Loading summary
Transcript106 lines
- [00:00]
Anna Giratelli
This is an iHeart podcast.
- [00:02]
Kalyn Dees
Guaranteed Human.
- [00:16]
David Zier
Hey, everybody, I'm David Zier. You're watching Breaking Point. Unreal America's Voice News. I have my reading glasses on because I just came from the doctor and they made my vision all blurry. They dilated my pupils so I can't see. But I hope everybody's well out there. It's great to be with you. I had an action packed week and a half on the ground in Washington, D.C. for two Pentagon war briefings. I sat in the White House press briefing this past Monday where Donald Trump spoke to an extremely packed Brady briefing room at the White House. And he took questions for like an hour. And I was with Brian Glenn and Benny Ray Harmony here from the just super people. And they were at the Easter Egg Roll when I came into the White House. And Trump spent like 45 minutes, they said, talking to them and reporters as well, and then went into the briefing room and had like this two hour press briefing. Could you imagine Biden doing that? Even Obama, you know, because he just like talks in platitudes and folks, hey, folks, you know, and Trump was just really great. And you could kind of tell how real Trump is because I think he kind of thinks things through at the moment and kind of lets you know what he's feeling at the moment as well. And he showed concern, you know, for the Iran conflict, you know, and when he said, oh, I'm going to take out their civilization, you know, I think he meant that they're going to pay the price. And when he was at the press briefing, he was really, you know, showing concern that, I don't want to do this, I don't want to hurt the people of Iran. But there's no revolution fermenting on the ground there to any large degree right now. You know, Reza Pahlavi, the son of the Shah, claims he's the rightful leader to Iran and the people to support him. And the people want him. And there's a lot of great people and Persians that came over. I dealt with them in business on Long Island. Here we have 5000 persians just in the city of Great Neck, the town of Great Neck here on Long Island. And, you know, but there's no big push for Reza Pahlavi. The people of Iran aren't inclined to be reminded of the days of the Shah. Now, the Shah led a very progressive society and women were free and didn't have to wear burqas and kids were going to college. And the Shah deserves a lot of credit for that. But he also persecuted the Mujahideen, the People's Mujahideen of Iraq, the mek, the college students. A lot of people got jailed. A lot of people disappeared. And I'm not so sure they want to be reminded of that. And maybe there's a government that comes into power at some point in Iran that would be a mix maybe of a Pahlavi or those types, or a Marian Rajavi from the ncri, which is the exile government from Iran that led the revolution in 1979 that the mullahs and the clerics in Iran hijacked from them. They promised them they'd be included, and they weren' and like 130,000 members of the People's Jahadeen, the MEK, were killed in Iran. A lot of them fled to Iraq, where they joined the Iran Iraq war on the Iraq side. And then they went to Albania, I think about 4,000, where they had a Special operators encampment. For a long time. They were on the ground in France and Paris. I think that's where Mariam Rajavi may be. But I don't see a big push on their end either. I know they've led a lot of demonstrations. I'm not on the ground in Iraq, I've never been there. But I don't see anything really gelling or fermenting. And so Trump is stuck dealing with that three or four or five levels deep of an interim type government. And what kind of guarantees will he get out of them that these people will have a seat at the table? I think that's critical to these negotiations. You know, one starting in Pakistan with JD Vance today, and other types of communications. They have to include some type of guarantee that the people aren't going to be mowed down in the street anymore. Because I saw videos this week and I think they were real, of a thousand women in Burkers saying that the ceasefire was a victory for Iran. And I don't see mass demonstrations of people in the street. And I know we were bombing and
- [04:51]
Unidentified Male Guest (possibly Pentagon or military correspondent)
I know they're starting.
- [04:52]
David Zier
And I know there was one day in the Persian New Year, the Fyre festival, there was like 117 uprisings around the country, but you still have an Iranian militia with like a million members of it that do the enforcing, I believe, for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, which still has the Internet shut down, going on 40 days or so. The people can't communicate. We don't have starlinks. We should have dropped 10,000 starlinks in there last year after the June bombings.
- [05:18]
Unidentified Male Guest (possibly Pentagon or military correspondent)
That would have been Great.
- [05:19]
David Zier
Because the Iranian government's going after, you know, VPNs, people. They're also going after any satellite dishes, any other satellite forms of communication from the people. I'm not convinced that the Iranian, the radical sect that for two and three generations has been saying death to America,
- [05:40]
Unidentified Male Guest (possibly Pentagon or military correspondent)
are out of power.
- [05:42]
David Zier
I'm not convinced that they still don't have a grip on the people. And I'm not so sure that there, you know, are. I think there's a lot of people in Iran who truly hate America still.
- [05:54]
Unidentified Male Guest (possibly Pentagon or military correspondent)
And I don't know if that's 10%
- [05:56]
David Zier
or 30% or 70%, but it's gotta be a big number. And, you know, I hope we can navigate through this. And I think militarily, I've attended seven White House press briefings so far. Hegseth, I think, is a dynamic guy. I think he's doing an incredible job. There haven't been many missteps on the US Military operations side of things. It's gotta be a tough job. They're going after him and the media telling everyone he gave a Nazi salute in a speech or whatever.
- [06:30]
Unidentified Male Guest (possibly Pentagon or military correspondent)
You know, they just can't. They're not giving him a break for a minute. So I have a lot of respect for what they're doing in there. And I've been covering the Department of War for about five months now. And what I see on the ground, traveling with them across America from California to Utah to Rhode island to Maine to North Carolina to Florida, interviewing the head of Space Command that, you know, they really are motivated in the Pentagon, and they're looking to cut out some of the red tape.
- [06:57]
David Zier
I participated in a budget meeting this
- [07:01]
Unidentified Male Guest (possibly Pentagon or military correspondent)
morning with the Pentagon. It was a zoom meeting, and talking about getting the budget pushed forward, where it eventually gets adopted by the House Armed Services Committee and the National Defense Authorization act gets presented to the Congress. It's still a bureaucratic mess. Right? I'm sure. And it's a huge budget, and it's like a trillion. Trump wants to make it a trillion and a half. And so they're starting to put it together. But even Hegseth says, listen, this is a bureaucratic engine over here. And I'm trying to cut the red tape. And he says it with Trump all the time, with Trump's defense acquisitions orders, executive orders. I know I talk about it all the time, but there's something to be said for it, because they're working with private industry and academia around the country and private partnerships, sometimes 50, 50 with the private sector to get weapons systems delivered to the war fighters quickly on the battlefield. And it's really important. And I don't think the Biden administration or Obama could have pulled anything like this off like we're doing in Iran. And I think it's cuz Trump hit the ground running last January in a wartime footing and Hegseth was in lock step with him on that. And I've seen it in action. I saw some innovative products down at Fort Bragg with the 18th Airborne, the 82nd Airborne, the Dragons Lair competition. I watched the attitude and now we're talking about tripling our capacity for our PAC3 missiles. You got your Thaad missiles up top, you got your Pac Threes and your Patriots. You know where we're kicking out PAC Threes at three times capacity right now we're going to start manufacturing triple, threefold and in partnership with private industry again. And I was up in the ironworks in Maine where we're getting out guided missile destroyers faster, maybe building the Trump battleship type armaments up there as well. And I was in Rhode island where we're building the Columbia class submarines, replacing the Ohio. Now I know there's a gap and we have to keep the Ohio's in service longer, I think. But anyway, a lot of issues going on. I got a great show for you today. I've got Jonathan Tobin from JNS News because I want to clear the air a little bit about Israel, right to defend itself. And Hezbollah has been murdering Israelis for five, six decades. And you know, they cannot let up on Hezbollah. And why is it, okay, the night of the ceasefire that Iran dumps dozens of rockets into Iran and Bahrain and all these other into Israel and Bahrain and these other countries and Israel's not allowed to respond the next day with bombings. So and, but listen, there's also Christians have been injured by Israeli bombings. So I'm not all one way, but Israel has the right to defend its. In my opinion, they are our greatest ally. Who else, right? Europe's always there when they need us. Spain, the President, the Prime Minister, they're miserable. They're miserable. England, forget it, right? They've lost their country. You know, who's our ally, who's our real ally and who's had seven countries trying to wipe it out since their the beginning of their existence in the late 40s. And that's Israel and Hamas. You know, this guy, this podcaster out there, I don't even want to say his name. So disgusting. Saying Hamas is 100 times better than the Israeli government, saying we deserve 9, 11 and the Democrats are embracing this podcaster all across the country. You know piker there I said his name. Now I'm going to throw up. But great show for you today. I have Kaylin Dees updates on doj. I also have Anna Giratelli from the Washington examiner on the latest on what's going on at dhs. Don't go anywhere. I'm David Zier. I'm grateful for audience out there. This is an honor to be able to travel with Real America's Voice news. Given our audience a front row to history. We'll be right back.
- [10:51]
Birch Gold Advertiser
As countries have walked away in the past few years from the US Dollar, Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, diversify into gold into birch gold. And for over 5,000 years, gold has withstood inflation, geopolitical turmoil and stock market crashes. And the great news is you can still get it. And in fact, you can own gold and silver in a tax sheltered retirement account. Birch Gold makes it easy to convert your IRA or 401k into an IRA and precious metals. And all you got to do is text the word America, the 989898 to claim your free info kit on gold. With 20 years experience converting IRAs and 401Ks into precious metal IRAs, Birch Gold can help you protect yourself with gold today by technically texting the word America to 98. 9898 with an A plus rating. With the Better Business Bureau, thousands of happy customers and countless 5 star reviews secure your future with gold. Start today with a free info kit.
- [11:47]
David Zier
Again, there's no obligation.
- [11:49]
Birch Gold Advertiser
Check it out.
- [11:50]
David Zier
Make the request.
- [11:51]
Birch Gold Advertiser
Just text the word America to 98. 98 98.
- [11:55]
David Zier
We'll be back with more Breaking Point right after this. Hey everybody, welcome back to Breaking Point. I'm David Zier. You are watching Real America's Voice News. Tell your friends and family to download the Real America's Voice news app. We've got breaking coverage everywhere. Trump speaking, band speaking, all kinds of stuff going on. Busy year coming up. Midterms, really important. And I just want to talk about Mamdani for one minute before we bring in our next guest. You know, Mamdani is doesn't know what he's doing and he's also evil at the same time. Right? So there's been a business exodus. Did you know last year alone in 2025, 5,000 businesses have left New York City. 892 major corporations have left New York City. New York City lost 20,000 jobs in 2025. He wants to raise the corporate intact income tax on top of that from 7 to 11.5%. He wants to raise taxes for financial sector companies, which about half of them have left for Dallas, West Palm Beach. He wants to put an additional 2% tax on anyone worth over a million dollars or making a million dollars per year. But remember, New Yorkers are already paying an additional 4% for living in New York City on top of the incredible state income tax that caps out in double digits.
- [13:33]
Unidentified Male Guest (possibly Pentagon or military correspondent)
So.
- [13:34]
David Zier
And the most egregious thing is the estate tax, generational wealth in New York City. He wants the estate tax to go from 15% to 60%. And by the way, he's been the benefactor of good weather. But rapes are still up 7% for the year in New York City. And 18,000 New Yorkers have already been assaulted in the street. Felony and misdemeanor assault. And that's with four feet of snow on the ground all winter. So imagine when the weather gets better. That's the result of Mamdani. And cops are retiring at record pace. They're vested. They're not staying on. We're not going to see those additional 5,000 cops, I think, in New York City. So we got issues. But I want to get right to it with Anna Giratelli. She's the DHS reporter for the Washington Examiner. We love having her on. Welcome, Anna.
- [14:25]
Maria Lynn
Hey, David.
- [14:26]
Anna Giratelli
Thanks for having me.
- [14:27]
David Zier
Anytime. I know you're busy. I know you've been real busy. I see you everywhere. On social media at the Washington Examiner. A lot of ground to cover at dhs. Why don't you tell us the latest about what's going on?
- [14:41]
Anna Giratelli
Yeah. The latest is that former Senator Mark Wayne Mullen has been in the job for almost three weeks now, and he is quickly making changes to what his predecessor, Kristi Noem, had put in place. He got rid of a $100,000 requirement that all contracts over that amount be reviewed by Kristi Noem, which has slowed down FEMA payments out to people and contracts across the department. DHS has almost 20, 22 agencies and offices, so lots of contracts to review there. And he's doing stuff with ICE as well. He's trying to crack down on sanctuary cities in a new way that could bring bring about results in a way that we haven't seen just this far.
- [15:25]
David Zier
So I wanted to ask you, what are some of the good things that Kristi Noem did? You know, I like Kristi Noem a lot, and I think they accomplished a lot in the first year right over there. I mean, 3 million people have been deported or have self deported, Is that correct?
- [15:42]
Anna Giratelli
Yeah. They've claimed that 3 million people have voluntarily departed, but they haven't shown any data about how they know that. What we've seen is that, that it was based on people in the workforce. And those figures included people who were illegally in the country and legally in the country. So we haven't seen a breakdown on that. Certainly the border has gone from the crisis of the Biden administration years to the best shape in 55 years as far as the number of people being apprehended crossing the U.S. mexico border. But a lot of this is people in the workforce, people doing the job every day, getting back to normal because it started very quickly and having the right people. I think in those positions you have a lot of career senior law enforcement positions, running agencies and across those agencies who know how to do the job, regardless of who's at the top.
- [16:36]
David Zier
I asked Tom Holman at the White House last year, late last year, if they were able to prove any of the crime numbers going down in our cities and across America in correlation with the deportation of illegals. At the time, they didn't have hard data. Has there been any data released to prove a correlation? So we can go into the midterms and the Republicans can make a case that this is working?
- [17:04]
Anna Giratelli
Yeah, we haven't seen any data to support that either way. And I think that's something that we could see the White House release in the coming months. As we get closer to the midterms, my colleague and I right now are looking at which states have seen the most illegal immigrant arrests by ICE since President Trump took office. And we're planning to issue a report in the next several days on that. And a surprise on who comes out the first with not who.
- [17:30]
David Zier
We expected a lot of news coming out of DHS and you've been reporting. Tell us about the ICE warehouse, industrial space leasing, and also about customs officers possibly being pulled from sanctuary states or cities, airports.
- [17:48]
Anna Giratelli
Mark Wayne Mullen is looking at pulling customs officers from Customs and Border Protection. So those are the men and women who screen your passport, screen different documents where you're coming into the country at a sea, land or airport of entry and saying that if sanctuary cities, say in New York, won't cooperate with ice, why is the federal government going to be releasing and vetting people who they release from airports into those cities? Sort of a way to get those cities to come forward and work with the federal government on better cooperation between ICE and local police.
- [18:22]
David Zier
Is that realistic? Is that realistic? I mean, imagine pulling Customs away from jfk.
- [18:29]
Anna Giratelli
It's a new approach we've never seen no one can do. You know, unlike tsa, TSA are not law enforcement. That's why they make a lot less money than federal law enforcement. They're not actually police, but federal law enforcement officers who screen those passports. They cannot be duplicated. So that's a really interesting move that we've never seen before and could have really broad implications on travel, even people leaving the country as well. And as far as I ICE had planned move to buy 10 warehouses across the country. They were really trying to beef up detention space and some of those properties have been purchased. But Mullen has decided at this point we're going to pause that process. There was a facility in Utah that was about $50 million overpaid by Mullen's predecessor. And so they're looking into those type of issues, cost effectiveness and do we need to surge and expand capacity for detention as much as his predecessor thought
- [19:31]
David Zier
was necessary, similar to the way Homan diffused the Minneapolis situation? Because I think he did.
- [19:37]
Anna Giratelli
He did.
- [19:39]
David Zier
You know, is this also about optics maybe before the midterms that, you know, we don't want mass demonstrations in front of warehoused deportees and maybe they're coming up with better methods that could maybe still have an effect and making our streets safer.
- [19:58]
Anna Giratelli
That's a really good point. You're right, because certainly communities have gotten involved in a number of different cases where they were looking at buying these warehouses and in some instances were able to push the sellers to decide not to go and sell the ICE because they got such blowback from local residents. So you're right. Having people staged outside these warehouses is certainly going to be a bad look for. For Republicans or maybe a good look. It depends how things go. But it certainly could descend into rioting like we've seen at ICE facilities. We've even seen shootings targeting ICE officers at those facilities. So we're going to see what they ended up moving forward with in the future.
- [20:43]
David Zier
Wow. So much going on. Tell us about some of the accomplishments other than the warehouses that Mark Wayne Mullen is working on.
- [20:52]
Anna Giratelli
On. Yeah, I think Mullen's biggest accomplishment, what I'm hearing from senior officials within the entire department and different agencies is he's told people just to get back to normal. He's not. Corlew Andowski, who was a associate of former Secretary Christine, was very involved every day, hands on with operations and sometimes, from what sources had told me, pushing them to do things in ways that wasn't how they were taught to do them. And so he. He, what Mullen has told them is, you know, I'm on your side. I want to help you as much as possible, but you have a job to do, and I need to look good as long as you're doing that. So he's given them a lot of freedom back. And to the folks I've spoken with, that is a very good thing. And we'll continue to watch and see if that freedom is translating into success for the administration's goals.
- [21:44]
David Zier
It's kind of nice to see that the administration can also recognize, you know, that there needs to be change. Every administration does it. It doesn't mean the people who were leading it were bad people. But, you know, this is new to a lot of people. Also, this, the immigration enforcement issue, the way we've seen it unroll under Trump, I think there was a learning curve. I think, you know, when Bovino left Minneapolis, and Bovino's a great patriot, great American, but the tactics were harsh, and the visuals and the videos that came out, you know, maybe wasn't digestible to the people and maybe.
- [22:26]
Anna Giratelli
But it's confusing, right? I mean, President Trump is very much that style. So if I'm Kristi Noem or Greg Provino, I'm thinking this is what the president wants. He loves this. And then for the president to change his mind and you to be pushed out of a job in the middle of that, I think it is certainly confusing on their part. Say, okay, apparently we're going with a different rhetoric and style.
- [22:51]
David Zier
Right?
- [22:51]
Unidentified Male Guest (possibly Pentagon or military correspondent)
Right.
- [22:52]
David Zier
And, you know, maybe listen, the. Put the pushback from the people in Minneapolis. Not everybody's a paid protester. And I interviewed the people in the neighborhoods, and they were really uninformed about the Constitution, and they were right off the boat from Somalia and other things, but they weren't bad people. They're raising families. They don't want the optics of ICE on the street failing to recognize the jails were the ones who weren't turning over the criminals to ice. So ICE had to go into the neighborhoods, and then if anyone was in the house and they're illegal, they got rounded up by law.
- [23:18]
Unidentified Male Guest (possibly Pentagon or military correspondent)
Right.
- [23:18]
David Zier
If they. So, you know, not everyone knows the consequences. I'll give you the final word here. We have about 40 seconds.
- [23:26]
Anna Giratelli
You know, Minneapolis is two months ago now, almost three months, but it seems so long ago. And I think it goes to show that the narrative has shifted, and what the Trump administration did has allowed the Republican Party to pivot from that to other issues. To Iran and we could be back to immigration before the midterms. But for now, it's, it's, it's polling a little bit better than it was in January.
- [23:50]
David Zier
Okay, Anna Giratelli, really quick, what's your social media?
- [23:54]
Anna Giratelli
Anna giritelli, all right, thank you again
- [23:58]
David Zier
and we'll follow up with you. I appreciate your time.
- [24:01]
Anna Giratelli
Thanks so much, David.
- [24:02]
David Zier
All right. I will be. Welcome back to Breaking Point. I'm David Zier. I took my glasses off because I could see a little better now. I had my pupils dilated at the doctor and almost crashed into like three cars on the way here to the studio. But thank you for joining us today. We have a great lineup for you today. We just heard from Anna Gerotelli, the DHS report of the Washington Examiner. They got great reporters. And of course, right now we have once again, Kalyn Deese, the DOJ reporter from the Washington Examiner. Actually, first I want to throw to a clip. I was at my seventh Department of War press briefing with Pete Hegseth at the White House press briefing earlier in the week with Trump. It was just jam packed with people. A lot of rude press, a lot of rude press at the Pentagon briefing. But let me just play my questions I had for people.
- [25:11]
Birch Gold Advertiser
Good morning, Mr. Secretary, Mr. Chairman.
- [25:12]
David Zier
David Zia, real America's voice during the ceasefire. What do we do when we see Iran rearming, regrouping, repositioning weapons systems and air defenses? And also have we confirmed the specific model, type of air Defense or MANPADS that took down our F15 and is it still a threat for our patrols?
- [25:35]
Pentagon Official
So we're still working through the specific details around that particular shoot down and the crews, when they normally return, go through a debriefing process along with the other members of that flight that were out there and they'll go back as they always do, and forensically look at what are the tactical lessons learned. Did we sense or see something? Could we have done something different? We do that, as I mentioned in a prior press conference, every single time we take any loss like that so that we become a quick learning organization. On the other part of your question around the movement of Iranian military forces, US CENTCOM will continue to monitor that situation. They will continue to have a series of response options and if need be, we'll come to the secretary and to the president for guidance and be prepared to do the things that they're ordered to do so against valid military targets in accordance with the normal procedures that we have have.
- [26:40]
I would just note it's a good Question. The more Iran moves, the more Iran moves forces, the more they emplace forces, the more easily targetable they are for us right now. Remember, we're able to look, we're able to see, we're able to sense, we know they where they.
- [26:56]
Unidentified Male Guest (possibly Pentagon or military correspondent)
So if they try to pre position,
- [26:57]
Pentagon Official
they're just creating riper military targets for us to strike should they make the wrong decision at the table.
- [27:03]
David Zier
It's amazing how the US Military operates with precision and you know, very few mishaps and it's just incredible. You know, all those thousands of launches off the flight decks of the Abraham Lincoln and the Ford dangerous jobs, catapult operators. People are incredible who serve our country. I want to bring on right now though, again. Kalin Deeson, Washington Examiner DOJ reporter hi Kalin.
- [27:28]
Kalyn Dees
Hey David, thanks for having me on.
- [27:29]
David Zier
Yes, I want to do kind of like a speed round, a lot to cover. Let's talk about some of the issues. What are you working on and how do you feel about dhs? Mark Wayne Mullen, I know you're from Oklahoma.
- [27:41]
Kalyn Dees
Yeah. I really am thrilled to see a fellow Oklahoma MB at dhs. And it really seems like he's leading the job fairly well. As Anna was saying just a moment ago, it seems like this freedom to navigate some of these issues and the trust that the Trump administration is giving somebody like Mark Wayne, who's really shown through his work in the Senate that he is about his agenda about immigration reform. I think that what Mark Wain is doing is absolutely fantastic. What I'm working on specifically, though, is this transitionary period we're seeing right now with Todd Blanche at the doj, watching some of the new moves that he's announcing, like the announcement of the fraud division this week that's going to be headed by Colin McDonald and worked together in conjunction with Vice President J.D. vance on tackling national fraud. And just seeing where this DOJ is going to change or how much it really will change given the fact that that Deputy Attorney Todd Blanch, or he was the deputy, was right underneath Bondi. I mean, he said that he gave his thanks to Bondi, said it's going to be much like the work that they had just left off whenever she departed. So, I mean, it seems like for the most part he's trying to, you know, fill a couple of different roles by leading the department forward, but also acknowledging that, you know, Bondi, it wasn't a terrible, you know, rift. It was just sort of, you know, someone else needed to take up where she had left off.
- [29:04]
David Zier
Any chance Blanche stays on for a confirmation hearing. Is Lee Zeldin the front runner? Any other names out there?
- [29:13]
Kalyn Dees
I think that there's a definite chance that Blanche could stay on just by virtue of him already being confirmed in the Senate. And there being a bit of a open question about whether they would be able to bypass that process if they were to just go ahead with him being the, the permanent attorney general pick. But I think that Lee Zelling would do a fantastic job as well. I think he would bring a new set of skills to the table with his leadership as the head of the epa, knowing the ins and outs of those environmental cases and being able to deliver on Trump's agenda and bringing justice in cases. Especially the fact that Lee Zeldin knows first and foremost the types of injustices the Democrats brought against Trump in his first term as serving as his impeachment attorney.
- [29:58]
David Zier
Yeah, I worked around Lee for many, many years. He served on a board. I ran the American Patriot Heroes Fund. We helped veterans. He's a combat veteran himself. You know, he was, he was a lawyer, but he was colonel in the reserves and spent time in Iraq. I think the world of him. Okay, NFL antitrust issues. What's going on?
- [30:22]
Kalyn Dees
Yeah, so there's this, this big question right now about whether the NFL and its partnerships with streaming services and just the litany of different streaming services that we have today versus even just a decade ago, has put the NFL in a situation where they are not giving consumers the best deal when it comes to being able to allow them access to view all the games that happen in a given season. I mean, you have all these different streaming services that get some subsets of games, others get the other subsets. And there's a question about, by the end of the day, if you're a true hardline NFL fan and you're trying to watch the most games you can in a given season, the ticket or the, I'm sorry, the amount of money that's being paid to have access to all those games might amount, at least in the words of Mike Lee, who's been a really stickler on this issue, might amount to upwards of $1,000 to be able to really view all the games just from your living room sofa. So the DOJ appears to be looking into some of the previous antitrust regulations that gave a bit of a loophole for the NFL to have some wiggle room and not have to abide by some of the same antitrust rules as other types of organizations and entertainment and media. And they're looking to see if there's any sort of new regulations that maybe should be put in place there so that you don't have this abundance of different, different streaming services that are just causing more burning cash inside the consumer wallets. So I think it's something that is definitely welcome. I think that Bondi even faced some criticism in her tenure at the DOJ for allowing certain deals to go forward, like the Fubo deal that, you know, caused a lot of people some complaints about the, their ability to watch certain games on YouTube. So I think that there was a bit of a criticism under her tenure. And the fact that this DOJ is seeming to try to bring some amends to that problem, that problems that people were complaining about before is a good sign, at least in Blanche's first week in office.
- [32:30]
David Zier
Yeah, I think it's terrible what's going on with sports. And, you know, I, I, it cost me like $240 to watch Yankee home games and Yankee away games last year on one channel, and you still didn't get all the games. And then you still, you still have to subscribe to the other channels, maybe prime, maybe Netflix, whoever's airing it, you know, and I think it's ridiculous, you know, cost you, if you want to follow a full Yankee season, it's between 200 and $500, you know, to watch it on TV. You know, I grew up with the rabbit ears, and we watched it for free. And we also got Boston in my house because we're close to Long island, is actually close to Massachusetts. Anyway, so let's talk about Stanley Woodward. We have about two and a half minutes. Tell us about that.
- [33:16]
Kalyn Dees
I'll try to distill this very simply. So there was reporting over the weekend that Stanley Woodward, the number three in the doj, who helped Trump back along his campaign trail, and specifically the classified documents case. He was representing Trump associate Walt Nada in that classified documents case. He was seen very early on as a patriot and a loyalist to Trump, helping out where so many other attorneys were deciding they didn't want to help out the former president or litigation. But Stanley Woodward, Todd Blanche, people of that ilk, stood up and helped out the president. Well, now Stanley is under fire because he's been under fire actually for over a year because as we know, there's been, you know, some criticisms out there by people like Laura Limmer. She does a lot of good work. But, but according to Peter Navarro today in an op ed that was featured in the Daily Caller, Laura Loomer is friendly firing on Stanley Woodward by trying to advocate for his removal because it's all surrounding his wife's public post back in around 2020, whenever she had a BLM photo in her Facebook profile. So Stanley's been accused of being a closet Democrat and working against the administration. But you have a lot of sources, at least sources that I'm talking to the administration, that say Stanley. Stanley has done phenomenal work. He's not always on social media like some of these other officials, because he has a lot of business to do as he oversees the six different divisions there in the doj. But I have been told that Stanley, at least as of Thursday, is still in the. In the department. So the report that he had resigned on Saturday has very much so been disproven. He is still at the department, and it really remains to be seen. Will he. Will the pressure, you know, cause someone to think that there's a need to remove him? I know that there's a little bit of a question right now of whether Harmony Dillon. Dillon could be elevated. Yeah, yeah. I mean, there's apparently been some push by David Warrington over there in the White House Counsel's office to, you know, see somebody like a Harmeet Dylan elevated to where Stanley is currently at. So, Stanley, the report that. That CBS came out with was saying that he would just essentially be getting a demotion, not a firing or anything like that. But so far there's been no demotion this week.
- [35:33]
David Zier
Kaylin, we have to run. Just a few seconds. Where's your social media?
- [35:39]
Kalyn Dees
You can follow me on x. It's Kaylin. D.C. that's K A E L A N DC.
- [35:44]
David Zier
All right. Always love your stuff. We'll be back to you. And thank you for coming on last minute.
- [35:50]
Kalyn Dees
Thanks, David.
- [35:50]
David Zier
All right, everybody, a lot of midterm news out there. It's moving more democratic. Got to follow what's going on. We'll be right back. I got Jonathan Tobin. Welcome back. I got a big debate going on amongst myself.
- [36:16]
Unidentified Male Guest (possibly Pentagon or military correspondent)
Glasses?
- [36:17]
David Zier
No glasses. Glasses? No glasses. All right, I'm taking them off. Like I said before, I had some shots in my eyes today. My pupils are dilated. I haven't been able to see for about three hours, but I know the audience is out there somewhere. Welcome back to the show. I've got a great guest with us right now. I always love having him because Jonathan Tobin, the editor in chief of JNS News, or JNS.org, the Jewish news syndicate, always brings the. The facts to the table. Welcome back, Jonathan. How are you, sir?
- [36:49]
Jonathan Tobin
Great to be with you, David.
- [36:51]
David Zier
Great to see you. So I hope your family, you know, had a celebratory passover weekend. Right.
- [36:59]
Pentagon Official
Thank you.
- [37:00]
Jonathan Tobin
You, too.
- [37:00]
Kalyn Dees
Right.
- [37:01]
David Zier
Kind of fell in line with Easter this year. I saw my grandkids in Virginia. That was exciting. Okay, so a lot to unpack here. I wanted to discuss quickly. People on the right and people on the left are saying that Israel dragged us into this war. And I look at it like I'm a conservative pundit. I am MAGA to the core. I'm not afraid or ashamed to say it. But why is everybody so convinced that Israel dragged us into the war? Can you separate fact from fiction here for us? Us?
- [37:39]
Jonathan Tobin
Well, first, let's understand that the left is uniformly anti Israel. There is a noisy minority on the right, led by anti Semites like Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens, that is viciously anti Israel. But most Republicans, most of the MAGA movement is pro Israel, just like Trump is. So let's understand that. Let's not be cowed by the way the media, you know, was, you know, puts this and tries to convince us that everybody is against Israel. What about Israel didn't. Yeah, well, he's, you know, listen, there are people who worm their way into the administration, but they're being winnowed out. So let's. Let's understand that's a minority on the right, not the majority. It's a majority on the left, not on the right. Secondly, Israel didn't drag America into this war. Israel's, you know, still a small country. The idea that it's like the left pretends that Trump is a king, but then they say that the king is being led around by the nose by a little country the size of New Jersey with less than 10 million people. It's just not true. Every American president, Republican and Democrat, has viewed Iran as a threat for the last 25, 30 years. Everyone, even Barack Obama, said the goal was to prevent them from getting nuclear weapons and spreading terrorism and ballistic missiles. The difference is that Trump is doing something about it and has done something about it. There's no discontinuity there. There was no trick by Israel. This war was fought for America's interest. And let's understand something else. In a world where most of America's allies, principally the Western European members of NATO, are terrible allies. They're not allies at all. The one, one fellow democracy that is willing to fight cheek by jowl, the United States share all of its vast store of information and intelligence, improve our weapons, fight with us, die with us if necessary, is Israel. Israel is the one reliable ally that America has in the Middle east and is willing to fight unlike. It's the Perfect. As even JD Vance said back during the 2024 campaign, Israel is the perfect MAGA ally. And let's understand yet another thing we always hear about. Oh, Israel gets billions in American aid. Those billions, which I think Israel could do without. But it's not really aid to Israel. It's aid to the American arms industry. Because almost every penny of those billions and nearly 4 billion that Israel supposedly gets is spent in the United States employing American workers, keeping our arms industry going so that America's interests can be served. So let's not buy into this, really. All these anti Semitic tropes trying to demonize America's one really reliable fighting ally.
- [40:35]
David Zier
So I support Israel 100%. I think they have every right to defend themselves. They've been in assault by almost every Arab nation since 1940, late 1940s. You know, they've lined up against them many times. Israel has defeated them every time. They're under constant threat. Hundreds of thousands of missiles and rockets have flown into Israel. But, you know, not all the critics, I think are anti Semitic. I think that they're, you know, they take the America first maybe to a degree where maybe they're recognized that like, I feel like Israel's our most important ally without them there, you know, now what are you going to do? You're going to have the whole Sunni, you know, Asia Minor lined up against the United States. Right, because they need an enemy. Right? They're told that by the fatwas.
- [41:26]
Jonathan Tobin
Listen, Iran has been waging war in the United States since 1979. That's the purpose of that regime. They are at war with the West. Israel's the little Satan to them. America is the great Satan. They killed more than a thousand Americans. They have been attacking us all along. So the idea that this is Israel's war is just not true. And of course one can ask questions about the US Israel alliance, which is unlike the NATO one, which is a formal alliance. The one with Israel is an informal one. It's not based on treaties. But the point is, of course we can ask questions. It's okay to ask whether this war is in America's interests. I think those who say no are wrong. But those who demonize Israel, those who float anti Semitic tropes, who engage in conspiracy theories to which the answer is always Israel and the Jews. And by then I am referring to Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens and the like, they are anti Semites. They are really enemies of Trump Enemies, you know, the people who are attacking American interests and, you know, basically serving the interests of horrible regimes like Iran. No, they are, you know, the serpent within, you know, the nest of the MAGA crowd. And President Trump. And President Trump has rightly denounced them.
- [42:47]
Anna Giratelli
Them.
- [42:47]
David Zier
Yes, yes. So, okay, first night of the ceasefire, Iran dumps dozens of missiles into Israel again and Bahrain, and, you know, Israel can't let up their foot on the gas against Hezbollah because they're always plotting to wipe out Israel and to kill Israeli citizens. Is it fact or fiction that the Israeli bombings the day after the ceasefire put the ceasefire in jeopardy? Because I don't think there should be linkage allowed. We didn't allow it in the first place.
- [43:25]
Jonathan Tobin
There wasn't linkage. That was made clear by the Trump administration, by Vice President Vance, who's supposedly not the pro Israel one within this administration. He made that clear. Hezbollah has been firing into Israel and did so intermittently since October 8, 2023. They basically depopulated an area of northern Israel. One of the most underreported stories of the post October 7th war was the fact that there were hundreds of thousands of Jewish refugees within Israel who were forced to flee their homes initially in the south, but also in the north. Israel's not going to tolerate that, just as America wouldn't tolerate that. At least an America not run by Joe Biden, I guess, would be the, you know, would be the answer to that. Israel is going to ensure that Hezboll Hezbollah is not a threat to its people, and Israel is going to do what's necessary. That is a policy supported by the United States. It's rational. It's what any sane country would do. And Israel isn't going to allow Hezbollah, which takes its orders from Iran. They're not just allies like Hamas. They're an auxiliary. They're a Shiite. You know, they take their orders from the. From the ayatollahs in Iran. They're not going to get away with it. Israel isn't going to allow them to get away with it. Let me say one more thing about this war before we. Before we end this segment. We keep hearing from the liberal media and from the anti Trump crowd that the war was a failure. This war has done inestimable damage to an American enemy as well as an enemy to Israel.
- [45:01]
David Zier
Sure.
- [45:02]
Jonathan Tobin
Even if it stopped now, and I don't think this is the end, I think Iran is incapable of making a deal that President Trump or the American people can accept. And I think it's likely to, you know, to resume at some point. Point. But even if it didn't, this has set back their nuclear ambitions, their missile program. Those are largely destroyed. Their ability to, you know, to project terrorism. They're the world's leading sponsor, state sponsor of terror around the world. This war has already achieved enormous gains against that evil regime. I hope it will topple. But whether it does or not, this was a, this was a military success. Don't believe the lies you hear about it in the liberal media.
- [45:46]
David Zier
I think it revealed itself because, you know, the intelligence said they were working on long range missiles and they fired 1 2,000 miles during the conflict. So they had the ability to do it. And it would only have gotten worse if we waited. All right, I want to thank you, Jonathan Tobin, for joining us. Really quick, where can our viewers follow
- [46:04]
Jonathan Tobin
you@jns.org subscribe to get our twice daily newsletters or watch our lineup of podcasts on, on our JNS channel on YouTube?
- [46:16]
David Zier
All right, everybody, Jonathan Tobin from JNS.org the Jewish News Syndicate. I really appreciate you coming on and telling us the way it is. So thank you again.
- [46:25]
Jonathan Tobin
Thank you.
- [46:26]
David Zier
All right, I want to thank everybody for watching Breaking Point today. A lot going on. Things may heat up again over there in Iran, but the US Military's got this. I'll see you next time. Hey, Maria Lynn from switch2usa.com how are you? You?
- [46:41]
Maria Lynn
I am excited to be here with you. I'm excited to let everybody know what's going on.
- [46:47]
Anna Giratelli
Thank you.
- [46:48]
Maria Lynn
David.
- [46:49]
David Zier
Yeah. You're a longtime supporter of the show and I want to make sure our audience can participate and switch to usa. Tell us about it.
- [46:56]
Maria Lynn
Thank you so much. We are an American made manufacturer. We've 40 years old. We have wellness products that are not just supplements. They're cleaning and skin care and hair care. Everything is affordable. It's made in America and it's right to your door. Delivered right to your door.
- [47:13]
David Zier
Right. And what's special about Switch to usa? Made in America by American factory workers, right?
- [47:19]
Maria Lynn
Yes. We are all American families that are supporting this mission and the mission is to shop American. If you have any of these products in your home, then you definitely need to take a look at what we have to offer. We're helping American families make the switch back to American made products, shoring up everything on US Soil.
- [47:41]
David Zier
All right, tell our viewers how they can get involved.
- [47:44]
Maria Lynn
Oh, please just come to our website and we'll help you. We'll take you on a tour of our website. Come to switch the number two USA.com all right.
- [47:55]
David Zier
Maria Lynn, Everyone loves you out there and thank you so much. Thank you, David. Thank you.
- [48:07]
SimplePractice Advertiser
If you're a therapist listening, you already know your work doesn't magically end when the session does. There's scheduling, notes, billing, insurance, follow ups, all of the admin that happens before and after the work you actually care about. That's where SimplePractice comes in. SimplePractice is an all in one EHR built specifically for therapists with HIPAA compliant tools and high trust certifications. No juggling systems or cutting corners, just to keep things moving. Scheduling, documentation, billing, insurance client communication, even automated appointment reminders. It all lives in one place. And if you're starting or growing a practice, SimplePractice also offers a credentialing service that helps simplify insurance enrollment, which can be a huge lift alone. It's no surprise SimplePractice is trusted by over 250,000 health and wellness professionals. Start with a seven day free trial, then get 50% off your first three months. Go to SimplePractice.com to claim the offer. That's SimplePractice.com.