Daily Review with Clay and Buck - Apr 9 2026

Summary

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The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show

Episode: Daily Review with Clay and Buck — April 9, 2026
Host: iHeartPodcasts
Date: April 9, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this lively episode, Clay Travis and Buck Sexton tackle the latest developments in U.S.–Iran ceasefire negotiations, the sharp drop in violent crime rates (with a spotlight on Washington D.C. and Memphis), and revealing conversations around immigration policy and the Republican Party’s stance on amnesty. The hosts are joined by national security expert Steve Yates and Representative Brandon Gill of Texas to dissect both pressing foreign policy matters and domestic political controversies. Throughout, Clay and Buck maintain their signature mix of wit, skepticism, and sharp political commentary.

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Main Themes and Discussion Points

1. U.S.–Iran Ceasefire and Negotiations

The Situation and Key Players

• Ceasefire Status: Ongoing effort with fits and starts; negotiations underway to solidify a truce and broader stability in the region ([00:00], [03:02]).
• J.D. Vance’s Role: Now in charge of spearheading ceasefire negotiations for the U.S.; seen as the "good cop" in a dynamic with President Trump ([03:02]–[12:12]).
• Strategic Leverage: U.S. holds significant leverage ("has all the cards") but the situation remains delicate, especially regarding Iran’s nuclear ambitions and the status of the Strait of Hormuz ([07:19]–[08:04]).

Memorable Moments & Quotes

• On Control of the Strait of Hormuz
  Clay Travis:

  "Iran has publicly announced basically that they are willing to enact terrorism, that is blow up boats in the Strait of Hormuz. I would argue the use of the word control is inaccurate there. They are willing to engage in acts of terrorism." ([05:54])

• On the U.S. Position
  J.D. Vance (paraphrased by hosts via NYT article):

  "Frankly, the President has all the cards here. We've got a lot of leverage." ([07:19])

Good Cop/Bad Cop Dynamic

• Buck Sexton:

  "With JD and Trump on this issue, you have a built-in good cop, bad cop situation... JD is like, come on, buddy, help me out here. I'll get you a cup of coffee. Whereas Trump is like, let's take him out back, hit him with the truncheon, show him who's boss." ([09:45])

2. Domestic Focus: Crime, Policing, and Political Messaging

Sharp Crime Reduction in D.C.

• Positive Developments: Homicides in Washington D.C. down 68% compared to last year, possibly marking the safest year in modern history ([15:13], [18:23]).
• National Implications: Suggestion that Trump’s law enforcement policies are driving reductions not just in D.C., but also in historically crime-ridden cities like Memphis ([18:23]–[24:24]).
• Media Critique: Hosts question why mainstream outlets aren’t covering these improvements, speculating it's due to reluctance to credit Trump ([23:25]–[24:24]).

Counterpoint: High-Profile Crimes Still Occur

• Tragic Example: The hosts discuss Irina Zaratskas, a Ukrainian refugee killed in Charlotte, emphasizing ongoing challenges in jurisdictions less aggressive about policing ([18:23]–[20:25]).

Notable Quotes

• Clay Travis:

  "President Trump has probably saved more black lives in Washington, D.C. and Memphis than any president ever has in the history of the office." ([20:53])

• Buck Sexton:

  "Isn't it interesting when you think about the amount of time that most of the Democrat corporate media spent on how much black lives matter... A lot of black lives are being saved by these Trump policies." ([21:13])

3. Guest Focus: Steve Yates on Iran and Global Impact

[30:26 – 42:39] Segment with Steve Yates (National Security Expert, Heritage Foundation)

Strategic Priorities in Negotiations

• Main Priority: Ensuring verifiable, resumed free passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz; skepticism about Iranian intentions ([31:29]–[32:38]).
• Tactics Suggested: Insisting on benchmarks and involving allies like the UAE ([31:29]).
• China & East Asia’s Take: South Korea and Japan are watching U.S. resolve carefully; energy flows and regional military posture are frontline concerns for U.S. partners. China's leaders are deterred by U.S. assertiveness, possibly more open to negotiation ([38:05]).

Internal Iranian Dynamics

• Steve Yates:

  "Until there's a real verifiable proof of life, I'm not even convinced the latest iteration of the Ayatollah is calling any shots. More of that convenience you are mentioning." ([36:19])

on Wider Impacts: Venezuela & Cuba

• Steve Yates:

  "Donald Trump got [Venezuela's] attention, and so far they are behaving the right way... safer, more resilient supply chains. That makes America and our neighbors more safe, secure and powerful." ([40:28])

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4. Immigration and the "Dignidad Act": Congress Debates Republican Identity

[44:49 – 53:11] Interview with Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX)

The Dignidad Act Debate

• Controversy: The Dignidad Act, introduced by Rep. Maria Salazar, is criticized by conservative members as a veiled amnesty proposal, despite being presented as bipartisan immigration reform ([44:49]–[46:37]).
• Rep. Gill’s Position: Strongly opposes any form of legal status for undocumented immigrants currently present in the U.S., calling the Act a "grotesque betrayal" of campaign promises ([46:46]–[48:12]).

Notable Quotes

• Rep. Gill:

  "The last people that I want to buy peace for are the people who broke our laws and shouldn't be here to begin with. I want to buy peace for the Americans whose jobs have been taken by illegal aliens..." ([46:46])

  "The idea that we should again even be discussing amnesty, and amnesty is the program that gives the left political power. I mean, the left feeds on illegal immigration as their path to power." ([50:10])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Clay Travis on Policy Efficacy:

  "If we did to the nation what has been successful in ... Washington, D.C. we would take numbers from 20,000 murders a year to 6,400. That means you would have 13,600 lives saved every year." ([27:24])

• Media Critique:
  Buck Sexton:

  "We know there's no other side to this. We know, I'm sorry, libs, that you're all wrong and you've always been wrong on this. But we know, we have the results. We have the data." ([25:43])

• Strategic Analogy:
  Steve Yates on U.S. Position with Iran:

  "We are negotiating the terms of your continued survival. We are generous and humane people in America... if we do anything less, then there are going to be some unacceptable outcomes here." ([34:54])

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:00–14:57 – Opening: Iran ceasefire, role of J.D. Vance, U.S. leverage
• 15:13–30:26 – Domestic focus: Crime statistics, successes in D.C. and Memphis, critique of media coverage
• 30:26–42:39 – Interview: Steve Yates, Iran talks, Strait of Hormuz, Asian perspectives, Venezuela & Cuba
• 44:49–53:11 – Spotlight on immigration: The Dignidad Act, Rep. Brandon Gill interview, GOP divisions on amnesty

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Tone and Style

Clay and Buck maintain a conversational, sometimes tongue-in-cheek tone, blending serious policy analysis with wry humor and pointed skepticism toward both media narratives and moderate Republican proposals. The interviews reflect robust conservative positions, particularly on national security, criminal justice, and immigration.

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Summary and Takeaways

This episode delivers a comprehensive, fast-paced review of current U.S. foreign and domestic policy flashpoints—from the intricacies of Iran negotiations (with an in-depth look at personalities and tactics) to the sharply improved urban crime data being attributed to Trump-era law enforcement policies. The hosts and guests argue vigorously against media silence on positive domestic trends and sound the alarm about any movement toward amnesty within Republican circles.

Listeners seeking a blend of political insight, skepticism of mainstream narratives, and a firm defense of conservative policy priorities will find this episode both informative and engaging.

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Transcript

[A]

This is an iHeart podcast, guaranteed human welcome in, everybody. Thursday edition of the Clay and Buck Show. Let's dive into this, shall we? We've got more on the Iran deal making negotiations underway, a ceasefire in fits and starts, bits and pieces, but more or less a ceasefire underway. And we'll tell you where all of that is going to. I want to also get into some stories on the crime frontier that are getting national attention. Fraud, which is also a crime. I meant violent crime, but fraud, a different kind of violation of law. And what's going on out in California, people need to know about this. I think we talk sometimes about overspending and we talk about our massive welfare state. We have almost a socialist redistribution through fraud scheme underway in a whole bunch of states. Minneapolis got a lot of attention because of the predominantly Somali American fraud that was occurring there. But California, they're starting to turn over the rocks there to see what's underneath. And oh my, is there a lot of fraud. Also, some Republicans trying to, while we're all very focused on Iran, get a little sneaky with their dignity act. It is called, I believe it even has a Spanish name that it is being promoted under. So we will discuss where that is. We'll be joined by Representative Brandon Gill of Texas on that one. Spoiler alert. Representative Gill does not want amnesty and does not want anyone getting sneaky with an amnesty bill by another name. We'll discuss that with him. And we'll talk to Steve Yates, our national security guru, on the latest situation here with the Iran negotiations. Clay, let's hear J.D. vance has been given this. Now, this is interesting to me on a few levels. We'll get into some of the specifics and some of these JD Sound bites, as we know in this New York Times article, which I do think that it's, I would put my money on. It's accurate. I obviously don't know. But based on what the different characters are saying in the article and what I've heard from people that know the individuals involved and who have been in some of these conversations, it reads as true. And it's very clear that J.D. vance was the least enthusiastic about the Iran air campaign, Iran aerial war of anybody. And now he's been assigned the task of trying to spearhead this ceasefire negotiation and turn it into a truce, an armistice, longstanding agreement of sorts that we're not going to have to do this anymore. So Vance, first thing he's got to do here, Clay, is clean up some of what has been said already about this, because it was Looking pretty bleak yesterday with the 10 points. This is cut three. Here he is on the status of these negotiations. Play it.

[B]

You have some crazy people at the fringes of the Iranian system who are leaking anonymously, either for propaganda purposes or because they're embarrassed or because they don't like what happened. And the final point, when I say they don't like what happened, what we know is that the United States accomplished its military objectives. What we know is the United States could have imposed significant additional military and economic costs on Iran and still has the capacity to do so. But we think, thankfully at this point, I think, have a cease fire, thanks to the leadership of the President, United States, we have the Iranians promising to open the Straits of Hormuz and we have a negotiation that's supposed to start this weekend. That's the truth. I think it's a good first step. We're going to see if we can make more progress here in the days to come.

[A]

How are you feeling about all this, Clay today, the day after the big, the big agreement came down?

[C]

Look, I, I, I think it ultimately comes down to we will know, based on ship traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, how these negotiations are going. And it's what I said yesterday. So far, ship traffic does not seem to be anywhere near normal rates of ingress and egress. And until it is somewhat normal, I think it's hard to argue that, that things are normalized now. Right before we came on, there was news that Israel is going to have direct talks with Lebanon and that in theory they may normalize relations. That seems like it would be a significant outcome here. Iran is saying that they expect the ceasefire to also encompass Lebanon and that is an element of these negotiations. There are reports that Trump called Netanyahu and said, hey, we need to have some negotiations underway to stop the bombing in Lebanon as well. And so, you know, I'm kind of in the trust but verify stage of what to believe on the cease fire. And to me, then we will see when we see the traffic in the Strait of Hormuz. And I tweeted about this, but I do think one thing is, is, is maybe significant. I don't know if you would sign off on this either, but, but see what you think of this. One thing that is being reported is that Iran controls the Strait of Hormuz. Every article you see, particularly those that are negative in nature, they say, well, now Iran controls the Strait of Hormuzzi. What I would say is Iran has publicly announced basically that they are willing to Enact terrorism, that is blow up boats in the Strait of Hormuz. I would argue the use of the word control is inaccurate there. They are willing to engage in acts of terrorism. We could blow up.

[A]

They can threaten it more than they can control it.

[C]

Yes, we could blow up every boat in the entire Strait of hormuz in probably 10 minutes if we wanted to. So could other countries. We're not going to do that. And so I do think the, the argument of, well, they control things. Well, I mean, it's a terroristic threat and I hope that it's not going to become a reality. But again, as we talked about yesterday, I think you have to apply rational actor theory here, reasonable man theory, as we used to talk about back in the days in law school. If I owned $100 million boat filled with oil, right now, I'd be a little bit apprehensive about allowing that boat to go through the Strait of Hormuz. So until those individual boat owners and the corporations that run them and the CEOs that are in charge of them feel like their product and their and their boats are safe, then they're not going to move. And so that will be the test to me of how much is there actually a ceasefire that can be trusted going on? I think we'll know by the weekend.

[A]

JD also making it very clear this cut 5, that he feels like us and Trump have all the cards here. And so this is a negotiation where we're going in with a couple of aces. I don't really play cards that would be good. Like couple of aces is usually good, right? Yes, very good.

[C]

Very good poker hand.

[A]

Right. And they've got two of the two cards. Play five.

[B]

This is one of the things is going to be, one of the main subjects of negotiation, is that we want Iran to not be able to make a nuclear weapon. We want the nuclear fuel, which is something the President has made very clear. And again, the way to think about this is the United States has certain demands and certain things that we want. The Iranians have things they can get out of the negotiation. The more that they're willing to give us, I think the more they're going to get things out of this negotiation. The President's talked about sanctions relief, the President's talked about economic partnerships and things like that. That's not going to happen unless the Iranians make a firm commitment to stop anything close to the development of a nuclear weapon. And frankly, the President has all the cards here. We've got a lot of leverage. We got A lot of things that we can do, but right now I think that we're in a good spot.

[A]

I think we have better cards. I don't think we have all the cards. I think that's a little, I think that's a little bit more than, than where the situation is right now. But more or less, I think JD is, is, is on point with this.

[C]

Do you think that JD Having been opposed to these strikes and the Iranians now, presumably having read the New York Times article like we did, which takes you into the deliberations about this, this decision, could that help? And second part here, I would say I think the leak of the article actually helps Trump some because people are saying, and you and I know this is not true, but critics are saying, oh, he's a mad king, King, right. They're making like Game of Thrones analogies. You can't trust him. You have no idea what's going around. The article about the discussion surrounding what to do with Iran was actually Trump as board, basically board chair, going around the room asking everybody for their opinions. Now, if you want to argue, well, people are afraid of saying what they really think once they know what Trump is likely to do. There's an element of that in all board room discussions when you know what the CEO wants to do, there's a lot of people who can get themselves to justify it. But Iran knows that JD Was not in favor of this action. To me, that seems like it could be helpful to him in relationships. You buy that? Do you think the Iranian negotiation negotiators, knowing JD Is not a hawk, could actually make them more likely to deal with them? Or do you even think it matters who the American negotiators are?

[A]

With JD And Trump on this issue, you have a built in good cop, bad cop situation. They both want you to sign the confession. But JD Is like, come on, buddy, help me out here. I'll get you a cup of coffee. Like, let's figure this out. Whereas Trump is like, let's take him out back, hit him with the truncheon, show him who's boss. You know, very different approach to this. So, yes, I do think that there is a, you know, what is it they used to say? Plate y plomo. I think a silver or lead in the cartels. You know, it's like, take our money or carrots and sticks. Carrots and sticks. That's even better.

[C]

Is a good way. Another way is mom and dad. And it could be different depending on the situation.

[A]

But Trump is definitely Daddy.

[C]

Yeah, but do you do you want me to have to tell my dad about this? And by the way, some of you out there are going to be like, do you want me to have to tell mom about this? Because sometimes mom is the one that would. That Levi will swing the sledgehammer harder when it comes to, to kids.

[A]

I wonder when the day will come when my son realizes that, like, he really wants to deal with me.

[D]

He doesn't.

[A]

He doesn't want it to escalate to Carrie.

[C]

Laura is way tougher on the boys than I am. So it could be different depending on the family dynamics and also, by the way, what the kid has done. But I do think JD is the kinder, gentler parent in this relationship and that he can actually say, do you really want me to take this back to Trump? I mean, I'm just telling you because ultimately it's Trump's decision on what the terms of any deal are. But I do think the fact that JD was skeptical of the, of the action in the first place might help him as the good guy in this negotiation discussion.

[A]

I think the Iranians are, because it's public information. I think they're savvy enough to know. I think they're savvy enough to understand that jd, he backs the president, of course, as his vice president, but his heart isn't in more airstrikes. Like, he doesn't want. He really doesn't want that. I feel like Trump is. Trump's attitude is more, I'm giving you guys a chance here. If I have to slap you around Iran, I'll do it again, but I really would rather not. But JD's like, look, we really don't want to have to use force again. Let's actually get something workable for the big guy, meaning Trump, and then we can all move forward and things can get better here. So JD is a perfect person to be involved in this. And it's also bringing him into it in a way where he doesn't have to. He's not being false to himself at all on this. You know what I'm saying? He's getting a chance to end the war that he didn't want in the first place.

[C]

That's right.

[A]

And I think that's a strong place for him to be in. And I think that Trump, it makes a lot of sense for him. Look, I'm hopeful, too. I. I'm going to say this to all of you. I don't really want to be talking about Iran. We're going to talk about some things here at home. Today on the show too, I'm going to make us get into some things that aren't Iran related because we got to fix here in America and I know it's all the midterms. The midterms, yeah. But it's also the promise of Trump's second term. It's we got to fix things here at home so the sooner we can get this buttoned up with Iran and agreed to in some way now I've said and I don't, I haven't changed my mind, I think they're going to agree to agree to agree in the future. So I think it's going to go two weeks and then, and then we're going to continue the ceasefire and then we're going to talk through the summer and you know, there might be, that's what I think is going to happen here. I don't think this is going to be a quick fix. We'll see. I, I would like I said Clay, I'd love to be wrong on this one. I'd love Happy Clay to to be correct and Eeyore Buck to be wrong on this one.

[C]

I will say and you, you know I love watching the Markets S&P 500 and the Dow are both reacting very positively so far. Now you can say there was a sell off before but they're both rapidly approaching all time highs and so we will see how exactly that ends up shaking out. But I want to tell you new sponsor, we're going to be adding a bunch of new sponsors. As I've told you before, you know, most business owners couldn't tell you whether they have one insurance broker or 10 when it comes to business insurance policies. If you're a business owner operator, do you even know yourself? Business operators describe a scenario with multiple insurance policies, multiple applications, no clear view of how it all fits together and when questions come up, not easy to get the clarity you need. Super sure will change all of that. One broker for all your business insurance backed by a team that works with you year round, not just at renewal. And if you've ever stared at a policy wondering what it covers, super sure has a fine print facts tool that will actually translate the legal jargon into plain English so you know what's actually covered and what isn't. Go online to super sure.com get a full report on your current policies with no obligation. Find out if you're overinsured, underinsured or somewhere in between. Go to super sure.com one powerful platform, all your policies in one place. Super sure.com that's super sure.com paid for by Super Sure Insurance Agency LLC, a licensed insurance agency looking for normal in a crazy world. Clay and Buck have your back.

[A]

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[C]

Welcome back in our number two clay and buck show. We appreciate all of you hanging out with us. Decent optimism in the markets as the highs for the day are hit as the ceasefire which remains fragile appears to be holding so far. And it is worth noting that stocks are not very far off of their all time record highs, just three and a half or so percent away from all time record highs. So we will continue to monitor the peace talk and how everything is going there. If there is any major breaking news. But Buck, I wanted to hit you with a positive news story and then I wanted to hit you with a negative news story and I think they are both connected and I want to get your thoughts on them. Let's start with the positive since I think in general I tend to be pretty optimistic, glass half full kind of guy. In Washington D.C. our nation's capital in the 250th anniversary year of our founding. Right now an extraordinary story is playing out that is receiving almost no media attention whatsoever. I mentioned it last night on Sean Hannity's television show and I have continued to track it with all of you for some time. And that is Buck. Washington D.C. as I am speaking to you right now, has seen a 68% decline in murders in the city compared to last year. I mean this is pretty crazy. There have only been 12 murders in Washington D.C. so far this year. Now again, as a show that loves life more than anyone, we wish that the murder rate in Washington, Washington D.C. was zero, but a 68% decline from last year. As we sit here in early April, Washington D.C. is on pace for the lowest recorded murder rate that it has ever experienced in any of our lives. This comes on the heels of 2025 being, according to the FBI, the safest year that we have ever seen when it comes to violent murders in this country in the life of basically, unless you were born in 1899, which I don't think anybody was, this is the safest year and still alive anyway, some people were born in 1899. This is the safest year that any of us alive have ever experienced in the United States. Okay, so, Buck, 68% decline in Washington, D.C. murders. Almost no one is talking about it. Why is that significant? That is a positive. We've seen the same kind of decline in Memphis. Here's the negative. Irina Zaratskas, the innocent Ukrainian refugee who came to this country and was riding Charlotte, North Carolina, a beautiful young woman

[A]

who fled the Ukraine war and was here working a job and trying to do things the right way and what she thought was safe and welcoming America,

[C]

was murdered on Charlotte public transit. You've all seen the video.

[A]

She's just in the neck from behind. Yeah.

[C]

Sitting there on the Charlotte public transit and never really has any idea that she's in danger. A guy happens to be black, stabs her from behind. And that guy had been arrested over 12 times. I've seen reports of 12, I've seen reports of 15 times. And Charlotte local charges, they are now saying that he is not able to stand trial for reasons of insanity. And so they are not bringing forward and continuing the state charges. Now federal, they're saying they're going to continue to prosecute. He is being prosecuted on two different fronts, state and federal charges. But, Buck, when I see this data, we now have pretty tangible evidence that if we commit the resources and if we allow police and all those supporting police to do their jobs, we can drive down murders even in the highest crime cities of America, places like Washington, D.C. which used to be the murder capital of the country, and places like Memphis, which did become the murder capital of the country, if we provide the resources and support, we can drive down murders by 50, 60, nearly 70% this year in Washington, D.C. but what we're seeing is, I'm afraid, in New York City, places like Charlotte, blue cities across the country, certainly Chicago, there is a refusal to just do the things that would save enormous amounts of life. And on top of that, Buck, as you well know, but the data reflects overwhelmingly the lives saved. They're going to be black because overwhelmingly. And brown since Hakeem Jeffries and others. We're going to play that cut for you this hour. Want to talk about dei? Black lives matter. If black lives truly matter. President Trump has probably saved more black lives in Washington, D.C. and Memphis than any president ever has in the history of the office. And this, to me, is evidence that we can do this everywhere. It's just, do we have the will to do it? This, if I were the Trump team, I would be focusing on this. I would be selling it. I would be saying we want to drive down murders to even levels. That people didn't think were possible. And this is one of our federal goals over the next couple of years.

[A]

Isn't it interesting when you think about the amount of time that most of the Democrat corporate media spent on how much black lives matter during the 2020, 2021 period. George Floyd, the sanctification of St. George Floyd. They cared so much. We were all supposed to put up the black squares. A lot of black lives are being saved disproportionately, you could say. A lot of black lives are being saved by these Trump policies. And let's understand what's really happening here. You have federal law enforcement surging resources, federal prosecutors working to use the statutes that they already have at their disposal to put away violent, dangerous career criminals using the federal guidelines, which by the way, there's no parole in the federal system. So they're locking up dangerous people. And for the state and local level, they are co locating. And my understanding, Clay, is in Memphis, they're putting federal officers in squad cars or whatever they call it, Memphis PD alongside Memphis pd and so they're giving them additional manpower, additional resources, access to the federal system when that's called for. And you're just seeing law enforcement synergy between federal and state and local for the most important, highest profile stuff. Ok? No one's getting thrown in prison forever because they're smoking a joint on a corner. You know, all the, all the libertarian fear mongering from back in the day, sorry libertarians, we listen to you too much on some of this stuff. It got way, way too far in the other direction. And it works. This stuff is working. People are safer. They feel better about their community. They feel better about walking down the street. Where is the media? Why isn't CNN having roundtables on, hey, wow, what a great, what a great turnaround in D.C. amazing in Memphis. Think of all the young black men of promise who will now grow up and can become dads and business owners and you know, and productive members of their community who are alive because of this policy. We all know why they're not doing it though. Clay.

[C]

Yes.

[A]

Can't celebrate the saving of black lives if Donald Trump is going to get even a hint of the credit for it. But doesn't that tell you whether they really care about these people? Just see it. Do the CNN multimillionaire anchors, do they care about men from, you know, black men from low income communities in Memphis and you know, really the outskirts of, well, southeast D.C. and then parts of like Prince George's county, which is in Maryland that's where a lot of the violence had been happening traditionally. So do they care? They don't care, Clay. It's all just a political foil to attack Trump. That's what really matters to them. It's pretty sick when you break it down, but I don't see a way, I don't see a counterargument that's compelling. I think that's what we see.

[C]

I just, I look at, at this and I. If we had an honest media, if we had an honest.

[A]

Real quick, this is working better than I even thought it would. And I thought it was going to work bigly. Sorry, go ahead.

[C]

Yes. No, I mean, if you had told me that we were going to be able to drive down murders in Washington D.C. by 68% in from. And by the way, they were low. We're talking about 2025, which was a low year for Washington D.C. to begin with. In other words, Trump's moves drove down the murder rates substantially last year. So we're talking about an already low number and we have since driven it down by 68%. 12 murders in Washington D.C. memphis down. I think it's 50 some odd percent from its highs. Why on earth would we not roll out this nationwide? What is it, around 20,000 people is die of murder every year in the United States. You talk about the psychic impact of the murders and what that does to communities. Imagine if we could drive that number down nationwide to 7 or 8,000. Like, imagine if we could do to the nation what we have done for Washington D.C. what that would mean for everybody, just in terms of safety. Imagine for all of you with daughters, I mean, just knowing that they can go for a jog in a neighborhood and that they're going to be fine.

[A]

You know, I'm fond of saying this, but it's because it's. So we've run the experiment, we've seen here what works and doesn't work. We know there's no other side to this. We know, I'm sorry, libs, that you're all wrong and you've always been wrong on this. But we know, we have the results. We have the data. El Salvador should be talked about way more in this context for a country to go from on a per capita basis, a top three homicide place in the world to a top three safe place in the Western Hemisphere in what, five years, 10 years maybe on the, I mean, whatever timeline you want to lay out very rapidly. What did, what did Bukele do in El Salvador? Oh, you're a gang member. You're a predator in your community. You want to harm people. You don't want to play by the rules. You go into a cell and it's only about 1% or less of the overall El Salvadoran community that is affected by that move. So you can keep 99% of your population incredibly safe by being willing to incarcerate less than 1% of your population. And we're not willing to do that. And I haven't even gotten into. We need to be executing a lot more people and we should bring back firing squads in this country. But that's a broader, that's, that's a whole next level of the conversation. We're a ways from there. I hope we get back there as a, as a nation. But certainly on incarceration we need to lock up more people for longer actually, but just lock up people that are actually doing really bad things. You know, this is the game they like to play, not people that walked in and took a photo of themselves on January 6th. No, that's not what we should be doing.

[C]

20,000 murders. If we did to the nation what has been successful in what Washington, D.C. we would take the numbers from 20,000 murders a year to 6,400. That means you would have 13,600 lives saved every year. Why wouldn't that be a huge story? Why isn't that a completely compelling, achievable statistic based on what we have seen in Washington, D.C. and to Buck's point, if you want to look writ large, El Salvador, which was one of the most dangerous places in the world, you know, is now one of the safest places. And just think of, leave aside for a moment, obviously the benefit of saving lives. Think about what that does economically for the country if we start eliminating violent crime, murders being of course, the most violent violent crimes. Think about what it does for making neighborhoods safer, which allows businesses to thrive. Think about what it does for overall, you know, just general growth of economic situations in the country. It's, it, it's transformative and I think it's achievable. And those are two things that often aren't combined together. And I think we should be talking about more how consequential this potentially could be. So we'll take some of your talk back, some of your calls. By the way, next hour we're going to talk with Steve Yates. I don't know if we mentioned this earlier, but Steve Yates is going to join us to talk about the situation in Iran. And then at 2:30, Congressman Brandon Gill with what's going on on Capitol Hill and more. All that still to come. But that's next hour. We'll take some of your calls and talk backs in this hour. Look, online reviews for Rapid Radios are fantastic and they're worth reading sometimes. A grandfather bought a pair of Rapid Radios so he could stay in touch with his 10 year old granddaughter when she came for visits and wanted to play outdoors with friends. Uh, we have done this with our 11 year old. Give him that. Because he doesn't have a cell phone yet, we want to be able to stay in touch with him, but we also want him to be able to run around and play with his friends. Rapid Radio is trusted by more than half a million users nationwide and they can make a tremendous difference for you and your family no matter what they the age of your parents are, what the age of your kids might be. You can stay in touch with your entire family. And right now they're including over $300 in free gear with your order of a Rapid Radio, a tactical radio bag, a USB charger, an EMP Faraday bag. Plus every order includes a 30 day money back guarantee. When you make our purchase, use code RADIO for 5% off and free shipping from Michigan. When you need to be heard, no matter where or when, go to rapidradios.com that's rapidradios.com code radio for 5% off rapid radios.com code radio. We love it. You will too sign up today. When hanging, you're not just learning, you're also laughing playing Buck, just preset them

[A]

on the iheart third hour of play and Buck kicks off right now. We're joined by our friend Steve Yates. He is a senior fellow at the Heritage foundation, the former senior national security official in White House. And and Steve, you are in Seoul, South Korea right now. You're joining us. I think it's like 3am there. So you are a dedicated member of the Clay and Buck family to show up for us. Thank you so much for that and feel free to if you want to tell us anything about what you're doing in South Korea, by all means. But I want to first, if I could put you in the situation of you are with, let's just say for a conversation, Vance Kushner Witkoff, in this Islamabad negotiation, what are you expecting from the Iranians? How are you going to leverage this situation? How do you think this thing can and should be handled from our side?

[D]

Yeah, Buck, well, I don't envy the task. This is, this is a very, very big challenge. The remnants of the Iranian regime I think our level of trust and implementation has to be very low. So it's not just trust but verify. But how about let's just verify. And I would say the highest priority right now has to be free flow of goods out of the Gulf and through the Strait of Hormuz. My first question, if I was there with them, I'd say why are we in Islamabad and is there a reason why? Pakistan is a particularly helpful angle in this conversation. But I'd try to quickly get to that. We have to get some verifiable benchmarks. There's really no negotiation about that freedom of navigation point. And I quickly try to bring in the equities of the United Arab Emirates and some other key allies who can and will bring some capabilities to the table. And the minding of the nuclear facilities and the remnants of the regime, the political stuff, that's going to take time. And so I would put highest priority on what our ultimate national interest has to be in the near term.

[C]

How optimistic are you that the overall situation? Let's say that right now we're sitting, you know, it's April 8th, April 9th, by the time we get into May and by the time we get into June and people start to pay a little bit more attention to the midterms, how optimistic are you that we're going to be able to shift the overall story to what's going on back here in the country as opposed to externally, Iran continuing to pop up and kind of take over the narrative? In other words, can we get a solution that turns foreign policy into a significant but not primary focus of the midterms? Because I think to a large extent, most people voting come November are going to be focused on what is going on directly here in the United States.

[D]

I think we have to get there and every indication is the president is determined to do so. But to get there, odds are pretty high that we're going to have to take some significant action somewhere along the way. My strongest suspicion is that we're going to have to use the resources that are moving in that direction to absolutely demonstrate control over the waterways. And I think that the other thing that we may end up having to do is we're going to have to demonstrate a willingness to strike again as more of a maintenance mode than a high tempo major military operation. I think if the president and his team can navigate that de escalation to maintenance with some burden sharing among allies that are really reliable, then I think that pivot to a necessary focus on home comes around that May timeframe In maybe June at the latest.

[A]

How do you think the Israeli allies are looking at this situation, Steve? What would you think Israel an acceptable outcome from their perspective? How do they play into all this? Because we obviously still have the Hezbollah Lebanon issue and they're bringing that as part of the U.S. essentially part of the U.S. iran negotiation is, hey America, you got to get Israel to play ball on the following thing. So it's, it's a multi party card game here.

[D]

Yeah, well, I think that part of these negotiations have to be very clear that this is not 2co equal negotiating parties. We're big and we won and you lost and we are negotiating the terms of your continued survival. We are generous and humane people in America and so we don't envy the idea of going after you to total obliteration. But make no mistake about it, we are negotiating the terms of a surrender. And if we do anything less than that, then there are going to be some unacceptable outcomes here. I think the Gulf is one of those. This whole Lebanon thing is a really odd tell by Iran that it's actually them that is Hezbollah. Why in the world would they care about Hezbollah if it wasn't really an arm of their own odious regime?

[C]

Who's making decisions from Iran? And I know the, the Gayetola, my words not yours. Little Mo, also my words not yours has supposedly put out a statement. There has been attribution to him as in people saying, hey, this is the guy that is actually making decisions. Do we buy that or do you think he is a convenient proxy to attach decisions to while other people are making choices? And are we even sure who's able to make choices on behalf of Iran at this point?

[D]

Well, first Clay, I support the idea of coming up with names. I think we do that too little in August foreign policy. And it's useful political rhetoric. Number two. This is actually one of the hardest, hardest parts of this. We have decapitated the regime a couple or three layers down across a wide range of different elements of this, this terror network. And so we have, we have the problem of when the ceasefire is announced, there's still other people popping off, probably because they don't have absolute centralized decision making at this point. Until there's a real verifiable proof of life. I'm not even convinced the latest iteration of the Ayatollah is calling any shots. More of that convenience you are mentioning. But there's a separation between the theocratic forces, the military forces, the secret police forces, and that I hopefully will in the early parts of this negotiation, get some clarity about what's happening across the board. And there's the small issue of 90 million people who are not really represented by any of those institutions. And we have to make sure we have some visibility and maybe connectivity with that element of power in Iran too.

[A]

Speaking of Steve Yates, he is a senior fellow from the Heritage Foundation, a former senior White House national security official. And Steve, you are in South Korea. You can tell us if you want. I don't know if it's super Secret Squirrel. You don't have to. You can tell us what you're up to there because we're curious. But also in terms of the, I was going to say the Asian view of this, really what I mean is the Chinese view of this situation in Iran, what are their major take? I'm sure South Korea has some thoughts on all this too, so you can weigh in on that. What is the Asian point of view, East Asian point of view on this whole Iran mess as it stands.

[D]

Yeah, well, I did meet with the national security Advisor here in South Korea and I try to keep in touch with similar level people in Japan. These are very important economies to us, involved in very critical industries for us and they are reasonably reliable allies when all things considered in what we are doing in the world. They have obvious concerns about energy flows. All of these economies are overly dependent on imports from the Middle East. We have options in the not too distant future if they say buy American, Alaska is an awesome opportunity with some investment on their part. And so there are some things there, but in the near term, energy, energy, energy. And the other part they are sensitive to is the strategic flexibility of our forces. When we move things to surge in one part of the world where they came from, those allies become concerned. North Korea popped off two short range ballistic missiles while I was here. There's a nice welcome they gave me, but nothing super strategic. But they're still on alert about what could be done here while we are preoccupied in the Middle East. China, I think it's a mixed bag. The summit supposedly is still on. I give it at least 50, 50 chances of going as scheduled. But for China, there's been a pretty profound deterrent message of America is not on decline and America will act if provoked. And our national interests are engaged. They are concerned that Japan has made very, very clear that if China were to move on Taiwan that it would be an impact on Japan's national interests they would have to respond to. So there's a mixed bag there. They hope that we're blowing up all of our ordinance in the Middle east, so it's not available in the Indo Pacific. We have to focus on that. But for now, I think that they have to take a step back and say maybe we should negotiate a little more with Donald Trump.

[C]

Steve, I know you're talking about, and we've been talking a lot about Iran. There's actually really positive news coming out of Venezuela as things seem to have calmed down substantially there, and the implications for Cuba have moved to a back burner, too. But what do you see happening in Venezuela? What do you see happening in Cuba? And how overall could that impact not only what might happen in the Middle east, but also China and the larger geopolitical climate?

[D]

Well, the Venezuela situation, I think, is a real positive so far as with everything in the world, we can always only take the trajectory we're on, and there's no guarantees about things continuing to work. We're still actually dealing with the remnants of a regime that has been quite problematic for a long time. But I think Donald Trump got their attention, and so far they are behaving the right way. And the resource equation is getting much, much better. So we have much better options in our hemisphere. And I think the administration is determined to put the pedal to the metal in that regard. That gives us much safer, more resilient supply chains. That makes America and our neighbors more safe, secure and powerful. That gives us better, more safe options when trying to deal with change agents like China and other parts of the world. So I see that as conducive to what we're trying to do to get to the great game, which is to contain the malign influences of China and beat them in every, every way, shape or form on economy to space and technology.

[A]

What should we do with Cuba? You know, Trump talks about it as something thrown into the mix here. It's not. Obviously, it's a much smaller country than, than what we're dealing with in the case of Iran or even Venezuela. But it's very close. I mean, I feel like I could swim there from here. Probably not, but maybe Clay could. It's not far. So what do you think? What should we do?

[D]

Well, I hear there's sharks in those waters, so I'd advise against making the swim. But it is, it is near. I think that the President is relatively on track on just keeping the pressure and inducements in place to see if there's a something less than the Venezuela model available to push that towards transition. The demonstration effect of Venezuela has to have some impact. The demonstration effect of going after the cartels in Mexico has to have some effect. Do those two things well and maybe we get a change in Cuba more by evolution than our having to go in and do it in a kinetic way. I think that's far preferable. Although I would love to see the day when all those Cubans in your near abroad are singing and dancing in the streets of Havana again.

[A]

Sounds good to me. Steve Yates, good to see you my friend. Get some sleep. Go save, go save the world over there in South Korea. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Clay.

[C]

It's going to be. It was great. We'll see what happens. But I do think Cuba on the back burner here is maybe one that we get a resolution in some way sooner rather than later. Will update you, by the way, press conference going on right now in California associated with fraud and hospice in California. We'll bring back and talk about everything that's going on there. But in the meantime, I want to tell you all about Pure Talk. Are you trying to save some money? We all are. Would it make a difference for you at the end of the year to have up to an additional thousand dollars in your bank account? Could that help with Christmas? Could that help with New Year's? Could that help with Thanksgiving? All the travel, all the expenses that roll up at the end of the year. PureTalk can give you unlimited high speed data for just 34.99amonth. Not long ago they upgraded their plans because they want you to have all the data you need at a price that won't break the bank. So today, Talk Text unlimited high speed data 34.99amonth. And if you're wondering is Pure Talk's network really as good as the overpriced big guys Try it. I rely on it. I got teenage boys on it. They use a lot of data as you can well imagine and they absolutely love it. My 15 year old, my 18 year old, both on the Pure Talk network. Plus they have a hundred percent US customer service team that will help you switch in as little as 10 minutes. Make the switch to Pure Talk today. Just dial pound two five zero, say Clay and Buck to claim unlimited high speed data for just 34.99. Again, £250 say clay and Clay and Buck to switch to Pure Talk, America's wireless company. That's £250. Just 34.99amonth. £250 say clay and Buck. Level up your brain and balance out your day with the right amount of information and entertainment. Clay, Travis and Buck Sexton on the I Hearts radio app or wherever you get your podcast.

[A]

All right, welcome back into Clay and Buck. As we've been saying to you, we're focusing here today a lot more while the ceasefire negotiations are underway with Iran back on the home front, which. What. Which is what matters most to us. And something that happened that. It was kind of hard to. Hard to believe that this is what some members of Congress are focused on. But the. The Dignidad, as in Spanish for Dignity act of 2025, was introduced by Congresswoman Salazar, got some bipartisan votes, goes through a whole bunch of stuff. And by the way, she's, I think, the district right next to one that I live in. I have my Congresswoman Clay is the hat wearer. The cowboy hat. Yes, the lady, the cowboy hat. The Democrat. I can't remember her name right now. I should remember her name. She's my congresswoman. I work in politics, kind of, but I'll remember in a second, but. Frederica Wilson. There we go. Frederica Wilson. But anyway, the Dignidad act got brought up here. Congressman Gill out of Texas does not like the Dignidad act and has had some public statements about how it looks a whole lot like amnesty. Congressman Gil, great to have you on the show. Thanks for calling in. You're well. Actually, can. Can I. I just want to play for you first. What? This was from July of 25, so it's a little bit. A little ways back. But this is what represent. Salazar was saying then on local news here in Miami about the Dignity Dodd act. Play five. This is cut 15.

[C]

We give them dignity. At some point in the future, another legislator will write another law to give them path to citizenship. Right now, what we need to do is to buy peace for these people, allow them to stay, to continue working because they are needed.

[A]

Congressman Gill, I don't. I don't know. It sounds to me like how about we just deport the illegals and enforce the law?

[C]

What's going on here?

[E]

Well, thanks for having me on. Yeah. The last people that I want to buy peace for are the people who broke our laws and shouldn't be here to begin with. I want to buy peace for the Americans whose jobs have been taken by illegal aliens, whose wages have been suppressed by peace, for the mothers, whose children who have been slaughtered by fentanyl because we've had open borders for many years. Those are the people we ought to be focused on. And we ran an election last cycle on a platform of mass deportations. And remember, there was nothing subtle about it. We were holding up mass deportation signs at the rnc, as we all remember. That's how we want. That's how we got a trifecta. And the president got. Won the popular vote. So to turn around and start pushing an amnesty bill. And that's what this is. This is amnesty, plain and simple. The Dignidad act is a bill that would allow 12 million illegal aliens who are currently in the United States and subject to deportation to be given legal status and stay here. It would hamstring the president's ability to deport more illegal aliens on top of that. And it would allow illegal aliens who were previously deported under Trump's first administration to come back into the United States if they meet certain criteria. So this is a grotesque betrayal of everything we ran on. I'm kind of shocked we're even talking about it, but here we are. And that's why I've been fighting so hard to kill this bill.

[C]

You're a young guy, I'm guess, guessing that you want to work a lot. Are you frustrated with the schedule in the House and the Senate that it feels like you guys are never in session and not passing very many bills? It has to be infuriating.

[E]

It's extremely infuriating. I mean, I ran for office so that I could fight for my district and the people of Texas and actually get real legislation done. But in order to do that, you got to be in session. I mean, we should have been in session this week. Whenever DHS isn't funded, we should be working on a reconciliation bill to fund it, to fund other. To do other conservative priorities. And we're not. And it has been extremely frustrating. So, yes, of course we should be there. We shouldn't be in Washington pushing amnesty bills, but we should be in Washington funding mass deportations.

[A]

So, I mean, this is a. They call it a path to citizenship. It's amnesty. Because we've gone through this before, back to the Dignadot act here. We've gone back to this before with the Reagan amnesty, unfortunately, which had all these enforcement mechanisms and, oh, you have to prove this and prove that. And no, just everybody who was here illegally was made. Was made permanent. And there were people. Court cases going on 15 years later with people saying, oh, no, I was covered under this too. Right. So it just creates a huge message, which people should know about, by the way, that whenever, whenever you try to create one class of amnesty, there's going to be all these people that then sue and they want to be in that class. And there's Going to be legislation that make the class bigger. The whole thing becomes a total mess. But Brandon, you're in Congress. Why are Republicans, any Republicans, in the midst of, I might add, a lot of focus on what's going on in Iran right now or has been going on recently. Why would they put something like this? It feels kind of sneaky, like we have Republicans voting on this right now. What's going on?

[E]

You know, it's amazing that this has even come up. And I can't speak to the motives of, you know, Maria is a friend, Mike Lawler, who's defended this bill as a friend, their colleagues, I can't speak to their motives. But what I can say is there still is an element in our party who is just handicapped by big business interests, who want mass migration, who want more cheap labor flowing across our border constantly and would love to see illegal aliens being, being given amnesty because that just means cheaper labor and bigger profit margins for them, whether it's big agribusiness or big, big whatever else. And those are the interests that I think we should be very aware of and know that they're not the ones who are voting for us. They're not the ones that we represent. We represent the people in our district whose who's lives are being transformed, whose neighborhoods are unrecognizable now because of open borders and mass migration. Those are the people who elected President Trump back in 2015 and again in 2020 and again in 2024. Those are the ones that we ought to be looking out for. So the idea that we should again even be discussing amnesty, and amnesty is the program that gives the left political power. I mean, the left feeds on illegal immigration as their path to power. The idea that we would in any way go along with that is nuts. And by the way, it is a massive and unforgivable betrayal of our voters who elected us to do the opposite. You know, if we went down this path, it would tear the Republican Party in two and it would be, we would be dealing with this 10 years, 15 years down the road.

[C]

How do you think James Talarico is going to do in November?

[E]

You know, I am, I have supported Ken Paxton. But I think regardless of who gets the Republican nomination, they're going to beat Talarico. I mean, you got a guy who has talked about God being non binary, about how transgenders need abortion, care about how the Bible gives biblical, you know, has biblical justification for abortion. I mean, you have a guy who just regurgitated every week weird woke aphorism that the left came up with over the past several years. And now it's great to see that all of that is being exposed. I mean, the people of Texas don't want some kind of weird, you know, weirdo fake pastor who, who wants transgenders and their little kids schools as their senator. I mean, we just want like a normal conservative to represent us. So I don't think Talarico has a chance. With that said, we've got to make sure that our people turn out to vote in November and that we do get to the polls to make sure that he doesn't, doesn't gain any traction.

[A]

Congressman Gill, appreciate you joining us from Texas. Thanks for calling in today.

[E]

Hey, thanks for having me,

[A]

Clay, I think.

[C]

Well, no, I was just looking. I'm looking at my quad box. Melania Trump is speaking relating to the Epstein situation. It is now being covered by CNN and msnbc. Not my Fox News. I don't know. I'm trying to monitor it. We'll give you. She just finished. We'll give you some takes on that and maybe some clips because this is. I was not expecting a press conference from the first lady at all, much less one on the Epstein case. So we will talk about it when we come back.

[A]

I think we're partnering with Americans for Prosperity this spring on their One Small Step initiative. This is all about preserving the values our nation was founded upon. This is the right time during America's 250th anniversary year to take this first step. That's because America's story isn't finished. It's still being written by us. America's founding principles still matter, and some would say they matter now more than ever. We're talking about the six principles that built this country. Dignity, freedom, opportunity, the rule of law, limited government, and civic duty. That's what's made America the greatest nation on earth, and it's what will keep it that way. One small step is about turning belief into action because you not politicians, not bureaucrats in Washington, you are the one who keep this cut. You are the ones who keep this country strong. Go online to this new website. The letter a the number 250 the word toolkit.com buck to sign up for the monthly Toolkit. You'll get real specific ways to take action and celebrate core American values. That includes adding your voice for liberty, defending your rights, and helping keep your community free. America's story isn't finished. It's being written right now. The real question is, what step will you take? That website again, Is the letter a the number 250 the word toolkit.com buck paid for by Americans for Prosperity.

[C]

If you truly care, pass along this

[A]

common sense to family and friends.

[C]

Clay and Buck owning the Air Airways.