transcript

Speaker 1:
[00:05] Hello folks, welcome to Kudlow. I'm Larry Kudlow. So President Trump's naval blockade, squeezing Iran into surrender. No oil, no money, no payrolls. The president ordered the Navy to shoot and kill. The end game is coming. Aaron Cohen, Marc Thiessen will be here in just a few moments to talk about all that. Senator Shelley Moore Capito is going to tell us why Republicans may be bungling the budget game. No tax cuts, no voting rights, not even DHS, my God. And Kevin Warsh's confirmation remains in limbo for the Fed. Mike Faulkender will be here and Karl Rove is going to tell us why the Democrats are in very big peril. And finally, Ken Cuccinelli and Ben Ferguson on how the Democrats' Virginia power grab may be broken. How about that? But first up, our very own Ash Webster. He's live from Tel Aviv. Ash, what can you tell us out there?

Speaker 2:
[01:01] How are you doing there, Larry? As the sirens go by behind me, but it's just traffic. Don't worry about it. With the tense ceasefire still holding, no peace negotiations, at least on the table. In the short term, a lot of the focus, of course, has been on the Strait of Hormuz. And with good reason, it is a critical passageway for the entire global economy and certainly for the energy sector. As it stands, Iran has attacked at least three ships in the Strait in the last couple of days. There's also, it says, seized three more. As it says, the Strait is closed. Meanwhile, the US. Naval blockade of the Strait continues. In fact, as well as the Arabian Sea. No tankers or cargo ships in or out of Iranian ports. And you're seeing video here from the Department of War that shows the US. Navy taking charge of this vessel. They had Iranian oil and it was trying to basically sneak through the US. Navy, took care of that. The best basic message, nothing in and nothing out from Iranian ports. Meantime, President Trump issuing a stark warning on True Social saying, in part, I have ordered the United States Navy to shoot and kill any boat, small boats though they may be, that is putting mines in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz. Meantime, some tough talk today from Israel's Defense Minister saying that his forces stand ready for military operations and he certainly didn't hold back. Listen to this.

Speaker 3:
[02:45] When the attack resumes, this time it will be different and lethal. It will add destructive blows in the most painful places, following the tremendous blows that the Iranian terror regime has suffered until now, that will shake and bring down its foundations.

Speaker 2:
[02:59] And now we have the ambassadors of Lebanon and Israel meeting at this hour in Washington, DC., reportedly at the White House, trying to see if they can extend what is a 10-day ceasefire with just a few days left in that agreement. Meantime, Israeli soldiers continue their patrols inside southern Lebanon. The Lebanese government saying they won't talk unless those Israeli troops pull out. Meanwhile, Israel accuses Lebanon of not doing enough to disarm Hezbollah. So, lots of incidents in the Strait of Hormuz, but as for peace negotiations, all very quiet right now. Larry?

Speaker 1:
[03:38] All right, Ash Webster, thank you ever so much. Be safe, my friend. So, American economic success. We have oil and that's the subject of the riff. Now, the US naval blockade of Iranian ports is working to perfection, basically stopping Iran from selling any oil or getting any money. Losing four or 500 million bucks a day means you're in a business that has no future. You won't meet payroll, no retirement accounts or other health benefits, and your employees and their families and friends are getting very, very angry. They didn't sign on to this insane radical Islamism, which is leading to the destruction of their country. Just think about this. It's really how revolutions begin. And besides, President Trump's steel backbone in maintaining the blockade. Hats off to Treasury Secretary Besant for his own maximum pressure campaign through economic fury. My sources tell me the Treasury has been freezing all those IRGC offshore bank accounts in places like Turkey, Qatar, the UAE, Oman and others. These, by the way, are owned by the generals who have looted and stolen from Iran for decades and decades. So they and their kids can live the high life outside of Iran. It's what dictators and totalitarians always do. But many, if not most of these Iranian offshore bank accounts have been frozen by Mr. Besson. So no dollars are available to Iran. Very important. No dollars are getting into Iran. This is the banking freeze. It's also the export import freeze. And sources tell me the Secretary is poised to sanction any country that facilitates any trade or finance any flows on behalf of Iran. Because if they do, they will be thrown out of the US economic system. They'll be knocked off the Swift accounting ledger and the New York Fed transactions wire. So hats off to Besson for keeping the financial heat on as part of the war effort. Now as bad as it's gotten in Iran, the other side of the coin is the Trump-Besson economic policies are keeping the US economy in pretty good shape. Gasoline, four-dollar gasoline has not stopped significant consumer spending. Manufacturing has come alive. Take a look at the ISMs or the S&P global PMIs. Private sector employment beating all expectations. The unemployment rate, a low 4.3 percent. And if you look through the temporary energy spike, the inflation rate is probably close to two and a half percent. And you can bet Kevin Warsh is going to bring it lower when he takes over. Weekly and monthly unemployment claims remain rock bottom. Profits, the mother's milk of stocks, the lifeblood of the economy are booming at around 15 percent plus. Productivity is high. Unit labor costs are low. Business is making good money in order to expand, build new factories, and pay overtime and tips without taxes. Stock markets are at or near record highs pretty much across the board. The USA is a great free market capitalist economic machine. And it's backed up by a president who believes in rewarding success, not punishing it. And he pushes for free and fair trade. Now, finally, another reason for America's economic success during wartime is very simple. We have oil. Plenty of it. Mr. Trump's drill baby drill over the past decade was sheer genius. We don't need their oil. We have our own oil. And virtually the rest of the world is coming to us because they need fuel. And we are reliable suppliers. Just think about that. All right. And that's the riff. All right. Let's talk some more about Iran and oil and anything else that comes to mind. We welcome back to the show the great Aaron Cohen, Israeli special ops veteran, founder of Gideon and Marc Thiessen, Fox News contributor. Many thanks to both of you. Aaron Cohen, the news, one of the news is this speaker of the parliament, Galabath is his name, has resigned, so the internal fighting continues to go on. I want to get your take on this because they're not going to get together. There's no evidence that anybody is going to get together. They're not going to put up an agreement. I don't even want an agreement. Marc's going to talk about that, should be unconditional surrender. My basic question is, though, if something doesn't happen, are they all going to be taken out between the CIA and the Mossad? Are they going to be taken out? Aaron Cohen, I ask you.

Speaker 4:
[08:53] Larry, it's good to see you. To answer your question directly, yes. If they continue to play around, all cards are on the table. The biggest mistake that people are making right now, Larry, that I'm seeing with everything that's happening with Iran, is thinking this is about a deal. It's not. Trump doesn't need a deal, Larry, because he already has Iran where he wants them. They're weakened, they're fractured, they're running out of time. Diplomacy does not work with the mullahs. It's not what brings them in. It's the pressure, the military, the economic, which you just talked about in your riff, which is all part of Trump's psychological package here. So Iran's stalling. These guys are never going to negotiate in good faith. They're going to drag this out, and what they're trying to do right now, Larry, is buy time. And what we're seeing is that fracture play out. And regarding Gallabath, stepping away from the negotiating table signals this to me, Larry. There is no unified leadership. There are competing factions and decision making is breaking down in real time. And so where we're at right now is Trump is holding all of the cards.

Speaker 1:
[10:06] Right. Absolutely. Yeah. Terrific. Absolutely. And Marc Thiessen, I read your column with great interest. I mean, what's the deal? I want the only deal I want is unconditional surrender, where we dictate the terms here with respect to the Hormuz and nuclear weapons and enrichment and verification and all the things that have been talked about publicly, but Iran won't fess up to. I mean, that's got to happen. These guys will never get together. Aaron Cohen is right. He's a very smart guy. Marc, I don't know if you know Aaron Cohen. He's on top of his game. They're never going to get together. Never. They're going to wind up shooting out each other. You know, that's what happens in revolutions, right? The totalitarians, they all should have each other. You know, it's like Roefe in France or it's going to be like 1917 in Russia. Anyway, who needs a deal, Marc?

Speaker 5:
[10:54] Exactly. So Donald Trump is the consummate deal maker. But the best deal makers know that sometimes the best deal is no deal. And right now, I think that's the case when it comes to Iran. He very skillfully used the ceasefire to bring ships through the Strait of Hormuz to install this blockade. And the blockade is absolutely crippling the Iranian regime. Ninety-five, because they've lost a lot of their land routes because of the war, 95 percent of their trade goes through the Strait of Hormuz. And it's not just exports, it's imports. So Iran, for example, uses 130 million liters of gasoline a day, but only produces 100 million. So that's 30 million liters of gasoline. They're short a day as this blockade goes on. They're going to have gas riots. They're going to be gas lines. Now, irony, the regime that caused gas lines for us in the 1970s is now going to have gas lines because of this blockade. And if Trump then begins to now pummel them militarily, so Scott Besant and Trump are pummeling them economically, Trump will begin pummeling them again militarily. And we've got about 30 to 40% of the targets left, 20 to 30% of the targets that Cooper was assigned at the start of the war still need to be hit. Once we hit those, once we resume the leadership strikes, the only reason these guys are alive is to negotiate. They were taken off the list and guaranteed their safety. If they're not going to negotiate, guess what? You're on the list, buddy. And we're going to take out the remaining leaders, we're going to crush their economy, we're going to crush them militarily, and then Trump can open the strait. All ships except Iranian ships.

Speaker 1:
[12:30] Right. No, no, no, I get it. I didn't mean to interrupt, but Aaron Cohen.

Speaker 5:
[12:34] No, it's okay.

Speaker 1:
[12:35] In your judgment, Aaron, will another round of combat be necessary?

Speaker 4:
[12:45] Potentially, Larry, I'll tell you what, I'll tell you what is kind of living in the back of my mind here. I still think there's a nuclear risk, okay? I think that, I think that's the strategic reality. And I think what we saw with the setup at the beginning of the show, the Israeli Defense Minister, Katz, saying, we're ready, we're ready, we're ready. There could be something that's being prepared right now. Iran is weakened, there's no question, but their enriched uranium stockpile still exists. It's deep underground, the facilities are active. Their long-term pathway to nuclear weapons hasn't been fully eliminated. So that's what's kind of living in my head. So the danger still exists in giving them time to rebuild that. So because a weak deal, temporary pause doesn't stop that threat, it kind of preserves it. So I'm with your guest, I'm with you, Strait of Hormuz. Listen, Hormuz, Larry, fear theater. They're not in control of anything. Like I said, there's wave runners and bullhorns out there. Iran is still trying to threaten the Strait of Hormuz. There's no threats going on out there. Trump already tripled the amount of manpower that's going to hit that little 16 mile, whatever it is, straight. But the nuclear angle, I believe, if there's any more intel that surfaces, there may be a special operation aimed at that. But any leaders who step up and get silly will be eliminated. Trump is not afraid to weaponize his incredible military. And they have performed beautifully with Israel as their partner. So let's see how it continues to unfold.

Speaker 1:
[14:19] And, you know, Marc, you have to ask, you don't want this interregnum ceasefire, or whatever it is, to go on too long. Because Iran, you know, Iran, I'm not saying they can put it back together again, but they can regroup to some extent. And I don't want them to regroup at all. You know, we've got them on the run, the country's imploding, destruction is everywhere. You know, General Keene made a point, because there's a bombing pause, people will assess the damage. But the families, the families of all these people, they're the ones who are going to suffer. And you know, their lives are being ruined, they don't have any money, they won't be able to buy bread. I mean, remember, in 1917, Lenin talked about peace, bread and land. They want, without bread, people start revolting. So I don't want this ceasefire to go on too long, Marc.

Speaker 5:
[15:14] I agree with you. Look, Trump extended it a few days to give them a chance to put a proposal on the table. Doesn't look like it's going to happen. So you got to resume it. And keep in mind, this stopped, the pause stopped with about 14 days left on Admiral Cooper's target list. So you execute the final strikes. You finish the job that President Trump gave him. And then the final play is Karg Island. We either take Karg Island or we threaten the Iranian regime, what's left of it, that we'll destroy it if they don't hand over the nuclear dust. And then either they hand over the nuclear dust or we destroy Karg Island and we weaken them so much that we can carry out an operation to get the dust. So, I think your guest is right that we need to deal with that as the final play here. But to do that, we have to finish the military strikes that were on the table before when this pause took place.

Speaker 1:
[16:02] And we'll starve them economically and financially too. Anyway, you two are both fabulous. Thank you ever so much. Aaron Cohen, Marc Thiessen, we will talk soon. Appreciate your inputs. Now we welcome back to the show West Virginia Center, Shelley Moore Capito, chair of the Senate Republican Policy Committee. Coming in on a very interesting day, madam. Thank you for this. Let me tell you, you know, you and I have known each other a long time and I have the greatest respect for you. I don't understand what you all are doing with these bills. You're not going to refund DHS. That's not part of the skinny reconciliation bill. Only you've got what, ice and a piece of customs and maybe the back office. Meanwhile, there's a resolution for a budget of $60 trillion over 10 years, no tax cuts, no inflation indexing for capital gains, no Pentagon military supplement, no voting rights bill, no waste fraud and abuse. Senator Capito, you got to help me here because I don't understand. I think you all are going down the wrong road, and I am with the greatest of respect.

Speaker 6:
[17:15] I understand your frustrations and we're frustrated here. This is the state of play, though, Larry. We're looking at a Department of Homeland Security that doesn't just encompass border, and you know this, border patrol and ICE enforcement. It also is Coast Guard, Secret Service, cyber security, et cetera, et cetera. And the Democrats refuse 16 times to fund those. We've got a problem here that we need to solve. So we're trying to find a solution. And one of the solutions that we've put forward, and we just voted on it 3 30 this morning, is to put together ICE and Border Patrol funding for the next three and a half years so we don't find ourselves back in the same position in September, because we know the Democrats will shut the government down again because it's already been shut down now for 69 days for Homeland. So, and according to what the House has been telling us, I think they're saying we want to see a serious effort by the Senate that you're going to fund these two activities, and we are, and you hear Secretary Mullen now saying, I've only got three or four more weeks here to fund the rest of the department. So we're under a time constraint. It's a temporary setback in terms of how we're going to solve the problem that the Democrats have presented us with. And so, go ahead.

Speaker 1:
[18:34] No, ma'am, I don't mean to interrupt. I want to be absolutely respectful. I just want to say, the skinny reconciliation bill doesn't reopen DHS.

Speaker 6:
[18:44] No, it doesn't pay.

Speaker 1:
[18:45] I mean, that's the problem. That's the problem. And my point, I won't say my point. I don't want to be didactic. Here, I'm worried, OK, because I want this story to turn out well. I'm a very strong supporter of closing the border and ICE, and the Customs Bureau and so forth. But I am worried, you're just going to get one bite out of the apple. The House will be lucky to pass one bill. You know that, man. You've been around a long time. One bill. OK, now I've not talked to Speaker Mike Johnson, but you get one bill. Why not put all of this, DHS, Customs, ICE, and then, wait a second, you've got spending restraints, you've got fabulous savings, offsets on waste, fraud and abuse, what Emmett Oz is doing in LA, what a lot of people are doing in Minnesota and elsewhere. Then you've got, you need some economic growth, man. We have, you know, $4 a gallon. The tip poll, which is one of the best polls in Leans Republican, four to one, people think taxes are going up, despite the one big beautiful bill. That can't be good. Why not index capital gains? Might help the housing. You, everybody loves voting rights, Senator. They all like voting rights. Why not a simple, simple voting rights bill? You know, photo ID and citizenship, put that in there. So you'd have a, everybody'd have something to vote for, but it's just going to be one bill. You're going to put a one little bill out there and that's it. It doesn't make any sense.

Speaker 6:
[20:15] Well, I think what your fallacy is, is you said one bill and that's it. I don't think that is it, but that's the most immediate problem. The president put us to task and said, give me a skinny bill that funds border patrol and ICE for the rest of the duration of my term. I don't want to fight this battle ever four to six months. And he's right about that. I understand what you're saying, but let's just look at the voting rights bill. I'm a co-sponsor of that. I voted for that. You need 60 votes in the Senate. You can't put it on a reconciliation package. You know that because of the bird rule and all of these other intricacies of Senate procedure.

Speaker 1:
[20:51] I could help you on that. I could help you on that. I could help you on that. I have a way to do it. I've had some budget experience. You know that.

Speaker 6:
[20:58] Let's do it.

Speaker 1:
[20:58] I'm telling you. But let's not. You're going to wind up. You'll probably get the skinny bill through and then you're going to look around and that's going to be the whole thing for the rest of the year. What are you going to sell for the midterm elections? Honestly.

Speaker 6:
[21:17] Well, I mean, I think what we need to sell is what one big beautiful bill is doing. 11 percent more refunds, more wages are going up. We grew jobs in March. I mean, understandably and maybe not as fast as we would like, particularly in light of the Iranian situation, which is impacting one of the big indicators to every single person in my state, certainly, is gasoline prices. We've got to try to bring those down, but even admittedly, they won't come down as quickly as we would like them. They always go up faster than they could ever come down and you know that, but I think also we've got small business tax credits that are permanent, that have never been permanent before. We've got family matters in this tax bill that help with child care expenses, tax levels for staying low. I mean, the Democrats would have let the taxes go up by $6 trillion. So we've done a lot.

Speaker 1:
[22:11] That bill is a good bill. I supported it. I campaigned for it. Everybody told me it couldn't be one bill. It had to be two or three bills. No, no, no. I'm with you on that. And by the way, it is helping. My riff tonight talked about how even in wartime with $4 gasoline, the American economy is doing very well. It's much more resilient than people thought. I think in no small part because of these policies. But then again, you know, what have you done for me lately? A lot of people are saying you need to do more. If you go home and don't have more product and go big, take a risk. I don't know. I think you're missing a big opportunity, Senator.

Speaker 6:
[22:51] Well, the thing is, if I could just kind of interject here. Yes, of course. I understand where you are, and there are members of our caucus that would do this. And if we could go big, I would go big. But the problem is, look how much time and effort and really angst it took us to get the first bill last summer, the working families tax cut. We don't have the time on Homeland Security to really devote that time to this. Is that a good reason? It's a reason. I wouldn't say it's probably the best reason, but it is a reason.

Speaker 1:
[23:19] I know. But I heard Senator Scott last night told me that ICE is running out of money. I don't agree. Respectfully, I don't agree. I know these numbers. We put a lot of money in last year for all that. But whatever, I just think you have to be bold, pro-growth. And incidentally, part of this is using the offsets from waste, fraud and abuse. You know, these numbers coming out of all this corruption in Los Angeles and Minnesota and New York, you know, the big states, you've got to use that to put up a... I'll learn more, Senator Capito, but to put up a budget resolution to spend 60 trillion dollars over 10 years without offsets, without tax cuts, to me it makes no sense whatsoever. But look, thank you for coming on the show. I hate to argue with you.

Speaker 6:
[24:13] We have another strike at the ball here. We have another strike at the ball. You know that.

Speaker 1:
[24:16] That's what it is. I want you to, that's it. I want you to swing from the heels. Thank you. Senator Shelley Moore Capito, the great state of West Virginia. We appreciate your time very much. All right, folks, coming up, we got some more. Kevin Warsh's confirmation remains in limbo. So we're gonna talk that with former deputy treasury secretary, my pal, Michael Faulkender. All that when Kudlow returns. You can catch us Monday through Friday, 4 p.m., right here on Fabulous Fox Business. And if for some reason you can't make it at four, please just text your favorite nine-year-old and she'll show you how to DVR the show and you'll never miss a thing. But I'd like to have you come visit me right here at 4 p.m. every day, right on set. I'm Kudlow, we'll be right back.

Speaker 7:
[25:07] This week on the Fox True Crime Podcast, psychotherapist and author Lena Derhally breaks down the mind of Chris Watts and the warning signs behind one of America's most disturbing family murders.

Speaker 8:
[25:17] Listen and follow now at foxtruecrime.com.

Speaker 9:
[25:21] This investigation continues. I am in the legal lane. There are others who are in the political lane. I don't intersect those two lanes. I am going forward, and we are continuing in this investigation.

Speaker 1:
[25:36] All right, that is District of Columbia, US. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, good friend, former Fox colleague, talking about the J-PAL Federal Reserve business and her investigation of the cost overruns and Mr. Powell's testimony before the House of Representatives. So the issue here is how are we going to get Kevin Warsh confirmed? Because right now it's in limbo. We welcome back to the show Michael Faulkender, a former Deputy Treasury Secretary himself. Michael, I can't fault Jeanine Pirro. She's not, I don't think she's being political. She never mentioned interest rates. It was J-PAL that mentioned interest rates. And for some reason, the Federal Reserve refuses to respond to the requests made by the US. Attorney on behalf of the Justice Department. Now, we got to get Kevin Warsh in, but I don't know that, I don't think blaming Jeanine Pirro is the, the issue or the answer.

Speaker 10:
[26:36] Yeah, Larry, I think you saw in Kevin Warsh's confirmation hearing earlier this week why we need a change in leadership. We need Jerome Powell to move to, you know, to step down from his, not just chairman seat, but from his governor seat and have a new era of leadership at the Fed. I think that an investigation of the Fed does need to take place, but I would like to see it be much broader than just the cost overruns at the building. I think we need a full review of the expansion of federal reserve activity ever since the financial crisis. You know, Secretary Besson called this gain of function monetary policy at the federal reserve. I would much rather see a thorough investigation of the Fed potentially led by Secretary Besson to look at quantitative easing, to look at forward guidance, to look at the failures and supervision that took place under J-PAL's watch. Why did we get 40-year high inflation rates in the 2022-2023 time frame? And they can investigate the building. I would much rather see that take place in the form of a review and perhaps upgrades to how the federal reserve operates. And that way, and if in that process, they find that something criminal has taken place, then send it over to Jeanine Pirro. But I really think that if we can move this out of the criminal investigation space and instead do it as part of an overall reform review, then perhaps that would satisfy Senator Tillis and we could get Kevin Warsh's vote out of the Senate.

Speaker 1:
[28:04] I mean, what's there? A potential commission and so forth, you know, may be around. But if nothing else, the talk is the Senate Banking Committee will take the investigation, that they will run the investigation. It will not be a criminal investigation. It will be a, shall we say, fiscal cost overrun kind of investigation. And maybe that, and perhaps if Jay Powell would commit to resigning, he's got to resign his chairmanship in May 15th, but perhaps resign from the Federal Reserve Board altogether, maybe that might convince it. But right now, you're at loggerheads and somebody, you know, Michael Faulkender, we don't have time to talk about it all afternoon. But the fact is, here's Warsh. Everybody says he's a smart guy, including Tom Tillis, okay? He did very wonderfully in the hearing a couple of days ago. But his confirmation is in limbo. It's a very strange story, Mike Faulkender.

Speaker 10:
[29:06] Yeah, I think what needs to happen is that Secretary Besant probably should call Senator Tillis and say, what kind of investigation would satisfy you? As you said, Larry, clearly there's something that needs to be taken a look at here, whether it's the Senate Banking Committee, whether it's some role for the Executive Branch to play. I just don't know that we want it to be narrowly focused only on the cost overruns, nor do I think that it should necessarily be done by the District Attorney for the District of Columbia. I think it should be broadened and perhaps therefore be in the hands of either the Senate Banking Committee or the Executive Branch, perhaps led by Secretary Besant and our friend NEC Chairman Kevin Hassett. But, you know, let's see what Senator Tillis is going to need to satisfy what would get Kevin Warsh out of the committee because we need him at the Fed.

Speaker 1:
[29:55] Yes, we do. We only got a couple of weeks to go, so somebody's got to pull a rabbit out of the hat. Mike Faulkender, thanks, buddy. We'll talk soon. Appreciate it. All right, folks, coming up, you know, the Democrats' Virginia power grab and that election may be busted, all right? The courts are overruling the whole thing. We'll talk about it with Ken Cuccinelli and Ben Ferguson. Next up on Kudlow.

Speaker 11:
[30:25] New Sensodyne Clinical Repair.

Speaker 8:
[30:26] Hi, Diva, it's Rachel.

Speaker 2:
[30:28] And Jordan, yeah, hi.

Speaker 11:
[30:29] Quick question.

Speaker 8:
[30:30] Why are you not spending your Venmo balance?

Speaker 12:
[30:32] Yeah, we're concerned.

Speaker 8:
[30:33] You can like buy stuff with it.

Speaker 11:
[30:34] Ugh, you love buying stuff.

Speaker 8:
[30:36] And earn cash back on eligible purchases.

Speaker 12:
[30:38] You love purchasing eligible things.

Speaker 8:
[30:40] So the money your friend sent you yesterday, that's today's ramen or ride share or eye patches.

Speaker 13:
[30:45] The skincare kind, not the pyro kind.

Speaker 8:
[30:47] Spend with Venmo, and you can earn cash back with Venmostache.

Speaker 14:
[30:50] Venmostache bundle terms and exclusions apply. Max $100 cash back per month. See terms at venmo.me slash dash terms.

Speaker 7:
[30:55] See verification required to use a Venmo balance.

Speaker 1:
[30:56] This Virginia redistricting story twists and turns. Of course, may overrule what the Democrats were doing. We welcome back show, Ken Cuccinelli, old friend, former Virginia Attorney General and Ben Ferguson, host of the Ben Ferguson podcast. Ken Cuccinelli, you are the top lawyer. One court has already overturned this crazy election. The whole thing could be thrown out like it should be.

Speaker 15:
[31:21] I think that the odds are very much in that direction. I think that the court in Southwest Virginia, the Tassel Circuit Court that threw the whole thing out, is going to be upheld in the Virginia Supreme Court. It will be the Virginia Supreme Court that decides this. This is all state constitutional issues. There are no federal issues at play yet. And the way the Democrat General Assembly egregiously jammed this through the General Assembly without any regard to the constitutional requirements, I think is going to come back to bite them right in about two or three weeks.

Speaker 1:
[31:56] You know, Ben Ferguson, this is so great. You have all these Democrats that run as moderates, like this Spansberger woman in Virginia. Yeah, they lie to you, yeah. Yes, just that right lie. Then, she apparently was opposed to this kind of crazy redistricting when she ran. And then she comes in and jams it down everybody's throat, along with taxes and every other socialist Bernie Sanders idea. But you know what, Ben, Americans not as dumb as Democrats think they are.

Speaker 13:
[32:23] No, no, not at all. I also love if you look at the opinion from this judge on this redistricting, one of the things that he said that made me just smile from ear to ear was the fact he's like, hey, you guys clearly wrote the election question of what you were voting on in a way that would be confusing. So you knew you couldn't win if you just put it out there honestly. You had to word it in an awkward way so that might confuse voters enough that maybe you could get this thing to pass. And on top of the fact that you were screwing with the constitution of the state, and then looking at the other issues of the timing and what had just been done a few years before. But this goes back to the core of what we see across the country with Democrats right now. They don't respect the constitution. They don't respect any of it.

Speaker 1:
[33:08] Ken Cuccinelli, we need, among other things, the voting rights. We need the citizenship and the Voto ID. A lot of, some people are saying paper ballots at the last minute, Fairfax County, I don't know. But my point is, the Republicans in the Senate and the House should really figure out a way to get the voting rights through because it's so damn popular.

Speaker 15:
[33:28] Yep. Yeah, I mean, even that radical right-wing organization, CNN, their own poll showed over 70% of Democrat voters support Voto ID and citizenship confirmation. Democrats, I mean, Libertarians, Vegetarians, Republicans, Democrats, everybody supports this except about half of the US. Senate. And the Republicans need to push it through and make the Democrats defend it. This is wildly popular across the country because it works. It works. And it will return confidence to American elections.

Speaker 1:
[34:04] Ben Ferguson, I gave you the last word. I'm trying to convince Republican senators to have a big bill. I mean, Ken talks about Libertarians and Vegetarians. Put everything, I want voting rights, I want some tax cuts, I want some waste, fraud and abuse, Ben. They got this skinny anorexic bills going nowhere. I don't know how you sell that in the midterms, Ben.

Speaker 13:
[34:25] Yeah, it's going to be hard to. And look, this is the problem with some of the Republican leadership in Washington, DC. You got a bunch of rhinos and wusses there. Act like adults, act like men, act like the people you claimed you were going to be when you're running for election, and do your job. Overwhelmingly American people want to show an ID to vote. It's not that hard. If I want to meet with a Liberal, I got to show an ID. If you want to go to a CNN town hall, you got to show an ID. It's not hard. Do your job.

Speaker 1:
[34:51] Ken Cuccinelli, old friend, Ben Ferguson, terrific stuff. You both wonderful. Thank you ever so much. Now, let's have great fun. Let's bring in Karl Rove, Fox News contributor. Karl Rove, thank you for doing this. I thought you wrote a great piece today, and it's so interesting. Listen, the Democrats are even more unpopular than Republicans and Mr. Trump, and you've got the numbers to prove it.

Speaker 16:
[35:13] Yeah, well, real clear, politics actually has the numbers. This is the approved disapprove of the Democrats. Thirty-six approved, fifty-six disapprove, Republicans, thirty-nine, fifty-four, Trump, forty-one, fifty-six. Those are the real clear politics averages. It really is something that the Democrats in the environment that we're in are the least popular of the three tested, the Republicans, the Democrats and the President.

Speaker 1:
[35:39] And you talk about from Barcelona to Boise. I mean, publicly opposing the Iran War, which is to say, the military, probably a very bad idea. It's all about Trump, Karl. I mean, what is their platform? I mean, they don't really have much to run on. I think that's part of this disapproval.

Speaker 16:
[36:01] Yeah, well, that was my starting point. There was a big conference in Barcelona of socialists and progressives last weekend, and the US contingent was led by Tim Walz, the brilliant vice presidential choice of the Democrats in the last election, who called Donald Trump a fascist, and then by Chris Murphy of Connecticut, Senator Murphy said that we're facing the greatest threat to democracy in America since the beginning of the Civil War. That kind of over-the-top rhetoric based around hatred of Donald Trump is not going to be a winning message for Democrats in the fall. Everybody knows that's how a lot of the Democratic Party leadership feels about them, and they're at 36% approval. If that message was a winning message, they'd be more popular than being number three out of three.

Speaker 1:
[36:45] Now, that's a good point. I mean, last one, Karl, I mean, you're very kind to come on. You know, if they've been running candidates who's run as moderates and then govern to the left. We were just talking about Virginia. It's true in New Jersey. It's true in other states as well. They're trying to run moderates, but they're not, they wind up governing as lefties.

Speaker 16:
[37:08] Yeah, well, look, Spanberger was a ran as a quote pragmatic Democrat and has turned out to be very left wing. And guess how she's been rewarded in the Shar poll, which is the sort of the best poll done in Virginia. She has the lowest rating approval rating of any governor since they began asking the question in 1995. So she won by 15 points and yet people are are she's upside down already. That's because they thought she meant it when she said, I'm gonna govern from the middle. And instead, as you said earlier, when she came in, every executive order was to the left and the legislature and she combined with a very aggressively progressive package of legislation. And the Commonwealth of Virginia doesn't like to be lied to.

Speaker 1:
[37:53] Terrific stuff. Democrats in peril from Barcelona to Boise, Karl Rove. Thank you, sir. Great column. We appreciate it very, very much. All right, folks, next up, what's up with Chinese farmland? Do you know a Chinese farmer? You know, they're everywhere. We're going to show you charts, going to knock your socks off and we're going to talk about it with China expert Gordon Chang. I'm Kudlow. Please stay with us. Is that bound?

Speaker 12:
[38:21] No one goes to Hank's for his spreadsheets. They go for a darn good pizza. Lately though, the shop's been quiet. So Hank decides to bring back the $1 slice. He asks Copilot in Microsoft Excel to look at his sales and costs, help him see if he can afford it. Copilot shows Hank where the money's going and which little extras make the dollar slice work. Now Hank says, I'll line out the door. Hank makes the pizza, Copilot handles the spreadsheets. Learn more at m365copilot.com/work.

Speaker 1:
[38:51] Farmland, but not in China here. We're going to put up on the full screen right away, all the China farmland owned in the United States. And we will talk to the great Gordon Chang of Gate Stone Institute Senior Fellow, who is an expert on the subject. You know, Gordon, the story never changes. And oddly enough, coincidentally enough, all this China owned farmland is very near American military bases. You think that's a coincidence?

Speaker 11:
[39:15] Probably not, Larry. Especially because we know that a lot of this is directed by companies that are under the boot of the Communist Party. But there's something else going on here. We have all of these researchers have been caught bringing in pathogens, basically diseases like the head blight that goes after livestock, crops and humans. And the question is, why is this happening? There's been a rash of these, four incidents, three incidents now over the last 10 months. And so I worry that they're going after our food supply.

Speaker 1:
[39:46] Did we put the chart up of the Chinese farmland? Put it up again, because I want folks to look at it. It's a massive chart and it may have many implications. But again, I come back to this, they're getting away with murder. We're letting them do that. I mean, I saw this national security meetings when I was in the government. We threw out Huawei, the phone company, because they were putting little cameras on the old wooden phone things. But this, they wouldn't let us buy farmland near their bases or anyplace else.

Speaker 11:
[40:16] They would not allow Americans to buy any land because in China, nobody, foreigner or domestic, can own any land. It's all owned by the state. The most you get is a 70 year lease. So Americans can't buy land in China. And the question is, why are we allowing the Chinese to buy land in our country? It's a matter of reciprocity. Plus all the things that you mentioned, the espionage on our military facilities. I think there's an attempt to bring in invasive species. We have these issues about the pathogens. There's so much gangland activity on our farmland. The illegal marijuana grows, especially in Maine and Oklahoma. There are so many things going on here. So, this is, to me, it's just totally subversive.

Speaker 1:
[40:56] I mean, I just, I saw it with my eyes, these FBI pictures, you know, these wooden phone, they've had little tiny cameras and be able to take pictures. Last one, China and oil. Hurt by this closing down of the Persian Gulf and Hormuz, how badly?

Speaker 11:
[41:19] I think it's really bad. We know that Chinese refineries are running at run rates of below 70%, basically back to 2022. And people are saying, well, they're running low because they can't get oil. But no, because we know that the two major Chinese oil refineries, they have been selling loadings for May. So really what that says to me is they don't need the oil. The reason why they don't need the oil is because the factories are not running at full capacity or anywhere near it. So there's a suggestion that the economy is deteriorating more than most people think.

Speaker 1:
[41:52] You're going to slump, that's fascinating. Anyway, we always need more time, but Gordon Chang, thank you for coming and visiting with us. We appreciate it. Folks, I'll be back with my last word.

Speaker 11:
[42:06] Now that I've re-evaluated.

Speaker 14:
[42:07] I'm Dana Perino. This week on Perino on Politics, I'm joined by Fox News Congressional Correspondent, Bill Mollusian.

Speaker 12:
[42:12] Listen and follow now at foxnewspodcast.com.

Speaker 14:
[42:16] Or wherever you get your favorite podcasts.

Speaker 12:
[42:18] Must listen to podcasts from Fox News Audio.

Speaker 1:
[42:21] Top of the show, American prosperity in war time or peace time. We have oil. And Mr. Trump had the foresight for drill, baby drill. And now turn it over to my friend.