Latest / The Ben Ferguson Podcast / Iran Fires Back after Israel Strikes, 'We are in Uncharted Territory'

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Iran Fires Back after Israel Strikes, 'We are in Uncharted Territory' · The Ben Ferguson Podcast

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Israel has done what they needed to do to go
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: after Iran and their nuclear program. Well, now we are
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: saying the response as Iran is firing back. One hundred
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: and fifty missiles hit Israel. Most of them think, goodness,
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: we're intercepted and Donald Trump is warning make a deal
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: or else. Now I want you to hear the latest
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: from on the ground in Israel. This coming from Fox
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: News channel as they are talking about this being uncharted
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: territory in Tel Aviv. Take a listen.
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: It's a bit hard to hear you as we're moving here,
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: but I'll talk a little bit about Iran's capabilities because
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: I could pick that out of what you were saying
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: as we're headed to this missile site. It's certainly something
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: to think about because the images that we've seen already
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: from the place that we are headed are devastating. It
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: shows the impact of a ballistic missile and the damage
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: that it can do. But it raises an important question
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: about Iran's ballistic missile capabilities. We know that they have
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: thousands of missiles, They have the capability to resupply launchers,
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: and many of their missiles are stored in underground facilities
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: and so the question is actually how many can they
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: launch at one time, And this is an indication that
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: they have limited launching capabilities because they're not launching all
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: of these missiles from permanent positions. Many of them are
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: mobile launchers. And while it's difficult for Israel to hit
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: those mobile launchers because they can move quickly after firing,
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: what they can't do is resupply quickly. And so this
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: is likely what we're.
• 1:28
  Speaker 3: Going to see in the days ahead.
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: The Israelis striking Iranian targets, more of their nuclear facilities,
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: likely taking out more top Iranian officials, and then Iranian
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: responses that will come in different barrages. The real X
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: factor here will is how the Iranians are going to
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: respond to American interests in the region, and it will
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: be interesting to see how President Trump responds to the
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: threats from Iran and also interesting to see how the
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: Americans are preparing across the region. It's part of the
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: reason that earlier in the week you saw those orders
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: to partially evacuate the US embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, over
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: concerns that the Iranians would use not only their own
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: military and the IRGC, whose top commander was killed in
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: the Israeli strikes overnight, but use their militias in places
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: like Iraq and Syria. These around back to Rocky and
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: Syrian Shia militias that have missile and drone capabilities of
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: their own, and what they can do is target American
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: bases or target American embassies in the region, and so
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: certainly the Americans are going to be on high alert again.
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: We can confirm at Fox that the Israelis have told
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: us American forces are participating and helping to shoot down
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: these incoming missiles that are targeting Israel, and we are
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: truly will in uncharted territory. There's really no other way
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: to explain it. What we saw earlier live on Fox
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: with these ballistic missiles slamming into Israel's second largest city.
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: It's something that I've never seen before, and it's an
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: indication that Israel's missile defense capability is not perfect, something
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: that we knew, but there are real questions about how
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: Israel is going to respond in the hours and days ahead.
• 2:57
  Speaker 4: One more question, Trey, and I appreciate it's hard to
• 2:59
  Speaker 4: hear while in that vehicle moving through Tel Aviv. What
• 3:02
  Speaker 4: you said Israel characterized as Iran's targeting of population centers
• 3:06
  Speaker 4: as a red line. What is your understanding of what
• 3:09
  Speaker 4: that means. What would an Israeli response be for someone
• 3:13
  Speaker 4: crossing a red line.
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: It's a great question, and we have to look at
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: the targets that were hit last night in Iran in
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: a wave of strikes, and we had some reporting from
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: an Israeli security source that said they used Mussad intelligence
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: to basically track these top leaders from the IRGC, their
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: air force unit, and get them to hold a meeting
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: based on Israeli activity in the region, and then they
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: were able to keep them at this location and then
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: they targeted these top Iranian commanders from the IRGC. These
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: were military targets, though not political targets. Remember, you have
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: Iran Supreme Leader, the Ayatolahamanai, and then you have President
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: Masud Pezeshkian. There are other leaders, including Iran's Foreign minister,
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: political leaders, some of whom have been involved in the
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: negotiations that were taking place between the Americans and the
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: Iranians over the past two months, and so there are
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: political targets they could consider, and they also could ramp
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: up strikes on nuclear facilities. We know that two key
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: nuclear facilities were hit, including the Natans enrichmentd Center. This
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: is one of the largest enrichment facilities in Iran. But
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: they four doll nuclear facility that is said to be
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: very deep underground. The critical components of it was not targeted,
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: according to the sources that we talked to and from
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: what we can gather by open source intelligence, and so
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: there are certainly more targets that can be hit. And
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: I think we also have to look at what President
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: Trump said today. President Trump has made very clear he
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: wanted to give the Iranian regime an opportunity to come
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: to the negotiating table. There was supposed to be a
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: six round of talks on Sunday between US Special ENVOYE.
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: Steve Witcoff and his Iranian counterparts in Oman. It doesn't
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: appear at this point that is going to take place.
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: But of course the Americans will continue to push for
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: negotiations because President Trump has made clear he wants a
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: deal here. But of course, given the fact that the
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: Israelis conducted these strikes overnight and now the Iranians are
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: firing ballistic missiles into Israel, the idea of diplomacy will
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: at this moment seems quite far fetched. Now.
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: The question that you got to ask yourself that when
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: you hear all of this coming out of Israel, is
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: how do we get to this point. Let's be very clear,
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: Donald Trump said that they referring to Iran, had sixty
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: days to make your deal, and they didn't. And now
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: they're paying the price for that. They're for not dealing
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: with the West when it comes to the development of
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: nuclear weapons. And when the warning came out from the
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: UN about them being very close to getting these nuclear weapons,
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: there was no other option but for someone to step up,
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: and that was clearly Israel. They had no other option
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: but to do this. I also want you to hear
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: one other thing that was said, and this goes back
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: to what I was mentioning a moment ago, and even
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: CNN saying this, Scott Jennings going on there and talking about, look,
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: they should have made a deal, they chose not to.
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: And now this is the consequences of the actions for
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: I Ran and.
• 6:01
  Speaker 3: Scott Prime ministudents in Ya who says he gave Trump's
• 6:04
  Speaker 3: a heads up about the strikes. But initially the Trump
• 6:07
  Speaker 3: administration made it pretty clear that this is Israel's operation,
• 6:11
  Speaker 3: not the United States, and President Trump said he was
• 6:13
  Speaker 3: opposed to the strikes. What are your sources telling you
• 6:16
  Speaker 3: about President Trump's true feelings on this operation. Was he
• 6:20
  Speaker 3: part of a deception campaign or is he just being
• 6:25
  Speaker 3: supportive of Israel even though he was not supportive of
• 6:28
  Speaker 3: the strikes.
• 6:29
  Speaker 5: Well, what I've been made to believe is that, yes,
• 6:32
  Speaker 5: this was part of an elaborate ruse to really trick Iran.
• 6:36
  Speaker 5: I mean, the amount of planning that went into this,
• 6:37
  Speaker 5: when you look at what Israel did on the ground
• 6:40
  Speaker 5: in Iran, when you look at the massive planning that
• 6:43
  Speaker 5: they had to undergo over a long period of time
• 6:45
  Speaker 5: to get ready to pull this off, and then everything
• 6:48
  Speaker 5: that happened on the world stage, I do think President
• 6:51
  Speaker 5: Trump was part of a ruse here. I mean, but
• 6:53
  Speaker 5: you go back sixty days in time, Jake, you know
• 6:55
  Speaker 5: about sixty days ago Donald Trump said, yeah, they've got
• 6:57
  Speaker 5: about sixty days to make a deal. So you know,
• 7:00
  Speaker 5: they didn't do that, and now they're paying the price
• 7:03
  Speaker 5: for not dealing with the West when it comes to
• 7:06
  Speaker 5: their development of a nuclear weapon. I mean, when you're
• 7:09
  Speaker 5: here on the ground, this is my first trip Israel,
• 7:10
  Speaker 5: I've talked to a lot of people. I've been to
• 7:12
  Speaker 5: the Gospel Order, I've been to the Lebanon border, I've
• 7:14
  Speaker 5: been all over this place. Living with a nuclear armed
• 7:17
  Speaker 5: Iran is not a possibility for these people. It's an
• 7:20
  Speaker 5: existential threat to them. Living with Hamas and other Iranian
• 7:24
  Speaker 5: terror proxies. That's not really acceptable to them either, after
• 7:28
  Speaker 5: what happened on October the seventh. So everyone here in
• 7:31
  Speaker 5: Israel has a lot of resolve right now, I think,
• 7:32
  Speaker 5: for what's going on and not letting Iran, which is
• 7:35
  Speaker 5: the head of this octopus over here, get away with
• 7:38
  Speaker 5: developing missiles and weapons that if they got them, they
• 7:41
  Speaker 5: have no doubt would immediately fire them into Israel.
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: One other thing that's interesting here is Donald Trump was
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: asked by seeing Dana Bash about Iran's hard line negotiators
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: and asking are they dead? Are they now dead? Dana
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: Bash said, quote, does that mean Israel got them? Donald
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: Trump responded with the line quote, well, they didn't die
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: of COVID. I think it's pretty clear the President's saying,
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: We're not going to screw around here, and they need
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: to get a deal done, and they need to get
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: a deal done soon or things are going to get
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: worse in Iran. We're not messing around now. We also
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: know that there have been people that have been killed
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: in Israel by this retaliatory attack from Iran, and the
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: question becomes, now, what happens next. We know the missiles
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: have hit Jerusalem, we know the missiles have hit Tel Aviv.
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: We know that they had one hundred and fifty missiles
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: that were coming in that Iran was firing. Most of
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: them were intercepted, but to be clear, some of them
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: were able to hit and get through that iron dome.
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: They're trying to overwhelm that technology by having this barage
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: of missiles. So this is far from over. I will
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: say this, my thoughts and prayers were the people in
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: Israel right now. It is so important that we stand
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: with them. Israel has struck Iran, and Iran is now
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: confirming that the IRGC terar chief Salami has also been eliminated.
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: Benjamin Nettnahu announcing the operation as well, talking about what
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: this means. And we also have found out that not
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: only did Iran state run Islamic Republic News Agency confirm
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: in the early hours of Friday morning that the Israeli
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: airstrike on targets in the country, eliminated the major General Salami,
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard other arms of
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: Iran state. News apparatus also confirm this several high profile
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: regime members, including not one, but two of their top
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: nuclear scientists. Now this is obviously massive because if you
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: want to take out their nuclear program, taking out the
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: scientists behind it is huge. It's very hard to get
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: nuclear scientists to defect and come to Iran, so taking
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: them out could put back their program literally years. They
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: were killed in these strikes, and that is again massive. Now,
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: Salami may be by far one of the highest ranking
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: Iranian regime officials who have been targeted successfully in the operation.
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: He is one of those that was important to take out,
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: and Israel had planned this for quite some time and
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: they were able to do it. Salami had to stay
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: in a place as one of the most prominent and
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: also belligerent senior leaders in the Iranian Islamic regime. He
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: regularly threatened attacks on America and Israel, and what was
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: perhaps his final public appearance on Thursday, Salami declared that
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: his forces were quote war tested and experienced, prepared for
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: war against its enemies now. That was just twenty four
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: hours ago. He said that publicly now, the IRGC is
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: both a US designated terrorist organization he was in charge
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: of it, and a formal wing of the Iranian Armed Forces.
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: Among its chief operations is to sustain relations between the
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: Iranian tear state and its Jihadis proxies. Who does That
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: include the Huthis and Yemen, the Lebanese Hesblah, and with
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: fellow rogue states such as Venezuela and Cuba. The IRNA
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: confirmed Solami's death and a brief message that offered no
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: details on the occurrence. It just confirmed that Salami died
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: in Tehran and claimed him a victim of assassination their
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: words now. Also in a separate report, the state news
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: outlet confirmed a barrage of air strikes over the capital
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: city by the Israeli Air Force. Another Iranian state media outlet,
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: press TV, reported early Friday that the strikes had martyred
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: several other senior IRGC commanders and nuclear scientists. So we're
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: getting lots of confirmation about how deadly and how surgical
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: these strikes were. On the top leadership in Iran veteran
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: nuclear scientists, two of them in fact, they, as they
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: described it, were martyred in the attack. Press TV reported,
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: adding confirmation from now that at least one Iranian military leader,
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: the chief of the Iranian Armed Forces also a major
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: General Bagheri, is still alive and in Iran's war room
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: quote plotting the nation's response. Now, The Times of Israel,
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: citing Iranian state television, reported that Israel apparently also bombed
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: one of the most prominent uranium enrichment facilities in the country,
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: the facility known as the Natanz facility, and there was
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: several hits apparently on that facility. It was scattered among
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: anonymous reports as well on social media that this had
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: also happened, and we also been told that there was
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: disruptions in Iran by undercover MASAD agents. Have also now
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: surfaced that Israel has not confirmed that. I want to
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: be clear now. The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Nettanna, who
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: also confirmed the air strikes during a national address on
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: Friday morning, identifying the strikes as Operation Rising Lion. I
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: want you to hear what Netnya, who had to say
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: as he addressed not only the people of Israel, but
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: also the people of the world.
• 13:26
  Speaker 6: Moments ago, Israel launched Operation Rising Lion, a targeted military
• 13:32
  Speaker 6: operation to roll back the Uranian threat to Israel's very survival.
• 13:38
  Speaker 6: This operation will continue for as many days as it
• 13:41
  Speaker 6: takes to remove this threat. For decades, the tyrants of
• 13:45
  Speaker 6: Tehran have brazenly openly called for Israel's destruction. They've backed
• 13:50
  Speaker 6: up their genocidal rhetoric with a program to develop nuclear weapons.
• 13:55
  Speaker 6: In recent years, Iran has produced enough highly enriched uranium
• 14:00
  Speaker 6: for nine atom bombs. Nine In recent months, Iran has
• 14:04
  Speaker 6: taken steps that it has never taken before, steps to
• 14:08
  Speaker 6: weaponize this enriched uranium, and if not stopped, Iran could
• 14:13
  Speaker 6: produce a nuclear weapon in a very short time. It
• 14:16
  Speaker 6: could be a year, it could be within a few months,
• 14:18
  Speaker 6: less than a year. This is a clear and present
• 14:21
  Speaker 6: danger to Israel's very survival. Eighty years ago, the Jewish
• 14:26
  Speaker 6: people were the victims of a holocaust perpetrated by the
• 14:30
  Speaker 6: Nazi regime. Today, the Jewish state refuses to be a
• 14:34
  Speaker 6: victim of a nuclear holocaust perpetrated by the Iranian regime. Now,
• 14:39
  Speaker 6: as Prime Minister, I've made it clear time and again
• 14:43
  Speaker 6: Israel will never allow those who call for our annihilation
• 14:47
  Speaker 6: to develop the means to achieve that goal. Tonight, Israel
• 14:51
  Speaker 6: backs those words with action. We struck at the heart
• 14:54
  Speaker 6: of Iran's nuclear enrichment program. We struck at the heart
• 14:57
  Speaker 6: of Iran's nuclear weaponization program. We targeted Iran's main enrichment
• 15:03
  Speaker 6: facility in Atans. We targeted Iran's leading nuclear scientists working
• 15:07
  Speaker 6: on the Iranian bomb. We also struck at the heart
• 15:10
  Speaker 6: of Iran's ballistic missile program. Last year, Iran fired three
• 15:15
  Speaker 6: hundred ballistic missiles at Israel. Each of these missiles carries
• 15:19
  Speaker 6: a ton of explosives and threatens the lives of hundreds
• 15:23
  Speaker 6: of people. Soon, those missiles could carry a nuclear payload,
• 15:27
  Speaker 6: threatening the lives not of hundreds, but of millions. Iran
• 15:32
  Speaker 6: is gearing up to produce ten thousands of those ballistic
• 15:35
  Speaker 6: missiles within three years. Now. Just imagine imagine ten thousand
• 15:41
  Speaker 6: tons of TNT landing on a country the size of
• 15:45
  Speaker 6: New Jersey. This is an intolerable threat. It too must
• 15:50
  Speaker 6: be stopped. Iran is now working on what it calls
• 15:53
  Speaker 6: the new plan to destroy Israel. See the old plant failed.
• 15:57
  Speaker 6: Iran and its proxies try to encircle Israel with the
• 16:00
  Speaker 6: ring of fire and to attack us with the horrible
• 16:03
  Speaker 6: attack of October seventh. But the people of Israel, the
• 16:06
  Speaker 6: soldiers of Israel, rose like lions to defend our country.
• 16:10
  Speaker 6: We crushed fromas we devastated Rizbalah, we hit Iranian proxies
• 16:15
  Speaker 6: in Syria and Yemen, and when Iran directly attacked us
• 16:17
  Speaker 6: twice last year, we struck back inside Iran itself. Yet
• 16:21
  Speaker 6: in defending ourselves, we also defend others. We defend our
• 16:25
  Speaker 6: Arab neighbors. They too have suffered from Iran's campaign of
• 16:29
  Speaker 6: chaos and carnage. Our actions against Iran's proxy Hizbalah led
• 16:33
  Speaker 6: to the establishment of a new government in Lebanon and
• 16:36
  Speaker 6: the collapse of Asad's murderous regime in Syria. The peoples
• 16:40
  Speaker 6: of those two countries now have a chance for different future,
• 16:43
  Speaker 6: a better future. So too, to the brave people of Iran,
• 16:47
  Speaker 6: and I have a message for them. Our fight is
• 16:50
  Speaker 6: not with you. Our fight is with the brutal dictatorship
• 16:53
  Speaker 6: that has oppressed you for forty six years. I believe
• 16:57
  Speaker 6: that the day of your liberation is near. That happens,
• 17:01
  Speaker 6: the great friendship between our two ancient peoples will flourish
• 17:04
  Speaker 6: once again. I want to assure the civilized world, we
• 17:08
  Speaker 6: will not let the world's most dangerous regime get the
• 17:11
  Speaker 6: world's most dangerous weapons. And Iran plans to give those
• 17:15
  Speaker 6: weapons nuclear weapons to its terrorist proxies that would make
• 17:19
  Speaker 6: the nightmare of nuclear terrorism all too real. The increasing
• 17:24
  Speaker 6: range of Iran's ballistic missiles would bring that nuclear nightmare
• 17:28
  Speaker 6: to the cities of Europe and eventually to America.
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: Now, the Israeli Prime Minster net Now who also confirmed
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: that these air strikes may not just be a one
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: day and done, saying, quote, this operation will continue for
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: as many days as it takes, stating that the Iranian
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: officials were actively taking steps to weaponize it's enriched uranium
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: stockpile and calling on Tehran and saying they're a clear
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: and present danger to Israel's survival and also to others
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: in the world. Now, the Israeli Prime Minster net Now
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: who you also confirmed that these airstrikes may not just
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: be a one day and done, saying, quote, this operation
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: will continue for as many days as it takes, staying
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: that the Iranian officials were actively taking steps to weaponize
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: it's enriched uranium stockpile and calling on Tehran and saying
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: they're a clear and present danger to Israel's survival and
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: also to others in the world. Now, Center Cruz and
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: I set down for our podcast that we do Vertic
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: with Tech Cruz and I want to play for you
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: what we had to say, because he had just gotten
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: off the phone with the Israeli ambassador and had had
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: a briefing on this attack and what is next, and
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: I want you to hear what was said, So take
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: a listen. One of the things I love about doing
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: the show Center is moments after this attack took place
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: Israel on Iran, you were actually on the phone with
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: the ambassador from Israel. What did he tell you about
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: this attack? How long had they been planning this? What
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: was the final decision that made this happen in the
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: last several hours.
• 19:04
  Speaker 7: Well, understand, this show happens real time. It happens real
• 19:07
  Speaker 7: time in real life. You and I are recording this
• 19:11
  Speaker 7: early in the morning Friday morning. This podcast will come
• 19:13
  Speaker 7: out later in the day on Friday, So some of
• 19:15
  Speaker 7: you will be listening to this on Friday, others of
• 19:18
  Speaker 7: you will be hearing this on radio on Saturday or Sunday.
• 19:21
  Speaker 7: And so the world may have changed forty eight hours
• 19:24
  Speaker 7: at the time when a war is initiating, it is
• 19:27
  Speaker 7: a mountain of time. What I can tell you is
• 19:31
  Speaker 7: late Thursday night, as Israel was launching it its attacks,
• 19:34
  Speaker 7: before Iran has engaged in a counter attack, I was
• 19:39
  Speaker 7: on the phone with the Israeli ambassador of the United
• 19:42
  Speaker 7: States and he told me that the attack at least
• 19:46
  Speaker 7: so far, had gone extraordinarily well, that they'd taken out
• 19:49
  Speaker 7: senior leadership of the IRGC. And I got to say,
• 19:52
  Speaker 7: by the way, that's a huge victory for the United
• 19:55
  Speaker 7: States of America. The IRGC has murdered over six hundred
• 20:00
  Speaker 7: American servicemen and women. They are grotesquely hostile to the
• 20:06
  Speaker 7: United States, and for Israel to take them out it
• 20:08
  Speaker 7: is an enormous benefit to America. But at the same time,
• 20:12
  Speaker 7: the Israeli ambassador told me that the instruction had gone
• 20:16
  Speaker 7: out in Israel to the people of Israel go to
• 20:19
  Speaker 7: a bomb shelter, either be in a bomb shelter or
• 20:22
  Speaker 7: be very near a bomb shelter, because they are anticipating
• 20:26
  Speaker 7: early in the morning Friday morning, that Iran is going
• 20:30
  Speaker 7: to launch a massive counter attack with ballistic weapons. And
• 20:36
  Speaker 7: Israel has extensive anti missile defenses, but Iran has sufficient
• 20:41
  Speaker 7: volume that if they launch everything, they have the capacity
• 20:44
  Speaker 7: to overwhelm the defenses, and so there is a very
• 20:47
  Speaker 7: real possibility. The people of Israel are braced. They understand. Look,
• 20:51
  Speaker 7: look that they're not playing they're not playing games that
• 20:56
  Speaker 7: they are playing with real stakes. They're playing with live rounds.
• 20:59
  Speaker 7: The people of Israel understand right now, as you and
• 21:03
  Speaker 7: I are recording this, that we may see Israelis die
• 21:06
  Speaker 7: right now because Iran has enough missiles that if they
• 21:10
  Speaker 7: launch them all, there will be Israeli's murdered in the
• 21:15
  Speaker 7: minutes and hours ahead of us. But at the same time,
• 21:18
  Speaker 7: Prime Minister Netanyah, who made the decision, it's a decision
• 21:21
  Speaker 7: I agree with. It's a decision that I think was right,
• 21:24
  Speaker 7: which is the risk of Israelis dying and of Americans dying.
• 21:30
  Speaker 7: If Iran acquires a nuclear weapon is qualitatively different that
• 21:35
  Speaker 7: we could face. With an Iranian nuclear weapon, we could
• 21:40
  Speaker 7: face millions murdered. And so listen, I want to underscore
• 21:45
  Speaker 7: what I said at the beginning of this podcast. Pray
• 21:48
  Speaker 7: for the people of Israel and pray for our servicemen
• 21:51
  Speaker 7: and women in har harm's way, because this is a
• 21:53
  Speaker 7: very very dangerous time right.
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: Now, Well, let's talk about who is targeted and what
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: this looks like moving forward from the standpoint of Israel.
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: I mean, the objective here is clearly to put them
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: back when it comes to a nuclear program. But they
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: also went after people that were involved in that program,
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: which is a really big way to move things backwards.
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 22:13
  Speaker 7: Look, this was a decapitation strike. It was targeted at
• 22:16
  Speaker 7: the senior military leaders in Iran. It was targeted at
• 22:21
  Speaker 7: the nuclear facilities in Iran. It was targeted at the
• 22:25
  Speaker 7: anti air assault facilities in Iran. It was a very
• 22:31
  Speaker 7: targeted but massively effective strike. Now, Iran is going to
• 22:35
  Speaker 7: strike back. Understand that that that's not a possibility or
• 22:39
  Speaker 7: a probability. It is a certainty that Iran will hit back. Now,
• 22:44
  Speaker 7: what I hope Iran understands is they should not hit
• 22:47
  Speaker 7: back at America. Hitting back at America would escalate this dramatically.
• 22:52
  Speaker 7: And I will say the Secretary of State Marco Rubio,
• 22:56
  Speaker 7: he put out a statement Thursday night. Let me read
• 22:58
  Speaker 7: his statement tonight. Israel took unilateral action against Iran. We
• 23:05
  Speaker 7: were not involved in strikes against Iran, and our top
• 23:09
  Speaker 7: priority is protecting American forces in the region. Israel advised
• 23:14
  Speaker 7: US that they believe this action was necessary for its
• 23:16
  Speaker 7: self defense. President Trump and the administration have taken all
• 23:20
  Speaker 7: necessary steps to protect our forces and remain in close
• 23:25
  Speaker 7: contact with our regional partners. Let me be clear, Iran
• 23:30
  Speaker 7: should not target US interests or personnel. Now, look, I'm
• 23:37
  Speaker 7: glad that the Secretary of State was putting out that
• 23:39
  Speaker 7: statement defending our servicemen and women. I wish there had
• 23:43
  Speaker 7: been more in that statement saying we stand with Israel.
• 23:45
  Speaker 7: That was missing from the statement, and it shouldn't have been.
• 23:50
  Speaker 7: From my perspective, we stand unequivocally with Israel. But I
• 23:53
  Speaker 7: understand why the Secretary of State didn't do that, which
• 23:57
  Speaker 7: is that he's concerned that Iran may strike at US
• 24:02
  Speaker 7: military forces. Now, in my view, the way to prevent
• 24:06
  Speaker 7: that is not to say to Iran, hey, we had
• 24:08
  Speaker 7: nothing to do with that, which was the main theme
• 24:12
  Speaker 7: of the Secretary of State's statement, but rather to say,
• 24:16
  Speaker 7: if you attack US forces, the consequences will be overwhelming.
• 24:21
  Speaker 7: I think Iran responds more to stick than the carrot.
• 24:26
  Speaker 7: But we shall see. And it is any way you
• 24:29
  Speaker 7: look at it. On unbelievably dangerous time.
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: Senor, Let's talk about some of the people that have
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: been taken out here. There's two aspects of these strikes. One,
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: nuclear scientists are being reported that they were targeted and
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: have been killed, and that is the brains of the
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: nuclear program. If you want to stop Iran from doing this,
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: taking out nuclear scientists is absolutely brilliant. It's the computer system,
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: the nervous system of everything they're trying to accomplish. That's incredible.
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: But we we also now know from virtually every news
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: agency is reporting this that the IRGC tear chief Salami,
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: has also been eliminated. That is significant as well.
• 25:12
  Speaker 7: Well, we now know that Hussein Salami is lunch meat
• 25:16
  Speaker 7: and I feel a little cheesy making fun of him,
• 25:20
  Speaker 7: but then again, the guy is a racist, genocidal, homicidal, lunatic.
• 25:27
  Speaker 7: So I hope after Salami, beloney and Pastrami both get
• 25:31
  Speaker 7: eliminated as well. And if you look at the head
• 25:37
  Speaker 7: of the IRGC, he has responsibility for murdering over six
• 25:44
  Speaker 7: hundred US servicemen and women. So if you love the
• 25:49
  Speaker 7: men and women of the Armed Services, if you are
• 25:51
  Speaker 7: grateful for friends, family, loved ones who serve defending this nation,
• 25:57
  Speaker 7: then you ought to say tonight to the nation of
• 25:59
  Speaker 7: his real thank you, thank you for taking out the
• 26:02
  Speaker 7: head of the IRGC that is responsible for murdering hundreds
• 26:07
  Speaker 7: of American servicemen and women. President Trump when he was
• 26:10
  Speaker 7: president the first time, he took out General Solimani, and
• 26:15
  Speaker 7: now today the Israelis have taken out Solami a successor
• 26:20
  Speaker 7: who is the terror chief of the IRGC, and he
• 26:25
  Speaker 7: is now with his seventy two versions, so that I
• 26:27
  Speaker 7: will tell you, much to his dismay, those virgins are
• 26:30
  Speaker 7: all Gomer Pyle and it's not what he hoped for.
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: I got to say one of the best parts about
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: this story just side note, if you look up Asaami
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: on his pages on the Wikipedia, it already says he's
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: like the former guy in charge of the IRGC. I
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: love the Internet when they get it right really quickly. Center.
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: It is amazing to see this moment history, because this
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: is a moment in history. And I got to ask
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: you this. A ran now is going to respond. I'm
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: sure in some way. I'm sure Israel is expecting that
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: you made it very quidinite America's warning and from this administration,
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: what happens next and what is Israel expecting in your mind.
• 27:13
  Speaker 7: Well, it depends on the escalation. I think it is
• 27:15
  Speaker 7: one hundred percent certain that Iran will respond by firing
• 27:19
  Speaker 7: missiles at Israel. Israel gets that, they understand that they're
• 27:23
  Speaker 7: ready for that. There is some real possibility that Iran
• 27:28
  Speaker 7: will respond by firing missiles or other weapons at Americans.
• 27:32
  Speaker 7: And I think if they do that, they will dramatically
• 27:35
  Speaker 7: escalate this conflict. I think they will provoke. If they
• 27:38
  Speaker 7: murder American servicemen and women, I think you will see
• 27:40
  Speaker 7: President Trump respond with devastating force. And so again my
• 27:45
  Speaker 7: message to the IATOLA is, do not do that. Their
• 27:48
  Speaker 7: response to Israel, I don't know what it will be.
• 27:51
  Speaker 7: There is a risk that their response is devastating, that
• 27:55
  Speaker 7: it is overwhelming. They have a massive number of ballistic missiles,
• 28:00
  Speaker 7: so if they fire them, all the odds are significant
• 28:03
  Speaker 7: that we will see a very large number of Israelis murdered.
• 28:07
  Speaker 7: What I'm saying, Prime Minister Netanyaho understands. He knows that,
• 28:12
  Speaker 7: he knows that, but by virtue of engaging this attack tonight,
• 28:16
  Speaker 7: there is a real risk of a significant number of
• 28:18
  Speaker 7: Israelis being murdered. But he did this because he knows
• 28:23
  Speaker 7: that if Iran has a nuclear weapon, many many more
• 28:27
  Speaker 7: Israelis and many many more Americans are at risk of
• 28:30
  Speaker 7: being murdered. Look the Iatola chance death to America and
• 28:35
  Speaker 7: death to Israel. I believe he believes that, and so
• 28:39
  Speaker 7: acquiring a nuclear weapon is not just an academic question.
• 28:42
  Speaker 7: If he gets a nuclear weapon, I believe he is
• 28:45
  Speaker 7: trying to acquire one because he wants to carry out
• 28:48
  Speaker 7: his promises of death to Israel and death to America.
• 28:52
  Speaker 7: And that's precisely why Israel has launched this attack, to
• 28:55
  Speaker 7: stop him from getting that capability.
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: Don't forget Share this podcast with your family and friends,
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: share it on social media, please, and I'll see you
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: back here tomorrow