Loading summary
Transcript1 lines
- [00:00]
A
This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Good morning, America. Welcome to American Sunrise. Whether it's culture, we have breaking news to share with you. Politics. President Trump is joining us live now from Florida. We've got you covered. This is what it looks like to be a patriot. We have to protect the American family. The American dream is still alive. I'm David brody. I'm Terrence. Dr. Gina. Breaking news from Real America's Voice. We begin with breaking news as we are now standing by for a press briefing at the Pentagon discussing the ongoing combat operations in Iran. We'll of course, take you there live the moment. The Secretary of War, Pete Hagseth, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Kaine, take the podiums there in front of you. We'll also have a live report from RAV correspondent David Zier, who who is attending today's press briefing. First, though, let's bring in Dr. Gina and David Brody, who are also standing by as we prepare for this hearing. Lady and gentlemen, we also have Congressman Mark Alford of Missouri standing by this morning to give us some perspective. Dr. Gina, what is it that you're looking to hear during this press briefing? Well, I think there are just a lot of questions we all want to hear. I can see how the administration is sort of caught because they can't talk about strategy. You don't tell your enemy. You don't show your hand. Right. You keep a poker face. You want to say we're in this for the long haul. We'll be in it for as long as we want, but the American people want to know that we're going to be in and out. And so that really does sort of put them in a little bit of a quagmire there. David Brody. Yeah. Also, President Trump said at the rally yesterday when talking to House Republicans, we've won, but we've already done a lot of winning. But we quote, haven't won enough. What does that mean exactly? Haven't won enough? I'd like a little bit more, a few more details about that this morning from the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint chiefs of staff. Dr. Gina, would you quickly give us our Bible verse so we can try to get to Congressman Alford before the two gentlemen take the podium? Well, I'm not going to rush through the Bible first, Terrence. I know you wouldn't want me to. Psalm, chapter 18, verse 30. As for God, his way is perfect. The word of the Lord is proven. He is a shield to all who trust in him. All Right. I want to bring in now Missouri Congressman Mark Alford. Congressman, you know, we talk about this upcoming press conference that we're going to hear. There's a lot of pressure on the administration regarding this war. What is the best interpretation, in your opinion, of what's really happening on the ground and that. Because I sort of feel like. And tell me if you agree that the President is really calling on the Iranian people to right this ship at this point, to sort of rise up and make things happen. Right. What's your take on what needs to happen to get us out of this sort of struggle? That's quite uncomfortable for maga. Well, Gina, Terence and David, thank you so much for having me. We are in Durham. We did hear from the President yesterday afternoon. Evening. Congressman, I apologize. Congressman, I apologize. Secretary Hegseth is taking a podium. Let's listen. So sorry. Streets of Baghdad. And who trained counterinsurgents in Kabul, Afghanistan? And who still carries the weight of brothers lost to Iranian terrorist proxies, many backed by the same Iranian regime we're confronting now. This fight, Operation Epic Fury, it hits home. Our generation understands this fight. For 47 years, these barbaric savages in the Iranian regime have murdered our brothers in arms. My guys, your guys, our guys, through their terrorist proxies and cowardly attacks. Now they race toward a nuclear bomb to hold the world hostage. The Iranians have targeted and killed thousands of my American brothers that race to a nuclear bomb. President Trump will never allow it. Not now, not ever. Not on our watch. The mullahs are desperate and scrambling like the terrorist cowards they are. They fire missiles from schools and hospitals, deliberately, deliberately targeting innocents because they know their military is being systematically degraded and annihilated. Iran's neighbors, and in some cases, former allies in the Gulf, they've abandoned them and their proxies, Hezbollah, the Houthis and Hamas. Either broken, ineffective or on the sidelines, Iran stands alone and they are badly losing. On day 10 of Operation EPIC Fury, we are winning with an overwhelming and unrelenting focus on our objectives, which are the same as the day I gave my first briefing here on Operation Epic Fury. They're straightforward and we are executing them with ruthless precision. One, destroy their missile stockpiles, their missile launchers and their defense industrial base missiles and their ability to make them two, destroyers, their navy. And three, permanently deny Iran nuclear weapons forever. It's a laser focused, maximum authority mission delivered with overwhelming and unrelenting precision. No hesitation, no half measures. As President Trump declared yesterday. We're crushing the enemy in an overwhelming display of technical skill and military force. We will not relent until the enemy is totally and decisively defeated. But we do so. We do so on our timeline and at our choosing. For example, today will be yet again our most intense day of strikes inside Iran. The most fighters, the most bombers, the most strikes. Intelligence more refined and better than ever. So that's on one hand. On the other hand, the last 24 hours have seen Iran fire the lowest number of missiles they've been capable of firing yet. Just the bifurcation, just the trend lines that we talked about on our first briefing. You see, this is not 2003. This is not endless nation building under those types of quagmires we saw under Bush or Obama. It's not even close. Our generation of soldier will not let that happen again. And nor will this president who very clearly ran against those kinds of never ending, nebulously scoped missions. Those days are dead. Instead, we're winning decisively with brutal efficiency, total air dominance, and an unbreakable will to accomplish the President's objectives. On our timeline, we stay locked on the target because here at the Department of War, that's our job. Now, the Chairman and I, having just returned from Dover last night, our troops and their families and the enormous sacrifice that they make is certainly heavy on my mind. So I'll close with scripture, drawing strength from Psalm 144. Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle. He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge. May the Lord grant unyielding strength and refuge to our warriors, unbreakable protection to to them in our homeland, and total victory over those who seek to harm them. And amen. God bless our troops and this mission. Mr. Chairman, over to you. Thank you, Mr. Secretary, and good morning, everyone, and thank you for being here. I'm here today to continue the updates to the American people and to those in the room on Operation Epic Fury. First, let me start with honoring our fallen. As the Secretary said on Saturday and again last night at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, our nation's leaders honored our returning fallen as they arrived home for their final time. Last week, I shared a few of the names and today I want to share the rest. Major Jeffrey O' Brien and Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Marzin were the final two fallen to return home. And members of the U.S. army Reserve's 103rd Sustainment Command out of Des Moines, Iowa. Last night, as the news has been reporting. We honored the return of Staff Sgt. Benjamin Pennington of the U.S. army's 1st Space Brigade from Fort Carson, Colorado. When I met Ben's family last night, his mom, his dad and his sister, they showed me a picture, a drawing that Ben had made when he was in kindergarten. It was clear all the way back then that Ben wanted to do one thing in his life and he wanted to serve his country and be a soldier. And to the Penningtons, just know how Ben was absolutely a great one. And finally, Major Sorfleed Davias, who returned home this weekend after sadly passing away from a medical condition while on duty in Kuwait. We welcome him home as well and mourn with his family. To the families and the families of all of our fallen, we share in your profound grief. The Joint Force remains eternally grateful for your sacrifice and the gift of a great example that your service members have given all of us. I want you to know that their names will never be forgotten. And you and your family are part of our Joint Force family forever. Let me talk a little bit about the progress thus far, acknowledging that Admiral Cooper will likely continue to give updates from CENTCOM. As the Secretary said, we're in the 10th. Moving in the 11th day of operation Epic Fury, the Joint Force remains focused on three military objectives. Continue to destroy Iranian ballistic missiles and drone capability capability in order to prevent attacks on the US and others throughout the region. And this means attacking launch sites, command and control nodes, stockpiles before they can threaten our personnel, our facilities and our partners. Second, we continue to strike the Iranian Navy and their capabilities in order to do things like sustain movement through the Straits of Hormuz. And third, we continue to start working on and going deeper into Iran's military and industrial base in order to prevent prevent the regime from being able to attack Americans, our interests and our partners for years to come and project power outside their borders. This means servicing production facilities, research and development sites and infrastructure. Let me turn to the map. We're going to try digital today to prevent laser injury. Since our last update, CENTCOM continues to make progress across the southern flank. To date they've struck more than 5,000 targets. US Strategic Command bombers recently dropped dozens of 2,000 pound GPS penetrating weapons on deeply buried missile launchers across the southern flank. We also have struck several one way drone factories to get at the heart of their autonomous capability. And of course, alongside our regional partners along the southern flank, continue to execute intercepts against one way attack drones using fighters and attack helicopters. Our strikes mean we've Made significant progress in reducing the number of missile and drone attacks out of Iran. Ballistic missile attacks continue to trend downward 90% from where they've started. And one way attack drones have decreased 83% since the beginning of the operation. A testament to our air defenders and our air defense systems. And as I said, our partners in the region continue to do great work as well. Second, we're making substantial progress towards destroying the Navy. In the first 10 days of the conflict were more than 50 Iranian naval ships into the campaign using a combination of artillery, fighters, bombers and sea launch missiles. As Admiral Cooper noted last Thursday we struck and sank an Iranian drone carrier ship. And US CENTCOM continues today to hunt and strike mine laying vessels in mine storage facilities. This, this work will continue. Third, we've against our objectives. We've begun to target Iran's military and industrial complex again focusing on centers of gravity to get upstream of the shooters out in the field in order to deny them the ability to continue to generate those, those one way attack drones. Let me spend a minute talking about the Joint force across the area of responsibility. This is gritty and tireless work and I cannot begin to explain how incredibly proud I am of the extraordinary courage, tenacity and grit and professionalism within the Joint Force. Last time I had a chance to talk about the army's incredible logisticians who are out there sustaining the fight. Today I want to highlight a few groups of sailors. First, I want to thank the men and women of the Ford carrier strike group and their families and let all of them know how grateful I am for their leadership and service. The crews on board this strike group have already been endured months at sea only to get their deployment extended. These exceptional Americans rogered up, all supported by their families, continue to stand the watch, taking the fight to the enemy over and over again, night after night. Aboard ships like the USS Ford and the Abraham Lincoln are a special group of sailors I want to highlight today. These are the men and women, the sailors up on the roof running operations on the flight deck. With an average age of the early 20s, these are the unsung heroes of naval aviation. These young sailors known for wearing yellow shirts are in charge of the catapults, taxiing jets around on the flight deck, shooting jets off the front end and recovering jets off the back end. They are literally involved with every single movement on the on the roof on an aircraft carrier. They are the last ones that a naval aviator sees before getting shot off the front end and the first one that a naval aviator sees after safely trapping on the back end. And just for a minute, imagine you're standing on that aircraft carrier flight deck. There's 30 knots of wind in your face. The deck is slippery, covered in grease. It's noisy. There are propellers spinning, there's jet blast everywhere. Helicopters are running, your head is on a swivel and you're trying to direct a multimillion dollar fighter into a one foot square box so that those naval aviators can be shot off into the black of night to go do America's work. Those jets are fully loaded with missiles and bombs and they are a world class team. Combined with the naval aviation and the aviators in those jets, this beautiful symphony of American spirit is the definition of perfectly organized chaos. And these crews do it every single time the carrier is at work. Oh, by the way, in the middle of the night and oftentimes in the pouring rain. These are dedicated young people who take the road less traveled to serve their great nation doing the deeds that we need them to do. America's enlisted force is the pride of every nation's military, certainly ours, and the envy of every other one as well. Each and every one of them out there across the Joint Force are extraordinary. And in particular today I want to highlight the yellow shirts. Ladies and gentlemen, our work continues. It'll continue to be difficult. I ask every American to keep our deployed force and their families in our thoughts. Combat deployments can be tough on the force and the families. And it's important that we continue to remember that. I remain deeply humbled by the 2.8 million members of the Joint Force. And I'll end where I started. And that's remembering our fallen and their families whose sacrifice will be felt forever. And with that, I'll take some questions with the Secretary. A beautiful symphony of American spirit. Well said, Mr. Chairman. Thanks, sir. And I will just. I will just note that no other country in the world is capable of executing what the Chairman just described. Day after day, night after night, unrelenting. Well said. Thank you. Yes, Sir. Alexandra Ingersoll, One America News. You talked, Mr. Secretary. You talked the conference in Florida on Thursday that there was a 90% missile capabilities degradation and 83% drone degradation. And I know the Chairman just repeated those numbers. We've seen the most amount of fighting these past five days. Is there any update to those percentages? And also, are you able to give any quantification of degradation to the enemy's nuclear capabilities yet? What. What those numbers represent is a persistent low ability to respond, which is what we're looking for right it's if the, if the enemy can simply wait and then project power, that's problematic. And we've seen some spurts here or there, but ultimately the trend lines, if you look at the charts that we look at every day, have gone like this, down to a flat. That doesn't mean they won't be able to project, doesn't mean they, you know, our air defenders still don't have to defend. They do. But that is strong evidence of degradation along with the battle damage assessment that the Joint Staff does, which takes time. You've got to look at imagery and recognize whether something's been simply degraded or it's been destroyed or whether an underground facility has been collapsed or completely obliterated. So there's differences in how you evaluate that, but the numbers staying that low is a demonstration of the efficacy for sure. Yeah. Thanks. Mr. Secretary. There's been reports that the new leader of Iran has been wounded. Do you know if this is true and what his condition? And then another one. President Trump said he had a really good call with President Putin yesterday. Will Russia be aiding us in this conflict? And can you share anything on that? Mr. Well, the President, as I've said before, maintains strong relationships with world leaders, which creates opportunities and options for us in very dynamic ways. The president said it was a good call. I was not on it, but those that were said it was a strong call, reaffirming hopefully the opportunity for some, for some peace in Russia, Ukraine, and also a recognition that as it pertains to this conflict, they should not be involved. The first question was on the new leader of Iran. There's reports that he's been wounded. Oh, the new leader of Iran, he would be wise to heed the words of our president, which is to not pursue nuclear weapons and come out and state as such, as far as his status, that's not something I can comment on right now. Yeah, right here. That's great. Mr. Secretary, Eric Schmidt with the New York Times, A question for you first. Last week you talked about this being the beginnings of an air campaign that could last three to eight weeks. Can you give us your assessment on where we are now? And Mr. Chairman, in any conflict, the enemy or the adversary adapts to the tactics it faces. Can you talk about the most challenging adaptation the Iranian military has made to the US Military? What challenges are you facing most right now? Thank you. I appreciate the question. Where we are is in a very strong place giving the president of the United States maximum options. And from the beginning, from this podium, we haven't stated how long it will take. Our will is endless. Ultimately, the President gets to determine the end state of those objectives, Right? But what he's said continually, and I want the American people to understand is this is not endless, it's not protracted. We're not allowing mission creep. The President has set a very specific mission to accomplish, and our job is to unrelentingly deliver that. Now he gets to control the throttle. He's the one deciding, he's the one elected on behalf of the American people when we're achieving those particular objectives. And so it's not for me to posit whether it's the beginning, the middle, or the end, that's his. And he'll continue to communicate that what we serve him as is we give him updates on a daily basis of exactly where we are so he can make that determination on the throttle. Mr. Chairman, thank you for the question on adaptation. As you're right, no plan survives first contact with the enemy or Murphy. They're adapting, as are we. Of course, we have very entrepreneurial war fighters out there. I'd rather not, for operational security reasons, tell them what's working. So I'm going to not answer that question based on that. But we are watching what they're doing and we are adapting faster than they are. Are they more formidable than you anticipated, General? I mean, I think they're fighting and I respect that, but I don't think they're more formidable than what we thought. Secretary, thank you, Jordan. Conrad's from the Gateway pundit axios reported, citing U.S. and Israeli sources, that the U.S. was not happy with strikes on 30 fuel depots in Iran. While this is anonymous sourcing, you know, seems kind of congruent with what President Trump said yesterday, that there's certain spots they don't want to want to hit relating to energy infrastructure that take a long time to rebuild. And you know, whether this reporting is true or not, what's your message to Americans, those who supported the President and those who aren't really in favor of this war and who worry that Israel might be taking advantage of the US's backing. And then for Mr. Chairman, for you, I wanted to ask, when you say that we're moving inland, what capabilities does Iran have to shoot down jets over their land, and would that trigger some kind of rescue operation that could risk a bigger ground operation? Well, I would just state by saying Israel's been a really strong partner in this effort where they have different objectives, they've pursued them. Ultimately, we've stayed focused on ours. But when Iran. What Iran has felt is the power of the world's two most powerful air forces. In that particular case, that wasn't our, those weren't our strikes or that objective or that wasn't our, necessarily our objective. But the President has made it clear to those concerns that we're not getting pulled in any direction. We're leading. The President is leading. He's determining where we want to go, what the outcome will be, what the end state is with a very keen eye. And I understand those concerns because I've heard from a lot of people who went through, I went through 20 years of those wars myself, worried about getting dragged in, worried about mission creep, worried about nation building or democracy expansion. That's never the perspective the President has pursued on this. Just because previous presidents and previous secretaries have decided to just pour more resources and more people in toward some unguided end state, it doesn't mean that's the way the world needs to look today. In fact, the American people voted for a different approach. But what the President also stated from the beginning was Iran can't have a nuclear weapon. And it's one thing to say it, it's easy to say, anybody can say that. I mean, Barack Obama said that. But to do something about it takes courage and resolve. But in that courage and in that resolve, you can also be very scoped in what you're trying to execute to ensure that the sacrifice of Americans, American treasure, American lives, all of those properly meet the objective that you're trying to accomplish. And certainly as someone I talked out front about what the Iranians have done to our generation. Yes, we're clear eyed about it, but my job is to keep it scoped, given the directive of the President to accomplish the mission. Thank you, sir. Thank you for the question. You know, most of their higher end surface to air missile systems are not factors at this point. Point in time we're able to move around fighters that are moving deeper with, with relative impunity. Always some risk out there. I don't want to say that there isn't. And, and we'll always maintain and retain capability of doing search and rescue type of things. But I don't want to get into the details, but thank you for the question. Thanks, Mr. Secretary. President Trump told our team on the ground early this morning that the thing that has surprised him the most during the course of this operation so far has been the Iranian regime attacking countries that are not attacking them. I'm curious if that surprised you as well and General curious if you were open to the possibility of escorting vessels through the Strait of Hormuz. And if you could describe, describe some of the challenges of doing so, big mistake by the Iranian regime to start targeting its neighbors right away, exposing who they are and what they're all about. Indiscriminate targeting, flailing recklessly at the beginning. I can't say that we anticipated necessarily that's exactly how they would react, but we knew it was a possibility. And I think it was a demonstration of the desperation of that regime then and that regime now, that they still think their pathway out is to try to alienate their Arab partners even more, who've instead decided to come to us and have been willing to go on the offense, have been given us access, basing and overflight in a new partnership that will continue to remake the region the way that President Trump did with the Abraham Accord. So you're pushing those countries in our direction to support this effort, further alienating Iran. And I think worth underscoring, I see in the media banners that say, you know, war expanding or war spread. It's actually the opposite. It's actually quite contained. And more allies are. More of those countries are coming onside. Recognizing that you can't live under a conventional umbrella with nuclear ambitions with a radical regime like that. Again, properly scoping the objectives in the process. And then you want to talk about the Strait. Sure. On the potential, if tasked to escort, you know, we'll look at the range of options to set the military conditions to be able to do that. And then like we always do with every potential mission, come to the secretary and the president with both, what are the resources required, what is the command and control required, and what are the risks and how do we mitigate those risks? So we're looking at a range of options there, and we'll figure out how to solve problems as they come to us. But I would reiterate also to add to what the chairman said, the truth the president posted last night about that, saying if Iran does anything to stop the flow of oil within the Strait of Hormuz, they will be hit by the United States of America 20 times harder than they have been hit thus far. He goes on to say, death, fire and fury will rain upon them. You've seen the truth and read it. But he takes very seriously the condition of that straits. We have capabilities that no other nation on earth has, and we're certainly working with our energy partners across the administration to control for that. That's part of that scoping of this. The world needs to understand this doesn't have. This isn't intended to be, nor is it something that will expand. We know exactly what we're attempting to achieve here, scoped properly and the American people can count on that for sure. Thank you so much Voluntary head. Seth. President Trump has long said that he wants to minimize the loss of life in war which, which wherever it occurs in whatever country, which so many people obviously appreciate. Can you detail the specific measures the Pentagon is taking to minimize civilian casualties and strikes inside Iran? And secondarily, is the Pentagon prioritizing replenishment of precision guided munitions, long range ranged strike weapons or air defense interceptors? And can you share any details on which systems are being prioritized? Yeah, Seeing it from the inside every single day, including this. No nation takes more precautions to ensure there's never targeting of civilians than the United States of America. From the boat strikes in the Caribbean where every single strike is assessed to these, to this campaign here, no nation in the history of warfare has ever attempted in every way possible to avoid civilian casualties for. And frankly, that's a point that just isn't appreciated enough. Where things happen that need to be investigated, we will investigate. To the question shouted in the back. It's not. Open source is not the place to determine what did or did not happen. We take things very, very seriously and investigate them thoroughly, which takes time, which is why it does take time. But ultimately, unlike Iran, who targets civilians indiscriminately, who we've seen in the intel moving rocket launchers into civilian neighborhoods, near schools, near hospitals to try to prevent our ability to strike, that's how they operate. And then they set, you know, the targeting of drones and missiles toward civilian targets. Hospitals, hotels, airports. Centcom's been very good about putting that information out. That's how terrorist regimes fight. They target civilians. We do not. And I can tell you this administration and this Pentagon focuses on that very, very closely. Go ahead, hold someone accountable. If it turns out that, sir, this morning the Iranian government is saying a lot. They continue to say they're prepared for a long war. If that's the case, what could you tell the American people as far as the steps the Department of War is taking to make sure our troops have the protection and the resources they need as the mission continues. I think there's, there's one thing I, I can sleep quietly at night knowing is that we're giving every resource humanly possible to our troops on the front lines to ensure they're protected. In fact, as I said in that first press briefing, even before we set the Offense, we set the defense. We made sure we had the ability to defend, and then we moved as many Americans off the bases and into other places as possible. Possible. So as this progresses, the chairman, or the question was asked of the chairman about how the enemy adapts. Of course we adapt to in real time and to watch our warriors iterate on air defense and interdiction on drones and missiles and how we get after it. It's incredible how they refine the tactics, bring in new assets to find different ways of getting at emerging technologies. So that is one of the things we're laser focused on every day. Yes, we're going on offense more effectively than any country in human history, but we're also ensuring that in every way possible, we're defending the best Americans we have. Who wear our uniform, no doubt. Let's do one more. Thanks. Secretary Hecseth, the President has indicated that maybe the operation will wrap up sooner than he thought it was going to. What's the plan? Once the US Stops military action, Will the US Play a role in the aftermath or will they leave Iran to sort it out? Ultimately, the aftermath is going to be in America's interests, our interests. We are not. We won't live under a nuclear blackmail scenario of conventional missiles that can target our people, which is why the objectives have been scoped from the beginning. Missiles, missile production, defense, industrial base, Navy, all in service of ensuring they don't have nuclear power projection capabilities. That's. That's what matters to President Trump. That's what matters to the American people. And ultimately, that's why we're so laser focused on ensuring those objectives and those objectives alone are met. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you. You were listening to a press briefing at the Pentagon involving the Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan K. Secretary Hegseth basically laying out the current mission and successes of the operation in Iran, saying that the missile production and launching capabilities of Iran have been largely eradicated. Also, the drone processing capabilities have also been eradicated. Let's bring back in Dr. Gina David Brody, as well as Congressman Mark Alford, who has been gracious enough to stick around for. To break down what we just heard. Congressman, want to start with you. Is the messaging that you're hearing from publicly from the secretary, similar to the messaging that you and your colleagues are hearing privately in briefings from the War Department? Yeah. Thanks, Terrence. Yeah, it is. And it's a message of confidence that we have the strongest military in the world. No one can match our Capabilities. I think what you heard from the Secretary of War and from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs is, is a matter of confidence, but not cockiness. We know that we have a ways to go. We know that Iran is holding on with some capabilities, especially in the drone sector, but we know that we can outperform them. This is not going to be an overnight operation. But President Trump made it clear yesterday that we do have the strongest military. And as you heard the Secretary of War say, no one can do what we can do when it comes to protecting the Straits of Hormuz. That is a priority for this administration. Trump. President Trump did make it quite clear you don't want. It's kind of like the old saying, don't mess with Texas. Well, don't mess with the United States of America or we will finish the job. I think we've been holding back a little bit on some of our capabilities. But if they do try to choke the Straits of Hormuz, which I think about 85% of the oil from that region goes through, would be devastating. You see the choke point now of some of those ships backed up and causing just on the speculation of oil and refinery production. You've seen the gas, the price of gas go up. Now, Democrats love that because they are concentrating on this whole affordability issue. But I think the average American realizes that we have Iran on the ropes. This is the time to finish off this terroristic regime that has threatened, killed, maimed and really brutalized not just the Mideast for 47 years, but the entire world. Now is the chance to make substantive change in that part of the world. Yeah, there's been certainly a degree of transparency in terms of this administration wanting to constantly communicate with the American people about their rationale, motives and some plans for this war. Congressman, but did this particular briefing give you any insight that maybe you didn't have before? Did it seem, speak to any of the questions that the America first contingent of MAGA is asking? Is there anything redefined here? Do you feel like this was just more of a reiteration of important points? No, I think the points about the drones, especially from the chair, the Joint Chiefs, talking about how these drone capabilities are still sustaining with the Irans, but the Iranians, but that we have the capabilities to keep fighting and to eventually knock these out. Also the, the, the, the point that was reiterated by the Secretary of War, that part of this mission is to make sure that we eliminate any manufacturing capabilities that the Iranians could come back with to, to regenerate and reinvent some of their ballistic missiles. Once those are wiped out, the long range and the short range, that is going to be a check off of one of the missions and objectives that this administration has had. The other part is the manufacturing and capabilities of drones. Drones have really in the last 10, 10 to 15 years have changed the scope of warfare. We've seen that in the illicit war Russia on Ukraine, we've seen the technology that's been available. We are gearing up production here in the U.S. in fact, in our district, everyone is talking about drone warfare and anti drone capabilities. And so that's an important part. I think we'll learn a lot from this endeavor as well. Not just removing the kinetic capability from Iran and that illicit regime, terroristic regime, but also lessons that we learn from capturing and some of these capabilities that they have and learning the technologies that we may not have. Congressman, a couple notes that I took here. Pete Hegseth said we're in a very strong place. This is not endless, this is not mission creep. I thought it was interesting. Basically he was saying Trump is going to decide when this ends. The President will decide when this ends. Which I thought was illuminating. He did say the aftermath will be in America's interest. But obviously that is going to be a question that we'll eventually come to. To me, what struck me most of all, quite frankly was Psalm 144 that Pete Hegseth went there with the Bible. And the reason to me that's significant is that Iran sees this war in religious terms. We know that the fact that the Secretary of War would now quote the Bible, Psalm 144 and he literally said, praise be to the Lord my rock, who trains my hand for war, my fingers for battle. I can guarantee you that is going to be making headlines across the country in terms of a potential religious war here once again, Iran, it's a religious war for Iran. We know that. But the fact that the Secretary of War said this I think is significant. Well, I do too. And of course, the man after God's own heart, David, when he wrote that was under extreme persecution from Saul who wanted him dead. And he knew that God was on his side and was eventually going to to survive that and eventually become king. Look, I make no apologies for, for living in a Christian nation. I love it that we have a Christian in leadership as Secretary of War. I do think we have to be careful about how we frame these because we do need the majority of America to be with us in this endeavor to eliminate the capabilities that Iran had and were aiming towards building a nuclear weapon that could not just strike Israel, but also strike the United States of America. I, you know, I believe in God. I believe in Jesus Christ. I believe that we are here as a nation, the providence and protection of God Almighty. And so that is part of our legacy, our history and our future. I don't blame the Secretary of War for quoting scripture, especially from David, who was under persecution. But we do have to be careful, I think. Congressman, as always, we appreciate your time. We appreciate you sticking around to discuss what we just heard from the Secretary of War and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. We also know you have a busy day, so we'll let you go. Good luck to you and your colleagues who were there in Doral for this legislative retreat. Have a great rest of the day, sir. Thank you. You too. Always a pleasure to talk to you, Gina. David, let's bring in RAV correspondent David Zier now. He was at the briefing. You may have even seen video of him sitting there in the audience. David, can you break down some of what we heard for us? Obviously, there's a lot to unpack here. Your initial takeaways. Good morning. Entering the 11th day of operations and epic fury and the IRGC vowing to only hit Israel with 2000 pound rockets. Going forward here the focus for Pete Hegseth here was a comparison of his time in Iraq and how much this means to him. You know, the media has been very critical of Pete Hegseth saying he gave the Nazi salute the other day and the 60 Minutes interview which was really scathing for him. But I think it really hits home for him. And he shared his time and service in Iraq and he understands the conflict and that this is not going to be one of those long drawn out wars as far as they are going to continue Today. I thought it was really interesting. They honored Ben Pennington, by the way. I think he was with Space Command of Colorado. Also Sorflee Davies, who was returned. He died. He passed away. Serving 46 of New York's 42nd Infantry, Queens, N.Y. but there was a lot to unpack here. Questions from the press today involved, which I thought was a great question. Are we going to escort vessels through the Straits of Hormuz? Now they went on a detailed explanation of the naval operations. Another two or three ships taken out. Over 50 taken out today. But you know, what will it look like going forward? What kind of confidence can we give the global markets, the reinsurance markets, that there's going to be a free flow of oil as Iraq's production, say, is down 70%, 70% in exports right now. So that's really critical. But you know, he went forward and talked about also, you know, the cooperation in the Caribbean is unprecedented. You know, the media was saying he gave the Nazi salute at the America Shield of the America Summit. And I was with Southern Command last week. Not to digress too much, but you know, Southern Command had over half of the countries in Central America, South America and the Caribbean vowing and asking for the US's help to wipe out the cartels. And unprecedented thing in the Western hemisphere in the history of our country. And they're focusing on whether he gave a Nazi salute. And so I think the media has been very unfair to him. He did, you know, touch on that a little bit. I think he was, you know, alluding to that, that we have this cooperation going on. But where it goes from here, what does it look like on the ground, who will take place as the leader? You know, the ncri, Marian Mojave has made statements that if she's put into provisional power inside Iran when our operations are wrapped up within six months, she'll have free elections there at a ten point plan similar to a Bill of Rights. And now, you know, the son of the Shah has been relatively quiet, Reza Pahlavi. So we don't know where that stands. But the big question is what's in store for Iran going forward? Yeah, and that largely depends, doesn't it, at this point, David Zier, not just on what America does in terms of military action, but really in terms of what the Iranian people do. Is the spirit and the will there to rise up in the ways they need to and to maintain that for the amount of time it would take to really make the changes that would need to be made to sort of make this whole thing stick for lack of a really, really bad layman's term. But you get it. Yeah, I think it's a great question because, you know, we've seen thousands in the streets in Tehran supporting the new supreme leader. But we don't see the resistance out in the streets. We don't see these mas. We see it in foreign countries. We see it in London, Berlin, Brussels, Rome, Stockholm, Gothenburg, Oslo, Copenhagen and Paris. In America, we see them taking to the streets the people who are exiled from Iran or escaped with the Shah and other. But we don't see that big turnout on the streets. And maybe it's premature. Bombs are still falling. I think we have to give it a little bit of time. But Trump's saying Operations are near very complete. So will it ferment and what'll happen if there's a power vacuum? How many people are going to be killed? How many people are going to be, you know, will the what's left of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and other double down and, you know, take out the opposition? So it's very concerning. I think the United States is going forward and probably have thought this out, but we need, we need a clear explanation of where we go when our operations are wrapped up. Yeah. David, I want to ask you a question, but first I want to play a soundbite from the Secretary of War from just moments ago talking about the strikes and the idea of nation building and how he nixed that. Have a look. Today will be yet again our most intense day of strikes inside Iran. The most fighters, the most bombers, the most strikes, intelligence more refined and better than ever. So that's on one hand. On the other hand, the last 24 hours have seen Iran fire the lowest number of missiles they've been capable of firing yet. Just the bifurcation, just the trend lines that we talked about on our first briefing. You see, this is not 2003. This is not endless nation building under those types of quagmires we saw under Bush or Obama. David, I want to get your take on what he said there, but also I remember the last time Secretary of War Pete Hegseth took that podium. He talked about total air dominance would be taking place in the next few hours, within the next 24 hours. I didn't get that sense today that there is total air dominance. There's obviously superiority. I mean, they'll be able to fly over Iran, Iranian airspace. But I felt like it was a little bit more subdued today. I remember last time he was like, they're toast. It's over. We've got this. And now I feel like they're just dialing back a little bit on the expectations. David, I don't have the same recollection or perspective from the last briefing because they did say within about a week we would have total dominance. Now it is a week later. Right. So I think there's more work to do here for sure. There's no doubt about that. And I think that he's on the war fighters mission. Right. He's not here to make policy for the United States going forward. And if you heard General Kane talk about these dedicated sailors from the flight deck teams of the Gerald Ford and from the Abraham Lincoln, these guys are the best of the best. And their mission is to keep focused on the mission at hand to continue until, you know, they can, you know, have that total dominance. I didn't get a feeling that there was a worry about a long protracted air campaign yet. But we'll keep a close eye on that, Dave, and it's very important. Right. So we need that air superiority. And we also need to know and somebody asked a great question today, you know, Jordan Conradson from the Gateway Pundit, what happens if a US Plane is shot down over there? If there was something like that happen, do we send ground troops on the ground in a rescue mission and putting American lives on the board? So there are questions going forward, but I think again, they're very laser focused on the mission. David Zier reporting for us on the ground at the Pentagon with the very latest after Secretary of War Pete Hagseth and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Kaine just hosted a news conference there talking about the opportunity operations in Iran. David, we appreciate your time. Thank you, guys. Thank you so much. Thanks, Dave. Absolutely. More American Sunrise coming your way after this. That's Qatar Doha, a live look here, here on American Sunrise this morning. All right. We obviously have the secretary of and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Just give that briefing. Let's get more reaction and bring in the chairman of the American Defense International. That would be Van Hipp. Van, give us some of your takes and reactions to what you heard. The aftermath question was interesting because we really don't know what's going to happen afterwards. And also the fact that in terms of when this war finally ends, I mean, I think Pete Hegseth was very clear, it'll end when Trump wants it to end. Good morning. That's exactly right. And you have to go back to what was the president's initial goal to ensure that Iran, an Islamic terrorist regime, never has a nuclear weapon. And also I think what was what was sticking in the back of President Trump's mind is what those Gold Star families told him. Finish the job, finish the job to make sure that this terrorist regime can never, ever have a nuclear weapon. David, I go back to when President Trump announced Operation Epic Fury and he spoke to the Iranian people, he said, stay sheltered, stay inside, stay inside. He's not told him yet to come outside. I think if there were a referendum, 75, 80% of the people there are freedom loving and they want freedom. And so I think at some point, and I hope this is true, I think at some point President Trump says, come on out of your homes, come on outside. And we've seen what they can do in the past. You had, go back to 2009, you had hundreds and hundreds of thousands in the streets and just a few weeks ago, too. But I think what the administration is wrestling with, what is the framework when these people do come out, how do they take their government back? What is the framework? And so I think that's what the administration is wrestling with. I do think the president is holding the cards for, and I do think the Iranian people are with them. And I gotta tell you, I think it was a tough decision. He made A president, he made a decision that no other American president has made. But I'm going to tell you, I honestly, I've studied the nuclear program of Iran for many years, the ballistic missile capability, their enriched uranium activities, and their miniaturized nuclear warhead design. DAVID this president made the right to made the right decision for our children and our children's children. VAN what do you say to folks in MAGA who will say, look, what in the world are we even doing over there? Let's just stay out of this type of stuff. It never ends well. And the truth of the matter is, is that there's gonna be a decision that has to be made when all of this is said and done in the aftermath. President Trump says he wants a say. Obviously he wants a say, and America will have a say. And who runs Iran next? Basically, I mean, if I can just be very blunt, we're choosing, I know everybody talks about the Iranian people will choose their leader. That's fine. I get that. But the truth of the matter is America has its footprints and fingerprints all over this. And that is raising concerns within some inside maga. Not all for sure. I think the majority MAGA is with President Trump. But some do have concerns. Yeah, and I think that's exactly why Secretary Hegseth addressed this head on and said this is not another Iraq. And I think this president adheres to what I call a combination of the Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon philosophy of when you do commit troops and when you do engage in a military operation, you have to have a national security interest, clearly divine, defined mission. And I add my own test to it as well. You have to have an exit strategy. How do you get out of there? And I, and, and I don't think, you know, I think this president and Secretary Hegseth understand that. I think that's why you saw Secretary Haggset say what he did. But having said that, I think the MAGA folks and I could, I mean, I, I'm a, I was one of the first national security folks in this country to support President Trump going back to 2015. But I believe, and I think the majority of the American people, including maga, believes that the role of the commander in chief is to keep the American people safe. And that's the number one function of the federal government. That's why the states came together to provide for the common defense. And I think this president faced a very grim reality because of what Obama and others had done with the, with this Iran deal, which would eventually let them have go back to the nuclear activities, did not address the ballistic missile capability. I think this president looked at all that and said, you know, a deal with this regime, with an Islamic terrorist regime that has vowed death to America is as worthless as a deal that Neville Chamberlain cut with the Nazi regime in the late 1930s. I think he was faced with that and I think he made the right decision, made the right decision for future generations of Americans. Van Hip, great insight. We got to have you back because I have a question for you next, which is what are you going to do with the oil? But we'll have to come back to that another time. Van all the best to you. Thanks again. Thank you, sir. All right. We're back with the second hour of American Sunrise in two minutes. Stick around. Coming up on this second hour of American Sunrise, President Trump pushes forward with combat operations in Iran, now warning the Islamist regime that it will be hit even harder if it does anything to halt the flow of trade in the Strait of Hormuz. We'll have updates throughout the hour, including hear from Secretary of War Pete Hagseth, who just ran wrapped up a news conference moments ago. Plus, the son of the late civil rights icon Jesse Jackson is pushing back against statements made by three former presidents at his father's memorial service. Hear exactly what he had to say. And later, President Trump speaks to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer for the first time since 47, blasted the PM over his lack of involvement with the ongoing combat operation in Iran. We'll talk to a former prime minister about this later this hour. Those stories and so much more right now on this second hour of American Sunrise. Good morning, America. Welcome to American Sunrise. Whether it's culture, we have breaking news to share with you. Politics. President Trump is joining us live now from Florida. We've got you covered. This is what it looks like to be a patriot. We have to protect the American family. The American dream is still alive. I'm David Brody. I'm terrence. And I'm Dr. Gina. Welcome back, everybody, to the second hour of American Sunrise. I'm David Brody coming to you from D.C. let's bring in Dr. G and Wes Palm and T. Bates in our Denver newsroom. Good morning to both of you. I'm telling you right now, I've been around this town for a long time. I'm telling you right now what the headlines are going to be with the Hegset thing. Religious war, it's on. I'm telling you that's happening. We've always looked at this from a Judeo Christian standpoint as it relates to spiritual warfare. We know that God has richly blessed America. The fact that Pete Hegseth quoted Psalm 144, quoted the Bible, you've got Iran quoting the Quran. They believe that this is all they think they're going to heaven with 77 or whatever it is, virgins and all that, you know, they're not. By the way, Gina, I'm telling you, and I think you agree with this, that this is being now going to be cloaked as a religious war. It's already on Iran's side. And now the fact that Pete Hegseth has said this, I'm telling you, I think it just took a turn in an interesting sort of way. Do you think that's a bad thing? David Brody, I'm having trouble perceiving cuz of some of the things that the congressman said. Okay. Yeah. I didn't think that you did. No. But the congressman said we have to be very careful here. Do you have some interpretation of what he meant by that? I think he just feels that God is looking over the United States of America. And the fact that he would actually go there, I think suggests that there's going to be a lot of that's adding some fuel to the fire, I think is what Congressman Mark Alfer was basically saying. And we have to be careful here on that. Having said that. No, we don't. And what I mean by that is straight up. Pete Hegseth is absolutely correct that God has been watching out for the United States of America. We don't go by the Quran, we go from the Bible. And that is accurate. What he's saying. Having said that, I do think it could take it to another level, but what he's saying is absolutely accurate. It is interesting. I think the minute we shy from the fact that this is a Christian nation is the minute we remove God's hand and protection. And so I agree with you. I think we go bullish on this. Terrence, what are your thoughts? Yeah, Yeah, I mean, the reality is this is a religious war from the perspective of the Iranians. And God has us protected. God has this country protected. And so we are, we are operating in the right, we are doing what's right for the rest of the world and protecting the rest of the world as well as this country. So kudos to President Trump and kudos to Secretary Hegseth for invoking the Bible in this religious war, because that's ultimately what it is. That's just the reality, whether we want to admit it or not. Guys, in the meantime, I want to get to a couple of quick headlines to kind of flesh out what we just heard from the second secretary, because just moments ago, Secretary Hegseth and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Kaine, wrapped up an update on the battle operations there in Iran. The secretary laying out the impact of the airstrikes on Iran and why this operation isn't about nation building. Today will be yet again our most intense day of strikes inside Iran. The most fighters, the most bombers, the most strikes. Intelligence more refined and better than ever. So that's on one hand. On the other hand, the last 24 hours have seen Iran fire the lowest number of missiles they've been capable of firing yet. Just the bifurcation, just the trend lines that we talked about on our first briefing. You see, this is not 2003. This is not endless nation building under those types of quagmires we saw under Bush or Obama. The issue of Iran will likely be part of the conversation as Republican lawmakers in the US House are continuing their three day annual retreat at President Trump's Doral Resort today. On Monday, the commander in chief addressed the group as it is working to sharpen the their party's messaging leading up to November's midterm elections. During his remarks, 47 also pressing lawmakers to pass the Save America Act, House Republicans are also looking to find a way forward on issues like the affordability crisis. The debate over funding for the Department of Homeland Security could ratchet up as travelers become increasingly frustrated about out of control TSA wait times. Look at this video here, folks. Shutdown induced staffing problems at the Transportation Safety Administration are already creating massive delays at airports across the country. Passengers in Houston, for instance, have reportedly been dealing with the worst delays as lines consistently have been lasting more than three hours over the past several days. And the two men accused of trying to detonate a homemade bomb during an anti Islam protest near New York Main Azoran Mandami's home are facing terrorism charges this morning. The 18 and 19 year olds were in federal court on Monday and charged with attempting to support the Islamic State along with the use of a weapon of mass destruction and unlawful possession of explosive devices among a long list of charges. One of the guys was caught on camera throwing the homemade bomb, which was laced with metal and powerful explosives, at protesters. The good news is is the device didn't detonate and no one was hurt. That's a quick check of your headlines. Now let's get a quick check of your forecast with Weather Nation meteorologist Tracy Anthony. Tracy, good morning. Hey, good morning, Terrence. We are tracking strong to severe thunderstorms once again today. So the outlook area is going to be pretty widespread as we're talking severe weather from the Great Lakes all the way down through the Texas border. And we're going to have two hotspots right around Chicago and then between Oklahoma City and Del Rio. So this is where we could have powerful tornadoes and hail at least for Texas, over three and a half inches in diameter. Out west, we're talking blizzard conditions for the Cascades. And out east it is record warmth. We're talking temperatures 30 degrees above average. So that's what's going to fuel the these showers and storms over the next couple of days because that severe weather threat will shift farther east for the day on Wednesday. So lots of activity. But one thing we often don't think about is with these warm temperatures all the way up to New England, the Northeast is ice jams. We're going to be talking about rapid snow melt with Boston getting up to 73 degrees today. And so we could have some more localized flooding issues, Taren, over the next few days. We've also been talking about it's kind of that muddy season. So you get a little bit of heat, you get a little snow and you get kind of all the problems. All right. Thank you so much, Tracey. We'll check back with you tomorrow. Have a great rest of the day. You too. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Let's get you back over to David Brody. David, a lot to talk about this morning. No doubt about it. T. Bates all right. President Trump took to the podium yesterday down in Miami during a Republican conference meeting that's still going on today. Today is day two. He praised ongoing combat operations in Iran, calling American objectives in the region pretty well complete. But the job not done yet. Here was the president yesterday. Have a look. They have no navy, they have no air force, they have no anti aircraft equipment. It's all been blown up. They have no radar, they have no telecommunications and they have no leadership. It's all gone. So, you know, you could look at that statement. We could, we could call it a tremendous success right now as we leave here, I could call it. Or we could go further. And we're going to go further. All right. Joining us now with analysis is the editor in chief for just the news. That would be John Solomon. John, always good to see you. So curious to get your take on Trump's comments. Also, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth this morning, I mean, clearly, you know, the Secretary of war said that in essence, I'm paraphrasing, but he goes, this war is going to end when Trump wants it to end. I'm just wondering what that looks like exactly. Good morning. Well, it looks like what a commander in chief does when he's fully in charge of his apparatus. Unlike our last commander in chief where there was always ambiguity. Were we withdrawing from Afghanistan? Was it an orderly withdrawal? You have a strong sense of what President Trump wants to achieve. First, he gives you the objectives, right? We're going to make sure their ballistic missiles can't hit the United States, that they can't harm their own people, that they can't develop a nuclear weapon. He then carries out those objectives last summer, takes out the nuclear program's progress so that they can't enrich quickly. And now he's going in and making sure that leadership can't use that uranium, doesn't use the missiles that one day would reach the United States. By the way, the intelligence indicating that that was going to happen sooner than 2035, the earlier projection. So Trump wasn't going to let that get any closer. He does that. And when those objectives are fully met, I think the president will say it's over and it's time for the Iranian people to come out of their homes and take control of their government. And that will be the next phase of the conflict. Can the Iranian people overthrow their extraordinarily demolished government and their weakened military? Why is Pete Hexa saying Tay Tay could be the most intense state? Now that you have air superiority, now that you have their anti ballistic missiles basically finished off, now that you have their leadership handicapped, their communication significantly hampered, you go after the Republican National Guard, which is the most sorry, the Republican Guard, the irgc, the most powerful element of the Iranian military, its most feared part of the military, the one that's turned on its people, the one that has targeted the president for assassination and led terror attacks around the world, including maiming thousands of our Soldiers, they're in bunkers. We now can come in with bigger planes, with bigger bombs and drop these bunker buster bombs onto these locations where the IRGC is located and eliminate them and bring their forces down. They're 40, 50,000 strong. That's still a very capable army. Getting that diminished will really free Iran to a new future. And I think that's the phase of the war we're in right now. How involved do you think the United States ultimately will be in that new Iranian future? I think it'll have a hand extended once it's figured out who we should extend that hand to. You know, Iran is generally a Western nation when you look at its people. They love our television, they love our entertainment. It's just been their theocratic leadership that has created all of this mayhem for the last 47 years. So Iran is a national, naturally, Western facing country once you get the crazy leadership out of the way. And so I think we'll be engaged. I think we'll be engaged much like we've been engaged with Syria and Venezuela. We probably won't dictate what form of government they have and we won't get involved in nation building. Those are two things that were terrible mistakes in the Afghan and Iraq wars. But holding our hand out, letting the people decide, creating economic opportunities, and maybe with China included, so that China can get its energy back and feel good about the outcome of this conflict, I think those are the ways that you'll see our diplomacy involved. I just don't think we'll be involved in an interim government or, you know, remember what we did in Iraq. We actually created the provisional authority that turned out to be a disaster and gave rise to an insurgency that harmed our troops for years to come. So I think it'll be a much more measured engagement, but a clear engagement. John, just the news broke, some news actually, again, as usual reporting. President Trump and his supporters have been targeted by four consecutive FBI code named counterintelligence investigations. This was not just something that was done under the Biden regime, but also it was put into a sort of a category. If you can just explain where even the current FBI didn't have access to this because of the way it was coded. Can you explain not just what happened and why it happened, but how they kept it a secret, even from the FBI? Even from Trump's FBI? Yeah, these are great questions. Listen, at the end of the day, Gina, what we now know for certain is that for most of the first nine years of Donald Trump's political career, from the moment he walked down the escalator to the moment he raised his hand a second time at the inauguration in January 2025, the FBI secretly treated him as a continuous national security threat. Just think about that. The man twice elected by the American people, the FBI deemed to be a national security threat. And as a result, they subjected him to four consecutive code named counterintelligence investigations. The sort of things that we normally reserve for spies and terrorists. We know about Crossfire Hurricane, that was Russia collusion. We know about Arctic Frost. That's one that we recently revealed last fall. In between were two others, Round river and a plasmic echo. And those two may be the most jaw dropping yet to be revealed. The FBI is in the process of declassifying that information. But in those circumstances, hundreds of people were targeted. And in some cases they were targeted merely by the words they chose to use on air or on their social posts or in their private conversations, specifically about Hunter Biden, Ukraine and Joe Biden. That is what Round river is going to ultimately expose. In the case of the classified documents. You had two presidents that ultimately had documents in their home. One walks scot free, the other has his home raided and and is treated as a criminal. This continuous assault on the President is the basis of now a grand jury investigation looking at whether the President, whether the President's foes in these agencies engaged in a conspiracy to deprive him of his civil liberties and to deprive not only the President, but lawyers, journalists, filmmakers, congressional staffers who worked or supported or did things that the President liked. And I think that's what we're headed towards. The wisdom of Solomon. John, breaking news. Solomon with us today. Good to be with you guys. Wonderful name, John. I understand that was a change on the birth certificate. It. Thank you, sir. Thanks, guys. All right, coming up, the son of the late Jesse Jackson didn't seem happy with the three former presidents that spoke at his father's memorial service over the weekend. Now he's calling them out directly. We're going to talk about it after the break. Stick around. Welcome back to American Sunrise. I'm Emily Finn. It's time now to drain the swamp. And this morning we are flushing out the politicization of a civil rights icon. A moment meant to honor a civil rights icon is now sparking controversy. During his father's memorial Service, Jesse Jackson Jr. Took direct aim at former President Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Joe Biden, saying the three men who spoke at the service didn't really know the man that they were honoring. Jackson Jr. Said his father, the late Reverend Jesse Jackson was never defined by politics or party, but by his commitment to speaking for the disinherited, the dispossessed and the disrespected. Let's take a look. I listened to for several hours of three United States presidents who do not know Jesse Jackson. He maintained a tense relationship with the political order not because the presidents were white or black, but the demands of our message. We want to know what you think. Let us know on Rumble or Get Her. Hop on and let your voice be heard. Coming up, the price of oil is exploding on the markets and almost every American is feeling the pinch. What's really driving this surge? We'll talk about it after the break when American Sunrise continues. Get ready, America. March 25, 28th, CPAC USA 2026 takes over the Lone Star State. And Real America's voice brings you wall to wall coverage. Live shows from the convention floor, exclusive interviews, powerful panels, live music, entertainment and more, all from the RAV stage. Hear from RAV's own Steve Bannon. The only way we don't have victory if we surrender. And we're not going to retreat. We're not going to surrender. We're not going to quit. Eric Bolling. A real leadership listens without lecturing. It respects people enough to talk to them, not down to them. And Jack the Sobic Live Freedom is a responsibility that we must uphold every single day of our lives. Plus Dr. G and others. We always came together because we know what we're fighting for. CPAC USA 2026 only unreal America's voice presented by Birch Gold Group and Patriot Mobile. Welcome back, everyone. We're getting you ready for the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange. It's set to ring here in about seven minutes. As always, we'll take you there live when that happens. In the meantime, here's a quick look at the futures of the top of our board. Not looking so hot. The major industry indices, the dow S&P 500 and the NASDAQ all in the red this morning. Hopefully that will change here in short order. For now though, let's get you over to David, the slayer of giants. Actually, in this case it would be David Brody, but still a slayer of mini giants. David, good morning. Good morning. All right, global oil markets are surging after a major power shift in Iran. Crude prices spiked more than 30% in a matter of hours after hardliner Khamenei Khamenei was named Iran's new supreme leader. Oil futures briefly neared $120 a barrel. It's come down a little bit since then. The first time, by the way, in four years, prices have topped $100. In a truth social post, the president wrote this. If Iran does anything that stops the flow of oil within the Strait of Hormuz, they will be hit by the United states of America 20 times harder. And they have been hit thus far. I don't know how we calculated that, by the way. That's a separate aside. Adding that this is a gift to China and other nations that use the Strait of Hormuz for trade. All right. Joining us now with analysis is the host of America's Voice Live and the Steve Gruber Show. That would be our good friend Steve Gruber. 20 times. Not 15, not 30. I don't know where he comes up with these calculations. Steve, your reaction to some of the oil price volatility and also Secretary of War Pete Hegsett's comments this morning. Good morning. Let me just start with the oil prices. It's manipulation, speculation and thievery. That's all it is. David, there is no justification for supply and demand on the world oil markets. We have great reserves of oil and gasoline. Yes, it went to almost $120 a gallon. Oil prices fell $40 yesterday. It's now back in the mid to upper $80 per barrel, which means the price of gasoline across the country should go up about 50 cents. Watch what I'm gonna tell you right now. The oil companies in America will post record profits this year because this is thievery. They ought to be ashamed of themselves. There's no justification whatsoever for the oil prices to go to 120. None. Listen, America gets 4% of its oil from the Middle East. 4%. This is more important for China and India and others. It's not that important in the United States. And the Strait of Hormuz has been gamed by Lloyd's of London, who canceled insurance policies. Gee, I wonder why that is. Again, profit taking by those in London and New York and elsewhere who are profiting wildly from a false increase in the oil price. That's all it is. There is no real justification here. The fact of the matter is we have great reserves of oil and gasoline. That's a fact. Gasoline should go up 50 cents a gallon based on what's happened. And don't forget, my friends, oil was $139 a barrel under Joe Biden. I don't remember Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer throwing a fit over that, do you? Because I don't have that in my, in my loop here. I don't see it, David. I think. I think we're being lied to in the oil companies. There's somebody that Donald Trump ought to call his billionaire friends in the oil industry and say, stop it. Whatever. You just stop it. Because you're playing games with the American consumer and the rest of the world. That's a fact. And when oil went back down, the market was up 300 points yesterday. So to the doom and gloom crowd, sorry, no apocalypse yet. Stick with it. You'll be fine. So are you surprised that Trump hasn't called this out already? I mean, you know, this has been in the news now for a week or so and definitely over the weekend. I'm surprised Trump hasn't said, stop with this. We get 4% from over there and these oil companies are gouging consumers. Why hasn't he done something? You should say something. You know, we've watched this our entire. You know, there's a little influx somewhere and a little hiccup somewhere in the oil markets. Boom. Your price of gas goes up 50 cents, and then it goes up immediately, and then real slowly comes down. I mean, come on, the gas is already in the ground. The gas is already at the refineries. And we've got an increase in Venezuela that'll take a couple of years to ramp up. But they went from 700,000 barrels. They broke a million. They should be at three and a half million barrels a day. That'll take a couple years to play out completely. The Strait of Hormuz. Yeah. Traffic there has dropped, what, 90% or more, but no ships have been hit there. The United States Navy is going to offer assistance and guidance to those ships, run them through there to make sure they're safe. We've pulverized Iran's industry for missiles. The drones are the concern. These unmanned drones that they can produce for about 10, $15,000 a piece, as opposed to a million dollars apiece for a cruise missile, ballistic missile. It's speculation. It's manipulation. It is. And Donald Trump should call him out. He should call him out right now and say, listen, Chevron, Shell, bp, whoever, knock it off. Because it's clear what's happening. They're playing games. The speculators, the manipulators. And then there's the globalists who just want to kneecap Donald Trump because they hate him. If they can drive up the price of oil artificially or not, they know they impact the midterm elections, including the primaries today in Georgia. I mean, those are Things that clearly there are people. I know it's hard to believe, David. There are people around the world that hate Donald Trump and don't want to see his reordering of the economic structure like he's done in Venezuela and now Iran and soon Cuba. Cuba's teetering. It's going to fall. We're not a little, a little breath of wind and Cuba's going to tip over in the next a day or two or a couple of weeks at the most. That's the most. Two weeks. Hey, Steve, I got about 20 seconds, but I'm curious. You're going to take the over, the under on. If I told you four weeks that this Iran military operation is going to go on four more weeks. You taking the over? You taking the under on that? I'm taking the over. Ten the over. Look, the big lifting like when you, when you move from your house, moving the couch and the bed, that's easy. When you get to the drawers, the details, there's a lot more work to be done. Cleanup and calculations and everything else. I'm taking the over on that. Yeah, sounds good. Steve Gruber, we appreciate your time as always. Thank you. Short but sweet. I'd rather have it be long and sweet, but we got to go with it. Thanks, Steve. Appreciate it. All right, time now for T. Bates in Denver. We've got the opening belt New York Stock Exchange sponsored by Amazon. The association of Mature American Citizens is the conservative voice for Americans 50 and older. AMAC is fighting for the values that you hold dear. Join today. Together we can right the course of America. We're less than a minute away from the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange. The applause is already underway, which means the bell will be ringing here in short order. And then we'll get an idea of how the, the markets are looking on this Tuesday of trading. There you have it, a full podium. The bell is going to ring here shortly and then I will give you the specific numbers once the trading actually gets underway there on the, on the floor. There you have it, ladies and gentlemen. The bell is ringing which means the markets are now officially open for this Tuesday of trading. And just like that, it looks like the Dow and The S P500 are down. The bright spot though at the moment seems to be the tech heavy nasdaq, which is up right now. It is in the green. That very well may change in the next couple of moments, but for now we'll appreciate and enjoy the fact that it is up. As you can see, the rest of our board is a mixed bag with oil actually being down after hitting numbers that were at about $120 a barrel just yesterday, Gas prices are up and so of course most of us are feeling that. But hopefully gas prices prices will come down a little bit now that the price of oil, the barrel of oil is down. Here's a question for you. Do you owe back taxes or do you have unfiled tax returns? Have you filed every single year but you still keep owing? Are you retired and you still got hit with a surprise tax bill? Are you a business owner with a tax bill that you can't seem to afford? Or do you take early money from your 401k and that now you owe? However your tax issue started, the result is the same. Your balance is not going down and penalties are growing, as are interest compounding. And many of you are about to owe yet again this year with no plan in place. Stop what you're doing and call Tax Network usa. The IRS can garnish wages, levy bank accounts, even take your home or your retirement. With over 15 years of business, they have seen and resolved it all, helping taxpayers nationwide settle over a billion dollars in tax debt. Call 800-905-8000, that's 800-905-8000 or visit tnusa.com rav to get more information on how to start the process of trying to keep the IRS at bay. Still to come here on American Sunrise. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer says his country still enjoys a special relationship with the United States following the President's criticism over its handling of the conflict in Iran. We'll talk about it after the break. When it's breaking. We're moving Breaking news. News doesn't sleep at Real America's Voice. We don't get to crash or lose focus. That's why we drink Soldier Fuel and take Go pills to stay ahead of the chaos. Because we do this for you. Go Pills and Soldier Fuel locked in. Go Pills are packed with neurotransmitter support. Soldier Fuel has no sugar, so no crash. Now that's a game changer. Mic on, lights up. Soldier Fuel keeps me dialed right in. Both are used by the US Military every day. Built by Patriots for Patriots and they're now available to you. This is huge. Scan the QR codes below and order your supply today. Hear that pop? So good. Go to buy soldier fuel.com or search on Amazon. This is Performance Fuel. Clean energy, sharp mind. That's how we do it at rav. Visit buygo pills.com and get 15% off automatically. Go pills and soldier fuel. Let's go. All right. Welcome back to American sunrise. I'm Dr. Gina. Thank you for joining us this morning. We invite you to hop in our conversation on YouTube. Getter and Rumble. It is time now to take the political pulse of America. Here's the beat today. President Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer have spoken for the first time since the public war of words over the conflict, conflict with Iran. The call comes after Trump blasted the United Kingdom for refusing to join the initial strikes on Iran, saying America doesn't need allies who join wars after we've already won. The prime minister has so far refused to participate in the offensive military action, though Britain has allowed US Forces to use British bases for defensive operations in that region. Downing street says the two leaders discussed the situation in the Middle east and ongoing military cooperation even as tensions between Washington, D.C. and London remain high. Joining us now with reaction, former Prime Minister Liz Truss. Good morning. Morning. Tell us your take on how Prime Minister Starmer has been handling the situation and perhaps why he waited so long to join in. What other allies might have joined sooner? Well, he's been handling the situation in a very weak way. He is the most unpopular prime minister in British history. People are not impressed with what's happening. Our ships were not ready to go to the Gulf, which they ought to have been, given that we had plenty of warnings of what was happening in Iran. He's dithered over the Americans ability to use the Diego Garcia base, even though the United States is a key ally of Britain. And he is desperately trying to appease people in Britain who are sympathetic to the Islamists and sympathetic to Iran. And he has been caught between two stalls. He is really shown himself to be just incredibly weak and not stood up for what we should be standing up, which is backing our American allies. Yeah. I mean, to follow up on that, let's just call it for what it is. Is he afraid of the Muslim backlash in the UK he called Muslims the face of modern Britain last week, Liz. Wow. Well, he is afraid because he has just lost a crucial by election to the Green Party, which is essentially an Islamist Communist party. That's who he has lost a by election to. He is worried that he is losing the Muslim vote. He's already lost everybody else's vote in Britain, so he is desperately trying to appease them. At the same time, he wants to appease the European Union. So he has also been sucking up to Macron. He's been sucking up to Chancellor Merz and He is not showing any sense that he understands what Britain's strategic priorities are. We are in danger of an attack, another terrorist attack from the Islamists who are funded by the Iranian regime. It is in our interest as well that Iran doesn't get a nuclear weapon. But unfortunately he's not focused on the national interest. He's focusing on appeasing a segment of society that he thinks will count for votes at the next election. And I think that's a disgrace to your point. There's no time for weakness even on the British Isles. An Iranian ambassador in London has said that the United Kingdom needs to be quite very careful about further involvement with the conflict. Saying that the Islamist regime would have a right to self defense if the UK joined in US Israeli strikes in that region. Your take on that and shouldn't that be a warning sign that Britain and Keir Starmer more specifically need to take a more hardline approach to Iran? Well, correct. And you know, we are known by the Iranian regime as Little Satan. You know, they are clearly out to destroy Western civilization. Britain is geographically more close to Iran than the United States is. We will always be a target for this regime, which is why it's so important that we are strong in taking them on. It's why I was very concerned as Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister about the Iran nuclear deal which was going nowhere. We saw Biden essentially following the same policy of seeking to appease Iran and they can't be appeased. These are a despotic regime who have Islamist intentions who are on the verge of getting a nuclear weapon. It doesn't get any worse than that. And that is why Britain should stand strong. I fear we won't. Under the leadership of Keir Starmer. He is determined to be the last man in the pack. Every time there's a Liberal Democrat politician calling on the Prime Minister to Cancel King Charles III's visit to the United States. Next month the monarch is scheduled to visit our country to commemorate its 250th anniversary. But they're saying America's quote, illegal war with Iran is grounded for canceling the visit. What are your thoughts? Well, first of all, the King is a constitutional monarch. He does not get involved in politics. And he should visit the United States, it's a key ally. Of course, the 250th anniversary of the departure of the United States from Britain is an important moment that he should absolutely visit. But the Liberal Democrat leader is showing exactly the same tendencies as Keir Stark. The whole concept of international law is deeply flawed. We know that. We know that the UN and courts like the International Court of Justice are essentially acting at the behest of China. And we need to face up to the fact that we have serious adversaries across the world. China, Iran, Russia, they're working together. We need to take them on. And this is just an excuse. This isn't excused by people who do not want to take on the Islamists. And the Liberal Democrats are like an even worse version of the Labour Party. So frankly, I wouldn't take anything they say seriously. Liz, as a former prime minister, what's your solution here? What needs to be done? How do you kind of, if you were there in charge, so to speak, what would some of the first order of business be there in terms of the Iran war and working with America? Well, first of all, we need to allow the United States to use our bases. We need to rebuild our navy so we've got serviceable ships that can go to the region. And we also need to drill, baby, drill. We need to get fracking. We need to use our oil and gas reserves. So we are a net energy exporter because we have been caught short by this crisis, by the high oil prices, because of the climate change net zero agenda. So we need to completely change our approach to defense, our approach to oil and gas, and we need to get the British economy growing. The problem we've got, and this is true not just of Britain, but also France and Germany, is we've seen huge weakness, economic weakness, energy weakness and security weakness. And we need to follow President Trump's lead in reviving our oil and gas industry and reviving our economy and spending more on our security. That is vital. And this just shows how dangerous a position we're in. In Britain, the bond prices have risen very, very fast because international investors are concerned that we simply cannot make our payments because we are so subject to these spikes in the oil price. Liz, I'm curious about your perspective on the current relationship between England and the United States. Is it an eroding relationship or is it simply poor leadership that has this fracture, if you will? Well, the most people in Britain are very pro the United States. And we know, and I, you know, we're celebrating the 250th anniversary. Of course, many of the great ideas that built the United States, things like the Bill of Rights of Magna Carta, originated on these islands. And we are, we have a shared history, we have a shared outlook on the world. The problem is in Britain that we have a very left wing leader in power who believes in mass migration, he believes in international human rights. And he does not share President Trump, Trump's agenda, which is about fighting for and saving Western civilization. I mean, Keir Starmer is one of these people that doesn't really like his country very much. You know, he'd rather give rights to illegal immigrants than to British citizens. So we are under the leadership of somebody who is, you know, he's to the left of President Biden. He's a kind of Mandami of Britain. And what we desperately need is we need new leadership in our country. Somebody who is patriotic, who believes in Britain, who believes in Western civilization and who shares our Anglo American heritage. And frankly, Keir Starmer is not that person. And things are not going to get better until he leaves office. I want to ask you a question of protocol in Great Britain, in the United States, when someone has been a senator, when someone has been a congressman or a council member or whatever we call them, we title them always for the rest of their lives by their last highest held title. Is that the same in Britain? I wanted to get that clear before I go to my question. No, it's not at all. No. Okay, you lose the title. So the only title I retain is Right Honorable because I'm a member of the Privy Council. So would I address you as honorable member of the Privy Council? Right Honourable. Right Honourable. But the job title goes when you don't have the job anymore. Okay, so we would address you as Right Honorable. Yes. Or just call me Liz for the purposes. Okay. Just want to be respectful. Really quickly, Liz, before we let you go, I want an update on the Epstein files in your perspective. From that, it seems like Great Britain has taken it much more seriously than America. I myself am very frustrated. This seems to be completely cast aside in the mainstream media news outlets. What can you tell us about that? And what is the perspective of those on the ground who have taken it so seriously in Great Britain when America is rather shoving it off? Well, it is extraordinary that virtually everybody that's been arrested seems to be a British. And we've had Peter Mandelson, Ghislaine Maxwell, and of course the former Prince Andrew, all apprehended about the Epstein files. And you have to understand that Peter Mandelson was at the heart of the Labour establishment. He was key to selecting Labour members of Parliament. He's very close to Tany Blair, very close to Keir Starmer. So this goes to the heart of, of the British establishment. And I think there are still questions to answer about who else was involved. How did those networks operate, but also how did they operate in the United States? And I do think it's significant that we've seen people in Britain brought to justice, but we haven't yet seen that happen on any scale in the United States. It is a little shocking for many of us who are were just looking at this like it's an alternate reality. Former Prime Minister Liz Truss, we thank you so much for being with us. Thank you. And Liz, just so you know, we'll call you Liz, but we think you're right and we think you're honorable. That's right. Just so you know. That's right. Ok. All right. Coming up, Bruce Springsteen is hitting the road with new anti Trump tour. But some fans say they can't even afford to get in the door to talk about the backlash after the break. Don't miss it. Let's spill some tea. Let's Spill Some Tea is sponsored by Artillery Tea Company, the veteran owned patriotic tea brand, delivering premium whole leaf tea and biodegradable sachets that brew twice as strong. Patriots, if you love great tea on your terms, check out the Patriots Brew Club for automatic shipments that you control. You can cancel or swap flavors anytime with no commitments. You'll also get free shipping on every order tiered, discounts up to 20% off and free milestone rewards along the way. Bruce Strong, Stay patriotic. Head to artillerytco.com right now and click join the Patriots Brew Club to get started. It is time now to spill some tea. And in the cup today, Bruce Springsteen and his absurd ticket prices. Springsteen is hitting the road with a new tour, but many fans say they can't afford a seat. The rock legend announced his 2026 Land of Hope and Dreams tour, promoting it as a defense of American democracy and and a direct pushback against President Donald Trump. But now fans are blasting the sky high ticket prices with some reports showing upper level seats approaching $1,000 and floor seats running into the thousands. And with political messages expected between songs, the tour is already stirring controversy before it even begins. We want to know what you, our viewers think about this. Let us know on Rumble or Getter. Hop on and let your voice be heard. Still to come on American Sunrise, our own T. Bates is standing by with the top story he's keeping his eye on today. The one to watch is after the break. Stay with us. Get ready, America. March 25th through 28th, CPAC USA 2026 takes over the Lone Star State and Real America's Voice brings you wall to wall coverage. Live shows from the convention floor. Exclusive interviews, house powerful panels, live music, entertainment and more all from the RAV stage. Hear from RAV Zone. Steve Bannon the only way we don't have victory if we surrender. And we're not going to retreat. We're not going to surrender. We're not going to quit. Eric Bowling Real leadership listens without lecturing. It respects people enough to talk to them, not down to them. And Jack Posobic Live Freedom is a responsibility that we must uphold every single single day of our lives. Plus Dr. G and others, we always came together because we know what we're fighting for. CPAC USA 2026 only on real America's Voice presented by Birch Gold Group and Patriot Mob. Hi, welcome back to American sunrise. I'm Dr. G. Thanks for being with us this morning. It is time now for the one to watch. Terrence, I know you've got your eye on something. Tell us something. I do. And this is, this is a bit of a departure from our normal one to watch stories. It's not necessarily political. I think it's a bit more personal and, and heartwarming to some degree. So let me set the stage for you. A prom season prank in Georgia turned into a deadly tragedy. But it's leading to forgiveness. 40 year old Jason Hughes, who was a math teacher and a coach at North Hall High School in Gainesville, Georgia was hit by a pickup truck after he came outside during the prank. The prank involved toilet paper, what most kids, kids call TPing a home. Well, the teacher tripped into the road as the teenagers were leaving. An 18 year old driver is now charged with felony vehicular manslaughter, vehicular homicide, while four others in the car are accused of misdemeanors. But in a stunning twist, and here's where the story I feel like really gets interesting and personal, Hughes family is now asking authorities to drop the charges saying that the teacher loved the students and involved and would not want their lives ruined by such a tragedy. Guys, again, I just think it's heartwarming. It's obviously a tragedy. You hate that a prank went wrong and this teacher lost his life. But the fact that his family is able to forgive, it's biblical first and foremost. But I think it takes such a strong character to be willing to forgive in the light of such loss. Dr. Gay. Incredible. Incredible. Perhaps one of the most awe inspiring forgivenesses I've ever heard in my life. I don't know. You know, I was almost t boned today by a college student on my way to work And I am not feeling particularly. I'm thinking, gosh, young drivers have got to be so careful. And I also hate the vandalism. I don't like toilet papering and those kinds of things. You know, those kinds of things happen to me back in high school. I just. I hate the way teenagers can be so stupid. And I almost feel like I'm just. Maybe I'm not as forgiving as the family. The teacher looks like somebody who, though, would be such an inspiration that way and would have the fortitude to do that. Terrence, I'm so glad you brought this story to our attention because it truly is humbling to think that the family wants forgiveness. I'm not sure I could be so forgiving in that situation. David. Yeah. I'll be honest with you. It's a bit of an emotional roller coaster. Yeah. I mean, you know, like, I'm. I'm really bothered by the story. Me, too. Really bothered, yes. It doesn't bother you, David? I want to delve into that a little bit. I'm putting my kids. I'm putting my kids in. In the role of those teenagers. I mean, what if they had done something, they didn't mean anything by it, and it led to the death of their. Their teacher? I mean, I get what you're saying, because, you know, let's not. Let's let the charges be dropped. I get that, and that's great. And I see where you're going with it. I'm just thinking, like, they have to live with that the rest of their lives. And it just made me sad. It made me sad, honestly. They didn't mean anything by it. They were just being kids, just kind of having some fun. And it wasn't even, like, it wasn't done in animosity towards teacher. That was kind of like what the school, you know, kind of. Not. I don't say encouraged, but it was kind of like a ritual in the school. Like, that's kind of what you. Passage. Exactly. It was a rite of passage, so I guess I didn't know that part. Yes. Yes. Yeah. You know, my daughter, I've told you guys many times, my youngest swims, and every year they toilet paper the senior's house. That's part of their ritual. That's part of their team. I'm not gonna lie. Nick year. Maybe she won't be gone. I'm not going to lie. Yeah. I don't know. We just live in such a sad, dangerous world. It's so mixed up and confusing sometimes. I think, even still, for all of us. But I do hope that that family can have some peace and that those kids can somehow find some peace in the Lord as well. You guys, War Room is coming up next. Go boldly now. Live the truth. Have a good one, you two. Love you guys. That kind of story. Love you guys. As many.