EP 43 AUDIO

Reggie Cicchini, Washington correspondent for Global News, discusses the recent drone attack that resulted in the death of three US servicemen. The US is considering how to respond to the attack, with some Republicans pushing for a military response, while others suggest alternative tactics such as targeting Iran internally. The Biden administration is cautious about escalating tensions and wants to maintain diplomatic efforts. However, any response is likely to face criticism, given the upcoming election and already existing criticism of US support for Israel and the crisis in Gaza. The discussion also touches on funding for global conflicts, including the situation in Ukraine, and how Republicans are tying it to the border crisis. Donald Trump's influence is mentioned, as he is seen as potentially hindering a deal on these matters. The focus of Republicans in this election year may be shifting towards international politics and crises, such as the border issue, rather than solely foc welcome to the bill kelly podcast critical discussions in critical times here's your host bill kelly and welcome this is the bill kelly podcast critical discussions for critical times i'm your host bill kelly uh... glad you're with us today because i want to focus a little bit south of the border here what's going on in the united states because all the discussions we've had over the last little while about global politics uh... what's happening of course in europe with ukraine what's happening in the middle east uh... centers around washington's response to this especially uh... with some of the news that we received over the last little while about the death of three uh... u.s. servicemen as a result of drone attacks and uh... i guess the world is waiting right now to see just how the united states is going to respond to talk about that and and other things politics are so pleased to welcome to the podcast back to the podcast reggie cicchini washington correspondent for global news in the u.s. capital reggie great to have you with us on a very busy day thanks for joining us today thank you bill let's let's go right into what's going on here because of what happened uh... with the drone attack three americans are dead i know that the by the ministration did not want to get dragged militarily into what's happening in the middle east in the gaza what happens as a result of this biden has promised that there will be uh... some response from the united states he hasn't said exactly when or how this is going to happen i know mitch mcconnell and other republicans are demanding that there be a military response to this what's the latest what are you hearing today well i didn't look on monday morning we heard from the secretary of defense at the pentagon meeting uh... with the nato secretary general uh... and and what often made a point of of expressing sorrow over the fact that the three service members were killed but also uh... to the point where he expressed outrage saying that this kind of stuff will not be tolerated and we heard similar tones coming from about the president yesterday but you're right here in the question being what is the united states going to do they do not want this to escalate beyond uh... you know what is already uh... a slowly escalating situation in the middle east they're ultimately trying to keep the initial conflict between israel and hamas contained uh... to an area between israel uh... and god that the fact that that this that this attack happened uh... in jordan i mean this is not something that the united states likely didn't expect or predict or were not worried about i mean that there's been a hundred sixty attacks on u.s. infrastructure in the region since october seventh uh... and you're right when there are some members of of congress including lindsey graham pushing the white house to say look we need to do something we need to to direct targeting of iran there are some people out there some experts on former defense uh... officials saying look that's not the way to do this over old-school tactics of going after iran this is essentially what they want america to do uh... and you know maybe it's better off to go after uh... things to to shake up iran internally when it comes to information or getting messages out to the iranian people and so some kind of discord that way ultimately how the u.s. response is going to come under criticism from one side or the other we don't know how it's going to happen that something that the president uh... is likely thinking about uh... and has been thinking about the last little while but this is an election year as you guys have been reporting for the last little while i mean that's not lost on you and certainly not lost on the biden administration uh... the republicans and others in in in the u.s. uh... picture are basically using the old i for an i think you know they killed some of our guys we've got a retaliated like fashion uh... but as you say uh... you know with the election imminent and biden trying to walk a fine line here uh... between trying to be diplomatic et cetera is that really uh... an intelligent strategy and an intelligent response to this well i mean what diplomacy is ultimately going to be what what's key here arm and it's because you know the president is keenly aware of what happened if there is uh... if it does a direct strike on iran and look what's pointed out right from the get-go iran is denying any kind of under back responsibility for what happened in northern uh... jordan essentially you know this may have been an iranian proxy financially linked to iran militarily linked to iran iran is saying look we had no operational uh... you know uh... matters involved in this a kind of playing a bit of plausible deniability here but diplomacy is going to be key here because the president understands he does not want to take this situation and escalate it further than where it is right now in uh... in election period where he's already facing incredible criticism for american support of israel and for the crisis that's underway uh... in gaza it's also worth pointing out here that when president biden carried out strikes against against houthi rebels not all that long ago he faced intense criticism from members of congress for bypassing congress and carrying out this using presidential authority you now have members of the same party criticized him saying look go out and carry full direct attacks on iran what does that do? I mean it potentially weakens president biden if he does that and the U.S. gets drawn into war but if he tries to use a diplomatic way going forward it potentially weakens president biden because republicans will say you're not standing up for american interests and american national security throughout the region so president biden finds himself in a damned if you do damned if you don't situation and and you know the house and the senate I guess are responding in kind uh... which kind of ties us into one of the other elements that i guess we're looking for some resolution for here is is funding for some of these global conflicts not just for what's going on in the middle east and in gaza uh... funding for for israel uh... but funding for ukraine and and the republicans of course have tied that funding uh... to the border crisis uh... it was of course the mexican u.s. border uh... and simply saying if they don't have a solution to that we're not going to pass the bill altogether uh... and the dynamic here maybe you could explain it to our listeners and our viewers on this reggie is there was the bones of a deal already that seemed to be agreed upon by some republicans anyway is donald trump stirring the drink here is he the one that's saying don't pass this uh... because he wants this conflict to fester he doesn't want any resolution yeah i mean in short terms yes look you have uh... a bill that was brought forward by the white house worked on extensively in a bipartisan structure in the united states senate you know the house had said that this was going to be dead on arrival they don't want to see any kind of border funding tied up with uh... military funding for ukraine and israel and uh... and the indo-pacific region they want things kind of decoupled from each other but but the senate has really been actively working forward on this and then you enter uh... you see donald trump kind of enter the fray late last week to step on uh... you know leading members in the senate to say whoa slow down we don't want any kind of deal here even though uh... it will help militarily with ukraine it will help militarily with israel it will help secure the border and part of the reason is i mean this is the quiet part being said out loud by members of the republican party and by donald trump if a border deal if a deal is signed and put in place uh... and and president biden ultimately closes down the border to to try and slow down some of this illegal migration president uh... rather former president donald trump loses this as a campaign tool uh... to say that the borders are a mess and and and joe biden has done nothing so what we've heard from donald trump say look i'll shoulder the blame for this you can blame me for it but ultimately republicans find themselves in a position of if they go along with donald trump uh... there's going to be no deal and and that could sink them with voters going forward if they don't go with donald trump he could sink them we're not going along with him so ideal needs to get done and now it's trump that's standing in the way of lawmakers doing their job is the focus as you perceive it reggie that the republicans are looking at right now and in this election year uh... moving more towards international politics and then the global crises that are happening in these areas uh... it used to be the economy to use james carville's aligning of the economy stupid uh... but the numbers are looking better i mean they're not out of the whole yet nobody is these days right around the world uh... but job numbers are better the economy is looking better i don't know that the biden administration is doing a very good job of getting that message out there but has it got republican strategist now saying okay you know what let's let go of that because that's not going to score that many points for us and now are they looking at these other incidents of uh... for instance what's happening on the border and then i mean that was a favorite of trump when he ran for president the first time uh... the border the border and we're hearing some of that same rhetoric from some republicans are weak uh... including governor abbott in texas and you know these are great person murderers that are coming across the border uh... possible terrorist i mean nikki hailey mentioned that on meet the press this past sunday uh... talking to kristin walker that you know these these are potential terrorists we don't want another nine eleven because of what's happening on the mexican border are people buying that message from the republicans well you can you know what's interesting uh... when i was in new hampshire talking to uh... republican voters whether they were uh... you know who's standing in line of trump rally or whether they were coming in and out uh... various nikki hailey rallies sure the economy is still something i want to talk about more on the trump side they'll say look the economy doing terrible joe biden uh... is sinking the american economy and they don't really take into consideration that you know inflation is coming down and prices are coming down and economy doing better in job numbers are kind of at all times i don't really focus on that they just had a pair of donald trump's talking lines but the border situation even in a place like new hampshire you know some some you know forty states away from from the border this is this is a concern for people is even even at the farthest northern point of the united states because uh... they have heard republicans say that american national security that is at risk and sure this is an international uh... matter we've seen vice president kamala harris tasked with uh... you know this as as a portfolio or to try and get to root causes for why there's so much migration coming through what the united nations has said it the deadliest human migrant path on earth getting from central america to the u.s. mexico border but but when you have republicans saying look this is a this is a this is an issue they're making it a domestic policy issue uh... and they are going to continue to say that there are are failures and struggles in the biden administration even when there's active ways to try and get things done a second part of this story here bill that that kind of gets less focus but it's just as concerning uh... is how governor abbott is responding to the crisis at the border fighting uh... the federal government fighting uh... the justice department fighting the supreme court in what texas can and cannot do to secure its border border security in the united states is uh... is the responsibility of the federal government uh... and and we spoke to a lawyer uh... last week a constitutional law uh... expert who said that texas is really setting the united states up for a constitutional crisis over the border as it tries to take military actions into its own hands and potentially use other states national guard to militarize the border and and the person i spoke to said this is what the united states uh... did you know when it got involved in the civil war with this kind of rhetoric these kinds of actions so yes securing the border is one thing the biden administration is trying to do what republicans are also almost working to undo whatever success can be done here because they they simply want to take things into their own hand and there's a risk that it gets out of hand and abbott's uh... activities there is uh... uh... i saw the reporting that you guys have done on this and it's it's troubling from two sides i mean we're we're used to the fact that uh... i mean even here in canada uh... provincial responsibility versus federal responsibilities and you know we we have those debates about things like health care and some of the other things but down there uh... it's a different mindset isn't it reggie i mean states rights have always been a very contentious issue down there whether it comes in how to run elections uh... with some of those cases are working where they're right through the courts but abbott has basically said deal this is texas this is our domain washington but out and he's getting some support from some of the the neighboring governors who are saying yeah we'll we're on side with you governor uh... probably for their own self-interest because they'd love to be able to have that sort of power as well so this this is something to really blow up for the bike administration yeah i mean it's not even uh... you know neighboring governors that are that are supporting greg abbott in his move to try and uh... secure the borders twenty five republican governors across the united states half of the united states leadership uh... at the state level is on board with with greg abbott in his attempts here to kind of subvert the u.s. constitution and take matters into his own hands and that potentially could uh... spell dangers you know especially when we see greg abbott openly defying the u.s. supreme court who said that what texas you need to take down barbed wire that you put up in the rio grande area or at eagle pass because not only is it considered uh... you know potentially deadly for migrants trying to cross the border but it it it stops border patrol agents from being able to do their job take it down so is it being taken down you have greg abbott now saying nuts to that we're gonna start installing new razor wire and you have republican government saying yeah greg abbott here take some of our national guardsmen uh... to to do what you want to do here you have texas kind of acting as its own country within a country uh... and the question is what happens if if the biden administration ultimately does come to some kind of success here and and a deal gets passed and they ignore what donald trump is saying does does does texas now find itself in a position of going against the solution and and you know finding itself in some kind of constitutional hot water i mean look it's a hot mess what's happening at the border and and republican politics uh... may make what's already a deadly journey for so many people even more deadly with the way that they're trying to treat things but uh... this is history repeating itself i guess and as you say the state's rights versus federal responsibilities uh... has always been an issue i mean dating all the way back to when governor george wallace wouldn't let james meredith attend university the government of that time had the support of the supreme court uh... ultimately and of course wallace was told to stand aside i think i actually arrested him uh... is is abit looking for that same confrontation right now uh... is he goading the administration into this to try to to exert state's rights as opposed to federal rights sure i mean i mean look greg abbott does what he can repeatedly to to fight or or be a thorn in the side the biden administration or to the justice department or to environmental protection agency or to now uh... the supreme court uh... you know and it's unclear what what the ultimate endgame is here you know state's rights obviously are a fundamental part of the united states and they're the reason that that the u.s. operates the way that it does but state's rights also uh... you know they kind of rest upon the laurel of the constitution and and there are parts of the constitution uh... that will be upheld and will be upheld at the highest level in the state and it's unclear ultimately here what what greg abbott is trying to do yeah sure he's trying to secure the border uh... but you know whether it's a to secure points within his own state with the electorate or to secure you know ongoing support from from former president donald trump uh... you know if this could be self-serving this could simply just be you know uh... a middle finger to the biden administration but but it's really unclear here why greg abbott is digging in so hard rather than trying to work with the federal government that he claims is failing but seems to be doing what it can and is now kind of getting stopped by donald trump and his wishes which is an old argument i guess political argument abbott's using it de santis has used it in florida in the past as well uh... that the federal government those are the bad guys they're trying to control your lives they're trying to ruin your lives i'm here for your own interest and it seems to be a message that resonates with those the citizens and and the population in those states sure i mean not even in in texas i mean what you can take that that that kind of comment about rhetoric that comes from political from republican politicians and bring it right back to to donald trump is critical of the federal government or absolutely everything that they do especially if he is involved and i mean what he would he was uh... found out that jury found uh... video eugene carroll last week eighty three million dollars in a civil damages trial and he laid that blame on it dividing justice department even though this was uh... a state matter in new york you have donald trump complaining about the federal government in these immunity cases are donald trump complaining about the federal government in at the business case the business broadcase in new york this is where uh... some republican politicians are if if something is going wrong for them blame somebody else don't blame yourself and then don't do anything to try and come to a compromise just use rhetoric to try and chin up the base because it works at least it works in primary season whether or not it works and in general election season uh... you know that that's another question you are on the ground in new hampshire negligible that up because it uh... the resonate a resignation of of of the citizenry here something that's interesting uh... you saw the results trump one although there's an argument to be made that you know a guy who served in the white house and supposed to be the supreme leader of the party probably should have got more than fifty three percent of the vote in in new hampshire but that's the situation the interesting part about this is i think there's something like forty percent of the people that were pulled after the the the voting came down reggie suggested if trump was convicted in one of these trials not not necessarily than the carol thing because that that's a of civil litigation uh... but convicted he would not be fit for office which begs the question is are is the legal problems that the trump is facing right now starting to resonate and starting to concern american citizens i think it's a question that's better asked after we get through a few more primaries because they're you know there's been one primary one caucus and they happened into very different uh... you know politically leaning states iowa is it is a far more conservative state than new hampshire new hampshire has far more undeclared voters who may kind of waffle back-and-forth between two parties depending on who the leader is and what problems are at the time in iowa you had a significant number of people come out to say that trump would totally be fit for president even if he was convicted a fewer number of people say that in new hampshire not surprising though given that you know there were there were so many people that voted for nikki haley to keep donald trump out of the picture in some hailey voters that i spoke with said that if she is not on the ticket they will vote for joe biden in the general election so i think it's two different kind of baskets of voters to look at that kind of question about you know whether trump's legal problems are catching up to him i think the question is better asked after a state like south carolina which leans heavily towards donald trump or a state like nevada which completely changed around its primary schedule to turn it into a caucus to better suit donald trump i think we're going to see more favorables of trump uh... in some of these incredibly conservative states as the primary season goes on who will say and pair that talking point that trump's legal problems are not brought on by his own actions are brought on by a democratic president who is simply out to get donald trump new hampshire didn't like it other states might uh... nikki haley got a couple of minutes left i want to talk a little bit about her you know she of course is the only uh... opponent of any consequence that trump is going to be facing here on in uh... he seemed quite pissed off frankly reggie that she didn't drop out after new hampshire uh... to listen to the way she was speaking on meet the press this past sunday uh... she says she's in it for the long haul as a matter of fact she's changed the tone of her proper campaign right now she's going after trump on a personal level a saying that he's too old he's he's losing cognitive of uh... abilities and says situations like this and again we have to wonder how effective that's going to be is it too late in the game for a dude to adopt a kind of a strategy i think i think a good question it firstly is where was that strategy in the week leading up to home to iowa why would there so much kind of uh... kneeling before cacao into things trump has said uh... when it may have brought out more people or possibly pulled people away from the fact is what he was still in the race and there are criticisms against hailey for waiting too late now that said uh... you know she says she's going to stay in this race and whether or not it's the the kind of rhetoric or criticism that she's lobbying at at her former boss and the former president uh... or it's just you know there are some people who don't think trump is still the best figure she's not going anywhere she's actually earning money she made a million dollars after trump had made those comments it was going to blacklist donors of her from that the mag a party and in the few days beyond that she's raised another four million dollars i mean she's at a point of where she's pretty much with cashier uh... going into primary you know he then as we ramp up to super tuesday and the speculation here is she'll have enough money left after south carolina to continue on she's not in the the the nevada uh... you know caucus primary whatever they're holding so there's a belief here that nikki haley is actually going to stick this out through super tuesday either to be a thorn in the side to donald trump or uh... to see how much fundraising she can actually pull up here because trump as you said is not happy about this and it's distracting him from being able to campaign against joe biden biden team loves this because they're just getting ad material out of it uh... but she's not going anywhere uh... and and it's it's interesting to see that she's being defiant of the broader republican party who wants her out and maintaining again that no she's not never did get into the race to try to get on the ticket as the vp now she doesn't want that which begs the question what took you so long to get on side with with attacking from from personally if in fact he's even thought about the vice president uh... and and circumstances like this uh... i mean you know i guess congresswoman stefanik is is far more of the ilk of of the sort of person the trump would be looking for anyway uh... she was always to the right of course but she's you know she's apparently not just sipping the kool-aid she's she's drinking it uh... you know by the gallon right now and it's totally come on site is as one of the mega responsibilities that seems to be the sort of person the trump would be looking at if he's looking for a running mate sure i i i think it could be her it could be somebody like harry lake who finds herself in oiled in a series of scandals uh... in in the u.s. southwest i think there's also a real possibility here that we see donald trump possibly cozy up to not uh... a leading female in the party who you know potentially could outshine him uh... with the kind of rhetoric that they have used in the past maybe someone like marjorie taylor green there are speculations that that it could be tim scott that former president trump ultimately tried to hide we saw him kind of put scott on the uh... in the center of the spotlight awkwardly in south carolina where you know he was making comments about you must be really ticked off at nikki haley because she appointed you when you turn your back on her i went to me and tim scott walked up beside him and said no it's because i love you donald trump i mean it was weird it was awkward it was kind of strange and gross but at the same time that could also be somebody that donald trump looks to to secure a better part uh... of the electorate especially enough in a state like south carolina we don't know who is going to be elisa bonnick is definitely a name that's been floated around but now so too uh... has tim scott but at the end of the day these are all people firmly believe in that not only donald trump but trump isn't well it's uh... it's fascinating dynamic to see just how this is is starting to push out on the republican side uh... i i i want to get into what's gonna happen on the democratic side with biden as well some people are are looking at south carolina's the place where he's probably gonna really start to kick it into high gear we'll see how that happens uh... it's gonna be a busy week in the uh... u s capital uh... glad you had some time for us today reggie to talk about this thanks so much for this uh... take care and hopefully we'll talk again soon reggie giacchini washington correspondent for global news in the u.s. capital and that's it for this edition of the bill kelly podcast until next time if you're going to talk to him bill kelly podcast brought to you by wasn't law personal injury lawyers listen you didn't choose to get injured you can choose the right lawyer wasn't law 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