Hey everybody, we've got a great one today, you know, for a change.

And this time, this time, I mean it.

Alexander Vindman is my guest.

Alex famously served in the Trump White House National Security Council, where he was head

of Eastern European Affairs. And of course, that included Ukraine, where he was head of Eastern European Affairs and, of course,

that included Ukraine, where he was born and spent his first four years. And today, we're going to

learn a lot about the war there, where it stands, where it's going, and some history. I think

you'll remember Alexander Vindman as a whistleblower on the Trump call to

Zelensky. We'll talk about that, of course, as the head of Eastern European Affairs.

Alice was responsible for setting up the call between the president of the United States and the

newly elected president of Ukraine. It was supposed to be a routine congratulatory call, but instead

it was a shakedown. On the call, Trump threatened to withhold $396 million in military aid to

Ukraine as it was in an active war with Russia over territory in eastern Ukraine. Trump would withhold this

aid if Zelensky's government didn't announce investigations into Hunter and Joe Biden.

Now, you'll remember that Trump characterized this call as a, quote, perfect call. It was a perfect

call. Well, it wasn't, of course. They do not

record these calls, not since Nixon, do they record these kind of calls, but Vindman was

listening in, and this is clearly what it was, a threat. This put me in mind of an exchange

in the first presidential debate between Trump and

Biden, where Biden chided Trump for the insanely stupid remarks he made at a COVID press conference.

Let's play some of that. And by the way, maybe you could inject some bleach in your arm,

and that would take care of it. This is the same man. I was said sarcastically, you know that. I would have said sarcastic.

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