| Speaker | Time | Text |
|---|---|---|
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Democrats Plan Voter Engagement
00:11:30
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| Venezuela. | ||
| Questions? | ||
|
unidentified
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It's just a year that the Republican majority has grown increasingly slim. | |
| There are a number of persistent attendance issues on the Republican side, which has effectively gotten rid of the margin. | ||
| What's the Democrat strategy? | ||
| Is there one to ensure full attendance on every single vote to maybe take advantage of this? | ||
| Our strategy is simple. | ||
| Show up and vote if it can help the American public. | ||
| We talk about it every day in every meeting and pleased that House Democrats showed up. | ||
| 213 House Democrats showed up last week to lower the health care costs for the American people. | ||
| It's those types of wins that are so beneficial to lower the costs, as the vice chair said, that people face. | ||
| It's up to Republicans as to whether they want to work with us or not. | ||
| 17 Republicans joined those efforts in that discharge petition. | ||
| But we're going to keep showing up and coming to work, and that's what we'll continue to stress to our colleagues. | ||
|
unidentified
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Today, the Clintons announced that they will not be following the subpoena with the House Oversight Committee. | |
| What is the caucus' reaction to the Clintons' decision, and what's the path going forward? | ||
| I don't think there's any oversight, Democrats, here, but that's a decision that obviously we just saw. | ||
| Republicans continue to distract from the American people. | ||
| They continue to want to focus on what doesn't matter. | ||
| This is the same group that said for months they didn't want to release the Epstein files and that nothing was there. | ||
| And so now they want to embrace this and score political points with testimony. | ||
| That's a decision for the Clintons to make. | ||
| But House Democrats are focused on one, the administration carrying out the law to release the Epstein files, no matter what they say or who they name. | ||
| But scoring political points and bringing people in for testimony, that's just something that House Republicans want to do to take our eye off the ball, take the American people's eye off the ball. | ||
|
unidentified
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On the congressional stock trading, obviously it's getting a markup tomorrow. | |
| I know that there are a number of members in your conference who are caucus who are very disappointed that it's not as robust as the bipartisan ones that they agreed to. | ||
| However, Republicans are arguing that at least it is something. | ||
| Do you have a sense on whether are you encouraging Democrats to vote for this? | ||
| Is this being whipped at all? | ||
| Did it come up in conference today? | ||
| Didn't come up today. | ||
| This is obviously something that's coming before the House Administration Committee. | ||
| We will follow the guidance and follow closely the questions that are asked in the markup from House Administration Democrats. | ||
| We were serious about stamping out corruption in Congress. | ||
| There are Republicans in Congress who are trading stocks on health care while they're voting to cut health care. | ||
| These are things that the American people feel are shameful and awful and everything that's wrong with this institution. | ||
| And I don't know if additional disclosure is enough, but we will look at the package. | ||
| We will judge it on its merits. | ||
| We will look at the questions and the amendments that are offered within committee. | ||
| And as a caucus, at that point, we will have a discussion as to where we go. | ||
| We're a little early in that process, but count me in that category that wishes that it would have been a more robust package. | ||
| But we'll see what emerges out of committee. | ||
|
unidentified
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The president has just said that help is coming to Iran. | |
| How worried are you that we're about to see another military intervention without congressional oversight? | ||
| And what do you say to the Iranian people? | ||
| We want America to intervene. | ||
| I'll ask Vice Chair and maybe Representative Crowe to also chime in. | ||
| The people of Iran are bravely standing up and speaking out against this brutal regime, but the President does not have the authority to go in, and this is part of this pattern. | ||
| We don't know if this post is policy, but it's something that all of us are very mindful of. | ||
| And we want the people of Iran to be safe. | ||
| We don't want people exercising their opinions to die in the streets. | ||
| But the President needs to consult with Congress on actions that involve the United States military. | ||
| I agree with Chairman Aguilar. | ||
| We should absolutely support the people of Iran. | ||
| They are fighting back against a brutal regime that has repressed them, it's killed them. | ||
| This regime is now experiencing what happens when you're authoritarian and repressive. | ||
| The people are going to rise up. | ||
| And we should do everything we can. | ||
| Now, if the president wants to use military force, under our Constitution, that requires authorization from Congress. | ||
| And I'm sure Congress is happy to have that debate, but you've got to have that debate. | ||
| You can't just use military force without congressional authorization. | ||
| Well, we completely stand with the people of Iran who are yearning for freedom and democracy. | ||
| I mean, they are victims of this oppressive, violent regime. | ||
| And there are many ways for us to support the Iranian people short of military action because it's not in America's best interest to start a war with Iran. | ||
| In fact, it's not even in the Iranian people's best interest for the United States to go to war with Iran. | ||
| It is highly unfortunate, though, that the Trump administration and Donald Trump have spent the last year dismantling many of the tools and the agencies and the departments and the things that we have at our disposal to support the Iranian people and the people around the world who are in exactly this type of situation. | ||
| Like U.S. aid, like our communications capabilities. | ||
| So many of the tools, the soft power tools of the United States government that we would use to support people who are yearning for freedom and democracy have been dismantled and gutted by this administration. | ||
| That said, there are still mechanisms to support short of war, and this is exactly the point why we're standing here, is we don't believe that this administration or any administration should start a war with a foreign country unless this body debates it and votes on it. | ||
| That's exactly why for 20 years we spent trillions of dollars and thousands of American lives and failed in nation building and it ended poorly. | ||
| So support the Iranian people, do so with the tools that we have available, but military conflict would not serve the interests of the Iranian people or the American people. | ||
|
unidentified
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Chairman. | |
| Come back. | ||
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unidentified
|
Thank you. | |
| The Republican Study Committee released their framework for a reconciliation 2.0 bill today. | ||
| And I wanted to just get your reaction to that and whether you think a reconciliation bill is something that Democrats are going to have to contend with this year, heading before the midterms. | ||
| That's something for Republicans to debate and discuss. | ||
| We will respond if that's the route that they go. | ||
| But what we won't stand for is their continued assault on health care. | ||
| To pay for tax cuts for their billionaire cronies and friends, they cut a trillion dollars out of the health care budget. | ||
| We said that was what was going to happen when they talked about reconciliation 10 months ago here in this room. | ||
| We said they were going after Medicaid. | ||
| Steve Scalise goes on the floor. | ||
| He says, nowhere in this budget document does it say Medicaid is cut. | ||
| We knew they were going to cut it. | ||
| If that's what's going to happen, count us out. | ||
| If this is just a project that Republicans want to do to make themselves look good so they can say that they're talking about health care, count us out. | ||
| If this cuts costs that their billionaire friends have to pay and reduces taxes, count us out. | ||
| But if they want a process that's about bipartisan solutions, we've proven time and time again, including three times just in the last few months, that we're willing to go through that process. | ||
| Last question. | ||
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unidentified
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I'm going to go back to the issue as far as the ICE agents are concerned. | |
| A number of municipalities within your districts simply don't honor 48-hour ICE detainers. | ||
| And ICE simply says that a lot of the chaos that's happening within the streets happened because a number of these individuals who they are going after are being simply released and they are convicted criminals with violent convictions. | ||
| And if they were simply held, they could pick them up and deport them. | ||
| And then the issues that are happening in the streets wouldn't be happening. | ||
| Would you agree that these detainers should be honored within the municipalities, within your districts? | ||
| Did Renee Goode have a warrant? | ||
| Was she an undocumented? | ||
| It's my opportunity now. | ||
| You asked your question. | ||
| Some of the individuals, some of the individuals that are being scooped up do not have detainers. | ||
| They are not undocumented individuals. | ||
| House Democrats firmly believe that violent criminals should not be on our streets. | ||
| And if there are undocumented individuals who are violent criminals, they should be deported. | ||
| That is our position. | ||
| Now, if you're asking if we support local law enforcement being part of this Gestapo of rounding up individuals, our answer is no. | ||
| Our answer is local officials should be responsible to protect their local communities. | ||
| That's what local law enforcement does. | ||
| I was a local mayor. | ||
| Many of our colleagues come from local government. | ||
| That is the responsibility of local government is to keep people safe. | ||
| The federal government's responsibility is to exercise what you're talking about, and that's the job that we take issue with in this case with ICE. | ||
| They have an ability to detain and they have an ability to deport folks. | ||
| It should follow a process. | ||
| It should include getting warrants for individuals, judicial warrants, not fake phony ICE warrants, when they want to grab somebody. | ||
| They have a process to do that. | ||
| And it should be to use the courts in order to execute warrants that keep this country safe. | ||
| They are choosing not to do that. | ||
| They are choosing chaos in the streets. | ||
| They are choosing lawlessness. | ||
| That's what they are choosing. | ||
| And so it's our job to provide accountability and oversight when they aren't following the law. | ||
| House Democrats stand behind that. | ||
| We won't apologize for that. | ||
| Thank you so much. | ||
|
Florida's Educational Triumph
00:13:17
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|
unidentified
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We continue our live coverage now as we take you to former Republican presidential candidate and current Florida Governor Ron DeSantis delivering his final State of the State address. | |
| We joined this in progress live here on CBA. | ||
| More than 33,000 Floridians reduced their reliance on public assistance, netting a budgetary savings of almost $130 million on an annual basis. | ||
| We have proven that a hand better than a handout. | ||
| Florida has the number one ranked public higher education system in America, and we have, by far, the lowest resident tuition in the nation. | ||
| We were the first state to eliminate DEI, to spearhead accreditation reforms, and to authorize the termination of tenured professors who perform poorly. | ||
| Seven years ago, our universities had no special emphasis on the traditional missions of higher education. | ||
| Now, we have programs like the Adam Smith Center for Economic Freedom at Florida International University, as well as the Hamilton School for Classical and Civic Education at the University of Florida. | ||
| These programs embrace the values that comprise the foundation not just of the American Republic, but of Western civilization itself. | ||
| We reject the ideological fads that have diminished the value of higher education. | ||
| We require our universities to be dedicated to the pursuit of truth, the honoring of merit, and the preparation of our students to be good citizens of this republic. | ||
| We promised reform and we delivered the most far-reaching higher education reforms in the entire nation. | ||
| Seven years ago, the momentum for the restoration of the Everglades had stalled and our state was reeling from coastal algal blooms in 2016 and 2018. | ||
| We made a pledge to jumpstart Everglades restoration, protect our coast from harmful discharges, and leave Florida to God better than we found it. | ||
| Together, we have more than quadrupled the funding for Everglades restoration and water quality. | ||
| We've completed a record number of projects, tripled the water storage capacity throughout the glades, and advanced the completion of the EAA Reservoir by five years. | ||
| Now, as that seminal wind blows from the Okeechobee all the way up to Micanopy, water flows south to Florida Bay, where sanity levels are the healthiest in decades. | ||
| and coastal communities are protected against the discharging of polluted water into the surrounding estuaries. | ||
| Even the flamingos have returned inside the glades. | ||
| This has been the largest environmental restoration in the entire country. | ||
| You can now walk into the swamp, sit on a cypress stump, and see nature healing. | ||
| The ghosts of Osceola need cry no more. | ||
| Seven years ago, we were charged with improving Florida's response to natural disasters. | ||
| We enhanced coordination with local partners, facilitated more rapid power restoration, and surge needed relief to affected areas. | ||
| We've now gone through four major hurricanes in the last four years, and each storm has witnessed the most robust response on record. | ||
| Rapid rescue missions, massive resources marshalled and deployed, and the fastest power restorations in state history. | ||
| We even rebuilt a bridge that had been destroyed in just a matter of three days. | ||
| We've saved lives and we've helped our people rebuild their lives after these life-changing events. | ||
| To our first responders and emergency management personnel, I say very simply, job well done. | ||
| And we have made Florida the top law and order state in the nation. | ||
| Public safety is paramount. | ||
| Our law enforcement personnel deserve our support, and they have received it. | ||
| We have blocked jailbreak policies and ensured that our state and local law enforcement officers get the backing that they need. | ||
| We've enacted the death penalty for pedophiles and treated the fentanyl dealers that have poisoned our people as the murderers that they are. | ||
| We rejected the movement to defund the police, refused to kowtow to rioting and looting, and have the strongest laws against retail theft in the nation. | ||
| When a member of a group of thieves was interviewed on CNN and they asked, why do you steal in New York even though you like spending the money in Florida? | ||
| The response was very simple from the thief. | ||
| Because in Florida, they put you in jail. | ||
| You're doggone right we do. | ||
| Upholding the rule of law includes protecting our nation's sovereignty and enforcing laws against illegal immigration. | ||
| Seven years ago, Florida didn't prohibit sanctuary cities and even provided taxpayer benefits, such as in-state tuition. | ||
| Today, sanctuary cities are banned. | ||
| Those benefits have been repealed and incentives to come illegally have been reversed. | ||
| Florida is the only state in the country that requires state and local cooperation with federal interior enforcement efforts. | ||
| In the past nine months alone, Florida is responsible for the apprehension of nearly 20,000 illegal aliens that have been turned over to the Department of Homeland Security to be returned to their home countries. | ||
| Our people are safer because of these efforts, and we've accomplished so much more. | ||
| Record support for congestion relief and accelerated transportation projects, the restoration and expansion of Second Amendment rights, protections for the sanctity of human life, ranked number one for religious liberty amongst the states, unprecedented support for cancer research and funding, the largest Golf Red Snapper season on record, and we're now working to expand that to the Atlantic. | ||
| The most sweeping election integrity measures in the country. | ||
| The kneecapping of ESG in our investments and within our electric grid. | ||
| And working with President Ben Albrinton, the most investment in rural Florida in history. | ||
| Not to mention four Stanley Cups, a Super Bowl, a college basketball national championship, and on Monday, God willing, we're going to have the University of Miami play for a national championship in their home stadium. | ||
| Now I've got a lot more in the tank, but you guys only have 60 days and so I think it's best we get on with it In short, held true to Benjamin Franklin's admonition that well done is better than well said. | ||
| These results are what matter and are what sets Florida apart. | ||
| Over the past seven years, we witnessed a great experiment as different approaches to government have been tried in different states. | ||
| States that have followed Florida's approach have seen population and business growth and have maintained healthy fiscal and budget postures. | ||
| States that have pursued a different course have hemorrhage population, income, and businesses, and many of them are in the midst of dire fiscal and budget crises. | ||
| The results of this grand experiment are in. | ||
| People have voted with their feet. | ||
| We can confidently say that Americans prefer the warmth of Florida freedom to the frigidity of New York collectivism. | ||
| Results must remain our focus. | ||
| Throughout the country, you see people get elected to office and they elevate superficialities over substance. | ||
| It's almost as if accumulating media hits and social media likes is an end unto itself. | ||
| Look no further than the U.S. Congress, where there seems to exist an inverse relationship between the number of strongly worded press releases issued and the amount of tangible accomplishments actually produced. | ||
| We see so much bluster on cable news, yet so little follow-through when it counts. | ||
| As Calvin Coolidge once said, the government cannot be run successfully by substituting the power of entertainment for the power of accomplishment. | ||
| We have followed through and produced results on the promises we made to our voters, but we can't rest on our laurels. | ||
| I'm reminded of Winston Churchill's response when he was chastised by the leader of the women's temperance movement in Britain. | ||
| She said she admires Sir Witten Winston for his statesmanship, but not for his drinking habits. | ||
| If we added up all the brandy and whiskey and champagne you've imbibed over the years, she told them, it would fill up almost three quarters of the ballroom that we're in right now. | ||
| Churchill, kind of up in years, looked up at the ceiling and said, well, how little time left and so much more to do? | ||
| And let's get on to it. | ||
| Well, we have fulfilled our promises. | ||
| We have more time and we need to make the most of it. | ||
| Florida might have the lowest taxes at the state level in the nation, but our citizens have been squeezed by escalating property tax assessments and millage increases at the local level. | ||
| Seven years ago, local governments throughout Florida took in about $32 billion in property tax revenue. | ||
| Last year, that number rose to a whopping $56 billion. | ||
| We have residents that are locked into their homes because they can't afford the taxes on a new residence. | ||
| Others have been priced out of the market entirely. | ||
| And there are obviously other issues that affect affordability. | ||
| The legislature, for example, has done very difficult but important work to enact reforms to stabilize Florida's insurance markets. | ||
| And the results have been positive, as witnessed by the recent announcement of historic rate decreases for citizens, homeowners' insurance, and the consistent filings we're now seeing for rate reductions for both homeowners and auto insurance providers. | ||
| But those markets involve a lot of factors beyond the control of state government. | ||
| Taxes are solely the province of government. | ||
| Tax relief is at the discretion of the people acting through our constitutional amendment process. | ||
| You should be able to own your home without paying perpetual rent to the government. | ||
| The legislature has the ability to place a measure on the ballot to provide transformational relief for taxpayers. | ||
| Let's resolve to all work together, get something done, and let the people have a say. | ||
|
Technologies Designed by Human Beings
00:03:39
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| Florida's recent successes would not have been possible without taking a firm stand against the medical authoritarianism that swept the nation during the coronavirus pandemic. | ||
| We chose facts over fear. | ||
| We refused to allow Florida to descend into a Faucian dystopia where our freedoms were curtailed and livelihoods were destroyed. | ||
| The use of coercion regarding medical treatments has been philosophically wrong and tactically counterproductive. | ||
| People must have the right to make personalized choices about which medical products to consume or which medical interventions to undergo. | ||
| Informed consent must be the touchstone. | ||
| Let's make that the law of the land in the free state of Florida. | ||
| Now, we're in the midst of major technological changes that will permeate our society for years to come. | ||
| Artificial intelligence is touted as being the key to curing cancer and expanding America's military edge over our rivals, and perhaps this will be true. | ||
| But this technology also threatens to upend key parts of our economy in ways that could leave many Americans out of work, and with consumers footing the bill for the cost of power-intensive data centers. | ||
| It presents real perils for children and parents, as AI chatbots have already been linked to teen suicides. | ||
| It can also further devolve our society into a focus not on substance but on online slop. | ||
| Ultimately, these technologies will be designed by human beings. | ||
| As Ecclesiastes instructs us, there is nothing new under the sun. | ||
| The technology may change, the window dressing may be different, but human nature is what it is. | ||
| An AI tool is only as good as the data that is inputted. | ||
| Garbage in, garbage out. | ||
| Whoever controls the data inputs will have immense power to shape the reality for hundreds of millions, maybe billions of people, in ways that could make the truth a foreign concept. | ||
| Some have even suggested that this technology will displace human beings as the central players on Earth stage. | ||
| We have a responsibility to ensure that new technologies develop in ways that are moral and ethical, in ways that reinforce our American values, not in ways that erode them. | ||
| We welcome technologies that enhance the human experience, but not those purporting to supplant it. | ||
| We can never relieve ourselves of our responsibilities to think for ourselves as Floridians, as Americans, and most importantly, as the human beings that are made in the image of God. | ||
| Now, there have also been many great ideas that have already been filed in the legislature as proposed bills. | ||
| Legislators have proposed eliminating DEI and local governments, further disincentivizing illegal immigration, expanding Second Amendment rights, and blocking the creep of Sharia law. | ||
| And President Albriten is continuing his efforts to bolster Florida's rural communities. | ||
| My message is simple. | ||
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Ongoing Nationwide Protests
00:10:58
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| Get the bills to my desk. | ||
| In the spirit of 1776, I'm happy to put my John Hancock on those pieces of legislation. | ||
| Now, Ben Franklin told us we could have a republic, but only if we could keep it. | ||
| We are doing our part here in Florida to keep it, to keep what George Washington called the sacred fire of liberty alive and well, to keep government within its proper limits, to keep the safety and well-being of the public at the forefront of all we do, to keep our public Fisk in a healthy and sustainable condition. | ||
| We are the keepers of the flame of liberty that burned in Philadelphia in July of 1776. | ||
| We will not allow the flame to go out. | ||
| We will answer the call. | ||
| We will go forward with courage. | ||
| We will take bold action. | ||
| We will get the job done. | ||
| God bless the free state of Florida, and God bless these United States of America. | ||
|
unidentified
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The escort committee will please come forward to the restroom and escort the governor from the chamber. | |
| All right. | ||
| This afternoon, President Trump travels to Michigan to deliver remarks on the state of the U.S. economy. | ||
| Speaking from the Detroit Economic Club, you can watch it live at 2 p.m. Eastern on C-SPAN 3, C-SPAN Now, our free mobile app, and online at c-span.org. | ||
| I'll focus now on the ongoing nationwide protests in Iran, potential U.S. response. | ||
| We're joined again by Benham Ben Taliblu. | ||
| He serves as senior director of the Iran program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. | ||
| And Benham Ben Taliblu, it was back on January 4th that you had a column in the free press in which you said there's something different about these protests. | ||
| These protests have only grown and the government response has grown since you wrote that piece. | ||
| Take us back to the origination of these protests. | ||
| How did they start and what is different about them? | ||
| Sure, absolutely. | ||
| And great to be with you and belated Happy New Year to you and your viewers. | ||
| You know, as long as there's been an Islamic Republic, there's been protests against an Islamic Republic. | ||
| That is not new for you or the viewers. | ||
| But this protest was triggered on December 28th when the Riall, which is the Iranian currency, reached a historic high. | ||
| Significant inflation, hyperinflation in that country. | ||
| The Riyall was valued then at 1.43 million to a single U.S. dollar. | ||
| So people's savings, people's earnings, people's ability to actually generate income from even having a menu on a restaurant all basically evaporated. | ||
| And protests began in the Tehran Bazaar. | ||
| Tehran actually has the biggest bazaar in the modern Middle East, has played a historic role in previous protest movements, including the 1979 revolution. | ||
| But then within a day, it developed a contagion effect across society, and then within two days across Iran entirely, such that by the time you got into a week of protests, protests had touched all of Iran's 31 different provinces. | ||
| And then they began to spiral. | ||
| And as you know, just like we've talked about in the past, what starts as an economic protest, what starts as an environmental protest, what starts as a social protest, quickly morphs into a political protest because this has been the trend of anti-regime protests since December 2017. | ||
| People have mass grievances. | ||
| People have pushed past reform. | ||
| People are looking to use every opportunity to push past the state and actually talk about the one thing that Washington very often for the past decade, decade and a half, is very keen to avoid in the Middle East, which is fundamentally regime change. | ||
| And what was triggered by an economic crisis became basically the latest installation of a movie we've been seeing for eight, nine years in Iran, which is Iran's National Uprising. | ||
| Stu is there an opportunity for regime change? | ||
| How likely is that to happen? | ||
| And what would be the U.S. role in that? | ||
| Well, much does ride on the U.S. role. | ||
| You know, we're having this conversation today where President Trump will be convening senior national security officials, including defense officials, trying to tailor U.S. response. | ||
| We can get to the potential red line that he drew a bit later in the conversation. | ||
| But make no mistake, this is very, very different from neighboring Iraq or neighboring Afghanistan or even the past two, three decades of the U.S. experience in the Middle East. | ||
| This is not about something being imposed from abroad. | ||
| This is if the world can support something that has been happening organically from within. | ||
| So we know that you, and the viewers may know, 1999, 2009, the Green Movement, again, major anti-regime protests. | ||
| But again, I want to stress since 2017, since 2018, Iranians have been protesting en masse, not to change the exchange rate, but to change the regime in its entirety. | ||
| And when you have fundamentally a more progressive, a more secular, a more nationalist, a more young, a more liberal population that is unarmed, and that keeps going up against a much more regressive, a much more authoritarian, a much more Islamist and autocratic dictatorship that is armed to the teeth, and as we've seen in the past few days, willing to throttle and then later shut off the internet under the cover of darkness they can kill. | ||
| I just saw a horrifying report from a major Iranian diaspora news outlet that confirmed up to 12,000 killed under the cover of the internet blackout over the past four days. | ||
| Really horrific. | ||
| This is the most significant protest crackdown in the history of the Islamic Republic. | ||
| Of course, the people are going to lose their best and their brightest in every single iteration of protests. | ||
| So much will ride on if regime change is possible, can Washington help put the squeeze on the regime from the top so that the people can continue to put the squeeze on the regime from below. | ||
| What is the news outlet that you talk about? | ||
| I ask because people are trying to get an understanding of what's actually going on. | ||
| There's a picture on the front page in the New York Times. | ||
| This image on the front page, verified by the New York Times, showing the apparent body bags in Iran. | ||
| This is out of Tehran. | ||
| But people are trying to figure out what's going on. | ||
| There's been reports over the weekend that it was hundreds, you could say 12,000. | ||
| Just what sources do you trust? | ||
| So about 500, 600 have been confirmed by independent human rights monitors. | ||
| Then there are reporters in particular. | ||
| This outlet that I've mentioned was called Iran International. | ||
| They actually have an English webpage as well. | ||
| They're headquartered in London and headquartered in as well. | ||
| They basically have talked to a whole host of reporters. | ||
| People have actually been providing some of these images, more importantly, medical staff, nurses, doctors, morgues in Iran, sources within the government, sources within city councils that basically have been dealing with this issue. | ||
| And I think the most horrific thing that I've seen is actually reading something in print. | ||
| I've seen a lot of those images over the weekend. | ||
| But the most horrific thing I've seen is a text saying that someone just woke up one morning, went for a stroll in the street to see if there were protests that A.M., and instead saw just city cleaners, government employees, laborers power washing blood off of the street after the crackdown from the night before. | ||
| So there is so much imagery, but there is so much still that has yet to come out. | ||
| And again, if folks want to check out that report that just a few hours ago said up to 12,000 killed, which would be the most significant crackdown from the state against the street in the history of the 46, 47-year Islamic Republic, that is at Iran International. | ||
| You mentioned Donald Trump's red line. | ||
| Remind us what that is, what he said here. | ||
| So one reason why these protests are different is because Trump is actually choosing to make them different or choosing to really touch the issue. | ||
| If you will, these protests didn't come out of a vacuum. | ||
| They are six months after the 12-day war, which is when the U.S. and Israel struck Iran's nuclear program. | ||
| Many so-called experts then said that there would be a rally around the flag effect. | ||
| There was not only no rally, Iranians in these protests have been taking down and burning regime flags. | ||
| So for many reasons. | ||
| And putting up a different flag. | ||
| Precisely, putting up the pre-1979 flag, you know, in terms of chants and slogans we've seen since 2017 steadily, increasingly call for a more nationalist orientation in terms of what the protesters want, but also increasingly calling for the exiled crown prince and his family. | ||
| So there's a significant difference. | ||
| If you go Islamists, I go nationalist. | ||
| They found the exact foil to the identity and the ideology to the regime. | ||
| But back to Donald Trump, he on Truth Social very early this year had said that if the regime cracks down, and he says, as is their custom, because Trump actually has the most popular tweet in the history of the Persian language on Twitter from his first term when he stood with Iranian protesters famously, drawing a very sharp contrast with his Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama, when it came to the 2009 protests. | ||
| And he said that there would be a U.S. response, and he used the word locked and loaded. | ||
| So people assumed a potential military response. | ||
| In the ensuing days, in his media clips, in his media statements aboard Air Force One, to the press, and again on Truth Social, he reiterated that claim. | ||
| And what was a historic standing with protesters early this January is now reaching a point of diminishing returns because he's talked about potentially standing with protesters and holding the regime accountable, but at the same time, unfortunately, has kind of watered it down, saying that the reports of deaths he had received were due to a stampede rather than this massive regime crackdown. | ||
| And only just two days ago, I believe, aboard Air Force One, he said that they appear to be crossing his red line. | ||
| And that's why today's meeting with senior national security officials about how, if, when, and at all will they respond is going to be key to dictating the success of this movement, as well as what level of U.S. support will be provided, if any. | ||
| One of your colleagues at the Foundation for Defense of Democracy writing in today's Wall Street Journal alongside a member of the Council on Foreign Relations urging the president to not repeat Obama's mistake when it comes to Iran. | ||
| What they're referring to when they say Obama's mistake is a Syrian red line that Barack Obama had set, and then Syria crosses that line and the lack of U.S. response. | ||
| Is that your feeling here as well? | ||
| There's also talk of another comparison with the Obama administration, which is aboard Air Force One in the same interview where Donald Trump was talking to the press about potentially enforcing that red line, and he said that the Iranians appear to be crossing it. | ||
| He also mentioned for the first time that the Iranians had reached out to negotiate with him amidst all of this crackdown. | ||
| And a comparison that actually comes to mind is not just Syria-Obama 2013, but Iran-Obama 2009, when there were protests on the street, where protesters were calling for Obama, are you with us or are you with them? | ||
| And because the Obama administration was looking to draw a sharp contrast with the regime change. | ||