Hour 2 - An American Rescue

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show

Episode: Hour 2 - An American Rescue
Date: April 6, 2026
Hosts: Clay Travis & Buck Sexton
Theme:
A deep-dive into the dramatic and successful rescue operation of two downed American airmen inside Iran, contextualizing the mission within the ongoing U.S.-Iran conflict and discussing its political, military, and cultural implications.

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Main Theme & Purpose

Hour 2 centers on the recent high-stakes rescue of two American airmen whose F-15E jet was shot down during "Operation Epic Fury" inside Iran. The hosts analyze the daring search and rescue mission—one of the largest and riskiest ever attempted by U.S. forces—and discuss its broader significance for U.S. military ethos, President Trump’s leadership, and its political impact in an election year. The episode features live and recorded segments from President Trump’s press conference, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Stage: From Banter to Breaking News

• The hour opens with light-hearted banter about Clay Travis’ birthday and playful competition with his teenage son in physical fitness (00:02–01:29).
• Transition to more serious news: anticipation of President Trump's address on the F-15E jet crew rescue deep inside Iran (01:57).

2. The Rescue Operation: Live Presidential Briefing

• Pres. Trump details the incident and the extraordinary measures taken to recover both airmen from hostile Iranian territory (03:24–12:45).
  • Decision described as “risky”—could have cost many American lives, but reflects doctrine: “In the United States military, we leave no American behind.” (06:19)
  • Operation involved up to 155 aircraft, elaborate decoy tactics, and high-tech coordination with CIA and military brass.
  • Notable technical and logistical feats: using and then destroying heavy aircraft to prevent sensitive tech falling into Iranian hands.

Notable Quote:

“The most powerful military anywhere in the world by far ... And in the United States military, we leave no American behind. We don’t do it.”
- President Trump (06:21)

Timestamps for Key Segments:

• President’s opening statement and mission context: 03:24–07:10
• The aircrew’s ordeal and CIA’s role: 07:11–12:45
• Helicopter rebuild under fire and extraction challenges: 10:40–12:45

3. Analysis & Reflections by Clay and Buck

• Immediate discussion post-Trump remarks centers on the ethos and morale implications of the "leave no man behind" principle (18:59–21:19).
• Buck explains the impact on military esprit de corps and highlights historical parallels (18:59).
• Clay underscores the political double standard and the likely fate of an American airman as an Iranian captive—used for propaganda and likely mistreated (21:19–23:41).
• Both hosts draw comparisons to previous U.S. military incidents, including the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, highlighting lessons learned about handling equipment and personnel (21:41–27:47).

Notable Quote:

“People are saying all this for one man. You’re damn right. That is the ethos of our military.”
- Buck Sexton (20:46)

4. Policy, Politics, and the Iran Conflict

• Discussion broadens to Trump’s broader military and national security strategy:
  • The necessity of denying Iran nuclear capability and shifting U.S. posture after years of “the sword of Damocles” (23:41–27:47).
  • The role of Iran’s ruling elites, suffering as solidarity, and prospects for regime durability under air strikes.

Notable Quote:

“You either think it is entirely ... unacceptable to continue to have the probability, not the certainty, but the probability of an Iranian nuclear weapon hanging over our heads.”
- Buck Sexton (23:43)

5. Historical Context & Comparisons

• Hosts cite WWII loss statistics, contextualizing risk and sacrifice in military operations—both in combat and accidents (27:47–28:48).
• Clay references recent readings on WWII (Rick Atkinson’s books) to highlight the magnitude of risks military members take (27:47).

Key Stat:

• Over 25,000 air crew deaths in WWII from non-combat aviation accidents (28:22–28:48).

6. Real-Time Updates: White House and Military Leaders Speak

• CIA Director John Ratcliffe explains the intelligence and deception involved in the rescue:

  • Confirming the airman’s survival and location (34:02).
  • Deception campaign to confuse Iranian searchers contributes to the successful extraction, “embarrassing and humiliating” the Iranian regime (34:48).

• Secretary of War Pete Hegseth recounts the rescued airman’s first message upon activating his transponder:

  “God is good. Shot down on a Friday, Good Friday... rescued on Sunday, flown out of Iran as the sun was rising on Easter Sunday. A pilot reborn, all home and accounted for. A nation rejoicing. God is good.”
  - Pete Hegseth (35:02–35:36)

• Hegseth and generals highlight unprecedented intensity of bombing:

  • Easter and the following day expected to see highest tempo of strikes on Iran (28:48, and again 35:37–36:02).
  • Trump authorized the mission within two hours, in the middle of the night (29:00).

7. Strategy Going Forward

• Buck and Clay assess that the U.S. strategy is likely aimed at forcing near-total Iranian surrender via sustained airpower—questioning if air-only strategies can achieve political goals (36:02–36:49).

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Timeline of Important Segments

• 00:02–01:29: Hosts’ personal banter, segue to serious news.
• 01:57–03:24: Preview of Trump’s statement and the political climate (poll numbers, Democrats’ hopes).
• 03:24–12:45: Extended coverage of President Trump’s description of the rescue operation.
• 12:45–14:52: Ad break.
• 14:52–16:55: Trump continues, introduces CIA Director.
• 16:55–17:40: CIA Director speaks briefly—emphasizing intelligence coordination, similar past ops.
• 18:59–21:19: Conversation on military ethos, why the rescue matters beyond one man.
• 21:19–23:41: Criticism of political double standards; comparison to Afghanistan withdrawal.
• 23:41–28:48: Geopolitical, humanitarian, and historical context for the conflict and risk-taking.
• 28:48–31:15: Update on the intensity of strikes on Iran; Trump’s rapid authorization.
• 34:02–35:36: CIA Director and Secretary of War briefings—deception campaign, symbolism of airman’s rescue on Easter.
• 36:02–36:49: Outlook: Can airpower alone achieve U.S. objectives in Iran?

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Notable Quotes

• President Trump on military resolve:
  “In the United States military, we leave no American behind. We don’t do it.” (06:19)

• Buck Sexton on military ethos:
  “People are saying all this for one man. You’re damn right. That is the ethos of our military.” (20:46)

• Pete Hegseth on faith and rescue:
  “His first message was simple and it was powerful. He sent a message: God is good... A pilot reborn, all home and accounted for. A nation rejoicing. God is good.” (35:02)

• CIA Director Ratcliffe on the operation's impact:
  "Our intelligence reflects that the Iranians were embarrassed and ultimately humiliated by the success of this audacious rescue mission." (34:48)

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Memorable Moments

• The symbolic Easter Sunday rescue: Hegseth highlights the airman’s ordeal, faith, and the resurrection-like timing of his extraction (35:02–35:36).
• Live, unscripted White House updates provide detailed, dramatic glimpses into the complexity and urgency of high-level rescue operations.
• Direct comparison of recent U.S. military mishaps—Afghan withdrawal vs. Iran rescue—underscores lessons learned and the costs of policy failure.

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Tone and Language

• The hosts’ tone balances patriotic seriousness with moments of witty banter and plainspoken clarity.
• Quotes from Trump and military leaders adopt a triumphant, sometimes dramatic, style, while the hosts often use analogies and real-world stats to make the discussion relatable.

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Conclusion

This episode captures a pivotal moment of American military action and political leadership, offering insights into presidential decision-making, the ethos of the U.S. armed forces, and the evolving conflict with Iran. The successful rescue mission is celebrated not just as a technical feat, but as an affirmation of American values—while the hosts critically weigh the ongoing stakes and political ramifications.

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For listeners:
This episode is engaging, comprehensive, and moving—covering personal, tactical, and political angles of the rescue mission, augmented by firsthand accounts and real-time reaction. Even without listening, you'll walk away understanding the mission’s stakes, execution, and significance within the larger U.S.-Iran crisis.

Transcript

[A]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[B]

Guaranteed human welcome in everybody. Monday edition, second hour of the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton show. Clay Travis, birthday edition. Gonna hit that one more time at the top here so you could all send your birthday wishes to Mr. Clay. He, he has not aged a day in the five years I've been doing this show with him. So there you go.

[C]

Looks exactly the same.

[B]

Maybe his biceps are a little bigger, ladies. That's about it.

[C]

I am benching more. I do and I'm positive even though I'm old, I am, I am benching more than I think ever before in my life because I'm trying to keep up with my 15 year old, who is, who's got a lot of physical advantages on me, frankly. But I'm going to try to hold him off as long as I can.

[B]

Do you remember when you were a teenager doing things like walking past, like I used to play a fair amount of pickup basketball. I'd be, well, I'd walk past in like khaki pants and a, you know, true khaki pants.

[C]

Back in the day I was tweeting about this when with jeans like nobody.

[B]

I didn't own jeans until I was basically in college. I just wore khaki pants all the time. But I'd walk and I just jump into a game. I mean now the amount of stretching and, and stuff I would have to do in advance of jumping into a basketball game while wearing pants and not even athletic, like, like just normal pants is a different world that we used to live in, Clay. Now it'd be like, oh my gosh, my Achilles. I could, I couldn't dream of such a thing. So yes, they, the point is 15

[C]

year old raining after church and we were on and we were running to try to get to the car and, and I was like, I think I might just pull the groin there. Like try trying to make it church to the car in the rain. You know, my boys are just sprinting. You know, it doesn't matter. They can go straight from, you know, sitting in church for an hour to full sprint, no time at all. And I was like, oh man, I'm going to get a little loose here before I start to try to run to avoid the rain.

[B]

All true. Now we're waiting for Trump. Any moment he'll be joining us. We'll pick him up live because he's going to talk about the first of all the successful saving operation, search and rescue operation for a second airman. We got the first one very quickly from the F.15E fighter jet that went down in Iran, shot down in Iran. And it was quite an ordeal to get him out of there, but he was safely recovered. Now, I think, Clay, there are a lot of Democrats. It's quite obvious to me there are a lot of Democrats who are hoping things with the Iran war, let's just, let's just say it go badly. And that that is reflected in the numbers for Trump. This is a major hope of the Democrat opposition here at home. And CNN's Harry Entin has this to say about the situation with the Democrats and the Senate. I thought everybody should hear what Democrats are facing at this phase. I know we're months and months out, but we're going to be dialing in on this with each passing month. Play 16. This lead is historically low for Democrats at this point with the Republican president

[C]

because take a look here.

[B]

And I'm taking a look at the average of all the polls. Dem generic congressional ballot lead at this point in the cycle with the Republican president on average, their leads actually slightly less. It's four. All right, so Democrats not in a great position, but Donald Trump about to address the country. Let's take him live.

[A]

Easters I think in a lot of different ways I can say militarily, it's been one of the best. So. Good afternoon. We have quite a bit to discuss. We'll go into a pretty good detail and we have the people that are most involved will give you exactitude. And we're here today to celebrate the success of one of the largest, most complex, most harrowing combat searches. I guess you would call it a search and rescue mission ever attempted by the military. Generally, when planes are knocked down in war, especially when you're fighting a strong group, an evil group, you can't really do this because you send in 200 men to pick up one, then it's something that's usually not attempted as much as you want to attempt, and bad things happen to that one or two. And in this case, we did two and might not have been attempted before, but we did and we got, we had great talent. We got a little luck, too, I would say. And we were helped by a lot of people, a lot of great people. And it was an honor to be involved with it. It's very historic. This is a, a rescue that's very historic. It'll go down in the books. Late Thursday night, an American F15 fighter jet went down deep inside enemy territory in Iran while participating in Operation Epic Fury, where we're doing unbelievably well. Well, At a level that nobody has ever seen before. The entire country could be taken out in one night. And that night might be tomorrow night. Both members of the crew ejected from the aircraft and landed alive on Iranian soil. I immediately was asked to make a decision. I ordered the U.S. armed forces to do whatever was necessary to bring our brave warriors back home. A risky decision because we could have ended up with 100 dead as opposed to one or two. It's a hard decision to make, but in the United States military, we leave no American behind. We don't do it. Within hours, our armed forces deployed 21 military aircraft into hostile airspace, many flying at very low altitude, being shot by bullets. You bring rifles into play when you're going that low. But there are also certain advantages. And in broad daylight over Iran for seven hours, at times facing very, very heavy enemy fire. We have a helicopter that's got a lot of bullets in it. It's amazing. We just realized how good those, those weapons are, those our machines are. Nobody has. Nobody has the equipment that we have and nobody has the military that we have. Not even close. The most powerful military anywhere in the world by far. The flight crews and war fighters aboard those aircraft took extraordinary risks to rescue their fellow service members. This first wave of search and rescue forces successfully located the pilot of the F15. And he was extracted from enemy territory by an HH60 Jolly Green 2 helicopter. Fabulous machine. As our warriors faced gunfire at very close range. It's amazing that when you look at the machinery, what happened, that nobody was even injured. Meanwhile, the second crew member, a weapon system officer, highly respected colonel, had landed a significant distance away from the pilot. When you're going at those speeds, even if you go out two or three seconds later, it's miles, it's miles and miles away because you're going fast. He was injured quite badly and stranded in an area teeming with terrorists from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps rough group, as well as besieged military, militia and local authorities. Many on top of everything else, they told the communities actually with inside of Iran, the people of Iran, they were given a tremendous incentive to find this pilot. Despite the peril, the officer followed his training and climbed into the treacherous mountain terrain and started climbing toward a higher altitude, something they were trained to do in order to evade capture. They want to always go as far away from the site of the shoot down. You want to go as far away because they all head right to that site. You want to be as far away as you can. And he was injured and he was an amazing, amazing thing he scaled cliff faces, bleeding rather profusely, treated his own wounds, and contacted American forces to transmit his location. They have a very sophisticated beeper type apparatus that is on them at all times. And when they, when they go out on these missions, they make sure they have lots of battery space and they're in good shape. And this one worked really well, amazingly saved his life. We immediately mobilized a massive operation to retrieve him from the mountain holdout. And he kept going higher and higher. The mountain kept getting rougher and rougher and really very, very hard to find. The second rescue mission involved 155 aircraft, including four bombers, 64 fighters, 48 refueling tankers, 13 rescue aircraft and more. We were bringing them all over and a lot of it was subterfuge. We wanted to have them think he was in a different location because they had a vast military force out there. Thousands of thousands of people were looking. So we wanted them to look in different areas. So we were scattered all over. Like we were right on top of them. We had seven different locations where they thought and they were very confused. They said, well, wait a minute, they've got groups here, they've got groups there. It's an amazing thing. I was listening to these great people, these great generals, General Raisin Cain, who's amazing, and Pete Hegseth was amazing. But I listened to the whole thing. It was pretty amazing. So they had all these different sites where everybody thought he was located. We think we have him over there because they have nine planes circling a little area that's 25 miles down the coast. So in a breathtaking show of skill and precision, lethality and force, America's military descended on the area, the real area, engaged the enemy, rescued the stranded officer, destroyed all threats, and exited Iranian territory while taking no casualties of any kind. The heroic F15 weapons system officer had evaded capture on the ground in Iran for almost 48 hours. That's a long time when you're tough shape and when you're bleeding. It's a long time when, when we left, as you probably know, we had two large planes, old, pretty old planes that carried a lot. We needed a lot more equipment going in than coming out, obviously, because going in we needed to be able to scale mountains and we had a lot of equipment, but the sand was, it was sandy, wet sand, so we thought there may be a problem taking off because of the weight of the plane. And then we also had all the men jumping back onto the planes and they got pretty well bogged down. And we had a contingency plan which was unbelievable where lighter, faster aircraft came in and they took them out. We blew up the old planes and we blew them up to smithereens because we had equipment on the planes that frankly we'd like to take, but I don't think it was worthwhile spending another four hours there taking it off. So we didn't want anybody to have. We have the best, best equipment anywhere in the world. We didn't want anybody examining our anti aircraft and other equipment. So these were large planes that were old and pretty old and we blew them up and we had faster, lighter planes come in and they were able to land on the sand. We needed the bigger planes because we had so much equipment that we need. We took three helicopters over there which were very strongly used and couldn't have lived without them. They did. They performed unbelievably well. And if you'd see it, you wouldn't believe it. They came off the plane and these guys had them. The, the rotors were off. They rebuilt these helicopters in less than 10 minutes. And that was one of the more amazing things. These are helicopters.

[B]

All right, team, we're going to break in here for a second. Continue to monitor and we'll bring you back live. If Trump is still speaking about this, he's just giving details about the rescue operation, which was incredible and it was successful, thankfully. We'll come back here in just a moment with the president live. Stay with us. Homeowners. You know the dreaded feeling of getting bad news on home repair. A large unexpected bill that maybe you didn't even budget for. We work with a company that provides maintenance for your roof to avoid these really unpleasant surprises. Because a roof gets as much of a workout as any part of your house, but not nearly the attention. So when a roofing company offers you a free inspection to see what's really going on, smart to say yes. Erie Home is the roofing company that makes that offer. Erie home is a 50 year old company specializing in making sure the roof of your house is in excellent shape. Erie Home will inspect your roof for any problems free of charge using a 25 point inspection they developed over their many years in business. If your roof needs replacement, Erie Home offers all kinds of options, including the use of newer metal materials that are made to mimic the look of the roof you are likely to have now. These new metal materials allow your roof to last up to two to three times longer than traditional shingle roofs. With proper care and maintenance, your new roof from Erie Home comes with a 50 year transferable warranty. So if you sell your home, you're providing even more value in the selling process. Schedule your free [e-mail] Bach today and get a discount on the installation price. That's E r I e home.com/buck. This discount is maximized at $1,200. Valid on new roofing installation only. Minimum purchase required and restrictions apply. C rep for warranty or promotional details. Stories of freedom, stories of America.

[C]

Inspirational stories that unite us all each day. Spend time with Clay and Buck. Find them on the free iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, welcome back in Clay Travis by Buck Sexton show Trump still talking about the successful rescue of an American crewman. Let's go back in. We'll hear a couple of minutes here. We're continuing to monitor in the event that there is major news.

[A]

Here's President Trump and it eats planes alive. And we're waiting and we're saying, I hope that one can land and take off. And they came in like magic. Boom, boom, boom, one after another. It was like genius. So impressed by that because we were a little concerned. We said, boy, if they don't get in and get up fast, we're sitting in the. And that's called Iran prime, right, General. That's, that's where the whole bed is. And here we are sitting there waiting for a plane. But they came in so fast and so hard, and these guys knew exactly what. Let's go. Come on, get in. Let's go. Poirot they came one right after another. Not at the same time. They don't want to come at the same time. They had to come right after each other. They didn't have any room. There was barely any room to land. Tiny little patch of very wet earth and sand. So I just, I'm so proud of the people that I have standing up here with me and many others that worked. I mean, so many. Steve Witkoff's over here. He's doing fantastically. Jared Kushner. But the people that are here, the job they did is amazing. And I think I'm going to introduce the head of the CIA, and he is a man who, he's central casting. Okay. If we cast a movie, he's going to play the head of the CIA. He's one of the few. John Ratcliffe, he, he did a phenomenal job that night. He did something that, I don't know if you want to talk about it. If you want, you can. I'm not sure he's supposed to I'm not going to talk about it. But he really. The CIA was very responsible for finding this little speck. It's like they used an expression on one of the shows a general was talking about. It's like finding a needle in a haystack, finding this pilot. And the CIA was unbelievable. And you may, if you can, you'll talk. It might be classified, in which case I'd have to put him in jail if he talks about it. And I don't want to put him in jail. He doesn't deserve that. So, John, do you want to say a few words? Thank you.

[D]

Thank you, Mr. President. It's a privilege to be here with you today to share what we can about this exceptional mission and to recognize the ingenuity and bravery of those who executed it, as well as the leadership and resolve of the President who ordered it. One thing that has been clear to me in this role is that the flawless military operations that the Department of War is known for are hostage to flawless intelligence. We saw that in the skies over Iran in Operation Midnight Hammer last summer. We witnessed it in Venezuela during Operation Absolute Resolve. We've seen it against the cartels in the Western hemisphere and we're seeing it every day.

[C]

Okay, we will.

[D]

Operation Epic Fury.

[C]

Okay, we will come back in and continue to monitor this. The CIA director now speaking about the successful rescue of the, of the crewman, the second one. And I would imagine we may get some proverbial news fireworks in some of the questions that may come. But so far not a lot of news about the deadline that Iran is facing. But some cyber scammers like to impersonate the IRS at this time of year before April 15th. Their opportunity to call and claim you owe back taxes. Try to trick you before it's too late. They get all sorts of information from data breaches. And if you become a victim of identity theft, a dedicated US based restoration specialist at Lifelock will fix it, guaranteed or your money back. It's easy to help protect yourself with Lifelock. Join now and save 40% off your first year with my name, Clay as the promo code 1-800-Lifelock. You can also go online to lifelock.com and promo code Clay that C, L a Y for 40% off lifelock.com promo code Clay for 40% off terms apply lifelock.com promo code clay welcome back into Clay and Buck.

[B]

So we just had the President with us. Well, you carried the President. They live on the air. He's talking about really just taking a well deserved victory lap for the United States military. You know, Clay, one thing that people were talking about with the recovery of the second airman, a weapons officer. So I believe technically not. There's the pilot, there's the weapons officer. If I get that wrong, my father in law, who's a fighter pilot himself, will call in and yell at me. But the reality of why we leave no man behind and what that means for esprit de corps and for the overall sense of brotherhood that our military has, the willingness to go out there, whether it's up in the sky, on the ground or in the, in the water, to go and fight for this country, it's deeply, you know, I can just speak from reading the accounts of. But also understanding historically and from a strategic esprit de corps perspective, it's so important for our military members to know that when they are left behind, we will go all out, that our military will go all out. The commander in chief will make it the top priority, the top national security priority of the country for 48 hours to get you back. And that is in the minds of everyone who goes into harm's way, that for anyone who is stepping, stepping out downrange, whatever it is they're doing, that means that they know that they're not going to be left there. And, and that really does matter a lot because I saw people saying, well, we, you know, we had, we had an A10 that took a lot of damage. A10 Warthog, which is another plane. 90% of you know this. But for the 10 who don't, another plane, very heavy armament plane that does close air support a lot of the time. Pretty impressive airframe, by the way, can take a beating and give a beating, unlike a lot of planes. And then there were other planes also that, as the President mentioned, we had to leave behind and blow up. People are saying all this for one man. You're damn right. That is the ethos of our military. We, whatever gear it takes, whatever the mission set has to be to save one of ours who is down behind enemy lines, we will do it.

[C]

It's 100% the right decision. But the thing that is particularly pernicious about anyone who is trying to call that into question is, is if President Trump had said, you know what, the risk of materiel is too significant, we'll let Iran get this guy, they would have ripped him to shreds for allowing this prisoner to be taken.

[B]

Right?

[C]

So it isn't even an honest criticism because if the reverse had happened, all of you know that they would have ripped Trump for allowing that to happen. And what I was thinking when this news came out late Saturday night, Buck, is thank the Lord, because this guy would have been beaten. I don't know if he would have survived. And Iran would have used him for propaganda the likes of which, frankly, we haven't seen in a very, very long time. So the fact that we've been able to be in a position where essentially we've had nearly. When you consider the scope of the activities that we have been engaged in, Buck, that we would have done all of this with only 13 deaths is, is pretty incredible. And I, and I mentioned earlier in the program that you're more likely to have been murdered in Chicago than killed by the Iranian military since we began this engagement. And there also is, if you remember when we withdrew from Afghanistan, Joe Biden, and that disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, which left behind tens of billions of dollars in material, we didn't even light the stuff on fire then. We just handed it off to the Taliban. We left behind so much mechanized warfare for them. And we lost 13 people because the suicide bomber got close enough to that chaos and killed 13 innocent Americans that were just trying to evacuate from Afghanistan. So Trump has engaged in a full military operation for over a month and we have had 13 loss, lives lost, which again, we wish there was zero. But in terms of organization, Biden lost 13 trying to leave Afghanistan just in the space of a couple of days.

[B]

We either buy into the underlying thesis of Trump's military action here, I think, or not. And that's really the point of separation for so many. You either think it is entirely, from a US national security perspective, unacceptable to continue to have the probability, not the certainty, but the probability of an Iranian nuclear weapon hanging over our heads. I honestly believe that this came down to Trump. Just got tired of their, of their, their bs and he knew that with the Iranians, the way things were going there, you know, you see this, right, with the elites and the, the, the grand niece here who's running around in, you know, Mercedes and at fancy places and five star hotels and everything else. The elites in a country like Iran, they're always fine. The people at the top of the oppression pyramid. Yeah, they can hunker down. They'll be, they'll, they'll still have access to whatever oil they can sell on the black market and everything. So they're fine with the suffering of the Iranian people. If anything, Clay, I think the suffering they view as advantageous to them because it keeps people in line, it keeps them in check, and it actually sometimes even consolidates support behind oppressive regimes because, you know, suffering is solidarity or suffering in solidarity. So there's the reality of a Trump administration that just decided we have to change the game here because we can't allow this to continue as it is. And that's for national security reasons, because an Iran that has nukes is going to be working against US Interests in the Middle east, knowing that this can't happen. And what does that look like? You know, how is it that we could have averted a situation where you have, for example, North Korea with conventional armaments as well as nuclear weapons ready to go at a moment's notice and essentially annihilate all of South Korea? You know, this, this is not a, this is not something people say, oh, well, but doesn't that show that we can have stability? I mean, if you're willing to say that it's OK that people have to live with that sword of Damocles hanging over their head, that a whole nation really, the whole world has to deal with that Trump decided, enough, enough of these psychos, we're going to do something about it now at the cost that you're talking about right now. It's a very hard thing. It's a very hard thing for anyone, Clay, who's not themselves in harm's way to discuss the loss of life in pursuit of a national security or strategic end without sounding like. Easy for you to say, right? So I think it's worth noting that we're sitting here in comfortable studios in America, in our beautiful and safe country, talking about the loss of life that we have suffered. 13 people overseas serving this country, and every one of those losses is a gut punch and is horrible for the family. And those are precious lives. Those are our fellow Americans. They are serving in the military with the understanding or they were serving and they died as heroes with the understanding that if the commander in chief truly believes action must be taken to save many American lives over the longer term, that's what they're willing to do. Right? Because otherwise we're not willing to take any military action unless we're effectively invaded. Because you could always lose a life. You could lose a life in a training flight. I mean, this is going to happen. We actually. One of the most stunning statistics that I ever learned about World War II. I know you're on a big World War II kick right now, Clay. I can't remember if it was 15 or 30,000. I think it was 30,000, but it might have been 15,000. Either way, a huge amount of people Lost in the Pacific theater to transport accidents in the air, not to combat. Yeah, people lost effectively in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. We lost thousands and thousands and thousands of people who signed up to serve their country in this second World War because the plane malfunctioned.

[C]

That's what. Yes, that is true. And I'm reading the Rick Atkinson books which are amazing. I'm in the second volume of his three volume trilogy. Started in Africa. Now reading about the war in Italy. Two things I knew nothing about. That's why I think contextualizing loss of life. You are more likely, I mean that's a crazy stat to think about. You are more likely to have been murdered in Chicago since this, since this action began. Then you are to have been killed by the Iranians. If you serve in the United States military. That's crazy stat.

[B]

Over 25, I just did the quick search on AI. 25,844 US air crew died. Now this is I think across now. So that's Pacific and European died from aviation accidents. Non combat related flying from one base to another, from one training to another. Training or practice, you know, going through training.

[C]

25,000 people buck, sometimes they had no idea where they were when weather would come in. I mean we think about technology now where planes are always aware of exactly where they are. A lot of times they had no idea where they were because if the weather was bad they have to duck down and try to look and gain, you know, figure out where they were because they didn't have the longitudinal, longitudinal latitudinal skills to be able by the way, couple of breaking news from when Pete Hegseth was talking and General Raisin Cain is speaking right now, they're still talking about primarily the mission to rescue. Pete Hegseth said tomorrow today's will be the largest volume of strikes on Iran so far and tomorrow will be more than today. So that is some news. And he also said Pete Hegseth did that. The mission to rescue was authorized by Trump within two hours in the middle of the night. You know, Trump doesn't sleep as those of you who follow his Truth social account understand. The guy still at 80 years old, sleeps two or three hours a night. It feels like in many ways, you know, Joe Biden, all he did was sleep, which by the way is pretty normal for 80 year olds. So there's obviously a lot of range. But Trump according to Hegseth almost immediately in the middle of the night was saying yes, go get this guy.

[B]

And you know, and I know Clay from Knowing Secretary Hegseth on a personal level, the moment that he knows that there's someone behind enemy lines who needs rescue, I can tell you without being privy to the conversation, but I would say with certainty, Pete, Pete's response is, whatever it takes. Anything you need, get it done.

[C]

Get him.

[B]

Yeah, whatever it takes.

[C]

And so we will continue to update you on this, by the way, markets not really moving very much, which suggests at least so far there has not been much news. Now we will, I actually think, Buck, the news may come if President Trump takes questions. Oh, he's already talked. We played those for you from the Easter egg roll earlier. It may come if he takes questions at the end of these public comments. And again, General Kane speaking right now. And we've got a couple more cuts to play for you from inside of the White House where the press briefing is still underway.

[B]

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[C]

Anything goes.

[B]

Clay Travis and Buck Sexton.

[C]

Find them on the free iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back in Clay Travis, Buck Sexton show. Okay, we said we would monitor what was being said. President President Trump. Now back talking. Here are a couple of cuts that have been going on every network carrying the president and Hegseth and CIA Director and General Kane all throughout the course of this hour. Here is CIA Director John Ratcliffe about the successful extrication extrication of the crew member.

[D]

In addition to the human and technical assets deployed by the president to find our airman, CIA executed a deception campaign to confuse the Iranians who were desperately hunting for our airmen. On Saturday morning, we achieved our primary objective by finding and providing confirmation that one of America's best and bravest was alive and concealed in a mountain crevice still invisible to the enemy, but not to the CIA. That confirmation was relayed by Secretary Hegseth to the president and the operation quickly moved to the execution phase. Following the successful exfiltration on Saturday night, our intelligence reflects that the Iranians were embarrassed and ultimately humiliated by the success of this audacious rescue mission.

[C]

Okay, that's the CIA director Buck. Here is Pete Hegseth, Secretary of War, saying, here's what happened when this guy was downed, how we knew that he was okay, what his message was. Cut 36 when he was finally able

[D]

to activate his emergency transponder, his first message was simple and it was powerful. He sent a message, God is good. In that moment of isolation and danger, his faith and fighting spirit shone through. You see, shot down on a Friday, Good Friday. Hidden in a cave, a crevice all of Saturday and rescued on Sunday, flown out of Iran as the sun was rising on Easter Sunday. A pilot reborn, all home and accounted for. A nation rejoicing God is good.

[C]

So that is Pete Hegseth putting it in the context of what was quite the Easter weekend for so many members of our military and special forces buck. President Trump is now taking questions. As we said a little bit ago, that is likely where news may well come. And Pete Hegseth said also that again, today was going to be the highest amount of bombs that we have dropped on Iran, and tomorrow could be more than that.

[B]

It seems to me like the strategy here is to unleash so much punishment that the people in charge in Iran finally concede. And essentially their concession would be a nearly unconditional surrender. I don't know. I don't know if they're going to do it. These. You got some real hardline wackadoos who are still left behind in this country. I look, I just hope, I hope that the president's able to punish them from the air. Historically, punishing an enemy like this into submission from the air is a very, very difficult and unlikely thing to accomplish. But we have the best air power in the history of the universe, so or not including God, but in the history of Earth. So there you go.

[C]

When we come back, we'll give you more on this talk.

[A]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[B]

Guaranteed Human.