WEBVTT - Iran Strike Ayatolla DEAD, Austin Shooting-Why, How & What's Next 0:00:02.080 --> 0:00:02.440 Welcome. 0:00:02.480 --> 0:00:05.320 It is Verdict with Center, Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you, 0:00:05.360 --> 0:00:07.880 and obviously this is a very big show. Man. If 0:00:07.880 --> 0:00:09.719 you may have not ever listened to this show before, 0:00:09.760 --> 0:00:11.680 we want to welcome you as we're obviously going to 0:00:11.720 --> 0:00:14.160 be talking a lot about the attack on Iran and 0:00:14.280 --> 0:00:16.079 what is happening. So if you're joining us for the 0:00:16.160 --> 0:00:18.279 very first time, it's nice to have you. Don't forget 0:00:18.360 --> 0:00:23.200 hit that subscriber auto download button wherever you get your podcasts. 0:00:23.400 --> 0:00:23.759 Center. 0:00:24.040 --> 0:00:26.360 This is obviously a very big show, and it's an 0:00:26.360 --> 0:00:29.360 important one because the world is changing before our very eyes. 0:00:30.720 --> 0:00:35.440 On Saturday, President Trump launched a major military attack on Iran, 0:00:35.640 --> 0:00:40.640 a bombing, bombing from the sky, bombing from naval vessels. 0:00:40.680 --> 0:00:44.640 It was done in close coordination with Israel, that likewise 0:00:44.720 --> 0:00:49.120 launched a bombing attack. In the opening minutes and hours 0:00:49.120 --> 0:00:53.280 of the attack, the Ayatola Kameinee was killed. Other major 0:00:53.360 --> 0:00:57.120 leaders of Iran were killed. The bombing is ongoing. You 0:00:57.200 --> 0:01:01.080 and I are recording this Sunday afternoon, and of right now, 0:01:01.160 --> 0:01:04.400 over nine hundred bombing strikes have been carried out by 0:01:04.440 --> 0:01:07.760 the United States. Over one two hundred bombing strikes have 0:01:07.840 --> 0:01:12.080 been carried out by israel I. Spent the entire day 0:01:12.120 --> 0:01:15.880 on Friday with President Trump. The day before the attack, 0:01:16.000 --> 0:01:20.240 we spent much of the time discussing the attack that 0:01:20.400 --> 0:01:23.280 was coming. This podcast, we're going to try to explain 0:01:23.640 --> 0:01:29.240 exactly what's happening, why President Trump attacked Iran, what is 0:01:29.480 --> 0:01:32.000 likely to happen as a result, and what the next 0:01:32.040 --> 0:01:34.720 stages are. We're also going to talk about the mass 0:01:34.720 --> 0:01:39.800 shooting that occurred at two am Sunday morning in Austin, Texas, 0:01:39.840 --> 0:01:43.720 in a bar on Sixth Street, where a gunman murdered 0:01:43.880 --> 0:01:47.600 two other people and injured seventeen. That gunman, in turn, 0:01:47.760 --> 0:01:51.960 was shot and killed by Austin police early in dish 0:01:52.000 --> 0:01:54.800 ye make it appear that this was a terrorist attack. 0:01:54.840 --> 0:01:57.800 He was wearing a sweatshirt that said property of Allah. 0:01:57.840 --> 0:02:00.680 He was wearing a shirt with the Iranian flat on it. 0:02:00.680 --> 0:02:03.480 It is still early. I spoke today with Cash Patel, 0:02:03.560 --> 0:02:06.360 the director of the FBI. We're gonna break that down 0:02:06.400 --> 0:02:08.920 as well. This is gonna be a podcast where we 0:02:09.000 --> 0:02:12.160 try to examine everything you need to know about what 0:02:12.240 --> 0:02:15.200 is happening in Iran, how it is going to impact 0:02:15.200 --> 0:02:17.560 the United States, and what's coming next. 0:02:17.919 --> 0:02:19.679 Yeah, it's really important. I want to take a moment 0:02:19.680 --> 0:02:21.480 and talk to you about rough Greens. If you've got 0:02:21.520 --> 0:02:24.840 a dog or a puppy, you are gonna love rough Greens. Now, 0:02:24.840 --> 0:02:28.240 I've been telling you about my older dog and some 0:02:28.320 --> 0:02:31.080 of the symptoms that he was having, slowing down and 0:02:31.160 --> 0:02:35.520 itching and having bad breath, losing interest in playtime. That 0:02:36.080 --> 0:02:38.600 is just part of the aging process, but it doesn't 0:02:38.639 --> 0:02:40.679 have to be. And after just a few weeks of 0:02:40.760 --> 0:02:43.639 rough Greens we start to see a real difference. 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That's r 0:03:56.200 --> 0:04:00.000 u F F g R E E n S dot com. 0:04:00.200 --> 0:04:03.640 Promo code verdict. So, Senator, you mentioned earlier that you 0:04:03.640 --> 0:04:06.040 were on the plane with President Trump air Force one. 0:04:06.120 --> 0:04:07.960 We're going to get to that and what was discussed 0:04:08.000 --> 0:04:09.600 on the plane a moment because a lot of people 0:04:09.640 --> 0:04:12.000 listening they're going to want to hear that. But let's 0:04:12.040 --> 0:04:14.600 talk about the biggest news now. And you actually were 0:04:14.600 --> 0:04:16.920 on Face the Nation earlier today and had a lot 0:04:16.920 --> 0:04:20.640 to say about this attack on Iran and how successful 0:04:20.680 --> 0:04:23.240 it's been so far. So take a listen to what 0:04:23.279 --> 0:04:25.960 Senator Cruise had to say earlier today on Face the Nation. 0:04:26.360 --> 0:04:30.880 Senator, just looking at the global environment right now. Saint 0:04:30.960 --> 0:04:34.320 Com announced three Americans were killed and five seriously wounded 0:04:34.400 --> 0:04:39.280 in this operation. President Trump and President Vice President Vance 0:04:39.360 --> 0:04:43.000 campaigned on not getting America involved in new wars. What 0:04:43.160 --> 0:04:45.920 do you say to Americans this morning who are asking 0:04:46.200 --> 0:04:48.239 why we are in this conflict now? 0:04:50.000 --> 0:04:54.120 President Trump's decision to launch this decisive action against Iran 0:04:54.720 --> 0:04:57.919 is the single most important decision of his presidency. I 0:04:57.920 --> 0:05:01.599 think he laid out powerfully and effectively why he is 0:05:01.760 --> 0:05:05.039 taking this action. He's taking this action because the government 0:05:05.240 --> 0:05:10.279 of Iran is a profound and malign influence. They have 0:05:10.600 --> 0:05:15.200 been the leading state sponsor of terrorism for forty seven years. 0:05:16.360 --> 0:05:20.919 They have over that time killed nearly one thousand Americans. 0:05:21.320 --> 0:05:27.080 They provide more than ninety percent of the funding for Hamas. 0:05:27.480 --> 0:05:31.200 They provide more than ninety percent of the funding for Hesbolah. 0:05:31.520 --> 0:05:36.839 The Iranian Ayatola was until yesterday, actively trying to murder 0:05:36.880 --> 0:05:38.640 the President of the United States Donald J. 0:05:38.800 --> 0:05:39.160 Trump. 0:05:40.200 --> 0:05:43.480 I spent the entire day with President Trump on Friday, 0:05:43.680 --> 0:05:46.479 right before he launched these attacks. He and I discussed 0:05:46.520 --> 0:05:50.240 this at length on Friday. My council to him was 0:05:50.279 --> 0:05:53.640 that the Iranian regime has never been weaker, that it 0:05:53.680 --> 0:05:58.159 was teetering, and now was the time. My advice was 0:05:58.800 --> 0:06:02.840 do not miss this opportunity. I think the President has 0:06:02.880 --> 0:06:08.640 acted boldly, He's acted decisively, and Iran no longer being 0:06:08.720 --> 0:06:16.920 led by a theocratic, murderous dictator. That makes America much 0:06:17.040 --> 0:06:17.600 much safer. 0:06:18.200 --> 0:06:19.760 Senator, you are not going to find a lot of 0:06:19.760 --> 0:06:22.960 people in any way defending the Supreme Leader, that is 0:06:23.000 --> 0:06:27.120 for sure. However, putting Americans in harm way is what 0:06:27.400 --> 0:06:28.359 I'm pressing you on. 0:06:28.600 --> 0:06:28.960 Here. 0:06:29.720 --> 0:06:34.720 Did the President explain to you why he called off 0:06:34.839 --> 0:06:38.640 active diplomacy Because at the very same time he was 0:06:38.680 --> 0:06:40.760 on that plane, the Vice President of the United States 0:06:40.800 --> 0:06:42.960 was talking to the Omani mediator who was trying to 0:06:42.960 --> 0:06:44.880 get a deal, and told us that they were close 0:06:44.920 --> 0:06:50.360 to one. Why not choose diplomacy. 0:06:48.600 --> 0:06:53.800 Because the diplomacy was an abject failure. The Iranians approached 0:06:53.800 --> 0:06:59.360 the diplomacy with arrogance, which with absolute hubris. They said 0:06:59.400 --> 0:07:02.440 they would not stop enriching. No matter what, they were 0:07:02.640 --> 0:07:06.240 going to continue to enrich uranium. They would not discuss 0:07:06.680 --> 0:07:11.200 zero enrichment. They claimed a right to enrich uranium in 0:07:11.360 --> 0:07:15.960 underground bunkers with no supervision. As President Trump said on 0:07:16.040 --> 0:07:19.080 Friday when he was with me in Texas, his line 0:07:19.400 --> 0:07:24.000 was zero enrichments, and the Iranians refused to discuss it. 0:07:24.240 --> 0:07:27.280 They also refused to discuss their proxies. They refused to 0:07:27.320 --> 0:07:31.200 discuss Hamas and Hesbela and the Huthis, and President Trump 0:07:31.400 --> 0:07:36.760 understood that the Iranian quote negotiation was just a stall 0:07:36.840 --> 0:07:40.920 tactic and that the only response my advice to him, 0:07:40.920 --> 0:07:43.800 I said, there's only one deal you should accept, and 0:07:43.840 --> 0:07:47.440 it's the deal that you offered Maduro, which is if 0:07:47.480 --> 0:07:49.800 you want to leave and flee the country, you can 0:07:49.840 --> 0:07:55.239 do so. Anything else is unacceptable, and COMMANI made his choice. 0:07:55.400 --> 0:08:00.200 Well, there's disputes there in terms of your characterization of 0:08:00.480 --> 0:08:03.960 what was actually on the table and what the administration 0:08:04.040 --> 0:08:06.440 had indicated it was willing to accept in terms of 0:08:06.520 --> 0:08:10.160 allowing enrichment for medical purposes and the like. But that's 0:08:10.200 --> 0:08:12.040 now obviously so margin what I. 0:08:12.280 --> 0:08:12.960 Just told you. 0:08:13.320 --> 0:08:15.840 What I just told you is almost word for word 0:08:16.600 --> 0:08:20.520 what Secretary of State Marco Rubio told me yesterday. 0:08:21.200 --> 0:08:24.080 Can you tell us now if you believe that there 0:08:24.280 --> 0:08:28.160 was an ongoing nuclear weapons program. One of the top 0:08:28.320 --> 0:08:32.480 arms arms control experts out there, David Albright, has written 0:08:32.600 --> 0:08:35.880 there should be an immediate priority on rapid response operations 0:08:35.880 --> 0:08:40.920 to secure Iran's nuclear stockpiles right now, can you assure 0:08:40.960 --> 0:08:43.280 the public that it will be secured and if so, 0:08:43.600 --> 0:08:46.760 who is doing it? If there are no Israeli or 0:08:46.840 --> 0:08:48.080 US forces on the ground. 0:08:49.600 --> 0:08:52.160 So there is no doubt that a year ago Iran 0:08:52.280 --> 0:08:55.720 had an active and ongoing nuclear weapons program. We took 0:08:55.760 --> 0:08:58.679 out the vast majority of that at the end of 0:08:58.720 --> 0:08:59.520 the Twelve Day war. 0:09:00.080 --> 0:09:02.600 US intelligence assessment was not made public. If that is 0:09:02.679 --> 0:09:03.440 what was brief to you. 0:09:05.440 --> 0:09:09.400 We took out We launched targeted bombs at the end 0:09:09.440 --> 0:09:12.319 of the Twelve day war, where we dropped the equivalent 0:09:12.360 --> 0:09:15.720 of about a third of a nuclear weapon on those 0:09:15.880 --> 0:09:19.320 underground facilities, facilities like Forida, which was built into the 0:09:19.360 --> 0:09:22.720 base of a mountain. The bunker buster bombs we used. 0:09:22.840 --> 0:09:26.720 Israel doesn't have those bombs. No other country has those bombs. 0:09:27.520 --> 0:09:31.920 We took them out last year. The Iranians were still 0:09:32.000 --> 0:09:34.560 hell bent on rebuilding them. And one of the things 0:09:34.640 --> 0:09:37.720 we are doing right now is taking out their missiles, 0:09:37.720 --> 0:09:41.520 in particular the Southern missile belt. Right now, Iran is 0:09:41.559 --> 0:09:45.560 building roughly one hundred missiles a month. They're actively building 0:09:45.600 --> 0:09:49.080 missiles to threaten their neighbors, and they're firing. 0:09:48.760 --> 0:09:50.160 Some of them right now at their neighbors. 0:09:50.880 --> 0:09:51.760 Yeah, at our allies. 0:09:51.880 --> 0:09:56.840 They're illustrating powerfully. They're attacking virtually every Arab neighbor that 0:09:57.000 --> 0:10:01.080 surrounds them. They are firing missiles that it's almost like 0:10:01.200 --> 0:10:03.680 they want to illustrate to the world just how malign 0:10:03.800 --> 0:10:04.160 they are. 0:10:04.520 --> 0:10:07.000 But in terms of containing the risk, who's securing the 0:10:07.040 --> 0:10:10.760 nuclear material that you say still exists within Iran? Who's 0:10:10.800 --> 0:10:12.400 doing that? Look? 0:10:12.400 --> 0:10:15.240 Look the quantity of nuclear material. I didn't say one 0:10:15.920 --> 0:10:18.400 anything one way or another on that. What I said 0:10:19.080 --> 0:10:21.640 is they were building nuclear weapons a year ago and 0:10:21.679 --> 0:10:25.920 our bombing took that out. They also had an ongoing 0:10:25.960 --> 0:10:29.720 desire to rebuild them. I don't have present day intelligence 0:10:30.200 --> 0:10:34.880 on what progress they had made towards rebuilding nuclear weapons 0:10:34.920 --> 0:10:38.760 since we bomb their facilities, I have no indication that 0:10:39.800 --> 0:10:42.840 they were anywhere close to getting nuclear weapons because our 0:10:42.880 --> 0:10:46.600 bombing was devastating, And Margaret, that's one of the reasons 0:10:46.600 --> 0:10:50.320 I urged President Trump. Now is the time. You know, 0:10:50.440 --> 0:10:55.600 dictatorships survive because they're perceived as invulnerable, and in this instance, 0:10:56.240 --> 0:11:00.040 Iran decisively lost the twelve day war that week in 0:10:59.880 --> 0:11:02.440 the regime and set up what the president is doing. 0:11:02.240 --> 0:11:04.280 Now, Senter. 0:11:04.520 --> 0:11:07.600 I found it very interesting just how much she wanted 0:11:07.640 --> 0:11:09.320 to say that somehow. 0:11:08.920 --> 0:11:10.840 Her sources are better than your sources. 0:11:10.880 --> 0:11:12.599 When you were just with the President United States of 0:11:12.640 --> 0:11:15.000 America had just talked directly to Marco Rubio. 0:11:15.640 --> 0:11:16.800 It was pretty hilarious. 0:11:16.800 --> 0:11:18.800 She's like, well, that's not why all the intelligence says, 0:11:18.800 --> 0:11:21.000 and you're like, no, like, I just talked to the 0:11:21.000 --> 0:11:24.520 people where the intelligence is coming from. If you this why, 0:11:24.559 --> 0:11:26.320 I go back and say, you don't hate the media enough. 0:11:26.640 --> 0:11:28.440 This is what they do. By the way, we saw 0:11:28.480 --> 0:11:30.560 this with headlines today New York Times is a great 0:11:30.559 --> 0:11:33.360 example of the propaganda of how they're like still standing 0:11:33.440 --> 0:11:36.680 there acting like the Iatola was some sort of like 0:11:36.760 --> 0:11:40.960 decent and humane individual that was taken out. This is 0:11:41.000 --> 0:11:42.800 the narrative, and you witnessed it right there in that 0:11:42.920 --> 0:11:43.480 interview with you. 0:11:44.400 --> 0:11:48.360 Well, the New York Times headline says, Ayatola Ali Kameni, 0:11:49.120 --> 0:11:54.280 hardline cleric who made ran a regional power, is dead 0:11:54.480 --> 0:12:01.800 at eighty six, which is just redics And and I'll 0:12:01.800 --> 0:12:05.559 say Mark Alprin had had an amusing take on it. 0:12:06.040 --> 0:12:06.199 Uh. 0:12:06.240 --> 0:12:08.480 He said that headline was a little bit like a 0:12:08.520 --> 0:12:13.800 headline quote Jeffrey Dahmer, hungry Wisconsin man passes away. 0:12:14.320 --> 0:12:16.640 Yeah, that's it's not far off. 0:12:17.120 --> 0:12:27.360 While technically accurate, it conveys, you know, approval of the conduct. 0:12:27.400 --> 0:12:31.760 And and in fact, I want to in fact that 0:12:31.760 --> 0:12:34.679 that New York Times headline is as ridiculous as as 0:12:34.720 --> 0:12:38.520 the older Washington Post headline. Uh that that that read 0:12:38.600 --> 0:12:42.800 a boo Baker al Baghdaddy, austere religious scholar at the 0:12:42.840 --> 0:12:47.199 helm of Islamic State, dies at forty eight. I mean, 0:12:47.320 --> 0:12:52.200 it's just absurd, but but it but it's actually it's 0:12:52.280 --> 0:12:58.040 not the worst. The Washington Post wrote an obituary for 0:12:58.280 --> 0:13:02.880 the Ayatola that if Saturday Night Live had done this, 0:13:02.920 --> 0:13:04.599 they couldn't have made it more absurd. I'm going to 0:13:04.640 --> 0:13:09.160 read you a paragraph from it. With his bushy white 0:13:09.160 --> 0:13:15.000 beard an easy smile, Iatola Kameni cut a more avuncular 0:13:15.080 --> 0:13:19.440 figure in public than his perpetually scowling but much more 0:13:19.520 --> 0:13:22.800 revered mentor, and he was known to be fond of 0:13:22.840 --> 0:13:29.120 Persian poetry and classic Western novels, especially Victor Hugo's Les Miserab. 0:13:30.000 --> 0:13:34.760 Some Iranians knew Iatola Kameni before he became Supreme Leader 0:13:35.320 --> 0:13:43.040 described him as a quote closet moderate. Look, that is sick. 0:13:43.240 --> 0:13:47.720 This is the same Iatola who regularly chants death to 0:13:47.840 --> 0:13:51.359 America and death to Israel. This is the same Iatola 0:13:51.440 --> 0:13:55.440 that set the goal of creating nuclear weapons, I believe, 0:13:55.640 --> 0:13:59.040 for the purpose of using those nuclear weapons. This is 0:13:59.080 --> 0:14:03.319 the same Iotolia who is responsible for killing nearly one 0:14:03.360 --> 0:14:09.240 thousand Americans, for waging war on America relentlessly, for funding 0:14:09.679 --> 0:14:14.480 hamas Hesbla. The houthis ninety percent of their funding comes 0:14:14.559 --> 0:14:17.440 from Iran. This is the same Iatola. Look. One of 0:14:17.440 --> 0:14:20.800 the reasons we went into Venezuela is Iran had a 0:14:20.840 --> 0:14:26.240 major beachhead in Venezuela. Maduro allowed Iran in there. Hesbola 0:14:26.680 --> 0:14:32.400 had a major beachhead to wage war in Venezuela, to 0:14:32.560 --> 0:14:38.360 attack the United States. Look, this evuncular man with a 0:14:38.400 --> 0:14:42.280 bushy white beard, as the numbskulls at the Washington Post 0:14:42.320 --> 0:14:49.440 put it, until yesterday, was actively trying to murder President 0:14:49.480 --> 0:14:52.880 Donald Trump. Had hired hitman, had put out a video, 0:14:53.680 --> 0:14:57.000 an animation showing a drone going to mar A Lago 0:14:57.080 --> 0:15:01.120 and killing President Trump on the golf course. You know 0:15:02.160 --> 0:15:04.600 the phrase for the media that's been used more than 0:15:04.600 --> 0:15:09.520 once is useful idiots, and I think sometimes headline writers 0:15:09.560 --> 0:15:12.360 decide they haven't given us enough material. They need to 0:15:12.400 --> 0:15:15.000 be even more ridiculous, cheering for our enemies. 0:15:15.840 --> 0:15:20.160 As Operation Epic Fury intensifies, the world braces for what 0:15:20.280 --> 0:15:24.120 comes next, and people of faith pray for freedom and 0:15:24.200 --> 0:15:26.520 for God's people to be protected in. 0:15:26.480 --> 0:15:27.240 The Holy Land. 0:15:27.520 --> 0:15:31.440 Red alert sirens fill the air, sirens that give you 0:15:31.480 --> 0:15:35.800 fifteen seconds to reach the nearest bomb shelter. The situation 0:15:36.280 --> 0:15:40.000 is serious and the threat is real. In times like this, 0:15:40.400 --> 0:15:44.520 freedom and faith aren't just abstract ideas. They are what 0:15:44.680 --> 0:15:48.680 we depend on. And the International Fellowship of Christians and 0:15:48.760 --> 0:15:52.600 Jews is on the ground preparing large scale distributions of 0:15:52.640 --> 0:15:57.920 life saving food, first aid, and emergency essentials for security personnel, 0:15:58.480 --> 0:16:02.560 while helping ensure hospital emergency rooms and shelters are stocked 0:16:02.600 --> 0:16:06.880 with critical medical supplies. This ad is focused on Israel's 0:16:06.920 --> 0:16:11.000 most vulnerable, the sick, the elderly, children and families in 0:16:11.040 --> 0:16:14.800 great need. But the Fellowship needs your most generous gift 0:16:14.840 --> 0:16:18.080 today to make this work all possible. Now is your 0:16:18.160 --> 0:16:22.000 time to stand with Israel's most vulnerable to rush your gift. 0:16:22.200 --> 0:16:26.520 Call eight eight eight four eight eight IFCJ that's eight 0:16:26.560 --> 0:16:31.160 eight eight four eight eight IFCJ. Or give online at 0:16:31.280 --> 0:16:37.040 IFCJ dot org. That's IFCJ dot org. All right, I 0:16:37.080 --> 0:16:39.920 got a lot of questions Center, and everybody listening right now, 0:16:39.960 --> 0:16:41.320 I know, is gonna want to ask the same one 0:16:41.320 --> 0:16:44.840 that I'm gonna ask. You're on Air Force one, You 0:16:44.920 --> 0:16:48.160 were in DC, you flew with the President back to Texas. 0:16:48.520 --> 0:16:51.200 How much of the conversation on Air Force one was 0:16:51.240 --> 0:16:55.080 about this becoming a reality twenty four hours later? Less 0:16:55.080 --> 0:16:57.880 than twenty four hours later? You guys either had great 0:16:57.920 --> 0:16:59.720 poker faces when you were down there in front of 0:16:59.720 --> 0:17:01.840 that ship that we had sees in Venezuela and the 0:17:01.840 --> 0:17:04.479 oil and what you were doing on that trip, because 0:17:05.080 --> 0:17:08.399 clearly this was in the final moments of the planning 0:17:08.440 --> 0:17:11.760 stages or execution, I should say stages of this plan. 0:17:12.160 --> 0:17:13.920 What all was discussed on that that you can talk 0:17:13.920 --> 0:17:14.440 to us about. 0:17:15.040 --> 0:17:17.800 Yeah, So I was on Air Force one with President Trump, 0:17:17.840 --> 0:17:21.000 flying from Washington, d C. Down to Texas to Corpus Christy. 0:17:21.960 --> 0:17:24.760 I was joined by my colleague, Senator John Cornyn, and 0:17:24.760 --> 0:17:27.679 then there were multiple members of Congress that were there. Uh, 0:17:27.800 --> 0:17:31.199 And the President came and was talking with us and 0:17:31.320 --> 0:17:33.359 asking about Iran, and he went around the room and 0:17:33.359 --> 0:17:34.679 he said said, should we strike? 0:17:34.720 --> 0:17:35.240 What do you think? 0:17:35.280 --> 0:17:38.439 Should we strike? Should we hit them hard? Or should 0:17:38.480 --> 0:17:40.840 should we go and and and keep trying to cut 0:17:40.840 --> 0:17:43.240 a deal? What do you think? I will tell you 0:17:43.320 --> 0:17:45.119 every one of us that was on the plane, it 0:17:45.200 --> 0:17:47.320 was unanimous. We said hit them and hit them hard. 0:17:47.359 --> 0:17:50.080 That that that was the assessment. And look, Trump often 0:17:50.119 --> 0:17:53.000 when he's making decisions and talking to people who he trusts, 0:17:53.920 --> 0:17:57.440 he tries to get their their taken there. Yeah, yeah, 0:17:57.560 --> 0:17:59.840 he wants a barometer. Is this a good idea? What 0:18:00.080 --> 0:18:02.840 the risk? What should we do? So we talked quite 0:18:02.840 --> 0:18:04.600 a bit on Air Force one about it, and then 0:18:04.640 --> 0:18:09.440 when we landed, the President waved me over to join 0:18:09.560 --> 0:18:12.200 him in the Beast, and so he and I drove 0:18:13.240 --> 0:18:15.679 from the tarmac to the event. It was probably fifteen 0:18:15.720 --> 0:18:17.280 twenty minutes and it was just the two of us 0:18:17.280 --> 0:18:19.679 and the Beast. We were the only two, and we 0:18:19.760 --> 0:18:24.000 spent almost the entire time talking about Iran further. And 0:18:24.080 --> 0:18:28.119 so that was one on one and in that context 0:18:28.160 --> 0:18:30.920 I was leaning in even more vigorously than I had 0:18:30.920 --> 0:18:34.280 on Air Force One and was saying, listen, this is 0:18:34.320 --> 0:18:37.720 a moment in time which we've never had like this before. 0:18:38.880 --> 0:18:44.320 This regime is so weak, you know, dictatorships, and this 0:18:44.359 --> 0:18:46.320 is true. This is true of the Soviet Union, this 0:18:46.400 --> 0:18:48.920 is true of communist China, this is true of Hugo 0:18:49.000 --> 0:18:51.600 Chavez and Nicholas Maduro, this is true of the communist 0:18:51.680 --> 0:18:56.400 regime in Cuba, and this is true of Iran. Dictatorships 0:18:57.280 --> 0:19:01.880 depend upon convincing their citizens there invulnerable, that nothing can 0:19:01.920 --> 0:19:04.800 defeat them. That's part of how you keep ninety two 0:19:04.840 --> 0:19:09.160 million Iranians subjugated is the feeling that it's hopeless, we 0:19:09.240 --> 0:19:14.800 cannot overthrow these tyrants. And understand, the Iatola was a tyrant. 0:19:14.840 --> 0:19:18.159 He regularly murdered his own citizens, tortured his own citizens, 0:19:18.520 --> 0:19:21.640 stripped them of their freedom. I mean, the abuses were 0:19:21.680 --> 0:19:25.600 horrific directed to his own citizens, much less the murder 0:19:25.600 --> 0:19:30.360 and terror that he projected outward. And last year when 0:19:30.359 --> 0:19:33.280 the twelve Day war happened, you know, it's interesting some 0:19:33.320 --> 0:19:37.760 folks in politics behave like everything is is communications, everything 0:19:37.800 --> 0:19:41.800 is calms and messaging and spin. There are very real 0:19:41.840 --> 0:19:46.080 world effects when you lose a war. There was a 0:19:46.119 --> 0:19:50.960 war for twelve days, and Iran utterly and completely got 0:19:51.040 --> 0:19:54.840 its ass kicked. And if there's anything worse, if you're 0:19:54.880 --> 0:19:58.919 an Islamist dictator, if you're trying to envision a world, 0:19:58.920 --> 0:20:02.320 that is worse than losing a war, it's losing a 0:20:02.359 --> 0:20:06.840 war to Israel. It was Israel that completely and totally 0:20:07.000 --> 0:20:09.800 decimated them, that took out their air defenses, took out 0:20:09.840 --> 0:20:12.680 the leadership of the IRGC. And by the way, day 0:20:12.720 --> 0:20:15.399 after day the Iatola would appoint a new leader of 0:20:15.440 --> 0:20:17.560 the IRGC the next day that guy was dead, that 0:20:17.640 --> 0:20:19.320 he'd appoint a new one the next day that guy 0:20:19.440 --> 0:20:25.800 was dead. It demonstrated complete and total penetration by the 0:20:25.880 --> 0:20:31.159 Masad and by American intelligence of Iran, knowing where everybody 0:20:31.359 --> 0:20:35.359 was and that and obviously it culminated with President Trump 0:20:35.760 --> 0:20:39.719 launching the bombing run, taking out the underground nuclear facilities. 0:20:39.880 --> 0:20:42.840 That when that happened, you and I on this podcast said, 0:20:42.840 --> 0:20:45.960 in the wake of that, we predicted this regime is 0:20:46.000 --> 0:20:49.680 going to fall, and I said it, they are so weak. 0:20:49.800 --> 0:20:53.800 Now the Iranian people rose up, rose up in massive numbers, 0:20:53.840 --> 0:20:57.040 over a million Iranians in protests. And by the way, 0:20:57.080 --> 0:20:59.840 the response of the Ayatola was to order his soul. 0:21:00.080 --> 0:21:03.879 There's just a fire machine guns at them, killing anywhere 0:21:03.920 --> 0:21:06.879 between ten thousand and forty thousand protesters. We don't have 0:21:07.000 --> 0:21:09.159 I haven't seen really firm estimates. I think it is 0:21:09.200 --> 0:21:11.880 at least ten thousand. It could be as high as 0:21:11.920 --> 0:21:14.640 forty thousand. But that shows the level of terarity when 0:21:14.640 --> 0:21:18.439 you say, just unload and fire into the crowd and 0:21:18.520 --> 0:21:20.639 kill as many as you can. That's what they were doing. 0:21:23.040 --> 0:21:27.800 President Trump's actions this weekend levels the playing field and 0:21:28.200 --> 0:21:31.640 is taken out by the way. It's also an illustration 0:21:31.920 --> 0:21:38.600 of exquisite intelligence. The early bombing strike that occurred that 0:21:38.840 --> 0:21:44.639 killed Iatola Kamini. The reporting we're getting, and this is 0:21:44.720 --> 0:21:47.159 open source. I don't have any classified information on this, 0:21:47.240 --> 0:21:49.600 but the public reporting is that there was a meeting 0:21:50.520 --> 0:21:55.159 of the Ayatola along with basically as National Security Council, 0:21:55.200 --> 0:21:59.840 as top military advisors. And that's the meeting that Israel 0:22:00.080 --> 0:22:01.919 druck and and and took him out. And so they 0:22:02.000 --> 0:22:04.600 knew exactly where where he was. They knew where his 0:22:04.640 --> 0:22:08.640 senior leaders were, that is, and so so when when 0:22:08.680 --> 0:22:10.560 I was riding in the beast with the President, I 0:22:10.600 --> 0:22:13.760 was urging him this is the moment, and he's like, well, 0:22:13.760 --> 0:22:16.200 what do you think of of the negotiations, And I said, 0:22:16.240 --> 0:22:19.760 mister President, they're just dragging it out. It's just a 0:22:19.800 --> 0:22:22.679 delay tactic. They think they can delay and and and 0:22:22.720 --> 0:22:27.240 that you'll let the moment pass and and listen is 0:22:27.280 --> 0:22:30.480 their risk. Of course, there's risk having. 0:22:30.520 --> 0:22:32.439 There's even more risk if you don't act right. I mean, 0:22:32.480 --> 0:22:34.119 that's how you look at this. I mean when people 0:22:34.119 --> 0:22:35.720 say I don't I don't like war, you know, I 0:22:35.760 --> 0:22:38.040 can't believe you're advocating this. I don't like war either, 0:22:38.359 --> 0:22:40.760 but I really don't like a war where Ran starts 0:22:40.760 --> 0:22:43.440 at and Iran has a nuclear weapon, and Iran kills 0:22:43.480 --> 0:22:46.520 countlessness and people, whether a dirty bomb or Israel or 0:22:46.560 --> 0:22:48.000 wherever they decided to do it in the world, or 0:22:48.040 --> 0:22:50.520 have one of their proxies. That was the biggest thing 0:22:50.600 --> 0:22:53.359 that I don't think people understood about Iran. Iran getting 0:22:53.400 --> 0:22:56.080 a nuclear weapon center is not just them having it. 0:22:56.080 --> 0:22:58.280 It's that they have these proxies. They could also give 0:22:58.359 --> 0:23:01.840 them to and dirty bombs could go. That's a major 0:23:01.960 --> 0:23:04.359 concern that a lot of people don't think understood. In 0:23:04.400 --> 0:23:07.000 the complexity of Iran, They're not the one that always 0:23:07.040 --> 0:23:09.920 has to shoot. They may give the supplies needed someone 0:23:09.920 --> 0:23:11.240 else to do it for them. 0:23:11.640 --> 0:23:15.040 Well, that's right, and that's one of the real risks 0:23:15.040 --> 0:23:18.400 of escalation in the coming days is those proxies Hamas 0:23:18.400 --> 0:23:21.160 and HEZBLA and the huthis engaging in acts of violence, 0:23:21.200 --> 0:23:24.399