September 14, 2025 • 31 mins
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U.S.–Venezuela Tensions and Puerto Rico’s Military Role
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U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Kane made an unannounced visit to Puerto Rico.
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The visit follows a U.S. military strike against a Venezuelan-linked cartel vessel.
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Puerto Rico is being discussed as a strategic hub for counter-narcotics operations, with deployments of F-35 fighter jets, warships, and Marines.
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The commentary suggests this signals a shift in U.S. defense strategy toward securing the Western Hemisphere rather than focusing solely on Europe or the Indo-Pacific.
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Puerto Rico’s location in the Caribbean transit zone is emphasized as critical for drug interdiction and military logistics.
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Astronaut Interview – Sonny Williams
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A long-form interview with NASA astronaut Sunita “Sonny” Williams.
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She discusses her unexpectedly extended nine-month stay in space, the physical and mental challenges of long-duration missions, and future lunar exploration plans under NASA’s Artemis program.
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The tone here is lighter, inspirational, and focused on space science and exploration.
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Trump Administration, Immigration, and Chicago Politics
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The podcast returns to political commentary, this time centered on Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement plans in Chicago.
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Discussion of tensions between Trump and Illinois officials (Governor J.B. Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson).
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It includes perspectives from officials, Trump himself, and residents affected by violence in Chicago.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Pete Edseth. He is a Defense secretary. He has arrived
in Puerto Rico amid the US Venezuela tensions that are
continuing to rise. This is an important visit because it
was unannounced and not only was the US Defense Secretary there,
but the Joint Chiefs Chairman, General Caine also was on
(00:22):
the trip. It was an unannounced visit, an unplanned visit
for the public to Puerto Rico, as the US has
ramped up military activities in the Caribbean aimed at drug
trafficking networks. They met officials at the one hundred and
fifty six Wing Air National Guard Base.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Head.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Seth addressed roughly three hundred service members while he was there.
And the question you may be asking yourself is this
why now? Well, it's pretty simple. The trip follows a
September the second US military strike in the Southern Caribbean
that sank a vessel departing Venezuela, with US officials saying
eleven suspected members the trend de Ragua Cartel.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
They are also a terrorist organization. We're all killed.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Some regional leaders backed the action, others urged more transparency.
Venezuela also deny the US allegations and criticized the operation,
and that's exactly what should be expected. So now the
question is why is the Pentagon weighing Puerto Rico as
a hub or is this more about expanding counternarcotis operations
(01:28):
all together? Now we also know that plans include deploying
ten F thirty five fighter jets the island and conducting
military flights out of Puerto Rico. An unusually large cluster
of US warships, about eight is already operating in the
region as well.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Marines are also on the island.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Elements of the twenty second Marine Unit are in Puerto
Rico for amphibious and flight training. We've been told Puerto
Rico's governor estimated at thousand marines on the island, and
the guards said as the training was pre planned and
quote not tied to the new maritime force. CBS News
had it this way on the unplanned visit and what
(02:10):
it could mean.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint
Chiefs Dan Caine arrived in Puerto Rico this morning as
tension continues to build between the United States and Venezuela.
They were welcome there by Puerto Rico Governor Jennifer Gonzalez,
who said on in part on X, we thank President
Trump and his administration for recognizing the strategic value Puerto
(02:31):
Rico has to the national security of the United States
and the fight against direct cartels in our hemisphere perpetuated
by Narco dictator Nicholas Maduro. For more on this, I
want to bring in John Burns. He is the strategic
director for Concerned Veterans for America after serving more than
twenty two years in the Marine Corps and the Army
National Guard. Thank you very much for joining us. What
(02:54):
does this arrival here of Hexeth and Kane to Puerto
Rico's signal to you?
Speaker 4 (02:58):
Well, thank you Nancy for having me on. I think
there's a lot of signals there. One of the key
takeaways for me, aside from just the situation with Venezuela
and the drug situation in the Caribbean, is the National
Defense Strategy, which a little overdue, is said to be
released within the next seven to ten days, and early
reporting indicates that there's a large pivot towards defense of
the American hemisphere and away from heavily being heavily engaged
(03:21):
in other parts of the world Europe. I think there's
probably still going to be an emphasis to a degree
on the Indo Pacific, maybe not as much as we thought,
but this is the key role that our Department of Defense,
Department of War should be playing. Our primary interest is
securing our hemisphere and our homeland.
Speaker 5 (03:38):
John.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
Of course, this arrival, this trip comes with the backdrop
of the United States to point eight warships and fighter
jets into that area, in addition to a massing troops
off Puerto Rico. If this is a war on drugs,
what kind of guardrails, if any, exists for the president
to send troops into Venezuela.
Speaker 4 (03:55):
Well, the President has said that he doesn't want to
sit or he's not considering this a regime change mission,
which I think was very very encouraging.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
As much as the media tries to lie to you
and tell you that the president's going for regime change,
that is not what this is about at all. This
is all about fighting narco terrorism. And yes, they are
terrorists that are killing Americans. So you may ask yourself
this question, why Puerto Rico, Why would you choose this
for this counter cartel operation. Well, it's pretty simple geography.
(04:25):
Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Island sit inside the
Caribbean Transit Zone, historically a gateway for cocaine, fetnol and
other drugs headed to the mainland USA. That strategic position
plus US sovereignty eases the basing, the logistics, and also
the prosecutions of those that are caught alive. And then
(04:48):
you just have access and response times from a military standpoint.
From Puerto Rico, aircraft and ships can quickly reach the
Mona Passage, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico Corridor, and the
sea lanes north of Venezuela, improving time to intercept for
go fast boats and motherships. This builds on the intricacies
(05:12):
and the model that has been used by the Coast
Guard there for years as well. What is this all
really about. It's about setting a clear message at the
present is going on offense that the literal war on
cartels has just begun. And this is part of where
Puerto Rico also comes in. You have additional air and
(05:34):
maritime assets in Puerto Rico. This will help with surveillance
and interaction coverage over the choke points where trafckers are
most vulnerable at sea. The coastguards layered approach, as it
was described by the White House, will have large cutters,
aircraft and partner forces and all the benefits of the
(05:55):
DoD platforms and their increased presence combined. So it's pretty simple.
The President United States of America is saying, we are
going all in and we're going to do this with
all of the technology and the forces that America has. Now,
the other question is what's going to happen next. What
should you be looking for? Well, let me go through
(06:17):
that for you, because there's one big aspect of this
it's going to matter a lot, and that is whether
the F thirty five deployment is confirmed and then where
are they based. This is going to have a huge
impact on the assets that are tied to whatever the
mission is has been declared or set by the administration. Yes,
(06:37):
there are questions that are being asked by the left
about congressional oversight of legal authorities and targeting rules for
future strikes, but the President United States of America feels
like he is on strong legal footing because he has
declared them terrorists organizations. And then there's the integration with
the Coast Guard and also the Navy ships. The regional
(06:59):
cooperation levels between these two organizations will clearly be noticeable overall. Now,
if you look at what the President has said, the
President has said, it is very possible that we will
be hitting terras wherever they are. Does that mean we
can be hitting terris in Venezuela, Yes, there is a
chance of that. Is this about regime change. No, The
(07:22):
same thing can go for Mexico. As the President made
it clear last week, that we have an obligation and
a moral duty to make sure that Americans are not
being killed with the fetnyl and other drugs coming across
our southern border. So this is the President paying off
on a campaign promise. It's also clearly the beginning of
(07:44):
the war, not the end of the war for the
president of the United States of America. When it comes
to the cartels, the presidents said that they are a
very very dangerous organization and we must stop them.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
And that is exactly where we are right now.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
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Speaker 1 (10:21):
While you get to have a really fun conversation with
someone that does something that's incredibly cool.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
Uh, and today is one of those days.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Sunny Williams is a name you may not remember as
I say it, but when I remind you of who
Sonny is, You're gonna be like, oh, yeah, how would
you like to be in the US Navy? Be a captain,
then retire and then be like all right, I'm not done.
I'm just gonna like, you know, become a NASA astronaut.
That is exactly what happened to Sunny Williams. And you
may remember she just spent a really long time in
(10:50):
out of space, like twice as long as she was
supposed to be there. Sonny, I appreciate you coming on,
and there is so much to talk about. I gotta
ask you first, though, when you were in space mentally
in this last trip, you had a mindset, Hey, I'm
going to be there. I think it was what four
to five months?
Speaker 2 (11:05):
Is that right?
Speaker 7 (11:07):
Actually, when we first launched space, we're telling us it
will be eight to ten days, but we knew we'd
be there for a couple months, but didn't really anticipate
nine months.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
So what is it like to recalibrate in your mind
like you've you've done training. I don't know if there's
any training that can prepare you for eight or nine
days turning into a couple of weeks, maybe a couple months,
and then like, oh, yeah, it's going to be the
majority of a year.
Speaker 7 (11:32):
Yeah, Ben, it's a great question, and you know, hopefully
you know. Butch and I have provided a little bit
of a roadmap for other astronauts as well as Frank Rubio,
who before us actually spent an unexpected year in space,
translating from six months. So I think it's just a
matter of, you know, a mindset change. Okay, you know,
(11:54):
this is what we trained for us, what we have
you know, done in the past in our time here
at NASA, and we can continue on.
Speaker 8 (12:02):
Now.
Speaker 7 (12:02):
I'm not going to say all my clothes were there
and I had to borrow a couple pairs of shorts
from a friend. But that's what we do. We help
each other out when we're up there, and they were
the folks on Crew eight were gracious enough to give
us some of the really goodies of the food to
make our stay great. And you know, that's what we do,
we work together.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
How many people were up there when you're there for
that nine months?
Speaker 7 (12:23):
Oh so it gets confusing, So I'm going to have
to think about it for a second. So when we
were up there, when we first got there, there was
three soy US crew members and four SpaceX Dragon members,
so seven, eight, nine, nine of us all together. Then
we had at one point in time a second SOYUZ up,
so that was twelve and then they left and so
that was nine again. And then then we had another
(12:44):
dragon come up with two, so that was back down
to oh gosh, now I'm getting confused, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, eleven.
So it was it was a little bit of a
revolving door, which is great because you see new crew
members periodically as these spacecraft trains out. But it was
a little bit sad to see people who you thought
(13:05):
you'd be on the ground first them leave and then
us leave later. So not necessarily sad, I shouldn't say
it that way. It was just a little bit different
plan than we had originally anticipated.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
So when you think about the plan and you're like,
all right, I'm seeing people that are now coming and going.
There was a lot of politics involved back on Earth
of who's supposed to pick you up? And then there's
contingency plans of like who's going to come in essence
rescue you guys. But you're seeing others leave. How hard
was it mentally to just stay locked in in that
scenario because I'm assuming you didn't want to get involved
(13:40):
in the in the politics, But the reality is when
I if I sell someone leave, dude, I really want
to be on that I want to get out of here.
Speaker 7 (13:47):
So you know, there's there's a couple aspects of that.
You know, there was a lot of really cool things
that are going on in the space station. So for me,
I honestly didn't mind being up there for an extended duration,
like a normal duration, long duration mission, because there's all
sorts of cool science to do. There's fun maintenance to do,
I like, you know, using tools, and there's you know,
spacewalks occurred also while we're up there, so all that's
(14:09):
pretty great. So having those opportunities was fine. Absolutely didn't
want to get in the politics of it all, but
absolutely wanted a good ride home. You know, we were
up there with Starliner for a while as our lifeboat,
and it's you know, obviously we all know now that
you know, the thrusters weren't working as advertised, and you know,
(14:30):
if you're not one hundred percent sure if that's the
you know that everything was going to work, why risk
your life coming home in that when you potentially have
another ride. I think another you know, compromised way to
get home beside for Starliner was on Dragon initially because
we didn't have dedicated seats. I think the happiest day
of my time up there was when Crew nine showed
(14:51):
up with two empty seats and two dedicated space suits
for us, and then we knew we really had the
right combination to get home in an emergency, because you know,
these spacecraft are our lifeboat in case anything happens to
the International Space Station. So you know, that day was great.
So you know, I was happy to wait for a
proper seat to re enter into the atmosphere. It's no joke.
(15:11):
When you're coming into the atmosphere and you know around
the capsules, you know, thousands of degrees, you want to
make sure that you're in the right place at the
right time and have the right ride home.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
What was the toll on your body?
Speaker 1 (15:23):
I mean, nine months in outer space with weightlessness, I'm
assuming that was really weird when you got back to
Earth having to try to figure out just how to
walk and get out of everything and get back to normal.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
How long did that take?
Speaker 4 (15:35):
Yeah?
Speaker 7 (15:36):
Absolutely, you know, you know, Butch and I are both
we like working out. We see each other in the
gym in the morning, and we both hit it hard
when we got there, even knowing we are only potentially
only gonna be there for you know, a week or so.
We got special permission to use the exercise equipment. Generally,
when people aren't there for a short amount of time,
they don't use the equipment, and we jumped on it
(15:57):
the first day we were there, and we were pretty
dead the whole time through to make sure we were
in as good as shape as possible. But you're right,
it does take a toll. Nine months is a long
time to make sure your bone density, your muscle mass days. Intact,
we needed to work out every single day getting back.
You know, it's the big muscles are fine because we
(16:17):
worked out. It's all the little small muscles like the
one that holds your heads up right, the one that
allows you to balance on one foot that we really
needed to re engage with that agility and flexibility and
just getting back some of the stamina that we probably
you know that we both have lost while we were
up there. So you know, it's about a thirty day
to forty five day process. And still working on my
(16:38):
fast twitch muscles. I'm a little bit slow. Absolutely not
contributing that to age, only to space flight.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
Yeah, no, it's incredible. Let's talk about what's really cool.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
Now.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
There is an initiative to go back to the Moon.
Part of this, I think is going to inspire especially
young people, that this is something that we can do.
It's obtainable. Why has it taking us so long? And
when is this plan to actually go back to the Moon.
Speaker 8 (17:07):
Yeah?
Speaker 7 (17:07):
Absolutely, this is really exciting times. You know, I think
what was great was we've had the International Space Station
to try out a whole bunch of processes to understand
what happens to people when they're in space for a
long duration, so we can get ready to go back
to the Moon smarter and you know, in a more
safe way. So we are actually doing some more challenging
things by going to the poll on, going to the
(17:29):
south pole of the Moon. That's our landing spot where
we want to go just for you know, resources sunlight
while we're while we're there, and maybe build a station
like we built in space. So we've used you know,
the space station, Internet space Station as a testing ground
for all of these things to get ready to go.
Also over these you know, last couple decades, I think
everybody knows additive manufacturing, different types of welding, all of
(17:53):
this has all this production has allowed us to build
spacecraft which are amazing. So we're looking forward to low
the Orion capsule this fault. I mean this next year
rather with UH, with four crew members on the Space
Launch System rocket, they'll go around the move to prove
all of our guidance, navigation, control systems and everything that
(18:14):
we've now modernized works quite well and where we can
head to the right place. UH, check out the heat
shield as we come back into the atmosphere much hotter
than from lower orbit where we were want to make
sure that all works right. And then we're going to
be ready to work with more inn more of our
commercial partners to get ready to land on the mood
hopefully Artemis three, Artemis four in the next couple of years.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
So it's it's at you're saying, this could happen in
the next couple of years that we could literally have
and an HD color people landing on the Moon and
us getting to see it.
Speaker 7 (18:46):
I think, so yeah, And this next year we'll have
you know, Artemis two, and then following probably two years
after that, Artemis three, and then follow on people you know,
footsteps back on the moon. Pretty awesome, and you know,
there's so much to do, it's really going to be busy.
So hopefully we've inspired a bunch of you know, high
school university kids to want to get involved. Their time
(19:07):
is in the is prime right now.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
Final question, any chance you're going to be walking on
the moon? And how competitive is it to be one
of those who.
Speaker 2 (19:13):
Gets to do it?
Speaker 4 (19:15):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (19:15):
I think it's pretty to Tanya Harding in the lag
you know, to just get get at the front of
that line.
Speaker 7 (19:21):
Hey, you know, I borrowed shorts from a buddy. We're
a big team effort here. I'm just happy to see
the next generation of astronauts put their foot in history
and walk on the Moon. I'll be there supporting them,
working on some stuff for the rest of the year
to get them ready to go. So we're making it happen.
I would love to go if they said.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
No one's been named one assuming right, has anyone been
named yet for that mission?
Speaker 8 (19:46):
Or no?
Speaker 7 (19:47):
Not for the landing yet, not for artemistry.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
Yet I love it. That's see, that's why she's training folks.
She can be PC, but we all know she wants
to get on the moon. I would if I was you.
That's the Holy Grail?
Speaker 2 (19:57):
Is it not?
Speaker 3 (19:58):
Oh?
Speaker 7 (19:59):
Yeah, of course of course it is. But I think
my husband would kill me.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
That's you know what you can we can work through that.
There's counselors for that. I appreciate you coming on and
Sonny just and talking. By the way, if you've got kids,
grandkids out there listening. If you're on social media, really
cool social media page, so you can see the Instagram
page I follow, it's awesome and you can inspire others.
This is exciting news for NASA. It's it's an exciting
(20:24):
news for space travel and going to the moon.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
Sonny.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
We appreciate your time and congratulations on unbelievable career.
Speaker 7 (20:31):
Absolutely, Ben, thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
Wouldn't it be amazing if Democrats actually were willing to
fight criminals in Chicago with the same type of anger
and vigor they're using towards Donald Trump and law enforcement. Well,
the only tough talk you're getting right now out of
Chicago officials is threats of lawsuits against Donald Trump.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
Illinois Governor J. D. Pritz kerb and the Chicago mayor
Junson have teamed up and are not backing down, as
they say they are angered by the idea of preparations
for what they describe as an illegal immigrant roundup. That
is illegal by the Trump administration in the Windy City Now.
According to an internal federal memo obtained by CBS News,
(21:19):
the Department of Home in Security has asked the Department
of Defense to house roughly two hundred and fifty federal
agents and one hundred and forty vehicles at an Illinois
military base and anticipation of an expected increase in illegal
alien arrests within the Chicago area. CBS News exploding on this,
(21:40):
saying in a request for the assistance to the Department
of Defense, a top Homeland Security official indicated that the
Naval Station Great Lakes, the largest military base in Illinois
and the Navy's largest training station, would be used as
a staging area to oversee the removal operations in the
metropolitan Chicago area targeting immigrants suspected of being in the
(22:03):
US illegally. Now, the President of the United States of America,
Donald Trump, was asked about this, and I want you
to hear what he had to say to a reporter
that was trying to badger him as he was leaving
for Marine one.
Speaker 9 (22:19):
News.
Speaker 4 (22:19):
You say that, dog, let's take news.
Speaker 7 (22:22):
Listen, be quiet, listen, you don't listen, You never listen.
That's why you're second grade.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
We're not going to war.
Speaker 4 (22:30):
We're going to clean up our city.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
We're going to clean them up so they don't.
Speaker 6 (22:33):
Kill five people every weekend.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
That's not war. That's common sense.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
I love the last statement there by President Trump. We're
going to clean it up so they don't kill five
people every weekend. That's not war. That's common sense. Tom
Homan also asked about this on CNN Say of the Union,
and here's what he had to say about it as well.
Speaker 10 (22:58):
Joining us now to discuss is the president and it's borders?
Are Tom Homan? Mister Homan, always good to have you.
Speaker 11 (23:02):
So.
Speaker 10 (23:03):
The governor of Illinois responded to President Trump's post. He wrote, quote,
the President of the United States is threatening to go
to war with an American city. This is not a joke,
This is not normal. Donald Trump isn't a strong man,
He's a scared man. Illinois won't be intimidated by a
wanna be dictator.
Speaker 7 (23:18):
Unquotes.
Speaker 10 (23:19):
Is President Trump planning to go to war in Chicago.
Speaker 11 (23:22):
We're going to war with illegal aliens, public safety threats
that rape children, that raped citizens, that committed armed robberies,
that the distributing narcotics at kill Americans. We're at war
with the criminal cartels, and Governor Prisco protects criminal, illegal
alien public safety threats every day in that state. Along
with Mary Johnson, we proved that the first week of
(23:44):
the administration, I went to Chicago. I started an operation there.
The first day, We're arrested nine sexual predators, most of
them child rapists. We arrested nine members of TDA. Several
of the TDA members had a pistol, an illegal pistol
the switch on it which makes that pistol fully automatic.
We arrested two illegal aliens that a homicide conviction. That
(24:06):
was the first in Chicago. So you know, President Trump
and this administration, Yeah, we're at war with the criminal
cartels and those who want to murder and rape the
American citizens.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
You' damn right.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
Isn't it amazing how the media decides to spend this
story that somehow Donald Trump is going to go to
war with a American city. No, We're going to war
with the criminal legal aliens every day, no matter where
they are. And that is the Trump doctrine. Now, of
course Sinnan didn't like this doctrine, right, They don't like
(24:38):
the fact that this administration is fighting back against criminals.
They want to act like somehow Donald Trump is a
dictator and a tyrant. And so Jake Tapper does what
Jake Tapper does. He decides to, you know, be an
elitist and grandstand with Tom Homan. And that's where he
decided to say, well, hold on a second, you guys
have been flooding the zone and Chicago, and is that
(25:01):
really the job of the government.
Speaker 11 (25:04):
The problem marriage which are sanctuary cities.
Speaker 10 (25:06):
Governor Pritzker says Illinois has not received any notification about
any enforcement action from the White House. Will you be
coordinating with them about an operation of the size in Chicago?
Speaker 11 (25:16):
Governor Prisker has been noted five day one. Again, I
went there and started in operation right after the inauguration.
ICE agents have been flooding the zone in Chicago for
a while now, so he's aware of what's going on.
I mean, he knows we've been there. We were there
last week, we're there the week before. Now again we're
going to send additional resources to all sanctuary cities. But
(25:38):
this isn't new to him. He knows we've been there,
and he's failed to work with us. The Mary Johnson
has failed to work with us again to this day.
A significant public safety threat gets locked into a jail
in Illinois, in Chicago, Cook County Jail one of the
most target rich environments for criminal illegal aliens, and we've
dropped the detainers. Say hey, this guy's are illegally the
(25:58):
United States. You have custody and you' dumb on thee
call us and we'll come and get them. Let us
deal with our enforcing our law. And they simply ignore
it and release into the streets. And what happens then
when we release a public safety threat back into the public,
It makes a community unsafe. It makes us unsafe for
our agents have to go into the community and try
to find somebody. Now in history, if we as access
to who knows what weapons, It makes unsafe for the
(26:19):
illegal anim because anything can happen on a street arrest.
Give us the public safety threat in the safety and
security of Accounty Jail makes it safer for everybody.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
You listen to the reality that they refuse even the
worst illegal immigrant criminal where there is an ICE detainer
and they say to law enforcement, tell us when you're
done with them, and we'll come pick them up. And
what do they say in Illinois, we will not notify you,
we will not work with you.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
We are going to.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
Release these rapists, these murderers, these cartel members, these drug
dealers back into our streets to terrorize our citizens because
we care more about hating Trump than we do about
keeping people safe.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
Which brings us back to the governor.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
Governor Pritzker saying this about Donald Trump's plan to bring
in more resources into Chicago.
Speaker 6 (27:11):
By the way, the homicide rate in Chicago has now
been cut in half over the last four years because
of the investments that we've made on the ground. It's
not just in police. I have invested significantly in police,
but we've also made massive investments in community violence intervention.
Those programs are working. We're doing more than any other
state in that regard, and it's working on the streets
(27:33):
of Chicago. He doesn't read anything, he doesn't really understand anything.
He just has some idea in his head that Chicago
is bad. He's always had that. By the way, I
also think I live rent free in the guy's head,
so he's constantly thinking about, you know, how do I
attack Chicago? And oh, yeah, I hate that Pritzker guy too.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
There it is very clear. It's all about the politics
with the governor. He wants to attack. Donald Trump doesn't
want to work with law enforcement, he doesn't want to
allow for anyone to be safe in his cities, and
lying over and over again. There's a mother of a
murdered girl, a Chicago resident, who decided to go on
(28:15):
Fox and Friends, and here's what she had to say
about how she is terrified and others are terrified to
even walk the streets, and she lost her own child
to this type of horrific violence in Chicago.
Speaker 9 (28:30):
This is a mother of a girl murdered in Chicago
who says she wants President Trump to come in and
fix the city.
Speaker 5 (28:39):
I would like the governors to ask for help because
the thing that's in place right now is not working.
We're scared to sit in our cars. We're scared to
have our kids walking to school.
Speaker 9 (28:51):
I mean, we have residents like you on every single
day who're saying we want the governor to ask for help,
we want the federal government to step in. So what
more is it gonna take.
Speaker 8 (29:04):
I think it's gonna take one of their own to
actually suffer through, you know, some of the things that
we go through in Chicago. I actually challenged JB. Prisker
Brandon Johnson to actually walk the same streets that I
walk here in Chicago, I mean without the police detail,
without the suits, of course, and we'll see if they
have that same opinion. When it comes to JB. Pritsker
saying that Chicago is safe, I feel like a lot
(29:26):
of this is just virtue signaling. When it comes to JB. Prisker,
he think he's living rent free and Donald Trump's head
that I honestly think it's the other way around. And
when it comes to Brandon Johnson and all of the
race baiting and things like that, he tends to think
that police are races because you know, majority of police
officer happens to be white Caucasian males. But you know,
(29:48):
he fails to tell the people that there were over
thirty two hundred black slave owners in America and they
own over twelve thousand slaves. So we can play the
color game, but that's not gonna help the issue when
it comes to safety in Chicago.
Speaker 9 (30:03):
Well, we know you know the city well, and for
those of us who have known that city for a
long time, it is just not what it once was.
It's changed significantly, and it's rough for so many families
that can't leave and that have to continue to live
there for work and otherwise. So appreciate you coming on.
Speaker 1 (30:20):
You listen to these residents, not one, but two there
telling their stories talking about how bad it is. Do
you notice the governor and the mayor are not listening
to them at all? And this is exactly why Donald
Trump right now is so popular because he's actually doing
what he said he was going to do. He's not
going to sit back and watch people get killed. He's
(30:43):
not going to sit back and say I'm sorry. But
because you're in that city, you're not going to be safe.
And this is why I think there are so many
Americans right now that like this present more than they
did in his first administration.
Speaker 2 (30:57):
He's doing it differently.
Speaker 1 (31:00):
Don't forget share this podcast please with your family and
your friends wherever they are, and I will see you
back here tomorrow
Pete Edseth. He is a Defense secretary. He has arrived
in Puerto Rico amid the US Venezuela tensions that are
continuing to rise. This is an important visit because it
was unannounced and not only was the US Defense Secretary there,
but the Joint Chiefs Chairman, General Caine also was on
(00:22):
the trip. It was an unannounced visit, an unplanned visit
for the public to Puerto Rico, as the US has
ramped up military activities in the Caribbean aimed at drug
trafficking networks. They met officials at the one hundred and
fifty six Wing Air National Guard Base.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Head.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Seth addressed roughly three hundred service members while he was there.
And the question you may be asking yourself is this
why now? Well, it's pretty simple. The trip follows a
September the second US military strike in the Southern Caribbean
that sank a vessel departing Venezuela, with US officials saying
eleven suspected members the trend de Ragua Cartel.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
They are also a terrorist organization. We're all killed.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Some regional leaders backed the action, others urged more transparency.
Venezuela also deny the US allegations and criticized the operation,
and that's exactly what should be expected. So now the
question is why is the Pentagon weighing Puerto Rico as
a hub or is this more about expanding counternarcotis operations
(01:28):
all together? Now we also know that plans include deploying
ten F thirty five fighter jets the island and conducting
military flights out of Puerto Rico. An unusually large cluster
of US warships, about eight is already operating in the
region as well.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Marines are also on the island.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Elements of the twenty second Marine Unit are in Puerto
Rico for amphibious and flight training. We've been told Puerto
Rico's governor estimated at thousand marines on the island, and
the guards said as the training was pre planned and
quote not tied to the new maritime force. CBS News
had it this way on the unplanned visit and what
(02:10):
it could mean.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint
Chiefs Dan Caine arrived in Puerto Rico this morning as
tension continues to build between the United States and Venezuela.
They were welcome there by Puerto Rico Governor Jennifer Gonzalez,
who said on in part on X, we thank President
Trump and his administration for recognizing the strategic value Puerto
(02:31):
Rico has to the national security of the United States
and the fight against direct cartels in our hemisphere perpetuated
by Narco dictator Nicholas Maduro. For more on this, I
want to bring in John Burns. He is the strategic
director for Concerned Veterans for America after serving more than
twenty two years in the Marine Corps and the Army
National Guard. Thank you very much for joining us. What
(02:54):
does this arrival here of Hexeth and Kane to Puerto
Rico's signal to you?
Speaker 4 (02:58):
Well, thank you Nancy for having me on. I think
there's a lot of signals there. One of the key
takeaways for me, aside from just the situation with Venezuela
and the drug situation in the Caribbean, is the National
Defense Strategy, which a little overdue, is said to be
released within the next seven to ten days, and early
reporting indicates that there's a large pivot towards defense of
the American hemisphere and away from heavily being heavily engaged
(03:21):
in other parts of the world Europe. I think there's
probably still going to be an emphasis to a degree
on the Indo Pacific, maybe not as much as we thought,
but this is the key role that our Department of Defense,
Department of War should be playing. Our primary interest is
securing our hemisphere and our homeland.
Speaker 5 (03:38):
John.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
Of course, this arrival, this trip comes with the backdrop
of the United States to point eight warships and fighter
jets into that area, in addition to a massing troops
off Puerto Rico. If this is a war on drugs,
what kind of guardrails, if any, exists for the president
to send troops into Venezuela.
Speaker 4 (03:55):
Well, the President has said that he doesn't want to
sit or he's not considering this a regime change mission,
which I think was very very encouraging.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
As much as the media tries to lie to you
and tell you that the president's going for regime change,
that is not what this is about at all. This
is all about fighting narco terrorism. And yes, they are
terrorists that are killing Americans. So you may ask yourself
this question, why Puerto Rico, Why would you choose this
for this counter cartel operation. Well, it's pretty simple geography.
(04:25):
Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Island sit inside the
Caribbean Transit Zone, historically a gateway for cocaine, fetnol and
other drugs headed to the mainland USA. That strategic position
plus US sovereignty eases the basing, the logistics, and also
the prosecutions of those that are caught alive. And then
(04:48):
you just have access and response times from a military standpoint.
From Puerto Rico, aircraft and ships can quickly reach the
Mona Passage, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico Corridor, and the
sea lanes north of Venezuela, improving time to intercept for
go fast boats and motherships. This builds on the intricacies
(05:12):
and the model that has been used by the Coast
Guard there for years as well. What is this all
really about. It's about setting a clear message at the
present is going on offense that the literal war on
cartels has just begun. And this is part of where
Puerto Rico also comes in. You have additional air and
(05:34):
maritime assets in Puerto Rico. This will help with surveillance
and interaction coverage over the choke points where trafckers are
most vulnerable at sea. The coastguards layered approach, as it
was described by the White House, will have large cutters,
aircraft and partner forces and all the benefits of the
(05:55):
DoD platforms and their increased presence combined. So it's pretty simple.
The President United States of America is saying, we are
going all in and we're going to do this with
all of the technology and the forces that America has. Now,
the other question is what's going to happen next. What
should you be looking for? Well, let me go through
(06:17):
that for you, because there's one big aspect of this
it's going to matter a lot, and that is whether
the F thirty five deployment is confirmed and then where
are they based. This is going to have a huge
impact on the assets that are tied to whatever the
mission is has been declared or set by the administration. Yes,
(06:37):
there are questions that are being asked by the left
about congressional oversight of legal authorities and targeting rules for
future strikes, but the President United States of America feels
like he is on strong legal footing because he has
declared them terrorists organizations. And then there's the integration with
the Coast Guard and also the Navy ships. The regional
(06:59):
cooperation levels between these two organizations will clearly be noticeable overall. Now,
if you look at what the President has said, the
President has said, it is very possible that we will
be hitting terras wherever they are. Does that mean we
can be hitting terris in Venezuela, Yes, there is a
chance of that. Is this about regime change. No, The
(07:22):
same thing can go for Mexico. As the President made
it clear last week, that we have an obligation and
a moral duty to make sure that Americans are not
being killed with the fetnyl and other drugs coming across
our southern border. So this is the President paying off
on a campaign promise. It's also clearly the beginning of
(07:44):
the war, not the end of the war for the
president of the United States of America. When it comes
to the cartels, the presidents said that they are a
very very dangerous organization and we must stop them.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
And that is exactly where we are right now.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
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Speaker 1 (10:21):
While you get to have a really fun conversation with
someone that does something that's incredibly cool.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
Uh, and today is one of those days.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Sunny Williams is a name you may not remember as
I say it, but when I remind you of who
Sonny is, You're gonna be like, oh, yeah, how would
you like to be in the US Navy? Be a captain,
then retire and then be like all right, I'm not done.
I'm just gonna like, you know, become a NASA astronaut.
That is exactly what happened to Sunny Williams. And you
may remember she just spent a really long time in
(10:50):
out of space, like twice as long as she was
supposed to be there. Sonny, I appreciate you coming on,
and there is so much to talk about. I gotta
ask you first, though, when you were in space mentally
in this last trip, you had a mindset, Hey, I'm
going to be there. I think it was what four
to five months?
Speaker 2 (11:05):
Is that right?
Speaker 7 (11:07):
Actually, when we first launched space, we're telling us it
will be eight to ten days, but we knew we'd
be there for a couple months, but didn't really anticipate
nine months.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
So what is it like to recalibrate in your mind
like you've you've done training. I don't know if there's
any training that can prepare you for eight or nine
days turning into a couple of weeks, maybe a couple months,
and then like, oh, yeah, it's going to be the
majority of a year.
Speaker 7 (11:32):
Yeah, Ben, it's a great question, and you know, hopefully
you know. Butch and I have provided a little bit
of a roadmap for other astronauts as well as Frank Rubio,
who before us actually spent an unexpected year in space,
translating from six months. So I think it's just a
matter of, you know, a mindset change. Okay, you know,
(11:54):
this is what we trained for us, what we have
you know, done in the past in our time here
at NASA, and we can continue on.
Speaker 8 (12:02):
Now.
Speaker 7 (12:02):
I'm not going to say all my clothes were there
and I had to borrow a couple pairs of shorts
from a friend. But that's what we do. We help
each other out when we're up there, and they were
the folks on Crew eight were gracious enough to give
us some of the really goodies of the food to
make our stay great. And you know, that's what we do,
we work together.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
How many people were up there when you're there for
that nine months?
Speaker 7 (12:23):
Oh so it gets confusing, So I'm going to have
to think about it for a second. So when we
were up there, when we first got there, there was
three soy US crew members and four SpaceX Dragon members,
so seven, eight, nine, nine of us all together. Then
we had at one point in time a second SOYUZ up,
so that was twelve and then they left and so
that was nine again. And then then we had another
(12:44):
dragon come up with two, so that was back down
to oh gosh, now I'm getting confused, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, eleven.
So it was it was a little bit of a
revolving door, which is great because you see new crew
members periodically as these spacecraft trains out. But it was
a little bit sad to see people who you thought
(13:05):
you'd be on the ground first them leave and then
us leave later. So not necessarily sad, I shouldn't say
it that way. It was just a little bit different
plan than we had originally anticipated.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
So when you think about the plan and you're like,
all right, I'm seeing people that are now coming and going.
There was a lot of politics involved back on Earth
of who's supposed to pick you up? And then there's
contingency plans of like who's going to come in essence
rescue you guys. But you're seeing others leave. How hard
was it mentally to just stay locked in in that
scenario because I'm assuming you didn't want to get involved
(13:40):
in the in the politics, But the reality is when
I if I sell someone leave, dude, I really want
to be on that I want to get out of here.
Speaker 7 (13:47):
So you know, there's there's a couple aspects of that.
You know, there was a lot of really cool things
that are going on in the space station. So for me,
I honestly didn't mind being up there for an extended duration,
like a normal duration, long duration mission, because there's all
sorts of cool science to do. There's fun maintenance to do,
I like, you know, using tools, and there's you know,
spacewalks occurred also while we're up there, so all that's
(14:09):
pretty great. So having those opportunities was fine. Absolutely didn't
want to get in the politics of it all, but
absolutely wanted a good ride home. You know, we were
up there with Starliner for a while as our lifeboat,
and it's you know, obviously we all know now that
you know, the thrusters weren't working as advertised, and you know,
(14:30):
if you're not one hundred percent sure if that's the
you know that everything was going to work, why risk
your life coming home in that when you potentially have
another ride. I think another you know, compromised way to
get home beside for Starliner was on Dragon initially because
we didn't have dedicated seats. I think the happiest day
of my time up there was when Crew nine showed
(14:51):
up with two empty seats and two dedicated space suits
for us, and then we knew we really had the
right combination to get home in an emergency, because you know,
these spacecraft are our lifeboat in case anything happens to
the International Space Station. So you know, that day was great.
So you know, I was happy to wait for a
proper seat to re enter into the atmosphere. It's no joke.
(15:11):
When you're coming into the atmosphere and you know around
the capsules, you know, thousands of degrees, you want to
make sure that you're in the right place at the
right time and have the right ride home.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
What was the toll on your body?
Speaker 1 (15:23):
I mean, nine months in outer space with weightlessness, I'm
assuming that was really weird when you got back to
Earth having to try to figure out just how to
walk and get out of everything and get back to normal.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
How long did that take?
Speaker 4 (15:35):
Yeah?
Speaker 7 (15:36):
Absolutely, you know, you know, Butch and I are both
we like working out. We see each other in the
gym in the morning, and we both hit it hard
when we got there, even knowing we are only potentially
only gonna be there for you know, a week or so.
We got special permission to use the exercise equipment. Generally,
when people aren't there for a short amount of time,
they don't use the equipment, and we jumped on it
(15:57):
the first day we were there, and we were pretty
dead the whole time through to make sure we were
in as good as shape as possible. But you're right,
it does take a toll. Nine months is a long
time to make sure your bone density, your muscle mass days. Intact,
we needed to work out every single day getting back.
You know, it's the big muscles are fine because we
(16:17):
worked out. It's all the little small muscles like the
one that holds your heads up right, the one that
allows you to balance on one foot that we really
needed to re engage with that agility and flexibility and
just getting back some of the stamina that we probably
you know that we both have lost while we were
up there. So you know, it's about a thirty day
to forty five day process. And still working on my
(16:38):
fast twitch muscles. I'm a little bit slow. Absolutely not
contributing that to age, only to space flight.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
Yeah, no, it's incredible. Let's talk about what's really cool.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
Now.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
There is an initiative to go back to the Moon.
Part of this, I think is going to inspire especially
young people, that this is something that we can do.
It's obtainable. Why has it taking us so long? And
when is this plan to actually go back to the Moon.
Speaker 8 (17:07):
Yeah?
Speaker 7 (17:07):
Absolutely, this is really exciting times. You know, I think
what was great was we've had the International Space Station
to try out a whole bunch of processes to understand
what happens to people when they're in space for a
long duration, so we can get ready to go back
to the Moon smarter and you know, in a more
safe way. So we are actually doing some more challenging
things by going to the poll on, going to the
(17:29):
south pole of the Moon. That's our landing spot where
we want to go just for you know, resources sunlight
while we're while we're there, and maybe build a station
like we built in space. So we've used you know,
the space station, Internet space Station as a testing ground
for all of these things to get ready to go.
Also over these you know, last couple decades, I think
everybody knows additive manufacturing, different types of welding, all of
(17:53):
this has all this production has allowed us to build
spacecraft which are amazing. So we're looking forward to low
the Orion capsule this fault. I mean this next year
rather with UH, with four crew members on the Space
Launch System rocket, they'll go around the move to prove
all of our guidance, navigation, control systems and everything that
(18:14):
we've now modernized works quite well and where we can
head to the right place. UH, check out the heat
shield as we come back into the atmosphere much hotter
than from lower orbit where we were want to make
sure that all works right. And then we're going to
be ready to work with more inn more of our
commercial partners to get ready to land on the mood
hopefully Artemis three, Artemis four in the next couple of years.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
So it's it's at you're saying, this could happen in
the next couple of years that we could literally have
and an HD color people landing on the Moon and
us getting to see it.
Speaker 7 (18:46):
I think, so yeah, And this next year we'll have
you know, Artemis two, and then following probably two years
after that, Artemis three, and then follow on people you know,
footsteps back on the moon. Pretty awesome, and you know,
there's so much to do, it's really going to be busy.
So hopefully we've inspired a bunch of you know, high
school university kids to want to get involved. Their time
(19:07):
is in the is prime right now.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
Final question, any chance you're going to be walking on
the moon? And how competitive is it to be one
of those who.
Speaker 2 (19:13):
Gets to do it?
Speaker 4 (19:15):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (19:15):
I think it's pretty to Tanya Harding in the lag
you know, to just get get at the front of
that line.
Speaker 7 (19:21):
Hey, you know, I borrowed shorts from a buddy. We're
a big team effort here. I'm just happy to see
the next generation of astronauts put their foot in history
and walk on the Moon. I'll be there supporting them,
working on some stuff for the rest of the year
to get them ready to go. So we're making it happen.
I would love to go if they said.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
No one's been named one assuming right, has anyone been
named yet for that mission?
Speaker 8 (19:46):
Or no?
Speaker 7 (19:47):
Not for the landing yet, not for artemistry.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
Yet I love it. That's see, that's why she's training folks.
She can be PC, but we all know she wants
to get on the moon. I would if I was you.
That's the Holy Grail?
Speaker 2 (19:57):
Is it not?
Speaker 3 (19:58):
Oh?
Speaker 7 (19:59):
Yeah, of course of course it is. But I think
my husband would kill me.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
That's you know what you can we can work through that.
There's counselors for that. I appreciate you coming on and
Sonny just and talking. By the way, if you've got kids,
grandkids out there listening. If you're on social media, really
cool social media page, so you can see the Instagram
page I follow, it's awesome and you can inspire others.
This is exciting news for NASA. It's it's an exciting
(20:24):
news for space travel and going to the moon.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
Sonny.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
We appreciate your time and congratulations on unbelievable career.
Speaker 7 (20:31):
Absolutely, Ben, thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
Wouldn't it be amazing if Democrats actually were willing to
fight criminals in Chicago with the same type of anger
and vigor they're using towards Donald Trump and law enforcement. Well,
the only tough talk you're getting right now out of
Chicago officials is threats of lawsuits against Donald Trump.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
Illinois Governor J. D. Pritz kerb and the Chicago mayor
Junson have teamed up and are not backing down, as
they say they are angered by the idea of preparations
for what they describe as an illegal immigrant roundup. That
is illegal by the Trump administration in the Windy City Now.
According to an internal federal memo obtained by CBS News,
(21:19):
the Department of Home in Security has asked the Department
of Defense to house roughly two hundred and fifty federal
agents and one hundred and forty vehicles at an Illinois
military base and anticipation of an expected increase in illegal
alien arrests within the Chicago area. CBS News exploding on this,
(21:40):
saying in a request for the assistance to the Department
of Defense, a top Homeland Security official indicated that the
Naval Station Great Lakes, the largest military base in Illinois
and the Navy's largest training station, would be used as
a staging area to oversee the removal operations in the
metropolitan Chicago area targeting immigrants suspected of being in the
(22:03):
US illegally. Now, the President of the United States of America,
Donald Trump, was asked about this, and I want you
to hear what he had to say to a reporter
that was trying to badger him as he was leaving
for Marine one.
Speaker 9 (22:19):
News.
Speaker 4 (22:19):
You say that, dog, let's take news.
Speaker 7 (22:22):
Listen, be quiet, listen, you don't listen, You never listen.
That's why you're second grade.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
We're not going to war.
Speaker 4 (22:30):
We're going to clean up our city.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
We're going to clean them up so they don't.
Speaker 6 (22:33):
Kill five people every weekend.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
That's not war. That's common sense.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
I love the last statement there by President Trump. We're
going to clean it up so they don't kill five
people every weekend. That's not war. That's common sense. Tom
Homan also asked about this on CNN Say of the Union,
and here's what he had to say about it as well.
Speaker 10 (22:58):
Joining us now to discuss is the president and it's borders?
Are Tom Homan? Mister Homan, always good to have you.
Speaker 11 (23:02):
So.
Speaker 10 (23:03):
The governor of Illinois responded to President Trump's post. He wrote, quote,
the President of the United States is threatening to go
to war with an American city. This is not a joke,
This is not normal. Donald Trump isn't a strong man,
He's a scared man. Illinois won't be intimidated by a
wanna be dictator.
Speaker 7 (23:18):
Unquotes.
Speaker 10 (23:19):
Is President Trump planning to go to war in Chicago.
Speaker 11 (23:22):
We're going to war with illegal aliens, public safety threats
that rape children, that raped citizens, that committed armed robberies,
that the distributing narcotics at kill Americans. We're at war
with the criminal cartels, and Governor Prisco protects criminal, illegal
alien public safety threats every day in that state. Along
with Mary Johnson, we proved that the first week of
(23:44):
the administration, I went to Chicago. I started an operation there.
The first day, We're arrested nine sexual predators, most of
them child rapists. We arrested nine members of TDA. Several
of the TDA members had a pistol, an illegal pistol
the switch on it which makes that pistol fully automatic.
We arrested two illegal aliens that a homicide conviction. That
(24:06):
was the first in Chicago. So you know, President Trump
and this administration, Yeah, we're at war with the criminal
cartels and those who want to murder and rape the
American citizens.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
You' damn right.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
Isn't it amazing how the media decides to spend this
story that somehow Donald Trump is going to go to
war with a American city. No, We're going to war
with the criminal legal aliens every day, no matter where
they are. And that is the Trump doctrine. Now, of
course Sinnan didn't like this doctrine, right, They don't like
(24:38):
the fact that this administration is fighting back against criminals.
They want to act like somehow Donald Trump is a
dictator and a tyrant. And so Jake Tapper does what
Jake Tapper does. He decides to, you know, be an
elitist and grandstand with Tom Homan. And that's where he
decided to say, well, hold on a second, you guys
have been flooding the zone and Chicago, and is that
(25:01):
really the job of the government.
Speaker 11 (25:04):
The problem marriage which are sanctuary cities.
Speaker 10 (25:06):
Governor Pritzker says Illinois has not received any notification about
any enforcement action from the White House. Will you be
coordinating with them about an operation of the size in Chicago?
Speaker 11 (25:16):
Governor Prisker has been noted five day one. Again, I
went there and started in operation right after the inauguration.
ICE agents have been flooding the zone in Chicago for
a while now, so he's aware of what's going on.
I mean, he knows we've been there. We were there
last week, we're there the week before. Now again we're
going to send additional resources to all sanctuary cities. But
(25:38):
this isn't new to him. He knows we've been there,
and he's failed to work with us. The Mary Johnson
has failed to work with us again to this day.
A significant public safety threat gets locked into a jail
in Illinois, in Chicago, Cook County Jail one of the
most target rich environments for criminal illegal aliens, and we've
dropped the detainers. Say hey, this guy's are illegally the
(25:58):
United States. You have custody and you' dumb on thee
call us and we'll come and get them. Let us
deal with our enforcing our law. And they simply ignore
it and release into the streets. And what happens then
when we release a public safety threat back into the public,
It makes a community unsafe. It makes us unsafe for
our agents have to go into the community and try
to find somebody. Now in history, if we as access
to who knows what weapons, It makes unsafe for the
(26:19):
illegal anim because anything can happen on a street arrest.
Give us the public safety threat in the safety and
security of Accounty Jail makes it safer for everybody.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
You listen to the reality that they refuse even the
worst illegal immigrant criminal where there is an ICE detainer
and they say to law enforcement, tell us when you're
done with them, and we'll come pick them up. And
what do they say in Illinois, we will not notify you,
we will not work with you.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
We are going to.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
Release these rapists, these murderers, these cartel members, these drug
dealers back into our streets to terrorize our citizens because
we care more about hating Trump than we do about
keeping people safe.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
Which brings us back to the governor.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
Governor Pritzker saying this about Donald Trump's plan to bring
in more resources into Chicago.
Speaker 6 (27:11):
By the way, the homicide rate in Chicago has now
been cut in half over the last four years because
of the investments that we've made on the ground. It's
not just in police. I have invested significantly in police,
but we've also made massive investments in community violence intervention.
Those programs are working. We're doing more than any other
state in that regard, and it's working on the streets
(27:33):
of Chicago. He doesn't read anything, he doesn't really understand anything.
He just has some idea in his head that Chicago
is bad. He's always had that. By the way, I
also think I live rent free in the guy's head,
so he's constantly thinking about, you know, how do I
attack Chicago? And oh, yeah, I hate that Pritzker guy too.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
There it is very clear. It's all about the politics
with the governor. He wants to attack. Donald Trump doesn't
want to work with law enforcement, he doesn't want to
allow for anyone to be safe in his cities, and
lying over and over again. There's a mother of a
murdered girl, a Chicago resident, who decided to go on
(28:15):
Fox and Friends, and here's what she had to say
about how she is terrified and others are terrified to
even walk the streets, and she lost her own child
to this type of horrific violence in Chicago.
Speaker 9 (28:30):
This is a mother of a girl murdered in Chicago
who says she wants President Trump to come in and
fix the city.
Speaker 5 (28:39):
I would like the governors to ask for help because
the thing that's in place right now is not working.
We're scared to sit in our cars. We're scared to
have our kids walking to school.
Speaker 9 (28:51):
I mean, we have residents like you on every single
day who're saying we want the governor to ask for help,
we want the federal government to step in. So what
more is it gonna take.
Speaker 8 (29:04):
I think it's gonna take one of their own to
actually suffer through, you know, some of the things that
we go through in Chicago. I actually challenged JB. Prisker
Brandon Johnson to actually walk the same streets that I
walk here in Chicago, I mean without the police detail,
without the suits, of course, and we'll see if they
have that same opinion. When it comes to JB. Pritsker
saying that Chicago is safe, I feel like a lot
(29:26):
of this is just virtue signaling. When it comes to JB. Prisker,
he think he's living rent free and Donald Trump's head
that I honestly think it's the other way around. And
when it comes to Brandon Johnson and all of the
race baiting and things like that, he tends to think
that police are races because you know, majority of police
officer happens to be white Caucasian males. But you know,
(29:48):
he fails to tell the people that there were over
thirty two hundred black slave owners in America and they
own over twelve thousand slaves. So we can play the
color game, but that's not gonna help the issue when
it comes to safety in Chicago.
Speaker 9 (30:03):
Well, we know you know the city well, and for
those of us who have known that city for a
long time, it is just not what it once was.
It's changed significantly, and it's rough for so many families
that can't leave and that have to continue to live
there for work and otherwise. So appreciate you coming on.
Speaker 1 (30:20):
You listen to these residents, not one, but two there
telling their stories talking about how bad it is. Do
you notice the governor and the mayor are not listening
to them at all? And this is exactly why Donald
Trump right now is so popular because he's actually doing
what he said he was going to do. He's not
going to sit back and watch people get killed. He's
(30:43):
not going to sit back and say I'm sorry. But
because you're in that city, you're not going to be safe.
And this is why I think there are so many
Americans right now that like this present more than they
did in his first administration.
Speaker 2 (30:57):
He's doing it differently.
Speaker 1 (31:00):
Don't forget share this podcast please with your family and
your friends wherever they are, and I will see you
back here tomorrow
Host
Ben Ferguson
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