Latest / The Ben Ferguson Podcast / Islamist Terrorists Tipping Point in Iran & Netflix Trying to Buy Warner Brothers

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Islamist Terrorists Tipping Point in Iran & Netflix Trying to Buy Warner Brothers · The Ben Ferguson Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Welcome in his verdict with Center, Ted Cruz Ben Ferguson
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: with your Centater, We've got a lot to discuss, including Hey,
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: we've got a government that's all the way back open again.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Congratulations on that. That's big news, right, you predicted it.
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: It was going to be quick, it's short. We've moved on,
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: and if we're back to the normal insanity of Washington
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: C is that a fair way of putting it.
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: Look, that's exactly right, I will say on Monday's pod,
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: I said, in fact, the title of Monday's pod was
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: a very short government shutdown. I predicted the House would
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: come back, they would reopen the government. That's exactly what happened.
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: So now that the Democrats did not have the stomach
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: for a long, prolonged fight on government shutdown, so it
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: didn't happen. What we're going to talk about today is
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: national security, how we keep this country safe. We're going
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: to talk about a terrorist organization in Africa called the
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: Polisario Front, which is incredibly dangerous.
• 0:50
  Speaker 3: It is funded by.
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: Iran, and we're going to break down how I'm pressing
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: the Trump administration to take on the Polisario Front directly.
• 0:58
  Speaker 3: We're also going to talk about a we have a.
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: Moment in time that I think is a unique moment
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: in history, and we need to act right now. The
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: Ayatola and the Mullahs are teetering on the edge. We
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: have an opportunity to remove a regime that wants to
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: kill Americans, and I think we should take that opportunity
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: right now. And finally, we're going to talk about a
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: hearing that happened in the Senate Judiciary Committee this week
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: that focused on the proposed merger between Netflix and Warner Brothers.
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: I will say there were fireworks at the hearing. I've
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: got real concerns about the merger. We're gonna break it
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: all down for you today.
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: Yeah, we're gonna talk about all that in a moment.
• 1:38
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• 3:48
  Speaker 1: All right, So Center, rarely do I say this. You
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: broke news on a terrorist organization and a name that
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: I had never heard of, which means I'm assuming about
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: one hundred percent of the people listening right now have
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: never heard of this terrorist organization. How did we not
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: know about it? How did you learn about it? And
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: why is it such a major deal.
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: Well, listen, I am deeply engaged in fighting Islamists terrorist
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: organizations all across the world, and there are serious, very
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: dangerous Islamist organizations. One of the things that I have
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: a responsibility for doing. I'm the chairman of the Africa
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. So I focus
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: a lot on Africa. This is a new thing. I
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: just started a year ago focusing on Africa, and so
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: I've been diving in. And Africa is a major battleground.
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: It's a major battleground between China and the United States,
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: is a major battleground between Russia and the United States.
• 4:42
  Speaker 3: And it's also a.
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: Major front for terrorism and radical Islamic terrorism. So in
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: my course on focusing on Africa, I focused on Nigeria
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: and the fact that Nigeria is killing Christians. It is
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: the single most dangerous place in the face of the
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: planet to be a Christian. Over fifty thousand Christians have
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: been murdered in Nigeria. It is the single place on
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: planet earths where the most Christians have been murdered. I've
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: been leaning in. I called on the Trump administration to
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: designate Nigeria as a country a particular concern, and President
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: Trump did so, and so the President is fighting to
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: protect Christians in Nigeria. It is Islamists in Nigeria, particularly
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: Boko Haram, but its other Islamists as well that are
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: murdering Christians. Well, there's also a challenge with a group
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: called the Polisario Front, and let me give you a
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: little bit of the history of the Pulsari Affront. The
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: Polisaria Front is a separatist militant group founded in nineteen
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: seventy three that is seeking independence for Western Sahara, a
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: territory that is claimed by Morocco for decades. The best
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: way to understand it was as a Cold War relic
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: analogous to the Palestinian Liberation Front the PLO, but it
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: was in West Africa, and there's still a degree to
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: which that framework is accurate. The Polisario Front is backed
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: by Algeria. It operates from refugee camps in Tinduf, and
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: it declared an independent country called the Sarawi Arab Democratic
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: Republic in nineteen seventy six, about twenty to thirty percent
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: of the disputed territory. It is a darling of the
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: international Left and the United Nations, and the group has
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: continued its insurgency against Morocco. The critical dynamic is that
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: Iran has begun pouring resources into the group. They want
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: to make the Polisario Front into the Huthis of West Africa.
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: The Iranians have been providing money and weapons and directions.
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: In June of last year, Joe Wilson and Congress entered
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: the Polisario Front Designation Act of twenty twenty five, which
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: would designate the group as a foreign terrorist organization. I
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: am leading the fight in the Senate to designate the
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: Polisario Front as a terrorist organization. And this week we
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: had a hearing in the Senate Formulations Committee where two
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: career officials from the State Department. We're testifying about Africa,
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: we're testifying about the Middle East, and I asked them
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: about the Polisaria Front, and I got to say their answers,
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: let me just give a really kind word.
• 7:36
  Speaker 3: They were terrible. They were unbelievably bad.
• 7:39
  Speaker 4: Say terrible, Explain what you mean by that.
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: I believe both witnesses were instructed do not say a
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: negative word about the Polisario Front.
• 7:47
  Speaker 3: But I'll tell you what.
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: Rather than me describe the questioning, just give a listen
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: to the back and forth I had with two senior
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: career officials from the State Department. Mister Palladino, thank you
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: for being here in TESTI to find this afternoon. I'd
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: like to ask you about the specifics of your testimony,
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: and specifically two things you said in your written testimony
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: Back to back. You said that quote, Algeria's counter terrorism
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: successes also make it a critical pillar of stability in
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: the region. Then in the very next paragraph you said again,
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: I'm quoting quote, we look to North African countries to
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: provide critical support to ensuring terrorist activity in the Sahel
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: does not spread. Now, I'm assuming that that somewhat opaque
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: reference to terrorist activity in the Sahel is about the Polisario.
• 8:35
  Speaker 3: Front, though you didn't name the group.
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: Iran is trying to turn the Polisario Front into the
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: Huthis for West Africa, a proxy force capable of waging
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: war to threaten regional stability and pressure US partners whenever
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: Iran wants leverage. The Polisario Front works with Iranian terrorist groups,
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: It takes drones from the IRGC, it moves weapons and
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: resources around the region, including to Jahadists, and much more.
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: I believe they should be designated as a terrorist group,
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: and I've drafted a bill to do so if there
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: is no change in their behavior. Before getting any other questions,
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: is that what you meant by quote terrorist activity in
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: the Sahell? Were you talking about the Polsario Front?
• 9:24
  Speaker 5: It's an important question, senator, thank you. What I was
• 9:29
  Speaker 5: referring to. What I would say in regards to the
• 9:32
  Speaker 5: Polisario is President Trump has made clear his desire to
• 9:40
  Speaker 5: achieve a lasting resolution to the problem in the Western Sahara,
• 9:44
  Speaker 5: to that dispute, and as part of that American policy
• 9:50
  Speaker 5: currently as we are engaging all parties and we're going
• 9:54
  Speaker 5: to continue to pursue that for a lasting resolution, and
• 9:59
  Speaker 5: we seek that at because if we can get to
• 10:02
  Speaker 5: that resolution, that is going to be our best shot
• 10:05
  Speaker 5: at advancing UH peace and security, which will prevent further
• 10:12
  Speaker 5: terrorist activity. Now you mentioned designation, senator, and I would
• 10:18
  Speaker 5: just add we were we're constantly assessing threats to the
• 10:23
  Speaker 5: American homeland, and we have a process for that. It's
• 10:27
  Speaker 5: something that we we we we we will continue to
• 10:31
  Speaker 5: look at and as the Secretary said, we if we proceed,
• 10:35
  Speaker 5: that will be grounded in the process and the evidence
• 10:38
  Speaker 5: and and the law. Thank you, senator.
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: So I see that the opacity I referenced was not accidental,
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: but was in fact deliberate, because in the full course
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: of that answer, there was no direct indication that, yes,
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: the terrorist activity in the Sahel is coming from the
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: Pollisario Front and and and that is a significant blind
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: spot in our counter terrorism postured. Do you assess right
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: now that the Polisario Front poses a threat to us
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: interest in any sense?
• 11:09
  Speaker 3: And if so, in what sense?
• 11:12
  Speaker 5: Senator? Thank you, senator. We're actively engaging all parties in
• 11:17
  Speaker 5: the Western Sahara dispute in the interests of achieving a
• 11:22
  Speaker 5: lasting and durable peace. That's the policy of the President.
• 11:27
  Speaker 5: And we're we're seeking more time to continue to find
• 11:31
  Speaker 5: a way to find common ground and to come to
• 11:37
  Speaker 5: an agreement to stabilize the situation and allow there to
• 11:42
  Speaker 5: be prosperity to follow based upon stability.
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: Well, I will say that answer was positively Shakespearean. It
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: was full of sound and fury and yet signifying nothing.
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: And by the way, I will say, in terms of
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: the president, I feel confident I've spent a lot more
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: time with the President than you have, and he does
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: not have any difficulty at all calling terrorists what they are.
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: Mister Borker, Let's see if we do any better with you.
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: Iran has trained fighters from the Polisario Front and Hesbela
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: has provided them with weapons. In your written testimony, you
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: said that your bureau is working with North African countries
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: to counter the threat from Iran and its proxies, and
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: you specifically talked about groups tied to the IRGC and HESBELA,
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: You likewise did not specifically mention the Polisario Front. First
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: of all, same question to you. When you talk about
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: the threat posed to North African countries by Iran and
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: its proxies, does that include the Pulsario Front.
• 12:41
  Speaker 6: Senator, thank you for the question. We continue to monitor
• 12:46
  Speaker 6: activities throughout North Africa. We continue to see if the
• 12:51
  Speaker 6: ire GC and HESBELA are their activities in that region
• 12:58
  Speaker 6: and globally, and as we look at these activities, we
• 13:03
  Speaker 6: will work with our partner countries in order to counter
• 13:08
  Speaker 6: those threats in where possible, designate or encourage those countries
• 13:13
  Speaker 6: to designate the i r GC, HESBELA and in those
• 13:16
  Speaker 6: terrorist groups.
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: So I have to say, it seems to me you
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: turn to your colleague and said, hold my beer.
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: It certainly.
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: Let me just ask a final question to both of you.
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: Were both of you instructed in this testimony not to
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: say anything negative about the Polisario Front, because it sure
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: seems like you were.
• 13:37
  Speaker 5: Senator. I'm just trying to explain what we're trying to do.
• 13:42
  Speaker 3: Policy wise, that's a yes or no question where you at.
• 13:44
  Speaker 5: And I received no instructions to that effects, Senator.
• 13:48
  Speaker 6: Senator, I've received no instructions to those effects either.
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: So you just decided to go down that road for
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: the heck of it. Okay, thank you?
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: All right, So I'm gonna start with the first question here.
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: How the hell do those guys get their job and
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: how do they get to keep them if that's what
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: they do. I just got to know, like, that's the
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: best job I've ever seen.
• 14:08
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: Look, they were instructed to say nothing about the Pulsaria Front.
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: And when you say, they like who sits down with
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: them before and says, don't say anything about this terrorist group.
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: So both of those guys are career State Department employees.
• 14:21
  Speaker 4: So they would have the deep state, is I like
• 14:24
  Speaker 4: to call it.
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: Yeah, they would have submitted their testimony for approval, and
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: they may well have had portions where they say something
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: about the Pulsari Front. They're talking about terrorists and that's
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: who they're talking about. They're just not saying it. And listen,
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: the administration is trying to negotiate a big peace deal
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: in Africa, and so right now their folks in the
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: administration who are trying to negotiate a deal in Western Africa,
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: and right now, one of the consequences of.
• 14:52
  Speaker 3: That is is that they're.
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: Reluctant to call out the Polisario front. I think the
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: Polisari affront is really dangerous. They're funded by Iran, and
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: so I'm working to call out people who are enemies
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: of America.
• 15:07
  Speaker 7: And to.
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: Impose real cost and consequences on those jihadis that are
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: enemies of America.
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: You know, it really is incredible that they're this cautious
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: on this, and then you look at where we are
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: in the world, which brings me to what's going on
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: in Iran. There's a big meeting on Friday with the
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: Trump administration. There's a lot of fanfare around it. While
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: we're getting ready for this conversation, Iran does what Iran does, right,
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: which is usually something to do, something really stupid, and
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: they decide to fly a drone at one of our ships.
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: That was a bad idea, So let's bring everybody up
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: to speed on that as well.
• 15:43
  Speaker 3: So we shot the drone down.
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: They flew a drone at one of our aircraft carriers.
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: We shot it down because it was a hostile threat.
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: It was an unman drone. Listen that there is a
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: negotiation session scheduled for Friday. I think the chances of
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: anything positive or productive from that session are zero point
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: zero percent. I think the Iranian regime that they're sending
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: back channel messages to the administration and they're saying, hey,
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: we're willing to do another Obama Iran nuclear deal.
• 16:14
  Speaker 3: Isn't that a great idea?
• 16:15
  Speaker 4: By the way, it's a great deal for them.
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: They got literally like cash and bills that are unmarked,
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: Like how much better does it get than that that
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: you then can give to terrorists to then blow up people.
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: Listen that they got one point seven billion dollars in
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: cash on pallets flown in by Barack Obama.
• 16:30
  Speaker 3: They got over one hundred billion dollars.
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: I just want you to understand what you just said, Senator,
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: because it is so frustrating.
• 16:37
  Speaker 4: This is not Saturday Night Live.
• 16:39
  Speaker 3: It may be.
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: Literally what the Obama ministries did, like over a billion
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: one point seven billion of cash on pallets flown with
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: your tax dollars to I RAN.
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: And by the way, that that was tiny compared to
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: the more than one hundred billion dollars that Joe Biden
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: flowed into Iran, and they use that. Iran provides more
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: than ninety percent of the funding for Hamas, more than
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: ninety percent of the funding for Hesbola. They use that
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: to stage October seventh. They use that to wage war
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: in the United States, they use that to kill American
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: servicemen and women. We have right now an historic opportunity
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: and what I am urging the president don't miss this.
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: So I think the Iranians are trying to distract the administration.
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: They're trying to say, hey, let's negotiate a deal, and actually,
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: what Iran wants to do is spend three years negotiating
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: a deal where they do nothing and they try to
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: rebuild their nuclear program.
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: Is some of this just stalling to try to get
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: their own country under control. By saying, yes, hey, we
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: all have a kumba yan Iran that we hate the
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: big Satan right in the US, and so they can
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: figure out a way for America to hit them, then
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: I think that actually brings people together, is what they're
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: hoping in Iran to say, Okay, maybe we do need
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: to stand up against America.
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: And by the way, that phrase you use the big Satan.
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: That's not an accidental phrase. The Iyatola refers to Israel
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: as the little Satan and refers to America as the
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: big Satan, the great Satan. They are waging war on us,
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: and their objective is to right now to talk to
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: try to prevent being toppled. Look, millions of Iranians have
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: stood up and tens of thousands have been killed. It's
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: not clear what the estimate is. The estimates have ranged
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: anywhere from ten thousand Iranian protesters killed to as many
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: as forty thousand. The regime is sitting there literally machine
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: gunning these protesters and murdering them. I've called very publicly
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: for the Trump administration to arm the protesters.
• 18:41
  Speaker 3: Listen.
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: I want to see the Iranian regime toppled, but not
• 18:44
  Speaker 2: by America. I want to see them toppled by the
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: people of Iran. And if they're just being gunned down
• 18:52
  Speaker 2: like fish in a barrel, they're not able to do so.
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: And so I think we ought to be providing weapons.
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: And I'm urging the President don't be distracted. The Iranian
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: regime is trying to say, let's negotiate another deal like Obama,
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: you go back to two thousand and nine. Two thousand
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: and nine was the Green Revolution. There were again Iranians
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: standing up, and Barack Obama made a decision to side
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: with the Ayatolin abandon the protesters. Now President Trump has
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: said he's not going to do that. He's told the
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: people of Iran, we are with you, and this is
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: a moment of time. I'm urging the president do not
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: miss this moment of time. If this regime falls, if
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: the Mullas who hate America and want to murder Americans
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: are out of power, and if we have instead a
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: freely elected regime. Look, Iran for decades was secular, it
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: was pro American. That would be the single biggest improvement
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: in national security we've seen in decades.
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: Yeah, we've talked about this a lot, but let's reset
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: for people just understand, not only do we have what's
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: happened in Venezuela, and there was a lot of Democrats
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: that thought it was going to just turn an instant
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: case and anarchy there in Venezuela. So far, that's not
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: been the case. That as they're trying to work through
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: what next steps look like. But that's good for the
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: people in Venezuela. Who've been suffering for so long, and
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: yet there was a lot of people I think they
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: were hoping that Donald Trump would have to own some
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: sort of anarchy and civil war in the streets and
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: just you know, all sorts of craziness there. You then
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: look at Cuba, and the President's been pretty clear about that.
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: We also are saying that they're getting in serious trouble
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: now with basic things like oil and gas and trying
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: to hold shoe string their country together because they've lost
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: a lot of what they were getting back and forth
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: with Venezuela. They're teetering right now. I think it's a
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: fair assessment on it. Just with their economy, inflation, the
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: list goes.
• 20:48
  Speaker 4: On and on.
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: You combine that with a RAN, and what we could
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: witness is all three of these happening very quickly, moving
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: in the right direction for all of us.
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: Look, we have a very real potential in the next
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: six months of seeing the regimes in Venezuela, Cuban, and
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: Iran all fall. And there are a thousand ways this
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: could go wrong. There could be bad things that happen.
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: So I'm not being pollyannish, but if we see free
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: and fair elections in Cuba, Venezuela, and Iran, and if
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: they elect leaders and I think there's a real possibility
• 21:21
  Speaker 2: of this who embrace freedom and want to be friends
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: with America, that would be, without exaggeration, the greatest geopolitical
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: shift since the fall of the Berlin Wall, since we
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: won the Cold War without firing a shot. That is
• 21:36
  Speaker 2: what has been teed up by Donald Trump being a
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: strong commander in chief. And so with Iran, I'm merging
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: the President and the administration do not miss this moment
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: because getting out of power a theocratic lunatic who wants
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: to murder us that is unambiguously good for America.
• 21:56
  Speaker 4: Yeah, it's also interesting.
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: And this is another headline that just came for Fox,
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: and just to put in perspective, I think of what
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: Iran's leadership is trying to do to bet American to
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: some sort of military conflict so they can try to
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: rally their country. You had Iranian gunboat said unsuccessfully. That's
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: the keyword here. And I'm reading this headline from Fox
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: attempted to board US oil tanker as Trump builds military presence.
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: These six armed Iranian vessels attempted to board the tanker
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: before a US Navy ship escorted it to safety. That
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: that is how desperate the Iranian regime is right now
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: to try to do something different.
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: And listen, this is why I'm calling for the administration
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: to arm the protesters. You know, remember back to Timan Square,
• 22:45
  Speaker 2: Tianamen Square, you had a massive uprising in China. And
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: I gotta admit, ben, I remember, the NRA ran full
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: page ads in newspapers all over the country. They ran
• 22:56
  Speaker 2: it in six newspapers. They ran it in the New
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: Chicago Tribune, the La Times, and USA Today.
• 23:06
  Speaker 3: The full page ad.
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: It was a gigantic picture of Tianamen Square, just people everywhere.
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: And I remember the words the NRA put in that ad.
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: They said, last week, over one million people rose up
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: in protest in Tianamen Square. And then they asked a
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: simple question, imagine what would have happened if they had
• 23:26
  Speaker 2: had guns. Now, that's more than thirty years ago, and
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: I still remember that ad because I remember looking at
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: it and going, Wow, if a million people with guns
• 23:36
  Speaker 2: rise up, that's not a protest, that's a revolution. The
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: Chinese Communist government falls. If a million people with guns
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: rise up right now, the Iranian people are risking their lives.
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: But if you're standing there holding a spatula and an
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: IRGC soldier is firing a machine gun at you, you're
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: going to die. And so the only way that protests
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: succeed as if they're able to fight back. And if
• 24:02
  Speaker 2: suddenly the IRG soldier says, crap, if I shoot at you,
• 24:06
  Speaker 2: you're going to shoot back, and I'm going to die.
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: That's how you topple the regime. And I think we
• 24:11
  Speaker 2: have an extraordinary moment in time right now.
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: For the next sixty seconds, can you hit pause on
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: your life and just think about this. In communities around
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: the world, millions of children like Lucy faced the crushing
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  Speaker 1: develops God given talents, and builds a loving relationship with Jesus.
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  Speaker 1: It's a journey from vulnerability to empowerment, and it's sparked
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  Speaker 1: literally by your love. This transformation echoes far beyond Lucy,
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  Speaker 1: impacting her family, the community, and shaping the future of
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• 25:18
  Speaker 4: I want to finally end with it.
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: The other topic, and it deals with a very interesting
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: media merger and antitrust conversation that took place in Washington, DC.
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: You came in and asked questions on this. Of the
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: two companies that were there talking about this, I actually
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: and I rarely do this, and I don't even think
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: I told you this. I wrote an op ed about
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: this for Foxnews dot com. You can go and read
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: it there. But what I was talking about was from
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: a national security standpoint. In my headline was Reagan would
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: tell Americans to watch this Netflix merger hearing closely, and
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: I said, here's why I went through. My biggest concern
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: with this merger is one of safety and security, because
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: I want to know that the majority of things are
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: being made or being made in America, that China doesn't
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: get influence over us. And that's what the questions I
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: asked what really worried me about this merger was how
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: much foreign money they're saying, and it's in the billions
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: that could be coming into this deal from the Middle
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: East that concerned me as well. You asked a lot
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: of questions about this, and there's also a lot of
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: conservatives like you and I that are frustrated with some
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: of the programming that Netflix have. But at least I'm like,
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: they're wanting to keep this production in America and they're
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: willing to expand it in America, Whereas on the other
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: side of it, my concerns to Paramount is they're taking
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: foreign money from the Middle East. I don't like that influence,
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: and I certainly don't want China to take influence as well.
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: Yeah, this is a massive merger. It's eighty three billion
• 26:48
  Speaker 2: dollars and I'm deeply concerned about it. And so we
• 26:52
  Speaker 2: had a hearing this week in the Senate Jiary Committee
• 26:55
  Speaker 2: with the CEO of Netflix and a senior executive from
• 26:58
  Speaker 2: Warner Brothers. Give a list into the questioning that I
• 27:01
  Speaker 2: asked them. I and many others on this committee have
• 27:04
  Speaker 2: been concerned for a long time about censorship. Censorship in
• 27:07
  Speaker 2: the media, and censorship in Hollywood, there already seems to
• 27:15
  Speaker 2: be only one acceptable political Do you actually I want
• 27:18
  Speaker 2: to ask either we all watch the Grammys this week.
• 27:22
  Speaker 4: I did not just a tail end of it.
• 27:25
  Speaker 2: One simple question, Are we right now on stolen land?
• 27:32
  Speaker 8: I have no idea the history of this land, of
• 27:34
  Speaker 8: this other where we're sitting today, nor do I send.
• 27:36
  Speaker 2: Her so that speaks volumes that neither of you are
• 27:40
  Speaker 2: willing to say, hell, no, we're not on stolen land.
• 27:42
  Speaker 2: And I will say it's a Grammys when you see
• 27:44
  Speaker 2: an entertainer say nobody is illegal while we're on stolen land,
• 27:48
  Speaker 2: and then you see entertainers leap to their feet clapping
• 27:50
  Speaker 2: so excitedly at the notion that America is fundamentally illegitimate,
• 27:56
  Speaker 2: it starts to convey that the entertainment world is deeply corrupt.
• 28:01
  Speaker 2: And I will point out that same singer who says
• 28:03
  Speaker 2: no one is illegal on stolen land promptly went back
• 28:06
  Speaker 2: to her fourteen million dollar mansion, and somehow that stolen
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: land she wasn't concerned about just the United States of America.
• 28:14
  Speaker 3: Look.
• 28:14
  Speaker 2: Netflix has long been a left wing company. Your founder,
• 28:21
  Speaker 2: Read Hastings, is one of the biggest Democrat donors in
• 28:24
  Speaker 2: the country, including giving millions recently to the massive gerrymander
• 28:29
  Speaker 2: in California, making it one of the most gerrymandered states
• 28:31
  Speaker 2: in the Union. Because your founder desperately wants a Democrat
• 28:35
  Speaker 2: House of Representatives, Susan Rice from the Obama White House
• 28:39
  Speaker 2: is on your board of directors. You guys, gave fifty
• 28:42
  Speaker 2: million dollars to the Obamas as far as Eikendell, to
• 28:45
  Speaker 2: produce no discernible content whatsoever. How would you tell a
• 28:49
  Speaker 2: Texan sitting at home to feel comfortable. CNN is already
• 28:52
  Speaker 2: a dumpster fire. There's nothing resembling objectivity, There's nothing resembling
• 28:58
  Speaker 2: journalism anymore. How are people at home, how should they
• 29:03
  Speaker 2: feel even remotely confident that if this merger happens, the
• 29:07
  Speaker 2: combined entity would not simply be a propaganda outlet pushing
• 29:12
  Speaker 2: one particular political view with much greater market power than
• 29:16
  Speaker 2: you have now.
• 29:18
  Speaker 3: Well, so we would fail.
• 29:19
  Speaker 8: We would fail pushing a political view or propaganda. We
• 29:23
  Speaker 8: deliver entertainment to consumers. Our consumers see our business pretty
• 29:28
  Speaker 8: much the way they see the America. About forty percent conservative,
• 29:31
  Speaker 8: about forty percent liberal, about twenty percent don't know and
• 29:34
  Speaker 8: they when we turn on when they turn on TV,
• 29:37
  Speaker 8: they're tune in to be entertained. And if we fail
• 29:39
  Speaker 8: to entertain them by trying to promote propaganda or something
• 29:43
  Speaker 8: or something anything other than entertainment, we fail.
• 29:46
  Speaker 3: Mister Campbell's same question to you.
• 29:49
  Speaker 7: We have a very broad range of content across not
• 29:52
  Speaker 7: only HBO Max, but all of our platforms, and that
• 29:55
  Speaker 7: we need to appeal to all audiences. Our content range
• 29:59
  Speaker 7: is from knocks from the NFL to shows like Deadliest
• 30:02
  Speaker 7: Catch and gold Rush. It's a very broad collection of
• 30:07
  Speaker 7: programming that represents broad interests across America.
• 30:10
  Speaker 2: You have a wide range of programming on HBO. Name
• 30:12
  Speaker 2: one program that is designed to appeal to conservatives.
• 30:16
  Speaker 7: We don't design our programming to appeal to I can.
• 30:18
  Speaker 3: Think of a lot that are designed to go to liberals.
• 30:19
  Speaker 3: Name one. None of us shows they don't.
• 30:23
  Speaker 7: Designed to go to any political group there is designed
• 30:26
  Speaker 7: to appeal to.
• 30:27
  Speaker 2: Really, John Oliver is not designed to appeal to a
• 30:29
  Speaker 2: certain group.
• 30:31
  Speaker 7: It's a program that for which there're you.
• 30:34
  Speaker 2: Just said, none of your program is it. Let me
• 30:37
  Speaker 2: ask you do you think CNN is fair and balanced?
• 30:40
  Speaker 7: I do believe CNN is a fair So.
• 30:42
  Speaker 2: When CNN showed riots and fires behind them and you
• 30:45
  Speaker 2: put a chiron mostly peaceful but fiery protests, was that journalism, Sir.
• 30:52
  Speaker 7: I'm not involved with CNN, and in fact they're not
• 30:55
  Speaker 7: part of this transaction. But they have an independent editorial board,
• 30:59
  Speaker 7: they independent news gathering.
• 31:01
  Speaker 2: We don't directly their only and they have no independence
• 31:04
  Speaker 2: other than hating Donald Trump, which is why their viewership
• 31:06
  Speaker 2: numbers have plummeted, because they don't actually report news. They
• 31:10
  Speaker 2: instead engage in very biased propaganda. And I will say
• 31:14
  Speaker 2: the truest words you said a minute ago is when
• 31:16
  Speaker 2: you said, with respect to missus sarrandos Well, he and
• 31:20
  Speaker 2: I see the world in very much the same way.
• 31:22
  Speaker 2: That is exactly the problem that in the world of
• 31:26
  Speaker 2: journalism it should not be propaganda. And the world of entertainment,
• 31:31
  Speaker 2: there is a reason why entertainers who are even slightly
• 31:35
  Speaker 2: right of center get black bald in Hollywood. Writers get
• 31:38
  Speaker 2: blackbald in Hollywood, Actors get blackbald in Hollywood. And I've
• 31:43
  Speaker 2: heard nothing today to give me any confidence that this
• 31:45
  Speaker 2: merger would do anything other than make that problem much
• 31:49
  Speaker 2: much work.
• 31:50
  Speaker 4: Sara. This is one of those subjects.
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: It's the reason why I decide to write an op
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: ed because it does matter when companies get big and
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: they have as much influence as Paramount does or as
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: Netflix does. It is concerning that the propaganda as you
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: described that can be put out that can fundamentally shape
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: this country. It's why you invoke Ronald Reagan the output
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: that I wrote at Foxnews dot com. And there's also
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: the concern of foreign influence coming in. I don't want
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: American movies being paid for twenty four billion in Middle
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: East funding. Scares the hell out of me because what
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: are they going to say you can and can't do.
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: I go back to top Gun Maverick. There was a
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: simple patch, a Taiwan patch on his jacket, and they
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: banned that movie from China, period full stop. Well if
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: that money's coming in, what else could not be made
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: because of that? That worries me as well.
• 32:39
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Look, I'm very worried about WOA Hollywood. It has
• 32:42
  Speaker 2: gone so leftists, It is engaged in so much in doctrination.
• 32:47
  Speaker 2: It is trying to silence views that are pro America,
• 32:50
  Speaker 2: Silence views that are conservative, silence views that are pro
• 32:53
  Speaker 2: freedom and listen, this merger it's not going to go
• 32:58
  Speaker 2: through unless Department of Justice signs off on it, and
• 33:02
  Speaker 2: the Apartment of Justice has to approve the merger and
• 33:04
  Speaker 2: say that it does not create a monopoly, it does
• 33:07
  Speaker 2: not increase monopoly power. I think there are very real concerns.
• 33:12
  Speaker 2: This hearing was the beginning of the scrutiny for it.
• 33:16
  Speaker 2: I expect to see more scrutiny, more questions asked about
• 33:20
  Speaker 2: this massive merger.
• 33:21
  Speaker 3: But I don't want to see even.
• 33:24
  Speaker 2: Bigger market power pushing a pro Democrat, pro leftist, anti
• 33:28
  Speaker 2: American agenda, and I'm very concerned that's what's happening right now.
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: Final question on this when do the consumers find out
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: what happens here? How long until we get an answer
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: of who gets to buy what?
• 33:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Typically this process takes months to years, and so
• 33:48
  Speaker 2: the Department of Justice has to assess whether this is
• 33:50
  Speaker 2: allowed to go forward. The FCC may well engage as
• 33:55
  Speaker 2: well in signing off on this. I'm the chairman of
• 33:58
  Speaker 2: the Senate Commerce Committee. I expect to be quite engaged
• 34:01
  Speaker 2: in this process. So it will take some time. At
• 34:03
  Speaker 2: a minimum, it's several months, it could be upwards of
• 34:06
  Speaker 2: a year. And the consequence if this merger happens, it
• 34:10
  Speaker 2: is really significant for news, and it's really significant for entertainment.
• 34:15
  Speaker 2: And by the way, I think entertainment in many ways
• 34:18
  Speaker 2: is more important than news. We get so much of
• 34:21
  Speaker 2: what we understand about the world from entertainment. They got
• 34:24
  Speaker 2: allowing a massive left wing monopoly. Listen, I asked, these guys,
• 34:31
  Speaker 2: are we on stolen land? Neither one of them could
• 34:34
  Speaker 2: say no. They're not willing to say America is legitimate. No,
• 34:40
  Speaker 2: this is not stolen land. That's how woke and lefty
• 34:44
  Speaker 2: and disconnected these people are, and they want to have
• 34:48
  Speaker 2: even more power over the entertainment that you're allowed to
• 34:52
  Speaker 2: consume your home.
• 34:54
  Speaker 4: It's going to be interesting.
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: We're going to be following it here. We can promise
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: you that, and don't forget. We do the show Monday, Wednesday, Friday.
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: Hit that subscriber auto download button wherever you get your podcasts,
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: and send her cruise and I will see you back
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: here in a couple of days.