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Charlie Kirk Today | Mike Brest: May 8, 2026 | Charlie Kirk Today | May 8, 2026
- We want to lead the story.
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- Lead the show to today with a story out of virginia.
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- We mentioned it briefly on the show yesterday,
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- And that is about,
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- You know, an fbi, fbi raid, over a state senator,
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- Louisa lucas, who is a state
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- Senator of virginia who led the redistricting fight.
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- And then,
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- Lo and behold, all of a sudden, her cannabis dispensary.
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- Yes, she has a cannabis dispensary, gets raided by the
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- Fbi, along with some other, properties that she owned,
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- Offices that she controlled.
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- Blake, you highlighted this, wonderful article,
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- Breaking it all down for us.
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- So. so please do that, start start us off, like.
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- Exactly.
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- So, like you said, it's louis lucas. she's
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- Been in the virginia state senate for about 30 years.
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- And so one of those well-entrenched,
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- Lawmakers that you'll see
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- Often, democrats
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- At the state level, they've been there
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- A very, very long time, have a lot of institutional power.
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- So she's not the majority leader,
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- But she was perceived as playing a very central role
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- In redrawing the state's maps, ramming that through.
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- And now just a few days after their their vote
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- And their, she's raided by the fbi, they came in.
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- It was almost like it was aj6 raid.
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- They had swat teams busting in to her dispensary
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- And several other buildings.
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- She has a whole network of different
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- Entities and companies that are linked to her, her family.
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- They almost all have lucas in the name lucas lodge llc,
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- Which runs group homes, the cannabis outlet,
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- Lucas professional center, lucas hospitality,
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- Lucas medical transportation.
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- We know that is a very fraught business.
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- We don't know.
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- No charges have been dropped yet,
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- But it's a lot of connections to companies where
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- We know political corruption is a big opportunity.
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- For example, her cannabis business,
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- Virginia, is one of those states
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- Where you can run a license cabinet, cabot
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- Cannabis dispensary. excuse me.
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- And it's, you know, if you have some sort of it's,
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- You know, it's
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- One of those ways things you can get more easily
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- If you have political connections.
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- It's one of those things where pods.
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- Yeah, yeah.
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- Can you pause right there.
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- So i know this from stories out of the state of nevada
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- When they legalized, which was my home state,
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- When they legalized it, there was a massive push
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- At the political level, the local level,
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- To basically get their hands on it
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- Because they only give out so many permits
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- For cannabis dispensaries.
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- That's sort of the handshake deal here, right?
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- We're going to legalize it, but we're going to
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- We're going to control it, contain it in certain ways.
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- One of which is they give only a certain number
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- Of permits for facilities that maybe are like indoor
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- Greenhouse is that could grow it and, storefronts.
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- So you if you want to sell cannabis to the public weed,
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- You have to get a permit.
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- Well, guess who tends to get those permits, blake?
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- Not guys like you and me, because we probably would not.
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- But they would do it.
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- Although it is a lucrative business,
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- It tends to be the politically well-heeled
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- And well-connected.
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- Which is exactly luis lucas, who this person is.
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- By the way, a shout out to the channel rva change agent
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- Who published this, this very detailed,
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- Document on x va change agent.
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- Check it out if you want to follow along,
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- But this is what's revealed in it.
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- Blake, is that this is a sitting state
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- Senator out of virginia
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- That has consolidated power over the years.
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- This is not a collection of random businesses.
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- It's a vertically integrated operation.
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- I'm reading direct from the article
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- Real estate ownership via the trust group homes,
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- By the way, which are funded by medicaid.
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- Another one of those little tie ins, real estate ownership.
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- Transportation, they support
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- And direct care, all feeding off medicaid dollars.
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- While her political entities
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- Launder influence and campaign cash back into the system.
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- So that's right.
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- Her owned businesses are funneling
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- Money back into her campaign pac.
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- And get this the same person.
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- This is luis lucas, who's chairing the senate finance
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- And appropriations committee, which funds
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- Medicaid in the state of virginia.
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- She personally owns all these buildings.
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- So she's on the committee that disperses the funds.
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- She's she owns the business that benefits benefits off
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- The medicaid, dollars that are flowing through.
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- And she might just happen to have been involved
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- In a corruption scandal giving her access
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- To the cannabis dispensary.
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- But getting the approximately correct
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- She received, lucas, lucas lodge llc.
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- Received in portsmouth.
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- Received two differentiate lucas leah to lucas lodge,
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- And she received a total of about $600,000
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- In loans in 2020, which may have been repaid,
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- But they may also have just been forgiven.
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- It says paid in full or forgiven.
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- So no easy way to tell there.
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- But we can take a guess.
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- One of the funny things about this is she's
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- She's fighting back
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- By claiming this is a political retaliation
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- From the trump administration.
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- The awkward thing is, as reported by bill
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- Mulligan on fox and some other outlets,
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- Is that this investigation apparently originates
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- In the biden administration.
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- I feel like maybe
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- She would have had better odds if she just, you know,
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- A few democrats have had success with that
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- Where she says, i was about to expose
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- The democrat biden machine and, that's that's worked
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- Occasionally on president trump with a few other democrats.
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- She might have a better shot with that.
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- This we're
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- Talking not just 600,000 ppe loans.
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- We're talking $42.3 million in medicaid, taxpayer dollars
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- Funneled to senator louise lucas's operation
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- Between 2006 and 2025.
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- So that's what we're talking about over 20 years
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- Full capacity could be as high as 48.5 million as well.
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- There's, massive expansion.
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- This is lucrative stuff.
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- And what's wild is that
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- She gets her cannabis dispensary raided.
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- And that seems to be where maybe the corruption scandal
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- That is the smoking gun, if you will, but is exposing
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- One little virginia state senator that none of us
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- Had ever heard about.
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- It's exposing the depth to which corruption takes root
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- When political power like this gets entrenched.
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- This is why i think this story is emblematic.
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- We started this week.
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- We talking with luke rosie back at the daily wire
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- About the fraud in ohio
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- And about how all these safeguards
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- Had been taken off the medicaid programs.
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- And $1 billion, billion dollars goes out the doors to somalis
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- Doing fraudulent daycare for their family members,
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- Doing companionship.
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- And now you see another example in barely blue virginia,
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- Where the same thing has happened to a woman
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- That's been able to remain in power for a very long time
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- That's been able to remain in power for a very long time
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- I found something pretty amazing in the break
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- Because she's been around a long time,
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- And a lot of people who are lifers in virginia are saying
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- She's absolute garbage, has been involved in everything,
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- And a really amazing story.
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- This is from summer 2020, the summer of floyd,
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- When they were having,
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- You know,
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- A lot of left-wing riots, demonstrations, left wingers.
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- What what were they doing at the very beginning of that?
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- They were going after statues.
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- They were spray painting statues, ripping them down.
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- And there was an incident where she gets
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- Caught on a police body camera telling police,
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- This is a direct quote from the body camera footage.
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- I'm senator louis lucas.
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- I know i'm in disguise, but they are going to put
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- Some paint on this thing.
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- This thing being one of the statues
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- They were targeting, you cannot arrest them.
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- You need to call doctor payton
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- Because they are going to do it.
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- You can't stop them.
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- So she's going around undercover, ordering police
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- Not to arrest vandals who are defacing
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- Or destroying public property in the summer of what?
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- Yeah, this is a corrupt woman, and i again, i'm.
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- We're highlighting this.
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- Yes, it's a breaking news story out of, yesterday, but
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- It is endemic to our system,
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- The corruption, especially in deep blue areas
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- Where the power gets entrenched.
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- We're seeing it across the country
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- And we're going to highlight it even more.
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- So when we talk about los angeles, the mayor's race,
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- Steve hilton with the governor's race.
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- But this i'm going to show you this clip.
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- And it to me, it blew me away.
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- But it didn't surprise me.
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- But it just it's a reflection of just the
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- How out of touch or how about this how tribal
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- People are in these areas where people like luis lucas,
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- Get their stranglehold on power.
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- Sot 17 she did more good than bad
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- No matter what they say.
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- He tried to bother her because she's a strong,
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- A creative person.
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- You know, she looks out for her state for her people.
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- And i don't understand what all this is about.
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- And i feel it's our political, it's character assassination.
- 00:09:00.849 --> 00:09:05.120
- They've been doing this for years.
- 00:09:05.120 --> 00:09:06.888
- When people who, in power, who represent our community,
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- This is not the first time church assassination.
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- And we hope that it's not nothing.
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- But at the same time, the community, myself or louis,
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- I'm. let's stick with it.
- 00:09:21.436 --> 00:09:22.571
- Those are her constituents that put her into office.
- 00:09:22.571 --> 00:09:25.707
- And they say she's done more good than bad.
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- This is character assassination.
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- She's. we're sticking with her.
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- Whatever the case may be, i have even more compelling
- 00:09:31.480 --> 00:09:35.083
- Information about the summer of 2020.
- 00:09:35.083 --> 00:09:37.486
- So she's in disguise, telling police don't block
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- These demonstrators from vandalizing the statue.
- 00:09:41.556 --> 00:09:45.160
- And then the demonstrators proceed to illegally rip
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- The statue down
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- And it fell
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- On one of their heads and turned him into a vegetable
- 00:09:50.899 --> 00:09:54.136
- Like, actually serious brain damage.
- 00:09:54.136 --> 00:09:56.171
- And he's in a wheelchair, nonverbal,
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- I believe, in one of her homes, possibly one of our own.
- 00:09:58.240 --> 00:10:01.476
- He might be, and then by taxpayers.
- 00:10:01.476 --> 00:10:03.612
- And then they blamed her for this,
- 00:10:03.612 --> 00:10:04.780
- And she tried to sue the city, saying that they had
- 00:10:04.780 --> 00:10:07.416
- Basically aligned against her.
- 00:10:07.416 --> 00:10:09.251
- And then this body camera footage actually surfaced
- 00:10:09.251 --> 00:10:11.953
- As a result of that.
- 00:10:11.953 --> 00:10:12.754
- If i'm if i'm reading this correctly,
- 00:10:12.754 --> 00:10:14.089
- Which i'm finding
- 00:10:14.089 --> 00:10:15.323
- Even more that i found blake, there's even more that i found
- 00:10:15.323 --> 00:10:18.360
- She was the co-sponsor of the cannabis
- 00:10:18.360 --> 00:10:22.064
- Legislation that, and then she opened
- 00:10:22.064 --> 00:10:25.701
- The cannabis outlet the same year.
- 00:10:25.701 --> 00:10:27.369
- The legislation passed,
- 00:10:27.369 --> 00:10:28.904
- Which is now the subject of an active fbi
- 00:10:28.904 --> 00:10:31.540
- Corruption bribery investigation.
- 00:10:31.540 --> 00:10:33.375
- So she co-sponsored that legislation
- 00:10:33.375 --> 00:10:35.077
- And then immediately profited off of it.
- 00:10:35.077 --> 00:10:37.779
- Here's one other thing that we should talk about.
- 00:10:37.779 --> 00:10:40.716
- The louise lucas facilities,
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- Have one of the worst and,
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- Safety and compliance records
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- Of any of such facilities in the state of virginia.
- 00:10:49.758 --> 00:10:52.627
- They found 217 violent, citations since 2021,
- 00:10:52.627 --> 00:10:57.399
- Among the highest, violation counts of any,
- 00:10:57.399 --> 00:11:00.368
- In they call intellectual
- 00:11:00.368 --> 00:11:02.003
- Developmental disabilities provider in virginia.
- 00:11:02.003 --> 00:11:05.073
- They've had nine individuals die while in care.
- 00:11:05.073 --> 00:11:08.610
- So that's across multiple years, serious incidents.
- 00:11:08.610 --> 00:11:12.914
- They've had 143
- 00:11:12.914 --> 00:11:14.116
- Serious incidents involving injury since 2019.
- 00:11:14.116 --> 00:11:17.986
- They had 102 before 2022. or.
- 00:11:17.986 --> 00:11:21.623
- Yeah. but 102 and.
- 00:11:21.623 --> 00:11:22.991
- Yeah, i think i got the numbers right there.
- 00:11:22.991 --> 00:11:25.560
- Corrective action failures, 46 citations for failing
- 00:11:25.560 --> 00:11:28.764
- To implement required corrective action plans
- 00:11:28.764 --> 00:11:31.733
- Over a five year period and virtually zero.
- 00:11:31.733 --> 00:11:35.570
- Blake, you talk about the way she her attitude with the body
- 00:11:35.570 --> 00:11:39.407
- Cam footage virtually zero enforcement actions
- 00:11:39.407 --> 00:11:44.412
- Because she probably is
- 00:11:44.913 --> 00:11:47.149
- Making sure that there are zero enforcement actions.
- 00:11:47.149 --> 00:11:49.951
- So this is i just think this story is remarkable.
- 00:11:49.951 --> 00:11:53.355
- And such a picture
- 00:11:53.355 --> 00:11:56.158
- Into corrupt blue deep blue politics.
- 00:11:56.158 --> 00:11:59.995
- And you listen to her constituents
- 00:11:59.995 --> 00:12:02.364
- And what do they say?
- 00:12:02.364 --> 00:12:03.265
- We got her back no matter what.
- 00:12:03.265 --> 00:12:04.766
- Doesn't matter how corrupt she is.
- 00:12:04.766 --> 00:12:06.434
- We like her because that's the way this works.
- 00:12:06.434 --> 00:12:09.070
- This is how politics works.
- 00:12:09.070 --> 00:12:10.906
- Let's be blunt.
- 00:12:10.906 --> 00:12:12.007
- The cell politics works in a lot of the third world.
- 00:12:12.007 --> 00:12:14.609
- It's how politics works in countries that are divided
- 00:12:14.609 --> 00:12:19.414
- Into, let's just say it, ethnic and racial little clusters.
- 00:12:19.414 --> 00:12:23.919
- That's what this encourages.
- 00:12:23.919 --> 00:12:25.854
- You need you need a kind of unified body
- 00:12:25.854 --> 00:12:28.690
- Politic for politics
- 00:12:28.690 --> 00:12:30.458
- To actually become a competition
- 00:12:30.458 --> 00:12:31.893
- For providing the best services,
- 00:12:31.893 --> 00:12:34.029
- Providing the best moral conduct,
- 00:12:34.029 --> 00:12:36.298
- Providing good things for the whole society.
- 00:12:36.298 --> 00:12:39.434
- And america had that for a long time,
- 00:12:39.434 --> 00:12:41.937
- And we achieved a lot of great things.
- 00:12:41.937 --> 00:12:43.438
- But we have, through immigration, through die,
- 00:12:43.438 --> 00:12:47.576
- Through just the rhetoric of the left.
- 00:12:47.576 --> 00:12:49.044
- We've been racing
- 00:12:49.044 --> 00:12:50.579
- Towards an alternative way of doing politics.
- 00:12:50.579 --> 00:12:52.447
- And if you want to see how it works out, well,
- 00:12:52.447 --> 00:12:54.683
- We'll be talking about
- 00:12:54.683 --> 00:12:56.184
- The pope himself in a few minutes.
- 00:12:56.184 --> 00:12:57.452
- The pope himself has told us to look at lebanon.
- 00:12:57.452 --> 00:12:59.721
- You can see how lebanon works out.
- 00:12:59.721 --> 00:13:01.156
- You can see how politics in the
- 00:13:01.156 --> 00:13:02.557
- Uk is working out where they've got.
- 00:13:02.557 --> 00:13:04.059
- They're all about brazil, a little bit of south brazil,
- 00:13:04.059 --> 00:13:06.127
- One country after another, and it's not good.
- 00:13:06.127 --> 00:13:09.564
- But a lot of people will say, i stand behind our person,
- 00:13:09.564 --> 00:13:12.868
- No matter how corrupt they stand by.
- 00:13:12.868 --> 00:13:14.970
- Wrong.
- 00:13:14.970 --> 00:13:16.037
- Diversity is our strength, blake.
- 00:13:16.037 --> 00:13:18.340
- Diversity is our strength.
- 00:13:18.340 --> 00:13:19.908
- Sing it loud. sing it proud. it is our mantra.
- 00:13:19.908 --> 00:13:22.477
- We're going to we're going to shift focus. now.
- 00:13:23.445 --> 00:13:25.747
- We're going to go to breaking news out of iran.
- 00:13:25.747 --> 00:13:27.883
- Why did the project freedom really break down?
- 00:13:27.883 --> 00:13:33.054
- Why did, president trump pause it?
- 00:13:33.054 --> 00:13:34.656
- We're going to go into those details
- 00:13:34.656 --> 00:13:36.391
- With the intrepid reporter next.
- 00:13:36.391 --> 00:13:40.992
- With the intrepid reporter next.
- 00:13:40.992 --> 00:13:46.908
- All right.
- 00:13:47.208 --> 00:13:48.309
- So much to get into with breaking news out of iran.
- 00:13:48.309 --> 00:13:49.944
- Here to help us do it is mike brest,
- 00:13:49.944 --> 00:13:51.379
- Defense reporter from the washington examiner.
- 00:13:51.379 --> 00:13:54.148
- Welcome to the show. mike.
- 00:13:54.148 --> 00:13:56.484
- Thanks for having me.
- 00:13:56.484 --> 00:13:58.085
- Yes, absolutely.
- 00:13:58.085 --> 00:13:59.153
- So there's so much to go through,
- 00:13:59.153 --> 00:14:00.655
- But i want to start with there was an nbc report
- 00:14:00.655 --> 00:14:03.925
- That says the story behind
- 00:14:03.925 --> 00:14:06.394
- The story here with the,
- 00:14:06.394 --> 00:14:09.163
- The abrupt u-turn on project freedom,
- 00:14:09.163 --> 00:14:13.801
- Right where they were going to escort some of these groups
- 00:14:13.801 --> 00:14:16.504
- That have been trapped, in the strait for now.
- 00:14:16.504 --> 00:14:19.674
- Weeks and weeks and weeks.
- 00:14:19.674 --> 00:14:20.875
- There's 22,000 crewmen or something like that
- 00:14:20.875 --> 00:14:23.377
- That are just trapped behind there.
- 00:14:23.377 --> 00:14:25.246
- Then rockets start
- 00:14:25.246 --> 00:14:26.614
- Getting shot, missiles start getting shot.
- 00:14:26.614 --> 00:14:29.050
- And then there was an abrupt pause.
- 00:14:29.050 --> 00:14:30.551
- What is your reporting showing that's actually going on
- 00:14:30.551 --> 00:14:33.854
- And why that may have happened.
- 00:14:33.854 --> 00:14:36.223
- So it's hard
- 00:14:36.557 --> 00:14:37.358
- To tell definitively, why or what
- 00:14:37.358 --> 00:14:40.227
- Prompted the president's pretty dramatic reversal.
- 00:14:40.227 --> 00:14:43.030
- I mean, it was only, earlier that say that both secretary
- 00:14:43.030 --> 00:14:46.434
- Hagel and secretary rubio were out in front of the media,
- 00:14:46.434 --> 00:14:50.037
- Pretty proudly talking about project freedom.
- 00:14:50.037 --> 00:14:53.441
- And so one thing
- 00:14:53.441 --> 00:14:54.442
- That seems to have been a factor was the u.s.
- 00:14:54.442 --> 00:14:57.445
- Response, to how iran retaliated.
- 00:14:57.445 --> 00:15:00.848
- And so you mentioned that, there were some skirmishes
- 00:15:00.848 --> 00:15:04.352
- Between iranian naval vessels, and the us navy vessels,
- 00:15:04.352 --> 00:15:09.056
- And they also attacked commercial shipping.
- 00:15:09.056 --> 00:15:10.925
- But the other thing that iran did was they carried out,
- 00:15:10.925 --> 00:15:13.861
- Or launched drones and missiles towards the uae,
- 00:15:13.861 --> 00:15:17.198
- Which did impact, an oil refinery there.
- 00:15:17.198 --> 00:15:20.101
- And so that seemed to be a big moment,
- 00:15:20.101 --> 00:15:22.103
- Because it was the first time since
- 00:15:22.103 --> 00:15:23.738
- President trump announced the cease fire
- 00:15:23.738 --> 00:15:25.706
- That iran attacked another gulf country.
- 00:15:25.706 --> 00:15:28.275
- And then the us went as far to say that that attack,
- 00:15:28.275 --> 00:15:31.045
- As well as the attacks on the us navy vessels,
- 00:15:31.045 --> 00:15:33.614
- Did not amount to, a breach of the cease fire
- 00:15:33.614 --> 00:15:36.917
- Or that the cease fire was still in effect.
- 00:15:36.917 --> 00:15:39.086
- And so it seems like,
- 00:15:39.086 --> 00:15:41.088
- You know, there are signs that there was consternation
- 00:15:41.088 --> 00:15:42.957
- Among gulf countries that, there was concern that the us,
- 00:15:42.957 --> 00:15:47.728
- Essentially brushed off the fact that iran
- 00:15:47.728 --> 00:15:50.898
- Launched drums and missiles specifically targeting the uae.
- 00:15:50.898 --> 00:15:55.169
- Yeah.
- 00:15:55.403 --> 00:15:56.604
- So they basically we there's almost like a tale of two wars
- 00:15:56.604 --> 00:15:59.573
- Here, right?
- 00:15:59.573 --> 00:16:00.674
- The americans and the israelis were super aggressive
- 00:16:00.674 --> 00:16:03.144
- Bombing the crap out of
- 00:16:03.144 --> 00:16:04.178
- Just about anything they could find for weeks.
- 00:16:04.178 --> 00:16:07.114
- And trump wants this deal.
- 00:16:07.114 --> 00:16:09.083
- He wants this to be behind him. i have a sense.
- 00:16:09.083 --> 00:16:11.118
- I mean, this is just a personal feeling
- 00:16:11.118 --> 00:16:12.953
- That trump is probably just ready to put this behind
- 00:16:12.953 --> 00:16:15.890
- Him, wants to wants to chalk it up as a w and move on.
- 00:16:15.890 --> 00:16:18.726
- Meanwhile, when a skirmish breaks out
- 00:16:18.726 --> 00:16:21.796
- With this project, freedom missiles start flying a gulf.
- 00:16:21.796 --> 00:16:24.598
- Partners who've been
- 00:16:24.598 --> 00:16:25.800
- Broadly supportive of the us led efforts in iran.
- 00:16:25.800 --> 00:16:29.036
- They're like, what the heck we're getting.
- 00:16:29.036 --> 00:16:30.738
- We're taking shots
- 00:16:30.738 --> 00:16:31.806
- Here on our infrastructure, our oil refineries,
- 00:16:31.806 --> 00:16:34.842
- And we're not going to retaliate.
- 00:16:35.576 --> 00:16:36.744
- What's the story?
- 00:16:36.744 --> 00:16:37.812
- So it's almost like they felt let down by this,
- 00:16:37.812 --> 00:16:40.548
- According to the reporting.
- 00:16:40.548 --> 00:16:41.482
- Is that essentially what this is?
- 00:16:41.482 --> 00:16:43.584
- So trump is kind of stuck between an iranian rock
- 00:16:43.584 --> 00:16:47.555
- And a allies, in the region, hard place.
- 00:16:47.555 --> 00:16:51.992
- I think you're you're on to something
- 00:16:52.726 --> 00:16:54.395
- With the fact that it does seem like,
- 00:16:54.395 --> 00:16:56.530
- The signs are pointing towards the president
- 00:16:56.530 --> 00:16:58.299
- Wanting a deal as opposed to restarting,
- 00:16:58.299 --> 00:17:00.835
- Aggressive offensive military operations
- 00:17:00.835 --> 00:17:02.970
- Like we saw in the first six weeks of this war.
- 00:17:02.970 --> 00:17:05.506
- And the fact that they didn't consider it
- 00:17:05.506 --> 00:17:07.508
- A violation of the ceasefire is a demonstration
- 00:17:07.508 --> 00:17:10.077
- Of the fact that
- 00:17:10.077 --> 00:17:11.612
- They don't want to necessarily restart offensive operations.
- 00:17:11.612 --> 00:17:15.249
- And to take it back to the april 7th announcement
- 00:17:15.249 --> 00:17:17.785
- From president trump about the ceasefire.
- 00:17:17.785 --> 00:17:20.121
- He said in that initial message that it was all contingent
- 00:17:20.121 --> 00:17:23.724
- Upon iran reopening the strait of hormuz.
- 00:17:23.724 --> 00:17:27.161
- That message was sent or the president's
- 00:17:27.161 --> 00:17:29.663
- Announcement was a month ago today.
- 00:17:29.663 --> 00:17:32.099
- And over the course of the month,
- 00:17:32.099 --> 00:17:34.301
- Iran has an open the strait of hormuz.
- 00:17:34.301 --> 00:17:36.270
- So by the president's own terms, iran hasn't lived up
- 00:17:36.270 --> 00:17:39.773
- To the one main component of the cease fire agreement.
- 00:17:39.773 --> 00:17:43.310
- And yet the us hasn't carried out military operations
- 00:17:43.310 --> 00:17:47.748
- Or or considered the ceasefire null and void, even though
- 00:17:47.748 --> 00:17:51.118
- That very basic initial principle has not been met.
- 00:17:51.118 --> 00:17:54.221
- So, mike, i wanted to i want to talk about this peace deal.
- 00:17:54.221 --> 00:17:57.858
- What what are the demands of the trump administration?
- 00:17:57.858 --> 00:18:01.896
- And obviously no uranium, i would assume a way to extract
- 00:18:01.896 --> 00:18:05.699
- It, a way to monitor it.
- 00:18:05.699 --> 00:18:07.902
- So we'll start there.
- 00:18:08.402 --> 00:18:10.004
- What is
- 00:18:10.004 --> 00:18:11.172
- The broad outline of what they're going for right now?
- 00:18:11.172 --> 00:18:14.175
- So the trump administration, as as it relates to the nuclear
- 00:18:14.175 --> 00:18:18.512
- Front, the trump administration wants to see, iran agree.
- 00:18:18.512 --> 00:18:23.117
- To effectively end its nuclear program.
- 00:18:23.117 --> 00:18:25.653
- Wants to figure out a way to extract
- 00:18:25.653 --> 00:18:29.323
- The highly enriched uranium, which is buried
- 00:18:29.323 --> 00:18:32.126
- Deep underground.
- 00:18:32.126 --> 00:18:33.093
- And, because of the us strikes, last year
- 00:18:33.093 --> 00:18:37.164
- In operation midnight
- 00:18:37.164 --> 00:18:38.265
- Hammer, it's unclear exactly where the uranium is.
- 00:18:38.265 --> 00:18:42.169
- What shape it's in.
- 00:18:42.169 --> 00:18:44.438
- And so the idea of trying to extract it
- 00:18:44.438 --> 00:18:47.308
- From deep within, iran is not something
- 00:18:47.308 --> 00:18:50.010
- That could happen really, or easily.
- 00:18:50.010 --> 00:18:52.446
- If the conflicts were still ongoing.
- 00:18:52.446 --> 00:18:54.114
- So that's something that is
- 00:18:54.114 --> 00:18:55.683
- Of a significant priority for the administration.
- 00:18:55.683 --> 00:18:58.819
- And so they also want to get iran to agree,
- 00:18:58.819 --> 00:19:02.423
- For some time period,
- 00:19:02.423 --> 00:19:05.326
- That they will refuse or explicitly
- 00:19:05.326 --> 00:19:08.295
- Say they will not pursue, uranium enrichment.
- 00:19:08.295 --> 00:19:12.633
- And so there are, reports out there that the trump
- 00:19:12.633 --> 00:19:16.403
- Administration is seeking a 20 year moratorium.
- 00:19:16.403 --> 00:19:19.240
- There is, also reporting that iran,
- 00:19:19.240 --> 00:19:22.743
- Is not willing to agree to that and would, be potentially
- 00:19:22.743 --> 00:19:27.381
- Open to a much smaller moratorium, say, five years.
- 00:19:27.381 --> 00:19:31.585
- All that being said, the trump administration
- 00:19:31.585 --> 00:19:35.022
- And this is why they're still
- 00:19:35.022 --> 00:19:36.223
- Is really hard to see how it gets across the finish line.
- 00:19:36.223 --> 00:19:39.493
- But the trump administration hasn't
- 00:19:39.493 --> 00:19:40.828
- Changed their position on almost anything.
- 00:19:40.828 --> 00:19:43.731
- And at the same time,
- 00:19:43.731 --> 00:19:44.765
- The iranians have not really at least publicly
- 00:19:44.765 --> 00:19:47.034
- Demonstrated a willingness to do that either.
- 00:19:47.034 --> 00:19:49.303
- So, at this exact moment, it seems like
- 00:19:49.303 --> 00:19:52.973
- Neither side has really changed their tune,
- 00:19:52.973 --> 00:19:55.743
- So to speak, specifically about the nuclear program.
- 00:19:55.743 --> 00:19:58.412
- The administration over the course of the war
- 00:19:58.412 --> 00:20:01.482
- Has talked about,
- 00:20:01.482 --> 00:20:02.583
- Aspects
- 00:20:02.583 --> 00:20:03.417
- Unrelated to their nuclear program
- 00:20:03.417 --> 00:20:04.852
- That they also want to see
- 00:20:04.852 --> 00:20:05.753
- Address, like iran's support for proxies
- 00:20:05.753 --> 00:20:08.455
- In the region, like hamas, hezbollah and the houthis.
- 00:20:08.455 --> 00:20:12.326
- And the us also wants to see a limits put on iran's
- 00:20:12.326 --> 00:20:16.630
- Missile capacity and the number of missiles
- 00:20:16.630 --> 00:20:19.566
- They're allowed to keep at any given time.
- 00:20:19.566 --> 00:20:22.169
- The hard thing is those are things that,
- 00:20:22.169 --> 00:20:26.440
- The obama administration determined would be,
- 00:20:26.440 --> 00:20:29.243
- Would make their attempt
- 00:20:29.243 --> 00:20:30.811
- At a deal to broad and hard to agree upon.
- 00:20:30.811 --> 00:20:33.614
- And it seems like the administration
- 00:20:33.614 --> 00:20:35.082
- Is figuring out some of those challenges
- 00:20:35.082 --> 00:20:36.784
- Now, as they're trying to parse through,
- 00:20:36.784 --> 00:20:39.019
- Each individual
- 00:20:39.386 --> 00:20:40.454
- Aspect of the deal that they're hoping to achieve.
- 00:20:40.454 --> 00:20:43.090
- All right.
- 00:20:43.390 --> 00:20:44.558
- So i there was a brief mention by president trump about,
- 00:20:44.558 --> 00:20:47.661
- Because all of this really hinges on the fact
- 00:20:47.661 --> 00:20:49.530
- That we have not seen the regime toppled. right?
- 00:20:49.530 --> 00:20:52.099
- They've remained in power.
- 00:20:52.099 --> 00:20:53.334
- Their grip on power remains.
- 00:20:53.334 --> 00:20:55.536
- He made mentioned that they're going to get guns,
- 00:20:55.536 --> 00:20:58.472
- Referring to the iranian people,
- 00:20:58.472 --> 00:21:00.240
- That they're going to get armed soon.
- 00:21:00.240 --> 00:21:03.510
- Is there any indication that the iranian people
- 00:21:03.510 --> 00:21:07.181
- Are ready to take up arms against the regime?
- 00:21:07.181 --> 00:21:10.417
- It's hard to tell exactly, especially because there is,
- 00:21:11.518 --> 00:21:14.855
- The ongoing internet blackout throughout iran.
- 00:21:14.855 --> 00:21:17.191
- So it's,
- 00:21:17.191 --> 00:21:18.292
- Hard to grasp exactly what's going on in the country
- 00:21:18.292 --> 00:21:21.295
- As it relates to the protests that we saw in late
- 00:21:21.295 --> 00:21:23.964
- December and early january, which really was the opening
- 00:21:23.964 --> 00:21:26.767
- Chapter of this, now conflict or now war.
- 00:21:26.767 --> 00:21:30.871
- And so it's not exactly clear, even
- 00:21:30.871 --> 00:21:33.340
- Who would get the guns or how they would be provided to them.
- 00:21:33.340 --> 00:21:36.744
- And so, it's unclear exactly how this will play out
- 00:21:36.744 --> 00:21:39.980
- Or if we will really see a dramatic, domestic uprising.
- 00:21:39.980 --> 00:21:45.252
- Yeah.
- 00:21:45.486 --> 00:21:46.353
- I mean, you've got to imagine with,
- 00:21:46.353 --> 00:21:48.055
- You know, the threats of more murder by the regime
- 00:21:48.055 --> 00:21:51.091
- Against any protests, everything remains in flux.
- 00:21:51.091 --> 00:21:53.894
- But then you have the economic turmoil
- 00:21:53.894 --> 00:21:55.863
- That's going to be roiling
- 00:21:55.863 --> 00:21:56.964
- The country increasingly as the blockade continues.
- 00:21:56.964 --> 00:22:00.434
- It does feel like this is a bubbling cauldron
- 00:22:00.434 --> 00:22:03.270
- That is eventually going to overflow one way or the other.
- 00:22:03.270 --> 00:22:06.106
- And i just it does seem like the iranian regime has any sort
- 00:22:06.106 --> 00:22:09.943
- Of rational economic interests they don't like.
- 00:22:09.943 --> 00:22:13.013
- You mentioned,
- 00:22:13.013 --> 00:22:13.847
- They don't seem to put the concerns
- 00:22:13.847 --> 00:22:14.882
- Of their people at the forefront.
- 00:22:14.882 --> 00:22:16.784
- They just want to hold on to power
- 00:22:16.784 --> 00:22:18.485
- And they want to play their leverage
- 00:22:18.485 --> 00:22:19.820
- Against the trump administration,
- 00:22:19.820 --> 00:22:21.488
- To whatever ends that might come.
- 00:22:21.488 --> 00:22:24.725
- Final, final 30s, to you, mike.
- 00:22:24.725 --> 00:22:28.662
- Big picture.
- 00:22:28.662 --> 00:22:30.197
- What do you predict is going to happen?
- 00:22:30.197 --> 00:22:31.565
- Are they going to get a piece, meeting?
- 00:22:31.565 --> 00:22:34.802
- Do you think that's actually going to get that far
- 00:22:34.802 --> 00:22:36.670
- Where we see another islamabad negotiation?
- 00:22:36.670 --> 00:22:40.340
- It's hard to hard to tell exactly at this moment.
- 00:22:41.341 --> 00:22:44.445
- The things that i'm watching for are how the president
- 00:22:44.445 --> 00:22:47.748
- Approaches this, because ending project freedom
- 00:22:47.748 --> 00:22:52.219
- Was essentially a concession to the iranians
- 00:22:52.219 --> 00:22:55.355
- Without getting anything,
- 00:22:55.355 --> 00:22:58.091
- In return, or at least anything that we can see.
- 00:22:58.091 --> 00:23:00.894
- And so that was a concession from the trump administration.
- 00:23:00.894 --> 00:23:04.298
- And so will there be a alternative
- 00:23:04.298 --> 00:23:08.469
- Concession from the iranians that we just haven't seen yet?
- 00:23:08.469 --> 00:23:10.938
- Or will we see the president agree to make
- 00:23:10.938 --> 00:23:14.374
- Potentially additional concessions
- 00:23:14.374 --> 00:23:15.909
- If it means getting a deal and the president is, until may?
- 00:23:15.909 --> 00:23:19.746
- Yeah.
- 00:23:19.746 --> 00:23:20.347
- Got to wrap it up there.
- 00:23:20.347 --> 00:23:21.415
- Got to wrap it up there. we're getting a break.
- 00:23:21.415 --> 00:23:22.583
- Mike brass, washington examiner.
- 00:23:22.583 --> 00:23:22.583
