← The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson
The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson
Trump Wins Decisive Victory in Iran, Media & Dems Spin Furiously; What's Next?
00:34:30
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- [00:00]
Karen Kilgariff
This is an iHeart podcast.
- [00:04]
Georgia Hardstark
You know what's great about your investment account with the big guys? It's actually a time machine. Log in and zoom. Welcome back to 1999. It's time for an upgrade. At public.com you can invest in almost everything. Stocks, bonds, options and more. You could even put your cash to work at an industry leading 4.1% APY. Leave your clunky, outdated platform behind at public.com go to public.com and fund your account in five minutes or less. Paid for by Public Investing, Inc. Member FINRA and SIP PC. Full disclosures at public.com disclosures.
- [00:35]
Ted Cruz
Step into the world of power, loyalty and luck. I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse with family. Cannolis and spins mean everything. Now you want to get mixed up.
- [00:46]
Ben Ferguson
In the family business.
- [00:47]
Georgia Hardstark
Introducing the godfather@champacasino.com test your luck on the shadowy world of the Godfather slots.
- [00:54]
Ted Cruz
Someday I will call upon you to do a service for me. Play the Godfather now@Champacasino.com Welcome to the family. No purchase necessary. VGW Group void. We're prohibited by law. 20 plus terms and conditions apply.
- [01:05]
Karen Kilgariff
Hey, it's Karen and Georgia from my favorite Murder. Thanks to Hyundai, we got to take a post show drive in the Ionic five. We had snacks, laughs and we even recorded a special episode featuring some unforgettable car themed stories. Take a listen. I'm gonna tell you a story today, Karen. It's about a pivotal role that cars played in none other than the Montgomery Bus boycott. Okay, well, yes, it's right there in the tit. This episode is brought to you by the 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5.
- [01:42]
Rodney Williams
I'm Rodney Williams. And I'm Travis Holloway. Welcome to the Wealth Break podcast. A real conversation about finance. Let's be honest, building wealth doesn't look the same for everyone.
- [01:54]
Karen Kilgariff
I feel like sometimes being broke is a cycle and that we might have.
- [01:58]
Rodney Williams
To revisit that and we're not stopping at success stories.
- [02:01]
Karen Kilgariff
What happens when it doesn't go right?
- [02:03]
Ted Cruz
How do you cope with it?
- [02:05]
Rodney Williams
Because wealth isn't just about money. It's about creating a life where you thrive and help others do the same. Listen to the Wealth Break podcast on the iHeartRadio app.
- [02:16]
Travis Holloway
Stuck in the same day to day routine.
- [02:19]
Ted Cruz
Wake up, go to work, eat, sleep, repeat.
- [02:21]
Travis Holloway
Break through the boredom this summer and download Call of Duty Mobile for free. Enjoy fan favorite maps, modes and operators from classic Call of Duty titles. Plus new mobile exclusive content today. It doesn't have to suck. Cure your boredom for free with Call of Duty almost anywhere, anytime. Call of Duty Mobile is available on both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store for free today. Rated M for mature. Welcome. It is verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you. It's so nice to have you with us around the country, wherever you are listening. And we have got a lot to talk about tonight, especially with Iran, the effectiveness of the attack and the media trying to act like this was some sort of a failure. Senator, it's been a very fun week to watch the spin games take place.
- [03:08]
Ted Cruz
Well, it's been an extraordinary week. Last Saturday night, President Trump acted decisively as the commander in chief. He launched an attack on Iran that was brutally effective, incredibly efficient, defended America, kept us safe. And ever since then, it did several things. Number one, it produced a ceasefire. It caused Iran to come to the table and say, we want peace. We want to end this war. That was powerful. But number two, it really has been striking. We've seen the media and Democrats go on full time spin patrol, go in, lean in hard, say this wasn't effective, this was a failure. I got to say, it is astonishing that the reaction of CNN and the Democrats when the president has a crushing military attack taking out Iran's nuclear weapon capability is to say we stand with Iran and we think the American military is not effective. We're going to break all that down. We're going to break down. I had a classified briefing today for an hour and a half with our senior military leaders. I'm going to walk through what happened, where things stand now in Iran, where they stand in Israel and what's coming next, because what's coming next matters intensely.
- [04:20]
Travis Holloway
Yeah, it really does. Also want to take a moment to tell you about our good friends over at Crockett Coffee.
- [04:25]
Buck Sexton
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- [06:23]
Travis Holloway
All right. So, Senator, on Thursday, you attended a briefing on the Iran strike. And what did you learn compared to the propaganda that's being put out there by the mainstream media saying this was unsuccessful, that Donald Trump's overstating what actually happened here, and that everybody in our government, especially the DoD, is just getting it wrong?
- [06:43]
Ted Cruz
Well, I spent an hour and a half at a classified briefing presenting that briefing was the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, the Secretary of Defense, the director of the CIA, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. And in the course of that briefing, I will say what they laid out is what I believed already, what I knew already, which was the Incredible effectiveness number one of the Israeli attack, the 12 day war that Israel waged against Iran that took out their senior military leadership, took out just about every general they were relying on to wage war against America, against Israel. And I got to say, in terms of how Israel carried it out, it really was stunning. They took out one head of the irgc. So Iran names somebody else the next day, Israel takes out the next head of the irgc. So Iran names somebody else the next day, Israel takes out the next head of the irgc. I got to say, Ben, if they came to you and said, hey, Ben, you want to lead the irgc? I bet you at the end people are like, no, thank you. Because the instant you get named to that job, Israel takes you out. It did show the exquisite intelligence that the Mossad has in Iran that as soon as someone got named to the head of that, they were taken out within hours. They also took out virtually every one of the senior nuclear scientists in Iran. The scientists that were developing nuclear weapons. Israel took them out systematically. They bombed military installations across the country. They bombed just about all of their nuclear research facilities. Now, the biggest challenge Israel faced is the most important nuclear weapons facility in Iran is called Fordo. Fordo is built underneath a mountain. And it was built underneath a mountain for the explicit purpose of making it very difficult to bomb. And Israel lacked bombs that were sufficiently large to take out Fordo. That's why the Iranians built it under a mountain. The United States, we have bombs that are designed to take out underground bunkers, and they're called bunker busters. They are 30,000 pound bombs. They're massive bombs. They are the largest ordinance we have short of a nuclear weapon. And what happened Saturday night? So President Trump gave the order, and seven B2 stealth bombers left Missouri. They flew halfway around the world, and then they delivered 14 bunker busters. 12 of them were delivered to Fordo, and the other two were delivered to Natanz, another nuclear weapons facility. Now, at Fordo, you had the Iranians had tried to protect Fordo, had tried to seal it up. And the bunker busters were designed to penetrate. So the way these bombs work when they're dropped, they hit and they penetrate and they go deep underground and then they detonate underground. And there were two vents that these bombs were going through. And it is amazing, the precision of the US Air Force, that they dropped bunker buster after bunker buster after bunker buster down these vents that went all the way down and detonated every one of those bombs detonated on their targets. In addition to the 14 bunker busters that were dropped, we had a submarine that fired 30 Tomahawk missiles at another nuclear weapons facility, pounding the living daylights out of it. And I will tell you, look, the assessment that we received is that it was devastating what President Trump said that night as we utterly obliterated their facilities. And, you know, one of the best indications of just how successful it was is how much the Democrats and the media went into spin mode almost immediately trying to say this incredible success against our enemies, it didn't happen. It was not an incredible success. And it was based on an initial preliminary report from the dia, the Defense Intelligence Agency, that assessed that the damage was moderate to severe. And the press went into massive spin mode to say, oh, it's only moderate, it's only moderate. It was not effective. That assessment, I believe, is false. We're going to talk about that considerably more. I think the military attack launched against the Iranian nuclear weapons capability was devastatingly effective. And our troops are to be commended and the Commander in Chief is to be commended.
- [11:25]
Travis Holloway
And Senator, you said in this classified briefing that you received this week on Thursday that what you got compared to what the media is trying to push, drastically different. And that's exactly, by the way, what the DoD secretary had to say. Pete, headset, take a listen.
- [11:40]
Ben Ferguson
Ports are almost always wrong. They're almost always incomplete.
- [11:43]
Ted Cruz
Right?
- [11:43]
Ben Ferguson
You, anything, whether it's a squad level operation or strategic level operation, the initial reflections you get are coming at you at a high rate of speed from a lot of different sources. So your job is to step back and assess them. And that's why we're urging caution about putting it, premising entire stories on biased leaks to biased publications, trying to make something look better. How about we take a beat, recognize first the success of our warriors, hold them up, tell their stories, celebrate that, wave an American flag, be proud of what we accomplished. And in the meantime, I can assure you, the chairman of his staff, the intelligence community, our staff and others are doing all the assessments necessary to make sure that mission was indeed successful.
- [12:29]
Travis Holloway
Doesn't seem like a very crazy idea, right? Like, let's take a moment and let's just go through the process. But the media wants Donald Trump to be a failure so bad, even if that means putting our national security at risk.
- [12:41]
Ted Cruz
No, that's exactly right. And this was a Defense Intelligence assessment that was done in the immediate aftermath of the bombing. And these preliminary reports, they're trying to assess, they're trying to assess, do we need to bomb some more, do we need to unload more ordinance? And this preliminary assessment concluded that the damage was moderate to severe. And mind you that on the face of it, the analysis also said this was not based on any intelligence, not based on any intelligence from the data. It was just a preliminary assessment. Somebody, and we don't know who, we may never know who. Somebody leaked this to the press, somebody who did not support what the President was doing. This was the deep state fighting back. This was the deep state trying to spread a narrative. It may have been, it is possible this was a Democrat congressman who somehow got this report it's possible it was someone within the deep state that wanted to weaken the President, but they wanted to tell the story in the outset. This was a failure. I think the evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates that this was not just a success. It was an incredible success. And by the way, in the wake of this report, the Secretary of State absolutely disputed it. The Secretary of Defense absolutely disputed it. The President absolutely disputed it. And I will say, if you look at our bunker buster, bombs are designed to take out underground bunkers. That is what their purpose is. We didn't just drop one bunker buster, we dropped 14. Each of them weighs 30,000 pounds, 30,000 pounds of destructive blast force. That is over 300,000 pounds of explosives that were delivered on target. Every one of those bombs hit their target. And by the way, to the credit of our incredible servicemen and women, they turned around and flew all the way back to Missouri with zero American casualties. No plane was shot down, no American was injured or hurt. It was an incredible success. As we know, two other B2 stealth bombers went west, went over the Pacific Ocean. This group of seven went east over the Atlantic Ocean. Those who went west were a decoy. And it was designed to confuse the Iranians, think that an attack was going to come from the west rather than come from the east. And I will say the effect of that was that the Iranian air defenses, much of which the Iranian air defenses have been massively degraded by the Israelis to begin with. So their air defenses were incredibly weakened. But there was no Iranian plane that fired at our planes. There were not missiles that were fired at our planes. Look, this could have gone very differently. And in fact, I will make a contrast. Look, I was a young kid in 1979. In 1979 is when the Iranian Revolution occurred. And the Ayatollah then took over the American Embassy and took Americans hostage. And Jimmy Carter was the president there. And he was the weakest and most feckless American president we had ever seen. Until Joe Biden came into the White House. And Jimmy Carter, in the midst of that hostage crisis, sent in a military force to try to rescue the hostages. And that military force crashed in the desert. Helicopters crashed with no opposing fire. Nobody was shooting at them. They just crashed. And I gotta say, it just. It emblemized just how incredibly weak Jimmy Carter's defense of our national security was. I was a little kid. I was 10 when Reagan became president. And so I remember this as a child. And it's. I mean, you were barely a sparkle in your daddy's eye at the time, Ben, but it was A powerful moment. And the contrast, Jimmy Carter's helicopters crashing in the desert versus under Donald Trump, our bombers taking out the enemy with crushing effectiveness. That's a contrast. That's night and day. And you know what? It's demonstrated by just how desperately the Democrats and the corporate media want to spin and say, no, no, no, it was not nearly as successful as your lying eyes tell you it was.
- [17:03]
Travis Holloway
Yeah, we're gonna play for everybody in a moment what Pete Headset had to say about the intelligence assessment and the new information that they have. We'll do that in a moment. But finally, at least we're getting some decent headlines. Granted, it's the Washington Free Beacon, but their headline was Classified report that suggests Iranian nuclear program still intact. Likely relied on faulty info from Iranian sources. Former intel officers say. So let me get this straight. The media is getting their propaganda now directly from the Iranians? You can't make this up.
- [17:37]
Ted Cruz
Well, it's where the media is. CNN wants America to lose. They want Iran to win. Abc, NBC, cbs, Washington Post, New York Times. They are cheering for our enemies and against the President of the United States. And sadly, the Democrats. Look, the Democrats were sitting in the same classified briefing I was. They heard about the incredible success of this military attack. I gotta say, if the Democrats gave a about our country, they would come out and say, you know what, our servicemen and women are heroes. And they executed an incredible attack. And by the way, every president for the last 30 years has said Iran will not get a nuclear weapon in this instance. President Trump acted decisively to take away their nuclear weapons capability. And the Democrats all ran to the TV cameras and said this was terrible. This was terrible. We oppose our nation.
- [18:29]
Georgia Hardstark
You know what's great about your investment account with the big guys? It's actually a time machine. Log in and zoom. Welcome back to 1999. It's time for an upgrade. At public.com you can invest in almost everything. Stocks, bonds, options and more. You can even put your cash to work at an industry leading 4.1% APY. Leave your clunky outdated platform behind. @Public.com Go to Public.com and fund your account in five minutes or less. Paid for by Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC. Full disclosures@public.com disclosures we see what's happening with Israel.
- [19:01]
Ted Cruz
They are at war for their survival. At war with Iran. Now, in a necessary act of self defense, Israel finally has had enough with the hundreds of thousands of rockets being fired into their country. And rightly, they have struck Iranian nuclear facilities military targets. Top leadership. Right now the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews is on the ground preparing large scale distributions of life saving food, first aid emergency kits, especially to Israel's most vulnerable people, the sick, the elderly, children, families in great, great need. Now the fellowship is also making sure that hospitals, emergency rooms, shelters are fully stocked with critical and life saving medical supplies. But the fellowship needs your most generous gift today. Now is the time to stand with Israel's most vulnerable. Please call as soon as possible. 888-488 IFCJ. That's 888488 IFCJ online is IFCJ.org that's IFCJ.org today.
- [20:00]
Karen Kilgariff
Hey, it's Karen and Georgia from my favorite murder. Thanks to Hyundai, we got to take a post show drive in the Ionic five. We had snacks, laughs and we even recorded a special episode featuring some unforgettable car themed stories. Take a listen. The Montgomery Bus Boycott. Success was dependent on the action and dedication of many individuals. Upon course. Today we're going to focus on the work of one of those people in particular, a woman in her 30s. And yes, I love her name, it's Georgia Gilmore. Oh, yes. Today's story is centered on a group of courageous women dedicated on taking down Hitler during World War II. They banded together to form an all female ambulance corps which became the first unit of its kind to join an official combat division on the Western front. This is the story of the Rochambeau Group, best known by their nickname, the Rochambels. Oh my God. Right? This episode is brought to you by the 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5.
- [21:07]
Rodney Williams
I'm Rodney Williams. And I'm Travis Holloway. Welcome to the wealth break. Let's be honest. Building wealth doesn't look the same for everyone. It's not just about saving. It's about investing. It's about navigating systems that weren't built for you, embracing your hustle, and relying on your community to create something bigger. And that's exactly why we created the Wealthbreak. We made something different, something more human. It's not just another financial podcast. It's a conversation about real life, real struggles and real wins. We're here to talk about the journey. You'll hear from people who've broken barriers, found creative ways to succeed, and learn to build wealth on their terms. Whether it's the first time homeowner, a gig worker, or someone turning a side hustle into a six figure business, we're bringing you their stories. And we're not stopping at success stories. We're breaking down the realities, like what it means to take risk, how to navigate failure, and why resilience matters. Because wealth isn't about money. It's about creating a life where you can thrive and help others to do the same. So if you're ready for a podcast as much as about people as it is about money, you're in the right place. Listen to the Wealth Break podcast on the iHeartRadio app.
- [22:22]
Karen Kilgariff
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- [23:23]
Travis Holloway
Senator, I want to play for everybody. Pete Headset at the Pentagon briefing about how effective this attack actually was and saying it directly to the media's face. Take a listen.
- [23:37]
Ben Ferguson
Read some of the assessments that have been provided. Because whether it's fake news, cnn, MSNBC, or the New York Times, there's been fawning coverage of a preliminary assessment. I haven't had a chance to read it. Every outlet has breathlessly reported on a preliminary assessment from dia. I'm looking at it right now. Again, it was preliminary a day and a half after the actual strike, when it admits itself in writing that it requires weeks to accumulate the necessary data to make such an assessment. It's preliminary. It points out that it's not been coordinated with the intelligence community at all. There's low confidence in this particular report. It says in the report there are gaps in the information. It says in the report multiple linchpin assumptions are what this assessment a linchpin assumption. You know what that is. That means your entire premise is predicated on a linchpin. If you're wrong, everything else is wrong. And yet still this report acknowledges it's likely severe damage. Again, this is preliminary, but leaked because someone had an agenda to try to muddy the waters and make it look like this historic strike wasn't successful. I'm going to get to the chairman in a moment because he's going to lay out the particulars for you based on his professional military experience. But here's what other folks are saying. The DIA that put that report out says that this is a preliminary low confidence report and will continue to be refined as additional intelligence becomes available. How about the Israeli Atomic Energy Commission? The devastating US strikes on Fordo destroyed the site's critical infrastructure and rendered the enrichment facility. Have any of these quotes made their way into the New York Times or the Washington Post, msnbc, cnn? Any of these quotes? How about this one? This is a new one from the un. The United Nations. No friend of the United States or certainly Israel often. Here's the head of the UN Atomic Energy Agency this morning, Rafael Grossi. US and Israeli strikes caused enormous damage to Iran's nuclear sites. Don't take my word for it. How about the IDF's chief of staff? I can say here that the assessment is that we significantly damaged the nuclear program, setting it back by years, I repeat, years. The Iranian Foreign Minister, the spokesman. Our nuclear administrations have been badly damaged, that's for sure. I'm sure that's an understatement. John Radcliffe, the director of the CIA, putting out a statement just last night. CIA can confirm that a body of credible intelligence indicates Iran's nuclear program has been severely damaged by recent targeted strikes. This includes new intelligence from a historically reliable. Very different than preliminary assessment with low confidence. He's saying historically reliable and accurate source and method that several key Iranian nuclear facilities were destroyed and would have to be rebuilt over the course of years.
- [26:42]
Travis Holloway
You listen to all of that data and I love how he laid it out. He's not just saying this is from our administration. This is from people that hate us. This is from the un. This is from Iran. Like how the hell did you guys go with this report when it's so off from reality?
- [26:57]
Ted Cruz
Look, I think the evidence is indisputable and it's worth noting. He said the Secretary of Defense said in that press conference that the Iranian nuclear weapons program has set been set back years. I can tell you I spent an hour and a half at a classified briefing. I can't tell you what was in that briefing, but we heard nothing that was inconsistent with what the Secretary of Defense said in that press conference, which is that this military attack set Iran's nuclear program back years. It was incredibly effective. And so that is cause for celebration, which is why the Democrats don't want people to know about it. The media don't want people to know about it. But I have to say, I mentioned at the outset of this program we were going to discuss what happened, but every bit as importantly, we're going to discuss what's going to happen next. And listen, it's one thing to talk about where the puck is today, but you got to look at where the puck is going to be tomorrow and where the puck is going to be tomorrow. There was a CNN report that came out this week that said, quote, the Trump admin. Is considering offering Iran a series of major benefits to bring it back to the negotiating table. According to the report, Washington is considering helping Iran establish a nuclear program for the purpose of producing civilian energy at a cost of about $30 billion, easing sanctions and unfreezing billions of frozen Iranian dollars. And I will tell you, within the Trump administration right now, there is a battle. There are voices within the Trump administration, these are the voices that opposed the strike on Iran, that wanted to have weakness and appeasement towards Iran, who are now saying, well, after the strike, after victory, we should flow billions of dollars to Iran. We should let them sell oil, let them sell oil to China, we should let them make billions. And I gotta tell you, this is the same failed approach of Barack Obama and Joe Biden. We should under no circumstances allow the Ayatollah who chants death to America, who has been actively trying to murder President Trump. We should not let him win a windfall and get billions of dollars to use to wage war against America.
- [29:28]
Travis Holloway
How did we even get to this point where this was a real possibility? Where is this coming from? Because it is shocking. Like you said, you don't want to do the same thing. That was a failure with the last administrations where they're like, hey, here's billions of dollars. We'll put it on a plane. And here's a bunch of American money. Have a great day.
- [29:48]
Ted Cruz
Listen, there are voices in the Republican Party who have decided to embrace isolationism. Who has decided to say we should withdraw world. You and I talked previously on this podcast about the interview I did with Tucker Carlson. I knew what that was going to be. I knew when I accepted that interview that Tucker was coming after me, that he was going to do everything he can to blast me. And he And I spent two hours. It was a. It was a bloodbath. We were pounding the hell out of each other. But every single thing Tucker said about Iran and Israel proved wrong. Tucker said publicly, if America strikes Iran, we would be dragged into World War three, thousands of Americans would be killed, and in World War three, we would lose. Now, Ben, that wasn't slightly wrong. It wasn't a little bit wrong. It was totally, catastrophically, utterly false. Tucker also argued with me at great length. It's not true that Iran is trying to murder Donald J. Trump. Well, you know, it's one thing if you're a talk show host and you can just kind of yell into the microphone and ignore facts, but facts matter. The truth matters. It is an objective fact that Iran has been trying to murder Donald J. Trump, has been trying to murder him for several years. And I pointed this out in the interview. I put it out afterwards. I put out the sealed indictment from the Department of Justice indicting Iranian hitmen who were here in the United States trying to murder Donald J. Trump. I put out video of President Trump talking about the Iranians trying to murder him. I put out video of senior Iranian leaders talking about their intention to murder Donald Trump. I put out a video that the IRGC put out an animated video of an Iranian drone murdering Donald Trump on the golf course at Mar A Lago. And it is an objective fact. And this is where, again, the sort of isolationist rhetoric is weird, because when I said that Iran was trying to murder President Trump and Tucker said, I've never heard that, and then he did his kind of weird high pitched cackle, he then came back with this bizarre statement, well, if that were true, that Iran were trying to murder Donald J. Trump, well, then we should attack them immediately. We should nuke them. And I gotta say, I kind of wondered if, like Tucker Carlson's old neocon. To be clear, Tucker Carlson was someone who, during the Iraq War, was a cheerleader for the Iraq war. He basically put on a short skirt and pom poms. I think the Iraq war was a mistake. I've been vocal about that for years. Tucker cheered it on. It is loopy. It is fruit loops to say you should nuke Iran because they're doing that. No, the right thing to do is what President Trump did, which is take out their nuclear weapons capability. And I gotta say, Tucker's voice and their allies of Tucker in the administration who were desperately trying to convince the President, do not attack Iran, do not take out their nuclear weapons capability, do not support Israel, abandon Israel, they were wrong and they lost this battle. But the second iteration and this is coming is they're, they're now saying, okay, now that you've won, give the Ayatollah billions of dollars. Because it works out really well when you give billions of dollars to a theocratic lunatic who says they want to murder you and is still actively trying to murder you, that is incredibly foolish. And so I'm urging the president, don't listen to those voices. They were wrong before and they're wrong now. Do not send billions of dollars to the Ayatollah.
- [33:36]
Travis Holloway
And Senator, you had this to say on Hannity's show about as well, something else, Sean.
- [33:40]
Ted Cruz
There are voices in the administration now that the President has scored an historic victory who are urging, let's cut a deal. Let's let Iran sell oils. Let's lift all the sanction. Let's make this a victory for the Ayatollah. Understand, this Ayatollah still hates America. He chanced death to America and he's been trying to murder Donald Trump. And so it would be a catastrophic mistake to flood billions of dollars into Iran. I agree with you. What if they use a proxy to attack Israel? Does that end the cease fire? Because I would imagine that's plan. That's the next plan. Real quick. You know, I will tell you one of the best indications of how successful this attack was. Within hours, Iran was rushing to have a cease fire. That's because they are utterly decimated and weakened, and that's why they wanted us to ceasefire. But don't think for a minute they suddenly love America or love Israel. They still hate us. They are still our enemy. But we have taken away their ability to murder Americans.
- [34:39]
Buck Sexton
If they use a proxy to attack.
- [34:40]
Ted Cruz
Israel, are they to blame? Of course they are the proxies. Hezbollah and Hamas work for Iran. They pay for them and they control them. All right, Senator, Ted Cruz, we always appreciate your time, Senator, thank you.
- [34:55]
Travis Holloway
Strong close there, Senator. And that's. And it's the truth. This is what people are trying to do now.
- [35:01]
Ted Cruz
It absolutely is. And I'll tell you one point that I made on Hannity that I think is powerful. We started this show by talking about how the Democrats and the media are trying to claim the attack was not effective. If that were true, why did Iran immediately want a ceasefire? Look, Iran has been at war with Israel for years. They have been lobbing missiles. They had been funding Hamas and Hezbollah. Understand? Hamas, more than 90% of Hamas's budget comes from Iran. Hezbollah, more than 90% of Hezbollah's budget comes from Iran. Iran. When the Ayatollah chants death to America and death to Israel, he means it. They have spent millions and millions of dollars. They have killed thousands of American servicemen and women. They have been the leading state sponsor of terrorism for decades. And after this, look, Iran has had a really rough year. October 7th. They funded October 7th. And since October 7th, Hamas has been utterly decimated. Hezbollah has been utterly decimated. Bashar Assad, who was their puppet leader in Syria, he has fallen. The Houthis, who they were funding, who were attacking American ships and shipping through the Suez Canal, they are badly degraded. And now Iran, when they were on the verge of acquiring nuclear weapons. Look, if you're the Ayatollah and you're weak and you're collapsing, getting a nuclear weapon is your Hail Mary. It's the one chance to say, okay, we're relevant, we're strong. And then Israel devastatingly takes out their military capability, their air defenses, the entire course of this war, the 12 day war, Iran had no control over their air defenses. Israel had total superiority. And then the United States, when we went in and did our bombing run, Iran could not defend themselves. And then America comes in. I think Iran believed they could talk, talk, talk and avoid any real consequences. I think they felt that Forda was deep enough under a mountain, there was nothing they could do about it and that America would never use bunker buster bombs against them. And by the way, Joe Biden never would have. The Democrats never would have. But Donald J. Trump, he's not an isolationist. He's not weak, he's not interested in a prolonged war. Note, we did not invade Iran. We did not send boots on the ground. We're not going there trying to turn them into a Democratic utopia. We're not trying to turn them into Switzerland. The objective of the mission was very, very focused. It was to stop Iran from having nuclear weapons capability. And by the way, Ben, the reason I went on Tucker Carlson just a week ago was to make clear that President Trump is right and Tucker Carlson was wrong. And I think I was unhappy with Tucker, cuz he's been attacking President Trump. He said that President Trump was complicit in the attack on Iran. He claimed, amazingly enough, that Donald Trump was not America first, that if you attack Iran, you're not America First. And President Trump quite rightly came back and said, look, I invented the damn term and what I say is what America first is. And he said to Tucker, he said, look, if you want Iran to have a nuclear weapon, that ain't America first, because these lunatics want to kill us. President Trump is exactly right. And, and, and this has been, I'll tell you, I texted him this week and I told him, Mr. President, this past week has been the single finest leadership you have had the entire time. And I'm incredibly proud of the job you're doing as Commander in Chief.
- [38:42]
Travis Holloway
You know, one of the compare and contrasts that you talk about with these, this administration in the past was brought up at the White House press briefing room. Carolyn Levitt, I think, did a great job of explaining the difference very much like you just described it. And here's what she said to the press about the real story here.
- [39:01]
Ben Ferguson
Was.
- [39:01]
H
Weeks away from being able to produce a nuclear weapon that would threaten the entire world before President Trump took this decisive action on Saturday night to obliterate their nuclear capabilities. The contrast in leadership could not be more clear. Barack Obama and Joe Biden sent pallets of cash, American taxpayer dollars in a failed attempt to buy the Iranian regime's compliance with a weak and ineffective deal. President Trump sent a fleet of American warplanes to destroy Iran's ability to produce a nuclear weapon. The United States and the entire world are safer because of this president's decisiveness. Despite agenda driven leaks by the fake news media aimed at undermining this incredible accomplishment achieved by President Trump and our brave fighter pilots, there is broad consensus emerging already that Iran's nuclear capabilities were indeed destroyed. The United States, Israel, the United nations and even Iran all agree they can no longer build a nuclear weapon. So what did the president. Why did the president immediately turn to obliterating after the Iranian nuclear threat, securing peace? Within 48 hours of the devastating strike, President Trump and his team brokered a historic ceasefire between Israel and Iran and officially ended the 12 day war. The Middle east is now shifting away from chaos and bloodshed and moving toward the beginning stages of a new era of peace and stability that President Trump has long called on them to achieve. This was unthinkable at this time last week. And this is what peace through strength looks like.
- [40:40]
Travis Holloway
I mean, it's just laying it out right to their faces, right? This is what the President said. This is what he believed. This is what he was going to do. We're not backing down. And she also said something else that also the DoD said several different ways. How dare you not just give some accolades to the men and women that risked their lives to pull this off and did it flawlessly.
- [41:02]
Ted Cruz
Look, peace through strength is exactly what this is. And the left that they have a bizarre view that weakness and appeasement somehow avoids war. Listen, if you look through history, the opposite is true. Weakness and appeasement encourages our enemies. They engage in more hostilities, you get more war. I have joked, but there is a reason nobody goes and studies at the Neville Chamberlain School of Foreign Affairs. Appeasement doesn't work. Donald J. Trump is a strong commander in chief just like Ronald Reagan was. And I'll tell you, your family and my family, all of our families are safer because President Trump acted decisively to take out Iran's nuclear weapons capability.
- [41:48]
Travis Holloway
Don't forget we do this show Monday, Wednesday and Friday and make sure that subscriber auto download button wherever you get your podcast so you do not miss an episode. And also tomorrow on Saturday, we'll have the week in review. Some of the top things we talked about this past week that you may have missed. So make sure you listen to that as well. And the center and I will see you back here Saturday morning.
- [42:09]
Georgia Hardstark
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Karen Kilgariff
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Rodney Williams
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Karen Kilgariff
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Ted Cruz
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Ted Cruz
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Ted Cruz
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Ted Cruz
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