Paul Rykoff (3:00)
A couple top stories to rip through former Prince Andrew has been arrested in Britain over the Epstein ties. Bottom line here, the Epstein drama does not end. It is continuing to extend. Now Prince Andrew has been arrested. King Charles III says he supports a full fail and proper process. He probably also hopes that his name doesn't appear there, but names continue to come out. Damage continues to continue. And of course damage on the survivors continues as well, as there is still not enough accountability around Epstein in America and in Washington and in particular, excuse me. In contrast, there has been accountability in South Korea where the ex leader, President Yoon Suk Yul has been sentenced to life in prison. You might remember he was impeached after he briefly imposed martial law in 2024. He had faced a potential death sentence in the country's biggest criminal trial in decades. It's kind of like an alternate universe in what could have happened to Trump. But there is tremendous accountability in South Korea. Maybe one day we'll have accountability here, but not yet. All right. And then of course, I want to talk about what I think is our top topic, the number one topic that should be the top topic despite all the other stuff that is pending war with Iran. On this show. We have talked for months and years about how the number one story in the world is that Donald Trump can do anything he wants with the most powerful military the world has ever seen and nothing is stopping him. He struck a number of countries from Yemen to Venezuela with no congressional oversight, with no congressional roadblocks, and now with no congressional slowdown, it looks like he may hit Iran. He said today, in the next 10 days. So it could happen before I even drop this show. It could happen a couple weeks from now. It's just like Venezuela around Christmas time. The table is set, the pieces are in place. And now it's on Trump and maybe on our military advisors to give him an ideal window of weather, of cloud cover, of moonlight. And all those factors go into the strategic planning of a military operation. But it seems like right now the US Military is cleared hot to hit Iran. Now, most in Congress are rolling over. They're abdicating their responsibility, but at least some are stepping up. Representative Ro Khanna, Democrat of California, and Representative Tom Massie, Republican from Kentucky, have co sponsored a bill that would require Trump to have a vote. Sorry. That would require Congress to force a vote on Trump's use of force on Iran, saying he can't do it without congressional approval. You may remember a similar effort failed last June, nearly a week after the president unilaterally ordered strikes against Iran. This is Normally what happens, Trump strikes things and Congress tries to pass legislation. Afterward, he blows past Congress, he blows past norms and makes the case to the American people. Sometimes after he does it, it's dangerous, it's unconstitutional. It should not be our new normal, not just because of the damage it can do to Iran, but because America's sons and daughters were will again be in harm's way. And you have a right to have your representatives vote on whether or not that's okay. How do you feel about it? Sound off in the comments section here. If you're watching on YouTube, be sure to send me notes on social media and keep it front and center. Because when it comes to issues of national security, from Greenland to Venezuela to Mexico to Iran, we all most definitely need to stay vigilant. All right. Requiring your vigilance and an issue that remains below the radar. But something we continue to focus on is that I don't think Trump and his administration have any intent on having a free and fair election this fall. And Kristi Noem leaked a little bit last week. Maybe she said out loud what she was thinking when she said, quote, when it gets to election day, we've been proactive to make sure we have the right people voting, electing the right leaders to lead this country. That is exactly what you should not hear from a person who's heading Department of Homeland Security. I think this is just the latest reason she needs to go. And anyone who hasn't called for it in Congress already is a complete coward. Also below the radar, there was some reporting that there was some tension between Nome and the coast guard after 23 year old coast Guardsmen went overboard in the Pacific Ocean on the cutter washesh on February 4th of last year. Shortly after the Senate confirmed Noem in a role, according to U.S. officials. NBC News had this report. The Coast Guard had been surging ships and aircraft to find the Guardsmen. Hours into the search, Noem Learned that a C130 that was supposed to fly detained migrants over from California to Texas was among the aircraft over the Pacific looking for the missing Guardsman. She intervened and she told the acting commandant, Coast Guard Admiral Kevin Ludley, to pull the plane off the search and rescue mission so wouldn't miss an immigrant flight as part of DHS's so called alien expulsion operations. This is according to US officials. Now how many more reasons do we need to show that Kristi Noem should be removed? If you're a member of Congress, it hasn't called for our removal, especially after these two latest episodes Then you should just step down yourself. And in the meantime, all of us need to stay vigilant. All right? Stay vigilant. Of course, around the Pentagon, where I haven't covered this in a couple of days, but Hegseth's war, culture war continues. I've called him the acting Secretary of Culture War. That is what he is. And now he has aimed his ire on a number of colleges that he feels army troops should no longer be allowed to enroll in. It's a high number of very prestigious colleges, a long list including Boston College, Boston University, Duke, Fordham, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, basically mit, Tufts, some of the top universities in the country. And Hegseth doesn't want the military working with him because his culture war on America continues. Now, keep in mind, he went to Princeton, which I didn't see on this list, but might be, but is included in this list of schools like Yale and Harvard and others. He's just making our military dumber and more radical by the day. And here's a bigger question. Is he removing ROTC from these colleges next? And will the Department of Veterans affairs follow the DOD's lead and deny veterans the ability to access their post 911 GI Bill benefits at the same schools? Everything they want to do is radical, political, extreme. And everything they want to do starts with doing it at and with the Pentagon, where there continues to be drama and you should keep your eyes focused. He also has now forced out a senior military advisor to Dan Driscoll. He kicked out the Pentagon Pentagon chief spokesperson over the weekend, Colonel David Butler. It's gotten a lot of pushback and most importantly, more Hegseth drama. It never ends. It's his brand and it's his legacy. He's like secretary drama. And of course, he's the acting Secretary of Culture War as well. Also of note, related to the Pentagon, that didn't get a lot of attention. I want to talk about the fact that lance Corporal Chuamaka Ofora, 21 of Florida was declared dead on Tuesday following a 1772 hour search and rescue operation. You know, combat operations always have a human cost. And that cost is rarely appreciated by the public, especially when the President doesn't want you to think about a human cost. But there's always a cost. And I want to remind folks about the loss of Lance Corporal Oforra because he has been lost and others could be lost if we attack Iran in the next couple of days. And if you want to support the family of Lance Corporal Oforra and other families of the fallen, please check out tragedyassistance program for survivors.org taps.org, i'll link to it in the show notes as well. But this is the first casualty of America's war on drug boats or whatever the hell they're doing. Off the coast of Minneapolis. I saw Minneapolis, check that. Off the coast of Venezuela. There's a different war happening in Minneapolis. Which takes us to ice. I have been talking repeatedly about the dastardly and unacceptable things that ICE has been doing. I'll give you the latest example. There is a nine year old client who has been locked up in San Antonio for eight months. And the children have been so impacted by this. This poor child says she wishes she was no longer alive. She says she wishes that she could get out. She says it's like a bad dream about running away from a wild animal, but she's stuck in a cage and can't get out. Her sister was separated from family as punishment for talking to the press. They're facing deportation to Egypt, but everyone in the family of five is seeking asylum. It's a nine year old girl, five year old twins, a 16 year old brother and an 18 year old sister and their mother. It's just unacceptable and we can never normalize how brutal and just mean and despicable they have been. Another related story. We found out that Ophelia Torres, the heroic teenage child of Chicago public schools who was fighting against cancer while her father was detained, has died. She was a brave young woman, 16 years old, and she was fighting cancer while her father was being detained by ICE. Her brave and tragic story is the story of ICE's corrupt and broken culture of cruelty. When they tell you that ICE can be salvaged, remember them. Remind them of 16 year old Ophelia. America will never forget these stories and we should never forgive. It's why we need to defund and disband ICE immediately and of course, stay vigilant. Now, one other thing. Keep in mind, the DHS is now reportedly trying to identify Americans who oppose ICE raids by sending tech companies legal requests for their names, email addresses, telephone numbers and identifying data behind the social media accounts that track or criticize the agency. So if you attack or criticize dhs, your data could be headed over to Kristi Noem. Another reason why DHS needs to be held accountable and defunded and disbanded. And we all need to stay vigilant. But know that people are pushing back and breaking through. I want to play you a video that's been getting around of a man who's pushing back and I think Representing the voice of so many people. Check this out.
