Latest / THE DAILY BRIEF / Wanting a public execution shows Hegseth's 'complete lack of understanding' of his enemies Rohde

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Wanting a public execution shows Hegseth's 'complete lack of understanding' of his enemies Rohde · THE DAILY BRIEF

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  Speaker 1: Joining us now, Paul Rykoff, host of the Independent Americans
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: podcast and a veterans affairs and political analyst. And David Rode,
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: MSNOW senior national security reporter. Paul, you have the Wall
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Street Journal ad board noting that Putin ignored Trump's ceasefire
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: within hours. Who could have possibly predicted that? Everybody.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, this is what he's been doing the entire time.
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  Speaker 2: And the war will continue until Putin is dead or removed.
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  Speaker 2: I think everybody in the world can see that. Except
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: Donald Trump, who can probably see it as well. I
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: think we're in the phase with Trump now where it's
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  Speaker 2: kind of the spray and pray strategy. He might double
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  Speaker 2: down on attacking Iran. He might turn on Ukraine again.
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  Speaker 2: He might hit Cuba. He might attack our elections. But
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  Speaker 2: he's throwing everything out there that he can, hoping he
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  Speaker 2: hits something. But I think it's really important always and
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  Speaker 2: especially now to remind people that Donald Trump does not
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  Speaker 2: speak for most Americans on Ukraine. that most of the
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  Speaker 2: American public stands with Ukraine against Putin, sees it for
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  Speaker 2: what it is. And most American veterans stand with Ukraine.
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  Speaker 2: So he continues to betray them. He continues to backstab them.
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  Speaker 2: He continues to have reasons for our enemies to be celebrating.
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: But most Americans stand strong with Ukraine. We need to
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  Speaker 2: send that message to Ukraine and to the world because
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  Speaker 2: they're listening to more than Donald Trump. They're listening to us.
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  Speaker 1: David, the diesel deal with the Kremlin is catching bipartisan criticism.
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  Speaker 1: Trump is brushing that off. Take a listen.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I think these Republicans can't really be serious.
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  Speaker 3: We have, you know, we make a lot of oil.
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  Speaker 2: We could do a restriction on oil, but.
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  Speaker 3: The rest of the world would be greatly, greatly affected
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  Speaker 3: if we do that.
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  Speaker 2: And we could do a.
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  Speaker 4: Restriction, you know, a cap on diesel, keep it all
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  Speaker 4: for ourselves.
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  Speaker 3: That would have a very big impact.
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  Speaker 5: And it's not really a deal with me.
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  Speaker 2: It's a deal for the.
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  Speaker 3: Rest of the world.
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: I mean, this is truly wild, David Rode. What message
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  Speaker 1: does it send to Putin for the president to sign
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  Speaker 1: off on sanctions and then immediately fold and do business
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  Speaker 1: with him? What kind of deterrent is that supposed to be?
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  Speaker 4: It's not a deterrent, and it's this continued approach towards
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  Speaker 4: Vladimir Putin that puzzles all of us. I've been trying
• 1:59
  Speaker 4: to think about why he takes this approach to Putin.
• 2:02
  Speaker 4: I don't think he's some Russian asset, and there was
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  Speaker 4: a very long investigation by Robert Mueller into all of that.
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  Speaker 4: But he is sympathetic towards Putin. I don't know if
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  Speaker 4: it's just because he, as a strong man, he trusts him.
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  Speaker 4: I don't, you know, that he feels Putin doesn't criticize
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  Speaker 4: him in public, but It's just so consistent here. And
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  Speaker 4: most of all, it's not working. It makes no difference.
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  Speaker 4: I agree with the Wall Street Journal editorial board. These
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  Speaker 4: gestures he makes, such as this freeze and attacks, Putin
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  Speaker 4: ignores them within hours.
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  Speaker 1: So where does this leave Zelensky?
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  Speaker 2: He has to keep winning. I think that's really the
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  Speaker 2: focus here, right? You can't make excuses. You've got to
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  Speaker 2: keep making moves. And he continues to win. And I
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  Speaker 2: think the more that Ukraine wins, the more the world
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  Speaker 2: will rally around him. Failure is not an option for him, right?
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  Speaker 2: There is no other option other than victory. until Putin
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  Speaker 2: decides to stop attacking Ukraine. So Zelensky has emerged as
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  Speaker 2: the true leader of the free world, the role that
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: used to be played by the American president. But he's
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: stepping into that role. He's still rallying the world. And
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: as he wins more, Trump does come around sometimes. When
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: it looks like Ukraine is winning, when it looks like
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  Speaker 2: he can be on the bandwagon, Trump's the biggest political
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: bandwagon jumper there is. And if Zelensky is making progress,
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  Speaker 2: especially in the winter when things will be tough, Trump
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  Speaker 2: will have to either get with the program or look
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  Speaker 2: like an outsider.
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  Speaker 1: Meanwhile, you have Defense Secretary Pete Hagsop saying the Pentagon
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: will execute the Fort Hood shooter on livestream. House Speaker
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  Speaker 1: Mike Johnson, for one, does not love that idea. Take
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  Speaker 1: a listen.
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  Speaker 5: The concern would be that you would create a video
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  Speaker 5: that they wouldn't be a recruiting tool for future terrorists.
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  Speaker 5: You know, we've got to think through the policy implications
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  Speaker 5: of all that. I wouldn't be watching it if it
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  Speaker 5: was aired. I need to tell the White House what
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  Speaker 5: some of my colleagues think about that, and not everybody's
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  Speaker 5: in favor.
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  Speaker 1: Of the idea. And then in the last hour, the
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  Speaker 1: president said he's looking at doing this. Did Hegseth get
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  Speaker 1: ahead of the president? Your sense of what happened here?
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  Speaker 2: I don't know. I mean, Hegseth is doing what he
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: always does. He's kind of on a bender. It's like
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  Speaker 2: a culture war bender and a political showcase bender where
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  Speaker 2: he's continuing to elevate himself and create spectacle instead of substance.
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  Speaker 1: It's shameful.
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  Speaker 2: I don't think it's strategically smart. It's also beneath America
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  Speaker 2: and it's unpopular. Hegseth keeps coming up with new ways
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  Speaker 2: to throw out unpopular things that are also dragging down Trump.
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  Speaker 2: So I wouldn't be surprised if Hegseth volunteered himself to
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  Speaker 2: be in the firing squad to do a workout before
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  Speaker 2: it and do it in Times Square outside. That's what
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  Speaker 2: he does. And I continue to say he's positioning himself
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  Speaker 2: to run for president in the future.
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  Speaker 1: David Road, final thoughts from you. What are you hearing
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  Speaker 1: from national security experts about this?
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  Speaker 4: They're just baffled. And look, I'll say from my own experience,
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  Speaker 4: many years ago, over a decade ago, I was kidnapped
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  Speaker 4: by the Taliban. I spent seven months with jihadists. Executing
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  Speaker 4: a public execution is not going to deter a jihadist.
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  Speaker 4: I agree with Speaker Mike Johnson. This tape will be
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  Speaker 4: used as a recruiting tool. They want to die. They
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  Speaker 4: believe they're going to go straight to heaven. And it
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  Speaker 4: just shows, again, Secretary Hegseth's complete lack of understanding of
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  Speaker 4: his enemies, whether it's jihadis or the Iranian government. He
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  Speaker 4: just doesn't seem to understand how they think or how
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  Speaker 4: to win these conflicts.
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  Speaker 1: All right, David Road, Paul Rykoff, when the stakes are
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  Speaker 1: so high, thank you both for joining us.
• 5:16
  Speaker 3: Hey, it's Rachel. I am so glad to see you
• 5:18
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• 5:31
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• 5:42
  Speaker 4: Thanks.