Naro-trafficking Is Threat To Nat'l Security, American People: Retired U.S. Navy SEAL

Will President Trump agree to Ukrainian President Vladimir Zalinsk's proposal to exchange drones for US tomahawks? Joining me now to discuss these latest developments is Mike Cerelli. He's a retired Navy Seal and founder of legacyexpeditions.net. Mike, thanks for coming on tonight. What are homocks capable of? >> Tomahawks have about a range of 1500 kilometers. So to place tomahawks at the use and avail of Ukraine would allow them to reach into Russia uh far past Moscow, putting their civilians at risk. However, here's the thing. Trump is using leverage for both sides. What I think will happen is you will see an upsizing in air defense interceptors. Those are known as Patriots or Gilmers or attackums. And that will allow Ukraine to defend itself against these strikes like the recent Russian strike that shut down the energy in eight regions. So, uh, if tomahawks were given to Ukraine, you can almost guarantee it would be in a small number. So, there would be a cap and there would be a US veto on how they're used strictly against Russian military targets. So, President Trump today spoke about the cost of the US selling weapons to the EU even when they are paid for. Mike, let's together listen to what the president had to say. >> We need to hawker. We need a lot of other weapons that we're sending to Ukraine. One of the reasons we want to get this war over is exactly that. Uh it's not easy for us to give you're talking about massive numbers of very powerful weapons. Mike, put this into perspective for us. How significant is the weaponry that the US is selling to the U EU for Ukraine. Do you think it's making a dent in our own military readiness? >> It absolutely is. So, you're talking about high-tech and that is not easy to manufacture. It's not easy to build. It's not easy to train upon. So, you know, even with our munitions, uh we've seen a a a reduction in our munitions and our availability to those munitions because of the ongoing wars. It is time that one we not only increase the manufacturing in our defense industry but also the surplus uh of our munition. So as we sell it to to our allies and into the Ukraine in this war, we've got to be cautious of our arament, our supply, and you know, always with the eye on future wars and our preparedness to fight those. Giving our soldiers the necessary weapons, tools, and ammunition they need to win. Right. So, President Zalinsky floated the idea of providing drone production to the US in exchange for the Tomahawks. Do you think that would be a fair deal? >> It depends on the uh the deal itself in in the uh the factors in in the numbers. But I I'll say this, Ukraine has has become like the Silicon Valley of drone warfare. We've had the the benefit of sitting on the sidelines, so to speak, and watching the development in technology, not only with the Ukraine, but Russia. So if you compare our drone technology to China, we have been outpaced. Drones are part of what we call fifth generation warfare and they are going to be a uh overused tool in the future. And so to get access to that technology and then ramp up our manufacturing capability to match China is going to be vitally important in the future. >> Now Mike, elsewhere on the world stage, the US has been carrying out strikes on drug trafficking boats coming from Venezuela. Reports suggest that there may be two survivors of a recent strike being held right now on a Navy ship. Uh can you just bring us behind the scenes when the US military conducts this type of operation? What generally goes on? >> So first I've got to say from a personal standpoint, good. We've been at war with the cartels for decades and no president has done anything about it. Uh a lot of the Republicans showed support. Of course the Democrats are are going to cry foul and try to block the president any way they can. But usually with these strikes, you know, it is done with the intelligence community to confirm that they are one in fact cartels, two that they are carrying uh uh drugs which could potentially kill Americans uh before any strike is approved. Now when it comes to detainees because we are not at a a declared state of war with the cartels that's where legalities become uh let's say fuzzy and there is a possibility that these two detainees can claim uh habius corpus uh and and be released to Venezuela. >> You just mentioned Mike the way that Democrats are responding to this effort. We just saw Democrats in Congress this week aim to prevent the president from engaging in host uh hostilities with Venezuela. We know only Congress can declare war. What is within Trump's power to counter naroterrorism and the drug trafficking? >> So, you know, I I can't get into the constitutional uh amendments that give him the power, but he is using the power as the commander-in-chief. Uh what I would say to the Democrats is are you more concerned with protecting the cartels or are you more concerned with the Americans who can uh get their hands on and potentially lethal doses of those drugs? This is about protecting Americans. And that's where the Democrats have just lost complete sight. Um I think it is just a a pure hatred for Trump. no matter whatever good uh policies or or initiatives he takes or decisions he makes, the Democrats are going to find a way to derail it. Americans want this. Uh if you look at fentanyl alone that came across the uh the border in in the tunes to the tune of thousands of pounds of fentanyl, uh it could have killed 15 times the American population. And that's just what we interdicted. So this is a threat to national security. It's a threat to our American people. and the Democrats are just flat out wrong. >> Mike Celli, thanks for coming on, sharing your perspective, and bringing context to all of these situations going on. And we appreciate your time.