1 00:00:22,920 --> 00:00:27,039 Speaker 1: And here we are. Look at that. Happy Monday to you. 2 00:00:27,239 --> 00:00:32,320 Welcome to the Big Podcast on this eighteenth day of August, 3 00:00:32,560 --> 00:00:34,920 year of Our Lord twenty twenty five. My name is 4 00:00:34,920 --> 00:00:38,840 Tom Sullivan, and today's going to be a lot about 5 00:00:39,880 --> 00:00:42,560 basically two things. I mean, we've got a bunch of 6 00:00:42,600 --> 00:00:45,280 phone calls. I got to get in as well. But 7 00:00:46,320 --> 00:00:48,759 this is the Ukraine Summit is taking place at the 8 00:00:48,759 --> 00:00:53,479 White House today and it really is pretty historic when 9 00:00:53,479 --> 00:00:57,280 you take a look that there are all these world 10 00:00:57,359 --> 00:01:03,280 leaders that are there from France, Italy, Germany, Finland, the EU, NATO. 11 00:01:03,399 --> 00:01:05,760 I mean they're all at the White House. I mean 12 00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:08,879 you talk about I presume the security is to the 13 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:14,359 nth degree, but you've got all these well Western europe 14 00:01:14,439 --> 00:01:18,959 leaders plus the President. It's quite a collection of people 15 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:21,439 and they're all there to try to figure out how 16 00:01:21,480 --> 00:01:27,519 to keep Russia from expanding getting into doing more to Ukraine. 17 00:01:28,519 --> 00:01:31,840 There's criticism from Friday that about the fact that the 18 00:01:31,879 --> 00:01:35,519 President said he's going for a ceasefire and if there's 19 00:01:35,519 --> 00:01:38,719 no ceasefire then it's going to be severe repercussions. And 20 00:01:39,359 --> 00:01:42,400 know that they did not have agree to a ceasefire 21 00:01:42,480 --> 00:01:47,079 and there are no severe repercussions. So you got to 22 00:01:47,280 --> 00:01:51,599 step back and look at the process that is going on. 23 00:01:52,319 --> 00:01:55,760 This is not going to be solved in one meeting 24 00:01:55,920 --> 00:01:58,879 in Alaska, not going to be solved in a meeting 25 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:07,840 today in Washington. European leaders are talking about what really 26 00:02:07,959 --> 00:02:11,479 sounds well, they've even alluded to it. They've talked about 27 00:02:11,520 --> 00:02:13,879 the fact that they need to have a security agreement 28 00:02:14,479 --> 00:02:20,520 for Ukraine. And Zelensky, I get it. He's looking around 29 00:02:20,560 --> 00:02:23,199 and going, yeah, well, there was a security agreement called 30 00:02:23,240 --> 00:02:27,759 the Budapest Agreement in nineteen ninety four. That's when the 31 00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:32,000 Soviet Union collapsed and a lot of the Soviet Union's 32 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:37,680 NUK missiles were physically in Ukraine and they wanted him back, 33 00:02:37,960 --> 00:02:40,280 and Ukraine said, I don't want to give him back. 34 00:02:40,319 --> 00:02:46,120 And the deal worked out where now Russia would take 35 00:02:46,159 --> 00:02:50,759 possession of the nukes and Ukraine would hand them over 36 00:02:51,039 --> 00:02:57,879 if we the United States agreed to protect Ukraine. And 37 00:02:57,960 --> 00:03:01,319 so Zelensky's looking at that piece of paper and it's 38 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:04,599 not worth the paper that it's written on, because while 39 00:03:04,680 --> 00:03:06,240 we've given him a lot of money, a lot of 40 00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:08,599 armament and things like that, but the security agreement that 41 00:03:08,759 --> 00:03:16,199 was envisioned nothing we I mean, Joe Biden even said, well, 42 00:03:16,240 --> 00:03:19,240 if Putin does a little incursion, you know, we won't 43 00:03:19,280 --> 00:03:23,319 do anything. So it's been mishandled, and so Zelensky wants 44 00:03:23,400 --> 00:03:27,759 something ironclad. He wants security for his nation. They still 45 00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:31,439 have to figure out about the land and the part 46 00:03:31,479 --> 00:03:35,800 that Russia has already occupied, and it's all that has 47 00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:40,120 to be worked out. But the first thing is European 48 00:03:40,199 --> 00:03:43,159 leaders are saying, all right, if we're not going to 49 00:03:43,240 --> 00:03:46,439 have a ceasefire right out of the gate, then we've 50 00:03:46,439 --> 00:03:50,319 got to get some sort of security agreement for Ukraine. 51 00:03:50,560 --> 00:03:54,479 And Zelensky's nodding his head up and down, going yeah, yeah, 52 00:03:54,520 --> 00:03:57,599 And it's got to be really something. It can't be 53 00:03:57,919 --> 00:04:01,919 just words, it can't be on the back of an envelope. 54 00:04:02,479 --> 00:04:07,199 And what it will require is it will require troops, 55 00:04:07,759 --> 00:04:12,599 boots on the ground, occupying forts and bases in Ukraine, 56 00:04:13,080 --> 00:04:19,000 and they will be European troops. And yes, they're talking 57 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:22,879 about US troops being stationed in Ukraine as part of 58 00:04:22,920 --> 00:04:27,199 a security agreement. Now, look at this agreement is not final, 59 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:30,639 not even close to final, but that's what they're already 60 00:04:30,680 --> 00:04:34,759 talking about. So bringing up the military side of this, 61 00:04:35,519 --> 00:04:38,800 we always go to General Jack Keane and see what 62 00:04:38,879 --> 00:04:40,319 he has to say. Here's the General. 63 00:04:40,959 --> 00:04:43,680 Speaker 2: Yeah, well, Seller, we're moving into a different phase here, 64 00:04:43,720 --> 00:04:46,519 and I think it's something to be encouraged by the 65 00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:49,680 fact that the President invited all these European leaders and 66 00:04:49,720 --> 00:04:53,519 Presidents Lenski to the White House today to discuss the 67 00:04:53,560 --> 00:04:57,319 pathway ahead and the fact that they're showing up in 68 00:04:57,360 --> 00:04:59,800 the numbers they are and what they represent. I mean, 69 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:03,120 we are talking about the major leaders in Europe. This 70 00:05:03,279 --> 00:05:08,720 is United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Finland, the leader of 71 00:05:08,759 --> 00:05:12,399 the EU, and the Secretary General of the NATO. These 72 00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:16,600 are the principal leaders coming together to discuss with President 73 00:05:16,639 --> 00:05:19,800 Zelenski and his team as well as the President and 74 00:05:19,839 --> 00:05:24,639 his team, what is the pathway forward and that we 75 00:05:24,839 --> 00:05:28,600 all have to be encouraged by and solely what's on 76 00:05:28,639 --> 00:05:33,600 the table. Remember, no press conference revealing the substance of 77 00:05:33,639 --> 00:05:37,959 the discussions, what if any concessions were made, But what 78 00:05:38,120 --> 00:05:41,399 do we know based on that. We do know that 79 00:05:41,439 --> 00:05:43,600 there's an offer on the table and Fox has been 80 00:05:43,639 --> 00:05:48,079 reporting it all morning and yesterday afternoon as well, that 81 00:05:48,120 --> 00:05:52,680 Putin wants to take the rest of the Donasque region 82 00:05:53,319 --> 00:05:56,759 and freeze everything else in place. Likely what's going to 83 00:05:56,759 --> 00:06:00,720 be discussed today is the Ukraine counteroff, what makes the 84 00:06:00,759 --> 00:06:05,720 most sense for Ukraine and if security guarantees, which was 85 00:06:05,759 --> 00:06:10,519 a discussion, and supposedly Russia hasn't agreed to the substance 86 00:06:10,519 --> 00:06:13,680 of the guarantees, but that the principle of it. Likely 87 00:06:14,160 --> 00:06:17,839 what those security guarantees are will also receive a lot 88 00:06:17,879 --> 00:06:22,319 of attention. And going back to the original statement that 89 00:06:22,439 --> 00:06:24,920 was made to Mark Rubio, if we unpacked that a 90 00:06:24,920 --> 00:06:29,120 little bit, I mean, see, see what's really going on here. 91 00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:32,240 Putin has an offer on the table, and the President said, 92 00:06:32,279 --> 00:06:36,800 time and time again, this is a Zelenski and Ukraine's 93 00:06:36,800 --> 00:06:39,720 decision to make you know when it comes to territory. 94 00:06:39,759 --> 00:06:43,160 And Rubio said something else that was very important. He said, look, 95 00:06:43,160 --> 00:06:44,800 if there's going to be a deal here, both sides 96 00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:46,839 are going to have to give something up and you're 97 00:06:46,879 --> 00:06:48,920 going to have to get something. And if all of 98 00:06:48,920 --> 00:06:52,879 this is one sided, that's not a deal, that's surrender. 99 00:06:53,199 --> 00:06:57,040 And he was talking about Ukraine here. So today's meeting 100 00:06:57,560 --> 00:06:59,720 is likely going to be counter offer, and how do 101 00:06:59,800 --> 00:07:04,000 we guarantee Ukraine's security going forward? If this is an 102 00:07:04,079 --> 00:07:07,199 Article five like security guaranteed, attack on one is an 103 00:07:07,199 --> 00:07:10,240 attack on all, you would likely have a number of 104 00:07:10,240 --> 00:07:13,480 things in play here. I mean the details are left 105 00:07:13,519 --> 00:07:16,480 to the principles involved. But through our audience on the 106 00:07:16,519 --> 00:07:21,600 stands international forces on the ground, backed up by empower, airpower, 107 00:07:22,319 --> 00:07:26,839 and also backed up by US and European intelligence. Most 108 00:07:26,839 --> 00:07:30,000 of those forces should be European. But I do believe 109 00:07:30,040 --> 00:07:32,480 that this is going to have some real teeth in it. 110 00:07:33,240 --> 00:07:36,000 The US troops on the ground, backed up by airpower. 111 00:07:36,079 --> 00:07:39,519 We've got eighty thousand troops already in Europe. Forty thousand 112 00:07:39,519 --> 00:07:42,839 of them are army. We've got five brigades army brigades there. 113 00:07:42,839 --> 00:07:46,920 Two are permanent, three rotate in and out, and the 114 00:07:46,959 --> 00:07:48,920 ones that rotate in and out are spread among the 115 00:07:49,000 --> 00:07:53,199 three Baltic States, Poland and Romania. We could move those forces, 116 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:57,759 some aspect of them a brigade or so into Ukraine. 117 00:07:57,800 --> 00:08:01,399 They're already in Europe, are already paying for them to 118 00:08:01,480 --> 00:08:04,480 be there, backed up by airpower. If the US is 119 00:08:04,519 --> 00:08:09,680 on the ground, a majority of forces international European, for sure, 120 00:08:10,160 --> 00:08:14,040 it has teeth in it that will get Putin's attention. 121 00:08:14,519 --> 00:08:16,720 But I leave that up to the principles to discuss 122 00:08:16,759 --> 00:08:18,680 what the details of that are. I just wanted to 123 00:08:18,720 --> 00:08:22,079 frame that discussion a little bit for our audience to 124 00:08:22,120 --> 00:08:23,759 think about the implications here. 125 00:08:24,600 --> 00:08:27,920 Speaker 1: Oh, there are big implications. And I think this audience 126 00:08:28,800 --> 00:08:32,600 here is allowed and clear. Remember we started supporting. We 127 00:08:32,639 --> 00:08:34,840 started off, Oh, we're going to support Ukraine. Then we 128 00:08:34,919 --> 00:08:37,159 got tired of it, and Joe was sending checks and 129 00:08:37,200 --> 00:08:40,440 we spent hundreds of billions of dollars to send to 130 00:08:40,960 --> 00:08:44,519 Ukraine and military equipment, and it just went on and 131 00:08:44,600 --> 00:08:49,120 on and on, and the American public, no question about it, decided, no, 132 00:08:49,240 --> 00:08:51,279 we don't want to it's not worth it too, is 133 00:08:52,080 --> 00:08:57,240 it's not our war? Why let's not get involved with Ukraine. Well, 134 00:08:57,279 --> 00:09:01,320 now they're one eighty and now the public is more 135 00:09:01,360 --> 00:09:06,039 involved and more supportive of helping Ukraine. But are you 136 00:09:06,200 --> 00:09:12,080 as supportive helping Ukraine with troops with American soldiers on 137 00:09:12,120 --> 00:09:17,519 the ground, Because that's a whole other level. And the 138 00:09:17,559 --> 00:09:21,000 other thing to keep talking about is having this security agreement. 139 00:09:21,039 --> 00:09:23,879 And with the European leaders around the table at the 140 00:09:23,919 --> 00:09:27,360 White House today kept referring to yeah, security agreement, you know, 141 00:09:27,799 --> 00:09:33,279 kind of like a NATO Article five type security agreement 142 00:09:33,559 --> 00:09:37,639 and NATO Article five is that if any member of 143 00:09:37,759 --> 00:09:40,480 NATO is attacked, it's an attack on all and we 144 00:09:40,600 --> 00:09:44,320 all have to go and defend that country. And so 145 00:09:44,480 --> 00:09:48,039 that's what Putin wants nothing to do with. He doesn't 146 00:09:48,039 --> 00:09:53,080 want NATO anywhere near Ukraine. And that's what he's looking for, 147 00:09:53,279 --> 00:09:55,840 is he's looking for a promise that NATO will not 148 00:09:55,879 --> 00:09:58,200 be involved. But if they're going to make it look 149 00:09:58,360 --> 00:10:02,080 like a NATO Article five and smell like an Article five, 150 00:10:03,159 --> 00:10:07,840 then it's an Article five, I think in Putin's viewpoint, 151 00:10:08,120 --> 00:10:11,360 I would think. And Steve Whitlock did a lot of 152 00:10:11,360 --> 00:10:14,600 the negotiating for the US and has met with Putin 153 00:10:14,639 --> 00:10:16,759 a number of times. He was on one of the 154 00:10:16,759 --> 00:10:18,039 Sunday shows yesterday. 155 00:10:18,559 --> 00:10:23,279 Speaker 3: It means that the United States is potentially prepared to 156 00:10:23,360 --> 00:10:28,200 be able to give Article five security guarantees, but not 157 00:10:28,600 --> 00:10:33,440 from NATO, directly from the United States and other European countries. 158 00:10:34,080 --> 00:10:35,960 That is big, I mean really big. 159 00:10:36,720 --> 00:10:39,679 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's big, And that's the kind of thing that Putin. 160 00:10:39,759 --> 00:10:42,519 If you just know Putin's going to say, no way, 161 00:10:43,519 --> 00:10:46,039 am I going to allow that to take place. Marco 162 00:10:46,120 --> 00:10:51,519 Rubio also was on the Sunday shows yesterday and What's 163 00:10:51,559 --> 00:10:55,919 her name that anchors faced a Nation as usual made 164 00:10:55,960 --> 00:10:59,039 some comments that set Marco Rubio off. 165 00:10:59,320 --> 00:11:01,200 Speaker 4: Let's be frank, this is not our war. The United 166 00:11:01,200 --> 00:11:03,480 States is not in a war. Ukraine is in a war. 167 00:11:03,799 --> 00:11:07,000 We've been supporting Ukraine. If tomorrow the war continues, life 168 00:11:07,039 --> 00:11:10,440 in America will not be fundamentally altered. So I think 169 00:11:10,440 --> 00:11:12,159 that we have to understand is that this has been 170 00:11:12,200 --> 00:11:15,159 a priority for this president because he wants to promote peace. 171 00:11:15,759 --> 00:11:15,919 Speaker 5: Yeah. 172 00:11:16,000 --> 00:11:19,320 Speaker 1: The anchor for the show said, well, the European leaders 173 00:11:19,320 --> 00:11:21,559 are coming to the White House so that they can 174 00:11:21,600 --> 00:11:27,480 basically babysit Donald Trump to make sure he doesn't bully Zelensky. 175 00:11:28,039 --> 00:11:30,840 And that's when Rubio said, you're so wrong. That's not 176 00:11:31,000 --> 00:11:33,799 even close to what they're coming for. They're coming to 177 00:11:33,879 --> 00:11:36,240 work in unity to try to come up with some 178 00:11:36,279 --> 00:11:42,759 sort of security agreement for Ukraine. Rebecca Heinrich works for 179 00:11:42,759 --> 00:11:47,440 one of these think tanks that thinks about things like Ukraine, 180 00:11:47,919 --> 00:11:50,759 and she was asked her view of how this is 181 00:11:50,799 --> 00:11:51,840 all going to come together. 182 00:11:52,480 --> 00:11:54,679 Speaker 6: Well, it's going to come down to what the security 183 00:11:54,679 --> 00:11:58,279 guarantees look like. Zelinsky is obviously right that if he's 184 00:11:58,360 --> 00:12:01,440 going to retreat from a kigh of territory. He's not 185 00:12:01,480 --> 00:12:04,039 going to retreat from territory that the Russians currently don't 186 00:12:04,279 --> 00:12:07,159 have complete control out of of. But if he is 187 00:12:07,200 --> 00:12:11,799 required to retreat, he needs to have some tangible material 188 00:12:11,879 --> 00:12:15,480 security guarantees beyond something like the Budapest Memorandum of nineteen 189 00:12:15,559 --> 00:12:18,480 ninety four, which is currently in place and hasn't provided 190 00:12:18,519 --> 00:12:20,200 any security for him. So he's going to want to 191 00:12:20,240 --> 00:12:22,679 know are the European boots on the ground, What is 192 00:12:22,720 --> 00:12:25,320 the United States going to do to back those European troops? 193 00:12:25,679 --> 00:12:28,360 That needs to happen. Or Zelenski's not going to budge 194 00:12:28,360 --> 00:12:31,360 at all. Well, I think that Secretary Rubio is. He's 195 00:12:31,360 --> 00:12:34,360 sincere and frustrated. Because of the progress that we have 196 00:12:34,519 --> 00:12:37,879 made to make NATO stronger, more lethal, the United States 197 00:12:38,200 --> 00:12:41,639 is more engaged with NATO. President Trump has been completely 198 00:12:41,679 --> 00:12:45,600 convinced that the NATO Alliance is not simply there as 199 00:12:45,679 --> 00:12:48,000 free loaders, that it's there to provide security for the 200 00:12:48,000 --> 00:12:51,720 American people, that strong allies are good for American security, 201 00:12:51,720 --> 00:12:54,519 Weak allies are dangerous. President Trump has made NATO stronger, 202 00:12:55,039 --> 00:12:56,799 So I do think it's important, though that we have 203 00:12:56,919 --> 00:13:00,879 solidarity with European allies today moving forward, and that President 204 00:13:01,360 --> 00:13:05,720 Zelenski gets concrete specific things. Even Article five just sort 205 00:13:05,759 --> 00:13:07,639 of notionally isn't going to be good enough. He's going 206 00:13:07,679 --> 00:13:10,120 too specifics. And if there's going to be actually boots 207 00:13:10,159 --> 00:13:11,840 in the ground to make sure the Russians don't continue 208 00:13:11,879 --> 00:13:15,679 to advance, well, I think a ceasefire is obviously so, 209 00:13:15,720 --> 00:13:17,360 I mean it should be a first step because it 210 00:13:17,399 --> 00:13:20,159 shows that the Russians are actually willing to end the war. 211 00:13:20,559 --> 00:13:23,320 The fact that the Russians are increasing the tempo of 212 00:13:23,360 --> 00:13:26,480 these attacks and they're attacking civilians shows to me that 213 00:13:26,519 --> 00:13:28,879 there's no reason to trust the Russians, which is why 214 00:13:28,960 --> 00:13:30,919 we have to go into this not looking for something, 215 00:13:31,240 --> 00:13:33,360 you know, something that everybody's going to like and be 216 00:13:33,399 --> 00:13:35,840 disappointed by. But actually it has to be an American 217 00:13:35,919 --> 00:13:40,799 led pro Ukraine, pro Europe forcing the Russians to stop, 218 00:13:41,240 --> 00:13:43,559 and that means you're going to have to have credible 219 00:13:43,559 --> 00:13:48,120 threats of sanctions, you know, backing security, backing and data. 220 00:13:48,159 --> 00:13:51,159 The last point we need to understand where this line 221 00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:55,360 of contact is. The Russians cannot force Ukraine to give 222 00:13:55,440 --> 00:13:58,960 up territory that Russia hasn't even gained control of and 223 00:13:59,000 --> 00:14:01,480 nobody can blame Zelensky for saying no to that. So 224 00:14:01,519 --> 00:14:03,039 that's going to be another line of friction. 225 00:14:03,480 --> 00:14:07,639 Speaker 1: Yes, you're hearing the expression and security guarantees over and 226 00:14:07,679 --> 00:14:10,440 over and over. That's kind of the theme today. Well, 227 00:14:10,519 --> 00:14:16,200 by the way, when European leaders arrived, they no, no, no, 228 00:14:16,240 --> 00:14:19,639 there was no red carpet for them. Nope. The President 229 00:14:19,720 --> 00:14:23,480 did not greet them. They were greeted at the South lawn, 230 00:14:23,519 --> 00:14:25,840 the back door if you will, of the White House 231 00:14:26,399 --> 00:14:31,399 by Monica Crowley, who I used to work with. She's 232 00:14:31,440 --> 00:14:35,120 the chief of protocol at the White House. No red carpet. 233 00:14:35,159 --> 00:14:39,440 Monica Crowley, chief of Protocol, greeted all of these European leaders. 234 00:14:39,559 --> 00:14:43,200 This is an amazing collection. There's been nothing like this, 235 00:14:43,320 --> 00:14:46,039 I don't think already, going back to World War Two. 236 00:14:47,159 --> 00:14:51,200 And so then the big event happened when Zelensky rolled 237 00:14:51,279 --> 00:14:55,200 up to the West Wing and got out and President 238 00:14:55,320 --> 00:14:57,879 Trump you could tell he was looking at what he 239 00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:00,399 was wearing. And it became a funny moment in in 240 00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:03,320 the Oval office where one of the reporters who had 241 00:15:03,320 --> 00:15:05,200 brought up the fact that the last time he showed up. 242 00:15:05,240 --> 00:15:09,159 He showed up in a T shirt. The reporter basically said, 243 00:15:09,159 --> 00:15:11,600 and by the way, I like your suit. It was 244 00:15:11,639 --> 00:15:13,879 a funny, funny bit. And he had he did, he had, 245 00:15:13,960 --> 00:15:16,840 so it was all black, black shirt, black tie, black 246 00:15:17,080 --> 00:15:21,600 black suit. But he wore a suit, but no red carpet. 247 00:15:21,799 --> 00:15:25,240 There was nothing like the event that took place in 248 00:15:25,279 --> 00:15:31,000 Alaska on Friday. So Marco Rubio says, both sides have 249 00:15:31,080 --> 00:15:35,360 to give concessions. That's not a surprise, that's what happens 250 00:15:35,399 --> 00:15:39,879 in negotiating. Kimberly Strassel, she's with the Wall Street Journal 251 00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:44,440 editorial page, and she talks about the fact that a 252 00:15:44,440 --> 00:15:47,120 lot of people have been beating up on Donald Trump 253 00:15:47,200 --> 00:15:50,440 since Friday, going see he went said I'm going to 254 00:15:50,519 --> 00:15:54,799 have there's no ceasefire, There's going to be severe consequences, 255 00:15:55,799 --> 00:16:01,039 And no ceasefire happened and no severe consequences. So Kimberly 256 00:16:01,080 --> 00:16:05,559 Strassel basically points out what he's doing, Well, it. 257 00:16:05,519 --> 00:16:08,080 Speaker 7: Was the wrong read. I don't think that that was 258 00:16:08,080 --> 00:16:11,080 ever the question, and it was an easy way to 259 00:16:11,120 --> 00:16:14,159 set up Donald Trump and suggests that he'd blown this 260 00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:18,240 Alaska summit. The real test of Donald Trump is going 261 00:16:18,360 --> 00:16:22,039 to be what comes out of now these meetings going forward. 262 00:16:22,279 --> 00:16:26,120 And look, I think this is an underappreciated aspect of this. 263 00:16:26,200 --> 00:16:29,919 We're talking about the consequences for Ukraine and for Europe, 264 00:16:30,279 --> 00:16:33,279 for Russia, but I think that there's also a consequence 265 00:16:33,320 --> 00:16:38,519 for this president. He came into office promising peace. Now 266 00:16:38,720 --> 00:16:41,840 we have an opportunity. But the real question is peace 267 00:16:41,960 --> 00:16:45,759 at what cost? Right? I mean, because and I think 268 00:16:45,840 --> 00:16:49,440 General Jack Keanes said it correctly. If Ukraine is going 269 00:16:49,480 --> 00:16:51,720 to be expected to give up pretty much everything and 270 00:16:51,799 --> 00:16:55,200 come out of this with very little security guarantees or 271 00:16:55,240 --> 00:17:00,720 not robust security agreements, then essentially that's not a a truce. 272 00:17:00,840 --> 00:17:04,920 It's not a peace. That is a surrender. And Donald 273 00:17:04,960 --> 00:17:07,079 Trump might be able to say, hey, look I got peace, 274 00:17:07,119 --> 00:17:10,240 But if what it does is set Russia up in 275 00:17:10,359 --> 00:17:13,440 future to take more of Ukraine, the history books will 276 00:17:13,519 --> 00:17:16,119 judge that as a failure. And you know, I want 277 00:17:16,160 --> 00:17:18,200 to throw in one last thing here as people think 278 00:17:18,240 --> 00:17:21,440 this through, because I was glad you mentioned Alaska. You know, 279 00:17:21,480 --> 00:17:25,079 we sort of talk about these territorial concessions in Ukraine 280 00:17:25,119 --> 00:17:27,039 as well. You know, they just got to give up 281 00:17:27,039 --> 00:17:29,400 a little bit of land here or there. I mean, 282 00:17:29,519 --> 00:17:32,519 you have to think about the emotional and family ties 283 00:17:32,640 --> 00:17:35,119 across Ukraine. I want you to imagine if Russia were 284 00:17:35,119 --> 00:17:37,960 to invade Alaska and then in the end the peace 285 00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:40,559 settlement was, well, we'll just give Alaska to Russia. I 286 00:17:40,599 --> 00:17:43,240 don't think a lot of Americans would be really thrilled 287 00:17:43,240 --> 00:17:45,720 by that, and not a lot of the Alaskans either. 288 00:17:46,359 --> 00:17:49,160 So I mean, this is this is I understand we're 289 00:17:49,200 --> 00:17:53,480 talking about this in very geopolitical strategies and territory and land, 290 00:17:53,519 --> 00:17:55,720 but this is not empty land. It is land full 291 00:17:55,759 --> 00:17:58,640 of people with families all across Ukraine and a lot 292 00:17:58,640 --> 00:18:00,240 of pride in their country. 293 00:18:01,559 --> 00:18:04,400 Speaker 1: Yes, And if I may point out the obvious, if 294 00:18:04,440 --> 00:18:07,920 you go back to my radio show days, I would 295 00:18:08,079 --> 00:18:10,279 ask over the last four years, I would say, what's 296 00:18:10,359 --> 00:18:13,519 Joe Biden doing about trying to get the parties together 297 00:18:13,599 --> 00:18:16,799 for a peace agreement? What's he doing? All he's doing 298 00:18:16,880 --> 00:18:20,359 is writing checks and sending military equipment. Why doesn't he 299 00:18:20,519 --> 00:18:24,480 pull together the leaders of Russia and Ukraine and try 300 00:18:24,480 --> 00:18:27,839 to put some sort of peace agreement together? Nothing never 301 00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:31,720 raised a little finger to do anything about creating peace 302 00:18:31,839 --> 00:18:37,720 in Ukraine. And so whether Trump is successful or not successful, 303 00:18:37,759 --> 00:18:41,240 he's trying. I mean, you can criticize him all you want, 304 00:18:41,240 --> 00:18:44,960 but the man is trying to bring peace to that 305 00:18:45,119 --> 00:18:48,759 part of the world. But I think, obviously, I think 306 00:18:48,799 --> 00:18:51,240 the big question out of all of this is it 307 00:18:51,880 --> 00:18:54,279 has many more rounds to go. I would think I 308 00:18:54,319 --> 00:18:56,880 would be shocked if all of a sudden Putin said 309 00:18:56,880 --> 00:19:00,480 okay to whatever the Europeans come up with today, but 310 00:19:00,720 --> 00:19:03,599 we will be involved. Then usually, if you will look 311 00:19:03,599 --> 00:19:06,519 at modern history, we're not just going to be involved. 312 00:19:06,559 --> 00:19:09,119 We're going to be the bulk of whatever the security 313 00:19:09,160 --> 00:19:12,680 agreement is and the bulk of whatever the military commitment 314 00:19:12,799 --> 00:19:18,640 is to Ukraine. I don't want to see our troops 315 00:19:18,680 --> 00:19:24,359 in foreign countries defending them from other nations. I can 316 00:19:24,400 --> 00:19:27,480 see putting our troops in various places around the world 317 00:19:27,519 --> 00:19:32,880 for strategic reasons for US, but I don't know how 318 00:19:33,680 --> 00:19:36,079 there's not going to be any solution to this unless 319 00:19:36,119 --> 00:19:41,400 we just ramp up lots of military equipment for Ukraine 320 00:19:41,920 --> 00:19:44,599 and for the president. If this doesn't go through, to 321 00:19:44,720 --> 00:19:53,559 put on some serious I mean serious, serious sanctions, we'll see. 322 00:19:53,720 --> 00:20:00,640 Stephen Piper was a former US ambassador to Ukraine, and 323 00:20:00,720 --> 00:20:03,119 he was asked about what do he thinks of these 324 00:20:03,160 --> 00:20:06,640 negotiations and all this security agreement talk. 325 00:20:06,960 --> 00:20:09,079 Speaker 5: Well, I think the meetings that are taking place at 326 00:20:09,119 --> 00:20:14,799 the White House are extraordinarily important. President Trump, prior to Alaska, 327 00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:17,720 said his stated goal was to achieve a cease fire, 328 00:20:18,720 --> 00:20:22,759 and apparently Vladimir Putin stiffed him and instead they talked 329 00:20:22,759 --> 00:20:27,680 about this understanding, which I think is quite problematic for Ukraine. 330 00:20:27,880 --> 00:20:30,680 And so one of the reasons why you have a 331 00:20:30,759 --> 00:20:34,039 half dozen European meaders coming here is they're hoping to 332 00:20:34,039 --> 00:20:37,359 find a way diplomatically to steer President Trump away from 333 00:20:37,359 --> 00:20:42,480 that understanding to something that might be more acceptable to Ukraine. Well, 334 00:20:42,640 --> 00:20:45,599 I think they should be encouraging President Trump to use 335 00:20:45,640 --> 00:20:49,319 some very powerful cards that he holds, which he hasn't 336 00:20:49,359 --> 00:20:52,319 yet put down on the table. One he could ask 337 00:20:52,440 --> 00:20:57,079 Congress for more military assistance for Ukraine. But also in 338 00:20:57,119 --> 00:21:00,640 this meeting he has the right people there. Cousin Trump 339 00:21:00,640 --> 00:21:02,640 could talk to the operience and say, look, we have 340 00:21:02,799 --> 00:21:07,400 frozen about three hundred billion dollars in Russian center back assets. 341 00:21:07,680 --> 00:21:11,079 Let's now just seize that money, put it into a 342 00:21:11,079 --> 00:21:14,759 fund that Ukraine can use both the reconstructions and arms purchases, 343 00:21:15,240 --> 00:21:17,920 and the message to the Kremlin is Ukraine will have 344 00:21:17,960 --> 00:21:21,720 the resources for years to continue to arm itself and 345 00:21:21,839 --> 00:21:26,079 continue to stemy Russia's invasion. That might cause the Kremlin 346 00:21:26,119 --> 00:21:28,880 to begin to think in a different way. But unfortunately 347 00:21:28,920 --> 00:21:32,240 President Trump did not play those cards in Alaska. I 348 00:21:32,279 --> 00:21:35,000 hope maybe as result of conversations today, he'll begin to 349 00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:35,839 play those cards. 350 00:21:36,640 --> 00:21:39,799 Speaker 1: So the one guy who worked for President Trump and 351 00:21:39,880 --> 00:21:42,480 Trump one point zero, but it has turned out to 352 00:21:42,519 --> 00:21:45,960 be a heavy critic of the president, is John Bolton. 353 00:21:46,440 --> 00:21:49,119 So let's see what Bolton's take is on all of this. 354 00:21:49,359 --> 00:21:52,319 Speaker 8: Well, there's an enormous amount he could do, which he's 355 00:21:52,599 --> 00:21:57,279 deliberately not undertaken. He said on the plane on the 356 00:21:57,279 --> 00:21:59,920 way to Alaska, we're going to get a ceasefire or 357 00:22:00,119 --> 00:22:04,920 there'll be severe consequences. No ceasefire, No severe consequences right now. 358 00:22:05,319 --> 00:22:08,839 Despite the ultimatum that he gave the Russian some time back, 359 00:22:09,359 --> 00:22:13,039 there have been no sanctions imposed on Russia itself for 360 00:22:13,160 --> 00:22:15,920 not coming to a serious discussion to end the war. 361 00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:19,640 No sanctions on China, only sanctions on India, which has 362 00:22:19,720 --> 00:22:24,400 had the effect of singling India out, not Russia, not China, 363 00:22:24,680 --> 00:22:29,200 but India, and made the Indian government and people incandescent 364 00:22:29,680 --> 00:22:32,759 at the way we've treated them. So Putin's still skating 365 00:22:32,799 --> 00:22:36,599 along as jijianping skating along, and our relations with India 366 00:22:36,640 --> 00:22:39,680 have gone through the tank. There's one way to change that, 367 00:22:39,839 --> 00:22:42,480 and that's if you're going to put push pressure on Russia, 368 00:22:42,559 --> 00:22:45,000 put it on and don't talk about it, and sort 369 00:22:45,039 --> 00:22:48,839 of drive by sanction a country we've been trying to 370 00:22:48,880 --> 00:22:51,960 wool away from Russia and China, we've now driven them 371 00:22:52,079 --> 00:22:52,720 back together. 372 00:22:53,400 --> 00:22:57,640 Speaker 1: Yeah, the sanctions on India are I understand the reason 373 00:22:58,039 --> 00:23:02,319 President puting sanctions in India because India is buying oil 374 00:23:02,519 --> 00:23:08,680 at steep discounts from Russia and Donald Trump won secondary 375 00:23:08,720 --> 00:23:11,319 sanctions out there, so he put them on India for 376 00:23:11,440 --> 00:23:14,720 buying the Russian oil, which is the money that Vladimir 377 00:23:14,720 --> 00:23:19,240 Putin uses to continue to prosecute the war. But at 378 00:23:19,240 --> 00:23:23,720 the same time, we were probably trying to establish a 379 00:23:23,759 --> 00:23:26,960 pretty good relationship with India, and I wonder how far 380 00:23:28,680 --> 00:23:31,480 you know, it just makes you wonder how far back 381 00:23:32,039 --> 00:23:34,920 the relations have been set. And that's the thing about 382 00:23:34,960 --> 00:23:37,880 all of this is that it's kind of a whack 383 00:23:37,920 --> 00:23:41,279 a mole. Is everything's going along, We're getting along with India. 384 00:23:41,319 --> 00:23:43,799 We're doing business with India. They're good to us, We're 385 00:23:43,839 --> 00:23:47,240 good to them, and this could set us back for 386 00:23:47,279 --> 00:23:51,720 a long long time. Mike Pompeo, former Secretary of State, 387 00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:58,200 former CIA director, he always had he and he's met 388 00:23:58,200 --> 00:23:59,920 with Putin numerous times. 389 00:24:00,119 --> 00:24:01,640 Speaker 9: It's going to be what is the shape of this 390 00:24:01,720 --> 00:24:05,720 security guarantee? So President Trump has made clear Putin doesn't 391 00:24:05,720 --> 00:24:08,799 want NATO as part of Ukraine. Fine, but we're going 392 00:24:08,839 --> 00:24:11,359 to give them something that looks and feels from a 393 00:24:11,359 --> 00:24:14,400 security perspective a lot like that. President Trump' spent a 394 00:24:14,440 --> 00:24:17,079 little coy about exactly what America's role will be in that. 395 00:24:17,440 --> 00:24:20,640 But boy, if you talk to the naysayers over the 396 00:24:20,720 --> 00:24:22,759 last six months about what President Trump might be willing 397 00:24:22,799 --> 00:24:25,000 to do, President Trump is in a very different place. 398 00:24:25,039 --> 00:24:27,839 He is again putting real pressure on Russia. Think about 399 00:24:27,839 --> 00:24:30,799 this meeting alone and the unanimity you saw in that 400 00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:33,799 room today. Putin watches this too, and he says, this 401 00:24:33,920 --> 00:24:36,920 is a United Fund of protecting Europe in a way 402 00:24:36,960 --> 00:24:39,440 that it has not done for an awfully long time. 403 00:24:39,680 --> 00:24:42,000 And so that is a wonderful thing to convince Putin 404 00:24:42,039 --> 00:24:44,440 to change his mind. Having said that, the one thing 405 00:24:44,559 --> 00:24:46,920 I think I may disagree with others on or maybe 406 00:24:46,960 --> 00:24:49,359 even President Trump. I have not seen Putin prepared to 407 00:24:49,359 --> 00:24:53,279 give up anything material yet. I haven't seen him agree 408 00:24:53,400 --> 00:24:58,359 to anything significant that would materially change how Zelenski will 409 00:24:58,359 --> 00:25:02,119 have to think about the risk associated with with coming 410 00:25:02,119 --> 00:25:04,119 to an agreement with Putin. I hope I'm wrong. I 411 00:25:04,119 --> 00:25:06,599 hope he'll permit the security guarantees at the level that 412 00:25:06,640 --> 00:25:09,240 will be necessary, because it will have to be big 413 00:25:09,319 --> 00:25:12,319 and robust and real, not just a paper agreement like 414 00:25:12,319 --> 00:25:15,720 the Budapest Memorandum for back in the early mid nineties. 415 00:25:15,960 --> 00:25:19,000 This will have to be a serious security commitment, and 416 00:25:19,079 --> 00:25:21,519 Putin will have to accept that. I'm not convinced he's 417 00:25:21,599 --> 00:25:21,960 there yet. 418 00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:22,640 Speaker 5: I hope I'm wrong. 419 00:25:22,680 --> 00:25:24,480 Speaker 9: I hope he said yep, that'll be fine by me. 420 00:25:25,279 --> 00:25:28,119 I also haven't seen any illness return those twenty thousand 421 00:25:28,160 --> 00:25:31,000 children that he's taken. You know, we talk about hostages 422 00:25:31,119 --> 00:25:36,039 in Gaza, twenty thousand children being held by Russian forces 423 00:25:36,440 --> 00:25:39,119 inside of Russia today, So there's still much work to do. 424 00:25:39,599 --> 00:25:42,000 The fact that the Europeans all came to Washington day 425 00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:44,720 to support President Zelenski and President Trump in this effort 426 00:25:44,880 --> 00:25:47,559 I think is an enormously good thing. Two thoughts. One 427 00:25:47,640 --> 00:25:50,359 he often says, or you even see people in the 428 00:25:50,519 --> 00:25:52,720 United States say, you know, it's right for Putin not 429 00:25:52,759 --> 00:25:55,000 to want NATO on his border. We just saw the 430 00:25:55,039 --> 00:25:58,160 Finish leader. We have NATO on the Russian border today. 431 00:25:58,200 --> 00:26:00,559 So that's just a a that's a ruse that Putin 432 00:26:00,599 --> 00:26:04,359 puts forward. It depends what the shape of that security 433 00:26:04,519 --> 00:26:08,680 tool is. Is it multinational, is it real? Are there 434 00:26:08,680 --> 00:26:12,799 real weapons, real forces, real intelligence sharing. Is there a 435 00:26:12,880 --> 00:26:15,400 shape to this that looks and feels like NATO or 436 00:26:15,440 --> 00:26:18,759 is it just a scattered outpost. Putin would see those 437 00:26:19,079 --> 00:26:22,160 to those two things very very differently. If it does 438 00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:24,119 take a shape of something like you have on the 439 00:26:24,119 --> 00:26:27,039 Finished border or up in the Baltics, or a real 440 00:26:27,119 --> 00:26:29,079 Natal force, if it looks and feels like that, I 441 00:26:29,079 --> 00:26:30,799 don't think Putin will see much difference. 442 00:26:31,640 --> 00:26:33,720 Speaker 1: Yeah, if he doesn't see much difference, he's not going 443 00:26:33,759 --> 00:26:36,319 to accept that at all. But he has to risk 444 00:26:36,839 --> 00:26:40,359 the cards that Donald Trump holds, and that is primarily 445 00:26:40,839 --> 00:26:46,680 the economic and military sanctions, and they haven't been played yet. 446 00:26:47,599 --> 00:26:50,039 It's for Donald Trump to figure out when to play 447 00:26:50,079 --> 00:26:52,359 those cards. He has to know he has them in 448 00:26:52,400 --> 00:26:55,400 his hand, and Putin has to know that too. But 449 00:26:55,519 --> 00:27:00,480 Pompeo has been consistent about Vladimir Putin, who he's again 450 00:27:00,599 --> 00:27:02,920 met with many, many times. And it's true if you 451 00:27:02,960 --> 00:27:07,039 look at what's going on, Putin has not given one inch. 452 00:27:07,839 --> 00:27:10,319 So when you sit down at a table to negotiate 453 00:27:10,400 --> 00:27:16,119 something and one side doesn't give one inch, it's going 454 00:27:16,200 --> 00:27:17,920 to be This is not going to be easy. And 455 00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:19,720 that's why I say it's not going to be all 456 00:27:20,240 --> 00:27:24,400 dealt with in one particular meeting, that's for sure. The 457 00:27:24,440 --> 00:27:28,599 President did put out on true social earlier today. He 458 00:27:28,680 --> 00:27:31,640 said President Zelensky of Ukraine can end the war with 459 00:27:31,799 --> 00:27:35,880 Russia almost immediately if he wants to, or he can 460 00:27:35,960 --> 00:27:39,680 continue to fight. Remember how it started. No getting back 461 00:27:39,799 --> 00:27:44,079 Obama given CRIMEA twelve years ago without a shot being fired, 462 00:27:44,359 --> 00:27:49,200 and no going into NATO by Ukraine. Some things never change. 463 00:27:49,440 --> 00:27:52,839 But this security agreement they've been talking about. Everybody around 464 00:27:52,839 --> 00:27:56,759 the table keeps talking about this security agreement that looks 465 00:27:56,759 --> 00:27:59,720 and smells and acts and barks just like just like NATO. 466 00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:04,160 And then there's Harry Enton, who always keeps track of 467 00:28:04,680 --> 00:28:08,279 what the pulses of America. This is what he has 468 00:28:08,400 --> 00:28:11,839 the latest on regarding the attitude about Ukraine and war. 469 00:28:12,359 --> 00:28:14,000 Speaker 9: Been some absolutely major shifts. 470 00:28:14,079 --> 00:28:17,559 Speaker 10: The idea that Ukraine's going to achieve complete victory, that 471 00:28:17,640 --> 00:28:20,400 idea has collapsed within Ukrainian society. What are we talking 472 00:28:20,440 --> 00:28:23,200 about here, Ukrainians on the war versus Russia. You go 473 00:28:23,279 --> 00:28:24,920 back to twenty twenty two, the start of the war, 474 00:28:25,039 --> 00:28:27,720 fight until Ukraine wins. Look at this, the vast majority, 475 00:28:27,720 --> 00:28:30,519 about three quarters seventy three percent agreed with that position. 476 00:28:30,759 --> 00:28:33,119 Negotiate to end the war as soon as possible, only 477 00:28:33,160 --> 00:28:35,359 twenty two percent. Look at where we are now, it's 478 00:28:35,400 --> 00:28:38,480 a complete flip. It's the inverse. Now, sixty nine percent 479 00:28:38,559 --> 00:28:40,720 want to negotiate to end the war as soon as possible, 480 00:28:40,839 --> 00:28:43,200 compared to just twenty four percent who want to fight 481 00:28:43,240 --> 00:28:45,880 until Ukraine wins. That's a forty nine point drop in 482 00:28:45,920 --> 00:28:48,440 this position. Now, of course, negotiating to end the war 483 00:28:48,440 --> 00:28:50,759 as soon as possible, that's a bit more nuanced, right, 484 00:28:51,039 --> 00:28:53,640 Ukrainians don't want to agree to rush all of Russia's demand, 485 00:28:53,799 --> 00:28:56,160 But I think the idea of even there being some 486 00:28:56,440 --> 00:28:59,960 territory that would be not formally recognized as being given 487 00:29:00,160 --> 00:29:02,319 that Russia could in fact stay and that does have 488 00:29:02,359 --> 00:29:04,559 a majority support. But the idea of formal recognition of 489 00:29:04,640 --> 00:29:07,559 Russia's demands absolutely not. Think one of the big reasons 490 00:29:07,599 --> 00:29:10,559 why opinions have changed is this idea that this war 491 00:29:10,599 --> 00:29:13,799 is going to end anytime soon. Ah ah, Ukrainians don't 492 00:29:13,839 --> 00:29:15,720 think it will. Take a look here, Ukrainians on the 493 00:29:15,720 --> 00:29:19,000 war ending within a year. Just twenty five percent say 494 00:29:19,039 --> 00:29:21,839 that it is likely. Look at this sixty eight percent. 495 00:29:22,160 --> 00:29:25,039 Sixty eight percent say it is unlikely that the war 496 00:29:25,359 --> 00:29:27,319 will in fact end of the year. And you'll notice 497 00:29:27,440 --> 00:29:30,200 this sixty eight percent looks a heck of a lot 498 00:29:30,519 --> 00:29:32,960 like this sixty nine percent who say that they want 499 00:29:32,960 --> 00:29:35,359 to negotiate to end the war as soon as possible. 500 00:29:35,400 --> 00:29:37,680 You know, obviously Ukrainians would like to join NATO. That 501 00:29:37,720 --> 00:29:39,599 has been a goal of theirs for a number of years. 502 00:29:39,839 --> 00:29:42,559 But the idea that Ukrainians that NATO admission will happen 503 00:29:42,640 --> 00:29:45,319 within ten years. Look again, look at the collapse in 504 00:29:45,359 --> 00:29:48,920 this position. Twenty twenty two was sixty four percent. Now 505 00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:52,200 it is just half that level at thirty two percent. 506 00:29:52,519 --> 00:29:54,880 So again, this is one of the goals that you know, 507 00:29:55,039 --> 00:29:57,200 Ukrainians had since speaking of the war, they no longer 508 00:29:57,200 --> 00:29:59,319 believe that it is Achieva. Well, the idea that Russia 509 00:29:59,400 --> 00:30:00,599 is going to be forced to out of all that 510 00:30:00,720 --> 00:30:03,680 land that they're occupying, they don't necessarily believe that that 511 00:30:03,839 --> 00:30:05,960 is going to happen. So again, I think this is 512 00:30:05,960 --> 00:30:07,920 one of the reasons why Ukrainians they certainly don't want 513 00:30:07,920 --> 00:30:10,559 to see to every Russia position, certainly not most of them, 514 00:30:10,599 --> 00:30:12,440 but the idea that they do want to negotiate and 515 00:30:12,559 --> 00:30:14,559 enter this war as soon as possible, that has now 516 00:30:14,599 --> 00:30:17,640 gone through the roof again. We're talking about sixty nine percent, 517 00:30:17,680 --> 00:30:19,759 which is such a big difference from where we were 518 00:30:19,759 --> 00:30:20,559 at the beginning of the war. 519 00:30:25,319 --> 00:30:28,519 Speaker 1: Now I know it's all been all Ukraine, all Russia, 520 00:30:29,839 --> 00:30:33,079 the big European somewhat at the White House today. But 521 00:30:33,160 --> 00:30:38,720 we'll wrap up today's program with Lori the comment line, Lady. 522 00:30:38,480 --> 00:30:43,599 Speaker 11: Wide In, Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine because it used to 523 00:30:43,640 --> 00:30:48,480 belong to Russia. I think Putin needs to be stopped 524 00:30:48,920 --> 00:30:52,680 now before he decides that Alaska used to belong to 525 00:30:52,759 --> 00:30:56,400 Russia too, and he needs to take that next. 526 00:30:56,640 --> 00:30:58,960 Speaker 1: Which brings up the point that Kimberly Strassel brought up 527 00:30:58,960 --> 00:31:01,640 earlier was that if he did something like that, would 528 00:31:01,640 --> 00:31:04,920 we give up part of Alaska and say okay, all right, okay, 529 00:31:04,960 --> 00:31:08,839 you can have it. I don't think so. So with that, 530 00:31:09,720 --> 00:31:13,000 let's see if Wall Street did anything today. It's been 531 00:31:13,039 --> 00:31:17,039 pretty tame all day long, so let's see what the 532 00:31:17,119 --> 00:31:20,720 numbers are. The Dow was down, but get the little 533 00:31:20,759 --> 00:31:24,839 down thirty four to forty four, nine to eleven during 534 00:31:25,039 --> 00:31:28,440 intra day. New record high today for the Dow, but 535 00:31:28,880 --> 00:31:31,480 it did not hold on to it. S ANDP down 536 00:31:31,559 --> 00:31:35,079 not even half a point. Nasdaq up six points, so 537 00:31:35,119 --> 00:31:39,240 it was pretty quiet. Price of gold, it brings up 538 00:31:39,279 --> 00:31:42,480 the calendar usually the last two weeks of August. Like 539 00:31:42,559 --> 00:31:45,599 some sort of rules somewhere in Wall Street they go 540 00:31:45,680 --> 00:31:49,000 all go on vacation for the last two weeks of August. 541 00:31:49,079 --> 00:31:51,799 So here we are the dog days of summer. Gold 542 00:31:51,880 --> 00:31:55,559 today down four dollars, down to thirty three seventy eight, 543 00:31:55,640 --> 00:31:59,240 and oil prices went up fifty cents to sixty three 544 00:31:59,319 --> 00:32:03,440 dollars and some change. Thank you for coming by today. 545 00:32:03,519 --> 00:32:06,880 We appreciate it very much. We'll be here tomorrow, hope 546 00:32:07,000 --> 00:32:07,720 to see you then.