← The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson
The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson
Epic Raid Frees Israeli Hostages-from the "Journalist" Who Was Holding them, plus Spies who Lied about Hunter's Laptop
00:43:10
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- [00:01]
A
Welcome. It is Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you. Senator, you've come back from one incredible trip. And I know that that is something that you have a lot to talk about with Zelensky having a meeting with him. But there's also some very important breaking news even before that. We're going to get to.
- [00:20]
B
Well, that's exactly right. I'm back in America, back in Texas, very glad to be back home. And there is a lot going on in the world. Number one, we have what's happening in Israel, the daring rescue. The IDF went in and rescued four American hostages. Of course, the corporate media went crazy blaming Israel. And then it was discovered that among the captors that were holding the hostages was a quote unquote journalist who's in fact a Hamas terrorist. We're going to break that down along with the rabidly anti Israel, pro Hamas protests outside of the White House. Joe Biden and the Democrats do nothing as protesters deface monuments and assault law enforcement officers. On top of that, we're going to get into the Hunter Biden trial. And in particular, it is now admitted that the laptop is real. It is accurate. The Biden administration is arguing that in court. And everyone who lied about it for week after week and month after month and year after year, crickets from all of them. None of them are admitting, from James Clapper to Tony Blinken to all of the president's liars that lied on his behalf, they're suddenly silent. And of course, the media doesn't care. And then finally we're going to get into the meeting I had just two days ago with President Zelensky while we were in France. We sat down and talked about what's happening in Ukraine. I'm going to tell you about that as well.
- [01:44]
A
Yeah, I'm really excited to hear exactly how that meeting went. So one of the things that so many of you that are listening have been a part of, and we want to say thank you, is helping people in Israel. The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews is on the ground right now helping so many people in Israel that desperately need your help. There have been a lot of attacks have taken place even over the last several days. And the attacks on Israel have increased since October 7, with Iran and its proxies launching an attack of hundreds of drones and missiles. You may remember that news stories. Israel is really in a point where every day the people there are having to deal with a harsh reality of terror, and that is by design by these terrorists. The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews is on the ground now addressing all the urgent needs. And that is where we're asking for your help. IFCJ is preparing for the worst by packing emergency bomb shelter kits that can be delivered to those that are in desperate need. And your life saving donation today will help assemble and place these kits with enough food and life saving emergency supplies for 20 people huddled in a bomb shelter. The cost to put together and distribute these kits is $290. And your gift now will help save lives. Not only is IFCJ doing this, but they're also helping install actual bomb shelters because there are not enough in the different areas that are being hit. And that is another thing that you can get involved with with ifcj. Now what we're asking you to do is get involved because there is a matching donor. Yes, it will double your impact and help provide twice the support. All you have to do is call IFCJ, 1888-488 IFCJ. That's 1-888-488 IFCJ or go online and give now to supportifcj.org and, and help the people in Israel that support ifcj.org Senator, let's start with Israel and, and what has happened there. It is a great victory, especially I think just for morale and to know that some of the hostages are still alive. Israeli officials came out and said they had a raid. They were able to free four hostages from two different locations. Bibi made it clear we won't stop until they're all home. That was his message.
- [04:16]
B
Well, that's exactly right. The IDF sent in special forces and they rescued four hostages. This was in Gaza. They went in and they found them and they got them out. The four hostages, Almag Mer, John Noah Argamani, Andre Kozlov and Shlomy ziv were the four hostages. Three men and a woman. They had been hostages since October 7th. And the IDF went in, they got them out. It is incredible. That is cause for celebration. But it is also, it really is striking. As soon as it happened, the corporate media immediately began attacking who not Hamas attacking Israel. And their narrative was, well, you shouldn't have killed Palestinians doing it. And they began by saying by focusing on a Gaza journalist, a Gaza journalist who wrote for Al Jazeera and who has been a vocal journalist writing on what is happening in Gaza. He wrote for the Palestine Chronicle, which is an American 501C3 and he was writing regularly. Well, it turns out this quote unquote journalist also happens to be a Hamas terrorist who was keeping three hostages in his home for months upon months upon months. And so, yes, he was killed. The terrorist was killed when they rescued the hostage from his house where he was keeping them captive.
- [05:54]
A
You look at the story when it broke, and it's two things that the media even in this country basically overlooked that were incredibly important. Number one, there were casualties because apparently there was munitions in and around the hostages. And number two, they hid these hostages in a heavily populated area where people like a, quote, journalist would be living. And this was nothing more than human shield. So yet Israel goes in and saves for their own. And even the US Media and many different media organizations around the world started attacking Israel because, as they said, well, innocent people died. Well, that is the fault of Hamas for using them as human shields.
- [06:35]
B
Well, that's right. You know, on, on Twitter, there was one doctor from Gaza who tweeted out what one of the people, the father of this Hamas terrorist and journalist was also killed. And, and, and a doctor from Gaza tweeted out the following red siren quote. Just learned the heartbreaking news of the martyrdom of one of the finest colleagues I've ever worked with, Dr. Ahmed Al Jamal, 73. He was tragically killed by the Israeli army during the Nusirat massacre, Central Gaza Strip, which claimed over 200 lives and injured hundreds. And it's a picture of this older man with a beard holding a baby. And he's described as one of the finest colleagues he's ever worked with, except he has this annoying little habit of keeping hostages in his home. Mind you, he lived there, so he was complicit in keeping the hostages captive. You don't have three hostages living in your home in a dense urban environment without knowing about it, without knowing about it, without being actively complicit. And yet we saw all of the corporate media outlets echoing the stories that, can you believe those mean Israelis killed an innocent doctor, killed an innocent journalist. It's worth remembering, the next time you see a story being reported from, quote, journalists in Gaza, you ought to ask yourself, okay, and does that journalists have hostages in his home? Because that's, that's the environment we're talking about.
- [08:17]
A
Well, and it's not just that, and I want to paint a picture here that the media will not paint for you. Apparently this journalist, it wasn't like he was living by himself and, and basically turned his apartment into some military style prison. He was living with his family there. So not just did he know that he obviously has these hostages, but you had to keep them alive. And there was obviously Hamas coming and Going. And not only that, you had his family that knew it as well.
- [08:46]
B
Yep. The quote, unquote journalist. His name was Abdallah Al Jamal, and he had three of the hostages there. He had Almag, Andre and Shlomi. So the three men were hostages at his home along with his family, and his family was killed. Well, you know what? If you're willing to stand guard on, on hostages, you know, people are saying, oh, this is terrible. I'll give you a real easy way not to be killed by commandos rescuing hostages. Don't take hostages and keep them imprisoned in your home. If you are a terrorist, you should not be surprised that you're treated as a terrorist.
- [09:31]
A
You look at this story, and let's go back to the bravery and the commitment from Israel and compare and contrast and bring this back home to this country. There used to be, and I talked about this extensively on my show today, that if you were an American, you almost had an invisible bubble around you when you traveled the world. Don't screw with that American, whether it's in Mexico, whether it's in the Middle east, whether it's anywhere in the world. When I traveled abroad in college, I wasn't worried because I knew I was an American. And I knew that that gave me another level of protection from people messing with me. Because if you with me, you were messing with the United States of America. That is gone now. That that bubble, as I described it, is completely gone. And the idea that there's still American citizens being held hostage and we're not hearing about them, I'm not sure the president could name any of their names. The White House refuses to bring it up or talk about it. And you look at what Israel's doing, saying, we're coming for you and we're going to keep coming until we get you all back. Where is America's resolve, for goodness sakes? And where are we with getting our own citizens back?
- [10:45]
B
Senator, look, it's absolutely pitiful. There are five Americans that are still being held hostage, and the Biden White House, as far as I can tell, is not doing a damn thing to try to get them out. What the Biden White House has done is, number one, harangue Israel from day one. Number two, blockade weapons from going to Israel. Number three, send money to Gaza that goes to Hamas. And number four, pressure and use leverage on Israel to try to get Israel to stop killing the Hamas terrorists. That's what Biden has done. That's what this administration has done. Can you imagine Biden sending in special forces to Rescue American hostages. It's not imaginable because he wouldn't do it. They're not focused on it. It's not a priority. Look, I'm gonna read you the story from the Detroit News. In Detroit, Kamala Harris mourns Palestinians killed in Israeli hostage rescue. So that's her message. The vice President goes to Detroit. Mind you, Dearborn, Michigan, has a huge Muslim population. They're terrified they're gonna lose Michigan, and so they're not worried about American hostages. What is the vice president's message? Oh, it is terrible that these terrorists were killed. And by the way, it is worth remembering also the next time you hear these numbers given of civilian casualties, understand every one of these terrorists who was actually keeping hostages prisoner, they were described in the early media coverage as civilians.
- [12:24]
A
Yeah, great point.
- [12:25]
B
That. That's the lie. And mind you, these hostages were not in tunnels. They were not in military outlets. They were in civilian apartment buildings. I mean, Hamas deliberately surrounds hostages, surrounds its terrorists with civilians. And when the media describes people as civilians, many of the people the media calls civilians are not.
- [12:50]
A
Will we get any more clarification from the White House about any of this? Like, is there a plan? And look, they always get to hide behind. And I understand it. There's many times when you're dealing with a hostage situation, it's like, hey. They go to the families. Like, hey, please don't do anything publicly. We're working behind the scenes. You could actually make things worse. We've seen that with Russia, for example. There's still an American being held there, but we got the WNBA star out. And the family's like, we played by the rules they gave us, which was to be silent, be quiet. It didn't work. It didn't help. And so this seems to be the get out of jail free card for this White House. Consistently when Americans are held hostage that. Well, it's. We're working the back channels, and we really can't say much publicly. Like, at what point does that answer become unacceptable? And also to the family members who are sitting there waiting for these updates, look, if.
- [13:45]
B
If the Biden White House is doing anything other than undermining Israel to try to get the American hostages out, I don't know what it is. And they're doing it silently, but. But it is difficult to imagine. You know, it's difficult to imagine this administration doing anything remotely like what. What Israel carried out. And, you know, you contrast it. You contrast it to Israel in the Entebbe raid. Now, look, sometimes, Ben, people ask me how Is it that a guy who is a Cuban, Texan, Southern Baptist ended up as the leading defender of Israel in the United States Senate? And there are lots of reasons for that, but it is very much a passion for me and it's personal. And one of the reasons has to do with my childhood and growing up. I remember very clearly the Entebbe raid. It happened in 1976. I was five years old at the time. And Israel went in. Palestinian terrorists had hijacked a plane full of Israelis and had taken them to Uganda. And when that happened, Israel sent in commandos and rescued the hostages, rescued 102 hostages. And I mean, it was amazing and brave. And when I was five years old, I was watching that happen. To me, what it said was that Israel's philosophy was if you take our citizens hostage, they may die, but you're going to die.
- [15:24]
A
Yeah.
- [15:24]
B
And that to me was a very Texan foreign policy. And it's not something you could imagine Joe Biden capable of.
- [15:33]
A
For people that are curious about one last aspect of going and getting your people, there seems to be this new idea. And I saw a lot of this on social media over the week, weekend that, and I saw people writing this that were like, well, look, America couldn't go into Gaza. That would be Israel's job to get our hostages back. So you, you got to understand that it's not like America could do anything. Can you explain how absurd that idea is?
- [16:01]
B
America, we can get our hostages anywhere in the world.
- [16:03]
A
Okay, so, and that's normal. Just so people understand that. Because there actually seems to be a lot of misinformation that if, well, if they're in another country, it's not as simple as you can just go get them.
- [16:13]
B
Sure you can. That is the job of the military is to protect Americans and rescuing American hostages is a critical responsibility. It can be difficult, but if you have hostages that are taken by terrorists. By the way, you remember back when Jimmy Carter was president and we had, in Iran, we had American hostages taken and held in captivity for 444 days. When the Iranian radical Islamic terrorists took over the embassy, Jimmy Carter sent a military force to go attack to try to get the hostages out. And the military force ended up crashing in the desert with no opposing fire. I mean, it was. But to Carter's credit, he actually tried to go in and do something. If Joe Biden has done anything to try to free those American hostages, he hasn't bothered to tell us or anybody in the world about it.
- [17:11]
A
Yeah, that's. And I think that's the biggest concern for so many Americans right now is the aspect that we're just sitting around kind of waiting and letting Israel, in essence, take the lead here. I hope that we get some answers or at least some accountability or pressure on this White House. Is there any way that you guys, lastly in Congress, can do that?
- [17:33]
B
Well, as we've talked about, I'm going to be forcing a vote and a vote in the next couple of weeks on my resolution under the War Powers act to defund the Gaza Pier. And that by using the War Powers Act, Schumer can't stop me from getting a vote. And so, look, I would rather force a vote on providing military weapons to Israel immediately and stopping Joe Biden and the Democrats from blockading those weapons. But Schumer's not gonna allow that vote. He's already said he's not gonna allow a vote at all. Um, he, he's just gonna say no. And so I, I, what I can force a vote on is the second half stopping the money that is going to the Gaza Pier. And, and so that's exactly what I'm gonna do.
- [18:21]
A
All right, we'll keep you updated, obviously, on that one. Want to tell you about our friends over at Patriot Mobile. If you have a cell phone and your cell phone is with Big Mobile, you may be angry and frustrated to find out that when you pay your bill, there's a portion of that bill they're giving back to Democratic causes, candidates and organizations. In fact, Big Mobile gives big donations to Plan Parenthood. Now, if you don't want your money going to Planned Parenthood or Democrats running for office, well, then there's an alternative now, and it is Patriot Mobile. For more than a decade, Patriot Mobile has been America's only Christian conservative wireless provider. That was literally started after a group of individuals found out where their money was going with Big Mobile, and that's why they started it. Now, look, 10 years ago, the way that the cell phone world worked, it was very different than it is today. Today, you don't have to worry about a change in service, not having good service, because when you switch to Patriot Mobile, you're using the same exact towers and the same coverage you've got right now, except you're not funding the left, and, and you can save money when you switch to Patriot Mob. Now, here's the best part about Patriot Mobile and why I use them every month when you pay your bill, about 5% of your bill actually goes back to support conservative causes and organizations that stand up for our religious freedom. Our freedom of speech stand up for the sanctity of life as well as our second amendment. And then Patriot Mobile is a huge supporter of our military, our wounded warriors and our first responder heroes. So every time you make a call or you send a text, you're making a difference. Just go to patriotmobile.com verdict and switching is easy. You don't have to go to a store. Now in 2024, with technology, you can literally get everything changed over the phone. It is easy. Patriot mobile.com verdict or call them 972-PATRIOT. That's 972-PATRIOT, 972-PATRIOT or patriot mobile.com verdict Senator, also want to ask you one other question, and that is about the protest that took place in front of the White House. This was Hamas. Pro Hamas, Hezbollah protests that took place. They were very clearly in favor of these terrorist organizations. They also defaced and attacked American monuments as well. And yet no one seems to be covering it.
- [20:55]
B
Well, look, it really was outrageous. You saw an angry mob that was conducting brazen criminal activity right outside the White House. They were. If they themselves are not actual terrorists, they are certainly supporting terrorists. They are chanting in support of Hamas. They're carrying signs saying they support Hamas. Here, take a listen to what they're chanting as they're walking down the streets outside the White House.
- [21:41]
A
I mean, Sarah, this is in front of the White House. Hezbollah, Hezbollah. Kill another Zionist now. And another part, they were saying, kill another soldier now. This is calling for the extermination of the Jews. And it's right in front of the White House.
- [21:55]
B
Yeah, look. And this is number one. This is now the hardcore base of the Democrat Party. These are the voters that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and Chuck Schumer are trying to kiss up to and get the votes of. It's why Kamala Harris went to Michigan and said that expressed her remorse for the Palestinian terrorists being killed. Instead of standing clearly with Israel against Hamas. And you look at what happened. These people are claiming to be Hamas. I think we should take them at their word for it. And they are also committing brazen crimes. They are defacing monuments. There. The statue of Lafayette, a great hero pivotal in the founding of America. They're spray painting free Gaza. They're spray painting and they're doing it right out in the open. There was a law enforcement officer standing outside the statue. They're throwing things at him. They're throwing water bottles at him. And, and, and the stunning thing is, all right, D.C. metro Police said they made zero protest related arrests at the protest. U.S. secret Service told reporters they made no arrests at the protest. So you can vandalize, you can spray paint, you can deface public monuments, you can assault police officers, you can, you can call for the murder of Jews and there are no consequences in this administration. That's who they are, and this is who they're rooting for.
- [23:32]
A
And to be clear, so people understand, I lived in D.C. you're there, you know, virtually part of every week when you guys are in session. I think people need to understand DC Is a very liberal city run by Democrats. And this is a top down. Whether it was Black Lives Matter, whether it was setting a church on fire across from the White House when Trump was in office. This is the Democratic Party that is basically sanctioning this behavior and saying, we will continue to look the other way because it's complicated. You've got Secret Service that has certain type of jurisdiction, but it's not in many parts of the streets where local police would be. And that's where the Democrats are in charge.
- [24:15]
B
Well, number one, D.C. is an overwhelmingly Democrat city. The mayor is a very left wing Democrat. D.C. voted, I think it was 94% or 96% for Joe Biden. So it's almost exclusively a one party town. But, but, and the D.C. police, the, the, the mayor is not letting them arrest anyone. But, but on top of that, Lafayette Square is under the control of the U.S. department of the Interior. So it is the Biden administration. Joe Biden could direct his administration, the FBI could go out and arrest these people. And they're not doing it. Uh, they're not doing it because they don't want to offend the people chanting, Hezbollah, Hezbollah, kill another Zionist. The Democrats look at that and say, hey, those are the people whose votes we want. The Protest had around 9,000 people in it. The anti Israel, pro Hamas protest. So this is a massive protest outside the White house. How many U.S. park Police do you think were assigned to police the 9,000 person protest?
- [25:22]
A
I'm genuinely curious. I have no idea.
- [25:25]
B
71.
- [25:26]
A
Wow.
- [25:27]
B
71 police officers for 9,000 protesters. They also park police command staff did not allow the officers to wear riot gear. So, so, so, so they were not able to defend themselves from 9,000 protesters. Not, not able to use the equipment they need. And 71 officers. This administration, what does not want to shut these protests down. And they look the other way. And by the way, this is a Department of justice where, my goodness, if you pray outside an abortion clinic, they'll come after you with commandos at your house. Um, I, I, if you were standing on the mall on January 6th singing God Bless America, they'll track you down wherever you are and devote all the resources of the Department of Justice. There's video of everyone defacing these monuments, throwing things at, at, at law enforcement. And the Biden administration is doing zero. Their view is, if we agree with your politics, and tragically, today the Democrats agree with the politics of the people saying, Hezbollah, kill another Zionist. Now, if they agree with your politics, they will not arrest you, they will not charge you, they will not prosecute you, and they will let you break the law right in front of them with zero consequences.
- [26:47]
A
I want to move to another domestic issue, and that is the Hunter Biden trial. Uh, this is not a surprise to any sane person, but we got official, official confirmation from law enforcement that, yes, in fact, the Hunter Biden laptop is real. Which means all of our spies, all the top people at the CIA and, and the FBI that came out and said that this had all the markings, right, of, Of Russian disinformation campaign before the last election, they all knew the laptop was real. They were all lying to the American people, and there seems to be zero accountability for that.
- [27:29]
B
Yeah, look, that is exactly right. So this past week in the Hunter Biden trial, the Biden Department of Justice came in and made the argument to the court that the Hunter Biden laptop was real, that it was accurate, that it had not been modified, that it had not been altered in any way, shape or form. And, and actually, the media just reported, Reported, matter of fact, abc, NBC, cbs, Washington Post reported that the laptop showed no evidence of tampering and was both real and authentic. And, and none of those outlets acknowledged that for years, and especially in the weeks and months right before the 2020 election, they said over and over and over again, first of all, they refused to cover it. But to the extent they did cover it, they, they said it was Russian interference and Russian disinformation. Now, the Biden Justice Department just argued that's a conspiracy theory. And yet do you hear anyone calling to, to, to Calling to accountability? People like Clapper, people like Brennan, people like Leon Panetta, people like Tony Blinken. Tony Blinken, the US secretary of state, led the effort to get 51 former intelligence officials to sign a letter saying this had all the hallmarks of Russian disinformation. Now, that was a total lie. It wasn't Russian disinformation.
- [28:53]
A
And by the way, let's not forget this. Let's remind people why that letter was so important. It was before A presidential debate and they needed to get out of jail free excuse. Yeah.
- [29:04]
B
And Biden cited the letter in the debate. He relied on it. Here, take a listen.
- [29:10]
C
And then we're going to have this.
- [29:11]
D
Is true about Russia, Ukraine, China, other countries, Iraq. If this is true, then he's a corrupt politician. So don't give me the stuff about how you're this innocent baby. Joe, they're calling you a corrupt politician.
- [29:25]
E
Nobody.
- [29:26]
C
President Trump, I want to stay on the issue of race. We're talking about chop from hell. President Trump, nobody talking about race right now. And I do want to stay on the issue of race. President Trump, you have to respond to that. Please look very.
- [29:37]
E
There are 50 former National Intelligence folks who said that what this he's accusing me of is a Russian plant. They have said that this is, has all the care. Four, five former heads of the CIA, both parties say what he's saying is a bunch of garbage. Nobody believes it except of his and his good friend Rudy Gianni.
- [30:00]
D
You mean the laptop is now another Russia, Russia, Russia hoax? That's exactly what this is. Exactly what this is where he's going. The laptop is Russia.
- [30:10]
C
I want to stay on the issue of race.
- [30:12]
D
You have to be kidding. Here we go again with Russia.
- [30:15]
C
We're going to.
- [30:16]
A
I love by the way how the whole time the moderators like we got to move on from this. We got it. We got to move on as fast as we can. We don't need to be talking about.
- [30:23]
B
This, any topic about this. Look, I mean the moderators, they might as well wear Biden campaign hats and that, that is just where the press is and they're even worse now. But, but every word Biden said there was a deliberate lie. And by the way, Hunter Biden knew as an absolute fact the laptop was accurate then, which means either Joe Biden knew as a fact that it was accurate or if he didn't know it's cuz he didn't want to know it. He didn't ask his son. Those are the two options. So he was lying. And he was, he was lying because it helped him politically. And, and the person who organized that letter was Tony Blinken. The reward for doing that, Blinken becomes the US Secretary of State. That's how important it was.
- [31:08]
A
That letter saved him. I mean, let's be clear, I don't think he would have been Joe Biden would be president now if it wasn't for that letter.
- [31:15]
B
And it was a flat out lie. And you look at the press. All right, take a listen to Leslie Stahl, when she's interviewing Trump and she's making very much the same point.
- [31:29]
D
I think it's one of the biggest scandals I've ever seen. And you don't cover it. You want to talk about. Well, because it can't be verified. You want to talk about insignificant things. I'm telling you, of course it can be verified. Excuse me. They found the laptop. Leslie, listen. What can't be verified? What can't be verified? The laptop. Why do you say that? Even the family hasn't. The family on the laptop. He's gone into hiding for five days. He's gone into hiding. He's preparing for your day. Oh, it's taking them five days to prepare. I doubt it. I doubt it. Okay. All right, so let's get back to the main column.
- [32:06]
A
I love that. So let's, let's just get back to the name calling here. We're going to move on. We can't talk about it because I've.
- [32:12]
B
Got an agenda and facts can't get in the way. Look, Leslie Stahl pretends she's a journalist. That's 60 Minutes. That's CBS. And what she's saying, it can't be verified as a flat out lie. Of course it could be verified. It's called journalism. But CBS had no interest in doing journalism, nor do they now. You know, if Leslie Starr, she gave.
- [32:33]
A
Him an excuse, she said there. Well, he's been.
- [32:35]
B
Well, they're busy. They're preparing for the debate. So you can't expect them to respond to the overwhelming evidence of corruption because, you know, let's get back to the name calling. I'm busy attacking you, Donald Trump. So don't you bring up anything that Biden is doing. And you know, look, if Leslie Stahl, if any journalist had a shred of integrity, they would stand up and say, I was totally wrong, what I said was false, I didn't do my job and I apologize. She's not going to do that. None of them are. And by the way, the people who have signed this letter, they're not coming back and admitting, okay, I was completely full of crap and I lied to the American people right before an election. And it influenced the election profoundly. Not just that.
- [33:20]
A
James Clapper told Fox News that he stands by the letter of the laptop.
- [33:27]
B
You know, the Biden intelligence and the Obama intelligence, hardcore partisans. Facts have no bearing for them. They are so partisan, they will stick to their lie no matter what.
- [33:43]
A
Yeah, great point. I gotta tell you, every morning I start my morning off with a cup of coffee. And when I start my morning off, I've gotta be awake and alert and do a show at 7am I want to be on my A game because anyone that's listening, I want to make sure they get the best information from me. And that means I need to be awake and I want a premium cup of coffee. That is why I switched to blackout coffee. Now, let me tell you about this company because I get an email or a text message or some message on social media now almost every day from one of you that has switched to blackout coffee. Blackout coffee was founded in 2018 because they say they were tired of giving their money to woke corporate coffee companies that didn't share our values. And it's right there, the CEO Blackout coffee says, quote, we also felt like the coffee that was available didn't come close to the quality and freshness that we were craving. So we made our own. I love American companies that just say, hey, I'm going to fix the problem myself. And blackout coffee has done that. Not only are they 100% American and 0% woke, they are committed proudly to conservative values. From sourcing the beans to the roasting process, customer support and shipping. They embody true American values and they accept no compromise on taste or quality. That's the number one thing I want you to try is the quality. It is not an average cup of coffee. It is a premium cup of coffee. Now, I'm going to save you a bunch of money off your first order so that you can join me in drinking a great cup of coffee every morning. Go to blackout coffee.com verdict that's blackout coffee.com verdict and use the coupon code. Verdict for 20 off. Yeah, 20 off your first order. All you got to do to get the best cup of coffee your life is go to blackoutcoffee.com Verdict Be awake, not woke. Don't give your mind those woke coffee companies any longer. Blackoutcoffee.com verdict promo code verdict for 20 off your first order. Senator, one other question I, I want to ask you about your trip before we wrap things up. You met with a guy by the name Zelinsky. Now, what matters the most to me was, was he wearing a suit or was he still wearing the military fatigues? I just, I gotta know.
- [36:02]
B
Yeah, no, he was in the military fatigues. That's what he wears every day.
- [36:06]
A
Oh, man. I mean, back in the good old days when he was meeting with Trump and you guys, he was wearing a suit when he came to ask for money.
- [36:11]
B
Yeah, ever since the war started, He. He's. He's in the fatigues every day. And so he was in kind of a olive. Olive green sweatshirt.
- [36:21]
A
So you meet with them, and he's got a bunch more money. A couple, you know, a couple hundred million dollars more. Two hundred and something, I think, is what, is what Biden said during this trip that he was going to give to them. Again, you guys met with him. What was it like this time? And what did he have to say?
- [36:38]
B
So, well, there was a group of senators that went to D Day for. For the 80th anniversary of D Day, went to Normandy, and there were 19 senators. It was a big, big trip. And there were, I think, 53 House members. So it was a significant percentage of the United States Congress. And so Zelensky sat down, had a meeting with all the senators, and then after that, he had a meeting with the House members. So both sides sat down and met with him. We met in the historic Talleyrand Hotel, which is this beautiful hotel in Paris that actually the US Government now owns. It's no longer a hotel, and it is where the Marshall Plan was signed. And so there's a big room that has gold, you know, gold on the ceiling. It's very elaborate, and it's a historic meeting space. So that's where we met. And it was a good discussion. Look, Zelensky was there with several of his aides, and he was describing what is happening. And he was, you know, he is a wartime leader. And listen, there are some. There are some who are big critics of Zelenskyy. I don't put myself in that camp. I think he is trying to defend his nation from an invasion and an invasion from Russia. And Vladimir Putin is a bad guy. And so Zelenskyy is doing what you would hope any leader, when his country is at war, is doing, which is trying to defend his country and trying to get help wherever he can get it. And so he's coming in and he's asking for American help, and he's laying out his goals in the war. And so he laid them out. And then each of us had the opportunity to ask questions. My principal question I asked him, I said, how would you define victory? What does victory mean, and what is the path to getting there? Look, I want Russia to lose the difficulty. And I got to say, that question that I asked, he didn't really answer me on how he would define victory. He has, in other contexts, define victory as Ukraine winning back essentially every square inch of territory that Russia has taken. I understand why Zelensky would say, that's victory. If you were Zelensky, you'd probably say the same thing. But that doesn't mean it is in the United States interest to demand every square inch of territory be taken back. The reason we have an interest in this war is that we want. We do not want our enemy, Russia, to win and get stronger, and instead we want Russia to be weaker so that they're less able to pose a threat to America. There are also, by the way, very, very significant resources, in particular rare earth minerals in Ukraine that are critical for the economy going forward. One of the reasons Russia's invading Ukraine is to get a stranglehold on those rare earth minerals. We don't want Putin to have those. That would not be good for America. And so, but you know what was really striking, Ben, is in the meeting with Zelensky, and we also had a classified meeting with senior leaders of the Pentagon talking about details of what exactly is happening in the war. Where the battles are, where the victories are, where the losses are. And, and, and it was. It was a very interesting and worthwhile briefing. But, but the question of what does victory mean? This administration is not asking that question. No Democrat in that room is asking that question. What is victory? And I gotta say it really, you know, when it struck me is we went out to lunch two days ago at a little Paris cafe in between meetings. And we're sitting there at lunch talking. And I was. Most of the senators there at the lunch table were Democrats, and they were all talking about Vietnam. And it struck me, looking around the table, that they're all baby boomers that are all children of Vietnam. They all kind of got their start in politics protesting against Vietnam. And look, for you and me, I mean, neither of us were alive when Vietnam was a thing. You weren't alive at all. And I was like two when the Vietnam War ended. So I have no memories. Vietnam did not impact my awareness of the world. It was done by the time I was learning about the world. And so I gotta say, a lot of the boomers, particularly the Democrat boomers, they took the wrong lesson from Vietnam. And I think there are lots of lessons to take from Vietnam, but one of the central ones is that you should have a clear, defined objective that, you know what it is that is directly related to your national security that is achievable. You should have a plan to achieve it, and then you should get the hell out. And Vietnam, we just let it go on and on and on and be a quagmire and just kept pouring money and American soldiers and lives into it without a clear objective that we were willing to use overwhelming force to accomplish. This administration has no objective. They can't articulate one. They're not even asking that question. That is infuriating.
- [42:02]
A
Yeah, it really is. Well, and again, for so many Americans, it's like, what does the end look like? How long could we be in this and how much money is it going to cost? The White House has made it clear and I think it should be an issue in the upcoming debate. How long is America going to do this and how much money could this last? The White House has said we'll be with you forever no matter what. And that's a lot of cash for a lot of Americans that we're going to be spending on this. Without there being as some have described, I think without, like you said, what does victory look like? What does that actually look like? It's a fair question. It should be asked. Don't forget we do this show Monday, Wednesday and Fridays. Make sure you hit that subscriber auto download button. Please share this show on social media. It helps us tremendously fight back against, you know, some people that don't want podcasts like this to get out. So you guys are best friends when it comes to helping others find the show. And on those in between days, make sure you grab my podcast, the Ben Ferguson Podcast, and I will keep you up to date on those in between days. And the Senator and I will see you back here on Wednesday morning.