C&B Callers Challenge Buck on Griner: Lock Her Up!

BUCK: Some folks have some interesting thoughts here on the Griner situation. We got Steve in Tampa. Steve, you think, “You do the crime; you do the time”?

CALLER: Absolutely. I mean, those nine years she got, that’s a lot less than you would get from other countries. Like you was saying, Turkey gives you four to 24 hours in jail. Saudi Arabia, it could be punishable by death, by getting your head cut off.

BUCK: Yeah, but we can agree that Saudi Arabia chopping your head off for some weed is a little excessive, right? I mean, just ’cause a country does it doesn’t mean it’s okay.

CALLER: Right.

BUCK: They also… There are countries where they do horrible things to people that aren’t doing anything right. You can get executed for having a Bible in North Korea. Doesn’t mean that we’re like, “Oh, the guy got found with a Bible so he was asking for it.”

CALLER: Exactly. But she got caught with illegal narcotics. So if Russia has a strict law against illegal narcotics, you know, it’s not like she didn’t know the laws, because she’s been to Russia a bunch of times. And plus, she didn’t even buy them in Russia. She brought them to Russia. So why isn’t anybody talking about her trafficking? Because if you would fly around the United States with that, you get caught, you get arrested for trafficking.

BUCK: First of all, there are about 18 states that have completely decriminalized… I’m sorry, it’s legalized in 19 states, decriminalized in 18 others. So, my friend, they’re not gonna arrest you. The U.S. laws I do know. The Russian law system is basically whatever the hell they say it is. You’re not getting arrested for narcotics trafficking for a vape pen of weed in America today. That’s not happening. Just so you know. I’m just telling you.

So, anyway, I appreciate you calling in. Look, I’m a law-and-order guy, but, you know, just ’cause the country has certain laws doesn’t mean… Now, it was up to 10 years was the Russian maximum, for drug trafficking, okay? So she got nine. I mean, you know, you could say, “All right, what exactly seems like a more…?” But we got… All right. Let’s do it. Let’s talk. Katie in Costa Mesa, California. What’s going on, Katie?

CALLER: I agree with the last caller, honestly. I don’t feel bad for her. She knew going over there there is a horrible drug problem in this country. I was in Southern California. I’m in the health industry. I’m going to a facility right now. It is about — and at some point, things like fentanyl are gonna be in the vape pen, Buck. I hate to tell you that, but they’re finding their way around.

It’s killing people, and there are no ramifications in states like mine to put these people away. I just drove by three different Circle Ks here earlier in the day, and there’s people sitting out there doing drugs, in Orange County, California. So as much as I would love to say, “Hey, just do your weed whenever you want to,” no. The reason why — and Donald Trump just recently —

BUCK: Wait, wait. So I need to slow down for a second, Katie, so I can follow what’s going on here. So California… I mean, they’re giving weed out, you know, with, like, samples of Tide now. I mean, there’s weed everywhere. They’ve legalized it. People are going around smoking. Same thing here in New York too. But, so you’re just…? You’re anti-weed in general?

CALLER: I’m anti-drugs.

BUCK: Anti-drugs. Okay. Yeah. So am I, by the way. I think marijuana’s very bad for people. I don’t think people should get life sentences for a vape pen, but I think marijuana is not a good idea.

CALLER: Well, I also think you have the idea that somebody is above the law. All of our Hollywood elite and athletic people, they don’t feel like they have to follow the rules. So, maybe this will send a picture to a bunch of them that maybe, maybe there are things that I can’t do and I actually think —

BUCK: So, Paul Whelan is a former Marine held on espionage charges in Russia. Should we say —

CALLER: He’s a Christian.

BUCK: Okay. But I’m saying, he’s being held on espionage charges. So should we just say, “Oh, the Russians, they’ve got their legal system. Let’s just leave ’em to rot in prison on espionage charges.”

CALLER: No, and I think that —

BUCK: Okay.

CALLER: — you’re apples on oranges on this one. My point was is that we’re at a point now in history where the Chinese are funneling in fentanyl into Mexico into our country.

BUCK: I know. I talk about the fentanyl being funneled in all the time.

CALLER: It’s gonna be in the vape pen soon ’cause they’re finding ways to lace it with everything. So if we want to stop this, we have to have harsher laws, and if she’s made an example that might actually be, “Hey, you know what? I’m not gonna pack my vape pen when I go to play basketball in Russia ’cause that’s not a smart thing.”

BUCK: You know, it was prescribed for her by a doctor in America, just so we’re clear on that. So it’s a Russian law. It’s not American law that she’s been violating.” Look, if there’s a… I appreciate the call. I think it’s interesting to hear from folks on this one, and I think that they grabbed Brittney Griner went through her bags because she’s a high profile American and the Russians want to stick a thumb in the eye of the Biden administration.

I think otherwise, they probably wouldn’t have even searched her bag, folks. I’m just putting that out there. But, hey, she’s facing nine years. Biden’s trying to get her out. I also want Paul Whelan. They got him. They’re just… This is what the Russians do. They grab somebody on trumped-up charges. It’s BS. They got him on espionage. I want ’em both home. Some people think “you do the crime; you do the time,” whatever it is.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

BUCK: This Brittney Griner situation, she just got sentenced to nine years, and, you know, it’s always funny. We can tell people are… We love whenever we get calls in on any subject, and it’s honestly such an honor on that so many of you listen across the country, spend time with us. We hang out together, we learn together, dive into what matters, have some fun, too, and so always we appreciate it.

But it’s funny ’cause sometimes you hit a topic, and all of a sudden, I can see Producer Greg who’s working the phones right now and he needs about eight hands to just deal with the lines just light up like a Christmas tree. People are really fired up about this. And look, I will tell you, I think there are definitely nuances here. There’s the foreign policy component of this.

How much of this is Russia trying to make a point against the U.S.? How much of it is they just want to have leverage in a negotiation with us, but also what kind of special treatment is Brittney Griner getting because she is a famous celebrity? How much are Democrats focused on this even more because she’s a celebrity female and minority than they would in, say, the case of Paul Whelan?

I understand, there’s a lot of layers here, and we got all the lines lit up. So, I’ll take a couple more on this one to get some of those additional components into our discussion, and then we’ll talk reconciliation bill. Monica Crowley also will here here, Producer Ali, about half an hour, right, she’ll be with us, a little less than that? Monica Crowley, formerly the Treasury department, great analyst on a whole range of things. All right. Let’s start here with Mark in Maine. Mark, you got some thoughts on this one?

CALLER: Hey, guys, thanks for taking my call. So, you know, I listened to a few of your callers, and I just… I guess I want to ask ’em, you know, where’s your compassion for your fellow human being? I think that being okay with someone being put in prison for nine years for doing cannabis oil is really, really extreme, and it’s like, how do you celebrate freedom in this country and be okay with someone getting that much time for just, you know, taking a little marijuana. They’re not hurting anyone.

BUCK: I mean, it was 0.7 grams. My understanding is that that’s about a teaspoon. And they charged her with transportation of a, quote, “large scale transportation and significant amount of drugs.” Basically, they hit her with a drug trafficking charge for a teaspoon’s worth of cannabis oil, as if she was going to sell it to other people in Russia. She was not going to get rich selling a teaspoon of cannabis oil in Russia. That much, I can assure folks of.

So she was not charged with simple possession. That would be different, right? She was charged with transportation and the Russian equivalent of intent to distribute. So that seem fair? You know, is she the Pablo Escobar of vape pens? I don’t think so. So I do believe that there should be some…? You know, we need to keep our heads about this and not…

Just ’cause the other side plays politics are everybody all the time doesn’t mean that we can’t just look at this as an issue of what is fair and just and say, “Oh, the Russian criminal justice system, they get to determine…” Trust me. You don’t want to be an American facing anything in the Russian criminal justice system. We have Frank in Colorado also on this one. Frank, what’s going on?

CALLER: Yes, sir. Thanks for taking my call.

BUCK: Thank you.

CALLER: I was just thinking that the president, Harris, and Pelosi have already reassured her attorneys that she will be released but it’s not gonna be before the midterms and will be right at the midterms, it’ll help them out the most.

BUCK: Oh, think that they always like to time these things for maximum political effect. That’s how Democrats roll. And let’s do — let me see here — Steve in Florida. Steve, you’re a law-and-order guy. What do you think, Steve?

CALLER: Hey, thanks for taking my call. We can debate whether she got charged right or wrong, but I don’t think we should be giving up one of the top notorious gun dealers for Brittney Griner. I think that’s a little far.

BUCK: Did you hear our interview with President Trump last week where he just said, “Look, it’s a bad deal”? So you’re not alone on this one.

CALLER: I mean, that’s insane.

BUCK: Yeah. It looks like… I think they’re gonna do it, by the way.

CALLER: At point, they can’t.

BUCK: Yeah. I mean, just goes to show you. Thank you for calling in, Steve. I remember the… Oh, gosh. I can’t remember the year. I’m going in the memory banks now. Producer Greg, take a look at this. I think the Israelis once traded something like a thousand Palestinian prisoners for three Israelis. I think that happened at one point. Maybe my numbers a little bit off. But disparate trades.

We value life and justice and decency as a people and as a government more than the Russian government does. I think that’s quite obvious. It was obvious before the invasion and decimation of Ukraine. It’s even more obvious now than it was then. But, anyway, so I wanted to get some more voices in there. Obviously, some folks feel very strongly that, look, you go to Russia, you gotta be on guard about this.

And she did have it. You know, they didn’t plant it on her. That’s not the claim that’s being made. So that would be a whole different thing, right? But it is a teaspoon’s worth of cannabis oil. So, yeah. Let me see. (interruption) Yeah, I was right about this. Israel back in 1985 exchanged a thousand Palestinian prisoners for three Israelis captured during the 1982 invasion of Lebanon. So I’m just saying, this stuff does happen. All right. Thank you all for weighing in.