00:00In the meantime, Danny, you've got this. It faced well-known problems from the very start,
00:05but now a scathing watchdog report shedding new light on former President Biden's floating Gaza
00:11Pier. Washington Post headline says this, Biden's Gaza Pier was more dangerous and costly than
00:17previously known, I'll say. Dan Hoffman with me now, former CIA chief of stations. And Dan,
00:22good morning to you. A couple of bullet points on this absolute failure, 62 U.S. personnel
00:29injured. One U.S. service member died. 230 million to build and maintain, 31 million in damage to
00:36military equipment, 1,000 U.S. forces to execute, 20 days in use, only 20 days in use. I mean, what else?
00:47Well, there were a lot of warnings that the Biden administration received before they launched this
00:53ill-fated plan to help those 2 million Palestinians who were facing starvation, warnings about rough
00:58seas and potential terrorist attacks from Hamas. USAID warned that we were taking Israel off the
01:05hook. It was Israel's responsibility for international law to provide for the Palestinians,
01:11to provide humanitarian assistance. And then for the U.S. military, look, it's a zero-sum game. The
01:17U.S. military can't be everywhere all the time. If you deploy 1,000 U.S. troops to this humanitarian
01:24mission, which they should never have been deployed to in the first place, they're not there to do
01:28counterterrorism missions. Why did he do it? Well, I think, look, this is a case study in foreign
01:35policy and the extent to which the Biden administration made a frivolous decision designed
01:41to curry favor heading into a presidential election and feeling the pressure over Palestinians who were
01:47facing starvation. It just wasn't the right policy decision. And that's the lesson, I think, that we
01:53need to learn here. And we paid a great cost for this. Some made the ultimate sacrifice. And I could
01:58just tell you, Bill, I served in war zones with the U.S. military, and all we asked for was give us a
02:03clear mission and give us all the tools we need to keep ourselves as safe as possible. We know we're
02:07risking our lives, but let's do everything we can to keep ourselves safe. We didn't do that in this
02:12case. Yeah, no doubt. Let's talk about Ukraine, Russia, and maybe a changing tone with regard to
02:17Putin. Two sound bites here, okay? First, I want you to listen to the vice president, J.D. Vance,
02:21on Wednesday. That's okay. I'll let you get that. Listen to Vance. I wouldn't say that the Russians are
02:25uninterested in bringing this thing to a resolution. What I would say is right now, the Russians are asking
02:31for a certain set of requirements, a certain set of concessions in order to end the conflict.
02:37We think they're asking for too much. We would like both the Russians and the Ukrainians to
02:43actually agree on some basic guidelines for sitting down and talking to one another.
02:48He also talked about how you got to listen to them for an hour, talk about the grievances they hold
02:53deeply and dearly based on history. President Trump was asked about Vance's comments on the same day
02:59and said this yesterday. We are getting to a point where some decisions are going to have to be
03:07made. I'm not happy about it. I'm not happy about it.
03:10So, Dan, do you sense a tone shift here? And as we talk about that, remember Xi's in Moscow,
03:17right? You're talking for several days there with the Russian leader.
03:21I do sense a change in tone and also action. Look, the Trump administration tried to entice
03:29Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table. They tried everything they could to end the war
03:33through negotiation. And Putin made it clear that he wasn't serious about a ceasefire.
03:38As a result, the Trump administration has allowed Patriot missiles to be transferred from Israel and
03:43from Poland to Ukraine. And also they recently approved a $300 million F-16 package supply parts
03:51to Ukraine as well. Look, at the core of Vladimir Putin's worldview is conflict and confrontation
03:57with the West. And there appears to be no getting over that. Putin wants Kiev. And he appears to be
04:04relentlessly focused on that unattainable strategic objective. We need to drive a wedge between Putin
04:10and his axis of dictatorships like China. Xi Jinping is there in Russia right now. There's
04:14no denying the relationship they have. But we've got to make this war clear loser for Putin. And we
04:20can do that by continuing to support Ukraine. All right. There will be more news with J.D. Vance
04:25later today when Martha sits down with him in Washington. We'll see what comes of that. Thank
04:28you, sir. Dan Hoffman, nice to see you.
04:40Dan Hoffman, nice to see you.
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