Speaker 1: Do you want to be an American idiot?
Speaker 2: Got flown on seven hundred w DOW. So much going on,
Speaker 2: mass shooting in Cincinnati on early Sunday morning.
Speaker 1: We also have the war in Iran right now.
Speaker 2: The very latest three F fifteen shot down by Kuwaiti
Speaker 2: friendly fire. All kroumbers rescued there. Unfortunately, three service members
Speaker 2: are killed, five wounded in attacks on US basis. Pete
Speaker 2: Hegseth Sec Defense was just talking earlier this morning.
Speaker 1: You heard their news.
Speaker 2: US and Israeli forces launch massive strikes in Iran Saturday morning.
Speaker 2: It's Operation Epic Fury, and here we go again. One
Speaker 2: of the guys coming out in support of this, surprisingly
Speaker 2: as a Democrat, is Representative Greg Lansman on the show. Congressman, welcome,
Speaker 2: how are you.
Speaker 3: I'm good.
Speaker 2: I'm doing fine. Too much news and too much bad
Speaker 2: news at that. I mean, you know, I was young
Speaker 2: enough to remember seventy nine. Uh didn't know the you know,
Speaker 2: because I was a kid, but I remember hearing about that,
Speaker 2: going wow, we got hostages in the embassy. And here
Speaker 2: we are now in twenty twenty six and Iran Supreme
Speaker 2: Leader Ayatola coming was killed and a bunch of other
Speaker 2: top officials as well. And so we have regime change
Speaker 2: underway and Iran, which generally were bad at you said
Speaker 2: you believe for decades the region would have peace without regime.
Speaker 2: This regime toppling the past administrations, including once you supported
Speaker 2: chose not to act militarily, and you're supporting this. So
Speaker 2: what change and why is now the right moment?
Speaker 3: Greg Landsman, I've always thought that you had to stand
Speaker 3: up to Iran. Iran has caused enormous mayhem, chaos, violence, death.
Speaker 3: You know, Kamania is responsible for more death than been
Speaker 3: lauden by you know ten acts right, and at some
Speaker 3: point you have to stand up to this regime and
Speaker 3: say enough enough the mayhem and the bloodshed can't continue,
Speaker 3: and we want peace, we want in Middle East. And
Speaker 3: you're seeing the golf other golf states jumping in. They
Speaker 3: want in Middle East without war, without this violence, without
Speaker 3: this chaos, without this mayhem mayhem, which has proved impossible
Speaker 3: with this regime.
Speaker 2: Well, they're the largest sponsor of state terrorism and so
Speaker 2: if you cut that hat off, that's the idea here.
Speaker 2: They're in chaos right now. But you called this, I
Speaker 2: think you said this is the best outcome for national security.
Speaker 2: But the FBI is now elevated terrorism alert for US
Speaker 2: and Iranian proxies are targeting American bases across the Middle East.
Speaker 2: So how's that a good outcome for security.
Speaker 3: Because it will hopefully lead to peace in the region.
Speaker 3: And ultimately, when this dies down, you know, you won't
Speaker 3: see this ongoing threat. You know, at some point again
Speaker 3: you had to deal with this, and you know, for
Speaker 3: too long, you know, there has been an attempt to
Speaker 3: just sort of contain the regime, which has not worked.
Speaker 3: And we've seen what they've done in Lebanon with Hesbela
Speaker 3: just up you know, completely upended that country and its
Speaker 3: ability to govern itself. You've seen what they've done in
Speaker 3: Gaza with moss and and and the awful war it started,
Speaker 3: uh and you know, uh Yemen. I mean, the number
Speaker 3: of lags lost, you know because of the huties and
Speaker 3: what Iran's done there is staggering. And then they killed
Speaker 3: you know, thousands, tens of thousands of their own people
Speaker 3: during you know, the protests a couple of weeks ago, right,
Speaker 3: And so my hope and what I support, to be
Speaker 3: very clear, is very targeted strikes on Iranian military assets,
Speaker 3: So get rid of their you know, their their their missiles,
Speaker 3: the rockets, any attempt at achieving a nuke uh and
Speaker 3: uh and you know the high command. Uh. However, if
Speaker 3: this is going to be a protracted war, you know,
Speaker 3: regime change in the sense that you send boots on
Speaker 3: the ground is not a good idea. And my hope
Speaker 3: is that the administration is not doing that, it's not
Speaker 3: preparing to do that that. Ultimately, this is on the
Speaker 3: Iranian people to sort out. And there's an inside game
Speaker 3: obviously with the Supreme leader gone, to sort out who's
Speaker 3: going to run the country. That could lead to somebody
Speaker 3: who will work with the world. The Iatola refused to
Speaker 3: work with the world. Now they're diminished or depleted or
Speaker 3: destroyed military capabilities does mean that the chaos blend, that
Speaker 3: mayhem should end. That's what I support a protracted military operation.
Speaker 3: The President would need to come to the United States Congress,
Speaker 3: make his case and get the support, get the funding.
Speaker 3: I wish he's not done yet.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Congressman Greg Landsman from Washington this morning on seven hundred
Speaker 2: WLW with the latest on what's happening with Iran. He
Speaker 2: is backing it bright with a lot of Democrats on this,
Speaker 2: your colleagues on the left as well as MAGA Republicans too,
Speaker 2: are against this thing. And you know we mentioned is
Speaker 2: this the right moment? I would say, you know, student
Speaker 2: uprising and the level of people number killed and incarcerated
Speaker 2: because of that uprising, as well as the fact that
Speaker 2: you know, let's face it, there's few and few people
Speaker 2: alive today that remember what life was like in Iran
Speaker 2: pre nineteen seventy nine. And I think there's an opportunity
Speaker 2: here that's waning. As opposed to just looking at something
Speaker 2: in the history book, you have people said, no, it
Speaker 2: was much better. We're democratized, women were going to university
Speaker 2: and we're free, and that's what the glory days were like.
Speaker 2: And we've seen generations that were just raised on oppression.
Speaker 2: And so I think in that context with the student uprising,
Speaker 2: I really think that that was the catalyst for this
Speaker 2: to happen.
Speaker 3: Agree, Yeah, I mean, you know the fact that they
Speaker 3: went and it wasn't just a crackdown. They murdered, Yes,
Speaker 3: you know, tens of thousands of people in the courts
Speaker 3: of a cup days. And you know, if the world
Speaker 3: just sits back and says we're not going to do anything.
Speaker 3: We're gonna We're gonna let them continue to not just oppressed,
Speaker 3: but murder their own people and fun terrorism all over
Speaker 3: the region. That's the problem. I mean, what does that
Speaker 3: say about us? Yes, this is a very hard decision.
Speaker 3: This is uh, you know, a very difficult moment, and
Speaker 3: and people are are nervous, scared, frustrated. I get that.
Speaker 3: I do think though, that you you have to uh
Speaker 3: take these moments and and do what you think is best.
Speaker 3: And in this case, I think the military and I
Speaker 3: trust the generals, I trust our allies are saying this
Speaker 3: is a moment to end the the the chaos of
Speaker 3: this regime, and uh, you know, I I hope that
Speaker 3: is what ultimately happens. I would like to understand to
Speaker 3: be clear what the full plan is. We get a
Speaker 3: briefing classify briefing by partisan briefing on Tuesday, and that
Speaker 3: will be very important and uh and I think the
Speaker 3: administration the present needs to say this is what will happen.
Speaker 3: Now it has not been as clear as it needs
Speaker 3: to be that in fact, what we're doing is destroying
Speaker 3: their ability to destroy right there. We're going after the
Speaker 3: bombs and the missiles, and and and they are military infrastructure. Uh.
Speaker 3: And here's how we believe this will end. That is
Speaker 3: that is something that the American people need to hear.
Speaker 3: The United States Congress needs to hear and and and
Speaker 3: Congress does have a a big role. We declare war,
Speaker 3: we have to fund it. And so if this is
Speaker 3: anything more than targeted military strikes, they have to come
Speaker 3: to the United sound Greig.
Speaker 2: Glennes, Do you think that Trump and the administration had
Speaker 2: the constitutional authority to do just that without getting a
Speaker 2: war declaration?
Speaker 3: Yeah. So the loss as that, you know, the administration,
Speaker 3: the president can can engage for up to sixty days
Speaker 3: without you know, before getting a vote on Congress. If
Speaker 3: it goes beyond that, he needs a vote. And I
Speaker 3: agree with that. You know, they can't. They can't operate
Speaker 3: outside the constitution. We are a constitutional democracy and and
Speaker 3: you know, going after this repressive, you know, destructive, violent
Speaker 3: regime is I think the right move. Working within the
Speaker 3: constitutional democracy and going to Congress is also the right call.
Speaker 3: I would do that if it were me, I would
Speaker 3: be in front of Congress making the case, making the
Speaker 3: case united the American people and getting the support I need.
Speaker 3: I would be doing both. He needs to do both.
Speaker 1: Should we have done that one in Venezuela.
Speaker 2: I don't think most people care about that now in
Speaker 2: hindsight too or is that different?
Speaker 3: You know, Venezuela is uh I thought a award choice.
Speaker 3: I don't think this is a ward choice, I think
Speaker 3: or military action of choice, right, you know, I know
Speaker 3: he wanted to get a dureau he got Maduro. It
Speaker 3: is an incredible thing what the military did, There's no question.
Speaker 3: But nobody thought Venezuela was posing a threat to the
Speaker 3: United States of America militarily. There was obviously drugs and
Speaker 3: other things that needed to be dealt with, and and
Speaker 3: you know, I am all about you know, getting the
Speaker 3: Sentinel and all this stuff out of this country. Iran
Speaker 3: has obviously presented a grave threat to the region and
Speaker 3: to the world for decades. There's no question about that.
Speaker 3: And no one's arguing that this is not this is
Speaker 3: not something that you know, that we could continue to avoid.
Speaker 3: But I thought the the you know, going after Venezuela
Speaker 3: the way he did it was not the right mor
Speaker 3: you know, do you think what.
Speaker 2: I'll giving them too much credit here, Greg Lansman, do
Speaker 2: you think it was pre contextual in that it's like, well,
Speaker 2: if we get at Venezuela, get maduor out of part
Speaker 2: of that, that helps. But also, we have a supply
Speaker 2: of oil now and we're bringing the oil over, and
Speaker 2: now we go in week top we tuple Iran, and
Speaker 2: it just so happens. This is months after we've got
Speaker 2: a steady supply of oil coming in the United States
Speaker 2: for Venezuela, because we know the straight of Horror Moves
Speaker 2: is going to be closed off and gas prices are
Speaker 2: going to go out.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 2: I don't know if they offset each other or what
Speaker 2: the you know, I'm not smart enough to be able
Speaker 2: to figure that out. But if you believe in pre
Speaker 2: contextual things and plans and plots and conspiracies, those two
Speaker 2: things sure fit together.
Speaker 3: I do believe that the Venezuela was but oil, which
Speaker 3: I don't like and most Americans don't like don't go
Speaker 3: to work for oil. I do not believe that one
Speaker 3: was done to set up the other. I think Iran
Speaker 3: has been a big question for every president as to
Speaker 3: whether or not you can and negotiating and and and
Speaker 3: does diplomacy work or do you have to finally, uh,
Speaker 3: you know, fight back, and I believe Iran responds to strength.
Speaker 3: You know that they they they they they don't want
Speaker 3: what's happening right now. Uh, they want to continue to
Speaker 3: sort of I think occuscate and and and build out
Speaker 3: their capacity to continue to terrorize the region and ultimately
Speaker 3: go after the United States. That's there to uh yeah,
Speaker 3: you so they they they're they're not you know, uh,
Speaker 3: they may be shady about how they build their stuff,
Speaker 3: but they're not uh you know, shady about what they're intented.
Speaker 3: They're intended to kill us. So look, I I think
Speaker 3: this is uh, you know, the right move in the
Speaker 3: sense that you know, we're finally standing up to this
Speaker 3: brutal regime and the goal has to not about anything
Speaker 3: other than peace. I mean, I really do believe that
Speaker 3: like this is this is a moment in history where
Speaker 3: the Middle East could fundamentally be transformed. And you look
Speaker 3: at Saudi Arabia and Bahrain and the UAE and others,
Speaker 3: and they're saying, look, we're trying to participate in the world.
Speaker 3: We're trying to bring the world here. We can't have
Speaker 3: you know, war and chaos and violence and terrorism. And
Speaker 3: we're saying, yeah, we agree we want to be part
Speaker 3: of a renewed, transformed Middle East.
Speaker 2: In that regard, and there's no transition plan here, there's
Speaker 2: no nation building framework.
Speaker 1: You know, we'd be headed. We took the head off
Speaker 1: the beast, but.
Speaker 2: Our diplomatic relations with Iran have not been existing since
Speaker 2: what nineteen eighty? All right, so we do this for
Speaker 2: a few weeks the bomb stopped falling. We're really bad
Speaker 2: at nation building. We're really bad at regime change. Greg,
Speaker 2: how does that change this summer? And does it?
Speaker 3: Well, that's yeah, and that would into my position. I
Speaker 3: mean that that was never anything I've supported. I mean,
Speaker 3: I you know, the for me is, you know, continue
Speaker 3: to undermine its ability to cause violence and mayhem and
Speaker 3: and and and war. Right, So go after, you know,
Speaker 3: to completely destroy their ability to uh, you know, to
Speaker 3: mess with others in the region. I mean, cut off
Speaker 3: their lines to these terrace networks, uh, destroyed the ballistic missiles,
Speaker 3: their their their capabilities around a nuke, et cetera. And
Speaker 3: you know, now that the aetolia is gone, there is
Speaker 3: a there is a mechanism within the you know, Iranian
Speaker 3: regime to elect a new supreme leader. It's it's three
Speaker 3: it's three people, as I understand it, who now convened
Speaker 3: the council, and they will decide. Now what happens there, uh,
Speaker 3: you know, could lead to some change where we now
Speaker 3: have have somebody in charge that we can work with.
Speaker 3: You are right that putting troops on the ground and
Speaker 3: and and doing nation building is a mistake that I
Speaker 3: would never support. Continuing to go after these military assets
Speaker 3: until they're gone, uh, and then pulling back and seeing
Speaker 3: if we have a chance at peace, to me, is
Speaker 3: the right the right move.
Speaker 2: Okay, But some of the insiders say, well, what the
Speaker 2: regime is going to look like is far worse than
Speaker 2: we have with the COMNI because in that environment we
Speaker 2: have totalitarianism. Uh, it's all the generals, it's all the military,
Speaker 2: the autocrats. They take over power and you wind up
Speaker 2: with a worse leadership role in Iran than you did
Speaker 2: before because it's all going to be about getting back
Speaker 2: to the United States and Israel and all the nations
Speaker 2: that that led the war in Iran.
Speaker 1: That's the danger there.
Speaker 2: We've seen it before, we'll see it again, probably Afghanistan,
Speaker 2: the latest version of that.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't know, we'll see it here, you know,
Speaker 3: the fact is that, uh, you know, they will have
Speaker 3: very little hopefully at the end of this uh limited operation. Uh.
Speaker 3: And it's hard to imagine anyone being worse than in
Speaker 3: the ietolah than a theocracy. This is a This is
Speaker 3: a guy that believes that he is uh believed that
Speaker 3: he was sent by God to destroy those who were
Speaker 3: were not like him. And so it doesn't get much
Speaker 3: more dangerous than that.
Speaker 2: M Greg Landsman, your face and voters in the district.
Speaker 2: Polling is pretty broad. And we're also very skeptical on
Speaker 2: military intervention at this thing. There's a political consequence there
Speaker 2: for you, and and also point out that oil prices presumably,
Speaker 2: well they're going to go up here. We don't know
Speaker 2: how high, but they are going up starting today probably
Speaker 2: if not sooner it did, And and people already you
Speaker 2: know stretched. Then is there fear that politically speaking, they
Speaker 2: turn around to blame Trump, but they also blame you, going, well,
Speaker 2: you supported the war and now I've got to pay
Speaker 2: for four dollars a gallon plus?
Speaker 1: Is there an implication there?
Speaker 3: There may be. I mean I think that you know,
Speaker 3: you you've got to always do what you think is right.
Speaker 3: As corny as that may sound. I do believe like,
Speaker 3: if you believe that something is right, you got to
Speaker 3: say it and you got to act on it, period,
Speaker 3: regardless of the consequences and politically, and so you know,
Speaker 3: I think in the end, because this is not the
Speaker 3: first time I've I've sort of bucked the party or
Speaker 3: I've done, you know, something that wasn't necessarily at first,
Speaker 3: it's something people agreed with. People do appreciate not everyone,
Speaker 3: but but a lot of people do appreciate the fact
Speaker 3: that they can trust that that I'm leading with conviction,
Speaker 3: that I'm I'm I'm doing what I believe is right,
Speaker 3: that I'm not playing politics, and in this day and age,
Speaker 3: that's a rarity. I think people do like the fact
Speaker 3: that you know, hey, this is an independent guy who
Speaker 3: does does what he thinks he thinks is right and
Speaker 3: takes tough positions. He takes you know, he makes the
Speaker 3: tough calls like that's leadership, and uh, you know, I
Speaker 3: think ultimately that's where folks will be. But you know,
Speaker 3: I can't, I can't work through that calculation in something
Speaker 3: like this. It's either you know, is it something I
Speaker 3: would have done? I would have done targeted strength, I
Speaker 3: would have intervened and said enough is enough. Now He's
Speaker 3: going to lose me. To be clear, that's fun. He's
Speaker 3: gonna lose me if he keeps if he keeps at
Speaker 3: this and and and continues to talk about regime change
Speaker 3: and continues to do so without Congress, he will lose me.
Speaker 3: And and quite frankly, you know, I don't trust Trump.
Speaker 3: I don't. I don't trust him. However, I trust the generals,
Speaker 3: uh and and I trust our military, and I trust
Speaker 3: our allies, and so you know, my hope is that
Speaker 3: this is limited, that they go in you know, over
Speaker 3: the course of several days, hopefully not weeks days, and
Speaker 3: they they destroy the regime's ability to continue to destroy lives. Yeah,
Speaker 3: that's what That's what I want.
Speaker 2: That's the hope there. What real quick, what role does
Speaker 2: Congress have in a new regime there? Or what what
Speaker 2: should the framework be for you guys in the legislature, Well.
Speaker 3: The United States Congress have to be involved in this.
Speaker 3: You know, I was glad that the administration resumed this,
Speaker 3: you know, the process of informing congressional leaders Democrats and Republicans.
Speaker 3: They did not do that with the Venezuela. Their argument
Speaker 3: was it was it was so you know, top secret,
Speaker 3: and they thought that somebody would lead and blah blah
Speaker 3: blah blah. This is not the same thing. They have
Speaker 3: to stay fully engaged with us. I'm glad that there
Speaker 3: is a full Congressional classified briefing on Tuesday. Uh. And
Speaker 3: I do think Congress has to send a message to
Speaker 3: the president. Look, you have got to work with us.
Speaker 3: You have got to come here and and participate in
Speaker 3: this constitutional democracy, which says we make this call too.
Speaker 3: So you know, there is this war Powers resolution. You know,
Speaker 3: on one hand, it sends the message, hey, you got
Speaker 3: to work with us. On the other hand, it says,
Speaker 3: you know, it says, look, you got to you know, yes,
Speaker 3: you got to pull out the assect out of the region.
Speaker 3: I think that's a mistake. But I do think sending
Speaker 3: that message you have to get a yes from us
Speaker 3: is very important. All Right.
Speaker 2: He is a Congressman, Greg landsman from here in Cincinnati,
Speaker 2: waiting to get word from the White House at some
Speaker 2: point and their role in regime change and this will
Speaker 2: continue and hopefully, you know, this is maybe one.
Speaker 1: We get right.
Speaker 2: I'm a little leary, I'm a little nervous about regime
Speaker 2: chant without a plan, and we don't have a plan
Speaker 2: right now. You got three I think a body of
Speaker 2: three individual to decide who the new Supreme Leader is.
Speaker 2: Hopefully that won't matter. Greg all the best, thanks again,
Speaker 2: be well, Thanks running late as always. Here we'll get
Speaker 2: a news update and we'll switch it up. Julie H's here.
Speaker 2: It's mental health Monday. Next on the show, talk about
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