Latest / 3 Martini Lunch – Political Humor & Commentary / Passengers Stop Midair Middle East Terrorist Attack, Plane Plunged 17,000 Feet

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Passengers Stop Midair Middle East Terrorist Attack, Plane Plunged 17,000 Feet · 3 Martini Lunch – Political Humor & Commentary

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the Three Martini Lunch.
• 0:04
  Speaker 2: Grab a stool next to Greg Karambas of Radio America
• 0:07
  Speaker 2: and Jim Garrity of National Review.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Three martinis coming up.
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: So glad you're with us for the Wednesday edition of
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: the Three Martini Lunch. And Jim, I think it was
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: less than a month ago, in fact, earlier this month,
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: where we talked about how since 9-11, we've had fewer
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: major terrorist attack attempts. Well, We're still not exactly sure
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: what went on at RAF Fairford there in the UK.
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: You wrote about it yesterday, so you know a lot
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: about it more than I do. But now we've got
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: this other story coming out of the Middle East, and
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: sometimes the details are in conflict here. But basically what
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: happened is a fly Dubai flight from Dubai to Tel
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: Aviv was humming along, and then all of a sudden
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: the plane took a nosedive. As best as we can tell,
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: the co-pilot stabbed the pilot. This was an Omani co-pilot.
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: And then like the systems went dark, the systems went down,
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: the plane went into a plunge. Then passengers, Israeli passengers
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: in particular, it seems, stormed the cockpit, subdued the co-pilot
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: who was apparently trying to take the plane down. There
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: were other pilots who happened to be on board. So
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: they landed safely in Saudi Arabia, which is a testament
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: to relations being quite a bit different there than they
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: were in the not so distant past. So thankfully, Jim,
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: this had a much happier ending than it certainly could have.
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: But what do you make of the details we're learning
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: so far and where we go from here?
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: You know, Greg, one of the, it's not quite an
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: unsolved mystery, but Egypt Air Flight 990 in the late
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: 1990s took off from either LaGuardia or JFK and plunged
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: into the ocean. And there was enormous consternation and confusion.
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: National Transportation Safety Board did its investigation and no one
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: really understood why I believe it was the co-pilot, pushed
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: down on the stick and put them into that dive,
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: leading to the deaths of everyone on board. A lot
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: of people wondered, was this pilot suicide? Was he somehow
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: unaware of what he was doing, which is very hard
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: to believe? Or was this an early jihadist? It was
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: the sort of thing that looks very different after 9-11. Well,
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: here we have another presumably Muslim pilot seeming to want
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: to act an act of suicide. as an act of
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: terrorism and to kill all the passengers on board, including
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: many Israelis. By the way, can we take a moment
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: and pause at the irony when these passengers were told,
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: Israeli passengers, don't worry, you're safe. You're in Saudi Arabia.
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: And you're right, the times really have changed. We will
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: learn more about this, but we're seeing this from videos
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: of people taped inside the aircraft. immediately after the crisis.
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: So it's certainly, you know, this is their account of
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: what happened here. On the one hand, through the Abraham Accords,
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: we really liked the thawing of relations between Israel and
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: certain Arab and Muslim states. The idea of flights between
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: Tel Aviv and Dubai seemed like a really good positive
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: development for relationships in this part of the world. I
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: guess we see the downside. Also, in a very strange way,
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: there's almost a Islamist terrorism classic, the idea of trying
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: to seize the controls of an airliner. We haven't seen
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: that in a little while, Greg. And so it just
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: kind of feels like the interesting thing is, like, as
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: far as we know, I mean, you know, Al Qaeda
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: is a shadow of what it used to be. ISIS
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: is not what it used to be. The kind of
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: frightening possibility that this doesn't have to be an organized
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: terrorist plot. This is just some guy who either was
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: already in flight school and learned to be a pilot
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: and got assigned to this or maybe asked for this duty,
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: knowing that someday he would be at the controls of
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: a plane that had a lot of Israeli passengers. And
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: this would be his way of striking out and killing
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: lots of Israelis and striking a blow against the Zionist state, blah, blah, blah.
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's just amazing that this has a happy ending.
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: I think everyone learned the lesson from Flight 93. is
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: that once you realize something's going down, literally and figuratively,
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: that you have to act. They're not just taking you
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: to some random airport necessarily and then making demands.
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: You're not going to get traded for other prisoners or
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: things like that.
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and so the Fox News story on this has
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: a statement from FlyDubai, which confirmed that an altercation occurred
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: in the flight deck, but they say on-duty FlyDubai crew
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: traveling aboard the craft secured the aircraft, diverted it, and
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: landed safely safely. In Saudi Arabia, the airline did not
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: confirm the stabbing, and so the underlying reasons and motives
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: remained under formal investigation. Jim, considering the number of iPhone
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: or whatever phone videos of Israeli passengers with blood streaming
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: down their face because they were in some sort of altercation,
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: something tells me this is being whitewashed by FlyDubai on
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: what exactly happened here and how this flight got saved.
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: I mean, if you're going to issue a statement like that,
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: you might as well also say, and all passengers will
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: be getting double miles for this trip because of.
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: Or.
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: We guarantee all of your baggage will make it to
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: Tel Aviv, you know, on time and all that stuff. Like, look,
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: you know, I can understand the supreme embarrassment for this airline.
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: But what happened, happened. And I don't think this is
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: the sort of thing that you can, you know, hand
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: wave away. I think there was some, wasn't there some
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: case in which an airline had a suicidal pilot and
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: they had to say something like, look, 99.9% of our
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: pilots are not suicidal. And, you know, that's a tough
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: message to put in a commercial.
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: Well, that's why they always have two, among other reasons.
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: But one of them is probably in a good mood.
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: You hope so. Israeli authorities, not surprisingly, now treating this
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: incident as a terrorist attack following an initial investigation and
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: some of the passenger testimony that we have. So, again,
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: this could have turned out way worse. Thankful for those
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: who acted quickly and very thankful that there were other
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: pilots on board who could just happen to land a
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: commercial jetliner. That doesn't happen every day either.
• 5:59
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• 6:01
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• 7:42
  Speaker 2: Use martini to save today. Well, Jim, you know, everybody's
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: clamoring for endorsements in the midterm election as they get
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: close to election day. You know, if you get a
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: big wig in your party to endorse you during the primary,
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: that's a big deal. If you can get other prominent people,
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: maybe kind of the middle of the road people or
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: even in the other party to endorse you for the
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: general election, maybe that's a feather in your cap or
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: just consolidating your base. That's a really good thing, too.
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: Sometimes you get endorsements that you might not want. But
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: that's where the Democrats are today. They've been endorsed by...
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran. New York Post
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: with the story here. The IRGC put out a 25-page
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: letter addressed to Americans urging them to oppose President Donald
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: Trump during the upcoming midterm elections. They claimed the president
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: and his support of Israel were the cause of the war,
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: and they urged voters to reject both in the voting booth.
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: The letter accuses Trump of concealing, quote, the peaceful nature
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: of of Iran's nuclear program, despite allegations from the International
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: Atomic Energy Agency watchdog that Tehran was enriching its uranium
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: beyond what was needed for a power plant. The IRGC
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: also lashed out against the U.S. government designating the security
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: force as a terrorist group, claiming there was not, quote,
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: a single verifiable instance where the IRGC has committed an
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: act of violence against civilians, unquote. The Post says, hey,
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: that remark comes as the regime stands accused of killing
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: between 7,000 and 30,000 protesters in January of this year
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: during a brutal crackdown on dissent, which the regime defends
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: by claiming the violence was instigated by foreign actors. They
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: also claim, of course, that the U.S. economy is about
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: to collapse and we're going to be feeling great economic pain,
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: all Trump's fault.
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: So.
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: Vote Democrat is essentially the message from the IRGC here. Jim,
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: if you're the Republicans, you couldn't ask for a better
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: endorsement going the other way.
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: I was going to say, you know, if you're a Republican,
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: you're running ads about this. If you're the Democrats, you aren't. Folks,
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: I'm going to take the way back machine to before
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: the existence of the three martini lunch, six years before it,
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: to be honest. And 2004 presidential election, George W. Bush
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: versus John Kerry, the start of the Kerry spot at
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: National Review. And, you know, the war on terror, obviously,
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: and the Iraq war were front and center for much
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: of that campaign. Other issues as well, but it was
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: very much John Kerry. I actually voted for the $ 87
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: billion before I voted against it. And I don't think
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: this was decisive in the race, but it was something
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: of an October surprise, and it was... The Friday before
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: the election, Osama bin Laden issued a new video statement, released,
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: I believe, through Al Jazeera. It's been like a couple
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: months since we'd heard from bin Laden. And, you know, people,
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: since 2010, since bin Laden was killed in the Navy
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: SEAL raid, there's kind of, it's easy to forget. You know,
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: bin Laden, he would pop up, he'd issue some diatribe
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: on video, and it would be kind of scary looking, sounding,
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: and then, you know, but then he would disappear for
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: a couple months. And there'd be this question of like,
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: Did he die? Is he injured? Remember that belief that
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: he was on kidney dialysis, all that kind of stuff.
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: But this message came out and there were different translations
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: of the words he used, but he said something along
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: the lines of the regions that are not opposed to
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: us will not be struck, the regions that weren't. Some
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: people are basically saying he's going to strike red states
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: because he sees that as opposition. He sees that as
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: blue states as not being opposed to him. Now, it's al-Qaeda.
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: Al-Qaeda hates all Americans. There really is not a partisan
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: preference for al-Qaeda. But that having been said, bringing the
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: issue of terror front and center right before Election Day
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: in 2004, in an era where early voting was much rarer, Greg,
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: and Election Day was a much bigger deal, I think
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: that was an advantage to George W. Bush in those
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: closing days. If the message from the Iranians is, Trump
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: has done wrong, and American people, we want you to
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: vote for Democrats to punish Trump, I don't look here.
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: The Democrats are saying, please stop. Do not endorse us.
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: Do not talk about us. You know, don't stir up
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: trouble between now and Election Day, because the more that happens,
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: the more Americans might say, you know, I got some
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: problems the way Trump didn't go to Congress. Trump didn't
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: really announce this. He didn't really make a very cohesive
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: case for this. But I really bleeping hate the Iranian mullahs.
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: And I'm not going to let them tell us what
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: we ought to do in the Middle East or anywhere else.
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: And that probably could– that could stir things back towards
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: the Republicans. If you're the Democrats, you need this like
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: stubbing your toe or maybe even worse than that. And
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: I kind of am left wondering, will Republicans have the
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: wherewithal to spotlight this? Also, Greg, did I hear correctly
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: that this was a 42-page message from the Iranian Revolutionary
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: Guard Corps?
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: 25, but still way too long.
• 12:36
  Speaker 3: 25.
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: Have you guys heard about TikTok and how it's shortening
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: Americans'– Six seconds. You really needed the elevator pitch. And
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: I realized they may not be into that over there, Greg,
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: because I'm not sure there are any buildings tall enough
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: for an elevator still standing in Iran. But nonetheless, you guys,
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: bullet points. If there was ever a time for Axios
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: smart brevity, this would be it, Iranians. Get to the point.
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: We don't know. Ain't nobody got time for that.
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: I got some bullet points for the IRGC.
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: I set that up. I didn't even realize it.
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: So, yes, if you're a Republican... Hey, my opponent's endorsed
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: by the Democratic Socialists of America and the Islamic Revolutionary
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: Guard Council.
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: My opponent is a uniter, not a divider. Not since
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact have we seen two great tastes that
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: belong together like this.
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: All right, Jim. Well, we know the Iranians want us
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: dead and the terrorists that they sponsor. But I'll tell
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: you what, we love life in this country and we
• 13:35
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• 13:38
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• 13:41
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• 13:44
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• 13:47
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• 13:49
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• 13:55
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• 13:57
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• 14:00
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• 14:03
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• 14:05
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• 14:14
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• 14:19
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• 14:45
  Speaker 2: bit lighter fare yesterday up on Capitol Hill, a Senate hearing,
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: I believe Judiciary Committee, Chuck Grassley, the chairman with some
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: very interesting revelations, which we'll get to in a moment.
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: But the The viral moment of the day, of course,
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: came as former special counsel Jack Smith was testifying and
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: Eric Schmidt. So it's Smith and Schmidt who are in
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: this exchange here. Eric Schmidt, the Missouri Republican senator. His
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: staff had thought that they had established that Smith was
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: in Atlanta at a basketball game right around a pivotal
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: point when the Fulton County authorities were deciding whether to
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: charge Trump in those years between the time that Trump
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: was president. However, Hawks... Can be used for different teams.
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: And so here is how that exchange went with Schmidt
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: and Smith.
• 15:31
  Speaker 3: Did you go to an NBA game between the Golden
• 15:34
  Speaker 3: State Warriors and the Atlanta Hawks on February 3rd, 2024?
• 15:39
  Speaker 4: What city would that be in?
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: Atlanta.
• 15:41
  Speaker 4: No.
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 15:42
  Speaker 3: So your testimony today is that you did not go
• 15:45
  Speaker 3: to a Hawks game on February 3rd, 2024.
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: Is that correct?
• 15:48
  Speaker 4: I have no recollection of that.
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 15:50
  Speaker 3: The day before Fannie Willis... came clean with her affair
• 15:53
  Speaker 3: with the prosecutor. You know, the Atlanta prosecutor that was
• 15:56
  Speaker 3: also trying to get Trump. The next day, were you
• 15:58
  Speaker 3: in Atlanta?
• 15:59
  Speaker 4: I do not believe so.
• 16:01
  Speaker 3: Did you ever go to Atlanta during your time as
• 16:02
  Speaker 3: special counsel?
• 16:04
  Speaker 4: I really don't think so. It's possible I flew through
• 16:07
  Speaker 4: the Atlanta airport on the way to Florida, but I
• 16:10
  Speaker 4: do not have a recollection. of going to Atlanta. I
• 16:15
  Speaker 4: definitely did not go to a Hawks game.
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: I'm sure of that.
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: I recall going.
• 16:19
  Speaker 4: To a University of Maryland basketball game where Caitlin Clark
• 16:23
  Speaker 4: was playing right around that time. And the Marshal Service
• 16:28
  Speaker 4: was there with me. You could check if that was
• 16:30
  Speaker 4: the exact date.
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: It was Hawks or Hawkeyes.
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: Jim, just so close together here. And so a little
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: bit of egg on the face. If you were online,
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: you saw Senator Katie Britt of Alabama with kind of
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: the shocked face that that line of questioning obviously did
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: not go the way that the Schmidt team intended. I'm
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: guessing there might have been a little bit of post-game
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: meeting in Schmidt's office about whether his staffers put the
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: questions together, how they got all that, and what went wrong.
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: But there's other stuff we need to talk about from
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: that hearing, but that was not a great moment yesterday
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: for Schmidt.
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: Greg, that's not egg on the face. That's not even
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: a Western omelet on the face. That is the Hampton
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: Inn morning breakfast buffet where they have the big soup of,
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: you know, a big serving dish of scrambled eggs on
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: the face. So the other thing that I'm trying to
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: get at, let's assume that Jack Smith was at an
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: Atlanta Hawks game in downtown Atlanta on that date. would
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: that prove that he had worked with this other DA
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: in Georgia?
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: Not necessarily. Right?
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: Like you just say, oh, you were in this, you
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: were in the same state as this other person who's
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: involved in a scandal, but it's a personal scandal, right?
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: She was involved with the chief investigator in a, you know,
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: more than friends relationship without disclosing it. It was very inappropriate,
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: very self, but that doesn't really have anything to do
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: with Jack Smith. And so the clips do it pretty
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: good justice. There was also one in which people recognize
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: the moment he figured out what Senator Schmidt was getting
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: at and realizing that he was mixing up the Hawks
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: game and the Hawkeyes game and the fact that they
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: were in two different cities quite a distance apart and
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: that one had nothing to do with the other. He
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: kind of gets this smile on his face of like, oh. Oh,
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: this guy's totally wrong on this. And then when he
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: finally lays this out, you can see the reaction of
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: the staffers behind Senator Schmidt. And it is much more
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: like a renaissance painting of, you know, just shock and
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: horror and this sense of, oh, oh, he did not
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: check this out at all. And now you're kind of wondering, like,
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: where did he get this idea? Why did he think
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: this was going to be a really good, useful, productive
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: line of questioning? And so, yes, he does look really foolish.
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: I would also point out Jack Smith, like this, this
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: is this is September 2026. This Smith shut down his
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: investigation like early 2025. Right. I'm very doubtful of the
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: productivity of a hearing of Republican senators yelling at Jack
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: Smith and thinking, ah. We've got you. You're at either
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: the Hawks or the Hawkeye game somewhere on the East
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: Coast on this date several years ago.
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: Well, there's a lot of people that think it's relevant
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: because of what was revealed in yesterday's hearing, and that's
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: that Jack Smith and his team ran roughshod over privacy
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: rights and getting all sorts of communications, not only from lawmakers,
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: but also from the media. The Washington Times story on
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: this says Smith's probe into President Trump and Republicans collected
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: communications from members of the news media, including major networks
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: and newspapers. Grassley cited specifically the Associated Press, 60 Minutes,
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: The Washington Times, The Wall Street Journal. Grassley called it
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: a disgraceful government overreach. Other outlets included Bloomberg's. CNBC, CNN,
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: Fox News, The LA Times, Mark Levin Show, NBC, NPR,
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: New York Magazine, Reuters, The Federalist, Washington Post, and The
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: Wall Street Journal. So So, you know, figuring out who
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: went to what basketball game is certainly going to go
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: viral when your research was not as good as it
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: should have been. But whether these investigators and perhaps Smith
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: himself trampled over people's rights is probably a bigger story,
• 20:13
  Speaker 2: I think.
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: Were those documents subpoenaed, Greg? If you're subpoenaing things, well,
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: first of all, if you're subpoenaing communications of government officials,
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: it's not surprising you'd have communications to media figures. And
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: then the next question is, if you do that, you're
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: basically going to a judge saying, I need to look
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: at this stuff. Some other judge signs off on it.
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: This is not one branch saying this is important. We
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: want to look at these sorts of things.
• 20:35
  Speaker 2: Anyway, life goes on. And that includes attack ads ahead
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: of this Sunday's Jets-Bears game. And that's next. All right, Jim,
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: it is now Wednesday. The intensity is building. You can
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: feel it, you know, even bigger than an IRGC endorsement.
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: You're starting to see people just absolutely revving up. Their
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: pulse rates are already really high and we still have
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: four days to go until kickoff. But yes, these third
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: party PACs, special interest groups, they are relentless and they
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: are going to advertise right up to the last second,
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: right through Thursday. the end of the week here on
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: the Three Martini Lunch. And of course, they've mastered our
• 21:16
  Speaker 2: voices through AI. It's absolutely crazy. But here's the latest
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: round of ads that they have bought. This one is
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: aimed against the Jets. The last time the Jets won
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: the Super Bowl, Ronald Reagan was in his first term
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: as governor. We hadn't landed on the moon, and Yoko
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: Ono hadn't broken up the Beatles yet. The last time
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: the Jets won their division, Nickelback had the number one
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: song of the year. Strom Thurmond was still in the U.S. Senate.
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: And the last time the Jets made the playoffs, Bin
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: Laden was alive. The Bears just won the division last year.
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: They've been to the Super Bowl this century. And you
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: don't have to be collecting Social Security to remember the
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: last time they were champions. The Jets might be getting
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: better soon. But can you really take that chance? The
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: Ground the Jets Pack is responsible for the content of
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: this advertising. Jim, once again, some fierce facts coming out there.
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: Stings, yeah.
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: What stings worse, the haven't landed on the moon or Nickelback?
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: Oh, you know, most people would say Nickelback, but I'm
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: going to answer Strom. Strom was a pretty good, you know, because.
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: That's a while ago. That's a minute ago, as the
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: kids say. But, you know, the folks who hate the
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: Bears are firing back just as fiercely. Here is their
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: latest ad.
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: New York City is home to Donald Trump. Chicago is
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: MAGA country. In the imagination of Jesse Smollett, New York
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: City gave America President Teddy Roosevelt. Chicago gave America President
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: Barack Obama. New York City is famous for the pride
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: of the Yankees. Chicago is famous for the Chicago Black Sox.
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: New York City is famous for fun serial killers like
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: Son of Sam. Chicago is famous for notorious gangsters like
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: Al Capone. And when it comes to mayors, we'll call
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: that one a wash. Paid for by Americans United for
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: a Bears defeat on October 4th.
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: It is hard to determine which is the worst mayor.
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: So I appreciate the honesty there. Not sure that I
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: would describe Son of Sam as a fun serial killer. But,
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: you know, it's a little different than gangster style killings.
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: I mean, you know, if you're thinking fun serial killers,
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: do you top with Manson? Do you start or Dahmer
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: for his culinary tips and all that kind of stuff?
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: You know, it's a shame we don't make fun of
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: the Packers on a regular basis because that's kind of
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: the Milwaukee, Wisconsin, you know. Beers, brats, and body parts, apparently,
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: are the staples out there. But nonetheless, yeah, so it's
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: one of those things where, like, you know, I'm trying
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: to think of, like, the most jolly serial killer out there.
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: I'm open to suggestions. People want to suggest, you know,
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: which city has a more, you know, because, like, I
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: will say, though, like, when you think Chicago, Al Capone is, like,
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: usually on the top five things people, you know, mention.
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: The other thing, which is, I've got to say, is
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: a little weird. Chicago Fire is the name of their
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: major league soccer team. Wasn't it like a major natural disaster?
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: The Great Chicago Fire of 1871, yeah.
• 24:12
  Speaker 4: Right.
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: So like Mrs. O'Leary's cow, I believe, is the universal
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: scapegoat for that. Would you name a Los Angeles team
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: to earthquakes? I suppose it was University of Miami Hurricanes.
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: And that's kind of like what natural disaster has devastated
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: our city? And what do we want to name our
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: local sports team to make people think of it as
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: often as possible? Kind of a strange choice out there.
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: Yes, I know. I appreciate it when they just, you know,
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: had the Bears and the Cubs and then clothing, the
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: White Sox. And of course, you had the Blackhawks. So, yeah,
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: soccer's in the end. You know what I think about soccer.
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: So that name could certainly be improved. So we'll see
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: what these dastardly special interest groups have in store for
• 24:52
  Speaker 2: the rest of the week. But man. Jim, they are
• 24:54
  Speaker 2: firing with both barrels in both directions. So a lot
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: of pressure on both teams now headed into Sunday.
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: Well, to quote Bart Scott, can't wait.
• 25:01
  Speaker 2: Jim Garrity, National Review. I'm Greg Karambas of Radio America.
• 25:04
  Speaker 2: Thanks so much for being with us today. Please be
• 25:05
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• 25:08
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• 25:09
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• 25:13
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• 25:15
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• 25:18
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• 25:21
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• 25:24
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• 25:27
  Speaker 2: Thursday for the next 3 Martini Lunch.