Latest / The Rita Panahi Show / The Rita Panahi Show | 24 September

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The Rita Panahi Show | 24 September · The Rita Panahi Show

0:03
Speaker 1: Starting right now, The Rita Panahy Show.
0:08
Speaker 2: Well, good evening and welcome to The Rita Pennehy Show.
0:10
Speaker 2: I'm James McPherson. Here's what's coming up tonight. The Prime
0:13
Speaker 2: Minister talks tough on the global stage as he accepts
0:17
Speaker 2: a Global Citizen Award. My panel will cover that and
0:20
Speaker 2: the day's other top headlines. Argentina's president delivers a fiery
0:24
Speaker 2: speech to the United Nations General Assembly. I'll get Ralph
0:27
Speaker 2: Schollhammer's reaction. Josh Hammer will have the latest from the US,
0:31
Speaker 2: including Xi Jinping's arrival for a three-day summit with Donald Trump.
0:36
Speaker 2: An awkward moment for Prince Harry in New York. Kinsey
0:39
Speaker 2: Schofield will have all your entertainment and royal news. And
0:43
Speaker 2: you will not want to miss Lefty's Losing It, which
0:45
Speaker 2: tonight features this privileged granny.
0:49
Speaker 3: White men and white women, they are issued at birth
0:54
Speaker 3: in white developed countries. They are issued a privileged entitlement card.
1:04
Speaker 2: We'll get to that shortly. But first, Prime Minister Anthony
1:08
Speaker 2: Albanese has accepted the Atlantic Council's Global Citizen Award for
1:13
Speaker 2: his role in promoting regional stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
1:17
Speaker 2: In his speech, he declared the rules-based world order was
1:20
Speaker 2: no longer working and that post-World War II institutions were
1:24
Speaker 2: no longer fit for purpose. Probably because they've been hollowed
1:28
Speaker 2: out by the left, of which Albanese is a part. Now,
1:31
Speaker 2: he didn't say that, but that's a rhetorical flourish I
1:34
Speaker 2: would have added had I been the PM's speechwriter. Albanese
1:37
Speaker 2: also warned the Indo-Pacific was not a chessboard for global superpowers.
1:42
Speaker 2: But if it was, would Elbow be a bishop or
1:45
Speaker 2: a pawn? Joining me now is former president of the
1:47
Speaker 2: Victorian Liberal Party, President Michael Kroger, and Menzies Research Centre
1:52
Speaker 2: senior fellow Nick Cater. Michael, I'll start with you. Does
1:56
Speaker 2: Albanese deserve this award? He has worked hard in the Indo-Pacific.
2:01
Speaker 4: Yeah, but it's a Global Citizen Award.
2:03
Speaker 5: And have a look at the chaos and mayhem that
2:06
Speaker 5: he's created in Australia. I mean, we've seen more anti-Semitism
2:09
Speaker 5: in this country than at any time in my lifetime,
2:13
Speaker 5: culminating in these disgraceful Palestinian demonstrations, a blockade of his
2:18
Speaker 5: own office, a synagogue being burned down, Jewish hatred spewing
2:23
Speaker 5: out around this country and of course, most appallingly, what
2:29
Speaker 5: we saw at Bondi. I mean, he's presided over this
2:34
Speaker 5: shocking situation in Australia where social cohesion has been smashed.
2:38
Speaker 5: So I think to accept any kind of award on
2:41
Speaker 5: the global stage is almost humiliating. And I think he
2:44
Speaker 5: should have declined it and basically said, there are other
2:47
Speaker 5: people much more worthy than me that haven't presided over
2:50
Speaker 5: this social cohesion disaster that we've seen in Australia, James.
2:54
Speaker 2: I think there would be a lot of people who
2:56
Speaker 2: would be agreeing with Michael, Nick. It's a pity that
2:59
Speaker 2: Prime Minister had to go so far to find some love.
3:01
Speaker 2: He's certainly not getting much here. What do you make
3:04
Speaker 2: of his speech emphasising the importance of rules and warning
3:08
Speaker 2: the US and China they shouldn't use our region as
3:11
Speaker 2: a chessboard?
3:12
Speaker 6: I'm sure they'd be quaking in their boots. But, I mean,
3:14
Speaker 6: as an Australian, I suppose I should be proud that
3:16
Speaker 6: we're winning anything. I'd rather settle for the Eurovision Song
3:20
Speaker 6: Contest quite privately.
3:22
Speaker 2: But I'm troubled by this whole idea.
3:25
Speaker 6: Of global citizen. I mean, surely you can only be
3:27
Speaker 6: citizen of a country. You have rights and responsibilities to
3:31
Speaker 6: the citizens.
3:32
Speaker 4: Of a country.
3:32
Speaker 6: And once you go down this, which the left love
3:35
Speaker 6: this idea of global citizen, of course, once you go
3:37
Speaker 6: down this whole idea of a global citizenry, who are
3:41
Speaker 6: we to decide who comes to this country? You have
3:44
Speaker 6: huge problems about accepting migrants. If you if you are
3:48
Speaker 6: one of those global citizen people, you think that everybody
3:51
Speaker 6: should be allowed to come. So I'm sure this is
3:53
Speaker 6: encouraging his worst instincts.
3:55
Speaker 2: Michael, does Albanese put too much faith in the rules
3:59
Speaker 2: based system? I mean, rules work, but they've got to
4:02
Speaker 2: be enforced. Right. So ultimately, you've got to have strong nations.
4:07
Speaker 2: And Albanese seems under the illusion that if we just
4:10
Speaker 2: get people around the table and have enough dialogue, everything
4:14
Speaker 2: will be fine.
4:16
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's this sort of notion that, you know, the
4:18
Speaker 5: world is ruled by the United Nations and the Security
4:20
Speaker 5: Council and General Assembly and they pass all these resolutions and,
4:24
Speaker 5: you know, all is good with the world. The bottom
4:26
Speaker 5: line is it all depends on international leadership, on country leadership.
4:30
Speaker 5: And what we've seen recently is shocking behaviour by the Russians,
4:35
Speaker 5: shocking behaviour by Hamas and Palestinian extremists, appalling behaviour by
4:40
Speaker 5: the Chinese in relation to how they've treated human rights, Uyghurs,
4:44
Speaker 5: et cetera, in their own country. You've still got these
4:47
Speaker 5: Stalinist countries in places like Cuba. So, yeah, the rules-based
4:53
Speaker 5: order depends on the leadership of these countries, which in
4:56
Speaker 5: those cases has been shocking. I suppose one good thing
4:59
Speaker 5: is that if you look at Latin America, Latin America
5:02
Speaker 5: is moving to the right. Trump-aligned candidates have been winning
5:07
Speaker 5: most of the elections in South America and Latin America
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Speaker 5: in recent years. And that's a good thing because these
5:15
Speaker 5: people believe in freedom, democracy, strong borders and law and order.
5:20
Speaker 5: So there is some good in the world, but it
5:23
Speaker 5: all depends on leadership, not a rules-based order imposed by
5:26
Speaker 5: the UN, mate.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, well, at the moment, I'd say the United States
5:29
Speaker 2: has more in common with the leadership of Argentina than
5:31
Speaker 2: the leadership of our own country. Just sticking with Albanese
5:35
Speaker 2: for a second, the prime minister struck a bilateral security
5:38
Speaker 2: agreement with Ukraine. This was on the sidelines of the
5:42
Speaker 2: UN General Assembly, which is where Albanese seems to operate.
5:46
Speaker 2: The deal provides an extra $ 60 million to help combat
5:49
Speaker 2: Russia's invasion. And our Labor government has also slapped further
5:52
Speaker 2: sanctions on the Kremlin, bringing the total number of sanctions
5:55
Speaker 2: to 1,900. Nick, I'll start with you on this one.
6:00
Speaker 2: $ 60 million more for Ukraine. Money well spent.
6:04
Speaker 4: Not a lot of money, is it?
6:05
Speaker 6: But look, I mean, I think we've done pretty poorly
6:08
Speaker 6: in sending military support to Ukraine. We've sent them a
6:12
Speaker 6: lot of stuff that didn't really work, stuff without any
6:15
Speaker 6: proper breaks. But I think as things have turned out,
6:18
Speaker 6: we have a lot more to gain from Ukraine in
6:20
Speaker 6: terms of military technology. They've been so inventive, particularly with
6:24
Speaker 6: the use of drones. shooting, using drones to shoot Russian
6:29
Speaker 6: soldiers who've stolen phones of Ukrainians using the Find My
6:33
Speaker 6: Phone app. I mean, this is brilliant what they've done.
6:36
Speaker 6: And we actually should be asking them for some of
6:38
Speaker 6: that technology, which we seem to be desperately missing in
6:41
Speaker 6: this country.
6:42
Speaker 2: Michael, we've had a bit of a strange relationship with Ukraine,
6:45
Speaker 2: haven't we? Because I remember back when they wanted some
6:48
Speaker 2: helicopters we were no longer using, we buried them in
6:50
Speaker 2: the ground rather than donate them. And then they wanted
6:54
Speaker 2: some armoured vehicles from us. And we said, oh, the
6:56
Speaker 2: brakes are a little bit dodgy. So we don't want
6:58
Speaker 2: you to have any accidents on the highway. How do
7:01
Speaker 2: you explain this checkered relationship?
7:04
Speaker 4: It was a bit bizarre.
7:05
Speaker 5: No one has properly explained from the government why we
7:08
Speaker 5: didn't provide the two services that you've You've indicated now
7:11
Speaker 5: we've come to the party with a package of $ 60 million.
7:16
Speaker 5: So like a lot of things in the Albanese foreign policy,
7:19
Speaker 5: it's confusing.
7:21
Speaker 4: And they're confused.
7:22
Speaker 5: So I think, though, in relation to what's been announced today,
7:25
Speaker 5: the more support for Ukraine, the better. So I congratulate
7:30
Speaker 5: the government, you know, better late than never. I congratulate
7:32
Speaker 5: them what they've done today, giving some money to Ukraine,
7:35
Speaker 5: military support, administrative.
7:37
Speaker 4: Support, etc.
7:39
Speaker 5: because this is a war for civilisation, what's going on
7:44
Speaker 5: in Ukraine. The Ukrainians can't possibly afford to lose. The
7:48
Speaker 5: good news is they've got the Europeans behind them, which
7:50
Speaker 5: is a great comfort to them, mate.
7:52
Speaker 2: When you talk about a war for civilisations, that's a
7:55
Speaker 2: perfect segue to the state of our universities. The New
7:58
Speaker 2: South Wales Upper House has released a report into unis
8:02
Speaker 2: in this state, slamming territory institutions for veering too far
8:07
Speaker 2: towards corporatisation, that's their words, It was particularly critical of
8:12
Speaker 2: governance failures, controversial spending decisions, soaring executive salaries and over-reliance
8:19
Speaker 2: on consultants, not to mention worsening workplace culture. Apart from
8:24
Speaker 2: those things, however, New South Wales universities are doing just great.
8:28
Speaker 2: The report has recommended unis disclose how vice chancellors and
8:32
Speaker 2: senior executives pay and bonuses are determined. including performance measures,
8:38
Speaker 2: bonuses and incentives. Michael, it's also recommended staff and students
8:43
Speaker 2: make up at least half of the university's governing bodies.
8:46
Speaker 2: Is that going to fix things in our universities to
8:48
Speaker 2: stick some students and staff on the executive boards?
8:52
Speaker 5: I think it would make it worse. They need some
8:55
Speaker 5: outsiders who are in touch with the real world. I mean,
8:57
Speaker 5: if you look at the universities, that report, by the way,
8:59
Speaker 5: was finished before the Sydney University had declared that a
9:03
Speaker 5: campus election could take place with a group called Globalise
9:06
Speaker 5: the Intifada being allowed to run for election. I think
9:09
Speaker 5: Australian universities require a complete reorganisation from the top down.
9:16
Speaker 5: When you've got university vice-chancellors being paid up to $ 1.
9:19
Speaker 4: 5 million a year, that is absurd.
9:21
Speaker 5: That is out of touch with community expectations.
9:25
Speaker 4: And to suggest that.
9:27
Speaker 5: A university vice chancellor, the social utility of a university
9:31
Speaker 5: vice chancellor is worth, what, 15 times the salary of
9:34
Speaker 5: a nurse or a policeman or a firefighter or, you know,
9:38
Speaker 5: emergency service workers. I mean, I think it's utterly absurd.
9:44
Speaker 5: And these universities should be brought into line because these
9:47
Speaker 5: salaries are typical of what's going wrong with these universities.
9:51
Speaker 5: They're out of control. and the federal government in particular
9:55
Speaker 5: needs to come down heavy on them because these type
9:59
Speaker 5: of salaries and, of course, the executive salaries they're paying
10:01
Speaker 5: as well are completely out of touch with the salaries
10:06
Speaker 5: paid to ordinary Australians, mate.
10:09
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, you're not wrong. I mean, the Adelaide Advertiser
10:11
Speaker 2: today found there were 24 universities where five or more
10:14
Speaker 2: senior execs were paid better than the state premier. Flinders
10:19
Speaker 2: University in Adelaide had the highest paid VC in the country,
10:22
Speaker 2: Professor Colin Stirling. As you said, $ 1. 4 million. That's more
10:27
Speaker 2: than double the salary of the prime minister, who took
10:30
Speaker 2: home around $ 600, 000 last year. So this is a problem
10:34
Speaker 2: right around the country. Nick, how can someone running a
10:38
Speaker 2: uni be worth twice the salary of someone running the country,
10:41
Speaker 2: not accounting for the job Anthony Albanese is doing or
10:44
Speaker 2: Scott Morrison or Kevin Rudd or Malcolm Turnbull? But you
10:49
Speaker 2: get where I'm going. Yeah, look, I.
10:52
Speaker 6: Are they providing value for money? That's the bottom line.
10:55
Speaker 6: And there would be tens of thousands of Australian students
10:58
Speaker 6: coming out of university every year, more than that, maybe 100,000, saying,
11:04
Speaker 6: I did not get value for money.
11:06
Speaker 2: I got a rubbish education.
11:08
Speaker 6: I was persuaded to save money through my HECS, add
11:13
Speaker 6: on to all this HECS debt to get some ridiculous
11:15
Speaker 6: degree in communications studies from the University of Woop Woop.
11:18
Speaker 6: which isn't going to get me anywhere in life. It
11:20
Speaker 6: isn't going to get me an education. What's more it
11:22
Speaker 6: was a rotten experience. You know I think that's right.
11:25
Speaker 6: That's the point is they're not doing what they should
11:27
Speaker 6: be doing which is educating Australians. They're far too distracted
11:31
Speaker 6: by this overseas students market which is having all sorts
11:33
Speaker 6: of consequences for our immigration. And I don't know how
11:37
Speaker 6: you get them back to basics, but perhaps cutting salaries
11:41
Speaker 6: or giving performance bonuses.
11:43
Speaker 2: The other thing I'm thinking after today's headlines is maybe
11:46
Speaker 2: they should do less gender studies and maybe more AI studies,
11:49
Speaker 2: because that's a major concern after information that Medicare had
11:56
Speaker 2: been hacked by OpenAI in a major security breach. This
12:00
Speaker 2: breach occurred a couple of months ago, but was only
12:02
Speaker 2: revealed to the Australian government a fortnight ago. Albanese said
12:06
Speaker 2: he'd had a frank discussion with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman,
12:10
Speaker 2: who acknowledged there were issues. But, Michael, I'm curious, the
12:14
Speaker 2: government has known about this for two weeks but chose
12:16
Speaker 2: to make it public when Elbow was in the US
12:19
Speaker 2: receiving a major award and talking about the dangers of AI.
12:23
Speaker 2: Timing is everything in politics. Should we be suspicious?
12:28
Speaker 1: Of course.
12:28
Speaker 5: I mean, this was deliberately leaked at the same time
12:31
Speaker 5: he's talking about restrictions on AI and to prove his
12:35
Speaker 5: point and to bolster his argument for changes to the
12:38
Speaker 5: law here.
12:39
Speaker 4: Look, I personally think Trump's wrong on this.
12:40
Speaker 5: I think there should be safeguards on AI because goodness
12:43
Speaker 5: knows where this is going to end. But in Australia,
12:47
Speaker 5: the government is going far too far with their, you know,
12:51
Speaker 5: bill in relation to digital safety. By leaving it to
12:55
Speaker 5: the minister to determine what is harm, well, this is
12:57
Speaker 5: just Labor's latest attempt to censor disinformation, as they call it, i.e.
13:04
Speaker 5: in the real world that means opinions they don't agree with.
13:06
Speaker 5: So this is what Labor are trying to do here.
13:10
Speaker 5: And Albanese very cleverly use this timing to sort of
13:13
Speaker 5: bolster his own whilst he's in New York.
13:17
Speaker 4: But will I trust them on this issue?
13:19
Speaker 7: No.
13:19
Speaker 4: Of course, no one would.
13:20
Speaker 8: No one would.
13:21
Speaker 2: That's the old political maxim, isn't it? Never let a
13:24
Speaker 2: good crisis go to waste. And Albanese certainly understands that.
13:28
Speaker 2: All right, before I let you gentlemen go, and while
13:30
Speaker 2: we're talking about AI, smart glasses, they could be banned
13:35
Speaker 2: on some Sydney beaches. Rangers patrolling the Randwick Council area,
13:39
Speaker 2: including Coogee, Clevelly and Marouba in Sydney's east, could order
13:43
Speaker 2: people wearing smart glasses off the beach and And that
13:47
Speaker 2: proposal could extend to other council-run facilities, including playgrounds, swimming pools,
13:51
Speaker 2: sporting fields, surf clubs, even childcare centres. Nick, I think
13:55
Speaker 2: this is a good move, is it not? Why do
13:57
Speaker 2: you need smart glasses at the beach? It's incredibly creepy,
14:00
Speaker 2: isn't it?
14:01
Speaker 9: It is.
14:01
Speaker 4: By the way, what is that in your.
14:03
Speaker 2: I promise I'm not recording you now, but the camera's there.
14:05
Speaker 2: You know what?
14:06
Speaker 6: It is incredibly creepy. But on the other hand, you know,
14:08
Speaker 6: people walk around with mobile phones the whole time, which
14:10
Speaker 6: will do exactly that anyway. So I think there's a
14:13
Speaker 6: bit of moral panic going on here, but... I do
14:16
Speaker 6: think smart glasses is a step too far for me anyway.
14:19
Speaker 2: What do you think, Michael? I'm with Nick on this.
14:22
Speaker 2: I just don't know why you'd need to wear these
14:24
Speaker 2: smart glasses anywhere.
14:27
Speaker 4: Mate, the culture of.
14:28
Speaker 5: A country is made up of thousands of different social norms.
14:33
Speaker 5: And one of the norms in this country is that
14:35
Speaker 5: you don't secretly record people. I mean, it might sound
14:39
Speaker 5: trivial compared to the bigger issues that make up the
14:42
Speaker 5: culture of a country, like freedom of religion and freedom
14:44
Speaker 5: of speech. But it isn't appropriate in this country to
14:48
Speaker 5: secretly record people with these types of glasses. And so
14:51
Speaker 5: to restrict them, is it a good move?
14:53
Speaker 4: Of course it's a good move. It's not what we
14:54
Speaker 4: do in this country.
14:56
Speaker 5: And I take Nick's point, but the mobile phone, if
14:58
Speaker 5: you've been photographed or videoed by a mobile phone, you
15:02
Speaker 5: can 99 out of 100 times see it and object
15:05
Speaker 5: to it if you want to.
15:06
Speaker 4: So banning these glasses, yeah, good move.
15:08
Speaker 9: All right.
15:09
Speaker 2: Nick Cater, Michael Kroger, great to catch up with you both.
15:11
Speaker 2: Thanks so much for joining me. Argentina's president has delivered
15:17
Speaker 2: a fiery speech to the United Nations General Assembly in
15:20
Speaker 2: New York, calling the body useless. And that was the
15:24
Speaker 2: nice part. He then went on to say the UN
15:27
Speaker 2: was made up of, and I quote, fatally arrogant parasites.
15:31
Speaker 2: Let's have a listen.
15:35
Speaker 10: Today, unfortunately, it is time to acknowledge that in practice,
15:39
Speaker 10: that sacred pact has been broken. It has become a
15:42
Speaker 10: useless organisation that serves only to sustain a cast of
15:46
Speaker 10: fatally arrogant parasites disguised as well-intentioned bureaucrats.
15:53
Speaker 2: Joining me now is broadcaster, columnist and international relations expert
15:57
Speaker 2: Ralph Schollhammer. Ralph, I can see why Trump likes this guy.
16:03
Speaker 8: Well, I mean, I have to say it was a
16:05
Speaker 8: fiery speech, no doubt. He's known for this. But the
16:07
Speaker 8: question is always, what about the action? I mean, the
16:10
Speaker 8: UN has for a long time been a 1970s solution
16:13
Speaker 8: to a 1940s problem. So I believe, you know, talk
16:16
Speaker 8: is cheap. So let's do something about it. I think
16:18
Speaker 8: the United States for a long time could have ceased
16:21
Speaker 8: or at least reduced their payments. The same is, by
16:23
Speaker 8: the way, true for Germany. I mean, I think Germany
16:25
Speaker 8: spends around 25 billion a year on the UN, on
16:30
Speaker 8: development aid and so on and so on. All money
16:32
Speaker 8: that would be thoroughly needed at home. So I think, yeah,
16:35
Speaker 8: to rethink all these institutions. And I mean, parasites is
16:38
Speaker 8: a strong word, but there is something to it.
16:41
Speaker 2: I certainly think there's something to it. I would have
16:43
Speaker 2: thought it's strong, but it's pretty accurate.
16:46
Speaker 4: I think.
16:47
Speaker 2: Donald Trump used his speech at the UN to hit
16:49
Speaker 2: out at UNESCO. Have a listen to what he said.
16:53
Speaker 11: It is deeply ironic that the United Nations has an
16:56
Speaker 11: entire institution, the UNESCO group of people and countries devoted
17:03
Speaker 11: to protecting the cultural heritage, yet with their ceaseless promotion
17:08
Speaker 11: of mass migration, these globalists are actively destroying the greatest
17:12
Speaker 11: cultures and most extraordinary heritage in all of history.
17:17
Speaker 2: Ralph, that was a devastating line, not that I think
17:20
Speaker 2: anyone at the UN will give it much thought.
17:25
Speaker 8: I mean, first of all, he's not wrong. Second of all,
17:28
Speaker 8: I think it was in his speech preparation he probably
17:31
Speaker 8: heard the word UNESCO for the first time. But, you know,
17:34
Speaker 8: no criticism. No criticism of mine. No, I think what
17:36
Speaker 8: he's saying is right. There is a tendency that the
17:39
Speaker 8: very institutions that are funded by the West... have it
17:43
Speaker 8: made one of the primary goals to support the destruction
17:45
Speaker 8: of the West. I think there is something to it.
17:48
Speaker 8: I mean, just take again the UN as an example.
17:51
Speaker 8: There's a significant amount of money that comes from Western states,
17:54
Speaker 8: but more or less, whether it's from the climate madness
17:56
Speaker 8: to mass migration, the UN appears to either attentively or
17:59
Speaker 8: openly support all of these policies. So once again, Trump
18:02
Speaker 8: is not wrong about this. But I would like to
18:04
Speaker 8: see more than words, right? Build an alternative body. Oh, no,
18:07
Speaker 8: stop funding. Either alter the institution that it serves your
18:11
Speaker 8: purpose or leave the institution. As I said before, talk
18:13
Speaker 8: is cheap. Action tends to be much harder.
18:16
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't disagree with you on any of that.
18:18
Speaker 2: And I think there's a lot of people who would
18:19
Speaker 2: love to see some actions such as you're describing. I
18:24
Speaker 2: want to get your response to an announcement by Italian
18:27
Speaker 2: PM Giorgia Maloney earlier this week. Her government is preparing
18:32
Speaker 2: to overhaul Italy's education system. She wants a limit on
18:35
Speaker 2: the number of foreign pupils in each class, saying Italian
18:39
Speaker 2: kids should not be a minority in their own classroom.
18:42
Speaker 2: She also plans to force parents of students facing serious
18:46
Speaker 2: difficulties integrating into into Italian schools to learn Italian. What
18:52
Speaker 2: do you think of all of that?
18:55
Speaker 8: Well, it was in your, what you just said, right?
18:58
Speaker 8: She wants to, she plans to, she intends to. I
19:02
Speaker 8: speak to you from Vienna, where we have now schools
19:04
Speaker 8: where 90% of children are Arab speaking. It's the same here.
19:08
Speaker 8: And we've been talking about this in Austria for 30 years.
19:10
Speaker 8: In Italy, they've been talking about it for the same
19:12
Speaker 8: amount of time. In the UK, they have been talking
19:14
Speaker 8: about it since 1968, since Enoch Powell's famous speech. I
19:19
Speaker 8: like Meloni. Don't get me wrong. I hope that she
19:22
Speaker 8: can do what she announced to do. But I'm starting
19:24
Speaker 8: to get tired of announcements. For once, I want to
19:27
Speaker 8: hear a politician to go out and say, here is
19:29
Speaker 8: what we did. We did limit the number of foreign
19:32
Speaker 8: speakers in school classes. We did ban the burqa. We
19:35
Speaker 8: actually did it. Not we plan to, we want to,
19:37
Speaker 8: we intend to.
19:39
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it was Ross Perot, a one-time US
19:42
Speaker 2: presidential candidate, who said, words are cheap, deeds are precious.
19:46
Speaker 2: And I think that's the point you're trying to make.
19:49
Speaker 8: Very true, very true.
19:52
Speaker 2: You're not going to like this last topic because it's, again,
19:54
Speaker 2: more words and no action. The UK's migrant crisis. They
19:58
Speaker 2: keep saying they're going to fix it, but if anything,
20:01
Speaker 2: it's getting worse. A migrant boat with 51 people on
20:04
Speaker 2: board has arrived in Dover after spending 36 hours at sea.
20:09
Speaker 2: The French Coast Guard said those on board were, quote,
20:12
Speaker 2: determined to take all risks to reach the UK. But, Ralph,
20:16
Speaker 2: here's what I find just mental about this whole thing.
20:21
Speaker 2: According to reports, the French Coast Guard shadowed the migrant
20:25
Speaker 2: dinghy across the channel until the Royal Navy transferred all
20:29
Speaker 2: of the asylum seekers onto one of their vessels, and
20:32
Speaker 2: then they made it ashore in the UK. So the
20:35
Speaker 2: French provide an escort, the Brits provide a taxi service,
20:40
Speaker 2: and meanwhile the government arrests British citizens who dare to
20:43
Speaker 2: point out all of this is nuts.
20:47
Speaker 8: No, it is, it is complete nuts. I mean, just
20:49
Speaker 8: to paint the picture, you have two first, supposedly, first
20:53
Speaker 8: world countries, the UK and France, that now more or
20:55
Speaker 8: less have built a shuttle service for people from the
20:59
Speaker 8: third world. I mean, this is completely absurd. Just to
21:01
Speaker 8: make this very clear also from a legal perspective, Nobody
21:04
Speaker 8: who resides in France, which is a safe country, has
21:08
Speaker 8: the right to cross over to the UK. This is
21:11
Speaker 8: completely absurd. And the idea, the argument that is constantly
21:13
Speaker 8: being made, you cannot protect your border. This is impossible.
21:17
Speaker 8: You just perfectly describe it. Of course it's impossible if
21:20
Speaker 8: the very forces I support to protect your border are
21:23
Speaker 8: escorting those who want to come. And by the way,
21:25
Speaker 8: this is the same thing we see in the Mediterranean
21:27
Speaker 8: as well. This is one of the great lies that
21:29
Speaker 8: we are being told, that it is completely impossible to
21:32
Speaker 8: protect the borders. It is entirely impossible to protect the seaways.
21:36
Speaker 8: We have a ragtag army, the Houthis, who can block
21:39
Speaker 8: one of the world's most important economic arteries, but it
21:42
Speaker 8: is completely impossible for first world nations to protect their borders.
21:47
Speaker 8: We live in an upside down world.
21:48
Speaker 2: You are absolutely right, and I think your frustration will
21:51
Speaker 2: be felt by everybody watching this program.
21:53
Speaker 8: I hope so.
21:54
Speaker 2: We all see what you're seeing, and if only someone
21:57
Speaker 2: would do something about it. Ralph Schollhammer, it's a delight
22:00
Speaker 2: to chat. Thank you so much for your time this evening.
22:03
Speaker 8: Thanks for having me.
22:04
Speaker 2: Well, stick around. Still to come, lefties losing it, plus
22:08
Speaker 2: Xi Jinping touches down in the US for a three-day
22:10
Speaker 2: summit with Donald Trump. Josh Hammer will have all the
22:13
Speaker 2: details right after this. Well, now it's time for a
22:23
Speaker 2: segment we call Lefties Losing It. Everybody's favourite lefty, Greta Thunberg,
22:28
Speaker 2: has recovered from her floating around on the Freedom Fertilla
22:32
Speaker 2: just in time to accuse Ed Sheeran of being complicit
22:35
Speaker 2: in genocide. She's such fun.
22:37
Speaker 12: Yes, Ed Sheeran should be held accountable for his lack
22:40
Speaker 12: of spine. But remember that we have to continuously apply
22:45
Speaker 12: the same pressure on all those complicit in all genocides.
22:50
Speaker 2: Hang on a second. How is Ed Sheeran complicit in genocide?
22:53
Speaker 2: I mean, apart from writing The Shape of You, what
22:55
Speaker 2: has Ed Sheeran ever done to hurt humanity? He condemned
22:58
Speaker 2: Israel's military action against Gaza, didn't he?
23:01
Speaker 13: What happened in Israel and at the Nova Music Festival
23:04
Speaker 13: on October 7th was horrific and compounded centuries of Jewish pain.
23:09
Speaker 13: What is happening in Gaza is catastrophic and unjustifiable and disproportionate.
23:17
Speaker 2: Ah, I see what happened. Yes, he condemned Israel's action
23:20
Speaker 2: in Gaza, but he also condemned the rape, murder and
23:23
Speaker 2: kidnapping of Jewish civilians by Islamist extremist nutjobs. That's the
23:27
Speaker 2: bit he got wrong. Never mind, the BBC fixed it
23:31
Speaker 2: for him.
23:31
Speaker 14: Ed Sheeran spoke directly to the tens of thousands of
23:34
Speaker 14: fans packed into the stadium. Appearing emotional at times, he
23:38
Speaker 14: addressed the events of the past week and clarified where
23:41
Speaker 14: he stood on the situation in Gaza.
23:43
Speaker 13: I had to take and make difficult decisions, and I
23:47
Speaker 13: am making mistakes, and I'm so, so sorry. What is
23:51
Speaker 13: happening in Gaza is catastrophic and unjustifiable and disproportionate. My
23:58
Speaker 13: heart has been broken by the scale of devastation and
24:01
Speaker 13: loss of.
24:01
Speaker 8: Civilians' lives.
24:03
Speaker 14: Ed Sheeran had been under increasing pressure.
24:06
Speaker 2: See that? They just edited out the bad bit, you know,
24:08
Speaker 2: the bit about the slaughter of Jews being horrific. Well done, BBC.
24:13
Speaker 2: This Kefiel wearer protesting outside Ed Sheeran's Philadelphia concert, he
24:17
Speaker 2: gets it.
24:18
Speaker 10: Then he needs to take a stance and he needs
24:21
Speaker 10: to be more in favour and advocating for a free Palestine.
24:25
Speaker 2: More in favour of Palestinians, less in favour of Jews.
24:29
Speaker 1: Got it.
24:30
Speaker 2: Maybe Ed Sheeran just needs educating and I have just
24:33
Speaker 2: the person. to educate him.
24:35
Speaker 9: I came out here because I'm very upset about what
24:37
Speaker 9: Ed Sheeran did and I see it as a cultural
24:41
Speaker 9: watershed moment. It gives people who are pro-Palestinian an opportunity
24:47
Speaker 9: to educate other people in a way that we have
24:50
Speaker 9: not been able to do before.
24:53
Speaker 2: Ah, nothing would say cultural watershed moment quite like Ed
24:56
Speaker 2: Sheeran sitting at the feet of a womble who's still
24:59
Speaker 2: living through COVID-19 as she educates him as to why
25:02
Speaker 2: it's not right to be as upset about the deaths
25:05
Speaker 2: of Jews as to be upset about the deaths of
25:08
Speaker 2: other people. Meanwhile, Greta, who it must be said is
25:11
Speaker 2: looking a lot like Lord Farquaad these days, was still
25:14
Speaker 2: going on.
25:15
Speaker 12: And remember, silence is complicity and you cannot be neutral
25:20
Speaker 12: in a genocide.
25:21
Speaker 2: So Greta is complicit in the genocide of Uighur Muslims
25:24
Speaker 2: in China, because I can't find any record of her
25:27
Speaker 2: speaking about that or about the genocide of Tigrayans in
25:31
Speaker 2: Ethiopia or about the mass killing of Yazidis by ISIS.
25:35
Speaker 2: So by my count, that's at least three genocides Greta's
25:38
Speaker 2: been silent about.
25:39
Speaker 12: And remember, silence is complicity.
25:42
Speaker 2: You said it, Greta, you genocidal maniac. The only thing
25:46
Speaker 2: more entertaining than a young lefty discovering a moral absolute
25:49
Speaker 2: is an old lefty discovering a straightforward question. And this
25:53
Speaker 2: aging lefty perfectly demonstrates how lefties provide non-answers to straightforward questions.
25:59
Speaker 2: It starts with a condescending laugh to buy some time,
26:02
Speaker 2: a deflection to change the subject, and then a classic
26:05
Speaker 2: bit of emoting just to round it off. Get a
26:08
Speaker 2: load of this.
26:09
Speaker 15: What is a.
26:10
Speaker 1: Right today that men have that women don't have? A
26:15
Speaker 1: legal right.
26:16
Speaker 2: Oh, wait, wait, wait.
26:17
Speaker 1: I just need to tell you.
26:19
Speaker 15: What's a legal right.
26:20
Speaker 1: That women, that men have that women.
26:21
Speaker 3: Don't have in America? White men and white women, they
26:26
Speaker 3: are issued at birth in white developed countries. They are
26:34
Speaker 3: issued a privileged entitlement card.
26:38
Speaker 2: And what do I get with this white privilege entitlement card? 20%
26:43
Speaker 2: off at department stores? Can I drive in the bus
26:45
Speaker 2: lane without getting a ticket? Does a white privilege entitlement
26:48
Speaker 2: card get me a front row seat at this week's
26:51
Speaker 2: Fashion Week in Milan? Because if it does, I'm handing
26:55
Speaker 2: my white privilege card back. The hottest new fashion at
26:58
Speaker 2: Milan Fashion Week apparently was what they're calling micro-shorts. Micro
27:16
Speaker 2: shorts for men whom I can only assume don't only
27:18
Speaker 2: have micro shorts. And just when you thought we'd exhausted
27:22
Speaker 2: the ways in which modern progressives could become confused by reality,
27:26
Speaker 2: along comes the view. Sarah Haynes had her co-panellists completely
27:31
Speaker 2: stumped as they tried to work out why Patrick Clancy
27:34
Speaker 2: wouldn't want to stay married to Lindsay, you know, after
27:37
Speaker 2: she was put on trial for killing the couple's three kids.
27:41
Speaker 15: How did the marital love end so quickly?
27:44
Speaker 2: Gee, I don't know, but I'm guessing that when Lindsay
27:47
Speaker 2: Clark strangled her three children, that might have been when
27:50
Speaker 2: Patrick fell out of love with her.
27:53
Speaker 15: But I would hope, like, in sickness and in health.
27:56
Speaker 2: Marriage vows do commit a man to love his wife
27:59
Speaker 2: in sickness and in health, but the traditional vows don't
28:02
Speaker 2: usually commit a man to love his wife in sickness,
28:04
Speaker 2: health and after she's killed his children while he's out
28:08
Speaker 2: getting dinner. That's not in the traditional vows. I promise
28:11
Speaker 2: you I checked. And if it is, well, frankly, the
28:14
Speaker 2: priest has some explaining to do. Iran's president used his
28:21
Speaker 2: speech at the United Nations General Assembly overnight to attack
28:24
Speaker 2: the U.S. and Israel, or as the Iranians affectionately call them,
28:27
Speaker 2: Little Satan and Great Satan. The chief sponsor of terrorism
28:31
Speaker 2: on the planet claimed his own country had been the
28:34
Speaker 2: victim of terrorism and, of course, blamed Donald Trump for
28:37
Speaker 2: instability in the Middle East.
28:40
Speaker 16: I had prepared a speech to present to you yesterday
28:45
Speaker 16: the United States president, described us as terrorists. We have
28:52
Speaker 16: been the victims of terrorism. We live in a world
28:55
Speaker 16: in which.
28:56
Speaker 17: The powerful, instead of thinking about humanity, justice, fairness and democracy,
29:03
Speaker 17: they seem to be the protectors and creators of instability
29:06
Speaker 17: and destruction.
29:08
Speaker 2: A better example of gaslighting you will not find. Joining
29:12
Speaker 2: me now is Article 3 Project Senior Counsel and Shulman
29:15
Speaker 2: Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Centre, Josh Hammer. Josh,
29:18
Speaker 2: great to have you on the program. That's about what
29:21
Speaker 2: you'd expect from the Iranian leadership, isn't it?
29:25
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think gaslighting really is the perfect word that
29:27
Speaker 1: comes to mind. I mean, essentially what he's saying is
29:30
Speaker 1: that up is down, left is right, right is wrong,
29:32
Speaker 1: fact is fiction. I mean, he basically might as well
29:35
Speaker 1: just say that the sky actually isn't blue. It's actually orange.
29:38
Speaker 1: Don't believe your line.
29:40
Speaker 10: Eyes.
29:40
Speaker 1: I mean, ever since the Islamic Revolution. In Iran in 1979,
29:45
Speaker 1: this regime has infamously been the number one state sponsor
29:48
Speaker 1: of terrorism all around the world, including very much there
29:52
Speaker 1: in Australia, here in the United States. It's certainly in
29:54
Speaker 1: Argentina with the infamous bombing 30 years ago in the
29:57
Speaker 1: mid-1990s there in South America. There's really no limits, territorial
30:00
Speaker 1: limits or ideological limits even to the extent and breadth
30:03
Speaker 1: and depth of Iran's infamous terrorist longhand. The good news
30:09
Speaker 1: is that President Trump, in his speech earlier this week
30:11
Speaker 1: at the United Nations, called out the Iranian regime good
30:13
Speaker 1: and hard, and that was certainly wonderful to see. Ultimately,
30:16
Speaker 1: I guess we'll see what happens if there will be
30:19
Speaker 1: a continued flare-up of military activities, but Trump, to his
30:22
Speaker 1: great credit, certainly did not let Iran off the hook
30:24
Speaker 1: in this speech. From Iran's perspective, of course, the United
30:27
Speaker 1: Nations is is home, as one of America's own ambassadors,
30:32
Speaker 1: Jean Kirkpatrick, once said, it's infamously home to a den
30:36
Speaker 1: of jackals. So the jackals of the United Nations, I'm sure,
30:39
Speaker 1: are cheering on Iran. But unfortunately for Iran, I don't
30:41
Speaker 1: think that they will ultimately get the last laugh in
30:43
Speaker 1: this battle with the United States.
30:45
Speaker 2: One of the things I've been fascinated by watching the
30:48
Speaker 2: UN deliberations, Josh, is when a certain leader gives a speech,
30:53
Speaker 2: another leader walks out with all of their entourage in
30:56
Speaker 2: protest at the speech. I noted that during the Iranian
30:59
Speaker 2: president's address... The US had one sole representative who stood
31:04
Speaker 2: up and walked out during his speech. I just wanted
31:08
Speaker 2: to ask you, was the purpose of that sole US
31:11
Speaker 2: representative to be offended and to walk out? All of
31:14
Speaker 2: this seems very orchestrated to me.
31:17
Speaker 1: Hard to say. Probably the latter, if we're being candid.
31:21
Speaker 1: It was probably orchestrated in advance, but perhaps it was
31:25
Speaker 1: one line that particularly triggered him. Listen, this is kind
31:28
Speaker 1: of the rule. This is kind of the way it
31:30
Speaker 1: works at the United Nations. It is a lot of theatrics.
31:33
Speaker 1: It's not a whole lot of substance, infamously, that comes
31:35
Speaker 1: out of Turtle Bay in New York City. It's a
31:37
Speaker 1: lot of rhetoric, a lot of theatrics, a lot of
31:38
Speaker 1: symbolism there. But this is a pretty potent, symbolic message,
31:42
Speaker 1: nothing else in the United States.
31:43
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely. All right. Chinese President Xi Jinping is in
31:46
Speaker 2: the US for a three-day summit with President Trump. It's
31:51
Speaker 2: Xi's first state visit to the United States in 11 years.
31:55
Speaker 2: And obviously there's a lot for the countries to talk about,
31:57
Speaker 2: particularly AI, where they're both involved in a race to
32:01
Speaker 2: see who can dominate that sphere of industry. Besides that,
32:05
Speaker 2: there's trade, Middle East, Taiwan, a lot riding on the
32:09
Speaker 2: next few days.
32:12
Speaker 1: So President Trump is actually rolling out the red carpet
32:14
Speaker 1: quite literally for Xi Jinping. He is going to the
32:17
Speaker 1: tarmac to welcome him to the United States. Apparently, this
32:20
Speaker 1: is the first time a president has personally done this
32:22
Speaker 1: for a visiting foreign head of state since John F.
32:25
Speaker 1: Kennedy welcomed the then sitting prime minister of the United
32:28
Speaker 1: Kingdom back in 1961, if I have the year correctly.
32:31
Speaker 1: So it's been a. It's been a very long time.
32:33
Speaker 1: It's been quite literally over 60 years since this kind
32:36
Speaker 1: of treatment has happened. Personally, if I'm being very candid
32:39
Speaker 1: with you, as someone who is deeply hawkish on China
32:42
Speaker 1: and is quite opposed to Xi Jinping and all that
32:44
Speaker 1: he represents, I'm not entirely sure, frankly, that this is justified.
32:48
Speaker 1: But I suppose there's something to be said for the
32:51
Speaker 1: fact of trying to win them over with a little
32:53
Speaker 1: bit of honey and not necessarily vinegar. I think that
32:56
Speaker 1: Donald Trump understands who Xi Jinping is. I think he
32:58
Speaker 1: understands the massive threat that China plays. Frankly, there's really
33:02
Speaker 1: no issue other than China that Trump has been more
33:05
Speaker 1: consistent on over the course of the past 30, 40 years.
33:08
Speaker 1: So I don't necessarily question that he has a true
33:12
Speaker 1: understanding of the situation. The optics don't sit entirely comfortable
33:15
Speaker 1: with me, but there is a lot on the agenda.
33:17
Speaker 1: The Taiwan issue I'm sure is going to come up
33:19
Speaker 1: over and over and over again. I would certainly encourage
33:22
Speaker 1: my friends in Washington, to not sell out the Taiwanese.
33:25
Speaker 1: I continue to think that Taiwan has a vital role
33:27
Speaker 1: to play in the West containment of the Chinese Communist
33:31
Speaker 1: Party in the Indo-Pacific. I think that giving Beijing what
33:35
Speaker 1: they want, even rhetorically or symbolically on Taiwan, and essentially
33:38
Speaker 1: indicating that America perhaps might not come to Taiwan's defense,
33:41
Speaker 1: I think that would be a really quite catastrophic mistake, actually.
33:45
Speaker 2: One of the interesting dynamics between the two leaders, in
33:49
Speaker 2: my view, is that Trump is a businessman, right? He's
33:52
Speaker 2: a property mogul. He's motivated by the deal. Xi Jinping
33:57
Speaker 2: is a complete ideologue. Is there a danger? And I
34:01
Speaker 2: fear that Trump may have made this mistake with Iran.
34:04
Speaker 2: Trump thinks everyone else thinks as he does. Whereas when
34:08
Speaker 2: you're dealing with ideologues, whether they're communists in the case
34:10
Speaker 2: of Xi Jinping or Islamists in the case of the
34:13
Speaker 2: Iranian leadership, they're not necessarily motivated by financial reward or
34:19
Speaker 2: other deals that might be very persuasive for a person
34:22
Speaker 2: like Trump. Is that a danger that Trump has to
34:25
Speaker 2: be aware of?
34:27
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a very shrewd point. And I think that
34:29
Speaker 1: we absolutely have seen that play out in Iran, as
34:32
Speaker 1: you correctly note. With China, it is slightly different. You're
34:38
Speaker 1: not necessarily dealing with 72 virgins in heaven, radical Islamist
34:41
Speaker 1: apocalyptic jihadists. You're dealing with a Leninist, Marxist, communist party. Now,
34:47
Speaker 1: China does have an economy that in many ways is hurting.
34:51
Speaker 1: The real estate market is a bubble on the verge
34:52
Speaker 1: of collapse. China also has a crippling demographic crisis that
34:58
Speaker 1: is looming due to their horrific one-child policy for decades.
35:00
Speaker 1: So there are lots of structural issues with China that
35:04
Speaker 1: lead me to believe, I'm not going to say that
35:05
Speaker 1: China is a paper tiger because they are not. They
35:09
Speaker 1: have a massive military. They are a formidable threat any
35:11
Speaker 1: way you look at it. But in many ways, their
35:13
Speaker 1: economy at home is less than fully stable. And I
35:16
Speaker 1: say all that because maybe there is some possibility for
35:21
Speaker 1: there to be a short-term stasis. I emphasize short-term, though,
35:25
Speaker 1: because nothing ultimately in the long-term will stick. Because even
35:28
Speaker 1: if Xi Jinping himself is Concerned to some extent with
35:31
Speaker 1: the domestic economic situation back in China, he is, as
35:35
Speaker 1: you note, an ideologue of the totalitarian persuasion. He really
35:39
Speaker 1: is China's most longstanding, most ideologically inclined ruler since Mao
35:45
Speaker 1: Zedong himself. He's overseen a great.
35:49
Speaker 1: A great arrogation of power unto himself with all these
35:52
Speaker 1: military purges there in the People's Liberation Army the past
35:54
Speaker 1: few years. So there is a potential issue here with
35:58
Speaker 1: President Trump. But, again, I think that President Trump understands
36:02
Speaker 1: the Chinese threat. Again, he has had China's number for
36:04
Speaker 1: a very long time. So I hear you. I think
36:06
Speaker 1: it's an important point to note. But I'm ultimately not
36:09
Speaker 1: too terribly concerned about it.
36:11
Speaker 2: Well, speaking of dictators, the Trump administration has also invited
36:15
Speaker 2: Russian President Vladimir Putin to Trump's resort in Florida in
36:19
Speaker 2: December to attend the group of 20 leaders meeting. Secretary
36:23
Speaker 2: of State Marco Rubio said it's an opportunity for Putin
36:25
Speaker 2: to engage not just with the president, but with other
36:29
Speaker 2: world leaders. Josh, Putin hasn't attended a G20. I think
36:33
Speaker 2: the last time he attended was 2019. That was well
36:36
Speaker 2: before the war in Ukraine. Is he likely to accept
36:39
Speaker 2: and what sort of reception would he get?
36:43
Speaker 1: Well, the latter, I think, is the easier part of
36:45
Speaker 1: the question. I think it would be a rather chilly reception,
36:47
Speaker 1: I think, would be, you know, I think there'll be
36:49
Speaker 1: an understatement. I'm sure the other countries will look at
36:51
Speaker 1: him as nothing less than the pariah in the room,
36:55
Speaker 1: which is frankly well-deserved on the merits. Look, Donald Trump
37:00
Speaker 1: does a lot of unorthodox things. He does not always
37:03
Speaker 1: talk the way that a typical politician talks. He does
37:05
Speaker 1: not always walk the way that a typical politician walks.
37:07
Speaker 1: He doesn't always necessarily do the Trump shimmy, the little
37:09
Speaker 1: Trump dance, the way the politicians dance. I mean, there's
37:12
Speaker 1: a lot about this guy that is not your textbook
37:14
Speaker 1: politician that you read about in Political Science 101 in
37:17
Speaker 1: your local university. Now, is this a good move from
37:20
Speaker 1: the merits? Maybe, maybe not. I'm not entirely sure I
37:23
Speaker 1: know the answer. I'm not entirely sure anyone knows the answer.
37:25
Speaker 1: What I do know is that it was just a
37:26
Speaker 1: few weeks ago that Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff visited
37:29
Speaker 1: Vladimir Putin in Moscow. They're still trying to get some
37:32
Speaker 1: sort of deal done in the Russia-Ukraine theater. I think
37:37
Speaker 1: that a deal is going to happen at some point.
37:39
Speaker 1: I don't pretend to know when it will. I think
37:41
Speaker 1: it probably will be sooner rather than later because... The
37:44
Speaker 1: killing field is just so immense, James. We're talking here
37:46
Speaker 1: about hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dead people. The
37:49
Speaker 1: Ukrainian economy, the Ukrainian demography, frankly, the makeup, it will
37:53
Speaker 1: never be the same, at least for decades and decades.
37:55
Speaker 1: Something has to give here.
37:56
Speaker 2: All right. The smartest leader in the world right now,
37:59
Speaker 2: in my opinion, is the Polish president. I'll explain why.
38:02
Speaker 2: He wants to strengthen NATO's eastern flank amid continued Russian
38:06
Speaker 2: incursions into Allied airspace. So he's revived the proposal to
38:10
Speaker 2: establish a permanent US military base in Poland. Here's the
38:14
Speaker 2: key point. Along with the suggestion it should be named
38:17
Speaker 2: Fort Trump. Josh, that's just the kind of thing Donald
38:20
Speaker 2: Trump might go for, I reckon.
38:24
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's exactly right. It actually reminds me of when
38:26
Speaker 1: I was in Israel a few years ago. I was
38:28
Speaker 1: up in the Golan Heights. The Israelis actually named a
38:30
Speaker 1: town in the Golan Heights called Ramat Trump, which means
38:33
Speaker 1: Trump Heights. There's actually a whole town named after him.
38:35
Speaker 1: So this is a very similar thing that the polls
38:38
Speaker 1: are trying to do, similar to what the Israelis did
38:40
Speaker 1: a number of years ago. So listen, I think it's
38:42
Speaker 1: a great PR move, certainly, for the polls. Donald Trump
38:46
Speaker 1: happens to have a huge soft spot for Poland, for
38:48
Speaker 1: whatever it's worth. I think that he thinks very favorably
38:50
Speaker 1: of of the polls as an important U.S.
38:52
Speaker 11: Ally.
38:52
Speaker 1: In fact, if you go back to Donald Trump's first term,
38:54
Speaker 1: I think one of the most important speeches he gave
38:56
Speaker 1: in his first term, probably over either of his two terms,
38:59
Speaker 1: is he gave an incredible speech in Warsaw, I believe
39:02
Speaker 1: it was in his first full year, 2017, at memory service.
39:05
Speaker 1: It was a very Reagan-esque speech. He physically pointed eastward,
39:08
Speaker 1: faced Moscow, And spoke about the importance of the NATO alliance,
39:12
Speaker 1: the importance of the United States and our security umbrella,
39:14
Speaker 1: et cetera, et cetera. So he thinks very highly of
39:17
Speaker 1: the polls. Again, it's a very shrewd PR move from
39:21
Speaker 1: the polls. You know, there's a very interesting debate that
39:23
Speaker 1: has unfolded in American conservative circles over the past four
39:26
Speaker 1: and a half, five years since the Russian-Ukrainian war got
39:29
Speaker 1: underway again. It's been a very interesting debate about the
39:31
Speaker 1: extent to which NATO's ever eastward lurch was justified. And
39:36
Speaker 1: perhaps the argument sometimes goes, did this possibly instigate Vladimir
39:40
Speaker 1: Putin to act? I think it's a very interesting academic debate,
39:42
Speaker 1: but ultimately, James, it's neither here nor there for present
39:45
Speaker 1: purposes because NATO is what it is at this time.
39:47
Speaker 1: We're not going to kick any of these countries out
39:49
Speaker 1: of NATO. Lithuania, Estonia, they're not getting anywhere. So the
39:52
Speaker 1: best we can do at this point, given all that's happened,
39:54
Speaker 1: is to shore up that eastern flank. And if for
39:57
Speaker 1: Trump is a good way to do that, that's really
39:59
Speaker 1: something that I would support.
40:00
Speaker 2: Josh, just before I let you go, Secretary of State
40:03
Speaker 2: Marco Rubio has unveiled a new crackdown on what they
40:05
Speaker 2: call birth tourism. He slapped visa restrictions on people who
40:10
Speaker 2: engage in or facilitate the practice where foreigners legally enter
40:13
Speaker 2: the U.S. to give birth to a baby so that
40:16
Speaker 2: baby can then gain automatic citizenship. What exactly is Rubio
40:20
Speaker 2: proposing to solve this problem?
40:23
Speaker 1: Yeah, so birth tourism, it's a deeply sordid practice. So
40:27
Speaker 1: the United States... quite infamously, is one of the only
40:29
Speaker 1: first world countries that has automatic birthright citizenship. So if
40:33
Speaker 1: you were here, essentially for any reason, there are some very,
40:36
Speaker 1: very narrow exceptions, but essentially for any reason, and you
40:39
Speaker 1: give birth on the soil, the Supreme Court actually just
40:42
Speaker 1: ruled definitively for the first time in a deeply misguided ruling,
40:46
Speaker 1: Trump versus Barbara back in July. They ruled... that you're
40:49
Speaker 1: automatically a citizen. But there are some historical exceptions to
40:53
Speaker 1: that rule, the details of which are perhaps a little
40:55
Speaker 1: bit beyond the confines of our conversation today. But the
40:57
Speaker 1: point is that what Rubio is trying to do, what
40:59
Speaker 1: the administration is trying to do, is to fit birth
41:01
Speaker 1: tourism into one of those historically understood legal exceptions to
41:05
Speaker 1: the baseline rule. In layman's terms, what that means is
41:08
Speaker 1: is that they would try to say that if you
41:09
Speaker 1: are here for the express purpose of coming eight, nine
41:13
Speaker 1: months pregnant with your belly popping out, and all you
41:16
Speaker 1: want to do is pop out of child tier and
41:17
Speaker 1: get citizenship, if that is your explicit reason here, then
41:20
Speaker 1: guess what? You can have a baby on our soil,
41:22
Speaker 1: but that baby is not getting all-max citizenship. I think
41:25
Speaker 1: it's a shrewd move. Frankly, it's long overdue. And based
41:28
Speaker 1: on the court's own ruling, I think that would ultimately
41:30
Speaker 1: be upheld in court as well.
41:31
Speaker 2: Yeah, it sounds like absolute common sense. Just like you, Josh,
41:35
Speaker 2: you make a lot of sense. It's great chatting. Thanks
41:37
Speaker 2: so much for your time tonight.
41:39
Speaker 15: Thanks, James. Appreciate it.
41:40
Speaker 2: Still to come, Prince Harry's awkward teleprompter moment in New York.
41:44
Speaker 2: Kinsey Schofield will have all your royal and entertainment news
41:48
Speaker 2: right after this. Welcome back to the program. Four weeks
41:59
Speaker 2: after moving to the UK, Prince Harry is back in
42:01
Speaker 2: the US giving a speech about the dangers of artificial intelligence,
42:06
Speaker 2: which seems apt if you know what I mean. But
42:09
Speaker 2: the irony gets thicker. About seven minutes into his speech,
42:12
Speaker 2: his teleprompter stopped working and so did he. Have a look.
42:16
Speaker 15: We do not have years for what comes next.
42:30
Speaker 2: And that's it.
42:47
Speaker 15: Oh my gosh. It was so awkward. I'm sorry, but
42:49
Speaker 15: you could not script that.
42:51
Speaker 7: I mean, Prince Harry, he flies to New York to
42:53
Speaker 7: warn us about our dependence on technology.
42:55
Speaker 15: The technology stops working. And so does Prince Harry.
42:59
Speaker 7: I mean, to his credit, he did come back about
43:01
Speaker 7: 40 minutes later and finished the speech reminding us that
43:06
Speaker 7: Prince Harry quits almost everything.
43:09
Speaker 15: But not that speech. He did come back for the speech.
43:11
Speaker 7: Um, but I, I did think that, uh, it demonstrated
43:15
Speaker 7: that Prince Harry needs a cheat sheet. So why would
43:18
Speaker 7: we ever consider this guy an authority on this subject?
43:22
Speaker 2: Yeah, it didn't seem to be coming from his heart
43:24
Speaker 2: when the autoprompter stopped and then he stopped as well.
43:28
Speaker 2: But there you go. Meghan Markle's best friend has pulled
43:32
Speaker 2: back the curtain on the Duchess of Sussex new life
43:35
Speaker 2: in the UK. Kelly McKee Zafran shared some photos of
43:39
Speaker 2: herself and her infant son, Jack, enjoying a visit from Meghan.
43:44
Speaker 2: I don't know why people lap this stuff up, Kinsey,
43:46
Speaker 2: but they do. What do we learn from these photos
43:48
Speaker 2: about Meghan's new life?
43:51
Speaker 7: Well, call me cynical, but I thought this was just
43:54
Speaker 7: another blatant example of hypocrisy for the Sussexes. You know,
43:58
Speaker 7: they clearly understand the value of protecting a child's identity
44:01
Speaker 7: online because they do it with Archie and Lily, whether
44:04
Speaker 7: it's an emoji or the back of their heads. But
44:06
Speaker 7: apparently that protection doesn't extend to the baby sitting on
44:10
Speaker 7: her lap, you know? I thought that that, that struck
44:14
Speaker 7: me as odd that Harry is in New York right
44:17
Speaker 7: now talking about protecting children online and from social media.
44:22
Speaker 7: And they are exposing a six month old baby who
44:25
Speaker 7: can't give their consent to not only social media, but
44:28
Speaker 7: we are talking about this in Australia right now. So
44:32
Speaker 7: I'm sure that there are people that are going to
44:34
Speaker 7: look at this and go, Megan's life looks so quaint
44:37
Speaker 7: and adorable and, in the UK, but I look at
44:39
Speaker 7: it and go, why do you guys always say one
44:42
Speaker 7: thing and do the other?
44:44
Speaker 2: It's a really great point. I'm not sure that's the
44:47
Speaker 2: impression she was hoping to create, but I think you
44:49
Speaker 2: nailed it. Vice President J.D. Vance has professed his love
44:54
Speaker 2: for the Netflix romantic comedy series Emily in Paris. I
44:58
Speaker 2: did not see this coming, but here's his take on it.
45:01
Speaker 2: Have a listen.
45:02
Speaker 18: I had a buddy of mine criticise... the masterwork of
45:07
Speaker 18: American television called Emily in Paris. And so let me
45:09
Speaker 18: give you my meta-analysis of Emily in Paris and why
45:13
Speaker 18: it's genius. Basic idea, if you're just watching it superficially,
45:17
Speaker 18: is Emily in Paris is about this sort of bubbly
45:20
Speaker 18: girl who goes to Paris and has a cool job
45:22
Speaker 18: and has great experiences and drinks fine wine and does
45:25
Speaker 18: all the things.
45:25
Speaker 4: That you would do in Paris.
45:27
Speaker 18: But what it's actually is it is a massive cultural
45:31
Speaker 18: criticism of millennial decision-making.
45:36
Speaker 2: So there you go. That's the VP on Emily in Paris.
45:39
Speaker 2: Do you think he's looking a little too deep into
45:41
Speaker 2: this or is he on the money?
45:43
Speaker 15: Oh my God, he's on the money. I thought that
45:45
Speaker 15: this was hilarious. I mean, he's basically saying it's a
45:48
Speaker 15: millennial tragedy.
45:49
Speaker 7: Two attractive people who obviously belong together, spend six seasons
45:53
Speaker 7: making terrible decisions, obsess over their careers and waste precious
45:57
Speaker 7: time because apparently nobody on television is allowed to simply
46:00
Speaker 7: get married and be happy anymore.
46:03
Speaker 1: He's right.
46:03
Speaker 7: I mean, Shakespeare gave us Romeo and Juliet. Netflix has
46:06
Speaker 7: given us Emily in Paris. And Emily and Gabrielle, JD
46:10
Speaker 7: Vance is giving us the best analysis. And I honestly
46:14
Speaker 7: enjoyed seeing him pretend to care about my little soap opera.
46:16
Speaker 15: I'm not going to lie.
46:17
Speaker 2: I reckon Gogglebox with JD Vance could be really something.
46:23
Speaker 4: Don't you?
46:25
Speaker 15: I am there.
46:25
Speaker 7: Can I literally be there?
46:28
Speaker 15: I would enjoy that entire process.
46:30
Speaker 2: I tell you, it would be better with Donald Trump, though.
46:32
Speaker 2: That would be even more entertaining, I'm sure. Maybe less insightful,
46:35
Speaker 2: but definitely more entertaining. Justin Bieber put on a surprise
46:39
Speaker 2: mini concert at a park in LA. The source close
46:43
Speaker 2: to the artist told Page Six he did it to
46:45
Speaker 2: help out the homeless community. He even bought gifts for
46:49
Speaker 2: those who might be struggling to get by. I've always actually...
46:54
Speaker 2: I'm not that into his music, but I've always thought
46:56
Speaker 2: Justin Bieber had a good heart.
46:59
Speaker 7: I am unapologetically a geriatric believer. I, too, love Justin.
47:04
Speaker 15: I'm right there with you.
47:06
Speaker 7: I mean, we watched him grow up in real time
47:08
Speaker 7: under an enormous amount of scrutiny, and obviously he has
47:11
Speaker 7: made some mistakes along the way. But I think as
47:13
Speaker 7: he's gotten older, we've also watched him become much more
47:17
Speaker 7: thoughtful about the person he wants to be. He talks
47:20
Speaker 7: openly about his faith, his mental health, his marriage, and
47:23
Speaker 7: trying to heal some of those more difficult years. So
47:27
Speaker 7: when I see him quietly showing up for a community
47:29
Speaker 7: that's struggling and using his celebrity to help people, I
47:31
Speaker 7: think that says a lot about the man he's grown into.
47:34
Speaker 2: We are on an absolute unity ticket this evening. Speaking
47:37
Speaker 2: of troubled people, actor and comedian Nick Cannon has opened
47:41
Speaker 2: up about being a dad to a dozen kids born
47:44
Speaker 2: to six different women. He said that in retrospect, he
47:48
Speaker 2: could have planned things better. That's probably the great understatement
47:51
Speaker 2: of 2026.
47:54
Speaker 7: Planned better, 12 children later is a heck of a
47:58
Speaker 7: time to discover contraception, guys. You know, 12 children, six women,
48:04
Speaker 7: that's not a family tree.
48:06
Speaker 15: That's a corporate structure.
48:07
Speaker 7: And at this point, I don't think Nick Cannon is...
48:12
Speaker 7: planning family reunions. It's a full-blown convention. There's port-a-potties probably involved.
48:18
Speaker 7: Good luck to him and Santa Claus, because those are
48:21
Speaker 7: some high expectations.
48:23
Speaker 2: That is a lot of organization, not just the 12 kids,
48:26
Speaker 2: but 12 kids, it's a lot. Hey, before I let
48:30
Speaker 2: you go, reports that Hayden Panetti's parents are fighting over...
48:35
Speaker 2: Earrings the late actress was wearing when she died. One
48:38
Speaker 2: parent wanted the earrings mailed to them in North Carolina.
48:41
Speaker 2: The other parent wanted them sent to their address in California.
48:46
Speaker 2: Parents fighting over the jewelry being worn by their child
48:50
Speaker 2: when she died is just gross, is it not?
48:54
Speaker 7: It's really, I mean, I suspect this probably isn't really
48:57
Speaker 7: about earrings. Grief can make people fixate on possessions because
49:00
Speaker 7: suddenly an ordinary object becomes one of the last tangible
49:03
Speaker 7: connections you have to someone you love.
49:06
Speaker 15: But no, you're absolutely right.
49:08
Speaker 7: I do hope eventually the family can remember that Hayden's
49:11
Speaker 7: legacy is much bigger than who receives what she, like
49:14
Speaker 7: what things she left behind.
49:16
Speaker 15: A heartbreaking story all around.
49:18
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely. Kinsey Schofield, it's a delight to catch up.
49:21
Speaker 2: I've really appreciated your time tonight. Thanks so much. Well,
49:25
Speaker 2: that's it from me. Stick around. Coming up right now
49:28
Speaker 2: is the late edition. Good night.