The Cats Roundtable National Edition: DNI Jay Clayton, Steve Hilton and More.

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This is the Cats Roundtable with John Katsimatidis.
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Everywhere around the world, they come to America. Every time
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that flag's unfurled, they come into America.
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Good morning, America. This is the Cats Roundtable. John Katsimatidis here.
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We have the administrator of the EPA, Lee Zeldin. possibly
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the next governor of the state of California, Steve Hilton,
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Senator Ashley Moody from Florida, General Keene, what's going on
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in the world, KT McFarlane, Carly Hillman. She was the
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producer of the Corbett Show, and she has a new
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book called The Refuge. And let's start off with Jay Clayton,
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the Director of National Intelligence at What does he have
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to say? Let's hear it.
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Calling in today, we have Jake Clayton, and he is
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the director of national intelligence. And in addition to that,
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the AI czar. Well, it's no longer called artificial intelligence anymore.
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It's called superintelligence. Well, Jake Clayton, where do you want
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to start this morning?
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And John, I'll just segue that into keeping people safe
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and the superintelligence force. That is the North Star of
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President Trump's superintelligence force, which is going to make sure
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that America wins the superintelligence race and that we win
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it for the benefit of the American people. I'm Proud
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that the President tapped me, along with three others, Andrew Ferguson,
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who's the head of the FTC, Scott Cooper, whose day
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job is OMB, and Emile Michael, Undersecretary at the Department
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of War, to lead a multi-pronged effort to make sure
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that superintelligence, which is going to affect many aspects of
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our lives, does so effectively. where the U.S. leads, we
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protect our national security, we grow jobs, and we emerge
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again as the leader, just as we did after the
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industrial revolution, just as we have in the digital revolution,
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and we'll do it here.
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Well, I have to tell you, America is under attack
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in so many, many directions. You have to have your
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hands full. Where do you find your biggest problem watching
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over the FBI and watching over the CIA and all
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the other agencies?
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John, we have foreign adversaries and foreign competitors who want
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to beat us. They want to beat us in the marketplace.
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And unfortunately, we have people who want to beat us
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in a much worse way, in a public safety situation.
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national security way. I mean, the Iranians have demonstrated that
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the eradication of the American people and the West generally
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is the objective of Iranian leadership. We have to recognize
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that and we have to deal with it. And I'm
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very proud that we're dealing with that in a candid
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way with the American people. I think for too long,
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we told the American people that there was a way
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forward where Iranian leadership would come around and not seek
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the destruction of the United States.
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The problem is our enemies, whether it's Russia, China, North Korea, Iran,
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those people want to create a problem for Washington. But
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not only that, European community, NATO, they want to make
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President Trump weaker, and they'd rather have him weaker by
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creating a problem and letting him lose one of their
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houses in Congress. These people are being fueled by foreign money.
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I mean, you oversee the CIA, you oversee the FBI.
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Have we been able to be able to come down
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to conclusions?
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John, if what you're saying is, do our adversaries seek
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to sow dissent and distrust in America? The answer is
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absolutely yes. Do they use our open society, which we
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should fight to preserve? And I want to make it clear,
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I'm never advocating for any kind of abridgment of our
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fundamental rights. But we should recognize that people use our
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open society, our social media platforms, to seek to sow dissent.
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There's no doubt about it. And the American people, the
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first way to solve a problem is to recognize a problem.
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And you said it well, John. We have adversaries who
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want to see us harmed, and they will do so
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using all tools available to them.
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Now, the other thing you're in charge of, the other
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big problem is SI, superintelligence. And the fact is, so
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many people are afraid of it. And now we have,
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I guess, human-made robot drones with superintelligence.
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And so, John, you're not going to stop in a
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global marketplace where communications are ubiquitous. You're not going to
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stop technological developments. So what you have to do is
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develop the technology in the American way. Where it's safe,
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we're at the frontier. And because we're at the frontier,
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we're able to fend off those who would use the
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technology against us. I think that's the path forward. It's
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the path that we've taken in the past. And that's
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what President Trump has tasked the SI force with doing.
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Helping America go forward fast and safe. And fast is
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safe because if others get ahead of us, we're much
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less safe.
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What do you want to tell the American people?
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Now, John, we've talked about risks and the need to
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win and how important it is. But I also want
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to tell the people that we've done this in the past.
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For decades and decades, America has led in technology development.
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and insecurity. And they should know that there are thousands
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of women and men, tens of thousands of women and
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men at the federal government. They're committed every day to
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keeping it that way.
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Jake Clayton, Director of National Intelligence, czar of not artificial intelligence, superintelligence.
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Thank you for everything you do, and thank you for
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keeping the American people safe. And by the way, your replacement,
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I understand, in the Southern District of New York, Jamie
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McDonald is doing a great job.
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He's doing a fantastic job.
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And he's keeping New Yorkers safe because whenever the rest
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of New York can't do their job, The federal government
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and the U.S. Attorney's Office in New York is keeping
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people safe. And thank you for putting him in that position.
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Thank you, John.
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With us today is Lee Zeldin, and he's the administrator
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of the EPA. Lee Zeldin, you know, and I can
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call you Lee because we know each other forever. We're
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making big progress today. on making America better. And I
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know President Trump has $ 20 trillion worth of new business
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coming into America. How do we fuel all this business?
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Yeah, so far, while protecting the environment, while delivering hundreds
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of important environmental wins, EPA has now finalized trillion dollars
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worth of deregulation. One agency in just over a year
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and a half finalized over $ 1. 6 trillion of deregulation. deregulation.
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We just announced I was in Santa Fe, New Mexico
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last couple days. I've been traveling the country a lot.
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When I was in Santa Fe, New Mexico a couple
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days ago, I announced that in the coming days, EPA
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is going to be releasing our proposal to reconsider the
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Biden administration Quad OBC regulations on oil and gas, methane rules.
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This was an important ask to make sure that we're
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unleashing American dominance, American energy more in our country. It's
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important to many states. I would say it's important all
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across the U.S., whether it's larger producers and also the
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stripper well, the marginal wells, some of the mom and
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pop smaller producers, too. So this is a big win.
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It's going to help deliver tens of billions of dollars
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more to the U.S. economy and to the energy sector. Meanwhile,
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President Trump signed an executive order this week that allows
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Americans to access the red dye diesel fuel to allow
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them to use it in the vehicles that they use
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on the highway. This red dye diesel fuel, which is
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mainly used in agriculture and farms, now can be used
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for the vehicles on the highway. So that was a
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big announcement. But whether it's building new pipelines, it is
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making sure that plants that were targeted for closure are
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able to stay open and building new plants as well
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to deliver more reliable, durable baseload power. This has been
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an effort since the president first came in and we're
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not slowing down.
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Understood. Now, the diesel fuel, like all of my friends
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tell me that it's helping. It's cutting the price by
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about 20 cents, 28 cents, I forgot what they told me.
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And they were looking for any other benefits. What else
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can we do to reduce those costs to the consumer?
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Well, one of the biggest developments has been what's gone
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on in the Middle East through the Strait of Hormuz.
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The supply is making its way through. We're getting back to,
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I mean, these are the highest levels that we've seen
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since the conflict started in March. for Iran, they're not
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getting almost anything through. That number is zero or close
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to it. And meanwhile, the U.S. and our allies have
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been able to get through the supplies at levels that
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haven't seen since before the conflict started. So that access
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is really, that's been really important. The president's been taking
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a number of other asks, a number of other acts.
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For us here at EPA, We sped up the timeline
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with regards to the transition with the re-vapor pressure. That
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was moved up from September 16th to September 1st. Why
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does that matter? Well, each day in that timeline meant
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hundreds of thousands of additional barrels of supply that helps
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to bring down costs. We've seen diesel prices dropping every
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day here over the course of the last several days.
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Those are heading in the right direction in a big way.
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So that's good news. But what I have found, and
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it's a really big deal for the U.S. midterm, long term,
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is that around the Indo-Pacific and elsewhere, nations are looking
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to the U.S. for us to be able to export
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our energy supplies to them in ways that have not
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ever been seen before because they want to diversify their
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supply chain. They don't want to have to rely on
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the Middle East the way that they had for so long.
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They want total freedom of navigation, which they know that
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they can get with supplies coming from the United States.
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So while we might be looking at the price of
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diesel here dropping each day over the course of the
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last several days, and that's good, midterm, long term, as
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we look into the future, there is a whole lot
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of very optimistic projections of how these other countries are
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going to be leaning towards the U.S. more for our
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supplies in ways that they haven't in the past.
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There is no shortage of oil. North America has never
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had a shortage. And yet somebody is influencing the overall
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system to create higher oil prices. And I guess that's
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not your department, but that's one of the frustrations that
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we're having with the overall situation with $ 100 oil and
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$ 90 WTI and $ 100 Brent.
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The president has brought together a National Energy Dominance Council.
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For the first time, there's an office operating out of
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the White House, quarterbacking and coordinating efforts between agencies with
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overlapping equities and jurisdiction in this space. So EPA works
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with the Department of Energy, the Department of Interior, the
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Department of Commerce. I was just speaking to Secretary Lutnick
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last night about this particular topic. The coordination is robust.
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We often travel together. Our teams work closely together. And
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what would happen in the past is that these agencies
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would all be kind of siloed off in their own world,
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working on what is on their plate, oftentimes in conflict, competition,
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and friction with other agencies that they should be working
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with as opposed to against. And the President brought everyone together.
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Day one, National Energy Emergency is declared. Day one, a
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National Energy Dominance Council is created. And the President will
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pick up the phone. He'll call one of us, and
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it might be something that is in the Department of
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Energy or Department of Interior, Department of Commerce, or elsewhere,
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their lane, and vice versa. in his conversations with the others,
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and all of us collectively will meet with the president
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frequently in the Oval Office, talking pipelines, talking power plants,
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talking refineries, and policies. Foreign policy, we saw a massive
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win for the president, both from the speed at which
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he started and concluded the operation in Venezuela, but also
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what came about it from it afterwards, with new agreements
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and accessing Venezuelan oil, which has been good for the
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United States and it's been good as well for Venezuela.
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Now, from the EPA point of view, is there any
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other adjustments you can make to some of the regulations
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that were irregular that could help the American consumer?
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Yeah, right.
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I mean, we're doing it all the time. When I
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said we finalized $ 1. 6 trillion, that is a conclusion of.
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Deregulatory efforts, but we have ongoing deregulatory efforts across the agency.
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Right now, we've proposed repealing the remainder of greenhouse gas
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emission standards for the power sector. We are engaging in
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what is the largest power sector deregulatory act in the
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history of the country. With regards to the coal industry,
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we have been reversing damage that we inherited in With
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different rules and regulations, the acronyms might not be familiar
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to the average American. When you talk mats, the mercury
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toxic standards, steam electric, ELG, coal combustion, residual CCR, the
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Clean Power Plant 2.0, these different rules and regulations were
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seeking to more than triangulate the coal industry out of existence.
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The Obama and Biden administrations were saying that the coal
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workers should just learn to code. They were telling states,
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tough luck. Your plants, your sources of durable baseload power
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are going to have to close. And they were talking
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about intermittent sources like wind as if it was a
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substitute for baseload power, which it's not, and then using
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numbers to say, hey, this is what offshore wind would cost.
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And the number's not accurate because they're not using the
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all-in costs, the firming costs, the money for the infrastructure,
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for transmission, for storage. for firming, and all of that
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adds up and it's expensive.
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Lee Zeldin, you're from Long Island. Those windmills they put
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up are destroying the environment, destroying the fishing, creating a
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national security problem, and on top of that, killing the environment.
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Yeah, this is something that President Trump has been really
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outspoken against. He's been clear. He's been consistent. He's been
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consistent right across the East Coast and elsewhere with regards
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to these offshore wind projects. He doesn't like them. He
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doesn't like the fact that we have Democratic governors who
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talk about them as if this intermittent source is a
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substitute for baseload power, which it's not. The battery energy
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storage systems to store wind and solar being placed in
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the middle of residential areas There's environmental concerns with the
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placement of those near homes, near schools, near hospitals, near
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environmental areas that people want to protect, concerns about when
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they are set on fire and being able to put
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them out and the damage that could be caused in
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the meantime. So this has been a topic that there's
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no mystery where President Trump stands. He has backed it
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up with all sorts of action. Unfortunately, there's litigation that follows.
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And as a consequence, there are some activist judges who
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have tried to put a wrench into President Trump delivering
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on that mandate that the American public voted for him on.
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But every single day he's fighting to deliver on those promises.
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Lee Zeldin, administrator of the EPA, thank you for everything
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you do for the EPA. And thank you for what
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you do for America. And God bless you and God
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bless America. Let's hope for the best for America. Thank
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you so much.
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Yes, sir. Thank you, John.
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Thank you for listening to the Cats Roundtable. We'll be
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right back right after this break. Welcome back to the
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Cats Roundtable.
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Let's go to Florida.
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With us today is Senator Ashley Moody. Well, Senator Moody,
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how do Floridians feel? And we're only like 27 days,
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28 days out from the election.
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As you know, the first race that Floridians will vote
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on on their ballot is the race for United States Senate.
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I am the senator for the great free state of Florida,
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and I am running against a proud, card-carrying socialist. Angie Nixon,
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who is a DSA member, I'm sure you've heard all
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about their platform, which is about pretty much undermining our Constitution,
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doing away with prisons, defunding police, kneecapping the military, let
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non-citizens vote, you know, all of the things that would
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destroy this nation. And that's going to be the first race.
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that Floridians will vote on. And of course, we have
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other important races down here, our governor's race for Byron
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Donalds against David Jolly. But really, you know this better
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than anyone. Socialism has taken root right there in New York.
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Many people, many people have fled socialism right there in
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New York. I know many people that you know, many
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law enforcement officers that have felt demoralized and not supported,
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have fled to the great free state of Florida. So
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we cannot lose this election. This is one of the
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most important elections, I believe, in the nation because Florida
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is the firewall of freedom. We truly have shown that.
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We've demonstrated that if you stick true to people's rights
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and keeping them safe, your state will flourish. And so
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I'm committed to doing that. And we believe that we
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will be successful.
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On November 3rd.
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I agree, and I think that Floridians, a lot of
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people from New York have gone to Florida. A lot
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of people that don't want to go to Florida maybe
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sometimes go to Tennessee, but Florida is the destination ground,
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and I think you almost have 24 million people in Florida,
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and your taxes in Florida are, I guess, I can't
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believe how cheap they are. The whole state of Florida
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with no personal state taxes. This whole state of Florida,
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I think, is, what, $ 125 million budget, 120, something like that.
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And New York City alone is $ 130 billion, and they
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only have 8.5 million people. So you guys are doing
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a great job. And the only thing people are afraid
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of is if too many New Yorkers or Illinois people
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move down to Florida, they'll ruin the vote. Have they
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learned their lesson in New York and Illinois by going
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down to Florida? What do you think, Senator Moody?
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Well, look, as you know, my good friend, I was
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the attorney general in the great free state of Florida.
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Two terms. I worked with Governor DeSantis during one of
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the most challenging times in our nation when even red states,
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in addition to these crazy blue states, were pushing down
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on people's rights. They were allowing riots in the street,
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attacks against police departments and cops. Florida stood strong. We said, look,
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the purpose of government is to stay out of people's lives,
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to protect their individual freedom and to keep them safe.
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I mean, that was laid out very clear in the
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Declaration of Independence. It was promised in the contract through
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our Constitution. We held firm in that. And because of that,
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we broke every record. We were number one in economic
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growth from 19 to 25. many years, number one in
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new business formation, number one in entrepreneurship, people were shoving
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each other out of the way to come to our state.
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And this is why. Because we showed if you hold
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true to what government is supposed to be, but more importantly,
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what it's not supposed to be, your people will thrive.
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We showed that. The commies out there, and I'm sorry,
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you know, that's just the reality. These DSA, socialists, communists,
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whatever you want to call them, It's the greatest con
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on mankind in our history. They believe if you give
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them more, they want you to give them more power.
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They want to take more of your money. That's their
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answer to everything. Give them more power, take them more money,
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and they'll fix all your problems. And by the way,
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we're not going to allow those other people that signed
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up and answered the call to serve, whether it be
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the military or law enforcement to protect you and protect
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your rights and protect the people's laws. We're going to
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kneecap them because we want all the power. And in
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every nation state that that has been tried, the country
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has imploded and it ended up in oppression and destitution
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of its people. Florida understands that. And we can see
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that coming a mile away. So this. This Angie Nixon,
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who is running as an outright socialist that quotes cop killers,
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has a shrine to cop killers, quotes the Communist Manifesto,
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you better believe that we're not only going to vote
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to keep her out of office. We are going to
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make sure it is– this is going to be the
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election that's heard around the nation to show that socialism
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will never take root in this country, and we are
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going to beat it back because we understand– as a
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free people, that the United States of America is the
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greatest experiment and a free people of mankind. And we're
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going to make sure that it succeeds.
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Senator Moody, you were the attorney general before you became senator.
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Governor DeSantis is a great governor, too. Let me ask you,
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have you got voter fraud under control in Florida?
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As you know, when I was attorney general, I worked
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with Governor DeSantis and our state legislature. We passed legislation
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to make sure that our our elections had integrity and
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that people could trust in them and understand that when
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they vote, that their vote counted because it was protected.
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I've been pushing that certainly as a United States senator
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since I got in office. I was an original sponsor
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of the Save America Act. I have co-sponsored that act
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and I've been pushing for that passage, demanding a vote.
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And as you know, we took a vote on straight
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up voter I.D. And every single Democrat voted no. Every
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single Democrat, which makes you wonder who they are fighting
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for and who they want to deliver this nation to.
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Senator, the joke we tell in New York is if
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somebody was behind on votes in Brooklyn, they would call
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Philadelphia for more votes.
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That does so much, not just in terms of bringing
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it up for the people so they understand what's going on,
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but things like that. If the people don't trust their elections,
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they can't trust the people that they've put in charge.
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That is something that's incredibly important. We owe that to
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our bosses, the people, to make sure that they can
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trust their elections. And I'll be championing that if I'm
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sent back to the United States Senate.
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Senator Moody, thank you for everything you do for America.
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Thank you for what you do for Florida, because that's
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the promised land. We're all coming down there soon. And
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God bless you and God bless America.
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Thanks so much. You guys have a great night.
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Let's go to California. With us today is Steve Hilton
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and possibly next governor of the state of California. Steve Hilton,
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can we straighten out California and bring down their gas
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prices from $ 8 or $ 7 down to $ 3 or $ 4
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a gallon?
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Yes, that's my plan. I announced it last year, $ 3 gas.
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Before the Iran war, remember, there were 40 states in
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America that had gas at $ 3 or below. Most of
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them don't have any oil reserves. We have in California,
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according to some estimates... the second largest oil reserves in
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the world, and yet we have higher gas prices than
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Hawaii in the middle of.
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The Pacific Ocean.
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It's insane. Javier Becerra claims that the high gas prices
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in California are all to do with President Trump. Well,
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how is that possible when our gas prices are $ 2
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higher than the rest of the country, even today? That's
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nothing to do with President Trump. It's to do with
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Democrat policies in California, which I would change. So we
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will get gas prices down.
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Are the people of California finally realizing what the heck
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is going on over there?
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I think so, because I always knew, John, this would
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be an uphill battle. It's obvious that's the case. It's
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20 years since the Republican won in California. The machine
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that they've built, the Democrats have built corruptly with all
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the money that they get from the government unions and
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so on. It's very, you know, they've got a lot
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of money, a lot of power, and it's tough to
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beat them. But set against that, we've got everything is
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a disaster, right? We've got the highest cost of living,
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the highest taxes for the worst results, highest housing costs,
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the school results for a disaster, the absolute scandal of
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homelessness that just gets.
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Worse and worse.
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Every year, even with the billions they spend on it.
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Everything's going in the wrong direction. I think people are
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waking up. And that is actually one of the messages
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that I had in the campaign. I used to go
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around in a T-shirt saying, wake.
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Up, California.
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And actually, here's a really important point for everyone who
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doesn't know. My opponent, Becerra, he's a 36-year career politician.
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When he was HHS secretary for Biden, he was responsible
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for nearly half a million unaccompanied migrant children. He lost
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track of hundreds of thousands of them. Many thousands were
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sent directly to child, sex, and labor traffickers. It is
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absolutely horrendous what he did, totally disqualifying. He's the one also,
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when he was at HHS, who dismantled the fraud unit.
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So now we look at fraud now and that massive
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scandal that's being uncovered by the vice president and his
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task force, of course, Nick Shirley and others, and most
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of it is in Medicaid fraud, most of the actual
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fraud in healthcare spending. and the biggest chunk is in California.
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All of that you can trace back to Becerra. So
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this is a very clear choice. You can have four
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more years of the same old costs and corruption and
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failure and incompetence with Becerra, or actually with me, you
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can have lower tax, cheaper gas, getting California back on track.
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So you feel that the California people are finally realizing it.
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Can you put enough controls on voter fraud to be
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able to stop the Democratic machine from creating it?
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Well, I think that, you know, we're clearly making progress.
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You know, there was a debate the other week on CNN.
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The first poll that came out after the debate is
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an overwhelming victory. It's like 72 percent, I think the
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number was. thought that I won that debate. And also
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in the actual voting intention, you saw the poll show
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the gap between me and Becerra, the smallest it's ever been,
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six points, 46-40. Now, look, we're still behind. I just
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want to be clear about that. I don't want to
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sugarcoat it. Both that's a gap that we can close.
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And it reminds me very much of Bruce in New
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York and the same kind of battle. And he's fighting
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very strongly. And we're very similar situations. I think it's pretty,
477
00:29:50.369 --> 00:29:53.509
you know, slightly worse. In California, we've had more of a,
478
00:29:54.430 --> 00:29:57.109
you know, the Republicans have underperformed for many, many years
479
00:29:57.170 --> 00:30:01.319
here and much worse. than in New York State. But
480
00:30:01.400 --> 00:30:03.859
I think people are waking up. In terms of the
481
00:30:03.920 --> 00:30:07.160
votes and the ballots, you're completely right. They've built this
482
00:30:07.269 --> 00:30:12.289
system that suits them with the ballot harvesting and the
483
00:30:12.329 --> 00:30:17.109
taxpayer-funded nonprofits running around harvesting ballots, all their unions, and
484
00:30:17.170 --> 00:30:18.930
so on. But we're not going to be able to
485
00:30:18.990 --> 00:30:21.140
change the system in the next three weeks or so.
486
00:30:21.539 --> 00:30:24.519
So I say to all my supporters, I say at
487
00:30:24.619 --> 00:30:27.990
every event, We've only got one practical option, beat them
488
00:30:28.029 --> 00:30:28.789
at their own game.
489
00:30:29.150 --> 00:30:30.670
Why should we leave ballot.
490
00:30:30.359 --> 00:30:33.440
Harvesting to the unions and all the activist groups that
491
00:30:33.519 --> 00:30:36.460
are part of the Democrat machine? We need to do
492
00:30:36.579 --> 00:30:39.460
our own. And I say to every single person, You
493
00:30:39.519 --> 00:30:42.119
need to get not just your own vote, get 10
494
00:30:42.119 --> 00:30:46.009
other votes. You can do ballot harvesting. We put out
495
00:30:46.029 --> 00:30:49.930
a plan for people to do ballot harvesting pizza parties.
496
00:30:50.329 --> 00:30:53.369
Invite your friends and neighbors and coworkers. Bring their ballots.
497
00:30:53.750 --> 00:30:56.430
Do it all together and then drop them off. We
498
00:30:56.490 --> 00:30:59.029
may not like this system, but we've got to use
499
00:30:59.109 --> 00:31:00.990
it and beat them at their own game.
500
00:31:02.109 --> 00:31:04.349
Give me one more problem and we'll call.
501
00:31:04.210 --> 00:31:04.630
It a day.
502
00:31:05.730 --> 00:31:08.400
My top priority is to help people with the cost
503
00:31:08.420 --> 00:31:12.440
of living in California, and the top priority there is
504
00:31:12.759 --> 00:31:15.779
very simple. The quickest way to get more money in
505
00:31:15.839 --> 00:31:18.940
people's pockets is for the government to take less out.
506
00:31:19.339 --> 00:31:22.180
I've got lots of long-term plans to improve the way
507
00:31:22.220 --> 00:31:26.109
we build housing and get abundant, affordable energy and water
508
00:31:26.130 --> 00:31:28.150
for our farmers, all those things. That'll take a bit
509
00:31:28.190 --> 00:31:28.730
of time.
510
00:31:28.549 --> 00:31:29.130
To work through.
511
00:31:29.430 --> 00:31:32.269
The quickest way is for the government to take less
512
00:31:32.329 --> 00:31:35.329
money out of your pocket. And that's why my priority
513
00:31:35.690 --> 00:31:36.930
is what I call the working.
514
00:31:36.650 --> 00:31:37.450
Class tax cut.
515
00:31:37.750 --> 00:31:42.150
Your first 150 grand tax free, no state income tax.
516
00:31:42.569 --> 00:31:46.069
That will save people thousands of dollars a year. You
517
00:31:46.109 --> 00:31:49.039
can actually work out exactly how much it would save
518
00:31:49.059 --> 00:31:53.200
you if you live in California by going to savewithsteve.vote.
519
00:31:53.579 --> 00:31:56.240
And you can figure out how much you'll get with me.
520
00:31:56.700 --> 00:31:59.779
The average California household will save $ 11, 047 a year when
521
00:31:59.880 --> 00:32:04.769
you add it all up. That is a big, big
522
00:32:04.869 --> 00:32:07.710
saving and a big difference. And that's why this election
523
00:32:07.750 --> 00:32:10.309
matters so much. It can really make a difference to
524
00:32:10.329 --> 00:32:13.329
your life. And I say to everyone, whether they're Republicans
525
00:32:13.390 --> 00:32:16.259
or Democrats or independents, look, we've been doing the same
526
00:32:16.319 --> 00:32:19.720
thing for 16 years in California. It's time to do
527
00:32:19.740 --> 00:32:24.160
something different. Let's try it. Just try something different.
528
00:32:24.259 --> 00:32:25.250
Just try it.
529
00:32:26.140 --> 00:32:28.819
Steve Hilton, thank you so much for coming on. And
530
00:32:29.440 --> 00:32:33.700
we have like, what, 20... 23 days to go. Thank
531
00:32:33.740 --> 00:32:34.240
you so much.
532
00:32:34.539 --> 00:32:37.099
Yeah. Thank you, John. Great to be with you. Thank you.
533
00:32:37.759 --> 00:32:40.309
Thank you for listening to the Cats Roundtable. We'll be
534
00:32:40.470 --> 00:32:44.049
right back right after this break. Welcome back to the
535
00:32:44.089 --> 00:32:47.170
Cats Roundtable. If you ever miss a segment or want
536
00:32:47.190 --> 00:32:52.390
to hear it again, go to wabcradio.com, go to podcasts,
537
00:32:52.470 --> 00:33:07.240
go to minicasts, and play back your favorite segment. General
538
00:33:07.329 --> 00:33:10.650
Jack Keane, well, he's been running the world for a
539
00:33:10.680 --> 00:33:15.890
few years, and now he's quasi-retired. Well, General Keane, we
540
00:33:16.890 --> 00:33:19.490
begin with Putin and the Ukraine.
541
00:33:20.670 --> 00:33:23.690
Sure. I mean, where we are, we're in a fifth
542
00:33:23.750 --> 00:33:27.589
year of war. Russia, who invaded Ukraine, thinking it would
543
00:33:27.609 --> 00:33:31.049
take two to three weeks. The reality is that they're
544
00:33:31.089 --> 00:33:36.180
not going to take control of Ukraine, not today, not tomorrow,
545
00:33:36.279 --> 00:33:38.140
not a year or two years from now. It is
546
00:33:38.240 --> 00:33:43.420
not going to happen. The Ukrainians are more than adequately defending.
547
00:33:44.140 --> 00:33:48.289
They have stopped Putin's army, which is considerably larger than theirs, cold,
548
00:33:48.880 --> 00:33:53.230
and they are now taking back territory from Putin's occupied area.
549
00:33:54.009 --> 00:33:57.069
All that said, though, Ukraine doesn't have the capability to
550
00:33:57.109 --> 00:34:00.619
drive Putin completely out of the country. So the war
551
00:34:00.700 --> 00:34:05.539
continues as something of a stalemate. While Putin cannot make
552
00:34:06.089 --> 00:34:10.949
progress on the ground at the tactical level, strategically he
553
00:34:11.050 --> 00:34:15.510
is targeting the Ukrainian people and firing ballistic missiles into
554
00:34:15.550 --> 00:34:19.289
the city, specifically the capital city in Kiev, trying to
555
00:34:19.349 --> 00:34:22.619
break the will of the Ukrainian people. And he knows
556
00:34:22.699 --> 00:34:26.219
full well that Ukraine doesn't have the number of intercepts
557
00:34:26.239 --> 00:34:30.429
to adequately defend against these people. ballistic missiles as well
558
00:34:31.070 --> 00:34:35.659
as the drones. The reality is the war drags on, John.
559
00:34:36.539 --> 00:34:40.079
Putin is not ready to make a deal. Zelensky is.
560
00:34:40.179 --> 00:34:42.199
He has been ready to go to a ceasefire for
561
00:34:42.239 --> 00:34:44.929
more than two years. Putin is not ready to go
562
00:34:44.989 --> 00:34:48.230
to a ceasefire. What should be done? More pressure on Putin.
563
00:34:48.550 --> 00:34:52.789
Get really tough with the Graham sanctions bill that was
564
00:34:52.889 --> 00:34:58.500
passed and shut down the oil from Russia that's going
565
00:34:58.519 --> 00:35:01.940
to China and to India. That would be a step
566
00:35:02.139 --> 00:35:05.599
one in taking some of the revenue away from Putin
567
00:35:06.179 --> 00:35:10.119
and obviously do everything we can with the Europeans to
568
00:35:10.199 --> 00:35:14.079
assist with the Ukrainians being able to defend better against
569
00:35:14.139 --> 00:35:18.079
the ballistic missiles and anything else that they need. That's
570
00:35:18.139 --> 00:35:21.860
the best that we can do under the circumstances dealing
571
00:35:21.929 --> 00:35:24.199
with Russia and Ukraine, John.
572
00:35:25.119 --> 00:35:29.480
Now, the additional thing on Russia, the plague. What do
573
00:35:29.519 --> 00:35:31.079
you think? What is your gut feeling?
574
00:35:32.179 --> 00:35:35.210
It's real. And Putin is being deceptive about it as
575
00:35:35.309 --> 00:35:39.210
opposed to coming forward with it. And we saw the
576
00:35:39.269 --> 00:35:44.599
same behavior when COVID started in China. in the vicinity
577
00:35:44.639 --> 00:35:47.179
of Wuhan City, likely leaked out of the lab and
578
00:35:47.219 --> 00:35:50.550
never fully disclosed where it came from. And not only that,
579
00:35:50.969 --> 00:35:53.909
if you remember what President Xi did, he shut down
580
00:35:54.070 --> 00:35:57.510
all domestic flights coming out of Wuhan City, but he
581
00:35:57.570 --> 00:36:02.570
permitted all international flights to go. And because he wanted
582
00:36:03.139 --> 00:36:07.579
not only China to be dealing with COVID-19, he wanted
583
00:36:07.619 --> 00:36:09.420
the world to be dealing with it. And I thought
584
00:36:09.440 --> 00:36:13.420
that was a criminal act. They're both authoritarian rulers. They're
585
00:36:13.460 --> 00:36:19.280
both bona fide dictators, and they both have committed international crimes.
586
00:36:19.380 --> 00:36:23.489
And these are our adversaries, and we certainly have to
587
00:36:23.530 --> 00:36:24.829
face up to that reality.
588
00:36:25.710 --> 00:36:30.869
Any possibility of this trying to affect the midterms in
589
00:36:30.889 --> 00:36:31.710
the next three weeks?
590
00:36:32.750 --> 00:36:36.699
Well, I think the one thing that could affect the
591
00:36:36.719 --> 00:36:41.440
midterms is the war in Iran. And obviously it has
592
00:36:41.840 --> 00:36:45.139
already had some impact in terms of oil and gas prices.
593
00:36:45.159 --> 00:36:50.079
I think gas prices in the United States are over $ 4.
594
00:36:49.320 --> 00:36:51.860
And that has had some impact, and the president certainly
595
00:36:51.929 --> 00:36:54.969
acknowledges that. And he and his team are doing everything
596
00:36:55.010 --> 00:36:58.829
they can to deal with that reality. But Iran has
597
00:36:58.889 --> 00:37:01.949
a hand to play here, and they could easily escalate
598
00:37:02.750 --> 00:37:07.139
and conduct some operation close to the election. to demonstrate
599
00:37:07.179 --> 00:37:10.760
to the American people that the war is being poorly managed.
600
00:37:10.820 --> 00:37:13.840
I don't think it is, but that would be their intent, John.
601
00:37:14.619 --> 00:37:17.320
And what they have in mind is to achieve a
602
00:37:17.409 --> 00:37:23.769
political objective where President Trump's opponents take control of the U.S.
603
00:37:23.849 --> 00:37:29.239
Congress and then do what the Iranians would want, and
604
00:37:29.280 --> 00:37:33.639
that is shut the war down. So that, in the
605
00:37:33.840 --> 00:37:38.949
mind's of the Iranian leadership is an achievable political objective,
606
00:37:38.989 --> 00:37:42.940
and the means would be military escalation, for the reasons
607
00:37:43.059 --> 00:37:46.639
I stated. So that is a possibility in front of us.
608
00:37:47.480 --> 00:37:51.119
The president also has actions that he can take if
609
00:37:51.159 --> 00:37:55.079
he wants to return to combat operations prior to the elections.
610
00:37:55.159 --> 00:37:58.199
I think he definitely will do it post the election,
611
00:37:58.239 --> 00:37:58.619
for sure.
612
00:37:59.469 --> 00:38:04.409
Let's go to Iran. IRGC. You know, don't bomb the
613
00:38:04.469 --> 00:38:08.280
rest of the world in Iran. Bomb the IRGC themselves
614
00:38:08.400 --> 00:38:11.039
because they're the evil part of the empire.
615
00:38:12.119 --> 00:38:14.860
Well, you're absolutely right about that. I spent 11 days
616
00:38:14.940 --> 00:38:19.480
in Israel. I went into Gaza to take a look
617
00:38:19.559 --> 00:38:22.360
at it for myself with the IDF. I went into
618
00:38:23.860 --> 00:38:29.079
Lebanon up to the Latani River to make my own assessment.
619
00:38:30.340 --> 00:38:32.780
And also to talk to all the top leaders, the
620
00:38:32.820 --> 00:38:35.929
Mossad chief, the prime minister, the president, the head of
621
00:38:35.989 --> 00:38:40.090
the Israeli military, their direct reports on their staff, and
622
00:38:40.170 --> 00:38:43.170
obviously the commanders who are in the field. And my
623
00:38:43.210 --> 00:38:48.449
assessment is this, is that the blockade is working. Secretary
624
00:38:48.550 --> 00:38:54.250
Besson's economic squeeze, so to speak, is working. But it
625
00:38:54.289 --> 00:38:58.280
will not, in of itself, topple the regime. And that's
626
00:38:58.320 --> 00:39:02.489
because the regime... One purpose that they have now is
627
00:39:02.530 --> 00:39:05.059
to survive, and they believe they can outlast us. They
628
00:39:05.099 --> 00:39:07.460
will not make a deal of any consequence. I think
629
00:39:08.260 --> 00:39:11.320
the president and his team understands that. What needs to
630
00:39:11.380 --> 00:39:15.320
be done, in addition to the economic pressure, which is significant,
631
00:39:15.380 --> 00:39:18.139
I'm not trying to downplay it at all. It is
632
00:39:18.300 --> 00:39:23.050
very sufficient and effective, but it's not enough. We will
633
00:39:23.090 --> 00:39:27.510
likely have to return to combined operations with the United
634
00:39:27.550 --> 00:39:31.000
States and Israelis. The targets we're go down that list,
635
00:39:31.059 --> 00:39:33.010
but right at the top of the list, John, I
636
00:39:33.050 --> 00:39:38.610
totally agree with you, is IRGC leadership, period. And other
637
00:39:38.650 --> 00:39:40.550
targets would be on that list. And the other thing
638
00:39:40.570 --> 00:39:44.610
that needs to be done is covert operations by the CIA,
639
00:39:45.030 --> 00:39:47.760
by the Mossad, to undermine the regime and help to
640
00:39:47.820 --> 00:39:51.380
fracture it. And that work is ongoing. And you hear
641
00:39:51.480 --> 00:39:56.000
talks about people wanting to go into exile, et cetera.
642
00:39:56.500 --> 00:39:59.489
And then the second part of the covert operation needs
643
00:39:59.550 --> 00:40:03.210
to be providing the numbers of groups that are in
644
00:40:03.230 --> 00:40:08.670
Iran as we speak who do want assistance to put
645
00:40:08.750 --> 00:40:12.750
pressure on the means, on the regime, on the IRGC,
646
00:40:12.929 --> 00:40:15.969
using armed force to do it. Not stand in the
647
00:40:16.030 --> 00:40:19.380
streets without arms and being mowed down by machine guns.
648
00:40:19.409 --> 00:40:24.019
These are Iranian citizens willing to take up arms and
649
00:40:24.059 --> 00:40:27.400
put pressure on the regime. Covert operations, to be sure,
650
00:40:27.539 --> 00:40:31.139
and things like that can be done. Those are some
651
00:40:31.159 --> 00:40:33.460
of the things I think we will be seeing.
652
00:40:34.260 --> 00:40:36.679
Well, and the only thing we haven't hit yet is,
653
00:40:36.960 --> 00:40:42.250
I guess, China. I know the Chinese have a long-term attitude.
654
00:40:42.829 --> 00:40:44.800
They can wait two and a half years till President
655
00:40:44.820 --> 00:40:48.000
Trump leaves before they become active.
656
00:40:48.800 --> 00:40:51.679
We're in a strategic competition with China. I believe they
657
00:40:51.760 --> 00:40:55.219
are an adversary. And the reason I say that is
658
00:40:55.389 --> 00:40:58.190
because of the goals that they have stated under President
659
00:40:58.210 --> 00:41:01.670
Xi's leadership just about every year of the 13 years
660
00:41:01.710 --> 00:41:04.690
he's been in power, and that is to dominate and
661
00:41:04.769 --> 00:41:09.800
control the Indo-Pacific region and replace the United States as
662
00:41:09.840 --> 00:41:14.860
the world's global leader. That sounds like the words of
663
00:41:14.900 --> 00:41:18.610
an adversary. And I think what President Xi and President
664
00:41:18.639 --> 00:41:24.710
Trump both want to do is maintain stability in this relationship,
665
00:41:25.510 --> 00:41:29.949
avoid a confrontation, if at all possible. And I think
666
00:41:29.989 --> 00:41:33.110
they have both gone out of their way to kind
667
00:41:33.179 --> 00:41:36.400
of make that accommodation with each other, and at least
668
00:41:37.219 --> 00:41:41.960
on the surface of it, give the appearance that the
669
00:41:41.980 --> 00:41:45.960
relationship is solid and there's also something of a friendship,
670
00:41:46.280 --> 00:41:50.869
even though their goals are completely different than ours. I mean, obviously,
671
00:41:51.849 --> 00:41:55.030
for President Xi to achieve the goals he has stated,
672
00:41:55.769 --> 00:41:58.590
all of that would be done at the expense of
673
00:41:58.690 --> 00:42:03.539
the United States and our allies and partners. I don't
674
00:42:03.619 --> 00:42:07.780
see conflict operations in the near term by President Xi.
675
00:42:07.840 --> 00:42:10.800
Of course, I could be wrong and he could surprise
676
00:42:10.880 --> 00:42:14.690
all of us. But we have to work very hard, John.
677
00:42:15.449 --> 00:42:19.289
He doesn't want to challenge... He doesn't want to challenge
678
00:42:20.349 --> 00:42:25.070
President Trump. And if you ask me who Putin and
679
00:42:25.880 --> 00:42:28.780
Xi is afraid of, it's President Trump.
680
00:42:29.619 --> 00:42:32.139
But Xi knows he has a military advantage in the
681
00:42:32.199 --> 00:42:36.780
Indo-Pacific region. More guns, more offensive capability, more aircraft, more
682
00:42:36.820 --> 00:42:40.039
surface ships. And he knows that. And he also knows
683
00:42:40.119 --> 00:42:47.000
that we have our stockpile having challenges replenishing it. So
684
00:42:47.059 --> 00:42:50.519
he knows he has a military advantage. I don't believe
685
00:42:50.579 --> 00:42:54.969
he's going to take action, but we cannot completely discount
686
00:42:55.030 --> 00:42:58.010
the possibility of him doing it. That is why it
687
00:42:58.809 --> 00:43:02.469
is critically important for the Congress of the United States
688
00:43:02.530 --> 00:43:06.119
to pass the authorizations and the appropriations bill to meet
689
00:43:06.179 --> 00:43:11.599
President Trump's objectives. of a $ 1. 5 trillion defense budget, which
690
00:43:11.699 --> 00:43:14.780
is in desperate need to be able to meet the
691
00:43:14.840 --> 00:43:19.199
challenges we have around the world today. And rebuilding the
692
00:43:19.260 --> 00:43:25.030
military is absolutely critical to stabilizing ourselves in this much
693
00:43:25.130 --> 00:43:26.230
troubled world out there.
694
00:43:27.170 --> 00:43:30.929
Well, General Keene, thank you for your wisdom.
695
00:43:32.070 --> 00:43:34.369
Always great talking to you, John, and your audience. Thank
696
00:43:34.389 --> 00:43:34.969
you very much.
697
00:43:35.090 --> 00:43:37.679
Thank you so much. Thank you for listening to the
698
00:43:37.739 --> 00:43:41.320
Cats Roundtable. We'll be right back right after this break.
699
00:43:41.980 --> 00:43:54.869
Welcome back to the Cats Roundtable. With us today is
700
00:43:54.929 --> 00:43:58.590
Carly Hillman. She was the producer of the late night
701
00:43:58.639 --> 00:44:02.420
show with Stephen Corbett for 10 years. And now she's
702
00:44:02.480 --> 00:44:05.400
also a writer. And she's with us this morning on
703
00:44:05.920 --> 00:44:08.949
And Carly Hillman, you have a new book. It's called
704
00:44:08.989 --> 00:44:13.099
The Refuge, and it takes place in Montana. Tell us
705
00:44:13.139 --> 00:44:13.679
about the book.
706
00:44:14.800 --> 00:44:17.260
Thank you so much for having me. It's great to
707
00:44:17.300 --> 00:44:19.960
chat with you. And yeah, the book is called The Refuge.
708
00:44:20.719 --> 00:44:23.469
And it basically tells the story of a mother and
709
00:44:23.489 --> 00:44:27.150
daughter who live and work on this Montana wildlife refuge,
710
00:44:27.210 --> 00:44:31.570
living this isolated but really beautiful life. But as the
711
00:44:31.610 --> 00:44:34.690
daughter is getting older, she starts to question the story
712
00:44:34.710 --> 00:44:36.929
she's always been told about how her mother ended.
713
00:44:36.789 --> 00:44:37.349
Up living there.
714
00:44:38.110 --> 00:44:41.170
And she starts looking into things, investigating her own family
715
00:44:41.210 --> 00:44:45.210
history and accidentally reopens a decades old missing child case.
716
00:44:45.809 --> 00:44:49.329
So it's a fun mystery and it's been such a
717
00:44:49.590 --> 00:44:50.119
joy to have it.
718
00:44:50.170 --> 00:44:52.909
In other words, she was one of the missing child.
719
00:44:54.800 --> 00:44:58.820
Well, you'll have to read the book to find out, but, um,
720
00:44:58.940 --> 00:45:03.599
Oh my God. The mother was, is the missing child. And, um,
721
00:45:04.210 --> 00:45:06.730
You know, as her daughter is growing up, she's starting
722
00:45:06.750 --> 00:45:09.389
to realize that her mother has lied to her about
723
00:45:09.449 --> 00:45:12.070
how she ended up living on this wildlife refuge.
724
00:45:12.409 --> 00:45:15.690
And at what age do you think we have to
725
00:45:15.730 --> 00:45:18.969
read the book to find out what age she moved
726
00:45:19.050 --> 00:45:19.659
in with the mother?
727
00:45:21.719 --> 00:45:24.960
She the daughter has always lived there and she's grown
728
00:45:25.059 --> 00:45:27.889
up with the impression that her mother had always lived
729
00:45:27.909 --> 00:45:30.710
there as well. But as she starts to dig into
730
00:45:30.769 --> 00:45:34.449
her family past, learns that her mother was actually discovered
731
00:45:34.489 --> 00:45:37.809
there as a seven year old abandoned child. And the
732
00:45:37.869 --> 00:45:40.670
staff had been complicit in kind of a cover up
733
00:45:40.750 --> 00:45:41.769
to help her stay there.
734
00:45:42.789 --> 00:45:46.710
And what brought you what brought you around to doing
735
00:45:46.730 --> 00:45:47.309
that kind of book?
736
00:45:49.179 --> 00:45:53.500
You know, it's funny because I had a full-time job working,
737
00:45:53.519 --> 00:45:55.780
as you said, at The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
738
00:45:55.860 --> 00:45:59.570
I produced the interviews there, and I loved that job,
739
00:46:00.889 --> 00:46:03.369
but it took a lot of time. So for a while,
740
00:46:03.389 --> 00:46:05.530
I had this idea for a book. I wanted to
741
00:46:05.550 --> 00:46:07.630
be a writer, but I also had this full-time job,
742
00:46:07.690 --> 00:46:12.519
and I kind of wasn't writing because I just felt
743
00:46:12.599 --> 00:46:15.780
I didn't have the time. But ultimately, it was that
744
00:46:15.840 --> 00:46:18.550
job where I kind of got to interact with so
745
00:46:18.610 --> 00:46:21.650
many incredible people who are coming on the show to
746
00:46:21.690 --> 00:46:26.929
give interviews. And it accidentally became this like 10-year masterclass
747
00:46:27.340 --> 00:46:30.500
in studying successful people. Because if you're making it on
748
00:46:30.519 --> 00:46:32.519
a late night stage, for the most part, you know,
749
00:46:32.579 --> 00:46:37.239
you've achieved some degree of success. And the more and
750
00:46:37.260 --> 00:46:40.420
more I interacted with people, I realized that every single
751
00:46:40.500 --> 00:46:42.619
one of them had had to believe in themselves before
752
00:46:42.719 --> 00:46:46.900
anyone else believed in them enough for them to do something. So,
753
00:46:47.179 --> 00:46:50.389
you know, it's actors. No one was asking them to act.
754
00:46:50.469 --> 00:46:53.190
No one was asking these musicians to make music. People
755
00:46:53.210 --> 00:46:56.570
were believing in themselves and then the rest came from there.
756
00:46:56.769 --> 00:46:59.150
And so after years of kind of sitting with this
757
00:46:59.230 --> 00:47:01.250
novel in my head, I thought no one's going to
758
00:47:01.409 --> 00:47:03.190
knock down my door begging me to write a book.
759
00:47:03.670 --> 00:47:05.230
I have to be the one that that wants to
760
00:47:05.269 --> 00:47:07.630
do it for myself. And so it really was that
761
00:47:07.670 --> 00:47:10.199
job that kind of helped inspire me to sit down
762
00:47:10.239 --> 00:47:10.840
and get writing.
763
00:47:11.480 --> 00:47:14.320
Well, it's Carly Hillman. And the name of the book
764
00:47:14.400 --> 00:47:18.460
is The Refuge and takes place in Montana. And I
765
00:47:18.519 --> 00:47:23.030
understand it was published in September of 2026, which is
766
00:47:23.090 --> 00:47:26.369
just a few weeks ago. And where can you buy it?
767
00:47:27.000 --> 00:47:29.420
You can buy it wherever your books are sold. Local
768
00:47:29.480 --> 00:47:32.500
indie bookstores are great or Amazon, uh, wherever you like
769
00:47:32.519 --> 00:47:34.519
to buy your books, you can find it there. And,
770
00:47:34.780 --> 00:47:37.360
and I'm grateful that you're, you're chatting about it today.
771
00:47:37.380 --> 00:47:40.539
And is it available in audio too? Is it, uh,
772
00:47:40.800 --> 00:47:42.159
just published or hardcover?
773
00:47:42.900 --> 00:47:43.199
It is.
774
00:47:43.300 --> 00:47:47.159
It's available in on audio book as well. So you
775
00:47:47.179 --> 00:47:49.559
can listen, you can read however, however you'd like to
776
00:47:49.599 --> 00:47:50.039
get your books.
777
00:47:50.360 --> 00:47:54.000
Well, I will definitely be buying it. And, uh, Thank
778
00:47:54.019 --> 00:47:56.400
you so much, and thank you for coming on, and
779
00:47:56.420 --> 00:48:02.139
good luck. It's called The Refuge by Carly Hillman at Amazon,
780
00:48:02.199 --> 00:48:05.449
Barnes & Noble, or your local bookstore. Thank you, Kathy,
781
00:48:05.469 --> 00:48:07.829
for coming on, and we'll talk again real soon.
782
00:48:08.329 --> 00:48:11.650
Thank you so much.
783
00:48:13.250 --> 00:48:18.769
KT McFarland, who's been in politics for almost ever. 23 days, everybody,
784
00:48:18.949 --> 00:48:22.659
I'm walking around, everybody's asking me, Okay, so.
785
00:48:22.579 --> 00:48:26.239
I've thought about this, John, and everybody's, oh, if Trump
786
00:48:26.260 --> 00:48:28.119
loses the midterms, it's going to be the end of
787
00:48:28.139 --> 00:48:30.639
the world. It's going to be terrible. It's going to
788
00:48:30.659 --> 00:48:33.380
be horrible for his policies. It's going to be impeachment.
789
00:48:33.800 --> 00:48:36.179
But I've been thinking, okay, what are the component parts here?
790
00:48:36.619 --> 00:48:39.630
If he loses the House of Representatives, what happens? Yeah,
791
00:48:39.730 --> 00:48:42.550
there will definitely be impeachment, impeachment, impeachment, impeachment.
792
00:48:42.829 --> 00:48:43.489
That's all they'll do.
793
00:48:43.690 --> 00:48:45.650
But Trump's been to this rodeo. He knows what it's
794
00:48:45.690 --> 00:48:48.650
like to face impeachment threats, and he's wised up. He's
795
00:48:48.690 --> 00:48:51.250
going to know how to handle it. this time having
796
00:48:51.269 --> 00:48:54.010
already been through it in the first term. So that's
797
00:48:54.050 --> 00:48:55.829
not going to be such a big deal. It's not
798
00:48:55.869 --> 00:48:58.130
going to suck all the oxygen out of the Oval Office.
799
00:48:58.510 --> 00:49:00.239
The second thing is the Senate. Okay, so what if
800
00:49:00.280 --> 00:49:02.500
he loses the Senate? Well, you need the Senate to
801
00:49:02.559 --> 00:49:07.059
confirm cabinet officers. Trump already has a terrific cabinet. He's
802
00:49:07.099 --> 00:49:09.480
not going to fire anybody. Marco Rubio is going nowhere.
803
00:49:09.920 --> 00:49:12.719
Scott Besson is going to stay secretary of the Treasury.
804
00:49:13.110 --> 00:49:15.610
Pete Hegseth is going to stay. So he's not going
805
00:49:15.630 --> 00:49:18.909
to need the Senate for that. And so what about
806
00:49:18.949 --> 00:49:21.360
the other policies that Trump has put in place? They're
807
00:49:21.400 --> 00:49:25.380
already there. You know, we have the trade wars. He
808
00:49:25.400 --> 00:49:27.300
won the trade wars. We have new trade agreements with
809
00:49:27.360 --> 00:49:29.760
every country we need them with. So that's not going
810
00:49:29.780 --> 00:49:33.510
to change. He's already cut regulation. That's not going to change.
811
00:49:33.570 --> 00:49:34.650
Congress can't put on a.
812
00:49:34.650 --> 00:49:35.510
Lot of regulation.
813
00:49:35.949 --> 00:49:38.329
We already have the tax cuts. Congress isn't going to
814
00:49:38.349 --> 00:49:40.900
be able to change that. Congress isn't going to be
815
00:49:40.940 --> 00:49:43.139
able to change a whole lot of anything. And so
816
00:49:43.179 --> 00:49:45.059
when people say, oh, it'll be the end of the world,
817
00:49:45.380 --> 00:49:47.019
I mean, look, it'll be a hit.
818
00:49:47.119 --> 00:49:47.800
It'll be bad.
819
00:49:48.239 --> 00:49:50.460
But it won't be that bad, because I think President
820
00:49:50.480 --> 00:49:54.380
Trump's policies are already built in. And if what the
821
00:49:54.420 --> 00:49:58.280
Secretary of Treasury says, that we are just about to
822
00:49:58.800 --> 00:50:02.539
have a real growth in the economy, maybe even 5
823
00:50:02.539 --> 00:50:04.820
percent in the third and fourth quarter, we're going to see, like,
824
00:50:04.860 --> 00:50:07.980
growth levels that we haven't seen since the Reagan administration.
825
00:50:08.639 --> 00:50:11.840
And so I'm not as concerned about it. I would
826
00:50:11.960 --> 00:50:14.219
still urge everybody to go out and vote for, as
827
00:50:14.260 --> 00:50:16.539
President Trump says, think about me on the ballot, vote
828
00:50:16.579 --> 00:50:19.210
for the Republican candidate. I still think we're going to
829
00:50:19.289 --> 00:50:21.570
probably win these elections. But if we don't, I don't
830
00:50:21.590 --> 00:50:23.269
think it's the end of the world. I think President
831
00:50:23.289 --> 00:50:26.070
Trump is still going to finish his last two years
832
00:50:26.130 --> 00:50:29.929
in office on a real upswing because the Iran war
833
00:50:29.949 --> 00:50:32.989
will be over eventually. And I think we win the
834
00:50:33.030 --> 00:50:35.250
Iran war. I know we win the Iran war. And
835
00:50:35.289 --> 00:50:39.440
the economy, all of the indicators are there for having
836
00:50:39.579 --> 00:50:42.219
massive economic growth starting real soon.
837
00:50:43.119 --> 00:50:47.300
I think the Iran war is won already. And they're just,
838
00:50:47.920 --> 00:50:51.860
whatever soldiers they have left in the IRGC, they just
839
00:50:51.920 --> 00:50:55.619
keep stirring the pot until November 4th to make sure
840
00:50:55.659 --> 00:51:01.789
that the election goes against President Trump. because President Trump
841
00:51:01.809 --> 00:51:06.829
is their enemy, and they'd rather have a weaker government
842
00:51:06.869 --> 00:51:08.829
in the United States so they can get their way
843
00:51:08.869 --> 00:51:12.579
like they did during the four years of Biden. I mean,
844
00:51:12.599 --> 00:51:14.300
they almost bankrupted our country.
845
00:51:17.059 --> 00:51:21.900
The Iranians have so miscalculated. They think that Donald Trump
846
00:51:21.940 --> 00:51:24.579
is going to be pushed around like they pushed around Obama,
847
00:51:24.599 --> 00:51:27.500
like they pushed around Joe Biden. Donald Trump doesn't get
848
00:51:27.519 --> 00:51:30.780
pushed around by anybody. And they think, the Iranians think,
849
00:51:30.820 --> 00:51:33.360
the IRGC, which is the group running Iran now, the
850
00:51:33.400 --> 00:51:36.440
military dictatorship of Iran, they think that they're going to
851
00:51:36.559 --> 00:51:40.340
somehow get President Trump to crash and crater and give
852
00:51:40.360 --> 00:51:43.219
in to their will. It's not going to happen. And
853
00:51:43.280 --> 00:51:47.469
when President Trump a few days ago said, well, I
854
00:51:47.510 --> 00:51:49.250
don't think we're going to have an attack on Iran
855
00:51:49.329 --> 00:51:53.210
before the midterms, what has he really signaled? He's signaled
856
00:51:53.230 --> 00:51:56.750
to Iran the day after the midterms, there's nothing holding
857
00:51:56.769 --> 00:51:59.760
me back. And so I do think that we will
858
00:51:59.820 --> 00:52:05.239
have a major, probably major resumption of military activities. At
859
00:52:05.280 --> 00:52:09.309
the same time, Iran continues to get squeezed economically. John,
860
00:52:09.530 --> 00:52:12.570
they're not getting any revenue in. They're not paying. Even
861
00:52:12.590 --> 00:52:15.469
the New York Times says that the Iranians aren't paying
862
00:52:15.489 --> 00:52:19.750
their nurses. They're not paying their military. The entire economy
863
00:52:19.809 --> 00:52:23.750
is collapsing. And even murderous dictators like the IRGC, they
864
00:52:23.769 --> 00:52:26.210
have constituencies that they have to be a little concerned with.
865
00:52:26.610 --> 00:52:29.139
So I think that with the resumption of military activities
866
00:52:29.239 --> 00:52:32.539
and with the continuing collapse of the Iranian economy, the
867
00:52:32.579 --> 00:52:36.960
United States wins this war and also has managed to
868
00:52:37.059 --> 00:52:39.920
reorient the entire world energy sources.
869
00:52:40.659 --> 00:52:43.429
So, KT, what we have to do is just take
870
00:52:43.510 --> 00:52:45.309
day by day for the next 23 days.
871
00:52:46.619 --> 00:52:49.280
Yeah, it's so hard to be patient, isn't it? It's
872
00:52:49.519 --> 00:52:53.380
very hard. It's very hard to just wait, but relax.
873
00:52:53.420 --> 00:52:55.239
You know, there's sometimes when the best thing to do
874
00:52:55.360 --> 00:52:57.320
is kind of let the clock play out, and I
875
00:52:57.360 --> 00:52:59.780
think that's what we should do. President Trump has the
876
00:52:59.840 --> 00:53:03.670
right policy. We have won the Iran war. The Strait
877
00:53:03.710 --> 00:53:05.429
of Hormuz is not going to be anything they can
878
00:53:05.489 --> 00:53:08.530
blackmail us with ever again because of the workarounds of
879
00:53:08.670 --> 00:53:13.090
oil pipelines and resupply routes and increased American energy production
880
00:53:13.150 --> 00:53:16.150
and exports. So he's not only gotten rid of their nukes,
881
00:53:16.250 --> 00:53:18.769
but he's defanged Iran for at least a generation.
882
00:53:19.869 --> 00:53:23.510
KT McFarlane, let's catch up again next week and see
883
00:53:23.650 --> 00:53:26.429
if there's any difference in opinion next week. Thank you
884
00:53:26.469 --> 00:53:26.789
so much.
885
00:53:27.230 --> 00:53:28.369
Thank you so much, John.
886
00:53:30.130 --> 00:53:32.329
If you ever miss a segment or want to hear
887
00:53:32.389 --> 00:53:38.340
it again, go to wabcradio.com, go to podcasts, go to minicasts,
888
00:53:38.679 --> 00:53:44.090
and play back your favorite segment. Thank you for listening
889
00:53:44.150 --> 00:53:47.369
to the Catch Roundtable. Every Sunday morning, we'll bring you
890
00:53:47.389 --> 00:53:51.210
the latest in what's happening in our community, our country,
891
00:53:51.670 --> 00:53:54.840
and the world. Enjoy the rest of your weekend. Have
892
00:53:54.860 --> 00:53:55.500
a nice Sunday.