and do your fireworks, have a good time with them. >> right. mark: that does it for us, we'll see you next weekend, have a w a wonderful happy independence day, "life, liberty and levin" starts right now. ♪ ♪ mark: hello america, i'm mark levin, welcome to this special edition of "life, liberty and levin," i make it a priority to bring you different perspectives from unique and inde intelligent guests. most importantly, how it affects you. some of our guests are

fantastic authors, some have written substantive and en enlightening books. we begin with america's most successful governor, ron desantis of florida. before he announced his candidacy for president, governor desantis wrote a book. the courage to be free. how he believes his state is a model for the rest of the country. go. >> courage to be free, florida blueprint, let me k you. i don't always ask everyone. this is a fantastic book. it is easy to read, it walks through your life. things that you learned that you done know before, why did you write. >> over the last few years, florida has represented freedom in the united states. we have seen that with the number of people unprecedented number of people that have picked up

their lives from a lot of failing states, governed by leftist politics, they have come to florida, they told me, just highway glad they are to be in florida. you have seen other states that have followed florida, and done well, others have that not, people would say, you know, i just wish our country would be doing what florida is doing, florida really showings american principles, put into action, with courage and conviction, can work. and would we talk about as a lot of stuff we encountered comes into office and issues that we tackled where the dividing lines are, in current american society and we have the best arguments, for the direction that not only states but quuntry country should go in. mark: i found interesting this is not a typical politicians book, it is written like an american citizen, you started.

how you developed your career. what decisions you made. the other thing, is there is not gossip in the boom, the -- booker on telltale things or not you don't attack in the book. was that intentional. >> look, i wrote it, as you know most people -- most elected officials are not writing their books, not an easy thing to do, you write yours it comes across more authentic it is me writing this i do know believe in some of the gossip stuff, if you and i had a private conversation three years ago, why should i re regun tate that. i talk about what it means to be a leader, we stand for our values you come under assault in american society, not just from leftist

elected officials but you have woke ideologic and corporate america and bureaucracy and universities that if you stand for the right things, you will have to show courage under fire, if you' to bring this stuff in for a landing, i felt that is sp something that people will be more interested in than me dishes about private conversations. mark: you are a conservative? what does that mean it. >> you i think foundation of it understanding the american project our rights come from god not from the government. the founders rejected the divine right of kings, it was some people did have rights but it was a courtesy of the state, that is now how our system works we have the god given rights,r we loan power to the government under the constitution to protect those rights, in the

modern society we have cib seen an mooring of the foundations. this has been weaponized against fashions of the country that the ruling class does not like, it is we need to reconstitutallize government, but we're facing now is not what the founders intended in terps of how the government should be operating. mark: the principles are throughout the book, my question is you went to yale. you went to harvard law. you grew up under modest means. you are a great baseball player. but through this, particularly yale and harvard, how did you maintain your principles, faith, belief in god, the conservative principles, your parents or what. >> i talk about -- in the book, i grew up in dunedin, florida in tampa,

st. petersburg area, my father from western pennsylvania my mother north northeastern ohio, florida is eclectic. we have a culture, i grew up in it but the rust belt values raised me, get yale, i had now idea, i done know that colleges were liberal. i was 18 years old. i show up my first day in florida we who would wear jean shorts and flip flops and t-shirts, i show up wearing that, i was a fish out of water, it was a major culture shock, i wasn't like a refined conservative in teterms of politics, i was mostly in sports but you sits in the classrooms, one of yale's motto for god and

country for yale, i'm in a glass room, they are attacking god and country, and saying that u.s. is to flamblame for cold war, growing up in dunedin, i did not know if people were republican or democrat, you had both by they believed in american core principles, it was so different from what i thought was appropriate i was not influenced by it i rebelled other way, by the time i got through college and law school i was set. i was running for congress i tell the story in book, i was green, i had never run before, his an impressive resume, i served in iraq there were things this conservative primary voters would like, but you see yale and harvard, that is like, people say, liberal ally elitist, the question

is how do i po prove, how many people that you know go to washington and they say they do things, and swap co-ops them, i got through yale and harvard and came out more conservative than when i went in the swamp will have nothing on that. they appreciated that. i told myself, none will fly in the real world. you get out there this assault just pie in the sky stuff -- this is all just by in the sky stuff, we sea with a lot of woke ideology and institutions and society, there is a reflection of what a lot of universities have produced. over the last generation. and so we're reaping a lot of what was sowed? classroom. mark: circle back to that you g graduated with honors from nail yale then harvard law school then

you went to military. >> i graduated college before 9/11. i remember growing up in the '90s cold war was over. we didn't have care in the world, problem at height of our power as a nation. then 9/11 happened the world changed. and we were engaged in conflict in afghanistan, pending in iraq, i felt like that i should serve, we didn't have a draft, i didn't get paid by the navy, to join. my education or anything like that. it was something that i wanted to do, we volunteered to do it. my commission while i was at harvard, ended up starting my career down in northeast flflorida naval station and did stints in places like iraq. to volunteer for that too they needed people, i said send he. i just respected the country so much, i respected people that had served, my

grandfather was in world war ii, i thought it was something that i should do. mark: i will tell o audience, this is the brand-new book. you can get it at amazon.com. the courage to be free. we're in a culture war, we didn't start it. but i call marxist left, they started it. it is devouring our institutions and our politics, and the private sector. you have crt, critical race theory, you have deie on esg and all of a sudden i feel it is piling on top of us. this is something you has governor have noticed in classrooms sexualizing of the little kids, disney, with the walt has to be rolling in his grave right now. and other events in culture too. you have token the lead in taking this on as far as

governors. tell me about that, what caused you to say, i have to do something. >> think about it. i got r reelected in november 2022. largest vote margin. i can win by 1.5 million votes make democratic party in our state's rotten carcass on the side of the street, yet the left can still impose their agenda on my people if i'm not looking after fighting esg and other woke companies, some stuff in the universities and schools. i think i have an understanding that these fights are far broader than just one particular election. yes do you have to fight the woke in the halls of government. and legislative chambers we have super majorities we will win the votes, but you have to willing to defend your folks against this

agenda being shoved down their throat from other inchstut institutions, you talk about wrong kids and disney, i see that. not just through eyes of a governor but through the eyes of a dad, we have a 6, 4 and 2-year-old at home, as parents we should be able to send our kids to school, and let them watch cartoonses without someone's sexual azeagenda being shoved down their throat. and republican independent parents agreed with us overwhelmingly, the media trues to spin it up and disney mistakenly got involved, the left was smart to try to pressure disney, for 60 years they have gotten every thing they want from the state of florida.

until i became governor, we said now, you are not running the state. we're running the state of florida. we also said, you know. this company, disney, was granted by the state of florida 60 years ago, its own government. not just favorable regulations, they controlled their own government in central florida. and we said, that is not going to work. if a company will go down the road of thinking this stuff should be in their programming y can have the no a r relationship where you are joined at hip. we t take away the self governing status, that is just i think good government. when you are defending your folks. and media attacked me for doing the disney stuff, saying it hurst him in election, county that most disney employees live

in,s -- osceola county, we carried it by 7 points. >> the book is, the our rack courage be on free. by governor desantis. we can't cover everything in here. we're covering some of the issues. you can get it now amazon.com. you can get it any bookstore starting tuesday. if you want so grab a copy i would. >> after the break. one of fox's own repor reporter will join me to recount his harrowing escape from a war zone in ukraine, the incredible story is next.

it's definitely a bold, we draw from people all over the country and all over the world. the classical liberal arts approach is truly about making good people because it is a smaller school. that ratio of professor to student is really valuable. we are studying things that are all inherently unified. there is a hunger nationwide for the kind of education

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mark: welcome back to special "life, liberty and levin." more than a year ago, after russia invaded ukraine.

many brave and determined journalisting risked their safety to report the war from battlefield. tragically two of fox's own were killed. my next guest benjamin hall barely made it out alive, we writes about his incredible story of survival in his book, saved. >> we have a terrific gift, benjamin hall with a fantastic book out i never b met be benjamin hall before, we talk about ukraine and russia. he is there he left part of hits body there. a great hon honor to meet you, your book is unbelievable. some ways horrifying and others inspirational, can

you tell america concisely what happened to you and your colleagues that day. >> a pleasure to be with you. we were doing that day. go out to tell a story of what is happening in a war and tell our viewers why it is important and it matters, we were filming in a abandoned village outside of kyiv. everyone thought russia towewould take it on. we filmed for a new hours, did not see anyone. as we woke up made your way back to kyiv, we slowed down in ain an abandoned checkpoint. a bomb came down. the second bomb landed next to the car. that one knocked me out. for a while, i know i got

shrapnel in my eye, and matchbox size in my throat at that point, i was blacked out and i saw my daughters they said, as clear as anything, daddy, you have to get out of the car. and i came back, i opened my eyes, i crawled toward outside of the car, i managed to get a couple steps out when a third bomb hit the car, that is the one that gave my the injuries, then and there i lost my right leg, left foot, most of my left-hand. gone at the time. i lay there at that point. i was on fire for a while, i rolled and put the flames out. i play there alongside our cameraman pierre. no cell phone reception, no

way to call for help to let anyone know what happened. russia we thought was nearby, the russian troops, pierre said to me, don't move the russian drones, after about 40 minutes we saw a car that drove past, i shouted at it. pierre said they are the russians. finally that car lost its way ahead and came back, and i dragged myself up a hill toward the road, they came back, i tried to throw things at it, it saw my, ukranian special forces, they save made life, we than pierre passed away moments before we think he bled out. our fixer sasha, 23-year-old eur ukranian girl she died early on. and two ukrainians who were driving, there were 5 of us

in the car that day, can i'm the only one that survived, it was horrible and tragic that lead to a journey that inspired myself and so many others that journey of when you get knocked down you pick yourself up, you have everything taken away you find highway patrol and you fight to -- you find hope and fight to get to where you want to go, that was home, i thought about my daughters every day. we were inside of kyiv, there was no way of getting out. i was in a hospital, close to dying at that point, safe our allies this group, that got americans and other allies out of afghanistan they were called by, jen griffin our pentagon report reporter. they said we're going it, i'm an american, we're go in addition to rescue another american. they dropped everything, a team came in, they tracked my down and found my.

then to get me out with no safeway they found poleish polish prime minister who meeting with zelenskyy. we broke through the lines, and got out. with the polish prime minister, as soon as acrossed into poland. the u.s. army was waiting for me. a black hawk waiting there. it ticked my -- pick made up, i spin 10 days there and flown to -- san antonio, i spent 6 months being rebuilt by u.s. military, put together, prosthetics and skin grafts, i was s given my limbs back and my life back, you never stop,

i'm here today one year in from that happening. to tell that story, the story of the people, doctors, save our allies those who came to save me, that is what i think of. it them, it is pierre and sasha. it is every else who caught up in the war, horrible things happen in life. but we have to keep guying. mark: i want to per pursue this more, the book saved, a war reporters mission to make it home, benjamin hall, i can't encourage you strongly enough to get your copy. >> mark: when we return, key elements that made america the greatest nation in history are under attack by the elites, we'll be right back.

>> welcome back to facts fox news live, i am jon scott in new york, severe weather continues to grip parts of nation this holiday

weekend, forcing people to move celebrations indoors, heavy rain in chicago. turning streeting to rivers, storms are marching east taking aim at pennsylvania, new york and parts of south. >> the severe weather threat continues to tomorrow, strong winds could ruin holiday plans. >> and more than a dozen people are recovering after an suv slams into a central new hampshire restaurant. right now we know of at least three of those victims who have serious injuries. the driver was attempt to turn left near the business when it was hit by another car. >> and i'm jon scott, now back to "life, liberty and levin." mark: welcome back america. .. tonight a special together to celebrate independence

day look back at our talented authors this year, last month senator marco rubio joined me to share his beliefs about how spoiled elites of america have ruined the b bedrock principles that make america strong, decades of decadence. >> i'm excited to have senator rubio, he has written a hell of a book. it comes out tuesday, this is remarkable, particularly coming from a senator. most senators, don't think this deepr deeply. let's get started, among other things you talk about a crisis of confidence. what do you mean? people have d different ideas. >> the confidence is what we're capable of as a

country, everything that made america great, they are still there. but we have forgotten how to do it we've been distracted by two decisions, first that nation hood no longer mattered. who cares where things are made we started making public policy not in the best interest of america but the global market. terrible mistake. the second is the lunacy of over throwing everything that 5 500 years of human nature tell us are true waging war on common sense with things like gender and race, they are intersectioned. you feel t this is a country who forget where they are, and teaching their kids that america is a

massive failure, and replace it with something that looks like the rest of the world. mark: you talk about marxism. neomarxism. >> people think that marxism is an economy model, if is a power stru structure. the bel belief we need to divide people against each other, we see the fracture lines they created. divide people against each other cobb vin people that give us the power turn your life to us, and we'll wage war and make it fair and equitable with all things in the nation. that is what the movement is about. that is what they are doing is dividing americans and telling us that your future depends on the government passing some law, electing certain people to pass pe certain bills at,

peebbs pe expense of your freedom, they take advantage in times of crisis and challenges like we faced here. that is what they are doing this is what this is, marxism. mark: you get to great detail in the book, written in plain english, decades of "decades of decadence: how our spoiled elites blew america's inheritance of liberty, security and prosperity." get it at any major bookstore, up corr important book. the marxism. you connection it to ruling palace or elites and experts. top down. how it is they who are destroying the culture. >> for left wing elites here their number one objective is power. they will do anything they can justify anything from weaponizing our justice

system, lying to congress or a court or highin hiring a guy from another country to write a dossier and use media to spread it. then the pandemic showed us how they used expertise to preserve their power. that is why i talk about mark, you have defined this as marxism before anyone else dwe're dealing with effort of small class left wing elites to r to preserve their power and wage war against anyone who stands in their way. mark: the difference is your family has lived this. in full, bright red castro ruba, they had to escape, you come to this from a pa purpose, this book

"decades of decadence: how our spoiled elites blew america's inheritance of liberty, security and prosperity." i encourage you to get the book. mark: next. who's really pulling those strings and advancing the left? a discovery when we return. we'll be right back.

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mark: welcome back america. it is clear over last couple years our elected leaders are influenced by unelected bureaucrats, acting as puppet masters, invisible players making decisions and setting the agenda, jason chaffetz telling us in his must read new book the the pup -- puppeteers. mark: i came across this

book. look at this. jason would know something about this, he was chair of house oversight committee, he had to str stu struggle and battle and wrestle with big government, tell us about your views about what is going on. relate it back to youri ecoecobook. >> i have never been more concerned about the future of our country, i wrote "the puppeteers" over a couple of years, the election we have them they don't seem to make a difference. we wonder, we elected someone, what happened. you look at it with bidens and democrats and obamas, i wrote about, they have put in bureaucrats, so the perpetuity of government continues to matter what

happens in the election, they could lose the white house and lose congress, guess what government continues on. we had to debt ceiling fight, we were arguing about less than 10% of the budget. 75% of it is mandatory programmatic but not just medicate, and medicare is social security there are hundreds of other programs in there, we don't talk about defense or interest on the debt, i agree with you, if you don't do a balance budget amendment that serious you tied to to -- gdp, you will never fix government. they created a government apparatus by using federal government to get out the vote. we talk as republicans about all these different issues. but, they have got an apparatus using federal government to get out of

vote. so, there is all these hidden gems, we follow the money, we name the names, we tell the stories. it will scare the living daylights out of. >> it is a great book. "the puppeteers." it is brand-new book. on amazon.com. it relates i think to what is taking place here today. one of big points you raise a massive administrative state, over 2 million people. then you have contractors, american people have no idea what taking place. you point out in the book. you have these people there. they are supposed to be objective and impartial. some are, a lot are, most of the law making, as you point out, takes place in the bureaucracy. not in congress. is that correct? >> i tell this story of the b-team a member of congress meeting with cabinet secretary, cabinet secretary is not there, just senior

staff, the member of congress says i'm not meeting with the b team, the senior staff said, you are meeting with the be team, we be here before you, we be hereafter you and we be the ones that make the decision, i can tell you, i have lived it and been there, that is what is happening. mark: as you point out bureaucracy just continues to push the diagra democrat party, left wing aagenda when you have a republican president, they there are to sabotage the republicans, i remember the reagan administration and trump administration but you don't see that what democrats are in control. >> you look at donation, it is north of 95% of federal employees that make a

donation go to democratic party. in some agencies, it 100%. they could leverage not just department of justice or security and exchange commission they use different levers to get after america and do whatever they want which is to implement the far left agenda. do you think that joe biden and kamala harris are making all these decisions? no, absolutely not, it is "the puppeteers." mark: after the break. how a trump cabinet member helped shake up washington and reinstilled fear in america's enemies, i'll be right back.

mark: welcome back america. clear to me under democrat

administrations over pa past decade or so or weak policies left us vulnerable to our enemies when mike pompeo became secretary of state high changed game, never give an inch he helped trump administration craft america first approach that disrupted washington's status quo. take a listen. >> we have with us now honestly one of the great secretaries of state mike pompeo. who has written a fantastic book, never given inch, fighting for the america i love. this is a great book, you learn a ton about what was taking place during the trump administration. and how mike pompeo quietly behind the scenes, most of the time was duking it out with our enemies, even with punitiv allies to try to achieve many things. you know, mr. secretary,

unfortunately we don't have enough time to hit every aspect of this book. i want people to read it. you have sections in the book that are remarkable one you wanted to meet with governors association. and you had trouble get into the meeting. then you get there, they give you time. tell us about that. >> thank you mark. thank you for kind words, i am not greatest at least, i had incredible privilege, chinese communist party is singular great threat from outside, i learned that the chinese communist party was tracking all 50 of our governors in great detail and evaluating them, giving them a rating. i had sign this governors association was having a meeting in dc, i called then

governor larry hogan, and cuomo, asked for 20 minutes. i was there, and it was a sleepy saturday afternoon, they were kind of paying attention, i told them i had a i declassified report that chinese communist party was working on them, they wanted to see. it sends a lesson to us, the problem from chinese communist party is not somewhere over there, it? it is inside of the gates, they are tracking a lot of americans in business world, senior leaders in government. and they are working to do pick pr both propaganda and collect secrets, i alerted governors to that. mark: you dealt with leadership of that regime, what do you make of this

leadership, are they cold-hearted, fl blood third thirsty or power hungry. >> all of the above they don't give a whip about humanity, human dignity, basic rights, this is about power and making the nation of china the greatest hegemonic power, xi jinping calls it the great struggle. trying to build what they call the middle kingdom, that is midif middle of this earth, he consolidated powers in way no leader in 40 years has, his intention with respect to west the u.s. are clear, we have a lot are problem in china we need to ex ecstexacerbate them, if we don't goat get this right, your the kids

and grand kids will grow up in a world that looks like theirs that is unacceptable. mark: economic policies that cause them to assimilate within our own economic system, they are strategic about surrounding the united states whether the panama canal, the western side of africa. they are building military arsenals that can reach the united states, not just proxy wars and satellites is it in. >> you have it right, it bigger, primary confrontation ba battlefield it second economy -- it is economic, they have stolen tens of thousands of jobs from american people, and billions of dollars w worth of intellectual property, it inside gates in book i talk about spying operation out of chinese consulate, in houston, texas, i closed. we had known about it for a long time, they were

operating single largest spying operation, i believe ever c conducted inside of united states, we knew it we didn't do anything about it because we didn't want to make them mad, first time you saw an administration acknowledge the threat. mark: the book, never give an inch, fighting for the america i love, mike pompeo. mark: when we come back. i have a final word to share with you on this independence day weekend.

♪ welcome back, america. this concludes our independence weekend special episode. giving you something to ponder and discuss as you celebrate this great country this weekend. the united states of america is the greatest country on the face of the earth. we should all count our

blessings that we are americans. we should also fight with everything that we have two save it from destruction. i wish you and your family a happy independence day and i will see you next time on "life, liberty and 11". ♪ ♪ spee1 good evening and thank you for joining us. i am trey gowdy and it is "sunday night in america." the weekend before july for where we celebrate our independence. another reminder of how lucky we are to live in a country like america. that is does not say we don't have challenges because we deal. people set for perfect union, there will be