Speaker 1: Welcome to today's podcast sponsored by Hillsdale College, All Things
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Speaker 1: iTunes and Hillsdale. So much news over the weekend. It
Speaker 1: is believed that more than five thousand Aranians were mowed
Speaker 1: down in the streets of Tehran and throughout the country
Speaker 1: by the security services in the service of the Iyatolajamii
Speaker 1: Hamini Homiani. He did the original revolution. Hamieni is the
Speaker 1: supreme leader who succeeded him decades ago. So it's no
Speaker 1: holds barred now. President Trump is weighing his options at
Speaker 1: this hour. He gave the Iranian regime many warnings on
Speaker 1: truth social a week ago on this program, on Thursday,
Speaker 1: on Sean Handy's program on Thursday Night, and then last
Speaker 1: nine on Air Force Wan. He was asked by reporters
Speaker 1: and he said, well, they've asked for negotiations. They apparently
Speaker 1: will bring you that tape a little bit later, but
Speaker 1: they've apparently decided to go with killing people. Now, the Iranians,
Speaker 1: according to President Trump, and of course you've got great
Speaker 1: credibility right now, have offered to negotiate. I don't know
Speaker 1: what they have to negotiate over. They've killed five thousand
Speaker 1: of their own people, and President Trump told them, don't
Speaker 1: do that, and they did it. And then how many
Speaker 1: went on the air and made fun of Trump and
Speaker 1: the United States over the weekend. So although the Wall
Speaker 1: Street Journal is reporting at this hour that there's division
Speaker 1: in the ranks within the administration, perhaps there is. Let
Speaker 1: me read you the story. The White House is weighing
Speaker 1: a last ditch Iranian offer to engage in diplomacy over
Speaker 1: curbing its nuclear program. We curbed their President Trump obliterated
Speaker 1: their nuclear program. Even if President Trump currently leans towards
Speaker 1: authorizing fresh military strikes on Iran, some senior station aids
Speaker 1: led by Vice President Jady Vance urging Trump to try
Speaker 1: diplomacy before retaliating against Iran for killing protesters during a
Speaker 1: two week uprising over a flailing economy and regime repression.
Speaker 1: I don't believe that, by the way. I think that
Speaker 1: is a made up thing by people who are not
Speaker 1: actually JD. Vance talking to the Wall Street Journal by
Speaker 1: the isolationist wing. I think the vice president will support
Speaker 1: whatever the President decides to do. Speaking Sunday to reporters
Speaker 1: on Air Force One, Trump said that Tehran messaged Washington
Speaker 1: a day earlier that it was willing to enter negotiations
Speaker 1: over its years long nuclear program. I'll talk with Mark
Speaker 1: Dubiets about this a little bit later, CEO of the
Speaker 1: Foundation for the Defense of Democracy. The president said a
Speaker 1: meeting is being set up, though the US is still
Speaker 1: looking at quote very strong options. There is a word
Speaker 1: as well that he will meet with senior aids Tuesday
Speaker 1: to determine his approach. I hope that approach is to
Speaker 1: hit as he promised to do. Presidential credibility is earned
Speaker 1: in ounces and lost in pounds, just like truthfulness and
Speaker 1: reliability is earned announcers in lost in pounds. Everybody believes
Speaker 1: that Donald Trump threat right now, all right. He threatened
Speaker 1: Operation Midnight Hammer, and he delivered on it. He threatened Maduro,
Speaker 1: and Maduro laughed at him. And Maduro is in a
Speaker 1: jail cell in New York City. So the president's credibility
Speaker 1: literally could not be higher right now. It could only
Speaker 1: be damaged if he walks it back and engages in
Speaker 1: the favorite tactic of the Iranian theocrats, delayed, delayed, delay, delay, divide,
Speaker 1: playoff of the best hopes and the worst fears of Americans.
Speaker 1: So here is President Trump on Air Force one yesterday
Speaker 1: talking about to a CNN reporter about the Iran threat
Speaker 1: that he is made and whether or not Iran takes
Speaker 1: it seriously. Cuttnumber six at three, I think, don't you
Speaker 1: think so, CNN?
Speaker 2: Don't you think so? Would you say.
Speaker 3: That they probably do at this point after going through
Speaker 3: it for years with me being hit, salivating out back daddy,
Speaker 3: the red nuclear threat wiped out? Don't you think? And
Speaker 3: then you just had Venezuela. Don't you think? She says, CNN,
Speaker 3: do you think they take your threat seriously? What do
Speaker 3: you say they do after all of the things.
Speaker 2: We have done? What a stupid question.
Speaker 1: It really is a stupid question. Of course, they take
Speaker 1: the threat seriously. That's why they're begging for negotiations, because
Speaker 1: the president can bring down that regime with three days
Speaker 1: of air campaign, I mean a concerted effort, maybe with
Speaker 1: is reel, maybe without. John Fetterman went on CNN and
Speaker 1: gave his statement, this is the Democratic Center from Pennsylvania
Speaker 1: cutt number two.
Speaker 4: Absolutely, and now if it could and used to make
Speaker 4: more sense. Absolutely, I think I was the only Democrat
Speaker 4: that fully supported our strike of their Iranian nuclear facilities
Speaker 4: last year, and now by then, without those kinds of strikes,
Speaker 4: Iran could have acquired a nuclear bomb. I think, I
Speaker 4: hope we can all agree that Iran should have never
Speaker 4: acquired a nuclear bomb. And Iran is one of the
Speaker 4: world's top terrorist unwriter. And now you have that poisonous
Speaker 4: regime now in spiral.
Speaker 1: So why wouldn't we want to support that?
Speaker 4: And those brave protesters they've killed probably more than six
Speaker 4: hundred by now, So now why would we want to
Speaker 4: have the kinds of targeted kinds of action that could
Speaker 4: break that regime.
Speaker 5: There are sources do tel CNN that there are concerns
Speaker 5: inside the Trump administration though, that taking military action military
Speaker 5: strikes could actually backfire and undermine the protests by swelling
Speaker 5: support for the Iranian government. Do you see that?
Speaker 4: Yeah, if it makes sense, again, if those strikes make sense, absolutely,
Speaker 4: I do support those things. You know, I don't know
Speaker 4: exactly what the conversation is. I'm saying I'm open to that,
Speaker 4: and I am actually inspired by the real kinds of
Speaker 4: courage that those protesters in Iran.
Speaker 1: Are demonstrated now.
Speaker 4: So I don't know why we can't all want to
Speaker 4: support that to back then and now bring that awful regime,
Speaker 4: you know, to its knees now.
Speaker 1: That's where it's at right now.
Speaker 4: They're so desperate now they they killed the internet and
Speaker 4: now they're mowing down their own citizens. Now they're even
Speaker 4: so desperate offering six dollars a month as some kind
Speaker 4: of a payoff now to now For me, I think
Speaker 4: we can all agree that the world would be better, safer,
Speaker 4: and more just if you could break that regime.
Speaker 1: I do not believe Lagoshimi saying that there are forces
Speaker 1: inside the White House who are counseling against striking the
Speaker 1: regime after President Trump made those threats. I don't believe it.
Speaker 1: I think it's useful for the legacy media narrative, but
Speaker 1: I do not believe it. David Ignatius is the senior
Speaker 1: national security voice for Legacy Media in Washington, been on
Speaker 1: columns for the Washington Post for many many years. I
Speaker 1: know David. He's very reliable. Here's what David said on
Speaker 1: Morning Joe This Morning cut number four.
Speaker 6: So the best case scenario is that.
Speaker 7: A regime whose security forces are weak, are rusty, that
Speaker 7: failed to help its proxies Hezbola in Lebanon, Hamas and Gaza,
Speaker 7: Basher Alasade in Syria, and ian Oran itself couldn't fend
Speaker 7: off and it was Israeli attacked last Yune, that that regime,
Speaker 7: if gift hard, will begin to crack.
Speaker 6: What does it mean to hit it hard?
Speaker 7: So what it means, I think is heavy munitionis striking barracks, bases,
Speaker 7: certainly missile production facilities that the rates would use to retaliate.
Speaker 7: But to show the Iranian people that this security force,
Speaker 7: which is hated by a lot of the country, isn't
Speaker 7: so tough that they're going to crush you. They're themselves
Speaker 7: on the run. I think that's what it would it
Speaker 7: would look like.
Speaker 1: It would be.
Speaker 7: It would be the barracks, logistic resources and those things
Speaker 7: can be done and people would noted we have no
Speaker 7: aircraft carrier strike group in the region. That's true, but
Speaker 7: you don't need one. I'm told we have enough aircraft
Speaker 7: in Europe, enough missiles that could be launched to hit
Speaker 7: the targets that it's not necessary to move the Gerald
Speaker 7: forward or any other aircraft carry task force.
Speaker 1: In the region right now. And this is what Tray
Speaker 1: Yanks on Fox News reported Cut number.
Speaker 6: Three Dana, Good Morning.
Speaker 8: Intense anti government demonstrations erupting across Iran over the weekend
Speaker 8: were met with a brutal crackdown. A source in Tehran,
Speaker 8: speaking with Fox News via starlink described security forces open
Speaker 8: firing into crowds of people, using tear gas.
Speaker 6: And arresting thousands.
Speaker 8: Human rights organizations say at least five hundred and forty
Speaker 8: four people have been killed over the past two weeks,
Speaker 8: but with an ongoing internet blackout, the confirmed number is
Speaker 8: expected to increase significantly. Aron's President must sud Pozeski and
Speaker 8: made a public address yesterday discussing the clashes.
Speaker 1: Don't need to hear regime propaganda. There are very reliable
Speaker 1: estimates of more than five thousand murdered by the regime
Speaker 1: over the weekend. Hopefully President Trump and Elon Musk worked
Speaker 1: together to get starlink working, although I'm not sure starlink
Speaker 1: can work in Iran to the extent that it worked
Speaker 1: in Ukraine, because the government in Ukraine welcomed it and
Speaker 1: put up terminals to receive it. The Iranian regime will
Speaker 1: try and stop those terminals from being act debated and
Speaker 1: tracked down. So it's tremendously courageous of the Iranian people
Speaker 1: to rise up and walk in the streets as they are.
Speaker 1: And President Trump made a warning on this show, on
Speaker 1: Sean Hanny's show on Thursday night. He did it on
Speaker 1: True Social He has made a lot of warning and
Speaker 1: they have been disregarded by the regime. His credibility is high.
Speaker 1: I don't think he ought to be talked out about
Speaker 1: hitting them, and I believe these Israelis ought to go
Speaker 1: along with us and hit the regime. They're only one
Speaker 1: hundred and fifty thousand IRGC. Those are the toughest there
Speaker 1: a couple maybe even million besieged. But those are just thugs.
Speaker 1: They might have weapons, but they're thugs. Stay tuned. I'll
Speaker 1: bring you the latest from the RAM when I come
Speaker 1: back on the You Do It Show. Welcome back, America.
Speaker 1: I'm Jue Gwett, joined now by former Israeli Ambassador of
Speaker 1: the United States, doctor Michael Orrin, from Israel. Doctor Orrin, welcome,
Speaker 1: What is your assessment of the situation in Iran and
Speaker 1: what ought the United States to do, and why.
Speaker 6: Situation in Iran is very troubling.
Speaker 9: Certainly, hundreds, potentially thousands of people being killed going out
Speaker 9: to protests for freedom from this heinous regime very disturbing,
Speaker 9: and it impacts all Israelis.
Speaker 6: We're all there for the people of Iran.
Speaker 9: Before nineteen seventy nine, they were our close allies, and
Speaker 9: we look forward to being allied with them and close
Speaker 9: to them once again. Having said that, great skepticism here
Speaker 9: about whether these protests can actually bring down the regime.
Speaker 9: We're talking about a company country of ninety million people.
Speaker 9: I don't know how many tens of thousands, even hundreds
Speaker 9: of thousands are out protesting, but still it's not.
Speaker 6: Ninety million, and the regime has immense.
Speaker 9: Means at its disposal for suppressing these demonstrations.
Speaker 6: You're talking about an army of almost a half a.
Speaker 9: Million soldiers, a a guard at Islamic Republican Guard, Revolutionary
Speaker 9: Guard of close to a half a million soldiers plus besiege.
Speaker 9: These are these paramilitary thugs. There may be five million
Speaker 9: of them.
Speaker 6: And so the iran Has regime has just begun to fight.
Speaker 9: Now whether the United States will intervene or not, I
Speaker 9: think it's always at this point. I think it's a
Speaker 9: mistake to gainsay what the President says or question what
Speaker 9: the President says.
Speaker 6: And if he says the United States is willing to
Speaker 6: use force, I think he very much means it.
Speaker 9: I think the American military would like to gather that force,
Speaker 9: assemble that course within a striking distance of Iran.
Speaker 6: Though you know, American strategic bombers.
Speaker 9: Could take off in Idaho and be over the skies
Speaker 9: of Iran in a matter of fifteen hours or even less. Still,
Speaker 9: I think the American military would like to have a
Speaker 9: very large military.
Speaker 6: Presence in the air, which includes moving.
Speaker 9: Carrier strike forces, may take a few weeks.
Speaker 6: Having said all that.
Speaker 9: My gut feeling, my gut feeling, Hugh, is that this
Speaker 9: is going to end.
Speaker 6: In some type of deal.
Speaker 9: And I think there are intimations both from the Iranians
Speaker 9: and the.
Speaker 6: United States that these that context contexts towards such a
Speaker 6: deal are already going on.
Speaker 9: What that deal may look like, That deal would look
Speaker 9: like something like Venezuela, when you get rid of the
Speaker 9: bad guys, get rid of the bad malas, which may
Speaker 9: be redundant.
Speaker 6: I don't know any good mulas.
Speaker 9: And their elements in the IROs. We see, he will say, well,
Speaker 9: let us take over and we will reorient. We will
Speaker 9: reorient Iran back to the United States, which would be
Speaker 9: a tremendous not just financial victory for America. I'ron of
Speaker 9: course a major supplier of oil, but also give the
Speaker 9: United States immense leverage over the Chinese because the Chinese
Speaker 9: economy is almost entirely dependent on irody and oil.
Speaker 6: Think about that, But that would mean.
Speaker 9: For America and the world, without firing a single shot
Speaker 9: for Israel, the outcome would be would be okay. It
Speaker 9: would could be much better if the regime would disappear entirely.
Speaker 9: But a regime that has been defanged and now newly
Speaker 9: connected with the United States, not with Russia, not with China,
Speaker 9: is very much in Israel's interest now.
Speaker 1: Doctor Orrin Donald Trump has threatened four times Iran if
Speaker 1: they murdered their people, he would hit them. He did
Speaker 1: it on True Social a week ago, he did it
Speaker 1: on this program on Thursday, he did it on Sean
Speaker 1: Hannay's program on Thursday night. He did it on True
Speaker 1: Social Overnight and on Air Force One. So it's really
Speaker 1: five times. He's worn the Iranian and now the numbers
Speaker 1: are horrific, maybe more than five thousand people gunned down,
Speaker 1: ten thousand people taken into custody. Can he afford not
Speaker 1: to do something, at least hit a missile factory, hit
Speaker 1: some IRGC facility, do something to back up his threat.
Speaker 6: He certainly could.
Speaker 9: And I think when the president puts a credible military
Speaker 9: threat on the table, he intends to use it. He
Speaker 9: puts that pistol on the table, not just as previous
Speaker 9: administrations would put a pistol on the table and had
Speaker 9: no intention of using that pistol. It actually broadcast American weakness.
Speaker 9: When President Trump has put that pistol out there, he
Speaker 9: intends to use it and that strength. We saw how
Speaker 9: it worked in achieving the release of Israeli hostages. We
Speaker 9: saw how it worked in framing the Abraham Accords. It
Speaker 9: has worked again and again, and it can work here.
Speaker 6: It's to work.
Speaker 9: How if you bomb IRGC headquarters, if you bomb missile silos,
Speaker 9: it's not going to bring down the regime again. You're
Speaker 9: going to still have the five six seven million armed
Speaker 9: people are going to come out of that regime and
Speaker 9: knock these protesters on the head and kill them, because
Speaker 9: the regime is not going to go quietly into that
Speaker 9: good night. It could also resolve their gene may turn
Speaker 9: around and fire some missiles at Israel, and that would
Speaker 9: bring Israel into the fray as well. I think that
Speaker 9: the use of military force is the means to an end,
Speaker 9: and the.
Speaker 6: End probably is a negotiated.
Speaker 9: End where the Rians will give up their nuclear program,
Speaker 9: that will surrender their highly enriched uranium, They will mothball
Speaker 9: a large segment of their intercontinental ballistic system, and as
Speaker 9: I said earlier, will reoriented their foreign policy and their
Speaker 9: oil policy toward the United States.
Speaker 1: Doctor Oran. If Iran were to hit at Israel and
Speaker 1: the sort of weird calculus that Taddam Hussein used in
Speaker 1: the nineteen ninety one golf when he invaded Kawait, America
Speaker 1: led a coalition to oust him, and he sent goods
Speaker 1: at Israel. I don't think Israel will sit back this time,
Speaker 1: as they were asked to do and did in nineteen
Speaker 1: ninety one. What would the response from Israel be if
Speaker 1: Iran send another wave of ballistic missiles its way.
Speaker 9: Be massive, and I think that John Trump is not
Speaker 9: going to hold us back. I think that was clear
Speaker 9: from his most recent meeting with the Prime Minister and
Speaker 9: that Iran no longer has air defenses. Iran is completely
Speaker 9: vulnerable them they move those missiles out of their silos,
Speaker 9: they will be hit, and not just the silos. I
Speaker 9: don't think anybody will be immune from Israel's reaction. First
Speaker 9: of all, and above all, the Iatotal committee.
Speaker 1: Now doctor worn last question. The people of Iran are bankrupt.
Speaker 1: The real has now fall into something like two million
Speaker 1: for one American dollar, and it's falling still with the unrest.
Speaker 1: But we did not neither Israel nor the United States
Speaker 1: hit carg Island, which is their major oil export facility.
Speaker 1: Is that on the table in your view if there's
Speaker 1: another round of conflict here, I.
Speaker 6: Don't think so.
Speaker 9: I think the idea is that not to keep oil
Speaker 9: prices going down, not up, and hitting Craig Island would
Speaker 9: cause a spike in oil prices.
Speaker 6: I think the whole one of the great benefits.
Speaker 9: Potentially of the Venezuelan operation is to reduce oil to
Speaker 9: fifty or even thirty five dollars a barrel, and which
Speaker 9: would by the way, have the addition to benefit of
Speaker 9: sort of bankrupting Russia.
Speaker 6: Think about this.
Speaker 9: This is the geostrategic gratifications of oil diplomacy, and I
Speaker 9: think the idea is to somehow get this regime to
Speaker 9: give up its nuclear program, give up its role as
Speaker 9: the largest state sponsor of terror in the world.
Speaker 6: Maybe not open an embassy in Israel tomorrow.
Speaker 9: But it certainly maybe have really a de facto non
Speaker 9: belligerency with Israel and again reoriented its foreign policy toward
Speaker 9: the United States. At the same time bring down oil prices.
Speaker 9: Bring down oil prices. That will certainly, I think we're
Speaker 9: down to the president and his party political as the
Speaker 9: mid terms are approaching. Think about this. Think about this
Speaker 9: as a as a multi tier chessboard, Hugh. There's much
Speaker 9: speaking at this moment.
Speaker 1: Doctor Michael Orran, founder of the Israel Advocacy Group. You
Speaker 1: can also follow him on Exit d R Michael Orran,
Speaker 1: Doctor Michael Arran, d R Michael orn on X. It's
Speaker 1: one of the people you can trust on this topic.
Speaker 1: State twnw right back on the Hugh Hewitt Show, Hugh Hewitt,
Speaker 1: I'm in Studio West of the Relief Factor of Studio Set,
Speaker 1: and I'm so pleased to welcome back Steve Hilton, who
Speaker 1: I hope is the Golden State's next governor and his
Speaker 1: running mate state former State Senator Gloria Romero, which was
Speaker 1: a bit of a surprise because she used to be
Speaker 1: a Democrat and I think it's the first time she's
Speaker 1: ever been on the show. So welcome to you both.
Speaker 1: Steve Hilton. Let's talk about why you've asked Gloria Romero
Speaker 1: to be your running mate. Then I got questions for
Speaker 1: Gloria Ormo on when she saw the light.
Speaker 10: Fantastic.
Speaker 11: I love love it great to be with you, You
Speaker 11: happen to you. You lovely to see Gloria as well.
Speaker 11: We're going to be in person later today in Los Angeles. Look,
Speaker 11: I've always said that this is going to be a
Speaker 11: tough fight, an uphill battle to turn around California, to
Speaker 11: save our beautiful state, and it's not just going to
Speaker 11: be one person in one role. I've always seen it
Speaker 11: as a team effort, a team that's going to turn
Speaker 11: around California, both in terms of the need to elect
Speaker 11: Republicans at every level in California, the state legislature, county
Speaker 11: boards of supervisor, school boards, and so on, and also
Speaker 11: across the board the other statewide offices. It's a massive state,
Speaker 11: the biggest in America, the fourth biggest economy in the world.
Speaker 11: I understand about putting together and leading a team. That's
Speaker 11: how I've always operated when I've started businesses back in
Speaker 11: the day working in the UK government, so I've always
Speaker 11: seen it like that. And in fact, there will be
Speaker 11: more announcements about the team that's taking shape in the
Speaker 11: days and weeks ahead, But today the focus is on
Speaker 11: my running mate running for Lieutenant governor, Gloria amer That's
Speaker 11: not normally done. In fact, it's the first time it's
Speaker 11: been done in California. These are independently elected positions, and
Speaker 11: so this is a first in terms of a ticket.
Speaker 11: But we are very excited about it for two reasons.
Speaker 11: Number one, Gloria's story is so powerful. She'll tell you
Speaker 11: about that in a moment walking away from the Democrat Party,
Speaker 11: the area she represented in the legislature, her understanding.
Speaker 10: Of the Latino community.
Speaker 11: But also the second big point, her understanding of the legislature.
Speaker 11: I'm running as an outsider to shake up Sacramento, to
Speaker 11: end the corruption, the failure, and the bloat and the fraud.
Speaker 11: And we'll get to all that as well, but Gloria
Speaker 11: having served in the legislature, she really knows how things
Speaker 11: work there, or I guess the right term will be
Speaker 11: don't work. And so she's going to be an incredibly
Speaker 11: trusted guide for me in terms of making things actually
Speaker 11: happening and delivering the change that we need so earlier
Speaker 11: today making the announcement return to Senator Romero.
Speaker 1: Senator you may or may not remember I did the
Speaker 1: nightly news in LA from nineteen ninety two to two
Speaker 1: thousand and two. You're a Democrats. Democrat, so what happened?
Speaker 1: And welcome aboard, Thank you too.
Speaker 12: I think with anything, it's always a process overall. If
Speaker 12: you talk with anybody who worked with me while I
Speaker 12: was in Sacramento, people knew that I worked across the
Speaker 12: aisle and I took on some of the biggest challenges
Speaker 12: even back then as a Democrat. I was one of
Speaker 12: those Democrats I always have been who believes in school choice.
Speaker 12: That meant taking on the number one political backer of
Speaker 12: the Democrat Party, the Teachers' Union. But I did that,
Speaker 12: and people in Sacramento knew that way back then. I
Speaker 12: actually have a bipolitical family. Half of the kids are
Speaker 12: and have been Republican. The other half are Democrats. We
Speaker 12: are family.
Speaker 13: We believe in.
Speaker 12: Having the right to you know, it's America. You get
Speaker 12: to say how you feel, and so I've always been
Speaker 12: very comfortable talking, debating, etc. But the final push was really,
Speaker 12: even after I left the Legislature, still trying to bring
Speaker 12: about change within the Democrat Party, when we saw the
Speaker 12: political coup in which even at that point a bad
Speaker 12: candidate Joe Biden, but essentially being pushed out in the
Speaker 12: back room by movie stars and others. It was just
Speaker 12: a bridge too far. And so like many other Democrats,
Speaker 12: Telsea Gabbert, Leo Terrell, others, we decided and I talked
Speaker 12: about it and said, I'm out of here. I cannot
Speaker 12: stay any longer.
Speaker 1: Center. Would you remind me of where you were both
Speaker 1: in the Assembly and the State Senate? Were you and
Speaker 1: ask LUs where was your district located? I can't remember
Speaker 1: that much.
Speaker 12: The numbers have changed, but I was the twenty fourth
Speaker 12: Senate different district. That's the east side of Los Angeles.
Speaker 12: It's un East LA and a good chunk of the
Speaker 12: San Gabriel Valley, So that was pretty.
Speaker 6: Much my district.
Speaker 1: What a great choice, Steve Hilton because she did run
Speaker 1: for Sena Ramero ran for superintendent schools when I lived
Speaker 1: in California. I was excited about that because she's a
Speaker 1: school choice advocate. How long did it take you to
Speaker 1: make this decision and who picked up the phone first?
Speaker 11: Well, I'll get into that because I've been wanting this
Speaker 11: to happen for a long time.
Speaker 10: Gloria and I first.
Speaker 11: Met on that issue of school choice when she was
Speaker 11: working with Rick Gronell on a ballot initiative, a statewide
Speaker 11: ballot initiative.
Speaker 10: I had them both on my.
Speaker 11: Show on Fox to talk about that, and then we
Speaker 11: met in person and we got to know each other.
Speaker 11: When I started my California Focused policy organization, really the
Speaker 11: first step towards.
Speaker 10: The decision I made to run for governor.
Speaker 11: Golden Together that's the name of the organization, Non partnersan
Speaker 11: policy organization.
Speaker 10: I asked Gloria to be on the board of.
Speaker 11: That organization, and we've been working together on policy, in
Speaker 11: particular education policy for years now. And as that process
Speaker 11: has gone on and I've gotten to know Gloria as
Speaker 11: a friend and a partner in policy and a colleague,
Speaker 11: I came to the view that this would be a
Speaker 11: great and so I've been asking Gloria for quite a
Speaker 11: while now whether she would consider this, and I'm very,
Speaker 11: very happy and proud that she said yes, and here
Speaker 11: we all today making this wonderful announcement.
Speaker 1: Sarah Ramira, I want to go back to you were
Speaker 1: a hammer. You were a good Democratic leader. My friend
Speaker 1: John Campbell was serving at the same time you were,
Speaker 1: he was on the other side of the aisle. You
Speaker 1: were very good at what you did. How shocked are
Speaker 1: your former Democratic colleagues that you're doing this? And will
Speaker 1: any of them come along and join you? And Steve
Speaker 1: Hilton then trying to turn our bankrupt state around.
Speaker 12: Well, I think when I actually converted to being a Republican,
Speaker 12: I don't think many of my former colleagues were shocked
Speaker 12: because they had seen the progression over the years, the
Speaker 12: advocacy on school choice, etc. Women's rights, a number of
Speaker 12: issues overall. Certainly the announcement today, I'm sure many of
Speaker 12: them are really surprised at that, but I believe that
Speaker 12: they are aware that I'm committed. When I became a Republican,
Speaker 12: I said, look, I want to do my share, my
Speaker 12: part in making California great again. And with Steve Hilton,
Speaker 12: we've had a very good, long running relationship and really
Speaker 12: trying to restore the California dream, putting that golden sheen
Speaker 12: back into California. So school choice issues is a major issue.
Speaker 12: If I can just say, you know why the lieutenant
Speaker 12: governor it again too is looking at as a team
Speaker 12: governor and the lieutenant governor. But when you look at
Speaker 12: the lieutenant governor, which I often kind of joke about
Speaker 12: and say, it's sort of like the Seinfeld of state
Speaker 12: white politics in California. Nobody knows what the LG does,
Speaker 12: but the Lieutenant governor serves on the bodies of the
Speaker 12: UC regions, the board of governors for the community college system,
Speaker 12: also as a trustee for the CSU, and on education
Speaker 12: that's almost half the state budget. I'm a product of
Speaker 12: all three of those systems, both having been a student
Speaker 12: and having been a professor in those systems. So it's
Speaker 12: a natural fit for me to really work with Steve
Speaker 12: advocating on school choice, meritocracy and admissions performance, etc. So
Speaker 12: it's a natural fit overall.
Speaker 1: Steve Elton, we got about a couple of minutes left.
Speaker 1: Would you remind people what the website for the campaign
Speaker 1: is how they can help you. Yes, And there are
Speaker 1: like twenty five Democrats running, which one Katie Porter, has
Speaker 1: fallen like a rock. Who are you going to be
Speaker 1: running against?
Speaker 11: Well, it looks like I want to keep saying they're
Speaker 11: not sending their best.
Speaker 1: No.
Speaker 11: Now, the person that's risen to the top is Eric Swalwell,
Speaker 11: if you can believe it, Eric Swalwell.
Speaker 10: I don't know. There may be others getting into the race.
Speaker 11: We don't know yet that yet You've got the billionaire
Speaker 11: climate fanatic Tom Steyer, through spending a lot of his
Speaker 11: own money, he's now climbing in.
Speaker 10: The polls as well.
Speaker 11: Look, it doesn't matter who they send, because we need
Speaker 11: change in California. We cannot have We've already this is
Speaker 11: the sixteenth year now of one party rule.
Speaker 10: Sixteen years of one party rule. It's not healthy.
Speaker 11: Even if they weren't a complete failure on every front,
Speaker 11: but they are a complete failure. And that's one of
Speaker 11: the things that we've been highlighting. I'm just the fraud.
Speaker 11: You know that, as iways been saying, you know the
Speaker 11: first time that when the Minnesota scandal came to light.
Speaker 10: However bad it is in term walls as Minnesota.
Speaker 11: You know that it's a thousand times worse in Gaven
Speaker 11: Newsom's California. And so we've been highlighting that and all
Speaker 11: these other failures that one year anniversary of the fires.
Speaker 11: Last week preposterous State of the State speech from Gavin
Speaker 11: Newsom where he ludicrously claimed that we're a blueprint for
Speaker 11: the nation, where we're actually with the highest poverty rate,
Speaker 11: highest unemployment rate, highest costs for gas, electric rent, water insurance,
Speaker 11: worst business climate, highest in I mean, everything is a failure.
Speaker 1: We are a blueprint for assisted suicide of the state.
Speaker 1: That's what we are a blueprint for.
Speaker 10: So people can be building a movement for change.
Speaker 11: Let's Steve Hilton for Governor, dot com f o R,
Speaker 11: Steve Hilton for Governor Volunteer. We've got a really cool
Speaker 11: volunteer program going on right now. By the way, the
Speaker 11: fundraising we're leading as well. We're leading in the polls.
Speaker 11: We're also leading on fundraising. We announced that today as well.
Speaker 11: That's just about to where we raise more money in
Speaker 11: the last six months than any other campaign on either side.
Speaker 10: It's really happening in California. I think we can make
Speaker 10: this well.
Speaker 1: I'm volunteering to moderate.
Speaker 10: Stay around.
Speaker 1: I'll moderate the Steve Hilton Eric Swalwell debate, and Senator Romero,
Speaker 1: whoever they put up on the Democratic side against you,
Speaker 1: I'll moderate that as well because I know what you
Speaker 1: know what you're talking about. Congratulations to you, Steve on
Speaker 1: a coup and Senator Romero. Keep coming back. California can
Speaker 1: be saved, but it can't be saved with Democrats. It
Speaker 1: just can't be. And I'm no longer a citizen here.
Speaker 1: I'm just visiting for a few weeks. But to get
Speaker 1: people to come back, they got to throw out the
Speaker 1: people that are running the state. See hild and Gloria Romero.
Speaker 14: Thanks you.
Speaker 1: I'm coming right back with Senator Tom Cotton on that
Speaker 1: you do a show BRK back in America. I'm due, Hewitt.
Speaker 1: Senator Tom Cotton, Republican of Arkansas, is chair of the
Speaker 1: Senate Intelligence Committee. He has also followed for years the
Speaker 1: brutal Iranian regime. Senator Cotton, welcome. How do you assess
Speaker 1: the degree of violence in Iran? It's kind of closed
Speaker 1: off to us, but you might have sources that others
Speaker 1: of us do not have.
Speaker 15: You know, you always introduced me as the chairman of
Speaker 15: the Intelligence Committee. You never caveat that with the fact
Speaker 15: that it's an oxymoron. So I appreciate it, but we
Speaker 15: should always probably do so for our listeners. The situation
Speaker 15: in Irano is that laughing matter. I think the violence
Speaker 15: is worse than what's generally being reported in the Western
Speaker 15: media and from outlets, or if you look at outlets
Speaker 15: such as the Committee on Human Rights in Iran or
Speaker 15: the Institute for the Study of War, they're getting it
Speaker 15: closure ride. I think the death now number in the thousands,
Speaker 15: not the hundreds. And you know, it's just past midnight
Speaker 15: in Iran's knight. That had another big night of protests.
Speaker 15: And I think the regime, which doesn't have the ability
Speaker 15: over that or the desire to address the underlying a
Speaker 15: grievances of this people, resorting to one of its probably
Speaker 15: two only options, which is to increase the brutality towards
Speaker 15: the people. So I support the moral clarity President Trump
Speaker 15: has exhibited on this growing crisis and the threats he's
Speaker 15: made to the iotelas, and certainly support the brave people
Speaker 15: of iron who are yearning for freedom.
Speaker 1: Senter Cotten. The President has made at least four I
Speaker 1: think now five threats, one of them on this show,
Speaker 1: to the regime that he will hit them very hard,
Speaker 1: harder than they've ever been hit. The Wall Street Journal
Speaker 1: at this hour, though after those five threats by the President,
Speaker 1: is reporting that the White House is engaged in an
Speaker 1: internal debate. Some senior administration aids, led by Vice President JD. Vans,
Speaker 1: are arguing Trump to try diplomacy before retaliating against a
Speaker 1: roun for killing protesters. I personally don't believe that. You.
Speaker 15: Well, I'm sure there are may be some voices to
Speaker 15: you inside the administration who wants the president not to
Speaker 15: enforce his own red line. But the only person whose
Speaker 15: opinion ultimately matters and the administration is the president. And
Speaker 15: time after time he has enforced his red line. Sometimes
Speaker 15: he's enforced Barack Obama's red lines area did it twice?
Speaker 1: Well, I just don't think Vice President Vance would leap
Speaker 1: That's why I don't believe it. I don't think he
Speaker 1: would leap. Well.
Speaker 15: Well, he makes clear that he means what he says,
Speaker 15: and he says what he means, and he told the Duro,
Speaker 15: for instance, that he needed to go into exile, and
Speaker 15: the DUA was stubborn and pig headed and dug in
Speaker 15: his heels. And now he's sitting in a jail in
Speaker 15: New York City, and he told I tell us to
Speaker 15: turn over there all their nuclear program, and they didn't,
Speaker 15: and the nuclear program is now in smoldering rooms. So
Speaker 15: they should take him seriously, no matter what some of
Speaker 15: his more dubbish advisors might be saying are trying to
Speaker 15: leak to the media.
Speaker 1: Now sentaty we do not have a strike group, a
Speaker 1: carrier strike group in the Middle East? Right now? Do
Speaker 1: we still have options for following through on President Trump's
Speaker 1: five threats directed at the IATOLA?
Speaker 15: I think it's fair to say, after Operation Midnight Hammer
Speaker 15: last June that blew up Around's nuclear facilities and the
Speaker 15: operation to apprehend Nicholas Maduro, that the United States military
Speaker 15: has amazing capabilities that never puts any kind of operation
Speaker 15: outside of its grasp, no matter where this or that
Speaker 15: military asset may be located on the globe.
Speaker 1: How weak do you think the regime there is? It
Speaker 1: seems to me I've been following it for forty seven years,
Speaker 1: since the initial running and revolution against a Shaw, It's
Speaker 1: never been weaker than right now. But I also believe
Speaker 1: that they probably butchered thousands of people in the streets
Speaker 1: in the last four days.
Speaker 15: I think it's incredibly weak, as weak as it's been
Speaker 15: maybe since the I Coola seized power in nineteen seventy nine.
Speaker 15: I don't think they can whatever happens from these protests,
Speaker 15: I don't think they will ever be able to restore
Speaker 15: themselves to the aspirations they had just six months ago
Speaker 15: or eight months ago, whenever it was before operation with
Speaker 15: that dammer of regional hegemony. I think they've been exposed
Speaker 15: to the second or even third rate power, and their
Speaker 15: own people have had it with them, as we've seen
Speaker 15: over the last couple of weeks, and that's why they're
Speaker 15: having the resort to this kind of brutality.
Speaker 1: I would like to play for you, Senator Cotton, a
Speaker 1: segment of President Trump on Air Force One last night
Speaker 1: when a CNN reporter asked him if he thought that
Speaker 1: the Iranians took him seriously cutting number six.
Speaker 2: Don't you think so, CNN? Don't you think so?
Speaker 3: Would you say that they probably do at this place
Speaker 3: after going through it for years with me.
Speaker 2: Being hit salivating out back, Daddy, the red nuclear webbed.
Speaker 3: Out don't you think, and that you just had Venezuela.
Speaker 3: Don't you think she says see it at Do you
Speaker 3: think they take your threat seriously? What do you say
Speaker 3: they do after all of the things we have done?
Speaker 3: What a stupid question.
Speaker 1: Senta Cotton. I got through twenty minutes with the President
Speaker 1: and he didn't say I'd asked a stupid question. So
Speaker 1: I'm feeling kind of victorious after a Thursday's interview because
Speaker 1: he doesn't hold back when you ask a stupid question.
Speaker 1: That really is I think he's got a lot of credibility.
Speaker 1: Does he lose any of it if he doesn't act?
Speaker 15: It was a very stupid question. These these liberal reporters
Speaker 15: live in a fantasy world, in a world that is
Speaker 15: not governed by force and by resolution. That's the world
Speaker 15: that our enemies live in, us in paying Vladimir Putin,
Speaker 15: the supreme leader of Iran world, Nicholas Maduro is definitely
Speaker 15: living in now. They stand up and take notice anytime
Speaker 15: America displays strength and result the way Donald Trump has
Speaker 15: done now since his return to office nearly a year ago.
Speaker 15: So of course they are paying attention to him and
Speaker 15: taking him seriously, even if a bunch of liberal reporters
Speaker 15: can't understand that. So there's no question, there's no question
Speaker 15: that they understand. I mean, they're proven them. Their view
Speaker 15: of President Trump is kind of like so many people's
Speaker 15: view of Kurt Signetti and Indiana. I mean, how many
Speaker 15: how many times do they have to stomp a top
Speaker 15: ten or top five power before you take them seriously
Speaker 15: and don't think that they've got imposter syndrome.
Speaker 1: I agree with that, by the way, and that's a
Speaker 1: very good analogy. In terms of options available to the president,
Speaker 1: they don't all have to be kinetic. They can they
Speaker 1: do anything to reconnect Iran to the outside world because
Speaker 1: we don't know what's going on in the darkness.
Speaker 15: Sure, I don't want to get into the precise details
Speaker 15: of every option, but no, suffice to say, the president
Speaker 15: has many options to help reduce the violence against the
Speaker 15: Iranian people and increase the pressure on the regime, many
Speaker 15: different levers that the United States people.
Speaker 1: Now, last question, Senator, we know Israel would applaud any
Speaker 1: application of forces there. What about our Gulf state allies?
Speaker 1: Would they welcome the regime toppling falling apart in Iran?
Speaker 15: They might not be vocal about it, Hugh, but I
Speaker 15: think most Arab nations have had it with Iran and
Speaker 15: Iran's efforts to try to establish that regional dominance over
Speaker 15: Arab peoples, and many of those air nations have cooperated
Speaker 15: with US in the past in ways that have often
Speaker 15: get a lot of publicity. But is very, very welcome
Speaker 15: from the United States.
Speaker 1: Standpoint Centaer Tom Cotton, always a pleasure. Thank you, Senator.
Speaker 1: I appreciate your time today. Don't go anywhere, America. I'm
Speaker 1: going to come back later this hour with Mark Dubowitz.
Speaker 1: More of your phone calls during the break one eight
Speaker 1: hundred and five to two oh one, two three four.
Speaker 1: Do you welcome President Trump taking kinetic military action against
Speaker 1: Iran or something that we can see. I'm primarily concerned
Speaker 1: that we not end up with a Barack Obama redline
Speaker 1: that evaporates and all that follows, or a Joe Biden
Speaker 1: collapse of will in Afghanistan. Iran is always prospered that
Speaker 1: the Mullahs, I should say, the Mula is not the
Speaker 1: Iranian people. The Mullas have always done well under Jimmy Carter,
Speaker 1: Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Joe Biden. They haven't done
Speaker 1: as Well, when a Republican's been in office and Donald
Speaker 1: Trump is their worst nightmare, I want him to stay
Speaker 1: that way. Stay tuned. What do you think? One eight
Speaker 1: hundred and five to two oh one two three four
Speaker 1: connection you to me, Heal, Welcome back to America. I'm
Speaker 1: Hugh hewittt. As you heard me say at the beginning
Speaker 1: of the show, the biggest story in the world is
Speaker 1: what's going on in Iran. And I know we are
Speaker 1: all have our favorite interesting stories, and I cover the
Speaker 1: news as it breaks, But the biggest story in the
Speaker 1: world is in Iran. For forty seven years that tyranny
Speaker 1: has been in place, and for almost as long, the
Speaker 1: Foundation for the Defensive Democracy has been working to bring
Speaker 1: it down and free the people of Iran. Joining us
Speaker 1: now is the CEO of the Foundation for the Defense
Speaker 1: of Democracy, Age Mark Dubovitz, who has been on with
Speaker 1: me before. He did a great podcast Areas last year
Speaker 1: on Iran, which in twelve parts. He added another part
Speaker 1: this weekend called Iran Breakdown. I recommend it to you. Mark. Welcome.
Speaker 1: Let me start with a big what's your reaction to
Speaker 1: what's happened over the last two weeks in the day, Well, cheer.
Speaker 13: Thanks so much for having me on. Look here, it's extraordinary.
Speaker 16: I mean, as you said, I've been working on Iran
Speaker 16: for twenty two years, working with lots of administrations, including
Speaker 16: the Trump administration. Both Trump administrations on maximum pressure on
Speaker 16: the regime but also encouraging maximum support.
Speaker 13: For the Iranian people. And the Radiom people have been
Speaker 13: out of the streets.
Speaker 16: Since two thousand and nine, repeatedly calling for death to
Speaker 16: the dictator and the Islamic Republic, establish relations with America,
Speaker 16: with Israel, and now in the past two weeks they've
Speaker 16: taken to the streets. Millions of Iranians are on those treats,
Speaker 16: but they're also getting mowed down by the security forces.
Speaker 16: Thousands of Iranians have been slaughtered, Tens of thousands have
Speaker 16: been arrested, tortured, and dozens executed. So it is a
Speaker 16: pivotal moment for the United States, for Iran, for the region.
Speaker 1: So I've stressed in my audience they can't trust what
Speaker 1: they see on X unless they know that the person
Speaker 1: on X is someone they can trust. They can trust
Speaker 1: you and trust Cliff may Kareem Saide you pour at Carnegie.
Speaker 1: You've got a lot of colleagues at FDD, I'm pushing out,
Speaker 1: how do you tell if you're just, you know, newbie
Speaker 1: to the Iran issue, who to trust on this about
Speaker 1: what's going on there since the regime is severed outside
Speaker 1: world contact with the people of Tehran and across all
Speaker 1: of Iran.
Speaker 16: Yeah, I mean here, listen, it's difficult to know what's
Speaker 16: going on in the ground because, as you said, they've
Speaker 16: shut down the Internet, they're interfering with starlink access. Videos
Speaker 16: are still coming in, and we're certainly seeing what's happening
Speaker 16: on the ground. What do I trust? I don't trust
Speaker 16: any but he defending the regime number one. Number two,
Speaker 16: I don't trust anybody saying that US intervention is going
Speaker 16: to lead to some kind of rally around the flag.
Speaker 16: The notion that millions of Iranians are on the streets
Speaker 16: and they're getting mowed down by the security forces, but somehow,
Speaker 16: with President Trump intervenes and goes against the regime, these
Speaker 16: Iranians are going to defend the regime, I think is nonsense.
Speaker 13: So anybody's saying nap should not be trusted.
Speaker 16: I think a lot of good Iranian voices, my colleague said,
Speaker 16: got Samanajad certainly Resipolovy.
Speaker 13: I mean, he's all.
Speaker 16: Over social media, the crown Prince, the son of the
Speaker 16: former Shaw. He has been very articulate and I certainly
Speaker 16: would trust many of the things that he's saying.
Speaker 1: Okay, now let's talk about what the president can do.
Speaker 1: He was my guest last Thursday, and he said very bluntly,
Speaker 1: will hit him very very hard if they kill people.
Speaker 1: But he also gave him a little bit of an out.
Speaker 1: He said some of these deaths were because of stampede.
Speaker 1: Later that night, he didn't use that out with Sean
Speaker 1: Hannity as much, and it's been totally abandoned by Sunday night.
Speaker 1: The president now knows there are thousands of people dead.
Speaker 1: I'm sure we've confirmed that to him. What could he do,
Speaker 1: in your view that would be most effective in framing Iran?
Speaker 13: So I think there are a number of things he
Speaker 13: can do.
Speaker 16: I mean, first of all is to target the security
Speaker 16: forces that are actually engaged in this brutal repression.
Speaker 13: Go after the repression apparatus.
Speaker 16: And you could do that through offensive cyber and or
Speaker 16: military strikes against the IOGC design of Revolutionary Guard Corps,
Speaker 16: the besiege the police. These are the people that are
Speaker 16: engaged in this brutal repression. Number two is already to
Speaker 16: reach out Thelon mosque Is to try to restore or
Speaker 16: improve the starlink connection. So these videos are coming out
Speaker 16: Iranians right now being murdered in the dark. They need
Speaker 16: to be brought to light, and that's very important. I
Speaker 16: think the presidents and Elon can do that.
Speaker 13: Number Three.
Speaker 16: You know what Premister Natyahu and President Trump discussed at
Speaker 16: the end of December that you reported on you was
Speaker 16: the growth and reconstituting Iranian missile program, which is going
Speaker 16: to represent a significant threat to the United States and Israel.
Speaker 16: As it gets rebuilt. The Israelis are going to go
Speaker 16: take it out. I think better the United States takes
Speaker 16: it out. Because of the United States takes out the
Speaker 16: missile program, Kamine, the Supreme leader of Iran, is going
Speaker 16: to be quite reluctant to respond because he knows that
Speaker 16: if he tacks the United States, that's the end of
Speaker 16: his regime. If the Israelis take it out, it's going
Speaker 16: to lead to another round around with fire. Hundreds of
Speaker 16: thousands of ballistic missiles at Israel, and we're going to
Speaker 16: be in a major war in the United States, and
Speaker 16: President Trump's going to have to deal with that.
Speaker 13: So I think President Trump, if he has the.
Speaker 16: Opportunity, take out those dangerous ballistic missiles, support the people,
Speaker 16: unlock the communications, go after the regime apparatus.
Speaker 1: Mark. This is a difficult question for anyone to answer,
Speaker 1: but you'll know if anybody knows. I heard Kareem today
Speaker 1: in a podcast with Dan Senor say that the IRGC
Speaker 1: is one hundred and fifty thousand strong. All right, Iran
Speaker 1: ninety million people, ten percent, nine million people, one percent
Speaker 1: of nine hundred thousand people, So one hundred and fifty
Speaker 1: thousand igher GC members. That's a third of one percent.
Speaker 1: How hard is it to overthrow one hundred and fifty
Speaker 1: thousand thugs. It's a lot of thugs. They got a
Speaker 1: lot of guns there, or any other guns in the Iran.
Speaker 1: But that's not a big police state. It's a relatively small,
Speaker 1: isn't it.
Speaker 13: Well, there's one hundred fifty thousand ier GC.
Speaker 16: There's probably two to three million members of the Basiege,
Speaker 16: which is their militia. Those are the thods that drive
Speaker 16: around in motorcycles and beat up and torture and kill Iranians,
Speaker 16: So you've got a couple of million there, and they're
Speaker 16: also importing.
Speaker 13: Thods from Iraq.
Speaker 16: This is the Iraqi Hizbala and the Schiaik militias that
Speaker 16: they're bringing in, bringing in Arabs to kill Persians because
Speaker 16: in some cases the security force is throwing to turn
Speaker 16: their guns on their own people. So the regime's apparatus
Speaker 16: is formidable.
Speaker 13: But you're right, listen.
Speaker 16: I mean, there's ninety two million Iranians, and if ten
Speaker 16: percent came to the street, they.
Speaker 13: Could overwhelm the security forces.
Speaker 16: And certainly some of them are armed, particularly some of
Speaker 16: the Kurdish groups, the Baluchies and others.
Speaker 13: So I think that's that's certainly a potential.
Speaker 1: So, Mark, you're not old enough to remember the actual revolution.
Speaker 1: I watched it in real time with Right Price and
Speaker 1: Richard Nixon San Clementy my second job out of college.
Speaker 1: People marched in the daytime. Then do you expect anti
Speaker 1: regime marches to occur in the daytime?
Speaker 13: Yeah, they are.
Speaker 16: They're occurring in the daytime, they occurring in the nighttime.
Speaker 16: I mean, what I'm worried about you is that if
Speaker 16: there's no US intervention, that these protests are going to
Speaker 16: die off because of the brutal repression, and whether it's
Speaker 16: day or night, the guns are being turned on Iranians.
Speaker 13: Thousands are being slaughtered.
Speaker 16: At some point, They're just going to have to They're
Speaker 16: going to stay home, and if they.
Speaker 13: Stay home, the regime is going to come out of this.
Speaker 16: Yes, a wounded animal, but a bitter one, a lethal one,
Speaker 16: a much more dangerous one. And I'd be worried that
Speaker 16: Ryan's will never go back on the streets.
Speaker 1: Follow Mark on exit m dubouts, follow everyone at FTD
Speaker 1: at FDD, Mark is coming back next hour. So other
Speaker 1: my drivetime audience in the inside the Beltway, here's them
Speaker 1: for six minutes to repeat a lot of this. So
Speaker 1: make sure you listen to those segments of my interview
Speaker 1: with Mark Dubowitz and follow him and follow the Foundation
Speaker 1: for the Defensive Democracy Station Morning Glory and Evening Grace America.
Speaker 1: I'm Hu Jewett. Welcome to our three of today's program.
Speaker 1: I'm joined by Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery, retired United States Navy,
Speaker 1: now Senior Fellow with the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.
Speaker 1: I had the CEO of FDD on last hour. Mark
Speaker 1: Dubouts Part two is going to come up this hour. Admiral.
Speaker 1: I first want to begin by saying I listened to
Speaker 1: your conversation with Aaron McClain at the School of War.
Speaker 1: That was fascinating, and I had no idea that you
Speaker 1: liked the arly Burke destroyer that much. I take a
Speaker 1: few people up and down that river where they've got
Speaker 1: three books underway at any given time. There ought to
Speaker 1: be ten underway at any given time.
Speaker 14: Now absolutely right, arly Burke, we've built eighty of them.
Speaker 14: We've got ten out a contract. It is the singular
Speaker 14: best ship build. It is the proof we can do
Speaker 14: things right when so many other things tell us we can't.
Speaker 14: It's it's and it's a beautiful ship. I mean, the
Speaker 14: President and I are just going to have to agree
Speaker 14: to disagree on that. On top of it, by having
Speaker 14: eighty and now going to ninety, you can defray costs
Speaker 14: of any individual change across eighty or ninety ships.
Speaker 17: So a twenty million dollars change costs on that ship, you.
Speaker 14: Know, two hundred thousand dollars, But on a DDG one thousand,
Speaker 14: well only have three ships.
Speaker 17: A twenty million dollar change costs seven million for that ship.
Speaker 14: So it's a beautiful classes ship built by both you know,
Speaker 14: Angles and Bath iron Works, you know, in two different states. Beautifully,
Speaker 14: it is the best surface large service companent in the
Speaker 14: world today and it will be for the next fifteen
Speaker 14: to twenty years because the investments we made in new
Speaker 14: a just baselines nine and eventually ten, in new weapons
Speaker 14: systems and in modernizing the hull and mechanical plan.
Speaker 1: Every time I go by it, there's one ready to
Speaker 1: be commissioned. There's one in the final stages when they're
Speaker 1: putting the aged stuff on it though it's behind the curtain,
Speaker 1: and then there's one that is just getting underway. So
Speaker 1: I think they're doing about one every two years. Is
Speaker 1: that about right up in Bath? I don't know what
Speaker 1: they're doing in Mississippi.
Speaker 14: I'd say one per year in each yard, and it
Speaker 14: really gets out too closer to two and a half
Speaker 14: per year between the two yards total. And there'll be
Speaker 14: perturbations where we launched four in a year, but then.
Speaker 17: The next year only two. You know how it is.
Speaker 17: But yes, it's you know what, that's consistent ship.
Speaker 14: But we bought the ones you're watching were bought in
Speaker 14: a lot of nine ships that guaranteed both yards consistent,
Speaker 14: predictable money, so they could invest in modernization if they
Speaker 14: chose to, and they could invest in a work force.
Speaker 1: Now, Admiral the President on this program on Thursday said
Speaker 1: he is asking for a trillion and a half next
Speaker 1: year in the defense budget. That's great. Can it be
Speaker 1: banked if there's nowhere to spend it? I mean, can
Speaker 1: it be appropriated and banked over it at either bath
Speaker 1: Ironworks or Huntington Angles or whoever's making whatever general dynamics
Speaker 1: down in Connecticut? Can Can that money be appropriated and
Speaker 1: spent but not outlaid?
Speaker 14: So obviously we're talking about an extra five hundred billion
Speaker 14: the current budget this year's nine hundred one is it's
Speaker 14: going to be nine. It looks like nine hundred one
Speaker 14: billion plus about one hundred and fifty billion reconciliation.
Speaker 17: It's just going to be up there.
Speaker 14: May it may a little less one hundred fifty billion
Speaker 14: of the reconciliation money spent. What he's talking about is
Speaker 14: increasing at five hundred billion. That's a great question you're asking.
Speaker 14: I actually think that there are ways to do some
Speaker 14: of it. You know, with shipbuilding that you could get
Speaker 14: some multi year money in there, but I think it'd
Speaker 14: be very challenging spend all of it that fast. I
Speaker 14: think he's going to have challenges getting a three hundred
Speaker 14: billion I think the plan would be three hundred billion reconciliation,
Speaker 14: one hundred and fifty to two billion dollar increase in base,
Speaker 14: which the Democrats wore, probably push for one hundred and
Speaker 14: fifty to two billion in non defense discretion rank base.
Speaker 14: And I think at that point everybody you know from
Speaker 14: conservative financial circles heads.
Speaker 1: Now, we don't know, we don't want that. Yeah, but
Speaker 1: I'm thinking that the Columbia Class is not funded, but
Speaker 1: the defense, the whole triad depends upon it getting launched
Speaker 1: in eight years, doesn't it.
Speaker 14: Look I think that the Columbia Class will, you know,
Speaker 14: have some slippage and some cost overs, but I actually
Speaker 14: think by by current historical standards, it's going to be
Speaker 14: a good A good program look to be. Twenty one's
Speaker 14: done fantastic. You've got to give the Air Force a
Speaker 14: lot of credit. That thing is delivering close to on cost,
Speaker 14: close to on time with you. And one of the
Speaker 14: reasons is they've been very consistent, like not making significant
Speaker 14: changes to the platform was still in design.
Speaker 17: This is something where we failed on the Finkolntarry.
Speaker 14: Class, on the Constellation class frigate at the Fincotary Yard.
Speaker 17: The US Navy got their fingers in.
Speaker 14: The pie way too often changing the requirements and that
Speaker 14: was a major driver and our failure there. So the
Speaker 14: answer he is, we probably will get all this done.
Speaker 14: I don't think it'll be eight years. I think it'll
Speaker 14: be ten. I don't think if we say it's a
Speaker 14: one hundred billion, I think it'll be one hundred and twenty.
Speaker 14: But these are predictable increases in costs and growth.
Speaker 1: All right, Well, I'm finally glad to hear some good news,
Speaker 1: and I was very encouraged by your conversation with Aaron McLain.
Speaker 1: I recommend everyone go to school of war. Now, what
Speaker 1: kinetic option does the president have available tonight? There are
Speaker 1: a million people in the streets of Tehran as you
Speaker 1: and I are talking right now. The images I've seen
Speaker 1: are extraordinary. If he wants to send a message to
Speaker 1: stop mowing them down as has been happening for the
Speaker 1: last four nights, what can he do that gets the
Speaker 1: attention of the Ayatolahamini and the IRGC, so I think.
Speaker 17: We have two.
Speaker 14: First of all, there's complaints we don't have a carrier
Speaker 14: strike over this moment, that's true. But what we do
Speaker 14: have is a B two fleet that can operate even
Speaker 14: if Israel had not rolled back the whole Iranian.
Speaker 17: Air defense networks, which they did.
Speaker 14: And then operated with some I would say ease, but
Speaker 14: consistency over Iranian airspace. Those B two's delivering each delivering
Speaker 14: you know, up to you know, twenty five to fifty
Speaker 14: precision guided munitions very accurately, could.
Speaker 17: Really do a number. You know, these aren't the four
Speaker 17: dough bombs.
Speaker 14: These are lots of small bombs could be delivered very accurately,
Speaker 14: and they could get in and out safely.
Speaker 17: Also, we could use long ring.
Speaker 14: Strike tomahawks from destroyers that are in the Middle least.
Speaker 14: And if there are submarines, particularly one of our modified
Speaker 14: SSGN Ohio class submarines, then we could deliver a lot
Speaker 14: of tomahawk as well. But really I would be relying
Speaker 14: heavily on our penetrating bomber, the B two stealth.
Speaker 1: So, Admiral, you're a student of deterrence. We've talked about
Speaker 1: it a lot. The President has made the threat five times,
Speaker 1: and as recently as Thursday on this show, that he
Speaker 1: did it again on Sean Hanny's show, that he did
Speaker 1: it on Air Force one last night, and he did
Speaker 1: it on True Social over the weekend. How much does
Speaker 1: our credibility suffer if he does not follow through with
Speaker 1: the kinetic strike?
Speaker 14: Now, So, first of all, this sounds a lot like
Speaker 14: Venezuela over three months.
Speaker 1: Right now.
Speaker 14: The thing I'd say, first you don't say I'm striking,
Speaker 14: I'm striking, is then that night that's not fair to
Speaker 14: the military forces.
Speaker 17: Try to play around your lack of surprise.
Speaker 14: So the President handled Venezuela perfectly three months of a
Speaker 14: maximum pressure campaign. I didn't agree with every tool he used,
Speaker 14: but he's president and he did a great job with it.
Speaker 14: And by the time he even did like a title fifty,
Speaker 14: it looks like intelligence strike one night around December twenty fourth,
Speaker 14: just to send a signal I will hit you.
Speaker 17: And then he hit him right and he grabbed a duro.
Speaker 14: And so I think he's got a lot of credibility.
Speaker 17: And if I say I'm going to use force, I
Speaker 17: might use it on you. I guarantee.
Speaker 14: China took an important lesson on the on the willingness
Speaker 14: of Donald Trump to use force. Now in the case
Speaker 14: of Iran, he said it a lot. Look conditions on
Speaker 14: the ground, drive that can. Can the application of our
Speaker 14: cost and position make it safer or more likely for
Speaker 14: counter regime forces to succeed.
Speaker 17: If they can, then he should use the weapons. But
Speaker 17: what he signals to them is I'm willing to do it.
Speaker 14: And they know we can bring B two s over
Speaker 14: their airspace since we did it already, you know, early
Speaker 14: in twenty twenty five with the four Dooh strikes. So
Speaker 14: I think he's done the right thing. I don't think
Speaker 14: we'll lose credibility if he doesn't strike, only because he
Speaker 14: did it in venezuel and the conditions aren't perfect here in.
Speaker 17: Iran just yet.
Speaker 1: All right, last question, I don't know how starlink works.
Speaker 1: That you do. You are the executive director of the Cyberslarium.
Speaker 1: People keep saying Elon sent starlink. It's my civilian understanding,
Speaker 1: which is a zero, that you've got to have receivers
Speaker 1: on the ground for starlink in the sky to work.
Speaker 1: Am I right or wrong? I don't mind being wrong.
Speaker 1: You can tell the world I'm wrong.
Speaker 14: If I'm wrong, the only way I've used it is
Speaker 14: with receivers on the ground. I didn't ess I have
Speaker 14: to have receiver, but someone with whom I was connected
Speaker 14: to had to have a receiver. So do I think
Speaker 14: there's starlink receivers on the ground in Iran?
Speaker 17: Yes?
Speaker 14: Do I think that the system? He has to align
Speaker 14: the system properly so it can be utilized by the
Speaker 14: people potentially. So I think the question might be, is
Speaker 14: starlink being aligned so they can properly be utilized by people,
Speaker 14: you know who are not complicit with the government, And
Speaker 14: that's a good question to ask him.
Speaker 1: But quick bonus, do we have the capability of interrupting
Speaker 1: their jamming which is going on of starlink and other
Speaker 1: cyber efforts. Do we have a cyber tool available that
Speaker 1: can hit them that we don't have to see?
Speaker 14: We have cyber tools and kinetic tools, and we are
Speaker 14: world class counter jamming, you know, suppressing jamming with our
Speaker 14: kinetic tools.
Speaker 17: We're very good at it.
Speaker 14: And you only have to do it once before the
Speaker 14: guy who owns the jamming system says, you know, I'd
Speaker 14: prefer to not be on you know, so I would
Speaker 14: that's a kinetic weapon that could be released at them.
Speaker 17: But in addition, do I think they're cyber tools? Yes.
Speaker 1: Admiral Mark Montgomery or Admiral Montgomery, thank you so much
Speaker 1: for joining us on both the ship building and the
Speaker 1: orion question. We'll talk to you again soon on both.
Speaker 1: I appreciate your time coming right back America with David
Speaker 1: Vahnson talking about the economistint It. Welcome back in America.
Speaker 1: I'm Hugh Hewett. I was just reading online joined by
Speaker 1: David Boson, CEO of the Bonson Group. David, Happy New
Speaker 1: Year to you. Good to talk to you. I was
Speaker 1: just reading that President Trump has imposed a secondary tariff
Speaker 1: on Iran twenty five percent additional tariff on the goods
Speaker 1: of any country that does business with Iran. I've never
Speaker 1: seen that before, have you?
Speaker 12: Uh?
Speaker 18: Well, I guess I think there have been other issues
Speaker 18: with smaller countries, and obviously there was a layering of
Speaker 18: tariffs and sanctions is a better word for it with
Speaker 18: Russia after.
Speaker 6: The Ukraine invasion.
Speaker 18: But I mean, trying to freeze Iran out seems to
Speaker 18: me to be pretty good foreign policy.
Speaker 1: Now it is a tariff. I know you don't like tariffs,
Speaker 1: but that's a national security tariff if everyone was correct.
Speaker 18: Yeah, yeah, that's I wouldn't consider that a protective tariff
Speaker 18: in any way, shape or form.
Speaker 17: It would be a national security sanction.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 1: So what I expect the Supreme Court to do with
Speaker 1: the case before it is to reman the case without
Speaker 1: a decision for tariff by tariff examination by the district
Speaker 1: court as to whether or not there's a national security
Speaker 1: in nexus. In other words, punt is that your expectation.
Speaker 18: Well, look, you would be more of an expert than
Speaker 18: I would on the legal side of it. They were
Speaker 18: not national security rationales for the case that is before
Speaker 18: the Supreme Court.
Speaker 10: Now it's under.
Speaker 18: AIPA, which is an economic emergency. There is a different
Speaker 18: rationale between two thirty two and three ZHO one for
Speaker 18: national security, and no one has even contested the potential
Speaker 18: constitutionality of those. I don't happen to believe the steel
Speaker 18: and aluminum tariffs remotely represent a national security concern. But
Speaker 18: that's different than the case for the Supreme Court, which
Speaker 18: is under an economic emergency, where they're claim mean that
Speaker 18: trade deficits are in and of themselves economic emergencies, and
Speaker 18: I would very much hope that the constitutionalist and originalist
Speaker 18: on the Court would laugh this out.
Speaker 1: I'm actually an originalist, and I think the IAAPA was
Speaker 1: written in such a way as to give the court pause.
Speaker 1: But let's put that aside. What I really wanted to
Speaker 1: talk to you about is the new year. I'm very
Speaker 1: conservative going into this new year because I think there
Speaker 1: hadn't been a correction in a while. What are you
Speaker 1: telling your clients, David.
Speaker 2: Well?
Speaker 18: I wrote a twenty page annual review commentary forecast that
Speaker 18: we do every year. There is up at dividencafe dot
Speaker 18: com went out on Friday, and I'm talking about the
Speaker 18: different themes.
Speaker 17: We have our.
Speaker 18: Concerns about the AI theme, which I was on with
Speaker 18: you late last year talking about, and I believe the
Speaker 18: valuation concern it isn't so much you going a long
Speaker 18: time without a correction. I mean, look, the the Nasdaq
Speaker 18: was down thirty percent and SMP were down twenty percent
Speaker 18: for a few days last April, so you've you've had volatility,
Speaker 18: but the valuations and concentration in the broad market are
Speaker 18: very high, and we are definitely encouraging clients the way
Speaker 18: we're managing money to be much more selective.
Speaker 1: So when the president is in an open conflict with
Speaker 1: the FED and there might be a DOJ investigation about
Speaker 1: the Fed's architectural overhaul, does that have any impact on
Speaker 1: the market or should it?
Speaker 18: Yes, it should in the sense that if people believed
Speaker 18: it were a pretextual intervention to central bank independence, which
Speaker 18: I think it's unquestionably it is. But I believe the
Speaker 18: reason markets shrugged it off today, Hugh, is that they
Speaker 18: don't really take it seriously. I think they view it
Speaker 18: as job owning, jocking, you know, bowling a little bit
Speaker 18: to try to make sure that you're German Powell when
Speaker 18: his chairmanship term ends in a few months, that he
Speaker 18: leaves and not tries to stay for the next nineteen
Speaker 18: months till his FED governor term ends.
Speaker 6: There's no legal requirement that he leave.
Speaker 18: But you got to go back to nineteen forty eight
Speaker 18: since the last time a FED chair did not leave
Speaker 18: when their chairmanship ended.
Speaker 6: I think Chairman Powell is going to leave.
Speaker 18: I don't like this investigation and the pretext behind it,
Speaker 18: but I do think markets shrugged it off today for
Speaker 18: that reason.
Speaker 1: Now I'm an agnostic as to whether or not they're
Speaker 1: a pretextual investigation going on here, or whether or not
Speaker 1: they actually spend a billion dollars they didn't have. I'm
Speaker 1: open to that. What I'm curious about you mentioned originalism.
Speaker 1: I don't think there should be an independent central bank, David.
Speaker 1: That's not in the constitution. There can be a legislation
Speaker 1: for it. But I think the president would be able
Speaker 1: to remove every person in article too. You're an originalist.
Speaker 1: What do you make of min not he doesn't get
Speaker 1: that there's a bank. It's legal, but I think you
Speaker 1: ought to be able to replace the bankers.
Speaker 18: Yeah, the problem we have, Hugh, you and I are
Speaker 18: going to be on the exact same side of this.
Speaker 18: I also believe that you can't go create something that
Speaker 18: exists in sort of outer space within our separation of powers.
Speaker 18: Let me just be clear, so my integrity is intact.
Speaker 10: I don't think the.
Speaker 2: President cares about this stuff at all.
Speaker 18: I think his motive is he wants someone to do
Speaker 18: what he says.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 18: But your point structurally that the FED from the Federal
Speaker 18: Reserve Act, which was passed by Congress exist in a
Speaker 18: sort of limbo, is to where that jurisdiction is between
Speaker 18: separation of powers. And I'm very uncomfortable with it, and
Speaker 18: I think the solution to that is to not willing
Speaker 18: nearly what parts of the Act we follow, in parts
Speaker 18: we don't, but it is to go get legislative review
Speaker 18: and judicial review to force this to.
Speaker 6: Be done constitutionally.
Speaker 17: Now you know why.
Speaker 18: I know that can be done because we're doing it
Speaker 18: with the Consumer Financial Protection Bile, which I also believe
Speaker 18: was passed unconstitutionally. But these require judicial review done the
Speaker 18: right way.
Speaker 1: So this is the big thousand dollars question. If the
Speaker 1: Court upholds the president's right to remove at will anyone
Speaker 1: in the executive branch, so he can he can replace
Speaker 1: every FED governor. I'm not worried about that because I
Speaker 1: don't think you're gonna put they still have to go
Speaker 1: through Cenate confirmation. They can't be Bozo's. I think they'll
Speaker 1: be normal banker types and they'll be like your own
Speaker 1: power the end. Do you agree?
Speaker 6: Yes, I do believe.
Speaker 18: Look, the President already has the right to appoint them,
Speaker 18: you're saying, if he has the right to fire them
Speaker 18: at will, Yes, And ultimately I wouldn't be worried about
Speaker 18: who would end up on the court as long as
Speaker 18: the Senate excuse me on the FED. As long as
Speaker 18: the legislative branch does its job. It concerns me practically,
Speaker 18: not structurally that I don't think we always necessarily have
Speaker 18: a Senate doing its job, but that is the way
Speaker 18: that the system is designed and ought to function.
Speaker 1: Absolutely so I believe that we can find nine FED
Speaker 1: governors that would make it. Now, David, I haven't listened
Speaker 1: to the Dividend Cafe yet. Did you record a podcast
Speaker 1: on your twenty page magnum opus. I haven't seen it yet.
Speaker 18: I did, and I'm going to DM it straight to
Speaker 18: you when we're done, because there's very few people in
Speaker 18: the country I want.
Speaker 6: To hear it more than you. But yeah, we did the.
Speaker 18: Video with all the charts, the podcast, and then there's
Speaker 18: a full written pdf that came out on Friday, Yes,
Speaker 18: and just reviewing everything from twenty five, but then giving
Speaker 18: our forecasts and themes for twenty twenty six.
Speaker 1: I want everyone to go to Dividend Cafe wherever you
Speaker 1: get your podcasts from iTunes, Spotify, whatever, and listen to
Speaker 1: David's year end, year begin beginning summary. His podcast on
Speaker 1: the AI Bubble is also not to be missed. But
Speaker 1: that's a few weeks back. The new one is the
Speaker 1: one I want to get. Follow him at David Bonson
Speaker 1: on X. He's also the founder of the Boson Group. David,
Speaker 1: Happy New Year to you. Thank you for joining me.
Speaker 1: Don't go anywhere America except maybe during the breaking. Go
Speaker 1: like and follow the Dividend Cafe and download this latest
Speaker 1: year end, which I will have listened to by the
Speaker 1: time I'm here tomorrow. Don't go anywhere. I'm hu you at.
Speaker 1: Mark Dubovit sit next. Welcome back in America. Coming up after
Speaker 1: the break. Sebastian lie son of Jimmy Lai, is going
Speaker 1: to join me this hour this segment though, I'm bringing
Speaker 1: back Mark Dubovitz, who is with us last hour, is
Speaker 1: the CEO of the Foundation for the Defensive Democracy. Is
Speaker 1: one of the actual people you can trust on Iran.
Speaker 1: Follow him on exit m Dubovitz. Follow everyone at the
Speaker 1: Foundation for the Defensive Democracies, and there are a lot
Speaker 1: of them. There are a half dozen Iran experts. The
Speaker 1: FDD is actually the go to place. Mark. When we
Speaker 1: ran out of time last hour, I wanted to ask you.
Speaker 1: President Trump mentioned on Air Force One last night that
Speaker 1: the regime wants to negotiate. My reaction is, God, no,
Speaker 1: don't do that. That they're just playing for time. Is
Speaker 1: that your reaction?
Speaker 16: Yeah, you absolutely. I mean this is a typical regime trick.
Speaker 16: Their back is against the walls. So they offered negotiations
Speaker 16: and try to trap American negotiators. And the only place
Speaker 16: where they tend to win against America is at the
Speaker 16: negotiating table. They won against Biden, they won against Obama.
Speaker 16: They think they could possibly win against President Trump. I
Speaker 16: think it be a big mistake to go back to
Speaker 16: the table fundamentally, because number one, it would be a
Speaker 16: betrayal of their onion people that are on the streets.
Speaker 16: And number two, Hugh, there's no way that Ali Kamene,
Speaker 16: the Supreme leader of Iran, is going to meet the
Speaker 16: minimum demands that President Trump has a full dismantlement of
Speaker 16: their nuclear missile programs and terror networks.
Speaker 13: No way Kamene is going to give into that.
Speaker 16: And if not, he's just going to play for time,
Speaker 16: try to divide America, try to divide the White House,
Speaker 16: to divide the US from Europe, and he's going to
Speaker 16: ultimately try to embarrass the President. And I don't think
Speaker 16: the President is going to be embarrassed and is prepared
Speaker 16: to be embarrassed, so he needs to enforce the red
Speaker 16: line that he laid out.
Speaker 1: Now, Mark, the Israelis could have killed Hamione, and no
Speaker 1: doubt we can kill Hamoni, but there are arguments on
Speaker 1: both sides. We to leave him alive or if we
Speaker 1: have the ability to have him shot killed.
Speaker 16: Well, I do think we need to decapitate the leadership
Speaker 16: of Iran, and that includes Kamenee, but also includes senior
Speaker 16: IRGC commanders, those who are in control of the command
Speaker 16: and control system of Iran, and that includes the repression apparatus.
Speaker 16: So yeah, if you decapitate the leadership, then this possibility
Speaker 16: of others stepping into their place. I mean, that's what
Speaker 16: President Trump did in Venezuela with Maduro. I think there's
Speaker 16: more than just Kamine. There are others, but certainly a
Speaker 16: decapitation effort should be seriously considered.
Speaker 1: All right, Now, Mark, what are the How many IRGC
Speaker 1: bases are there? How many besiege bases? The final Israeli
Speaker 1: wave was going to hit them. President Trump waved it
Speaker 1: off in order to bring that conflict to an end
Speaker 1: last June. How many target sites are we talking about?
Speaker 16: So there are I mean there are dozens and dozens
Speaker 16: of RGC and besiege bases all around the country, obviously
Speaker 16: headquarters in places like Tehran, but certainly it's a target
Speaker 16: rich environment. I mean, the Israelis and the Americans have
Speaker 16: detailed intelligence on all of these bases, maneuvers, apparatus. This
Speaker 16: has been cited for years here I mean particted by
Speaker 16: the Israelis.
Speaker 13: I mean MOSAD and military intelligence in Israel.
Speaker 16: Have a very, very large and expansive target set, and
Speaker 16: that information has been provided to the Americans.
Speaker 13: So there's no shortage of targets. Just the question of
Speaker 13: what President Trump will choose.
Speaker 1: If President Trump brings down this regime, I think he
Speaker 1: goes to the top of American presidents, at least since FDR.
Speaker 1: He's going to actually surpass Reagan. The Soviet Union, of course,
Speaker 1: dissolved under George H. W. Bush. How would you rank
Speaker 1: that achievement. I think Iran is a lynch pin, and
Speaker 1: I've got Nixon on the brain. Nixon used to say,
Speaker 1: it's everything, It's one of the two pillars of the
Speaker 1: Middle East, And so how big of a moment is
Speaker 1: this for Donald Trump?
Speaker 16: Yeah, I've said publicly here you know that that if
Speaker 16: he brings down the Islamic Republic of Iran, he will
Speaker 16: be one of the greatest foreign policy presidents in modern history,
Speaker 16: if not the greatest.
Speaker 13: I mean, the Islamic Republic of Iran, first.
Speaker 16: Of all, has killed and made thousands of Americans. It
Speaker 16: has created massive bloodshed and chaos in the Middle East
Speaker 16: and continue to drag us into these endless wars in
Speaker 16: the Middle East.
Speaker 13: It's sponsored terrorism globally.
Speaker 16: It's threatened to kill President Trump and tried to kill him,
Speaker 16: and it is try to build nuclear weapons. It has
Speaker 16: built a massive ballistic missile program. It's fired hundreds of
Speaker 16: those blistic missiles at Israel, and missiles and drones at.
Speaker 13: Our allies in the Middle East.
Speaker 16: I mean, it has been such a force for murder, chaos,
Speaker 16: and violence that to get rid of it and to
Speaker 16: replace it with something better and more stable, more peaceful,
Speaker 16: and more prosperous would be a game changer for American
Speaker 16: national security. And by the way, it would also allow
Speaker 16: us to do what we need to do, which is
Speaker 16: to focus our resources in the coming years on the
Speaker 16: multi generational threat from the Communist Chinese Party.
Speaker 1: I read him here quote and he laughed. He said,
Speaker 1: haven't I already done that? He's done pretty well. I've
Speaker 1: got to admit ruining the Iranian nuclear to turn is
Speaker 1: a big deal. But do you think we could count
Speaker 1: on a post harmonious, harmonious regime being stable and at
Speaker 1: least not evil?
Speaker 16: Yeah, I mean President Trump. W also did say that.
Speaker 16: He said, I accept that. I accept that he's interviewed
Speaker 16: with you. You know, I think he appreciates how important
Speaker 16: taking down the Islamic Republic is, and I think he
Speaker 16: has for most of his adult life.
Speaker 13: I think we have.
Speaker 16: Got I don't think we can count on anything in
Speaker 16: the Middle East, and we certainly can't count anything in geopolitics,
Speaker 16: but there's no doubt in my mind that whatever comes
Speaker 16: next will be much better.
Speaker 1: So everyone in your car go to FDD Foundation for
Speaker 1: the Defensive Democracies. Follow it at FDD, Follow Marquette and Dubavitch,
Speaker 1: and there are lots of other people as well. But
Speaker 1: make sure they're reliable. Don't believe the regime propaganda. Don't
Speaker 1: believe the regime apologists, don't believe people who supported the
Speaker 1: JCPOA believe people like mart Thank you, Mark d Vivitz.
Speaker 1: Stay tuned Sebastian Laie and next, welcome back in America.
Speaker 1: I'm Hugh Hewitty and the Relief Factors Studio West. Last Thursday,
Speaker 1: I talked to President Trump about a number of things.
Speaker 1: Second on the agenda was Jimmy Lai and whether or
Speaker 1: not President Trump had brought up the imprisoned human rights
Speaker 1: activist with General Secretary Jujen Ping. President said he had
Speaker 1: that we haven't got a response from Jijenping, and then
Speaker 1: the President went on to praise my next guest, Sebastian Laie,
Speaker 1: as being a good son who's been active on behalf
Speaker 1: of his father. I'm please to welcome you back, Sebastian. Uh,
Speaker 1: first of all, I didn't know you had met with
Speaker 1: the President. That was news. I'm glad you did. Are
Speaker 1: you getting more optimistic or still no no sign of
Speaker 1: movement from the People's Republic of China.
Speaker 19: First of all, thanks so much again for for for
Speaker 19: having me and for mentioning to the President.
Speaker 1: Yes it was.
Speaker 19: I mean having the President cara on my father's case
Speaker 19: and and and uh you know mentioned my father's name.
Speaker 19: It just gives us a lot of hope, you know,
Speaker 19: him saying that he will he will this is something
Speaker 19: that he will deal with us. There's something that he's
Speaker 19: working on, and you know, we're so incredibly grateful. I
Speaker 19: just want to thank him from the bottom of my heart.
Speaker 19: Uh and And unfortunately, as the President said, the China
Speaker 19: hasn't responded yet. But again time is running out for
Speaker 19: my father, So the balls and their court and and
Speaker 19: and they need to respond soon otherwise my father will
Speaker 19: will unfortunately pass away in prison.
Speaker 1: President try said that he's old and sick, so he's
Speaker 1: aware of his condition, but that they haven't heard anything
Speaker 1: from g Is there a point at which you would
Speaker 1: naturally expect them to allow him to move to Great Britain?
Speaker 1: Is there a sentencing, a conclusion point as they had
Speaker 1: with souls and Eats and they finally just tossed souls
Speaker 1: and eats and out because it wasn't worth the problem.
Speaker 1: Is there a date in your mind you think that
Speaker 1: they'll do that after some proceeding is finished.
Speaker 19: And unfortunately they're very happy keeping him there. You can
Speaker 19: see with the torturous conditions that he's under. You know,
Speaker 19: for Soldis confinement has been for the last five years,
Speaker 19: and they've kept on delaying this, this this never ending trial.
Speaker 19: It seems that now it's finally getting to its end,
Speaker 19: and to everybody's surprised, they found nothing. There's nothing that
Speaker 19: incriminates my father. They have found this man who's given
Speaker 19: everything that he has for freedom and democracy, stayed in
Speaker 19: Hong Kong foot for his people. And you know, I
Speaker 19: think that that's what's so important for the for the
Speaker 19: president to to to press this case, because you know,
Speaker 19: the Hong Kong government, these are these are cruel people.
Speaker 19: These are people that want to see my father Dian
Speaker 19: Joel and without without pressure from from from the president,
Speaker 19: that's that's what the Hongo government will do to my father.
Speaker 1: I did ask him, Sebastian if he would consider the
Speaker 1: release of your father as a significant gesture by Jujinping,
Speaker 1: and he said yes, I kind of count that as
Speaker 1: a win. Do you see that as a win that
Speaker 1: he is putting significance into that sort of it's a
Speaker 1: bargaining chip, it's something he wants.
Speaker 6: Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 19: We're so we're so incredibly grateful. And you know, to
Speaker 19: know that the president has about my father's case is
Speaker 19: something that has has given uf I'm family a lot
Speaker 19: of a lot of hope and and and it is
Speaker 19: it's it's the thing is look, it's it's a it's
Speaker 19: a relatively.
Speaker 17: Easy thing for hang and trying to do.
Speaker 19: I mean it will take them two hours to put
Speaker 19: him on the plane and send them over.
Speaker 6: To the US, to the UK. It's aware of it.
Speaker 19: I mean, this is this is very administratively, incredibly easy
Speaker 19: and at no cost and directly beneficial for every for everybody.
Speaker 19: So if not even even willing to do something as
Speaker 19: simple as that, it shows it shows a lot of
Speaker 19: how the Chinese and and the Hong Kong view, uh,
Speaker 19: you know, view the cruelty that they're doing to my father.
Speaker 1: I'm a great believer that Sun Cass cripple governments as
Speaker 1: well as individuals. They don't realize that there is no
Speaker 1: benefit to keeping your father in prison. There's one other
Speaker 1: person in the world besides President Trump I think can
Speaker 1: get their attention. That would be Popolo the sixteenth. Has
Speaker 1: the pontiffs said anything about your father?
Speaker 19: So the Holy Father has met with my mother and
Speaker 19: sister publicly, and we're so incredibly grateful for that. So
Speaker 19: I don't believe he said anything publicly, but I think
Speaker 19: he is praying for my father and for a man
Speaker 19: in his situation by himself in his cell. Knowing that
Speaker 19: you're the the Holy Father is praying for you, and
Speaker 19: that there's so many people praying for him worldwide, it
Speaker 19: gives him immense strength. I mean, this is what he's
Speaker 19: going through is something that I think would would break
Speaker 19: many people.
Speaker 6: And his faith, his his.
Speaker 19: His the knowledge that he has done the right thing
Speaker 19: is what keeps him going Somacham.
Speaker 1: What can the audience do besides pray for you and
Speaker 1: your family and your father, you know.
Speaker 19: Please write your representives, follow this story along and and
Speaker 19: and I mean besides pray, but praying is a huge
Speaker 19: is a huge thing as well, especially in the case
Speaker 19: like my father's where where you know they keep in solitary.
Speaker 19: To tell them that nobody cares about him, that nobody
Speaker 19: you know, has that he sacrificed everything for democracy. I
Speaker 19: think that's it's something that would matter matters intreumenously. But
Speaker 19: write your representatives and and and just tell this story
Speaker 19: whenever you have the chance to.
Speaker 1: Has anyone been allowed to sit down with him, your sister,
Speaker 1: the barrister who's representing him, yourself, anyone been allowed to
Speaker 1: see him in the last six months outside of that
Speaker 1: brief court appearance that I noted.
Speaker 19: Yeah, so he he doesn't get any he gets prison
Speaker 19: visits obviously that they're not.
Speaker 1: Well.
Speaker 19: Anything he says is listened to. But but but he
Speaker 19: at least gets prison visits. From my understanding, it's half
Speaker 19: an hour each time, four times a month. So it's
Speaker 19: it's it's it's a little something to to hold on to.
Speaker 19: But it's, uh, yeah, it's it's nothing.
Speaker 1: So bat who goes into it's got to be dangerous
Speaker 1: to go there. Who goes in to see your father,
Speaker 1: the lawyer, your sister, it will be Yeah, so Scenowya's.
Speaker 6: Family members.
Speaker 19: Unfortunately, because my father, my sister has now spoken out
Speaker 19: on behalf of my father, she could also no longer
Speaker 19: go back to Hong Kong. So she made this very
Speaker 19: conscious sacrifice, after very bravely being with my father for loss,
Speaker 19: you know, five years by his side, to go out
Speaker 19: and speak out, you know, about the horrendous treatment that
Speaker 19: he's under, and and and and and.
Speaker 6: The deterioration of his health.
Speaker 13: And because of that, he can't go back.
Speaker 17: She can't go back.
Speaker 1: Sebastian, keep keep, please keep us informed. I'll continue to
Speaker 1: ask the President of the Secretary of State whenever they're
Speaker 1: on the program about the progress of this guy. I
Speaker 1: think the more eyes that we can put on Juju
Speaker 1: and Ping, he could do himself a lot of good
Speaker 1: in the world if you just let your father go
Speaker 1: to Great Britain. So our pros continue with Sebastian. By
Speaker 1: the way, President Fairy instruct with you and I am too.
Speaker 1: Thank you for your ongoing efforts on behalf of your
Speaker 1: dad and democracy in Hong Kong. I appreciate Sebastian Lae.
Speaker 1: Follow free Jimmy Laie on X and follow me to
Speaker 1: the next segment on the Q Hereich Chew. Thank you
Speaker 1: for that.