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Speaker 1: Welcome to this week on Capitol Hill, where we go beyond the headlines to bring you the story shaping Washington and the world. I'm your host, Tony Perkins.
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Speaker 2: Tonight, I'm announcing the immediate declassification and release of critical intelligence revealing shocking vulnerabilities in our election infrastructure.
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Speaker 3: This evidence shows that the election.
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Speaker 4: System we have dangerously exposes and really exposes like levels never thought possible to hacking, exploitation and foreign interference.
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Speaker 1: I was President Donald Trump in a primetime addressed Thursday night, announcing the release of new declassified material concerning foreign election interference by the Chinese Communist Party, as well as vulnerabilities in America's election system. Doctor Robert Destro, who served as Assistant Secretary of State during President Trump's first administration, says the President's announcement is consistent with the unco sassified information he has previously reviewed. He joins us Capitol Hill is still mourning the loss of South Carolina Senator Lindsay Graham, who died unexpectedly last weekend. Elizabeth Mitchell, white House correspondent for The Daily Signal, joins us with the latest reaction and what Senator Graham's absence could mean, particularly for American foreign policy. Also this week, tensions with Iran continue to escalate.
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Speaker 5: Specifically, in the memorandum of understanding that they signed, they were not to fire on commercial vessels moving through the Strait of Hermose and unfortunately they have made the tragic decision for them to do that. And President Trump is not going to sit by and allow these active acts of terrorism to take place in the Strait without ensuring Iran pace consequences for that, and that's what we are witnessing right now.
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Speaker 1: That was White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt. As the exchanges of strikes continues to erode hopes for a lasting ceasefire, what options remain for the United States to achieve its strategic objectives. North Carolina Congressman Pat Harrigan, a decorated Green Beret combat veteran, joins me. House Speaker Mike Johnson closed out another demanding week on Capitol Hill.
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Speaker 6: Given the Democrats absolute refusal to work with us on the nation's top priorities, and that includes election integrity and strengthening our nation's defense, We're moving forward with a narrow, streamlined package to deliver on some of America's top priorities. It is a sad situation, but this is where we are. Republicans have to do this on our own.
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Speaker 1: The House returns Monday with an ambitious legislative agenda before lawmaker's depart for the August recess. What's on that agenda? House Speaker Mike Johnson joins me to preview what's ahead.
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Speaker 3: All right, stay with us.
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Speaker 1: All of that and more is ahead on this edition of This Week on Capitol Hill.
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Speaker 3: Today's edition of This Week on Capitol Hill is being presented by aarp.
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Speaker 1: Flags flew at half staff this week to honor Senator Lindsey Graham following his sudden death last Saturday. For years, Senator Graham was one of the Senate's most influential voices on foreign policy and national security, and in recent years, a key ally of President Trump. His death leaves a significant void in both the Senate and the broader foreign policy debate. Joining us now to discuss this and more is Elizabeth Mitchell, White House correspondent for The Daily Signal. Elizabeth, Welcome back to This Week on Capitol Hill. Thanks so much for joining us.
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Speaker 7: Hi, thanks so much for having me back.
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Speaker 1: So describe what you've seen this week following the death of Senator Graham and how people are dealing with the vacuum created by his death.
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Speaker 8: Yeah, I think that this has definitely been a shocking week.
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Speaker 7: No one expected to wake up to this terrible news about Senator Graham's loss.
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Speaker 8: The President was very close to him and has talked about how our this newsboster.
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Speaker 7: Received for him.
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Speaker 8: And I think Senator really jumped right into action in confirming his sister, Senator Darlene Graham now and she is in the role. President Trump met with her yesterday and so it seems like she is poised to carry on.
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Speaker 7: His legacy for the remainder of his term.
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Speaker 1: And Senator Graham was a frequent guest on this program, in fact, was scheduled to be on this weekend. He leaves behind a significant void in understanding of the dynamics of foreign policy. Do you see or does the White House anticipate who will fill that role.
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Speaker 7: That's a great question that a lot of people are asking.
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Speaker 8: I think that some who've been asked some senators have said that no one can fully fill his shoes.
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Speaker 7: He's such a close relationship with the President.
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Speaker 8: Seems like they really understood each other and we're able to communicate on this. Of course, we know that Senator Graham was more interested in foreign intervention than some other members of the party, so he was able to provide a voice for those types of thoughts. And so there have main discussions about who will step into his shoes as kind of the main intermediator between the Senate and the White House. Mark Wayne Ullen had a roll like that, but then he moved on to being DHS Secretary. And I've heard Katie Brett being thrown out as an option, but we'll see who will come forward in that capacity.
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Speaker 1: All right, Elizabeth, Let's shift to another story this week, the President delivering a major speech Thursday night addressing election integrity.
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Speaker 3: What were your takeaways from that speech?
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Speaker 8: That speech, I think that we were all. I think that what we got was a little different than what I was expecting. I think the revelation that there were two hundred and eighty seven thousand people potentially non citizens who are registered to vote in US elections is very shocking, and I think that this is something that the President can and will use to continue to push for the Save America Act, because that wouldn't be able to happen if this were to pass, and I think that if this isn't accurate, then Democrats would have nothing to worry about by Save America Act passing, because they wouldn't be voting.
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Speaker 1: The reaction from some of the Democrats, including the House Minority Leader came Jefferies, was that the President is just paving the way for undermining of the falls election.
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Speaker 3: How do you respond to that.
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Speaker 7: I think that that was not what the President was trying to do here.
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Speaker 8: I think that he mostly it seemed like I think a lot of people would have expected him to say that this meant that the election was stolen and really focused more on the twenty twenty election, and it seemed like really he was looking forward to ways that the election integrity of the United States can be improved.
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Speaker 7: And I think we all know that.
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Speaker 8: Save America Act, if it does pass, probably cannot be implemented by the midterms, and so I think he's more looking forward to elections to come and thinking about vulnerabilities that he's identified.
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Speaker 3: And what about the.
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Speaker 1: Declassified information pointing to foreign interference, specifically from the Chinese Communist Party.
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Speaker 7: That was very interesting.
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Speaker 8: We've all heard so much particular from the left about Russian interference in elections, and so to hear that it could be the CCP itself interfering is horrifying thought. And I think the President was focusing on saying that CCP didn't want him to win because they knew he would create a strong national defense and that he would put tariffs on them, and so they didn't want him to win.
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Speaker 7: And so I think that's interesting.
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Speaker 8: As these files have been released, everyone will be able to check them out for themselves.
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Speaker 7: And another good aspect of this.
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Speaker 8: Is that he says that he's going to be doing investigations with the DOJ, FBI, et cetera. And so those who are skeptical, I think we all can follow the investigations and see what the result is of this, because he's going to be filing criminal charges and so there will be a lot of information to follow incoming months on this information to see how safe for unsafe our elections really are.
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Speaker 1: I think it's very important that the President has declassified this information and is putting it out there for the American people to see, because I think the level of trust that Americans have and the government is at an all time low and I think this supporting documentation, this evidence is needed, and I commend the President for putting it out there.
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Speaker 3: I want to go back to the House for just a moment.
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Speaker 1: This week a vote in the House demonstrating a major shift even in the Democratic Party regarding aid to Israel, where half of the Democratic cauc has voted against aid going to one of our strategic allies, Israel. This for years has been a bipartisan issue, but apparently not anymore.
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Speaker 8: Yes, that was a shocking switch, up one hundred Democrats voting against all aid to Israel. I think people in both parties have conversations about how much American age should be given to foreign countries, but the idea of cutting all aid to Israel could have a catastrophic outcome for all people who have there. They're completely surrounded by terrorists, and there have been a key isle ally to the United States for a long time. And so I think it really shows a strong shift to the Democrat Party and it raises the question of can someone support Israel and be a Democrat anymore?
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Speaker 1: One final question for you got just a little over a minute, laughed. You reported recently that the Trump administration has taken action on an HHS rule regarding federal funds for hospitals that performed transitions on gender transitions on children.
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Speaker 3: What did the administration do and why is this significant?
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Speaker 8: So I wrote the story because there's a lot of concern this week that the administration was abandoning a rule that it put forward in December that would make it a condition to participate in Medicare for an dedicaide for hospitals to not perform child transgender procedures. And so people thought they weren't moving forward with it because it wasn't listed in the federal rule agenda. However, it was added yesterday, so I was able to report that that this means administration is moving forward with the final rule that's expected around December of this year that would make sure that hospitals cannot have federal dollars if they're going to be giving kids these irreversible hormones surgeries, etc.
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Speaker 1: Which has been a top priority for this administration, with the President even mentioning that Thursday night in his primetime address, Elizabeth Mitchell, I want to thank you for joining us as always, great to see and heavy on the program. All right, stay tuned, folks, still to come House Speaker Mike John's will to be joining us, and coming up next, Congressman Pat Harrigan is going to be joining us. He's a member of the House Armed Service the Committee. So don't go away.
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Speaker 3: Welcome back to this week on Capitol Hill. I'm your host Tony Perkins.
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Speaker 1: Well, this week, the United States continued striking targets in Iran, as the conflict increasingly centered on control of the strategically critical strait of Hormuz. White House Press Secretary at Caroline Levitt said the renewed strikes came in response to Iran's violation of the Memorandum of Understanding. While the administration has indicated that it remains open to negotiations with the Iranian regime. The United States broadened its target set as the week came to a close, striking bridges in southern Iran, airport facilities and other infrastructure supporting Iran's military operation. Joining US now is North Carolina Congressman Pat Harrigan. Congressman Harrigan is a combat decorated Army green Beret, a graduate of West Point, and a former Special Forces commander who served two deployments in Afghanistan.
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Speaker 3: He now serves on the House Armed Services.
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Speaker 1: Committee, including the Subcommittee on Special Operations and Intelligence, where he's directly involved in congressional oversight of America's military readiness, intelligence capabilities, and response to threats posed by nations such as Iran.
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Speaker 3: Congressman Harigan, welcome to the program. Thanks for joining us, Tony.
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Speaker 10: It's always great to be with you. Thank you for having me.
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Speaker 3: So let me start with this question.
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Speaker 1: What's your assessment of the latest developments as United States and Iran continue exchanging these attacks.
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Speaker 11: Well, I think it's unfortunate that we are where we are, but I do think think that the President understands we basically have two resolutions here. We either need to declare victory and we need to leave, and I think that there are good reasons to consider that option, or we actually need to finish the job that we set out to achieve in Iran, and I think that that is seemingly where the administration has decided to go over the last six days. I think we've struck now for six straight days kind of post the end of the ceasefire. But as you and I have discussed earlier this week, if you do want to finish the job, you have to demonstrably change the overall approach to which you're taking with Iran, because you have to put the Iranian regime in a box where they have to decide between taking care of their ninety two million people who are not part of the IRGC, who simply want jobs, opportunity, a reasonable quality of life, or with the limited resources the regime has continue to pursue red lines that are in tall to the United States of America. We have not yet put them in that box, but I think with the strikes over the last couple of days, it seems like the administration is maybe moving towards showing the Iranian regime we are willing to put them in that box.
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Speaker 3: Congressman and harrigan.
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Speaker 1: Let me let me ask you this question, what are the risk long term to leave before the objectives that were stated at the outset of this conflict, if they're not accomplished, What.
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Speaker 3: Are the risks?
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Speaker 11: Well, there are significant risks to both courses of action, and I think that's the unfortunate consideration that you just have to admit to at this stage of the conflict, given where it's developed, where it's been on again, off again. Time is never on our side, right, I mean, this entire conflict boils down to who owns the time, And I'll give you a hint it's not the United States for a variety of reasons. But with respect to the specific question of what are the risks, Well, the risks are certain only that we have global and geopolitical instability due to Iran's utilization of force throughout the region. That includes against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, that includes the concept of tolling for geographical areas that against maritime law are very very clear, that's a bedrock foundation. You cannot charge tolls for geographic formations anywhere in the world. That's part of freedom of navigation. There's also I think parallels back to the nineteen eighty four withdrawal from Lebanon, where the Reagan administration effectively just said, you know what, we're being targeted and we're having all this friction and frustration because we're actually present here in the region. We just need to withdraw. But what happened in Lebanon after we withdrew, we got Hesbolah. So you've got a lot of considerations, historical considerations that you have to make here that would lead you to believe that if we leave problems unsolved, they generally come back with the vengeance, and in much greater fashion. When we left Iraq we got Isis. When we left Afghanistan, we got the Taliban back. So I think we've got to be very clear eyed about what the risks are here, and there are certainly risks with re engaging to Tony.
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Speaker 1: The We're going to talk a little bit later with the speaker in the program about reconciliation three point zero.
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Speaker 3: A part of that is funding for the military.
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Speaker 1: The military leadership saying they're running very low on funds. How long can we maintain this conflict without additional funding from Congress.
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Speaker 11: Well, the reality is is that the administration can likely continue this operation going for quite some time, but they would have to reprogram the reconciliation dollars from the first reconciliation last July, which I can tell you right now would not make any happy. It's not going to make the Democrats happy because they want the war over. It's also not going to make any members of Congress happy because there's already consternation over how those funds have not been spent. Right Congress has all these parochial interests, and certainly we want to achieve residents agenda of modernizing the military. Those were supposed to be forward looking, strategic investments that should have already been made. But out of that one hundred and fifty billion dollars, only thirty percent of it has been spent. That leaves seventy percent of it. But if it gets reprogrammed from forward looking investments in new, lower cost, highly capable technology, and it gets reprogrammed providing for operations in a conflict that only has twenty five percent approval of the American people, I can tell you that's going to be very problematic for the next reconciliation that we're contemplating right now.
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Speaker 1: We just have a little over two minutes. Laugh to a Congressman, Harrigan, you two options. We declare victory or objectives obtained and we leave, or we finish what we said we were going to do. That would be a break with how America has operated in the last fifty years, going all the way back to Korea, where we fought these wars of containment as opposed to outright victory.
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Speaker 11: Well, and I think we've always fought from a position that limited war has some sort of a basis in reality, and it doesn't. There's no historical example for this. I mean, we forget the last war that we really won, and I mean you can say we won Desert Storm because we used shakan Ah, we actually did what we were supposed to do. But the last war that the United States really won was World War Two. And we often take for granted that we won World War Two because we fire bombed almost every major German city, every major Japanese city. We dropped two nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But the bottom line is Germany stopped fighting because we killed thirty seven percent of their adult male population. That is really hard for people to swallow, but there's no historical evidence or precedent to say that limited conflict works. So if you're not willing to employ total war, then you shouldn't go to war. Right because the outcomes of failed conflict of failed for in intervention have been absolutely terrible for the United States of America in the last eighty years. We've got to get right on the thought philosophy of what conflict is, which is why we should avoid it at all costs. But when we decide to go, we better darnwell go Tony.
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Speaker 1: So, Congressman, there's two issues there. Number One, the leadership has to understand that. But then secondly, the leadership has to communicate that to the American people, because I don't think the American people understand that truth well.
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Speaker 11: And unfortunately, in this conflict, neither of those two things seem to happen. Right, you had civilian decisions being made, which is Look, that's the way that our government is supposed to operate with the commander in chief and his network of advisors. But if they don't have that military and historical background and context in which to make those decisions, it's very easy to make decisions in a fish bowl that aren't necessarily connected to reality. This war was not communicated to Congress, it wasn't communicated to the American people, it wasn't communicated to our allies. And so yeah, I'd say we kind of fell flat on both of those two fronts.
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Speaker 10: The question is where do we go from here.
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Speaker 11: We do have options, we have had successes on the ground in this conflict, so let's actually make the decisions we need to make.
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Speaker 1: Congressman Harrigan, I want to thank you for joining us. Appreciate your insight and understanding.
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Speaker 3: Folks, stick weathers. We're back with more after this.
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Speaker 8: Time.
00:20:31
Speaker 9: Scammers are stealing billions of dollars from America's seniors, and they're ramping up their efforts. With calls, texts, or clicks. They can steal a senior's entire life savings. But we have the power to stop these criminals. AARP is fighting for bipartisan, common sense solutions to protect older Americans hard earned money from scammers. Join us today visit action dot AARP dot org, slash fraud pledge for by AARP.
00:21:05
Speaker 1: Thanks for tuning in to this week on Capitol Hill. I'm Tony Perkins, your host. President Trump delivered a White House address on Thursday night focused on vulnerabilities of America's election system. During the approximately twenty six minute speech, the President urged Congress to pass the Save America Act as he announced the newly declassified intelligence that revealed the Chinese Communist Party sought to influence US elections. Joining me now to discuss this as doctor Robert Destro, former Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor during the first Trump administration, where he had a focus on China related issues, Doctor Destro, Welcome to this week on Capitol Hill. Thanks for joining us.
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Speaker 12: Well, thanks for having me. This is great and it's a timely topic.
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Speaker 1: Well, let's talk about this Thursday night, President Trump declassified intelligence related to Chinese efforts to influence US elections. Now, without getting into classify details, what is the biggest takeaway that Americans should understand from these documents?
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Speaker 12: Well, the biggest takeaway is that American systems, election systems are wide open, just like you're Just like they always warn you on the computer computer security. Election systems are basically PCs. You're voting on a PC. They're hackable, they're open, and they're vulnerable.
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Speaker 3: Is China's objective here?
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Speaker 1: Simply to help or heard a particular candidate, as President Trump kind of alluded to they were after him in the twenty twenty election, or did they have a broader goal to weaken Americans America's confidence in our democratic institutions and systems.
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Speaker 12: I'd say the easiest answer to that question is all of the above. It depends on who you talked to. They certainly the President was right in his speech when he said they wanted to get rid of him. There's just no question about that. But the you know, I don't think they actually know enough about American politics to pick favorites, you know, but China's not the only country that does those. The President made a clear that too last night.
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Speaker 1: Now, are these newly released declassified documents best understood as evidence of a single operation or as another reminder that the Chinese Communist Party is engaged in a more long term campaign to weaken America's institutions and advance its own interest.
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Speaker 12: Well, I think they should first and foremost be looked at as evidence of what happened. We will be doing a lot of heavy digging into that material. But the fact of the matter is China does everything long term and sometimes they're reacting to us. Sometimes they're reacting to their own internal imperatives. But I will guarantee you that that China is not the only one. We're going to find a lot of very interesting information in those documents. And what I'm intrigued about, and we can't get into here, is why everybody takes such great pains to deny anything's wrong when we've known for well over ten years that these electronic voting machines are a problem.
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Speaker 3: So doctor Destri, let me ask you this question.
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Speaker 1: You know, we know that that China has been engaged in a long term influence campaign. I mean they hire former politicians to lobby for them. I mean they have a strong presence in Washington, d C. That's influence. The evidence that the president has is declassifying suggests it's more than influence. It's interference, is it not.
00:24:45
Speaker 12: Oh yeah, absolutely, influence is kind of the likely the it's it's it's one of the beginning overt ways of influencing things. But if you look at something and I invite your own is to look it up, the software Pegasus that they can put on your phone, I mean, just spying on you is a big is interference, you know, because then they can predict, you know, how to make those influence campaigns more effective, and they can take more active measures, which I think they're doing with respect to some of the unrest we have here in the country.
00:25:24
Speaker 1: So this is this is a broad issue. It's not just elections, not just the federal government. So what are the most important steps that America should take to better protect itself, not just the federal government, but states, businesses, universities, churches, and even ordinary citizens. As we heard last night heard Thursday night from the President that they've.
00:25:47
Speaker 3: Gained information on voters all across this country.
00:25:51
Speaker 12: Well, I think that most of your listeners need to understand they're being spied on constantly, you know, And the question is how do you protect yourself? For those who have the obligation to run elections, you know, it's the idea that you would vote on an internet connected PC is just insane. You're just asking for trouble. And we've known that for well over twenty years. My first voting machine case was litigated back in two thousand and five, and we were like, you know, why would you ever want to vote on a PC, especially one that's connected to the Internet, So the first thing you do is fix the problem.
00:26:31
Speaker 1: All right, doctor Bob Destro, We're out of time, but great conversation. We're going to continue to follow this as more information becomes available to the public.
00:26:39
Speaker 3: Always great to see.
00:26:40
Speaker 12: You, Thanks for having me.
00:26:43
Speaker 3: All right, folks, stick with us.
00:26:44
Speaker 1: On the other side of the break house, speaker Mike Johnson joins us as we talk about what's on the agenda as Congress returns next week ahead of the August recess and o'caway of whorse, we have more straight ahead time.
00:27:02
Speaker 9: Scammers are stealing billions of dollars from America's seniors, and they're ramping up their efforts. With calls, texts, or clicks. They can steal a senior's entire life savings. But we have the power to stop these criminals. AARP is fighting for bipartisan, common sense solutions to protect older Americans hard earned money from scammers. Join us today visit action dot AARP dot org, slash fraud pledge paid for by AARP.
00:27:34
Speaker 12: Time.
00:27:36
Speaker 1: Welcome back to this week on Capitol Hill. I'm Tony Bergins your host.
00:27:39
Speaker 10: Well.
00:27:39
Speaker 1: The House Budget Committee this week advanced a framework for reconciliation three point zero, which includes scaled backfunding for defense and intelligence. Measure also includes agricultural aid and funds to improve election integrity, which the President touched on Thursday night. Now, this marks a key step for Republican leaders as they look to pass this measure, along with several other key items before the upcoming August recess. Joining us now for our weekly conversation to discuss this and More's House Speaker Mike Johnson. He represents Louisiana's fourth congressional district.
00:28:11
Speaker 3: He's on the road in Iowa.
00:28:13
Speaker 1: Mister speaker, Welcome back to this week on Capitol Hill.
00:28:17
Speaker 6: Hey, Tony, great to be with you, campaigning, barnstorming through the state of Ioa with our candidates out here, getting ready for this midterm election. And yet we still have, as you said back on Capitol Hill, a very aggressive agenda ahead of us. Next week, we're moving pushing forward the American First Agenda. Sadly, you know, as we discuss all the time, the Democrats don't want any part of this anymore, and so we got to do it on our own, and that necessitates the use of tools like reconciliation and a cr continue resolution that will try to pass next week because we're gonna have to fund the government on our own.
00:28:49
Speaker 10: The Democrats don't want any part of it.
00:28:52
Speaker 3: There's a lot on the plate.
00:28:53
Speaker 1: I mean, I know you're accustomed to, you know, twenty three hour days. But the fact is you've got the Reconciliation three point zero, You've got the National Defense Authorization Act, and a cr that would find the government through the election. Those in and of themselves could take weeks. You're going to get all this done next week?
00:29:16
Speaker 6: Well they could, but you know, we have done a lot of preparation work leading into this. Now, Reconcilation three point zero has changed in its scope, and some of these changes are by necessity because of the shifting landscape and politics, the loss of Senator Lindsay Graham, who was a central figure because he was the chairman of the Budget Committee in the Senate and was effectively the quarterback on that side, the dynamics that are shifting in terms of national security and all the rest.
00:29:43
Speaker 10: So we have to adapt to that and move forward.
00:29:45
Speaker 6: But on each of those measures that you discussed, a lot of work has gone into this in the previous months leading up to this point, and desperate times call for despert measures. The reason we have to get Reconciliation three point oh done is because it has those three elements that you mentioned. It is the vehicle for us to deliver this Save America Act to the President's desk. It is the only way to do it, because remember, there's no way to get sixty votes for Save America in the Senate that Democrats just simply won't go along with that, and you've only got fifty three Republicans. But we're going to make it a reconciliation matter, tying it to the budget with a fiscal impact that will qualify it for that process, so we can pass it with fifty one votes in the Senate and finally take care of this problem proof of citizenship to vote, and a proof of ID when you show up to do so simple important matters. The President highlighted that in his speech this week, and I think eighty three percent in the most recent poll of Americans understand the necessity we got to deliver that.
00:30:42
Speaker 1: And now, mister Speaker, I don't question the House's ability to get this done. You have been able to do some amazing things through prayer and hard work, but the Senate seems to be stuttering a little bit when it comes to reconciliation three point zero? Where do they stand on the CR And we have the Democrats in the Senate actually blocking the National Defense Authorization Act.
00:31:07
Speaker 6: Well, I think Leader Thun and his team understand the necessity of all these things, and he's got a different calculation than I do in the House. He's got to muscle it through as I do. But we're trying to send over to him a package, as I told him last week, that is irresistible that every Republican certainly can support. So if you pair the Save America Act provisions, which everybody supports election integrity, and you pair that with some defense spending which we desperately need to replace stockpiles and munitionans and all the rest and plan going forward, and then you add in a little bit of agriculture funding, that makes it, I believe, and I hope, an irresistible package for the Senate, and I think they'll pass that and get it to the President's desk. The skepticism is that they're afraid that the aperture might be open to wide and that too many issues would be considered and the bill might collapse on its own way. But we work really hard to keep this as a skinny reconcilation bill by necessity, because that's what's necessary to get it passed. And I would hats off to my Budget committee in the House. They did a great job this week passing the resolution. As you mentioned. Now we'll put that on the House floor next week. We'll get it done, send it over to the Senate before the August district work period begins, and then over those weeks more work can be done to prepare it where we finally get this done, get it to the President's desk right after we get back after August.
00:32:29
Speaker 1: So with the reconciliation three point zero, that is really all upon the Republicans in the Senate. They just need fifty one votes to pass that. But let's talk about the CR. The CR a little different story. The Democrats suggest that they're willing to shut the government down once again.
00:32:46
Speaker 10: Yeah, they want to do that.
00:32:47
Speaker 6: They do not mind inflicting pain upon the American people, as they've demonstrated multiple times over the last couple of years, just to try to score political points.
00:32:55
Speaker 10: I mean, there is no rationale behind it.
00:32:58
Speaker 6: As a dangerous gambit, We're going to pass a continue resolution out of the House, clean, simple resolution just to keep funding going and through the you know, probably mid November at least, maybe December.
00:33:10
Speaker 10: We're figuring out the timetable on that. But how could they vote against that? Tony? It's just a simple continuation.
00:33:15
Speaker 6: To make sure the groups they're paid in TSA and Coastguard and everybody else to keep Americans safe and keep the government operating and running. I hope we get some Democrat votes in the House to help with that and we send it over.
00:33:26
Speaker 10: I certainly hope that there's a handful of beats in the Senate who will go along.
00:33:31
Speaker 3: Mister Speaker.
00:33:31
Speaker 1: I think I could just play back a recording from several months ago where you asked the question, how could they vote against that? I think they've answered that previously that it seems that they don't really care. But there's another dynamic here going into the election. This would be totally on the shoulders of the Democrats. If the government is shut down.
00:33:54
Speaker 10: Well, that's absolutely right.
00:33:55
Speaker 6: If they choose to vote, know and shut the government down, all the Republicans are going to do the right thing. Democrats have to own that, and that'll be a very difficult cross for them. To bear going into the election when people aren't getting paid and line starts stacking up at airports again, they're going to know one party, and one party alone, is responsible for that. No political tricks, no gimmicks, a simple, clean, continued resolution of current funding levels. They vote know they have no excuse and they're going to have to answer for it to the people.
00:34:21
Speaker 3: Now.
00:34:21
Speaker 1: On the other side of that, coming back after the election, is the plan to then move forward with the appropriations bills that the House has worked on all this time and put them together.
00:34:32
Speaker 6: I'm proud to tell you we passed all twelve appropriations bills through the committee. We're moving them steadily off the floor or almost halfway there. The Senate has done absolutely nothing, and it's the Democrats in the Senate who's completely stopped the process and formed Republicans in the Senate they don't want to do it anymore. I mean, it's so reckless, it is so irresponsible, and again I believe there's going to be real accountability for that in the election cycle. People have to know we have to have the government functioning. It's absurd the games.
00:35:01
Speaker 1: And that's the choice on the ballot between responsible and reckless mister speaker, and thanks so much for joining us. Safe travels and we'll talk to you next week.
00:35:10
Speaker 10: Thanks Tony, god bless oh.
00:35:11
Speaker 1: Speaker Mike Johnson on the road in Iowa. It is going to be an extremely busy week for the House next week as they try to wrap things up before the August recess. Of course, we'll be tracking that next week in as well.
00:35:24
Speaker 3: All right, don't go away.
00:35:25
Speaker 1: A few final thoughts right after this, welcome back to this week on Capitol Hill. Look at the evidence. In his address to the nation on election integrity, President Donald Trump declassified compelling evidence that America's elections are vulnerable to manipulation from non citizens voting to foreign interference. The President argued that the evidence demands action by Congress to protect one of the most sacred rights of American citizens, the right to v That principle applies elsewhere. When the evidence is clear, it demands action. Compelling evidence of a different kind was presented this past week at the confirmation hearing of Attorney General nominee Todd Blanche. Evidence was presented that unborn babies are losing their lives through the abortion drug Mepha press Stone and increasingly the drug is being obtained through the mail by men who secretly administered to the mothers of their unborn children. Alabama Senator Katie Britt recounted the story of Jonah Alfholder. After Jonah refused to abort her baby, her boyfriend Hassan James Abas, an Ohio medical resident, used his ex wife's identity to obtain abortion pills online to poison Jonah and kill their unborn child. As Senator Britt observed, her story is one of many. The evidence supports BRIT's claim. Last month, Army Captain Brandon Jones Adams was convicted of secretly placing Mifa press Stone into the drink of a jew enlisted soldier he had impregnated, causing the death of their unborn child.
00:37:05
Speaker 3: These are not isolated crimes.
00:37:07
Speaker 1: They exposed the deadly consequences of policies making abortion drugs easier to obtain through the mail, with fewer safeguards and less accountability. Now why was this evidence presented during the Attorney General's confirmation hearing? Because the Department of Justice has the authority to reverse one of the key policies making these crimes possible. Following the Supreme Court's Dobb's decision. In twenty twenty two, the Biden administration sought to undermine the decision by expanding access to chemical abortion. It relaxed the FDA's guidelines, removing the long standing requirement for in person dispensing and medical oversight. But another obstacle remained, the Comstock Act in eighteen seventy three, federal law prohibiting the use of the mail to send articles intended for abortion. Rather than enforce that law, the Biden Justice Apartment issued an opinion concluding that abortion drugs could be mailed unless the sender specifically intended an illegal abortion. In effect, the government said, presume lawful use and ask no questions That doj opinion remains in effect today under the Trump administration. Unlike the FDA's guidelines, which are being challenged in court, the Justice Department can withdraw and replace that opinion without waiting for Congress or the courts. The evidence also shows that the abortion drugs are fueling an increase in abortion. Since job's abortions have increased by roughly twenty percent nationwide, with the abortion pill now accounting for approximately sixty five percent of abortions. The evidence demands action if evidence of election vulnerabilities justify action to protect the right to vote, the evidence that existing federal laws being ignored to the detriment of women, unborn children in the laws of nearly half the state's demands action as well. Trump should direct the Department of Justice to review the Comstock Act, withdraw the Biden opinion, and enforce the law as Congress enacted it. If safeguarding the right to vote as fundamental, and it is safeguarding the right to life is foundational.
00:39:15
Speaker 3: That has been this week on Capitol Hill.
Speaker 1: Welcome to this week on Capitol Hill, where we go beyond the headlines to bring you the story shaping Washington and the world. I'm your host, Tony Perkins.
00:00:08
Speaker 2: Tonight, I'm announcing the immediate declassification and release of critical intelligence revealing shocking vulnerabilities in our election infrastructure.
00:00:20
Speaker 3: This evidence shows that the election.
00:00:22
Speaker 4: System we have dangerously exposes and really exposes like levels never thought possible to hacking, exploitation and foreign interference.
00:00:35
Speaker 1: I was President Donald Trump in a primetime addressed Thursday night, announcing the release of new declassified material concerning foreign election interference by the Chinese Communist Party, as well as vulnerabilities in America's election system. Doctor Robert Destro, who served as Assistant Secretary of State during President Trump's first administration, says the President's announcement is consistent with the unco sassified information he has previously reviewed. He joins us Capitol Hill is still mourning the loss of South Carolina Senator Lindsay Graham, who died unexpectedly last weekend. Elizabeth Mitchell, white House correspondent for The Daily Signal, joins us with the latest reaction and what Senator Graham's absence could mean, particularly for American foreign policy. Also this week, tensions with Iran continue to escalate.
00:01:24
Speaker 5: Specifically, in the memorandum of understanding that they signed, they were not to fire on commercial vessels moving through the Strait of Hermose and unfortunately they have made the tragic decision for them to do that. And President Trump is not going to sit by and allow these active acts of terrorism to take place in the Strait without ensuring Iran pace consequences for that, and that's what we are witnessing right now.
00:01:48
Speaker 1: That was White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt. As the exchanges of strikes continues to erode hopes for a lasting ceasefire, what options remain for the United States to achieve its strategic objectives. North Carolina Congressman Pat Harrigan, a decorated Green Beret combat veteran, joins me. House Speaker Mike Johnson closed out another demanding week on Capitol Hill.
00:02:12
Speaker 6: Given the Democrats absolute refusal to work with us on the nation's top priorities, and that includes election integrity and strengthening our nation's defense, We're moving forward with a narrow, streamlined package to deliver on some of America's top priorities. It is a sad situation, but this is where we are. Republicans have to do this on our own.
00:02:32
Speaker 1: The House returns Monday with an ambitious legislative agenda before lawmaker's depart for the August recess. What's on that agenda? House Speaker Mike Johnson joins me to preview what's ahead.
00:02:44
Speaker 3: All right, stay with us.
00:02:45
Speaker 1: All of that and more is ahead on this edition of This Week on Capitol Hill.
00:02:51
Speaker 3: Today's edition of This Week on Capitol Hill is being presented by aarp.
00:03:02
Speaker 1: Flags flew at half staff this week to honor Senator Lindsey Graham following his sudden death last Saturday. For years, Senator Graham was one of the Senate's most influential voices on foreign policy and national security, and in recent years, a key ally of President Trump. His death leaves a significant void in both the Senate and the broader foreign policy debate. Joining us now to discuss this and more is Elizabeth Mitchell, White House correspondent for The Daily Signal. Elizabeth, Welcome back to This Week on Capitol Hill. Thanks so much for joining us.
00:03:36
Speaker 7: Hi, thanks so much for having me back.
00:03:38
Speaker 1: So describe what you've seen this week following the death of Senator Graham and how people are dealing with the vacuum created by his death.
00:03:47
Speaker 8: Yeah, I think that this has definitely been a shocking week.
00:03:52
Speaker 7: No one expected to wake up to this terrible news about Senator Graham's loss.
00:03:57
Speaker 8: The President was very close to him and has talked about how our this newsboster.
00:04:00
Speaker 7: Received for him.
00:04:01
Speaker 8: And I think Senator really jumped right into action in confirming his sister, Senator Darlene Graham now and she is in the role. President Trump met with her yesterday and so it seems like she is poised to carry on.
00:04:17
Speaker 7: His legacy for the remainder of his term.
00:04:20
Speaker 1: And Senator Graham was a frequent guest on this program, in fact, was scheduled to be on this weekend. He leaves behind a significant void in understanding of the dynamics of foreign policy. Do you see or does the White House anticipate who will fill that role.
00:04:38
Speaker 7: That's a great question that a lot of people are asking.
00:04:41
Speaker 8: I think that some who've been asked some senators have said that no one can fully fill his shoes.
00:04:46
Speaker 7: He's such a close relationship with the President.
00:04:48
Speaker 8: Seems like they really understood each other and we're able to communicate on this. Of course, we know that Senator Graham was more interested in foreign intervention than some other members of the party, so he was able to provide a voice for those types of thoughts. And so there have main discussions about who will step into his shoes as kind of the main intermediator between the Senate and the White House. Mark Wayne Ullen had a roll like that, but then he moved on to being DHS Secretary. And I've heard Katie Brett being thrown out as an option, but we'll see who will come forward in that capacity.
00:05:20
Speaker 1: All right, Elizabeth, Let's shift to another story this week, the President delivering a major speech Thursday night addressing election integrity.
00:05:32
Speaker 3: What were your takeaways from that speech?
00:05:35
Speaker 8: That speech, I think that we were all. I think that what we got was a little different than what I was expecting. I think the revelation that there were two hundred and eighty seven thousand people potentially non citizens who are registered to vote in US elections is very shocking, and I think that this is something that the President can and will use to continue to push for the Save America Act, because that wouldn't be able to happen if this were to pass, and I think that if this isn't accurate, then Democrats would have nothing to worry about by Save America Act passing, because they wouldn't be voting.
00:06:11
Speaker 1: The reaction from some of the Democrats, including the House Minority Leader came Jefferies, was that the President is just paving the way for undermining of the falls election.
00:06:26
Speaker 3: How do you respond to that.
00:06:29
Speaker 7: I think that that was not what the President was trying to do here.
00:06:32
Speaker 8: I think that he mostly it seemed like I think a lot of people would have expected him to say that this meant that the election was stolen and really focused more on the twenty twenty election, and it seemed like really he was looking forward to ways that the election integrity of the United States can be improved.
00:06:48
Speaker 7: And I think we all know that.
00:06:50
Speaker 8: Save America Act, if it does pass, probably cannot be implemented by the midterms, and so I think he's more looking forward to elections to come and thinking about vulnerabilities that he's identified.
00:07:02
Speaker 3: And what about the.
00:07:05
Speaker 1: Declassified information pointing to foreign interference, specifically from the Chinese Communist Party.
00:07:14
Speaker 7: That was very interesting.
00:07:15
Speaker 8: We've all heard so much particular from the left about Russian interference in elections, and so to hear that it could be the CCP itself interfering is horrifying thought. And I think the President was focusing on saying that CCP didn't want him to win because they knew he would create a strong national defense and that he would put tariffs on them, and so they didn't want him to win.
00:07:36
Speaker 7: And so I think that's interesting.
00:07:38
Speaker 8: As these files have been released, everyone will be able to check them out for themselves.
00:07:41
Speaker 7: And another good aspect of this.
00:07:43
Speaker 8: Is that he says that he's going to be doing investigations with the DOJ, FBI, et cetera. And so those who are skeptical, I think we all can follow the investigations and see what the result is of this, because he's going to be filing criminal charges and so there will be a lot of information to follow incoming months on this information to see how safe for unsafe our elections really are.
00:08:08
Speaker 1: I think it's very important that the President has declassified this information and is putting it out there for the American people to see, because I think the level of trust that Americans have and the government is at an all time low and I think this supporting documentation, this evidence is needed, and I commend the President for putting it out there.
00:08:28
Speaker 3: I want to go back to the House for just a moment.
00:08:31
Speaker 1: This week a vote in the House demonstrating a major shift even in the Democratic Party regarding aid to Israel, where half of the Democratic cauc has voted against aid going to one of our strategic allies, Israel. This for years has been a bipartisan issue, but apparently not anymore.
00:08:57
Speaker 8: Yes, that was a shocking switch, up one hundred Democrats voting against all aid to Israel. I think people in both parties have conversations about how much American age should be given to foreign countries, but the idea of cutting all aid to Israel could have a catastrophic outcome for all people who have there. They're completely surrounded by terrorists, and there have been a key isle ally to the United States for a long time. And so I think it really shows a strong shift to the Democrat Party and it raises the question of can someone support Israel and be a Democrat anymore?
00:09:28
Speaker 1: One final question for you got just a little over a minute, laughed. You reported recently that the Trump administration has taken action on an HHS rule regarding federal funds for hospitals that performed transitions on gender transitions on children.
00:09:44
Speaker 3: What did the administration do and why is this significant?
00:09:48
Speaker 8: So I wrote the story because there's a lot of concern this week that the administration was abandoning a rule that it put forward in December that would make it a condition to participate in Medicare for an dedicaide for hospitals to not perform child transgender procedures. And so people thought they weren't moving forward with it because it wasn't listed in the federal rule agenda. However, it was added yesterday, so I was able to report that that this means administration is moving forward with the final rule that's expected around December of this year that would make sure that hospitals cannot have federal dollars if they're going to be giving kids these irreversible hormones surgeries, etc.
00:10:34
Speaker 1: Which has been a top priority for this administration, with the President even mentioning that Thursday night in his primetime address, Elizabeth Mitchell, I want to thank you for joining us as always, great to see and heavy on the program. All right, stay tuned, folks, still to come House Speaker Mike John's will to be joining us, and coming up next, Congressman Pat Harrigan is going to be joining us. He's a member of the House Armed Service the Committee. So don't go away.
00:11:01
Speaker 9: Scammers are stealing billions of dollars from America's seniors, and they're ramping up their efforts. With calls, texts, or clicks. They can steal a senior's entire life savings. But we have the power to stop these criminals. AARP is fighting for bipartisan, common sense solutions to protect older Americans hard earned money from scammers. Join us today visit action dot AARP dot org, slash fraud Pledge paid for by AARP.
00:11:34
Speaker 3: Welcome back to this week on Capitol Hill. I'm your host Tony Perkins.
00:11:38
Speaker 1: Well, this week, the United States continued striking targets in Iran, as the conflict increasingly centered on control of the strategically critical strait of Hormuz. White House Press Secretary at Caroline Levitt said the renewed strikes came in response to Iran's violation of the Memorandum of Understanding. While the administration has indicated that it remains open to negotiations with the Iranian regime. The United States broadened its target set as the week came to a close, striking bridges in southern Iran, airport facilities and other infrastructure supporting Iran's military operation. Joining US now is North Carolina Congressman Pat Harrigan. Congressman Harrigan is a combat decorated Army green Beret, a graduate of West Point, and a former Special Forces commander who served two deployments in Afghanistan.
00:12:23
Speaker 3: He now serves on the House Armed Services.
00:12:25
Speaker 1: Committee, including the Subcommittee on Special Operations and Intelligence, where he's directly involved in congressional oversight of America's military readiness, intelligence capabilities, and response to threats posed by nations such as Iran.
00:12:40
Speaker 3: Congressman Harigan, welcome to the program. Thanks for joining us, Tony.
00:12:45
Speaker 10: It's always great to be with you. Thank you for having me.
00:12:47
Speaker 3: So let me start with this question.
00:12:49
Speaker 1: What's your assessment of the latest developments as United States and Iran continue exchanging these attacks.
00:12:56
Speaker 11: Well, I think it's unfortunate that we are where we are, but I do think think that the President understands we basically have two resolutions here. We either need to declare victory and we need to leave, and I think that there are good reasons to consider that option, or we actually need to finish the job that we set out to achieve in Iran, and I think that that is seemingly where the administration has decided to go over the last six days. I think we've struck now for six straight days kind of post the end of the ceasefire. But as you and I have discussed earlier this week, if you do want to finish the job, you have to demonstrably change the overall approach to which you're taking with Iran, because you have to put the Iranian regime in a box where they have to decide between taking care of their ninety two million people who are not part of the IRGC, who simply want jobs, opportunity, a reasonable quality of life, or with the limited resources the regime has continue to pursue red lines that are in tall to the United States of America. We have not yet put them in that box, but I think with the strikes over the last couple of days, it seems like the administration is maybe moving towards showing the Iranian regime we are willing to put them in that box.
00:14:16
Speaker 3: Congressman and harrigan.
00:14:17
Speaker 1: Let me let me ask you this question, what are the risk long term to leave before the objectives that were stated at the outset of this conflict, if they're not accomplished, What.
00:14:28
Speaker 3: Are the risks?
00:14:29
Speaker 11: Well, there are significant risks to both courses of action, and I think that's the unfortunate consideration that you just have to admit to at this stage of the conflict, given where it's developed, where it's been on again, off again. Time is never on our side, right, I mean, this entire conflict boils down to who owns the time, And I'll give you a hint it's not the United States for a variety of reasons. But with respect to the specific question of what are the risks, Well, the risks are certain only that we have global and geopolitical instability due to Iran's utilization of force throughout the region. That includes against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, that includes the concept of tolling for geographical areas that against maritime law are very very clear, that's a bedrock foundation. You cannot charge tolls for geographic formations anywhere in the world. That's part of freedom of navigation. There's also I think parallels back to the nineteen eighty four withdrawal from Lebanon, where the Reagan administration effectively just said, you know what, we're being targeted and we're having all this friction and frustration because we're actually present here in the region. We just need to withdraw. But what happened in Lebanon after we withdrew, we got Hesbolah. So you've got a lot of considerations, historical considerations that you have to make here that would lead you to believe that if we leave problems unsolved, they generally come back with the vengeance, and in much greater fashion. When we left Iraq we got Isis. When we left Afghanistan, we got the Taliban back. So I think we've got to be very clear eyed about what the risks are here, and there are certainly risks with re engaging to Tony.
00:16:23
Speaker 1: The We're going to talk a little bit later with the speaker in the program about reconciliation three point zero.
00:16:28
Speaker 3: A part of that is funding for the military.
00:16:30
Speaker 1: The military leadership saying they're running very low on funds. How long can we maintain this conflict without additional funding from Congress.
00:16:43
Speaker 11: Well, the reality is is that the administration can likely continue this operation going for quite some time, but they would have to reprogram the reconciliation dollars from the first reconciliation last July, which I can tell you right now would not make any happy. It's not going to make the Democrats happy because they want the war over. It's also not going to make any members of Congress happy because there's already consternation over how those funds have not been spent. Right Congress has all these parochial interests, and certainly we want to achieve residents agenda of modernizing the military. Those were supposed to be forward looking, strategic investments that should have already been made. But out of that one hundred and fifty billion dollars, only thirty percent of it has been spent. That leaves seventy percent of it. But if it gets reprogrammed from forward looking investments in new, lower cost, highly capable technology, and it gets reprogrammed providing for operations in a conflict that only has twenty five percent approval of the American people, I can tell you that's going to be very problematic for the next reconciliation that we're contemplating right now.
00:17:49
Speaker 1: We just have a little over two minutes. Laugh to a Congressman, Harrigan, you two options. We declare victory or objectives obtained and we leave, or we finish what we said we were going to do. That would be a break with how America has operated in the last fifty years, going all the way back to Korea, where we fought these wars of containment as opposed to outright victory.
00:18:12
Speaker 11: Well, and I think we've always fought from a position that limited war has some sort of a basis in reality, and it doesn't. There's no historical example for this. I mean, we forget the last war that we really won, and I mean you can say we won Desert Storm because we used shakan Ah, we actually did what we were supposed to do. But the last war that the United States really won was World War Two. And we often take for granted that we won World War Two because we fire bombed almost every major German city, every major Japanese city. We dropped two nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But the bottom line is Germany stopped fighting because we killed thirty seven percent of their adult male population. That is really hard for people to swallow, but there's no historical evidence or precedent to say that limited conflict works. So if you're not willing to employ total war, then you shouldn't go to war. Right because the outcomes of failed conflict of failed for in intervention have been absolutely terrible for the United States of America in the last eighty years. We've got to get right on the thought philosophy of what conflict is, which is why we should avoid it at all costs. But when we decide to go, we better darnwell go Tony.
00:19:21
Speaker 1: So, Congressman, there's two issues there. Number One, the leadership has to understand that. But then secondly, the leadership has to communicate that to the American people, because I don't think the American people understand that truth well.
00:19:34
Speaker 11: And unfortunately, in this conflict, neither of those two things seem to happen. Right, you had civilian decisions being made, which is Look, that's the way that our government is supposed to operate with the commander in chief and his network of advisors. But if they don't have that military and historical background and context in which to make those decisions, it's very easy to make decisions in a fish bowl that aren't necessarily connected to reality. This war was not communicated to Congress, it wasn't communicated to the American people, it wasn't communicated to our allies. And so yeah, I'd say we kind of fell flat on both of those two fronts.
00:20:10
Speaker 10: The question is where do we go from here.
00:20:12
Speaker 11: We do have options, we have had successes on the ground in this conflict, so let's actually make the decisions we need to make.
00:20:19
Speaker 1: Congressman Harrigan, I want to thank you for joining us. Appreciate your insight and understanding.
00:20:24
Speaker 3: Folks, stick weathers. We're back with more after this.
00:20:29
Speaker 8: Time.
00:20:31
Speaker 9: Scammers are stealing billions of dollars from America's seniors, and they're ramping up their efforts. With calls, texts, or clicks. They can steal a senior's entire life savings. But we have the power to stop these criminals. AARP is fighting for bipartisan, common sense solutions to protect older Americans hard earned money from scammers. Join us today visit action dot AARP dot org, slash fraud pledge for by AARP.
00:21:05
Speaker 1: Thanks for tuning in to this week on Capitol Hill. I'm Tony Perkins, your host. President Trump delivered a White House address on Thursday night focused on vulnerabilities of America's election system. During the approximately twenty six minute speech, the President urged Congress to pass the Save America Act as he announced the newly declassified intelligence that revealed the Chinese Communist Party sought to influence US elections. Joining me now to discuss this as doctor Robert Destro, former Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor during the first Trump administration, where he had a focus on China related issues, Doctor Destro, Welcome to this week on Capitol Hill. Thanks for joining us.
00:21:47
Speaker 12: Well, thanks for having me. This is great and it's a timely topic.
00:21:51
Speaker 1: Well, let's talk about this Thursday night, President Trump declassified intelligence related to Chinese efforts to influence US elections. Now, without getting into classify details, what is the biggest takeaway that Americans should understand from these documents?
00:22:07
Speaker 12: Well, the biggest takeaway is that American systems, election systems are wide open, just like you're Just like they always warn you on the computer computer security. Election systems are basically PCs. You're voting on a PC. They're hackable, they're open, and they're vulnerable.
00:22:29
Speaker 3: Is China's objective here?
00:22:31
Speaker 1: Simply to help or heard a particular candidate, as President Trump kind of alluded to they were after him in the twenty twenty election, or did they have a broader goal to weaken Americans America's confidence in our democratic institutions and systems.
00:22:47
Speaker 12: I'd say the easiest answer to that question is all of the above. It depends on who you talked to. They certainly the President was right in his speech when he said they wanted to get rid of him. There's just no question about that. But the you know, I don't think they actually know enough about American politics to pick favorites, you know, but China's not the only country that does those. The President made a clear that too last night.
00:23:13
Speaker 1: Now, are these newly released declassified documents best understood as evidence of a single operation or as another reminder that the Chinese Communist Party is engaged in a more long term campaign to weaken America's institutions and advance its own interest.
00:23:33
Speaker 12: Well, I think they should first and foremost be looked at as evidence of what happened. We will be doing a lot of heavy digging into that material. But the fact of the matter is China does everything long term and sometimes they're reacting to us. Sometimes they're reacting to their own internal imperatives. But I will guarantee you that that China is not the only one. We're going to find a lot of very interesting information in those documents. And what I'm intrigued about, and we can't get into here, is why everybody takes such great pains to deny anything's wrong when we've known for well over ten years that these electronic voting machines are a problem.
00:24:20
Speaker 3: So doctor Destri, let me ask you this question.
00:24:22
Speaker 1: You know, we know that that China has been engaged in a long term influence campaign. I mean they hire former politicians to lobby for them. I mean they have a strong presence in Washington, d C. That's influence. The evidence that the president has is declassifying suggests it's more than influence. It's interference, is it not.
00:24:45
Speaker 12: Oh yeah, absolutely, influence is kind of the likely the it's it's it's one of the beginning overt ways of influencing things. But if you look at something and I invite your own is to look it up, the software Pegasus that they can put on your phone, I mean, just spying on you is a big is interference, you know, because then they can predict, you know, how to make those influence campaigns more effective, and they can take more active measures, which I think they're doing with respect to some of the unrest we have here in the country.
00:25:24
Speaker 1: So this is this is a broad issue. It's not just elections, not just the federal government. So what are the most important steps that America should take to better protect itself, not just the federal government, but states, businesses, universities, churches, and even ordinary citizens. As we heard last night heard Thursday night from the President that they've.
00:25:47
Speaker 3: Gained information on voters all across this country.
00:25:51
Speaker 12: Well, I think that most of your listeners need to understand they're being spied on constantly, you know, And the question is how do you protect yourself? For those who have the obligation to run elections, you know, it's the idea that you would vote on an internet connected PC is just insane. You're just asking for trouble. And we've known that for well over twenty years. My first voting machine case was litigated back in two thousand and five, and we were like, you know, why would you ever want to vote on a PC, especially one that's connected to the Internet, So the first thing you do is fix the problem.
00:26:31
Speaker 1: All right, doctor Bob Destro, We're out of time, but great conversation. We're going to continue to follow this as more information becomes available to the public.
00:26:39
Speaker 3: Always great to see.
00:26:40
Speaker 12: You, Thanks for having me.
00:26:43
Speaker 3: All right, folks, stick with us.
00:26:44
Speaker 1: On the other side of the break house, speaker Mike Johnson joins us as we talk about what's on the agenda as Congress returns next week ahead of the August recess and o'caway of whorse, we have more straight ahead time.
00:27:02
Speaker 9: Scammers are stealing billions of dollars from America's seniors, and they're ramping up their efforts. With calls, texts, or clicks. They can steal a senior's entire life savings. But we have the power to stop these criminals. AARP is fighting for bipartisan, common sense solutions to protect older Americans hard earned money from scammers. Join us today visit action dot AARP dot org, slash fraud pledge paid for by AARP.
00:27:34
Speaker 12: Time.
00:27:36
Speaker 1: Welcome back to this week on Capitol Hill. I'm Tony Bergins your host.
00:27:39
Speaker 10: Well.
00:27:39
Speaker 1: The House Budget Committee this week advanced a framework for reconciliation three point zero, which includes scaled backfunding for defense and intelligence. Measure also includes agricultural aid and funds to improve election integrity, which the President touched on Thursday night. Now, this marks a key step for Republican leaders as they look to pass this measure, along with several other key items before the upcoming August recess. Joining us now for our weekly conversation to discuss this and More's House Speaker Mike Johnson. He represents Louisiana's fourth congressional district.
00:28:11
Speaker 3: He's on the road in Iowa.
00:28:13
Speaker 1: Mister speaker, Welcome back to this week on Capitol Hill.
00:28:17
Speaker 6: Hey, Tony, great to be with you, campaigning, barnstorming through the state of Ioa with our candidates out here, getting ready for this midterm election. And yet we still have, as you said back on Capitol Hill, a very aggressive agenda ahead of us. Next week, we're moving pushing forward the American First Agenda. Sadly, you know, as we discuss all the time, the Democrats don't want any part of this anymore, and so we got to do it on our own, and that necessitates the use of tools like reconciliation and a cr continue resolution that will try to pass next week because we're gonna have to fund the government on our own.
00:28:49
Speaker 10: The Democrats don't want any part of it.
00:28:52
Speaker 3: There's a lot on the plate.
00:28:53
Speaker 1: I mean, I know you're accustomed to, you know, twenty three hour days. But the fact is you've got the Reconciliation three point zero, You've got the National Defense Authorization Act, and a cr that would find the government through the election. Those in and of themselves could take weeks. You're going to get all this done next week?
00:29:16
Speaker 6: Well they could, but you know, we have done a lot of preparation work leading into this. Now, Reconcilation three point zero has changed in its scope, and some of these changes are by necessity because of the shifting landscape and politics, the loss of Senator Lindsay Graham, who was a central figure because he was the chairman of the Budget Committee in the Senate and was effectively the quarterback on that side, the dynamics that are shifting in terms of national security and all the rest.
00:29:43
Speaker 10: So we have to adapt to that and move forward.
00:29:45
Speaker 6: But on each of those measures that you discussed, a lot of work has gone into this in the previous months leading up to this point, and desperate times call for despert measures. The reason we have to get Reconciliation three point oh done is because it has those three elements that you mentioned. It is the vehicle for us to deliver this Save America Act to the President's desk. It is the only way to do it, because remember, there's no way to get sixty votes for Save America in the Senate that Democrats just simply won't go along with that, and you've only got fifty three Republicans. But we're going to make it a reconciliation matter, tying it to the budget with a fiscal impact that will qualify it for that process, so we can pass it with fifty one votes in the Senate and finally take care of this problem proof of citizenship to vote, and a proof of ID when you show up to do so simple important matters. The President highlighted that in his speech this week, and I think eighty three percent in the most recent poll of Americans understand the necessity we got to deliver that.
00:30:42
Speaker 1: And now, mister Speaker, I don't question the House's ability to get this done. You have been able to do some amazing things through prayer and hard work, but the Senate seems to be stuttering a little bit when it comes to reconciliation three point zero? Where do they stand on the CR And we have the Democrats in the Senate actually blocking the National Defense Authorization Act.
00:31:07
Speaker 6: Well, I think Leader Thun and his team understand the necessity of all these things, and he's got a different calculation than I do in the House. He's got to muscle it through as I do. But we're trying to send over to him a package, as I told him last week, that is irresistible that every Republican certainly can support. So if you pair the Save America Act provisions, which everybody supports election integrity, and you pair that with some defense spending which we desperately need to replace stockpiles and munitionans and all the rest and plan going forward, and then you add in a little bit of agriculture funding, that makes it, I believe, and I hope, an irresistible package for the Senate, and I think they'll pass that and get it to the President's desk. The skepticism is that they're afraid that the aperture might be open to wide and that too many issues would be considered and the bill might collapse on its own way. But we work really hard to keep this as a skinny reconcilation bill by necessity, because that's what's necessary to get it passed. And I would hats off to my Budget committee in the House. They did a great job this week passing the resolution. As you mentioned. Now we'll put that on the House floor next week. We'll get it done, send it over to the Senate before the August district work period begins, and then over those weeks more work can be done to prepare it where we finally get this done, get it to the President's desk right after we get back after August.
00:32:29
Speaker 1: So with the reconciliation three point zero, that is really all upon the Republicans in the Senate. They just need fifty one votes to pass that. But let's talk about the CR. The CR a little different story. The Democrats suggest that they're willing to shut the government down once again.
00:32:46
Speaker 10: Yeah, they want to do that.
00:32:47
Speaker 6: They do not mind inflicting pain upon the American people, as they've demonstrated multiple times over the last couple of years, just to try to score political points.
00:32:55
Speaker 10: I mean, there is no rationale behind it.
00:32:58
Speaker 6: As a dangerous gambit, We're going to pass a continue resolution out of the House, clean, simple resolution just to keep funding going and through the you know, probably mid November at least, maybe December.
00:33:10
Speaker 10: We're figuring out the timetable on that. But how could they vote against that? Tony? It's just a simple continuation.
00:33:15
Speaker 6: To make sure the groups they're paid in TSA and Coastguard and everybody else to keep Americans safe and keep the government operating and running. I hope we get some Democrat votes in the House to help with that and we send it over.
00:33:26
Speaker 10: I certainly hope that there's a handful of beats in the Senate who will go along.
00:33:31
Speaker 3: Mister Speaker.
00:33:31
Speaker 1: I think I could just play back a recording from several months ago where you asked the question, how could they vote against that? I think they've answered that previously that it seems that they don't really care. But there's another dynamic here going into the election. This would be totally on the shoulders of the Democrats. If the government is shut down.
00:33:54
Speaker 10: Well, that's absolutely right.
00:33:55
Speaker 6: If they choose to vote, know and shut the government down, all the Republicans are going to do the right thing. Democrats have to own that, and that'll be a very difficult cross for them. To bear going into the election when people aren't getting paid and line starts stacking up at airports again, they're going to know one party, and one party alone, is responsible for that. No political tricks, no gimmicks, a simple, clean, continued resolution of current funding levels. They vote know they have no excuse and they're going to have to answer for it to the people.
00:34:21
Speaker 3: Now.
00:34:21
Speaker 1: On the other side of that, coming back after the election, is the plan to then move forward with the appropriations bills that the House has worked on all this time and put them together.
00:34:32
Speaker 6: I'm proud to tell you we passed all twelve appropriations bills through the committee. We're moving them steadily off the floor or almost halfway there. The Senate has done absolutely nothing, and it's the Democrats in the Senate who's completely stopped the process and formed Republicans in the Senate they don't want to do it anymore. I mean, it's so reckless, it is so irresponsible, and again I believe there's going to be real accountability for that in the election cycle. People have to know we have to have the government functioning. It's absurd the games.
00:35:01
Speaker 1: And that's the choice on the ballot between responsible and reckless mister speaker, and thanks so much for joining us. Safe travels and we'll talk to you next week.
00:35:10
Speaker 10: Thanks Tony, god bless oh.
00:35:11
Speaker 1: Speaker Mike Johnson on the road in Iowa. It is going to be an extremely busy week for the House next week as they try to wrap things up before the August recess. Of course, we'll be tracking that next week in as well.
00:35:24
Speaker 3: All right, don't go away.
00:35:25
Speaker 1: A few final thoughts right after this, welcome back to this week on Capitol Hill. Look at the evidence. In his address to the nation on election integrity, President Donald Trump declassified compelling evidence that America's elections are vulnerable to manipulation from non citizens voting to foreign interference. The President argued that the evidence demands action by Congress to protect one of the most sacred rights of American citizens, the right to v That principle applies elsewhere. When the evidence is clear, it demands action. Compelling evidence of a different kind was presented this past week at the confirmation hearing of Attorney General nominee Todd Blanche. Evidence was presented that unborn babies are losing their lives through the abortion drug Mepha press Stone and increasingly the drug is being obtained through the mail by men who secretly administered to the mothers of their unborn children. Alabama Senator Katie Britt recounted the story of Jonah Alfholder. After Jonah refused to abort her baby, her boyfriend Hassan James Abas, an Ohio medical resident, used his ex wife's identity to obtain abortion pills online to poison Jonah and kill their unborn child. As Senator Britt observed, her story is one of many. The evidence supports BRIT's claim. Last month, Army Captain Brandon Jones Adams was convicted of secretly placing Mifa press Stone into the drink of a jew enlisted soldier he had impregnated, causing the death of their unborn child.
00:37:05
Speaker 3: These are not isolated crimes.
00:37:07
Speaker 1: They exposed the deadly consequences of policies making abortion drugs easier to obtain through the mail, with fewer safeguards and less accountability. Now why was this evidence presented during the Attorney General's confirmation hearing? Because the Department of Justice has the authority to reverse one of the key policies making these crimes possible. Following the Supreme Court's Dobb's decision. In twenty twenty two, the Biden administration sought to undermine the decision by expanding access to chemical abortion. It relaxed the FDA's guidelines, removing the long standing requirement for in person dispensing and medical oversight. But another obstacle remained, the Comstock Act in eighteen seventy three, federal law prohibiting the use of the mail to send articles intended for abortion. Rather than enforce that law, the Biden Justice Apartment issued an opinion concluding that abortion drugs could be mailed unless the sender specifically intended an illegal abortion. In effect, the government said, presume lawful use and ask no questions That doj opinion remains in effect today under the Trump administration. Unlike the FDA's guidelines, which are being challenged in court, the Justice Department can withdraw and replace that opinion without waiting for Congress or the courts. The evidence also shows that the abortion drugs are fueling an increase in abortion. Since job's abortions have increased by roughly twenty percent nationwide, with the abortion pill now accounting for approximately sixty five percent of abortions. The evidence demands action if evidence of election vulnerabilities justify action to protect the right to vote, the evidence that existing federal laws being ignored to the detriment of women, unborn children in the laws of nearly half the state's demands action as well. Trump should direct the Department of Justice to review the Comstock Act, withdraw the Biden opinion, and enforce the law as Congress enacted it. If safeguarding the right to vote as fundamental, and it is safeguarding the right to life is foundational.
00:39:15
Speaker 3: That has been this week on Capitol Hill.
