Latest / The People's News / HPD and ICE; Trump DHS Shutdown Slows Air Travel; Russian War on Ukraine Enters 5th Year - TPN 3/15/26

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HPD and ICE; Trump DHS Shutdown Slows Air Travel; Russian War on Ukraine Enters 5th Year - TPN 3/15/26 · The People's News

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Speaker 1: It's the week of March fifteenth, twenty twenty six, and
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Speaker 1: this is what's on the People's news. The city says
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Speaker 1: it has new rules for working with ICE. With Trump
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Speaker 1: attacking Iran, Israel's attacking Lemanon, local Haitians fearful of deportation.
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Speaker 1: Long lines awake you at the airport as TSA suffers
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Speaker 1: from the Trump DHS shutdown. The fourth anniversary of the
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Speaker 1: Russian invasion of Ukraine. South by Southwest is going on
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Speaker 1: in Austin. Will have reports next week. I'm Steve Gallington.
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Speaker 1: This is the People's News, and the People's news starts now.
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Speaker 2: For over a year, I've been consistent in stating our
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Speaker 2: policy that HPD is ice, not immigration officers. Their HBD officers,
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Speaker 2: and I expect them to follow the law. It's HBD officers.
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Speaker 2: They enforce local laws, state laws. They comply with the
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Speaker 2: intent of Senate Bill four, and they follow the intent
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Speaker 2: of the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution. And it's worked.
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Speaker 2: I think it'd be appropriate to pause for a moment
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Speaker 2: because it doesn't get enough coverage what occurred in La Chicago,
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Speaker 2: New Orleans, Memphis, Minneapolis, Houstonians thank me on a regular basis,
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Speaker 2: thank you for having your officer be HBD officers and
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Speaker 2: not confrontational with the federal government. Senate Bill for certainly
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Speaker 2: ice because you see, the public understands if you get
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Speaker 2: in a battle with people, even if you don't appreciate
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Speaker 2: their tactics, that group of people, the federal officers do
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Speaker 2: not mind a confrontation. So the people that some of
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Speaker 2: my critics and some of you would criticize, who have criticized,
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Speaker 2: don't understand. Our model of success and public safety is
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Speaker 2: protecting those that we state we're concerned about is working,
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Speaker 2: and today we're here to reinforce that policy. It's been
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Speaker 2: brought to my attention that two at least two officers
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Speaker 2: have deviated from that policy, young officers making judgment calls
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Speaker 2: that do not comply with the policy that I've consistently
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Speaker 2: outlined in Council and public, working with the command staff
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Speaker 2: and certainly the chief. After fifty plus years in the
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Speaker 2: legislature fifty to be specific, experience has shown me that
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Speaker 2: there's no perfect ordinance, no perfect law.
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Speaker 3: All laws.
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Speaker 2: I've used a statement as Chairman of Criminal Justice for years.
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Speaker 2: Every product that government outlines can be improved, and that's
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Speaker 2: why we are here today. I expect the officers to
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Speaker 2: all of my policy, and the Chief's going to give
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Speaker 2: them a directive to that effect. Today, they're going to
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Speaker 2: be HPD officers, compassionate. We're going to be in the community,
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Speaker 2: working with all residents of Houston. I have been on
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Speaker 2: patrol in late night, closing after our clubs. These officers
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Speaker 2: do not ask people their immigration status, but when they
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Speaker 2: encounter someone while they're doing their job, the law requires
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Speaker 2: them to check the background NC I see and if
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Speaker 2: there's a warrant from any other jurisdiction, they're required to
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Speaker 2: contact them. That's doing their job and following the law.
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Speaker 1: Now was Houston Mayor John Whitmyer, along with Houston Police
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Speaker 1: Department Chief no Ideas, announcing a change on its policy
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Speaker 1: dealing with immigrations and customs enforcement. Houston officers must call
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Speaker 1: their supervising sergeant to the scene and give ICE agents
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Speaker 1: thirty minutes to respond to calls when officers encounter someone
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Speaker 1: with a non criminal administrative warrant. This will not affect
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Speaker 1: what is already practiced by officers in the field, and
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Speaker 1: opponents point out that it is unrealistic and probably is
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Speaker 1: unconstitutional to hold someone for thirty minutes until an ICE
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Speaker 1: officer shows up on the scene. Also, the city is
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Speaker 1: dealing with Senate Bill four, which the state mandates that
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Speaker 1: local police work with ICE or federal authorities. Cesar Espinosa,
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Speaker 1: who is the executive director of the immigration advacy group
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Speaker 1: Feel Houston, who has stated that the city should fight
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Speaker 1: back against the governor.
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Speaker 4: Well, the city is right where the city has been.
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Speaker 4: They have been collaborating with ICE. They are trying to
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Speaker 4: say or trying to spin the facts and saying that
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Speaker 4: this is a new policy, and even though it is
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Speaker 4: a new policy, under their eyes, it's a policy that
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Speaker 4: we don't necessarily believe that should exist. I mean, the
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Speaker 4: the the city does have the power to to challenge
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Speaker 4: the federal government on what we believe to be unjust
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Speaker 4: unjust attentions. Make no mistake about it. When when people
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Speaker 4: UH get these when when the police gets these hits, uh,
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Speaker 4: these are civil warrants that exists in AH in the
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Speaker 4: system that sometimes is not one hundred percent accurate. So
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Speaker 4: there does exist some level of discretion for HVD to
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Speaker 4: to honor those or not honor those UH in defense
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Speaker 4: of the community. But they they're definitely choosing to honor
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Speaker 4: these these detainers, and it obviously, you know, puts the
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Speaker 4: message out there that folks may be more scared to
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Speaker 4: approach a police either as victims or.
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Speaker 5: Witnesses of crimes.
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Speaker 3: One thing that is atmosphere Garcia was talking about it
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Speaker 3: is that ICE is in jails already and people are
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Speaker 3: locked up. Sure desals that gave them access to to
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Speaker 3: take people off and they have they have that access
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Speaker 3: for a long time now.
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Speaker 4: I mean they've had that access. Yes, they've had that
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Speaker 4: access for for for a number of years. And that's
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Speaker 4: been one of our that's one of the biggest issues
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Speaker 4: that we've had here in Harrison County is that the
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Speaker 4: ICE has been allowed to enter county facilities and they've
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Speaker 4: been and they get carte blanche as to as to
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Speaker 4: what as to you know, who they ask and who
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Speaker 4: they don't ask for papers. But I also don't we
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Speaker 4: don't agree with the fact that if people are in jail,
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Speaker 4: they should be questioned about the immigrations. I mean, they're
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Speaker 4: there for a particular reason. And and the the scope
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Speaker 4: of quote unquote crimes can range, including many crimes who
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Speaker 4: people are charged with and then charges are dropped, but
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Speaker 4: now they're entering into the system where they get ICE
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Speaker 4: hoold to put on them maybe they don't have status.
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Speaker 3: We also know that ICE has been making mistakes too,
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Speaker 3: ticking up people that do have they do have rights
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Speaker 3: here or on visas or et cetera. But they're still
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Speaker 3: taking them off anyway, and then they're making mistakes like
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Speaker 3: that for a while now, I.
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Speaker 4: Mean absolutely, I not only do do they do they
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Speaker 4: do that, but they're also using the this uh database
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Speaker 4: that they're also using this database where where there's mistakes,
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Speaker 4: people don't Often people's status doesn't get changed. Uh they're
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Speaker 4: there there, doesn't get updated the way it should be.
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Speaker 4: And we're relying on a flawed database which could ruin
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Speaker 4: the lives of people who may have the legality to
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Speaker 4: be here.
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Speaker 3: And we gave we know that because we've had incidents
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Speaker 3: here in Houston that they've and I know you guys
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Speaker 3: have fought for kids that have been taken off and
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Speaker 3: separated from their parents, and ICE is still fought to
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Speaker 3: try to just say they're in the right place.
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Speaker 4: Absolutely, I mean they're they're just uh that we've we've
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Speaker 4: seen it, We've heard it from community, We've we've seen
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Speaker 4: it from from real life instances where people get picked
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Speaker 4: up erroneously and then eventually they might leg they might
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Speaker 4: be let go or not, and then that's also an issue.
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Speaker 3: It's see this scene has happened. What do you think
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Speaker 3: is the access of what should happen next? Because it
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Speaker 3: seems like it's seems like this is something that's going
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Speaker 3: on and it's going to continue, and the and the
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Speaker 3: mayor and the police chief is still going along with this,
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Speaker 3: but they're saying otherwise.
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Speaker 4: I mean, we would want to see the mayor and
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Speaker 4: city council uh express true leadership and then defy some
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Speaker 4: of these bad laws, including as before you know the mayor.
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Speaker 4: The mayor was quick to throw his hands up and
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Speaker 4: say oh s before it's here, and we have to
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Speaker 4: follow the law, yes, but there's laws that are unjust
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Speaker 4: that in the past, mayors, congress people, communities, people have
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Speaker 4: stood up against and change. I mean, let us not
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Speaker 4: forget that Jim crow is legal at some point and
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Speaker 4: it doesn't make it right.
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Speaker 6: It doesn't.
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Speaker 4: It does not make it right, and so we we
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Speaker 4: shouldn't just throw our hands up and say, well that's
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Speaker 4: the law. We got to follow the law, because then
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Speaker 4: you're you're following what the commands that you're getting, you're
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Speaker 4: not demonstrating true leadership. The other thing is that right
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Speaker 4: now before the law which the mayor referred to is
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Speaker 4: under federal injunction. So for him to say that, for
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Speaker 4: him to say that he's just following the law shows
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Speaker 4: either an ineptitude to follow follow court procedures or it's
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Speaker 4: him trying to once again use his political skills to
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Speaker 4: try to hide behind somebody that he believes is still there.
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Speaker 1: That was Sesar Espinoza, the executive director of the immigration
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Speaker 1: advocacy group PIL Houston, speaking on the new guidelines by
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Speaker 1: HBD and the city when dealing with ice.
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Speaker 7: HI.
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Speaker 1: This is Steve Gallington, producer and host for The People's News.
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Speaker 1: You have rights when dealing with the police or ICE,
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Speaker 1: no matter or immigration status. Number one, if they do
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Speaker 1: not have a warrant, an arrest warrant or a search warrant,
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Speaker 1: you do not have to open the door for the
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Speaker 1: police or ICE. You do not have to answer any
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Speaker 1: questions about status or country of origin. The right to
12:13
Speaker 1: remain silent is protected under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution.
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Speaker 1: You have the right to ask to see a lawyer,
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Speaker 1: you have the right to refuse searches of your person
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Speaker 1: and your car if the police do not suspect a crime.
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Speaker 1: This is the fourth Amendment of the Constitution. Never sign
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Speaker 1: anything without knowing what it says, and you have a
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Speaker 1: right to record what happens. The convicted felon Donald Trump
12:47
Speaker 1: continues to break the law and do crimes, from starting
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Speaker 1: foreign wars to shutting down the government partially to illegally
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Speaker 1: detaining and porting US citizens without due process. But how
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Speaker 1: does that affecting the average American? Well, one way is
13:08
Speaker 1: the price of gas continues to climb, affordability is out
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Speaker 1: of control, and you will be waiting in long lines
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Speaker 1: and pay a lot more for tickets as the Transportation
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Speaker 1: Security Agency goes into week one without a paycheck. This
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Speaker 1: is due to the partial shutdown, which only affects the
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Speaker 1: Department of Homeland Security. This has affected more than fifty
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Speaker 1: thousand TSA workers who are going without a check and
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Speaker 1: many who will call in sick or quit. This is
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Speaker 1: the second time in this second Trump administration for them
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Speaker 1: to go without pay and some are calling it quits.
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Speaker 1: What this means for the traveling public is longer lines
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Speaker 1: two to four hours to get a flight, long lines
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Speaker 1: outside the airport in Austin and longer in other places.
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Speaker 1: We talked to Ryan Ewing with airline geeks about the lines.
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Speaker 5: Yeah, well, you know, I mean I think it's uh,
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Speaker 5: it's gonna be interesting, you know for sure. I mean,
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Speaker 5: I think there's two sides of this coin, right, I mean,
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Speaker 5: you know, the first time that's happened, which feels just
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Speaker 5: like yesterday, even though it was a few months ago.
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Speaker 5: You know, TSA officers weren't paid. There were there was
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Speaker 5: a pretty meaningful amount of apps teism at certain airports,
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Speaker 5: particularly in Houston. But after the you know, they got
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Speaker 5: back in the and the government reopened, you know, there
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Speaker 5: was an incentive and I think some of them got,
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Speaker 5: you know, ten thousand dollars check for showing up. But again,
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Speaker 5: that was a very small portion of the workforce. So
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Speaker 5: I don't know if that ten thousand dollars incentive that
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Speaker 5: was once there by the former Secretary of the Department
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Speaker 5: Online Security is enough to persuade most tsos to continue.
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Speaker 5: I think it'll be a very interesting weekend in the
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Speaker 5: next couple of weeks if this funding issue is not.
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Speaker 3: Resolved in Congress, what what is what is something we
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Speaker 3: always talked about. We kept hearing about some cities privatizing
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Speaker 3: their their their security. Is that something that's that that
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Speaker 3: may pop up again. As far as some airports, especially
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Speaker 3: smaller airports.
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Speaker 5: Yeah, so there's the TSA called that it's a Screening
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Speaker 5: Partnership program. I think it's called SPPS, the government termport.
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Speaker 5: There's a few airports that currently are participating, at San
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Speaker 5: Francisco being probably the largest and most notable one. That's
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Speaker 5: a long term project. That's not something you can just
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Speaker 5: switch on overnight. It you know, it requires still you know,
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Speaker 5: some work from the airport authority uh and and and
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Speaker 5: collaboration with the TSA to get it up and running.
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Speaker 5: But it's definitely a longer term solution. It's not something
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Speaker 5: that that can be switched on, uh, you know, particularly quickly.
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Speaker 5: And there's only a few airports that participating. Is now
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Speaker 5: when these back to back shut down and absenteism maybe
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Speaker 5: motivate more airports to do it. Perhaps it's a big effort.
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Speaker 5: It's a lot of work as far as a lot
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Speaker 5: more diligence from the airport's side of the house. So,
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Speaker 5: you know, I think everything on the table really at
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Speaker 5: this point. I mean, I think there's a lot of
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Speaker 5: travelers who were frustrated.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, you mentioned you mentioned the ten thousand dollars or
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Speaker 3: whatever the the homel had security was was was given out.
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Speaker 3: I had talked to some some TSA agents and they
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Speaker 3: said that didn't even happen. You know, it was promised
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Speaker 3: that they had a big ceremony, but in reality they
16:36
Speaker 3: never got They never really got the money that they
16:38
Speaker 3: that they were saying they were going.
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Speaker 5: To get, or even just house up.
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Speaker 1: Yeah.
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Speaker 5: I don't know about that, but I do know that,
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Speaker 5: you know, I think it's certainly frustrating for a lot
16:51
Speaker 5: of people, right, I mean, who who rely on their
16:55
Speaker 5: paychecks and they're just not getting them because of the
16:58
Speaker 5: stalemate Congress and unfortunately, uh, you know, the traveling public
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Speaker 5: might have to pay the price for that is is.
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Speaker 7: Pre check and having pre check?
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Speaker 3: Can I make any difference?
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Speaker 5: You know, I thought the same thing, but now I
17:13
Speaker 5: you know, look at some of these lines. You know,
17:18
Speaker 5: often if there's short of staff, what they'll do is
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Speaker 5: they'll combine pre check with h the regular lane and
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Speaker 5: just kind of give you a card when you go through,
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Speaker 5: so you don't have to you know, go through the
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Speaker 5: normal you know process, that doesn't really solve the line problem, right,
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Speaker 5: You're still going to wait in a long line, you know.
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Speaker 5: So I don't think I don't think that's a long
17:43
Speaker 5: term solution right now. I mean I think, uh, I
17:47
Speaker 5: think what really needs to happen, And I think the government,
17:49
Speaker 5: you know, the Congress needs to make sure the TSA
17:52
Speaker 5: at the very leads the TSA needs to get funded.
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Speaker 5: But remember it's not just the TSA that the part
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Speaker 5: of the Department Home Security, Department of Homeland Security, right,
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Speaker 5: Customs and Border Protection and you know camels, other smaller agencies.
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Speaker 5: But but I think customers and border protection because you know,
18:07
Speaker 5: for those driving back the United States from a spring
18:09
Speaker 5: break trip, you know, you might have to wait in
18:11
Speaker 5: a pretty long customs line if they're dealing with the
18:13
Speaker 5: level of assotism and love CVP of officers.
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Speaker 8: So again, and not even talking about Miami, you know,
18:20
Speaker 8: one of our one of our largest ports as far
18:22
Speaker 8: as people flying back in right right yep, which is
18:27
Speaker 8: already long, right.
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Speaker 3: So what so what aspect of.
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Speaker 7: Uh TSA agents or they each airport have a protocol
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Speaker 7: that they're going to try to do to try to
18:41
Speaker 7: try to try to come up with some type of
18:43
Speaker 7: solution or is they just going to just rely on
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Speaker 7: just TSA themselves to come up with something.
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Speaker 5: I mean, I think I think it really depends on
18:51
Speaker 5: the airport. Uh you know, you know, I mean, you
18:58
Speaker 5: call Austin this morning. I'm sure you had a pretty
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Speaker 5: long line, right lineman that does fall in the airport
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Speaker 5: to sort of handle, you know, And I think if
19:09
Speaker 5: that doesn't really get done correctly, then you're going to
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Speaker 5: have even more long lines.
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Speaker 1: That was Ryan Ewing with airline geeks. The Senate on
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Speaker 1: Friday did not have enough votes to pass DHS funding
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Speaker 1: without further ICE restrictions. Haitians living in the Houston area
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Speaker 1: are living in fear as the criminal and corrupt Trump
19:32
Speaker 1: administration has asked the US Supreme Court to remove legal
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Speaker 1: protections that prevent more than three hundred and fifty thousand
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Speaker 1: Haitian nationals who are living in the United States from
19:44
Speaker 1: being detained and deported. A Washington d C. District Court
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Speaker 1: judge last month blocked the corrupt and criminal Trump Administration's
19:54
Speaker 1: cancelation of Haites designation, and the federal government claims that
19:59
Speaker 1: the ruling inner with national interest and foreign policy determinations
20:04
Speaker 1: made by the Secretary of Homeland Security, the now fired
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Speaker 1: Christinome that seeks more strict enforcement of immigration laws. This
20:15
Speaker 1: comes despite Haiti not having a government and a violence
20:18
Speaker 1: has taken over the entire country. Gangs have used the
20:21
Speaker 1: instability to run guns and drugs to and from the
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Speaker 1: United States, despite the country not being safe to go
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Speaker 1: back to, the criminal and corrupt Trump administration has demonized
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Speaker 1: Haitians living in the US. We talked to Dorothy Dupay,
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Speaker 1: community affairs advisor public relations specialist with Houston Haitians United.
20:45
Speaker 6: Well, it's tough news, obviously, and for the past year
20:52
Speaker 6: or so, there's been an ominous uncertainty about CPS as
20:56
Speaker 6: a whole. It's been threatened on so many occasions that
21:02
Speaker 6: it's even hard to count. At this point. Today we did,
21:07
Speaker 6: OK no, I'm go ahead. I'm sorry, put you off.
21:11
Speaker 6: I'm so sorry for I was just gonna say. Today
21:14
Speaker 6: the news reports that the Trump administration as the Supreme
21:18
Speaker 6: Court to allow deportations to begin in the end of TPS.
21:26
Speaker 6: I'm still following the news for updates on that because
21:29
Speaker 6: I don't have much more information, but the news today
21:35
Speaker 6: is quite definitive, and it stands out because the news
21:39
Speaker 6: from earlier this year still gave people a glimmer of hope.
21:45
Speaker 3: But the thing that I was reading that the Supreme
21:48
Speaker 3: Court hasn't ruled on it yet, and so it is
21:51
Speaker 3: still hope.
21:53
Speaker 6: Yeah. I was reading up on it before the call
21:55
Speaker 6: to make sure I was up to day. And the
21:58
Speaker 6: headline says Trump asked Toupreme Court to let protections for
22:01
Speaker 6: Haitians expire.
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Speaker 3: M So it's still if they let If they let
22:07
Speaker 3: it expire, then they can they can start deportation immediately. Correct, Yes,
22:16
Speaker 3: but they have to wait for the Supreme Court to
22:18
Speaker 3: make a decision.
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Speaker 6: That's my understanding. But we know that with the composition
22:27
Speaker 6: of the Supreme Court.
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Speaker 9: Mh.
22:31
Speaker 6: Just for me, I can't speak for anyone else. It's
22:34
Speaker 6: just likely in our favor.
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Speaker 3: Why is it? Why is the Trump administration so key
22:43
Speaker 3: on getting Haitians deported, especially with the situation in Haiti
22:48
Speaker 3: right now?
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Speaker 6: Well, that's what many Haitians have been asking and other
22:53
Speaker 6: immigrants to others as well as you commentators, Because there's
22:57
Speaker 6: a level four do not travel advice for US citizens
23:01
Speaker 6: to Haiti. Number one in number two US aircraft is
23:08
Speaker 6: banned from landing in Porto brench which is the largest
23:12
Speaker 6: airport in Haiti, until September twenty sixth, and the band
23:17
Speaker 6: started in November twenty twenty four. So the US government
23:21
Speaker 6: has recognized such a threat for its own citizens. Is
23:26
Speaker 6: it even athole? Is it even logical at this point
23:33
Speaker 6: to send people somewhere? It's cautioning its own citizens. Again,
23:37
Speaker 6: as far as the capitol, now, I do want to
23:39
Speaker 6: be clear that the capital does not represent the entire country.
23:45
Speaker 6: Of course, there are areas in Haiti that don't have
23:48
Speaker 6: as much as a profound security crisis as does the capital.
23:53
Speaker 6: But again, many people rely on the capitol for commerce,
23:58
Speaker 6: for documentation in birth certificates, et cetera. Because many services
24:03
Speaker 6: in Haiti are centralized and based in the capital. Even
24:07
Speaker 6: if someone's from an outlying region, they heavily depend on
24:12
Speaker 6: transit to the capital.
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Speaker 3: The aspect of Haiti is not even talked about through
24:19
Speaker 3: this administration, but Cuba, Venezuela, other Thrivia nations are talked about.
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Speaker 6: Is that, yes, what are you distressing? Most of the
24:34
Speaker 6: commentary in the media about Haiti is distressing overall because
24:39
Speaker 6: we're often viewed through the context of political unrest, natural disasters.
24:45
Speaker 6: Most of the coverage doesn't include nuanceer dignity.
24:50
Speaker 3: And how many people in Houston is going to be
24:53
Speaker 3: effected by this.
24:56
Speaker 6: I want to have a fixed number. Immigration is such
24:59
Speaker 6: a sensitive issue that many people who probably not even
25:02
Speaker 6: share their status if they're uncertain, But we have been
25:10
Speaker 6: made aware of certain people in the community who might
25:12
Speaker 6: fall into this category. But even if they're not here
25:16
Speaker 6: in Houston, a Haitian in general likely has a family
25:20
Speaker 6: member or someone they care about who's being affected by
25:26
Speaker 6: this situation because it was enacted for Haitians after the
25:30
Speaker 6: devastating earthquake in twenty ten. So that's why there's a
25:34
Speaker 6: lot of people who've been in the country for fifteen
25:37
Speaker 6: plus years, who've paid taxes, bought homes. These are people
25:42
Speaker 6: who've contributed significantly to American society, professional doctors, etc. So
25:50
Speaker 6: I want the world to understand this is not just
25:53
Speaker 6: a group of very recent immigrants. This effects It also
25:56
Speaker 6: affects people who came here as children and those who
26:01
Speaker 6: did something for themselves while they were here.
26:04
Speaker 3: Meaningfully, it is will you talk about immigrants especially yes,
26:10
Speaker 3: you know that's something that's a that's a part of
26:13
Speaker 3: the populations I talked about, it's a Haitian population, especially
26:17
Speaker 3: here in Miami. Yes, what what are you? What are
26:22
Speaker 3: you saying is to people that are calling you on
26:25
Speaker 3: what to.
26:25
Speaker 6: Do next, that's a great question. We are not a
26:30
Speaker 6: law firm. We don't have obviously qualified staff to handle
26:38
Speaker 6: day to day inquiries. We did release an informational podcast
26:43
Speaker 6: where our legal counsel and released some general information with
26:47
Speaker 6: the community, but we encourage folks to consult with authoritative
26:53
Speaker 6: websites and attorneys to handle their specific situation because we
26:58
Speaker 6: realize every case is different and it would not be
27:02
Speaker 6: prudent for us to release blanket statements without accommodating for
27:07
Speaker 6: each person's specific needs. We have seen an increase of
27:11
Speaker 6: content creators targeting Haitians and somewhat misrepresenting the situation. Sometimes
27:21
Speaker 6: these content creators are interpreted as being attorneys, and I
27:27
Speaker 6: would just caution people to please trust, but verify. Make
27:32
Speaker 6: sure you verify the individual's credentials if they're presenting themselves
27:37
Speaker 6: to be an attorney.
27:39
Speaker 3: One thing is also I've heard is the situation in
27:45
Speaker 3: Haiti is also being perpetrated by the Democratic the Dominican Republic.
27:54
Speaker 3: Have you heard anything about that.
27:59
Speaker 6: Well, there are many fears of thought on that, and
28:03
Speaker 6: I want to remain balanced in my assessment, so I'll say,
28:07
Speaker 6: of course, the Dominican economy depends greatly on Haitian labor
28:13
Speaker 6: and Haitian purchasing power. Haiti imports a significant percentage of
28:21
Speaker 6: basic products, so of course many economists on the Haitian
28:27
Speaker 6: side would say that the Dominican economy depends on Haitians.
28:34
Speaker 6: Dominican Republic has also been used as a transshipment point
28:38
Speaker 6: for weapons destined to Haiti from the United States. In fact,
28:43
Speaker 6: many of the weapons that come to Haiti are from
28:48
Speaker 6: Florida and Texas in terms of the serial numbers, right,
28:52
Speaker 6: And there's reports that go into this in more detail.
28:56
Speaker 6: Because there's no known arms factories in Haiti, right, Wherefore
29:02
Speaker 6: one could say that based on what I'm saying.
29:06
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm just saying, what's what's the situation now on
29:09
Speaker 3: the ground, Because the situation is it seems like it
29:14
Speaker 3: would get better with the Kenyan army forces that would
29:19
Speaker 3: think was supposed to help out to the police. But
29:22
Speaker 3: I don't know if that's I don't know if that's
29:24
Speaker 3: worked or not.
29:27
Speaker 6: Ah, Largely the situation in the capital, where most of
29:34
Speaker 6: the security issues originate. It's still uncertain, it's still tenuous,
29:42
Speaker 6: and the Kenyan forces came in with a lot of scrutiny.
29:48
Speaker 6: In fact, there are videos of the Haitian rebels driving
29:53
Speaker 6: the Kenyan people out of certain areas, so that just
29:57
Speaker 6: goes to show that there's a general mistrust of the
30:00
Speaker 6: Kenyon forces. Many people feel that this is economically motivated,
30:07
Speaker 6: that perhaps there's certain people who might benefit from the
30:11
Speaker 6: Kenyan troops being there. So no. As far as the
30:15
Speaker 6: remainder of the country, I do want to stress that
30:17
Speaker 6: places like Capitation, which is in the north, in the
30:20
Speaker 6: second largest city, its security situation is much more stable
30:25
Speaker 6: compared to the capital that I just mentioned. In certain
30:28
Speaker 6: areas of the south as well, are much more calm.
30:33
Speaker 6: The issue, however, is that most people going to the
30:36
Speaker 6: south of the country need to pass through the capital.
30:41
Speaker 6: So I've heard of some pretty uncertain way for people
30:47
Speaker 6: to reach their homeland or hometowns in southern Haiti, taking
30:51
Speaker 6: small boats and etc. Just to avoid the chaos of
30:55
Speaker 6: the capital.
30:57
Speaker 3: What about I was also I gotta report from uh
31:01
Speaker 3: doctors without borders and they were leaving because of because
31:04
Speaker 3: of the security situation.
31:07
Speaker 6: Yes, yes, that is unfortunate because Haiti needs doctors.
31:15
Speaker 3: So what are people doing that if they can't find
31:18
Speaker 3: medical care? Are they going across to the Dominican Republic
31:22
Speaker 3: or they are they trying to maintain until they can
31:26
Speaker 3: get some type of goal.
31:29
Speaker 6: Well, I think it depends on their economic socioeconomic status.
31:34
Speaker 6: Those who can afford going abroad for care typically do
31:39
Speaker 6: and they probably would have done that outside of this
31:43
Speaker 6: decision of doctors without borders to leave for those who
31:49
Speaker 6: might not have the means. Patians are a group that
31:53
Speaker 6: have ancestral medicinal healing practices. They name a bush and
32:00
Speaker 6: they'll know the t and what type of ailment it relieves.
32:03
Speaker 6: So I think in the absence of standardized healthcare, they'll
32:09
Speaker 6: resort the more so ancestral practices.
32:13
Speaker 3: All right, and I'll get you your organization.
32:18
Speaker 6: We are Houston Haitians United, established in twenty fifteen. We're
32:22
Speaker 6: on Haitian Houston Haitiansunited dot org. Our information line is
32:28
Speaker 6: eight three to two nine four five one four four
32:32
Speaker 6: eight and we also have an email address at infok
32:37
Speaker 6: at Houston Haitiansunited dot org. We also launched a podcast
32:43
Speaker 6: series on YouTube you search Houston Haitians United, you'll see
32:48
Speaker 6: our recent podcast episodes, one of which is immigration specific.
32:54
Speaker 1: That was Dorothy Dubai, community affairs advisor public relations specialist
32:58
Speaker 1: with the Houston Haitians United. Houston Haitians United can be
33:03
Speaker 1: reached at Houston Haitians United, All Put Together dot org.
33:10
Speaker 7: Hi.
33:10
Speaker 1: This is Steve Gallington, producer and host of the People's News.
33:15
Speaker 1: If you have a story that needs to be told,
33:17
Speaker 1: come to us. We accept fully produced audio, written material,
33:22
Speaker 1: or just give us the idea and we will run
33:24
Speaker 1: with it. Shiny new one hour episodes of The People's
33:28
Speaker 1: News drop each Sunday on The People's News podcast hosted
33:33
Speaker 1: by spreaker dot com and linked to my website Gallington
33:37
Speaker 1: dot com. While the criminal and corrupt Trump administration is
33:42
Speaker 1: bombing girls elementary schools in Iran, Israel has stepped up
33:47
Speaker 1: its advances in southern Lemanon. Over seven hundred people have
33:51
Speaker 1: died in its capital Bay route as of Friday, and
33:55
Speaker 1: over eight hundred thousand people are displaced. The Iranian back
33:59
Speaker 1: militia group Hezbola fired rockets in Israel, pulling Lebanon back
34:04
Speaker 1: into a major conflict with Israel. Israel Is talking about
34:09
Speaker 1: a ground invasion into Lebanon right now. There is a
34:13
Speaker 1: humanitarian crisis that is felt in the Houston area. We
34:18
Speaker 1: talked to Julia Nigger, CEO and publisher of the Lebanon
34:22
Speaker 1: Times Magazine.
34:24
Speaker 9: My name is Julia Nader, publisher of Libanon Times, the
34:27
Speaker 9: magazine and the Lebanon Times Magazine. Just to introduce myself
34:33
Speaker 9: and the magazine. Ibanon Times Magazine is a Houston based
34:36
Speaker 9: bilingual publication that highlights the Lebanese community and promote cultural
34:43
Speaker 9: dialogue and understanding.
34:45
Speaker 6: Twenty twelve.
34:50
Speaker 9: As someone who grew up in Lebanon and remained closely
34:53
Speaker 9: connected to the Lebanese community, I followed the situation that
34:58
Speaker 9: was deep concert What matters not the most too many
35:03
Speaker 9: of us, is the impact on ordinary people who simply
35:08
Speaker 9: want peace and stability.
35:11
Speaker 6: This is what we want.
35:13
Speaker 3: What's the situation and feeling the most Lebanese people in Houston.
35:20
Speaker 9: The Lebanese, the Lebanese community here in the Houston really everybody.
35:26
Speaker 9: We still have contact with the the Lebanese in the
35:30
Speaker 9: the make community around the world, not only in Houston
35:33
Speaker 9: stay very connected to their homeland, but many of us
35:37
Speaker 9: have family and friends there so we follow the situation
35:41
Speaker 9: with deep concern and hope for stability.
35:45
Speaker 3: Well, and how many people are being lost? We know
35:48
Speaker 3: we're going through tragedies there already and even lost.
35:53
Speaker 6: Well, we have a lot.
35:55
Speaker 9: The situation is not it's not comfortable really, but as
36:00
Speaker 9: a journalist and the publisher, I believe media should highlight
36:04
Speaker 9: the human story behind they headlightly.
36:09
Speaker 3: What are some of the things that people don't know
36:11
Speaker 3: what's going on.
36:15
Speaker 9: I think everybody knows what's going on, as I told you,
36:23
Speaker 9: many of us, the Libanese around the world, they still
36:26
Speaker 9: have connection with the families. They talk with the family
36:30
Speaker 9: every day, and they are the situations. He was concerned
36:33
Speaker 9: to hope for calm and stability for all the Libanese.
36:39
Speaker 3: The aspect of and people don't know if they're trying
36:44
Speaker 3: to put Israel is trying to put pressure on his
36:47
Speaker 3: Blah now has blow on the government to cease the
36:51
Speaker 3: operations of his the law, but nobody is talking about
36:55
Speaker 3: the operation itself.
36:56
Speaker 9: And you know, you know, Liban on politics landscape is
37:01
Speaker 9: very complex and includes many different groups and perspectives. What
37:07
Speaker 9: many people in Libanon truly hope for the stability, peace
37:12
Speaker 9: and the ability to rebuild their lives after years of crisis.
37:16
Speaker 3: How do people are people trying to help out as
37:19
Speaker 3: far as getting supplies or sinning.
37:24
Speaker 9: Yeah, a lot of Libanies try to collect items, sending
37:29
Speaker 9: money and sending it's like something for their family. This
37:34
Speaker 9: is what happened. Were still everybody have a connection with
37:38
Speaker 9: their family and Libanon. This is how the Lebanese people
37:42
Speaker 9: can resive you.
37:45
Speaker 3: And what's what's the general population of Lebanese and Libyan
37:48
Speaker 3: Houston in Houston area the.
37:50
Speaker 9: Population about we have about forty thousand Lebanese here in Houston.
37:56
Speaker 3: How are people trying to send money back or any
38:00
Speaker 3: type of supplies and how can people that? How can
38:03
Speaker 3: people want to.
38:04
Speaker 9: Know that the people or normally we are all the Libanis,
38:09
Speaker 9: they are tied in families that everybody sent for his family.
38:15
Speaker 9: This is what we start like this and after they
38:18
Speaker 9: will maybe start make like with any any association with
38:24
Speaker 9: the Lebanese and something. They will start. They will start
38:28
Speaker 9: not starting yet, but they will start to collect items,
38:32
Speaker 9: collect some ads and to send into Libano. But now
38:36
Speaker 9: they will starting, but we need more time.
38:42
Speaker 3: The longer this this, the longer the operations will say
38:46
Speaker 3: it goes on algance. This war goes on, Uh, the
38:51
Speaker 3: humanitarian issue becomes a big part. Is there a fear
38:56
Speaker 3: that this might become maybe becoming a humanitarian disaster?
39:02
Speaker 2: Yeah?
39:02
Speaker 9: I think I heard that helping hand. They contact me,
39:06
Speaker 9: they will prepare some contenters and make a collect I
39:10
Speaker 9: tell my money to send it to Lebanon. This is
39:13
Speaker 9: the president here on Houston. They contact me and they
39:16
Speaker 9: tell me they will prepare something to add the Libanese people.
39:21
Speaker 3: And where can if somebody wants to contact or find
39:25
Speaker 3: out more information, can they contact your organization or your newspaper?
39:30
Speaker 5: Uh?
39:31
Speaker 9: Here or in Libanon?
39:34
Speaker 10: No?
39:34
Speaker 4: Here?
39:35
Speaker 3: Can they contact your newspaper to try to find out
39:38
Speaker 3: or try to try to contribute.
39:41
Speaker 7: Oh?
39:42
Speaker 9: Really, I don't have any idea, but we have We
39:45
Speaker 9: don't have Libanis magize. We don't have any news Lebanes,
39:49
Speaker 9: just Lebanon Times.
39:51
Speaker 3: Oh okay, okay, where do you now magazine?
39:55
Speaker 9: I'm not a magazine. I speak about culture, about the manity.
40:00
Speaker 9: I get the people together. But as I told you, no,
40:04
Speaker 9: no no politics, no religion. You know, focus or usually
40:09
Speaker 9: I focus usually on human and cultural perspective, and we
40:14
Speaker 9: embraces all urbanon times, not only for the Lebaniste people.
40:18
Speaker 9: We embraced all the communities in Houston.
40:21
Speaker 3: H What do you what do you what do you
40:23
Speaker 3: think this is going to go as far as people here,
40:27
Speaker 3: as far as.
40:29
Speaker 5: Is it?
40:29
Speaker 3: Is it fear or is it the anger or the people?
40:34
Speaker 6: The people? This is what I told you.
40:38
Speaker 9: That's the complex issue. The people here, they think the
40:41
Speaker 9: most important for them to that the sword impact the
40:46
Speaker 9: ordinary people.
40:47
Speaker 6: HM for that.
40:49
Speaker 9: Everybody tried to have on his way. But we want
40:53
Speaker 9: to collect make some fundraising to send to the people.
40:59
Speaker 6: You own.
41:00
Speaker 9: This tuition is not.
41:02
Speaker 6: It's not good.
41:03
Speaker 9: But what can we pray for them? And we hope
41:07
Speaker 9: everything goes bed. We hope not.
41:13
Speaker 1: That was Julia Nagger, CEO and publisher of Lebanon Times Magazine.
41:18
Speaker 1: You can reach her magazine at Lebanon Times Magazine, all
41:22
Speaker 1: put together dot com and you can also call her
41:26
Speaker 1: at seven one three ninety six one one seven zero zero.
41:31
Speaker 1: It's been four years since Russia invaded Ukraine. The anniversary
41:36
Speaker 1: was marked all over the world, including Russia, who celebrated
41:40
Speaker 1: by sending drones into Ukraine to bomb key cities. Support
41:45
Speaker 1: from the West has increased, but US involvement is waning.
41:50
Speaker 1: Convicted felon and putin puppet. Donald Trump has stated that
41:55
Speaker 1: Russia wants peace and that Ukraine is the one preventing
41:58
Speaker 1: the peace deal. Russia continues to bomb and destroy the country.
42:03
Speaker 1: Over fifteen thousand civilians have died in this war and
42:07
Speaker 1: even more injured. Now, the criminal and corrupt Trump administration
42:13
Speaker 1: has lifted sanctions against Russian crude, trying to reduce the
42:18
Speaker 1: price of oil, which is well over one hundred dollars
42:20
Speaker 1: a barrel now, and allowing Russia to finance their war
42:25
Speaker 1: on Ukraine. We contacted former KPFT programmer Chris Samson, who
42:32
Speaker 1: is in Kiv, Ukraine, reporting on the war and who
42:35
Speaker 1: does live updates and has a podcast.
42:38
Speaker 10: Well, let's first start out that we're actually at twelve
42:41
Speaker 10: years since the beginning of the invasion and beginning the
42:44
Speaker 10: thirteenth year of the invasion, and four years since what
42:47
Speaker 10: we call the full scale invasion, the daily terrorism of
42:51
Speaker 10: beginning to what most people remember as the attempted invasion
42:55
Speaker 10: of Kiev, and Kiev for one month fought off the
42:59
Speaker 10: Russians them here in this region and for a period
43:03
Speaker 10: of time the Russians had to reorient themselves to go
43:05
Speaker 10: to the east and reassert themselves to the south. And
43:11
Speaker 10: then at the midterms of November twenty twenty two, when
43:17
Speaker 10: the votes were in, Russia realized it wasn't gaining much ground,
43:22
Speaker 10: so it withdrew from Kirsan to left bank Hirson or
43:25
Speaker 10: another was across the river. And I think that's important
43:28
Speaker 10: when we think about the fact we're in midterms again,
43:30
Speaker 10: because Russia has gone to its typical influence operations, including
43:36
Speaker 10: this straight out of the White House, knowing that it's
43:39
Speaker 10: not winning on the battlefield with its overwhelming size. When people,
43:43
Speaker 10: for instance, attack Ukraine, Oh you can't win, or you know, like,
43:47
Speaker 10: what are you thinking if you were to take the
43:50
Speaker 10: proportionality of the size of Russia and its resources versus
43:54
Speaker 10: the much smaller country and its resources. And I don't
43:57
Speaker 10: mean when we say resources, I don't mean simp like, yes,
44:01
Speaker 10: there are Western supply lines that come in to make
44:03
Speaker 10: sure Ukrainians have those, but there are not Western troops here.
44:07
Speaker 10: In fact, when Western jets were scrambled to intercept drones,
44:11
Speaker 10: everyone here, what, Oh, so you could do this thing,
44:14
Speaker 10: you know, and it has not been happening, which is
44:17
Speaker 10: why it's so absurd when, for instance, Russian propaganda and
44:21
Speaker 10: their boot liquors across the world say that, you know,
44:25
Speaker 10: Russia's fighting NATO. If Russia was fighting NATO, we would
44:28
Speaker 10: have a very different situation here. So Russia is actually
44:32
Speaker 10: accelerated in the last year having Donald Trump in the office,
44:35
Speaker 10: accelerated its missile attacks, drone attacks, directly affecting buildings that
44:40
Speaker 10: are civilian towers, directly attacking the energy grids starting October
44:46
Speaker 10: tenth again all the way through this month, and they'll
44:50
Speaker 10: it's beginning to warm up. We're you know, hovering just
44:53
Speaker 10: above freezing line. So it's going to continue in that direction.
44:57
Speaker 10: You know, spring is finally upon us, and they have
45:00
Speaker 10: to change their calculations.
45:01
Speaker 1: Yet again.
45:02
Speaker 10: The people here, whenever attacks happen, whether it's in the east,
45:06
Speaker 10: it's the south, or here in the capitol or even
45:10
Speaker 10: in the west, no one is more interested in suddenly
45:14
Speaker 10: more interested in capitulating to the Russians and knowing that
45:17
Speaker 10: the fate that they have ahead is kind of written
45:21
Speaker 10: as stone. History wise, the Russians have oppressed every single
45:24
Speaker 10: time they've gained control over Ukrainians. Again, they begin extermination campaigns.
45:29
Speaker 10: They did it a century ago, they're doing it in occupation.
45:32
Speaker 10: Now they filtright through, especially males. You know, anyone that
45:37
Speaker 10: can be fighting ages, forced to take Russian passport, join
45:41
Speaker 10: the Russian arms, or become either a captive or killed.
45:47
Speaker 3: What do you think is gonna you know, what do
45:49
Speaker 3: you see about the United States actually just instead of
45:52
Speaker 3: blaming Russia for the situation, blaming keeps blaming Ukraine.
45:58
Speaker 10: Well, I think that's not a stake in the sense
46:01
Speaker 10: that they're not making an innocent mistake of ignorance. At
46:03
Speaker 10: this point, they're seeking to profit off of the war.
46:08
Speaker 10: It is clear that wit Cough has been making money
46:13
Speaker 10: off of his negotiations. Same thing with Kushner. This has
46:16
Speaker 10: been revealed in Wall Street Journal. And I actually wrote
46:20
Speaker 10: a report on my substack talking about the amount of
46:22
Speaker 10: money that they're broken and the way the way that
46:25
Speaker 10: they talk. Even this last week, a week ago, when
46:27
Speaker 10: he said, you know, Donald Trump wants to what's the
46:32
Speaker 10: word you do when you have a marriage and you
46:36
Speaker 10: you know you basically I'm drawing. Blake has retired. It's
46:40
Speaker 10: been a long time since I got married. You you
46:43
Speaker 10: consummate your marriage. Yeah, so he wanted to consummate this deal.
46:47
Speaker 10: It's it's gross that there's a real estate guy trying
46:51
Speaker 10: to negotiate such important issues and his language is contemptible,
46:56
Speaker 10: but it's it kind of emanates from a very corrupt
47:01
Speaker 10: white house and a very old, you know, corrupt felon who.
47:09
Speaker 10: I still believe that the way to describe it is
47:11
Speaker 10: less about compromont which is, you know, the idea that
47:15
Speaker 10: there's compromising materials that Russia has on him. That's obviously
47:18
Speaker 10: very likely true. But the biggest thing is that his
47:21
Speaker 10: worldview is in line with the Russian model of you know,
47:24
Speaker 10: big boats, little boats. Russia's big boat, therefore Ukraine's little boat.
47:27
Speaker 10: So he'll side with the little boat. He'll side with
47:29
Speaker 10: the big boat over the little boat. If he was
47:32
Speaker 10: one aside with the stronger of the two, if he
47:35
Speaker 10: would really identify with who's stronger of the two, he
47:38
Speaker 10: would definitely be back in Ukraine, because pound for pound,
47:41
Speaker 10: Ukrainians have done an incredible job holding off the Russian invaders,
47:45
Speaker 10: holding him in a line where they basically make meters
47:48
Speaker 10: of progress over the year and then lose ground. And
47:52
Speaker 10: the line that have been rather static. And I want
47:55
Speaker 10: to use the word static versus the way some people
47:57
Speaker 10: use the word stalemate because stalemate and chess literally means
48:00
Speaker 10: you're out of moves and Solutioning the former Commander in
48:04
Speaker 10: Chief who became the ambassador to UK he even explained
48:08
Speaker 10: that this is not a stalemate, this is a you know,
48:11
Speaker 10: these are lines of static movement. But at any moment,
48:14
Speaker 10: whether it's over resources or will or something else that
48:18
Speaker 10: changes on either side, you know, the situation could change rapidly.
48:24
Speaker 6: So what do we have.
48:26
Speaker 10: What's what's kind of gross to me is the fake
48:29
Speaker 10: outrage over a blood loss and life's loss, especially by
48:35
Speaker 10: the White House Press, through the White House Press secretary
48:38
Speaker 10: who first says, you know, Russian lives before acknowledging Ukrainian
48:43
Speaker 10: lives because the Russian lives are thrown away. Killing Ukrainians
48:46
Speaker 10: is not an equal war where you know, the Ukrainians
48:49
Speaker 10: couldn't wait to run to the border and have a war.
48:51
Speaker 10: They are on defending terms entirely one percent for the
48:55
Speaker 10: last twelve plus years and the four years of full
48:57
Speaker 10: scale invasion, and they always throw the violins out for
49:01
Speaker 10: the Russian lives. Now, objectively, I could step back and say, yes,
49:05
Speaker 10: you know, the Kremlin is throwing away Russian lives to
49:08
Speaker 10: kill Ukrainians. And so it's pathetic either way. I could
49:12
Speaker 10: be that way, but they're never making that statement. They're
49:15
Speaker 10: always basically sort of like muddying it all together in
49:18
Speaker 10: order to wash out any real clear blame. And they cannot,
49:23
Speaker 10: even under pressure, ever point the finger at Russia and say,
49:27
Speaker 10: you know what, You're why this happens. You're why we're
49:31
Speaker 10: seeing you know, the amount of money of the parent.
49:34
Speaker 10: You know, Apparently Americans who complain about it has to
49:37
Speaker 10: go out the window. And let's imagine should they should
49:41
Speaker 10: we say that they decided to get serious and say,
49:44
Speaker 10: you know, look, we strongly believe that Ukraine deserves the
49:47
Speaker 10: right to have the full force of the American military,
49:51
Speaker 10: much like was argued to invade Iraq, argue to invade
49:54
Speaker 10: in Afghanistan, both under false pretenses. And you know, when
50:00
Speaker 10: I talk to people who like Keith Kellogg, who have
50:03
Speaker 10: experienced in you know, the past conflicts, those were invading forces.
50:07
Speaker 10: You know, we don't have an American record of defending
50:11
Speaker 10: American territory or using the territory except for maybe the
50:14
Speaker 10: Kuwait would be the closest one where American military was
50:18
Speaker 10: used to drive out an invading force. We just don't
50:20
Speaker 10: have that except for Kuwait so yeah.
50:24
Speaker 3: Go ahead, Yeah, just explaining right quick, because you said
50:28
Speaker 3: Kushner and willcof are making money? How are they making
50:32
Speaker 3: money out of this? This is.
50:35
Speaker 1: Yeah.
50:36
Speaker 10: So the report showed that Steve Woodcoffe's son is especially
50:41
Speaker 10: the one named in the Wall Street Journal report. You know,
50:44
Speaker 10: they're entering deals where you know, and I had to
50:49
Speaker 10: pull up that that from me because I didn't know
50:51
Speaker 10: even talking about but I have it on my substack
50:52
Speaker 10: where you know, they have a series of financial transactions
50:57
Speaker 10: and even their languages financially transactionable where the Russians have
51:02
Speaker 10: actually promised investment money above what even the entire GDP
51:07
Speaker 10: of the entire Russian economy can produce. And if you
51:11
Speaker 10: have someone who's purely thinking in terms of money, someone
51:14
Speaker 10: who like Wigcoff only deals with real estate as well,
51:18
Speaker 10: they're dangling these things and then they show up on
51:21
Speaker 10: television and they verify that that view has internalized into
51:25
Speaker 10: their rhetoric when they especially when they go on friendly
51:28
Speaker 10: territory like Fox News, et cetera. And Steve Widcoff is
51:32
Speaker 10: turning this into potential serious investments. And you know, we
51:38
Speaker 10: know that through the Roll Street journals reporting and again
51:41
Speaker 10: through subsequent echoes through the people involved. You know, they
51:45
Speaker 10: are purely focused in the amount of money that can
51:48
Speaker 10: be made if this war were this pesky or as
51:50
Speaker 10: you call it, silly war, We're to stop. Now. Why
51:53
Speaker 10: it's so contemptible in my book is that instead of saying, Okay, look,
51:57
Speaker 10: we have a good partner in Ukraine, we entered the
52:00
Speaker 10: minerals deal, and we want to protect the investments that
52:03
Speaker 10: we talked about, they're not. They're leveraging towards deals with
52:07
Speaker 10: a Russian terrorist regime. They can engagees in nine to
52:12
Speaker 10: eleven like attacks every single day, and you know, it's
52:17
Speaker 10: it's pretty clear in how they're being financially transactional, and
52:22
Speaker 10: even the way they talk about occupied territory where there
52:25
Speaker 10: are millions of people currently shall I say, sheltering in place,
52:30
Speaker 10: hoping for one day to be free. What do you do?
52:34
Speaker 10: What do you see an end result of this?
52:36
Speaker 3: Because this seems like it's going to continue on and
52:39
Speaker 3: I what I see personally is that the United States
52:42
Speaker 3: is pretty much gonna throw their hands in the air
52:44
Speaker 3: and say, oh, well, we tried.
52:48
Speaker 10: Well, I think that first stuff. You know, I really
52:50
Speaker 10: have to be careful sometimes myself to say that the
52:53
Speaker 10: Americans are are have given up, when Ukrainians will quickly
52:58
Speaker 10: correct me that they and they're correct this. You know,
53:02
Speaker 10: the majority of Americans still see Russia as the aggressor
53:06
Speaker 10: and the agitator behind the entire thing. That's the majority,
53:10
Speaker 10: you know, seventy plus percent, nearly bipartisan in that capacity.
53:14
Speaker 10: No less, it's it's people in this administration and their
53:19
Speaker 10: cult level, you know, supporters that you keep trying to
53:23
Speaker 10: repeat the other narrative.
53:25
Speaker 1: So is he going to continue?
53:26
Speaker 10: Yes, it's going to continue because as one of my
53:30
Speaker 10: best friends, who's the soldier, said, and I'll even tell
53:33
Speaker 10: you listeners, he was cynical about whether or not the
53:35
Speaker 10: other Ukrainian citizens were supporting. He's been out the front
53:38
Speaker 10: for a long time. He never gets a rollo out.
53:41
Speaker 10: And I said, well, look, you know, here in the
53:44
Speaker 10: capital where I live, where I basically say, here in
53:45
Speaker 10: the cafe, people you know, wish you well and they
53:48
Speaker 10: have you backing another They don't wait what?
53:52
Speaker 1: And I was a little shocked, you know, I.
53:55
Speaker 10: Hadn't expected to see that response. And he says, you know,
53:58
Speaker 10: I don't, I don't fight for them. No, no, no,
54:01
Speaker 10: I fight because if I don't, I won't have a
54:03
Speaker 10: home to go to. And he did not mean a domicile,
54:07
Speaker 10: he did not mean a building. He's explaining something because
54:10
Speaker 10: he actually even said it a little bit later, with
54:11
Speaker 10: a little bit more worrying. If we stop fighting, that's
54:16
Speaker 10: the end of it. We will be subjects of a
54:20
Speaker 10: surf you know, slave state that they've been in the past.
54:24
Speaker 10: Ukrainians already know this, It's been done in the past.
54:27
Speaker 10: And let's use the example between nineteen twenty one and
54:30
Speaker 10: the nineteen forties, when you know, part of Stalin's campaign
54:36
Speaker 10: was not only the Holoade the more, but he would
54:39
Speaker 10: bring like Bonduras to stringed instrument players, a hundred of
54:43
Speaker 10: them were gathering at hark Even and killed. Writers were killed,
54:47
Speaker 10: anyone that you know expressed any part of ukrainianness were eliminated,
54:53
Speaker 10: and it was pretty much what led to the rise
54:57
Speaker 10: of what many people concern themselves with with the extremist
55:01
Speaker 10: nationalists of the o UN and UPA. And I think
55:03
Speaker 10: that's a bit misplaced because if you missed the context,
55:06
Speaker 10: you just assume they just emerge as extreme.
55:08
Speaker 1: They didn't.
55:09
Speaker 10: They emerged as extreme because they said we tried this before.
55:12
Speaker 10: We tried this in Simon Petliura in nineteen seventeen to
55:16
Speaker 10: nineteen twenty one Era Petlora sided with Pittsulski, who was
55:22
Speaker 10: military leader in Poland, and defer to help Poland survive
55:27
Speaker 10: as a strategy to perhaps put into place a bit
55:32
Speaker 10: of a check of power on the Russians. As a result,
55:37
Speaker 10: the you know what happened to Ukraine was subsumed back
55:40
Speaker 10: under USSR essentially under Russian control, and remained at such
55:44
Speaker 10: until nineteen ninety one. And I think that we have
55:48
Speaker 10: a lot of lessons to learn when we speak of sovereignty.
55:50
Speaker 10: And I strongly believe in liberation and sovereignty for people,
55:55
Speaker 10: much like I do with Tibetans Orwiger and you know,
55:59
Speaker 10: the same is true for Ukrainians, and it's at the
56:02
Speaker 10: source of a lot of what happens. When you see
56:04
Speaker 10: like Zelenski, you know, saying, you know, I don't get
56:08
Speaker 10: to decide what happens to occupied territory. I think that
56:16
Speaker 10: the fact that he puts it to a referendum publicly
56:19
Speaker 10: on the world stage is important to pay attention to,
56:22
Speaker 10: and no one here is interested.
56:23
Speaker 6: In doing that.
56:24
Speaker 1: That was Chris Samson, who is in Kiev doing interviews
56:28
Speaker 1: and podcasts Live south By Southwest, has brought many new
56:35
Speaker 1: films to the public, but none like the one we
56:37
Speaker 1: will talk about next week. Isaac Driftwright, an Army veteran
56:42
Speaker 1: and self taught photographer, seeks to heal his wounds by
56:46
Speaker 1: illegally climbing the world's tallest buildings. He faces intense police
56:51
Speaker 1: persecution that puts his freedom at risk. We talked to
56:54
Speaker 1: him and the director of the film, and you will
56:57
Speaker 1: hear more next week on The People's News. The People's
57:03
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