00:34:54,880 Speaker 1: and without any regard for what the Washington establishment or 660 00:34:54,880 --> 00:34:57,800 Speaker 1: the media. We'll say. Sometimes that's a good thing. Sometimes 661 00:34:57,840 --> 00:35:00,400 Speaker 1: there are things that shouldn't be said with Trump, though 662 00:35:00,600 --> 00:35:04,759 Speaker 1: with Ukraine, he to my knowledge, is the most prominent 663 00:35:04,960 --> 00:35:08,920 Speaker 1: former or current US official form president of the United 664 00:35:08,960 --> 00:35:14,000 Speaker 1: States advocating for a negotiated piece in Ukraine. And also, 665 00:35:14,040 --> 00:35:16,000 Speaker 1: I want you to not only to pay attention to 666 00:35:16,040 --> 00:35:18,360 Speaker 1: what he says, pay attention to the way that the 667 00:35:18,440 --> 00:35:21,160 Speaker 1: crowd reacts whenever he says it. Let's take a listen. 668 00:35:21,560 --> 00:35:25,399 Speaker 1: We must demand the immediate negotiation of a peaceful end 669 00:35:25,440 --> 00:35:27,839 Speaker 1: to the war in Ukraine, or we will end up 670 00:35:27,880 --> 00:35:30,760 Speaker 1: in World War three and there will be nothing left 671 00:35:30,800 --> 00:35:35,680 Speaker 1: of our planet, all because stupid people didn't have a clue. 672 00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:39,759 Speaker 1: They didn't have a clue. They don't understand, really don't understand. 673 00:35:40,719 --> 00:35:45,480 Speaker 1: I rebuilt our military, I rebuilt our nuclear power. They 674 00:35:45,520 --> 00:35:49,400 Speaker 1: don't understand what they're dealing with the power of nuclear 675 00:35:49,920 --> 00:35:52,000 Speaker 1: Very interesting, you know, it's for me. I'm seeing a 676 00:35:52,040 --> 00:35:54,399 Speaker 1: lot of like nodding heads there and all of that, 677 00:35:54,480 --> 00:35:56,799 Speaker 1: and I was like, wow, that is fact. Again, the 678 00:35:56,880 --> 00:36:00,160 Speaker 1: single most prominent person affiliated in any way at the 679 00:36:00,239 --> 00:36:02,719 Speaker 1: US government to make any sort of comment like that 680 00:36:02,800 --> 00:36:05,160 Speaker 1: and to tell the reality of what we are. I 681 00:36:05,200 --> 00:36:09,480 Speaker 1: also do think it's very noteworthy that Trump being the 682 00:36:09,480 --> 00:36:13,320 Speaker 1: only person who says that will become the flashpoint onto 683 00:36:13,320 --> 00:36:15,560 Speaker 1: which this debate is then decided, which is part of 684 00:36:15,560 --> 00:36:16,920 Speaker 1: the reason why I think is a bad thing that 685 00:36:17,000 --> 00:36:19,719 Speaker 1: he's the only person who is saying yeah. But I 686 00:36:19,800 --> 00:36:22,719 Speaker 1: do think that there probably is a political opportunity for 687 00:36:22,840 --> 00:36:25,840 Speaker 1: somebody out there who wants to say it. It's just 688 00:36:25,920 --> 00:36:30,080 Speaker 1: that they're all terrified of being branded by the media 689 00:36:30,440 --> 00:36:33,000 Speaker 1: as like a Russian sympathizer. I mean, look at what 690 00:36:33,040 --> 00:36:35,480 Speaker 1: they did to Josh Holly for voting against NATO on 691 00:36:35,520 --> 00:36:38,000 Speaker 1: Finland and Sweden. Well, I mean, look at what they 692 00:36:38,000 --> 00:36:40,399 Speaker 1: did to Elon Musk. I mean, you know, you don't 693 00:36:40,400 --> 00:36:43,120 Speaker 1: even have to be a big Elon Musk fan, but 694 00:36:43,200 --> 00:36:45,640 Speaker 1: the man has done a lot for the Ukrainian cause. 695 00:36:45,800 --> 00:36:49,719 Speaker 1: I mean, like legit starlink has been critical to what 696 00:36:49,760 --> 00:36:53,120 Speaker 1: they've been able to accomplish. And just by I mean 697 00:36:53,160 --> 00:36:55,160 Speaker 1: it's sort of stupid to have like a Twitter poll 698 00:36:55,200 --> 00:36:58,120 Speaker 1: about a peace deal, but just by suggesting, hey, maybe 699 00:36:58,120 --> 00:37:01,440 Speaker 1: we should have a negotiated settlement here. Yeah, former and 700 00:37:01,520 --> 00:37:05,239 Speaker 1: the current Ukrainian president coming out and slamming him and 701 00:37:05,520 --> 00:37:07,759 Speaker 1: all kinds of their diplomats and all this stuff, just 702 00:37:07,800 --> 00:37:11,680 Speaker 1: going nuts over this thing, totally trashed by all sorts 703 00:37:11,719 --> 00:37:14,960 Speaker 1: of mainstream liberals as well, for you know, as a 704 00:37:15,280 --> 00:37:18,600 Speaker 1: Putin's puppet and Russian sympathizer and all of this sort 705 00:37:18,600 --> 00:37:22,840 Speaker 1: of nonsense. So yeah, I think with Trump, like, obviously 706 00:37:22,880 --> 00:37:25,960 Speaker 1: this isn't some sort of principled and clear eyed stance 707 00:37:26,040 --> 00:37:29,080 Speaker 1: or whatever the man sniff sound and political opportunity. And 708 00:37:29,120 --> 00:37:31,320 Speaker 1: we know that's the case because actually, I mean previously 709 00:37:31,360 --> 00:37:34,800 Speaker 1: he was, in spite of the like, oh he's Putin's 710 00:37:34,800 --> 00:37:37,160 Speaker 1: best buddy and whatever, he was actually very hawkish towards 711 00:37:37,239 --> 00:37:40,600 Speaker 1: Russia in a lot of like the actual policy sense 712 00:37:40,640 --> 00:37:43,160 Speaker 1: when he was president the beginning of this war. Remember, 713 00:37:43,160 --> 00:37:45,520 Speaker 1: his ruddick was like insane about the things that he 714 00:37:45,640 --> 00:37:50,799 Speaker 1: was suggesting that we do, like like a direct US 715 00:37:51,480 --> 00:37:53,920 Speaker 1: fighter jets getting directly involved, I mean, all kinds of 716 00:37:53,960 --> 00:37:56,200 Speaker 1: nonsense that he was floating about this stuff. So he 717 00:37:56,280 --> 00:37:59,080 Speaker 1: was sort of like testing out where is the political 718 00:37:59,120 --> 00:38:02,160 Speaker 1: opportunity he where should I land? One day it was 719 00:38:02,360 --> 00:38:05,040 Speaker 1: suggesting being more hawkish. The next day it was suggesting 720 00:38:05,160 --> 00:38:07,520 Speaker 1: sort of more like what he's saying here, the fact 721 00:38:07,520 --> 00:38:10,560 Speaker 1: that he's landed in this place after testing the waters 722 00:38:10,600 --> 00:38:13,400 Speaker 1: on all court kinds of different messaging of what we 723 00:38:13,480 --> 00:38:15,319 Speaker 1: really need is to force them to the table for 724 00:38:15,360 --> 00:38:17,480 Speaker 1: a peace deal. I do think says that, you know, 725 00:38:17,600 --> 00:38:20,400 Speaker 1: he's sensing that there is an unmet desire with the 726 00:38:20,400 --> 00:38:23,960 Speaker 1: American people for diplomacy, and I don't think he's wrong. 727 00:38:24,000 --> 00:38:26,200 Speaker 1: And we've covered the polling here from the Quincy Institute 728 00:38:26,200 --> 00:38:29,160 Speaker 1: in other places that says, like the mainstream position in 729 00:38:29,280 --> 00:38:33,480 Speaker 1: American society is not endless weaponshipments with no ends in sight. 730 00:38:33,640 --> 00:38:36,120 Speaker 1: It's yeah, we support the Ukrainian cause, will continue to 731 00:38:36,160 --> 00:38:38,719 Speaker 1: support them, but we want to see some real moves 732 00:38:38,760 --> 00:38:41,600 Speaker 1: towards diplomacy. And don't pretend like you have nothing to 733 00:38:41,640 --> 00:38:44,040 Speaker 1: say about that when the whole reason that Ukraine is 734 00:38:44,160 --> 00:38:46,279 Speaker 1: able to, you know, get to this place in the 735 00:38:46,280 --> 00:38:48,920 Speaker 1: war at all, is because of our arms, our training, 736 00:38:49,000 --> 00:38:51,840 Speaker 1: and our intelligence. Don't sit here and pretend like you 737 00:38:51,920 --> 00:38:53,840 Speaker 1: have nothing to say about how this conflict comes to 738 00:38:53,880 --> 00:38:55,799 Speaker 1: a close. That's also one of my biggest pet peeves, 739 00:38:55,800 --> 00:38:57,239 Speaker 1: So like, well, what are the Ukraine. I'm like, listen, 740 00:38:57,360 --> 00:38:59,880 Speaker 1: Ukraine does not exist as a polity without the United States. 741 00:39:00,120 --> 00:39:02,320 Speaker 1: Let's all be very very honest about that. The Ukrainians 742 00:39:02,360 --> 00:39:04,280 Speaker 1: themselves would tell you that they're like, no, we wouldn't 743 00:39:04,280 --> 00:39:07,319 Speaker 1: exist without the defense of the US. So okay, if 744 00:39:07,360 --> 00:39:09,400 Speaker 1: that is the case, then of course that you have 745 00:39:09,440 --> 00:39:11,320 Speaker 1: a say on the Trump thing. I don't want to 746 00:39:11,360 --> 00:39:13,640 Speaker 1: claim that the man is some great strategic genius, because 747 00:39:13,640 --> 00:39:16,040 Speaker 1: this is always the problem with Trump. On the one hand, 748 00:39:16,080 --> 00:39:18,120 Speaker 1: he says stuff like that, does he really mean it. 749 00:39:18,160 --> 00:39:20,520 Speaker 1: He's also the person who hired John Bolton, Mike Pompeo 750 00:39:20,840 --> 00:39:24,200 Speaker 1: and recognized Win Juan Guido as the president as well, 751 00:39:24,280 --> 00:39:26,840 Speaker 1: all right. He's also the person who shipp javelin missiles 752 00:39:26,840 --> 00:39:29,600 Speaker 1: to Ukraine when Obama would not ship javelin missiles to 753 00:39:29,680 --> 00:39:32,880 Speaker 1: Ukraine out of fear of provoking the Russians. He's the 754 00:39:32,920 --> 00:39:35,560 Speaker 1: person who I think they withdrew from whatever the nuclear 755 00:39:35,600 --> 00:39:39,160 Speaker 1: treaty was under a New Star treaty I think it was. 756 00:39:39,280 --> 00:39:42,200 Speaker 1: So there's two hands to Trump. There's the guy who 757 00:39:42,360 --> 00:39:45,640 Speaker 1: have basically folded to the anti Russian deep state the 758 00:39:45,800 --> 00:39:47,560 Speaker 1: entire time, and then there was a guy at the 759 00:39:47,600 --> 00:39:50,920 Speaker 1: Helsinki conference who was actually in charge in general. I'm 760 00:39:50,960 --> 00:39:53,000 Speaker 1: going to go with the deep state. That being said 761 00:39:53,160 --> 00:39:56,120 Speaker 1: when he was the president. As president, he says that 762 00:39:56,200 --> 00:39:58,120 Speaker 1: if he were to be in power. This is the 763 00:39:58,200 --> 00:40:00,799 Speaker 1: type of deal that he would go to and on that. 764 00:40:00,840 --> 00:40:03,640 Speaker 1: There is some evidence, right, he is the person broke 765 00:40:03,760 --> 00:40:06,480 Speaker 1: long standing US president and met with Kim Jong un. 766 00:40:06,719 --> 00:40:08,880 Speaker 1: You say what you want, But after that meeting, they 767 00:40:08,920 --> 00:40:12,280 Speaker 1: didn't have any high profile missile launches in the Asia Pacific. 768 00:40:12,440 --> 00:40:14,760 Speaker 1: You know, I'm thinking about doing a monologu on this tomorrow, Crystal. 769 00:40:14,800 --> 00:40:18,000 Speaker 1: But you know, this is not the only nuclear crisis 770 00:40:18,000 --> 00:40:20,440 Speaker 1: we have to worry about. In Ukraine, Kim Jong UN's 771 00:40:20,440 --> 00:40:24,080 Speaker 1: been flying off ballistic missiles. The Japanese are freaking out. 772 00:40:24,200 --> 00:40:27,760 Speaker 1: They're overflying the eez. You know, I was basically convinced 773 00:40:27,760 --> 00:40:29,719 Speaker 1: in twenty seventeen. I was like, I honestly think we 774 00:40:29,800 --> 00:40:31,719 Speaker 1: might be going to war with North Korea. I didn't 775 00:40:31,719 --> 00:40:34,160 Speaker 1: really see what the off ramp was because I didn't 776 00:40:34,200 --> 00:40:36,759 Speaker 1: think it was possible for Trump to basically break the 777 00:40:36,800 --> 00:40:39,880 Speaker 1: diplomatic consensus say no enough, I'm going to go and 778 00:40:39,920 --> 00:40:41,719 Speaker 1: meet with Kim Jong un and try and come to 779 00:40:41,760 --> 00:40:44,279 Speaker 1: a deal. Ultimately, it didn't work out, and he left 780 00:40:44,320 --> 00:40:46,799 Speaker 1: office and kind of lost interest. But I still think 781 00:40:46,800 --> 00:40:48,640 Speaker 1: you should be applauded for doing that. I thought it 782 00:40:48,680 --> 00:40:51,239 Speaker 1: was a courageous act as an American president. Here's the 783 00:40:51,280 --> 00:40:54,120 Speaker 1: other one. He did an extremely unpopular thing according to 784 00:40:54,120 --> 00:40:56,759 Speaker 1: the American deep state. Trump is the one who negotiated 785 00:40:56,800 --> 00:40:58,799 Speaker 1: that peace deal with the Taliban. We have to give 786 00:40:58,880 --> 00:41:01,440 Speaker 1: him credit for that. He did. It didn't end up 787 00:41:01,480 --> 00:41:05,839 Speaker 1: withdrawing on the timeline. He supposedly tried his best all 788 00:41:05,880 --> 00:41:08,440 Speaker 1: of that. So Trump is torn between who he actually 789 00:41:08,480 --> 00:41:11,000 Speaker 1: listens to, whether he's paying attention or not. I just 790 00:41:11,040 --> 00:41:13,319 Speaker 1: think it's I want to present all sides of who 791 00:41:13,360 --> 00:41:16,880 Speaker 1: Trump really is. He's unpredictable, exactly right. I mean in 792 00:41:16,920 --> 00:41:20,760 Speaker 1: some areas, his foreign policy was like the most hawkish possible. 793 00:41:21,160 --> 00:41:25,759 Speaker 1: Think about the strike on custom sold all right, incredibly dangerous, escalatory, 794 00:41:25,880 --> 00:41:28,640 Speaker 1: risked war with Iran right then, and there of course 795 00:41:28,680 --> 00:41:32,239 Speaker 1: took us out of the Iranian nuclear agreement, you know, 796 00:41:32,360 --> 00:41:35,920 Speaker 1: also very escalatory measure that ended up with a hardliner 797 00:41:36,000 --> 00:41:37,839 Speaker 1: coming to power, and we're still not back in that 798 00:41:37,880 --> 00:41:40,600 Speaker 1: deal because of everything that has happened there. The Biden 799 00:41:40,640 --> 00:41:43,520 Speaker 1: administration is partially to blame for that as well. Extremely 800 00:41:43,560 --> 00:41:47,480 Speaker 1: hawkish and dangerous actions there, very hawkish towards Russia. And 801 00:41:47,520 --> 00:41:49,200 Speaker 1: then you have, you know, the meeting with Kim Jong 802 00:41:49,320 --> 00:41:53,240 Speaker 1: un you have the deal making with the Taliban. So yeah, 803 00:41:53,320 --> 00:41:57,120 Speaker 1: that's why that guy you can't rely on him to be, 804 00:41:57,560 --> 00:42:02,560 Speaker 1: you know, interested in diplomas or peacemaking, because he really 805 00:42:02,640 --> 00:42:04,440 Speaker 1: is all over the map. I think the best thing 806 00:42:04,440 --> 00:42:08,919 Speaker 1: you can say about these latest comments is he does 807 00:42:09,200 --> 00:42:11,400 Speaker 1: have a nose for sniffing out when there's a political 808 00:42:11,440 --> 00:42:15,080 Speaker 1: opportunity to say something that the mainstream press is completely 809 00:42:15,200 --> 00:42:19,520 Speaker 1: unwilling to, you know, just even entertain when there is 810 00:42:19,560 --> 00:42:23,279 Speaker 1: a significant part of the population that wants to hear 811 00:42:23,440 --> 00:42:26,440 Speaker 1: exactly what he's saying. Because ultimately, you know, even though 812 00:42:26,440 --> 00:42:28,399 Speaker 1: the media has done a terrible job laying out the risk, 813 00:42:28,480 --> 00:42:30,239 Speaker 1: even though the President hasn't come out and said it 814 00:42:30,239 --> 00:42:33,400 Speaker 1: directly to the American people, people aren't stupid. They realize 815 00:42:33,400 --> 00:42:36,600 Speaker 1: that you're messing with the nuclear power here and that, 816 00:42:36,760 --> 00:42:38,879 Speaker 1: you know, you could very easily end up in World 817 00:42:38,920 --> 00:42:42,319 Speaker 1: War three. And they also just are asking themselves like, 818 00:42:42,440 --> 00:42:45,440 Speaker 1: how much are we, like, what is really at stake 819 00:42:45,480 --> 00:42:48,760 Speaker 1: for us in the Ukrainian cause? Why aren't we using 820 00:42:48,760 --> 00:42:51,400 Speaker 1: our leverage to ultimately trying to bring this war to 821 00:42:51,560 --> 00:42:54,320 Speaker 1: a close. I mean, there just has been no vocal 822 00:42:54,520 --> 00:42:58,400 Speaker 1: pro peace movement within the United States. So it's just 823 00:42:58,520 --> 00:43:00,920 Speaker 1: interesting to see him trying to sees on what he 824 00:43:00,960 --> 00:43:03,600 Speaker 1: clearly sees as political. That's what my takeaway was, which 825 00:43:03,640 --> 00:43:05,560 Speaker 1: is that I'll never believe a ward the man says 826 00:43:05,640 --> 00:43:08,680 Speaker 1: until it's actually done. But I was like, I do know. 827 00:43:08,760 --> 00:43:11,719 Speaker 1: His real genius is for sniffing out a position that 828 00:43:11,920 --> 00:43:15,520 Speaker 1: is completely underserved in the market of politics. So I 829 00:43:15,680 --> 00:43:18,040 Speaker 1: took away a lot from the fact that he was 830 00:43:18,080 --> 00:43:20,680 Speaker 1: even willing to go there, And of course it does 831 00:43:20,719 --> 00:43:24,000 Speaker 1: reflect at least some of his existing underlying beliefs to 832 00:43:24,200 --> 00:43:29,000 Speaker 1: underscore exactly why that political opportunity existed in the first place. Well, 833 00:43:29,440 --> 00:43:31,799 Speaker 1: in the media, they are actually and I can't even 834 00:43:31,840 --> 00:43:34,200 Speaker 1: believe I'm making this up. I can't even believe him 835 00:43:34,200 --> 00:43:38,319 Speaker 1: saying this. Are going after President Biden for suggesting that 836 00:43:38,360 --> 00:43:42,040 Speaker 1: there is a threat of nuclear war. CNN's Jake Tapper, 837 00:43:42,040 --> 00:43:44,160 Speaker 1: who will be the new host of their nine pm 838 00:43:44,280 --> 00:43:48,560 Speaker 1: primetime essentially mocking Biden and pressing a Democratic senator on 839 00:43:48,640 --> 00:43:51,560 Speaker 1: why he would be so foolish to even suggest this 840 00:43:51,640 --> 00:43:55,360 Speaker 1: basic fact. Let's take a lesson. So what's President Biden 841 00:43:55,400 --> 00:43:58,000 Speaker 1: talking about? Do you see armageddon as a real possibility? Well, 842 00:43:58,000 --> 00:44:00,520 Speaker 1: I think the President is right to raise the risk 843 00:44:00,840 --> 00:44:04,680 Speaker 1: of nuclear conflict because Vlatimir Putin is increasingly getting pushed 844 00:44:04,719 --> 00:44:08,359 Speaker 1: into a corner. This war is going incredibly badly for him. 845 00:44:08,360 --> 00:44:12,040 Speaker 1: The mobilization that he has undertaken has backfire. This morning 846 00:44:12,080 --> 00:44:15,719 Speaker 1: you see scenes of hundreds of Russian troops essentially refusing 847 00:44:15,760 --> 00:44:18,640 Speaker 1: to go into training into the front. So you know, 848 00:44:18,680 --> 00:44:21,160 Speaker 1: this is a dangerous man, and the United States has 849 00:44:21,200 --> 00:44:25,320 Speaker 1: to be ready for Putin to use a tactical nuclear weapon. 850 00:44:25,560 --> 00:44:28,120 Speaker 1: I agree. I don't think there's any sign that he 851 00:44:28,280 --> 00:44:30,600 Speaker 1: is going to do that imminently, and it's important for 852 00:44:30,680 --> 00:44:33,880 Speaker 1: us to send signals about what the consequences would be 853 00:44:33,920 --> 00:44:37,279 Speaker 1: should he make that choice. But so, I mean, he's 854 00:44:37,280 --> 00:44:39,319 Speaker 1: like what is he talking about, essentially being like what 855 00:44:39,360 --> 00:44:41,880 Speaker 1: do you mean? What do you mean that you don't 856 00:44:41,920 --> 00:44:44,360 Speaker 1: know what he's talking about? Right? Are you serious? Like? 857 00:44:44,560 --> 00:44:47,960 Speaker 1: How could you possibly arrive at a scenario where you 858 00:44:48,080 --> 00:44:51,279 Speaker 1: don't understand, especially whenever you work in media, what the 859 00:44:51,440 --> 00:44:53,799 Speaker 1: risks are. And I think it's all part of a 860 00:44:53,800 --> 00:44:57,600 Speaker 1: concertive campaign basically in order to try and quote calm 861 00:44:57,640 --> 00:45:01,480 Speaker 1: the waters and not make people realize what's going on here, 862 00:45:01,520 --> 00:45:04,120 Speaker 1: because if they do, they might start might start asking 863 00:45:04,400 --> 00:45:06,040 Speaker 1: a lot of questions. I mean a lot of people 864 00:45:06,080 --> 00:45:08,080 Speaker 1: Crystal who are like, hey, what's going on? Like they 865 00:45:08,080 --> 00:45:11,239 Speaker 1: don't follow this stuff, you know, to the extent that 866 00:45:11,239 --> 00:45:13,120 Speaker 1: they're aware of it. They're like, yeah, Putin's a bad 867 00:45:13,160 --> 00:45:15,640 Speaker 1: guy and he attack Ukraine. I think Ukraine's been doing 868 00:45:15,840 --> 00:45:18,839 Speaker 1: pretty well. They don't know what all of the pronouncements 869 00:45:18,840 --> 00:45:21,840 Speaker 1: from the Kremlin aar the update to the nuclear doctrine, 870 00:45:21,880 --> 00:45:24,280 Speaker 1: and they didn't know it in nineteen sixty two, whenever 871 00:45:24,280 --> 00:45:26,480 Speaker 1: the Cuban missile crisis happened to kind of snuck up 872 00:45:26,480 --> 00:45:28,640 Speaker 1: on them, Whereas anybody who's paying attention was like, hey, 873 00:45:28,760 --> 00:45:31,000 Speaker 1: this is not a good situation. The point being that 874 00:45:31,040 --> 00:45:33,319 Speaker 1: these things escalate to that point. And I actually think 875 00:45:33,320 --> 00:45:35,440 Speaker 1: it's a duty of people like us and of Jake 876 00:45:35,520 --> 00:45:38,120 Speaker 1: Tapper to be very clear with people. They're like, this 877 00:45:38,719 --> 00:45:42,319 Speaker 1: is the possible risk. Is why he's saying it. Here's 878 00:45:42,360 --> 00:45:45,560 Speaker 1: what he's talking about instead of basically downplaying it. That's 879 00:45:45,560 --> 00:45:49,560 Speaker 1: what I saw in that the press only ever pressures 880 00:45:49,680 --> 00:45:53,719 Speaker 1: lawmakers basically from the hawkish side, and that's effectively what 881 00:45:53,840 --> 00:45:57,000 Speaker 1: he's what Tapper is doing here, because if you start 882 00:45:57,040 --> 00:45:59,600 Speaker 1: to really internalize that we're at this risk of a 883 00:45:59,600 --> 00:46:03,239 Speaker 1: potential nuclear conflict. Then it does raise all these questions 884 00:46:03,320 --> 00:46:05,839 Speaker 1: about what our strategy has been, and it you know, 885 00:46:05,880 --> 00:46:09,279 Speaker 1: Augur's against continued escalation as we've been sort of like 886 00:46:09,600 --> 00:46:12,200 Speaker 1: the term from the Biden administration was boiling the frog, 887 00:46:12,400 --> 00:46:15,200 Speaker 1: like slowly bit by bit by bit, getting more and 888 00:46:15,200 --> 00:46:20,000 Speaker 1: more involved and escalating, escalating, escalating from our side, and really, 889 00:46:20,080 --> 00:46:23,600 Speaker 1: you know, actively short circuiting any ability to sit down 890 00:46:23,640 --> 00:46:26,359 Speaker 1: for some sort of ceasefire or peace negotiation, even as 891 00:46:26,440 --> 00:46:28,600 Speaker 1: you know, I totally acknowledge at this point this seems 892 00:46:28,640 --> 00:46:31,239 Speaker 1: absolutely fanciful at this point in the conflict. That's why 893 00:46:31,239 --> 00:46:33,160 Speaker 1: we should have done everything we could at the beginning 894 00:46:33,200 --> 00:46:35,719 Speaker 1: of the conflict to avoid getting to this place. So 895 00:46:36,280 --> 00:46:39,319 Speaker 1: by sort of tamping down the concerns and we've heard 896 00:46:39,320 --> 00:46:41,840 Speaker 1: this from Hawks the whole time, of like he's bluffing. 897 00:46:42,000 --> 00:46:45,239 Speaker 1: Putin wouldn't actually do that, He's a coward, he's just 898 00:46:45,360 --> 00:46:48,920 Speaker 1: talking big. The reason you do that is because if 899 00:46:48,960 --> 00:46:52,239 Speaker 1: you take the nuclear threat off the table, then you 900 00:46:52,280 --> 00:46:54,359 Speaker 1: give the Hawks a stronger hand to say, oh, there's 901 00:46:54,440 --> 00:46:56,880 Speaker 1: you know, there's no reason why we can't have a 902 00:46:56,920 --> 00:46:59,120 Speaker 1: no fly zone or these other insane things that they've 903 00:46:59,200 --> 00:47:02,720 Speaker 1: ultimately been suggesting. So this is a way to pressure 904 00:47:02,800 --> 00:47:06,239 Speaker 1: Center Chris Murphy from the hawkish side. They never asked 905 00:47:06,280 --> 00:47:09,000 Speaker 1: the question like we did, Well, why doesn't President Biden 906 00:47:09,040 --> 00:47:11,239 Speaker 1: laid the sound for the American people what the risk is? 907 00:47:11,719 --> 00:47:15,080 Speaker 1: Why did President Biden engage in this policy that allowed 908 00:47:15,160 --> 00:47:17,760 Speaker 1: us to get to this place of potential nuclear escalation 909 00:47:17,840 --> 00:47:20,359 Speaker 1: in the first place. You never ever hear those sorts 910 00:47:20,360 --> 00:47:22,600 Speaker 1: of questions from the Prus ultimately, Yeah, And I think 911 00:47:22,640 --> 00:47:24,640 Speaker 1: that's really what it is, which is that I would 912 00:47:24,719 --> 00:47:27,440 Speaker 1: like to see people like Christopher Murphy and others pressed 913 00:47:27,520 --> 00:47:30,319 Speaker 1: on what are you guys doing. That's the other one 914 00:47:30,360 --> 00:47:31,879 Speaker 1: that bothers the hell out of me on this, which 915 00:47:31,920 --> 00:47:34,160 Speaker 1: is that the abdication of the US Congress. They just 916 00:47:34,200 --> 00:47:37,279 Speaker 1: green light these new weapons packages to Ukraine. I've read 917 00:47:37,280 --> 00:47:39,640 Speaker 1: them before before you guys on the show. There's no 918 00:47:39,760 --> 00:47:44,279 Speaker 1: limiting principles, no limitation on exactly what total delegation to 919 00:47:44,360 --> 00:47:47,640 Speaker 1: the executive to President Biden. And this is where you 920 00:47:47,680 --> 00:47:50,120 Speaker 1: got to call the Republicans out too. If you believe 921 00:47:50,239 --> 00:47:54,000 Speaker 1: that Brydon's brains are scrambled eggs, why would you give 922 00:47:54,040 --> 00:47:57,560 Speaker 1: that man the ability to give anything that he wants 923 00:47:57,560 --> 00:48:01,040 Speaker 1: in the moment to an armed ConfL which may result 924 00:48:01,280 --> 00:48:05,640 Speaker 1: in nuclear weapons, unless you too are as scrambled brains 925 00:48:06,320 --> 00:48:09,239 Speaker 1: whenever it comes to Ukraine. They have no thought. They're 926 00:48:09,280 --> 00:48:11,920 Speaker 1: abdicating their responsibility, and none of them want to be 927 00:48:11,920 --> 00:48:14,759 Speaker 1: branded by the press as some putin lover. Even Rand Paul. 928 00:48:14,800 --> 00:48:16,560 Speaker 1: I got to call out Rand Paul for a second. 929 00:48:16,600 --> 00:48:20,279 Speaker 1: I mean this guy, Yeah, he held up the he 930 00:48:20,440 --> 00:48:23,040 Speaker 1: asked for the inspector general. Right, he's still folded. He 931 00:48:23,120 --> 00:48:25,680 Speaker 1: took away his vote. Oh, we haven't heard anything from 932 00:48:25,760 --> 00:48:28,600 Speaker 1: him since then. The same an on NATO. Yeah, Rand 933 00:48:28,760 --> 00:48:31,839 Speaker 1: votes present, which is like, dude, you know, if you're 934 00:48:31,880 --> 00:48:34,960 Speaker 1: actually a libertarian, like stick up for your principles whenever 935 00:48:35,000 --> 00:48:37,240 Speaker 1: these things matter. He didn't want the heat. So even 936 00:48:37,280 --> 00:48:40,239 Speaker 1: the people who pretend to posture and have all this, 937 00:48:40,600 --> 00:48:43,640 Speaker 1: the stuff that will come on your head if you 938 00:48:43,760 --> 00:48:46,880 Speaker 1: voice any sort of descent is exactly why we're in 939 00:48:46,880 --> 00:48:49,479 Speaker 1: this predicament and in this problem. In the first place 940 00:48:49,520 --> 00:48:52,000 Speaker 1: I've talked about on this show about controlled opposition, I 941 00:48:52,000 --> 00:48:54,200 Speaker 1: think the same thing exists here in the United States. Yeah, 942 00:48:54,200 --> 00:48:56,960 Speaker 1: it's just not as brazen in terms of what it 943 00:48:57,000 --> 00:48:59,360 Speaker 1: all looked like, I guess we're allowed to exist, Crystal, 944 00:49:00,080 --> 00:49:03,719 Speaker 1: so we're not in prison. But that's not also for 945 00:49:03,719 --> 00:49:05,600 Speaker 1: them to take care of us. That's I mean, there's 946 00:49:05,640 --> 00:49:07,960 Speaker 1: a lot of institutional elements that they can reach for 947 00:49:08,600 --> 00:49:11,160 Speaker 1: that they can go anyway. Yeah, I think it's apt 948 00:49:11,600 --> 00:49:16,200 Speaker 1: overall on you know, Biden's nuclear armagudden talk and Trump's 949 00:49:16,200 --> 00:49:18,839 Speaker 1: comments here. I'm glad to hear it, you know, I'm 950 00:49:18,880 --> 00:49:20,640 Speaker 1: glad that I think we could be in a lot 951 00:49:20,640 --> 00:49:24,760 Speaker 1: worse position than we are if we had Kamala Harris's president, 952 00:49:24,760 --> 00:49:27,120 Speaker 1: if we had Hillary Clinton as president. I think there 953 00:49:27,120 --> 00:49:30,680 Speaker 1: are a lot there would be people who could be 954 00:49:30,880 --> 00:49:32,839 Speaker 1: in this position of power who would be much more 955 00:49:32,840 --> 00:49:36,239 Speaker 1: easily swayed by this notion being put forward by take Tapper, Like, 956 00:49:36,400 --> 00:49:38,160 Speaker 1: you don't have to worry about this nuclear war stuff. 957 00:49:38,200 --> 00:49:40,719 Speaker 1: This is just a bluff, bluff. Nobody serious really thinks 958 00:49:40,760 --> 00:49:43,600 Speaker 1: this is ultimately going to happen. And listen, again, what's 959 00:49:43,640 --> 00:49:45,600 Speaker 1: the percentage that we end up in some sort of 960 00:49:45,680 --> 00:49:47,719 Speaker 1: nuclear conflict. I don't know. It might be quite low, 961 00:49:47,800 --> 00:49:51,800 Speaker 1: It probably is quite low. But that's a sizeable risk 962 00:49:52,200 --> 00:49:55,120 Speaker 1: that we need to be taking incredibly seriously. So at 963 00:49:55,200 --> 00:49:58,040 Speaker 1: least that exists somewhere in the brain of the President 964 00:49:58,040 --> 00:49:59,560 Speaker 1: of the United States, and I'm glad to hear that. 965 00:50:03,320 --> 00:50:06,480 Speaker 1: All right, let's turn to the domestic front. Some big 966 00:50:06,560 --> 00:50:09,880 Speaker 1: news also from President Biden last week. Let's go and 967 00:50:09,920 --> 00:50:12,000 Speaker 1: put this up on the screen. So this is a 968 00:50:12,160 --> 00:50:15,360 Speaker 1: fulfilling of a campaign pledge he made. Is from the 969 00:50:15,360 --> 00:50:19,880 Speaker 1: AP They say, Biden pardons thousands for simple possession of marijuana. 970 00:50:19,960 --> 00:50:22,799 Speaker 1: Let me read you some of the details here. So 971 00:50:22,880 --> 00:50:26,080 Speaker 1: President Biden pardoning those Americans convicted of simple possession of 972 00:50:26,080 --> 00:50:29,920 Speaker 1: marijuana under federal law. And that's important as his administration 973 00:50:29,960 --> 00:50:32,840 Speaker 1: takes a dramatic step, they say, towards decriminalizing the drug 974 00:50:32,920 --> 00:50:36,800 Speaker 1: and addressing charging practices that disproportionately impact people of color. 975 00:50:37,360 --> 00:50:40,360 Speaker 1: His move also covers thousands convicted of the crime in DC, 976 00:50:40,800 --> 00:50:43,719 Speaker 1: and he is calling on governors to issue similar pardons 977 00:50:43,719 --> 00:50:46,920 Speaker 1: for those convicted of state state marijuana offenses, which reflect 978 00:50:46,920 --> 00:50:52,000 Speaker 1: the vast majority of marijuana possession cases. The real news here, 979 00:50:52,120 --> 00:50:56,200 Speaker 1: I think, because ultimately there's no one in federal prison 980 00:50:56,239 --> 00:50:59,040 Speaker 1: for simple possession of marijuana. Now, this will be significant 981 00:50:59,080 --> 00:51:01,879 Speaker 1: for people who have convictions and they're struggling to get 982 00:51:02,120 --> 00:51:04,640 Speaker 1: jobs or housing or those sorts of things. It will 983 00:51:04,680 --> 00:51:07,120 Speaker 1: be helpful ultimately for them. But I think the biggest, 984 00:51:07,120 --> 00:51:10,320 Speaker 1: most significant news here is that he also is looking 985 00:51:10,400 --> 00:51:14,800 Speaker 1: at rescheduling marijuana. He's directing the Secretary of Health and 986 00:51:14,880 --> 00:51:17,719 Speaker 1: Human Services in the US Attorney General to review how 987 00:51:17,760 --> 00:51:21,919 Speaker 1: marijuana is scheduled under federal law. Rescheduling the drug would 988 00:51:21,920 --> 00:51:26,320 Speaker 1: reduce or potentially eliminate criminal penalties for possession. Currently, marijuana 989 00:51:26,360 --> 00:51:28,960 Speaker 1: is a Schedule one drug, so it's alongside things like 990 00:51:29,000 --> 00:51:32,000 Speaker 1: heroin and LSD, which is insane, but it is a 991 00:51:32,040 --> 00:51:34,839 Speaker 1: head of fentanyl and methamphetamine. The White House didn't set 992 00:51:34,880 --> 00:51:38,239 Speaker 1: a timeline for the review, so ultimately that would be 993 00:51:38,320 --> 00:51:42,040 Speaker 1: the biggest and most significant shift in terms of drug 994 00:51:42,080 --> 00:51:45,880 Speaker 1: policy if it was ultimately rescheduled, and it also is 995 00:51:45,920 --> 00:51:49,080 Speaker 1: we're saying, I mean, this is a dramatic departure from 996 00:51:49,120 --> 00:51:53,360 Speaker 1: how Biden has approached marijuana and every other substance throughout 997 00:51:53,360 --> 00:51:55,920 Speaker 1: the entirety of his career. I mean, he really prided 998 00:51:56,000 --> 00:51:58,560 Speaker 1: himself on being a drug warrior. Of course, we all 999 00:51:58,600 --> 00:52:02,240 Speaker 1: know he's very involved in that nineteen ninety four Federal 1000 00:52:02,280 --> 00:52:06,440 Speaker 1: Sentencing Act, so he has been very, very tough, and 1001 00:52:06,480 --> 00:52:08,839 Speaker 1: even his own administration. Remember they tossed down a bunch 1002 00:52:08,880 --> 00:52:11,279 Speaker 1: of people who had been like who had smoked weed. 1003 00:52:11,400 --> 00:52:14,440 Speaker 1: They were like fired for admitting that they had ultimately 1004 00:52:14,440 --> 00:52:19,480 Speaker 1: smoked weed. So this is a really significant philosophical, I 1005 00:52:19,480 --> 00:52:23,000 Speaker 1: think shift for Biden. I would say undertaken under pressure 1006 00:52:23,040 --> 00:52:26,360 Speaker 1: based on a campaign promise and with the understanding that 1007 00:52:26,400 --> 00:52:28,919 Speaker 1: the midterms are coming up. And this is a very 1008 00:52:28,960 --> 00:52:31,120 Speaker 1: clear political winnery arm in the polling on this is clear. 1009 00:52:31,160 --> 00:52:33,200 Speaker 1: Let's go in and put this morning Console poll up 1010 00:52:33,200 --> 00:52:37,520 Speaker 1: on the screen. Sixty percent of voters say marijuana should 1011 00:52:37,520 --> 00:52:41,080 Speaker 1: be made legal entirely. So that's going way further than 1012 00:52:41,080 --> 00:52:43,680 Speaker 1: Biden is going here with this order, compared with only 1013 00:52:43,719 --> 00:52:46,880 Speaker 1: twenty seven percent who say it should not be And Soger, 1014 00:52:46,960 --> 00:52:51,120 Speaker 1: this is really across demographics, even Republicans. That's plurality support, 1015 00:52:51,400 --> 00:52:54,719 Speaker 1: even among the oldest demographics. It's plurality support. And it's 1016 00:52:54,800 --> 00:52:57,600 Speaker 1: most popular among young people. You're talking about like seventy 1017 00:52:57,600 --> 00:53:01,360 Speaker 1: percent support and only seventeen percent opposed among young voters 1018 00:53:01,400 --> 00:53:04,799 Speaker 1: and also among black voters as well. So for people 1019 00:53:04,840 --> 00:53:07,480 Speaker 1: who care about this is significant issue, and it's just 1020 00:53:07,520 --> 00:53:09,960 Speaker 1: like such a clear political winner that it's kind of astonishing. 1021 00:53:10,000 --> 00:53:12,040 Speaker 1: It hasn't been done yet. It is interesting, you know, 1022 00:53:12,160 --> 00:53:14,200 Speaker 1: much to my chagrin, that all of this is happening. 1023 00:53:14,640 --> 00:53:16,239 Speaker 1: I do want to reiterate that there is not a 1024 00:53:16,280 --> 00:53:19,239 Speaker 1: single person in federal prison for simple marijuana possession. I 1025 00:53:19,280 --> 00:53:22,560 Speaker 1: will not deny that there are horrific, unjust tragedies that 1026 00:53:22,560 --> 00:53:24,440 Speaker 1: have happened over the years at the state level, of 1027 00:53:24,440 --> 00:53:26,760 Speaker 1: which I've always made clear I'm one hundred percent against. 1028 00:53:26,760 --> 00:53:30,000 Speaker 1: I don't think anybody should be in jail for marijuana possession. 1029 00:53:30,600 --> 00:53:34,080 Speaker 1: I do think that the HHS thing is going to 1030 00:53:34,080 --> 00:53:36,000 Speaker 1: be interesting. So I read up a little bit about this, 1031 00:53:36,120 --> 00:53:40,120 Speaker 1: which is that the reality is that HHS civil servants 1032 00:53:40,160 --> 00:53:42,000 Speaker 1: are the ones who are in charge of this decision. 1033 00:53:42,360 --> 00:53:46,680 Speaker 1: They are required by federal law to review the scheduling 1034 00:53:46,760 --> 00:53:50,640 Speaker 1: of marijuana and all controlled substances every five to ten years, 1035 00:53:50,880 --> 00:53:55,680 Speaker 1: of which eight factors of analysis must be required to 1036 00:53:55,760 --> 00:54:00,560 Speaker 1: meet to de schedule marijuana. Has never reached those facts, 1037 00:54:00,680 --> 00:54:04,200 Speaker 1: quote unquote failed on all of those factors around the 1038 00:54:04,239 --> 00:54:07,960 Speaker 1: way that the definitions have said regarding harm, et cetera. Now, 1039 00:54:07,960 --> 00:54:11,000 Speaker 1: I don't even disagree that Schedule one status, especially given 1040 00:54:11,040 --> 00:54:15,000 Speaker 1: what's not scheduled one doesn't make any godden I am fully. 1041 00:54:15,200 --> 00:54:17,719 Speaker 1: I want to be very very clear. The reason why 1042 00:54:17,760 --> 00:54:20,680 Speaker 1: that this matters from a bureaucratic point of view is 1043 00:54:20,719 --> 00:54:24,400 Speaker 1: that the HHS recommendation is actually binding for the Department 1044 00:54:24,480 --> 00:54:26,799 Speaker 1: of Justice. So this isn't really something that you can 1045 00:54:26,880 --> 00:54:31,400 Speaker 1: just do without the You essentially need Whoemever, the equivalent 1046 00:54:31,440 --> 00:54:34,920 Speaker 1: of the parliamentarian of the AHHS is that guy or 1047 00:54:34,960 --> 00:54:38,239 Speaker 1: those guys and girls have to sign off before the 1048 00:54:38,320 --> 00:54:41,040 Speaker 1: DOJ were to make anything. Now, of course, the dj 1049 00:54:41,200 --> 00:54:43,319 Speaker 1: can also change its policy about what it will and 1050 00:54:43,360 --> 00:54:46,640 Speaker 1: will not prosecute, but I'm speaking specifically on what the 1051 00:54:46,680 --> 00:54:49,600 Speaker 1: overhalling policy is, and I also will say part of 1052 00:54:49,600 --> 00:54:52,000 Speaker 1: why I'm deeply skeptical of all of this is I 1053 00:54:52,040 --> 00:54:53,960 Speaker 1: think all of this is being done on behalf of 1054 00:54:54,000 --> 00:54:57,680 Speaker 1: the marijuana industry, of which is completely unregulated and of 1055 00:54:57,680 --> 00:55:01,560 Speaker 1: which there have been insane It's essentially like the supplement industry. 1056 00:55:01,560 --> 00:55:03,960 Speaker 1: They have no idea what you're getting. I'll just reiterate 1057 00:55:04,080 --> 00:55:06,520 Speaker 1: my friend Andrew Heuberman. He's got a great podcast on 1058 00:55:06,560 --> 00:55:10,680 Speaker 1: cannabis which I recommend everybody go and listen to. I'm 1059 00:55:10,719 --> 00:55:11,880 Speaker 1: not going to sit here and say it's safe I 1060 00:55:11,920 --> 00:55:13,799 Speaker 1: don't think alcohol is safe either. Personally, I don't even 1061 00:55:13,840 --> 00:55:16,759 Speaker 1: drink alcohol anymore. I just want people to know that 1062 00:55:17,320 --> 00:55:19,880 Speaker 1: a lot of the claims that the industry is making 1063 00:55:20,040 --> 00:55:23,520 Speaker 1: is really all about money. They want marijuana descheduled so 1064 00:55:23,560 --> 00:55:25,919 Speaker 1: that they can make a shit ton of money by 1065 00:55:25,960 --> 00:55:29,080 Speaker 1: selling it commercially and use the commercial banking system. A 1066 00:55:29,160 --> 00:55:32,000 Speaker 1: lot of people don't know this, but originally the way 1067 00:55:32,120 --> 00:55:35,360 Speaker 1: because marijuana is still federally illegal and Schedule one drug, 1068 00:55:35,360 --> 00:55:38,080 Speaker 1: they're not eligible for a lot of banking services, so 1069 00:55:38,120 --> 00:55:40,279 Speaker 1: they have like special marijuana banks, and it's also a 1070 00:55:40,360 --> 00:55:42,880 Speaker 1: high cash industry. That means that they don't get loans. 1071 00:55:43,200 --> 00:55:46,160 Speaker 1: They have basically cut off from like the normal financial system, 1072 00:55:46,200 --> 00:55:48,960 Speaker 1: almost like OnlyFans. Also was they want that removed so 1073 00:55:48,960 --> 00:55:50,399 Speaker 1: they can make a ton of money. There's a lot 1074 00:55:50,400 --> 00:55:52,920 Speaker 1: of inture capitalists, corporate and even Pfizer in the big 1075 00:55:52,960 --> 00:55:55,360 Speaker 1: drug companies that are eyeing this as a multi billion 1076 00:55:55,400 --> 00:55:57,799 Speaker 1: dollar thing. I think it would be the worst thing 1077 00:55:57,880 --> 00:56:01,160 Speaker 1: possible in order for that to happen. So I've eventually 1078 00:56:01,200 --> 00:56:03,920 Speaker 1: come around to some form of if it's going to 1079 00:56:03,960 --> 00:56:06,520 Speaker 1: be legal, I think it should have to be nonprofit. 1080 00:56:06,560 --> 00:56:08,959 Speaker 1: There are a couple of countries and other places where 1081 00:56:09,000 --> 00:56:11,839 Speaker 1: they have taken profit completely out of it, and they 1082 00:56:11,840 --> 00:56:14,040 Speaker 1: make it so on a couple levels. A, you know 1083 00:56:14,080 --> 00:56:17,320 Speaker 1: what you're getting. B you're not like using deceptives advertising 1084 00:56:17,360 --> 00:56:19,880 Speaker 1: in order to target children. And see, which is that 1085 00:56:20,120 --> 00:56:22,800 Speaker 1: anytime profit is involved in drugs. I'm just going to 1086 00:56:22,840 --> 00:56:24,759 Speaker 1: go ahead and say that things are bad. Yeah, and 1087 00:56:25,160 --> 00:56:27,160 Speaker 1: I say the alcohol industry is perhaps one of the 1088 00:56:27,200 --> 00:56:30,120 Speaker 1: biggest killers in the United States. And that's no tobacco 1089 00:56:30,200 --> 00:56:32,560 Speaker 1: as well. I mean I support that as well. I mean, 1090 00:56:32,560 --> 00:56:36,520 Speaker 1: your issue really is with capitalism, not yes, I'm saying 1091 00:56:36,520 --> 00:56:40,520 Speaker 1: it available of marijuana, you know, directly like and there 1092 00:56:40,560 --> 00:56:44,080 Speaker 1: are models within the US too that are promising. So 1093 00:56:44,120 --> 00:56:48,200 Speaker 1: we talked about in Rhode Island they have I think 1094 00:56:48,239 --> 00:56:52,120 Speaker 1: this got passed. They have sort of landmark legislation that 1095 00:56:52,160 --> 00:56:55,880 Speaker 1: would enable their licensing to marijuana businesses. There's some percentage 1096 00:56:55,880 --> 00:56:58,000 Speaker 1: that would have to be co ops. So there are 1097 00:56:58,400 --> 00:57:01,359 Speaker 1: sort of models that can be employed to make sure. Yeah, 1098 00:57:01,400 --> 00:57:04,680 Speaker 1: it's got to be regulated. Obviously, the like illegal black 1099 00:57:04,680 --> 00:57:07,439 Speaker 1: market for marijuana right now is not regulated at all, 1100 00:57:07,840 --> 00:57:10,520 Speaker 1: and it can be laced with all sorts of things 1101 00:57:10,560 --> 00:57:13,200 Speaker 1: which are even more dangerous. So that's a really bad 1102 00:57:13,239 --> 00:57:16,680 Speaker 1: situation overall. Obviously, I think this is a really positive 1103 00:57:16,960 --> 00:57:20,160 Speaker 1: potential step forward. We'll see what happens with the rescheduling 1104 00:57:20,320 --> 00:57:22,960 Speaker 1: being scheduled. One right now is completely I mean, it's 1105 00:57:23,040 --> 00:57:26,680 Speaker 1: just totally insane. No one would say that marijuana is 1106 00:57:26,720 --> 00:57:31,080 Speaker 1: as addictive or dangerous as like heroin. For one very 1107 00:57:31,080 --> 00:57:34,440 Speaker 1: clear example, there have been, you know, people who have 1108 00:57:34,520 --> 00:57:40,680 Speaker 1: found medical benefits from marijuana as well. So I think 1109 00:57:40,720 --> 00:57:44,880 Speaker 1: it's really interesting from political perspective too, that Biden is 1110 00:57:44,880 --> 00:57:47,560 Speaker 1: reaching for this just before the midterms, because it does 1111 00:57:47,600 --> 00:57:50,360 Speaker 1: show you what a dramatic shift in public opinion there 1112 00:57:50,360 --> 00:57:52,720 Speaker 1: has been on this issue over the course of just 1113 00:57:52,800 --> 00:57:57,120 Speaker 1: like the past two decades. I mean, when just very 1114 00:57:57,120 --> 00:58:01,000 Speaker 1: recently public opinion was completely on the other side of 1115 00:58:01,040 --> 00:58:03,920 Speaker 1: this issue, and now you have even some red states 1116 00:58:03,960 --> 00:58:07,720 Speaker 1: which have at least decriminalized marijuana has become a very 1117 00:58:07,800 --> 00:58:10,640 Speaker 1: mainstream position. So, as I said, I think it's kind 1118 00:58:10,640 --> 00:58:14,360 Speaker 1: of surprising that no one politically has reached for this previously. 1119 00:58:14,440 --> 00:58:17,600 Speaker 1: When Biden obviously, like I mean, he's still the same 1120 00:58:17,640 --> 00:58:20,640 Speaker 1: guy that he's always been, but he sees both with 1121 00:58:20,680 --> 00:58:22,800 Speaker 1: this and I think with the student loan debt cancelation 1122 00:58:22,920 --> 00:58:27,080 Speaker 1: as well, where the numbers are, where his campaign promises were, 1123 00:58:27,200 --> 00:58:30,040 Speaker 1: and what it could ultimately do for him in the midterms. 1124 00:58:30,200 --> 00:58:32,400 Speaker 1: You know, I found this this was just a little 1125 00:58:32,520 --> 00:58:34,240 Speaker 1: note in this let's go ahead and put the last 1126 00:58:34,280 --> 00:58:36,919 Speaker 1: element for this block up on the screen. I thought 1127 00:58:37,000 --> 00:58:41,200 Speaker 1: this was interesting in a Walker Warnock focus group. So 1128 00:58:41,280 --> 00:58:44,000 Speaker 1: the bulk of this article from our friend Dan Maren's 1129 00:58:44,080 --> 00:58:45,880 Speaker 1: is about, you know, how people are responding to the 1130 00:58:45,960 --> 00:58:49,000 Speaker 1: various herschel blocker scandals and how they think about that race. 1131 00:58:49,160 --> 00:58:50,800 Speaker 1: But there was this one little note in here that 1132 00:58:50,840 --> 00:58:53,360 Speaker 1: I thought was really interesting. They were interviewing this one 1133 00:58:53,360 --> 00:58:55,880 Speaker 1: woman and she said she was neutral on Biden because 1134 00:58:55,920 --> 00:58:58,800 Speaker 1: she appreciates the student loan forgiveness but at the same 1135 00:58:58,800 --> 00:59:01,320 Speaker 1: time struggling with inflation and nervous about the declining value 1136 00:59:01,320 --> 00:59:03,840 Speaker 1: of her investments. And they have this little side note 1137 00:59:03,880 --> 00:59:06,800 Speaker 1: in here that Biden's forgiveness of student loans and steps 1138 00:59:06,800 --> 00:59:12,000 Speaker 1: to decriminalize marijuana were his most popular policies among the participants, 1139 00:59:12,120 --> 00:59:15,000 Speaker 1: who ranged an age from younger to middle aged adults. 1140 00:59:15,360 --> 00:59:17,440 Speaker 1: These were all people who were sort of they were 1141 00:59:17,480 --> 00:59:20,360 Speaker 1: swing voters. I think they were folks who had like 1142 00:59:20,480 --> 00:59:23,080 Speaker 1: voted for Biden but also voted for Kemp. That was 1143 00:59:23,120 --> 00:59:26,000 Speaker 1: something like that. They'd like divided their votes between Republicans 1144 00:59:26,000 --> 00:59:31,240 Speaker 1: and Democrats, and these two policies actually seemed to land 1145 00:59:31,400 --> 00:59:33,080 Speaker 1: most with them. Now, it's a focused group, it's a 1146 00:59:33,120 --> 00:59:34,760 Speaker 1: small group of voters, et cetera, et cetera. But I 1147 00:59:34,800 --> 00:59:37,000 Speaker 1: did think it was kind of an interesting note. These 1148 00:59:37,040 --> 00:59:40,080 Speaker 1: sorts of things which you know no one would rank, 1149 00:59:40,600 --> 00:59:43,240 Speaker 1: very few people would rank as like their number one issue, 1150 00:59:43,400 --> 00:59:47,560 Speaker 1: They can be disproportionately impactful and motivating for the group 1151 00:59:47,600 --> 00:59:50,520 Speaker 1: of voters that really really ultimately care or impacted. That's 1152 00:59:50,520 --> 00:59:52,680 Speaker 1: what Michael Moore always used to say. I think I 1153 00:59:52,720 --> 00:59:55,240 Speaker 1: think it's gonna be a good test case. I cannot 1154 00:59:55,240 --> 00:59:57,520 Speaker 1: wait for the election results to come in. Is are 1155 00:59:57,560 --> 01:00:00,160 Speaker 1: youth vote going to be up or down? Let's say 1156 01:00:00,240 --> 01:00:02,880 Speaker 1: it's a perfect test of like everybody said for years, 1157 01:00:02,880 --> 01:00:04,240 Speaker 1: if you do this and the young people will come 1158 01:00:04,280 --> 01:00:06,120 Speaker 1: out and vote. This one is not as one to one, 1159 01:00:06,120 --> 01:00:07,800 Speaker 1: but I think student loan is pretty one to one. 1160 01:00:08,280 --> 01:00:10,800 Speaker 1: Let's figure it out if it's actually true. If it's not, 1161 01:00:11,320 --> 01:00:14,000 Speaker 1: then you know we can reform our talking about how 1162 01:00:14,040 --> 01:00:16,840 Speaker 1: exactly it will all work out. I'm genuinely pretty skeptical 1163 01:00:16,920 --> 01:00:18,640 Speaker 1: just because of where the polls and all that stuff 1164 01:00:18,640 --> 01:00:20,960 Speaker 1: have moved, and some people people anecdotically say a lot 1165 01:00:20,960 --> 01:00:22,600 Speaker 1: of things. Are they really going to break their voting 1166 01:00:22,600 --> 01:00:25,000 Speaker 1: pattern and actually come out to vote? I don't know. 1167 01:00:25,080 --> 01:00:26,840 Speaker 1: I mean, does anybody really care about weed enough in 1168 01:00:26,920 --> 01:00:30,720 Speaker 1: order to come just specifically for possible de scheduling in 1169 01:00:30,760 --> 01:00:32,960 Speaker 1: a couple of years. I'm deeply skeptical. That's why I 1170 01:00:33,000 --> 01:00:35,560 Speaker 1: think that the student loan one is a good test case. 1171 01:00:35,720 --> 01:00:37,080 Speaker 1: But are you going to come out and vote or not? 1172 01:00:37,200 --> 01:00:41,040 Speaker 1: I think it's more, you know, people get this sense 1173 01:00:41,080 --> 01:00:45,240 Speaker 1: of like people who are more progressive or who are 1174 01:00:45,240 --> 01:00:47,840 Speaker 1: directly impacted by this policies, they just get a little 1175 01:00:47,880 --> 01:00:49,520 Speaker 1: bit more of a sense of like, Okay, he's doing 1176 01:00:49,560 --> 01:00:53,360 Speaker 1: some stuff. It creates a more generally positive impression of 1177 01:00:53,440 --> 01:00:56,080 Speaker 1: him for a certain group of voters. Now, I continue 1178 01:00:56,120 --> 01:00:57,640 Speaker 1: to think the most important things are going to be 1179 01:00:57,680 --> 01:00:59,600 Speaker 1: inflation in the economy and the fact that gas prices 1180 01:00:59,640 --> 01:01:02,280 Speaker 1: are probably going back up. I still think that, you know, 1181 01:01:02,320 --> 01:01:05,360 Speaker 1: gives Republicans a significant edge ultimately, But I did think 1182 01:01:05,400 --> 01:01:08,400 Speaker 1: it was interesting that that was something that was brought 1183 01:01:08,440 --> 01:01:10,960 Speaker 1: up by those focus group participants. We're going to talk 1184 01:01:10,960 --> 01:01:15,040 Speaker 1: to Kyle Condict today. It's also interesting that Republicans really, 1185 01:01:15,080 --> 01:01:17,320 Speaker 1: I think when the student loan debt forgiveness thing happened, 1186 01:01:17,360 --> 01:01:19,440 Speaker 1: they really thought they had maybe a winning issue on 1187 01:01:19,520 --> 01:01:21,480 Speaker 1: their hands. They're not running any ads on it, but 1188 01:01:21,520 --> 01:01:23,760 Speaker 1: neither are Democrats. I mean, it's basically in terms of 1189 01:01:23,800 --> 01:01:27,080 Speaker 1: the ad wars not being focused on at all. So 1190 01:01:27,320 --> 01:01:30,560 Speaker 1: that's kind of an interesting note as well. Yeah, that's right. Okay, guys, 1191 01:01:30,720 --> 01:01:33,080 Speaker 1: we have some updates for you out of Uvaldi. One 1192 01:01:33,120 --> 01:01:35,360 Speaker 1: of them good, one of them. I just can't even 1193 01:01:35,360 --> 01:01:38,240 Speaker 1: wrap my head around what they continue to do down there. 1194 01:01:38,320 --> 01:01:40,480 Speaker 1: Let's go and put this first part up on the screen. 1195 01:01:40,560 --> 01:01:44,919 Speaker 1: So they hired this ex Texas trooper, this woman yep, 1196 01:01:45,200 --> 01:01:48,960 Speaker 1: who was actually at the shooting okay, the day of 1197 01:01:49,040 --> 01:01:53,680 Speaker 1: that horrific, unconscionable massacre. She was one of the first 1198 01:01:53,720 --> 01:01:57,760 Speaker 1: people into the building after the gunman. And she is 1199 01:01:57,800 --> 01:02:02,640 Speaker 1: one of seven troopers who who are actively under investigation 1200 01:02:03,280 --> 01:02:07,560 Speaker 1: for their failures on that day. And this woman, the 1201 01:02:07,720 --> 01:02:12,920 Speaker 1: Uvaldi school district turns around and hires for their specific 1202 01:02:13,120 --> 01:02:17,560 Speaker 1: like school district police force, what are you doing now? 1203 01:02:17,600 --> 01:02:21,640 Speaker 1: They've since been forced to reverse course because the outcry 1204 01:02:21,800 --> 01:02:25,400 Speaker 1: over this, understandably was so loud and so great that 1205 01:02:25,440 --> 01:02:28,040 Speaker 1: they had to ultimately, you know, go back and let 1206 01:02:28,080 --> 01:02:30,800 Speaker 1: go of this woman. But what the hell are they 1207 01:02:30,880 --> 01:02:34,480 Speaker 1: ultimately thinking? And by the way, this was not some oversight. 1208 01:02:34,840 --> 01:02:39,040 Speaker 1: There were documents that were released that showed that they 1209 01:02:39,080 --> 01:02:41,880 Speaker 1: were made aware of the fact that she was there 1210 01:02:41,960 --> 01:02:45,400 Speaker 1: and that she was under investigation for her failures on 1211 01:02:45,520 --> 01:02:48,520 Speaker 1: that day, and they still sagur went ahead and hired her. Yeah. 1212 01:02:48,560 --> 01:02:52,080 Speaker 1: The Uvaldi family victims put out a joint statement saying, quote, 1213 01:02:52,120 --> 01:02:55,760 Speaker 1: we are disgusted and angry at Evaldi cisd's decision to 1214 01:02:55,800 --> 01:02:58,640 Speaker 1: hire her. Her hiring puts into question the credibility and 1215 01:02:58,680 --> 01:03:02,720 Speaker 1: thoroughnesses of their HR vetting practices. Yeah, you think continuing, 1216 01:03:02,800 --> 01:03:05,280 Speaker 1: and it confirms what we've been saying all along. U 1217 01:03:05,440 --> 01:03:08,520 Speaker 1: CEID has not and is not in the business of 1218 01:03:08,680 --> 01:03:12,280 Speaker 1: ensuring the safety of our children at school. I don't 1219 01:03:12,360 --> 01:03:16,160 Speaker 1: think you could possibly deny that, you know, even representatives 1220 01:03:17,200 --> 01:03:19,240 Speaker 1: from that area are saying that this trooper was on 1221 01:03:19,240 --> 01:03:21,720 Speaker 1: the scene within two minutes and failed to follow training, 1222 01:03:21,760 --> 01:03:25,000 Speaker 1: protocol and duty. She was sworn to people's children died 1223 01:03:25,080 --> 01:03:27,440 Speaker 1: because officials failed to do their jobs, and then she 1224 01:03:27,600 --> 01:03:30,040 Speaker 1: was turned around and hired her these people. I mean, 1225 01:03:30,040 --> 01:03:32,760 Speaker 1: it's like a den of the most like useless rats 1226 01:03:32,800 --> 01:03:36,000 Speaker 1: possible all they're capable of doing. Apparently in this CISD 1227 01:03:36,240 --> 01:03:39,920 Speaker 1: school district, was you know, covering up both for Pete Arodondo, 1228 01:03:40,040 --> 01:03:42,520 Speaker 1: the CISD chief who made the decision not to go 1229 01:03:42,520 --> 01:03:44,919 Speaker 1: in in the first place, and apparently hire other people 1230 01:03:45,000 --> 01:03:47,720 Speaker 1: who are you know, also involved in the cover up. 1231 01:03:47,800 --> 01:03:51,280 Speaker 1: And you know, also what was it intimidating that mom 1232 01:03:51,560 --> 01:03:55,440 Speaker 1: who spoke out against their failures? Just this is it's 1233 01:03:55,480 --> 01:03:58,880 Speaker 1: an insanity down it really, I mean, I can't explain 1234 01:03:58,920 --> 01:04:02,400 Speaker 1: it other than just like total nepotism and corruption, like 1235 01:04:02,560 --> 01:04:05,160 Speaker 1: just like this good old boys and apparently good old 1236 01:04:05,240 --> 01:04:08,880 Speaker 1: girls club looking out for each other above any and 1237 01:04:09,080 --> 01:04:13,520 Speaker 1: all other principles. She was literally the first DPS member 1238 01:04:13,560 --> 01:04:16,280 Speaker 1: to enter the hallway at that elementary school after the 1239 01:04:16,280 --> 01:04:19,480 Speaker 1: shooter gained entry. She didn't bring her rifle or her 1240 01:04:19,560 --> 01:04:22,160 Speaker 1: vest into the school, according to the results of an 1241 01:04:22,200 --> 01:04:25,160 Speaker 1: internal review. And yet this is someone that they thought 1242 01:04:25,200 --> 01:04:29,040 Speaker 1: would be appropriate to put on the Valdi School Police 1243 01:04:29,040 --> 01:04:32,040 Speaker 1: District Force. So the other in the wake of all 1244 01:04:32,080 --> 01:04:34,840 Speaker 1: of this, the more positive update here let's go ouad 1245 01:04:34,840 --> 01:04:38,920 Speaker 1: and put this up on the screen. Long overdue. Evaldi 1246 01:04:39,000 --> 01:04:43,720 Speaker 1: School District suspends their entire police force. The superintendent is 1247 01:04:43,800 --> 01:04:46,880 Speaker 1: also going to retire amid fallout from the shooting. I 1248 01:04:46,880 --> 01:04:49,040 Speaker 1: think the superintendent was probably involved in some of the 1249 01:04:49,200 --> 01:04:51,600 Speaker 1: cover up here, since it seems like everybody in any 1250 01:04:51,600 --> 01:04:54,040 Speaker 1: position of power was involved in the cover up here. 1251 01:04:54,640 --> 01:04:58,560 Speaker 1: So they say that the school district, still facing withering criticism, 1252 01:04:59,000 --> 01:05:03,360 Speaker 1: announced the suspension of their entire district police force on Friday. 1253 01:05:03,880 --> 01:05:06,400 Speaker 1: This is actually a relatively small number of people because 1254 01:05:06,400 --> 01:05:09,680 Speaker 1: we're not talking about the overall Youfaldi police, which, in 1255 01:05:09,760 --> 01:05:12,720 Speaker 1: my opinion, everyone who was at African school and that 1256 01:05:12,720 --> 01:05:16,439 Speaker 1: should day should be suspended and ultimately fired. But they're 1257 01:05:16,560 --> 01:05:20,480 Speaker 1: just suspending the school district police force, which is like 1258 01:05:20,560 --> 01:05:22,800 Speaker 1: it's like four people. There was about six people, yeah, 1259 01:05:22,800 --> 01:05:24,360 Speaker 1: I mean, to be fair, they were the ones who 1260 01:05:24,400 --> 01:05:26,000 Speaker 1: made the call not to go into the building. The 1261 01:05:26,080 --> 01:05:29,400 Speaker 1: Pete Rodondo specifically, I agree, which is that it's not 1262 01:05:29,480 --> 01:05:31,720 Speaker 1: just them. He cleared our Dondo is the fall guy, 1263 01:05:31,800 --> 01:05:35,400 Speaker 1: and so is the I mean you had federal marshals, yes, 1264 01:05:35,560 --> 01:05:40,040 Speaker 1: you had Texas CPS Border patrol. I mean, look, we've 1265 01:05:40,040 --> 01:05:43,160 Speaker 1: all seen the photos, we've all seen the video about 1266 01:05:43,160 --> 01:05:47,400 Speaker 1: what happened in the hallway. Every single person who did 1267 01:05:47,400 --> 01:05:51,240 Speaker 1: not actively try to break the commander's protocol and go 1268 01:05:51,360 --> 01:05:53,959 Speaker 1: in should be fired. Yeah, And in my opinion, those 1269 01:05:54,000 --> 01:05:57,320 Speaker 1: at the top should be criminally prosecuted for negligence and 1270 01:05:57,400 --> 01:05:59,800 Speaker 1: negligent homicide. I know that's not how the law works, 1271 01:06:00,040 --> 01:06:02,520 Speaker 1: Supreme Court decision, et cetera. I just said, in my opinion, 1272 01:06:02,600 --> 01:06:05,400 Speaker 1: I know that that's not going to happen. The point is, though, 1273 01:06:05,680 --> 01:06:07,360 Speaker 1: is that there are a hell of a lot more 1274 01:06:07,400 --> 01:06:09,080 Speaker 1: people who need to be held to account. And I 1275 01:06:09,120 --> 01:06:10,960 Speaker 1: think a lot of Texas authorities are hoping that the 1276 01:06:11,000 --> 01:06:14,240 Speaker 1: world just moves on. You know, some people had attention 1277 01:06:14,280 --> 01:06:15,320 Speaker 1: to the story, and I get it. You know, we 1278 01:06:15,360 --> 01:06:17,880 Speaker 1: started with Russia with all of that. Course, nuclear issues 1279 01:06:17,920 --> 01:06:20,000 Speaker 1: are always going to trump this. But this was a 1280 01:06:20,040 --> 01:06:23,080 Speaker 1: scandal of which the country cannot and should not move 1281 01:06:23,120 --> 01:06:25,240 Speaker 1: on from. And I think the whole world, you know, 1282 01:06:25,680 --> 01:06:28,320 Speaker 1: put gut and policy aside. What did we all agree on? 1283 01:06:28,560 --> 01:06:31,480 Speaker 1: These people have got to pay, and so you know, 1284 01:06:31,680 --> 01:06:33,600 Speaker 1: until they do, I don't think that we should drop 1285 01:06:33,600 --> 01:06:36,200 Speaker 1: it at all. Yeah, exactly, And certainly the parents who 1286 01:06:36,280 --> 01:06:40,160 Speaker 1: lost their kids because of the cowardice demonstrated on that 1287 01:06:40,240 --> 01:06:42,720 Speaker 1: day have not forgotten. And you know, I think we 1288 01:06:42,760 --> 01:06:45,440 Speaker 1: also have to remember all of the public officials who 1289 01:06:45,440 --> 01:06:48,600 Speaker 1: were involved in covering this up and lying on behalf 1290 01:06:48,640 --> 01:06:50,600 Speaker 1: of the police and trying to make it sound like, oh, 1291 01:06:50,640 --> 01:06:52,800 Speaker 1: they were brave and they were out there getting shot 1292 01:06:52,800 --> 01:06:55,240 Speaker 1: at and getting injured, and all of this stuff turned 1293 01:06:55,240 --> 01:06:58,560 Speaker 1: out to be complete and utter nonsense. So at least 1294 01:06:58,640 --> 01:07:02,840 Speaker 1: some tiny small step forward in terms of accountability, but 1295 01:07:02,920 --> 01:07:07,640 Speaker 1: obviously far from what the unconsuable nature of that situation 1296 01:07:07,720 --> 01:07:10,720 Speaker 1: ultimately demands. Yeah, that's right. The other piece we wanted 1297 01:07:10,760 --> 01:07:12,640 Speaker 1: to bring to you this morning is a pretty interesting 1298 01:07:12,960 --> 01:07:18,160 Speaker 1: moment on Piers Morgan's show. He had on Julian Massange's 1299 01:07:18,360 --> 01:07:23,680 Speaker 1: wife and had her directly respond to John Bolton saying 1300 01:07:23,720 --> 01:07:27,760 Speaker 1: that Assange should be in prison for hundreds of years. 1301 01:07:28,160 --> 01:07:30,240 Speaker 1: Let's take a listen to a little bit of that exchange. 1302 01:07:30,520 --> 01:07:33,320 Speaker 1: The other extradition should go forward and when he gets 1303 01:07:33,320 --> 01:07:36,120 Speaker 1: to the United States, he'll get due process here and 1304 01:07:36,200 --> 01:07:38,120 Speaker 1: I hope he gets at least one hundred and seventy 1305 01:07:38,160 --> 01:07:41,959 Speaker 1: six years in jail for what he did. Stella, well, 1306 01:07:42,000 --> 01:07:46,160 Speaker 1: of course, Ambassador Balton is kind of the ideological nemesis 1307 01:07:46,160 --> 01:07:49,680 Speaker 1: of Julian. He has during his time for the Bush 1308 01:07:49,680 --> 01:07:54,400 Speaker 1: administration and later the Trump administration, saw to undermine the 1309 01:07:54,440 --> 01:07:57,760 Speaker 1: international legal system, ensure that the US is not under 1310 01:07:57,880 --> 01:08:01,800 Speaker 1: the International Criminal Courts jurisdiction, and if it was, mister 1311 01:08:01,840 --> 01:08:06,800 Speaker 1: Bolton might in fact be prosecuted under the ICC. He 1312 01:08:06,920 --> 01:08:09,280 Speaker 1: was one of the chief cheerleaders of the Iraq War, 1313 01:08:09,320 --> 01:08:13,040 Speaker 1: which Julian then exposed through these leaks. So he has 1314 01:08:13,040 --> 01:08:18,360 Speaker 1: a conflict of interest here, ambassatable. Well, that's ridiculous. I 1315 01:08:18,400 --> 01:08:21,360 Speaker 1: have an opinion. So does Assige's wife. I guess we 1316 01:08:21,439 --> 01:08:23,960 Speaker 1: both get to speak them. You know. I think that 1317 01:08:24,160 --> 01:08:26,799 Speaker 1: what she fears is being brought to the United States 1318 01:08:26,800 --> 01:08:29,920 Speaker 1: and having a Sange put under trial. If he's innocent, 1319 01:08:30,280 --> 01:08:33,200 Speaker 1: If you she can at least show reasonable doubt that 1320 01:08:33,240 --> 01:08:35,759 Speaker 1: he's not guilty, he'll go free. What she worried about, 1321 01:08:36,320 --> 01:08:38,120 Speaker 1: I guess what she's worried about as a fair trial, 1322 01:08:38,200 --> 01:08:41,120 Speaker 1: because it's pretty clear what the attitude towards him is. Well, 1323 01:08:41,160 --> 01:08:46,040 Speaker 1: let her say that's fine that. Let her say Julian 1324 01:08:46,080 --> 01:08:48,519 Speaker 1: Assange cannot get a fair trial in America. Let her 1325 01:08:48,600 --> 01:08:51,000 Speaker 1: say it okay, Well, he cannot get a fair trial 1326 01:08:51,000 --> 01:08:53,919 Speaker 1: in America because he is being prosecuted under the Espionage 1327 01:08:53,960 --> 01:08:58,160 Speaker 1: Act and he cannot bring a public interest defense. I 1328 01:08:58,160 --> 01:08:59,840 Speaker 1: don't know why he thought that was such a a 1329 01:09:00,240 --> 01:09:02,800 Speaker 1: such an own to be, Like, let's hear her say 1330 01:09:02,840 --> 01:09:05,360 Speaker 1: he can't get a fair trial in the US. She's like, 1331 01:09:05,479 --> 01:09:08,080 Speaker 1: you can't get a fair trial, and well, I think 1332 01:09:08,080 --> 01:09:10,360 Speaker 1: we should explain what she's saying. Yeah, that under the 1333 01:09:10,479 --> 01:09:13,000 Speaker 1: Espionage ac you're not actually allowed to bring the same 1334 01:09:13,080 --> 01:09:16,640 Speaker 1: defense that the Pentagon Papers defense was able to have. 1335 01:09:16,800 --> 01:09:21,400 Speaker 1: You can't basically say I'm a whistleblower, I'm exposing government wrongdoing, right, 1336 01:09:21,479 --> 01:09:23,880 Speaker 1: And it was written specifically in the way such that 1337 01:09:23,960 --> 01:09:26,800 Speaker 1: if the government does bring it, you're litigating it only 1338 01:09:26,880 --> 01:09:29,879 Speaker 1: on the details, not in the way that the original 1339 01:09:29,880 --> 01:09:33,040 Speaker 1: Pentagon Papers case was prosecuted. Part of the actually big, 1340 01:09:33,160 --> 01:09:38,000 Speaker 1: biggest probably misunderstandings that we have looked at with regards anyway. 1341 01:09:38,120 --> 01:09:40,599 Speaker 1: The point is is that if you do prosecute him 1342 01:09:40,680 --> 01:09:43,959 Speaker 1: under the Espionage Act, then essentially all aspects of journalism 1343 01:09:44,040 --> 01:09:47,280 Speaker 1: have been critics. I've been compromised under the potential for 1344 01:09:47,560 --> 01:09:50,880 Speaker 1: prosecution under the Espionage Act, because all acts of journalism 1345 01:09:50,920 --> 01:09:54,639 Speaker 1: dealing with classified information, including things I have done involve 1346 01:09:54,800 --> 01:09:57,599 Speaker 1: actively soliciting and reaching out to people with high national 1347 01:09:57,680 --> 01:10:00,360 Speaker 1: security clearance and being like, hey, tell me what you know, 1348 01:10:00,880 --> 01:10:04,080 Speaker 1: and sometimes they do, of which I've reported, of which 1349 01:10:04,120 --> 01:10:07,479 Speaker 1: every reporter right in Washington has done so. And technically 1350 01:10:07,479 --> 01:10:10,960 Speaker 1: they would be able to prosecute me for doing my job, 1351 01:10:11,320 --> 01:10:14,760 Speaker 1: which should be protected under the First Amendment. Which is 1352 01:10:14,800 --> 01:10:18,840 Speaker 1: exactly why the Obama administration, who hated a Songe just 1353 01:10:18,920 --> 01:10:23,040 Speaker 1: as every other president since then, has decided they could 1354 01:10:23,080 --> 01:10:25,559 Speaker 1: not prosecute him. Now, they did all sources of other 1355 01:10:25,640 --> 01:10:28,599 Speaker 1: terrible things too, but they could not prosecute him without 1356 01:10:28,640 --> 01:10:32,720 Speaker 1: also implicating mainstream publishers like the Washington Post, like the 1357 01:10:32,720 --> 01:10:35,639 Speaker 1: New York Times, et cetera. That's also why the Washington 1358 01:10:35,640 --> 01:10:37,160 Speaker 1: Post in New York Times, I don't talk about it 1359 01:10:37,240 --> 01:10:40,679 Speaker 1: much now, but why they were opposed to a Songe 1360 01:10:40,720 --> 01:10:44,000 Speaker 1: ultimately being prosecuted because they feared what it would mean 1361 01:10:44,080 --> 01:10:47,880 Speaker 1: for the First Amendment overall. Now, what's wild. I mean, 1362 01:10:47,920 --> 01:10:51,000 Speaker 1: it's not surprising, but John Bolton went on to spout 1363 01:10:51,040 --> 01:10:55,920 Speaker 1: all of the most you know, disingenuous and misleading talking 1364 01:10:55,960 --> 01:10:59,680 Speaker 1: points about as Songe called him a hacker and criminal 1365 01:10:59,760 --> 01:11:02,719 Speaker 1: and said that he put our men and women at risk. 1366 01:11:03,240 --> 01:11:06,160 Speaker 1: Glenn always points this out. Don't you think if there 1367 01:11:06,280 --> 01:11:10,920 Speaker 1: was a single service member or you know, intelligence asset 1368 01:11:11,400 --> 01:11:15,160 Speaker 1: whose life was harmed or even directly put at risk 1369 01:11:15,280 --> 01:11:18,599 Speaker 1: by assanges revelations, we would know all about it. They 1370 01:11:18,680 --> 01:11:21,200 Speaker 1: were desperate to find that person, and they never did. 1371 01:11:21,439 --> 01:11:23,919 Speaker 1: So all they can do is what Bolton does ultimately 1372 01:11:23,920 --> 01:11:27,120 Speaker 1: in this interview and say just generally their lives were 1373 01:11:27,160 --> 01:11:30,840 Speaker 1: put at risk? Really, who what when? Prove it? You 1374 01:11:30,920 --> 01:11:33,720 Speaker 1: can't and ultimately, you know, the other thing they tried 1375 01:11:33,760 --> 01:11:36,719 Speaker 1: to do is paint it like, oh, he's not anything 1376 01:11:36,880 --> 01:11:39,280 Speaker 1: like a publisher. And it was interesting because Bolton tried 1377 01:11:39,320 --> 01:11:42,600 Speaker 1: to say, it's a mistake for the Washington Post and 1378 01:11:42,640 --> 01:11:45,479 Speaker 1: the New York Times to take Assange's side, because then 1379 01:11:45,680 --> 01:11:48,160 Speaker 1: that does put them at risk. It's like, no, no, no, 1380 01:11:48,200 --> 01:11:51,480 Speaker 1: it's the prosecution of Assange that has put them ultimately 1381 01:11:51,560 --> 01:11:55,640 Speaker 1: at risk, not their under rightful understanding of what this 1382 01:11:55,640 --> 01:11:58,760 Speaker 1: could mean for the First Amendment. So, you know, I 1383 01:11:58,840 --> 01:12:02,519 Speaker 1: really applaud Stella Assannge there for being able to keep 1384 01:12:02,520 --> 01:12:05,479 Speaker 1: her cool and you know, make it clear how she 1385 01:12:05,479 --> 01:12:08,559 Speaker 1: felt about John Bolton. But without sort of losing it 1386 01:12:08,600 --> 01:12:10,439 Speaker 1: the way that I probably would if I was face 1387 01:12:10,479 --> 01:12:13,280 Speaker 1: to face with John Bolton there. But you know, these 1388 01:12:13,360 --> 01:12:18,519 Speaker 1: ridiculous talking points never ultimately die, and to hear them 1389 01:12:18,520 --> 01:12:20,519 Speaker 1: come out of Bolton's mouth as really something no, Yeah, 1390 01:12:20,560 --> 01:12:22,840 Speaker 1: I mean I thought it was a valuable exchange, something 1391 01:12:22,880 --> 01:12:25,240 Speaker 1: you never see on cable television. So I guess props 1392 01:12:25,240 --> 01:12:29,759 Speaker 1: to Peers for holding it. It's not afraid of the conflict, 1393 01:12:29,800 --> 01:12:32,519 Speaker 1: that's for sure. Yeah, I guess he's a strange cat. 1394 01:12:32,600 --> 01:12:35,200 Speaker 1: You know. I just saw him today talk about how 1395 01:12:35,520 --> 01:12:38,360 Speaker 1: you don't anyway talking about being anti free speech. I 1396 01:12:38,439 --> 01:12:40,559 Speaker 1: never can pin Peers part of why I think he's 1397 01:12:40,640 --> 01:12:44,040 Speaker 1: an interesting figure in r and en ranging oftentimes. Yeah, 1398 01:12:44,040 --> 01:12:47,120 Speaker 1: I mean he's both like pro Ukraine, pro war, but 1399 01:12:47,200 --> 01:12:49,840 Speaker 1: I guess pro I mean, when else have you seen 1400 01:12:49,880 --> 01:12:52,920 Speaker 1: Stella Songe on cable televission in the United States. I haven't. 1401 01:12:53,160 --> 01:12:55,040 Speaker 1: It's clearly backing her up. Yeah, and he was backing 1402 01:12:55,040 --> 01:12:58,160 Speaker 1: her up. He was quasi weirdly civil libertarian but an 1403 01:12:58,200 --> 01:13:00,519 Speaker 1: anti gun when he had his CNN show. Anyway, this 1404 01:13:00,600 --> 01:13:03,760 Speaker 1: is turning into a much deeper conversation. It was a 1405 01:13:03,760 --> 01:13:05,479 Speaker 1: good segment, and I appreciated it, and I thought it 1406 01:13:05,560 --> 01:13:10,800 Speaker 1: highlighted something important. Crystal, what are you taking a look at? Wash? 1407 01:13:10,880 --> 01:13:13,120 Speaker 1: In posts, Greg Jaffe is out with a profile of 1408 01:13:13,200 --> 01:13:17,920 Speaker 1: Starbucks founder's CEO and unionbuster extraordinaire, Howard Schultz. It's a 1409 01:13:17,960 --> 01:13:19,880 Speaker 1: sort of a mirror image of a profile that Jeffy 1410 01:13:19,920 --> 01:13:21,760 Speaker 1: did a while back of Jazz Brizak. She was one 1411 01:13:21,800 --> 01:13:24,880 Speaker 1: of the lead worker organizers in Buffalo. She helped to 1412 01:13:24,960 --> 01:13:28,960 Speaker 1: jumpstart that whole organizing firestorm, and by digging into Schultz's 1413 01:13:28,960 --> 01:13:33,080 Speaker 1: antig union obsession, Jaffy reveals a lot about billionaires and 1414 01:13:33,160 --> 01:13:36,240 Speaker 1: the way they rationalize their wrongdoing. So here is that 1415 01:13:36,320 --> 01:13:39,320 Speaker 1: new profile. It's headlined Howard Schultz's fight to stop a 1416 01:13:39,400 --> 01:13:43,320 Speaker 1: Starbucks barista uprising. In it, Jaffy writes of Schultz quote, 1417 01:13:43,479 --> 01:13:46,360 Speaker 1: the sixty nine year old CEO had always seen himself 1418 01:13:46,439 --> 01:13:49,720 Speaker 1: as the good guy of American capitalism, believing that his 1419 01:13:49,840 --> 01:13:52,200 Speaker 1: own wealth in Starbucks's rise to become one of the 1420 01:13:52,200 --> 01:13:55,360 Speaker 1: most ubiquitous brands on the planet was a direct outgrowth 1421 01:13:55,400 --> 01:13:58,120 Speaker 1: of the company's concern for its workers and their well being. 1422 01:13:58,360 --> 01:14:01,440 Speaker 1: Only now all of that was being challenged across America. 1423 01:14:01,560 --> 01:14:03,519 Speaker 1: Workers who had labored through a once in a century 1424 01:14:03,640 --> 01:14:06,760 Speaker 1: century pandemic, were concluding that they deserved better and were 1425 01:14:06,840 --> 01:14:09,040 Speaker 1: quitting or demanding more from their bosses, or, in the 1426 01:14:09,080 --> 01:14:13,599 Speaker 1: case of some Starbucks workers, unionizing good guy of American 1427 01:14:13,640 --> 01:14:16,800 Speaker 1: capitalism gotta love it. Starbucks, of course in the business 1428 01:14:16,840 --> 01:14:19,360 Speaker 1: of selling coffee, but they also sell a sort of 1429 01:14:19,400 --> 01:14:23,200 Speaker 1: progressive ethos and esthetic. Its brand is situated perfectly in 1430 01:14:23,240 --> 01:14:26,240 Speaker 1: that late nineties and early two thousands ideology of doing 1431 01:14:26,280 --> 01:14:28,800 Speaker 1: well by doing good. The idea that there didn't have 1432 01:14:28,840 --> 01:14:31,439 Speaker 1: to be a conflict between your liberal values and your 1433 01:14:31,479 --> 01:14:34,360 Speaker 1: desire to cash in the same mentality sold to a 1434 01:14:34,400 --> 01:14:37,240 Speaker 1: generation of bright would be activists who, instead of fomenting 1435 01:14:37,320 --> 01:14:39,559 Speaker 1: real change, persuaded themselves that the best way to do 1436 01:14:39,600 --> 01:14:41,360 Speaker 1: good in the world was to maybe get an MBA 1437 01:14:41,479 --> 01:14:44,240 Speaker 1: and land a stint at Kinsey Consulting, very Clinton and 1438 01:14:44,320 --> 01:14:47,120 Speaker 1: Obama era way of thinking, and a very Howard Schultz 1439 01:14:47,200 --> 01:14:49,760 Speaker 1: way of thinking as well. Now for decades, they've worked 1440 01:14:49,760 --> 01:14:51,960 Speaker 1: out pretty well for Schultz. The Starbucks do good or 1441 01:14:52,000 --> 01:14:55,760 Speaker 1: brand aesthetic made Schultz personally feel good, also landed with 1442 01:14:55,800 --> 01:14:59,160 Speaker 1: a highly profitable market among affluent urban and suburban types. 1443 01:14:59,479 --> 01:15:02,400 Speaker 1: But now that do good or liberal image has crashed 1444 01:15:02,400 --> 01:15:05,840 Speaker 1: directly into the desires and aspirations of Starbucks mostly low 1445 01:15:05,880 --> 01:15:09,799 Speaker 1: paid workforce, and in that collision it becomes super clear 1446 01:15:10,080 --> 01:15:13,320 Speaker 1: that any investments that Schultz had made into those baristas 1447 01:15:13,400 --> 01:15:17,280 Speaker 1: were ultimately governed by business logic, not by any actual 1448 01:15:17,320 --> 01:15:20,280 Speaker 1: commitment to their well being. As Jaffe explains in this 1449 01:15:20,320 --> 01:15:23,400 Speaker 1: profile quote, Schultz found that customers would spend more if 1450 01:15:23,400 --> 01:15:26,640 Speaker 1: their barista knew their order and a little about them. Translation, 1451 01:15:26,960 --> 01:15:29,040 Speaker 1: it was profitable for Starbucks and invest a little bit 1452 01:15:29,080 --> 01:15:31,240 Speaker 1: and their so called partners so that they'd stick around 1453 01:15:31,240 --> 01:15:35,040 Speaker 1: long enough to learn those important little customer details. Now 1454 01:15:35,240 --> 01:15:38,439 Speaker 1: this self appointed good guy of American capitalism has been 1455 01:15:38,439 --> 01:15:41,479 Speaker 1: thoroughly revealed, and behind the mask is exactly the same 1456 01:15:41,479 --> 01:15:44,920 Speaker 1: thing behind the mask of every billionaire corporate executive, whether 1457 01:15:44,960 --> 01:15:48,559 Speaker 1: it's the ruthless Bezos, the trolling Musk, or the liberal Schultz. 1458 01:15:48,640 --> 01:15:51,080 Speaker 1: At the end of their day, they want their power, 1459 01:15:51,320 --> 01:15:53,479 Speaker 1: and so when faced with the movement of workers demanding 1460 01:15:53,479 --> 01:15:55,840 Speaker 1: a say in their workplaces, Schultz has become one of 1461 01:15:55,880 --> 01:15:59,599 Speaker 1: the most aggressive lawless union busters in the entire country. 1462 01:16:00,040 --> 01:16:03,759 Speaker 1: Starbucks has illegally fired workers across the nation for organizing, 1463 01:16:03,840 --> 01:16:06,720 Speaker 1: including seven workers at a union Memphis Starbucks that the 1464 01:16:06,760 --> 01:16:09,600 Speaker 1: courts have forced them to rehire. They've closed stores that 1465 01:16:09,640 --> 01:16:12,639 Speaker 1: have unionized, setting bogus reasons for the shutdown. They're being 1466 01:16:12,680 --> 01:16:15,800 Speaker 1: sued by the National Labor Relations Board for illegally discriminating 1467 01:16:15,880 --> 01:16:19,080 Speaker 1: against their new union workers with holding benefits for those 1468 01:16:19,120 --> 01:16:22,280 Speaker 1: workers that have been provided to the non union workforce. 1469 01:16:22,680 --> 01:16:26,160 Speaker 1: That did not stop Starbucks from continuing the practice, flagrantly 1470 01:16:26,200 --> 01:16:29,479 Speaker 1: thumbing their nose at any sort of worker protections. That's 1471 01:16:29,479 --> 01:16:32,439 Speaker 1: all just the type of iceberg. In Buffalo alone, the 1472 01:16:32,479 --> 01:16:36,000 Speaker 1: city where this union wave started, the regional NLRB cited 1473 01:16:36,000 --> 01:16:40,360 Speaker 1: Starbucks with two hundred violations of the National Labor Relations Act. 1474 01:16:40,760 --> 01:16:45,519 Speaker 1: According to Jaffe, this approach, this incredibly aggressive approach, stems 1475 01:16:45,560 --> 01:16:49,960 Speaker 1: directly from Schultz's total existential freakount over the union wave. 1476 01:16:50,320 --> 01:16:52,479 Speaker 1: You come away from this piece with the distinct impression 1477 01:16:52,479 --> 01:16:55,919 Speaker 1: that Schultz takes the union drive as a direct personal affront, 1478 01:16:56,160 --> 01:16:59,479 Speaker 1: a challenge to his very sense of self. And actually, 1479 01:16:59,600 --> 01:17:02,160 Speaker 1: in a way, it really is for the workers. This 1480 01:17:02,280 --> 01:17:04,679 Speaker 1: isn't really personal to Schultz. It's about having a say, 1481 01:17:04,720 --> 01:17:07,960 Speaker 1: having a living wage, having reliable hours. But Schultz can't 1482 01:17:07,960 --> 01:17:11,640 Speaker 1: maintain the lies he's told to himself about being that 1483 01:17:11,760 --> 01:17:14,240 Speaker 1: good guy of American capitalism in the face of a 1484 01:17:14,240 --> 01:17:16,160 Speaker 1: lot of angry workers who are straight up telling him 1485 01:17:16,200 --> 01:17:19,479 Speaker 1: that his elaborately constructed fantasy is really just a pack 1486 01:17:19,520 --> 01:17:22,439 Speaker 1: of lies. So here's the Washington Post quoting Schultz at 1487 01:17:22,439 --> 01:17:25,519 Speaker 1: an executive meeting. Why is this so personal to me, 1488 01:17:25,720 --> 01:17:27,920 Speaker 1: he asked the executives in the room. Schultz stared down 1489 01:17:27,920 --> 01:17:29,840 Speaker 1: at the ground, his arms resting on his knees and 1490 01:17:29,880 --> 01:17:32,559 Speaker 1: his shoulders bent. I know what it has taken to 1491 01:17:32,640 --> 01:17:35,519 Speaker 1: build this place. I know what's at stake right now, 1492 01:17:35,560 --> 01:17:38,479 Speaker 1: he continued, struggling to get the words out. And we 1493 01:17:38,640 --> 01:17:41,040 Speaker 1: have to show to show up in a different way. 1494 01:17:41,360 --> 01:17:44,640 Speaker 1: The room fell silent. Schultz steadied himself, and let me 1495 01:17:44,680 --> 01:17:46,960 Speaker 1: be honest with you, he told them. Time is not 1496 01:17:47,000 --> 01:17:49,920 Speaker 1: on our side now. Schultz has clearly tried on a 1497 01:17:50,000 --> 01:17:53,760 Speaker 1: variety of strategies for reconciling his personal self image as 1498 01:17:53,800 --> 01:17:56,759 Speaker 1: a hero with the wildfire union wave that has exposed 1499 01:17:56,800 --> 01:17:59,760 Speaker 1: a mountain of legitimate grievances. At times, he makes up 1500 01:17:59,760 --> 01:18:02,760 Speaker 1: store is about how these worker organizers are really outside 1501 01:18:02,840 --> 01:18:06,519 Speaker 1: agitators unleashed on the company, part of some elaborate scheme 1502 01:18:06,600 --> 01:18:09,920 Speaker 1: to destroy Starbucks. At other times, he blames the worker's 1503 01:18:09,920 --> 01:18:12,679 Speaker 1: complaints on society at large, which is a good way 1504 01:18:12,760 --> 01:18:16,719 Speaker 1: to recognize legitimate concerns, while blame shifting away from himself 1505 01:18:16,720 --> 01:18:20,120 Speaker 1: in Starbucks, thereby absolving the company of any responsibility to 1506 01:18:20,240 --> 01:18:23,519 Speaker 1: address those workers grievances. Now, I saw some critiques that 1507 01:18:23,560 --> 01:18:25,880 Speaker 1: this piece was far too sympathetic to Schultz. I sympathize 1508 01:18:25,880 --> 01:18:27,360 Speaker 1: with that view. I mean, we can only expect so 1509 01:18:27,439 --> 01:18:30,240 Speaker 1: much from Besos as paper ultimately, But really I found 1510 01:18:30,280 --> 01:18:32,919 Speaker 1: it quite useful because the more we learn about Schultz, 1511 01:18:33,040 --> 01:18:35,639 Speaker 1: the more we see he's ultimately not any different from 1512 01:18:35,640 --> 01:18:37,840 Speaker 1: any of the other billionaire masters of the universe. They 1513 01:18:37,840 --> 01:18:40,760 Speaker 1: each have their own self serving mythology about why the 1514 01:18:40,760 --> 01:18:43,719 Speaker 1: way they treat their workers is okay, noble even Perhaps 1515 01:18:43,760 --> 01:18:46,519 Speaker 1: it's a free market ideology. Perhaps it's a story about 1516 01:18:46,560 --> 01:18:48,880 Speaker 1: how much better they are actually treating their workers than 1517 01:18:48,880 --> 01:18:51,360 Speaker 1: at other companies, or a story about how driving their 1518 01:18:51,400 --> 01:18:54,200 Speaker 1: workers like slaves is justified by the happiness or ease 1519 01:18:54,360 --> 01:18:57,320 Speaker 1: of their customers. But ultimately they all come up with 1520 01:18:57,360 --> 01:19:00,960 Speaker 1: a way to behave in basically the same and approach 1521 01:19:01,000 --> 01:19:03,920 Speaker 1: those mandated for public companies by a fealty to shareholder 1522 01:19:04,000 --> 01:19:06,639 Speaker 1: value that demands that you screw over your workers while 1523 01:19:06,640 --> 01:19:10,200 Speaker 1: handing out goodies to your investors. That the personal ideology 1524 01:19:10,280 --> 01:19:13,320 Speaker 1: or vision or mythology of Schultz matters so little in 1525 01:19:13,360 --> 01:19:16,400 Speaker 1: the end. That's exactly the reason why the union movement 1526 01:19:16,640 --> 01:19:20,320 Speaker 1: is so critical. Schultz tells the posts that quote, unions 1527 01:19:20,360 --> 01:19:23,840 Speaker 1: existed to protect workers from bad companies like the ones 1528 01:19:23,840 --> 01:19:27,479 Speaker 1: who had abused his father. Quote. That's why unions were created, 1529 01:19:27,560 --> 01:19:30,040 Speaker 1: he said in an interview. A union had no place 1530 01:19:30,080 --> 01:19:32,520 Speaker 1: at a company that cared about his workers, like Starbucks, 1531 01:19:32,520 --> 01:19:36,000 Speaker 1: Schultz believed. But of course, if Schultz actually cared about 1532 01:19:36,000 --> 01:19:38,559 Speaker 1: his workers, he would let them organize and he would 1533 01:19:38,600 --> 01:19:41,599 Speaker 1: remain neutral in the union campaigns. It all just goes 1534 01:19:41,640 --> 01:19:44,320 Speaker 1: to show that regardless of what story or personal billionaire 1535 01:19:44,320 --> 01:19:47,759 Speaker 1: mythology you wrap them in, corporations aren't ultimately good or bad. 1536 01:19:48,080 --> 01:19:51,639 Speaker 1: They exist to maximize shareholder value. Workers aren't organizing because 1537 01:19:51,640 --> 01:19:54,160 Speaker 1: Schultz is a good or bad guy, but because they 1538 01:19:54,200 --> 01:19:56,760 Speaker 1: deserve better and the system that we've got isn't going 1539 01:19:56,800 --> 01:19:59,960 Speaker 1: to give it to them without a fight. Interesting look 1540 01:20:00,120 --> 01:20:03,160 Speaker 1: into how he's having this sort of like personal meltdown, 1541 01:20:03,240 --> 01:20:06,000 Speaker 1: and if you want to hear my reaction to Crystal's monologue. 1542 01:20:06,000 --> 01:20:12,400 Speaker 1: Become a premium subscriber today at Breakingpoints dot Com. All right, Tiger, 1543 01:20:12,400 --> 01:20:14,280 Speaker 1: what are you looking at? Well, it may not seem 1544 01:20:14,320 --> 01:20:17,360 Speaker 1: like it sometimes, but the magnitude of cultural change in 1545 01:20:17,400 --> 01:20:20,160 Speaker 1: this country as a result of the Internet is really 1546 01:20:20,200 --> 01:20:23,320 Speaker 1: difficult to describe. When I read books about the period 1547 01:20:23,360 --> 01:20:25,280 Speaker 1: of the nineteen fifties all the way to the early 1548 01:20:25,320 --> 01:20:28,680 Speaker 1: two thousands, the ubiquitous thing that they always describe the 1549 01:20:28,720 --> 01:20:32,120 Speaker 1: power of TV. A history of the American presidency post 1550 01:20:32,120 --> 01:20:35,479 Speaker 1: Truman is inextricable from television. We all know the story 1551 01:20:35,479 --> 01:20:37,920 Speaker 1: of the JFK. Nick, But when you dig deeper, the 1552 01:20:37,920 --> 01:20:41,200 Speaker 1: real magnitude of TV actually comes when it shapes the 1553 01:20:41,240 --> 01:20:45,479 Speaker 1: future of politicians who take powered later. Take Reagan for example. Yeah, 1554 01:20:45,560 --> 01:20:47,640 Speaker 1: Reagan was a movie star of the nineteen forties. What 1555 01:20:47,800 --> 01:20:49,759 Speaker 1: really put him on the map as a political figure 1556 01:20:49,960 --> 01:20:52,680 Speaker 1: was his ge television hour in the nineteen fifties, when 1557 01:20:52,680 --> 01:20:55,360 Speaker 1: he extolled the virtues of capitalism and aligned himself with 1558 01:20:55,360 --> 01:20:58,280 Speaker 1: the political right. He took that stardom, combined it with 1559 01:20:58,360 --> 01:21:01,000 Speaker 1: advocacy for a cause, and itaunched him into the governor's 1560 01:21:01,040 --> 01:21:04,920 Speaker 1: chair in California and then the American presidency. Take Bill Clinton. 1561 01:21:05,040 --> 01:21:08,240 Speaker 1: Clinton was a literal nobody from Arkansas. He actually gave 1562 01:21:08,280 --> 01:21:11,080 Speaker 1: a panned speech at the nineteen eighty eight DNC Convention 1563 01:21:11,400 --> 01:21:14,640 Speaker 1: nominating Ducacus, back when those things apparently mattered. But he 1564 01:21:14,680 --> 01:21:17,479 Speaker 1: was a national joke. But he saved himself and his 1565 01:21:17,520 --> 01:21:21,200 Speaker 1: political career by going on Late Night with Johnny Carson 1566 01:21:21,400 --> 01:21:23,240 Speaker 1: when he was running for president. He was actually it 1567 01:21:23,280 --> 01:21:26,880 Speaker 1: was televised press conferences and his appearances like programs like 1568 01:21:27,000 --> 01:21:30,080 Speaker 1: Arsenio Hall, which is what put him forward, eventually won 1569 01:21:30,160 --> 01:21:33,400 Speaker 1: him the presidency Barack Obama. Of course, Obama may have 1570 01:21:33,479 --> 01:21:35,280 Speaker 1: used the Internet to propel him to the Oval office 1571 01:21:35,320 --> 01:21:37,960 Speaker 1: in two thousand and eight, but he owes all of 1572 01:21:37,960 --> 01:21:40,719 Speaker 1: his fame to television. His speech at the two thousand 1573 01:21:40,720 --> 01:21:43,360 Speaker 1: and four DNC Convention about there being no white and 1574 01:21:43,400 --> 01:21:47,880 Speaker 1: black America was a blockbuster. Not only millions of people 1575 01:21:48,000 --> 01:21:50,920 Speaker 1: watched it, it was played over and over again on 1576 01:21:51,000 --> 01:21:53,200 Speaker 1: cable TV. He wrote a book and was interviewed on 1577 01:21:53,280 --> 01:21:55,759 Speaker 1: Late Night. How else do you go from a state 1578 01:21:55,840 --> 01:21:59,320 Speaker 1: senator in Illinois to President of the United States in 1579 01:21:59,400 --> 01:22:02,280 Speaker 1: four years? TV could also be a career killer. It 1580 01:22:02,360 --> 01:22:04,920 Speaker 1: was for George H. W. Bush he checked his watch 1581 01:22:04,960 --> 01:22:09,640 Speaker 1: at the debate with Bill Clinton or Dan Quail, not 1582 01:22:09,800 --> 01:22:13,560 Speaker 1: knowing how to spell potato. I could give a million examples, 1583 01:22:13,600 --> 01:22:16,760 Speaker 1: but I think my point is being made American politics 1584 01:22:16,960 --> 01:22:19,320 Speaker 1: and really our whole culture. It was ruled by TV 1585 01:22:19,640 --> 01:22:22,840 Speaker 1: until suddenly it just isn't anymore. Trump may have gotten 1586 01:22:22,920 --> 01:22:25,519 Speaker 1: himself famous through TV, but it was the Internet that 1587 01:22:25,560 --> 01:22:28,479 Speaker 1: elected him, not only through his gargantua and fundraising, but 1588 01:22:28,520 --> 01:22:31,720 Speaker 1: for the first time flipping the script, forcing TV to 1589 01:22:31,760 --> 01:22:34,880 Speaker 1: cover his musings on Twitter. That flip of power was 1590 01:22:34,880 --> 01:22:37,280 Speaker 1: the first of its kind in American politics. And while 1591 01:22:37,320 --> 01:22:39,639 Speaker 1: twenty twenty was a much more normal type of election 1592 01:22:39,680 --> 01:22:42,200 Speaker 1: because of the COVID pandemic, my prediction is that the 1593 01:22:42,200 --> 01:22:44,599 Speaker 1: power of TV will diminish less and less and less 1594 01:22:44,680 --> 01:22:47,840 Speaker 1: every cycle from here on out, and I absolutely welcome it. 1595 01:22:48,040 --> 01:22:49,840 Speaker 1: We dunk a lot on cable news ratings in the 1596 01:22:49,880 --> 01:22:51,720 Speaker 1: decline of the medium, but when you look at the 1597 01:22:51,800 --> 01:22:55,479 Speaker 1: data on all of television, it's stunning to behold. Consider this. 1598 01:22:55,800 --> 01:22:59,559 Speaker 1: Trevor Noah recently departed the scene supposedly voluntarily, whether that's 1599 01:22:59,560 --> 01:23:01,800 Speaker 1: true or not. A thirty eight year old comedian in 1600 01:23:01,840 --> 01:23:05,000 Speaker 1: the supposed prime of his life. Departing a primetime TV 1601 01:23:05,120 --> 01:23:08,000 Speaker 1: show even a decade ago would have been unheard of. 1602 01:23:08,439 --> 01:23:10,920 Speaker 1: Even if you don't like Trevor Noah, can you really 1603 01:23:10,920 --> 01:23:12,600 Speaker 1: deny he's not going to be better off on the 1604 01:23:12,640 --> 01:23:15,519 Speaker 1: Internet and touring around the world. The numbers bear it out. 1605 01:23:15,800 --> 01:23:19,160 Speaker 1: Noah presided over the loss of a million viewers a 1606 01:23:19,320 --> 01:23:22,400 Speaker 1: night in the seven years that he headed The Daily Show, 1607 01:23:22,680 --> 01:23:24,719 Speaker 1: and look, I do not like Trevor Noah. He certainly 1608 01:23:24,720 --> 01:23:27,120 Speaker 1: had some agency in this, but the truth is it's 1609 01:23:27,160 --> 01:23:30,280 Speaker 1: probably more a commentary on the decline of TV itself. 1610 01:23:30,640 --> 01:23:33,719 Speaker 1: John Stewart was garnering one point three million total viewers 1611 01:23:33,720 --> 01:23:36,000 Speaker 1: on the day he left, compared with the three hundred 1612 01:23:36,000 --> 01:23:37,960 Speaker 1: and seventy two thousand for Trevor Noah on the day 1613 01:23:37,960 --> 01:23:40,880 Speaker 1: he said he would leave. Noah's departure. In the same year, 1614 01:23:41,160 --> 01:23:44,920 Speaker 1: Conan O'Brien is out, James Corden Samantha Bee two on 1615 01:23:45,040 --> 01:23:48,400 Speaker 1: broadcast Crazy things are happening. I personally think almost all 1616 01:23:48,479 --> 01:23:51,040 Speaker 1: Fox programming is cringe, but a lot of people took 1617 01:23:51,080 --> 01:23:54,040 Speaker 1: notice when Fox News is eleven PM slot featuring Greg 1618 01:23:54,080 --> 01:23:58,439 Speaker 1: Guttfeld beat out Stephen Colbert with a total audience of 1619 01:23:58,520 --> 01:24:01,200 Speaker 1: two point three to five five million people compared to 1620 01:24:01,200 --> 01:24:04,680 Speaker 1: Colbert's two million. Both of those make a guy like 1621 01:24:04,760 --> 01:24:07,519 Speaker 1: Jimmy Kimmel look like a joke. He only gets a million. 1622 01:24:07,800 --> 01:24:10,360 Speaker 1: When you consider younger viewers through all of them, though, 1623 01:24:10,439 --> 01:24:13,920 Speaker 1: they look even more ridiculous. None of them even crack 1624 01:24:14,000 --> 01:24:16,599 Speaker 1: four hundred thousand in the key demo. Ten years ago, 1625 01:24:16,760 --> 01:24:20,800 Speaker 1: those numbers were orders of magnitude larger, and ten years 1626 01:24:20,800 --> 01:24:24,560 Speaker 1: before that even bigger than that. They were juggernauts, genuine 1627 01:24:24,640 --> 01:24:28,960 Speaker 1: titans who ruled American culture and our politics today. If 1628 01:24:28,960 --> 01:24:33,479 Speaker 1: a politician goes on Jimmy Kimmel, does anyone care on Cable? 1629 01:24:33,520 --> 01:24:36,200 Speaker 1: Of course, the people I consider our true enemies. We've 1630 01:24:36,240 --> 01:24:39,000 Speaker 1: talked about it endlessly. But the recent management of Alex 1631 01:24:39,040 --> 01:24:42,320 Speaker 1: Wagner over at MSNBC and her replacement of matdow portends 1632 01:24:42,400 --> 01:24:46,120 Speaker 1: the exact same thing. Wagner's debut by nearly all metrics 1633 01:24:46,160 --> 01:24:50,200 Speaker 1: has been a colossal failure. She routinely is able to 1634 01:24:50,280 --> 01:24:53,320 Speaker 1: average only one hundred and fifty thousand viewers in the 1635 01:24:53,360 --> 01:24:56,960 Speaker 1: key demographic. Furthermore, she is not even doing well by 1636 01:24:57,000 --> 01:25:00,920 Speaker 1: Cable's own standards. Data currently shows that thousands of people 1637 01:25:01,080 --> 01:25:03,439 Speaker 1: are actually turning the TV off when she comes on 1638 01:25:03,479 --> 01:25:05,639 Speaker 1: at nine and then turning it back on at ten, 1639 01:25:06,040 --> 01:25:08,759 Speaker 1: meaning they would rather watch Chris Hayes and Lawrence O'Donnell 1640 01:25:08,880 --> 01:25:11,599 Speaker 1: and have no interest in her. Management, for their part, 1641 01:25:11,840 --> 01:25:15,879 Speaker 1: has no response. As Dylan Buyers of Puck News wrote, quote, 1642 01:25:16,080 --> 01:25:19,000 Speaker 1: MSNBC is just trying to manage the decline of the 1643 01:25:19,080 --> 01:25:23,240 Speaker 1: linear business. Managed decline is an acknowledgment that their riding 1644 01:25:23,320 --> 01:25:25,320 Speaker 1: is on the wall. And as I've said many times, 1645 01:25:25,479 --> 01:25:28,120 Speaker 1: the real deathnel to TV, it will not come from viewers. 1646 01:25:28,280 --> 01:25:31,360 Speaker 1: It will come from the cable companies themselves, who pay 1647 01:25:31,680 --> 01:25:34,559 Speaker 1: billions of dollars to the three networks to keep them 1648 01:25:34,600 --> 01:25:38,280 Speaker 1: as part of their bundle. Now it's what makes Fox News, 1649 01:25:38,280 --> 01:25:42,200 Speaker 1: CNN and MSNBC all make a collective profit just last 1650 01:25:42,280 --> 01:25:46,000 Speaker 1: year of more than three billion dollars, despite losing a 1651 01:25:46,120 --> 01:25:48,720 Speaker 1: historic amount of viewers. The cable companies pay them a 1652 01:25:48,720 --> 01:25:50,960 Speaker 1: lot of money because they have a monopoly right now 1653 01:25:51,000 --> 01:25:53,280 Speaker 1: on live events like when an explosion happens and when 1654 01:25:53,320 --> 01:25:55,719 Speaker 1: people want to tune in. But this too is dying 1655 01:25:55,760 --> 01:25:58,719 Speaker 1: because of the Internet. Ask yourself this question on Ukraine, 1656 01:25:58,920 --> 01:26:01,240 Speaker 1: do you really need that CE guy? There on the ground, 1657 01:26:01,400 --> 01:26:02,960 Speaker 1: or is a bunch of dudes on the ground posting 1658 01:26:03,000 --> 01:26:06,160 Speaker 1: on Telegram and on Twitter? Is that enough? It's obviously 1659 01:26:06,200 --> 01:26:08,599 Speaker 1: the latter. Live news and live sports are the last 1660 01:26:08,600 --> 01:26:11,439 Speaker 1: bastions of TV. They too are dying. In fact, the 1661 01:26:11,479 --> 01:26:14,320 Speaker 1: latest ground on sports was broken. Just this month, Amazon 1662 01:26:14,400 --> 01:26:17,880 Speaker 1: primes new deal for Thursday night football drew in thirteen 1663 01:26:18,280 --> 01:26:21,560 Speaker 1: million viewers, more than the NFL network brought in the 1664 01:26:21,640 --> 01:26:24,920 Speaker 1: previous week. My prediction, ten years from now, CNN and 1665 01:26:24,920 --> 01:26:27,559 Speaker 1: the cable news networks will be making around half as 1666 01:26:27,640 --> 01:26:30,280 Speaker 1: much money. In twenty years they'll be making half of that, 1667 01:26:30,479 --> 01:26:34,240 Speaker 1: but with approximately fifty percent or so of the budget. Eventually, 1668 01:26:34,360 --> 01:26:36,879 Speaker 1: it's going to be like radio shack selling their prestige 1669 01:26:36,920 --> 01:26:39,280 Speaker 1: and brand to other companies for pennies on the dollar 1670 01:26:39,439 --> 01:26:43,200 Speaker 1: because they simply have no reason to exist anymore. All 1671 01:26:43,200 --> 01:26:45,000 Speaker 1: a writing is on the wall. It's just going to 1672 01:26:45,080 --> 01:26:47,400 Speaker 1: take some time. And that's one of the frustrating things. 1673 01:26:47,400 --> 01:26:48,880 Speaker 1: It's like, I wish you would all and if you 1674 01:26:48,880 --> 01:26:51,720 Speaker 1: want to hear my reaction to Cyber's monologue, become a 1675 01:26:51,720 --> 01:26:57,920 Speaker 1: premium subscriber today at Breakingpoints dot com. Join us now. 1676 01:26:57,920 --> 01:27:01,280 Speaker 1: We have the managing editor for Larry's Sabotae's Crystal Ball 1677 01:27:01,320 --> 01:27:03,320 Speaker 1: at the UVA Center for Politics. Great to see you, 1678 01:27:03,400 --> 01:27:07,759 Speaker 1: Kyle condick Man. Thanks for having me. So you really 1679 01:27:08,320 --> 01:27:12,080 Speaker 1: tortured yourself here recently by watching how many ads three 1680 01:27:12,600 --> 01:27:17,479 Speaker 1: three hundred and fifty campaign ads from the second half 1681 01:27:17,520 --> 01:27:19,519 Speaker 1: of September, so that you could really get a sense 1682 01:27:19,520 --> 01:27:21,519 Speaker 1: of like what are the Democrats running on? What are 1683 01:27:21,520 --> 01:27:24,519 Speaker 1: the Republicans running on? What are they bashing each other over? 1684 01:27:25,040 --> 01:27:27,320 Speaker 1: Just give us kind of your overall first of all, 1685 01:27:27,320 --> 01:27:29,719 Speaker 1: how was that experience for you? And second of all, 1686 01:27:29,960 --> 01:27:33,040 Speaker 1: what were your overall impressions of where the bulk of 1687 01:27:33,080 --> 01:27:36,840 Speaker 1: the ads were. You know, I didn't drink during it, 1688 01:27:36,880 --> 01:27:38,679 Speaker 1: although maybe I should have had a couple of drinks 1689 01:27:38,720 --> 01:27:39,920 Speaker 1: and it would have got a little bit better. But 1690 01:27:40,320 --> 01:27:42,519 Speaker 1: I did space it out over over a couple of days. 1691 01:27:42,560 --> 01:27:44,400 Speaker 1: But you know, I mean it's a lot of what 1692 01:27:44,400 --> 01:27:46,640 Speaker 1: you'd expect. I mean, Democrats are running very heavily on 1693 01:27:46,680 --> 01:27:50,439 Speaker 1: the abortion issue, talking about how you know, they argue 1694 01:27:50,439 --> 01:27:54,000 Speaker 1: that Republicans want a national band and really focusing on 1695 01:27:54,240 --> 01:27:56,960 Speaker 1: you know the exceptions, you know, rape, incest, life of 1696 01:27:56,960 --> 01:27:59,559 Speaker 1: the Mother, that that some Republicans don't believe it anymore, 1697 01:28:00,760 --> 01:28:02,920 Speaker 1: and so they're trying to tie that to other Republicans. 1698 01:28:02,920 --> 01:28:05,160 Speaker 1: And then, you know, Republicans, a lot of it is, 1699 01:28:05,640 --> 01:28:08,439 Speaker 1: you know, candidate X votes with Biden and or Pelosi, 1700 01:28:08,520 --> 01:28:10,200 Speaker 1: you know, one hundred percent of the time or ninety 1701 01:28:10,200 --> 01:28:13,600 Speaker 1: five percent of the time or whatever, and uh, and 1702 01:28:13,600 --> 01:28:16,720 Speaker 1: then they sort of connect that to spending decisions that 1703 01:28:16,840 --> 01:28:21,599 Speaker 1: led to inflation, other sorts of policy points, a lot 1704 01:28:21,600 --> 01:28:25,960 Speaker 1: of crime lately, you know, Democrats, I think Democrats have 1705 01:28:26,040 --> 01:28:28,200 Speaker 1: argued I've heard from them any way, that that they 1706 01:28:28,200 --> 01:28:31,240 Speaker 1: think that this focus to crime is actually an indication 1707 01:28:31,280 --> 01:28:34,679 Speaker 1: of Republicans that that the economic stuff isn't maybe working 1708 01:28:34,680 --> 01:28:36,479 Speaker 1: as well. I don't know if that's necessarily true or not, 1709 01:28:36,560 --> 01:28:38,840 Speaker 1: but that's sort of the gloss that gets put on 1710 01:28:38,880 --> 01:28:42,519 Speaker 1: it anyway. But but you know, the thing about just 1711 01:28:42,560 --> 01:28:45,439 Speaker 1: in watching just like being watching the ads all the time, 1712 01:28:45,560 --> 01:28:48,080 Speaker 1: is that you know, the crime stuff is certainly more 1713 01:28:48,160 --> 01:28:52,360 Speaker 1: sort of visceral and gripping, I think than the economic messaging. Uh, 1714 01:28:52,560 --> 01:28:55,040 Speaker 1: just like the abortion messaging is very gripping and visceral, 1715 01:28:55,880 --> 01:28:58,559 Speaker 1: and that probably has a has a you know something 1716 01:28:58,560 --> 01:29:00,360 Speaker 1: to do with this too, and that you know, running 1717 01:29:00,360 --> 01:29:02,960 Speaker 1: these ads, you're trying to get people to actually internalize 1718 01:29:03,000 --> 01:29:05,040 Speaker 1: them and pay attention to them. And so maybe that's 1719 01:29:05,040 --> 01:29:08,639 Speaker 1: some sort of emotional messages maybe work a little bit better. Yeah, so, Kyle, 1720 01:29:08,640 --> 01:29:11,080 Speaker 1: we have two of the generic kind of ads that 1721 01:29:11,120 --> 01:29:13,400 Speaker 1: typify this type of messaging. Guys, let's ahead and roll 1722 01:29:13,439 --> 01:29:17,400 Speaker 1: these back to back. Six weeks. Lori Chev's Dreamer wants 1723 01:29:17,400 --> 01:29:20,880 Speaker 1: to ban abortion at just six weeks before most women 1724 01:29:21,000 --> 01:29:25,080 Speaker 1: even know they're pregnant, before most ultrasounds and doctor's appointments, 1725 01:29:25,160 --> 01:29:28,360 Speaker 1: right in line with Republicans pushing a national abortion ban. 1726 01:29:28,680 --> 01:29:31,839 Speaker 1: If you think it can't happen here, it can. Chavs 1727 01:29:31,880 --> 01:29:34,919 Speaker 1: Dreamer said she was quote encouraged to see the Supreme 1728 01:29:34,960 --> 01:29:38,320 Speaker 1: Court overturning Roe versus Wade. Don't give Chavis Dreamer a 1729 01:29:38,400 --> 01:29:42,080 Speaker 1: chance to put her extream ideas into action. DCCC is 1730 01:29:42,120 --> 01:29:46,400 Speaker 1: responsible for the content of this advertising. Albany's bail reform 1731 01:29:46,520 --> 01:29:50,719 Speaker 1: is fueling crime, putting criminals back on our streets. Francis 1732 01:29:50,760 --> 01:29:53,840 Speaker 1: Canol would make it worse. Canol thinks there's too many 1733 01:29:53,840 --> 01:29:57,519 Speaker 1: criminals in prison and supports letting felons out. No wonder. 1734 01:29:57,560 --> 01:30:01,479 Speaker 1: Canol praised Kathy Hokle's agenda both for letting criminals loose, 1735 01:30:01,760 --> 01:30:06,120 Speaker 1: making us less safe. Canol and Hocal too soft on crime, 1736 01:30:06,520 --> 01:30:11,559 Speaker 1: too liberal, We can't trust Albanese man Francis Canoel Congressional 1737 01:30:11,640 --> 01:30:14,320 Speaker 1: Leadership Fund is responsible for the content of this advertising. 1738 01:30:15,560 --> 01:30:17,280 Speaker 1: It's fascinating to see it, you know, in the context 1739 01:30:17,280 --> 01:30:19,120 Speaker 1: of the comments that you just put there, Kyle, I mean, 1740 01:30:19,640 --> 01:30:21,479 Speaker 1: how is it working? That's the question. I mean, the 1741 01:30:21,479 --> 01:30:24,760 Speaker 1: polls kind of move, what expanding democratic chances and I 1742 01:30:24,760 --> 01:30:27,240 Speaker 1: think the last time we talk now seeming to narrow 1743 01:30:27,439 --> 01:30:30,080 Speaker 1: how what should we make of what? So not only 1744 01:30:30,080 --> 01:30:32,680 Speaker 1: from these ads? Do they even matter in context of 1745 01:30:32,720 --> 01:30:35,600 Speaker 1: all the fundamentals. Yeah, Look, I mean there's there's a 1746 01:30:35,800 --> 01:30:38,360 Speaker 1: broader political science discussion that we could have about the 1747 01:30:38,360 --> 01:30:42,120 Speaker 1: efficacy of campaign ads. There's some belief that they you know, 1748 01:30:42,120 --> 01:30:43,920 Speaker 1: I guess if one side has a huge advantage over 1749 01:30:43,960 --> 01:30:46,519 Speaker 1: the other, that that might help move the numbers. And 1750 01:30:46,520 --> 01:30:48,040 Speaker 1: you know, of course there's going to be a disagreement 1751 01:30:48,080 --> 01:30:50,840 Speaker 1: between the people who run the campaigns and the people 1752 01:30:50,840 --> 01:30:53,160 Speaker 1: who observe the campaigns on the efficacy of ads, and 1753 01:30:53,479 --> 01:30:55,320 Speaker 1: there is you know, there can be a little bit 1754 01:30:55,360 --> 01:30:57,519 Speaker 1: of a self serving thing going on here in that 1755 01:30:58,040 --> 01:30:59,960 Speaker 1: if you know, people who are running campaigns, you know 1756 01:31:00,080 --> 01:31:01,880 Speaker 1: that the more money that spent, basically, the better it 1757 01:31:01,960 --> 01:31:04,559 Speaker 1: is for them. Now that said, you know, this sort 1758 01:31:04,600 --> 01:31:06,599 Speaker 1: of messaging is is you know, there's so many parts 1759 01:31:06,640 --> 01:31:10,240 Speaker 1: of a campaign that the candidate and his or her 1760 01:31:10,240 --> 01:31:12,920 Speaker 1: campaign really can't control, but the message is and the 1761 01:31:12,960 --> 01:31:14,599 Speaker 1: amount of money they raise is something that they can 1762 01:31:14,640 --> 01:31:16,720 Speaker 1: at least try to strive toward, and then they try 1763 01:31:16,720 --> 01:31:19,800 Speaker 1: to spend that money the best way that that they can. 1764 01:31:20,120 --> 01:31:23,120 Speaker 1: You know, I think that the crime messaging for Republicans, 1765 01:31:23,560 --> 01:31:25,240 Speaker 1: if you look at two of the most high profile 1766 01:31:25,320 --> 01:31:28,439 Speaker 1: races right now, the Wisconsin of Pennsylvania Senate races, you 1767 01:31:28,479 --> 01:31:31,599 Speaker 1: could argue that Republican the Republican position in both those 1768 01:31:31,720 --> 01:31:34,360 Speaker 1: races is better now than it was a month ago, 1769 01:31:35,400 --> 01:31:38,200 Speaker 1: and a lot of the focus of the campaign for 1770 01:31:38,280 --> 01:31:41,960 Speaker 1: both Republicans in those states has been talking about crime 1771 01:31:42,000 --> 01:31:45,360 Speaker 1: related issues of looking at John Fetterman's role on the 1772 01:31:45,920 --> 01:31:49,600 Speaker 1: pardon board in Pennsylvania, talking about some of what some 1773 01:31:49,600 --> 01:31:51,920 Speaker 1: of the things that Mandela Barnes, the Democrat Wisconsin, has 1774 01:31:51,920 --> 01:31:55,120 Speaker 1: said about the you know, defunding the police and mass 1775 01:31:55,120 --> 01:31:58,920 Speaker 1: incarceration and those sorts of things, and so from that standpoint, 1776 01:31:59,160 --> 01:32:02,320 Speaker 1: let's say, you know, Ron Johnson in Wisconsin and doctor 1777 01:32:02,360 --> 01:32:04,840 Speaker 1: Oz in Pennsylvania. If they end up winning, I think 1778 01:32:04,880 --> 01:32:07,200 Speaker 1: a lot of people, maybe rightly or wrongly, will say, oh, well, 1779 01:32:07,240 --> 01:32:09,280 Speaker 1: the crime messaging was really effective in those states. I 1780 01:32:09,280 --> 01:32:10,960 Speaker 1: think a lot of people seem to believe that now 1781 01:32:11,240 --> 01:32:13,519 Speaker 1: you know, who knows what's actually, you know, going on 1782 01:32:13,600 --> 01:32:16,960 Speaker 1: underneath the hood. One thing that I thought was interesting 1783 01:32:17,000 --> 01:32:19,400 Speaker 1: that you pointed out here is, you know, when Biden 1784 01:32:19,400 --> 01:32:22,120 Speaker 1: announces student loan debt forgiveness, I mean, this is a 1785 01:32:22,200 --> 01:32:25,280 Speaker 1: really significant action, and it affects tens of millions of people. 1786 01:32:25,800 --> 01:32:29,080 Speaker 1: It was very hotly debated. It seemed like Republicans felt 1787 01:32:29,080 --> 01:32:31,000 Speaker 1: like they had a good talking point about how this 1788 01:32:31,200 --> 01:32:34,320 Speaker 1: was like, you know, forcing working class people to pay 1789 01:32:34,360 --> 01:32:37,439 Speaker 1: for elite college educations and you know, the Yale Gender 1790 01:32:37,439 --> 01:32:40,559 Speaker 1: studies major or whatever. But you actually don't see either 1791 01:32:40,640 --> 01:32:43,439 Speaker 1: side running much advertising on that issue. What did you 1792 01:32:43,479 --> 01:32:45,600 Speaker 1: make of that? Yeah, at least in the ads that 1793 01:32:45,640 --> 01:32:48,720 Speaker 1: I looked at, the student aid issue or you know, 1794 01:32:48,920 --> 01:32:52,200 Speaker 1: student aid forgiveness didn't didn't come up at all, really 1795 01:32:52,320 --> 01:32:54,639 Speaker 1: or very in a very limited kind of way. Now 1796 01:32:54,920 --> 01:32:57,400 Speaker 1: you know, I was just looking at you know, basically 1797 01:32:57,439 --> 01:33:01,640 Speaker 1: ads it go on broadcast effectively. I've heard since I 1798 01:33:01,680 --> 01:33:03,760 Speaker 1: wrote that from some folks who maybe see these, you know, 1799 01:33:03,800 --> 01:33:06,639 Speaker 1: bumper ads on YouTube or on Hulu or whatnot. Maybe 1800 01:33:06,680 --> 01:33:08,919 Speaker 1: you'll maybe you'll see them as you watch the show potentially. 1801 01:33:08,920 --> 01:33:10,599 Speaker 1: I mean, I'm just just saying that there's so many 1802 01:33:10,640 --> 01:33:13,439 Speaker 1: different different formats for when your ads come up that 1803 01:33:13,600 --> 01:33:16,000 Speaker 1: I think maybe it has popped up in some places. 1804 01:33:16,000 --> 01:33:17,439 Speaker 1: But at least in terms of the ads that I 1805 01:33:17,520 --> 01:33:20,120 Speaker 1: watched again, we'll, you know, close to three hundred and fifty, 1806 01:33:21,320 --> 01:33:23,320 Speaker 1: I hardly saw it at all. So I just thought 1807 01:33:23,320 --> 01:33:25,439 Speaker 1: that was that was interesting. I mean, it does make 1808 01:33:25,479 --> 01:33:28,880 Speaker 1: sense that for the on the broadcast audience, you're talking 1809 01:33:28,920 --> 01:33:32,120 Speaker 1: about like the broadest possible funnel, So you want the 1810 01:33:32,160 --> 01:33:34,160 Speaker 1: message that's going to have the most resonance with the 1811 01:33:34,240 --> 01:33:36,760 Speaker 1: largest group of people. It would make sense if you 1812 01:33:36,800 --> 01:33:41,160 Speaker 1: were targeting those sorts of audiences to a more niche market, 1813 01:33:41,280 --> 01:33:43,439 Speaker 1: you know, using online ads and those sorts of things. 1814 01:33:43,439 --> 01:33:45,519 Speaker 1: So that does kind of have a logic to it. 1815 01:33:45,800 --> 01:33:47,519 Speaker 1: The other thing I wanted to ask for your opinion 1816 01:33:47,560 --> 01:33:53,320 Speaker 1: on Kyle is how much candidate quality matters in these races. 1817 01:33:53,360 --> 01:33:56,440 Speaker 1: I mean, you're looking at three hundred and fifty races 1818 01:33:56,479 --> 01:33:59,360 Speaker 1: from coast to coast. You're seeing these very similar themes, 1819 01:33:59,640 --> 01:34:03,200 Speaker 1: very sore messaging coming from the Republicans, coming from the Democrats, 1820 01:34:03,600 --> 01:34:06,240 Speaker 1: and it sort of underscores that even though we focus 1821 01:34:06,280 --> 01:34:08,960 Speaker 1: a lot of times on you know whatever like Oz 1822 01:34:09,000 --> 01:34:11,639 Speaker 1: saying cruditae or what's going on with Hershel Walker now 1823 01:34:11,720 --> 01:34:16,280 Speaker 1: in Georgia, that isn't necessarily the messaging that's going out 1824 01:34:16,320 --> 01:34:19,680 Speaker 1: that's really shaping the dynamics of these races. Yeah, look, 1825 01:34:19,720 --> 01:34:22,360 Speaker 1: I think the messaging does reflect that sort of nationalized 1826 01:34:22,360 --> 01:34:25,720 Speaker 1: political environment in which I think party label matters quite 1827 01:34:25,760 --> 01:34:27,759 Speaker 1: a lot, maybe more so than it did in the past, 1828 01:34:28,120 --> 01:34:31,599 Speaker 1: and so by extension, things like incumbency and canonate quality 1829 01:34:31,600 --> 01:34:34,000 Speaker 1: they probably matter less too. And so on one hand, 1830 01:34:34,040 --> 01:34:35,680 Speaker 1: you could say, and I think this is fair to 1831 01:34:35,720 --> 01:34:39,080 Speaker 1: point out that, you know, the Republican Senate field of 1832 01:34:39,120 --> 01:34:41,439 Speaker 1: you know, the non incumbent candidates, there's a lot of 1833 01:34:41,439 --> 01:34:43,680 Speaker 1: you know, weak, unproven candidates. On the other, on the 1834 01:34:43,720 --> 01:34:46,000 Speaker 1: other hand, like this is a great time if you're 1835 01:34:46,000 --> 01:34:47,840 Speaker 1: going to have to run those candidates, to be running 1836 01:34:47,840 --> 01:34:50,680 Speaker 1: them because we're maybe voting more on party label now. 1837 01:34:50,720 --> 01:34:53,519 Speaker 1: You know, look if Hersha Walker loses by a point 1838 01:34:53,520 --> 01:34:56,920 Speaker 1: in Georgia and memet Oz loses by two points in 1839 01:34:56,920 --> 01:35:00,200 Speaker 1: Pennsylvania or whatever. I think you could reasonably say that, oh, 1840 01:35:00,240 --> 01:35:03,439 Speaker 1: maybe a different Republican candidate would have won those races. 1841 01:35:04,520 --> 01:35:06,760 Speaker 1: But at the same time, I can't sit here and say, oh, well, 1842 01:35:07,160 --> 01:35:08,760 Speaker 1: you know, it's over for them. You can see this 1843 01:35:08,800 --> 01:35:11,160 Speaker 1: as some of these house races too. There's this candidate 1844 01:35:11,240 --> 01:35:16,519 Speaker 1: running against Marcy Captor in Northwest Ohio, jere Madjuski, who basically, 1845 01:35:16,560 --> 01:35:18,559 Speaker 1: you know, did tell the truth about his military record 1846 01:35:18,560 --> 01:35:21,360 Speaker 1: and has all sorts of problems. It's the National republic 1847 01:35:21,400 --> 01:35:24,160 Speaker 1: Congressional Committee cut off the ad funding in his district. 1848 01:35:24,360 --> 01:35:26,720 Speaker 1: But like, it's also a Trump plus three district, So like, 1849 01:35:26,840 --> 01:35:29,320 Speaker 1: I think Captors probably gonna win. But like, if Majuski 1850 01:35:29,400 --> 01:35:32,439 Speaker 1: won just based on sort of inertia from political change 1851 01:35:32,439 --> 01:35:35,120 Speaker 1: in the environment, we should be shocked by that, right. 1852 01:35:35,160 --> 01:35:37,519 Speaker 1: I think it's such an important point around candidate quality, 1853 01:35:37,560 --> 01:35:39,680 Speaker 1: whether all this stuff matters. We really appreciate you doing 1854 01:35:39,680 --> 01:35:43,120 Speaker 1: this workforce Kyle, or this work and then featuring it here. 1855 01:35:43,240 --> 01:35:45,439 Speaker 1: We really appreciate your analysis as always. Thank you for 1856 01:35:45,479 --> 01:35:48,840 Speaker 1: joining us, sir, Thanks for having me absolutely Thank you 1857 01:35:48,880 --> 01:35:50,840 Speaker 1: guys so much for watching. We really appreciate it. God, 1858 01:35:50,880 --> 01:35:52,639 Speaker 1: it was a crazy show this morning. We're like ah 1859 01:35:53,120 --> 01:35:55,760 Speaker 1: BOMs flying in kid going on all of that. That's 1860 01:35:55,800 --> 01:35:57,479 Speaker 1: why we do what we do, and that's why we 1861 01:35:57,560 --> 01:36:00,800 Speaker 1: so appreciate those of you who are Premium members because 1862 01:36:00,800 --> 01:36:03,639 Speaker 1: you enable their team. We have such an incredible team, 1863 01:36:03,720 --> 01:36:05,519 Speaker 1: like we ask so much of them on days like 1864 01:36:05,520 --> 01:36:08,479 Speaker 1: today and they execute it absolutely flawlessly. So thank you 1865 01:36:08,520 --> 01:36:11,360 Speaker 1: all so much for signing up the Premium membership. Have 1866 01:36:11,400 --> 01:36:14,080 Speaker 1: taken advantage of the discount not only support the core show, 1867 01:36:14,120 --> 01:36:17,200 Speaker 1: but all of the expansion partner content. My god, James 1868 01:36:17,240 --> 01:36:19,400 Speaker 1: Lee dropped a bomb on seed Oil. Yeah, you guys 1869 01:36:19,439 --> 01:36:22,080 Speaker 1: are such a fantastic job you guys. Really, he does 1870 01:36:22,080 --> 01:36:25,599 Speaker 1: a fantastic job with like the Sheep dives, super talented, 1871 01:36:25,640 --> 01:36:28,280 Speaker 1: super smart. I really recommend that one in particular to 1872 01:36:28,360 --> 01:36:30,479 Speaker 1: you guys, and also subscribe to his channel where he 1873 01:36:30,520 --> 01:36:33,800 Speaker 1: does even more great work. But yeah, we are so 1874 01:36:33,880 --> 01:36:37,759 Speaker 1: grateful to you all for enabling all of that. New 1875 01:36:38,400 --> 01:36:40,760 Speaker 1: new hire going to be announced very soon. New hire 1876 01:36:40,760 --> 01:36:44,040 Speaker 1: will be announced, so stay tuned for that and go ahead, Chicago. 1877 01:36:44,200 --> 01:36:47,000 Speaker 1: I was going to say, latch Shop Show We didn't 1878 01:36:47,000 --> 01:36:48,400 Speaker 1: do it at the top because we wanted to jump 1879 01:36:48,439 --> 01:36:51,519 Speaker 1: straight into news, but we would love for you guys 1880 01:36:51,560 --> 01:36:54,120 Speaker 1: to be able to join us in Chicago. If you're 1881 01:36:54,120 --> 01:36:57,120 Speaker 1: in the area, grab your tickets coming up this weekend. 1882 01:36:57,479 --> 01:37:00,320 Speaker 1: So I'm very excited about that. Saga and I have 1883 01:37:00,439 --> 01:37:02,600 Speaker 1: some new things planned for you that I think is 1884 01:37:02,600 --> 01:37:04,120 Speaker 1: gonna be a lot of fun. I'm psyched for it. 1885 01:37:04,160 --> 01:37:05,800 Speaker 1: I think people will really enjoy it. It's going to 1886 01:37:05,840 --> 01:37:07,200 Speaker 1: be a hell of a lot of fun. I'm excited 1887 01:37:07,200 --> 01:37:09,360 Speaker 1: to see Chicago. I hope the weather is better than 1888 01:37:09,360 --> 01:37:12,080 Speaker 1: it is here, although I am doubtful. Yeah, I think 1889 01:37:12,120 --> 01:37:16,320 Speaker 1: it's going to be Chicago weather. What do we see. 1890 01:37:16,360 --> 01:37:18,559 Speaker 1: It's fifty four to go. All right, it's all look terrible. 1891 01:37:19,120 --> 01:37:21,120 Speaker 1: It's high of sixty three, forty three. I can live 1892 01:37:21,120 --> 01:37:24,280 Speaker 1: with it. That's not fun, but so be it. Okay, guys, 1893 01:37:24,439 --> 01:37:25,400 Speaker 1: We'll see you all tomorrow.