Loading summary
Host
This is an iHeart podcast.
Grainger Advertiser
Guaranteed Human when you manage procurement for multiple facilities, every order matters, but when it's for a hospital system, they matter even more. Grainger gets it and knows there's no time for managing multiple suppliers and no room for shipping delays. That's why Grainger offers millions of products in fast, dependable delivery so you can keep your facility stocked, safe and running smoothly. Call 1-800-granger. Click granger.com or just stop by Granger for the ones who get it done.
Howie Mandel
Hey, it's Howie Mandel and I am inviting you to witness history as me and my How We do it gaming team take on Gilly The King Wallow 267's million dollars gaming in an epic Global Gaming League video game showdown. Four rounds, multiple games, one winner, plus a halftime performance by multi platinum artist Travy McCoy. Watch all the action and see who wins and advances to the championship against Neo right now@globalgamingleague.com that's globalgamingleague.com everybody games.
Megan McCardell
Has the news been getting you down? I'm Megan McCardell and I'm here to help. I'm the host of a new show from Washington Post Opinion called Reasonably Optimistic and it's an antidote to the pessimism that's riddling America right now. Every Wednesday I'm going to talk to people who see a path forward.
Product Advertiser
It does seem to me that there is some awakening of a desire to act together to solve problems where they are.
Host
You know, I am a believer in
Military Spokesperson
America and it's worth fighting waiting for.
Megan McCardell
Join me Wednesdays on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.
RK Zero Proof Advertiser
Spring is calling weddings, patio sessions, barbecues and you want that drink vibe without sacrificing tomorrow. That's RK zero proof. As the world's first zero proof spirits brand, RK created the War Molecule, giving you the smooth kick of whiskey or tequila with zero alcohol, zero calories, zero sugar, and all the peace of mind you need to enjoy every moment. Step into the Zero Proof season at rk0proof.com
Product Advertiser
bring incredible sound into every corner of your home with the new Wimsound smart speaker. Get high resolution audio with a 1.8-inch touchscreen, smart control and modern design in one powerful speaker for just $299. From Quiet Mornings to lively family gatherings, Whimsound makes every moment sound better and feel better too. Create a home filled with sound you love. Ready to upgrade your sound? Shop now at Amazon and search Whimsound. That's w I M S O U N D Time has expired.
Committee Chair
I would advise members that a vote has been called. It's a single vote. And if members want to shuttle back and forth so we can maintain the continuity of the hearing, we'll do that. So if you start to see it just to our witnesses, you know how this works. They'll be moving in and out to go address that vote and then returning to their seat. But at this time I recognize Mr. Scott.
Senator or Congressman
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, for the record, I would like to submit an article From Politico dated February 24, 2026 and the title of it is Head of State of the Union. Dems demand Trump make Iran plans public. I think most Americans understand that if the President of the United States makes those plans public, then the enemies get
Committee Chair
to see them without objection.
Host
So, order.
Senator or Congressman
And that was the date of the State of the Union. Director Patel, I'm going to come to you very quickly and then I'm going to move on. But I listened closely to Senator Lankford's testimony yesterday about fraud and the other things that are going on and I want to bring your attention. This was in March 25th of 2024. An unsuspecting Uber driver named Lilitha to London hall drove to a house near Columbus, Ohio to pick up a package. She had no idea that the 81 year old man who lived there had just received a a series of phone calls from scammers who had threatened to kill him if he did not give the woman coming to his house $12,000 in cash. He killed the lady, so she's dead. He now has a life sentence. Are you aware of any action or investigation that the Justice Department has taken to pursue justice to bring the scammers and put them and make them pay for what they did?
Political Commentator/Analyst
Okay, I think, let me take it.
Host
Thursday the 19th of March.
Political Commentator/Analyst
Your overlord 2026. We're going to this morning be just as packed as we were yesterday with live events. Tulsi Gabbard, John Ratcliffe and Cash Patela before the House intelligence and they are getting and Tulsi's getting a little bit lit up. We've got some polls from that because this started earlier.
Host
We're also going to dip in and
Political Commentator/Analyst
out of the live coverage. Also the Prime Minister of Japan. At 11 o' clock we'll be at the White House. It looks like if it starts on time, the President is going to meet with her for a few minutes privately and then bring the press in for a bilat and then take questions
Host
My
Political Commentator/Analyst
understanding is that she's got, you know, real issues. And so it may be later. Anyway, we're going to be juggling, but we've got a full absolute packed agenda day, including a cold open that we're going to do in the B block. Mike Davis is going to join me here momentarily.
Host
And on top of that, Pete Hegseth
Political Commentator/Analyst
and General Kane had a, had a press conference this morning, a press briefing. Our own David Zier got a good question in Real America's Voice. But there were some really terrific questions asked and some terrific information overnight.
Host
I don't know if you've got the tweet.
Political Commentator/Analyst
I mean, we've got the truth social, the president. This is going to get back to an issue that we're going to delve into this morning and also this afternoon when I think we'll have more time.
Host
There's an incident yesterday in which there's this massive gas field, natural gas, in fact, Qatar's is kind of unique, I think among the Gulf Emirates is that
Political Commentator/Analyst
they're not really that much oil. It's natural gas. I think they're the largest in the world. It's where their wealth derives from and their power derives from. Their power derives from their wealth.
Host
It's a joint field, kind of co
Political Commentator/Analyst
managed, I think really managed more than them. But in some part of in joint ownership with the Iranians.
Host
Part of that was hit yesterday by the Israelis and President Trump went off
Political Commentator/Analyst
we can get that true social up and put it up. President Trump went off, the Iranians hit back. Mike Davis is up. We get to Mike in a second.
Host
Then the Iranians hit back and the
Political Commentator/Analyst
president went off on truth social about this and it can't happen again. It did expand gas through the roof. Oil, I think went to $119 a barrel. I'm going to get bowling on here later. We'll fit it in. We'll figure out somehow when he's available to fit in.
Host
Also in addition, yesterday we talked to you about the pipeline across Saudi Arabia
Political Commentator/Analyst
going to the Red Sea that was hit. As we told you, in all likelihood they're going to start targeting this because this is the one way the Arabs, the Saudis have to get around the Strait of Hormuz. More developments on this expeditionary force.
Host
It looks like it's coming together potentially
Political Commentator/Analyst
to give the president of the United States another error in the quiver to be able to take Carg island and maybe part of some coastal facilities inside the Persian Gulf near the Strait of Hormuz. Anyway, we'll get to all that, including Tulsi's testimony, quite as heated today as it was yesterday when she's in front of the Senate right now.
Host
I've got.
Political Commentator/Analyst
Is Mike Davis with me?
Host
Mike? So I want to go through and if we've got the clip from Mullins,
Political Commentator/Analyst
do we have that clip, that short clip, is that ready to go? It's not ready to go.
Host
Thank you, Mike Davis. We have a host of things to go through. The one I want to talk about is that the Save America act now today, the Senate's coming back at noon. We covered it last night on our six o' clock show and we streamed
Political Commentator/Analyst
it until its conclusion.
Host
And Mike Lee came on the floor. But the second part of that pivoted away because the Democrats just don't have a great answer for this. Chuck Schumer then goes to the sticks and says, yeah, of course we support voter ID. They pivoted in about the 6 o' clock hour to talk about war powers. I mean, they totally changed the conversation. And then Cotton and Lindsey had to come down and you had a big, you know, a big throwdown on war powers. They put up another, what, quorum vote. And they lost. I think, you know, 53, 47.
Political Commentator/Analyst
It wasn't even close.
Host
Can you just walk us through what you think the strategy is right now? Because they're going to reconvene at noon. They're supposed to talk about Save America. Do you just walk me through your
Political Commentator/Analyst
understanding of where we are in this?
Policy Expert/Legal Analyst
The SAVE act has the support of over 80% of Americans, including a super majority of Democrats and even a super majority of minorities, because it is common sensical that you have to have an ID to vote like you do in just about every other civilized country around the world. It's commonsensical that you don't have foreign invaders, illegal aliens and other foreigners voting in your elections. We want Americans to decide American elections and we need to have that verified with voter id. The Democrats have pretended that the voter ID is somehow racist because apparently, according to the Democrats, black Americans don't have the wherewithal to get an id. And they also think voter ID or they pretend voter ID is sexist because apparently married women are too stupid to change their name and get an ID like everyone else. According to the Democrats theory. This is collapsing on the Democrats, as we saw with Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democrat leader, who is pivoting rapidly because he sees the poll numbers and the pressure, including from the war room posse lighting up these Senate offices through our action.
Host
One of the Reasons, Mike, help me out here. There are reasons that their arguments. Because we've been in this now for two days, their arguments are very scattered, very weak. Is that what's also driving. I mean, some people are watching this, they're putting the clips out and the Democrats are just not, you know, the thing about 50% of women are going to be, not be able to vote. They're not sticking the landing on anything. Is that why Shermer is now saying, of course we support voter id? Is that the reason?
Military Spokesperson
Of course.
Policy Expert/Legal Analyst
Here's the real reason. The Democrats are fighting like hell to stop the passage of the SAVE act that has the support of 80% of Americans, including a super majority of Democrats and even a super majority of minorities. Because Democrat politicians know that illegal aliens are illegally voting in our elections. Right. And the Democrats are increasingly reliant on, on the illegal alien vote or the foreigner vote, like we saw in New York City with Monda Me. If, if illegals are not voting, why are the Democrats so concerned about voter id? Why are they so concerned about, you know, proof of citizenship when you register to vote? These are common sense proposals in this SAVE Act. I want to commend senators like Mike Lee. He has been the tip of the spear on this. There's also been other senators like Eric Schmidt in Missouri, but these guys are warriors. One of my good friends is Rachel Bovard at the Conservative Partnership Institute, and she is an expert on Senate procedure. And I talked to her last night. And I would strongly encourage Senate Republicans to lean in and lean in strongly. We do not need 60 votes to pass legislation in the Senate that is a Myth. It takes 60 votes to short circuit debate in the Senate. So to file for cloture, to invoke cloture, to short circuit unlimited debate in the Senate. But if you just force these Senate Democrats to stand on their feet and debates, they're going to wear out. And we have 80% of Americans behind the passage of the SAVE Act. So let's not play any games. They're building what's called the tree in the Senate. Let's fill that tree with real amendments that's going to ultimately lead to the debates and passage of the SAVE act and not bright, shiny Christmas ornaments that are a distraction. Keep your eye on the prize, which is the passage of the SAVE Acts. The Democrats are going to to cave. It has 80% support of Americans, including a super majority of the Democrats and minorities. The Democrats will cave on this. We're already starting to see Schumer cave by saying after opposing Voter ID for many, many, many years. All of a sudden the Democrats pretend like they support voter id. The political pressure is working
Host
perfect. Okay, let me play, I want to play something from a hearing. I know you're pressed for time. We're pressed for time. Let's play this hearing and I want your response.
Witness
Mike Davis, a clothing at a local church when she came across agents in an unmarked car. Agent sideswiped her car. Three masked agents in camouflage stormed out and one of them pulled out his gun and fired at her, just at her moving vehicle, hitting her five times.
Host
Thank you, guys.
Political Commentator/Analyst
Let's get the right clip.
Host
Anyway, Mike, because of time constraints, we had the witness yesterday, Mark Wayne Mullins, trying to be there, trying to become the head of dhs, said was very blunt and said under his watch that he will require judicial warrants to go into any business or any home in which they're not actively chasing a criminal. This is 1 billion percent against any logic. Anything that the Trump administration's ever stood for and anything the President of the United States has ever stood for for he. Please. And you, you're the guy that used to prep all the, all the, the big time confirmations we had to do fell to you working for Grassley, particularly when it came to Supreme Court and others. How was that a slip of what Mark Wayne Mullins thinks? Or is that signed off by the White House?
Policy Expert/Legal Analyst
Sir, I presume that Senator Mullen must have been misspeaking there because that's not what the law is by any stretch of the imagination. He's not a lawyer, so, you know, it's understandable if he, if he got tripped up a bit on the differences between a judicial warrant, where you go to the Article 3 Judge in a criminal proceeding with probable cause versus an ICE warrant, where it's a civil proceeding to, to expel illegal aliens is civil in nature, not criminal in nature. So I, I presume he just got tripped up on the difference between a judicial warrant and an ICE warrant, because that's just not what the law is. And if we actually require judicial warrants for immigration, there's no chance in hell we would be able to expel the tens of millions of illegal aliens who have flooded into America and are replacing American workers and American voters. So President Trump's broad electoral mandate is to secure our border and expel illegal aliens, starting with the worst of the worst, like trend Aragua an MS.13 and you certainly don't need an Article 3 judicial warrant to do that.
Host
It would take us how many thousand years if there's President Trump says 25. I think war room's at like 20 or 15 to 20. But let's say there's millions and millions and millions. Real quickly, I'm gonna hold you through the break. I got another question, but how many decades would it take us if we had to have judicial warrants? And also the system would totally clog up. You couldn't move anything else. It would be, it'd be beyond a nightmare. How can this be a slip up? How can this be a slip up? This guy, how's he nominated? He's got to know something about this part of it. I mean, Homan, I think was on tv, said, look, he's not an expert in immigration law. This is not something for an expert. This is not something you need to
Political Commentator/Analyst
be an expert, is it, sir?
Policy Expert/Legal Analyst
Look, I would just say this. Just think of what D.C. obama Judge Jeb Boasberg would do with an Article 3 judicial warrants for any illegal alien to get expelled out of our country, including a rapist or a murderer. He would throw it right in his garbage can. So that's just not the law. It's not practical. It's, it would make it impossible for President Trump to do his job and carry out his broad electoral mandate to get these illegal aliens the hell out of our country.
Host
Perfect answer. Think about, we had to go to and there's, there's hundreds of Bozbergs out there. He's the worst, but there's hundreds of them. Mike's exactly right. You never get any warrant anyway. Mike Davis gonna stick with us.
Political Commentator/Analyst
We got so much to go through
Host
and we're gonna get it all done
Political Commentator/Analyst
this morning in the war room. Short commercial break the Viceroy on the other side.
Grainger Advertiser (University Maintenance)
If you work in university maintenance, Grainger considers you an MVP because your playbook ensures your arena is always ready for tip off. And Grainger is your trusted partner, offering the products you need all in one place, from H VAC and plumbing supplies to lighting and more. And all delivered with plenty of time left on the clock. So your team always gets the win. Call 1-800-GRAINGER visit grainger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done.
Bleacher Report Advertiser
The Bleacher Report app is your destination for sports right now. The NBA is heating up, March Madness is here, and MLB is almost back. Every day there's a new headline, a new highlight, a new moment you've got to see for yourself. That's why I stay locked in with the Bleacher Report app. For me, it's about staying connected to my sports. I can follow the teams I care about. Get real time scores, breaking news and highlights all in one place. Download the Bleacher Report app today so you never miss a moment.
Military Spokesperson
Yes, there are reporters in front of me, but they are not our audience today. It's you. The good, decent, patriotic American people. You, the hard working, tax paying, God fearing American patriots. The media here, not all of it, but much of it, wants you to think, just 19 days into this conflict, that we're somehow spinning toward an endless abyss or a forever war or a quagmire. Nothing could be further from the truth. Hear it from me. One of hundreds of thousands who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, who watched previous foolish politicians like Bush, Obama and Biden squander American credibility. This is not those wars. President Trump knows better. To the patriotic members of the press, nobody can deliver perfection in wartime. This building knows that more than anyone. But report the reality. We're winning decisively and on our terms
Congressman Castro
with our team here. The Director Gabbard told your colleague Senator John Ossoff, that it's not the intelligence community's job to determine whether a country poses an imminent threat to the United States. She only said the President can do that. Does that come as news to analysts at the 18 agencies under her control, including the CIA?
Congressman or Analyst
Well, that comes the news to all of us who thought we still had a constitution and the requirement that a president, if he going to into a war of choice, you have to react quite quickly. We give the President the deference, but this was a war of choice and the idea that he alone gets to determine what is imminent. I always thought imminent was actually a factual determination. Many times the intelligence community says, you know, there's an imminent threat here or there. There was never that indication from all the reports that I saw and read. And I'm a little bit flabbergasted by Director Gabbard, but I guess not surprised.
Military Spokesperson
That is overwhelming force applied with precision. And again today will be the largest strike package yet. Just like yesterday was. As I've said from day one, our capabilities continue to build. Iran's continue to degrade. We're hunting and striking death and destruction from above. Their core industries, not steel or agriculture, tourism. Their core industries are state sponsored terrorism, proxy militias, underground networks, ballistic missiles and a violent messianic Islamist ideology chasing some sort of apocalyptic endgame. A regime like that refusing to abandon its nuclear ambitions is not just a regional problem. It's a direct threat to America, to freedom and to civilization. My 13 year old son popped into my office last night while I was editing these remarks. He asked about the war and the families I met at Dover. And I looked at him and I said, they died for you, son. So that your generation doesn't have to deal with a nuclear Iran. It's the truth. And they did so to the families who said, finish this. We will. And I say the same to every American who wants peace through strength. May Almighty God continue to bless our troops in this fight. And again to the American people, please pray for them every day on bended knee with your family, in your schools, in your churches, in the name of Jesus Christ.
CENTCOM Representative
CENTCOM remains on plan to achieve our military objectives and remain unrelenting in our pursuit of Iranian missile capabilities, UAV capabilities and their navy and as the Secretary said, their industrial base. Each day we continue to attack deep deeper into Iranian territory. As reported by US Central Command yesterday, the US military dropped 5,000 pound penetrator weapons into underground storage facilities storing coastal defense cruise missiles and other support equipment. These weapons are bespokely designed to get through concrete and or rocks and function after penetrating those those barriers. We continue to hunt and kill mine storage facilities and naval ammunition depots. We continue to hunt and kill afloat assets including more than 120 vessels and 44 minelayers. And the pressure will continue. We're flying further to the east now and penetrating deeper into Iranian airspace to hunt and kill one way attack garrisons, destroying Iran's ability to project power outside of its borders. The A10 warthog is now in the fight across the southern flank and is hunting and killing fast attack watercraft in the straits of Hormuz. In addition, AH64 Apaches have joined the fight on the southern flank and they continue to work on the southern side. And that includes some of our allies who are using Apaches to handle one way attack drones in Iraq. AH64s have been striking against Iranian aligned militia groups to make sure that we suppress any threat in Iraq against U.S. forces or U.S. interests. And we remain focused on pursuit of any platform that Iran could field to harm Americans or our partners. Last Friday Admiral Cooper and the CENTCOM team conducted precision strikes against more than 90 targets on CARG island which included all of their military only infrastructure which included air defenses, naval base, mine storage and deployment facilities. And as the Secretary mentioned, we continue to strike against Iran's defense industrial base. And we'll continue.
Reporter David Zia
Morning Mr. Secretary. David Zia, Real America's Voice News. What countries have been the most cooperative with us, including the Gulf states as Europe, Hedges. And I also wanted to ask you, the Internet blackouts by the regime, it's been shut down for weeks. Is the US Military playing a role in, you know, fighting against the regime, blocking VPN networks and satellites and other things? Is there a role for the US Military there?
Military Spokesperson
Obviously on the allies and partners side, Israel from day one has been an incredible and capable partner, willing and able. There's nothing like capabilities and partners that are able to use them. The Gulf states have stepped up incredibly. In fact, Iran's sort of reckless attempt to strike civilian infrastructure and other things has brought countries who maybe would have not been as all in as they are today squarely into our orbit. And we're proud to be defending with them, standing with them, you name it, uae, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and others who have been right there. And we're grateful for that kind of support.
Committee Member
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Given the updated degradation in strike target numbers you laid out, how close would you say we are towards achieving the, the President's objectives and what is the endgame of the operation without divulging any sensitive battle plans?
Military Spokesperson
Well, we wouldn't want to set a definitive time frame on that, but as we've said, we're, we're on plan, so we're looking at those metrics very closely, relaying that to the President and the national security team, but feel confident that as again we're more stand in means we're over the top even further in and we have even more of an exact sense of what we're striking and why and even more dynamically meaning because the intelligence improves, we're able to more quickly identify targets when they, let's say they come out of an underground facility where they've been hiding and able to strike it before it strikes or right after it shoots. But we are very much on plan. And that's what I, that's why I want to speak to the American people here. You hear a lot of noise about widening or new missions or speculation about what we should or should not be doing. This is a clear set of objectives. The President has given us every capability we need to accomplish that. We've got the best in the world in uniform executing it on the ground. They believe in and are invested in this mission. And it will be at the President's choosing ultimately where we say, hey, we've achieved what we need to on behalf of the American people to ensure our security. So no time set on that, but we're very much on track.
Vice President's Office Representative
The Vice President has often emphasized that the goal of this war is to denuclearize Iran while also avoiding a larger quagmire. I know that you touched on this. I'd like you to expand on. How do you do that? How do you denuclearize the country while also avoiding this, you know, forever war? And then there was a report last night that the Pentagon asked the White House for 200 billion for Iran war, supplemental. Can you confirm this, and can you explain why a package this large is necessary?
Military Spokesperson
Well, first of all, none of this would have been possible without Midnight Hammer, without that audacious mission with very clear goals that did obliterate their ability to enrich and the capabilities they have in those facilities. So it created the conditions for Iran to step forward and say, okay, you can reach out and touch us like that in our nuclear ambitions. You can see that we're still trying to do this, let's make a deal. And President Trump put our two best folks on it, Steve and Jared, and they worked diligently, earnestly. I watched it to try to pursue that deal. And ultimately, I think the whole time, Iran sort of said, well, we'll talk as we build more missiles and as we build more UAVs and we create this conventional umbrella so that if we chose to, we could try to reconstitute the program and sort of naively thinking that President Trump wouldn't do something about it. And that's why, as Secretary Rubio has said and I've said, it's the conventional umbrella that was growing and growing and growing, that was meant to protect that nuclear capabilities. So you had to address both what happened with Midnight Hammer and what happened with that as well. As far as $200 billion, I think that number could move. Obviously, it takes money to kill bad guys. So we're going back to Congress and folks there to ensure that we're properly funded for what's been done, for what we may have to do in the future, ensure that our ammunition is. Everything's refilled. And not just refilled, but above and beyond. I mean, President Trump, as he said, rebuilt the military in his first term, didn't think he'd use it as dynamically in his second, but he had, so thank goodness he did that. And an investment like this is meant to say, hey, we'll replace anything that was spent. And now that we're reviving our defense industrial base and rebuilding the arsenal of freedom and cutting deals like our great deputy secretaries here is doing long lead times on exquisite munitions, we're going to be refilled faster than anyone imagined. And I think, you know, we're also still dealing with the environment that Joe Biden created, which was which was depleting those stockholds and not sending them to our own military, but to Ukraine.
Host
Okay, I'm going to get Mike Davis,
Political Commentator/Analyst
hopefully back up to Sarah. We're talking about the Save Save America Act. I think there is some momentum. We'll talk about that more.
Host
Also this press conference. What's going on, capital markets, all of it.
Political Commentator/Analyst
You're in the war room on a Thursday.
Host
Japanese prime minister en route to the Oval Office.
Political Commentator/Analyst
Short commercial break Back in the War room in a moment.
RK Zero Proof Advertiser
For room, here's your host, Stephen K. Ban.
Host
Okay, so the intelligence group, just like yesterday with the Senate and remember this wasn't called because of the war. These are scheduled that they have to do.
Political Commentator/Analyst
I think it's twice a year that
Host
they have to update on the intelligence situation. ODNI Tulsi Gabbard submits a report to people look at now the report itself. We will get into more of that.
Political Commentator/Analyst
I hope on probably won't have time tomorrow, but on Saturday go through report. Remember we went through the National Security Strategy memo and then the National Security
Host
Defense memo that comes off.
Political Commentator/Analyst
Those are all required by statute to actually get done. This is also by statute she has to deliver it as the overseer. She kind of over over
Host
it kind of manages at a top level.
Political Commentator/Analyst
All 17, although DIA, Defense Intelligence and CIA run totally on their own. And I know they do report up her, at least in some some aspect.
Host
The interesting thing about this is, I believe as I read through it, there is first off, it's about the borders,
Political Commentator/Analyst
about internal security, it's about intelligence, about
Host
the the homegrown nature of some of
Political Commentator/Analyst
this all radical to Islam. So the reasons that Sharia law is so important, the Texas proposition that we passed overwhelmingly.
Host
But then they get to Iran. But then there's an I have an issue there's an issue with the director of National Intelligence about the rise of
Political Commentator/Analyst
China and particularly regarding Taiwan. We're going to have obviously our top experts from the committee on the present danger.
Host
China probably going to break that down on Saturday. But let's say this.
Political Commentator/Analyst
I think in the intelligence report it's
Host
quite different than what we've had over
Political Commentator/Analyst
the last couple of years and even different than the national security memorandum that was submitted in the national defense memorandum submitted by the secretary of War about China and the threat in the South China Sea, the Straits of Taiwan, and
Host
particularly with a potential planning by the
Political Commentator/Analyst
ccp and the People's Liberation army and Navy for an invasion of Taiwan.
Host
We'll get to all that later.
Political Commentator/Analyst
One thing I want to say, Mike Davis had to bounce button
Host
about the Save America Act. You can see the pivot by the Democrats because of the last two days
Political Commentator/Analyst
we've had wall to wall coverage of this.
Host
You haven't seen their arguments were not sticking.
Political Commentator/Analyst
That's why Schumer I think is looking for some running room. They keep flipping back to these war powers discussions as we covered last night. Another failed vote by the Democrats this afternoon. Mike Lee, I think they're going to pick this up starting at noon. Like I said, we're going to go to the White House for the prime
Host
minister's visit in a bilat.
Political Commentator/Analyst
President Trump is inviting the press in I think around 11:15, 11:30.
Host
Mike Lee's back up on the on the Senate.
Political Commentator/Analyst
We're going to have people up on
Host
Capitol Hill and it looks at now we've we're on the bill. It's now to get to to to
Political Commentator/Analyst
the standing filibuster and all that that I think the next 48 hours will play through. But I do think there is some momentum here because you see the Democrats starting to fold, particularly on the idea I'm sure they're doing the overnight polling and seeing this. When Schumer says that want to now go to Ohio, the attorney General. Dave Yost.
Host
Mr. Attorney General, thank you for joining us. While everything else is going on, one thing I keep telling the audience we've
Political Commentator/Analyst
got to continue to focus on is this is the concentration of power, corporate and really governmental power in the United States. You are one of these, I would
Host
say heroic attorney generals that have stepped into the breach in this situation with Livent. And I tell people it's not simply about an entertainment entity. This talks the bigger issues about corporate power.
Political Commentator/Analyst
Now you're one of the attorney generals
Host
like in Texas and other states that have taken this up on this antitrust suit. Can you just walk us through your logic given everything else is going on, why you consider this an important issue
Political Commentator/Analyst
for you to focus on as an state ag sir?
Attorney General Dave Yost
Yeah, absolutely. Although I'll say if I were a federal officer, this wouldn't be probably at the top of my list with everything that's going on in the world. But it is important. And your point on the concentration of power is absolutely important. That's what we're seeing right now in America. It is the suppression of ingenuity and innovation when concentrated power protects its own position. That's what's happening here with the Live Nation lawsuit? It's an antitrust lawsuit. Had been between the federal government and the state attorneys general were cooperating to sue them. What they've done is they have vertically integrated and created a monopoly that for all intents and purposes strangles the entertainment industry. You play with Live Nation or you may not get to play at all. They own the venues, they own Ticketmaster and the sales. They own a promotion company. They own everything from top to bottom except the artists. They only rent the artists because they're disposable. So this lawsuit seeks money damages as well as divestiture of the Ticketmaster portion of the enterprise. It's kind of the linchpin of their ability to control the entire ecosystem to allow free and fair competition, which markets are how we allocate resources in a free society. But there's no free market when there's a monopoly.
Host
So I've known these guys for years and Live Nation, they went about. I was in the merger and acquisition
Political Commentator/Analyst
department at Goldman Sachs for many years,
Host
had my own firm, did M and A. They did a logical. I was part of a management company
Political Commentator/Analyst
in the music business.
Host
But they did a logical consolidation of the venues from the sheds to the amphitheaters, all of it. But it was during the Obama administration that then they merged in. The Obama administration approved this. Their Justice Department and antitrust division approved the merger into Ticketmaster. That's when it became a different entity. I mean, that's when they really had pricing power, control. As you said, everybody but the artists, which they. They rented as rent seekers. Are we making the argument enough that this is what Obama and, you know, the Democrats are all for these oligarchs and that's what you guys are trying to break up. I mean, the Justice Department came up with a solution. You state AG said that's still not good enough. We want to be tougher on this. We want to really back entrepreneurs. Are we putting a highlight to make sure people understand this is how so many of these industries during the Obama administration had the concentration of power around these oligarchs.
Political Commentator/Analyst
Sir.
Attorney General Dave Yost
Yeah, that's a great point. The beginning, the turn of the century is when we really started seeing discussion about oligarchy here in America. And the state attorneys general have been focusing not just on this, but we look at some of the things that's happening in big tech. The attorney general, generals are in court and, you know, we're concerned, and I think properly so, about the aggregation of unchecked power.
Host
What do you What? The state AGs right now, it's kind of. And you guys don't have the staffs, I think really do this. But now the court, the case has been put to you guys. You're trying to, you're trying to prosecute
Political Commentator/Analyst
this or take it forward.
Host
What are you looking for? You had a settlement with the, with the US Government. I think a lot of people would
Political Commentator/Analyst
say, well, Live Nation would consider that a massive victory. And here we're hardcore Neo Brandeisans.
Host
I mean, we want the breakup of
Political Commentator/Analyst
the whole thing is the breakup of big tech and all of it.
Host
What do you think the objectives are of you guys collectively as AGs right
Political Commentator/Analyst
now in this live in situation?
Attorney General Dave Yost
Yeah, I think that there's a number of my colleagues that want to see it completely broken up. At the minimum, I think that everyone agrees that there needs to be more guardrails around the way they use their scale and their integration in the marketplace. Look, I'm not a Brandisian or a Neo Brandisian for the simple reason that I doubt that government is wise enough to make decisions about businesses. And it concerns me. But putting guardrails around unfair competition is a century old accepted practice, part of the fabric of our legal system. And while the Justice Department may, from a macro level, be satisfied with the settlement that they've negotiated, we out in the states have very different priorities. We have direct consumer issues that we want to deal with that aren't addressed in our view, adequately with the federal settlement. And frankly, the different venues are dispersed differently among the states. So While nationally the DoJ might be happy, the states are rightly concerned about things that are maybe a little bit more localized than a national market.
Host
I know it's always tough to predict
Political Commentator/Analyst
on these trials, the length of it,
Host
but when do you see this playing out both at the trial level and then whatever deal that you state attorney generals come and fit into the model
Political Commentator/Analyst
in your own state that you're comfortable with. How long do you see this playing out?
Attorney General Dave Yost
Well, right now the trial is going forward and I like this case. This is about as strong an antitrust case as I've seen during my professional career. And we've got really egregious behavior here. There's a message between a couple of executives talking about charging $250 a slot for VIP parking at a Kid Rock concert. And one of them says, I almost feel bad. I almost feel bad about taking advantage of them like this. That kind of hubris, I think, is not going to sit well with the court at the end of the day, I don't know if we win divestiture, that that's going to depend and the law disfavors it. But I think that we can get a lot more on the table than what we had at the, with the federal settlement. And that's why Ohio's sticking to its
Political Commentator/Analyst
guns at the moment.
Host
Well, that's the question. Of course we would love to see the divestiture, but I agree with you that that's a, I wouldn't say a long shot, but it's not, you know,
Political Commentator/Analyst
it's not going to be easy.
Host
But how did the Justice Department, given you just reiterated what we think this is a very strong case. Of course, the company fought like crazy not to have these conversations put into the record. But, you know, people kind of knew about them once they were put into the record.
Political Commentator/Analyst
You know how that's going to play
Host
in front of a jury, given the hand that you had. Do you have any idea understand the Justice Department is overwhelmed with, you know, the deep state and what they're trying
Political Commentator/Analyst
to do on immigration, everything to implement President Trump's policies.
Host
But do you have any idea why the, why the Justice Department essentially took a pass on this and you got the guys, men and women at the state level, had to then take it on their shoulders?
Attorney General Dave Yost
Well, look, we each have our own portfolio. The Justice Department, to my knowledge, is tremendously understaffed. They've got limited bandwidth, and that's directly at the hands of Chuck Schumer and his pals, blocking the president's nominees to do justice. So I'm not sure that there's that much of a disagreement between Ohio and the DOJ we see just simply have different things that we're looking for. I don't blame them for not prioritizing this particular fight any further than the concessions that they were able to get that matter at a national level.
Host
Attorney General Dave Yost, there's tremendous focus on this. How do people keep up with you? How that what website you got to go to People, really a big part
Political Commentator/Analyst
of our audience is, is quite focused on this case for many different reasons.
Host
Where do they go to keep up
Political Commentator/Analyst
with your activity on this?
Attorney General Dave Yost
Well, I personally tweet on or post on X and of course, we're on all of the platforms. If you just search for the Attorney General's Office of Ohio, you'll find us everywhere.
Host
Attorney General Yost from the Warren Posse,
Political Commentator/Analyst
thank you very much for pursuing this. Really appreciate it. We will keep up to speak speed.
Host
And if anything happens, we'd love to
Political Commentator/Analyst
have you back on. Appreciate you, sir.
Attorney General Dave Yost
Thank you for having me.
Political Commentator/Analyst
Dave Y from the state of Ohio, the one of the central states of our MAGA movement right there, pursuing that.
Host
This is going to be a tough one. He's right. The devesture, the breakup of Livent, which
Political Commentator/Analyst
I am 1 million percent for, particularly the Ticketmaster part of it. If you want to get back to free market competition, you got to do that.
Host
Short commercial break we're going to be
Political Commentator/Analyst
back to the war and the rumors of war next in the world.
Host
We rejoice when there's no more. Let's take down the ccp.
Military Official
The president has stated that his objectives are to destroy Iran's ballistic missile launching capability, their ballistic missile production capability and their navy, the IRGC navy and Minelang capability.
Congressman Castro
So the death and destruction continues. The economic cost to the United States, to Israel, to the Gulf states and to the world continues to increase. So I want to ask you, to the best of your knowledge, do you know whether Israel is supportive of the the president's call to make a deal with Iran?
Military Official
I don't know the answer to that. I don't know Israel's position on that.
Congressman Castro
And to what do you attribute Israel's decision to strike Iranian energy infrastructure despite President Trump's call to keep those facilities off limits?
Military Official
I don't have an answer for.
Congressman Castro
So they ignored the president. Do you agree with that?
Military Official
I'm not privy to any of their deliberations or what went into their calculus in launching this or other attacks. I'm not. We, we are, we are not involved with the, in the operational element of this. We're providing continuous, on a daily basis, the intelligence assessments of the events that are occurring.
Congressman Castro
And I guess I know the FBI can't because they're domestic, but can anybody else at the table provide any insight into that?
Intelligence Official
I guess I'm not sure what the question you're asking, Congressman Castro. I guess a couple things. The goals that the president set out are clearly defined. The DNI related those. What was not included is a goal of the US Director, let me start with the campaign.
Congressman Castro
Let me start with this question you
Military Spokesperson
asked what my question.
Congressman Castro
Let me reclaim my time, Director. Come on. Do you know why Israel decided to strike that infrastructure despite the fact that the president said it should be off limits?
Intelligence Official
I wouldn't, I wouldn't speak for Israel. And what do you guys know?
Political Commentator/Analyst
We're at one war.
Congressman Castro
What do you guys know?
Committee Chair
We'll have to take that for the record.
Political Commentator/Analyst
Yes, Sir.
Host
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Jordan Conradson
Jordan Conradson with the Gateway Pundit. So with the strike yesterday on South Bar's gas field, you know, if the US didn't know about it or didn't approve of, kind of seems like a trend of Israel apparently pursuing their own objectives over US Objectives. I'm not sure if you agree with that, but the president, the president has said he doesn't want to hit Iran's oil infrastructure right now. As you said, the US avoided this on Park Island. Oil is nearing $120. Why are we helping Israel prosecute this war if they're going to pursue their own objectives?
Military Spokesperson
We hold the cards. We have objectives. Those objectives are clear. We have allies pursuing objectives as well. And the truth speaks for itself. I mean, President Trump was very clear about that. Iran has weaponized energy for decades. Israel clearly sent a warning and POTUS has made it clear, very clear. Iran knows when you hit Kharg island and you hit military capabilities on Carg island, which is the only thing we hit, we can hold anything at issue, anything. The United States military controls the fate of that country. Iran has the ability to make the right choices. It should, should not going forward, target Arab allies, Arab countries trying to create pain, the pain that they created themselves. Thank you all very much.
Political Commentator/Analyst
Okay, and by the way, Jordan Conradson over at Gateway Pundit, great question. Inverse succinct. Let's hit rewind on this for a second because this is quite important and it's very important that the Warren posse think this through and make sure that you come to your own conclusion.
Host
But in alliances, and particularly alliances in
Political Commentator/Analyst
war, you have,
Host
you don't all go in as kind of equal partners.
Political Commentator/Analyst
You have a entity that kind of
Host
leads and other people follow. But you have joint war aims. This is not a small thing. This is a big thing, a very big thing. Let me go back. As you know watching the show, an inflection point in this war took place, what is it, two Saturdays ago when the Israelis against, against a standing order from the commander in chief of the United States military, that would be Donald John Trump, that no oil infrastructure was to be hit. This was not a marginal thing.
Political Commentator/Analyst
This was central.
Host
Why? Because a predicate to this entire operation was an uprising of the Iranian people against a murderous dictatorship Islamic theocracy. That it was part of the war plan and was stated very succinctly at the start that that is one of the, one of the many elements that
Political Commentator/Analyst
would bring this war to a conclusion. And what would be a successful conclusion for those that think that freedom for the Persian People is is is central to this. Now, as you know, the war room
Host
doesn't believe that, but if that can end this and end it quicker, of
Political Commentator/Analyst
course we're for it.
Host
That line was crossed directly. And Axios, which is essentially part of
Political Commentator/Analyst
the comms department of the White House, let's be blunt. And for the IDF between Rabat and
Host
Mark Caputo said that military command was
Political Commentator/Analyst
was in shock and then the next
Host
day said, hey told the Israelis under
Political Commentator/Analyst
no uncertain terms that cannot happen again.
Host
We cannot touch any of the Iranian infrastructure because we want to be first
Political Commentator/Analyst
of all, we want something there to be post war.
Host
Plus, we want the Iranian people not
Political Commentator/Analyst
to kind of organize around a Persian
Host
nationalist response that it's the west and
Political Commentator/Analyst
the Arabs against the Persians. That's the last thing we want.
Host
We still want them helping overthrow this these theocratic Shiite demons. Yesterday, the president came out and said point blank that he didn't you know, he was shocked about this, very upset
Political Commentator/Analyst
about it when the Israelis again now
Host
way out of their kind of zone into the Persian Gulf, attacked this kind of joint field controlled by Qatar and
Political Commentator/Analyst
the Iranians and I think actually the
Host
Qataris actually run it in some sort
Political Commentator/Analyst
of joint ownership because of where it
Host
actually fits into the Persian Gulf. And then the president came out and said, you know, they had this thing where they went back to the Iranians. He said, under no circumstances can you touch attack anything around, but particularly Qatar. Then it came out that he had approved the mission. They came back, said, oh no, no, we talked to you, you approved this,
Political Commentator/Analyst
you prove this mission.
Host
I don't think that's something that the
Political Commentator/Analyst
commander in chief is going to miss.
Host
I just don't believe that. And you saw we didn't exactly shroud ourselves in glory at the Intelligence committee. Look, the nation's at war and we have operational security, but we have to deal with the American people in a very blunt manner here. Short commercial break Back in the Worm in a moment.
Episode: March 19th, 2026 (EP.5228)
Host: Stephen K. Bannon
Guests: Mike Davis, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, various political analysts, military and intelligence officials
Theme: Navigating war strategy, national security, congressional battles over voting rights, and antitrust action in American life.
This episode of War Room is a dense tapestry of live political coverage, real-time war developments, legislative debates, and broader commentary on American sovereignty, corporate power, and the shifting global order. Stephen K. Bannon and his guests unpack:
On Senate Voter ID/Save America Act:
On Immigration Law and Judicial Warrants:
On U.S. Military Objectives in Iran:
On Corporate Power & Antitrust:
On Israel’s Unauthorized Strike:
This episode is essential listening for anyone trying to understand the real-time convergence of U.S. war policy, election battles, and the drive to reclaim American markets from corporate monopolies. Highlights include fierce defense of voter ID laws, behind-the-scenes pressure on the Senate, the stakes and complexity of the Iran conflict, and how state actors are pushing the antitrust envelope in the fight against oligopoly. Complex global and domestic crises are woven into a narrative about who truly wields power in America—and who is fighting to shift it.