Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
My good friend Leland vinter he hosts on Balance on
News Nation. He also offers a fantastic daily newsletter or
daily on the days when he has a show called
war Notes. If you go to warnoes dot com, you
can sign up for free and you will be smarter
and better informed after reading Leland's note.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
It's basically a show prep, so.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
It's kind of an insight into how he's thinking about
some of the biggest.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
News stories of the day.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Leland, Before we talk about some of the biggest news
stories of the day, your show is changing time from
five pm hour time to seven pm our time in
a little over two weeks.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
What's up with that? And is that a good thing
for you?
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Well, I think my dear fiance Rachel is thrilled now
that you'll have an excuse to be in bed by
the time I get home at about ten thirty Eastern.
Speaker 4 (00:51):
And not have to deal with me. So all politics
are local ross, But I think it's going to.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Be a great opportunity now that you've got so much
news with Donald Trump, to have a show from Washington
in the evening.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Yeah, I mean, we're we're as you were in Colorado.
And for folks who don't know this. Leland was on
katiev R here in Denver for for some years, in
addition to everywhere else that he's lived, Jerusalem and so on, covering,
covering the world, and.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
So for us, I don't know.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
I always feel to me, even though you're on at
five pm my time, in a way, it's like my
prime time watching TV. But but I guess going to
nine pm Eastern is a is a huge time slot
in a and a big feather in your cap.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
Well, thank you, we're we are excited to be moving
into primetime. And then in Denver you'll be able to
listen or watch seven pm Eastern or sorry, seven pm
Mountain Time and ten pm, so it'll repeat.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Oh cool, all right, very good. Uh.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
I want to talk with you a little litle bit
about John Bolton, because I think you know him. He's
on your show.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Affair bit.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
And this was Trump going a little bit or maybe
a lot further than he did with the other fifty
Ish people whose security clearances he revoked, because he also
revoked John Bolton's Secret Service protection and by the way,
today he did the same thing to Mike Pompeo and
Mike Pompeo's top eight.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Who's a guy named named Brian Hook.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
And I'm curious, and this is sort of a half
personal question since you I think Bolton's a friend of yours,
But what are your thoughts on this?
Speaker 3 (02:39):
This is the problem for Donald Trump is oftentimes his
pettiness gets in the way of his political best interests.
Because Trump was on a very firm moral high ground
to revoke the security clearances of the fifty one former
senior intelligence officials who signed a letter staying Hunter Biden's
laptop with Russian disa information it wasn't either they knew or.
Speaker 4 (03:03):
Should have known it was not. Joe Biden certainly.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
Knew and his campaign knew that it was not Russian
disinformation when they put out the letter. And these people
use their security clearance, the privileges that come with it,
and the trust that is the imprimateur of that because
they hated Donald Trump, and he said, you use your
security clearers for political purposes, I'm taking it away. He
(03:26):
had the moral high ground on that, but he couldn't
stop there. You know, he doesn't like John Bolton because
John Bolton said mean things about him in his book,
and John Bolton speaks his mind on TV. Sometimes he
praises Trump, sometimes he criticizes him.
Speaker 4 (03:37):
That's fine. But to take away.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
John Bolton's Secret Service protection and Pompeo and Hooks, who
were all under threat and who have a rane and
hits out on them because of something that Donald Trump
ordered them to do, I think is the hallmark of
putting Teddy before your own personal best interests.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
This kind of question is going to come up a
lot over the course of the Trump administration, and that is.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Does Trump care about that?
Speaker 1 (04:11):
And in the sense that probably a lot of his
hardcore base are enthusiastic, Like I mean, even if and
I'm not sure I even want to say this, but
as you said, Iran wants to hurt these men. If
Iran does hurt one or more of those men, I
don't know that the Trump base would be upset.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
About it, And therefore I don't know that Trump would
be upset about it.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
Uh that that very well may be true.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
But Donald Trump to get done what he wants to
get done and to have the legacy he wants to.
Speaker 4 (04:45):
Have, is going to require.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
A lockstep of support by Republicans in Congress, and a
lockstep of Republicans in the United States Senate. Doing things
like provoking good Goolton's security clearance and more importantly, pulling
his secret Service detail is a way to start fracturing
(05:10):
the Republican caucus because there's a lot of Republicans who
are up for reelection. The entire houses up for reelection
in swing districts come next November, and senators drop. So
it's one of those things that Donald Trump. Donald Trump
will have to figure out if his firing up his
(05:35):
base is worth losing his majorities.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
All right, Before we get on to more DC stuff,
I need to ask you a question that has gotten
somewhere around two hundred and fifty listener texts during my
show today, and that is are you okay with pineapple
on pizza?
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Not only am I okay with it? I rarely eat
pizza without pineapple.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
That is exactly the opposite of the last guest who
called it an abomination and asked why anybody would want
warm fruit on anything.
Speaker 4 (06:08):
You were very they never had an apple pie.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
He said, he also doesn't like apple pie, and therefore,
you know that probably says all we need to know
about him. You were you did not hesitate at all,
which was which was interesting. You You are very very
certain in your answer one of the things that I
worry about. I'm not prone to worrying.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
But by the way.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
Ross, Ross, the reason the reason I'm not, you know,
have not didn't take long on that, yeah, is because
you are my favorite radio hosts. I do a number
of radio shows and other television shows throughout the week.
Let's just say you're not the first one to ask
me this question. I have no idea why it's become
a thing, but I'm prepared.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
All right.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
So Donald Trump is doing a lot by executive order,
and there are some things for which executive orders are appropriate,
things that really fall within the executive branch's authorities.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
But Donald Trump, and he's not.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Alone on this, also doing some things that would seem
to infringe on the rights of Congress.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
I got some issue with that.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
But my biggest issue is, and again it is not
just related to Trump. Anything that a president does by
executive order can be undone by the next president and
executive order. And Trump started that way on doing seventy
something of Biden orders.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
And I actually like a lot of what Trump is doing.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
I like the stuff that he's doing against DEI I
like the stuff that he's doing with energy, and there's
a lot that I like. I can already imagine if
things don't go well for Trump, or things don't go
well for Republicans, some Democrat gets elected in four years
or eight years, reinstating everything that I'm happy that Trump
(07:45):
is getting rid of.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
How do you think about that dynamic?
Speaker 3 (07:50):
Well, unfortunately, we live in a time where Congress does
not want to do its job.
Speaker 4 (07:56):
They would much rather argue on cable television.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
And fundraise so rather than do its job and legislate
and demand that the executive being the president, go through
Congress to get things done. Members of both parties would
much rather let Trump do it or let the executive
do it.
Speaker 4 (08:16):
They loved it when Joe Biden.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
Democrats loved it when Joe Biden undid everything Trump did
four years ago. So this is a this is a
failing of Congress, and it's a failing of our way
of government because it puts way too much power in
the hands of one person. And as you pointed out,
and I think this is the real issue, is that
(08:39):
it just creates a whiplash effect going back and forth,
and that's not and I'm an originalist. How the framers
thought it and designed it a government action was supposed
to be minimal and take an awfully lot long time
to get done.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
Or talking with Leland Vindert for another two and a
half weeks to show on Balance on NewsNation airs at
five pm Mountain time, and then starting February tenth, if
I remember the date you told me, Leland, it'll move to.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Seven pm Mountain time.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
I'm you know, I want to ask you a slightly
personal question. We can just do this one quickly. You
called yourself an originalist. Do you do you think of
yourself as do you think of your political views as
deeply grounded in in the Constitution?
Speaker 2 (09:27):
And how do you think of yourself?
Speaker 1 (09:29):
I know you're I'm curious, and you don't tell that
I don't.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
I don't make any I don't play hide the ball
with my own personal views. I don't play ball hide
the ball on the show or in war notes.
Speaker 4 (09:39):
I mean, everybody knows where I stand.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
What makes us different is that we provide the.
Speaker 4 (09:46):
Other side their best argument. You know it is it is.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
It is almost forbidden on our show for us to
have a guest who agrees with me because The whole
point is, you know, having bias is not having an opinion.
We all have opinions, it's excluding an opinion we don't.
At nine pm every night, Sean Hannity's going to tell
you nine pm Eastern goven pm Mountain Time, Sean Hannity's
(10:11):
going to tell you that Donald Trump's doing forty underwater chess.
Caitlin Collins is going to raise her eyebrow and go
really and then fact check Donald Trump to death. And
Rachel Maddow is going to tell you how what Donald
Trump is doing is similar to Nazi Germany in nineteen
thirty seven.
Speaker 4 (10:28):
That's the cable news landscape.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
What we do is we cover these issues fairly. When
what Donald Trump does is good for America, we're going
to tell you that. When what he does is bad
for America, we're going to tell you that too. And
we're going to have people on who who have a
different point of view than I do to answer your
question directly, because what I just did sounded like a
total dodge, and it was I'm now going to answer
(10:52):
your question directly. I believe the Constitution and the Bill
of Rights and the Declaration, and then the Federalist papers.
Speaker 4 (11:03):
Explaining those is.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
The single greatest work of man since the Bible, and no.
Speaker 4 (11:14):
Never before or since has anybody.
Speaker 3 (11:16):
Bothered to write down that our rights come from God
and the government is created among men to secure those rights.
So if that's our guiding principle, these are our rights
from God, and the government is is committed and organized
to secure those rights, we're probably in a pretty good spot.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
Hella elujah, all right, let's keep going. I love that though.
That's probably why we're friends. So I'm gonna ask you
about a few things. And I have war notes isn't
out yet today, so I don't know if what you're
talking about as far as these things go. But normally
I find I can ask you something and you've and
you've thought about it. So what do you think about
this Trump coin that apparently, at least on paper, has
(12:04):
maybe doubled his net worth or or something. If you
think that that that this coin will continue to be
worth what it appears to be worth today, what do
you What do you think of it as a political matter,
an ethical matter?
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Does anybody care?
Speaker 1 (12:21):
Is it just the usual Trump hating suspects who will
say that it's really bad?
Speaker 2 (12:25):
How do you think about it.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
I have to say I've tried to think about it,
but I don't really understand it. I don't under I
get this concept that if if Trump could sell all
of the coins that that are, you know, existing in
the Internet, in whatever place coins exist, that somehow.
Speaker 4 (12:48):
He would benefit greatly.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
I have a hard time believing anybody's gonna pay him
fifty eight billion dollars or whatever it is for his coins.
And it strikes me as the modern day version of
Trump Stakes, which we all knew about Donald Trump.
Speaker 4 (13:06):
We've all known about Donald Trump.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
The one thing about Donald Trump is different than every
other politician. He'll tell you exactly what he's thinking. He
doesn't play hide the ball. We all know, we all
know what the game is, and he was elected, you know.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
So I fail.
Speaker 4 (13:24):
I failed to understand why or how trump coin changes the.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
Dynamic of how much groceries cost and whether the borders closed.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
I read a great line in a piece over at
the Free Press about this.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Here's a quote.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
Just because you think a buyer is stupid doesn't mean
the seller as a scam artist.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
And I'm not sure.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
If in this context or Trump States, or Trump University
or whatever, does Trump cross the line between praying on
the gullibility or cultishness of his followers, or is he
a scam artist. I think he may cross that line,
although I don't think he did with the coin. I
think the coin buyers are self selected, and so I
(14:14):
don't think this one's so much a scam, but some
of the other ones probably, You.
Speaker 4 (14:19):
Know, Ross, It's a crazy world we live in.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
Yes, was it yesterday?
Speaker 1 (14:25):
Donald Trump announced a five hundred billion dollar investment by
a few different companies in AI here in the United States,
and they say they're going to start with one hundred
billion in the first year, some equity, some debt, and
then Elon Musk immediately came out and said they don't
have the money. And I'm kind of fascinated by the
whole I mean, Elon Musk is a fascinating guy. He's
(14:47):
an odd guy, but he's a fascinating guy. I'm curious,
since you watch this all the time, that was sort
of a direct attack in a way, an attack on
Trump because Trump is promoting this thing and he says
the money isn't there. Uh, what are you seeing hearing
feeling about the relationship between Elon Musk and Donald Trump.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
The most interesting parlor game or side bet prop bet
in DC is when is the post by Trump with
a nickname? It's derogatory nickname for Elon Musk.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
What's your over under.
Speaker 4 (15:31):
The labor day?
Speaker 2 (15:33):
Wow?
Speaker 1 (15:33):
I mean this dude spent hundreds of millions or at
least many millions getting Donald Trump elected.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
But yeah, Trump is so fickle.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
He'll turn on and he demands loyalty but offers none
labor day.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
Huh, that's interesting?
Speaker 4 (15:47):
All right?
Speaker 1 (15:48):
What's what's the most important thing that I haven't asked
you about?
Speaker 3 (15:53):
I think what's interesting and this is what is going
to be the lead of war notes is the violence
of action of the Trump administration in the first seventy
two hours.
Speaker 4 (16:04):
It is.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
It is stunning how much they have done, how much
they continue to do, and how quickly it's happening.
Speaker 4 (16:13):
The idea that they are not only you know.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
An executive order not to study the end of DEI,
but to end it, and then, by the way, a
demand that if any agency changes the names of DEI
programs or officers, that it needs to be reported. And
if you don't report it, you're in trouble. It is
a the depth and breadth at which they have.
Speaker 4 (16:37):
Thought about things.
Speaker 3 (16:38):
Trump one point zero was a was a mile wide
and inch deep.
Speaker 4 (16:45):
This is a mile wide and very clear.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
That they've spent the past four years digging all the
way down and they had it ready to go. And
you know, it's interesting as you watch Democrats try to
respond to this. So far, the biggest thing Democrats have
been able to say is Elon Musk is a Nazi,
which is laughable on its face.
Speaker 4 (17:09):
And it shows you, I think.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
How completely unprepared Democrats have been. And you know how
well Trump is has put points on the board over
the past three days.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
Yeah, I couldn't agree more.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
I'll add one other thing is sending fifteen hundred more
US troops down to the down to the Oh.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
The list is extraordinary. Look, they're you know, not only
that they have a website picked out all of it.
I mean, it's it's remarkable.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
Yeah, I agree, And you and your your bigger point
there about how in a sense Trump one point oh.
Trump's first administration was a guy who had some ideas
but not very much competency to execute them. He has
all those ideas and more this time, and now he
knows how the system works, and he's surrounded himself with
loyalists who will make sure that the system does he
(18:00):
what he does, and he is just gonna run over
anyone that gets in his way. Folks, watch Leland tonight
and every weeknight five pm Mountain Time on News Nation.
It is the news cable news network that my wife
and I watch. Now February tenth, I'll switch to seven
pm Mountain Time. Congratulations on the move, Congratulations on getting
(18:21):
in primetime, and on having a fiance who gets to
go to sleep and not have to deal with you.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
Only just local cheers, Ross. Thanks, Bye,
My good friend Leland vinter he hosts on Balance on
News Nation. He also offers a fantastic daily newsletter or
daily on the days when he has a show called
war Notes. If you go to warnoes dot com, you
can sign up for free and you will be smarter
and better informed after reading Leland's note.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
It's basically a show prep, so.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
It's kind of an insight into how he's thinking about
some of the biggest.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
News stories of the day.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Leland, Before we talk about some of the biggest news
stories of the day, your show is changing time from
five pm hour time to seven pm our time in
a little over two weeks.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
What's up with that? And is that a good thing
for you?
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Well, I think my dear fiance Rachel is thrilled now
that you'll have an excuse to be in bed by
the time I get home at about ten thirty Eastern.
Speaker 4 (00:51):
And not have to deal with me. So all politics
are local ross, But I think it's going to.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Be a great opportunity now that you've got so much
news with Donald Trump, to have a show from Washington
in the evening.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Yeah, I mean, we're we're as you were in Colorado.
And for folks who don't know this. Leland was on
katiev R here in Denver for for some years, in
addition to everywhere else that he's lived, Jerusalem and so on, covering,
covering the world, and.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
So for us, I don't know.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
I always feel to me, even though you're on at
five pm my time, in a way, it's like my
prime time watching TV. But but I guess going to
nine pm Eastern is a is a huge time slot
in a and a big feather in your cap.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
Well, thank you, we're we are excited to be moving
into primetime. And then in Denver you'll be able to
listen or watch seven pm Eastern or sorry, seven pm
Mountain Time and ten pm, so it'll repeat.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Oh cool, all right, very good. Uh.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
I want to talk with you a little litle bit
about John Bolton, because I think you know him. He's
on your show.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Affair bit.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
And this was Trump going a little bit or maybe
a lot further than he did with the other fifty
Ish people whose security clearances he revoked, because he also
revoked John Bolton's Secret Service protection and by the way,
today he did the same thing to Mike Pompeo and
Mike Pompeo's top eight.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Who's a guy named named Brian Hook.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
And I'm curious, and this is sort of a half
personal question since you I think Bolton's a friend of yours,
But what are your thoughts on this?
Speaker 3 (02:39):
This is the problem for Donald Trump is oftentimes his
pettiness gets in the way of his political best interests.
Because Trump was on a very firm moral high ground
to revoke the security clearances of the fifty one former
senior intelligence officials who signed a letter staying Hunter Biden's
laptop with Russian disa information it wasn't either they knew or.
Speaker 4 (03:03):
Should have known it was not. Joe Biden certainly.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
Knew and his campaign knew that it was not Russian
disinformation when they put out the letter. And these people
use their security clearance, the privileges that come with it,
and the trust that is the imprimateur of that because
they hated Donald Trump, and he said, you use your
security clearers for political purposes, I'm taking it away. He
(03:26):
had the moral high ground on that, but he couldn't
stop there. You know, he doesn't like John Bolton because
John Bolton said mean things about him in his book,
and John Bolton speaks his mind on TV. Sometimes he
praises Trump, sometimes he criticizes him.
Speaker 4 (03:37):
That's fine. But to take away.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
John Bolton's Secret Service protection and Pompeo and Hooks, who
were all under threat and who have a rane and
hits out on them because of something that Donald Trump
ordered them to do, I think is the hallmark of
putting Teddy before your own personal best interests.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
This kind of question is going to come up a
lot over the course of the Trump administration, and that is.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Does Trump care about that?
Speaker 1 (04:11):
And in the sense that probably a lot of his
hardcore base are enthusiastic, Like I mean, even if and
I'm not sure I even want to say this, but
as you said, Iran wants to hurt these men. If
Iran does hurt one or more of those men, I
don't know that the Trump base would be upset.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
About it, And therefore I don't know that Trump would
be upset about it.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
Uh that that very well may be true.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
But Donald Trump to get done what he wants to
get done and to have the legacy he wants to.
Speaker 4 (04:45):
Have, is going to require.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
A lockstep of support by Republicans in Congress, and a
lockstep of Republicans in the United States Senate. Doing things
like provoking good Goolton's security clearance and more importantly, pulling
his secret Service detail is a way to start fracturing
(05:10):
the Republican caucus because there's a lot of Republicans who
are up for reelection. The entire houses up for reelection
in swing districts come next November, and senators drop. So
it's one of those things that Donald Trump. Donald Trump
will have to figure out if his firing up his
(05:35):
base is worth losing his majorities.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
All right, Before we get on to more DC stuff,
I need to ask you a question that has gotten
somewhere around two hundred and fifty listener texts during my
show today, and that is are you okay with pineapple
on pizza?
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Not only am I okay with it? I rarely eat
pizza without pineapple.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
That is exactly the opposite of the last guest who
called it an abomination and asked why anybody would want
warm fruit on anything.
Speaker 4 (06:08):
You were very they never had an apple pie.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
He said, he also doesn't like apple pie, and therefore,
you know that probably says all we need to know
about him. You were you did not hesitate at all,
which was which was interesting. You You are very very
certain in your answer one of the things that I
worry about. I'm not prone to worrying.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
But by the way.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
Ross, Ross, the reason the reason I'm not, you know,
have not didn't take long on that, yeah, is because
you are my favorite radio hosts. I do a number
of radio shows and other television shows throughout the week.
Let's just say you're not the first one to ask
me this question. I have no idea why it's become
a thing, but I'm prepared.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
All right.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
So Donald Trump is doing a lot by executive order,
and there are some things for which executive orders are appropriate,
things that really fall within the executive branch's authorities.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
But Donald Trump, and he's not.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Alone on this, also doing some things that would seem
to infringe on the rights of Congress.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
I got some issue with that.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
But my biggest issue is, and again it is not
just related to Trump. Anything that a president does by
executive order can be undone by the next president and
executive order. And Trump started that way on doing seventy
something of Biden orders.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
And I actually like a lot of what Trump is doing.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
I like the stuff that he's doing against DEI I
like the stuff that he's doing with energy, and there's
a lot that I like. I can already imagine if
things don't go well for Trump, or things don't go
well for Republicans, some Democrat gets elected in four years
or eight years, reinstating everything that I'm happy that Trump
(07:45):
is getting rid of.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
How do you think about that dynamic?
Speaker 3 (07:50):
Well, unfortunately, we live in a time where Congress does
not want to do its job.
Speaker 4 (07:56):
They would much rather argue on cable television.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
And fundraise so rather than do its job and legislate
and demand that the executive being the president, go through
Congress to get things done. Members of both parties would
much rather let Trump do it or let the executive
do it.
Speaker 4 (08:16):
They loved it when Joe Biden.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
Democrats loved it when Joe Biden undid everything Trump did
four years ago. So this is a this is a
failing of Congress, and it's a failing of our way
of government because it puts way too much power in
the hands of one person. And as you pointed out,
and I think this is the real issue, is that
(08:39):
it just creates a whiplash effect going back and forth,
and that's not and I'm an originalist. How the framers
thought it and designed it a government action was supposed
to be minimal and take an awfully lot long time
to get done.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
Or talking with Leland Vindert for another two and a
half weeks to show on Balance on NewsNation airs at
five pm Mountain time, and then starting February tenth, if
I remember the date you told me, Leland, it'll move to.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Seven pm Mountain time.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
I'm you know, I want to ask you a slightly
personal question. We can just do this one quickly. You
called yourself an originalist. Do you do you think of
yourself as do you think of your political views as
deeply grounded in in the Constitution?
Speaker 2 (09:27):
And how do you think of yourself?
Speaker 1 (09:29):
I know you're I'm curious, and you don't tell that
I don't.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
I don't make any I don't play hide the ball
with my own personal views. I don't play ball hide
the ball on the show or in war notes.
Speaker 4 (09:39):
I mean, everybody knows where I stand.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
What makes us different is that we provide the.
Speaker 4 (09:46):
Other side their best argument. You know it is it is.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
It is almost forbidden on our show for us to
have a guest who agrees with me because The whole
point is, you know, having bias is not having an opinion.
We all have opinions, it's excluding an opinion we don't.
At nine pm every night, Sean Hannity's going to tell
you nine pm Eastern goven pm Mountain Time, Sean Hannity's
(10:11):
going to tell you that Donald Trump's doing forty underwater chess.
Caitlin Collins is going to raise her eyebrow and go
really and then fact check Donald Trump to death. And
Rachel Maddow is going to tell you how what Donald
Trump is doing is similar to Nazi Germany in nineteen
thirty seven.
Speaker 4 (10:28):
That's the cable news landscape.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
What we do is we cover these issues fairly. When
what Donald Trump does is good for America, we're going
to tell you that. When what he does is bad
for America, we're going to tell you that too. And
we're going to have people on who who have a
different point of view than I do to answer your
question directly, because what I just did sounded like a
total dodge, and it was I'm now going to answer
(10:52):
your question directly. I believe the Constitution and the Bill
of Rights and the Declaration, and then the Federalist papers.
Speaker 4 (11:03):
Explaining those is.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
The single greatest work of man since the Bible, and no.
Speaker 4 (11:14):
Never before or since has anybody.
Speaker 3 (11:16):
Bothered to write down that our rights come from God
and the government is created among men to secure those rights.
So if that's our guiding principle, these are our rights
from God, and the government is is committed and organized
to secure those rights, we're probably in a pretty good spot.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
Hella elujah, all right, let's keep going. I love that though.
That's probably why we're friends. So I'm gonna ask you
about a few things. And I have war notes isn't
out yet today, so I don't know if what you're
talking about as far as these things go. But normally
I find I can ask you something and you've and
you've thought about it. So what do you think about
this Trump coin that apparently, at least on paper, has
(12:04):
maybe doubled his net worth or or something. If you
think that that that this coin will continue to be
worth what it appears to be worth today, what do
you What do you think of it as a political matter,
an ethical matter?
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Does anybody care?
Speaker 1 (12:21):
Is it just the usual Trump hating suspects who will
say that it's really bad?
Speaker 2 (12:25):
How do you think about it.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
I have to say I've tried to think about it,
but I don't really understand it. I don't under I
get this concept that if if Trump could sell all
of the coins that that are, you know, existing in
the Internet, in whatever place coins exist, that somehow.
Speaker 4 (12:48):
He would benefit greatly.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
I have a hard time believing anybody's gonna pay him
fifty eight billion dollars or whatever it is for his coins.
And it strikes me as the modern day version of
Trump Stakes, which we all knew about Donald Trump.
Speaker 4 (13:06):
We've all known about Donald Trump.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
The one thing about Donald Trump is different than every
other politician. He'll tell you exactly what he's thinking. He
doesn't play hide the ball. We all know, we all
know what the game is, and he was elected, you know.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
So I fail.
Speaker 4 (13:24):
I failed to understand why or how trump coin changes the.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
Dynamic of how much groceries cost and whether the borders closed.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
I read a great line in a piece over at
the Free Press about this.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Here's a quote.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
Just because you think a buyer is stupid doesn't mean
the seller as a scam artist.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
And I'm not sure.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
If in this context or Trump States, or Trump University
or whatever, does Trump cross the line between praying on
the gullibility or cultishness of his followers, or is he
a scam artist. I think he may cross that line,
although I don't think he did with the coin. I
think the coin buyers are self selected, and so I
(14:14):
don't think this one's so much a scam, but some
of the other ones probably, You.
Speaker 4 (14:19):
Know, Ross, It's a crazy world we live in.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
Yes, was it yesterday?
Speaker 1 (14:25):
Donald Trump announced a five hundred billion dollar investment by
a few different companies in AI here in the United States,
and they say they're going to start with one hundred
billion in the first year, some equity, some debt, and
then Elon Musk immediately came out and said they don't
have the money. And I'm kind of fascinated by the
whole I mean, Elon Musk is a fascinating guy. He's
(14:47):
an odd guy, but he's a fascinating guy. I'm curious,
since you watch this all the time, that was sort
of a direct attack in a way, an attack on
Trump because Trump is promoting this thing and he says
the money isn't there. Uh, what are you seeing hearing
feeling about the relationship between Elon Musk and Donald Trump.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
The most interesting parlor game or side bet prop bet
in DC is when is the post by Trump with
a nickname? It's derogatory nickname for Elon Musk.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
What's your over under.
Speaker 4 (15:31):
The labor day?
Speaker 2 (15:33):
Wow?
Speaker 1 (15:33):
I mean this dude spent hundreds of millions or at
least many millions getting Donald Trump elected.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
But yeah, Trump is so fickle.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
He'll turn on and he demands loyalty but offers none
labor day.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
Huh, that's interesting?
Speaker 4 (15:47):
All right?
Speaker 1 (15:48):
What's what's the most important thing that I haven't asked
you about?
Speaker 3 (15:53):
I think what's interesting and this is what is going
to be the lead of war notes is the violence
of action of the Trump administration in the first seventy
two hours.
Speaker 4 (16:04):
It is.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
It is stunning how much they have done, how much
they continue to do, and how quickly it's happening.
Speaker 4 (16:13):
The idea that they are not only you know.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
An executive order not to study the end of DEI,
but to end it, and then, by the way, a
demand that if any agency changes the names of DEI
programs or officers, that it needs to be reported. And
if you don't report it, you're in trouble. It is
a the depth and breadth at which they have.
Speaker 4 (16:37):
Thought about things.
Speaker 3 (16:38):
Trump one point zero was a was a mile wide
and inch deep.
Speaker 4 (16:45):
This is a mile wide and very clear.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
That they've spent the past four years digging all the
way down and they had it ready to go. And
you know, it's interesting as you watch Democrats try to
respond to this. So far, the biggest thing Democrats have
been able to say is Elon Musk is a Nazi,
which is laughable on its face.
Speaker 4 (17:09):
And it shows you, I think.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
How completely unprepared Democrats have been. And you know how
well Trump is has put points on the board over
the past three days.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
Yeah, I couldn't agree more.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
I'll add one other thing is sending fifteen hundred more
US troops down to the down to the Oh.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
The list is extraordinary. Look, they're you know, not only
that they have a website picked out all of it.
I mean, it's it's remarkable.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
Yeah, I agree, And you and your your bigger point
there about how in a sense Trump one point oh.
Trump's first administration was a guy who had some ideas
but not very much competency to execute them. He has
all those ideas and more this time, and now he
knows how the system works, and he's surrounded himself with
loyalists who will make sure that the system does he
(18:00):
what he does, and he is just gonna run over
anyone that gets in his way. Folks, watch Leland tonight
and every weeknight five pm Mountain Time on News Nation.
It is the news cable news network that my wife
and I watch. Now February tenth, I'll switch to seven
pm Mountain Time. Congratulations on the move, Congratulations on getting
(18:21):
in primetime, and on having a fiance who gets to
go to sleep and not have to deal with you.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
Only just local cheers, Ross. Thanks, Bye,
The Ross Kaminsky Show News
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