1 00:00:00,640 --> 00:00:04,160 Speaker 1: Hi, I'm Molly John Fast and this is Fast Politics, 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:07,120 Speaker 1: where we discussed the top political headlines with some of 3 00:00:07,160 --> 00:00:11,040 Speaker 1: today's best minds and a new gallup. Hoole says that 4 00:00:11,240 --> 00:00:15,800 Speaker 1: just sixteen percent of Americans think that the economy is excellent. 5 00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:19,920 Speaker 1: The Lincoln Projects own Rick Wilson joins us to discuss 6 00:00:20,040 --> 00:00:25,200 Speaker 1: the Iran Nuclear Deal, Part two, and then we'll talk 7 00:00:25,239 --> 00:00:28,560 Speaker 1: to Pod Save the World's Ben Rhodes about his new book, 8 00:00:28,800 --> 00:00:31,440 Speaker 1: Always Say the Battle for American Identity. 9 00:00:31,760 --> 00:00:32,560 Speaker 2: But first the news. 10 00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:35,519 Speaker 3: Probably sixty one percent of Americans say they had to 11 00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:38,640 Speaker 3: cut back on groceries. And I get it because every 12 00:00:38,680 --> 00:00:41,080 Speaker 3: time I go to the grocery store, my grocery store, 13 00:00:41,240 --> 00:00:44,760 Speaker 3: the manager was standing outside apologizing to people the other day. 14 00:00:44,880 --> 00:00:49,160 Speaker 1: Groceries are very expensive. This started during COVID, like when 15 00:00:49,320 --> 00:00:51,479 Speaker 1: like three hundred dollars of groceries would then be four 16 00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:52,000 Speaker 1: hundred dollars. 17 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:53,559 Speaker 2: I mean, it was like amazing to me. 18 00:00:53,760 --> 00:00:56,040 Speaker 1: You know, I would do like the Week of Groceries 19 00:00:56,080 --> 00:00:57,639 Speaker 1: and I was like, what the fuck is this? 20 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:00,760 Speaker 2: But here's what I would say. Things are real expensive. 21 00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:04,440 Speaker 2: And part of that is because of all of the 22 00:01:04,560 --> 00:01:08,920 Speaker 2: many inflationary things that Donald Trump did, like tariffs like 23 00:01:09,400 --> 00:01:13,080 Speaker 2: making things more expensive, like the straits of Hermose. So 24 00:01:13,200 --> 00:01:17,600 Speaker 2: you have gas and fertilizer, and even if there's fertilizer 25 00:01:17,680 --> 00:01:21,080 Speaker 2: for this planting, it's tight. And everyone's starting to get 26 00:01:21,080 --> 00:01:23,959 Speaker 2: anxious and making things more expensive, and so everything is 27 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:28,119 Speaker 2: getting even more expensive. And Americans are also again their 28 00:01:28,480 --> 00:01:31,800 Speaker 2: income is not keeping up with the inflation. And so 29 00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:33,800 Speaker 2: there's this other thing which if you live in New 30 00:01:33,840 --> 00:01:36,560 Speaker 2: York City you don't necessarily have, but gas prices. So 31 00:01:36,560 --> 00:01:39,800 Speaker 2: you have gas prices above four and a half dollars 32 00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:42,600 Speaker 2: a down, which is humongous. And that was from you know, 33 00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:45,039 Speaker 2: what was in the threes, and now it's in the 34 00:01:45,120 --> 00:01:47,520 Speaker 2: high fours in some places like California. 35 00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:49,880 Speaker 3: My corner it's in the fives, right. 36 00:01:49,760 --> 00:01:53,480 Speaker 1: Fives, And in California it's in the sixes. And diesel 37 00:01:53,560 --> 00:01:57,400 Speaker 1: is in the sixes, and diesel is the airplanes and trucking, 38 00:01:57,520 --> 00:02:00,600 Speaker 1: and so everything is just really expensive, and so people 39 00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:02,880 Speaker 1: are having to make choices, and they're not you know, 40 00:02:02,920 --> 00:02:06,560 Speaker 1: they're not choices about how many vacations to take. There 41 00:02:06,560 --> 00:02:09,200 Speaker 1: are choices about how many meals to have, and that 42 00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:12,560 Speaker 1: is really not where we want to be as a country, 43 00:02:12,680 --> 00:02:15,080 Speaker 1: especially a country that is a very rich country that 44 00:02:15,160 --> 00:02:17,000 Speaker 1: is being led by some of the richest people in 45 00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:19,440 Speaker 1: the world, and you have people trying to figure out 46 00:02:19,480 --> 00:02:22,600 Speaker 1: whether they you know, whether they're going to have two 47 00:02:22,639 --> 00:02:26,520 Speaker 1: meals or three today, and so that is super scary. 48 00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:28,920 Speaker 1: And you know, it took a lot of stupid to 49 00:02:28,960 --> 00:02:31,680 Speaker 1: get to a place where we're starting to see the 50 00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:35,160 Speaker 1: beginnings of you know what looks like real crisis for 51 00:02:35,200 --> 00:02:36,079 Speaker 1: the American people. 52 00:02:36,400 --> 00:02:38,440 Speaker 3: Yeah, and one of the things buried in this is 53 00:02:38,480 --> 00:02:40,720 Speaker 3: like the average date night now costs two hundred and 54 00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:43,799 Speaker 3: fifty two dollars, which is eighty dollars more expensive than 55 00:02:43,840 --> 00:02:44,160 Speaker 3: it was. 56 00:02:44,480 --> 00:02:46,200 Speaker 2: That's insane. 57 00:02:46,560 --> 00:02:49,360 Speaker 3: Yeah, it's it's absolutely insane. This is always nice when 58 00:02:49,400 --> 00:02:51,720 Speaker 3: there's headlines right next to it, say record break and 59 00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:55,680 Speaker 3: eight hundred and sixty thousand fireworks plan for DC because 60 00:02:55,880 --> 00:02:58,280 Speaker 3: Aal Trump's caring about his partying, right, and. 61 00:02:58,280 --> 00:03:01,720 Speaker 1: Donald Trump is spending your tax dollars on redoing the 62 00:03:01,720 --> 00:03:06,680 Speaker 1: fountain and redoing the ballroom and redoing you know. And meanwhile, usaid, 63 00:03:06,880 --> 00:03:10,840 Speaker 1: which Elon Musk cut would have led us known, would 64 00:03:10,880 --> 00:03:13,320 Speaker 1: have been one of the first things to cue us 65 00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:17,280 Speaker 1: into what was happening with the Bola and because it 66 00:03:17,360 --> 00:03:19,920 Speaker 1: was so decimated by the richest man in the world, 67 00:03:20,080 --> 00:03:22,640 Speaker 1: by the way USAID, which is one of those aid 68 00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:25,880 Speaker 1: organizations where you give very little and get very much 69 00:03:26,240 --> 00:03:29,839 Speaker 1: in the way of soft power. And also because it's 70 00:03:29,919 --> 00:03:33,880 Speaker 1: not so expensive to do AID in Africa. It's certainly 71 00:03:33,880 --> 00:03:37,400 Speaker 1: not as expensive as redoing the East Wing. That money 72 00:03:37,520 --> 00:03:40,880 Speaker 1: is gone, those systems of checks and balances when it 73 00:03:40,920 --> 00:03:43,560 Speaker 1: comes to a Bola are gone. And now Ebola is 74 00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:46,920 Speaker 1: really waging into something in Africa, and maybe it doesn't 75 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:50,119 Speaker 1: get to us, but it's going to decimate parts of Africa, 76 00:03:50,560 --> 00:03:53,600 Speaker 1: and it's going to have a lot of second order effects. 77 00:03:53,840 --> 00:03:55,280 Speaker 2: And none of it had to happen. 78 00:03:55,320 --> 00:03:57,240 Speaker 1: You know, we have seen a bowla before and we 79 00:03:57,280 --> 00:03:59,840 Speaker 1: have been able to quelch outbreaks, and we've been able 80 00:03:59,920 --> 00:04:02,640 Speaker 1: to do it by having things like USA. So we 81 00:04:02,720 --> 00:04:05,920 Speaker 1: are less safe and less healthy because the richest man 82 00:04:05,960 --> 00:04:09,160 Speaker 1: in the world decided to just take a hammer to 83 00:04:09,240 --> 00:04:11,680 Speaker 1: our government because he wanted to. 84 00:04:12,200 --> 00:04:15,560 Speaker 3: So Mike, the girls are fighting. So Todd Blange went 85 00:04:15,560 --> 00:04:18,240 Speaker 3: to talk to the Senate and things did not go 86 00:04:18,279 --> 00:04:22,200 Speaker 3: well because this slush fund is making everyone look like robbers. 87 00:04:22,520 --> 00:04:26,800 Speaker 1: So this seventeen seventy eight billion dollar anti weaponization slush 88 00:04:26,839 --> 00:04:30,440 Speaker 1: fund for Trump's friends and people who've done crimes against 89 00:04:30,520 --> 00:04:32,120 Speaker 1: the government is not going well. 90 00:04:32,120 --> 00:04:33,760 Speaker 2: And here's the thing about Todd Blanch. 91 00:04:33,880 --> 00:04:37,000 Speaker 1: You know, this is one of these moments, these phenomenons 92 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:39,240 Speaker 1: where you have a person who wants to suck up 93 00:04:39,240 --> 00:04:42,360 Speaker 1: to Trump, like Tulci Gabbert who got fired this weekend 94 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:43,560 Speaker 1: was another one, you know. 95 00:04:43,680 --> 00:04:45,640 Speaker 2: So she wanted to suck up Trump, so she went 96 00:04:45,760 --> 00:04:46,400 Speaker 2: Where did she go? 97 00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:51,599 Speaker 1: She went to Georgia to try to get election ballots 98 00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:53,400 Speaker 1: for the twenty twenty election. Why did she do that? 99 00:04:53,440 --> 00:04:55,719 Speaker 1: Because she thought it would make Trump love her. That's 100 00:04:55,760 --> 00:04:56,960 Speaker 1: what Todd Blanche is doing here. 101 00:04:57,080 --> 00:04:57,280 Speaker 2: You know. 102 00:04:57,680 --> 00:05:00,320 Speaker 1: They knew that Trump couldn't sue the government for ten 103 00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:03,440 Speaker 1: billion dollars, so Lance's like, how about a slush fund 104 00:05:03,640 --> 00:05:08,240 Speaker 1: for we can cut checks for the paramilitary. And here's 105 00:05:08,279 --> 00:05:11,800 Speaker 1: what is the joke of this is that this is 106 00:05:11,920 --> 00:05:16,320 Speaker 1: so unpopular that my man Ted Cruz is like, you 107 00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:20,120 Speaker 1: can't do this, Okay. Ted Cruz then immediately, because he's 108 00:05:20,160 --> 00:05:23,200 Speaker 1: a podcaster first and a senator second, got on his 109 00:05:23,320 --> 00:05:26,800 Speaker 1: podcast and described it as one of his roughest meetings. 110 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:30,520 Speaker 1: He said, fiery does not begin to cut it. Of course, 111 00:05:30,680 --> 00:05:33,960 Speaker 1: remember this is Ted Cruz. He's trying to make himself 112 00:05:33,960 --> 00:05:38,960 Speaker 1: look good and also promote his podcast Verdict with Ted Cruz. 113 00:05:39,320 --> 00:05:40,880 Speaker 2: But here's what he said. 114 00:05:40,920 --> 00:05:43,280 Speaker 1: My guess is there's probably forty five centers in the room, 115 00:05:43,320 --> 00:05:45,840 Speaker 1: and at least half of them were blasting the Attorney General 116 00:05:45,880 --> 00:05:46,760 Speaker 1: and they were pissed. 117 00:05:47,080 --> 00:05:47,960 Speaker 2: So here's the thing. 118 00:05:48,160 --> 00:05:51,440 Speaker 1: Okay, if he's saying that there are forty five centators 119 00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:54,159 Speaker 1: in the room that are pissed about the Donald Trump 120 00:05:54,279 --> 00:05:58,240 Speaker 1: slush fund, that means that these people again, remember, none 121 00:05:58,279 --> 00:06:01,520 Speaker 1: of these people are more all beings, right. They are 122 00:06:01,520 --> 00:06:03,720 Speaker 1: not doing this job because they care for people. They 123 00:06:03,720 --> 00:06:05,719 Speaker 1: are doing this job because they want to keep. 124 00:06:05,520 --> 00:06:06,359 Speaker 2: Getting re elected. 125 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:10,919 Speaker 1: So these people have made a calculus that this slush 126 00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:13,840 Speaker 1: fund is bad for their reelections, and so they are 127 00:06:13,839 --> 00:06:16,039 Speaker 1: going to come out against it. And that means that 128 00:06:16,240 --> 00:06:20,080 Speaker 1: a it must be pulling through the ground. There is 129 00:06:20,200 --> 00:06:24,120 Speaker 1: no world in which this is not like electoral poison 130 00:06:24,360 --> 00:06:26,880 Speaker 1: for them to all have gotten so upset about it 131 00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:29,240 Speaker 1: so quickly. So I think, and the fact that Ted 132 00:06:29,320 --> 00:06:32,600 Speaker 1: Cruz came out against it when these people are such cowards, 133 00:06:32,880 --> 00:06:36,400 Speaker 1: means that Ted Cruz knows this election poison and it's 134 00:06:36,480 --> 00:06:39,919 Speaker 1: worth it to him to cross Trump in order to 135 00:06:39,920 --> 00:06:42,520 Speaker 1: make it look Remember, all these people are thinking about 136 00:06:42,520 --> 00:06:45,680 Speaker 1: what magapost Trump looks like, and Ted Cruz has made 137 00:06:45,720 --> 00:06:48,440 Speaker 1: the calculus that this is a wise bad Yeah, So. 138 00:06:48,680 --> 00:06:51,920 Speaker 3: That slush fund is supposed to be about weaponizing the 139 00:06:51,960 --> 00:06:55,960 Speaker 3: government and getting reparations for people who was apparently weaponized against, 140 00:06:56,120 --> 00:06:59,080 Speaker 3: which is hilarious since on the other hand, Trump is 141 00:06:59,120 --> 00:07:01,200 Speaker 3: weaponizeding the government and now that he has done it 142 00:07:01,240 --> 00:07:05,039 Speaker 3: against sand Piker and code Pink SPADEA Benjamin. 143 00:07:04,839 --> 00:07:07,000 Speaker 1: Yeah, I just want to say one last thing about 144 00:07:07,040 --> 00:07:11,120 Speaker 1: this Senate situation. We got Ted saying if the administration 145 00:07:11,200 --> 00:07:13,440 Speaker 1: doesn't fix this, they've got a full on revolt in 146 00:07:13,480 --> 00:07:17,480 Speaker 1: the Senate. So they've gone from like absolute sign off 147 00:07:17,480 --> 00:07:22,040 Speaker 1: on anything to this. So Hassan is really famous, and 148 00:07:22,240 --> 00:07:25,600 Speaker 1: this administration's a little obsessed with him because he you know, 149 00:07:25,800 --> 00:07:28,120 Speaker 1: they really want to be on the culture side, and 150 00:07:28,240 --> 00:07:31,640 Speaker 1: this guy gets really good numbers and he's a celebrity 151 00:07:31,760 --> 00:07:34,440 Speaker 1: in a way that they you know, that speaks to them. 152 00:07:34,600 --> 00:07:38,600 Speaker 2: So he went to Havana and whatever. 153 00:07:38,880 --> 00:07:41,960 Speaker 1: Then of course Trump was like, it was so mad 154 00:07:42,120 --> 00:07:44,200 Speaker 1: that he went to Havana, that he's going to do 155 00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:46,400 Speaker 1: a federal inquiry into it. This is like the same 156 00:07:46,440 --> 00:07:48,800 Speaker 1: as arresting Don Lemon, you know what I mean. Like 157 00:07:48,880 --> 00:07:51,680 Speaker 1: this is the same thing of like trying to intimidate 158 00:07:51,920 --> 00:07:55,240 Speaker 1: people he feels have power or might make him look bad. 159 00:07:55,480 --> 00:07:58,560 Speaker 1: You know, it's very McCarthy. This is all McCarthy stuff, right, 160 00:07:58,640 --> 00:08:00,760 Speaker 1: This is all red scared. This is all You're going 161 00:08:00,800 --> 00:08:02,760 Speaker 1: to get subpoenaed, You're going to get You're gonna have 162 00:08:02,760 --> 00:08:03,520 Speaker 1: to hire a lawyer. 163 00:08:03,800 --> 00:08:04,880 Speaker 2: This is all that. 164 00:08:05,320 --> 00:08:08,559 Speaker 1: And you know it's going to go on until Donald 165 00:08:08,560 --> 00:08:10,680 Speaker 1: Trump is no longer president, and then we are going 166 00:08:10,720 --> 00:08:13,640 Speaker 1: to have to have laws that prevent presidents from doing. 167 00:08:13,560 --> 00:08:14,160 Speaker 2: Shit like this. 168 00:08:14,520 --> 00:08:17,720 Speaker 3: The funniest thing is that Asado Media stayed in one 169 00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:20,560 Speaker 3: of the hotels that's approved by the State Department. And 170 00:08:20,640 --> 00:08:22,720 Speaker 3: you know who didn't, his little buddy Nick Shirley. 171 00:08:22,920 --> 00:08:26,520 Speaker 1: You know, anything they accuse the Left of doing, they're doing, 172 00:08:26,800 --> 00:08:34,480 Speaker 1: that's correct. Rick Wilson is the founder of the Lincoln 173 00:08:34,480 --> 00:08:39,439 Speaker 1: Project and the host of the Lincoln Project podcast. Rick Wilson, Hello, 174 00:08:39,520 --> 00:08:41,000 Speaker 1: my friend, how are you? 175 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:43,360 Speaker 4: I am prospering? Thank you. 176 00:08:44,600 --> 00:08:48,720 Speaker 1: So we're here to talk about Schrodinger's Iran nuclear deal, 177 00:08:48,960 --> 00:08:49,400 Speaker 1: which is. 178 00:08:49,360 --> 00:08:51,520 Speaker 4: Both could be off. You never can't tell. 179 00:08:51,840 --> 00:08:54,640 Speaker 2: Maybe it is both off and on, you. 180 00:08:54,600 --> 00:08:56,800 Speaker 4: Know, it could be off and on, and then a 181 00:08:56,840 --> 00:08:58,280 Speaker 4: separate universe from ours. 182 00:08:58,720 --> 00:09:03,000 Speaker 1: So basically what happened was that Donald Trump did not 183 00:09:03,080 --> 00:09:06,120 Speaker 1: go to Don Junior's wedding because. 184 00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:06,880 Speaker 4: Father of the year right there. 185 00:09:06,920 --> 00:09:09,559 Speaker 1: I'll me tell you well, you know, the second wedding, 186 00:09:10,679 --> 00:09:15,200 Speaker 1: and he didn't go because he needed to negotiate this 187 00:09:15,360 --> 00:09:18,480 Speaker 1: piece that he was bringing, the greatest piece ever. 188 00:09:18,880 --> 00:09:23,040 Speaker 2: And as soon as he negotiated it, basically Ted Cruz 189 00:09:23,200 --> 00:09:26,400 Speaker 2: and various negotiated is I think a strong word. He 190 00:09:26,520 --> 00:09:30,880 Speaker 2: had a sort of memorandum right, yes, explained. 191 00:09:31,360 --> 00:09:35,240 Speaker 4: So there is a memorand of understanding with the Iranian 192 00:09:35,280 --> 00:09:39,640 Speaker 4: government right now that gives iron full control of the 193 00:09:39,640 --> 00:09:43,160 Speaker 4: Strait of Hormuz, gives a Ron one hundred billion dollars 194 00:09:43,240 --> 00:09:47,960 Speaker 4: of their currently seized and frozen assets back, agrees to 195 00:09:47,960 --> 00:09:50,760 Speaker 4: pay Iran two hundred and fifty some billion maybe to 196 00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:55,040 Speaker 4: fifty or two eighty in reparations, oh wow, pushes American 197 00:09:55,679 --> 00:10:00,559 Speaker 4: forces out of the golf essentially, and sixty to after 198 00:10:00,600 --> 00:10:03,600 Speaker 4: this agreement is signed, Iran in the US will sit 199 00:10:03,679 --> 00:10:10,880 Speaker 4: down and then negotiate a separate agreement maybe concerning Iran's 200 00:10:10,960 --> 00:10:15,560 Speaker 4: nuclear weapons and nuclear weapons program. This strikes me, Molly 201 00:10:15,760 --> 00:10:20,600 Speaker 4: as not great. This more like the proverbial shart of 202 00:10:20,640 --> 00:10:23,640 Speaker 4: the deal. This is not a smart play. And for 203 00:10:23,760 --> 00:10:26,920 Speaker 4: all that Trump desperately wants to get this war done with, 204 00:10:27,600 --> 00:10:28,480 Speaker 4: this is really dumb. 205 00:10:28,920 --> 00:10:29,720 Speaker 2: Yeah, this is dumb. 206 00:10:29,720 --> 00:10:33,439 Speaker 4: At levels of dumb even for Donald Trump. People are like, whoa, dude, 207 00:10:33,559 --> 00:10:37,080 Speaker 4: that's not great. But they really are very desperate to 208 00:10:37,080 --> 00:10:39,520 Speaker 4: get this war over with. And you can't blame them 209 00:10:39,520 --> 00:10:44,240 Speaker 4: on the one hand, because they've really screwed up. The 210 00:10:44,800 --> 00:10:48,920 Speaker 4: consequences of this have been terrible for the US, particularly 211 00:10:48,960 --> 00:10:54,720 Speaker 4: our economy. And Trump doesn't care and doesn't understand why 212 00:10:55,840 --> 00:10:59,280 Speaker 4: Iran has got all the power here, but he wants 213 00:10:59,320 --> 00:11:02,000 Speaker 4: to get out of this thing. He he really needs 214 00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:03,440 Speaker 4: to get out of this thing. He's in a bear 215 00:11:03,520 --> 00:11:06,960 Speaker 4: trap right now, and and nobody's happy. 216 00:11:07,200 --> 00:11:09,640 Speaker 2: And Ted Cruz comes out immediately against this. 217 00:11:10,280 --> 00:11:14,880 Speaker 4: Well, Ted Cruz and Rex Scott and Lindsay Graham and 218 00:11:15,320 --> 00:11:20,400 Speaker 4: the entire conservative apparatus of think tank guys and national 219 00:11:20,400 --> 00:11:23,400 Speaker 4: security guys. They're like, well, wait, wait, wait, wait, we 220 00:11:23,600 --> 00:11:25,400 Speaker 4: went to Iran and now we're going to do what. 221 00:11:27,640 --> 00:11:31,600 Speaker 2: And basically, the Straits did not belong to the Iranians 222 00:11:31,679 --> 00:11:32,559 Speaker 2: before they walked. 223 00:11:32,640 --> 00:11:35,080 Speaker 4: No they did not. No, Molly, they did not. And 224 00:11:35,120 --> 00:11:38,280 Speaker 4: you know the sad part about that for Donald Trump 225 00:11:38,559 --> 00:11:42,360 Speaker 4: is once you give them away, they never come back. 226 00:11:43,600 --> 00:11:46,199 Speaker 4: This is this is this will set a precedent that 227 00:11:46,240 --> 00:11:51,240 Speaker 4: will forever give control of the Straits to Iran. And 228 00:11:51,280 --> 00:11:57,000 Speaker 4: the idea that somehow there's there's some last minute genius 229 00:11:57,040 --> 00:12:00,160 Speaker 4: negotiation on Donald Trump's part that's going to lead to 230 00:12:00,800 --> 00:12:04,880 Speaker 4: it's going to lead to a deal that makes sense 231 00:12:05,320 --> 00:12:08,280 Speaker 4: for the US. It's nuts, it's just cuckoo town. 232 00:12:08,840 --> 00:12:11,040 Speaker 1: But also, I just want to get back to this 233 00:12:11,120 --> 00:12:14,720 Speaker 1: from one second, which is the Straits are not really 234 00:12:14,800 --> 00:12:15,679 Speaker 1: ours to give? 235 00:12:16,200 --> 00:12:19,280 Speaker 4: Well, no they're not. But it's also a matter. 236 00:12:19,520 --> 00:12:22,040 Speaker 2: I mean, just a point on it there. 237 00:12:22,120 --> 00:12:25,840 Speaker 4: No, they're not ours to give. But the de facto, 238 00:12:26,920 --> 00:12:30,720 Speaker 4: the de facto impact of this agreement, and again, and 239 00:12:30,920 --> 00:12:33,760 Speaker 4: who knows what if Trump doesn't wake up in a 240 00:12:33,760 --> 00:12:36,480 Speaker 4: pissed off mood and blow the whole thing up, the 241 00:12:36,480 --> 00:12:41,280 Speaker 4: de facto impact of this agreement will be to tremendously 242 00:12:41,280 --> 00:12:44,080 Speaker 4: strengthen Iran's position in the Gulf, make them a much 243 00:12:44,200 --> 00:12:48,040 Speaker 4: richer country than they've ever been. Yeah, and it has 244 00:12:48,200 --> 00:12:54,040 Speaker 4: no verifiable or enforceable program to prevent them from getting 245 00:12:54,080 --> 00:12:56,640 Speaker 4: a nuclear weapon. It is a deal that only Donald 246 00:12:56,679 --> 00:12:59,120 Speaker 4: Trump could could try to spin. I don't think even 247 00:12:59,160 --> 00:13:02,400 Speaker 4: most of his people believe it. You've got Stephen Chung 248 00:13:02,400 --> 00:13:04,240 Speaker 4: and Alex Bruce Woods and all these other morons in 249 00:13:04,280 --> 00:13:06,959 Speaker 4: the White House like attacking Ted Cruz. 250 00:13:07,400 --> 00:13:10,560 Speaker 2: And I'm like, and Mike Poteo. 251 00:13:11,080 --> 00:13:13,800 Speaker 4: Pompeo, Yeah, I'm like, you boys, go ahead and fight 252 00:13:13,880 --> 00:13:15,800 Speaker 4: this battle. This is a great one for you. You 253 00:13:15,800 --> 00:13:19,160 Speaker 4: should fight this battle just like this, because nothing could 254 00:13:19,240 --> 00:13:23,200 Speaker 4: go wrong when you already have a very angry Senate, 255 00:13:23,880 --> 00:13:26,480 Speaker 4: you know, with the with the stories of Todd blanche 256 00:13:26,480 --> 00:13:29,880 Speaker 4: getting his head kicked in twenty plus Republican senators the 257 00:13:29,960 --> 00:13:34,000 Speaker 4: other day, you've got a very angry senate. Sure, piss off. 258 00:13:34,040 --> 00:13:37,320 Speaker 4: Ted Cruise is on the Defense Committee and a senior 259 00:13:37,320 --> 00:13:39,800 Speaker 4: guy there, whether you like him or not, the Senate 260 00:13:39,840 --> 00:13:42,480 Speaker 4: has a lot of positional power, and Ted Cruz knows 261 00:13:42,520 --> 00:13:45,080 Speaker 4: about that. If Graham Cruz and many of the other 262 00:13:45,280 --> 00:13:48,000 Speaker 4: hardliners get their way, this is gonna be a very 263 00:13:48,040 --> 00:13:49,840 Speaker 4: brief idea. 264 00:13:49,960 --> 00:13:52,320 Speaker 1: So let's just talk about this for another minute, because 265 00:13:52,480 --> 00:13:55,680 Speaker 1: one of the things we saw before the Long Weekend, 266 00:13:55,760 --> 00:13:58,760 Speaker 1: and now coming out of Long Weekend, we're seeing a 267 00:13:58,840 --> 00:14:02,520 Speaker 1: lot of republic Cans break with Trump, right, a lot, 268 00:14:03,000 --> 00:14:06,600 Speaker 1: a lot lot. So like Ron Anon is on television 269 00:14:06,840 --> 00:14:10,679 Speaker 1: being like not okay, Ted Cruz breaking with Trump. You 270 00:14:10,720 --> 00:14:13,080 Speaker 1: know this is Remember this was a guy who you 271 00:14:13,240 --> 00:14:16,719 Speaker 1: couldn't even look at sideways six months ago, and now 272 00:14:16,760 --> 00:14:18,560 Speaker 1: we're seeing all these people break with him. 273 00:14:18,760 --> 00:14:21,359 Speaker 2: Yep, So why. 274 00:14:21,280 --> 00:14:25,560 Speaker 4: At some point even the most devoted cult members have 275 00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:29,960 Speaker 4: realized that if you follow Donald Trump over the cliff, 276 00:14:30,680 --> 00:14:37,080 Speaker 4: you don't have the same immunities and love of the 277 00:14:37,120 --> 00:14:40,160 Speaker 4: base that he does. He will, they will. He will 278 00:14:40,240 --> 00:14:42,680 Speaker 4: let them take the blame for the worst things he does. 279 00:14:44,040 --> 00:14:46,640 Speaker 4: He will let them take the blame if Iran suddenly 280 00:14:46,680 --> 00:14:50,000 Speaker 4: finds out that or if we suddenly find out that 281 00:14:50,000 --> 00:14:52,600 Speaker 4: Iron has a nuclear weapon a year from now, he 282 00:14:52,640 --> 00:14:55,560 Speaker 4: will let them take the blame. Send it to me. 283 00:14:55,640 --> 00:14:58,080 Speaker 4: I had to do it. I couldn't stab them right, 284 00:14:59,080 --> 00:15:03,520 Speaker 4: liberals in Senate. I just think this is a very 285 00:15:04,400 --> 00:15:06,280 Speaker 4: I think this is a very dark moment for these guys. 286 00:15:06,280 --> 00:15:11,280 Speaker 4: Because Trump's popularity is going down by the day, his 287 00:15:12,240 --> 00:15:18,880 Speaker 4: ability to shape primaries should not be confused with popularity overall. 288 00:15:19,440 --> 00:15:22,480 Speaker 1: And I want to just go muse on that for 289 00:15:22,520 --> 00:15:24,440 Speaker 1: a minute, because I have a theory of the case, 290 00:15:24,480 --> 00:15:26,480 Speaker 1: and I want you to tell me what you think 291 00:15:26,520 --> 00:15:28,800 Speaker 1: about this, if you think that's right or wrong. My 292 00:15:28,960 --> 00:15:32,720 Speaker 1: theory of the case is that it comes from the 293 00:15:33,760 --> 00:15:37,680 Speaker 1: comes from the Bradley Tusk school, which Bradley Tesk says, 294 00:15:37,800 --> 00:15:40,240 Speaker 1: all politicians want is to get reelected. 295 00:15:40,320 --> 00:15:41,680 Speaker 2: That's literally the only thing. 296 00:15:42,080 --> 00:15:46,160 Speaker 4: Yeah, it's the only thing. And so they they're they're 297 00:15:46,200 --> 00:15:50,720 Speaker 4: talking publicly now about a disaster in November that is 298 00:15:51,080 --> 00:15:53,920 Speaker 4: going to rest directly on the shoulders of Donald Trump. 299 00:15:54,160 --> 00:15:57,120 Speaker 4: Right they're talking publicly about it every day. There's a 300 00:15:57,160 --> 00:16:01,800 Speaker 4: reason that that we're not seeing the usual Republican swagger 301 00:16:02,000 --> 00:16:05,080 Speaker 4: right now, and that is they know how bad this is. 302 00:16:05,480 --> 00:16:08,480 Speaker 4: They know how dark the mood of the elector has 303 00:16:08,520 --> 00:16:15,480 Speaker 4: become over this war, over the economy, over food prices, 304 00:16:15,800 --> 00:16:21,640 Speaker 4: all of it. All of it is is they will 305 00:16:21,680 --> 00:16:25,680 Speaker 4: take the hit from Trump's own voters when the time comes. 306 00:16:25,760 --> 00:16:28,400 Speaker 4: They will be the ones who Trump's own voters go, well, 307 00:16:28,480 --> 00:16:31,320 Speaker 4: they either didn't support him enough or those idiots went 308 00:16:31,360 --> 00:16:34,400 Speaker 4: along with him. What the hell. Yeah, they're in a 309 00:16:34,440 --> 00:16:37,400 Speaker 4: real Box Malley. They're in a really, really rough spot. 310 00:16:37,640 --> 00:16:40,720 Speaker 1: So these people are coming out they are A they 311 00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:44,280 Speaker 1: don't like the deal, but B they also realize that this. 312 00:16:44,280 --> 00:16:47,160 Speaker 2: Is the only way they're going to save themselves electorally. 313 00:16:47,240 --> 00:16:49,440 Speaker 4: Yeah, and look, you can tell a lot of this 314 00:16:50,200 --> 00:16:53,760 Speaker 4: how bad. A lot of this is because there had 315 00:16:53,800 --> 00:16:59,440 Speaker 4: been some subtle shifting among Senate Republicans toward Marco Rubio 316 00:17:00,400 --> 00:17:04,200 Speaker 4: in the last couple of months, like the overt praise. 317 00:17:04,280 --> 00:17:06,800 Speaker 4: They were thinking, Oh, he's the guy, he's the one, 318 00:17:06,960 --> 00:17:09,200 Speaker 4: well R'll be able to is out defending this deal 319 00:17:09,240 --> 00:17:13,440 Speaker 4: all weekend, and they're they're like, not in it. They're 320 00:17:13,440 --> 00:17:15,520 Speaker 4: not backing him up. Nobody's backing his play. 321 00:17:17,320 --> 00:17:20,520 Speaker 1: So let's just get let's talk about some of the 322 00:17:20,600 --> 00:17:22,320 Speaker 1: other corners that happened this weekend. 323 00:17:22,600 --> 00:17:25,480 Speaker 2: Tulse. Tulsi gets fired on a Friday. 324 00:17:25,240 --> 00:17:27,159 Speaker 4: Yeah, gets fired on a Friday of a long one. 325 00:17:27,200 --> 00:17:27,360 Speaker 1: Look. 326 00:17:27,480 --> 00:17:30,080 Speaker 4: She says that it's about her husband. He's apparently sick. 327 00:17:30,160 --> 00:17:32,280 Speaker 4: I don't know. I didn't even know Tulci Gabber was married. 328 00:17:32,320 --> 00:17:33,880 Speaker 2: Frank I didn't think she was married either. 329 00:17:34,160 --> 00:17:39,920 Speaker 4: Yeah, but her situation should not be unfamiliar now to 330 00:17:40,880 --> 00:17:47,560 Speaker 4: Republicans around Trump she has lost his love. And it 331 00:17:47,600 --> 00:17:50,560 Speaker 4: doesn't matter what she's done or not done for him, 332 00:17:50,920 --> 00:17:53,920 Speaker 4: or how much she's expressed her loyalty to him. 333 00:17:53,800 --> 00:17:55,240 Speaker 2: In the past, doesn't matter. 334 00:17:55,400 --> 00:17:57,520 Speaker 4: When he's done with you, he's done with you and 335 00:17:57,560 --> 00:17:59,879 Speaker 4: he's done with her. Now there's a lot of rumor 336 00:17:59,880 --> 00:18:02,639 Speaker 4: that Rick Grennell wants the job. Now there's a lot 337 00:18:02,680 --> 00:18:06,280 Speaker 4: of rumor that Ratcliffe might get the job. Who's current dire. 338 00:18:06,840 --> 00:18:10,120 Speaker 1: Cia director of CIA much better than D and I. 339 00:18:10,680 --> 00:18:13,920 Speaker 4: D and I technically runs all the both accounts. They 340 00:18:13,920 --> 00:18:16,920 Speaker 4: technically the technical the CIA is underneath them. 341 00:18:17,960 --> 00:18:21,840 Speaker 2: But you know, I don't think people were letting Tulsi 342 00:18:22,040 --> 00:18:22,840 Speaker 2: run the CIA. 343 00:18:23,320 --> 00:18:30,000 Speaker 4: Tulsi's abilities to manage anything were never superb. And D 344 00:18:30,080 --> 00:18:33,439 Speaker 4: and I is a very very, very complicated job with 345 00:18:33,480 --> 00:18:34,560 Speaker 4: a lot of moving parts. 346 00:18:34,960 --> 00:18:37,280 Speaker 2: Ultimately, do you think she did a lot of damage 347 00:18:37,280 --> 00:18:37,720 Speaker 2: in there. 348 00:18:38,280 --> 00:18:40,879 Speaker 4: I don't think. Look, I think she did some damage, 349 00:18:40,920 --> 00:18:42,880 Speaker 4: but she was a lot of the time she was there, 350 00:18:42,920 --> 00:18:46,320 Speaker 4: she was trying to preserve her position with Trump. So 351 00:18:46,320 --> 00:18:48,680 Speaker 4: that's why she was in the election fraud shit, and 352 00:18:48,800 --> 00:18:56,760 Speaker 4: you know, stopping anti Chinese and anti Russian efforts around 353 00:18:56,800 --> 00:18:59,119 Speaker 4: the world. She wanted to make sure that she was 354 00:18:59,119 --> 00:19:01,960 Speaker 4: on Trump's agenda. Uh. I think Telsea Gabbard has always 355 00:19:01,960 --> 00:19:06,320 Speaker 4: been weird and a little bit dangerous because she's she's 356 00:19:06,400 --> 00:19:15,760 Speaker 4: clearly not Superman. Yeah, yeah, clearly. But I think that 357 00:19:15,840 --> 00:19:17,879 Speaker 4: at the end of the day, you know, this is 358 00:19:17,920 --> 00:19:21,200 Speaker 4: one more woman getting fired in this administration. You notice 359 00:19:21,240 --> 00:19:25,920 Speaker 4: that the guys, Howard Lutnik is in a much worse spot. Yeah, 360 00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:27,960 Speaker 4: in terms of the political impact of what's going on 361 00:19:28,040 --> 00:19:30,439 Speaker 4: with him, But there's no sign he's getting fired. 362 00:19:31,280 --> 00:19:31,480 Speaker 5: Yeah. 363 00:19:31,720 --> 00:19:34,480 Speaker 2: I think, I mean he will be. 364 00:19:34,840 --> 00:19:38,959 Speaker 4: He will eventually, But right now, when you look at 365 00:19:38,960 --> 00:19:41,840 Speaker 4: the way Gabbard, you know, and they weren't even like, yeah, 366 00:19:41,880 --> 00:19:42,600 Speaker 4: thanks for your help. 367 00:19:42,920 --> 00:19:46,480 Speaker 2: What was Chelsea fied? What was the thing that did it? 368 00:19:46,720 --> 00:19:49,040 Speaker 4: I don't think there was any particular thing in general 369 00:19:49,960 --> 00:19:51,639 Speaker 4: or in specific. I think it was just a general 370 00:19:51,720 --> 00:19:55,560 Speaker 4: lack of He he lost interest in her, right, and 371 00:19:55,600 --> 00:19:57,919 Speaker 4: that is that is the fatal thing with Trump. If 372 00:19:57,960 --> 00:20:01,000 Speaker 4: you don't if he doesn't think you're a good on tea, right, 373 00:20:01,200 --> 00:20:03,920 Speaker 4: making him look good, you're out. 374 00:20:04,200 --> 00:20:06,960 Speaker 1: That is wild. You know, We're sort of at the 375 00:20:07,080 --> 00:20:09,440 Speaker 1: end of this long weekend and Trump is going to 376 00:20:09,480 --> 00:20:12,880 Speaker 1: sort of try to figure out the I mean, talk 377 00:20:12,960 --> 00:20:14,960 Speaker 1: to me about this idea that Donald Trump is sort 378 00:20:14,960 --> 00:20:17,400 Speaker 1: of that the walls are kind of closing in here. 379 00:20:18,600 --> 00:20:23,520 Speaker 4: Look, his economic numbers are in total free fall. For 380 00:20:23,720 --> 00:20:26,080 Speaker 4: all that the stock market, you know, liberals are like, 381 00:20:26,080 --> 00:20:28,160 Speaker 4: why are people still feel so bad? And the stock 382 00:20:28,200 --> 00:20:31,720 Speaker 4: market's doing so great. The problem for Trump is the 383 00:20:31,760 --> 00:20:34,359 Speaker 4: stock market's doing so great and people feel so bad. 384 00:20:34,720 --> 00:20:37,760 Speaker 4: And now they're connecting the two. Now they're saying, oh shit, 385 00:20:38,600 --> 00:20:40,520 Speaker 4: Trump is taking care of Wall Street and we're getting 386 00:20:40,560 --> 00:20:44,920 Speaker 4: fucked right. That is why I think the political walls 387 00:20:44,920 --> 00:20:48,119 Speaker 4: are closing in. The Other reason the political walls are 388 00:20:48,119 --> 00:20:53,440 Speaker 4: closing in is because Trump is absolutely poisonous with independent voters. 389 00:20:53,600 --> 00:20:56,040 Speaker 2: Right and even Republican leaning in. 390 00:20:56,320 --> 00:20:58,680 Speaker 4: And now he's down to fifty seven percent approval among 391 00:20:58,760 --> 00:21:00,640 Speaker 4: Republicans in one pole this weekend. 392 00:21:00,800 --> 00:21:01,400 Speaker 2: I saw that. 393 00:21:01,400 --> 00:21:04,560 Speaker 4: That was I mean, no, I just you know, I 394 00:21:04,600 --> 00:21:07,520 Speaker 4: texted Andrew, my son is a poster, and he's like, no, 395 00:21:07,560 --> 00:21:10,600 Speaker 4: it's real, it's it's legitimate numbers. And you know, we 396 00:21:10,720 --> 00:21:12,800 Speaker 4: keep saying he doesn't have the week, he can't go 397 00:21:12,840 --> 00:21:15,840 Speaker 4: below X, but he can go below X. And look 398 00:21:15,880 --> 00:21:18,879 Speaker 4: if you if you end up with Trump even a 399 00:21:18,880 --> 00:21:23,280 Speaker 4: couple more points down from with Republicans because everybody else 400 00:21:23,280 --> 00:21:27,840 Speaker 4: hates him. Democrats hate him, Independence hate him. Now the drop. 401 00:21:28,840 --> 00:21:31,120 Speaker 4: If he goes down another two or three points, he'll 402 00:21:31,119 --> 00:21:33,520 Speaker 4: be in the high twenties in his polling. If he 403 00:21:33,560 --> 00:21:35,800 Speaker 4: goes down like fifty five with Republicans, that puts him 404 00:21:35,840 --> 00:21:37,400 Speaker 4: in like twenty seven twenty eight. 405 00:21:37,840 --> 00:21:40,439 Speaker 2: Right, which for all approval, what's the president for that? 406 00:21:40,800 --> 00:21:43,679 Speaker 4: There is none. Nixon is the closest thing you can 407 00:21:43,720 --> 00:21:48,240 Speaker 4: get to, but even that doesn't quite suffice to explain 408 00:21:48,840 --> 00:21:51,040 Speaker 4: just how terrible his numbers have become. 409 00:21:51,280 --> 00:21:53,359 Speaker 2: I want to talk about saying because I just I 410 00:21:53,359 --> 00:21:55,720 Speaker 2: think you can talk about this. Was talking to someone 411 00:21:55,760 --> 00:21:59,200 Speaker 2: this weekend who lives in Florida and they were talking 412 00:21:59,240 --> 00:22:04,560 Speaker 2: about how furious people are with DeSantis. Yes, and I 413 00:22:04,600 --> 00:22:07,080 Speaker 2: would love you to because I think DeSantis is sort 414 00:22:07,119 --> 00:22:09,840 Speaker 2: of suffering from a he is sort of a mini Trump, 415 00:22:09,840 --> 00:22:12,800 Speaker 2: and he's suffering from a sort of mini Trump kind 416 00:22:12,840 --> 00:22:13,480 Speaker 2: of situation. 417 00:22:14,119 --> 00:22:18,080 Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, for sure, Molly. Look, Rond de Santis is 418 00:22:18,119 --> 00:22:24,120 Speaker 4: never never America's friendliest guy. He's never been a guy 419 00:22:24,119 --> 00:22:28,160 Speaker 4: with a lot of like warmth and understanding and whatever. 420 00:22:29,359 --> 00:22:34,200 Speaker 4: And as you go through your political life cycle, when 421 00:22:34,240 --> 00:22:37,639 Speaker 4: you're a Rondi Santus and you shit on everybody for 422 00:22:37,760 --> 00:22:41,320 Speaker 4: six or seven years now, six and a half years now, 423 00:22:41,320 --> 00:22:46,160 Speaker 4: excuse me. Eventually there's a bill due for that. Eventually 424 00:22:46,200 --> 00:22:48,720 Speaker 4: people get mad. Eventually people are like, I'm sick of 425 00:22:48,800 --> 00:22:51,000 Speaker 4: talking to I'm sick of hearing about this guy. I'm 426 00:22:51,040 --> 00:22:53,679 Speaker 4: sick of being yelled at by this guy, lectured by 427 00:22:53,680 --> 00:22:57,399 Speaker 4: this guy. And he's not helping the Republican Party in 428 00:22:57,440 --> 00:23:00,640 Speaker 4: the state anymore to do what it's always done, which 429 00:23:00,680 --> 00:23:03,560 Speaker 4: is to have this sort of sense of absolute political inevitability. 430 00:23:04,200 --> 00:23:07,480 Speaker 4: He has become a Trump like figure in the state. 431 00:23:07,720 --> 00:23:13,720 Speaker 4: Why he's pushing He's pushed this this Florida freedom idea, 432 00:23:14,320 --> 00:23:17,560 Speaker 4: where what it's been meant is that insurance companies are 433 00:23:17,560 --> 00:23:17,960 Speaker 4: free to. 434 00:23:17,920 --> 00:23:21,959 Speaker 1: Fuck you over, and also developers are free to develop, 435 00:23:21,960 --> 00:23:23,760 Speaker 1: and they ever got developer. 436 00:23:23,359 --> 00:23:28,159 Speaker 4: Developers can build anything anywhere, anytime. He also is taking 437 00:23:28,200 --> 00:23:30,600 Speaker 4: the blame for the fact that the Republican Party in 438 00:23:30,640 --> 00:23:34,480 Speaker 4: the state is completely bought out by the AI guys 439 00:23:34,520 --> 00:23:38,760 Speaker 4: now and so they want to Byron Donald's wants to 440 00:23:38,800 --> 00:23:42,240 Speaker 4: build four hundred and fifty data centers in Florida, and 441 00:23:42,359 --> 00:23:45,919 Speaker 4: he is the successor to Ron de Santis and people 442 00:23:46,000 --> 00:23:49,240 Speaker 4: hate it. They're so furious. They don't want data centers here. 443 00:23:49,760 --> 00:23:53,480 Speaker 4: They're furious. It's like we heard about this one deal 444 00:23:53,480 --> 00:23:56,440 Speaker 4: with data centers that you know, where they wanted to 445 00:23:56,480 --> 00:23:58,320 Speaker 4: come into a community. They want the community to pay 446 00:23:58,400 --> 00:24:01,679 Speaker 4: for the land, the bilding never have any taxes on 447 00:24:01,720 --> 00:24:04,800 Speaker 4: the building. There no property taxes ever, and take thirty 448 00:24:04,800 --> 00:24:07,760 Speaker 4: percent of the power from the county and have it preemptible, 449 00:24:07,800 --> 00:24:10,200 Speaker 4: so if there's a hurricane and everybody else has no power, 450 00:24:10,200 --> 00:24:11,000 Speaker 4: they still get power. 451 00:24:11,160 --> 00:24:14,600 Speaker 1: And fyi, they're going to take your water too, Yeah, 452 00:24:14,800 --> 00:24:15,600 Speaker 1: your war water. No. 453 00:24:15,800 --> 00:24:18,040 Speaker 2: No, And they're noisy and they police. 454 00:24:18,080 --> 00:24:20,480 Speaker 4: These people in DeSantis wild want to build four hundred 455 00:24:20,440 --> 00:24:23,080 Speaker 4: and fifty of those things. They've destroyed public schools in 456 00:24:23,119 --> 00:24:26,119 Speaker 4: the state by giving billions of billions of dollars to 457 00:24:26,240 --> 00:24:28,840 Speaker 4: charter schools, which are now being bought by private equity 458 00:24:28,840 --> 00:24:32,679 Speaker 4: firms and people like Byron Donald's, who is in that business. 459 00:24:33,119 --> 00:24:35,520 Speaker 4: It's not a it's not a commitment, it's a business. 460 00:24:36,320 --> 00:24:38,879 Speaker 4: All these people out there in the in the in 461 00:24:38,920 --> 00:24:42,440 Speaker 4: the normy world are like, Okay, we're done. This is enough, 462 00:24:42,880 --> 00:24:45,200 Speaker 4: you know, And the culture war stuff isn't going to 463 00:24:45,280 --> 00:24:51,320 Speaker 4: suffice going forward to cover the political weaknesses that the 464 00:24:51,359 --> 00:24:54,160 Speaker 4: Republican Party here has. It's why you see polls where 465 00:24:54,400 --> 00:24:57,040 Speaker 4: David Jolly is competitive, It's why you see poles. 466 00:24:56,880 --> 00:24:59,320 Speaker 2: Where where that's where I was getting where. 467 00:24:59,240 --> 00:25:01,880 Speaker 4: Vinment is compared. And that is not something I would 468 00:25:01,880 --> 00:25:05,120 Speaker 4: have ever told you was even vaguely possible a couple 469 00:25:05,160 --> 00:25:05,680 Speaker 4: of years. 470 00:25:05,480 --> 00:25:08,240 Speaker 1: Ago, or even a couple of months ago. And you 471 00:25:08,320 --> 00:25:11,520 Speaker 1: do sound very woke when you talk about data. I mean, 472 00:25:11,640 --> 00:25:13,920 Speaker 1: I'm no fan of data centers, let me tell you, 473 00:25:14,240 --> 00:25:17,240 Speaker 1: but like you really do see why nobody wants them. 474 00:25:17,400 --> 00:25:20,560 Speaker 4: Here's a funny stat in Florida, in the in the 475 00:25:20,680 --> 00:25:24,520 Speaker 4: seven communities where where a polster went and tested this recently, 476 00:25:24,840 --> 00:25:27,600 Speaker 4: the number opposed to building any data centers at all 477 00:25:27,680 --> 00:25:30,000 Speaker 4: was eighty three percent. And you know what, it was 478 00:25:30,040 --> 00:25:32,920 Speaker 4: about eighty percent of Republicans and about eighty percent of Democrats, 479 00:25:32,920 --> 00:25:35,320 Speaker 4: and about eighty percent of independence It's. 480 00:25:35,160 --> 00:25:39,600 Speaker 1: Our eighty twenty issue is nobody wants them. I'm don't 481 00:25:39,640 --> 00:25:42,600 Speaker 1: touch it, so I just want to. I'm going to 482 00:25:42,680 --> 00:25:44,200 Speaker 1: run a quick fact check on you. 483 00:25:44,600 --> 00:25:48,240 Speaker 2: George W. Bush's lowest approval rating was twenty two percent, 484 00:25:48,400 --> 00:25:53,119 Speaker 2: recorded right before he left office. But that was after 485 00:25:53,160 --> 00:25:55,840 Speaker 2: the gol War. But by the way, I do also 486 00:25:55,960 --> 00:25:56,600 Speaker 2: think that. 487 00:25:56,920 --> 00:26:00,840 Speaker 4: Was during the worst part of the Gol four. That's 488 00:26:00,840 --> 00:26:02,919 Speaker 4: not the goal for that's the war on terror, the 489 00:26:02,920 --> 00:26:05,719 Speaker 4: worst part of the glat And it also was at 490 00:26:05,760 --> 00:26:09,399 Speaker 4: a time when gas prices had gone to three dollars 491 00:26:09,400 --> 00:26:14,560 Speaker 4: and fifteen cents a gallon, which was a lot back then. Yeah. Wow, 492 00:26:14,840 --> 00:26:16,679 Speaker 4: I want to see how this works out for the 493 00:26:16,720 --> 00:26:21,080 Speaker 4: Trump folks continuing to try to spend like gas will 494 00:26:21,080 --> 00:26:25,719 Speaker 4: be two dollars any minute now, Okay, cool, tell me 495 00:26:25,760 --> 00:26:27,840 Speaker 4: more about your active fantasy life. 496 00:26:28,960 --> 00:26:29,560 Speaker 2: Rick Wilson. 497 00:26:29,640 --> 00:26:33,480 Speaker 1: I hope you'll come back, you know I will. Ben 498 00:26:33,560 --> 00:26:37,920 Speaker 1: Rhodes is a former Deputy National Security Advisor and the 499 00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:42,200 Speaker 1: host of Podsay the World and the author of Always Say, 500 00:26:42,280 --> 00:26:44,920 Speaker 1: A History of the United States and fifteen Speeches. 501 00:26:45,440 --> 00:26:46,960 Speaker 2: Welcome, Welcome, Ben Rhoads. 502 00:26:47,000 --> 00:26:53,080 Speaker 1: Goodness you I mean, someone who has done so much beetrading. 503 00:26:53,320 --> 00:26:55,000 Speaker 2: And I am in the middle of writing this. 504 00:26:55,280 --> 00:26:58,879 Speaker 1: I'm doing my first commencement speech, and so I'm watching 505 00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:01,639 Speaker 1: all these conventions beach, and I'm thinking about all of 506 00:27:01,680 --> 00:27:05,679 Speaker 1: the power speech writing and the power of bad speech writing, 507 00:27:05,720 --> 00:27:08,840 Speaker 1: because we are in the middle of this bizarre news 508 00:27:08,840 --> 00:27:10,600 Speaker 1: cycle where it's not bizarre. 509 00:27:10,640 --> 00:27:12,040 Speaker 2: Actually I think it makes a lot of sense. 510 00:27:12,080 --> 00:27:15,040 Speaker 1: But we have a lot of people talking at commencement 511 00:27:15,200 --> 00:27:18,960 Speaker 1: about AI and then them getting categorically booed in an 512 00:27:19,000 --> 00:27:22,520 Speaker 1: amazing and hilarious why so, I assume you have things 513 00:27:22,520 --> 00:27:23,800 Speaker 1: to say on this topic. 514 00:27:24,240 --> 00:27:24,680 Speaker 6: I do. 515 00:27:24,960 --> 00:27:27,560 Speaker 5: In addition to being a speechwriter for brock Obaums for 516 00:27:27,600 --> 00:27:30,160 Speaker 5: ten years, I just finished this book Always Say. 517 00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:31,760 Speaker 6: Which tries to tell the story that. 518 00:27:32,080 --> 00:27:34,480 Speaker 5: Basically argument we've been having in this country. 519 00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:37,000 Speaker 6: Over turn of fift years, through fifteen speeches to deal 520 00:27:37,040 --> 00:27:37,919 Speaker 6: with the question at end. 521 00:27:37,960 --> 00:27:40,480 Speaker 5: Though part of what I thought about too big question 522 00:27:40,840 --> 00:27:45,080 Speaker 5: right one is what makes a greater consequential speech? And 523 00:27:45,119 --> 00:27:49,040 Speaker 5: then secondly why have we lost the capacity to have that. 524 00:27:49,280 --> 00:27:50,240 Speaker 6: In our politics? 525 00:27:50,280 --> 00:27:52,119 Speaker 5: And on the first one, I thought a lot about 526 00:27:52,160 --> 00:27:54,680 Speaker 5: this as I was curating this list of speech which 527 00:27:54,680 --> 00:27:56,639 Speaker 5: includes some very famous ones like lin in second in 528 00:27:56,680 --> 00:28:01,000 Speaker 5: augur but also I've got suffragettes and abolitionists and racist 529 00:28:01,119 --> 00:28:02,879 Speaker 5: you know, I wanted to to show the full argument. 530 00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:04,720 Speaker 5: I think there were three things that stood out to me. 531 00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:08,240 Speaker 5: One is a speech has to be authentic. You have 532 00:28:08,320 --> 00:28:10,760 Speaker 5: to be the only person who could deliver this speech 533 00:28:10,760 --> 00:28:13,000 Speaker 5: on Earth you know, it's not about a five point plan. 534 00:28:13,040 --> 00:28:16,359 Speaker 5: It's about you telling a story that emerges from your 535 00:28:16,560 --> 00:28:20,080 Speaker 5: entire life history and your identity. Why are you, Molly, 536 00:28:20,200 --> 00:28:22,760 Speaker 5: the one who can deliver this commencement speech. 537 00:28:22,680 --> 00:28:24,360 Speaker 6: To this audience? And it was. 538 00:28:24,320 --> 00:28:26,600 Speaker 5: Interesting writ in the book each chapter I can do 539 00:28:26,720 --> 00:28:29,320 Speaker 5: the whole life story of the person because that explains 540 00:28:29,359 --> 00:28:31,560 Speaker 5: where the words came from. Martin Luther King when he 541 00:28:31,600 --> 00:28:34,359 Speaker 5: did the I Dream speech was repurposing language that he 542 00:28:34,560 --> 00:28:37,119 Speaker 5: used in the Montgomery bus boycott or that he used 543 00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:39,840 Speaker 5: in front of his house after his bomb. You know, 544 00:28:39,840 --> 00:28:43,280 Speaker 5: so that that authenticity is essential. I think a second 545 00:28:43,360 --> 00:28:46,720 Speaker 5: thing that a great speech needs to do is, you know, 546 00:28:46,760 --> 00:28:50,040 Speaker 5: ideally it connects to some sense of a movement. 547 00:28:50,280 --> 00:28:52,320 Speaker 6: Right now, the simplest way is, yeah, you're King and 548 00:28:52,320 --> 00:28:53,600 Speaker 6: you're speaking is the rights movement. 549 00:28:53,680 --> 00:28:56,920 Speaker 5: But I think even you know, you situate yourself probably 550 00:28:56,960 --> 00:29:00,880 Speaker 5: within several different movements, right for certain kinds of rights 551 00:29:01,040 --> 00:29:03,800 Speaker 5: or for a certain kind of America. You want to 552 00:29:03,880 --> 00:29:06,760 Speaker 5: connect your story that you're telling the audience to something 553 00:29:07,040 --> 00:29:07,880 Speaker 5: that they might. 554 00:29:07,760 --> 00:29:08,640 Speaker 6: Feel a part of too. 555 00:29:08,800 --> 00:29:12,040 Speaker 5: And then the third thing, which is I think more complicated, 556 00:29:12,120 --> 00:29:14,320 Speaker 5: is you want to connect it to how people receive information. 557 00:29:14,440 --> 00:29:17,160 Speaker 5: You know, FDR is a great communicator because he understood 558 00:29:17,200 --> 00:29:20,160 Speaker 5: the radio prize kind of plan, spoken explanation. You know, 559 00:29:20,320 --> 00:29:24,360 Speaker 5: King and Kennedy understood television, the spectacle, the charisma of that. 560 00:29:24,680 --> 00:29:26,880 Speaker 5: And this leads me to kind of what's happened, because 561 00:29:26,880 --> 00:29:30,040 Speaker 5: part of what's happened is with technology and social media, 562 00:29:30,280 --> 00:29:32,960 Speaker 5: we don't listen to all arguments anymore. You know, we're 563 00:29:33,040 --> 00:29:36,280 Speaker 5: lucky if we get a thirty second clip from a speech. 564 00:29:36,680 --> 00:29:40,280 Speaker 5: What that prize is is information to triggers that makes 565 00:29:40,320 --> 00:29:43,520 Speaker 5: you angry or that it makes you reaffirmed in your 566 00:29:43,520 --> 00:29:48,040 Speaker 5: belief you know, when in fact, the best speeches they persuade, 567 00:29:48,280 --> 00:29:52,360 Speaker 5: they tell a story, they have an entire argument. And 568 00:29:52,400 --> 00:29:54,560 Speaker 5: I kind of realized that in the kind of post 569 00:29:54,760 --> 00:29:59,960 Speaker 5: Obama social media virality era, we don't have storytelling anymore. 570 00:30:00,080 --> 00:30:01,960 Speaker 5: And it's one of the things that I think democrats 571 00:30:02,080 --> 00:30:05,560 Speaker 5: need to take on board. All the social media videos 572 00:30:05,560 --> 00:30:08,440 Speaker 5: in the world, that's important, but we still kind of 573 00:30:08,480 --> 00:30:11,000 Speaker 5: need someone to step back and be like in AI 574 00:30:11,080 --> 00:30:13,440 Speaker 5: is good example of what the hell is going on here? 575 00:30:13,880 --> 00:30:15,160 Speaker 6: Where's this all going? You know? 576 00:30:15,680 --> 00:30:18,280 Speaker 1: No, I think that's right, And now we must talk 577 00:30:18,440 --> 00:30:23,760 Speaker 1: about the Iranian nuclear deal, because you must have a 578 00:30:23,800 --> 00:30:28,680 Speaker 1: particular frustration at this moment in American life, and I 579 00:30:28,840 --> 00:30:32,040 Speaker 1: love you to talk about why that is and your 580 00:30:32,080 --> 00:30:37,120 Speaker 1: relationship was this nuclear Iran problem. 581 00:30:37,400 --> 00:30:39,320 Speaker 5: There's only one thing in the world where I canmplain 582 00:30:39,400 --> 00:30:42,320 Speaker 5: to be completely unique in my grievance smaller, which is 583 00:30:43,000 --> 00:30:45,520 Speaker 5: I was central to the Iran nuclear agreement and to 584 00:30:45,560 --> 00:30:48,600 Speaker 5: the normalization voss of Cuba, and I not only got 585 00:30:48,600 --> 00:30:51,760 Speaker 5: to see this and dismantled, I may now see consecutive wars. 586 00:30:52,280 --> 00:30:53,520 Speaker 2: You are the only one. 587 00:30:53,840 --> 00:30:54,720 Speaker 6: I'm actually the only one. 588 00:30:54,760 --> 00:30:56,880 Speaker 5: They can say that. It's a very strange thing. It's 589 00:30:56,920 --> 00:30:58,760 Speaker 5: not a good thing, I guess. But the thing that 590 00:30:58,840 --> 00:31:01,880 Speaker 5: is most frustrating to me is I was responsible at 591 00:31:01,880 --> 00:31:05,480 Speaker 5: the time for kind of advocating for messaging for the 592 00:31:05,480 --> 00:31:07,960 Speaker 5: Iron Nucuid deal. How can we convince Congress to support 593 00:31:07,960 --> 00:31:10,520 Speaker 5: this deal? I can convinced the public. And part of 594 00:31:10,560 --> 00:31:12,400 Speaker 5: what was so frustrating to me is we made a 595 00:31:12,400 --> 00:31:15,000 Speaker 5: pretty simple ar deal. If you don't around a nuclear weapon, 596 00:31:15,000 --> 00:31:17,120 Speaker 5: they are two options. You either make a diplomatic agreement 597 00:31:17,200 --> 00:31:18,760 Speaker 5: or you're gonna have to go to warsame and every said, 598 00:31:18,760 --> 00:31:20,920 Speaker 5: oh my god, you can't say that there's third options. 599 00:31:20,920 --> 00:31:23,160 Speaker 5: We can just sanction them forever, and we would say, well, no, 600 00:31:23,200 --> 00:31:25,200 Speaker 5: you have to trade the sanctions for something. 601 00:31:25,240 --> 00:31:26,720 Speaker 6: And so we made this deal. 602 00:31:26,800 --> 00:31:29,480 Speaker 5: They shipped their stockpile out of the country, they submitted 603 00:31:29,480 --> 00:31:31,959 Speaker 5: all these inspections, they pulled out all these centrifuges, all 604 00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:33,000 Speaker 5: these different things. 605 00:31:32,800 --> 00:31:35,560 Speaker 6: And there were just relentless bad faith attacks from the 606 00:31:35,560 --> 00:31:36,520 Speaker 6: Republicans about this. 607 00:31:36,840 --> 00:31:39,480 Speaker 5: Wise, you know, we're writing checks for billions of dollars 608 00:31:39,520 --> 00:31:41,240 Speaker 5: when all we were doing is allowing the run and 609 00:31:41,280 --> 00:31:43,920 Speaker 5: staccess their own money from spoiler. 610 00:31:43,640 --> 00:31:46,479 Speaker 2: Bullets of cash, right, palettes of cash. 611 00:31:46,520 --> 00:31:49,000 Speaker 5: Yeah, to this day, Trump says that we emptied out 612 00:31:49,040 --> 00:31:50,880 Speaker 5: the banks and something that never happened. 613 00:31:50,960 --> 00:31:53,560 Speaker 6: I always wanted a reporter you just asked Trump what 614 00:31:53,680 --> 00:31:55,160 Speaker 6: are the terms of the nuclear deal? 615 00:31:55,200 --> 00:31:57,280 Speaker 5: Because I don't think he could even say what they were, 616 00:31:57,680 --> 00:31:58,880 Speaker 5: and so he pulls out of the deal. 617 00:31:58,920 --> 00:31:59,800 Speaker 6: Ins were you teen sure? 618 00:32:00,240 --> 00:32:02,160 Speaker 5: It puts us on a slippery slope to the war 619 00:32:02,360 --> 00:32:06,040 Speaker 5: that we're in. It's accomplished precisely nothing. And now the 620 00:32:06,080 --> 00:32:08,720 Speaker 5: best possible thing Trump could get out of this war, 621 00:32:08,920 --> 00:32:11,440 Speaker 5: which would still not make it worth it, is basically 622 00:32:11,480 --> 00:32:14,280 Speaker 5: the same deal that equaled up and there's an insanity 623 00:32:14,360 --> 00:32:16,480 Speaker 5: to that. And I think the thing that I feel 624 00:32:16,480 --> 00:32:19,920 Speaker 5: the most frustrated by Molly is that it was much 625 00:32:19,920 --> 00:32:21,960 Speaker 5: harder to sell the Iron Nupergial than it is to 626 00:32:22,000 --> 00:32:23,960 Speaker 5: sell a war in this country. Why is it harder 627 00:32:24,000 --> 00:32:26,080 Speaker 5: to get members of Congress to vote for a peace. 628 00:32:25,840 --> 00:32:27,760 Speaker 6: Deal than to go along with the war? 629 00:32:27,920 --> 00:32:30,000 Speaker 5: And I put both parties in that category, Eve, though 630 00:32:30,000 --> 00:32:33,000 Speaker 5: obviously Democrats are better. You know that's something that I 631 00:32:33,120 --> 00:32:35,920 Speaker 5: spent a lot of track reflecting. 632 00:32:36,600 --> 00:32:36,880 Speaker 2: Yes. 633 00:32:37,280 --> 00:32:40,920 Speaker 1: And also do you even think he could get back 634 00:32:40,960 --> 00:32:44,800 Speaker 1: to the deal, because the Iranians seemed really emboldened, and 635 00:32:44,880 --> 00:32:47,520 Speaker 1: I think they've figured out that the two million dollars 636 00:32:47,600 --> 00:32:51,280 Speaker 1: toll for the stray passage could really work for them. 637 00:32:51,840 --> 00:32:55,040 Speaker 5: They are in a demonstrably stronger position today than they 638 00:32:55,040 --> 00:32:56,120 Speaker 5: were on the day. 639 00:32:56,000 --> 00:32:57,160 Speaker 6: That Trump attacked it. 640 00:32:57,440 --> 00:33:01,200 Speaker 5: Sure, they lost some ships and missile launch, but they 641 00:33:01,480 --> 00:33:03,600 Speaker 5: demonstrated that they can close the straight up Hord moves 642 00:33:03,600 --> 00:33:06,160 Speaker 5: through which twenty percent of the world's fossil fuel energy 643 00:33:06,200 --> 00:33:08,520 Speaker 5: flows and the old global economy depends on it, And 644 00:33:08,600 --> 00:33:11,280 Speaker 5: so they don't need to make concessions. They think they're 645 00:33:11,280 --> 00:33:14,440 Speaker 5: in a stronger position. They've taken our best punch. They're 646 00:33:14,440 --> 00:33:17,400 Speaker 5: still standing. If anything, their regime is more hardline than 647 00:33:17,520 --> 00:33:20,400 Speaker 5: was before, and so he'd be lucky to get just 648 00:33:20,520 --> 00:33:24,240 Speaker 5: the stockpile of having rich Terranian shipped out. Why would 649 00:33:24,240 --> 00:33:28,680 Speaker 5: they submit to really intrusive international inspections in their nuclear 650 00:33:28,720 --> 00:33:32,400 Speaker 5: program like they had under the Iran nuclear deal? Inder Obama, So, 651 00:33:32,480 --> 00:33:33,960 Speaker 5: I think you're right. I think the best he could 652 00:33:33,960 --> 00:33:37,680 Speaker 5: get is probably around nuclear deal lights, which is pretty extrame. 653 00:33:37,720 --> 00:33:40,000 Speaker 1: And we've seen him do this before where he gets 654 00:33:40,040 --> 00:33:42,600 Speaker 1: a less good version of the other thing in claims victory. 655 00:33:42,840 --> 00:33:46,400 Speaker 1: But there's this reporting that says that actually what the 656 00:33:46,440 --> 00:33:50,040 Speaker 1: ADMIN Has said isn't right, and that the Iranians have 657 00:33:50,120 --> 00:33:54,560 Speaker 1: a lot more military capability than the ADMIN is saying, 658 00:33:54,880 --> 00:33:57,440 Speaker 1: to the tune of like seventy percent. I mean, that 659 00:33:57,640 --> 00:33:59,600 Speaker 1: was last week's big I think it was in New 660 00:33:59,680 --> 00:34:03,280 Speaker 1: York Times story. Do you think that's right? And if so, 661 00:34:03,680 --> 00:34:05,320 Speaker 1: isn't that a major scandal? 662 00:34:05,720 --> 00:34:09,080 Speaker 5: Yes, they've been the Pentagon, Department of War whatever, recall, 663 00:34:09,160 --> 00:34:12,480 Speaker 5: it has been relentously either lying to us or obfuscating 664 00:34:12,520 --> 00:34:14,520 Speaker 5: the truth. And I've been worried about this since the 665 00:34:14,600 --> 00:34:16,799 Speaker 5: early days of the war. And I'll be specific Malli 666 00:34:16,800 --> 00:34:18,719 Speaker 5: about things I've heerved because I know a lot of 667 00:34:18,719 --> 00:34:21,840 Speaker 5: people either in the US kind of military or people 668 00:34:21,880 --> 00:34:24,000 Speaker 5: that live in the Middle East. They have not been 669 00:34:24,040 --> 00:34:26,120 Speaker 5: straight with us about the extent of the damage that 670 00:34:26,320 --> 00:34:29,120 Speaker 5: was done to US bases and facilities across the Middle East. 671 00:34:29,280 --> 00:34:30,799 Speaker 5: We hear nothing about that from them. 672 00:34:31,080 --> 00:34:31,759 Speaker 6: We pay for that. 673 00:34:31,960 --> 00:34:34,000 Speaker 5: It's not like they're allowed to not tell us. I 674 00:34:34,040 --> 00:34:37,839 Speaker 5: think that their Rudians were very successful in striking a 675 00:34:38,000 --> 00:34:41,080 Speaker 5: significant number of US facilities in the Gulf. In Iraq, 676 00:34:41,360 --> 00:34:43,320 Speaker 5: you know, we had an embassy on fire, and sati 677 00:34:43,360 --> 00:34:47,160 Speaker 5: Arabia we had embassy attacked in Baghdad. They're not telling 678 00:34:47,239 --> 00:34:47,920 Speaker 5: us the truth. 679 00:34:48,040 --> 00:34:48,680 Speaker 6: We don't know the. 680 00:34:48,680 --> 00:34:52,000 Speaker 5: Severity of the injuries that were sustained by US personnel, 681 00:34:52,400 --> 00:34:56,239 Speaker 5: either service members or intelligence personnel. We don't really know 682 00:34:56,480 --> 00:34:59,319 Speaker 5: the cost of the not just the war, but all 683 00:34:59,360 --> 00:35:03,000 Speaker 5: the stuff that we've used. And we saw these absurd 684 00:35:03,320 --> 00:35:07,400 Speaker 5: declarations by Pete Hegsett and Marco Rubio that you know, 685 00:35:07,440 --> 00:35:09,360 Speaker 5: the Ringing entire navy was destroyed. 686 00:35:09,440 --> 00:35:11,000 Speaker 6: Well, the entire Raning Navy's destroyed. 687 00:35:11,000 --> 00:35:13,359 Speaker 5: How are they shutting down the straightfour moods or then 688 00:35:13,400 --> 00:35:16,000 Speaker 5: we decimated their bliss of missiles? Well, now we hear 689 00:35:16,040 --> 00:35:19,240 Speaker 5: that seventy five percent of their missile launchers the missiles 690 00:35:19,239 --> 00:35:24,000 Speaker 5: remain and they frankly can just keep manufacturing to be 691 00:35:24,080 --> 00:35:27,040 Speaker 5: able to go beyond Pete hegset. I'm really disappointed in 692 00:35:27,160 --> 00:35:29,200 Speaker 5: Dan Kine, the chairman of the June Chief's stat who's 693 00:35:29,200 --> 00:35:33,280 Speaker 5: supposed to be a nonpartisan military officer, who I stands 694 00:35:33,280 --> 00:35:36,560 Speaker 5: there and goes along with this bullshit. You know, they're 695 00:35:36,640 --> 00:35:39,200 Speaker 5: not telling us the truth, and we are the taxpayers 696 00:35:39,239 --> 00:35:41,160 Speaker 5: that pay for all of this stuff. And I'd like 697 00:35:41,200 --> 00:35:43,680 Speaker 5: to see Congress, you know, be much more aggressive and 698 00:35:43,800 --> 00:35:46,560 Speaker 5: trying to get answers. I don't expect Republicans to do it, 699 00:35:46,680 --> 00:35:48,879 Speaker 5: but I think Democrats need to be doing more. 700 00:35:49,160 --> 00:35:52,160 Speaker 2: We just had Representative Crow on the podcast and he. 701 00:35:52,360 --> 00:35:58,200 Speaker 1: Was saying that he also has to basically double check 702 00:35:58,800 --> 00:36:02,600 Speaker 1: what this administration is saying. Explain to us what a 703 00:36:02,719 --> 00:36:04,960 Speaker 1: sea change that is, even from Trump one point. 704 00:36:04,960 --> 00:36:07,399 Speaker 5: Now it's a matthive CDJ did I should say, Jason 705 00:36:07,400 --> 00:36:09,360 Speaker 5: growth been one of the better Democrats on this on 706 00:36:09,440 --> 00:36:12,279 Speaker 5: the war, Trump lies right, and there's nothing surprised me 707 00:36:12,280 --> 00:36:16,120 Speaker 5: about that. I think in the first Trump administration you 708 00:36:16,239 --> 00:36:19,839 Speaker 5: could basically trust the information coming from the Pentagon, you know, 709 00:36:20,320 --> 00:36:24,000 Speaker 5: Jim Mattis, even Mark Esper, the second Secretary of Defense, 710 00:36:24,320 --> 00:36:26,920 Speaker 5: certainly General Millie, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs. I 711 00:36:27,000 --> 00:36:29,160 Speaker 5: never thought they were lying to me, you know, to 712 00:36:29,200 --> 00:36:32,320 Speaker 5: some extent. That was also true of the parts of 713 00:36:32,360 --> 00:36:34,480 Speaker 5: the Justice Department. I mean, Bill Barr kind of lost 714 00:36:34,480 --> 00:36:36,720 Speaker 5: me with his treatment of the Malor report. 715 00:36:36,760 --> 00:36:38,279 Speaker 6: But the parts of the government. 716 00:36:38,000 --> 00:36:41,120 Speaker 5: That were supposed to be the most apolitical, and that's 717 00:36:41,160 --> 00:36:44,200 Speaker 5: the military and the justice system generally. 718 00:36:43,840 --> 00:36:45,040 Speaker 6: Were certainly the military. 719 00:36:45,080 --> 00:36:47,040 Speaker 5: I think in Trump too, what you've seen him do 720 00:36:47,600 --> 00:36:50,320 Speaker 5: is really intentionally. You know, you've talked a lot of 721 00:36:50,320 --> 00:36:53,040 Speaker 5: opposite at the weaponization and DJ but I don't trust 722 00:36:53,239 --> 00:36:55,799 Speaker 5: the fucking word that comes out of Cash Betelsman out 723 00:36:55,840 --> 00:37:00,319 Speaker 5: their hand, Bondi or Todd Blanche right. And tragically that's 724 00:37:00,320 --> 00:37:03,279 Speaker 5: also true of the Pentagon. You know, Pete Hegseat is 725 00:37:03,360 --> 00:37:05,759 Speaker 5: just giving a performance for an audience of one in 726 00:37:05,800 --> 00:37:08,840 Speaker 5: this briefings, and you literally can't believe anything he says. 727 00:37:09,160 --> 00:37:11,359 Speaker 5: You know, we saw them try to deny or at 728 00:37:11,400 --> 00:37:14,600 Speaker 5: least avoid whether or not they bombed a girls' school 729 00:37:14,640 --> 00:37:17,000 Speaker 5: and killed well over one hundred school girls. 730 00:37:17,239 --> 00:37:21,120 Speaker 6: I mean that again with our taxpayer funded missiles. 731 00:37:21,480 --> 00:37:24,800 Speaker 5: And I have to say again, like the uniform military 732 00:37:24,920 --> 00:37:28,600 Speaker 5: is the last guardrail. And I don't think Dan King, 733 00:37:28,800 --> 00:37:31,799 Speaker 5: to my knowledge, is live. But I also don't think 734 00:37:31,840 --> 00:37:34,480 Speaker 5: he's necessarily told the truth. You see this, you know, 735 00:37:34,680 --> 00:37:38,600 Speaker 5: relentless spinning of all the destruction rod and how wonderful 736 00:37:38,640 --> 00:37:41,560 Speaker 5: the operation was. That is not what you hear from 737 00:37:41,600 --> 00:37:45,440 Speaker 5: people who are living in the golf since you know, 738 00:37:45,760 --> 00:37:48,200 Speaker 5: the damage again is much worse than we've been told 739 00:37:48,440 --> 00:37:50,400 Speaker 5: in terms of the tax on US allies and use 740 00:37:50,400 --> 00:37:54,040 Speaker 5: facilities and the efficacy of the military operation. This is 741 00:37:54,080 --> 00:37:56,920 Speaker 5: not to impune our pilots or service members. They were 742 00:37:56,960 --> 00:38:01,600 Speaker 5: given ridiculous mission to carry out. The need to assert 743 00:38:01,680 --> 00:38:06,360 Speaker 5: some accomplishment leads to this absurd paloguing of things blown 744 00:38:06,440 --> 00:38:09,680 Speaker 5: up that has nothing to do with accomplishing an actual 745 00:38:09,680 --> 00:38:12,520 Speaker 5: military eject and the actual military objective is when Trump 746 00:38:12,520 --> 00:38:17,120 Speaker 5: announced the war, we're clearly the regime change, a regime change, and. 747 00:38:17,080 --> 00:38:19,560 Speaker 6: The destruction of the new crypt program. Neither of those 748 00:38:19,600 --> 00:38:21,440 Speaker 6: things have remotely happened. 749 00:38:21,520 --> 00:38:23,080 Speaker 5: And so then they fell back on like you know, 750 00:38:23,120 --> 00:38:25,319 Speaker 5: we blew up these ships and these mythiles. But like 751 00:38:25,360 --> 00:38:28,280 Speaker 5: that's does any American care about that. Is any American 752 00:38:28,760 --> 00:38:31,719 Speaker 5: really like worried more about the state of the Iranian 753 00:38:32,040 --> 00:38:35,279 Speaker 5: Navy than how much the price of gas is? No, 754 00:38:35,560 --> 00:38:38,120 Speaker 5: And so I think we have to be very mindful 755 00:38:38,160 --> 00:38:41,200 Speaker 5: that it's going to get worse. Center Trump and the 756 00:38:41,239 --> 00:38:43,480 Speaker 5: military and the Justice Department are. 757 00:38:43,360 --> 00:38:45,839 Speaker 6: Going to be pretty important institutions. 758 00:38:46,000 --> 00:38:49,920 Speaker 5: He tries to still an election or deploy the military 759 00:38:49,920 --> 00:38:52,239 Speaker 5: in the streets, and I wish I could trust them 760 00:38:52,239 --> 00:38:53,160 Speaker 5: more than I do right now. 761 00:38:53,200 --> 00:38:56,839 Speaker 2: Cuba is like this amazing story and there was like 762 00:38:56,840 --> 00:38:59,360 Speaker 2: this incredible reporting this weekend. 763 00:38:59,440 --> 00:39:01,919 Speaker 1: I think it was this weekend. Who knows, because there's 764 00:39:01,960 --> 00:39:05,840 Speaker 1: no time. It's just we're just a flat circle. But 765 00:39:06,160 --> 00:39:09,279 Speaker 1: we had the head of the CIA, right, didn't we 766 00:39:09,320 --> 00:39:14,000 Speaker 1: have go to Cuba? That strikes me as very outside 767 00:39:14,120 --> 00:39:18,400 Speaker 1: of the norms. So why did this happen? My guess 768 00:39:18,600 --> 00:39:21,960 Speaker 1: is that it's because he is more competent than a 769 00:39:22,000 --> 00:39:25,480 Speaker 1: lot of members in this administration. But I don't know, 770 00:39:25,640 --> 00:39:28,799 Speaker 1: because I've never seen anything like that, So can you 771 00:39:28,880 --> 00:39:32,880 Speaker 1: explain to us? It seems unprecedented and just what is 772 00:39:32,960 --> 00:39:33,600 Speaker 1: happening there? 773 00:39:34,040 --> 00:39:37,360 Speaker 5: My assumption, and I don't know, is that the director 774 00:39:37,360 --> 00:39:39,280 Speaker 5: of the CI was sent down there to like deliver 775 00:39:39,400 --> 00:39:43,319 Speaker 5: some message, you know, from Trump not to negotiate per se. 776 00:39:43,600 --> 00:39:45,840 Speaker 6: That'd be pretty odd, ci director. 777 00:39:46,200 --> 00:39:49,880 Speaker 2: But isn't that in itself just completely it's. 778 00:39:49,760 --> 00:39:52,440 Speaker 6: All it's bonkers knowledge. And here's where I say about Cuba. 779 00:39:52,560 --> 00:39:53,919 Speaker 6: With Iran, I. 780 00:39:53,840 --> 00:39:58,120 Speaker 5: Think this war is completely insane. There are national security concerns, 781 00:39:58,280 --> 00:40:00,279 Speaker 5: you know, with Iran, like you would like them to 782 00:40:00,320 --> 00:40:02,920 Speaker 5: not have a nuclear program, You would like to curb 783 00:40:03,000 --> 00:40:06,200 Speaker 5: their support for Paris proxes. Even if you dislike the 784 00:40:06,239 --> 00:40:09,759 Speaker 5: Cuban government and think they're repressive, they posed absolutely no 785 00:40:09,840 --> 00:40:12,120 Speaker 5: threat to the United States. And so part of what's 786 00:40:12,160 --> 00:40:16,080 Speaker 5: so bizarre about this whole drama is and I talked 787 00:40:16,120 --> 00:40:18,520 Speaker 5: to Cubans like, I think they don't even know what 788 00:40:18,560 --> 00:40:21,000 Speaker 5: they're being asked, because you know, you could go to 789 00:40:21,000 --> 00:40:22,600 Speaker 5: Iran and be like, you know, give up your nucleip 790 00:40:22,640 --> 00:40:23,120 Speaker 5: program and. 791 00:40:23,040 --> 00:40:23,440 Speaker 6: They say no. 792 00:40:24,000 --> 00:40:26,880 Speaker 5: With Cuba, it's not like they're doing something that threatens 793 00:40:26,920 --> 00:40:29,000 Speaker 5: America that they can adjust their behavior. 794 00:40:29,320 --> 00:40:32,720 Speaker 6: So what is this all about? Now, there's a lot. 795 00:40:32,600 --> 00:40:36,759 Speaker 5: Of Republican Miami Cuban exile politics. 796 00:40:36,840 --> 00:40:38,000 Speaker 6: That's just long thought. 797 00:40:38,040 --> 00:40:40,839 Speaker 5: I mean, when I negotiate normalization and relations, I went 798 00:40:40,880 --> 00:40:42,759 Speaker 5: to Cuba a lot I went to Miami Law and 799 00:40:42,760 --> 00:40:45,560 Speaker 5: there's some people in Miami that's sincerely coned or concerned 800 00:40:45,560 --> 00:40:46,600 Speaker 5: about the human. 801 00:40:46,480 --> 00:40:48,120 Speaker 6: Rights situation in Cuba. 802 00:40:48,200 --> 00:40:50,680 Speaker 5: There are some people at Miami who just believe that 803 00:40:50,880 --> 00:40:52,479 Speaker 5: it used to be ours and we want it back. 804 00:40:52,600 --> 00:40:55,440 Speaker 5: And there's a lot of beachrunt property. There's a lot 805 00:40:55,440 --> 00:40:58,760 Speaker 5: of real estate down there. The Trump organization was scouting 806 00:40:59,480 --> 00:41:03,320 Speaker 5: golf and hotel properties as late as twenty sixteen down there. 807 00:41:03,719 --> 00:41:07,279 Speaker 5: And so if Venezuela had oil, cubas real estate. And 808 00:41:08,040 --> 00:41:11,200 Speaker 5: I think that Trump wants probably two things. He wants 809 00:41:11,280 --> 00:41:14,359 Speaker 5: another scalp like Maduro, Like he wants to show that 810 00:41:14,400 --> 00:41:17,280 Speaker 5: he's the big, bad bully you can hit who runs 811 00:41:17,320 --> 00:41:20,480 Speaker 5: countries in the Western Hemisphere, which is disgusting I think. 812 00:41:20,719 --> 00:41:24,279 Speaker 5: And secondly, he wants to apportion the land to his 813 00:41:24,360 --> 00:41:27,840 Speaker 5: buddies in my And meanwhile, this blockade that we have 814 00:41:27,880 --> 00:41:30,759 Speaker 5: on Cuba is starving kids to death, Like children are 815 00:41:30,840 --> 00:41:34,560 Speaker 5: dying in Cuba because of our blockade, and that should 816 00:41:34,800 --> 00:41:36,960 Speaker 5: that should concern more Americans than I think it does. 817 00:41:37,520 --> 00:41:43,439 Speaker 1: It seems totally inexplicable, like what the deliverable would be there, 818 00:41:43,719 --> 00:41:46,960 Speaker 1: even I mean, in my mind, I think the thinking 819 00:41:47,120 --> 00:41:50,360 Speaker 1: is that. I mean, we would conquer Cuba. 820 00:41:50,800 --> 00:41:53,279 Speaker 5: I think that one way to think about it is 821 00:41:53,680 --> 00:41:55,640 Speaker 5: I've seen this with a lot of you know, autocrats 822 00:41:55,719 --> 00:41:56,160 Speaker 5: or history. 823 00:41:56,200 --> 00:41:58,000 Speaker 6: Why do you do it? You do it because you can't. 824 00:41:58,160 --> 00:41:59,960 Speaker 5: You know, It's like the bully in the school yard 825 00:42:00,080 --> 00:42:02,880 Speaker 5: to find some small kid to beat up because it 826 00:42:02,880 --> 00:42:04,879 Speaker 5: makes them feel good. I mean, I honestly think that's 827 00:42:04,920 --> 00:42:08,239 Speaker 5: a big part of this because and Marco Rubio, you know, 828 00:42:08,520 --> 00:42:11,480 Speaker 5: comes out of these hardline South Florida politics. 829 00:42:11,520 --> 00:42:12,800 Speaker 6: It's very anti keeping government. 830 00:42:12,840 --> 00:42:15,440 Speaker 5: But again, like look in then Cole War, when the 831 00:42:15,680 --> 00:42:19,000 Speaker 5: Soviets were putting you know, nuclear missiles in Cuba. Well 832 00:42:19,000 --> 00:42:21,799 Speaker 5: that was what's a real proble right now, this is 833 00:42:21,880 --> 00:42:25,359 Speaker 5: an impovert island that's been sanctioned for seven years by 834 00:42:25,360 --> 00:42:27,040 Speaker 5: the United States, ninety miles of Florida. 835 00:42:27,120 --> 00:42:28,080 Speaker 6: Like that CAUs there's no threat. 836 00:42:28,120 --> 00:42:28,600 Speaker 4: What's over. 837 00:42:29,040 --> 00:42:32,279 Speaker 5: And I do think it's just this combination of you know, 838 00:42:32,760 --> 00:42:35,880 Speaker 5: Trump is going through the list of countries that Republicans hate, 839 00:42:36,239 --> 00:42:40,360 Speaker 5: you know, Venezuela, Cuba around and he also just likes imperials, 840 00:42:40,360 --> 00:42:43,879 Speaker 5: He likes feeling. I mean, he didn't lie to us 841 00:42:44,360 --> 00:42:47,920 Speaker 5: one thing in his inauguration speech at this time around me, 842 00:42:48,280 --> 00:42:51,000 Speaker 5: which actually ends my book, so I know very well. 843 00:42:51,280 --> 00:42:55,120 Speaker 6: He talks about like expanding our character. He talks about 844 00:42:55,440 --> 00:42:57,440 Speaker 6: William McKinley. Well, who is William McKinley. 845 00:42:57,440 --> 00:43:00,719 Speaker 5: Well, he was the president they really launched American imperialists 846 00:43:00,880 --> 00:43:02,680 Speaker 5: at the turn of the twentieth century. You know, he's 847 00:43:02,719 --> 00:43:05,200 Speaker 5: the guy that like, you know, set in motion when 848 00:43:05,239 --> 00:43:08,320 Speaker 5: we took Cuba the first time. I think Trump wants 849 00:43:08,360 --> 00:43:14,440 Speaker 5: to be an emperor, and he sees Greenland, Canada, Panama, Canal, Cuba, Venezuela. 850 00:43:14,520 --> 00:43:17,120 Speaker 6: This should be ours. It's in the western hemisphere, and 851 00:43:17,600 --> 00:43:18,120 Speaker 6: if we can. 852 00:43:18,520 --> 00:43:20,960 Speaker 5: First best is that we can literally draw the map arounds. 853 00:43:21,480 --> 00:43:24,120 Speaker 5: And second best is I get to pick their leaders, 854 00:43:24,120 --> 00:43:25,520 Speaker 5: and I don't like their leaders. 855 00:43:25,880 --> 00:43:27,000 Speaker 6: Maybe the you know. 856 00:43:27,000 --> 00:43:28,880 Speaker 5: Delta Force guy show up in the middle night and 857 00:43:29,239 --> 00:43:32,399 Speaker 5: render the president of Cuba, who nobody, by the way 858 00:43:32,400 --> 00:43:35,480 Speaker 5: in this country could probably even name ts Canal, render 859 00:43:35,560 --> 00:43:38,800 Speaker 5: him to the you know prison next to Medua. 860 00:43:39,160 --> 00:43:42,840 Speaker 1: Yeah, Maduro still in prison. What even happens there? 861 00:43:43,239 --> 00:43:46,120 Speaker 5: Well, that trial will be interesting because you know, Maduro 862 00:43:46,360 --> 00:43:49,600 Speaker 5: was a very bad leader and a very repressive leader. 863 00:43:49,800 --> 00:43:53,080 Speaker 5: I'm not sure that he was like running a drug trafficking. 864 00:43:53,520 --> 00:43:56,920 Speaker 5: You'll remember, maybe, Molly, that they they named some drug 865 00:43:56,960 --> 00:44:00,239 Speaker 5: trafficking cartel that didn't exist, you know, they were when 866 00:44:00,239 --> 00:44:02,600 Speaker 5: they were building this case against Vidua. So there's still 867 00:44:02,600 --> 00:44:05,120 Speaker 5: a justice system. It's not a program. We shouldn't be 868 00:44:05,160 --> 00:44:06,680 Speaker 5: that Vandurea will be convicted. 869 00:44:06,840 --> 00:44:07,040 Speaker 4: Yeah. 870 00:44:07,200 --> 00:44:08,280 Speaker 6: If he was being. 871 00:44:08,080 --> 00:44:11,560 Speaker 5: Tried for being a repressive leader who detained people and 872 00:44:11,600 --> 00:44:14,080 Speaker 5: even tortured people in Venezuela, that'd be one thing. But 873 00:44:14,320 --> 00:44:16,640 Speaker 5: drug trafficking, I mean, you know you. 874 00:44:16,560 --> 00:44:19,560 Speaker 2: Should prove it, right, prove it? Yeah, yeah, thank you, 875 00:44:19,600 --> 00:44:20,360 Speaker 2: thank you, thank you. 876 00:44:20,400 --> 00:44:22,360 Speaker 6: Ben Rhodes, thanks, Polly, could talk you? 877 00:44:24,360 --> 00:44:25,280 Speaker 4: No? 878 00:44:24,880 --> 00:44:30,360 Speaker 2: No, Rick Wilson, Hey, Molly, what's your moment of reckery? 879 00:44:30,640 --> 00:44:32,560 Speaker 4: I think Pete Headseth that managed to go to West 880 00:44:32,600 --> 00:44:35,320 Speaker 4: Point and uh and step on his junk this weekend. 881 00:44:35,520 --> 00:44:38,520 Speaker 2: West Point is like a layup for those guys, right, It. 882 00:44:38,480 --> 00:44:40,680 Speaker 4: Should be the easiest thing in the world to go 883 00:44:40,719 --> 00:44:43,640 Speaker 4: to West Point and give a good speech and have 884 00:44:43,680 --> 00:44:46,239 Speaker 4: everybody gave ooh rah and walk out the door. Really 885 00:44:46,320 --> 00:44:46,799 Speaker 4: it should be. 886 00:44:46,840 --> 00:44:49,000 Speaker 2: And what happened, well, Pete. 887 00:44:48,719 --> 00:44:51,759 Speaker 4: Hegseth went out and started blustering about you can't throw 888 00:44:51,840 --> 00:44:55,280 Speaker 4: your pronouns out the enemy and the audience at West 889 00:44:55,280 --> 00:44:57,640 Speaker 4: Point for the Secretary of Defense is like the weakest 890 00:44:57,680 --> 00:45:00,440 Speaker 4: golf collapse in the world. It's embarrassing. He also got 891 00:45:00,480 --> 00:45:02,960 Speaker 4: a self in a ringer with Trump who is mad 892 00:45:03,000 --> 00:45:06,200 Speaker 4: about the troop withdrawals from Poland. And again, I don't 893 00:45:06,239 --> 00:45:08,480 Speaker 4: know when Trump is going to figure it out. But 894 00:45:09,160 --> 00:45:12,399 Speaker 4: there is one guy at the Pentagon, one guy, one 895 00:45:12,440 --> 00:45:15,399 Speaker 4: guy at the Pentagon named Elbridge Colby. Oh yeah, who 896 00:45:15,440 --> 00:45:18,880 Speaker 4: is the Defense the secretary for policy. And Colby is 897 00:45:18,920 --> 00:45:21,760 Speaker 4: the guy who will not send the aid to Ukraine? 898 00:45:21,760 --> 00:45:22,160 Speaker 6: Who will not? 899 00:45:22,360 --> 00:45:25,640 Speaker 4: Who will not? He's running his own defense department. 900 00:45:25,680 --> 00:45:28,840 Speaker 2: Right and it's which you can do in that administration. 901 00:45:29,320 --> 00:45:32,160 Speaker 4: You shouldn't, but apparently they're going to do it well. 902 00:45:32,160 --> 00:45:35,080 Speaker 1: Also, Trump is so checked out on some level that 903 00:45:35,120 --> 00:45:37,880 Speaker 1: you can you know, there are people in this administration, 904 00:45:38,000 --> 00:45:40,200 Speaker 1: like Steven Miller who are running their own fiftoms. 905 00:45:41,360 --> 00:45:44,680 Speaker 2: That's where we are, Rick Willson, bag you, Thank. 906 00:45:44,520 --> 00:45:45,840 Speaker 4: You, see you next time. 907 00:45:46,840 --> 00:45:51,360 Speaker 1: That's it for this episode of Fast Politics. Tune in 908 00:45:51,520 --> 00:45:56,960 Speaker 1: every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday to hear the best 909 00:45:57,080 --> 00:46:01,359 Speaker 1: minds and politics make sense of All is Chaos. If 910 00:46:01,360 --> 00:46:04,440 Speaker 1: you enjoy this podcast, please send it to a friend 911 00:46:04,880 --> 00:46:06,520 Speaker 1: and keep the conversation going. 912 00:46:06,960 --> 00:46:08,080 Speaker 2: Thanks for listening.