WEBVTT - Fueling Russia's Aggression 0:00:00.600 --> 0:00:05.160 As tensions ratchet up between Moscow, Russia, and the West, 0:00:05.640 --> 0:00:09.160 Germany is inviting Putin right into the heart of Europe. 0:00:09.520 --> 0:00:11.440 And the worst part of all is very few people 0:00:11.480 --> 0:00:14.040 even know that it's happening. Well, we know one person 0:00:14.080 --> 0:00:16.680 who knows it's happening, who's been very involved in this 0:00:16.760 --> 0:00:25.800 now for years. This is Verdict with Ted Cruz. Welcome 0:00:25.800 --> 0:00:28.320 back to Verdict. I'm Michael Knowles, joined as ever by 0:00:28.520 --> 0:00:32.239 Senator Ted Cruz. Senator. This is a subject which I 0:00:32.280 --> 0:00:34.440 will just put it out on the table. I know 0:00:34.640 --> 0:00:38.360 absolutely nothing about. I have heard little rumblings here and there, 0:00:38.720 --> 0:00:42.080 but there is something called nord Stream two. I know 0:00:42.200 --> 0:00:46.360 this involves oil going to Europe. I know this involves Germany. 0:00:46.600 --> 0:00:49.760 I know this involves Russia. That's all I know. But 0:00:49.800 --> 0:00:52.519 it's apparently a very big deal and nobody's talking about it. 0:00:53.040 --> 0:00:55.080 All right, Well, I hope somebody knows something or else. 0:00:55.080 --> 0:00:57.160 This is going to be a very short podcast. But 0:00:58.600 --> 0:01:02.639 so nord Stream too is a natural gas pipeline that 0:01:02.800 --> 0:01:07.039 is being constructed from Russia to Germany. And Russia has 0:01:07.760 --> 0:01:12.360 massive oil and gas resources, and in fact, I remember 0:01:13.880 --> 0:01:18.400 John McCain used to refer to Russia he used to say, 0:01:18.480 --> 0:01:25.840 Russia is a gas station with a country attached. Russia 0:01:26.160 --> 0:01:30.480 fuels its aggression through the export of oil and gas 0:01:30.520 --> 0:01:36.520 and Nordstream too. Right now, Europe relies on Russia for 0:01:36.640 --> 0:01:39.880 energy resources. But but much of that right now comes 0:01:40.880 --> 0:01:45.479 through Ukraine. Now, now this is harkening back to impeachment. 0:01:45.520 --> 0:01:47.720 You recall we talked a lot about Ukraine and how 0:01:47.840 --> 0:01:50.960 Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union broke off and 0:01:51.400 --> 0:01:54.840 Russia and Germany reached an agreement to build a new pipeline, 0:01:54.880 --> 0:01:59.040 a pipeline that cuts Ukraine completely out and that carries 0:01:59.040 --> 0:02:02.200 the natural gas eight to Germany. And the problem is, 0:02:02.920 --> 0:02:06.040 building this pipeline would do several things. Number One, it 0:02:06.080 --> 0:02:10.320 would enrich Russia. It would put billions of additional dollars 0:02:10.360 --> 0:02:14.160 in Putin's coffers, which he then uses to build their military, 0:02:14.200 --> 0:02:18.160 to be aggressive, to pressure to invade his neighbors, to 0:02:19.200 --> 0:02:24.560 reak havoc. Number Two, though it actually hurts Europe because 0:02:24.560 --> 0:02:28.480 it makes Europe more dependent on Russia. It gives Putin 0:02:28.639 --> 0:02:34.600 more control over Europe. And so I began over a 0:02:34.639 --> 0:02:38.680 year ago last year in twenty nineteen, really leaning in aggressively, 0:02:39.240 --> 0:02:43.200 trying to stop nord Stream two from being constructed. So 0:02:43.240 --> 0:02:46.720 you saw this happening early on, but I guess you 0:02:46.760 --> 0:02:49.720 saw it happening at a time where the relationship that 0:02:49.760 --> 0:02:52.519 we have to putin, the relationship we have to China 0:02:52.880 --> 0:02:55.960 is all kind of influx. And so I'm wondering, now, 0:02:56.400 --> 0:02:58.680 without having had my head in it, how should the 0:02:58.720 --> 0:03:01.639 United States even look at Vladimir Putin? Even look at Russia? 0:03:01.680 --> 0:03:03.680 Are we still in the Cold War? Is a different 0:03:03.680 --> 0:03:05.720 from the Cold Wars? It's still a threat to Europe. 0:03:05.600 --> 0:03:09.000 Where's that relationship? Putin is a bad guy. He is 0:03:09.040 --> 0:03:12.000 a KGB thug. He is not our friend, and we 0:03:12.040 --> 0:03:14.520 should be trying to minimize his power. We should be 0:03:14.560 --> 0:03:18.079 trying to minimize his ability to do damage to America 0:03:18.120 --> 0:03:22.760 and damage to Europe. And you may recall when when 0:03:22.840 --> 0:03:26.240 President Trump went and spoke to NATO, he leaned in 0:03:26.440 --> 0:03:29.960 hard and he took on Angela Merkel, the head of Germany, 0:03:30.000 --> 0:03:32.120 for why are you doing this nord Stream too thing? 0:03:32.160 --> 0:03:35.600 This is terrible. You're hurting Europe and helping helping Putin. 0:03:36.160 --> 0:03:37.880 So I was in the Senate. I'm on the Senate 0:03:37.920 --> 0:03:39.960 Foreign Relations Committee, and I said, all right, let's do 0:03:40.040 --> 0:03:43.760 something about it, and so I teamed up with a Democrat, 0:03:43.800 --> 0:03:47.040 with Jane Sheheen, who's a Democrat from New Hampshire, and 0:03:47.120 --> 0:03:53.320 we introduced legislation that was tough sanctions focused on any 0:03:53.360 --> 0:03:57.280 company that was helping build the Nordstream two pipeline. Okay, 0:03:57.680 --> 0:04:00.920 and it was designed to be iCal. There were only 0:04:00.960 --> 0:04:03.600 five companies in the world that had the technology to 0:04:03.640 --> 0:04:06.800 be able to build the deep sea pipeline needed, and 0:04:06.880 --> 0:04:09.360 so we were targeting those fives to try to cut 0:04:09.400 --> 0:04:12.560 them off. Well, when I introduced the legislation, it was 0:04:12.640 --> 0:04:16.800 very interesting. Russia has been aggressive in their counterpropaganda. They 0:04:16.839 --> 0:04:20.000 were they were putting out this legislation has no chance 0:04:20.040 --> 0:04:23.280 of passage. It will never pass, it can't go anywhere. 0:04:24.160 --> 0:04:27.000 I remember Rick Perry was Energy Secretary talking to Rick 0:04:27.080 --> 0:04:29.520 at the time who was in Europe, and was saying, look, 0:04:29.560 --> 0:04:32.760 you need to understand Cruz's legislation is going to pass. 0:04:32.880 --> 0:04:34.960 This is going to pass. These sanctions are going to happen. 0:04:35.360 --> 0:04:39.559 And the Russian disinformation was fighting with Rick Perry. Well, 0:04:39.880 --> 0:04:43.080 Senate Foreign Relations. We take up my bill and it 0:04:43.120 --> 0:04:46.760 passes the committee by a vote of twenty to two, 0:04:47.560 --> 0:04:53.680 so overwhelming bipartisan passage. I then sought to take it 0:04:53.800 --> 0:04:55.440 up and pass it on the floor of the Senate, 0:04:55.480 --> 0:04:57.960 and to use a mechanism called unanimous consent, which is 0:04:57.960 --> 0:05:01.280 the way a lot of things get passed unanimous consent. 0:05:01.320 --> 0:05:03.640 As the name suggests, it's got to be unanimous, which 0:05:03.680 --> 0:05:08.040 means any senator can object. In this instance, Rand Paul 0:05:08.480 --> 0:05:10.960 voted against it in committee, and he'd objected to taking 0:05:10.960 --> 0:05:13.599 it up on the floor. And one senator can kill 0:05:13.760 --> 0:05:16.400 unanimous consent, or you see, is what everyone calls it. 0:05:16.120 --> 0:05:18.680 Could I just ask not asking for you to tell 0:05:18.760 --> 0:05:21.039 any tales out of school here, but what was the 0:05:21.120 --> 0:05:24.120 objection to? I mean, this seems like a sort of 0:05:24.160 --> 0:05:28.239 common sense piece of legislation. Listen. I'll let Rand speak 0:05:28.279 --> 0:05:32.760 for himself. He is very skeptical of sanctions. Generally, he 0:05:32.800 --> 0:05:37.840 doesn't he often opposes efforts to use sanctions against foreign countries, 0:05:37.880 --> 0:05:41.280 including sometimes our enemies. I actually think sanctions are a 0:05:41.400 --> 0:05:46.360 very effective tool, and they're a tool far short of warfare. Look, 0:05:46.440 --> 0:05:48.640 Rand and I agree at times, and that we're both 0:05:48.800 --> 0:05:52.840 as does the President, that we should be very hesitant 0:05:52.880 --> 0:05:56.720 to use military power and only use it when critically 0:05:56.800 --> 0:06:00.560 necessary to defend the nation. But I think are an 0:06:00.600 --> 0:06:05.599 effective tool of power short of military force. So when 0:06:05.720 --> 0:06:08.000 Rand objected, I had to find another way to pass this. 0:06:08.920 --> 0:06:12.960 And in twenty nineteen, the National Defense Authorization Act, which 0:06:13.000 --> 0:06:16.760 is the big bill that passes every year authorizing our 0:06:16.800 --> 0:06:19.680 military defense, that was moving forward, and I've been an 0:06:19.720 --> 0:06:23.120 active part of passing the NDAA year after year after year, 0:06:24.800 --> 0:06:27.640 and so we decided, all right, let's try to attach 0:06:27.720 --> 0:06:32.080 this bill to the NDAA. Now to do that, we 0:06:32.160 --> 0:06:35.080 had to get a lot of sign off. To do that, 0:06:35.200 --> 0:06:37.840 I had to get number one, the chairman, a Republican, 0:06:37.880 --> 0:06:40.960 and the ranking member of Democrat of the Senate Armed 0:06:41.000 --> 0:06:43.880 Services Committee to sign off, because the Armed Services Committee 0:06:43.880 --> 0:06:47.359 passes the NDA. So we did that. I had to 0:06:47.360 --> 0:06:51.240 get the chairman and the ranking member of the Senate 0:06:51.279 --> 0:06:54.720 Foreign Relations Committee to sign off, because since that's the 0:06:54.760 --> 0:06:58.919 committee that had jurisdiction over my bill, Foreign Relations could 0:06:58.960 --> 0:07:01.360 have vetoed it and said no, we're not going to 0:07:01.440 --> 0:07:05.160 allow it to go onto the NDAA. So was able 0:07:05.200 --> 0:07:07.440 to do that, got both the chairman and ranking and 0:07:07.480 --> 0:07:09.440 then I had to do the same thing on Senate 0:07:09.480 --> 0:07:13.200 Banking that the Senate Banking Committee, because sanctions often go 0:07:13.360 --> 0:07:17.000 through banking. Banking could have vetoed it also, and so 0:07:17.040 --> 0:07:19.480 I had to get the chairman and ranking member of 0:07:19.520 --> 0:07:22.000 Senate Banking to sign off on and then I also 0:07:22.040 --> 0:07:24.000 had to get Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer to shine 0:07:24.040 --> 0:07:28.000 off on the majority and Minority leader. So we managed 0:07:28.000 --> 0:07:31.120 to do all of that. It got attached to the 0:07:31.240 --> 0:07:34.280 NDAA and it passed through the Senate. Then I had 0:07:34.320 --> 0:07:37.040 to do the exact same thing in the House, so 0:07:37.160 --> 0:07:40.760 get the chairman and the ranking on Armed Services, on 0:07:40.800 --> 0:07:45.680 Foreign Relations, on banking, and majority leadership. So we're talking 0:07:45.680 --> 0:07:47.920 phone call after phone call after phone call. As I'm 0:07:47.920 --> 0:07:51.840 talking to multiple members. Gene Sheheen is helping with the Democrats. 0:07:51.840 --> 0:07:55.560 She's talking to up multiple members in the House. We 0:07:55.680 --> 0:08:03.120 almost had it derailed from a completely unrelated education provision. 0:08:03.120 --> 0:08:05.680 I don't remember what it was, but it was threatening 0:08:05.720 --> 0:08:07.520 to derail at the House. So I had to be 0:08:07.880 --> 0:08:11.360 on the phone to Kevin McCarthy trying to like navigate 0:08:11.440 --> 0:08:16.320 through that and stop the objectives. December twenty nineteen, we 0:08:16.480 --> 0:08:20.840 get it past, okay. So once we get it past, 0:08:21.000 --> 0:08:24.520 then the question is, well, is the pipeline going to stop? 0:08:24.520 --> 0:08:26.960 Because they were building the pipeline and the pipeline was 0:08:27.640 --> 0:08:31.560 ninety to ninety five percent complete. Wow, right, because we're 0:08:31.600 --> 0:08:33.480 I mean, I think it's it's easy as we as 0:08:33.480 --> 0:08:36.000 we think about this legislation going through the Senate and 0:08:36.000 --> 0:08:38.480 then the House, we as Americans like to think that 0:08:38.520 --> 0:08:41.800 whatever we say goes, but that's only getting the American 0:08:42.040 --> 0:08:45.960 response set. But obviously Germany can do whatever it likes. 0:08:45.960 --> 0:08:48.520 So the question is are these sanctions going to work? Yeah? 0:08:49.360 --> 0:08:51.800 And let me pause for a second and point out 0:08:53.120 --> 0:08:58.079 what was truly miraculous December twenty nineteen. Can you think 0:08:58.080 --> 0:09:00.679 of anything else that was going on? Then? You know, 0:09:00.800 --> 0:09:03.760 I seem to recall it was a busy political time. 0:09:04.720 --> 0:09:10.360 The House was literally impeaching the president and impeaching the 0:09:10.400 --> 0:09:18.360 president over Ukraine. Now, mind you stopping Nordstream two benefits Ukraine. 0:09:18.600 --> 0:09:22.280 It is a frigging miracle. Is a Christmas miracle on 0:09:22.360 --> 0:09:26.360 thirty fourth Street that we got this done. We passed 0:09:26.400 --> 0:09:30.480 bipartisan legislation through both houses of Congress that concerned Ukraine. 0:09:30.520 --> 0:09:32.280 I didn't mention Ukraine at all. Every time I talked 0:09:32.280 --> 0:09:34.760 to people, I said Germany, Russia, Ukraine. Never heard of it. 0:09:34.760 --> 0:09:36.720 I don't know where it is, don't have my map 0:09:36.760 --> 0:09:38.560 doesn't have Ukraine on it, don't know anything about it. 0:09:39.000 --> 0:09:42.400 Like in the midst of that partisan mess, to get 0:09:42.440 --> 0:09:46.760 this national security win was miraculous. But then once it happened, 0:09:47.160 --> 0:09:49.720 there was a company, a Swiss company called All Seas 0:09:49.800 --> 0:09:52.360 that was actually building the pipeline. It was almost done 0:09:52.400 --> 0:09:55.199 and so they're rushing to just finish the pipeline. So 0:09:55.240 --> 0:09:57.360 I was like, well, tough luck, we're done. So what 0:09:57.480 --> 0:10:01.280 I did then is drafted a letter to the CEO 0:10:01.679 --> 0:10:04.600 of All Seas, and it is a letter that says, 0:10:04.640 --> 0:10:06.839 this is to put you in formal notice that your 0:10:06.840 --> 0:10:13.040 company is in direct jeopardy of facing crushing economic sanctions 0:10:13.640 --> 0:10:17.719 on your shareholders and your senior employees that will effectively 0:10:17.760 --> 0:10:22.520 put your company out of business. And there were a 0:10:22.520 --> 0:10:25.880 couple of questions that could arguably be ambiguous. Number One, 0:10:25.920 --> 0:10:29.360 the way the statute was written, the State Department had 0:10:29.400 --> 0:10:32.480 to do a report I think it was sixty days later, 0:10:33.360 --> 0:10:35.280 and so you could say, oh, well, we got sixty 0:10:35.360 --> 0:10:38.760 days to get this done. And number two, the statute 0:10:38.760 --> 0:10:40.920 allowed what was called a wind down period, so you 0:10:40.960 --> 0:10:45.880 didn't just stop immediately and cause environmental damage. Our letter explained, 0:10:45.960 --> 0:10:48.440 although the report is due sixty days later. Under the 0:10:48.520 --> 0:10:54.800 terms of the letter, your liability attaches instantaneously, and the 0:10:54.880 --> 0:10:59.080 sanctions are mandatory. The executive has no discretion over whether 0:10:59.120 --> 0:11:02.360 to impose them. And so what I wrote in the 0:11:02.440 --> 0:11:04.280 letter to the CEO, I said, you need to be 0:11:04.320 --> 0:11:10.400 aware the instant the President signs this bill, your company 0:11:10.440 --> 0:11:15.480 faces exposure and your only reasonable option is halt construction 0:11:16.440 --> 0:11:21.000 instantaneously and before the bill is signed. Yeah, Now both 0:11:21.000 --> 0:11:24.640 Houses of Congress have passed it. There's a big lobbying 0:11:24.720 --> 0:11:28.160 press in Washington. Suddenly all CES hires a lobbyist. They're 0:11:28.160 --> 0:11:31.319 reaching out, so suddenly that there's word that at the 0:11:31.440 --> 0:11:33.800 NSC there may be an effort to try to undercut 0:11:33.840 --> 0:11:37.000 these sanctions. So I pick up the phone and I 0:11:37.040 --> 0:11:39.840 call Robert O'Brien, the National Security Advisors, a close friend 0:11:39.880 --> 0:11:42.520 of mine. Robert was headed to a Christmas party. I said, look, Robert, 0:11:42.520 --> 0:11:44.880 I need you to come out, and I talked to 0:11:44.960 --> 0:11:47.360 him about it and said, this would be don't listen 0:11:47.440 --> 0:11:52.280 to this dumbass lobbying effort. This is a huge national 0:11:52.360 --> 0:11:55.760 security win for the country. Thankfully NSC. Robert's a great 0:11:55.800 --> 0:12:00.560 guy and nscn't didn't bite. We then had a fight, 0:12:00.679 --> 0:12:06.360 an interagency fight between the State Department, the Treasury Department 0:12:06.400 --> 0:12:10.000 in the Energy Department. So I'm on the phone with 0:12:10.080 --> 0:12:13.040 Treasury Secretary Stephen Manuche, and I'm on the phone with 0:12:13.240 --> 0:12:16.680 Energy Secretary Danbury. Yet Mike Pompeo was in Europe. I 0:12:16.679 --> 0:12:19.320 forget where he was, but I'm texting Mike on my phone. 0:12:19.600 --> 0:12:23.319 All three of them, State and Energy were in the 0:12:23.440 --> 0:12:28.040 right place, which is wanting these sanctions to be robust. Treasury, 0:12:28.200 --> 0:12:32.439 unfortunately was pushing on the other side, and so it 0:12:32.520 --> 0:12:36.720 was a big fight. So I'm talking to all three 0:12:36.880 --> 0:12:40.040 leaning in hard. At the end of the day, State 0:12:41.160 --> 0:12:45.680 and Energy and National Security Council won that interagency battle, 0:12:46.120 --> 0:12:52.160 and so the sanctions remained tough. The President signed that bill. 0:12:52.280 --> 0:12:56.480 I believe it was a Thursday at seven pm, if 0:12:56.480 --> 0:13:01.520 I'm remembering the time correctly. About fifteen minutes earlier Thursday, 0:13:01.559 --> 0:13:05.840 six forty five pm, all CS puts out a press release. 0:13:06.400 --> 0:13:10.719 We are lifting anchor and leaving and we have immediately 0:13:10.800 --> 0:13:14.240 halted all construction of door Stream too. So where does 0:13:14.280 --> 0:13:17.720 this put the pipeline now? I mean, so, after there's 0:13:17.720 --> 0:13:20.839 a sort of herculean effort, it finally gets through all 0:13:20.840 --> 0:13:23.559 the very chambers of the Congress and then gets through 0:13:23.600 --> 0:13:26.760 the departments and it goes into effect. Where does that 0:13:26.800 --> 0:13:30.320 leave the pipeline. So for several months it just left 0:13:30.320 --> 0:13:33.720 it stopped. So it's ninety five percent bill. But remember 0:13:33.720 --> 0:13:37.000 a pipeline that is ninety five percent built is zero 0:13:37.080 --> 0:13:40.280 percent built. The pipeline doesn't work, so you connect both ends. 0:13:40.280 --> 0:13:42.719 So so right now it's a hunk of metal on 0:13:42.760 --> 0:13:45.160 the bottom of the ocean like it's not doing nothing. 0:13:46.360 --> 0:13:48.959 So Russia was then scrambling, all right, how do we 0:13:49.080 --> 0:13:51.400 build it? And they didn't have the technology to do it. 0:13:51.440 --> 0:13:54.000 They're trying to do it using a Russian ship called 0:13:54.000 --> 0:13:57.679 the academic Chursky. Now to do that, they had to 0:13:57.720 --> 0:14:00.560 get a new environmental permit from Denmark. So I was 0:14:00.600 --> 0:14:03.000 on the phone to the Danish ambassador, pressing on the 0:14:03.040 --> 0:14:08.000 Danish ambassador saying, don't grant the permit. Unfortunately, Merkel and 0:14:08.080 --> 0:14:10.800 Germany are on the phone with Denmark leaning on them hard, 0:14:10.880 --> 0:14:14.360 please grant the permit. They ended up granting it. By 0:14:14.360 --> 0:14:17.440 the way, they're serious environmental risks to how Russia wants 0:14:17.480 --> 0:14:19.720 to do it. Among other things. One of the ways 0:14:19.720 --> 0:14:22.200 they're looking at doing it is dragging an anchor on 0:14:22.240 --> 0:14:28.720 the seafloor and they are actually unexploded Kevin chemical munitions 0:14:28.880 --> 0:14:31.920 on the sea floor from World War Two that if 0:14:31.960 --> 0:14:36.200 you hit them you could have an environmental complete mess. Wow. 0:14:36.400 --> 0:14:38.560 And it's not like the Russians are very good at this. 0:14:38.640 --> 0:14:40.320 They don't know how to do this, which is why 0:14:40.320 --> 0:14:44.040 they had to hire a Swiss company to build it initially. Well, 0:14:44.080 --> 0:14:46.720 a sentator, you mentioned the world wars here, and maybe 0:14:46.760 --> 0:14:48.880 this is a stupid question, but just knowing the little 0:14:49.320 --> 0:14:51.720 I do of history, the Germans and the Russians have 0:14:51.800 --> 0:14:55.120 not always had a wonderful relationship, and I'm just wondering 0:14:55.600 --> 0:14:59.480 why is Germany so hell bent on getting this pipeline 0:14:59.480 --> 0:15:02.840 in this relation ship with Russia. Is it just money? 0:15:03.000 --> 0:15:04.840 You know, Michael, I don't have a great answer. I 0:15:04.840 --> 0:15:07.320 think it is not in the German people's best interest. 0:15:07.360 --> 0:15:12.280 Merkel is leaning in really hard. The European Union actually voted, 0:15:12.480 --> 0:15:14.800 I think it was about a year ago to condemn 0:15:14.960 --> 0:15:17.720 Nordstream two is harmful to Europe and the vote was 0:15:17.840 --> 0:15:20.280 something like four hundred to one hundred. I mean, it 0:15:20.320 --> 0:15:26.000 was an overwhelmingly lopsided vote condemning Nordstream two, and so 0:15:26.040 --> 0:15:30.280 the Russians have been scrambling to move forward. I have 0:15:30.440 --> 0:15:33.480 been since then. And by the way, all of the 0:15:33.560 --> 0:15:36.320 naysayers who were trying to stop our legislation, what they 0:15:36.400 --> 0:15:39.760 kept saying was it'll never work. It won't actually stop 0:15:39.800 --> 0:15:42.360 the pipeline. There's no chance of it succeeding. And of 0:15:42.400 --> 0:15:44.360 course it worked like a charm. It's stopped it into 0:15:44.400 --> 0:15:50.880 the tracks. Now the Russians are trying to retrofit their 0:15:50.920 --> 0:15:53.160 ship to be able to finish it. And so what 0:15:53.280 --> 0:15:55.560 I've done, I've been working very closely with State and 0:15:55.680 --> 0:15:59.720 Energy still and Treasury. But I introduced a second set 0:15:59.720 --> 0:16:02.440 of say sanctions that is even it's a tougher set 0:16:02.440 --> 0:16:06.880 of secondary sanctions that basically says anyone else who's affiliated 0:16:06.960 --> 0:16:09.320 with it, you're getting sanctioned to like if you if 0:16:09.360 --> 0:16:14.080 you touch this project, you're screwed. Yeah. Again, I did 0:16:14.120 --> 0:16:17.160 it with Jeane Sheheen. It was bipartisan, Republican and Democrat, 0:16:17.720 --> 0:16:21.920 and we passed passed it through the Senate, attached to 0:16:22.040 --> 0:16:25.000 the next NDAA and so and so we got that through. 0:16:25.040 --> 0:16:27.600 It's pending, it hasn't been signed into law, but we 0:16:27.720 --> 0:16:31.720 got it through the Senate. Again. And I'll tell you 0:16:32.080 --> 0:16:34.800 I recently joined with a couple of other senators and 0:16:34.960 --> 0:16:39.320 sent a letter to the German port where Russia is 0:16:39.400 --> 0:16:43.880 retrofitting uh, the academic Trursky and trying to to to 0:16:45.040 --> 0:16:48.520 lead its efforts to finish this pipeline. The German ports name, 0:16:48.560 --> 0:16:51.200 I'm I'm sorry, it's a German name along German name 0:16:51.200 --> 0:16:54.120 that I can't remember, but it uh, it had a 0:16:54.160 --> 0:16:57.840 whole lot of consonancy. So I sent them a letter 0:16:57.880 --> 0:17:01.200 pointing out, look, under the terms of these sanctions, you 0:17:01.400 --> 0:17:08.240 are facing serious sanctions under what Congress has passed. I 0:17:08.320 --> 0:17:12.200 got to say Germany is the German government is flipping out, 0:17:12.440 --> 0:17:17.080 is losing their minds. They're very upset. Russia's very upset. 0:17:18.520 --> 0:17:21.280 Now other players in Europe, like I spoke two weeks 0:17:21.280 --> 0:17:25.520 ago to the Polish ambassador Poland thinks, you know, Europe 0:17:25.600 --> 0:17:31.520 has seen the danger of Russian aggression. You know, for Poland, 0:17:32.280 --> 0:17:35.520 Soviet tanks in the streets are real memories. They know 0:17:35.560 --> 0:17:38.560 what that's like. And and part of the reason you 0:17:38.560 --> 0:17:43.040 don't want Europe totally dependent on Russia for energy is 0:17:43.080 --> 0:17:46.239 because Putin's demonstrated he'll shut off the energy in the 0:17:46.240 --> 0:17:50.320 middle of a brutal winner in order to extract concessions 0:17:50.359 --> 0:17:52.439 from people he wants to get concessions from, and so 0:17:52.480 --> 0:17:55.760 he uses it. You know, it's a little bit like saying, 0:17:55.840 --> 0:18:00.280 you know, I'm gonna I'm gonna make myself dependent on 0:18:00.720 --> 0:18:02.879 the mafia, on the mob you know, you know, you 0:18:02.920 --> 0:18:05.760 know Vito Corleoni, I'm gonna put him in charge of 0:18:06.040 --> 0:18:08.800 of of air and water for my house. That's a 0:18:08.840 --> 0:18:13.920 really bad idea, because Vito will come to you sometime 0:18:14.320 --> 0:18:17.840 and ask for a favor. And then Putin has a 0:18:17.880 --> 0:18:21.240 lot of Vito Corleoni. Apologies to Marlon Brando somewhere he's 0:18:21.320 --> 0:18:23.840 rolling over in his grave. It was it was like 0:18:23.880 --> 0:18:30.000 I was watching the film. But so this battle is 0:18:30.280 --> 0:18:36.840 ongoing right now. M here's the bottom line. I don't 0:18:36.880 --> 0:18:40.040 believe this pipeline will ever get constructed, but we are 0:18:40.119 --> 0:18:45.480 literally fighting both Merkel and Putin right now who billions 0:18:45.480 --> 0:18:50.440 of dollars are at stake to complete this pipeline. We 0:18:50.480 --> 0:18:55.120 have managed to keep a bipartisan coalition throughout the government 0:18:55.160 --> 0:18:59.119 in Congress and the executive branch, Republicans, Democrats, all the 0:18:59.160 --> 0:19:02.040 other issues were fighting about. We've managed to keep this 0:19:02.119 --> 0:19:06.399 coalition together on national security. And if we continue to 0:19:06.400 --> 0:19:10.600 stop the pipeline, which we've done so far, it hurts Putin, 0:19:10.720 --> 0:19:14.080 taking billions of dollars out of its pockets. It helps 0:19:14.520 --> 0:19:17.919 Europe by making it less dependent on Russia. And it 0:19:17.960 --> 0:19:21.800 helps America because if Europe because Europe, it would be 0:19:21.920 --> 0:19:24.200 much better for Europe for them to be importing energy 0:19:24.240 --> 0:19:27.240 from America, creating jobs of the United States of America 0:19:27.440 --> 0:19:31.560 rather than enriching Putin. And so this is a win 0:19:31.680 --> 0:19:35.480 win all around. And it's an active diplomatic battle that 0:19:36.080 --> 0:19:38.199 it is ongoing right now, and I think that's an 0:19:38.240 --> 0:19:41.639 important point. First of all, it serves American interests, Second 0:19:41.640 --> 0:19:44.840 of all, it serves European interests, and third of all, 0:19:45.240 --> 0:19:47.760 this harkens back to something that we talked about very 0:19:47.800 --> 0:19:50.920 early in the podcast during impeachment, which is, I think 0:19:50.920 --> 0:19:53.160 a lot of our focus now is on China. Obviously, 0:19:53.200 --> 0:19:55.560 we're living in this pandemic and these lockdwns that were 0:19:55.600 --> 0:19:58.120 caused by China, and so people are saying, Okay, China 0:19:58.200 --> 0:20:00.280 is the real threat. You know, Russia was a threat 0:20:00.320 --> 0:20:02.320 during the Cold War, but now China is the real threat. 0:20:03.040 --> 0:20:05.320 This doesn't have to be an either or Here, it's 0:20:05.359 --> 0:20:08.600 not the case that just because China is now threatening 0:20:08.640 --> 0:20:10.119 us in a way that we hadn't seen before, then 0:20:10.200 --> 0:20:12.560 all of a sudden, Vladimir Putin is our best friend. 0:20:13.000 --> 0:20:15.120 Is surely he does not have our interests at heart 0:20:16.040 --> 0:20:19.240 now that that's exactly right. Listen, In terms of magnitude 0:20:19.240 --> 0:20:23.280 of threats, China is the far bigger geopolitical threat. I 0:20:23.280 --> 0:20:26.000 think it's the biggest threat we have over the next century. 0:20:26.720 --> 0:20:29.240 But Putin and Russia remain dangerous, and we need to 0:20:29.240 --> 0:20:32.200 be vigorous against them. And for that matter, of nuclear 0:20:32.280 --> 0:20:35.959 Iran would be profoundly dangerous. North Korea's dangerous. So there 0:20:35.960 --> 0:20:39.920 are lots of dangerous places on Earth. China, strategically, their 0:20:40.000 --> 0:20:44.359 economic might makes them, I think, a different level of 0:20:44.400 --> 0:20:47.960 magnitude than every other player for the next century. But 0:20:48.680 --> 0:20:54.119 Russia is dangerous, and putting billions of dollars in Putin's 0:20:54.200 --> 0:20:57.320 pockets to use against us is a really bad idea. Well, 0:20:57.400 --> 0:21:00.320 moving from the realm of foreign policy to tell on 0:21:00.480 --> 0:21:03.000 domestic affairs here in our last few moments, I want 0:21:03.000 --> 0:21:06.439 to get to the mailbag, Rob asks. He says, I 0:21:06.480 --> 0:21:09.640 would like Ted's thoughts on the recent comments by Dems 0:21:09.640 --> 0:21:14.199 that a Trump landslide on election night could be a mirage. 0:21:14.400 --> 0:21:17.320 That basically you could get Trump winning on election night, 0:21:17.359 --> 0:21:19.600 but then some mail in ballots come in weeks later 0:21:19.720 --> 0:21:23.800 and all of a sudden, the election goes to Joe Biden. Well, look, 0:21:23.840 --> 0:21:26.359 I think it is a moment where the Democrats actually 0:21:26.400 --> 0:21:29.000 set out loud the things that they meant to keep quiet, 0:21:29.200 --> 0:21:34.280 which which is they're admitting from a democratic perspective, there 0:21:34.560 --> 0:21:37.560 were one or two outcomes. Either they win in November 0:21:38.600 --> 0:21:41.360 or they're going to scream the election is illegitimate. They're 0:21:41.359 --> 0:21:44.920 going to file litigation in every state and jurisdiction they can, 0:21:45.280 --> 0:21:47.000 and they're going to do everything they can to steal 0:21:47.000 --> 0:21:51.760 the election. That they the outcome of Trump winning that 0:21:51.760 --> 0:21:55.280 there's so much rage at Adam that I and you 0:21:55.320 --> 0:21:57.640 can see them setting the predicate for them. You can 0:21:57.680 --> 0:22:01.680 see them already setting the stage to challenge the legitimacy 0:22:01.720 --> 0:22:05.560 of the election. And and you know, it's interesting there 0:22:05.640 --> 0:22:10.399 have been prominent Democrats, Hillary Clinton asking, you know, would 0:22:10.440 --> 0:22:14.560 Trump accept it if he lost? And there's an odd 0:22:14.640 --> 0:22:17.000 thing that a lot of Democrats do. I mean, it's 0:22:17.000 --> 0:22:21.240 a Freudian projection, which is they accuse the other side 0:22:21.240 --> 0:22:24.080 of doing what they're doing. Look, it's the Democrats that 0:22:24.160 --> 0:22:26.879 still haven't accepted they lost in twenty sixteen. You know, 0:22:26.880 --> 0:22:30.200 it's Stacy Abrahams who still thinks she's governor of Georgia. 0:22:31.440 --> 0:22:37.640 And I am very concerned that that they are unless 0:22:37.720 --> 0:22:42.200 they win, in which case it will be Hosanna, hosanna 0:22:42.320 --> 0:22:46.320 income the Socialists. But but if if there's any outcome 0:22:46.440 --> 0:22:51.120 other than they're winning on election night, hold on tight, 0:22:51.119 --> 0:22:53.440 because they're going to do everything they can to dispute 0:22:53.480 --> 0:22:56.320 the outcome. Right. It's very funny because Hillary Clinton said 0:22:56.320 --> 0:22:59.119 in twenty sixteen that Donald Trump is threatening not to 0:22:59.119 --> 0:23:01.240 accept the results of the election. This is a threat 0:23:01.280 --> 0:23:03.959 to democracy. She then went on to dispute the election 0:23:04.080 --> 0:23:06.399 for four years, and now she's saying Joe Biden should 0:23:06.440 --> 0:23:11.080 not concede under any circumstances. You know, if there were 0:23:11.119 --> 0:23:13.640 self awareness on that side of the aisle, I'm I'm 0:23:13.680 --> 0:23:15.960 sure we could all laugh about it, But sadly there 0:23:16.000 --> 0:23:18.760 seems not to be. So, Michael, let me jump in 0:23:18.800 --> 0:23:22.040 actually on a mailbag topic, and this is actually a 0:23:22.080 --> 0:23:25.040 correction from prior mailbag. Hold on center. I'm going to 0:23:25.080 --> 0:23:29.000 stop you, right, there. I'm shocked. I'm edified, but shocked 0:23:29.040 --> 0:23:31.399 that you would correct something on the air, because if 0:23:31.400 --> 0:23:33.400 this were The New York Times and you had said 0:23:33.440 --> 0:23:36.200 something wrong, you would bury the correction in page three 0:23:36.280 --> 0:23:39.040 thousand and fifty of some supplemental book that no one 0:23:39.040 --> 0:23:40.880 would read. But you are going to make a correction 0:23:41.359 --> 0:23:44.200 right here on the show, I am, and I'm gonna 0:23:44.200 --> 0:23:46.240 I'm gonna shine a light on it. Which is which is. 0:23:46.240 --> 0:23:50.200 Several episodes ago, we were doing a mailbag and we 0:23:50.320 --> 0:23:55.120