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in today's breaking story I have a
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bombshell from an Air Force Lieutenant
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General who said something that is in
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direct opposition to his future
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commanderin-chief Donald Trump and his
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secretary of defense appointee and I
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have the full story for you next the
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trending story that's Making Waves
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features Lieutenant General Kevin B
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Schneider and it came to my attention
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under an expost by Trump's pick for
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defense secretary Pete hegf Heat's
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reaction a blunt and defiant note so
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what exactly did the lieutenant general
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say that sparked the dramatic response
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I'll have that for you in just a minute
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before we look at that let's take a look
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at the Firestorm surrounding Trump's
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nominee with this very recent CNN piece
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watch as the Atlantic's Jonathan Chate
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describes heg Seth as unfit and a
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dangerous choice for the job Pete heith
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for one has come under intense scrutiny
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since Trump unexpectedly picked the
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former Fox News host to lead the
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Pentagon last week police in Monterey
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California released a report from 2017
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in which a woman accused Heth of sexual
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assault in 2020 while serving in the DC
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National Guard heg Seth a combat veteran
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was pulled from active duty before his
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unit was to be deployed to protect the
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capital on January 6th because National
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Guard Leadership grew concerned about
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pictures of Heth on social media that
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showed him having a tattoo that's been
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linked to a Christian nationalist group
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heg Seth has also come under scrutiny
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for his recent comments about women in
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combat and he has a history of making
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anti-muslim comments joining us now
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staff writer at the Atlantic Jonathan
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Chate his latest piece focuses on Heth
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and deems him Donald Trump's most
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dangerous cabinet pick what makes him
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more dangerous than the
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rest what makes him so dangerous is that
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he's the embodiment of Donald Trump's
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unfulfilled first-term ambition of
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having uh defense secretary who's
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willing to use American troops to to
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employ violence against peaceful
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protesters uh Trump demanded this of his
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defense secretaries during his first
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term and those secretaries refused on on
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principle but Heth is obviously very
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very enthusiastic about this goal and
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and broadly shares Trump's worldview um
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toward the American left which he which
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he just regards as as indistinguishable
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from foreign enemies Seth used to be um
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a more Mainline uh neoconservative
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Republican Hawk um but interestingly he
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sort of changed his his views at the
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same time Trump was changing his views
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heith went from someone who was
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attacking Democrats is for betraying the
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country and Iraq to someone who was who
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shared Trump's belief that that the Iraq
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War had been a mistake but but he just
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became even more intensely partisan in
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his in his thinking and his and his held
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on to this belief that the Democrats are
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a threat to to America and and have to
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be suppressed um I think this view
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really comes through clearly if you if
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you pay close attention to what he's
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written in his past three books which is
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what I did to to ground myself in this
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in this article and now for the video
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that heg Seth was denouncing signaling
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his plan to uphold Trump's desire to
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dismantle the diversity equity and
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inclusion policy a policy within the
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Department of Defense that ensures equal
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opportunity for military personnel and
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DOD civilian employees this on Earth
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video you're about to see isn't a hot
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mic moment that caught the lieutenant
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general off guard it's from a fireside
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chat series published by the Department
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of Air Force so you know he's not
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speaking out of turn what does the
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department of the Air Force hope to
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achieve in incorporating Dei policies
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yeah I think that the short answer on
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that we could and we could go way deep
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on this but the the short answer is we
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want the best most capable force that we
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can get
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and we're trying to eliminate the
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barriers you know open the doors and
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making sure that you know that that we
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can do that we can have the best most
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capable Force um that our nation can
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provide and I think all too often that
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we have had limitations either you know
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policy limitations that that that are
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that provide barriers or we have not
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done the work with the American public
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to highlight the opport
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opportunities that uh that come with
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military service or specifically service
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in the United States Air Force so we are
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getting after both of those um and
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ultimately that's really what Dei is
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getting after um you know not
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identifying the barriers that are
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currently exist getting messaging out to
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the public as to what uh what
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opportunities do exist and then just you
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know drawing the talent uh that we need
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to continue to to excel as a force and
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Sir given that you are director of Staff
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do you have any guidance or input uh for
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cgos on how to we better understand when
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we've made considerable gains with
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respects to diversity Equity
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inclusion this yeah this is the answer
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probably to a number of questions and I
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I don't mean to Short change it by by
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giving you this almost of a platitude of
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an answer you know when we when we can
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stop having meetings about it or when we
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can stop having you know specific Focus
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discussions on it and becomes part of
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our
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DNA you know then then we've achieved
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success whenever Donald Trump has said
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make America great again one thing has
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been abundantly clear he's speaking of a
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time when white men ruled to the benefit
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of white men and that's exactly how Dei
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policies came about they were
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implemented to even the plane field
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because fairness doesn't come naturally
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those in power unconsciously or in this
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case consciously will perpetuate
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unfairness when left unchecked Trump's
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policies are nothing less than an
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attempt to turn back the clock on
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progress for women people of color in
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marginalized communities now that's my
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opinion but really I cannot say it any
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better than what the department of
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defense's own website currently says and
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I hope somehow continues to say in 2025
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and Beyond The Changing face of the
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nation demands that we change as the
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demographic makeup of the American
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population continues to evolve it is
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imperative that the Department of
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Defense Focus its efforts on emerging
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talent to ensure that we successfully
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attract recruit develop and retain a
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highly skilled total Force capable of
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meeting current and future Mission
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requirements