News Stations Paid For By America? - February 10th, Hour 3
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Here's our toll-free telephone number.
It's 800-941-Sean.
If you want to be a part of the program, I think it was on Friday.
I had a scheduled conversation with President Trump and it was off the record, so I'll keep it off the record, as I always do.
And he said, oh, by the way, guess who's sitting next to me?
He was on Air Force One.
Yeah, I know your friends, Miranda Devine from the New York Post, and also author of The Big Guy, How a President and His Son Sold Out America.
And anyway, was with the President this weekend, spent a significant amount of time with him.
And she joins us now to tell us all about it.
How are you, Miranda?
Hi, Sean.
Great to be with you.
And yes, it was terrific.
The president was gracious enough to give me an interview and allow me to tag along and sort of see how a day in the life of Donald Trump goes.
And I can tell you, it is so hectic.
He does not stop.
You know, it starts at 6 a.m.
And as he told me, I asked him, what's the first thing that goes through your mind when you wake up?
And he says, business.
It's all business.
It's always been all business.
Now it's the business of politics.
And it's true.
He's there to just focus on and think about the country and how he's going to fix the disaster.
Really, the disaster he's been bequeathed by Joe Biden.
He really has been handed a disaster.
So tell us, so at what time of day did you meet up with him and walk us through the day?
I want to hear all about.
So I was trying to get the interview at some point during Friday in Washington, but he was so busy that he finally said, look, let's do it on the plane.
So I tagged along to Palm Beach and came into his office, very, very large office there on the airplane.
And so he gave me a lot of time and in fact missed his lunch.
He was going to have a steak for lunch.
And instead, he sent it, he said, cut it up into little pieces and send it down to the senators on the plane because if I eat this now, I'm not going to be able to eat dinner.
So he's just terrific and just full of energy.
Obviously very cagey about certain things.
You know, he did say that he had spoken to Vladimir Putin on the phone, but didn't want to be drawn on how long for or what they talked about.
Also told me, in fact, he told me then about that he was going to strip the security clearance of Joe Biden, as well as Anthony Blinken, the former Secretary of State, who ginned up that 51, Dirty 51 letter.
I played it earlier in the program, just for the record, Joe Biden did that to him.
Well, exactly.
But look, it really isn't a tit for tat.
That gives him extra justification.
But it really is the genuine fact that he says that Joe Biden cannot be trusted with classified information because A, he's corrupt.
And B, obviously you had Robert Herr, the special counsel, saying last year that Joe Biden had such a failing memory that he, even though there was evidence to charge him with the classified documents mishandling, that he wasn't going to do so because no jury would be able to find him guilty because he really wasn't fit to stand trial.
So that is not someone you want to give classified information to.
So absolutely justified on every front.
And then of course, he gave me a list of eight other people he's doing the same thing to, and that is stripping security clearances or if they don't currently have them, their ability to get them and also to prevent them from accessing any secure federal facilities, any secure federal buildings.
And so that obviously will have an impact on federal people like former Secretary of State Anthony Blinken who's getting this treatment as well, Jake Sullivan, the former NSA for Biden, and also New Yorkers, Letitia James and Alvin Bragg.
Now, we don't know whether they have security clearances and it's unlikely to be anything more than symbolic.
As Bob Costello told me, it's really more a slap in the face and an insult to them than anything practical.
But their inability to access federal facilities will have an impact on their day-to-day ability to do their job.
You know, for instance, they won't be able to meet the U.S. attorneys in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Those U.S. attorneys from the Southern District and the Eastern District of New York will have to come to them and meet them, which they won't like doing.
And they won't be able to access the MCC and any of the federal buildings in Foley Square here in New York.
And the other thing is that Donald Trump is really very focused on getting rid of the congestion tax in New York.
He's been in talks with Kathy Hochul.
He said to me that he wanted to give her the respect of allowing her to go away and come back with her proposals.
But he's determined that that will happen.
And he also says that there would be no need for any congestion tax.
All it does is people, it hurts business.
And she's just trying to force New Yorkers back onto the subway, which they don't want to use because it's dangerous because there are lunatics down.
They're pushing people in front of the subway, setting people on fire.
There's just no law and order in the subway and people are frightened.
And so especially women.
And so he just says, clean it up and you won't need the congestion tax because people want to use the subway like we used to.
Well, I mean, this is all basic common sense.
I've wondered with the energy emergency that he declared, whether or not he would have the ability to force New York and Kathy Hokel, the governor of New York, into fracking, which would be the single best thing that New York could ever do to get out of the mess that they're in.
And they are in a mess.
Yes, that would be an amazing thing for America, but for New York's economy, ridiculous that under Cuomo that our energy resources were curtailed so much for a city that needs a lot of power to keep going and is the sort of engine room of the economy of America.
So I would hope that he is able to twist her arm.
And there are many things that you know that Donald Trump is trying to extract from the states, many deals.
And of course, he has a big cudgel because there are billions of dollars that the federal government hands out to the states for transportation and for other things.
And that money, he is quite within his rights to turn the tap off.
So they know that.
So they're going to have to do something to accord with what he wants.
But more importantly, he's just reflecting what the citizens want.
Yeah, I totally agree with you.
I mean, you're kind of stuck at New York.
I'm not anymore, thank God.
And one of the best decisions I made.
And for all the reasons you're describing, I mean, Florida is the number one state for schools in America.
And as far as safety and law and order and security, it's unprecedented, especially when compared to New York.
You talk about infrastructure.
In spite of no state income tax, the infrastructure in Florida is all throughout the state is infinitely better than the infrastructure in New York.
I would imagine that Exodus is going to continue.
Absolutely.
I mean, it's just a tragedy for New York.
And it's going to take a lot to recover from because, you know, once businesses decide that they are upping sticks and moving to another state, it really takes a lot to make them come back.
You know, I think that under Kathy Hochul, it's impossible.
We're going to need to get New York to wake up.
I mean, maybe New York has to get to a really dark place, really descend into the doldrums like it was back in the 80s before there is any common sense.
And you get a Rudy Giuliani to come in and save the city and, you know, a governor like Lee Zeldon.
Lee Zeldin should have won that last election, and if he had beaten Kathy Hochul, this state would.
But how many millions of people that otherwise would have voted for Lee Zeldin, and I'm a fan of Lee Zeldin's, had long left the state because of their, you know, high taxes, their burdensome regulation, the lack of law and order, terrible schools.
How many people left?
That's right.
And it's a vicious circle.
And you're seeing that in California.
You're seeing that in these states.
America is getting bifurcated between common sense, go-ahead, successful states like Florida and high taxing, high crime, really burdensome and difficult to live in states or cities anyway, like New York.
And these are the cities that are controlled by Democrats and have been for eons.
You know, New York State has actually got a lot of sensible people in it, but New York City is just for the most part controlled by these corrupt and incompetent Democrats who have all they care about is power.
They have this lust for power.
And it means that their party is shriveled up to nothing.
Quick break more with Miranda Devine on the other side.
She spent the day with the president, a day in the life of Donald Trump, which means it's chaotic.
It is busy and it is efficient.
Anyway, more with Miranda on the other side.
We'll get to your calls coming up.
800-941-Shawn is on number if you want to be a part of the program.
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Continue now.
Miranda Devine, New York Post, is with us.
She spent an entire day with President Trump, even flying on Air Force One with him.
Did you have an opportunity to talk to him about Doge?
Here's what he said to Brett Baier in his Super Bowl interview about it.
Strict Elon Musk and his government efficiency team Doge from accessing Treasury Department payment and data systems.
They said there was a risk of irreparable harm.
What do you make of that?
And does that slow you down on what you want to do?
No, I disagree with it 100%.
I think it's crazy.
And we have to solve the efficiency problem.
We have to solve the fraud, waste, abuse, all the things that have gone into the government.
You take a look at the USAID, the kind of fraud in there.
Well, we're talking about hundreds of millions of dollars of money that's going to places where it shouldn't be going, where if I read a list, you'd say, this is ridiculous.
And you've read the same lists, and there are many that you haven't even seen.
It's crazy.
It's a big scam.
Now, there's some good money, and we can do that through any one of a number.
I think I'd rather give it to Marco Rubio over at the State Department.
Let him take care of the few good ones.
The people, look, I ran on this, and the people want me to find it.
And I've had a great help with Elon Musk, who's been terrific.
Barlon, you say you trust him.
Trust Elon?
Oh, he's not gaining anything.
In fact, I wonder how he can devote the time to it.
He's so into it.
But I told him do that.
Then I'm going to tell him very soon, like maybe in 24 hours, to go check the Department of Education.
He's going to find the same thing.
Then I'm going to go to the military.
Let's check the military.
We're going to find billions, hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud and abuse.
But I campaigned on this, Brett.
And he did.
I mean, did you talk much about that?
Yes, we did quite a bit.
He's very, very proud and pleased with what Elon Musk is doing.
And in fact, I asked him, because I saw Elon Musk with him briefly, and they have a really lovely rapport.
And it seemed to me to be, you know, a sort of father-son rapport almost.
And we all know Elon Musk had a terrible childhood with an abusive father.
And so he really is working extra hard for free, as Donald Trump told me, getting the waste, fraud, and abuse out of the government saving.
Already he's up to, like, I think he's going to be saving a trillion dollars.
And Donald Trump said on Friday, he actually gave Elon Musk permission to add an extra 45 staff to his team.
By the way, none of that team is getting paid.
None of his Doge team getting paid with taxpayer dollars.
They're all being seconded from his businesses, like Starlink and the AI and Tesla and so on.
And so Donald Trump said that they'll be tackling, as he just said, then the Pentagon Next and other agencies, including potentially the FBI and the CIA.
He said it's the greatest thing that's happened to this country in many years.
They're finding all the waste and fraud and corruption that nobody thought that anybody would ever look for.
And I said to him, why did you know that this would be here?
Why you?
Why were you able to do this and no other president?
And he said, because I always thought it was corrupt.
He has a feel for that stuff.
He's nose.
He's got a good nose for grifters and corruption.
He said, my nose told me it was corrupt.
And he said, for instance, the first, when Elon and his team have been looking at USAID, out of 100 things that they looked at, 98 were bad, Donald Trump said.
And he said, normally it's the other way, you know, when he obviously keeps a lid on things in his own businesses.
He said, normally when you do an audit, you find 98 bad things, maybe two that are bad.
This is the other way around, and he called that horrible.
And he did say Elon Musk possibly sees him as a father figure, and he just praised him very much.
So I think it's ridiculous that any Democrats are trying to put a wedge between Donald Trump and Elon Musk.
It's not going to work.
They're going to try hard.
That's not going to work.
Well, it sounds like a great experience.
And we'll be following up, reading your columns every day, as we always do in the New York Post.
Miranda Devine, we always appreciate you being with us.
Thank you.
Thanks very much.
All right, 25 till the top of the hour this Monday.
The freak out over Doge Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency.
That continues.
We're going to play you the Love's meltdown in a second.
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The left freak out over Doge and Elon, it just doesn't end.
In New York, Letitia James suing the Trump administration for giving unauthorized access to private information and cutting federally approved spending.
I mean, this is all of this.
As you listen to this madness that we're going to play not only Letitia James, Congresswoman Omar, Andy Kim, Chris Murphy, Congresswoman Presley, and this meltdown of the left and the media on top of it because they're just an extension of the radicalized left.
You know, just remember, all of this money is being spent on, you know, international, on other countries.
This is not being spent for the American people, even if you were to agree with the madness of how it's being spent, because it's being spent on Green New Deal programs, woke-ism, transgender-ism, DEI programs.
It's being spent on abortion.
It's being spent on LGBTQ plus everything.
And it's hundreds of billions of dollars.
And, you know, if this is the hill the left wants to continue to die on, because they keep doubling down on dumb, dumber, and stupid, the American people, the average American that pays all their taxes and, you know, on average makes 66 grand a year, does not want their money spent this way.
Anyway, let's listen to the left's meltdown here.
We have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration for giving unauthorized individuals access to these immensely sensitive records in violation of the law.
President Trump does not have the power to give our private information away to whomever he wants.
And he does not have the power to cut federal spending that Congress approved, much less to do so by giving the richest man in the world the keys to all Americans' most sensitive information.
As Democratic Attorneys General, we are suing to stop this unprecedented and unauthorized attack and to protect your personal information.
As I've said before, no one is above the law.
And I will not hesitate to uphold the rule of law and protect New Yorkers.
Thank you.
What we are witnessing is a constitutional crisis.
We are seeing an executive branch that has decided that they are no longer going to abide by the Constitution in honoring Congress's role in the creation of the agencies in their role in deciding where money is allocated.
And so the only recourse we have, since our congressional leadership, the Speaker, will not stop the executive is through the judiciary.
And this is, you know, when you think about the checks and balances that we have, the courts are the only recourse we have at the moment.
Are you prepared to shut down the government to join Democratic colleagues who want to stand in the way of keeping the government open?
Well, you have to look at what the Trump administration is doing right now.
They are simply trying to dismantle the government.
So yes, look, if we have to take steps to be able to hold them accountable, use the leverage that we have to force it.
I cannot support efforts that will continue this lawlessness that we're seeing when it comes to this administration's actions.
And for us to be able to support government funding in that way, only for them to turn it around to dismantle the government, that is not something that should be allowed.
We are at a point where we are basically on the cusp of a constitutional crisis, seeing this administration taking steps that are so clearly illegal.
And until we see a change in that behavior, we should not allow and condone that, nor should we assist in that.
So this is the modern Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, radicalized left-wing in America today.
And this is the hill they think they're going to die on.
And that is international spending on the most radicalized programs without me mentioning them or reading them.
I spent most of last week informing you of how abusive and how corrupt all this spending is.
And if they want to double down on that, double down on illegal immigrants being allowed to stay in the country, including unvetted people, known terrorists in the country, cartel members in the country, gang members in the country, murderers and known rapists in the country, tens and tens of thousands.
If they want to double down on these ideas, then Donald Trump's popularity, as I mentioned at the beginning of the program, will continue to soar.
And we now see he has a record approval rating for the vast majority of Americans, you know, recognizing, number one, 70% that he's doing what he promised he would do during his campaign.
And 60% approving of his program to deport illegal immigrants from the U.S.
And 69% of Americans describe Trump as tough.
You know, what adjectives would you want people to use to describe you?
63% describe him as energetic.
60% say he's focused.
58% say he's effective.
You know, 64% approve of Trump's using U.S. troops at the border.
Not bad attributes from a guy who has historically never pulled this wall.
Never.
Anyway, let's get to Larry in the great state of Texas.
God bless Texas, Larry.
What's going on?
Glad you checked in.
Oh, hey, how are you doing?
I just want to say Trump is doing an awesome job.
I think he's basically going to give America a fresh start.
I think he's also, you know, he's the right president for this time, basically.
I don't know what else to say, but, you know, I just called in just.
No, I think you're right.
I think this is a moment in history we have to return to constitutional order.
This is a moment.
All the talk we've heard over the decades, Republicans wanting to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse, now we can do it.
Now we can get it accomplished.
And the president's doing it and doing it at the speed of light.
And it's refreshing.
And you know what?
All of you in this audience, you helped make it happen.
Thank you.
You're doing it for yourself, your kids, your grandkids, and for America's future.
And history will judge us well if we cut back the size of government and stop all of this corruption because it's rooted in corruption.
There's a reason Democrats are fighting so hard.
This is a lot of their radicalism that they've been masking.
They purposely hid all of this information from the American people.
They are lashing out out of anger because they've been exposed.
And of course, lashing out at Elon Musk is sleeping on the floor of a building in Washington, D.C., you know, as he serves the country for free, and nobody at Doge gets paid a penny.
Anyway, thanks, my friend.
Appreciate it.
God bless Texas.
We mean it.
Dwayne in North Carolina, next Sean Hennedy show.
Hi.
Mr. Hennedy, thank you for watching.
Stand forward.
Thanks for taking my call.
Thank you, my friend.
Glad you called.
I just wanted to say I hope that Mr. Trump and Mr. Musk can lift the lid on the also FEMA waste.
I live in Western North Carolina.
I live in one of the most hardest hit areas during Hurricane Helene.
I am a farmer.
My mom and I, we raise cattle.
We lost a very important part of our farm being a bridge that we have a hard time getting assistance with from FEMA still.
I appreciate Mr. Trump, Mr. Vance, Ms. Noam for coming to our area and recognizing that.
Sean Duffy was there today.
I promised the people of North Carolina only because of the conversations I had with Trump that when he was elected, he would focus on it.
And he's kept his promise.
And they are very dialed into what's happening in where you live in North Carolina.
If they don't fix these bridges, how are you possibly going to get your products?
You said you're a rancher.
How are you going to get your meat to market?
I'm not sure.
What are you going to take it on horseback?
I doubt it.
I don't think that's going to work.
You're going to use a donkey?
That's not going to work either.
Bicycle?
That's not going to work.
We need to fix the bridges.
But I will tell you, they're also talking about eliminating FEMA.
And I think that would be the best, most efficient way to handle it.
And what you then do is you go to the people where you live and the people that you've elected, and you give them the money, and they're going to be best able to identify where the needs are and help people like you get back up and running as quickly as possible.
We've got to get these bridges fixed fast.
I mean, we can't wait around two years.
We have filed claims with the state also, though, Mr. Hannity, and they're not even responding.
The state nor the county.
I mean, we are literally, and I hate to blow the top off of this, but we are getting the runaround from federal, state, local authorities.
I've applied.
There is coalitions out there who they help with assistance of like grass seed, fertilized lime to put hayfields and pastures back together.
They won't respond.
It's like a forgotten land around here.
And again, I appreciate, you know, Mr. Trump.
Mr. Vance met with some folks that I go to church with that lost 11 folks in one family.
He came here and met with them.
Ms. Nam was here over the weekend.
And I could show you some things with FEMA, the waste that is going on in this area, but yet the assistance to the homeowners is none.
Let me check with my sources.
And they're not going there for no reason.
Their help is definitely coming.
I would have thought by now that there'd be some level of improvement.
Clearly, what you're saying, there's not, and that's got to be communicated.
And I have a big mouth, and I have no problem using it because I feel so strongly about the people of North Carolina, and I want them to be taken care of.
That should be our top thing.
Now, the Doge team discovered that FEMA sent $59 million last week to luxury hotels in New York and New York City to house the illegal immigrants.
And suddenly that money violated the law.
It was in gross insubordination of the president's executive order.
That money was meant for American disaster relief.
Why isn't that money being sent to you?
Because FEMA is designed exactly for people like you that suffer a natural disaster like Hurricane Helene.
And the people that are in our country illegally ought not be spending more time and taxpayer money in three four-star hotels in New York City.
So Doge discovered that.
I'm telling you, they're on it.
You may not be seeing the results yet, but I know they're on it.
There's a reason that you see the president, the vice president, you see the Department of Homeland Security Secretary, the Transportation Secretary.
Everybody's all hands on deck.
But obviously, it's not enough yet.
So let's get to the bottom.
I'll get to the bottom of it and we'll report back to you.
Brett in Arizona.
Brett, we got about 90 seconds.
It's all yours.
Hi, Sean.
Thank you for taking my call.
My point is really actually very simple.
Beyond just discovering these wasteful spending and abuse and crime and fraud, why aren't we taking and hearing about who's putting this money into the bills that are getting through?
It has to be coming from somebody.
I'd love to see a report card for every representative associated with this spending, particularly with.
I would too.
But you know what?
You get a pretty good idea.
The people that are screaming bloody murder are the Democrats.
The Democrats, they're the ones, you know, it's not Republicans pushing the Green New Deal.
It's not Republicans pushing DEI.
They're not pushing, you know, these transgender policies and so on and so forth and DEI.
It's all this is a Democratic Party initiative and how radicalized the Democratic Party's become.
So that's why they're the loudest voices.
This has become a way that they accumulate power and that is being taken away from them and they're being exposed.
Nobody likes to be exposed.
If you've been involved in corruption, you don't want to be exposed.
And so rather than just admit that the money should have gone to the American people and that they should have been better stewards of our tax dollars, that would be the honorable thing to do.
They just decided to lash out at Elon and President Trump and talk about a constitutional crisis that is non-existent.
I actually think this is very constitutional.
And I think a president that's protecting the American people and their hard-earned tax money deserves to be applauded, not condemned.
And I feel so strongly about that.
Anyway, Brett, appreciate the call, my friend.
800-941-Sean, if you want to be part of the programs.
You want smart political talk without the meltdowns?
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I'm Carol Markowitz.
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.