Breaking Battlegrounds

This week on Breaking Battlegrounds, Chuck and Sam are joined by a fantastic lineup of guests. First, Anna Giaritelli of the Washington Examiner brings us the story of the US fentanyl crisis. Later in the show, Lingling Wei of the Wall Street Journal breaks down Shanghai’s Omicron lockdowns. Finally, Professor Michael Kimmage of the Catholic University of America gives us an expert look at the Russia’s war in Ukraine.-Anna Giaritelli is the homeland security reporter for the Washington Examiner, covering the department, U.S. border, and policies related to cybersecurity, immigration, and transportation. She joined in 2015 after reporting for CQ Roll Call and Cox Media Group, as well as a communications role at an immigration policy organization. Giaritelli has broken stories on leadership turnover within Border Patrol, corruption and infighting within U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the effects of Trump administration policies on migrants. She is a commentator on national radio and TV outlets, including C-SPAN, Fox News, Sky News, and Sirius XM. Her work has appeared in RealClearInvestigations, Yahoo! News, the Oregonian, and Equine Journal. She earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Asbury University.-Lingling Wei is the chief China correspondent for The Wall Street Journal and co-author of “Superpower Showdown.” She covers China's political economy, focusing on the intersection of business and politics. Born and raised in China, she has a M.A. in journalism from N.Y.U., got her start covering U.S. real estate, and has won many awards for her China coverage. In 2021, she's among a team of reporters and editors whose work was a Pulitzer Prize finalist. Follow her on Twitter: @Lingling_Wei-Michael Kimmage is a professor of history and department chair at the Catholic University of America. He is also a fellow at the German Marshall Fund. From 2014 to 2017, he served on the Secretary's Policy Planning Staff at the U.S. Department of State, where he held the Russia/Ukraine portfolio. He publishes widely on international affairs, U.S.-Russian relations and American diplomatic history. His latest book, The Abandonment of the West: The History of an Idea in American Foreign Policy, was published by Basic Books in April 2020. He is the chair of the Kennan Institute Advisory Council.-Connect with us:www.breakingbattlegrounds.voteTwitter: www.twitter.com/Breaking_BattleFacebook: www.facebook.com/breakingbattlegroundsInstagram: www.instagram.com/breakingbattlegroundsLinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/breakingbattlegrounds Get full access to Breaking Battlegrounds at breakingbattlegrounds.substack.com/subscribe

This week on Breaking Battlegrounds, Sam and Chuck are joined by Jeremy Hunt, a Republican running for Congress in Georgia’s hotly contested second congressional district.At a young age, Georgia native Jeremy Hunt learned what it meant to serve. His parents, both evangelical ministers, live their lives for others. Jeremy's childhood home was never empty: those in need were always invited for a warm meal and a place to stay during tough times. And Jeremy accompanied his parents as they visited sick church members in hospitals. He learned that being a Christian meant more than attending church services, it meant selfless service.By the time he entered high school, Jeremy knew his life's calling: selfless service to God and country. He answered the call by graduating from West Point and spending five years as an active-duty Army intelligence officer. Upon his return from a deployment to Ukraine, Jeremy embarked on a new mission as he became a husband and then a father.Jeremy's concern for the future of our country grew even more once he and his wife were blessed with a little girl. He resolved to never surrender his daughter's future to self-entitled elites who want to redefine what it means to be American. With the rising threat of China and Iran from afar, and the spread of woke-ism from within, Jeremy is stepping up to help turn the nation around.After publishing a series of op-eds on Fox News.com, the New York Post, the Washington Post and making over forty regular TV appearances on Fox News, Jeremy is an outspoken champion for conservative values. He also served as a Visiting Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, and has positioned himself as a leader in the next generation of conservatives.Connect with us:www.breakingbattlegrounds.voteTwitter: www.twitter.com/Breaking_BattleFacebook: www.facebook.com/breakingbattlegroundsInstagram: www.instagram.com/breakingbattlegroundsLinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/breakingbattlegrounds Get full access to Breaking Battlegrounds at breakingbattlegrounds.substack.com/subscribe

In this special episode of Breaking Battlegrounds, Chuck and Sam are joined by Brad Harrison, whose wife had to flee her home country of Ukraine when war broke out, only to be stopped by US Customs and Immigration, despite promises from US officials that Ukrainian refugees would be granted asylum. Now Brad, an American citizen, is fighting to make sure his wife is safe. For the first nights of the Russian bombardment of the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv 41-year old Ghanna (Anna) Harrison would make sure the ear-pods of her 10-year old Sofiya were in tight and the iPad was charged so as to drown out the thudding of the missiles and bombs beginning to fall around them.Anna would then get on the phone with her Air Force veteran husband of 10 years Brad Harrison and talk through the night about how she and Sofiya would soon be joining him in America at the home he was going to build for them in his hometown of Spanish Fork, Utah.Only 10 days before the war Brad left Ukraine to prepare the way for his family to come to the United States never believing the Russians would savage his wife’s city and nation as they have. On the morning of 26th of February Anna sensed a pause in the bombings and began the 800 mile escape across Kharkiv and the backroads of central Ukraine heading west until reaching the boarder of Romania.Now the first week of April 2022 after flying with her American passport carrying Sofiya and meeting Brad in Tijuana based on the promise of American President Joe Biden who spread his arms and said if 100,000 Ukrainian refugees could make it to America’s borders they would, “Be welcomed with open arms.”Armed with paperwork and letters, and emails from the senate offices of Senators Mike Lee, John Harmer, and Utah State Senator Mike McKell, encouraging ICE and CBP (Customs and Border Protection) grant Anna asylum by Humane Parole; the Harrisons drove to the border crossing at San Ysidro as a family unit of three.“They wouldn’t even look at any of the documents,” Brad said. “They made Anna get out of the car and Sofiya and I stay in. She came back crying saying she’d been detained, and they’d taken her phone away and were allowing her one change of clothes. That’s the last we saw of her; them leading her away.”That was Thursday, March 31st and Harrison, Sofiya and his immigration attorney have attempted contact every single day only to be denied. And as of today both CBP and ICE have suddenly denied Anna is in their systems… nowhere to be found.“She escaped the Russians only to be captured by the Americans,” Brad said. “She escaped the Russian gulag, and now she’s in an American one – we think.”Connect with us:www.breakingbattlegrounds.voteTwitter: www.twitter.com/Breaking_BattleFacebook: www.facebook.com/breakingbattlegroundsInstagram: www.instagram.com/breakingbattlegroundsLinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/breakingbattlegrounds Get full access to Breaking Battlegrounds at breakingbattlegrounds.substack.com/subscribe

This week on Breaking Battlegrounds, Chuck and Sam are joined by Mark Krikorian is the executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies. Later in the show, Alex Swoyer of the Washington Times returns to the show.Mark Krikorian is the executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies. Mark is a nationally recognized expert on immigration issues and has served as Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) since 1995. The Center, an independent, non-partisan research organization in Washington, D.C., examines and critiques the impact of immigration on the United States. He frequently testifies before Congress and has published articles in numerous outlets including The Washington Post, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Commentary. He is a contributor at National Review Online, and has appeared on 60 Minutes, Nightline, NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, CNN, and NPR, among other television and radio programs. Mr. Krikorian addresses a variety of audiences on a multitude of immigration topics. In addition, Mr. Krikorian is the author of the books The New Case against Immigration, Both Legal and Illegal and How Obama is Transforming America through Immigration.Originally from Texas, Alex Swoyer left the Lone Star State to attend the Missouri School of Journalism where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in journalism with an emphasis in broadcast. She has experience covering stories in the mid-Missouri, Houston and southwest Florida areas where she worked at local affiliate TV stations and received a First Place Mark of Excellence Award from the Society of Professional Journalists. After graduating from law school in Florida, she decided to leave the courtroom and return to the newsroom as a legal affairs reporter for The Washington Times. She can be reached by email at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.Connect with us:www.breakingbattlegrounds.voteTwitter: www.twitter.com/Breaking_BattleFacebook: www.facebook.com/breakingbattlegroundsInstagram: www.instagram.com/breakingbattlegroundsLinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/breakingbattlegrounds Get full access to Breaking Battlegrounds at breakingbattlegrounds.substack.com/subscribe

This week on Breaking Battlegrounds, we are joined by Austin Smith, a Republican running for State Legislature in Arizona and Michael Lieb, the co-founder of Home Arizona. Austin Smith is a proud 5th-Generation Arizonan. Growing up in LD-29, he became a National FFA Award recipient and an All-State award-winning football player at Millennium High School. Working in the agricultural industry on ranches and farms across Arizona, he saw firsthand how devastating an out-of-control government can be to water, business, and freedom. This led him to become involved with grassroots activism as early as the 2014 Midterms. Beginning in 2016, Austin joined a young team of Conservative Activists led by Charlie Kirk and helped convince Charlie to move Turning Point USA’s headquarters from Chicago to Phoenix. Turning Point would go on to create over 200 Arizona jobs thanks in large part to Austin’s insistence that the heart of the Youth Movement for Freedom & Free Markets be based in America’s next great Battleground State. After four years working directly under Charlie Kirk—one of America’s foremost conservative fighters—Austin helped him to run Students For Trump, a 501(c)4 project of Turning Point Action. In his capacity there as National Field Director, Austin organized a state-of-the-art effort, creating college chapters on over 300 campuses, amassing over 750,000 doors knocked—effectively reaching millions of voters with President Trump’s America First message. Following the 2020 election, while actively engaged in the grassroots effort to Audit the Vote in Maricopa County, Austin completed a robust offensive to recruit 1,000 Precinct Committeemen in Arizona, fighting every day to take back our state from the grips of tyrannical Democrat rule both here at home and in Washington DC. An avid outdoorsman, amateur golfer, and active member of his church community, Austin spends what free time he has with his mom Sabrina, dad Rick, and brother Troy enjoying the natural beauty of the state his family has called Home since 1908.Deemed the "King of Infill" by the Arizona Republic for over two decades Michael Lieb has been a key player in the residential and commercial development of thousands of acres located in urban and rural areas throughout Metropolitan Phoenix. In Urban areas such as Downtown and Central Phoenix and Downtown Tempe, Lieb has dedicated himself to working to attract national and international developers to achieve the vision set forth by both these cities and their downtown community of new urban scale housing and mixed-use commercial development.His involvement in various real estate projects which include residential, retail and commercial have made him an instrument force in the success of the newly created downtown core of Phoenix known as Copper Square and made him a true pioneer in the effort to revitalize downtown and Central Phoenix into a valuable urban center. Lieb has the ability, experience, and relationships necessary to work closely with top phoenix public officials and senior staff members in the downtown Phoenix areas. Professionally Michael A. Lieb, Ltd is well known and highly respected for his real estate expertise throughout the local real estate market. This professional recognition has enabled him to establish relationships with the top real estate executives and decision makers of many local and national real estate development companies.For nearly two decades Michael A. Lieb, Ltd has been among the Valley's leading real estate/land acquisition professionals. Lieb has been a catalyst for redevelopment by promoting and creating infill development throughout the valley including Downtown Phoenix area. Lieb’s knowledge and efforts of the urban residential and commercial real estate market alone make him as asset to the continued success of Phoenix and have resulted in over 30,000 new housing units constructed throughout the metro Phoenix and Downtown Copper Square.Connect with us:www.breakingbattlegrounds.voteTwitter: www.twitter.com/Breaking_BattleFacebook: www.facebook.com/breakingbattlegroundsInstagram: www.instagram.com/breakingbattlegroundsLinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/breakingbattlegrounds Get full access to Breaking Battlegrounds at breakingbattlegrounds.substack.com/subscribe

This week on Breaking Battlegrounds, Chuck and Sam are joined by Senator Mike Lee of Utah and Matt Gress, a Republican running for the Arizona State House in Legislative District 4. Elected in 2010 as Utah's 16th Senator, Mike Lee has spent his career defending the fundamental liberties of all Americans and advocating for America's founding constitutional principles. Senator Lee serves as the Ranking Republican on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights, and on the Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining.In addition, Senator Lee continues to lead Republicans on the Joint Economic Committee as the Ranking Member, after spending the last two Congresses as Vice Chairman and Chairman, respectively. He also serves on the Senate Commerce Committee and the Senate’s Special Committee on Aging.Lee graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in Political Science, and served as BYU's Student Body President in his senior year. He graduated from BYU's Law School in 1997 and went on to serve as law clerk to Judge Dee Benson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, and then with future Supreme Court Justice Judge Samuel A. Alito, Jr. on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.Matt Gress is an Arizona conservative, running to represent us in the State House. Matt believes in common sense principles like small government, balanced budgets and individual liberty.From 2017 to 2021, Matt served as a Governing Board Member in the Madison Elementary School District. Where he fought to keep schools open during COVID-19, supported increased school choice and advocated for parents and taxpayers to have a seat at the table in curriculum, hiring decisions and budgeting, including expensive procurement contracts.Matt has served as a faculty associate at Arizona State University and as a budget analyst at the Arizona State Capitol, learning exactly where our tax dollars go. Currently, he serves as the state’s top budget chief in the Arizona Governor’s Office of Strategic Planning and Budgeting.Connect with us:www.breakingbattlegrounds.voteTwitter: www.twitter.com/Breaking_BattleFacebook: www.facebook.com/breakingbattlegroundsInstagram: www.instagram.com/breakingbattlegroundsLinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/breakingbattlegrounds Get full access to Breaking Battlegrounds at breakingbattlegrounds.substack.com/subscribe

This week on Breaking Battlegrounds, Chuck and Sam turn their attention to our public school system and the mess that progressives have made of it. First, they are joined by Tom Horne, former Superintendent of Public Instruction for Arizona who is currently running for that office again. Later in the program, Luke Rosiak of the Daily Wire joins the show to talk about the startling discoveries he made while researching his new book, Race to the Bottom, including the Loudoun County school rape that made headlines during the Virginia election last year. Tom Horne, a candidate for Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction. Mr. Horne has served both his community and our state impressively in several elected offices:  Paradise Valley School Board member and president; Legislator where he was chair of the academic accountability committee; Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction; and, Arizona Attorney General.  As Superintendent, he is most famous for enforcing the English immersion mandate for mostly Spanish-speaking children and getting rid of La Raza studies in Tucson schools. As Attorney General, he earned acclaim for winning lawsuits for Arizona that he argued before the U.S. Supreme Court.   Luke Rosiak is an investigative reporter for the Daily Wire and the author of a new book released this week Race to the Bottom. In Race to the Bottom, Luke uncovers the problems in K-12 schools and the shocking reason why American education is failing. Connect with us:www.breakingbattlegrounds.voteTwitter: www.twitter.com/Breaking_BattleFacebook: www.facebook.com/breakingbattlegroundsInstagram: www.instagram.com/breakingbattlegroundsLinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/breakingbattlegrounds Get full access to Breaking Battlegrounds at breakingbattlegrounds.substack.com/subscribe

This week on Breaking Battlegrounds, Chuck and Sam sit down with Tiffany Shedd, a Republican running for Attorney General in Arizona, to get an honest look at how an unsecured border has created a humanitarian crisis. Later in the show, Chuck and Sam talk to Justin Clements, spokesman for Project Dynamo, a non-profit organization that is working to evacuate Americans from Ukraine.Tiffany Shedd grew up in Pinal County and worked her way through college and law school at the University of Arizona. She’s worked as a bilingual kindergarten teacher, farmer, and natural resource attorney, and owns several small businesses, in addition to being a homeschool mom and an SCTP and 4-H certified pistol and shotgun coach. Living on a major trafficking route in Pinal County, Tiffany has experienced first-hand the consequences of the failure to secure our border and relies on the 2nd Amendment to protect herself and her family. Tiffany’s personal experiences with the consequences of an unsecured border, and as an attorney, business owner, and mother are why she is firmly committed to conservative principles and dedicated to making sure Arizona stays great for future generations.Tiffany and her husband Rodney, a member of the Muscogee Creek Nation, are the fourth generation to farm their land in Pinal County and are proud parents of three children. Connect with us:www.breakingbattlegrounds.voteTwitter: www.twitter.com/Breaking_BattleFacebook: www.facebook.com/breakingbattlegroundsInstagram: www.instagram.com/breakingbattlegroundsLinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/breakingbattlegrounds Get full access to Breaking Battlegrounds at breakingbattlegrounds.substack.com/subscribe

Since we recorded our show a little early this week, we wanted to put out a brief update with our thoughts on the situation in Ukraine and extend our prayers and support of the Ukrainian people. -Connect with us:www.breakingbattlegrounds.vote/Twitter: www.twitter.com/Breaking_BattleFacebook: www.facebook.com/breakingbattlegroundsInstagram: www.instagram.com/breakingbattlegroundsLinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/breakingbattlegrounds Get full access to Breaking Battlegrounds at breakingbattlegrounds.substack.com/subscribe

This week on Breaking Battlegrounds, Chuck and Sam are joined by former Congressman and Fox News contributor, Jason Chaffetz and National Review senior writer, Charles C.W. Cooke.Jason Chaffetz is a contributor for the Fox News Channel and author of two New York Times best-sellers, Power Grab: The Liberal Scheme to Undermine Trump, the GOP, and Our Republic and The Deep State: How an Army of Bureaucrats Protected Barack Obama and Is Working to Destroy the Trump Agenda. Chaffetz was elected to Congress in 2008 and served until 2017. He was selected by his peers to be Chairman of the powerful Oversight & Government Reform Committee, where he led investigations into the United States Secret Service, the Department of Education I.T. vulnerabilities, the Drug Enforcement Agency, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) data breach, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Benghazi terrorist attack, Fast & Furious and the IRS scandal. Prior to Congress, he was Chief of Staff to the Governor of Utah. A former placekicker on the Brigham Young University Football Team, he earned his BA in Communications in 1989 and then joined the local business community for 16 years before entering the public sector.Charles Cooke is a senior writer for National Review and the former editor of National Review Online. He is a graduate of the University of Oxford, at which he studied modern history and politics. His work has focused especially on Anglo-American history, British liberty, free speech, the Second Amendment, and American exceptionalism. He is the co-host of the Mad Dogs and Englishmen podcast, and is a regular guest on HBO's (Real Time with Bill Maher). He has written for the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times.Connect with us:Twitter: www.twitter.com/Breaking_BattleFacebook: www.facebook.com/breakingbattlegroundsInstagram: www.instagram.com/breakingbattlegroundsLinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/breakingbattlegrounds Get full access to Breaking Battlegrounds at breakingbattlegrounds.substack.com/subscribe