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It's innovation you can touch, sense and taste in every single cup. With a three second start, easy open lever and dedicated brew over ice button, it's even easier to enjoy your coffee your way. Sip for yourself. Shop Vertuo up exclusively@nespreso.com foreign. Everybody, welcome to the morning meeting. Mark Calperin here from two Way. Gonna walk you through the day and then talk to Hogan, Jaime, who are here very kindly to help spread knowledge and information, understanding. And then we want to get to your questions and comments. We did a special last night and had lots of hands up and I assume we will again today. If you've never raised your hands before and you wanna be part of the conversation, please do. We want to have lots of voices here and as I say, always, but particularly during times of war where peace, love and understanding may not be the top of mind for everybody. This platform's for everybody. You'll hear things on here you disagree with. I'm quite sure there are people who think this is a just mission and a really smart idea and necessary and President Trump's doing a great idea, a great job and there are people who think this is tragic. His failure to consult Congress, nation building, regime change, horrible. Those points of view are spread across the country and really across the world. We want them all here. We want them here in a thoughtful conversation. So if you're here on the platform, raise your hand. If you're watching on X or YouTube, don't, don't raise your hand, but don't put smack in the chat. Really of all times to put smack in the chat, really, don't put smack in the chat. Just think about extending the presumption of grace to all. Jaime, just tell people in general like a sentence or two. How do you feel about the operation? Against it, for it, Cautiously pessimistic, whatever. How do you feel about it?
C
Yeah, no, I, I'm, I'm cautiously pessimistic. I, I think since we've been talking about this for the past few weeks, I, I was prepared for it and I think we knew that this was coming pretty imminently. So I, I, I'm not shocked by it, but I am, I am costly pessimistic about it and, and, and looking forward to see what the President's going to say more today.
A
Yeah. Hogan, are you all for it or do you have reservations or with any military involvement?
D
There are always reservations. And concerns. I'm for this in large part because it does really substantiate America first, but it also protects our interests around the globe, something that many presidents have talked about for generations at this point. Problems in that region, obviously, with Iran as well. So I, for one, am ready to see this mission continue and then come to a close swiftly, which I'm most sure it will do.
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Okay. All right. Plenty more from Jaime and Hogan in just a minute. Quick word from a sponsor, then I'll run through the daybook. Lots going on, fast moving story. So stuff in the daybook will be important, but other stuff's going to happen. It already has, just in the last hour, including a briefing at the Pentagon by the Secretary of War and the head of the Joint Chiefs. So we'll get to it all, then we'll run through some topics together and then we'll get to your questions. So again, please raise your hand if you want in on the conversation. First message to you today is from our sponsor, Ethos. Ethos is an online platform that makes getting life insurance easy. Right? Online, get a quote in as little as 10 minutes. If you're the primary breadwinner in your family, you don't have life insurance. You think about for your family, what would happen if something happened to you, how they would afford tuition, rent, mortgage, et cetera. So if you're the breadwinner, you want to be able to make sure your family has peace of mind and can deal if something horrible happens to you. Go right now to ethos.com use the promo code mark. Promo code mark ethos.com mark ethos.com mark and get a free quote. You can go online. No medical exam is required, just a few health questions as part of an online process. It's not very complicated. 100% online and the quote in as little as 10 minutes for up to $3 million in life insurance. Do it today. Don't put it off. Go to ethos.commark to get your free quote on life insurance for you and for your family. This is it.
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Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right. The Daybook is, as I said just moments ago, ended a Pentagon briefing heard for the first time from the Secretary of War and from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. Not a ton of news there. They basically, and we'll listen to a little bit of it, but they basically said this, that this, this is the time horizon of this. It shouldn't, people shouldn't think it's going to end quickly or definitely are going to take a long time. Definitely the timeline will depend on how the mission goes and how the mission evolves. And they also said, you know, regime change will be what it will be. They didn't, they didn't dwell on that. They had some details, but not a ton. The President's got a few events today that are closed press executive time at 8:00am he had 1:30 closed press signing time. 2:00', clock closed press policy meeting. 4:00', clock close press policy meeting. But he does have an 11:00 medal of honor ceremony in the East Room that's open to pre credentialed media. We'll see. He passed up the opportunity to talk to the media at the various touch points he could have on the way back from Mar A Lago last night. We'll see if he answers questions there. Don't know what the Vice President's doing today. He's been relatively low profile since the mission began. The First lady at 3 o'. Clock. Rare thing she's doing for any first lady and particularly for her presiding over the United nations security council at 3 o' clock today as the US assumes the presidency of the Council. Secretary Rubio, Director of the CIA, Radcliffe briefed the gang of eight today at 4pm Those are the top congressional leaders and the senior members of the intelligence committees. And then tomorrow there's a briefing with that group and I believe a few others for separate briefings for the full House and the full Senate. The Senate's gotten a vote this evening on their version of the housing bill. The House, I think, is back tomorrow or in late tonight, but votes tomorrow. Supreme Court argument today on a case involving guns and people who have users of drugs. Later in the week, as I said tomorrow, another briefing from the, the administration on the Hill. Also on the Hill tomorrow We expect the Senate to vote tomorrow and the House on Thursday on war powers resolutions. The German chancellor is here today and tomorrow meeting with the President tomorrow. Tomorrow is Texas primary day. Two big high profile Senate primaries on the Republican and Democratic side. We'll talk about that tomorrow. Vice President Harris continues her book tour tomorrow. She's in Oakland. Her hometown. Secretary Noem testifies on the Hill this week. Tuesday on the Senate side. Wednesday on the outside waiting for the Clinton the release of the Clinton video and transcripts of their depositions that could have today. Gavin Newsom's in New Hampshire on Thursday for his book tour. Ton of New Hampshire activity today. It's old fashioned. Senator Graham and Senator Ernst are doing a fundraiser there on Thursday. Same day Gavin Newsom's there Friday. Senator Ernst is speaking at the politics and Eggs breakfast. Governor Beshear is there on Sunday. Next week, Ro Khanna is there. Jimmy Kimmel's guests this week include Magic Johnson and Gavin Newsom. Stephen Gobert has Daniel Radcliffe on. Jimmy Fallon has of course Penelope Cruz and Ryan Gosling. All right, let's go. The Pentagon briefing. Gentlemen. This is. This is an event that started pretty much close to one time, 8 o' clock featured the Secretary of defense and the secretary and the head of the Joint Chiefs Raisin Cain. And they took some questions and then they left. Here's Secretary Hagseth talking about the mission and the timetable. 118 please.
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Our ambitions are not utopian. They are realistic scoped to our interests and the defense of our people and our allies.
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Speaking of people, we hope the Iranian
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people take advantage of this incredible opportunity. President Trump has been clear. Now is your time to Iranian security forces choose wisely. President Trump has also been clear about your fate in either direction.
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To the media outlets and political left screaming endless wars.
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Stop.
F
This is not Iraq. This is not endless. I was there for both. Our generation knows better and so does this president.
A
Here's General Kaine talking about the prospect of additional losses which the President addressed in his second videotape statement yesterday. This is 119 please.
E
So let me start with a few details. First, to be clear, as the Secretary said, this is not a single overnight operation. The military objectives at CENTCOM and the Joint Force have been tasked with will take some time to achieve and in some cases will be difficult and gritty work. We expect to take additional losses and as always we will work to minimize US Losses. But as the Secretary said, this is major combat operations.
A
Hogan, I said last night there's just so much focus on this is Trump's war and Trump against Iran and whatever. There's much more complicated than that. And we'll talk about that. But how are those two, the Pentagon chief and the chairman? How do you think they're doing, how they do in that briefing? What role do you think they play in communicating to the public and the Congress what this is all about?
D
I watched it. I thought they did really well. Not just talking about the purpose of what we are doing in Iran, but also dealing with questions about the future of this. You heard Pete there in the, in the, in the clip you played. I was there for both. I thought that was a good way to phrase this because he was in the military. Of course, you know, an awarded member of the military. I was there for both. Our generation knows better. And so does President Trump, I thought was a really good marker to line for those who out there who are saying, this will be endless. This will be Afghanistan 2.0. So I thought that was really good. And of course, raising Cain, bringing some of that heft with all this, you know, military medals and brass over there, just talking about the significance of the mission and what they're doing tactically, strategically. And he had a line at the end of the. I wish I had written it down, but it was very good because it kind of summarized the lethality, the strength, the surgical nature with which this military operates. And regardless of what we're going to debate today and conversate about around the necessity of this or not, our military is so utterly impressive and so incredible at every level. To watch them execute these missions to time and time again, regardless of president, is something, to me that is. Is humbling every single moment. It is just fascinating to watch him.
A
Yeah. And that's a big piece of this. Right. Because even Democrats who are critical of the war, of this, of this effort, even, they mostly will say, well, we love our military. Our military does a good job. Of course we pray for our troops. Jaime, this is a complicated question, and the answer is more complicated, but you'll have to do it on behalf of your party. We know how Democrats feel about Pete Hegseth. For the most part, they think he's a topic. He's a joke and topic of derision. I don't really think we know how Democrats feel about Kaine. Right. But here they are grassroots and even members of Congress. But here they are standing side by side showing respect for each other. What is Cain's performance in this briefing going forward and just his presence as a supporter of the operation, what does that do for Democrats Both politically, as they want to attack this, and most of them, most of them do, but also what does it do for their feelings about this operation?
C
Yeah, well, I mean, look, that is a complicated question, and I don't, I don't think overall it changes much. I, I do think it brings a lot of credence to the Secretary of Defense by having the joint chief there. And obviously the joint chief is someone who has been taken very seriously for, for quite some time and who understands this, this, these tactics much better than I think the Secretary of Defense does. And so, look, Democrats, Democrats have been saying a lot and it's a complicated situation. And so we have to admit that. So this is not just about an anti Trump war narrative. This is about looking at the historical indications of this and looking at what we think will potentially happen in the Middle east and across the world if we continue to be forceful in this war and if this war goes on overly, I'm not going to call him Secretary of War. I'm going to call him Secretary of Defense. But if this, do what I do,
A
call him the Pentagon chiefs.
C
I'm just going to do that. So if this goes on, if this continues to go on for quite some time, this is going to be potentially really bad for American troops. And yes, Hogan is right. We have the strongest military in the world, and that's a big pride of ours. But it doesn't mean that we have to put them on the front line and test out the strength and test out the front line of this military and have more American soldiers die. We have to be very thoughtful about this. I don't think the president has been, has explained this war well enough and he has obviously not asked Congress.
A
Yeah, but just the specific and then we'll move on. Is Cain going to be mocked by Rachel Maddow? Is Kane going to be mocked by Chuck Schumer the way they'll mock Hegseth? Or is he, is he somehow exempt from that?
C
I don't think he's exempt for it, but I do think it was very smart having the joint chief out there this morning getting ahead of the president and the secretary. So it's going to be a lot more difficult to impeach what he's saying rather than the secretary and the president.
A
Yeah, I will say about Hags, that performance, and I don't read the chat, but I do glance at it occasionally. That was one of his better performances. He did, he did, he did attack the media. But, but mostly what he said could have been said by Barack Obama. Secretary of Defense. Most of what he said was pretty sober for him. All right. Endgame options. Yeah, that was a little joke, Deborah. I know you got that. Yeah, Endgame options. I don't find this to be a mystery. Some of you know, I spent by just happenstance. Thank you to the Two Way community. Actually, most of my Saturday at Mar A Lago, I got this nice shirt in the. In the gift shop. You know who makes this shirt? Fairway and Green says Mar A Lago right here. Fairway and Green. One of our sponsors here go to Two Way tv. Fairway, you too can own Fairway and Green merchandise. Beautiful. This shirt's beautiful. And I was happy to see it on sale there at Mar a Lago. Anyway, from my time in Mar a Lago, where the President was and many of his top advisors for national security team, they basically set up the Situation Room in Mar a Lago. Saturday night. There was a big dinner for a big meeting for a fundraiser for one of the President's political operations. There was also the regular members there having dinner on the patio inside. And then there was a giant wedding there. And in the midst of that, the President was conducting this operation. I don't think the end game is a mystery. People say, what's the end game? What's the end game? The end game is pretty clear now. It's got two parts. There could be an end game involving regime change that happens with the secret help of the United States and Israel. But basically organic. Right? There could be a new government that has elections and totally transforms it. But the end game could be the model that they love at Mar a Lago and in the White House, the end game is replace a couple people. In Venezuela, they replace two and then negotiate and deal with the people who are there. Little trickier in Iran, they've already killed a bunch of people. But here is one of the smartest commentators you'll see on Squawk Box this morning. Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, who also is a senior State Department official. Brilliant guy. He explained exactly what's going on here to a degree I haven't heard very many other places. Everybody listen closely to Mark Kimmitt. 110, please.
E
We certainly understand what endgame is. And that is just like in the negotiations. No nukes, no proxies, and a reduced ballistic missile program. And we can work with the government, regardless if it's the citizens rising up or whether it's regime 2.0. Look, LBJ had it right. They may be. Are they maybe SOBs? But there are SOBs. And we're doing that now in Venezuela, and we're doing that in Syria. Those people don't love us. Darcy Rodriguez does not love us, nor does Ahmed Al Shara love us. But we can work together. And I believe that this war is going to end when Larjani or Peshkeshian come back to the negotiating table, meet the American objectives, we will help them with sanctions relief and economic support, and then we'll move on that.
A
I'm tempted to play it again because Mark Kimmitt is about the only person I've seen in the media explain what's going on here. The President did this because he couldn't get it done at the negotiating table. The Iranians, with Witkoff and with Kushner, they were, they were playing hide, hide the ball. They were not doing it. The President's quite clear what he wants to do. Seems to me, no missiles, no nuclear, no proxy wars with terrorism. And if they can do it, as the President would say, the easy way or the hard way, if they want to come and do abject agreement on those things, he'll stop the bombing immediately. But until they do, he's going to get those things through, through destroying human beings, including some civilians, all the leaders, all their capability. Jaime, is that, does that seem like it's the President's goal to you? And who would be against that goal?
C
Yeah, I mean, look, we, we, the three of us have talked about this sort of ad nauseam over the last couple of weeks, and I think Mark just hit it, hit the nail on the head. I think he's absolutely right about the President's goal. I don't, I don't think that's the main issue for, for a lot of people. I think since it's so complicated in that region, we all can agree that we cannot have Iran grow its capabilities on the nuclear defense any more than they already have. And the President's been very clear about that since he came into office, even last year with that, with that mini strike. And so I think that's one. I think the thing that Democrats are, what I'm hearing from Democrats is they, they're so, so tired of the President making these unilateral decisions across the board. Venezuela, Greenland, you know, and so it's not just about going in and having a surgical approach to Iran. This is a greater issue with the President's overreach of power. One, and then two, the President has now run on two things. Lowering costs and no new wars. We haven't lower costs, and we've been in several new wars over the past few months. And so I think from a rhetoric perspective, as we enter the midterms, this is going to be something that many Republicans. And I would love to hear Hogan's opinion on how MAGA is responding to this. But many Republicans have the answer to this. And this is yet another issue that the President's giving to his party that will not be cleaned up by the midterms. This is not something that we can just go in and pop in in Iran and then pop out and not expect for there to be any long term consequences. We got to think about this thing 10 years, 20 years down the road, and I'm not sure the President's doing that.
A
Okay, we'll get to Mag in a second, Hogan.
D
Yeah, okay. The long term consequences, I think, is exactly why he had to go in there and do what he did. Because oftentimes, as we know through history, when you don't strike when you're supposed to strike, things happen subsequent that are quite damaging. Think about Bill Clinton having Osama bin Laden and his crosshairs and didn't take it. What happened after that? Obviously, we know with 9, 11, those types of things happen all of the time, unilaterally. And I get it, because some people are saying, well, wait a minute, go to Congress. Okay. Do you know the last time that a president went to Congress and got them to declare war? It was World War II. Like, it's been a minute since they've gone.
A
Bush went for a ride, Hogan.
D
Go back and look at that.
A
Especially before he did.
D
But also, what does he have 60 days to wage war? Is that right, Mark? Yeah, 60 days, okay. Things probably gonna be over in less than that.
A
Okay, but Hogan, why wouldn't the President want Congress's support?
D
I'm not saying he doesn't, but I mean, you know, oftentimes when the intel, when the intelligence you receive is there, you have to do it. Then you don't have time to have conversations, especially with goobs up on Capitol Hill who would leak it and mess it all up in the first place. But the objective here, I thought was clear. And I think the person you just played, Kemet, just outlined it really well. No nukes, no proxies, and a greatly reduced ballistic missiles program. Okay, that's fine. And I don't think anyone is objecting to that. And Jaime, I think, is right. Large on the left, they say Iran's bad, They're a murderous, dictatorial terrorist regime. But there's no justification for. And it's like, wait a minute, you just justified it. That's why they're the problem. And I often do find, and look, this is just the way politics works, especially in this town. Had this been a Democrat president who did this, we'd all be saying, on the right, this is a unilateral move. How dare they do it? On the left, they're saying it's Republican. How dare he. It's unilateral. Why did he do it? But the issue is how long is this going to last, why was this done? And how the American people feel about, of course, is somewhat important, but I don't think it's going to be a midterm issue because, as you know, foreign policy is like 2.4percent of white people in here.
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Go ahead.
D
When you go into some type of skirmish like this, when you do a military operation like this, I don't want to throw around the world war because I don't think it is one. When you, when you do things like this, really, the American people, all they care about is regardless of all the justification or the arguments or the hand wringing or the pearl clutching, the, you know, naysayers, the, the pro movement people, how does it end up? If it ends up good, people are going to be for it. If it ends up badly, people are not going to be for it. They're going to be angry about it.
A
That's just a simple way to look at it. It's the most important thing anybody could say. It's too soon to say how this is going to play politically or substantively, and it will depend on how it goes. Yes.
C
Well, do either you guys think the President's going to spend any time this week trying to draw a bigger consensus around this, or you think he's just
A
going to go here, here, here's what's confusing to me. The President's done two videotaped addresses, okay. And they were both intended to build support for this. People say, well, do an Oval Office address. I don't really know what the difference is. Oval Office addresses in the Oval Office and, and live. But this is the same thing. And I think, I think he's made the case pretty clearly. It's, it's what Kim had said. He's not going to sit around and let the Iranians have nuclear weapons and terrorism capacity and ballistic missiles. And he's not, he's going to use the military to do that. And he's. And, and if, and if the Iranian people want to seize the moment, he's all for that too. So I'm not, I'm not endorsing it. I'm a journalist. I'm just telling you, when people say he's not making the case, I don't know what I, I mean, he has made the case now twice.
C
But just my question is, will he try, will he try to bring the opposition along with him a little bit more? Will you just leave them behind? I don't, I think he's, I think he's made a pretty violent case. But will he try and reach across?
A
He doesn't. He doesn't, he doesn't care because he doesn't think they'll come along because he thinks they have Trump derangement syndrome, because, Because Chuck Schumer desperately wants Iran to not have nuclear weapons.
D
Yes, Mark, this is, this is the key. Both Republican and Democrat presidents, both Republican and Democrat Congresses have been bitching about Maduro and bitching about Iran for decades.
A
Right?
D
The question is, how do you address it? And this is the only president who has the guts to go, you know what? To hell with it. I think we need to do something here because it's hurting not just America, but our interest overseas. Let's do it. They're doing what they didn't do.
A
Let me run through some things. There are tens of millions of you who oppose this because he didn't go to Congress and because he promised no forever wars and because you don't trust Donald Trump. Totally respect that. But I have a friend who's got as much Trump derangement syndrome as anyone I know who said to me, half and Jess, Trump should be on Mount Rushmore for what he just did. He had the cojones to do something that his predecessors did not. Okay? There are a lot of Democrats who feel that way, maybe not in Congress. There are a lot of Republicans, maybe not in Congress, where, with few exceptions, like Rand Paul, they're all, they all say they're supportive of this for a variety of political reasons. This country is divided over this. There are people on the left and the right against it. People on the left and the right for it. Okay? Now you always have to think about what's not happening that could be happening. Okay? And, and what, and where the changes are. So let's run through some of those. Oil. Oil is up. Okay? Then you put up some graphics that show this. But oil could be up a lot more than it is, and there could be a lot more panic. Now, this could develop into panic, and this could be one of the key metrics that everybody looks at all week. And as long as the conflict continues, particularly if the Iranians. The Iranians try to close all oil traffic in the Strait. But oil's up, but it's not crazy up. Okay, so we got to have to watch that. The administration has dealt with predictions of market collapses or price rises after the tariffs. After Maduro, it seems to have worked out. And there are things they can do with the Saudis and things they can do with other countries to try to minimize the prospect that crude oil prices will go way up. Number two, the Israeli US alliance, it's downplayed by the United States because they don't want this to be seen in the United States or in the region as an Israeli war. But the level of cooperation on intelligence, on special ops, on the ground, on. On technology between the United States and Israel, it's always been strong. When this has happened. It was in the last attack in Iran, ladies and gentlemen, this is extraordinary. What's happening, what these two countries are doing. Years of. Years of planning. It's extraordinary. Alliances started out, US Pissed to Europe and no support from the Europeans and hostility for the Europeans and the Gulf states to the operation. The Saudis secretly backing it, pretending they were neutral. Everybody else publicly against it. Now what's happened in 48 hours, they're all for it. Now everybody's for it. The Europeans are for this, the. The. The Gulf states for. Because Iran's hitting them and the US Is winning the war in two days doesn't mean they'll win in the end. So again, think about what could be happening. You could be seeing denunciations of this by the Gulf states and by the Europeans. Instead, you're seeing praise. Something else that's happening. China and Russia. In the olden days, if the United States got into hostilities with Iran, there'd be rhetorical and material support for the Iranians. Now maybe some of it's happening behind the scenes. But imagine if China and Russia were being defiant and saying they were going to confront the United States. Silence. Silence. This is all very good stuff. This is all very good stuff. The United States Congress, go ahead now,
D
just go and look who's angriest here, really. The only, only back channels we know people are angry. It's Russia and China. Everybody else who was like, I'm worried about this happens, and they're like, oh, hey, everything looks good to us here. That tells you a lot, too. Is who the angriest at this issue because of the oil relationship, of course, with Russia, China and other things that are the missile selling, et CETERA So go ahead, Mark.
C
That's a good point.
A
Sorry. Almost done. Now there's talk that Republicans are saying, well, we're going to get the DHS funding because remember, amongst the many overshadowed stories is the partial government shutdown. They're saying, well, we need that funding now. Democrats so far aren't giving on on that, but let's see what happens there. We'll talk in a second about the Democrats. We've talked a bit about them. Maga. Now MAGA takes the weekend off, Right. They're on X. But all the podcasts and the YouTube shows, let's see what people say today because MAGA has been against things like this. Here's one of the leading voices of all of MAGA talking about the prospect of a war with Iran. 104 please. Spoiler alert. This is Charlie Kirk from June of 25. Okay, Charlie Kirk, when Lindsey Graham says, I would like to see this regime fall, if we don't take out their nuclear program now, we'll regret it. We're very close, but be all in, Mr. President. Help Israel finish the job. Lindsey Graham said that in June of 25. And here's how Charlie responded. This is insane. Regime change will result in a bloody civil war killing hundreds of thousands and creating another massive Muslim refugee crisis. Toppling a leader is never as easy as you think. It's almost always results in, in further involvement of civil war and chaos. Resist this, Charlie said. We'll see who says that today with high profile MAGA megaphones. But people say you can't cause regime change from the air only. Ladies and gentlemen, that truism was developed before drones. Yeah, okay. It was developed before the Iranian people were abused and repressed for decades.
E
Yes.
A
So I just think it's, I just think it's crap to say it can't be done. But remember, the president can walk away from this mission without regime change. If he gets those other things done, it's a bonus. It's a nice to have as they stay at Netflix. Hogan, how will MAGA react today to what's going on? Will they follow the lead of Republicans in Congress and be 95.5for it or will there be people who say what Charlie said last time? Mr. President, this is a huge mistake.
D
Real quick, anyone in Congress who wants to try and lean on that quote to make their point, I would caution that.
A
Well, not in Congress. It's other people in maga.
D
Yes, but I'm saying there are MAGA members of Congress who will go out there and what Charlie Kirk said or did other members of maga, too, may do that. I think Charlie Kirk and I don't want to speak for him. I wasn't in his head here. This is something for TPUSA to address or his wife, his widow. He was more or less reacting to Lindsey Graham, let's be honest. Someone who's been hellbent on Redeemed March.
A
But Marjorie Taylor Green's going to be against it. Tucker's going to be against it.
D
Yeah.
A
Call that everybody else. Yeah.
D
But to call them MAGA is probably not necessarily accurate.
A
Okay, now. Yeah. Who.
C
What is maga?
A
Who's. Whose views would. The White House.
D
The person. It's what the person who created it says it is, and that's Donald Trump. It's not Marjorie Taylor Green and it's not Tucker.
A
It's not. Okay, what about. What about Steve Bannon? Yeah.
D
I mean, again, I don't know what his opinion on this is. I'm not listening to Steve Bannon. Listen, there will be some on the, on the right who have these podcasts, who have audiences who try and make these claims. For the most part, Donald Trump has, what, 97% of support within the Republican Party, in large part because he's doing things other presidents, other Republicans said they would do but didn't do. This is another example of that. We are not getting into a long, protracted war. He ran on not doing that. He's not going to do that. He has made strategic, targeted, surgical strikes a thing of his presidency. He did so in the first term. He's doing it now. And the thought that regime change is imminent is evident. Possibly. But as Donald Trump said before this even happened, hey, support's coming. This wasn't about Israel. It was about him telling the people, hey, keep doing this. Support's coming. Be ready. And now they've got the opportunity. If they take it, they take it. If they don't, they don't. But if those three objectives are achieved, as you just mentioned, Mark, we're going to be in a much better place globally than we were.
A
Jaime, your party, just as the Republican Party elites are 95. 5 for this Democratic Party is about 955 against Fetterman's for it. Maybe Josh Gottheim or some other ones who put a priority on Israel's security. If you were addressing the Democrat members of Congress, House and Senate, and they said to you, out of principle and politics, we're all, all in on being critical of this, no consultation, you know, dangerous mission, etc. What are our political risks here? For the Midterms, what are, what are the dangers and how can we mitigate them? What would you say to them?
C
Well, I think, I think Hogan made a really salient point earlier. If this thing works and those three goals are accomplished, and then the President's going to be an international hero. That's just, that's just, that's just so.
A
So. Exactly. But let me just, I'm sorry, I want you to keep going. But just, that's the issue. Right. What do you say to Democrats to hedge against that? Because that could happen and then wouldn't they look stupid in the midterms?
C
That could, that could very well happen. But I will say. I know, I know. You know, Hogan mentioned earlier that this is going to be, I do think the president wants to have a surgical approach, but sometimes you can't account for the reactions. And I think one of the things that Charlie Kirk did say in this, and I've never agreed with them up until the second, was about the chaos that this is going to ensue. We remember, I mean, I'm older, we were old enough to remember the Arab Spring, and it was not, it was not an easy endeavor. And so when we look at this sort of regional potential chaos, then you're looking down the road to, you know, three, four, five months. And this is the midterms. Yes, they're in November, but they're beginning right now. The, the primaries are beginning right this second. And so when we keep talking about the midterms, it's not talking about what's going to happen in November, talking about these primaries there. There's a huge primary in, in Texas tomorrow. And, and, and this may have implications on that Republican primary. It may very well have implications on how Jasmin Crockett and, and Talaria are talking about it over the next 24 hours. And so if I were talking to Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer and both of their caucuses, I would say, look, you got to do two things at once. You've got to draw the distinction that President Trump has overreached yet again. He has completely neutered Congress and he has no plan for going forward. You have to do that one. But the second thing, Hogan, you have to admit that a regime change are going in and helping the people of Iran and taking them out of this dictatorial, dictatorial posture could be good for the world if this is accomplished. Well, this could be good for the world if we can continue to have Europe on board, continue to have Israel.
A
But how should, how should Democrats Talk about this to hedge against that possibility.
C
Well, I think, I think Josh Heimer, Josh got him, was on CNN this past weekend and had some salient points that.
A
But he's the only one talking like he's the only one.
C
I know, but that's how it happens.
A
But would you recommend, but would you recommend, but would you recommend other Democrats who primarily like Hakeem Jeffries was just on cnn. Their whole affect is, this is a disaster. This will. Trump's an idiot. Trump's not consulting. This will end badly. They'll try to do regime change, they try to do nation building. It'll be disaster. That's their whole tone. I'm asking you, should they, should they hedge on that now?
C
I think, I think you, I think you use that for the next couple of days and then you give yourself some, some out to be able to expand on that. You know, this is, this is going to be, like I said, they're primaries that are happening right now. And for the Democrats, this is about getting out the base one. And so this is going to be a base conversation that's going to resonate really well. However, as this continues to go on over the next couple days and there is some success, signs of success, I think Democrats can start to expand. That's why you let Josh and Fetterman go out there and plant those seeds.
A
Last, last question and then we're going to a quick word from sponsor and then to your question. So please, please raise your hand if you want to get in the conversation. We've barely heard from the vice President since this started. Typically when things like this have happened, everybody suspects, oh, the vice President's being quiet because he doesn't really support it because he's got a different view of American use of force historically. And then he always comes out on Twitter and says, the President's amazing. This is going great. I predict that will happen soon. Hogan, do you agree or disagree? One word.
D
Yes.
A
Okay. Jaime, do you agree?
F
Yes.
A
Okay. All right, ladies and gentlemen, we've solved much, but not everything. In order to solve more, we'll need your help. If you want to be on the conversation right now and you're here on the two way platform, please raise your hand. Please raise your hand. Let me, let me do a quick sponsor and then, and then we'll get right to you. Factor is a subscription service that delivers fresh, tasty, healthy meals right to your door. It'll change your life. No more shopping things, deciding what to make. So spending time cooking and cleaning or eating unhealthy stuff. Go to factor meals.com two way 50 off FactorMeals.com two way 50 off to get 50% off your first Factor box plus free breakfast for a year promo code two way 50 off and I've been doing this and it's just great. It's healthy, tasty meals, great variety. You can specify if you've got a particular type of meal you want, like low calorie or high protein. There are no refined sugars, no artificial sweeteners, no refined seed oils, real vegetables, whole food ingredients, healthy fats. And it, and it just, it just, it'll change your life really. If, if you're looking to save time, money and, and eat well, go to factor meals.com two way 50 off $50 off your first 50% off your first Factor box plus free breakfast for a year Factor meals.com 50 off Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile with a message for everyone paying Big wireless way too much. Please, for the love of everything good in this world, stop with Mint. You can get premium wireless for just $15 a month. Of course, if you enjoy overpaying. No judgments.
F
But that's weird.
A
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E
Thanks for being on. I haven't been on for a while, but I've been watching on Zoom a lot and I really appreciate the conversation. Just I am very strong maga, been a big supporter Trump and one of the biggest things was no forever wars. It's not the only thing, but that was big. And I am 100% supporting what Trump did because this is something that had to be done. And the interesting thing is that Trump is reasserting American leadership in the world instead of what seems to have failed over the last 30, 40 years, which is everything has to be done in coordination with allies who don't agree with America. And to my MAGA friends who think this is an Israeli war that Trump's got dragged into, you are really wrong. This is the most America first thing that a president could do. And I really don't think that that wing of the MAGA movement is really going to carry much weight and it certainly shouldn't be what sways the president's decision. I think this is a strong leadership.
A
Thank you for that, Bruce. Jaime, then Hogan comment.
C
Bruce, that's a very helpful point. Thank you for saying that. And I think this is something I've been asking over the last couple of days. So thank you for clarifying that. I do, I do have a question for you. What is too far? What's the line too far for you or for MAGA when it comes to international conflict?
E
I think it's hard to answer it in that way. You can't predict in advance. I think you have to take it on a case by case basis. And this was clearly a case. It's not Iraq. Iraq was insane from the beginning. I did not support the Iraq war. I did not support the continuation of the Afghanistan war. This has a clear mission and from the press conference that Hegseth and Kane gave, it's very clear and you could see it from the results that there was a massive amount of planning that went into this thing. And the US has military, has capabilities which most people don't know. I didn't know them.
A
Bruce, let me ask you of the things that could go wrong. And of course things could go wrong. It's not like massive speculation. If hundreds of American service personnel are killed, if, if civilian Americans are killed by terrorist acts at home, if the president, if the cost of it is prohibitively expensive, would any of those things make you say, are you open to the possibility that those things could happen. And you could say, well, I thought it was a good idea, but it really wasn't.
E
Of course, I'm open to that possibility. But the only way to. You can't judge that in advance. I think you'd have to see how the US Responds to those things and how we did it. Right now, based on what I'm hearing, I don't see that. What really surprises me, both in this operation and in Midnight Hammer and in the Venezuelan operation, is that the US Military capability is far different than what most people, including myself, realized.
F
Yeah.
E
Just to finish the assumption that this is all going to go the way of Iraq is really wrong. Had it, because things have changed.
A
Thank you. Thank you for that, Bruce.
D
I think you're right. And as I look down the road a little bit, I think I know what you're getting at here, and that is the no forever wars, which I think is what Trump ran on. It's in large part what he won on. I think the party doesn't have any appetite for it. I think America doesn't have any appetite for it. But it does go back to that mentality of the Bush administration. I don't remember who it was it was either. I think it was Colin Powell, perhaps. Mark, you may remember, basically the foreign policy was you go in there and invade someplace, you take care of all, you kill all these leaders. It's a break it, you bought it situation. For a lot of folks on the, on the right. I don't think that is a policy of this administration. You can't treat it like it's a. You can't treat Iran like it's an antique store in Georgetown. If you broke it, it's because you were fighting us for decades. You were killing American citizens, you were killing American service members. You have sleeper cells all over this country we know are going to be switched on all of a sudden. That's what makes war so ugly. But it doesn't mean our retaliatory strikes will lead to us trying to build the democracy or hundreds of thousands of troops or billions and billions of dollars. It could be a situation with this administration that, hey, you attacked us for years. We're sick and tired of it. Here are three objectives. We're going to attack you and you deal with what's left. It's not our job to fix your mess. You poked us, we slapped you down, and that's the end of it. We're not going to go in there and rebuild the place. I don't believe.
A
Yeah, Bruce, thank you. Very grateful to you. Bruce, thank you for coming on. Dan, welcome in. Tell folks who don't know where you are what's on your mind for Hogan and for Heima.
C
Hey, Dan,
A
You're good. We got. We got you. Yes. Yeah.
B
Yeah.
E
Good morning, guys, from Los Angeles. I'm curious to get inside of the mind of the Trump supporter who. When Joe Biden initiated Trump's plan to leave Afghanistan and 13 soldiers were killed, there was, you know, a vast amount of outrage. Here we have a strike that, you know, Congress wasn't aware of, I believe, and we lost three soldiers so far, and I just. And if it continues on, we probably will lose more. So I'm just trying to understand the difference.
A
It's our. It's already four,
E
I guess.
A
Okay.
E
You know, with the Afghanistan thing, it was, you know, we're out of there now. So there was a result in that, and then here we're trying to gain another result, but there's no outrage. Doesn't feel like with the US Losing soldiers.
A
Yeah, Hogan.
D
Yeah, I was in a lot of these meetings, actually, Dan. It was the President Trump's first term where he was trying to come. He was making good on a campaign promise to withdraw from Afghanistan. The difference was we had several benchmarks in place that the Taliban and others had to meet for us to make that happen. The phone calls went, as you can imagine, they were pretty hostile, but the president said, touch somebody and it's over. There were all kinds of other things they had to do. And right off the top of my head, I can't remember them all, but I do remember when Biden did it. He took all of those off the table and just started pulling people out. And he did so kind of in a backwards way. He took some of our forces out. Our lethality was gone, and there was no one there to protect anybody. You remember the planes taking off, all those people kind of clinging to it, trying to save their lives. That was a big issue and a big mistake as well. You've heard Trump talk about his top brass saying, just leave all the planes there. He's like, no, we're not leaving them now. They've got our tanks, they've got some of our equipment as well. It was completely different. So both concepts were, let's draw down out of Afghanistan in a safe, responsible manner. Our side worked on different benchmarks that had to be met. And if they weren't, Trump was not going to, you know, was not going to pull out. It was going to happen again, and we're going to figure it out. Biden did the opposite. That's the difference.
A
Dan. Thank you, ladies. I brought you all in together to talk amongst yourselves. Nicole and Deborah and Carol, just. We'll sit back and listen. You three just chat away, say whatever you want, ask each other questions. Go to it. Deborah, you first.
B
Sure.
A
At a long and a short question.
B
I'll do the short one, which is, if this goes well, how much does
A
this change US Public opinion and the
B
standing of Israel on the world stage?
A
Okay, Carol, what's on your mind?
B
You know, I'm the couples therapist, so I just want to say,
A
I always
B
say to couples, you always, you know, people have their favorite moves. They cope by shutting down or they cope by fighting or whatever, and you always have to have lots of moves. And the one thing I like about Trump is he always has different moves. And, you know, to be able to do the right move at the right time is really important. And that's why I respect him, because I can see him able to pivot and do a different move as it's needed. And I wish more people could understand that, because it's being limited and being strict with one principle is what's getting people in trouble. All right. There isn't just one thing that works.
A
Well said, Nicole.
D
So I froze my. I raised my hand this morning because I'm with my husband, who's a war veteran in Iraq, and he had a
B
lot of comments that he just wanted
A
to make independent of what the ladies are saying this morning.
B
So if you don't mind, I'm going to let him.
A
Sure. Please do.
F
Hey, good morning. How you doing, Mark?
A
Good, how are you, sir? Thank you for joining. Nicole, get up your camera game service, too. Thank you for your service. Yeah. Yes, sir.
D
Hey, so.
F
So just a couple quick things. One is, is that there's a lot I, I like to say, but to address the guy from, I think Los Angeles, this is a. Biden's plan to pull out is a completely different world than Trump. It was. It was absolutely done horribly, and there was no communication to include the partners that were there. Now, as far as what's going on this right now, whether it's good, bad, or indifferent, a lot of things are put on the map with this. Number one is that all the equipment that the Iranians have are from China or Russia or internal. And they said they were the stealth finders and all this other stuff, and they've just been shot to death. All that was completely impervious to what we've already Done, number one. Number two, it shows Russia and China that they are, are nowhere on a playing field with us. And that is great. Number three, it also pulls out the guys that, yeah, there's, we already knew there were sleeper cells. There's always been this argument, like, no, there's not. You know, it was just people that want to live here. Well, now we're seeing that take place and that really pushes the pedal forward to say, like, the illegal immigration is far more serious than you thought it was. We've been saying it our counterterrorism. Joe Kentucky has been saying this for a while now as well. Sarah Adams, like, the proof is down the pudding. It's undeniable. And I think this changes a lot across the board. Do I think we're going to be doing a changeover of regime? The regime's already changed. They don't exist anymore. They are dust. So whatever the new regime is going to be, if it's leftovers that are trying to do there, they're going to have to play ball with the way that we're playing ball, period, regardless. But the other half that we have, or a hat trick that we have, is that Prince Reza also has 30% or more of support of his own country's people over there. We didn't have that in Iraq and we had it for a short time in Afghanistan, but that that tribal leader was killed and unfortunately lost all that as well. So we have a lot more trump cards play, quote, unquote, in this particular situation that we ever had any of our things.
A
Thanks. Thank you for that, sir. All right, we got Deborah's question on the table about, about Israel. Carol's got a point about Trump's flexibility and we're going to get to that. But here's Nikki Schwab, our friend and colleague from the Daily Mail, chief campaign correspondent, who had an interview with the president yesterday. Nikki, thank you for making time. You're also in the pool. So you saw the president just talk about your day yesterday and what you learned from, from him that you think significant going forward.
B
So I, I'm one of the, actually many reporters over the weekend who fewer
A
than a dozen took, took, got their calls taken. Yeah, it's a select group.
B
It's a select group. But, and it was, it was the first time I've actually tried this. You know, I've had this number for a number of weeks. And then one of my colleagues also was able to get it from a source, so we sort of authenticated it, but we hadn't actually tried to call him yet, but it felt like a pretty newsy weekend to actually, you know, place the phone call. So on Saturday I called him, got voicemail. I was like, I don't know if it's the number. And then on Sunday I called him and I realized it might be a good time to talk to him because he hadn't spoken out yet about the three service members who were killed. And so that was sort of what I wanted to ask him, if he wanted to say something about the service members, if he had talked to their families, if he planned to invite the families to the White House. One of the things he said that he said to me was that he was going to potentially go to the dignified transfer in Dover, which is a very solemn occasion for a president. It's a pretty big deal. So he might end up doing that as well. And so that was sort of the reason why I called. But the news out of my interview, which was only 3 minutes and 45 seconds, that he's like, I'm about to meet with the generals. I'm meeting with the generals, I gotta go. So it was very quick. But he gave that sort of four week timeline. And my question was pretty, pretty open and pretty vague. I simply asked him, you know, what can the American people expect over the next couple of days? And he said the same, the same kind of thing that's sort of going on now, but, you know, and then he gave this sort of four week timeline, which Secretary of War Pete Hegseth was asked about this morning. And he sort of bristled at this question which came directly from the President's mouth that he had given this timeline.
D
So.
B
So I guess they don't want to be constrained to a certain timeline because if it goes on longer, then, you know, it could become a political problem.
A
Yeah. Orphan and shorter. Nikki, thank you for sharing all that. Stay with us if you can. I'd love for first, Jaime to address Deborah's question about Israel and what this means for Israel. You know, Israel's image in the world and in the United States with both parties has declined pretty precipitously. So, Jaime, what would you forecast this impact potentially of, of this conflict?
C
Deborah? I don't. That's a great question. I don't. I don't think so. As it stands, I think here in this country, particularly as we get into the campaign season, it's going to be hard to elevate Israel's political standing. I do think if this mission goes well, as we're all hoping and praying for this could be good for the US Israel relationship writ large, you know, via the President and other members of Congress. But I think it may be a little too late to permeate down to the voters right now. It's going to take a little bit longer for that to happen, I believe.
A
Okay, thank you, Deborah. Grateful to you. And thank you, Carol, for your great point. And Nicole, thank you for, thank you for producing a good live shot from your husband and the dog. Have a cuddle blanket. Thank you for your service, Nikki. Thank you. Let us know next time you call the President. Hey, Nikki, Go ahead, go ahead.
B
Hey, Hogan, what's up?
D
Hey. In the briefing when they asked Pete that question, I think it would have been phrased better. And I don't think I, I don't think they, the reporter phrase it this way, but they should have said, the President has now said on the record in a wonderful reporting by Nikki Schwab.
A
Yes. That, yeah, it would have been better four weeks. Yeah.
D
Do you agree with that assessment? Do you agree with that? Instead of saying, how long is it going to last? Because then that just gives Pete right to come over the top and just blast. And they should have tried to pin him to the present statement.
A
You're right.
B
I agree. And you heard it, you heard another reporter in the, I guess it's the Pentagon press corps basically say, well, you know, he, he said this to the Daily Mail as, as this conversation is happening. So got a little credit there.
A
Nikki, thank you. Thank you for coming on. Congratulations on the scoop and stay in touch. We love having you on. Thank you.
B
All right, thank you, guys.
A
Okay, let me run through some things coming up. Yeah, go ahead.
D
Just real quick on the four week thing.
A
Yeah.
D
Something people don't understand about Trump, and I think everyone on this show needs to understand this. He doesn't just make it up. Meaning, I'm sure he's had briefings with his generals and had conversations where someone said, hey, look, if this all goes well, I think we could be looking at four weeks or less. And I'll just say this one anecdote during COVID when he made the point about light in your lungs could kill the virus. And everyone was like, what an idiot. Whoever thought of that? I remember going back into the Oval after that briefing, and on his desk was a paper, a Duke University, Duke Medical University paper that said the way you kill airborne viruses in the lungs is by putting an endoscopy down your throat and flashing ultraviolet light. He comes up with this stuff because people tell him so the four week thing I doubt is arbitrary, although he does like clean numbers. I think he, I think he heard that and said, and maybe I wanted to just let that out to the public to let them know this isn't going to be a protracted long war.
C
Well, he's the, he's the president. So he shouldn't just take one study or one comment from someone and then run with it. I mean that's, that's, that's what Democrats are saying. That's chaotic.
A
Yeah, yeah. Hold on, hold on. Because I'm up against the clock here. Jake Capper just did a nine minute phone interview with the President. He said we're knocking the quote, this, this is me quoting Tapper, quoting the President. We're knocking the crack crap out of them and I think it's going very well. It's very powerful. We've got the greatest military in the world and we're using it. Tapper says, I asked the president how long he thought this military operation would last. He said, quote, I don't want to see it go on too long. I always thought it would be four weeks and we're a little ahead of schedule. I asked the president this, Tapper, I asked the president the US Was doing more than these military strikes to help the Iranian regime and he said yes. He sounded very pleased with how the operation is going. Very resolute, thought things are going very well. All right, so obviously fast moving story. We'll have coverage of this tonight on two way tonight amongst my guests will be John Fowler and Helen Zhang of International Intrigue. They haven't been on in a while. Great time to have them. Former Australian diplomats who now write the International Intrigue newsletter. And then Matt Whitlock will also be with us. Ethan Supley tonight has Mike Pesca on. And then the morning meeting tomorrow, 9am Eastern Time. Eric Erickson and Melissa Derosa. And of course, if there's breaking news, we may convene. So watch my Twitter feed, watch my substack for notifications about special pop up two ways. Tomorrow it's not about, it's not about Iran. But tomorrow, my interview with Gavin Newsom. Really interesting interview. I think if you've seen other interviews with Gavin Newsom, you'll find this one different. I'm going to show you a clip from it because we've already done the interview drops tomorrow. And next up, Gavin Newsom was accused of lying about not being able to read when he said he's got dyslexia. Here's my question to the governor about Whether in fact he knows how to read or he's capable of reading. I should say this from nextup. Go ahead. Can you read? Can you read a book? I can read.
D
I just have to underline it. I can't read spatially, I can't.
E
That's why I can't read a speech
D
mark, because spatially I'll lose the line. So I'll literally. And I mean, I wish I had a book here.
A
Yeah.
D
If you ever lend me a book.
A
That's why I don't go to the
D
library, because I can never return the book. I have to underline. And then what I'll do is I'll take what's underlined and then I'll put it out and this is literally an actual example. I'll just put in pieces of paper, everything underlined and then I'll do that for hours and hours and hours. And then eventually I'll put it on a little yellow card which will have just quick notes and then it's in my head.
A
Folks, I'm just telling you, it's, it's an interview unlike any I've seen with him. It's about the book, but it's also about a lot of stuff in his life, including, I ask him, do members of his family have veto power over his running for president. If a single one of his kids where his wife says don't run, will he give them all? Veto that and more tomorrow. Next up, gentlemen, go to the libraries
D
because it's not 1972, not because he still.
A
Libraries are so important. Still a good place to get books. Haima. Thank you, Hogan. Thank you. We look forward to having you two guys back. Thank you all for being part of the two way community. Turn over right now to SiriusXM channel 111, another hour of the morning meeting. Be taking your questions at the bottom of the 10 o' clock Eastern hour. So join there. Get the phone number by joining on SiriusXM or checking my Twitter feed. Grateful to you all for being here for Hima and Hogan and everybody else. I'll see you on Sirius XM. I'll see you at 5pm tonight and back here in 23 hours on the morning meeting. Have a great day, everybody. Good to see you guys.
Episode: Exclusive Reporting from Mark Halperin as U.S. and Israel Bomb Iran for a Third Day and War Widens
Date: March 2, 2026
Host: Mark Halperin (2WAY)
Panelists: Hogan, Jaime
Special Guest: Nikki Schwab (Daily Mail), audience call-ins (notably Bruce, Dan, Nicole & veteran husband), others
This episode covers the rapidly developing U.S. and Israeli military campaign against Iran on its third day. Host Mark Halperin leads a discussion about the operations' goals, the political calculus, reactions across the political spectrum, and the evolving international implications. The focus is on real-time reporting, analysis of war objectives, the domestic political tensions, and public and party reactions, especially within MAGA and Democratic circles.
"You'll hear things on here you disagree with...people who think this is a just mission...and people who think this is tragic." (00:50)
"Our ambitions are not utopian...They are realistic, scoped to our interests and the defense of our people and our allies." (Sec. Hegseth, 08:48) "This is not a single overnight operation...We expect to take additional losses...this is major combat operations." (Gen. Kaine, 10:03)
"No nukes, no proxies, reduced missile program...when [Iranian leaders] come back to the negotiating table, meet American objectives, we will help them with sanctions relief and economic support, and then we'll move on." (Gen. Kimmitt, 17:26)
"To my MAGA friends who think this is an Israeli war...you are really wrong. This is the most America First thing that a president could do." (Caller Bruce, 41:19)
“I always thought it would be four weeks and we’re a little ahead of schedule.” (Trump, via Jake Tapper reporting, 57:17)
Gen. Kaine:
"We expect to take additional losses...this is major combat operations." (10:03)
Mark Halperin:
“It's the most important thing anybody could say. It's too soon to say how this is going to play politically or substantively, and it will depend on how it goes.” (23:41)
Caller Bruce (MAGA):
“To my MAGA friends who think this is an Israeli war...you are really wrong. This is the most America First thing that a president could do.” (41:19)
Jaime:
“You have to draw the distinction that President Trump has overreached yet again...but you have to admit that a regime change...could be good for the world if this is accomplished well.” (35:33)
Tapper relaying Trump:
“We're knocking the crap out of them and I think it’s going very well. It's very powerful. We've got the greatest military in the world and we're using it.” (57:17)
| Timestamp | Segment/Topic | |-------------|-----------------------------------------------------------| | 00:50 | Mark frames the show, calls for open-minded discussion | | 01:53 | Jaime and Hogan state their baseline views on the operation| | 08:48 | Sec. Hegseth/Pentagon briefing: mission scope and aims | | 10:03 | Gen. Kaine: "major combat operations" and expected losses | | 17:26 | Gen. Kimmitt: "no nukes, no proxies, reduced missiles..." | | 21:27 | Hogan: historical context for declaring war, presidential power | | 23:41 | Mark: Too soon to predict political consequences | | 28:00 | Overview of global reactions: oil, alliances, China/Russia | | 41:19 | Caller Bruce: MAGA stance on "forever wars" and support | | 53:49 | Nikki Schwab: President’s "four week" timeline revelation | | 57:17 | Tapper relays Trump’s latest direct comments |
The episode offers a vivid, deeply informed look at a volatile, high-stakes military and political situation. It captures the uncertainty, the stakes for the Trump administration, and the unusually bipartisan mix of support and skepticism. With direct reports from the Pentagon, the White House, and MAGA grassroots, plus expert and veteran voices, listeners receive a granular yet wide-lens perspective on the widening war with Iran.
For deeper dives into the war’s evolving objectives, the domestic political risks, and the up-to-the-minute discussions shaping elite and popular opinion, this episode is essential listening—or, with this summary, reading.