Lt Col Dan Rooney, an Air Force fighter pilot, author of Fly Into the Wind, and founder of Folds of honor and Tyler Merrit, CEO of Nine Line Apparel, and friend of this program, talks about the Russian Jet and American drone, what the Biden administration is saying happened, and explains what it looks like to him - as a point of note, Tyler flew Apache gunships and then transitioned to MH60 Blackhawks for the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, and was the air mission commander for SOAR, the Special Operations Aviation Regiment. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
You want smart political talk without the meltdowns?
We got you.
And I'm Carol Markovich.
And I'm Mary Catherine Hamm.
We've been around the block in media and we're doing things differently.
Normally is about real conversations.
Thoughtful, try to be funny, grounded, and no panic.
We'll keep you informed and entertained without ruining your day.
Join us every Tuesday and Thursday normally on the iHeartRadio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.
What I told people, I was making a podcast about Benghazi.
Nine times out of ten, they called me a masochist, rolled their eyes, or just asked why.
Benghazi, the truth became a web of lies.
From Prologue Projects and Pushkin Industries, this is Fiasco Benghazi.
What difference at this point does it make?
Listen to Fiasco Benghazi on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
I'm Ben Ferguson.
And I'm Ted Cruz.
Three times a week, we do our podcast, Verdict with Ted Cruz.
Nationwide, we have millions of listeners.
Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, we break down the news and bring you behind the scenes inside the White House, inside the Senate, inside the United States Supreme Court.
And we cover the stories that you're not getting anywhere else.
We arm you with the facts to be able to know and advocate for the truth with your friends and family.
So down a verdict with Ted Cruz now, wherever you get your podcasts.
Well, we're coming to your city Gonna play our guitars and sing you a country song We'll all be flying higher than a jetliner We'll be flying higher than a jetliner And if you want a little bang in your yin-yang, come along.
Look, the bottom line is this.
Americans can rest assured that our banking system is safe.
Your deposits are safe.
I mean, one of the young leaders was talking to me about climate mental health.
I said, Tell me what's going on with your peers.
Climate mental health.
It is an existential threat.
Do you care about climate change?
Do you care about the future for you, for your children?
Do you want to know how we can solve it through cool technology?
Freedom is back in style.
Welcome to the revolution.
Yeah, we're coming to your city Gonna play our guitars and sing you a country song Sean Hannity Sean Hannity show.
More behind the scenes information on breaking news and more bold inspired solutions for America.
All right, our two Sean Hannity show, Toll Free.
Our number is 800-941 Sean.
If you want to be a part of the program, even MBC News is acknowledging the obvious that this clearly was this the shooting down of our drone was on purpose.
Uh we have Senator Marco Rubio saying the following.
Well, let me just play it for you.
Well, there's been no additional briefings from what's been made available publicly, but I think a couple things are important here.
The first is this this was a deliberate effort.
This wasn't some accident, it wasn't some harassment effort that you know went awry.
This was a design.
They basically decided we are going to begin to shoot down um US uh assets, you know, whatever's flying in what they call restricted air space.
It's over international waters, international airspace, but they declare a restriction over it for whatever reason they want to conduct military operations, and and they're saying anything that flies in there, we're gonna shoot it down.
So this is a direct test of the Biden administration to trying to see what the limits are, and uh it's a message of their displeasure, but more importantly, I think it's a test to see if we'll respond to it, if we'll continue to fly, or if this causes us not to fly in that area anymore.
I agree with the assessment of Marco Rubio, and just like the spy balloon of the communist Chinese, Joe Biden did nothing, and don't think they're not related, they are related because Vladimir watched the entire incident.
You know, the spy balloon flies over Alaskan airspace, uh, all over the rest of Alaska, down the coast of Canada, into Idaho, over to Montana, right over our ICBM missile sites, our silos, down to Kansas, Missouri, up to Kentucky, and then off the coast of Carolina, and then they finally shoot it down after China got all the intel they could ever want, need, or desire.
And then as a result of the public reaction to their inaction, uh, They shoot down three other, still to this day, unidentified flying objects with $400,000 sidewinder missiles, but they don't know what they shot down.
Turns out that it might be a balloon club balloon, like a hundred and fifteen dollar balloon that they shot down with a 400,000 missile.
It's unbelievable.
Now, you've got to remember the first instinct is not only to blame Trump, the first instinct was to say, oh no, no, no.
This is probably unintentional.
No, it's probably the result of profound incompetence on the part of one of the Russian pilots.
Let me see.
Profound incompetence when they not once but twice dumped fuel in mid-air on our drone.
That was that that was what profound incompetence.
Actually, that sounds like a mastery of uh a fighter jet pilot.
I don't know many fighter jet pilots that are that are probably or profoundly incompetent.
You're not going to put somebody in a you know multi, multi, hundred plus million dollar jet, and and they're not properly prepared to fly it.
They did it once, they did it twice, and then they took this sucker out of the air, and now we have you know the situation that we have.
Now the question comes to this, though.
Nothing happened to the communist Chinese, and nothing's gonna happen here as it relates to Russia with with Joe Biden.
Uh, you know, and I know a lot of people, you know, might say, see, this is all because of the war in Ukraine with Ukraine.
Let me just stop everybody here.
Joe Biden doesn't do anything right.
Joe Biden's been wrong on every foreign policy issue for the past 40 years.
Former Secretary of Defense Gates said that.
However, however, when the question is is when an innocent sovereign country is invaded and there is an assault, a death and destruction and the targeting of innocent human beings and apartment buildings and neighborhoods, etc., like we see Vladimir Putin as unleashed in Ukraine.
Now, what Joe Biden should have done if the United States, I said from the beginning, they want to help financially, they can, but he should have secured the financing in Europe because it's in their backyard.
He should have gotten NATO involvement, which he didn't do, and all they did is pony up more money, more billions, billions, billions, billions, and the Europe is watching and saying, Well, why should we contribute?
Let the let the U.S. pay for this.
No.
And the saddest part of all of it is if you're ever going to fight a war, if you're ever going to contribute to a war being fought, you need to fight to win it quickly.
The way Donald Trump knocked out the caliphate.
Well, Hannity, what if he uses a tactical nuke?
Well, there are Western countries that have tactical nukes too.
And guess what?
That was what we called in the Reagan years, mutually assured destruction.
You know, they were afraid of Reagan.
Don't forget what Reagan did.
Remember, Reagan ordered the strike on Tripoli and Benghazi uh retaliation for a number of attacks from Libya, including the U.S. uh aircraft and the West Berlin nightclub bombing.
One U.S. serviceman died, and another 50 were injured.
Yeah, you know where that missile went?
That strike killed Qaddafi's 15-month-old adopted daughter and injured two of his sons.
Guess what?
Qaddafi didn't do it again.
And for all these people out there saying we shouldn't should, if you take out one of our drones, we're gonna take out at least five of yours.
That's the message.
There's got to be consequences.
Somebody comes up and hits me in the face.
I am going to hit them till they can't hit me again, period.
End of sentence.
You know, I got the these people that, you know, well, we we shouldn't do anything.
What do you mean we shouldn't do anything?
That weakness will encourage more of this.
It's unbelievable.
It's called peace through strength.
It's not peace through appeasement.
It's not peace through, you know, uh lying and making excuses for aggression.
It's unbelievable.
Anyway, 800-941 Sean, our number, if you want to be a part of the program here to get reaction.
Lieutenant Colonel Dan Rooney is with us, Air Force fighter pilot, author of Fly Into the Wind, and founder of Folds of Honor, our friend Tyler Merritt is back, CEO of Nine Line Apparel.
Um, Tyler, am I allowed to mention an effort that you made for somebody that I know pretty well that I work with?
Absolutely.
Tyler Merritt and his group of people, he's with nine line apparel, uh, had a big, big part to play in rescuing not only Benjamin Hall, my my friend and colleague from Fox, but many other people.
I mean, you have these special ops guys that are retired.
They're going in there at their own expense in many cases, and they're rescuing people, Americans in particular, like they did in Afghanistan and bringing them home.
And uh, you're a hero for doing that, Tyler.
I appreciate all that you've been doing and uh continue to do.
Well, well, I I appreciate that, Sean, and and to be clear, you know, the the aero recovery group, those are the guys out there rescuing orphans, stopping uh bad Russians from taking out innocent lights, and there's other groups out there, individuals by the name of C Sprake, uh code name that was actually out there rescuing those individuals.
You know, I played a small part in in all these things.
I was booting the ground February, March, April, May, all the way through June, just to see what was actually going on, because news is not news anymore, as you and I have talked many times, it's sensationalism.
So you have to get on the ground and see what's actually happening, uh, or else you're just am I right in my characterization that this is a mass targeting of civilians by Vladimir Putin and that there's been uh uh you know death and destruction at a level that nobody wants to show?
Yeah, that the the level of evil between the the Chinese regime and the Russian regime, which is absolutely interconnected, uh is is similar to that of what we saw in the 1940s.
You know, these individuals, they do not have an uh idea of limited warfare.
Everything is on the table, uh, but they play a different game.
We're we're weird being very um out there on on what we're doing.
You know, they're very clandestine, and and we should probably look at that playbook again because we've already laid our hands out, we put our cards on the table.
President Biden, uh I don't know who's advising him, but what where we are right now is not where we should be.
Uh, let me bring in Colonel Dan Rooney.
Colonel, you're an Air Force pilot.
Uh, let me ask you, is it do you believe this incident with our drone in Russia was unintentional?
Do you believe that this was the result of profound incompetence on the part of Russian pilots?
Or do you agree with me that these uh Russian pilots probably on the orders of Vladimir Putin directly?
I don't think they do it independently, uh, that it is a pretty skillful maneuver to actually dump fuel on a drone not once but twice, and then clip its wing and and send it, you know, spiraling down to the ground.
Yeah, Sean, so it's great to be with you.
And uh, you know, I'm always on your side to start.
I've watched the footage a lot, and so as a combat fighter pilot for 22 years, this dumping fuel was obviously uh an aggressive act.
But the way he actually hits the drone, he's belly up in his fighter jet, and and that is like cardinal rule number one, you would never do it on a one what's called a rejoin in a fighter jet because you don't have a visual.
So I think it may be a combination of both of those things.
If you were gonna knock this thing out of the air with your airplane, which is not a great tactic, but if you were going to do that, you you would want to have visibility on where you were actually going to clip um that reaper.
And in this case, he goes belly up, and it looks like he tries to bail out of it, but he is you know incompetent.
These Russian guys, you can watch the work they're doing in Ukraine.
They have great airplanes.
This, you know, the Su-27, the Sukoi is actually stands for the legend.
So this pilot that hit the drone will be a legend forever, maybe not the kind you want to be.
Um, but um it's it's just really hard to tell watching that footage.
But the fact that they were there, right?
It's guilt by association.
It's like when your mom's it I mean, but that you have to admit, and you are admitting that there's no way that the two fuel dumps were not intentional.
That was intentional.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
And and the other thing, too, they don't operate like us, they don't have decentralized execution where you'd send fighter pilots out.
They're in what's called close control.
So they are getting controlled by the mother ship, whoever it is, Putin in the regime, uh, they're not acting on their own.
So they were there.
Uh it was hostile, and uh whether the intent was to take it out of the air with a fuel dump or accidentally run into it, the realities are it it was knocked down, and and I'm with you.
Um parity in in the world stage breeds chaos, and what we have right now is parody.
We're we're not, You know, we're not strong, and that opens the gates to stuff in Ukraine, potentially in Taiwan.
All of these issues come from weakness uh as a country and and how we integrate or you know, react to the world.
Well now Russia, by the way, is warning the United States to stop their hostile flights over the Black Sea, even though this was over international waters, that's not not even an issue in dispute.
And and there's been a ratcheting up of of rhetoric as I would expect after an incident like this.
Uh quick break more with Lieutenant Colonel Dan Rooney on the other side and Tyler Merritt.
All right, we continue with Lieutenant Colonel Dan Rooney and Tyler Merritt.
He's the CEO of Nine Line Apparel.
Uh the question is is how should the U.S. respond?
Now, one development that has happened, finally it appears Joe Biden has stopped every step of the way, Tyler, the po the uh Polish government from giving MiG fighter jets to Zelensky.
And I'm like, why would you ever why would you deny Zelensky if you want him to win the war?
Parity in the skies.
Why would you give dominance of the air to Vladimir Putin, which makes no sense to me.
And since being on the ground and working with both governmental and non-governmental organizations on on both sides of the aisle, I I could say that we we messed this up in the very beginning.
We washed our hands of Ukraine and said they're not our partner in the beginning.
We left civilians, a bunch of uh no offense to myself included, um, you know, washed up SOCOM guys and and Al Bundies who should not be in the Super Bowl, you know, to to essentially help with finding communication methods, finding uh clandestine ways to get uh weapon systems, get people out.
And and we kind of left that out there until it's we started to see the will of the people.
The will of the Ukrainians is much different than the conscripted will of the Russians than the people in Belarus.
I met those individuals.
They listen to Channel One and they start to see that Russia is nothing but propaganda.
So from the very, very beginning, we did not help our clandestine sources, we abandoned them, right?
We left the Fox News reporters to die and relied on civilians to go and ri rescue them.
We showed that we had uh no ability to help kind of behind the scenes, like we've done many times.
And instead now we're overtly saying, hey, this is not a UN ally, but we're gonna give billions of dollars of weapons, of weapons, of HIMARS, of tow missile systems.
And we're just gonna deny the F-16s, but you're still getting military aid.
And then at the same time, we're still in China, as of recently, less than a month ago.
If you provide military aid, you know, there will be consequences.
Well, guess what?
China's been providing non-lethal aid since the beginning.
They're gonna provide, continue to provide non-lethal, and I would argue it's it's still almost lethal when you're providing telecommunications and the ability to track people.
If I were president, I wouldn't put have put us in this position, but I would put a hold on any more monies going to Ukraine, and Joe Biden needs to convene it.
Well, if we had a real president, he needs to convene a meeting with every European country, and he needs to hand each leader a piece of paper with a financial figure on it, what their contribution needs to be.
And unless they meet that contribution.
Unless they do their part, it's their backyard.
The United States I have look, the uh support for this conflict is is diminishing every day.
And frankly, and if you're not gonna fight the war to win it, then don't fight it.
Just gives you might as well just hand over Ukraine to Putin, because that's what you're gonna do.
Either you're in it to win it, and they're gonna pay for it themselves, or and we'll help with the money, or we're getting out.
That's it.
That's what we did with President Bush and and the aggression against uh President Hussein, right?
That's that's how we did it in in the desert storm era.
We had a a coalition of the willing, and we had all of these organizations and all of these uh nations fighting together, and and we don't have any uh foothold anymore in in legitimacy in the world stage because we have a joke of a president, and that's projecting weakness, and that is pure and simple.
Uh I have a couple more questions on the other side of this break.
800 941 Sean is our number.
If you want to be a part of the program, uh as we continue with Lieutenant uh Colonel Dan Rooney uh Tyler Merritt is with us.
Uh Tyler has an issue as it relates to his apparel company, and we'll get to that.
Uh 800-941 Sean, our number.
We'll also get to your calls next half hour as we continue.
Hey there.
I'm Mary Catherine Hammond.
And I'm Carol Markowitz.
We've been in political media for a long time.
Long enough to know that it's gotten, well, a little insane.
That's why we started Normally, a podcast for people who are over the hysteria and just want clarity.
We talk about the issues that actually matter to the country without panic, without yelling, and with a healthy dose of humor.
We don't take ourselves too seriously, but we do take the truth seriously.
So if you're into common sense, sanity, and some occasional sass.
You're our kind of people.
Catch new episodes of Normally every Tuesday and Thursday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen.
When I told people I was making a podcast about Benghazi, nine times out of ten, they called me a masochist, rolled their eyes, or just asked, why?
Benghazi, the truth became a web of lies.
It's almost a dirty word.
One that connotes conspiracy theory.
Will we ever get the truth about the Benghazi massacre?
Bad faith, political warfare, and frankly, bullshit.
We kill the ambassador just to cover something up.
You put two and two together.
Was it an overblown distraction or a sinister conspiracy?
Benghazi is a rosetta stone for everything that's been going on for the last 20 years.
I'm Leon Nafok from Prologue Projects and Pushkin Industries.
This is Fiasco Benghazi.
What difference at this point does it make?
Yeah, that's right.
Locker up!
Listen to Fiasco Benghazi on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
I'm Ben Ferguson, and I'm Ted Cruz.
Three times a week we do our podcast, Verdict with Ted Cruz.
Nationwide, we have millions of listeners.
Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, we break down the news and bring you behind the scenes, inside the White House, inside the Senate, inside the United States Supreme Court.
And we cover the stories that you're not getting anywhere else.
We arm you with the facts to be able to know and advocate for the truth with your friends and family.
So down a verdict with Ted Cruz now, wherever you get your podcasts.
Hey there, I'm Mary Catherine Hamm.
And I'm Carol Markowitz.
We've been in political media for a long time.
Long enough to know that it's gotten, well, a little insane.
That's why we started Normally, a podcast for people who are over the hysteria and just want clarity.
We talk about the issues that actually matter to the country without panic, without yelling, and with a healthy dose of humor.
We don't take ourselves too seriously, but we do take the truth seriously.
So if you're into common sense, sanity, and some occasional sass.
You're our kind of people.
Catch new episodes of Normally every Tuesday and Thursday.
On the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen.
What I told people I was making a podcast about Benghazi.
Nine times out of ten, they called me a masochist, rolled their eyes, or just asked, why?
Benghazi, the truth became a web of lies.
It's almost a dirty word.
One that connotes conspiracy theory.
Will we ever get the truth about the Benghazi massacre?
Bad faith, political warfare, and frankly, bullshit.
We kill the ambassador just to cover something up.
You put two and two together.
Was it an overblown distraction or a sinister conspiracy?
Benghazi is a rosetta stone for everything that's been going on for the last 20 years.
I'm Leon Nafok from Prologue Projects and Pushkin Industries.
This is Fiasco Benghazi.
What difference at this point does it make?
Yeah, that's right.
Locker up!
Listen to Fiasco Benghazi on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
I'm Ben Ferguson.
And I'm Ted Cruz.
Three times a week, we do our podcast, Verdict with Ted Cruz.
Nationwide, we have millions of listeners.
Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, we break down the news and bring you behind the scenes inside the White House, inside the Senate, inside the United States Supreme Court.
And we cover the stories that you're not getting anywhere else.
We arm you with the facts to be able to know and advocate for the truth with your friends and family.
So down a verdict with Ted Cruz now, wherever you get your podcasts.
By the way, even MBC News is getting that, you know, what Putin and this drone incident are really all about, that Russian leadership approved all these aggressive actions.
And even our own, you know, joint chiefs of staff and defense secretary admitted, yeah, they've been ratcheting up their aggressiveness, you think.
Uh maybe we should have known that before the incident with the drone.
Anyway, here's MBC.
The US says those Russian jets made at least nineteen passes by the drone in international airspace Tuesday, even dumping jet fuel on it before clipping and damaging the drone's rear propeller.
The US then downed the thirty-two million dollar drone into the sea.
Tonight officials here say it's unclear whether Russia's actions were intentional.
It is possible uh that this was just a reckless, incompetent uh piece of aviating by the pilot.
Uh but we don't know for sure.
And Peter, we've just learned who in Russia the US says gave the green light for this.
Lester, three U.S. officials familiar with the intelligence tell NBC news that Russia's aggressive actions yesterday, including dropping jet fuel on the drone, were approved by the highest levels of Russian leadership.
But the actual collision with the drone, they say, was likely not intentional.
All right.
So there's the report.
Anyway, we continue our final moments now with uh Lieutenant Colonel Dan uh Rooney and Tyler Merritt, CEO of Nine Line.
What should the military reaction be in your view?
Yeah, well you go back to like hitting the drone, Sean, and you know to be able to clip the propeller off the best aviator in the world wouldn't be able to pull that.
But that's that's not what I'm asking.
They're being very aggressive in the skies against American targets.
And it goes all the way back to March 1st.
I mean, they were flying armed aircraft over U.S. bases in Syria.
So this has been happening with zero um reaction, and until we start posturing in that part of the world.
All right, so give me a solution.
What should the reaction be?
You're sitting in the situation room with the president.
He turns to you and he says, uh, Lieutenant Colonel Dan Rooney, what should we do?
What do you say?
Yeah, we we've got to get a presence over there.
Um there's there's no doubt.
And we need to if we're gonna fly predators national waters, we have to have assets supporting them over there.
Um there is no doubt this will continue until we put an aircraft carrier, till we forward deploy fighter jets um in that area to deter this aggression.
And uh, you know, we we've watched it for a long time.
I I don't know if it will or when it will happen, but if it doesn't, we'll continue to be on shows like this talking about this stuff um continually.
Yeah.
Uh last question for you, Tyler.
Um, I understand nine lives.
Now you you use all American cotton and everything made in um in America w with your line of clothing.
Nine line, by the way, we have a link on our website, Hannity.com, and you have great stuff up there.
Um anyway, you use everything everything's done right here in the USA.
Now you're under attack by other companies that are, for example, using cotton and slave labor from the the Uyghur minorities, for example, in China.
Uh why are you under attack for that?
I I guess that's a good question for Marco Rubio and Senator Cotton.
They're the ones who wrote the ball, the the the bill that became law uh as of June of last year.
And in that state that no material, specifically in my understanding, cotton.
Uh whether it's it's completely the entire product made in Xinjiang or just the cotton is picked from slaves that are currently held there for being Muslim, the only crime being Muslim, uh, that that you couldn't import that.
Uh and you had to sign waivers that the customer border patrol that you're not importing these things, and uh a supplier of mine tested positive for containing this cotton in products that were being sold to me as they were ethically sourced in Central and South America.
Because while I do make a majority of our product in in the US, right?
80% of our shirts that were sold in the last year are USA made.
There's some that are made of USA cotton in Central and South America, and I have a lot of different manufacturing partners.
So I tested them all.
I tested Haymes.
I tested Delicanvas.
I tested other brands.
And those other brands that I mentioned, you know, have been threatening litigation, have been uh coercing me in many ways to stop talking to give up my first amendment right.
And you know me, Sean.
That's obviously the wrong path to take, because I've gotten louder.
And I'll continue to tell people, hey, Marco Rubio, Senator Cotton, you guys wrote laws that have um fines that could be enacted for US companies aiding Chinese companies, which are aiding the communist regime, which are aiding these things because they are connected in the fact that Russia is being emboldened and empowered because China is giving them more and more aid, and lethal aid is not off the table.
They they joined a pack as of February of last year of a no limit coalition, and China has economic warfare on the table.
And I would say to the US government, um economic warfare towards China should be on the table because they're not our allies, and we rely on them way too much.
Unreal.
These times we're living in are very, very dangerous.
Uh and you see what's happening.
We have new uh new access of evil merging right before our eyes.
And meanwhile, when Donald Trump left office, not only was uh our border secures, uh not only were we energy independent, uh not only uh was the country safe and secure, uh, but we had an alliance, believe it or not,
with Israel, the Saudis, the Jordanians, the Egyptians, the Emirates, uh, and now you see Russia and China they're getting closer every day, along with Iran, and now the Saudis have decided to partner with Iran and and make peace with them because the U.S. is not leading anymore.
This is getting very, very dangerous.
Uh and of course, we've also given up domestic energy production, which is even more dangerous.
Uh, thank you both.
Appreciate it.
800 941 Sean, our number if you want to be a part of the program.
Uh let's say hi to Zabin is his name in Florida.
Zabin, hi, how are you?
Glad you called.
Good afternoon, Sean.
Really great to hear your voice.
Uh, as a retired Air Force uh flight engineer, I have a couple of theories on this uh your own thing, the Russians how they took it out.
Before I saw the video tape, um what my first theory was they used a uh what the MiGs have like the R fighters to have a afterburner.
So I was uh under the impression that maybe they used an afterburner, get in front of it and just blast it because it's so powerful that they could put put the drone into a into a corkscrew spin.
The other theory I had was what what we saw on the video is that Russian coming right at the drone, but what we used to in the in the Air Force uh with the tactics, they used to have a thing called the thump.
So the fighter jets at the last minute they'll do a they'll pull up and all that wake turbulence will hit the drone like like slam it and put it into a corkscrew type of spin.
But apparently the the fighter pilot was not that great and uh end up tapping the uh propeller.
So that's my two cents as far as that goes.
Uh I appreciate your insight.
And uh you know, this this is a problem America better come to grips with really quick here.
This weakness is incurring more and more and more aggression, and that is a big problem.
And America better respond sooner than later.
Because if they don't what's that?
Yeah, I do agree with you.
I do agree with you that uh this is from the highest uh of the Russian uh infrastructure, these commands, and uh the thing is they probably sent some hot dog uh fighter pilots in there to uh to do that, and they couldn't execute it properly.
So appreciate you being with us, Abin, and thank you for serving your country too.
You're you're an American hero, my friend.
Got to take a quick break.
We'll come back.
800 nine four one Sean, if you want to be a part of the program.
I uh just wanted to say that uh well, I agree with you, man, that that you know, this whole thing is a is a cluster and uh Putin is is a horrible human being, psychopath.
Um he's invaded, and uh I'm hearing from both the left and the right, unfortunately, that uh what we need is uh very you know, like you're hearing very strong rhetoric coming out of both sides, and this escalation is only gonna lead to World War Three, and there is no winner in World War Three.
We keep Russia's poking the bear with us, we're poking the bear with Russia, and eventually is let Russia take Ukraine.
No, absolutely not.
I'm saying there has to be some peace talks somewhere, some diplomacy to end this thing because it's either going to Um by the way, I'm not against that at all.
Um not in any way, shape, manner, or form.
Let me let me tell you where I am now, and I've been pretty consistent on this from the beginning.
We should help uh financially, but uh it was predicated on my belief that Europe, this being in their backyard, should be on the front lines of all the help here, and they've been negligent, and the US has been ridiculously, you know, reckless in its spending and willingness to give money when Europe is not stepping up and doing their part.
So I would I would put a pause today on all spending, and I would send every European leader a number.
What they need to contribute before the United States spends another penny helping Ukraine.
And that and that and let me tell you what the result of that is going to be.
They will step up and they will pay the money, because there is a a clear and present danger that the territorial ambitions of Vladimir Putin go way beyond Ukraine.
Way beyond Ukraine.
Do you agree with that?
I I do not agree that that his territorial ambition goes beyond Ukraine.
I don't.
And I've I've not read anything that I mean, we can say that.
He may be he's probably a madman.
He's probably a Hitler, but he's a Hitler with nukes.
And we don't want to I mean the fact that I'm even having this conversation to me seems absurd because we're being led down a path.
Well, did did uh you know for example, didn't Neville Chamberlain believe he'd have peace in our time?
Absolutely, but he wasn't dealing with a nuclear superpower at the time.
Oh, so the fact that they're a nuclear superpower, that factors into our decision.
Okay, that's a fair point.
However, are you gonna let allow yourself to be held hostage by that threat?
Well, I in in Fredericksburg, Texas, and in Texas in general, we're not being held hostage, and I'm really I I don't see Well, if you're not gonna do everything you would do to win the war, then in because you fear that at the end of this he's gonna do something that evil, um, then it's gonna happen anyway.
Well uh and if you think he's if if that's a fear of yours, why you wouldn't have a fear of further expansionism.
I I'm having a hard time understanding that.
Listen, I I I let's go back to the to the really good point that you made, and that would be a negotiated settlement.
Let's be honest here.
I mean, he's uh Russia already annexed Crimea.
Uh clearly the Donbass region uh is is more Russia aligned than Ukrainian aligned and and there were more Russian nationals there.
Okay, that should be on the that should be in the negotiating table or on the negotiating table.
But now what are we gonna do with Belarus?
Now we're talking about a country that basically is another satellite of Vladimir Putin.
What do you think's gonna happen there?
I mean, I'm I'm I'm asking you good questions, you gotta admit.
You you you are you're asking me good questions.
I have no idea.
I'm just you know, I know Putin, but no matter what I've read, is has reached out to Zelensky to to discuss a negotiated settlement.
Not really.
I's as he's reaching out.
Every time there's been a minor ceasefire and any talk or hope of of peace talks, he ends up taking out major massive civilian areas because the Ukrainians have let down their guard.
That has happened every time.
Absolutely.
But you know, my whole argument is that's happening in Ukraine, and it's horrible and it's awful and it's disgusting.
But that same thing could happen here, it could happen in the rest of Europe if we keep poking the bears.
This has got to stop.
There has to be How are we responsible for what happened?
You're blaming us.
Why would you blame America in this?
Yeah, because we showed weakness with the pull out of Afghanistan.
I mean, here we are.
Well, that's part of it.
You're you're right again.
I'll give you credit.
Absolutely.
So show but that's my point.
All we're showing is weakness.
I I I think we're kind of talking over each other here, and we're missing each other's point.
I'm hearing you loud and clear.
Every single incident we're referring to here shows weakness.
That that that's the one common thread.
Now the question is how do we show strength?
Do we have thirty seconds?
I'll let you answer that.
Okay, the way we show strength is by getting a different administration.
Unfortunately, we are stuck with what we have for the next two years.
And you know, Putin and G they're all watching this pull out of Afghanistan, and we, as the American people, are relying on the same politicians and bureaucrats that led us through COVID and this withdrawal of Afghanistan to we're trusting them to get us out of this quagmire without starting World War Three.
Do you feel confident that that will happen?
Do we feel confident as American people what the sad answer is gonna be to you?
And I'm I'm just always honest with my audience.
Under Joe Biden, I don't think he's capable of doing anything right.
You're really right.
We our backs are against the wall here.
And our enemies know it, and that's the worst part.
I do not like being in a weakened position.
I just don't.
And we are.
That's the sad reality.
Uh anyway, great call.
Uh, Derek, call any time.
We appreciate you down in Texas.
Thanks for being there.
Thanks, Sean.
800-941 Sean, if you want to be a part of the program.
Uh at the top of the hour, Sarah Carter with an investigative report on the border.
It's so bad.
It's gonna be a bigger year this year than last year's record, and a bigger year than the previous year's record.
And I know it's it's making our country.
It's so vulnerable, it's it's insane.
We'll continue.
You want smart political talk without the meltdowns?
We got you.
And I'm Carol Markovich.
And I'm Mary Catherine Hamm.
We've been around the block in media, and we're doing things differently.
Normally is about real conversations.
Thoughtful, try to be funny, grounded, and no panic.
We'll keep you informed and entertained without ruining your day.
Join us every Tuesday and Thursday, normally on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
What I told people, I was making a podcast about Benghazi.
Nine times out of ten, they called me a masochist, rolled their eyes, or just asked why.
Benghazi, the truth became a web of lies.
From Prologue Projects and Pushkin Industries, this is Fiasco Benghazi.
What difference at this point does it make?
Listen to Fiasco Benghazi on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
I'm Ben Ferguson.
And I'm Ted Cruz.
Three times a week, we do our podcast, Verdict with Ted Cruz.
Nationwide, we have millions of listeners.
Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, we break down the news and bring you behind the scenes inside the White House, inside the Senate, inside the United States Supreme Court.
And we cover the stories that you're not getting anywhere else.
We arm you with the facts to be able to know and advocate for the truth with your friends and family.
So down a verdict with Ted Cruz now, wherever you get your podcasts.
