WEBVTT 1 00:00:23.719 --> 00:00:27.679 And Hi, how are you welcome to the Big Podcast 2 00:00:29.160 --> 00:00:32.320 on this Monday. Today's the twenty fourth day of November. 3 00:00:32.920 --> 00:00:36.119 Year of our Ward twenty and twenty five. My name 4 00:00:36.159 --> 00:00:40.600 is Tom Sullivan. And so off we go. Yep, everybody, 5 00:00:40.679 --> 00:00:44.079 Well I don't know if everybody's going, but yeah, we 6 00:00:44.799 --> 00:00:50.079 kick off that well kickoff probably Friday night. But Thanksgiving 7 00:00:50.119 --> 00:00:56.600 travel week one of the busiest of the year. And 8 00:00:56.600 --> 00:01:00.000 we look here, I've got the eighty eighty one million 9 00:01:00.240 --> 00:01:07.760 people are supposed to be traveling or Thanksgiving. I it's 10 00:01:07.760 --> 00:01:10.840 not John Berman earlier today talking about this, and he 11 00:01:10.879 --> 00:01:14.439 said said, why do you what's wrong with staying home? 12 00:01:15.760 --> 00:01:20.159 What's wrong with not having to put up with cousin Eddie? 13 00:01:21.359 --> 00:01:26.239 But eighty one million people are going to mostly get 14 00:01:26.239 --> 00:01:28.920 in the car. Eighty nine percent of the people traveling 15 00:01:29.319 --> 00:01:32.680 will be traveling by car, So obviously you don't have 16 00:01:32.760 --> 00:01:37.760 that far to go. I think most people stay where 17 00:01:37.799 --> 00:01:41.920 they grew up and where their family, their siblings, their parents, 18 00:01:41.959 --> 00:01:46.400 their cousins, their nephew, what their children live. But my 19 00:01:46.519 --> 00:01:51.000 family were scattered all over the country. So eighty one 20 00:01:51.000 --> 00:01:55.640 million traveling eighty nine percent by car, only seven percent 21 00:01:55.760 --> 00:01:57.920 by air. But you would think it was the end 22 00:01:57.959 --> 00:02:00.680 of the world. They go to the airport. Reporters go 23 00:02:00.760 --> 00:02:03.840 there and they find a whole bunch of people that 24 00:02:03.879 --> 00:02:07.760 are miserable for some reason, and they interview them. So 25 00:02:08.840 --> 00:02:11.879 there's a handful of a smaller percentage that go by 26 00:02:13.159 --> 00:02:15.919 I don't know by what else they go by train, 27 00:02:16.039 --> 00:02:23.159 I guess. So it's going to be busy, but it's 28 00:02:23.159 --> 00:02:25.560 spread out this week. I mean, like I said, some 29 00:02:25.599 --> 00:02:29.039 people probably pushed off on Friday, some over the weekend, 30 00:02:29.240 --> 00:02:34.080 some today. There are lines at the airports already being reported, 31 00:02:34.879 --> 00:02:42.879 and the busiest travel days will be next Sunday. That's 32 00:02:42.919 --> 00:02:47.919 the busiest travel day. So I go back to what's 33 00:02:47.960 --> 00:02:51.240 want with just stay where you live. So in any case, 34 00:02:51.800 --> 00:02:54.199 look at people get it's wonderful to get together. But 35 00:02:54.240 --> 00:02:56.759 the stories, I just find that there's a lot of 36 00:02:56.800 --> 00:03:01.039 comedy involved in some of the dysfunctional family stories out there. 37 00:03:01.080 --> 00:03:03.280 And I don't know why I find it so funny. 38 00:03:04.080 --> 00:03:14.280 Maybe I can relate. I don't know. By the way, yesterday, 39 00:03:15.439 --> 00:03:20.199 so we weren't doing a podcast yesterday, but yesterday was 40 00:03:21.280 --> 00:03:27.919 a big historical date. This is who I'm talking about. 41 00:03:28.520 --> 00:03:34.560 And so my fellow Americans ask not what your country 42 00:03:34.639 --> 00:03:37.919 can do for you? Ask what you can do for 43 00:03:38.000 --> 00:03:38.639 your country? 44 00:03:45.840 --> 00:03:50.719 Yeah, so that was JFK taking his inauguration January twentieth, 45 00:03:50.840 --> 00:03:55.960 nineteen sixty one. I did the math sixty two years ago, 46 00:03:56.960 --> 00:03:58.800 and so it's not one of the big you know, 47 00:03:59.199 --> 00:04:02.479 the fiftieth, they're the hundredth or whatever the way we 48 00:04:02.560 --> 00:04:06.840 do our odometer readings. But it's it's a big deal 49 00:04:06.960 --> 00:04:10.199 because there he was, you know, signing up for the 50 00:04:10.319 --> 00:04:13.000 job that was going to wind up causing his death 51 00:04:13.039 --> 00:04:16.519 a couple of years later. But I thought about what 52 00:04:16.639 --> 00:04:19.519 he has said so many times. It was nineteen sixty one, 53 00:04:20.040 --> 00:04:24.720 different time, different culture, but it's a really simple statement. 54 00:04:24.759 --> 00:04:27.360 I don't know who wrote that for him, but ask 55 00:04:27.600 --> 00:04:33.079 not what your country can do for you? Well, that's 56 00:04:33.120 --> 00:04:37.959 what That's the basic. That's the way people live today. 57 00:04:39.279 --> 00:04:41.879 We have millions and millions of millions and millions of 58 00:04:41.920 --> 00:04:44.240 Americans that are asking, Hey, what can the country do 59 00:04:44.319 --> 00:04:47.319 for me? What you want me to do something for 60 00:04:47.360 --> 00:04:52.439 the country? What what are you talking about? So it 61 00:04:52.480 --> 00:04:57.360 is flipped completely and I would imagine that President Kennedy 62 00:04:57.360 --> 00:04:59.600 has probably flipped a couple of times in his grave 63 00:04:59.759 --> 00:05:04.920 just thinking about it's such a simple statement that was 64 00:05:05.040 --> 00:05:09.759 basically at the end of a fairly long inaugural dress. 65 00:05:10.319 --> 00:05:16.600 So that's where we are. So our current president. It's 66 00:05:16.639 --> 00:05:21.600 interesting to watch the ratings on him. You find ratings 67 00:05:21.639 --> 00:05:25.480 that say he's got lousy ratings, he's got lousy support. 68 00:05:26.279 --> 00:05:30.120 The question comes down to do the Republicans still support him. 69 00:05:30.160 --> 00:05:33.360 We're going to get into Marjorie Taylor Green too, who 70 00:05:33.399 --> 00:05:39.079 said she's going to resign in January. But Harry Anton 71 00:05:39.240 --> 00:05:42.000 did a quick check to find out are Republicans still 72 00:05:42.040 --> 00:05:44.040 supporting President Trump? 73 00:05:44.120 --> 00:05:48.040 Look, this is still Donald Trump's Republican party, and we 74 00:05:48.079 --> 00:05:48.839 can see it here. 75 00:05:49.279 --> 00:05:50.560 They it's like a rock. 76 00:05:50.639 --> 00:05:52.399 To quote Bob Seeger, I mean, take a look here 77 00:05:52.439 --> 00:05:55.199 Republicans who approve of Trump. Six months ago, it was 78 00:05:55.240 --> 00:05:59.160 eighty seven percent. Now, well, hello, it's the same number. 79 00:05:59.360 --> 00:06:02.360 It's eighty seven number. He has not lost any support 80 00:06:02.480 --> 00:06:05.680 among Republicans compared to six months ago. As I said 81 00:06:05.680 --> 00:06:08.319 at the beginning, he's like a rock. He's like a rock. 82 00:06:08.519 --> 00:06:12.279 The Republican base is sticking by Donald Trump at this point. 83 00:06:12.560 --> 00:06:15.439 So what about all this talk of him losing support? 84 00:06:15.480 --> 00:06:16.519 Who does that come from? 85 00:06:16.600 --> 00:06:19.480 It is among independents, It is not among Republicans. Oh yeah, okay, 86 00:06:19.519 --> 00:06:21.680 I think this gives the game away, right, which is 87 00:06:21.720 --> 00:06:24.199 Donald Trump. If you look at twenty first century president's 88 00:06:24.360 --> 00:06:26.560 own party approval at this point in term two, who 89 00:06:26.639 --> 00:06:30.199 leads the pack, It's Donald John Trump. Eighty seven percent 90 00:06:30.480 --> 00:06:33.360 of Republicans approved Donald John Trump. You go back to 91 00:06:33.399 --> 00:06:37.639 twenty thirteen, seventy eight percent of Democrats supported Barack Obama, 92 00:06:37.759 --> 00:06:40.000 and it was seventy eight percent of Republicans who supported 93 00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:42.519 George W. Bush back in two thousand and five. At 94 00:06:42.519 --> 00:06:45.680 this point, so Donald Trump has the biggest own party 95 00:06:45.800 --> 00:06:48.319 highest own party approval of any president who served their 96 00:06:48.439 --> 00:06:51.360 entire second term in the twenty first sent You know, 97 00:06:51.399 --> 00:06:54.279 when you go up against Donald Trump, you're going up 98 00:06:54.319 --> 00:06:59.040 against a buzzsaw because Donald Trump's endorsement record is it's 99 00:06:59.079 --> 00:07:01.439 hard to find anyone else who beats it. Times Trump 100 00:07:01.480 --> 00:07:04.600 endorsees one GOP primaries. In twenty twenty it was ninety 101 00:07:04.600 --> 00:07:07.199 eight percent, twenty twenty two is ninety five percent, in 102 00:07:07.240 --> 00:07:09.439 twenty twenty four it was ninety six percent. And I 103 00:07:09.519 --> 00:07:12.439 will note the majority of times that Donald Trump backed 104 00:07:12.439 --> 00:07:15.199 a challenger to an incumbent like Marjorie Taylor Green, that 105 00:07:15.360 --> 00:07:19.079 challenger won a majority of the time. The bottom line 106 00:07:19.160 --> 00:07:21.480 is this, there was a real reason why Marjorie Taylor 107 00:07:21.480 --> 00:07:23.560 Green decided, you know what, it's not worth the fight, 108 00:07:23.879 --> 00:07:26.720 because more times than not, when you go up against 109 00:07:26.759 --> 00:07:30.480 Donald Trump in a Republican primary, you lose. All right, 110 00:07:30.519 --> 00:07:32.480 So we go to the prediction markets here and the 111 00:07:32.560 --> 00:07:35.639 chance to leave the Republican Party by January first of 112 00:07:35.680 --> 00:07:38.959 twenty twenty seven. You can see it thirty one percent. 113 00:07:39.000 --> 00:07:41.000 I think this is a pretty good baseline, which is 114 00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:43.800 more likely than not Marjorie Taylorgrean will stay within the 115 00:07:43.800 --> 00:07:46.639 Republican ranks. But there's actually a pretty decent chance that 116 00:07:46.680 --> 00:07:49.639 she doesn't. And then that becomes really interesting to see 117 00:07:49.680 --> 00:07:51.879 what she has to say about Republicans and Donald Trump 118 00:07:51.920 --> 00:07:54.040 in particular, if she decides to waigh Audios Amiga. 119 00:07:54.399 --> 00:07:58.120 So, Marjorie Taylor Green is not just your average ordinary 120 00:07:58.279 --> 00:08:02.720 member of Congress. She said over the weekend she's going 121 00:08:02.759 --> 00:08:07.199 to resign from her position in Congress on January sixth. 122 00:08:07.439 --> 00:08:12.879 Interesting date. She's had a split with President Trump on 123 00:08:13.319 --> 00:08:17.040 the Epstein files in a big way. She also split 124 00:08:17.079 --> 00:08:20.120 with him on the H one B visus. She doesn't 125 00:08:20.959 --> 00:08:25.680 like them. President does like them. Split with him on 126 00:08:26.199 --> 00:08:31.040 AI regulations by state. She wants to have states be 127 00:08:31.120 --> 00:08:35.240 able to regulate AI. President doesn't. I don't want them 128 00:08:35.320 --> 00:08:38.039 to either. You're going to get a patchwork of AI 129 00:08:38.200 --> 00:08:42.639 regulations that will not work. And also just foreign and tagma. 130 00:08:42.799 --> 00:08:45.120 She doesn't want anything to do with foreign wars, and 131 00:08:45.240 --> 00:08:49.799 the president's been involved in skirmishes. So we'll see what 132 00:08:49.840 --> 00:08:52.679 she does. She says she's not running for president, but 133 00:08:53.039 --> 00:08:57.799 we'll also see just exactly how the magacrowd what they do, 134 00:08:57.919 --> 00:09:01.960 because she was kind of the mama of the mega 135 00:09:02.919 --> 00:09:07.840 operation out there. One other, a big personality that popped 136 00:09:07.919 --> 00:09:11.559 up actually late on Friday. We were done with recording 137 00:09:11.559 --> 00:09:13.480 the podcast on Friday when they came out of the 138 00:09:13.519 --> 00:09:17.240 White House, And wasn't that something between the President and 139 00:09:17.399 --> 00:09:20.759 Zaron Mam Donnie. I mean, it was a LoveFest. There 140 00:09:20.759 --> 00:09:28.240 were a couple of political bros just hanging out. I 141 00:09:28.240 --> 00:09:31.960 I don't know what you thought about that, but everybody 142 00:09:32.159 --> 00:09:38.399 was on their very best behavior. Mark Seeson, this is 143 00:09:38.440 --> 00:09:39.799 his observation. 144 00:09:40.080 --> 00:09:42.000 Well, because he doesn't want to be the scapegoat for 145 00:09:42.320 --> 00:09:44.559 Donnie's failure. Socialism is going to fail because it fails 146 00:09:44.559 --> 00:09:48.360 everywhere where. It's tried, and so Mom Donnie's excuse if 147 00:09:48.399 --> 00:09:50.759 socialism fails in New York is to say, well, Trump, 148 00:09:51.000 --> 00:09:53.519 Trump waged war on New York and punished New York 149 00:09:53.559 --> 00:09:55.840 for my election, and that's why it didn't work. So 150 00:09:56.080 --> 00:09:58.559 you know that Trump doesn't want to bail out socialism, 151 00:09:58.559 --> 00:10:01.000 but he also doesn't want to be his his fall guy. 152 00:10:01.279 --> 00:10:05.039 But the problem that zer Mandanni has is that socialism 153 00:10:05.120 --> 00:10:08.000 only works if it has an external revenue source to 154 00:10:08.080 --> 00:10:11.720 subsidize it. Right, So during the Cold War, Cuba was 155 00:10:11.759 --> 00:10:14.440 bailed out by massive subsidies from the Soviet Union. It 156 00:10:14.480 --> 00:10:16.360 looked like it was working fine because they were getting 157 00:10:16.440 --> 00:10:19.519 hundreds of billions of dollars from Moscow. But then Soviet 158 00:10:19.600 --> 00:10:22.159 Union collapsed because socialism didn't work there and all the 159 00:10:22.200 --> 00:10:24.840 subsidies drive it up and it became an economic basket case. 160 00:10:25.039 --> 00:10:26.960 It's going to be the same problem with Mom Dominie 161 00:10:26.960 --> 00:10:29.159 in New York. Who is going to be his Moscow 162 00:10:29.159 --> 00:10:31.960 to subsidize the government grocery stores and the free buses. 163 00:10:32.000 --> 00:10:34.440 It's not gonna be Trump Trump. The federal government isn't 164 00:10:34.440 --> 00:10:36.320 going to subsidize socialism, so he wants it to be 165 00:10:36.399 --> 00:10:39.840 Kathy Hochel he wants her to raise taxes on all 166 00:10:39.879 --> 00:10:43.200 of New Yorkers, so across the state, income taxes, corporate 167 00:10:43.200 --> 00:10:46.480 tax everything to subsidize free buses and free and government 168 00:10:46.519 --> 00:10:48.519 grocery stores in New York City. That's going to be 169 00:10:48.559 --> 00:10:50.720 a huge, huge problem because at least to Phonic is 170 00:10:50.720 --> 00:10:52.399 going to wrap that around her axle if she does it. 171 00:10:52.799 --> 00:10:55.440 And if you're not sure of what that reference was about, Alistaphonic, 172 00:10:55.559 --> 00:10:59.519 she is the Republican uptate New York that is running 173 00:10:59.799 --> 00:11:04.200 for or governor against Kathy Hochel. So that was what 174 00:11:04.279 --> 00:11:07.960 Mark Fisson was referring to. As far as Mam Donnie, 175 00:11:08.159 --> 00:11:12.399 we'll seize them. Something has to give there. Either he's 176 00:11:12.440 --> 00:11:16.600 going to change, Mam Donnie's going to change, or it's 177 00:11:16.639 --> 00:11:19.360 going to be nothing but problems. We'll have to wait 178 00:11:19.399 --> 00:11:24.039 and see. While we're on the subject of socialists, Venezuela 179 00:11:24.480 --> 00:11:29.720 is blessed with lots of resources, mainly oil and gas, 180 00:11:30.399 --> 00:11:36.240 and they had so much that Hugo Chavez basically took 181 00:11:36.279 --> 00:11:40.519 over all the private oil companies and promised the people 182 00:11:40.559 --> 00:11:43.679 of Venezuela that he would take all the profits from 183 00:11:43.679 --> 00:11:46.759 those evil oil companies and distribute them to the people 184 00:11:46.759 --> 00:11:50.799 they would be getting rich all the people. And you 185 00:11:51.000 --> 00:11:53.600 know what happened is that did not happen, and as 186 00:11:53.639 --> 00:11:59.080 a result, the people rebelled. Chavez died Ugo. I mean, 187 00:12:00.159 --> 00:12:04.120 Maduro just had They had an election there to re 188 00:12:04.200 --> 00:12:07.600 elect him, and he lost by huge amounts according to 189 00:12:07.639 --> 00:12:11.000 all the outside observers, but he proclaimed that he was 190 00:12:11.039 --> 00:12:14.720 the winner, and so he stays in office. But things 191 00:12:14.759 --> 00:12:20.840 are getting tense. Victoria Coats, former national security officer, says, yeah, 192 00:12:20.879 --> 00:12:24.799 with all the build up of the military, something's got 193 00:12:24.840 --> 00:12:26.039 to go there now. 194 00:12:26.039 --> 00:12:29.000 There's nothing covert going on that I can see. We 195 00:12:29.080 --> 00:12:32.360 have our most modern, our most capable aircraft carrier, the 196 00:12:32.440 --> 00:12:35.000 Gerald R. Ford, off the coast of Puerto Rico. We 197 00:12:35.039 --> 00:12:36.960 have the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as 198 00:12:37.039 --> 00:12:40.720 Lucas was just saying, General Dan Caine, also in Puerto Rico, 199 00:12:41.000 --> 00:12:43.399 and the biggest military build up we've had since a 200 00:12:43.480 --> 00:12:46.159 rock going on in the Caribbean. And so, you know, 201 00:12:46.240 --> 00:12:48.879 this isn't subtle at all. I think President Trump has 202 00:12:49.000 --> 00:12:52.080 tried with diplomacy to get a change out of the 203 00:12:52.159 --> 00:12:55.279 Maduro regime. All we've seen, though, are more drugs pouring 204 00:12:55.360 --> 00:12:59.320 across our southern border. Pouring into our country, killing our citizens. 205 00:12:59.480 --> 00:13:01.840 That's what he's not going to stand for. So I'm 206 00:13:01.840 --> 00:13:04.519 sure he would offer Maduro an off ramp, perhaps to 207 00:13:04.559 --> 00:13:07.360 go to Russia. But I don't think he's staying in Venezuela. 208 00:13:07.440 --> 00:13:10.200 But we have, like like she said, the largest built 209 00:13:10.240 --> 00:13:13.159 up dens of rock. We got all kinds of military 210 00:13:14.000 --> 00:13:18.399 surrounding Venezuela. Is it just about Venezuela or are we 211 00:13:18.519 --> 00:13:22.840 talking about the entire drug industry coming out of South America? 212 00:13:23.639 --> 00:13:26.200 Well, this for sure. I mean Venezuela is the head 213 00:13:26.240 --> 00:13:29.200 of the snake, and so I think the logic would 214 00:13:29.240 --> 00:13:33.720 be that given some interesting recent political changes in countries 215 00:13:33.759 --> 00:13:37.559 like Bolivia and Chile, both of which are trending toward 216 00:13:37.639 --> 00:13:41.080 a more conservative government, more friendly to Washington, you have 217 00:13:41.159 --> 00:13:44.519 elections also coming up in neighboring Colombia coming up in March, 218 00:13:44.759 --> 00:13:47.200 which also look like they're going to go conservative. If 219 00:13:47.240 --> 00:13:50.360 you flip Venezuela right now, then I think all of 220 00:13:50.399 --> 00:13:53.480 that change sort of falls into place. So I think 221 00:13:53.759 --> 00:13:55.879 that should be the key target here. 222 00:13:55.960 --> 00:13:58.519 Well, you can see the vision that Donald Trump has. 223 00:13:58.559 --> 00:14:02.200 He wants to change Latin Americameric in South America into 224 00:14:02.759 --> 00:14:07.200 friends in our hemisphere instead of battling against the drug 225 00:14:07.240 --> 00:14:12.399 cartels in at least South American countries. And I haven't 226 00:14:12.440 --> 00:14:15.080 even talked about what they're going to do in Mexico. 227 00:14:15.919 --> 00:14:18.639 But with all of this, something's going to happen. According 228 00:14:18.679 --> 00:14:21.840 to Victoria Coachs, within the next couple of weeks at 229 00:14:21.840 --> 00:14:24.799 the very least, President said he wants to have a 230 00:14:24.840 --> 00:14:26.960 conversation a phone call with Maduro. 231 00:14:28.720 --> 00:14:31.120 Well, the President has said he's very willing to talk. 232 00:14:31.240 --> 00:14:34.120 You know, he's always going to choose diplomacy if that 233 00:14:34.279 --> 00:14:36.039 is possible. And as I said, there could be an 234 00:14:36.080 --> 00:14:39.879 off ramp for Maduro. We have putin hosting, for example, 235 00:14:39.919 --> 00:14:43.679 Beshier Alasade, who was ousted this time last year US 236 00:14:43.720 --> 00:14:47.360 from Syria. So maybe Maduro joins him in Sochi and 237 00:14:47.600 --> 00:14:49.679 you know, is able to keep some of his billions 238 00:14:49.720 --> 00:14:52.879 and have a retirement of sorts. If you will, bet 239 00:14:53.000 --> 00:14:55.759 that we could then have a much more democratic, free 240 00:14:55.919 --> 00:14:59.240 Venezuela that would be a friend in the United States. 241 00:14:58.799 --> 00:15:02.480 That's the plan. Try and take some of these South 242 00:15:02.480 --> 00:15:07.240 American countries and make them into our friends. While we're 243 00:15:07.240 --> 00:15:13.559 speaking about problems overseas. Ukraine, they've been working over time 244 00:15:13.759 --> 00:15:17.320 over the weekend, Marco Rubio heading up the crew that 245 00:15:17.360 --> 00:15:22.120 had been in Geneva talking to Ukraine about a peace agreement. 246 00:15:22.399 --> 00:15:27.159 What's strange about this is it's the US and Ukraine talking, 247 00:15:28.240 --> 00:15:32.679 but no, Russia is not there. But somehow Russia is 248 00:15:33.919 --> 00:15:37.720 responding to what they're hearing from the talks between the 249 00:15:37.840 --> 00:15:41.399 US and Ukraine. Here's Marco Rubio talking about where they are. 250 00:15:41.679 --> 00:15:43.519 We arrived here today with one goal, and the goal 251 00:15:43.679 --> 00:15:47.720 was to take what knows twenty eight points to twenty 252 00:15:47.720 --> 00:15:50.519 six points depending on which version as it continue to evolve, 253 00:15:50.879 --> 00:15:53.200 and try to narrow the ones that were open items. 254 00:15:53.240 --> 00:15:55.759 And we have achieved that today in a very substantial way. 255 00:15:55.919 --> 00:15:58.639 I think the report today is that I think today 256 00:15:58.720 --> 00:16:01.840 was worthwhile. It was very very It is probably the 257 00:16:01.879 --> 00:16:05.480 most productive day we have had on this issue, maybe 258 00:16:05.679 --> 00:16:07.720 in the entirety of our engagement, but certainly in a 259 00:16:07.799 --> 00:16:11.440 very long time. Work remains, and because this continues to 260 00:16:11.480 --> 00:16:16.399 be a working process, you know, I don't want to 261 00:16:16.519 --> 00:16:19.080 declare victory or finality here. There's still some work to 262 00:16:19.120 --> 00:16:21.879 be done, but we are much further ahead today at 263 00:16:21.879 --> 00:16:24.159 this time than we were when we began this morning 264 00:16:24.480 --> 00:16:25.559 and where we were a week ago. 265 00:16:25.639 --> 00:16:29.000 For so now, there was a news item over the 266 00:16:29.039 --> 00:16:32.639 weekend that the President had given Zelensky until Thursday till 267 00:16:32.679 --> 00:16:37.559 Thanksgiving Day to either fish or cut bait. If you 268 00:16:37.600 --> 00:16:40.720 don't accept this peace agreement that we came up with, 269 00:16:41.159 --> 00:16:45.000 then we're leaving you and you're on your own. Well 270 00:16:45.039 --> 00:16:49.519 that's changed since the weekend. The deal right now that 271 00:16:49.679 --> 00:16:53.600 is on the table for Russia and Ukraine is as 272 00:16:53.639 --> 00:17:02.000 far as territory, Ukraine would see the don Esque, lou Hansk, Zapporzia, 273 00:17:03.000 --> 00:17:06.759 Kierson and Crimea, so they would get rid. They would 274 00:17:06.799 --> 00:17:11.200 say goodbye to the area that Russia currently occupies. As 275 00:17:11.240 --> 00:17:18.400 far as security, no NATO in Ukraine, the army, the 276 00:17:18.519 --> 00:17:21.599 Ukrainian army would be capped at six hundred thousand people 277 00:17:22.039 --> 00:17:25.200 and there would be no foreign bases from any other 278 00:17:25.240 --> 00:17:29.559 country anywhere in Ukraine. As far as withdrawals, Russia would 279 00:17:29.559 --> 00:17:34.880 retreat from parts of Kharkiv. Kharkiv one hundred billion dollars 280 00:17:34.960 --> 00:17:41.160 in frozen Russian money would be used to rebuild Ukraine. 281 00:17:41.480 --> 00:17:45.640 Sanctions would be eased against Russia, and as far as 282 00:17:45.799 --> 00:17:50.319 Ukraine would drop their war crime cases and Russia would 283 00:17:50.359 --> 00:17:54.240 rejoin the global economic world. So that's the deal that's 284 00:17:54.240 --> 00:17:59.119 on the table. As we go through this Monday, we'll 285 00:17:59.160 --> 00:18:02.839 find out if it's a work in process. General Jack 286 00:18:02.960 --> 00:18:06.960 Keene was asked his thoughts about what's happening with this agreement. 287 00:18:07.480 --> 00:18:09.720 Well, I think what we're already seeing here is the 288 00:18:09.759 --> 00:18:13.079 president's determination to end this war. I mean, we saw 289 00:18:13.119 --> 00:18:15.440 what happened as a result of the Alaska summit. You know, 290 00:18:15.759 --> 00:18:18.799 Putin made promises that he didn't keep, and then all 291 00:18:18.799 --> 00:18:22.319 the European leaders came to Washington with Zelenski and they 292 00:18:22.359 --> 00:18:26.640 all pretty much were unified in their support for Ukraine 293 00:18:26.680 --> 00:18:30.720 and also for a peace process going forward. And where 294 00:18:30.720 --> 00:18:34.119 are we today. The reality is the presidents still trying 295 00:18:34.160 --> 00:18:37.720 to get that wars stop, and we're putting together a 296 00:18:37.839 --> 00:18:41.279 process to do that. I think what happened here the 297 00:18:41.279 --> 00:18:45.119 initials document gets out, gets leaked out, and it appears, 298 00:18:45.240 --> 00:18:47.359 and you know, so I read it just like everybody else, 299 00:18:47.400 --> 00:18:52.079 to favor Russia at the expense of Ukraine. But what 300 00:18:52.599 --> 00:18:55.279 was miss is it was an open process here. You know, 301 00:18:55.359 --> 00:18:59.759 that was the initial document, and the administration welcomed comments 302 00:18:59.759 --> 00:19:04.880 from friends and partners, Ukraine itself, European allies, and even 303 00:19:05.680 --> 00:19:09.279 I put together a group of thought leaders in Washington 304 00:19:09.359 --> 00:19:12.839 yesterday and provided some comments to the administration as well. 305 00:19:13.160 --> 00:19:16.680 So this process is moving on, and likely that document's 306 00:19:16.759 --> 00:19:21.400 going to improve and improved rather significantly because it is 307 00:19:21.440 --> 00:19:25.160 an open process, and I think many people missed that 308 00:19:25.799 --> 00:19:27.920 in terms of the initial thing that was out there. 309 00:19:28.319 --> 00:19:30.119 So yeah, it remains to be seen. 310 00:19:30.519 --> 00:19:31.440 This is tough stuff. 311 00:19:31.480 --> 00:19:33.839 I mean, we've got Putin on the other side of it, 312 00:19:34.240 --> 00:19:38.680 and the reality is he has not taken one single 313 00:19:38.720 --> 00:19:42.759 step towards a temporary ceasefire or a piece deal whatsoever. 314 00:19:43.279 --> 00:19:44.119 Where he is. 315 00:19:44.240 --> 00:19:47.200 He still believes that eventually he's going to break the 316 00:19:47.400 --> 00:19:50.079 will and resolve of the United States and the Europeans 317 00:19:50.359 --> 00:19:53.640 and the Zelenski government and he will eventually have his 318 00:19:53.720 --> 00:19:56.880 way here. And that is the determined process that we're 319 00:19:56.920 --> 00:20:01.480 on here, putting this peace plant together yeather, hopefully with 320 00:20:01.680 --> 00:20:06.400 good security guarantees that certainly favor Ukraine as a result 321 00:20:06.440 --> 00:20:08.640 of the process, and some other things that we can 322 00:20:08.680 --> 00:20:13.720 do to help Ukraine will convince Putin that negotiation is 323 00:20:13.759 --> 00:20:18.319 the best answer as opposed to continue is wartime objectives 324 00:20:18.359 --> 00:20:22.799 to achieve his strategic objectives, which haven't changed. Is top 325 00:20:22.799 --> 00:20:26.000 of the government of Ukraine and expand into Eastern Europe. 326 00:20:26.799 --> 00:20:29.519 One guy that's on the opposite side of this is 327 00:20:29.799 --> 00:20:32.680 Senator Mark Warner. He's the head of the Senator or 328 00:20:32.759 --> 00:20:36.200 the ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee. He doesn't 329 00:20:36.279 --> 00:20:38.359 like this deal at all. 330 00:20:38.480 --> 00:20:43.880 This initial plan would be a total capitulation by Ukraine. 331 00:20:43.920 --> 00:20:46.880 I think it would go down, Frankly as a historically 332 00:20:46.960 --> 00:20:49.960 bad deal. And my fear is the person who's watching 333 00:20:50.039 --> 00:20:53.319 this as close as Latimer Putin is President She and China, 334 00:20:53.400 --> 00:20:56.400 because if we throw in the towel on Ukraine, I 335 00:20:56.440 --> 00:20:59.559 think that gives Frankly more fuel to the fire in 336 00:20:59.640 --> 00:21:01.759 terms of She taking on Taiwan. I think there's a 337 00:21:01.799 --> 00:21:03.000 banzial all the way around. 338 00:21:03.319 --> 00:21:06.920 So we may get some definitive answers, not today, but 339 00:21:07.039 --> 00:21:12.319 within a week to ten days. Venezuela, something's going to 340 00:21:12.400 --> 00:21:17.920 happen there. Elliott Abrams, who was the ambassador to Venezuela, 341 00:21:18.400 --> 00:21:21.160 he thinks Trump's going to do something very quickly. 342 00:21:21.759 --> 00:21:23.440 We're at the point now where the game is on. 343 00:21:24.359 --> 00:21:27.400 Either Nicholas Vnduro is going to win or Donald Trump 344 00:21:27.440 --> 00:21:29.559 is going to win. And if you think that Donald 345 00:21:29.599 --> 00:21:32.480 Trump doesn't like losing, then I think he's going to 346 00:21:32.599 --> 00:21:34.200 use those forces in some way. 347 00:21:34.519 --> 00:21:36.720 Okay, so we got this huge build up of military. 348 00:21:36.720 --> 00:21:39.440 They're not going to sit there forever. We've got the 349 00:21:39.920 --> 00:21:44.200 deadline on Thursday. But it sounds like it's movable. On Ukraine, 350 00:21:44.279 --> 00:21:46.000 they got to come up with either agreed to this 351 00:21:46.079 --> 00:21:49.400 deal or not. And that doesn't even bring Russia completely 352 00:21:49.400 --> 00:21:53.599 to the table. So you know it's moving. Everything's being 353 00:21:53.640 --> 00:21:56.279 pushed as hard as they can push it. But I 354 00:21:56.279 --> 00:21:58.279 don't know whether they're going to get a need answers 355 00:21:58.359 --> 00:22:00.759 right away, but it seems like there's a decent chance 356 00:22:01.319 --> 00:22:03.359 that we will get an answer on both of those 357 00:22:03.400 --> 00:22:08.599 countries within a week to ten days. Breaking news coming 358 00:22:08.640 --> 00:22:13.480 out today the judge that they remember they consolidated, uh, 359 00:22:13.880 --> 00:22:18.359 not the cases, but consolidated the question on James Comey 360 00:22:18.440 --> 00:22:24.319 and Letitia James about whether Lindsay Halligan was properly the 361 00:22:24.680 --> 00:22:30.119 appointed acting US Attorney, and the judge in that case 362 00:22:30.359 --> 00:22:37.519 ruled this afternoon she's not. And so the cases have 363 00:22:37.640 --> 00:22:41.720 not been dismissed as far as the indictments against them, 364 00:22:42.200 --> 00:22:45.000 but the cases have been thrown out as far as 365 00:22:45.359 --> 00:22:50.519 Lindsay Halligan having the authority to be able to prosecute. 366 00:22:50.759 --> 00:22:56.119 This is Jonathan Turley reacting to the judge's decision. 367 00:22:56.759 --> 00:22:59.960 He can in the sense that novelty is not good 368 00:23:00.119 --> 00:23:02.599 when it comes to criminal indictments, and there was a 369 00:23:02.640 --> 00:23:06.079 lot of novelty in the final day to get this 370 00:23:06.279 --> 00:23:10.240 indictment through. They were right up against the clock, and 371 00:23:10.319 --> 00:23:14.079 particularly with Komy, they had rejected one of the counts, 372 00:23:14.119 --> 00:23:17.480 and so Halligan sort of put together the other two 373 00:23:17.559 --> 00:23:21.839 counts rapidly and then submitted that. Now she and the 374 00:23:21.920 --> 00:23:25.559 Department of Justice say that they showed that to two 375 00:23:25.599 --> 00:23:28.920 of the jurors, including the foreman, but that the grand 376 00:23:28.960 --> 00:23:32.240 jury had approved those two counts. But the biggest problem 377 00:23:32.319 --> 00:23:36.000 that the judge saw here is Halligan herself. And this 378 00:23:36.039 --> 00:23:38.200 is something that a number of us raised when the 379 00:23:38.200 --> 00:23:42.200 indictment first came out. Under federal law, the president has 380 00:23:42.240 --> 00:23:46.279 one hundred and twenty days to use an interim US 381 00:23:46.400 --> 00:23:51.240 attorney and acting US attorney. That time was effectively used 382 00:23:51.319 --> 00:23:55.559 up by her predecessor, and reportedly he was shown the 383 00:23:55.640 --> 00:24:00.519 door because he had misgivings about some of these charges. 384 00:24:01.319 --> 00:24:05.640 So the judge here is dismissing without prejudice, so that 385 00:24:06.039 --> 00:24:09.160 in some ways is a small victory and that this 386 00:24:09.319 --> 00:24:12.480 is not the end of the prosecution of James Comy 387 00:24:13.000 --> 00:24:17.200 or Leticia James. The question is whether and how they 388 00:24:17.240 --> 00:24:21.119 will cure this problem. Well, we're going to wait to see, 389 00:24:21.200 --> 00:24:23.160 I think, and we're going to have the answer very soon. 390 00:24:23.240 --> 00:24:25.480 Whether the Department of Justice is going to go back 391 00:24:26.480 --> 00:24:29.039 to the grand jury and try to sort of clean 392 00:24:29.079 --> 00:24:31.440 this one up. The key is going to be the 393 00:24:31.480 --> 00:24:35.640 status of the US Attorney and that's going to be 394 00:24:36.119 --> 00:24:38.599 an issue which they're going to have to address the 395 00:24:38.640 --> 00:24:43.200 court here saying you simply didn't have this authority. Now, 396 00:24:43.240 --> 00:24:47.400 the Justice Department has some good faith arguments that the 397 00:24:47.519 --> 00:24:50.960 reading of that law is wrong and that it impedes 398 00:24:51.039 --> 00:24:53.920 upon the president's authority. But I think a lot of 399 00:24:54.000 --> 00:24:57.680 judges would have raised the same concern. The general view 400 00:24:57.720 --> 00:24:59.759 has been that you sort of get one bite in 401 00:24:59.839 --> 00:25:02.119