since about june 2015, as i recall, and doing so effectively. as he will, i'm sure, tomorrow night. good to see you, ed, thank you. >> thank you. lou: we thank you for being with us, good night from new york. ♪ ♪ new york. >> breaking right now, trish regan learned the president is aggressively considering ending the shutdown on his own. and securing the money he needs for the wall on his own. tonight, president trump weigh ing an executive order to declare a national emergency and seal our southern border shutdown. president trump: congress should do this. if they can't do it, if at some point they just can't do it, this is a 15 minute meeting. if they can't do it, i will declare a national emergency. trish: also tonight, the

socialistic wave may be captur ing some of america, and all, except those who actually work for her, and the socialistic mayor of the most capitalistic city right here, in the world, new york city aiming for a total wealth re distribution, the california mayor gavin newsom on opening up the u.s. to everyone, every single person that wants to come here, and offering the world healthcare. he wants your money to do it of course in california. tonight, i'm setting the records straight on all of these project s, and we need to watch this closely. we really do, because i'll tell you less than three hours from miami is socialistic venezuela where tonight the people are in very dire conditions while their president, "president" because we no longer recognize him, pays himself $2 million a day for food and other expenses. i have some new reporting for you. i have learned exclusively who

the five americans are that are being held hostage by that socialistic rogue regime and tonight, you'll hear only on trish regan primetime from the hostage negotiator who is working with these american families in an attempt to secure their release and bring them home to us. trish regan primetime begins right now. trish: breaking right now, we have learned that president trump is tonight considering taking matters into his own hands to get a wall built on our southern border by declaring a national emergency. i want to be very clear. as our country, a country, our president should have power over our borders. i mean, this is an issue when he mandated, remember the people from seven countries, countries like syria, that have no idea whose actually in their population, not be allowed in. there was a temporary order.

you'll recall, blocking entry into the u.s. from places that we did not trust. the media went wild, the 99th circuit court vetoed it and it went all the way to the supreme court where his order stood, because he's the president, and one would have to assume that the president should have, does have specific knowledge about threats to our country that other politicians and media members and judges on courts like the ninth circuit do not have, and this particular case, the president is worried about gang members, and would be terrorists. the department of homeland security reports and this is not a partisan report, or a politically motivated number, in fact nbc has reported on this as well, the u.s. has captured six would be terrorists in a recent six-month period. now i've spent a lot of time on the ground reporting in latin

america throughout my career, including my report that was nominated for an emmy for an investigation that i did on a region there in south america, known as the tribe border. it is a lawless jungle area in the middle of south america, the place where argentina, brazil and peri- grey meet and it is this town, which is a total no- man's land, no government takes responsibility for anything there, but it's in this town where there happens to be, this is important, and it relates back to what the president is talking about, the biggest source of fundraising for hezbollah outside of iran. now when i reported on this story an estimated $100 million was being sent from the border to hezbollah. one i reported on had even received a thank you note from the head of hezbollah himself. you know, it was a region that

continues to be a real problem. in fact this region was the place where those attacks on the israeli embassy in argentina in the 1990s two of them was actually staged. in other words, a bad place with some very bad actors and i mentioned all of this why? because some out there on the left are rolling their eyes saying the administration is exaggerating when they complain about the potential terror threat from south america. i can tell you, from my own reporting, that this threat has certainly existed in the past and it's a threat that i would hope our intelligence agencies are still actively watching, so if the president expresses concerns about gang members, drug dealers and would be terrorists, coming into our country illegally through a border, shouldn't he have the right to protect our nation?

joining me right now, attorneys katie cherkasky and deborah blum good to see you both. katie starting with you, it seem s lake that is his number one priority right? you got to protect the people of the united states and if he learns there's a threat coming potentially from latin or south america up through a border doesn't he need to do something about it? >> absolutely and there's really no question legally that president trump does have the power under the national emergency to declare a national emergency for that purpose and for the purpose of preventing drug trafficking and anything else that's related to that, so the legal question really isn't a question at all. it's very clear. he has that power to do so. trish: and yet deborah you know what's going to happen. i mentioned i'm pretty sure they're going to get active once again so does this get bogged down in legislation and he ultimately is not able to do what he wants to do until it goes all the way to the supreme court? >> well there could be relief but as katie just said he has

the authority to declare a state of emergency based upon national security concerns and that is what he wants to do or possibly is willing to do. trish: uh-huh so if people are saying and judges are saying i'm curious where you come out on this, katie that he can't because he's somehow being racist when he does this, what's his argument back? >> well the law is very favorable to him, in fact, and i personally specialize in lawsuit against the government when the government has overstepped their bounds and here the president is not overstepping his bounds, under the law, to declare an emergency for anything that he determines warrants that, and that's what the purpose of that law was. congress passed the national emergency's act to allow the president to have broad discretion to declare an emergency for really any purpose that they saw fit, and so whether that's advisable or not is another question, but he has that authority, legally. trish: do you think he'll exercise it? we're being told he's looking at it. he must be having his lawyers

prepare something as we speak. does he act on it or do the democrats come around? >> well there's been a 21 day shutdown which is giving him support to actually act upon this power and also there's been bipartisan support for in the past so i do think as we keep saying, he has the absolute discretion and authority to do so, but the issue becomes that he's upending congress' spending power. congress has the power to control the purse strings and by doing this he'll be taking that power himself. trish: gotcha. well good to see you both. we'll find out soon i think thank you. congress heading home tonight as the partial government shutdown hits the three-week mark. no end in sight but president trump is still in washington. he's still working. president trump: we're waiting for the democrats to vote. they should come back and vote. they want to go home. they're probably home by now and nancy and chuck and all of the folks that could settle this thing in 15 minutes, i used to say 45 minutes now i say 15

minutes it's so simple. trish: joining me right now south carolina congressman ralph norman. good to have you here. is it that simple because if it were why hasn't it been done? >> well, you know, i think it is that simple trish. i think the president has gone overboard not only to be there over christmas but to be there now. he's exactly right. we should be working, nancy pelosi controls the schedule now , and controls the votes. we should be there. they're taking this and so the longest shutdown in history going on 22 days and we should be, and it can be over pretty quick and the president has put this in writing. we have gotten nothing from the democrats. they say let's end, put people back on the payroll but we do that if we open up sections of the government then we'll never get a wall. this president and rightfully so , is intent on getting a wall. trish: so do you think this is entirely politically motivated? i look back on some of that

sound. i don't know if we have it handy i've sworn i'm going to just keep playing it and playing it. we do of course it's important by the way, congressman that viewers hear this because they need to know where the left once stood. here we go. >> it is wrong and ultimately self-defeating for a nation of immigrants to permit the kind of abuse of our immigration laws we have seen in recent years and we must do more to stop it. >> we simply cannot allow people to pour into the united states undetected, undocumented, unchecked. >> we do not want to do anything to encourage more illegal immigration into this country. >> the american people are fundamentally pro-legal immigration and anti-illegal immigration. we will only pass comprehensive reform when we recognize this fundamental concept. trish: of course that was before donald trump was president you see so congressman, is this all about politics ultimately and if

so how do you break through? do you need that executive order do you need to declare a national emergency and say to heck with you chuck and nancy i'm building this thing myself? >> well i think it is political i think they're looking at the 2020 elections i think they dislike president trump so much, they're disregarding the american people. how many dying do we have to have or the police officer in texas who was gunned down? and you know, i hope we can do it because -- trish: that would be better. >> jim jordan mentioned we got the power of the purse strings but there is a point this president will say enough is enough and we'll go ahead and do it through executive order. trish: well president obama certainly did enough. congressman norman good to see you thank you. a scary warning from a top intelligence organization. iran and hezbollah both who are hostile enemies of america are

forging ties with socialistic venezuela. a country that i pointed out is three hours away by plane from miami. coming up retired general anthony tata on why we must get a handle on this situation there , so close to our border, before it's too late, and just days after new york city's liberal mayor bill deblasio announced healthcare coverage for all residents including illegals, he's now vowing to re distribute new york city's wealth. apparently, the wealth, he says, is in the wrong hands. whose hands does he think it should be in? his? i'm setting the record straight on his crazy anti-capitalist views, that's next. got directions to the nightclub here.

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trish: this news just coming into us tonight, less than 24 hours after socialistic venezuela so-called leader nicholas maduro swears himself in after a stolen election. we have a chilling new report that puts terrorist influence right in our hemisphere hosted by none other than the failed socialistic state just three hours from miami. sources tell us that the state

sponsor of terror, iran, would like to see hezbollah make its mark in socialistic venezuela, military cooperation between the two failed regimes as reportedly intensifying, venezuelan passports are allegedly for sale to hezbollah terrorists, and a source tells us that the two dictatorships bond over, listen to this, anti-american sentiment venezuela is on the brink of collapse and our enemies are attempting gain influence, right here, in our own backyard. here with me right now retired general, and the author of dark winter, anthony tata. good to see you, sir. >> good to see you, trish. trish: it's less than three hours from miami as i keep pointing out, and we've got the venezuelans hosting frankly all of our enemies from the russians to the chinese to the iranians. why are we allowing that? >> well, you know, venezuela is

an independent country. they're a failed socialistic state, and they're known for their, they are the gold standard for falsifying document s such as passports as you mentioned and they're allied now with iran, the number one state sponsor of terror and hezbollah, the most well-funded terror organization in the history of the world, and iran has already talked about sending advanced ships over to port in venezuela a few weeks ago that report came out that they have ships that they would like to put in port in venezuela and they would love nothing better than to have hezbollah inside venezuela as well. trish: but let me back up because this is a catholic country right? you're talking about hezbollah. it doesn't seem like the catholics of venezuela would be so welcoming to the likes of hezbollah? >> well the catholics of venezuela are not welcoming of maduro either but he's there and he's oppressively, you know, shutting down their economy and inspector general else to his

own. trish: but see that though that he would turn to the iranians. >> yeah, well, they all have one thing in common, trish, is that they hate america and so the enemy of my enemy is my friend and this becomes an intermediate staging base for production of documents that will allow people to get into miami, to come into mexico and cross the border and this intensifies really my view, the debate about the wall, because if you have an intermediate staging base in venezuela in the americas, where you have the number one state sponsor of terror and the number one funded terrorist organization in the world operating in northern south america, we have a real problem on our hands and so what we need to do is intensify our intelligence efforts, our human intelligence, our signals intelligence, our imagery and we need to better fuse that intelligence. we have a more clear picture what's going on and then, to answer the question you asked at

the very beginning, why are we allowing it, then we figure out how to approach the problem once we have painted the entire picture. trish: uh-huh. we don't recognize though nicholas maduro. is there anything we can be doing, should be doing, are we doing, to maybe find somebody else that can have a legitimate election or force him, sir, to have a legitimate election? >> well, you know, that's a state department mostly and this president is probably the best i've ever seen that's syncronizing the elements of national power, the diplomatic, the information military and economic and what you would have to do is take a very measured approach to come into venezuela with diplomacy, economic sanctions that are already there , military that shows a force and then information campaign for the people of venezuela to reach them, because i know that there's real

discontent in venezuela, that the people are not satisfied. they're not happy. trish: 90% are living in poverty and we're talking about the place that had the highest per capita income in all of latin america. >> that's right so if any administration could do it it would be this one because of their expertise at syncronizing these elements of power to achieve ends, ways and means for the nation and at the real -- trish: doesn't the nation have to want it though? wouldn't maduro himself have to want it? wouldn't he want to be willing maybe you put the pressure on so much that of course he's going to want to be willing, because his existence depends upon it. >> it's always best if you can make it seem like it's their idea so if it's his idea then it's always best or you give him one of two options either fix it or he goes somewhere else, that he may not like as much, but at the end of the day, what we need to do, the real, we need to identify the vital interest, the vital interest is hezbollah and

iran in venezuela, that is a clear and present danger, to the americas, and to the stability of the region and then once we've identified that and we've got the intelligence, then we develop a plan across all those elements of power to address how to secure that vital interest and make sure we're not threaten ed. trish: general tata, thank you so much. thank you, trish. trish: coming up everyone, new york city's far left socialistic mayor, venezuela has nothing on us, right? bill deblasio thinks he's robinhood, and that it is his moral obligation to redistribute new york city's wealth. he wants to take people's money and just stir it around. hey, mr. mayor, how about you worry about your city's broken infrastructure system or about the snow plows that never show up instead of punishing hard working people who work to gain the money they earn, and speaking of new york, democratic

socialistic alexandria ocasio-cortez a so-called champion in middle class has just been fined for not providing her own worker's comp to her own campaign staff. more on this socialistic darling hipocracy i'm calling them outsetting the report that rocking chair would look great in our new house. ahh, new house, eh? well, you should definitely see how geico could help you save on homeowners insurance. nice tip. i'll give you two bucks for the chair. two?! that's a victorian antique! all right, how much for the recliner, then? wait wait... how did that get out here? that is definitely not for sale! is this a yard sale? if it's in the yard then it's... for sale. oh, here we go. geico. it's easy to switch and save on homeowners and renters insurance.

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that's super easy. my bad. >> brothers and sisters there's plenty of money in the world. yes. >> there's plenty of money in this city. it's just in the wrong hands. >> [applause] >> you deserve a city that gives you the share of prosperity that you have earned. we all deserve a little more happiness, don't we. trish: that was the mayor of the financial capitol of the world, the great city, new york city, scorning capitalism, kind of ironic right given that the most

capitalist place in the world has the mayor who seems to hate capitalism almost as much as the venezuelans. not the people. the leaders that is in venezuela ironic and yet i'll tell you also alarming. there's something very dangerous that's happening in our country right now. an increasing berkshire hathaway of people, perhaps out of desperation thanks to those miserable economic policies of barack obama or lack thereof of economic policies, an increasing berkshire hathaway of people returning to socialism as their salvation, electing alexandria ocasio-cortez, bernie sanders and i think that i can add gavin newsom, governor of california to that group since he wants to offer medical care for all and open borders to our entire world we have a generation of young people that have never experienced american opportunity

really until point recently. it's still for them new and it's still in a vulnerable stage. they grew up with the president that said business didn't build that. they heard that their challenges were the result of rich people, not paying their fair share, and going through, can you imagine, four years of college and saddl ing yourself with all that debt and your family with all of that debt only to realize that guess what, you can't get a decent paying job with that philosophy degree? that degree that taught you to scorn capitalism by the way? and you wonder why they're seeking the likes of socialism. amid this back drop of blaming capitalism, president obama offered nothing to stimulate drugs in our economy. his $800 billion stimulus plan to nowhere which we're still paying for by the way was a total disaster, did nothing but his rhetoric was even worse.

remember this? >> i'm always struck by people who think, wow it must be because i was just so smart. there are a lot of smart people out there. it must be because i worked harder than everybody else. let me tell you something there are a whole bunch of hard working people out there. if you've got a business, you didn't build that. >> right. >> somebody else made that happen. trish: you can not hate prosperity if you're the president of the united states of america. you can not hate capitalism if you're the mayor of the financial capitol of the world and yet these guys they think they know better, bill deblasio says your money should be in someone else's hands. he and his government, they can spend it better than any market- driven consumers he think s so, but you see you know what we've seen this movie before haven't we, and we are watching it, right now unfold in

the streets of venezuela tonight the president there and by the way he's not the president we don't recognize hip as the president, he is now officially a socialistic dictator, according to the spanish paper which examines venezuela's budget documents he pays himself more than $2 million a day for his food and his expenses pretty nice, right? all this, while the people of venezuela are starving and they are left to food trucks for the chance to eat. americans are struggling economically, but do you know what? there are a lot of good policy fixes out there, many of which this administration has already enacted socialism is never the way and i'm setting the record straight on it tonight. joining me with reaction, conservative analyst and bullseye brief author adam johnson and former new york congresswoman an independent women's board member nan hey

worth. i think it's alarming and disturbing that so many people are moving increasingly left, the democratic party is being held hostage by these leftists but do you know what, nan? in some ways, i get it. i mean, you have a whole generation that has been left out thanks to president obama. >> i agree with you trish they have been left out and they've also been in doctrine ated. we aren't learning and of course i'm speaking with an economics major here but we aren't learning economics, either macro or micro level in our schools we're not learning civics or the blessings of the constitution the incredible ways in which the wealth that we enjoy the echosystem basically the echosystem of wealth and prosperity in which we live has been created through the collective efforts of individuals working to their ut most, in a society that has had relatively few barriers to that kind of prosperity. >> absolutely right and by the way trish, thank you for

pointing out the parallels between what's happening in socialism and this perverse narrative that the democrats have embraced that somehow socialism is a good thing. i can't even say her name. i don't even like to say her name. >> aoc. somehow she's getting sound bites because she's made it cool and now all of a sudden you've got mayor bill deblasio who says it's working for her maybe i can jump on that bandwagon as well. it's upsetting like a fog. this socialism narrative is like a fog that's in the media, the democratic party, and it's cast ing shadows where there need not be shadows. if the mayor deblasio would focus on the 15% of bronx students who don't even get through ninth grade instead of trying to provide healthcare for illegal aliens here, he'd be a lot better off. trish: that's what's so crazy about it right too? it's mixed with this sort of okay we can do it all and we'll just open our borders and bring everyone here and offer them the land of the plenty. well you know, someone has to

pay for it. >> that's just it trish, whenever the word free is used which it always is, it should never be used. it's never free. it is taxpayer funded. taxpayer funded. >> thank you. but you know, in new york, especially, california obviously people talk about the tax rates there too, but in new york, i worked with united way and we worry about people who are barely making it in new york, you know, working families, they have almost no assets, they work paycheck to paycheck and one of the major reasons they do that we really can't help unless we change the way government like mayor deblasio looks at us and deals with us is that government which acts coercively, government is ultimately pursued at the gun forces us to pay more for almost everything we do than we actually have to. trish: and that's why it's a messed up scenario. thank you so much. good to see you guys.

coming up everyone, democratic socialistic and middle class and workers alexandria ocasio-cortez , see i can say it now aoc, under fire after it has been revealed she failed to provide workers compensation to her campaign staff. talk about hipocracy how is that right? that's not it. wait until you hear what else she's doing that has many people really questioning her belief, after this. hey, who are you? oh, hey jeff, i'm a car thief... what?! i'm here to steal your car because, well, that's my job. what? what?? what?! (laughing) what?? what?! what?! [crash] what?! haha, it happens. and if you've got cut-rate car insurance, paying for this could feel like getting robbed twice. so get allstate... and be better protected from mayhem...

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but some give their clients cookie cutter portfolios. fisher investments tailors portfolios to your goals and needs. some only call when they have something to sell. fisher calls regularly so you stay informed. and while some advisors are happy to earn commissions whether you do well or not. fisher investments fees are structured so we do better when you do better. maybe that's why most of our clients come from other money managers. fisher investments. clearly better money management. trish: breaking tonight, hipocracy out of the camp of democratic star and socialistic alexandria ocasio-cortez her campaign has been filed for fail ing to provide workers compensation. i mean it's kind of interesting that the workers, right, would fail to provide one of the basic employee benefits? but you know, this isn't the first time that ocasio-cortez

has been accused of hipocracy. we still don't know if she will follow through on her promise and forego her paycheck during the shutdown or how about in august back when she spoke out against the closing of a coffee shop she used to work for, the problem is that coffee shop cit ed the $15 minimum wage hike that she supports, the reason it closed. joining me right now is 2020 advisory board member and former hillary clinton campaign advisor. antwon, what has happened, sir, to your party? >> nothings happened to my party. i think aoc, her campaign, probably just made a calculated error when you do campaigns like i do for a living you know that sometimes, some employees are w2 employees others are 1099 so i don't know because i was not involved in her campaign but i think it was probably a mistake, hopefully it's fixed and we can move on.

the only reason she's getting this attention is because she's drawing a lot of attention to herself for whatever reason, instead of focusing on what i believe the task at hand and that's really trying to do what the democrats need to do to not only maintain the majority in congress. trish: so you're not a fan? >> i'm not saying that. jay-z told us nobody wins in a family feud so i'm a fan of hers i just wish we were all as democrats focused on what we need to do to move our country forward. trish: well it's not socialism i can tell you that. madison i've been saying over and over again this is what alarms me right now in the state of the country and you look at how disenfranchised a lot of young people feel because let's face it we've had a lousy economy for the last decade. actually, like for multiple decades now. i don't need to blame this entirely on president obama, because wages haven't budged actually for like 30 years until recently, so you know, they feel like they need their shots, so why are they turning to the

likes of bill deblasio, gavin newsom, and alexandria ocasio-cortez? >> you're absolutely right there's so many young people across this country they feel that they've been forgotten by politicians for many many years and coming out of college have high student loan debt and not able to find good quality jobs and a lot of them are very happy now they have been able to find jobs but so many are out there still looking so moving forward we have to be able to continue to promote positive and show them the policies that people like alexandria ocasio-cortez are promoting that simply are expensive, won't work, don't work, and have been put in other places like venezuela, of course and going back to her campaign, you know, talk is cheap. we're judged at the end of the day by our actions not by what we say and so she's out there critiquing everybody else saying they're not supporting workers but at the end of the day she didn't support people on her campaign. trish: i know, i know. i'm going to give her the

benefit of the doubt. i'm going to be really generous tonight it's a friday. i'll give her the benefit of the doubt and say maybe it was an oversight, but these things start to pileup, and part of what frustrates me right now, is as i've said before, i'm on planet earth, but i don't know as everyone else there in the democratic party is. you think about california governor gavin newsom saying everybody should come here. we should have open borders, and not only should we have open borders, but we are going to offer healthcare for everyone that wants to come here. i mean it was by the way another california politician, dianne feinstein, who said back in the 1990s, look we can't be the welfare system from mexico. as good as it may make you feel to say we will take care of the world, we can't, can we? >> no, we can't and i think what the governor is trying to do is say you know what for people who put into our economy to make california economy do so well, i think we should provide the basic necessities of health

care to them and i think that's what the governor is saying. trish: he's also saying everybody should come here. he's saying come on in. open border. we should welcome everyone. and we're going to give everyone healthcare and then add in bill deblasio whose not only going to give you healthcare but a guaranteed vacation too. >> but trish this country, we are a country of immigrants and i think what the governor is saying is come here, let's do it the right way. i'm not going to build a wall to keep you out because america is not a country of walls. we are a country who embraces people who want a better quality of life and that's what the governor is saying about california. come to california if you seek a better quality of life. i want to, when you come here i want to make sure the basic necessity like health care are not -- trish: again back on planet earth you got to actually pay the bills and as nice as it would make us all feel, the reality is you just can't be that, madison, thank you so much

good to see you guys. coming up everyone socialistic venezuela holding five americans hostage. coming up, in a trish regan primetime exclusive, i'm talking to a hugh many humanitarian aid worker working with these families to get these men free. new information on who these men are, father, brother, husband, you will only see it here. that's next. (nationwide jingle) you see brad, songs are really about big life moments. baby shower here. big. life. moment. what is in here? ohh! oh, i hope it's a life insurance policy. what? it's a sensible gift. protection for you and your family, nationwide has all the tools to help you find the right coverage. tiny baby shoes. so close. (peyton) makes no sense. babies can't even walk. should have been a life insurance policy. plus it would have been a great song. think about it, the lyrics, the beneficiaries... brad, where are you going?

trish: breaking right now we have exclusive reporting on the story we broke first for you right here on trish regan primetime. the five american hostages being held captive in prison by socialistic dictator nicholas maduro, they have been in jail for more than a year now, this after being forced to attend a meeting in venezuela by the company they work for, citgo energy. tonight, with the u.s. no longer recognizing socialistic maduro as president of this country these men are still being held hostage, and i can report for you tonight exclusively, who they are. they are all listed on the

screen. five u.s. citizens and one citizen of venezuela. earlier in the week, i spoke with one of these men's brothers -in-law, judge richard moore iii, a district judge in baton rouge, louisiana and this is a very important quote from the judge, and i want you to hear it. they are husband's, he said, and fathers, who love their family, their country and lsu football, louisiana state. no citizen of america should ever be made to feel forsaken, abandoned and bereft of hope. he's absolutely right. joining me right now, a man trying to build diplomatic relations with socialistic venezuela and who was working very hard, directly with these family members, right now, to try and get their loved ones home, dr. brenson, live from montgomery, alabama where he just sat down with the daughters of some of these men today and it is very good to see you.

tell us, how the family is doing its been about 14 months. >> well thank you, trish, and it's so great to be with you again. yes, this is a human tragedy, and you know, the thing is these men are caught in a vice between a war of wills between the united states and venezuela. as you know, venezuela now is not recognized by many nations now because the election its been this last spring and yet these men are still caught in this war of words. i would encourage strongly the united states to reopen this diplomatic channel, everything, and put these men at the forefront of trying to get them released. i think that's the key thing and i think if there's a way we can open up diplomatic channels in a more broader sense particularly with these men that are the face of america, they are in venezuela, that that can be a great way of opening other dialogue between the united states and venezuela. we have a lot at stake with

between our relationships with venezuela and the united states. it's not just sanctions going to get where we need to be. we need to not push them in the hands of the russians, or other adversaries but we need to open a dialogue where we can find a way forward to not only release these men but also to find a path forward to establishing relations and a way forward for the government as well and let the people decide their own fate in by new elections and in the future. trish: what happened to these men? i mean, as i understand it, and you can communicate it better, because you've spoken to all of these family members, but they were supposed to go there for a normal business meeting they were told they had to go to venezuela and had to, by the way it's not necessarily the best place to go, but one wouldn't think you walk in for a meeting and let's not forget citgo was owned by venezuela, and suddenly

you're thrown in jail? >> well that's the important thing that a lot of people don't realize here in the united states. citgo gas stations that you see in the united states are owned by a company called petavisa, owned by the venezuelan government and they also own three refineries in the united states. we import about 7% of our oil from venezuela right now, a little over half a million barrels a day, and so we do depend on that relationship to get oil to these refineries employ these people they employ about 4,000 people 800 in the city of houston alone, so they are a very important part of our oil industry and our gasoline supply here in the united states , so it's not something that's just we can ignore. however -- trish: but they go down there. >> they were asked to be at a meeting which seems legitimate and they go there and first they arrive on a sunday, they're there for a couple days, and then on tuesday, they go to a meeting and then that's when

they're apprehended and they have been held ever since then and because of the impasse between our governments obviously its been more difficult to establish terms of the release from the venezuelan government. trish: you know, look. it's got to be somewhat paralyzing i think for the families and i know how scared they must be right now to have your loved one in a place that now is sort of no-man's land because we have no relationship, no diplomatic relationship with its leader. you have its leader out there saying you know, they're thieves they should be thrown in prison the worst possible prison. this is pretty scary stuff. you mentioned like opening diplomatic channels. it takes two to do that though, and do you think the venezuelans are receptive to that? i mean, they're talking to the russians and the iranians and all of the bad guys right? >> well that's true.

that's true and that's why it's so important that they don't do that. we do not, you mentioned several times invoking the monroe doctrine. obviously we don't want russian bases on our hemisphere and create another cuba, but they are even with the sanctions what a lot of people don't understand even though the sanctions cutoff a lot of things, they still have access to capital through these other nefarious routes, so as long as they can prop up the regime and get money and hard currency then they can stay ultimately in power. there's not anything pushing them out right now other than the tightening of the sanctions so there needs to be sanctions, of course. i think i'm very much an advocate of sanctions but at the same time we have to understand that we have americans held there and that needs to be a priority of our diplomacy. trish: we cannot allow american citizens. we cannot forget these men. trish: i'm with you i'm with you that's why what's worrisome, trish, we cannot forget these and i hope all of you listeners tonight will understand as well as administration that we have to put them on the forefront.

they are the face of the crisis of venezuela and we need to be thinking about them, praying for them, and support them every way we can. trish: thank you. we'll be right back. as a fitness junkie, i customize everything - bike, wheels, saddle. that's why i switched to liberty mutual. they customized my insurance, so i only pay for what i need. i insured my car, and my bike. my calves are custom too, but i can't insure those... which is a crying shame. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

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