Transcript

Sharri | 15 May · Sharri

0:01
Speaker 1: Live on Sky News. This is Sharry.
0:06
Speaker 2: Good Evening tonight Trump's controversial Middle East tour. He's praising
0:11
Speaker 2: terrorists and reshaping American foreign policy. Meanwhile, golf billions flow
0:17
Speaker 2: into Trump family ventures. Tonight we take a look at
0:20
Speaker 2: the money trail behind his visit. Five months, no arrests,
0:26
Speaker 2: no answers. Now concerning news about the criminals behind Theodash
0:31
Speaker 2: Synagogue fire bombing. I'll discuss this with Alex Rifchen and
0:36
Speaker 2: she was just three years old when her parents were
0:39
Speaker 2: murdered before her eyes.
0:41
Speaker 3: And she was taken hostage in Gaza.
0:44
Speaker 2: The aunt of little Abigail will join me live in
0:47
Speaker 2: studio and she'll share the fierce battle to rescue this
0:51
Speaker 2: toddler from terrorists, plus anger as labor presses ahead with
0:56
Speaker 2: its plan to tax unrealized capital gains. Warren Hogan will
1:01
Speaker 2: be on the show a bit later, but first tonight.
1:05
Speaker 2: Donald Trump's trip to the Middle East marks a pivotal
1:08
Speaker 2: shift in American foreign policy, laden with historic ambition, strategic recalibration,
1:15
Speaker 2: and unsettling controversy. Trump has signed over a trillion dollars
1:20
Speaker 2: worth of deals with golf nations, including Saudi Arabia, the
1:24
Speaker 2: UAE and Katar. These agreements span defense, energy, and technology,
1:31
Speaker 2: redefining American ties with the Arab world and creating new
1:36
Speaker 2: pressure on Iran's long standing influence in the region.
1:40
Speaker 3: And that's one of Trump's goals, and it's clear He's
1:43
Speaker 3: seeking to draw the golf away from the malign influence
1:47
Speaker 3: of the.
1:47
Speaker 2: Iranian regime and forge deeper economic and strategic ties between
1:53
Speaker 2: moderate Arab powers and the US. He envisions a new
1:57
Speaker 2: Middle East where Saudi Arabia and even Syria might normalize
2:03
Speaker 2: relations with Israel, expanding on the Abraham Accords that he
2:07
Speaker 2: achieved during.
2:08
Speaker 3: His first term.
2:10
Speaker 2: This is a monumental shift in global foreign policy. It's
2:14
Speaker 2: underway right now, and Trump's actions here in seeking to
2:19
Speaker 2: reshape the influence in the Middle East have been little
2:22
Speaker 2: understood or even analyzed in the international media. Yet for
2:28
Speaker 2: all the geopolitical promise, this trip has sparked significant ethical
2:33
Speaker 2: and even national security concerns. The trip has its complexities.
2:38
Speaker 2: It's provided strong investment in American companies and it's energized
2:43
Speaker 2: the markets globally, but it also cements relationships that are
2:48
Speaker 2: bolstering the pockets of the Trump family in ways that
2:52
Speaker 2: are undeniable. The Trump family is directly profiting from deals
2:57
Speaker 2: across the Gulf, from Trump branded real estate developments to
3:01
Speaker 2: golf sovereign funds investing in Trump linked ventures. The lines
3:07
Speaker 2: now between diplomacy and private gain are dangerously blurring.
3:12
Speaker 3: And I'll come back to this point in a moment.
3:15
Speaker 2: But the Katari ruling family's gift of a four hundred
3:18
Speaker 2: million dollar aircraft to Trump, intended to replace Air Force
3:22
Speaker 2: One at least temporarily.
3:24
Speaker 3: Is the flashpoint of this.
3:27
Speaker 2: And there are two issues here, a gift of this
3:29
Speaker 2: size from a foreign government and the fact that's from Qatar,
3:34
Speaker 2: which has been harboring and financing her must terrorist leadership
3:38
Speaker 2: for years. I mean, protecting the terrorists who've even attacked
3:43
Speaker 2: American civilians, rather than demanding they return hostages and stop
3:49
Speaker 2: financing terror is quite something. One conservative influence in the US,
3:55
Speaker 2: Laura Luma, put it well when she said America shouldn't
3:59
Speaker 2: accept a gift from jihadists in suits, and of course
4:04
Speaker 2: she is referring that to that Katari gift of the plane.
4:08
Speaker 2: I spoke today with The Australian's foreign editor, Greg Sheridan,
4:12
Speaker 2: and he said the notion that American needed to accept
4:15
Speaker 2: a plane from Qatar was an idea that would be
4:19
Speaker 2: even too preposterous for Evelyn war He said, I cannot
4:23
Speaker 2: believe the most powerful and richest nation in the world
4:26
Speaker 2: has to take a charity jet from Qatar, and that
4:30
Speaker 2: Trump would think it's even appropriate for it to become
4:33
Speaker 2: part of his presidential library. And then there's the concerns
4:38
Speaker 2: about listening devices, and security experts have warned about potential
4:43
Speaker 2: embedded surveillance technology.
4:46
Speaker 4: Could you trust that this thing wouldn't be bugged in
4:48
Speaker 4: some way that would be very hard to find?
4:50
Speaker 5: Of course not.
4:51
Speaker 1: He really would have to be worried about that.
4:54
Speaker 2: And The Wall Street Journal reports that even Republicans who
4:57
Speaker 2: support Trump were deeply unc comfortable with this, both from
5:01
Speaker 2: a security perspective and whether the aircraft would have the
5:06
Speaker 2: ability to refuel in mid air or their technology for
5:10
Speaker 2: an airborne command center.
5:12
Speaker 3: Because a presidential plane is different.
5:15
Speaker 2: It includes sophisticated defense and communication systems so that a
5:20
Speaker 2: president can conduct his full duties, including commanding the military,
5:25
Speaker 2: while in flight, and parts of the plane are so
5:28
Speaker 2: secret that reporters traveling with the president are barred from
5:32
Speaker 2: photographing certain sections up close.
5:35
Speaker 3: That's in the Wall Street Journal.
5:37
Speaker 2: Now Trump has rejected all these criticisms and said the
5:41
Speaker 2: plane would save taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.
5:46
Speaker 3: But I thought it was a beautiful gesture. Now there
5:48
Speaker 3: are those that say we.
5:49
Speaker 6: Shouldn't be accepting gifts to the Defense Department, And I
5:52
Speaker 6: would say, only a stupid person would say that, why
5:55
Speaker 6: wouldn't we do that? Then?
5:56
Speaker 3: So it helps us out because we'll have a relatively new.
5:59
Speaker 7: Plane instead of having forty year old planes.
6:03
Speaker 3: These planes are forty years old.
6:05
Speaker 2: But there are many Republicans against it, among them Nikki Haley.
6:09
Speaker 2: She said on x that accepting gifts from foreign nations
6:13
Speaker 2: threatens intelligence and national security, especially when that nation supports
6:18
Speaker 2: a terror organization and allows those terror regimes to live
6:23
Speaker 2: on its soil. Regardless of how beautiful the plane may be,
6:27
Speaker 2: it opens a door and implies the president and US
6:32
Speaker 2: can be bought.
6:34
Speaker 3: And this is a line the Democrats are now running to.
6:39
Speaker 8: A White House has a for sale sign on the
6:43
Speaker 8: front line, and everybody knows it is.
6:47
Speaker 1: Now.
6:47
Speaker 2: That's Obama's former chief of staff Ramamanuel, who said on
6:51
Speaker 2: that left leaning show the View that he was personally
6:54
Speaker 2: offered bribes when he went on an official visit to
6:57
Speaker 2: Saudi Arabia.
7:00
Speaker 8: And I went to Saudi Rabuilt with President Obama first trip.
7:03
Speaker 8: First thing I get that we're at the king's ranch
7:08
Speaker 8: for his horses. You get there, you walk in the
7:10
Speaker 8: room and there was an ostridge briefcase. I opened it up.
7:15
Speaker 8: Diamond necklaces, ear rings, bracelets.
7:18
Speaker 3: Room.
7:19
Speaker 9: Yeah, I took a photo.
7:20
Speaker 8: I sent it to my wife family. Not happening. I
7:27
Speaker 8: only have to take it and you have to go
7:29
Speaker 8: to the room next door with the State Department chronicles everything.
7:31
Speaker 8: They made sure everything, the idea that you're going to
7:34
Speaker 8: take a jet.
7:37
Speaker 2: It's not just Democrats. Many Republicans are highly concerned. They're
7:42
Speaker 2: even speaking out publicly, and among those who've done so,
7:46
Speaker 2: Ben Shapiro, Senator Rick Scott, Ted Cruz, host Mark Levine,
7:51
Speaker 2: Cynthia Loomis, Round Paul and John Thune. Another highly controversial
7:57
Speaker 2: moment on this Middle East visit was Trump's meeting with
8:01
Speaker 2: Syria's new leader, Ahmed al Sharrah. He's a United States
8:06
Speaker 2: designated terrorist who previously led a fundamentalist Islamic jihadi group,
8:13
Speaker 2: and this was the first meeting between an American and
8:18
Speaker 2: Syrian president in twenty five years. Skeptics of this meeting,
8:24
Speaker 2: including the Wall Street Journal, note the lack of precedent
8:28
Speaker 2: for a former jihadist leading a nation towards peace. Their
8:33
Speaker 2: editorial board said, there's no precedent for former al Qaeda
8:37
Speaker 2: commander such as mister Sharrah, who rallied jihadist from Syria
8:41
Speaker 2: and beyond leading a state to peace.
8:44
Speaker 3: Stability, and amity with the West.
8:47
Speaker 2: But even more astonishing than the meeting itself is that
8:50
Speaker 2: Trump lifted decades old economic sanctions on Syria without extracting
8:57
Speaker 2: concrete concessions. Now, these are sanctions that first started in
9:02
Speaker 2: nineteen seventy nine. Isn't this simply basic negotiation principles for
9:08
Speaker 2: which Trump prides himself And then he lavished praise on
9:13
Speaker 2: the terror leader.
9:15
Speaker 9: How did you find the Syrian president.
9:20
Speaker 10: Young? Attracted?
9:21
Speaker 6: Yai tells.
9:24
Speaker 11: Strong mass mass fighter. Does that worry about shouting?
9:28
Speaker 1: He's going to really shouted, living together.
9:33
Speaker 2: But Trump did encourage Sharah to normalize relations with Israel,
9:37
Speaker 2: to kick out foreign terrorists and help defeat Islamic state.
9:42
Speaker 2: And Trump's strategic goal is to draw Syria away from
9:45
Speaker 2: the destructive and evil influence of the Ayatolas of Iran.
9:50
Speaker 3: Now, let's hope Trump's.
9:51
Speaker 2: Diplomatic gamble pays off and it doesn't end up being
9:54
Speaker 2: a dangerous legitimization of another brutal Syrian regime. But there
10:00
Speaker 2: are increasing concerns that Trump has sidelined Israel, and he has,
10:05
Speaker 2: in at least three instances, betrayed his long standing in
10:10
Speaker 2: America's long standing ally and strategic partner.
10:14
Speaker 3: And Trump negotiated a ceasefire with Yemen's.
10:16
Speaker 2: Hooties while the terrorists were still targeting Israel, including bombing
10:22
Speaker 2: a site frighteningly close to Tel Aviv's Bengurian Airport, and then,
10:27
Speaker 2: even more bizarrely, the US President praised the Hooties.
10:34
Speaker 6: We had a very good outcome with the Hooties. They
10:38
Speaker 6: took tremendous punishment, and you know, you could say there's
10:42
Speaker 6: a lot of bravery there. That it was amazing what
10:47
Speaker 6: they took. But we honored their commitment and they gave
10:51
Speaker 6: us their word that they wouldn't be shooting ships anymore,
10:53
Speaker 6: and we honor that.
10:56
Speaker 2: I mean, just to understand what he just said, that
10:59
Speaker 2: the Hooties have been interrupting the international shipping trade for
11:03
Speaker 2: nearly two years now and Trump is describing them as brave.
11:08
Speaker 2: They are terrorists, and the message Trump is sending is
11:12
Speaker 2: that Israel's security wasn't a prerequisite for America's deal with
11:16
Speaker 2: the Hooties. I mean, how can Trump kind of deal
11:20
Speaker 2: with the hooties and allow them to continue striking Israel.
11:25
Speaker 3: There are also.
11:25
Speaker 2: Concerns that Trump is drawn to the grandeur, the luxury,
11:29
Speaker 2: the extravagance of these royal receptions.
11:31
Speaker 3: He's getting the extravagant gifts as well.
11:35
Speaker 2: Barry Weese's Free Press did quite the investigation where they
11:38
Speaker 2: reported on the financial ties between Trump's administration and Qatar.
11:44
Speaker 2: And this includes his FBI director, attorney general, and chief
11:49
Speaker 2: of staff. Even Steve Whitcoff reportedly happens to be a
11:53
Speaker 2: beneficiary of Qatar's largesse.
11:55
Speaker 3: In twenty twenty three.
11:57
Speaker 2: Katar's sovereign wealth fund bought out his faltering investment in
12:01
Speaker 2: New York's Park Lane Hotel for six hundred and twenty
12:05
Speaker 2: three million dollars. Now, this is all perfectly legal. Everything
12:11
Speaker 2: that I just mentioned, there nothing illegal about it.
12:14
Speaker 3: It's all perfectly illegal.
12:16
Speaker 2: And so is the fact that Jared Kushner's private equity
12:19
Speaker 2: fund reportedly had a two billion dollar investment from Saudi
12:23
Speaker 2: Arabia's public investment fund. It also had investments from Qatar
12:28
Speaker 2: and Abu Dhabi based firms. And Eric Trump has also
12:31
Speaker 2: made headlines for promoting his cryptocurrency firm in Dubai ahead
12:36
Speaker 2: of his dad's trip to the golf. And meanwhile, the
12:39
Speaker 2: Trump Organization, which is managed by Donald Trump Junior, is
12:43
Speaker 2: building a new luxury golf resort near Doha, and this
12:48
Speaker 2: is in partnership with the Qatari company. Again all legal,
12:53
Speaker 2: but worth keeping in mind that Qatar has been financing
12:58
Speaker 2: Palestinian terrorism and protecting hermas leaders terrorists that have kidnapped
13:04
Speaker 2: and killed not just Israeli citizens, but American citizens as well.
13:09
Speaker 2: And the Free Press reports that members of Katar's royal
13:12
Speaker 2: family openly express support for Hermas shaikher Masa bint Nasa,
13:18
Speaker 2: she's the mother of katarz Emir and the chairperson of
13:21
Speaker 2: an educational nonprofit funneling millions into American schools, praised the
13:27
Speaker 2: master mind of October seven. That's Yaha Yahwa Sinhwa. She
13:31
Speaker 2: said on x he will live on after his death
13:34
Speaker 2: last year and they will be gone. So what we're
13:40
Speaker 2: seeing here is personal enrichment, praise for terror leaders, and
13:45
Speaker 2: acceptance of gifts from problematic regimes. Trump's Middle East tour
13:50
Speaker 2: presents a complex picture, both legitimate, even praiseworthy strategic ambition
13:58
Speaker 2: for America, but also call ambiguity.
14:01
Speaker 3: His visit has been.
14:02
Speaker 2: Economically and strategically beneficial for the United States, no question,
14:07
Speaker 2: and perhaps even potentially it could turn out to be
14:11
Speaker 2: beneficial for Israel if, and it's a big if, Trump
14:14
Speaker 2: can convince Saudi Arabia and Syria to normalize ties with
14:18
Speaker 2: the Jewish State. His trip reflects a bold vision to
14:23
Speaker 2: shape a volatile region and erode arounds dominance, while also
14:28
Speaker 2: raising concerns about personal gain, diplomatic judgment, and his treatment
14:34
Speaker 2: of key allies like Israel. Now, if Trump can convert
14:39
Speaker 2: grand gestures into lasting peace and genuine realignment without compromising
14:45
Speaker 2: his or America's national security and principles, then history may
14:50
Speaker 2: judge this visit more positively than today's headlines suggest. For now,
14:55
Speaker 2: Trump perhaps deserves the benefit of the doubt as we
14:58
Speaker 2: wait to see what unfolds in the coming days. All Right,
15:06
Speaker 2: and let's bring in now National Senator Matt Canavan and
15:09
Speaker 2: WA liberal leader Basil Zemplis.
15:11
Speaker 3: Welcome to you both.
15:13
Speaker 2: Well, the big work for News today was that the
15:16
Speaker 2: Greens have elected Queensland Senator Larissa Waters to replace former
15:20
Speaker 2: leader Adam band Now.
15:21
Speaker 3: She beat Marine Ferruki and Sarah Hanson Young.
15:24
Speaker 2: But it appears, given by her first press conference today,
15:27
Speaker 2: that she learned no lessons at all from the election,
15:30
Speaker 2: because yet again she was focusing on Gaza.
15:33
Speaker 3: Have a look where the Greens.
15:35
Speaker 12: So, of course we stand firm always on social justice
15:39
Speaker 12: and human rights, whether that's First Nations justice, whether that's
15:42
Speaker 12: a free Palestine, whether that's peace and human rights. Globally,
15:47
Speaker 12: we will always be there calling out atrocities, calling out
15:51
Speaker 12: a genocide and standing strongly on.
15:54
Speaker 9: Social justice and human rights.
15:55
Speaker 12: I know a lot of wonderful Jewish voters who are
15:59
Speaker 12: backing the Green because they don't want to genocide either.
16:05
Speaker 2: I think that's highly offensive to Jewish Australians. Apparently she
16:08
Speaker 2: thinks some Jews are wonderful if they're backing the Greens,
16:12
Speaker 2: if they agree there's a genocide in Guys or what,
16:14
Speaker 2: of course there's no genocide now.
16:16
Speaker 3: Meanwhile, have a look at Marine Ferouki. She's in denial
16:19
Speaker 3: about how badly the Greens lost.
16:22
Speaker 13: Migrant and multicultural communities have in the tens of thousands
16:27
Speaker 13: across Sydney, across Brisbane, across Melbourne backed our strong stand
16:33
Speaker 13: against the genocide in Gaza. To the right wing media,
16:37
Speaker 13: to the billionaires, to the big cooperations, and to the
16:40
Speaker 13: Albanesi government.
16:42
Speaker 9: This is our message.
16:44
Speaker 13: We are not going to take a step backwards on
16:48
Speaker 13: action on climate, on the environment, on housing, and for
16:53
Speaker 13: justice for Palestine. Our voters have put us there to
16:59
Speaker 13: fight people and the planet and that is exactly what
17:03
Speaker 13: we will be doing.
17:06
Speaker 3: Basil.
17:06
Speaker 2: If this continues to be the Greens focus, They're just
17:09
Speaker 2: going to descend into irrelevance.
17:11
Speaker 3: Won't they.
17:13
Speaker 4: Well, there are lots of political parties right at the
17:16
Speaker 4: moment looking deep within, as they should after an election result.
17:20
Speaker 4: The Liberal Party is clearly doing that. I'm a part
17:23
Speaker 4: of that at state level. The Greens maybe they haven't
17:27
Speaker 4: missed the memo, but maybe they're just not going about
17:29
Speaker 4: it in the right way. I mean, they can't have
17:31
Speaker 4: been any more public a rebuke for what they took
17:34
Speaker 4: forward and what they stood for than Adam Bant being
17:37
Speaker 4: thrown out. He's the highest profile Green by a mile,
17:41
Speaker 4: the leader of the party. He's driven all of their
17:43
Speaker 4: policy and their communications, and the response from those people
17:48
Speaker 4: in his seat of Melbourne was to turf him out.
17:51
Speaker 4: So how that history, recent history, by the way, is
17:55
Speaker 4: suddenly being rewritten or at least reinterpreted by his colleagues
17:59
Speaker 4: who remain is baffling, and it certainly shows that they're
18:04
Speaker 4: not learning or haven't looked for the lessons from the
18:07
Speaker 4: election just gone.
18:08
Speaker 3: Exactly right, Matt.
18:10
Speaker 2: You have to sit with these senators every single day
18:14
Speaker 2: that you're in Canberra. I mean, we were all thrilled
18:17
Speaker 2: that the Greens last three of their lower House seats,
18:20
Speaker 2: but when you look at it, it is a depressing
18:23
Speaker 2: thought that they now have control with Labor in the Senate.
18:28
Speaker 14: Well, you're absolutely right, Shari. They were their platform. The
18:32
Speaker 14: Greens extremism was rejected by the Electric but they've been
18:35
Speaker 14: accepted by the Parliament. Given the vagaries of the Senate,
18:39
Speaker 14: keep in mind only half of the Greens are up
18:41
Speaker 14: for elct Green centers are up for election as per
18:44
Speaker 14: the Senate's rules, and you only need if you get
18:49
Speaker 14: nine to ten percent of the vote, like the Greens do.
18:51
Speaker 14: You tend to get a center up anyway. So while
18:53
Speaker 14: they had swings away from them, they still were able
18:56
Speaker 14: to maintain their Senate representation, and then just given it
18:59
Speaker 14: all the other changes in the Senate, they've ended up
19:01
Speaker 14: in the situation where the Labor Party now.
19:03
Speaker 1: Can pass any law it wants with just the support
19:06
Speaker 1: of the Greens.
19:06
Speaker 14: That they don't need Lydia Thorpe, they don't need fatom
19:08
Speaker 14: a payment, David Pocock, They're all irrelevant.
19:11
Speaker 1: They just need the Greens.
19:12
Speaker 14: So this will be a real test for the Labor
19:14
Speaker 14: Party now and something that should be of concern to
19:18
Speaker 14: all Australs because clearly the Greens here are not going
19:21
Speaker 14: to change. They're not listening. I mean, I have said
19:23
Speaker 14: we need to listen. I've said we need to change
19:24
Speaker 14: our approach because we lost, we got thrash. But you
19:28
Speaker 14: just hear there from Larissa Waters that they're not listening
19:31
Speaker 14: at all.
19:31
Speaker 1: They're going to double down.
19:32
Speaker 14: And the question now is will the Labor Party back
19:36
Speaker 14: down to the extreme demands of the Greens and take
19:40
Speaker 14: this country much, much, much more extreme.
19:43
Speaker 2: And that's what I'm afraid of as well, especially when
19:45
Speaker 2: it comes to tax policy, you know, and I'm going
19:47
Speaker 2: to talk about this a bit later with Warren Hogan.
19:49
Speaker 2: But you just think how much further on tax will
19:54
Speaker 2: the government go if the Greens are demanding changes to
19:58
Speaker 2: capital gains tax or taxes, inheritance taxes. I mean, it's
20:02
Speaker 2: it's a terrifying prospect because the Albanzi government knows it
20:06
Speaker 2: currently has no genuine competition, no threat from the Liberal Party. Well,
20:11
Speaker 2: the Prime Minister is currently in Indonesia, where he's refused
20:14
Speaker 2: to answer questions about what Australia knew about Russia's request
20:19
Speaker 2: for closer military ties with Indonesia.
20:22
Speaker 9: Here he was, we know that continiesa are things.
20:27
Speaker 1: No, that's the question.
20:30
Speaker 11: Indonesia's answer is no. That made it very clear. But
20:33
Speaker 11: what's the question that made it very clear? Not for
20:36
Speaker 11: me to comment on what occurs between countries that are
20:40
Speaker 11: not Australia. What is important is Australia's position, Our positions clear,
20:45
Speaker 11: Indonesia's positions clear as well.
20:49
Speaker 3: Albanesi doesn't seem to like transparency.
20:55
Speaker 4: Well, that is a conclusion that we can draw certainly
20:57
Speaker 4: based on that response. Anyway, you know this is a
21:00
Speaker 4: Now Anthony Alberonizi, now, isn't it. He's just been returned
21:03
Speaker 4: in very emphatic fashion. And I think what we're seeing
21:05
Speaker 4: signaled here is how he's going to deal with some
21:10
Speaker 4: of those issues. Now, some people will say, well, he's
21:11
Speaker 4: earn't that right, or at least the majority that he's
21:14
Speaker 4: had is going to dictate how he approaches.
21:16
Speaker 1: The next three years.
21:17
Speaker 4: He'll be aware that he can't push it too far,
21:19
Speaker 4: but the early signs are he's going to do how
21:23
Speaker 4: he wants to do it and is empowered to be
21:26
Speaker 4: able to do it that way. Transparency is an issue
21:30
Speaker 4: that Ozzie's will really really start to rail against, though
21:35
Speaker 4: if there's not enough of it shown and I reckon
21:37
Speaker 4: this message or this on morning goes both ways, We'll
21:40
Speaker 4: see how it goes from here.
21:42
Speaker 2: And it's not just tran transparency that's an issue. But Matt,
21:46
Speaker 2: remember when Murray what described the suggestion that Russia was
21:50
Speaker 2: asking to have its weapons and aircraft in Indonesia as
21:55
Speaker 2: like believing in the lock next monster. But then Russia
21:58
Speaker 2: when and publicly confer that it had made these requests
22:01
Speaker 2: of Indonesia. So this is not just about failing to
22:05
Speaker 2: be upfront with the Australian public, but it's almost hiding
22:08
Speaker 2: the truth when it comes to a matter of public
22:12
Speaker 2: interest in national security.
22:15
Speaker 14: Well marriage just to blowhard Shari and that demonstrated by
22:19
Speaker 14: that outburst. And look, I will say here I don't
22:23
Speaker 14: expect the Australian government to disclose all of its intelligence
22:28
Speaker 14: that it may receive at different times, So there is
22:30
Speaker 14: some rationale for the Prime Minister not to reveal everything here.
22:34
Speaker 14: But my concern is not so much about what the
22:36
Speaker 14: Prime Minister knew and when he knew it, but more
22:39
Speaker 14: what is he doing Because it's been very clear that
22:41
Speaker 14: Indonesia is getting closer to Russia for some time. You
22:44
Speaker 14: don't need stories about or crazy conspiracies about locknest monsters
22:49
Speaker 14: to know that Indonesia announced earlier this year, publicly announced
22:52
Speaker 14: at the beginning of this year that it was joining
22:54
Speaker 14: officially joining the bristocled Bricks Coalition, which is notionally a
22:59
Speaker 14: grouping of country. He's aligned against the United States and
23:03
Speaker 14: it's allies. So we knew that, and it's just not
23:05
Speaker 14: clear what the government has done in response. I mean,
23:07
Speaker 14: how are we doing to secure our defense needs, our
23:11
Speaker 14: energy needs, our national securities. Why hasn't the Prime Minister
23:14
Speaker 14: gone to visit Donald Trump to discuss these matters?
23:18
Speaker 1: The election now was how long ago?
23:20
Speaker 15: Was it?
23:20
Speaker 14: Now we're looking at the US presidential election. Well, yeah,
23:25
Speaker 14: but he had plenty of time to do that, either
23:28
Speaker 14: this year or last year. Plenty of people were going
23:29
Speaker 14: to see him before the inauguration, and clearly the Albanize
23:33
Speaker 14: government would have new and know when something was up.
23:36
Speaker 14: And I just don't know what have you done in
23:38
Speaker 14: response to protect our country?
23:39
Speaker 10: I'm not so sure.
23:41
Speaker 2: Well, Richard Miles is acting prime minister while Albanizi is overseas,
23:45
Speaker 2: and he was grilled today about his role in dumping
23:48
Speaker 2: Ed Husick and Mark Drafers.
23:51
Speaker 1: What's mister hughsy right to call you a factional assassin?
23:54
Speaker 16: Look, I'm not going to go into that. As I say,
23:58
Speaker 16: this is a difficult process. We have a lot of
24:01
Speaker 16: really talented people.
24:03
Speaker 3: What fractional assassin?
24:04
Speaker 1: Though?
24:04
Speaker 16: Well, again, I don't accept that these are collective processes.
24:09
Speaker 16: As I said, they are obviously difficult processes.
24:11
Speaker 1: Are you saying you had nothing to do with this?
24:13
Speaker 1: I'm saying that these are collective processes.
24:16
Speaker 3: Did you ignore all phone calls from anything?
24:19
Speaker 1: Look, again, I'm not going to go into the details.
24:23
Speaker 17: Of has a factional fighting taken the shine off labors?
24:26
Speaker 3: Win, and what responsibility do you take for that?
24:29
Speaker 1: No, I don't think so. We have seen a remarkable
24:34
Speaker 1: election victory.
24:37
Speaker 2: Basila reported earlier this week that Richard Miles was the
24:40
Speaker 2: fall guy and that it was Alban Easy who wanted
24:42
Speaker 2: ed Who's it gone? From the ministry and his comments
24:44
Speaker 2: today Marles's comments today saying this was a collective decision,
24:48
Speaker 2: seemed to confirm this.
24:51
Speaker 4: Well, perhaps not necessarily, but perhaps they have done that.
24:55
Speaker 4: I think what is clear is that that big victory,
24:58
Speaker 4: only eight days later, Ed Husick is on television and
25:02
Speaker 4: spilling the beans and certainly spilling his emotions. And it's interesting,
25:05
Speaker 4: isn't it how quickly you can get away from that
25:08
Speaker 4: big victory when things are unsettled within the camp. I mean,
25:12
Speaker 4: this is the system that delivers them ministerial portfolios, and
25:15
Speaker 4: it is also the system which takes ministerial portfolios away.
25:20
Speaker 4: They live and they die by it. In Hugh Six's case,
25:23
Speaker 4: he's died by it. So has Mark Dreyfus. But those
25:27
Speaker 4: aren't They weren't convincing and well done the press pack,
25:30
Speaker 4: I've got to so they didn't let him get away
25:32
Speaker 4: with it. They certainly made him answer the questions even though.
25:34
Speaker 2: He didn't really well, they should be grilling Alban easy
25:37
Speaker 2: on this too, Matt. Just a quick final response to
25:40
Speaker 2: the reports in the Telegraph that Angus Taylor and Andrew
25:43
Speaker 2: Hasty are considering moving to the backbench instead of serving
25:46
Speaker 2: in Susan Lee's ministry.
25:48
Speaker 3: What do you think about that?
25:51
Speaker 14: It's not so bad back here.
25:52
Speaker 1: I've had a good time sharre it.
25:55
Speaker 14: I think you can still make a massive contribution to
25:57
Speaker 14: your country whichever role you play. Look, yeah, it's a
26:02
Speaker 14: great honor to serve your nation in the nation's parliament.
26:05
Speaker 14: Obviously they'll have their own personal and other considerations of aside,
26:08
Speaker 14: and there are lots of good people in the labor
26:10
Speaker 14: national parties as well, So it should never be about
26:12
Speaker 14: one individual. It's about a nation. So that's what I'm
26:15
Speaker 14: focused on.
26:16
Speaker 3: All right, There you go, Matt Canavan, douz a zemplus.
26:19
Speaker 3: Great to see you.
26:21
Speaker 18: Well.
26:21
Speaker 3: Let's turn now to.
26:22
Speaker 2: The police investigation into the firebombing of the Adas Synagogue
26:26
Speaker 2: late last year. Police say that the stolen car used
26:29
Speaker 2: in that attack was linked to several other crimes, including
26:32
Speaker 2: an arson attack at a nightclub also a drive by shooting.
26:37
Speaker 2: Here was the AFP's counter Terror, counter Terrorism and Special
26:40
Speaker 2: Investigation Assistant Commissioner at a press conference this afternoon.
26:44
Speaker 17: We will continue to investigate it as a politically motivated
26:48
Speaker 17: attack on the Jewish community. Based on our information, we
26:51
Speaker 17: believe some of the individuals involved are extremely violent and co.
26:56
Speaker 2: Chief Executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jury, Alex
27:00
Speaker 2: Riftrin joins me.
27:01
Speaker 3: Now, Alex, great to see you again.
27:04
Speaker 2: Now it's been five months no arrests made for this
27:07
Speaker 2: very serious arson attack on a synagogue. What's your reaction
27:11
Speaker 2: to the evidence that now suggests this fire bombing is
27:14
Speaker 2: linked to other serious crimes, including a drive by shooting.
27:19
Speaker 7: Yeah.
27:19
Speaker 19: Look, it's reminiscent of what we're seeing up here in Sydney,
27:23
Speaker 19: where you know, it's believed that the spate of fire
27:25
Speaker 19: bombings that we saw terrorizing the Sydney Jewish community was
27:29
Speaker 19: also linked to violent crime, to organized crime. And in
27:33
Speaker 19: addition to the conventional anti Semitic elements that we're dealing
27:36
Speaker 19: with at the moment with a far Ride and the
27:39
Speaker 19: anti Israel movement, the fact that you've got organized crime,
27:42
Speaker 19: people who are criminal by nature, who will do anything
27:46
Speaker 19: out of self interest and as we've seen there from
27:49
Speaker 19: the police speaking about their Dust Israel firebombing. They believe
27:53
Speaker 19: that the same people that carried out that attack were
27:55
Speaker 19: involved in other violent crimes, including shootings. They have access
27:58
Speaker 19: to weapons potentially explodes. So it just makes it all
28:01
Speaker 19: the more imperative that we bring these people to justice
28:04
Speaker 19: as quickly as possible, unravel these conspiracies, identify every individual
28:09
Speaker 19: that's involved, and bring some peace and come back to
28:13
Speaker 19: our community into wider society, because the longer these people
28:16
Speaker 19: who are large, the greater the anxiety will remain.
28:19
Speaker 3: Exactly and not just the anxiety, but the very real
28:21
Speaker 3: danger as well.
28:23
Speaker 2: Alex, you featured in a four Corners report where the
28:26
Speaker 2: alleged mastermind of the Sydney attacks gave an interview to
28:29
Speaker 2: the ABC.
28:31
Speaker 3: He insisted he wasn't behind any of the incidents.
28:34
Speaker 2: But I'm worried that, as you just said, that none
28:37
Speaker 2: of the alleged masterminds have actually been arrested, they're still
28:40
Speaker 2: at large, and that the arrests that have been made
28:43
Speaker 2: are of the hired crooks, not those who are actually
28:47
Speaker 2: ordering or believed to be ordering, the spate of attacks
28:51
Speaker 2: we're seeing. I mean, given your home, your former home
28:55
Speaker 2: was targeted. This must worry you as well.
28:58
Speaker 19: Yeah, look, it's deeply concerned and Charry, you know, knowing
29:01
Speaker 19: that you've had this network of individuals, you know, of
29:05
Speaker 19: different rank and seniority in the criminal underground, and this
29:09
Speaker 19: alleged kingpin that remains outside the reach of the AFP,
29:14
Speaker 19: you know, it's deeply troubling. And when you're dealing with
29:17
Speaker 19: people who for meager sums of money would set fire
29:22
Speaker 19: to cars and set our streets a light and potentially
29:25
Speaker 19: risk burning people in their homes, it's extremely troubling. It's
29:29
Speaker 19: gravely serious. So we need these people who brought to justice.
29:33
Speaker 19: I've spoken to the police multiple times. I know they're
29:35
Speaker 19: doing everything they can to achieve justice to bring these
29:39
Speaker 19: people to a trial. Many rest have been made, but
29:41
Speaker 19: this is a complex case. It appears a complex conspiracy
29:45
Speaker 19: with many people involved with very confusing motives. You know
29:48
Speaker 19: the story that's been put to the public about you know,
29:51
Speaker 19: these are being orchestrated by one individual to assist in
29:54
Speaker 19: returning home and you know in his plea bargain, these
29:58
Speaker 19: things don't really stuck up. So we need to have
30:00
Speaker 19: all the artspoorts a live we need to have people
30:03
Speaker 19: broadly for the courts, and we need to get closure
30:06
Speaker 19: and we need justice.
30:07
Speaker 2: Indeed, Alex just finally, while we have seen wonderful leadership
30:12
Speaker 2: from labor leaders like Chris Mins on anti Semitism, we
30:16
Speaker 2: haven't seen it from the Albanese government. And they've now
30:19
Speaker 2: been re elected with such a sweeping majority. It's likely
30:22
Speaker 2: they'll be in power for another six years. And it's
30:24
Speaker 2: likely as well that Penny one will move to recognize
30:27
Speaker 2: a Palestinian state this term, potentially even this year, potentially
30:31
Speaker 2: even while Hamas is still in power. So you know,
30:34
Speaker 2: as a leader, what's your message to Australians who care
30:38
Speaker 2: about this issue and who are upset that this is
30:41
Speaker 2: the leadership we're now.
30:42
Speaker 3: Left with for the foreseeable future.
30:46
Speaker 19: Well, my message would be, don't be passive, don't become
30:49
Speaker 19: passengers if you're concerned about these issues, if you're concerned
30:53
Speaker 19: about what may happen with recognition of a Palestinian state,
30:56
Speaker 19: the signal that would send to anti seractivists in this country,
30:59
Speaker 19: they would reward their extremism and reward hum us. Get involved.
31:03
Speaker 19: If you're a progressive Australian and vote labor, join the
31:06
Speaker 19: Labor Party and contribute to its policies. If you're a conservative,
31:10
Speaker 19: get involved in the Liberal Party. You know that we
31:13
Speaker 19: hear about the quiet Australians being with the Jewish community
31:16
Speaker 19: and imhooring terrorism. But the quiet Australians are the ignored Australians.
31:21
Speaker 19: So organize, become involved if you remember the Jewish community,
31:24
Speaker 19: support commune organizations and add to our ability and our
31:28
Speaker 19: capacity to advocate for you. But the other message I
31:31
Speaker 19: would say is don't despair. You know, there are some
31:34
Speaker 19: policies that obviously are contrary to the interests and beliefs
31:37
Speaker 19: of the Jewish community. We will fight them. But look
31:40
Speaker 19: at what we've survived and endured in the past eighteen months,
31:43
Speaker 19: with the docsing and the vilification and the gas lighting
31:46
Speaker 19: and the encampments and the fire bombings, and we're still here.
31:50
Speaker 19: We're still strong, we're still proud to be Australians and
31:52
Speaker 19: proud to be Jews. And look at our brothers and
31:54
Speaker 19: sisters in Israel have endured for the past eighteen months
31:57
Speaker 19: and how they've come through it and how they've decimated
31:59
Speaker 19: their own And if they can do that, then whatever
32:02
Speaker 19: political challenges I had for us, we can overcome that as.
32:04
Speaker 3: Well an inspiring message.
32:07
Speaker 9: Thank you so much, Alex, Thank you sir.
32:10
Speaker 2: Now still to come Keir Starmer's surprising crackdown on immigration,
32:14
Speaker 2: and now how Albinizi has been urged to do the same.
32:17
Speaker 2: Plus Labor presses ahead with its shocking tax on unrealized
32:21
Speaker 2: capital gains. Economist Warren Hogan would join.
32:24
Speaker 3: Me after this quick break.
32:30
Speaker 2: Well, the Albanezi government has no intention of dropping its
32:33
Speaker 2: controversial and truly absurd laws to tax unrealized capital gains,
32:38
Speaker 2: with the Treasurer pressing ahead with the plan.
32:41
Speaker 7: We've made it clear that these changes are relatively modest,
32:44
Speaker 7: but they're important in the context of the budget, and
32:47
Speaker 7: define benefit schemes have been appropriately recognized as part of
32:51
Speaker 7: our effort.
32:53
Speaker 3: This is money people haven't even technically received. It's on paper.
32:58
Speaker 2: National Senate leader Bridge Kenzie slammed the laws on Chris
33:02
Speaker 2: Kenny's program today.
33:04
Speaker 18: I love that defined benefit schemes of public servants are
33:07
Speaker 18: protected under Labor, But the family farm looks like you're
33:11
Speaker 18: going to be paying tax on unrealized gains on intergenerational assets,
33:16
Speaker 18: and it's going to have a huge issue for self
33:19
Speaker 18: managed super funds as well.
33:20
Speaker 13: So we have grave.
33:22
Speaker 2: Concerns and let's bring in now Judo Banks Chief Economist,
33:26
Speaker 2: Warren Hogan. Warren, thanks for your time. Look, this is
33:30
Speaker 2: a truly appalling tax, and the argument seems to be
33:33
Speaker 2: from the treasurer that the budget needs this new tax
33:36
Speaker 2: because of all their spending.
33:39
Speaker 5: Yeah, good evening, Sherry.
33:40
Speaker 1: That's exactly it.
33:41
Speaker 5: I mean, that's the bottom line is that this is
33:44
Speaker 5: a government that is seeking new ways to raise revenue, partly,
33:49
Speaker 5: as you said, because they're spending and the spending growth
33:52
Speaker 5: has been pretty persistent since they came to office three
33:55
Speaker 5: years ago, but also because we're putting more and more
33:58
Speaker 5: pressure on working people through our income taxes, which that
34:02
Speaker 5: income tax burdens now to record high. So you know,
34:05
Speaker 5: they're looking for whatever they can. And of course, when
34:08
Speaker 5: you start cherry picking tax taxes without a broad review
34:15
Speaker 5: of the whole system, there's a lot of unintended consequences,
34:19
Speaker 5: and often the actual tax itself can be very messy,
34:21
Speaker 5: which this one's proving to be.
34:23
Speaker 2: But what about the principle though, of taxing money people
34:27
Speaker 2: haven't even received, they may never receive, because you know,
34:31
Speaker 2: it can go up and down. Doesn't that strike you
34:34
Speaker 2: as almost unethical.
34:37
Speaker 5: Look, I think the principle maybe not. But the practice is,
34:42
Speaker 5: as you allude to, is it's about what economists or
34:46
Speaker 5: financial people would call liquidity. That is that you've got
34:49
Speaker 5: this asset that's gone up in value, but you don't
34:52
Speaker 5: want to have to sell that asset in order to
34:54
Speaker 5: pay the tax on it. So where do you get
34:56
Speaker 5: money liquidity from. You have to sell something else or
34:58
Speaker 5: have money in the bank, pay the tax, and of
35:00
Speaker 5: course if the asset goes down in value again you
35:03
Speaker 5: get a tax credit. So the principle's okay, but in
35:06
Speaker 5: practice it doesn't work very well, particularly for those sorts
35:09
Speaker 5: of assets that we're hearing about, like farms and houses
35:12
Speaker 5: and so forth, and for people who otherwise have pretty
35:16
Speaker 5: modest means. I mean, three million dollars of life savings,
35:19
Speaker 5: particularly given the inflation of the last five years isn't
35:22
Speaker 5: what it used to be. So we're talking about people
35:24
Speaker 5: that don't have a lot of spare cash flow.
35:26
Speaker 2: And I kind of mentioned this before, but the Greens,
35:29
Speaker 2: in order to pass the legislation with labor, they look
35:32
Speaker 2: like they're going to argue to lower it to two
35:34
Speaker 2: million dollars. So again, because there's no way the coalition
35:39
Speaker 2: would support these laws. So this is the sort of
35:42
Speaker 2: really bad policy situation you can end up getting in
35:45
Speaker 2: because two million dollars, I mean, if it's a property, well,
35:49
Speaker 2: that doesn't that captures you know, a lot of people's
35:52
Speaker 2: investment properties, doesn't it.
35:54
Speaker 5: Oh that's right, And it's of course you know where
35:56
Speaker 5: do you stop? And is the three million dollars in arbitrary?
36:00
Speaker 5: And of course we know it's not indexed. That is, effectively,
36:03
Speaker 5: with inflation, it's going to become less and less of
36:05
Speaker 5: a number. And the stories about young people today will
36:08
Speaker 5: all be caught up with it when they retire. And
36:11
Speaker 5: I think what really is the concern out in the
36:13
Speaker 5: broader community is that once this is in place, do
36:15
Speaker 5: they go beyond the super sort of nest egg. Do
36:19
Speaker 5: they start looking at this as a general way of
36:21
Speaker 5: taxing people all through their stages of life and homes
36:25
Speaker 5: and all this sort of stuff. And of course they're
36:26
Speaker 5: not going to say they are, but that's the sort
36:30
Speaker 5: of logical implication that some people are drawing, and of
36:33
Speaker 5: course that in principle I think is wrong.
36:35
Speaker 3: Yeah.
36:36
Speaker 2: Indeed, look the ABS confirmed yesterday that wages rose by
36:40
Speaker 2: zero point nine percent in the March quater up around
36:43
Speaker 2: three point four percent over the year. We're hearing though
36:47
Speaker 2: that most of it is going to the public sector
36:49
Speaker 2: because of the alban Easy Childcare and aged care subsidies. Warren,
36:54
Speaker 2: isn't it the case that most Australians wouldn't be feeling
36:57
Speaker 2: this wage growth because sliding increases would be erated by
37:01
Speaker 2: bracket creep. And then there's also the fact that purchasing
37:04
Speaker 2: power is lower because of inflation.
37:07
Speaker 5: Well, that's exactly it. First of all, the fact that
37:10
Speaker 5: we have to spend more money on our goods and
37:12
Speaker 5: services and our groceries and everything, and then of course
37:15
Speaker 5: you will have the effective bracket creep. So I think
37:18
Speaker 5: that's the right assessment. We're not really seeing any advancement
37:21
Speaker 5: in the living standards of Australians. Maybe they're not going
37:23
Speaker 5: down at the rate that they have been for the
37:25
Speaker 5: last three years. And of course, for businesses, wages are
37:29
Speaker 5: just part of the equation. There's also the effect of
37:31
Speaker 5: productivity and we are in a declining productivity environment, and
37:36
Speaker 5: of course that means business costs are not going up
37:38
Speaker 5: by three percent like the wages suggest, they're going up
37:41
Speaker 5: by more like five percent. And of course that means
37:43
Speaker 5: this inflation is still sitting in the economy. So this
37:47
Speaker 5: is not painting a great picture for the economy, and
37:49
Speaker 5: of course it isn't advancing our living standards as some portray.
37:53
Speaker 3: All right, Warren Hogan, appreciate your insights as always.
37:56
Speaker 7: Thanks you.
37:57
Speaker 2: That's still to come. Alb and Easy is under pressure.
38:00
Speaker 2: Put the break on Australia's immigration crisis. I mean, if
38:03
Speaker 2: Kirstarma can do it, then why can't he? Plus the
38:06
Speaker 2: harrowing story of three year old Abigail. She was kidnapped
38:10
Speaker 2: by her muss on October seven after watching her parents murdered.
38:15
Speaker 2: Abigail's great aunt will join me live in studio. That's
38:18
Speaker 2: after this quick break, welcome back.
38:25
Speaker 18: Well.
38:25
Speaker 2: Three little children aged three, six and nine watched when
38:30
Speaker 2: their mum and dad were both murdered by her muss
38:32
Speaker 2: on October seven. Six year old Amalia and nine year
38:36
Speaker 2: old Michael ran and hid in a cupboard, where they
38:40
Speaker 2: stayed and hid for.
38:42
Speaker 3: Fourteen long hours.
38:44
Speaker 2: They were all alone, and to make it worse, the
38:46
Speaker 2: body of their mother was next to them outside the cupboard,
38:51
Speaker 2: but little Abigail, a toddler three years old, was missing.
38:57
Speaker 10: That's Golmitzalem Mirim Telephone and Maca Michael An Benatesha Mirimta Telephone,
39:07
Speaker 10: Miloda with the Imma Metta, ab A, Maria, Mulia, lad
39:15
Speaker 10: Efo Vigail and Mililbo Bait the kitsu Sha.
39:20
Speaker 2: A neighbor saw Abigail being captured and described her as
39:25
Speaker 2: covered with blood that wasn't hers again. Just three years old,
39:31
Speaker 2: She then spent fifty one traumatic days in hermask captivity.
39:34
Speaker 2: She turned four as a hostage held by terrorists without
39:39
Speaker 2: any family around her at all, and when she was
39:43
Speaker 2: finally released on November twenty sixth, little Abigail returned to
39:48
Speaker 2: Israel and orphan. It's one of the saddest stories and
39:51
Speaker 2: it's told in the book Saving Abigail, written by her
39:56
Speaker 2: aunt Liz Hirshneftali, who also then made it her mission
40:01
Speaker 2: to bring her great niece home and pleased to say,
40:05
Speaker 2: Liz joins me here now, Liz, thank you, and welcome
40:09
Speaker 2: to Australia.
40:09
Speaker 3: Thank you. How is Abigail and Amalia and Michael coping? Now?
40:14
Speaker 3: How do they live with this day today?
40:16
Speaker 9: Look?
40:17
Speaker 15: Every day they are, these beautiful children and they live
40:21
Speaker 15: with their aunt and uncle who've adopted them. So they
40:23
Speaker 15: now have six kids and they give them a beautiful life.
40:27
Speaker 15: I mean, these my niece and her husband are my heroes.
40:31
Speaker 15: They have taken this tragedy and done everything to make
40:34
Speaker 15: something beautiful for six children. And at the same time,
40:38
Speaker 15: on that Kidboetz that morning, the other three children also
40:40
Speaker 15: were survivors.
40:42
Speaker 9: They had Hamas terras in their home.
40:44
Speaker 15: They did not find them in their safe room, but
40:47
Speaker 15: they also were there for twenty nine hours.
40:49
Speaker 9: So we have six kids that are all survivors, and.
40:52
Speaker 15: My niece and her husband are raising them and they
40:55
Speaker 15: have look, they have a beautiful life, but they have
40:58
Speaker 15: what you explained, which was that trauma and that tragedy
41:01
Speaker 15: of what these three children experienced.
41:03
Speaker 2: So and what did Abigail go through during her time
41:08
Speaker 2: in captivity when she had no family at all around him?
41:11
Speaker 2: And I can't imagine a little three year old hold
41:15
Speaker 2: on but held byamas.
41:17
Speaker 15: She was held by hamas, but the woman who she
41:19
Speaker 15: after her father was murdered and she crawled out from
41:22
Speaker 15: his body covered in his blood. She went to a
41:25
Speaker 15: neighbor and miraculously he was opening the door to go
41:28
Speaker 15: out and protect the kibbutz, and there was little Abigail,
41:31
Speaker 15: and he put her with his wife and three kids,
41:32
Speaker 15: and they knew each other. Abigail knew this family, and
41:35
Speaker 15: when they were taken off by Hamas terrorists, Abigail was
41:39
Speaker 15: with her. And I prayed that during the whole fifty
41:42
Speaker 15: one days that she was with this woman, Huggar Broditche,
41:45
Speaker 15: and she was and Hugar took care of her like
41:47
Speaker 15: one of her own children. But keep in mind they
41:50
Speaker 15: were in a dark room, they were starved, they had
41:54
Speaker 15: no hygiene, They had to beg for a piece of
41:56
Speaker 15: toilet paper, and they had nothing for the kids to do.
42:00
Speaker 9: We know what our kids do. They play, they have screens,
42:03
Speaker 9: they laugh, they sing. They were silenced for fifty one days.
42:06
Speaker 3: Does Abigail talk about it now? I mean, how does
42:09
Speaker 3: she process that level of trauma.
42:13
Speaker 15: Look, it's something that will be with her and her siblings,
42:15
Speaker 15: they'll all carry this for the rest of their lives.
42:18
Speaker 15: But they're little kids, and you let it come out.
42:21
Speaker 15: And everybody in Israel, all of the children, all of
42:24
Speaker 15: the adults, they have therapists, they're they're all traumatized. But
42:30
Speaker 15: in our case, Abigail goes to school, she gets to
42:33
Speaker 15: play with kids.
42:35
Speaker 9: She is full of energy.
42:38
Speaker 15: She dances, she sings, she's full of life. And if
42:41
Speaker 15: you saw her, you'd say, she's just this beautiful child.
42:44
Speaker 15: But if there's a loud noise, she reacts because for yeah,
42:50
Speaker 15: for fifty one days she was being the area she
42:53
Speaker 15: was being in was bombed by the Israeli Defense Force
42:57
Speaker 15: and that was her experience. But if you I saw her,
43:00
Speaker 15: you would think this child is intelligent, she's dynamic. And
43:04
Speaker 15: you see Michael and Amalia and they laugh and they
43:07
Speaker 15: play and they have a beautiful life. But as adults
43:10
Speaker 15: we see their parents aren't there.
43:12
Speaker 2: Can you tell us a little bit about your battle
43:14
Speaker 2: to bring her home and what did you do, because
43:17
Speaker 2: you really took on a very active role in.
43:20
Speaker 15: This look when Abigail, when we learned that she had survived,
43:25
Speaker 15: it was something of hope.
43:27
Speaker 9: And I went back to America.
43:28
Speaker 15: I'm from New York and I went back to America
43:31
Speaker 15: and I went to Capitol Hill and I was there
43:34
Speaker 15: with the family of Keith Siegel, his sister in the beginning,
43:38
Speaker 15: and there were no other people there because they were
43:39
Speaker 15: still in trauma. But I as an American, I was
43:42
Speaker 15: in Israel in October seventh and then I returned home,
43:46
Speaker 15: and I basically went to DC with this other woman,
43:50
Speaker 15: Keith's sister, and I took a picture of Abigail, and
43:53
Speaker 15: I mean two hundred and fifty copies, and I gave
43:55
Speaker 15: them out everywhere. And then I made a picture with
43:58
Speaker 15: all the hostages and I gave them out. And what
44:01
Speaker 15: I just kept doing was telling people leaders on both sides,
44:04
Speaker 15: that these were people that were stolen infants, grandparents, and
44:09
Speaker 15: that was the beginning of understanding.
44:11
Speaker 9: You just had to keep talking everywhere.
44:13
Speaker 15: Spent a lot of time with the White House, spent
44:15
Speaker 15: a lot of time with other families at the White
44:16
Speaker 15: House and on Capitol Hill, traveling to Doha, traveling to Israel,
44:21
Speaker 15: traveling all around the United States to keep telling the
44:24
Speaker 15: stories and put pressure on the people who can make
44:26
Speaker 15: the difference and bring home the hostages.
44:29
Speaker 2: There are still fifty hostages, about twenty I believed to
44:33
Speaker 2: be alive. Trump just secured the relays of the last
44:36
Speaker 2: American hostage. There is criticism that he just secured the
44:41
Speaker 2: release of one and celebrated that and not the other twenty.
44:44
Speaker 3: How do you feel about that?
44:46
Speaker 9: Look, I'll go back to President Biden.
44:50
Speaker 15: He got out Abigail and one hundred and five women
44:52
Speaker 15: and children in his administration, but for over a year
44:54
Speaker 15: he could not get the rest out. Then the Trump
44:57
Speaker 15: administration came in and they were able to secure the
45:00
Speaker 15: release of thirty three people, and then it stopped. And
45:04
Speaker 15: now you have Eadon Alexander, this beautiful twenty one year
45:07
Speaker 15: old kid grew up in America and he was released.
45:11
Speaker 15: But what Witcoff, Steve Whitcoff and Adam Bowler and Trump
45:14
Speaker 15: have always said is that they are going to keep
45:17
Speaker 15: fighting and that when you see one person free, you
45:20
Speaker 15: have to say it's a blessing, but you then keep
45:23
Speaker 15: working and they are committed to it. And I'm very
45:25
Speaker 15: proud that my American government, Democrats, Republicans have kept this together,
45:29
Speaker 15: supporting the hostages, supporting Israel, and that President Trump and
45:34
Speaker 15: his team are out there and they're in the Middle
45:36
Speaker 15: East and they're getting people to talk, and we have to.
45:39
Speaker 9: Give them the hope and the support. And Dan is
45:41
Speaker 9: the first they've said in this round.
45:43
Speaker 15: They know they have to get everybody and they are
45:45
Speaker 15: committed to getting the fifty eight people home.
45:47
Speaker 2: Litz really appreciate you being here and your book. I
45:50
Speaker 2: know we shared it on screen before but your book
45:52
Speaker 2: Saving Abigail.
45:54
Speaker 3: There it is again. Yeah, I can order it online
45:57
Speaker 3: on Amazon. Thank thank you so much.
45:58
Speaker 9: I appreciate you. Thank you.
46:01
Speaker 2: Now still to calm Keir Starmer's immigration crackdown, the pressure
46:04
Speaker 2: is on al but easy now.
46:05
Speaker 3: To follow suit right after the break.
46:11
Speaker 2: Well, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has managed to surprise
46:15
Speaker 2: us with his strong crackdown on immigration.
46:18
Speaker 20: So when you have an immigration system that seems almost
46:22
Speaker 20: designed to permit abuse, you're actually contributing to the forces
46:27
Speaker 20: that are slowly pulling our country apart. So yes, I
46:32
Speaker 20: believe in this. I believe we need to reduce immigration significantly.
46:39
Speaker 2: We're joining me now, he's spiked online editor Tom Slater. Tom,
46:43
Speaker 2: what motivated Kir Starmer to do this and how's it
46:47
Speaker 2: being received?
46:49
Speaker 21: Well, he's basically running scared of Nigel Farrage and Reform UK,
46:52
Speaker 21: who just had a historic set of local election results.
46:55
Speaker 21: He was at great pains in that speech to say
46:57
Speaker 21: I'm not doing this because of politics, political maneuvering. I'm
47:01
Speaker 21: not doing this because of any particular party. Didn't name
47:03
Speaker 21: the party. I actually believe in this, but I think
47:06
Speaker 21: if you have to say the words I actually believe
47:08
Speaker 21: in this, then maybe people could ask questions about whether
47:10
Speaker 21: you do the policy itself.
47:12
Speaker 8: As you say.
47:13
Speaker 21: I think people broadly speaking have welcomed it. There are
47:16
Speaker 21: a lot of questions now, but whether or not it
47:17
Speaker 21: will actually bring down migration significantly. I think even a
47:21
Speaker 21: fair estimate would suggest we're still going to be in
47:23
Speaker 21: for much higher migration than we had before Brexit, let
47:26
Speaker 21: alone when Label was last in power. But kirstarm has
47:28
Speaker 21: a fundamental credibility issue here as well. When he ran
47:31
Speaker 21: for the Labor Leader.
47:32
Speaker 1: He said we need to make the case for free movement.
47:34
Speaker 21: He was signing letters not that long ago opposing the
47:36
Speaker 21: deportation even the foreign criminals. So for him to now
47:39
Speaker 21: turn around and say I get it, it's going to
47:41
Speaker 21: take a lot for people to believe him. I think
47:43
Speaker 21: there's not many prizes for being the slowest kid in
47:45
Speaker 21: the class in this issue, I think.
47:47
Speaker 2: And one of the reasons this has been so well
47:50
Speaker 2: received is because of the issues with social cohesion that
47:54
Speaker 2: have arisen in the UK.
47:56
Speaker 3: Can you tell us about just how bad it's been.
48:00
Speaker 21: No, absolutely, I mean that particular line in his speech
48:03
Speaker 21: which has really done the rounds. We risk becoming an
48:05
Speaker 21: Island of strangers. It led to a lot of pearl
48:07
Speaker 21: clutching in the media, but you poll people, more than
48:10
Speaker 21: sixty percent of people agree with that topic because of
48:12
Speaker 21: the fact that in some many measures, Britain has been
48:15
Speaker 21: a success story in terms of welcoming people from around
48:18
Speaker 21: the world. But there are clear problems with integration. There
48:21
Speaker 21: are clear problems with parallel lives. There are clear problems
48:24
Speaker 21: with people enclaves forming in which not as much English
48:27
Speaker 21: is being spoken, and within that you don't get the
48:30
Speaker 21: supposed kind of melting pot that people claim they want to.
48:33
Speaker 1: You end up with a.
48:33
Speaker 21: Society that is essentially a series of silos. That's something
48:37
Speaker 21: that people have really recognized it needs to be tackled.
48:39
Speaker 21: But again, is this government, who have only really taken
48:42
Speaker 21: interest in this issue five minutes ago, really going to
48:44
Speaker 21: be the ones to tackle it.
48:46
Speaker 3: Yeah.
48:46
Speaker 2: I spoke of the show last night about how CNN
48:48
Speaker 2: anchor Jake Tapper revealed in his book that Biden's mental
48:52
Speaker 2: decline was so bad that he didn't even recognize Jeorge Clooney.
48:56
Speaker 3: But here's what Tappa was saying on air at the time.
49:01
Speaker 22: I think that you were marking his stuttery. Yeah, I
49:03
Speaker 22: think you were marking his stutter, and I think you
49:05
Speaker 22: have absolutely no standing to diagnose somebody's cognitive decline. I
49:09
Speaker 22: would think that somebody in the Prump family would be
49:12
Speaker 22: more sensitive to people who do not have medical licenses
49:17
Speaker 22: diagnosing politicians from afar. Plenty of people have diagnosed your
49:21
Speaker 22: father from afar.
49:24
Speaker 2: Tom, do you give Jake the benefit of the doubt
49:26
Speaker 2: that he simply didn't know at the time, or was
49:29
Speaker 2: there this left wing media cover up to protect Joe Biden.
49:34
Speaker 1: I mean, the brass neck of it is incredible.
49:36
Speaker 21: It's not just that clip that there's many more of
49:38
Speaker 21: him having a go at people for talking about the
49:41
Speaker 21: evidence of their own eyes. It was because they were
49:43
Speaker 21: trying to defend their candidate from Trump getting back in.
49:47
Speaker 1: That's what it was about.
49:48
Speaker 21: But to turn around now and act like the kind
49:50
Speaker 21: of propagandist in nineteen eighty four that we were always
49:53
Speaker 21: at war with the stage, we always knew that he
49:55
Speaker 21: was in cognitive decline. It's an insult to the American public, I.
49:58
Speaker 3: Think to right.
50:00
Speaker 2: Tom Slater really appreciate you joining us this evening, of
50:04
Speaker 2: course morning in London, and thanks so much for your
50:07
Speaker 2: company this week. I'm going to be off next week.
50:09
Speaker 2: It's been a busy few weeks with the election coverage.
50:13
Speaker 2: I didn't take any time off with my kids during
50:15
Speaker 2: the school holiday, so I'll be off next week, but
50:17
Speaker 2: back the week after. I'll see you then.
50:20
Speaker 3: And right now. Here is Dnika de Giorgio filling in
50:23
Speaker 3: for Paul Murray.