What's Happening in Russian & France Over the Weekend

Drew Mariani (0:00)

The issues that matter most, right here. The Drew Mariani Show.

Charlie McCoy (0:05)

On Relevant Radio.

Drew Mariani (0:13)

Hey, good afternoon and welcome. It is good to be here with you today. Looking forward to hanging out with you for the next three hours. I hope you can stay. If you've got to run, I know you're busy, you can always hit the podcast, right? And whenever you miss here, my producer, Gavin, today, Nick is off. Gavin will get it up probably 34 minutes after we sign off. We've got a lot in store for you today and I hope you can stay tuned. We're going to take a look at what's going on with Russia and the US and we'll take a look at what's happening in France and actually now, believe it or not, Italy and Portugal as well. What's happening in Europe is crazy. Plus there's some strange news out there. Teen sexual activity has decreased and it's gone down precipitously. I want to explore that. We'll even get into the second coming of our Lord. What does the church teach about his return, the man of perdition? There's a lot to that. Actually, Faustina had a lot to say about it, St. Faustina. So by chance, we'll get into some of that. It's always a mixed bag. It's always a mixed bag here. Let's start what's going on over in Russia right now. Give me your take on this. I don't know how you feel about it. Does it make sense to you? Are you in the president's corner? Do you think this is a betrayal of Volodymyr Zelensky?

You probably have been following the story. The Wall Street Journal was reporting this morning that Russian leader Vladimir Putin has suggested a summit. I don't know if you heard about this yet. It's a three-way summit. Guess who's at the table? You have Trump, Putin and he wants Xi. He wants the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, to talk about some sort of negotiated peace with Ukraine.

The proposal excludes the president of Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelensky, which obviously bothers Ukrainians. You're gonna talk about negotiated peace. Why aren't we represented there? And it seems as though, I don't know, Trump's trying to warm up relations with Putin. Is this a way to get him to the table? Is that what this is all about? Is this all, I don't know, high-level chess, if you will? Is the president a step or two ahead of Vladimir Putin? Does he realize Putin won't come? Does he have to sweeten the deal? Is this about just trying to get Putin to the table?

Is this about getting diesel back into the US because of how high gas prices are and what it means for the elections?

The Epoch Times was reporting that legislation championed by Senator Lindsey Graham, remember that one? It was bipartisan, it was signed into law by Trump. It would have imposed sanctions on the top five countries that purchased oil and gas from Russia over this war in Ukraine. Trump's waiving those sanctions, claiming it's kind of a way to keep communications open with Russia. So I don't know how you read it. I'm not even sure how I read it. I'm trying to discern, is he really off base here? What's the impetus behind this? Is it part of a bigger strategy? I don't see. In the meantime, the Holy Father, I saw this story, Pope Leo, actually when he was in the Gemelli Hospital over in Rome, remember he had one of his three lobes removed from his lung, he was recovering, he actually called, he spoke with Vladimir Putin when he was recovering from lung cancer surgery. When he personally encouraged Putin to withdraw troops from a Ukrainian region where there's now a tremendous humanitarian crisis.

Whether that'll have any impact, who knows. But I'm joined by Dr. Daniel Kempton, he's a former Vice President of Academic Affairs at Franciscan University of Steubenville. He was also a Fulbright Scholar at Rhodes University and South Africa and again at Tavaire University in Russia. And he's been with us here. When it comes to Russia, he's one of the best guests, one of the most knowledgeable people we can talk to. And it's good to tap into his expertise. Dr, welcome back. Good to have you with me again.

Daniel Kempton (3:58)

Thanks for having me today, Drew. A lot of happening in Russia today.

Drew Mariani (4:01)

There is, and I'd love your take on it. This whole thing with Trump after the whole Lindsey Graham law that was championed, the legislation was championed by him, bipartisan, now Trump's, you know, we're going to wave all this.