WE HAVE ANOTHER FORMER RUSSIAN SPY IN A WORLD OF
TROUBLE, POISONED -- GEE, I WONDER WHO DID IT.
AND IT
HAPPENED IN THE UNITED KINGDOM.
LET ME TELL YOU THE STORY --
YOU DON'T SAY.
REALLY, I THOUGHT PERHAPS THE NIGERIANS OR
THE SWEDES WERE INTERESTED IN KILLING A FORMER RUSSIAN SPY WHO
TURN ON THE RUSSIANS.
WAS THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT?
OF COURSE IT
WAS!
ANYWAY --
GEE, I WONDER IF I'VE SEEN THIS MOVIE BEFORE.
ALL RIGHT,
NOW WE GO TO A QUOTE FROM A WITNESS WHO FOUND THEM, AND THIS
IS EERIE.
EXPLAINING FIRST THE SPY AND THEN HIS DAUGHTER --
THAT'S A PASSERBY WHO SAID THAT.
SHE CONTINUED --
I DON'T KNOW WHAT KIND OF POISON THAT IS, BUT IT'S A BAD
ONE AND THEY ARE IN A WORLD OF TROUBLE, THEY ARE IN THE
HOSPITAL NOW --
I HAVE NEWS FOR THEM, CRIMINAL ACTIVITY TOOK PLACE --
BY THE WAY IT'S NOT JUST THOSE TWO, ONE MEMBER OF THE EMERGENCY
SERVICE THAT DEALT WITH SKRIPAL AND HIS DAUGHTER IS ALSO IN THE
HOSPITAL.
SO NOT GOOD NEWS HERE IN THAT REGARD, AND IT TURNS OUT
THAT WHEN YOU POISON FOLKS OTHER PEOPLE MIGHT GET IT AS WELL.
THAT IS WHY POISONING PEOPLE IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY IS NOT A GREAT
IDEA, AND THEY TEND TO GET ANGRY ABOUT THAT.
THAT ALMOST LOOKS
LIKE RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE IN ANOTHER COUNTRY.
BUT I DON'T
KNOW, IS THERE ENOUGH EVIDENCE?
I CAN'T QUITE TELL.
ANYWAY --
LOOK, GUYS, ON THE ONE HAND, YES, THE WEST ALSO MESSES WITH
RUSSIA, I GET THAT, AND WE HAVE BEEN ENCROACHING INTO THEIR
SPHERE OF INFLUENCE BY EXPANDING NATO, FOR EXAMPLE.
SO THAT'S
REAL AND THAT DOESN'T OFTEN GET REPORTED IN THE NATIONAL PRESS
HERE IN AMERICA, OR MUCH OF THE WEST AT ALL.
ON THE OTHER HAND,
IF YOU THINK THAT THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT, LED BY PUTIN, IS US
RINGING VIOLET, AND I'M NOT SAYING ANYONE THINKS THAT, BUT
SOMETIMES PEOPLE ACT LIKE THEY THINK THAT, AND OH GOLLY GEE,
POOR VLADIMIR, HE WOULDN'T KNOW HOW TO INTERFERE IN ANY OTHER
COUNTRY'S BUSINESS, I THINK YOU HAVE THE WRONG GUY.
THIS IS NOW
A NUMBER OF HITS THEY HAVE DONE OUTSIDE THE COUNTRY, PREVIOUS TO
PUTIN DOING THIS APPARENTLY OVER AND OVER I HADN'T REALLY SEEN
THAT MUCH ANYWHERE, EXCEPT THE BAD OLD DAYS WHEN WE USED TO GO
ASSASSINATE PEOPLE LEFT AND RIGHT.
AND OF COURSE THE
RUSSIANS DID IT BACK THEN.
WE HAD A NICE LITTLE LULL WHERE WE
WEREN'T KILLING PEOPLE IN OTHER COUNTRIES, BUT NOW APPARENTLY WE
ARE BACK TO THAT, LET ALONE INTERFERING IN ELECTIONS, ETC.,
RIGHT?
BY THE WAY THIS IS AGAIN NOT THE FIRST TIME --
YA THINK?
AGAIN, LET'S NOT BE NAœVE HERE, GUYS.
IF THERE IS AN
OPERATION SOPHISTICATED ENOUGH AND CRAZY ENOUGH TO GO KILL A
FORMER RUSSIAN SPY IN A DIFFERENT COUNTRY, YOU THINK
PUTIN DIDN'T APPROVE THAT?
LET'S SAY HE DIDN'T THE FIRST TIME, AN
OLIGARCH OR A RUSSIAN MOBSTER DID IT, SOMEONE ELSE DID IT --
YOU THINK VLADIMIR LET IT HAPPEN A SECOND TIME AND HE DIDN'T KNOW
ABOUT IT?
PLEASE.
I HOPE NO ONE IS THAT NAœVE WHETHER THEY ARE
ON THE RIGHT OR THE LEFT, THAT'S A PREPOSTEROUS THING TO THINK.
YES, WHEN THEY DO IT OVER AND OVER AGAIN IT USUALLY HAS THE
BLESSING OF THE GUY AT THE TOP.
DO I HAVE TO CLARIFY THAT?
IS
THAT REALLY A COMPLICATED THOUGHT FOR FOLKS?
ANYWAY, ONE
LAST PIECE HERE FROM A DIFFERENT PUBLICATION, BUSINESS INSIDER,
AND I DIDN'T KNOW THIS, I WAS SET TO DO THIS STORY AND SOMEONE
POINTED THIS OUT TO ME BEFORE WE WENT ON THE AIR AND I THOUGHT I
WOULD GIVE YOU EXTRA CONTEXT, DON'T GET OVERLY FOCUSED ON THIS
BUT IT'S A DATA POINT --
NOW, LOOK, THEIR TIES ARE UNCLEAR, WAS HE THE SOURCE FOR
STEELE?
UNLIKELY, HE'S BEEN IN BRITAIN FOR A WHILE, SO AGAIN
DON'T OVERFOCUS ON THAT ASPECT, BUT YET ANOTHER FORMER BRITISH
SPY WITH OBVIOUSLY A HIT ON THEIR LIFE, WHETHER SUCCESSFUL
OR NOT, AND THE LAST TIME A FORMER RUSSIAN SPY WAS POISONED
IT TOOK THREE WEEKS FOR HIM TO DIE IN THE HOSPITAL AND AS HE
WAS DYING HE SAID IT WAS PUTIN.
AGAIN, OF COURSE!
NO ONE DOES
THIS AT THIS LEVEL UNAUTHORIZED BY THE RUSSIAN LEADERSHIP, AND
THERE IS NO OTHER COUNTRY GOING AROUND KILLING RUSSIAN SPIES.
THESE ARE STRANGE TIMES SO I FEEL LIKE I HAVE TO OVER EXPLAIN
THE MOST OBVIOUS THINGS IN THE WORLD.