Latest / The Ben Ferguson Podcast / Liberal DHS Funding Fight Puts Airport Security at Risk plus Strait Under Siege-Trump Urges Allies to Step Up

Transcript

Liberal DHS Funding Fight Puts Airport Security at Risk plus Strait Under Siege-Trump Urges Allies to Step Up · The Ben Ferguson Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: It is official. Democrats got exactly what they wanted. There
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: is a growing crisis at airports across the United States
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: of America today and it's directly tied to a political
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: battle in Washington over the funding of ICE that is
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: holding literally America's airports and you if your traveler hostage.
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: Right now, more than fifty thousand Transportation Security Administration officers
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: are working without pay after Congress yet again failed to
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: pass a full funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security.
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: The shutdown began after lawmakers failed to reach an agreement
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: over immigration enforcement and broader DHS spinning priorities and the
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: consequences they're immediate, according to federal officials. Today, TSA union
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: representatives are also confirming that more than three hundred TSA
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: officers have already quit since a shutdown began. Democrats knew
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: that this was going to happen. They designed this on purpose.
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: About ten percent of TSA officers called out or failed
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: to report to work during the first weekend without full
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: pay as well. Normally, absentee rates are around two to
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: three percent, meaning absentees have quadrupled or more. Depending on
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: which airport you are going to. Some major airports have
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: reported more than twenty percent staffing shortages during peak travel periods.
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: And it's spring break for many Americans. And remember TSA
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: officers are considered essential personnel, meaning they are required to
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: keep working even if they are not being paid. They
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: will get back pay eventually. Now, ABC News and others
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: are forced to cover this ongoing crisis, and as spring
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: break surge, the strain has gotten even worse.
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: The spring break travel crush underway, expected to be the
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: busiest ever as millions fill airports across the country. Early
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: this morning, security lines snaking outside the airport in Austin, Texas,
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: the travel surge coming as sixty thousand TSA officers are
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: already feeling the squeeze, receiving their first zero dollar paycheck
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: today with funding still halted for the Department of Homeland Security,
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: with no end in sight.
• 2:23
  Speaker 3: Morale's low.
• 2:25
  Speaker 4: Your bills are still going to keep coming, but you
• 2:27
  Speaker 4: have nothing.
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: No way to ban to ease the burden. Food pantries
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: opening up from JFK to Seattle, Denver's Airport accepting food
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: and gas card donations for its TSA officers.
• 2:37
  Speaker 4: It hurts the pride you have to go and stand
• 2:39
  Speaker 4: in the lie, you know, to receive food and things
• 2:43
  Speaker 4: when the only thing you've done is show up like
• 2:46
  Speaker 4: you're supposed to.
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: Nearly a month into the shutdown, more than three hundred
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: TSA officers have quit callouts, more than.
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: Doubling President Trump demanding that these TSA agents received their paychecks.
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: Democrats are saying, no, we want them to suffer because
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: we don't like ice agents that are actually not TSA
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: agents at the airport. This is what you call political revenge.
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: And for many of these agents, by the way, the
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: financial pressure is immediate. The average frontline TSA officer that
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: you meet at the airport, their salary is roughly forty
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: five to sixty thousand per year, meaning missing even one
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: paycheck can create major financial stress for families trying to
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: pay rent, mortgages, groceries, as well as childcare. Now, Republicans
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: and President Trump had been leading the push to fund
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: the TSA. Republicans in Congress say the crisis is entirely avoidable.
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: They have introduced legislation that would fully fund just the
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: TSA operations and the rest of the Department of homelandned Security.
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: But Democrats, holding America hostage during spring break, have refused
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: to advance the funding bill. They say, unless immigration enforcement
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: provisions are stripped out, this is all about political revenge.
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: President Trump has repeatedly urged Congress to fund TSA and
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: border security immediately. Trump said a statement about the shutdown, quote,
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: our TSA officers and border agents protect America every single day.
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: They should never be forced to work without pay because
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: of politics in Washington. In another statement on the DHS
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: funding fight, Trump said today this quote, we must fund
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: home land security, fully, fund TSA and secure our borders.
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: Republicans are ready to do that right now. Republican leaders
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: argue that air travel securities should not become a political
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: bargaining chip, especially during periods of heightened global tension, and
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: multiple terrorist attacks have taken place in the United States
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: of America over the last ten days. At the same time, however,
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: several prominent Democrats have previously called for dramatically reducing or
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: even eliminating the TSA. Do you really want to fly
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: on planes? Is the question all Americans should ask without
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: going through security. Who are the Democrats behind this idea?
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: Example Number one Alexandra Cortes, known as AOC. She's previously
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: supported proposals to restructure or eliminate TSA as part of
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: broader federal policing reforms. Alamo mar another radical of the left,
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: has also expressed support for reducing federal security agencies and
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: redirecting resources towards what she described as other priorities, meaning
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: you could get on a plane and not go through security.
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: In twenty twenty and twenty twenty one, there were multiple
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: Progressive Democrats that supported policy platforms that proposed abolishing or
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: privatizing airport secure systems, arguing that the TSA was ineffective
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: or overly intrusive, so therefore you should just be able
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: to take anything you want on an airplane. It's like,
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: you know, the honor system, until a terrorist decides to
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: blow up a plane. Those proposals are now reservicing again
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: this week during the current funding fight, with some progressive
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: lawmakers arguing that DHS agencies should be fundamentally restructured rather
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: than simply funded. Now the airlines are now getting into
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: the game. They're warning of security risks. Major airlines are
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: now warning that the situation could spiral if the shutdown continues.
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: And then there's the travelers themselves. They're furious over the
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: lines just take a listen to NBC's local DC affiliate
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: and how they are now talking about the real story
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: of what has happened at the airports all because of
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: the Democrats.
• 6:58
  Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, so much concern about TA say checkpoint
• 7:00
  Speaker 3: lines all across the country. Right now, we can show
• 7:03
  Speaker 3: you what it looks like at Reagan National Airport. Pretty
• 7:06
  Speaker 3: good for the moment. Everything moving pretty smoothly right now.
• 7:10
  Speaker 3: But it's what's happening behind the scenes here that's really
• 7:13
  Speaker 3: starting to cause concern.
• 7:15
  Speaker 4: Well.
• 7:15
  Speaker 3: TSA workers are about to miss their second paycheck of
• 7:20
  Speaker 3: this ongoing partial government shutdown, and that's on top of
• 7:24
  Speaker 3: what these workers went through during the longest government shutdown
• 7:27
  Speaker 3: ever in the fall, where many missed multiple paychecks as well.
• 7:32
  Speaker 5: Adam, And that's the stress part is what's really not
• 7:37
  Speaker 5: being reported.
• 7:38
  Speaker 3: I think Joe Schucker is with the union that represents
• 7:41
  Speaker 3: TSA employees in the mid Atlantic. Now, TSA sources are
• 7:45
  Speaker 3: telling news Ford that it's gotten so bad that some
• 7:47
  Speaker 3: workers are sleeping in their cars outside of airports, including
• 7:51
  Speaker 3: Dallas International, because those workers can't pay rent or afford
• 7:56
  Speaker 3: gas to drive around.
• 7:57
  Speaker 5: I know that's a fact, no doubt. It's a stressful
• 8:01
  Speaker 5: enough job as it is. You're looking for bombs, you're
• 8:03
  Speaker 5: looking for weapons. Right now you have the added stress
• 8:06
  Speaker 5: of how am I going to feed my family tomorrow?
• 8:10
  Speaker 5: How am I going to put gas in my car?
• 8:12
  Speaker 3: A senior TSA official confirms and internal report to NBC
• 8:15
  Speaker 3: News that around three hundred officers have now quit and
• 8:19
  Speaker 3: many many more are calling out sick. That's part of
• 8:22
  Speaker 3: the issue that's been causing long lines at some TSA
• 8:25
  Speaker 3: checkpoints across the country.
• 8:27
  Speaker 5: At some point, officers going to hit a breaking point
• 8:31
  Speaker 5: and like I said, it's going to be a perfect storm.
• 8:33
  Speaker 5: We're heading in the spring break and the officers haven't
• 8:37
  Speaker 5: got paid in two months.
• 8:38
  Speaker 3: When I asked him the solution, he said, simply, they
• 8:41
  Speaker 3: have to pay us.
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: Now you add all this in with what the airlines
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: are saying. Executives from American Delta Southwest have now urged
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: Congress directly to resolve the crisis quickly. They warned that
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: the continued staffing shortes could increase security weight times, forced
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: checkpoint closures altogether, and caused major airport delays nationwide. During
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: previous shutdowns, wait times at some airport stretched to over
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: two hours as TSA staffing shortages grew. The numbers behind
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: the crisis are truly incredible. Fifty plus thousand TSA officers
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: are now working officially without any pay at all. Eighty
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: five thousand Department of Home and Security employees are also affected.
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: Three hundred plus TSA agents have already quit, and the
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: absence rate from work is jumping day after day from
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: two all the way up to about ten percent. Many
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: airports are also seeing major shortages this morning as well,
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: as I mentioned earlier, depending on how organized the workers become,
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: some airports are reporting twenty percent staffing shortages TSA officers.
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: They're not getting rich the average salaries I mentioned earlier
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: forty five to sixty thousand annually, and that's exactly why
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: many of them are sleeping in their cars at the airport.
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: So this is the bottom line for President Trump. Airport
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: security should not be political. Airport security in the United
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: States is now caught in the middle of a political
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: fight only because of the Democrats. Republicans say they are
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: ready to pass the bill that would fully fund TSA immediately,
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: and Democrats are saying no, they want open borders. They
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: want broader immigration concessions, meaning more legal immigrants in America
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: before they agree to give you homeland security funding. President
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: Trump has also made it clear on another issue, it's
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: time for you to call your congressman and your senator
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: and demand that our airports are taken off the political
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: chopping block. President Donald Trump struck a confident and really
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: an aggressive tone today when speaking with reporters about the
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: ongoing war with Iran, while also signal some strategic shifts
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: as well. He has called this plan a massive success,
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: Trump emphasizing the US campaign is working. Highlighting the scale
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: of operations. He said the US has had over seven
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: thousand targets inside of Iran. He also claimed Iran's military
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: capabilities had been obliterated and pointed to a ninety to
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: ninety five percent reduction in missile and drone attacks coming
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: out of Iran. His message to the American people in
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: the world was this, the US is dominating militarily and
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: weakening Iran fast the present in his own words, saying
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: this about well Iran and their military.
• 11:44
  Speaker 4: So thank you very much for being here. We have
• 11:50
  Speaker 4: a wonderful group of very very smart, talented patriots at
• 11:55
  Speaker 4: this table. Our powerful military campaign to end the threats
• 12:01
  Speaker 4: posed by the Iranian regime continued in full force. Over
• 12:05
  Speaker 4: the past few days, they have been literally obliterated. The
• 12:12
  Speaker 4: air force is gone, the navy is gone. Many many
• 12:17
  Speaker 4: ships have been sunk. Their war fighting ships, but I
• 12:21
  Speaker 4: guess they didn't know how to use them, and anti
• 12:25
  Speaker 4: aircraft is decimated, their radar is gone, and their leaders
• 12:29
  Speaker 4: are gone. Other than that, they're doing quite well. They've
• 12:33
  Speaker 4: been a terriff for forty seven years and now I
• 12:39
  Speaker 4: guess the world through the United States, with the help
• 12:44
  Speaker 4: of Israel, is doing what should have been done many
• 12:49
  Speaker 4: years ago. Should have been done many years ago. Since
• 12:53
  Speaker 4: the beginning of the conflict, we've struck more than seven
• 12:56
  Speaker 4: thousand targets across Iran. These have been mostly commercial and
• 13:02
  Speaker 4: military targets. We've achieved a ninety percent reduction in their
• 13:07
  Speaker 4: ballistic missile launches and a ninety five percent reduction in
• 13:12
  Speaker 4: drone attacks. The missiles are trickling in now at very
• 13:18
  Speaker 4: low levels because they don't have too many missiles left.
• 13:23
  Speaker 4: We've also attacked the manufacturing plants where the places where
• 13:28
  Speaker 4: they manufacture the missiles and the drones, and that's going
• 13:32
  Speaker 4: on today. We just hit three of them today. It's
• 13:36
  Speaker 4: getting very hard for them. To manufacture. More than one
• 13:40
  Speaker 4: hundred Iranian naval vessels have been sunk or destroyed over
• 13:44
  Speaker 4: the last week and a half. It has to be
• 13:47
  Speaker 4: some kind of a record. Now.
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: After the President gave that generic update on where we
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: are now with Iran, he also went into some of
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: the core issues at hand. One of them is about
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: the Strait of Horn moves the present talking about our
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: allies and how important is they come and help on
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: this issue to make sure that the oil disruption does
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: not take place for an extended period of time, and
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: that would mean securing the Strait of Hormuz.
• 14:13
  Speaker 4: Armoring their capacity to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait
• 14:18
  Speaker 4: of Hormos. With more than thirty mine laying ships destroyed,
• 14:23
  Speaker 4: we hit, to the best of our knowledge, all of
• 14:26
  Speaker 4: their mind laying ships. Now they can put them on
• 14:28
  Speaker 4: other types of ships, I guess, and drop them in,
• 14:30
  Speaker 4: but we don't know that any have even been dropped in.
• 14:33
  Speaker 4: We're not sure that any have been. That's a big
• 14:36
  Speaker 4: negative for them. If they do it, it's a form
• 14:38
  Speaker 4: of suicide. But we don't know that they have dropped any.
• 14:43
  Speaker 4: But we've hit all thirty of their ships and destroyed them.
• 14:47
  Speaker 4: They're all at the bottom of the sea. We strongly
• 14:51
  Speaker 4: encourage other nations whose economies depend on the Strait far
• 14:54
  Speaker 4: more than ours. You know, we get less than one
• 14:57
  Speaker 4: percent of our oil from the Strait, and some countries
• 15:02
  Speaker 4: get much more. Japan gets ninety five percent, China gets
• 15:06
  Speaker 4: ninety percent, many of the Europeans get quite a bit.
• 15:10
  Speaker 4: South Korea gets thirty five percent. So we want them
• 15:14
  Speaker 4: to come and help us with the Strait. We have
• 15:18
  Speaker 4: it in very good shape. The countries I said, we've
• 15:21
  Speaker 4: already taken care of Iran, but now because of the
• 15:24
  Speaker 4: fact that literally a single terrorist can put something in
• 15:28
  Speaker 4: the water, or shoot something, or shoot a missile, a
• 15:31
  Speaker 4: small missile, and it's fairly close range because it is
• 15:34
  Speaker 4: a tight area, and which is one of the reasons
• 15:38
  Speaker 4: they've always used that as a weapon. Iran has always
• 15:42
  Speaker 4: used that as an economic weapon, and it's not going
• 15:46
  Speaker 4: to be able to be used very long. Numerous countries
• 15:51
  Speaker 4: have told me they're on the way. Some are very
• 15:55
  Speaker 4: enthusiastic about it, and some are in summer countries that
• 15:58
  Speaker 4: we've helped for many, many year years. We've protected them
• 16:03
  Speaker 4: from horrible outside sources, and they weren't that enthusiastic and
• 16:11
  Speaker 4: the level of enthusiasm. It matters to me. We have
• 16:15
  Speaker 4: some countries where we have forty five thousand soldiers, great soldiers,
• 16:19
  Speaker 4: protecting them from harm's way, and we have done a
• 16:25
  Speaker 4: great job. And when we want to know, do you
• 16:28
  Speaker 4: have any mind sweepers, well, would rather not get involved, sir,
• 16:34
  Speaker 4: I said, for you mean, for forty years, we're protecting you,
• 16:37
  Speaker 4: and you don't want to get involved in something that
• 16:40
  Speaker 4: is very minor, very few shots going to be taken,
• 16:43
  Speaker 4: because they don't have many shots left. But they said,
• 16:46
  Speaker 4: we'd rather not get involved. I just want the fake
• 16:51
  Speaker 4: news media and everybody else to remember that that was said,
• 16:55
  Speaker 4: because when I've been a big critic of all the
• 17:00
  Speaker 4: protecting of countries, because I know that we'll protect them
• 17:04
  Speaker 4: and if ever needed, if we haven't needed help, they
• 17:08
  Speaker 4: won't be there for us. I've just known that for
• 17:10
  Speaker 4: a long period of time, just like I knew about
• 17:14
  Speaker 4: the Strait that it would be a weapon, which I
• 17:17
  Speaker 4: predicted a long time ago, predicted all of this stuff.
• 17:20
  Speaker 4: You guys were very generous, and that I predicted all
• 17:22
  Speaker 4: of it. Now.
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: The President also answered questions later in the day in
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: the Oval office. He was also asked this question by
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: Fox News Channel about the Democrats coming after him, saying
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: that he didn't realize that Iran would retaliate against the
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: Gulf States.
• 17:40
  Speaker 4: You were talking about Iran a couple times a day,
• 17:43
  Speaker 4: and what they did after epic theory began, he said,
• 17:46
  Speaker 4: they hit Color, Saudi Arabia, Ue Bahrang Pwait. Nobody expected that.
• 17:50
  Speaker 4: We were shocked.
• 17:51
  Speaker 3: Are you surprised that nobody briefed you ahead of time
• 17:54
  Speaker 3: that that might be their re telling?
• 17:56
  Speaker 4: Nobody, No, no, no, no, the greatness extra somebody thought
• 17:59
  Speaker 4: that going to hit They were I wouldn't say friendly countries.
• 18:02
  Speaker 4: They were like neutral. They were. They lived with them
• 18:04
  Speaker 4: for years, Peter. They were going to take over the
• 18:07
  Speaker 4: Middle East. They were going to knock out Israel with
• 18:09
  Speaker 4: their nuclear weapon. But after we knocked out their nuclear potential,
• 18:13
  Speaker 4: their nuclear potential weapon, they started building missiles, thousands of
• 18:20
  Speaker 4: thousands of missiles. And they were going to do it
• 18:22
  Speaker 4: with missiles while they developed These are sick people. While
• 18:27
  Speaker 4: they developed nuclear somehow they were going to start at
• 18:29
  Speaker 4: a different site because that site was you saw the site,
• 18:32
  Speaker 4: the mountain. They were going to go into a certain area,
• 18:35
  Speaker 4: which we know exactly where it is, and they were
• 18:38
  Speaker 4: going to do that, and it's incredible what we've done.
• 18:42
  Speaker 4: I'll tell you the job we've done. You know, if
• 18:45
  Speaker 4: I didn't terminate Brook, the Saint Obama's around nuclear deal,
• 18:50
  Speaker 4: you would right now, well, Israel would be gone, it
• 18:54
  Speaker 4: would be incinerated, and probably the Middle East likewise. And
• 18:58
  Speaker 4: remember they got all those missiles and I heard they
• 19:03
  Speaker 4: were sending missiles to UAE. I said, that's strange. You know,
• 19:07
  Speaker 4: UAE is like the banker for Oran. They they're like
• 19:12
  Speaker 4: the banker Qatar, the neighbors they got along, Okay, so
• 19:17
  Speaker 4: they Arabia all of a sudden, Kuwait, Kuwait is getting hit,
• 19:23
  Speaker 4: Bahrain is getting all these countries are getting hit. There
• 19:27
  Speaker 4: was no expert that would say that was going to happen.
• 19:29
  Speaker 4: It's not a question of like, geez, should you have known?
• 19:32
  Speaker 4: And if we did know, big deal. I mean, we
• 19:34
  Speaker 4: have to do what we have to do. But we
• 19:37
  Speaker 4: hit them so hard like nobody's ever been hit. We
• 19:40
  Speaker 4: hit them very hard, and we've extinguished most of their missiles,
• 19:45
  Speaker 4: We've extinguished most of their drones. We've extinguished most of
• 19:50
  Speaker 4: the places where the missiles and the drones are built.
• 19:53
  Speaker 4: We've fully extinguished two layers of leadership, and probably a
• 19:58
  Speaker 4: third if you believe some stories. So we only have
• 20:04
  Speaker 4: one thing to have a little choke point, and they've
• 20:07
  Speaker 4: used it very well for years, but it doesn't work.
• 20:10
  Speaker 4: But I think this if some of these countries that
• 20:15
  Speaker 4: we've been good to for years, and maybe more important
• 20:17
  Speaker 4: than that, some of these countries that get nine and
• 20:20
  Speaker 4: ninety five percent of their energy from hor moves the strength.
• 20:27
  Speaker 4: Hormos a famous, wonderful, beautiful place. But you wouldn't want
• 20:32
  Speaker 4: to be necessarily sailing up bout there right there? Okay,
• 20:36
  Speaker 4: you know why not? Because of that, because of us,
• 20:39
  Speaker 4: Because we've taken out their entire navy. We've taken out
• 20:43
  Speaker 4: every one of their drover They call it a drone layer,
• 20:46
  Speaker 4: a mind layer. There's specific boats that are meant to
• 20:50
  Speaker 4: put minds out. How would you like to have a
• 20:52
  Speaker 4: nation that has twenty two boats where they're sole functioned.
• 20:57
  Speaker 4: They're very different looking boats. You wouldn't want one for
• 21:00
  Speaker 4: your family. They're not pretty. Their sole function is to
• 21:04
  Speaker 4: lift a mind into the water and drop it a
• 21:06
  Speaker 4: certain number of feet down. But they had twenty two
• 21:09
  Speaker 4: of them with taken out all of them but you
• 21:11
  Speaker 4: can probably you can probably drop them off of the boasts.
• 21:15
  Speaker 4: So we don't even know. By the way, we don't
• 21:16
  Speaker 4: know that any minds have even been dropped, but the
• 21:19
  Speaker 4: thought that they would scares people that have big and
• 21:22
  Speaker 4: dollar chips.
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: It's very clear President Trump is focused on making sure
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: that Iran can never hurt any of us as long
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: as he's in office. It's also very clear that the
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: President's not taking the bait on Democrats and what they're
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: trying to do. He's focused on taking out Iran's leadership,
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: and each and every time they seem to name someone new,
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: America seems to be able to take him out. Pretty
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: a major escalation in the Middle East, Israel announcing that
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: it is now taken out not one, but two top
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: Iranian leaders in a targeted strike, sending a clear and
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: unmistake makable message to Tehran and the world that there
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: are still consequences for the actions of those leaders in Iran.
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: Now this just isn't another headline. That's the point I
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: want to make clear. This is clearly a defining moment.
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: According to Israeli leadership, these were not symbolic targets. These
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: were key architects of Iran's military and terror operations. Israel
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: making it clear that they will act with or without
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: permission to defend their nation, something they clearly wanted to
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: let the Middle East know with something that's non negotiable. Meanwhile,
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: President Trump is weighing in backing Israel's right to defend
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: itself and warning Iran not to retaliate, making it clear
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: that strength, not weakness, is the policy moving forward. The
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: President asked about these new strikes in the Oval Office,
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: and here's what he had to say.
• 22:55
  Speaker 4: The leaders have gotten I guess one of the top
• 22:58
  Speaker 4: person was. They say a lot of people say their
• 23:00
  Speaker 4: actual top was killed yesterday along with somebody else who
• 23:07
  Speaker 4: was responsible for the killing. The man that was responsible
• 23:10
  Speaker 4: for the killing of thirty two thousand people over the
• 23:13
  Speaker 4: last two weeks. He was in charge of the killing
• 23:15
  Speaker 4: of protesters. It's an evil group. I mean, they've killed
• 23:19
  Speaker 4: much more than thirty two thousand people. And the man
• 23:22
  Speaker 4: who was responsible for that was also killed yesterday.
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: President Trump wanting the world to know exactly why Israel
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: had the right to protect and also to defend itself. Now,
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council was one
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: of those that was killed, you also had a general,
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: the head of the Revolutionary Guard, all volunteer Basif force.
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: They were eliminated last night, is what the Israeli Defense
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: Minister said in his statement. The first individual that we
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: talked about, the secretary of iran Supreme National Security Council,
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: was considered one of the most power for figures in
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: the country. Since the Ayatola was killed in an airstrike
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: on the first day of the war, Iranians Judiciary News
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: Agency confirmed the killing of Solimani. Iran has not confirmed
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: or denied the reported killing of the second individual. Now,
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: both men were key to Iran's violent crackdown on protests
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: in January, the challenge that theocracy's forty seven year rule.
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: The killings would strip a ran of important leaders during
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: a war that presents the greatest test to the Islamic
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: Revolutionary Guard and the Islamic Republic in recent decades. Now,
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: all of this news is breaking as the world is
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: also growing with real concern and watching about a global
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: energy crisis. Iran has launched fresh attacks against several of
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: its Gulf Arab neighbors and oil infrastructure throughout the region. Dubai,
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: for example, a major trans at hub for international travel,
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: had to briefly shut down all of its airspace. Now
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: that's the second disruption of flights in the city in
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: the last two days. An Iranian official said Tehran had
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: no intention of relinquishing its tight grip on shipping through
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway, as you know
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: for oil. Twenty percent of the world's oil flows through
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: the Strait of Hormuz.
• 25:26
  Speaker 3: Now.
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: On Tuesday, President Trump also said NATO and most other
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: allies have rejected his calls to help secure the strait.
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: The Israeli military said it had begun a wide scale
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: wave of strikes as well across Iran's capital, and was
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: stepping up strikes on Iranian BacT Hesblah militants also in Lebanon.
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: A former parliamentary speaker and senior policy advisor advised the
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: late commaning on strategy and nuclear talks with the Trump administration.
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: He was also sanctioned by the US Treasury in January
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: for his role in coordinating Irans of violent suppression and
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: nationwide protests. Solimani was also sanctioned by the US as
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: well as by the European Union and other nations over
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: his role in helping suppress dissidents for years. The Israeli
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: Prime Minister Netanyahu said the killings of these two individuals
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: were aimed at weakening Iran's government, saying, quote, we are
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: undermining the regime to give the Iranian people the opportunity
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: to remove it now. There's been no signs of anti
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: government protests since the war began, as many Iranians are
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: sheltering for the American and Israeli airstrikes. The reported killing
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: of these two individuals came on the eve of the
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: Festival of Fire, shortly before the Persian New Year. Authorities
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: have sent threatening text messages urging the public not to
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: celebrate the festival, warning that the normally routy celebrations could
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: be used by quote unquote rios. State media aired footage
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: Tuesday of pro government demonstrations, including images of some men
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: in plain clothes branding assault rifles and shotguns on the
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: backs of motorcycles, a sign of the government wanting to
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: prevent renewed protests against their government. State television also showed
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: crowds of women wrapped in black and older men waving
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: flags and portraits of the killed. Former Supreme leader I
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: Ran kept up the pressure on its neighbors and the
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: energy infrastructure around the region. That is certainly something they're
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: trying to use to their advantage. And in Iraq, not
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: one but two drones were shot down by the defense
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: system at the US embassy in Baghdad. I put that video,
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: by the way up on social media, and if you've
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: not watched it yet, you should. You can see it
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: on Instagram, at Ben Ferguson podcasts and on x at
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: Ben Ferguson's show. A third drone also crashed inside the
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: embassy compound that according to two Iraqi security officials and
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: Associated press journalists in the area also saw a massive
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: fire that appeared to be engulfing a structure in the compound.
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: There was no immediate comment from the embassy. Now in
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: the UAE, an oil facility was hit and a man
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: was killed in Abu Dhabi by debris from an intercepted missile,
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: the eighth person to die in the UAE since the
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: start of the war. Authorities have confirmed. Saudi Arabia said
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: it intercepted drones while air defense could be heard targeting
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: incoming fire over Qatar's capital of Doha. Iran's grip on
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: the Strait of Hormuz is what everyone's watching right now,
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: through which a fifth, as I mentioned earlier, of the
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: world's oil is transported, and that is now sparking increased
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: concerns about a tightening of energy supplies that is unnerving
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: the world economy. President Trump was also asked about what
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: exactly is happening in Iran an update, and the President
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: kept it very simple, as he said this.
• 29:02
  Speaker 4: Franklly, as somebody said, very They could leave today and
• 29:06
  Speaker 4: it would take ten years to rebuild the damage that's
• 29:09
  Speaker 4: been done. But I think we have to make it
• 29:11
  Speaker 4: a little bit more permanent because no other president has
• 29:14
  Speaker 4: to go through this, and we shouldn't have any other
• 29:16
  Speaker 4: president having to go through this kind of a thing.
• 29:20
  Speaker 4: And if they didn't want to do it, if for
• 29:22
  Speaker 4: some reason they didn't want to do it, would have
• 29:26
  Speaker 4: the same problem. We don't ever want to have that
• 29:28
  Speaker 4: problem again, not with lunatics. You can't have lunatics controlling
• 29:32
  Speaker 4: nuclear weaponry. So I just want to thank you everybroud.
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: President Trump was also asked by the media about is
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: he concerned that this is going to turn into some
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: sort of quagmire, some sort of Vietnam. The President responded
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: very clearly with a simple message, the.
• 29:53
  Speaker 4: Uranian regimeus phil Stein News. If you put boots on
• 29:56
  Speaker 4: the grounds.
• 29:56
  Speaker 2: In orround, it will be another Vietnam.
• 29:58
  Speaker 5: Are you afraid of that?
• 30:00
  Speaker 4: No, I'm not afraid of I'm really not afraid.
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: Of anything, President Trump, looking at the media and saying
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: it clear, not only to them, but also the terrorists
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: and the rest of the world. This is certainly a
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: big day for the attacks in Iran and a big
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: day for Israel, taking out two top leaders who are
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: holding that regime together. We'll keep following this story. I
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: can promise you that we've got a lot more that's
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: going to happen the days ahead. So make sure you
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: don't forget Grab our podcast, the Ben Ferguson Podcasts wherever
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: you get your podcasts as well, hit that subscriber ont
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: or download button so you don't miss any of the
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: breaking news.