Rebel News Podcast - EZRA LEVANT ｜ What’s the editorial plan for Rebel News in 2024？

00:00:00.000 Hello, my friends. Two big things on the show today. Number one, I'm going to give you our

00:00:03.760 strategic editorial plan for 2024, the kind of stories you'll expect to see from us over the

00:00:09.880 next year. And we'll go live to Texas, where my friends Lincoln Jay and Alexa Lavoie are covering

00:00:16.860 the open border showdown. Joe Biden is opening the border. The governor of Texas is trying to

00:00:22.600 close it. We'll get the latest from our friends in the field. But first, let me invite you to

00:00:26.720 become a subscriber to Rebel News Plus. That's what we call the video version of the podcast.

00:00:31.660 Just go to rebelnewsplus.com, click subscribe. It's eight bucks a month. It's not a lot of money to

00:00:36.620 you, but boy, that's a lot of money to us because it adds up. And if enough people subscribe for eight

00:00:42.060 bucks a month, well, we can make our payroll because, you know, we don't take a dime from

00:00:45.840 Trudeau. All right, here's today's show.

00:00:56.720 Tonight, what's the editorial plan for Rebel News in 2024? It's January 31st, and this is the Ezra

00:01:10.500 LeVant Show.

00:01:11.060 Well, as a blessing and a curse, we live in an era of lots of news, too much news, maybe.

00:01:26.040 And 2024 is shaping up to be a very interesting year. First of all, there are echoes from the

00:01:32.020 trucker convoy that are reverberating around. I mean, look at the enormous court case last week,

00:01:38.100 the federal court describing the Invocation of the Emergencies Act as illegal, unintelligible,

00:01:44.600 unconstitutional, unreasonable. Just a stunning rebuke of the government, Justin Trudeau, and

00:01:50.740 former Justice Minister David Lamedi in particular. That's incredible. And now you're going to see a

00:01:56.520 lot of lawsuits starting by people who were illegally denied access to their bank account. Those are

00:02:02.340 hundreds of people right there. You're also going to finally see the trial of various men

00:02:08.040 arrested in coots at the border blockade there. As you know, Rebel News is representing a number of

00:02:13.720 coots protesters who are charged, the so-called coots three in particular. There's also the coots

00:02:19.880 four who are charged with much more serious crimes, including conspiracy to commit murder. Rebel News

00:02:24.920 is not crowdfunding their defense, but we will report on them nonetheless, and their trial is coming

00:02:29.360 this spring. I think it's going to be an interesting change in that those who were the hunters will

00:02:37.000 become the hunted and vice versa. I refer again to David Lamedi, who thought he would just delete

00:02:42.840 his records by deleting his Twitter account as he slinks off to the private sector. No, we sued him,

00:02:48.840 and it looks like we're going to win that one. Of course, one of the most important things emanating

00:02:54.120 from the trucker convoy is the trial of Tamara Leach herself, and I'm very proud that the Democracy Fund is

00:03:00.340 crowdfunding her legal assistance, and Rebel News published her autobiography. So there's a lot of

00:03:06.340 things happening from the trucker convoy still to this day. We're involved with a lot of things as

00:03:12.000 journalists, but as activists too. Let me switch gears to what I think is another series of news items

00:03:18.380 we're going to be covering in 2024. You might recall about a year or so ago, I talked about the imminent

00:03:25.440 passage of a censorship bill called C-11, and how that was the gateway for other censorship bills,

00:03:32.300 C-18, the so-called Online Harms Act, C-36, and of course the QCJO journalism license. That's five

00:03:42.800 things that Trudeau is putting forward to censor, regulate, and restrict news coverage. Some of them

00:03:48.280 are truly shocking. Just a reminder, Stephen Gilboa, when he was heritage minister, describing that one of the

00:03:54.360 purposes of these bills, including the Online Harms Act, which they say they will reintroduce,

00:04:00.980 is to stop criticism of politicians. He really said that. Take a look. We've seen too many examples

00:04:06.180 of public officials retreating from public service due to the hateful online content targeted towards

00:04:12.900 themselves or even their families. And one of the proposed solutions to criticizing politicians

00:04:18.740 is what he calls the nuclear option, just outright deleting a website in the whole country. That's

00:04:25.280 what they do in North Korea. That's what he's talking about, the nuclear option. Take a look.

00:04:29.280 Envision having blocking orders. I mean, that's, maybe. It's not, you know, it would be,

00:04:38.920 it would likely be a, a last result, last result, uh, nuclear bomb in, in, in a, in a toolbox of, uh,

00:04:49.160 of mechanism for, for regulators. That's never been retreat, retracted or refuted or withdrawn.

00:04:55.460 That is their plan and they are moving forward with it. Rebel News is in litigation, especially on

00:05:01.700 that journalism license file. I'll tell you more about that another day. Of course, my own book,

00:05:06.940 The Libranos, which is now, what, five years ago I published it. It's still in litigation. The book,

00:05:12.980 or rather the book's cover and title have been deemed illegal as an ad. And I've had to pay a

00:05:18.580 $13,000 fine. We're going to appeal that. I'm a little bit worried about our chances on that though.

00:05:23.940 And you may recall that a week or so ago, I was in the United Kingdom covering the case of Tommy

00:05:29.160 Robinson, who in an astonishing perversion of justice, some left-wing activist said, cops,

00:05:34.900 he makes me tense. Can you ban him from the city of London? And they did. It's an extraordinary case.

00:05:41.360 And I think it's important that Rebel News cover it because the British press is atrocious.

00:05:45.360 So that's a bundle of issues called censorship and regulation of free thought. We're going to

00:05:50.200 cover that. There's another issue that I think is emerging as perhaps the key issue in 2024. And

00:05:57.620 we've been talking about it for years. I've been talking about it for more than a decade.

00:06:01.700 It's namely immigration. Until about five minutes ago, if you even mentioned immigration,

00:06:08.040 you were immediately denounced as a racist, even though polls consistently show Canadians thought

00:06:13.660 immigration numbers were too high. But these days, it seems like you can actually carefully talk about

00:06:19.420 it again. The fancy people have given us permission by talking about themselves. The Globe and Mail,

00:06:24.380 the Toronto Star, even the Liberal Party, says they're going to dial back those numbers. I'll

00:06:29.500 believe it when I see it. In fact, they just tripled the numbers. As you know, we now have more than

00:06:34.100 one million people migrating to Canada every year. We've been astonishing. I think that was around a

00:06:39.440 million foreign students registered at our universities and colleges. No wonder it's hard

00:06:44.540 for Canadians to get into school. There's a million foreigners ahead of them in line. And of course, 0.93

00:06:49.680 a lot of those are fraudulent. They're sort of diploma mills. It's really just a backdoor 0.56

00:06:53.220 for people to get in this country. That's Trudeau. That, it seems, you can talk about, and we will be

00:06:59.120 part of that discussion. It's one of the reasons why we sent two reporters, Alexa LaVoy and Lincoln

00:07:03.360 Jay, down to Texas this week, because just like in Canada, they're following the full World Economic 0.93

00:07:10.960 Forum open borders approach there, too. The difference is, in the United States, state governors, like the

00:07:16.960 governor of Texas, has decided to defend his border. There's a related issue with immigration, and that's

00:07:23.100 bringing foreign quarrels to Canada. The most obvious for the last three or four months has been

00:07:29.360 the extremist pro-Hamas hate marches throughout Canada, and actual anti-Semitic crimes, assaults,

00:07:36.840 vandalisms, shootings, and even a firebombing. That shootout in Edmonton, which was clearly

00:07:43.460 terrorist-motivated. The shooter himself recorded a video saying he was doing it for Gaza genocide.

00:07:48.920 The media is doing their best to tamp these down. I don't know if you recall, but there have been

00:07:53.460 street riots, including Eritreans battling with clubs and sticks. Of course, there's other factors

00:08:00.720 on not necessarily the streets of Canada, but elsewhere. Chinese espionage by the Chinese

00:08:06.600 Communist Party, and not just espionage, but influence operations, including in the heart of

00:08:11.520 the liberal government, are very live. I think that Trudeau gets into a mess with every one of these.

00:08:17.240 He's too chummy with the Iranian dictators. I don't know why that is. I think most Persians in 1.00

00:08:23.400 Canada are hostile to the Ayatollahs, not Trudeau. He's their best friend. And then, of course,

00:08:28.120 there's the Tamil Tigers. There's so many things that Justin Trudeau contorts Canadian policy,

00:08:34.180 and in every case, it's answered by the same explanation. He's appealing to their diaspora

00:08:39.640 politics here in Canada. That's not how it should be in Canada. That's not how it was in Canada,

00:08:44.900 but that's Trudeau's recipe for success. With unlimited immigration from places that are

00:08:52.700 culturally very different from Canada comes crime. Of course, some crime is homegrown,

00:08:57.660 but there are some crimes that are very specifically foreign in nature. Automobile crime,

00:09:02.480 high-end autos just stolen, put on a ship, and sent to Africa or the Middle East.

00:09:08.880 home invasion crimes, too. Look at this astonishing video from a shopping center in Oshawa. I don't

00:09:16.360 recall seeing this sort of thing in Canada until very recently. Do you? Take a look.

00:09:25.880 That's an acute violent crime, but there's another sort of slow burn crime scene that is now just

00:09:33.040 accepted as normal throughout Canada. I'm talking about what Premier Danielle Smith calls gang-run drug 0.95

00:09:39.660 camps. That's what she calls these homeless camps. I mean, not just in big cities like Vancouver and

00:09:45.220 Toronto, but even in smaller centers like Kelowna. It's just astonishing. Another file that Rebel News has

00:09:52.240 almost to ourselves is the transgender madness. Did you see David Menzies' latest? Just absolute 1.00

00:09:59.460 craziness. Some girls' volleyball where five of the players were trans, and the actual girls 0.98

00:10:08.500 weren't even really allowed to play. Here's a clip of it. If you miss it, you really should check it out.

00:10:12.540 Who are you? I'm just asking questions. You're not allowed over here. Who are you, ma'am?

00:10:17.160 You're not allowed over here. Why? Hey, don't touch me. You touched me. You ran into me.

00:10:22.440 You ran into me. We got it on camera, ma'am. Call security. Call security. Okay. Why are you allowing men 0.93

00:10:28.120 to play with biological females? Sir, why are you taking away a spot from a real woman? 0.99

00:10:33.820 Look at this, folks. Look. Please, please, please. Can you please leave?

00:10:37.160 Hey, excuse me. Don't touch me, sir. You're not allowed to. Don't touch me. Don't touch me.

00:10:40.800 What's wrong with you? Why are men playing with? Don't touch me.

00:10:44.080 Huh? Why are men playing with women? Are you a misogynist? Can you please leave?

00:10:49.160 Why are you aiding and abetting the attack on women's sports? Do you think it's right that a 0.67

00:10:54.340 biological man should play against women? So, folks, look at this. Just like in Fergus, 0.98

00:11:00.620 there are people aiding and abetting these gender-bending grifters. I mean, and some of 1.00

00:11:07.540 them are women, if you can imagine this. And again, they bump into us and say that we're 1.00

00:11:13.680 assaulting them. And I just find this an absolutely egregious state of affairs. The game was spectacular

00:11:21.540 for all the wrong reasons. Namely, the male players excelled, as you would expect, in serving

00:11:28.360 and spiking. You know, it's so weird, this whole story. And David has his quirky sense of humor

00:11:34.020 and his style. So he's a fit for the weirder story. I say that in a nice way. But why is it almost

00:11:40.620 only David Benzies? I mean, anyone who's involved in women's sports sees this phenomenon. Anyone who

00:11:47.020 goes into bathrooms now sees the all-gender, transgender, third-gender bathrooms. When you 0.72

00:11:53.220 fill out any form, you'll have male, female, or other, or neither, or won't say. You see the, they,

00:11:59.060 them, gisur. Why is it almost only David Benzies who's covering it in this country? There's one or two

00:12:04.560 others. But really, like on the sports file, everyone knows about it. Anyone who has a kid

00:12:10.300 in sports sees it with their eyes. Why aren't other journalists reporting on it? That's one of the

00:12:15.780 files we'll be following in 2024. Another one, and it may be the biggest one of all, and it touches on

00:12:21.740 some of the issues I've mentioned so far, is the U.S. election. I mentioned that when I was in Davos

00:12:27.040 for the World Economic Forum, the two names that seemed to be on everyone's lips were, in second place,

00:12:32.780 Elon Musk, and in first place, Donald Trump. And it's almost like all the European elites have

00:12:38.220 decided they will save America from itself if they have to. And Elon Musk is one of the things in

00:12:43.100 their way because he supports a free Twitter and free speech. And of course, censorship of

00:12:47.960 misinformation was going to be their big plan to get Trump this time around. That is going to be

00:12:53.260 an election for all the marbles. I mean, everything is at hand, from America's economy to America's

00:12:58.480 border, to wars and rumors of wars. I believe Donald Trump was right when he said these wars

00:13:04.420 would not have happened on his watch. And if he were president again, they would be over

00:13:07.780 in 24 hours. I truly believe that. And I actually think liberals and Democrats believe that too.

00:13:13.180 Do you, just for a second, do you doubt that if Donald Trump were president, that some of this

00:13:19.820 chaos around the world would? You don't have to like Donald Trump to say, no, those other countries,

00:13:24.000 other countries would be too afraid of him. Iran would be too afraid of him. And if they tried

00:13:27.720 anything, well, remember Donald Trump took out Soleimani, who was the very, very, like the number

00:13:34.540 two guy in Iran. That was Trump sending a message to Iran, don't you try things. If Trump were

00:13:41.300 president right now, what he would be doing to Iran or Hezbollah or Hamas, he actually wouldn't even

00:13:46.980 have to do it. He would just say he was going to do it. And those entities would fall in the line.

00:13:52.320 Do you doubt that? You know it's true. In fact, those are the very characteristics that liberals

00:13:57.740 say they hate about Trump when it's directed at them. His insults, his brash talk, his impulsiveness,

00:14:04.220 his aggression. But those are all the things that help keep the peace during his tenure as president,

00:14:09.940 don't you think? So those are eight ideas that I believe are going to be the big focus of Rebel News.

00:14:17.860 Of course, the thing is, when it comes to predicting the news, you can't predict it. That's why it's

00:14:22.240 called news. And we never know what's going to happen that we don't know. But I think that Rebel

00:14:27.760 News, I mean, we're based in Canada. Our heart is in Canada. It's where almost all our staff are.

00:14:32.220 But we also do have viewers in the United States, the United Kingdom, and of course, in Australia,

00:14:36.700 where we have a great team with Avi Yamini as our chief correspondent. But like I say, you will find

00:14:42.980 similar themes. All the issues I mentioned, from transgender insanity to censorship to open borders 0.97

00:14:49.860 immigration, it's in all the other countries I've just listed. And telling the other side of the

00:14:54.660 story is fascinating. Canadians are interested from time to time in stories around the world.

00:15:00.060 And I think citizen journalism in the field where possible is the way. And every once in a while,

00:15:06.580 stopping to make a difference by getting involved with a campaign, maybe crowdfunding a lawyer or a

00:15:11.380 billboard ad. And I have learned one thing in our almost nine years, we're coming up on our nine

00:15:17.260 year anniversary. Did you know that? Just two weeks or, yeah, two weeks time, we'll be nine years

00:15:22.280 old at Rebel News. One thing I've learned is that I know in my bones that we can be right, even when

00:15:30.800 the entire world tells us we're wrong. That's something I learned during the lockdowns and the

00:15:35.260 pandemic, when we often stood alone with the people. As for my own plans for 2024, I am going to be in the

00:15:44.640 studio for some of it. But I like being in the field. I like going out to cover stories as I do,

00:15:49.420 including some of the court cases I mentioned. I like going to Rebel News events. I do also have

00:15:54.800 duties as the president of Rebel News. I have to run things too. It'll be pulling me in all directions

00:16:01.620 as always. For example, we'll be taking a week at the Rebel News Cruise. If you haven't signed up,

00:16:05.780 there's still time. Go to rebelnewscruise.com. So there's a lot of stuff to do. There won't be any rest,

00:16:11.140 but I think we're making a difference. I hope you think so too. Well, stay with us. After the break,

00:16:18.580 we'll go to Texas, where Alexa Lavoie and Lincoln Jay are on the scene for the open borders crisis down

00:16:24.500 there. Rebel News covers a lot of things in Canada, but sometimes we cover news around the world,

00:16:36.080 partly because it's interesting, but mainly because there's a theme that links that coverage

00:16:41.260 to here back home. For example, we're interested in freedom of speech around the world. We're

00:16:45.840 interested in multiculturalism and the lack of integration of certain migrants. And we're also

00:16:51.760 interested in the threat of open borders. We've been covering that at Roxham Road, where tens of

00:16:59.520 thousands of people from the United States who are not American citizens, but who were foreigners,

00:17:03.920 often ordered deported from America, has simply walked across into Quebec. Well, now there is a

00:17:10.820 massive gaping hole in the U.S. border between Texas and Mexico, and literally millions, not even

00:17:17.860 hundreds of thousands, but millions of people just walk across. Many of them are from Mexico and other

00:17:25.180 Latin American countries who seek economic benefit, but many of them are not. They just know it's an 1.00

00:17:30.560 entryway into the country. Here's a terrifying video I saw on Twitter the other day. Someone who

00:17:36.800 was not from Latin America, someone who appeared to be Middle Eastern, who was asked who he was and

00:17:41.380 said, oh, you'll find out who I am. Take a look at this.

00:17:44.200 By the way, if you are smart enough, you will know who I am. But you are really not smart enough to know who I am. But soon you're going to know who I am. Very easy.

00:17:53.340 Wow. Very easy. The entitlement. The entitlement.

00:17:57.020 No, believe me, I'm much better than that. The entitlement, guys. Wow.

00:18:02.100 My point is, lots of people who want to get into the United States for nefarious purposes are coming through those open borders. Some of it may be organized crime. Much of it may, God forbid, be terrorism.

00:18:15.240 So we have sent two investigative reporters down to Eagle Pass, Texas, and they join me now via Skype live from, well, what looks like the border, Alex Lavoie and Lincoln Jay. How are you guys? It looks like you found yourself a border fence. And if I see that right, that looks like a kind of military vehicle. Can you tell me where you are, how you got there, and how long you're going to be there, and what your plans are?

00:18:44.240 So I'd like to talk about that with you guys to see what kind of coverage we can expect from you over the next few days.

00:18:49.240 We arrived last night from San Antonio. We drove for about two hours and a half. It was quiet, something to drive. We didn't expect to see as much there, like just like showing in front of your car. A little bit dangerous, but we are here now. We are at the Mexican border. Behind us is Texas National.

00:19:14.220 It's the Texas National Guard. So that's not an American military vehicle or a federal border patrol. You're saying that is part of the Texas National Guard. Am I hearing you correctly?

00:19:24.960 Yes. Yes, that's the Texas National Guard behind us. They're actually, they speak pretty openly to us and identified us because we weren't sure who exactly they were. We wanted to be specific. And it is the Texas National Guard there and pretty open.

00:19:40.620 I don't know if you'd get that same kind of open communication in Canada with that type of personnel. But yeah, so it's Texas National Guard behind us. There's, you can see razor wire all along the border fence behind us. So we're going to see what lies ahead in the next couple of days.

00:19:56.620 There is the Rio Grande River that are splitting the Mexican side and the Texas side. And behind the fence, there is a park. And over the river, like along the river, there is razor wire that's been installed by the Texas government.

00:20:20.200 And it's since then legal battle between Greg Abbott and the Biden administration started.

00:20:28.320 Right. Because of course, borders are traditionally a federal responsibility. That's certainly how they are here in Canada. And traditionally, that's how it is in the United States. Everyone knows that Donald Trump, one of his signature promises that I think is fair to say was not kept, was building the border wall. But Joe Biden isn't even pretending.

00:20:46.760 And I think what's incredible is a letter that the Texas governor sent to Joe Biden, where he basically says, this is a crisis. You're not doing your job. The Texas Constitution allows us to protect our state. That supersedes any federal law.

00:21:05.480 And he basically said, we are going to defend our borders because the federal government is failing or refusing to do so. And in the last week since he had that letter, an enormous number of other U.S. states have said, we're with Texas.

00:21:20.980 And they've actually, if I understand correctly, sent paramilitary or military or even police vehicles to help the wall.

00:21:27.680 If Joe Biden federalizes our National Guard, that would be the biggest political blunder that he could make. And that's why I think he will not do it.

00:21:34.400 That said, of course, I am prepared in the event that they do make such a blunder to make sure that Texas will be able to continue to secure our border.

00:21:43.720 Can you envision a scenario in which you would put armed state employees on the border instead of the National Guard of Texas?

00:21:49.960 We do have other armed state employees on the border as we speak right this minute.

00:21:54.800 And there's the Texas Department of Public Safety, as well as other law enforcement officers, as well as National Guard from other states.

00:22:01.200 And you can be assured there will be more National Guard from other states and more law enforcement officers within the state of Texas and other states.

00:22:08.140 And, Tucker, I just signed a law, a new law in the state of Texas that will go into effect on March the 5th that authorizes any law enforcement officer in the state of Texas to be able to arrest anybody coming across the border illegally.

00:22:22.280 Tell me, have you seen any other – you mentioned that's a Texas National Guard vehicle behind you.

00:22:27.380 Have you seen any Floridians or any other states that said, we stand with Texas and we're actually going to send help?

00:22:34.120 Have you detected any of that?

00:22:35.560 We haven't seen any out-of-state personnel yet.

00:22:41.400 The only other personnel that we've seen that we've been able to identify other than the Texas National Guard that's behind us is a state trooper, so a Texas state trooper.

00:22:50.300 But like I said, we literally just got here this morning, and it seems like the area that we're in right now, it's Shelby Park.

00:22:57.540 So this is like the notorious area for the illegal migrants to cross, one of the busiest sections along the southern border.

00:23:05.700 But now it seems that this area has become a little bit hot.

00:23:08.740 There's a lot of media, a lot of personnel, Texas National Guard.

00:23:11.980 So this area, in a sense, is very highly watched now.

00:23:16.020 So we're hearing different things, like people are crossing down more towards – down that way, different parts where they're still crossing.

00:23:24.260 And we're seeing some footage online of people still making the cross.

00:23:27.120 But it seems that this area behind us has been kind of shut down.

00:23:32.280 The park is shut down.

00:23:34.140 But this area was extremely busy.

00:23:37.080 In December, in one night alone or in one day, they had reportedly approximately 10,000 illegal migrants cross.

00:23:46.500 So that just shows you the scale of the amount of people.

00:23:49.620 It seems like the word got out and people are flooding through.

00:23:52.480 You know, I know that Biden doesn't care about that.

00:23:57.660 He likes the stress on Texas, which is a Republican-led state.

00:24:02.080 Demographically, he likes that.

00:24:03.860 But Texas has done something very strategic.

00:24:07.020 They have flown and bussed many of these migrants to Democrat-run places like Chicago, New York, Los Angeles.

00:24:16.920 Places that have boasted about being, quote, sanctuary cities.

00:24:22.560 It's easy – for example, Philadelphia.

00:24:25.040 Here's a clip of their mayor with some happy dance when they declared Philadelphia a sanctuary city.

00:24:31.640 Take a look at this goofiness.

00:24:34.100 Sanctuary city.

00:24:35.220 Well, that clip shows someone who knows he's just making a PR statement, but he never thought in a million years he would have to pony up.

00:24:47.200 And I think the brilliant strategy of Texas was to take a fraction of the problem – like you say, 10,000 people in one night.

00:24:54.460 That's normal for Texas, but that has stressed out New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, L.A., all these Democrat cities. 0.83

00:25:02.900 What's the public mood of Americans in Texas?

00:25:07.140 Put aside the migrants themselves for a moment. 1.00

00:25:09.300 Do they feel like America's being overrun?

00:25:13.200 In a way, it's like the end of the Roman Empire.

00:25:15.780 Barbarians just streaming across the border. 0.95

00:25:17.920 That's how it looks to me.

00:25:18.940 How do the locals feel about what's been going on and about Texas' attempt to fight back?

00:25:24.580 Well, I would say that most of the people agree that there is a problem that is getting out of them.

00:25:31.760 Some of them feel kind of – not sad because some of them say that I cannot understand their struggle, but we struggle also here.

00:25:44.000 We have our own resources that is giving away.

00:25:47.580 So most of the people that we did talk to, they agree that there is a problem, that something needs to be done.

00:25:56.320 But most of them, they don't know what needs to be done.

00:25:59.480 And a lot of them agree that under Donald Trump, the situation at the border was way better handled than under Biden's administration.

00:26:10.300 Yeah, we have a video coming out where we spoke to people in San Antonio, which I guess is one of the bigger cities that's located close to the border here.

00:26:21.160 Like Alexa said earlier, it's about a two-and-a-half-hour drive from here.

00:26:24.280 And in that city, it seemed like everybody that we spoke to clearly understood that there is a big problem going on at the border with people crossing.

00:26:31.680 And like Alexa said, some of them have sympathy, some of them just don't want any crossings, and pretty much all of them realize that America itself has many, many issues right now and that they should probably be putting Americans first before illegal migrants that are crossing.

00:26:52.220 There's homeless people in San Antonio that we spoke to that they just don't understand why people coming here from other countries are getting essentially better treatment than they are.

00:27:05.540 Congress, get your act together and fix it.

00:27:09.460 This is a situation that's gone on for years and years and years.

00:27:14.440 We need to defend our borders against people who want to cause this harm.

00:27:17.500 We need legal immigration, but illegal immigration kind of muddies the water.

00:27:27.040 We're going to have to pay for it eventually.

00:27:28.980 I feel like what Abbott is doing is the right thing in a sense.

00:27:32.020 Now, Alexa, you speak English and you speak French, and I understand you speak Spanish as well.

00:27:38.140 I wonder if you'll have a chance to use that to talk to some of the migrants themselves.

00:27:43.180 Now, like I say, not all of them are from Latin America. 0.99

00:27:45.520 A terrifying trend is that people from Africa, from the Middle East, from China, see that there's this big, stupid, open border, and they can't believe their luck. 0.99

00:27:55.920 And so they're flooding in. 0.98

00:27:57.240 I mean, it's really an international – it's like an airport, international arrivals, people from every place.

00:28:02.300 But I imagine that the bulk are still from Latin America.

00:28:05.720 Have you had a chance to encounter any of those migrants?

00:28:09.140 And if so, what kind of things do you think you would ask them in Espanol?

00:28:14.400 So far, since we arrived late last night, and that right now, as Lincoln was mentioning, this is a hot point.

00:28:25.220 So there is no much crossing anymore.

00:28:27.840 So we are going to drive and head the other side where Lincoln was talking about, because apparently it's where the migrants are crossing. 0.98

00:28:37.560 Of course, I'm going to try to engage conversation with them.

00:28:41.300 First of all, I really want to know which country they are coming from.

00:28:44.780 And also, what is the main reason why they are coming into the U.S.?

00:28:50.920 Is it politically?

00:28:53.240 Is it economic?

00:28:55.540 Is it because they have family?

00:28:57.240 We want to know a little bit more about people who are crossing into the U.S.?

00:29:03.040 Because people need to remember, the people who are crossing here, some of them will probably end up at the Canadian border, and they will cross illegally, and we will have the same problem that is coming up.

00:29:17.520 We know that we always have the same problem that the U.S., but a little bit further, we are about five years behind the U.S., so if we are not reporting on this important story, but we will end up with this kind of story at our border.

00:29:36.000 Another question that pops into my mind is, what are these people going to do when they get here?

00:29:39.800 Because, like I said, Americans, Canadians, they are struggling enough to put a roof over their head, to pay rent, to pay for groceries.

00:29:49.560 How are these people going to come here and get work and basically pay for themselves to survive here?

00:29:56.780 So it's very interesting, and we'll see what awaits us.

00:30:01.060 And it's really interesting also to learn about how they did their journey, their journey all the way up to this border.

00:30:11.920 Did they pay someone?

00:30:13.140 Did they cross the Darien Gap, the dangerous Darien Gap?

00:30:16.280 And what pushed them to come all the way here?

00:30:19.460 Is it because they know they will have a better life, or maybe they will have, like, services, more accessible services?

00:30:26.020 I think there is a lot, lots to uncover here.

00:30:31.180 Can you guys keep an eye out for NGOs or other organizers?

00:30:37.020 And the reason I say that is to have tens of thousands, sometimes 10,000 in a single day, of people coming to the border.

00:30:46.000 They need a map.

00:30:47.580 They need directions.

00:30:48.800 They need instructions.

00:30:50.460 Where do you cross?

00:30:51.820 What supplies do you bring for the journey?

00:30:54.020 What do you say when you're accosted by immigration police?

00:30:59.720 Where do you go?

00:31:01.080 Like, it's not organic.

00:31:03.200 There are people organizing it.

00:31:05.580 And I remember a few years ago when our mission specialist, David Menzies, went down to what was called a Mexican caravan.

00:31:14.440 We saw that there were organizers, just there were trucks.

00:31:17.180 Like, for example, who's paying for the trucks?

00:31:20.000 Who's renting the trucks?

00:31:21.260 That's one of the things we observed when David went down for the caravan.

00:31:25.940 That's what they called it back then.

00:31:28.000 It would be extremely interesting.

00:31:30.220 It would be interesting, all these things you're talking about.

00:31:33.020 Talking to locals.

00:31:34.980 Talking to the National Guard.

00:31:37.080 Talking to some feds, if there are some.

00:31:40.540 Talking to the migrants themselves.

00:31:42.200 But I think perhaps the most important and most interesting single thing you could do is if you were able to spot who's the organizer.

00:31:53.560 And is it a coyote, as they sometimes call these smugglers?

00:31:58.680 Is it, like, organized crime?

00:32:00.360 Or is it organized politics?

00:32:01.780 Is it, for example, a George Soros-funded mass migration charity?

00:32:06.560 And I know that sounds astonishing, but that's one of his major goals, is mass migration.

00:32:12.840 If you could spot people who are directing or instructing or helping, that would be, I think, perhaps the single most interesting thing you could report.

00:32:22.640 Remember, also, like, when I was talking with Michael Young, there was a, at the Darien Gap, where thousands of migrants are crossing over.

00:32:35.320 There were UNICEF-10s.

00:32:37.440 So, we know that there is organization that are working.

00:32:41.900 They are providing maps.

00:32:43.760 They are providing other supplies to them to cross over.

00:32:47.800 So, we will also maybe try to go to the Mexican side and have a look there and have an observation what we can find there.

00:32:58.380 Now, you look like you're all alone.

00:33:00.520 Like, if I didn't know it, I would say you're, you know, there's not a soul for miles around.

00:33:04.880 Maybe there's someone in the truck behind you.

00:33:08.260 Have you seen, like, I hear a vehicle now in the background.

00:33:11.380 Have you seen other journalists?

00:33:13.640 Are there politicians?

00:33:14.740 Are there activists?

00:33:15.300 I mean, I understand there's a convoy coming.

00:33:19.340 I'm a little nervous about that because it seems a little bit like a, you know, I mean, there's protesters.

00:33:25.560 And there's a lot of legitimate protests and legitimate opposition to this.

00:33:29.640 But I'm worried that, you know, these clever, tricky activists on the other side might try and, I don't know, be agents provocateurs in some way.

00:33:42.060 It just felt like, like, if you have a lot of grassroots guys coming to the border, I'm worried there might be sort of like that Ray Epps of January 6th.

00:33:52.140 Remember him?

00:33:52.760 He was exhorting people to storm the Congress.

00:33:55.340 Here's a clip of Ray Epps.

00:33:57.280 Tomorrow, we need to go into the Capitol.

00:34:01.100 Into the Capitol.

00:34:07.040 Peacefully.

00:34:07.900 Fed, Fed, Fed, Fed, Fed, Fed.

00:34:11.200 Yeah, I'm just worried that there's a ton of good people who are appalled by this open border.

00:34:16.960 But then there's also some tricksters there trying to tempt good Americans into some sort of bad behavior that could then change the narrative.

00:34:26.080 Because right now, the political narrative, I think, is devastating to Joe Biden.

00:34:30.300 I think most Americans, not just Republicans, but independents say, what are you doing with this open border?

00:34:34.900 I think the regime wants to change the subject to some rogue act on the right or something.

00:34:41.020 Have you seen others?

00:34:43.200 Have you seen protesters?

00:34:44.500 Have you seen politicians?

00:34:45.480 What have you seen on the ground?

00:34:46.220 I know you've only been there since last night, so maybe this question is premature.

00:34:49.660 But have you seen other people?

00:34:51.520 We saw some Americans coming from other places that were just curious to see what's going on at the border.

00:34:59.860 We saw also like some journalists, a couple of them.

00:35:05.020 But so far, no politician and no activist and no protesters.

00:35:09.060 But we keep an eye open to see what's going on in the next few days because we know that the convoy will arrive.

00:35:16.660 I know they are coming to Eagle Pass.

00:35:18.260 But Eagle Pass is a really, pretty big city.

00:35:21.900 We were not expecting that.

00:35:23.460 So we don't know yet where they will stop and we will see.

00:35:32.220 Yeah, there's a little bit of action, I'd say, right where we are now.

00:35:35.400 I think this is like the known spot, Shelby Park, where a lot of the media is coming.

00:35:40.860 So like right now, I can see down that way, like there's some looks like vlogger type people sort of recording with the phone.

00:35:48.060 We saw some mainstream media here.

00:35:49.420 Not sure exactly what outlet they were from.

00:35:51.300 But this area that we're in right now, although it is relatively quiet, there's still a bit of movement with some people walking around.

00:35:59.380 But not too many locals walking around here.

00:36:02.740 It seems like everyone that's here is here for a purpose, whether they're working as personnel or documenting what's happening.

00:36:09.580 How long are you guys going to be down there?

00:36:13.500 We are supposed to live on Sunday, February 4th.

00:36:19.400 All right.

00:36:19.960 So you got three, probably three full days, maybe four days down there.

00:36:24.000 I think that's enough time to get a feeling for things, maybe meet some local officials.

00:36:30.200 Last I saw in Eagle Pass itself on the streets, it was like a mass, you know, I won't even use the word homeless because they're migrants. 1.00

00:36:39.580 But they are also houseless or homeless.

00:36:42.320 I don't know.

00:36:42.880 I think there's a lot of different angles.

00:36:44.240 And I think if you guys really, you know, get up early and get going, and who knows, maybe even at night.

00:36:49.080 I would imagine a lot of the people smuggling happens at night.

00:36:51.920 I think you guys should really ring out everything you can.

00:36:55.060 We've set up a special website.

00:36:57.600 Is it TexasBorderReports.com?

00:36:59.840 Is that the special website for all your stuff?

00:37:02.580 Yes, correct.

00:37:03.220 All right.

00:37:04.480 Well, I look forward to it.

00:37:05.300 You mentioned you have the drone.

00:37:06.320 You mentioned you've already done some videos.

00:37:07.940 I look forward to seeing those.

00:37:10.140 Now, you guys flew economy class down from Canada to Texas.

00:37:14.000 You're staying in an economical Airbnb.

00:37:17.080 I imagine you're eating fast food on the go.

00:37:19.540 You don't have time for anything else.

00:37:21.640 I don't know what the budget of this journey is.

00:37:25.220 I'm going to guess without checking, by the time the two flights, the Airbnb, the food, the gas, the car rental are added up.

00:37:32.800 I just don't think this trip is going to cost us less than $5,000.

00:37:36.300 I just don't know how it could.

00:37:38.040 So for viewers who think it's important, not just for us to cover the news, but also to, as Alexa mentioned, there's that pipeline of people coming into America.

00:37:47.380 This is how it worked at Roxham Road.

00:37:49.320 Like, it's not like upstate New York naturally has a ton of people fleeing.

00:37:53.880 Of course not.

00:37:54.620 They weren't New Yorkers. 0.85

00:37:56.160 They weren't Americans. 1.00

00:37:57.420 They were people who managed to get their feet on American soil in some way, and many of them had been ordered out of America, ordered deported. 0.97

00:38:06.940 But ahead of the law, they knew that if they could make their way to upstate New York and walk across Roxham Road, that Canada, being the stupidest of the governments in the region, you could stay forever. 0.88

00:38:18.620 So tens of thousands of people crossed from America into Canada. 0.94

00:38:23.640 And I'm worried that if you've got literally millions of people flooding into Texas from Mexico, even if only 1% of those people make their way to the Canadian border, that is still thousands and thousands of unvetted, unqualified, untested lawbreakers coming into Canada.

00:38:43.740 And I think that your facility in French and Spanish will be very useful.

00:38:49.460 I fear that there's also people speaking Arabic, Persian, and various African languages, too.

00:38:54.760 I think it is an absolutely open wound, and I'm glad you guys are there.

00:38:59.020 Last thoughts.

00:38:59.620 Is there anything in particular you're looking forward to, or is there something, a particular shot or a particular story you're trying to find?

00:39:06.820 Of course, we are really, really interested to see some migrant crossing and talking to them.

00:39:15.520 But I would love to be able to speak with some politicians, Republican politicians, to know a little bit their thoughts about what's going on.

00:39:25.060 Talking a little bit about also, like, the heat around the legal battle between Biden administration and Greg Abbott.

00:39:34.160 Maybe, Michael, do you have something else?

00:39:36.260 Yeah, I think just the most important part for me is just documenting exactly what's going on here.

00:39:41.560 Trying to give the viewers a real feel for what it's like on the ground.

00:39:44.420 And obviously, not everyone can make it out here.

00:39:47.220 You know, it's far for a lot of people.

00:39:48.840 So our objective, I think, is to really just give people an eye on the ground that they wouldn't be able to see otherwise.

00:39:57.380 Basically, just get as many perspectives from locals and as many angles as we can to see what's really going on down here from a first-time perspective.

00:40:07.860 And also talking to the residents that live next to where millions of migrants are crossing every year, just to know a little bit, like, are they concerned about their safety?

00:40:20.280 Do something happen to them?

00:40:22.440 We want to really feel what it is to live here at the Texas border with Mexico where cartels with drug dealers, with humans modeling people are doing here.

00:40:36.440 So I think they have really another good angle on what is going on.

00:40:42.660 Yeah, I can only imagine people who live near there, their backyards, I imagine they're terrified to go out in their yard.

00:40:49.880 Speaking of which, I want you guys to be careful.

00:40:52.200 Obviously, you're in the daylight.

00:40:53.340 There's a National Guard truck just 100 feet away from you.

00:40:56.020 You're in no danger now.

00:40:57.060 But especially if you go out at night and if you come into contact with some of these organizers,

00:41:01.300 some of them may be dopey NGOs, but others may be organized crime, drug dealers.

00:41:07.360 So I want you guys to be safe, and there's no story that's worth risking your safety for.

00:41:12.520 I would say here's some things that are interesting.

00:41:15.160 If you find the organizers, whether they're NGOs or those so-called coyotes, that's interesting.

00:41:20.380 If you find people who are not from Latin America but rather sneaking in who seem to be from a different nationality,

00:41:26.820 especially if it's a place where terrorism is rampant, that's interesting.

00:41:30.160 If you find some feds who were there to take down the barbed wire, because remember, there's this dueling battle right now.

00:41:37.960 You've got Texas, the Texas National Guard, and other Republican-oriented states trying to put up a border.

00:41:43.880 And you've got the Biden administration insanely going to the Supreme Court for the right to tear down borders.

00:41:49.260 If you can spot any of those feds, I'd love for you to film them taking down the border.

00:41:55.000 And if they would talk to you at all, that would be amazing.

00:41:57.280 When the protest comes, keep an eye peeled for fake agent provocateurs.

00:42:02.260 I know that's hard, but just be skeptical.

00:42:04.480 If you can find the Ray Epses of the world there, do that. 1.00

00:42:08.600 And listen, follow the facts wherever they lead.

00:42:11.580 I think there's a lot of amazing stories down there.

00:42:14.000 I want you guys to work hard.

00:42:15.360 You can sleep when you come back to Canada.

00:42:17.240 I want you to be there early.

00:42:19.420 I want you to do nighttime work if you can.

00:42:21.820 It sounds like you've got the drone in effect.

00:42:24.760 That's great.

00:42:26.000 Interview everyone.

00:42:27.120 Even interview the media.

00:42:29.080 Are there mainstream media that are finally there?

00:42:32.380 What's their angle?

00:42:33.300 What took them so long?

00:42:34.740 Are they independent media?

00:42:36.520 I think there's just, I think, ask every possible question. 0.94

00:42:41.400 There's no such thing as a dumb question.

00:42:42.880 Odds are, if it's on your mind, it's on our viewers' minds too.

00:42:45.600 Anyway, I'm excited for you.

00:42:46.800 I'm sort of jealous that I'm not down there with you.

00:42:48.920 Rebel News is always in the field.

00:42:52.020 I think this story is relevant to the world, but it is relevant to Canada,

00:42:55.060 especially that U.S. to Canada refugee pipeline that Trudeau has established.

00:42:59.220 So good luck, you guys.

00:43:00.340 Stay safe.

00:43:01.960 It looks gorgeous, by the way.

00:43:04.280 And, you know, I wish, I'm sure you'll show us some of that natural beauty in your shots.

00:43:09.340 And for all our viewers who think this is an exciting story and want to support it,

00:43:13.020 our economy class travel, please help us at texasborderreports.com.

00:43:19.840 Good luck, you guys.

00:43:21.420 Thanks, Jose.

00:43:22.200 Bye-bye.

00:43:22.500 All right.

00:43:23.220 There you have it.

00:43:23.880 Alexa LaVoie and Lincoln Jay, two of our in-the-field Rebel News reporters.

00:43:28.860 That's our specialty.

00:43:30.320 I'm sure they'll have fascinating reports.

00:43:32.220 I tell you, I wish I could be down there in Texas covering that.

00:43:48.280 It just looks so gorgeous down there, doesn't it?

00:43:50.960 I mean, they didn't pan around, but I look forward to watching the videos.

00:43:54.300 I'm glad when I asked them, did you bring the drone?

00:43:56.440 Of course they brought the drone.

00:43:57.660 They didn't need me to remind them, but I'm glad they did.

00:44:00.180 I look forward to seeing it, and I think especially when you're dealing with a mass human invasion, 1.00

00:44:05.060 having a drone will give you a bird's-eye view that you wouldn't be able to capture on the ground.

00:44:10.700 I like Alexa and Lincoln.

00:44:11.800 They've done great journalism.

00:44:13.220 They were 23 days straight.

00:44:14.860 They worked during the trucker convoy.

00:44:16.560 It was just incredible two years ago, and they've done some excellent investigative journalism in other places, too.

00:44:21.740 For example, we sent them to Maui after the wildfires to find out what the heck was going on.

00:44:27.680 So I look forward to their reports.

00:44:28.920 You can see that at TexasBorderReports.com.

00:44:32.300 That's our show for today.

00:44:33.820 Until tomorrow, on behalf of all of us here at Rebel World Headquarters, to you at home,

00:44:38.120 good night, and keep fighting for freedom.

00:44:40.920 Thank you.

00:44:41.540 Thank you.

00:44:42.540 Thank you.

00:44:43.540 Thank you.

Rebel News Podcast - January 31, 2024

EZRA LEVANT ｜ What’s the editorial plan for Rebel News in 2024？

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