Team 47 - Baby Snakes Bite Too

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show

Episode: Team 47 – Baby Snakes Bite Too
Date: March 15, 2026
Hosts: Clay Travis & Buck Sexton
Podcast Network: iHeartPodcasts

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Overview

In this highly charged episode, Clay Travis and Buck Sexton dive deep into urgent international and domestic security issues. Their primary focus is the ongoing crisis in Iran following the U.S. and Israeli aerial campaign, questions of Iranian leadership succession, and a wave of domestic jihadist-motivated terror attacks in the U.S. The hosts blend military and political analysis, critiques of media narratives, and Second Amendment perspectives, all delivered in their trademark mix of intensity, skepticism, and humor.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Iranian Situation: Leadership Crisis and U.S. Strategy

• Trump’s Statement & U.S. Leverage:
  Clay opens by quoting Trump from an Axios interview:

  “Anytime I want the war to end, it will end.” (03:53, Clay referencing Trump).
  They discuss the degree of U.S. control and Trump's leverage over ending the conflict.

• Who Can Lead Iran Now?
  Clay questions if the newly named supreme leader, Moktaba Khamenei (often humorously mispronounced), is acceptable or even alive.

  “If he is still alive, it is a non starter that he could be the leader left in charge in Iran… I would not blame him. I would want America to die on a level… that would burn in my soul for the rest of my life.” (05:43, Clay)
  Buck adds that regime change seems unlikely, and that the situation may breed even more virulent leadership:
  “You’ve done a lot of this study. Terrorists who are wounded and don’t die often end up being the most virulent of terrorists.” (06:46, Clay paraphrasing Buck’s earlier studies)

• Military Tactics & Regime Stability:
  Buck assesses U.S. and Israeli “aerial superiority,” noting Iran’s military has been greatly degraded but doubts the endgame:

  “There is no Northern Alliance to work with the Kurds... We have defanged the snake, but there are going to be little baby snakes that grow fangs in time after this.” (09:27, Buck)

• Succession Theatrics & Propaganda:
  The hosts highlight the oddity of Iran parading a cardboard cutout of Moktaba Khamenei as their new leader:

  “That’s like the opposite of a proof of life when they have the cardboard cutout of you at the rally. No, no, that doesn’t look good.” (14:33, Buck)
  They cite doubts from the Washington Post’s Jason Rezaian, playing a clip questioning if anyone actually knows if Moktaba is alive or in shape to lead (15:05–15:44).

• Iranian Tactics: Human Shields & Western Media:
  Clay and Buck note Iran’s moving of assets into schools and hospitals, predicting the West will be criticized for collateral damage despite Iran’s grim record:

  “Iran has moved whatever assets they have remaining for the state into schools, into residential areas…” (10:01, Clay)

2. Domestic Terror Attacks: Jihadist Threats & Media Narratives

• Recent Attacks & Patterns:
  They describe four recent jihadist-motivated attacks in the U.S.—Austin, TX; NYC; Old Dominion University (VA); and near Detroit, MI—tying them to fallout from the Iran conflict.

  “Four different Muslim fundamentalist motivated terror attacks in the space of about two weeks. It feels unlikely to me this is the end of it, Buck.” (21:35, Clay)

• Media & Political Reactions:
  Buck sarcastically predicts legacy media will continue to downplay the jihadist motivation:

  “The New York Times… will remind us that while all the terrorist attacks that are actually happening are Islamic radicals, the real threat… remains white supremacy.” (22:40, Buck)
  Clay agrees, referencing repeated Democratic talking points:
  “…the focal point of Biden’s presidency was arguing the biggest danger that we all face…” (22:58, Clay)
  Buck points out that terrorism is about ideology, not race:
  “Islam is an ideology. It’s not a skin color. It’s not a race. They always try to conflate those things…” (24:20, Buck)

3. Armed Response and Second Amendment Issues

• Heroism in the Face of Terror:
  They honor Lt. Col. Brandon Shaw, an ROTC professor at Old Dominion killed trying to stop an attacker, praising swift and brave responses that limited casualties:

  “The victim of the terror attack at Old Dominion… Lt. Col. Brandon Shaw… his students disarmed and killed the attacker.” (34:21, Clay)

• Value of Armed Security:
  Both hosts champion armed security in schools and religious institutions, calling it crucial for deterrence and response:

  “If you don’t have armed security, even if you rush a shooter like this, a lot of lives are going to be lost…” (38:17, Buck)

• Gun Ownership as a Civic Duty:
  The hosts stress the law-abiding nature of licensed gun owners, debunking anti-gun rhetoric:

  “If you have a legal permit to own a gun, your rate of criminal violation is infinitely lower than the average American…” (45:41, Clay)
  Buck notes,
  “CCW holders have fewer infractions of law per capita than law enforcement…” (46:18, Buck)

• Democratic Policy Critique:
  Buck ridicules “gun free zones” and delayed permitting processes, calling them “idiot rules:”

  “These are idiotic rules. And people still push them. Like, guns are scary. They go bang. Bang is loud. Loud is scary. They know nothing.” (43:57, Buck)

4. The “Kharg Island” Oil Play

• Speculation on Military Strategy:
  Clay floats the idea of U.S. or Israeli special forces seizing Iran’s key oil production facility on Kharg Island as a way to cut off resources:

  “Israeli and U.S. special forces could seize the island of oil production and basically end any ability of Iran to have control…” (31:58, Clay)
  Buck gives context on Iran's oil infrastructure: “Kharg island is essentially where all of the processing of oil… and you're talking about almost a billion barrels of oil a year there.” (32:44, Buck)

5. Politics, Zealous Advocacy & Law

• David Boies’ Editorial:
  The hosts mention a surprising Wall Street Journal piece by prominent liberal lawyer David Boies supporting Trump’s Iran operation, debating his credibility due to his role in the Theranos scandal (26:55–28:39).

• Encouraging Advocacy Across Perspectives:
  Clay shares about a personal donation to Vanderbilt Law to support a diversity of political perspectives in legal education and services for veterans (28:39, Clay).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “We have defanged the snake, but there are going to be little baby snakes that grow fangs in time after this.”
  (09:27, Buck Sexton) – on the dangers of short-term military victories without political solutions.

• “That’s like the opposite of a proof of life when they have the cardboard cut out of you at the rally. No, no, that doesn’t look good.”
  (14:33, Buck Sexton) – on Iran’s theatrical succession announcement.

• “Islam is an ideology. It’s not a skin color. It’s not a race… No one’s sitting here saying, you know what the real threat of terrorism is right now, all the Buddhists in America. Oh my gosh, I’m so scared of them.”
  (24:20, Buck Sexton) – critiquing media and political conflation of racial and ideological issues.

• “If you don’t have armed security… a lot of lives are going to be lost in that process. And instead, no innocent life was lost in the process. It’s just a reminder, the good guy with a gun thing that Democrats still sneer at.”
  (38:17, Buck Sexton) – on the value of being prepared to defend against attacks.

• “If you have a legal permit to own a gun, your rate of criminal violation is infinitely lower than the average American is. Gun owners are the most law abiding community on the planet.”
  (45:41, Clay Travis) – on responsible gun ownership.

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Important Timestamps by Segment

• 03:53: Introduction of Trump’s statement on Iran and the question of acceptable Iranian leadership
• 04:47–06:50: Discussion on Moktaba Khamenei's legitimacy and personal loss
• 09:27: “Defanging the snake” & worries of future terror leadership
• 14:33: Using a cardboard cutout as proof of life for Iran’s new “leader”
• 15:05–15:44: Washington Post’s Jason Rezaian audio questioning Iran’s succession authenticity
• 21:35–24:20: Recap of recent U.S. jihadist attacks & critique of media/prevalent narratives
• 34:21: Memorializing Lt. Col. Brandon Shaw’s heroism
• 38:17: Security responses and the importance of “the good guy with a gun”
• 45:41–46:18: Legal gun ownership and criminality statistics

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Tone and Style

The show maintains its forthright, irreverent, and critical tone, mixing gallows humor (“little baby snakes”), policy analysis, and wry cultural commentary. Clay is direct and analogical, while Buck often brings intelligence and military context, philosophical asides, and mockery of perceived political naivete.

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Conclusion

This episode is a comprehensive, fast-paced examination of geopolitics, terrorism, and the culture wars around national security and the Second Amendment. Clay and Buck dissect the Iranian leadership crisis, connect it to rising terrorism at home, and staunchly defend the need for vigilance and armed defense. With sharp jabs at media narratives and policymaker decisions, the episode serves as a concentrated snapshot of right-leaning critique and concern at a moment of global and domestic insecurity.

Transcript

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[Clay Travis]

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[Buck Sexton]

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[Clay Travis]

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and Buck starts now.

[Clay Travis]

There are quotes from President Trump via Axios, a conversation that he had, and I grabbed one of those quotes. It's not audio, but President Trump told Axios, anytime I want the war to end, it will end. And Buck, I think that is likely true. And here is to me still the big question that we have been asking since this all started. Who is the acceptable leader for Iran that would allow this situation in Iran to end in some way with the understanding that we would now at least the Iranians would know that at any point in time we could decapitate their leader. If this son of Khomeini is still alive, Moktaba, or however you pronounce his

[Buck Sexton]

name much, you got to say it like, say it like much.

[Clay Travis]

If he's still alive, I like the

[Buck Sexton]

way you say it.

[Clay Travis]

I I'm not an accent guy. I can't do accents. I can do do my voice and that's pretty much it. So if he's still alive, which I think is very much in question because they're dancing around with cardboard cutouts of him. If you didn't see that as the representation of their new leader, here is what I would say. If he is still alive and if he is able to recover. Because there are reports that if he is still alive, that he is severely Injured and was. Was harmed quite a lot in the. In the blast that took place to begin this, this onslaught in Iran. His dad, his son, his wife and his mom were reportedly all killed in the one of those opening attacks. Let me just put this to you, Buck, and to all of you out there. Would you be very fond or willing to work in an expeditious and pleasing fashion if a country killed your dad, your mom, your wife and your son? I would submit to you that if he is still alive, it is a non starter that he could be the leader left in charge in Iran because I would not blame him. I would want America to die on a level that frankly or any other country that did this on a level that would burn in my soul for the rest of my life. I think this could actually be worse because it's, you know, you wounded, you didn't kill a terrorist. That doesn't seem ideal. There's. You've done a lot of this study. Terrorists who are wounded and don't die often end up being the most virulent of. Of terrorists in their future years. So I would start with this. Him being in charge is unacceptable. And so I don't know if we have a leader that is acceptable, but I would say if he's alive, he is an unacceptable heir to the Iranian leadership.

[Buck Sexton]

I think that we have seen the total military intelligence and particularly aerial superiority of the United States and Israel on display and substantial, a substantial diminishing of Iranian capability, particularly to make war of any kind outside of its own borders. I am not seeing anything about there's some other faction or somewhat some other group that could theoretically oversee a transition, take over. And so what I think is going to continue to be the case, Clay, is we have our Department of War and Secretary Hegseth and Trump degrading Iranian military capability and taking out senior targets. I do not see how this turns into a different regime at the end of it. And I felt that way the whole time. I. Now perhaps that is what was baked in all along. We're being told that regime change was never. The administration is saying regime change was not the goal. Okay, you're taking out all the leadership in this country and then you're going to have to your point, perhaps a more virulent leadership coming right beneath you.

[Clay Travis]

Justified, furious. Like, leave aside the politics again, everybody out there, just think if someone you knew killed your mom, your dad, your son and your wife, would you be likely to work in a, in a positive manner with that country or that group ever? I think the answer is no.

[Buck Sexton]

Yeah, that's, that's obviously the correct assessment on that. So I think we're gonna have a declare, declare victory and cease aerial hostilities moment here within the next couple of weeks. I don't know when exactly. I'm obviously not on the high side, as we used to say. I don't have access to classified or any of that. And if I did, I wouldn't be talking about it here on radio. But my sense is that they're just going to realize the problem with our position on all this, our military position is that if you can't force, if you don't have a ground force, you can't force change on the ground. And that is where we are. There is no Northern alliance to work with the Kurds. There's not enough of them. They don't want to get, I mean, they can't run the whole country. And that's a non starter notice. People talked about the Kurds for about 24 hours until they took out a map and learned the basic demographics. We had that guy who was a military, military adviser in northern Iraq, one of our listeners who wrote in and said, yeah, you're right. Yeah, of course I was up there too. I know, I know the mindset of the Kurds with this stuff. They don't want any part of trying to police the rest of Iran. They couldn't do it on top of all that. So I don't see, I don't see the way that this ends with a hopeful new future for Iran. I see this as we have defanged the snake, but there are going to be little baby snakes that grow fangs in time after this. That's, that's how I, I don't see what the alternative is.

[Clay Travis]

There also is the question, and I think this matters too. And I believe we have a cut of this, of other people talking about something that is being speculated quite significantly. It is, is the son actually alive? In other words, is this potentially an opportunity that Iran has taken to try and prevent the new leader from getting killed by actually elevating a leader who's already dead? And there's audio of that. I want to play that in a sec. But Buck, the other part of this is if he is still alive, he may be protected from being able to be attacked because if they have him in a hospital, it's hard to take out someone in a hospital without killing a lot of other people. And then the same media that didn't care when Iran killed 30,000 people is suddenly going to be leading Stories with, look at Israel and the United States targeting people in hospitals or they got the guy being treated. As you're starting to see, Iran has moved whatever assets they have remaining for the state into schools, into residential areas, so that when we are attempting to strike these assets, then they immediately cry, oh, look, they're just targeting innocents. As if this, this regime has any moral authority at all, given the fact that they killed over 30,000 protesters just in the beginning of this year.

[Buck Sexton]

We've seen this in authoritarian Muslim, Mideast states for decades where the regime in charge. You have to remember that the regime in charge not only disallows there to be political opposition, they also recognize if they lose power. I mean, you just Talked about the 30,000 protesters killed in the streets.

[Clay Travis]

Yes.

[Buck Sexton]

You got to think if you are a member of the besieged, which is the ir, which is the Islamic Revolution's militia, if you will, the sort of street militia, street thugs. They had a very similar thing in Syria, I might add, called the shabiha. This is a common thing. You have the military, which you make sure is ideologically committed and radicalized to the overall cause of, you know, Islamism, jihadism. And then below that, you have this paramilitary organization that's meant to know block to block, house to house who's doing what. And they have the total blessing of the state to be as vicious and disgusting and tyrannical as they want, as long as it's serving the interests of the state. Clay those individuals. You have to always remember this, though. I know we've said there's an amnesty for the irgc. Ok, well, that means that we're saying put down your arms and we won't blow you up. You brought up what happens if someone kills your, you know, your wife, your, your, your parents, your kids, all of the above. You're going to forget that. You're going to, if you're now part of the new regime, you're going to say, hey, when you guys killed those 30,000 protesters, you know what? Let's let bygones be bygones. No, in fact, the Gaddafi effect is you better stay in power or you may up with a bayonet in a very uncomfortable place, like bad things happen. And so it's zero sum for the people in Iran who have been running the country. You got America killing their leadership and you've got whatever the opposition on the street could be, the Iranian street, if you will. If they come into power, they, at a minimum, you got to think you might be going to prison in some Hellhole, and maybe even worse than that. So my point, Clay, is don't fight to the very end. There's no off ramp for them as far as they see. And that's not even taking into account the ideological commitment to stopping the Crusaders and Jews and all the, you know, death to America, Great Satan stuff. That's just the basic card, cold hard political reality of the situation they face. Which is why I was hoping that we would start to see a. Oh, wow, there is some kind of door number two here or there is something that they've got planned. No, we're just completely annihilating their military capacity. And then I think we're going to stop and then we might have to do this again. It's going to be like mowing the grass, but it's a lot more expensive and human and monetary costs than mowing the grass.

[Clay Travis]

And also, again, the question becomes who is even leading Iran? And I think this is the question. The new supreme leader, who they trotted out with cardboard cutout at the rally, which doesn't suggest that he's actually that health. Help. Help.

[Buck Sexton]

Yeah, that's like the opposite of a proof of life when they have the cardboard cut out of you at the rally. No, no, that doesn't look good.

[Clay Travis]

A lot of you also were laughing in the comments. You were saying, hey, maybe we shouldn't criticize Iran that much about showing up with a cardboard cutout since we effectively had a cardboard cutout president for. Which is. Fair point.

[Buck Sexton]

Yeah, fair point.

[Clay Travis]

But here's the Washington Post, Jason Rezahan saying what I think is really being contemplated at a significant level. Is this guy even alive? Cut 12.

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I wasn't super surprised by his election. There's been a lot of talk that he might succeed his father when his father died. This, this speculation has been around for more than a decade. I also wonder if the fact that we haven't seen him indicates that he

[Buck Sexton]

might not be alive.

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I mean, I don't think that there's a clear indication that that anyone has spoken to him. The President of Iran, Masif, said today that neither he nor anyone else in his government had spoken with the younger Khamenei since he was appointed Supreme Leader on Sunday. So there is still so much confusion around this.

[Clay Travis]

And Buck, it could be, again, an opportunity to make it seem as if he is the leader when it makes it harder to target the actual leader. And there may be a relatively only handful of people that even know whether he's alive or not. But when you name a new supreme leader and he isn't going to be seen. That definitely raises questions about what his health actually is.

[Buck Sexton]

We'll take your calls on this one. It's getting to the point where I think a lot of people are running out of patience on the plan here, whatever it may be. And I mean people who support Trump. I'm not talking about Trump haters, but maybe. Look, the polling has said this pretty consistently, Clay. As long as this is done this month, people are like, ok, maybe it was necessary. They know they're on a tight Our team is on a timeline with this and it's a tight timeline.

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[Clay Travis]

47 with Clay and Buck. Yet another early morning press conference from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth laying out all the particulars that is dominating discussion as we begin the day here on the Friday edition of the program. We're gonna go out to California at the top of the next hour just to give you a heads up. The primary in California is getting closer and closer. Steve Hilton, Republican Candidate there. The top two advance regardless of party. We will discuss all of that. And what is a free for all absolute donnybrook that has broken out in California? What is the latest there on who might be the next governor to replace Gavin Newsom? But Buck, I think we began where we basically ended yesterday's show with the news coming of it officially, as we told you, it was likely to be having been yet another terror attack. Two different terror attacks happening yesterday. One in Virginia at Old Dominion. We'll get into some of the details there. Brave ROTC students were able to disarm and kill the would be terrorist with their bare hands and that is pretty remarkable. We will talk about it. One loss of life there. We will certainly honor that loss of life as well. In West Bloomfield, Michigan just outside of Detroit, a clear attempted terror attack. A good guy with a gun ended it and took and killed the life of the would be Terrorist. But coming on the heels of Austin, Texas, where a guy in an Iran shirt and a pro Islam sweatshirt on top of that killed two innocent people and wounded several others, you then have the situation in New York City where two would be ISIS sympathizers tried to throw IEDs outside of Gracie Mansion in New York City, which fortunately did not go off. And now we are sitting here with Austin, Texas, New York City, Old Dominion University in Virginia and just outside of Detroit in Michigan. Four different Muslim fundamentalist motivated terror attacks in the space of about two weeks. It feels unlikely to me that this is the end of it, Buck. And you joined the CIA some time ago specifically to help catch the bad guys after 9 11. So you are particularly well versed in this. What is your reaction now that we have what we suggested was likely to be the case, but now have complete confirmation that all four of these attacks have the same motive in place as the war in Iran continues. What would CIA analyst Buck Sexton be doing this morning if he was in Langley?

[Buck Sexton]

Well, I think we can count on the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN and others to remind us that while all the terrorist attacks that are actually happening are Islamic radicals, the real threat of terrorism in this country remains white supremacy. That's the real threat we need to

[Clay Travis]

which is is was the focal point of Biden's presidency was arguing the biggest danger that we all face. For those of you who have forgotten for years, constantly gave us multi years of that argument.

[Buck Sexton]

And I just think that we're one Islamic jihadist. Or I guess that's kind of repetitive because all jihadists are Islamic. But one jihadist terror attack away from some guy, instead of yelling Allahu Akbar before he hits the plunger on the suicide vest, maybe he'll scream out the real terrorist threat is white supremacy. Kaboom. I just wonder at what point the Democrats will have to reassess. Reassess. The big white supremacist threat, by the way, per capita is also something that tends to challenge the left and Democrats tremendously. They have no understanding of this whatsoever. They compare the overall threat of Islamic terrorism and the overall threat of white supremacist terrorism in this country. They also always leave out there are 5 million, 6 million Muslims in the country, maybe 7 million, something like that. I don't even know how many white people there are. 150 million, 180 million. I don't even know. So the fact that you're even having a conversation about where does the real threat of. And I just want to be very Clear.

[Clay Travis]

There are jihadists who are white.

[Buck Sexton]

It's actually not about race at all. But the Democrats don't understand that. They have no, you know, remember the guy who was captured was fighting for the Taliban. Like that can happen too. Islam is an ideology. It's not a skin color. It's not a race. They always try to conflate those things because they know that if they can make it about racism, well then everyone's, oh my gosh, it's not racism, it's about an ideology. Ok? No one's sitting here saying, you know what the real threat of terrorism is right now, all the Buddhists in America, oh my gosh, I'm so scared of them. Has nothing to do with skin color, has to do with ideology. And this is exactly what you would expect after, remember, it's not just American strikes on Iran. It is American Israeli strikes, American slash and Israeli strikes on Iran. And so the fact that Israel is just blowing up Iranian stuff left and right too, that really sets off the jihadi community. And looking at the Iran situation, Clay, today, I know Hegseh talked about it. We have some more. Well, you know what? Here, let's have, here's Secretary War. This is Cut one. The not so supreme leader, he says of Modjtaba Lil Mountain, as Clay calls it. This is Cut one. Play it.

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Ron's leadership is in no better shape. Desperate and hiding. They've gone underground.

[Buck Sexton]

Cowering.

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That's what rats do. We know the new so called not so supreme leader is wounded and likely disfigured. He put out a statement yesterday, a weak one actually, but there was no voice and there was no video. It was a written statement. He called for unity. Apparently killing tens of thousands of protesters is his kind of unity. Iran has plenty of cameras and plenty of voice recorders. Why a written statement? I think you know why. His father dead, he's scared, he's injured, he's on the run and he lacks legitimacy. It's a mess for them. Who's in charge. Iran may not even know.

[Buck Sexton]

Now this is on the good side of things, Clay, that we're just, there's no military counterpunch from Iran whatsoever. The concerning side of this or the side of this, I think everybody needs to understand as well. The Iranians, he said this. The Iranian leadership now they're fully hiding under in bunkers and they're not meeting in any kind of consolidated place and they're just going to ride this thing out. And there's no opposition taking to the streets. So the regime is not changing everyone. The regime is not changing. We just have a defanged, temporarily Iranian regime. Maybe they'll have a different approach to the next round of negotiations, but I do not see regime change happening here. Now, some of you will be, I think, happy with that, because it also means no US Boots on the ground and a limited mission.

[Clay Travis]

Clay, I read this morning, getting ready for the show, a couple of different angles that I thought were super interesting that we could dive into a little bit later in the program. One, David Boies, who is probably the foremost trial attorney who is a Democrat in terms of intellectual heft and success in the country, whatever you think about his politics, wrote a great editorial in the Wall Street Journal saying Democrats need to stop reflexively being opposed to President Trump, that it's actually a really good thing that we went into Iran. And he lays out a very strong argument. I thought, and I was impressed that he did it. Did you see this? Because I do think it's a little bit of an interesting shift. You don't.

[Buck Sexton]

I think you have more respect for boys because of his lawyer success than I tend to, given that he served as a board member and counsel for Theranos, the fraudulent blood testing company, and basically threatened to go after Wall Street Journal reporters who were trying to unearth that Theranos was a giant fraud. So he. He got taken in by that whole thing, I guess. But every.

[Clay Travis]

Everybody did, it seems if you go read that book, Bad Blood, it's one of the great books that's been written in a long.

[Buck Sexton]

But REM Is like the bad guy who shows up in the Wall Street Journal's offices and is like, everything we've done, everything Theranos did, is on the up and up. We're going to go after you. So I'm just saying, Clay, you're being very nice about this guy. That's a pretty sketchy. Sketchy.

[Clay Travis]

I would want the most zealous advocate possible. And I think that's what he sees his role as.

[Buck Sexton]

This is lawyer Clay. This is the look. You could represent the head of the mob. And Clay's like, hey, everybody needs counsel.

[Clay Travis]

Hey, everybody needs. In fact, there's news that's just gone out. I put my money where my mouth is. Laura and I have made a big donation to Vanderbilt Law School that is predicated on the idea that every different perspective, because a lot of conservative perspectives are ridiculed in the law right now, should be taught in law school, and that lots of people who are military should have the ability when they finish their service to go get a law degree. So we're putting our money where our mouth is on this so that we have zealous advocacy. So putting aside that argument, here's something I think that is interesting that is starting to be floated as well. The idea that Little Mo, that is the, that is the son of, of obviously the ayatollah who was killed, that actually we are negotiating with different elements of Iran that are more moderate. I'm curious if you would buy this. And inside of Iran they are using this guy who may not even be able to speak based on the significant injuries that have occurred to him. And Hegseth laid out. They didn't put a video, they didn't even have audio of his statement that they released yesterday that they are using him as a figurehead to make it seem like the revolutionary elements of Iran are still in a position of strength, but that in reality there are back channel negotiations going on and we might be setting up some form of relationship there. Do you buy it to CIA analyst Buck by this guy's son being the figurehead who's incapable of communication and very few people know it and there are other individuals who now have risen to power that are interacting with the US that is one theory that is out there.

[Buck Sexton]

I hope that's true. I would bet a large sum of money that that ends up not being the case. I think unfortunately we've done everything that can be done from the sky and there's a hard red line on boots on the ground. And I think it's the right red line to be clear. I agree with that red line. And there's a limit to what you can do from the air. And the Iranians have no. Now they got sucker punched a bit on this. They were not obviously putting all their leadership together. They didn't expect that we would hit them when we did. They didn't expect to get hit in daylight. They didn't expect all of this. So that was pretty incredible. And they didn't know that we knew so much about where they would be. That all said though, this is the, these are the limitations of what you can do when you don't control the ground and we don't control the ground. And the IRGC is still the security apparatus in that country and nobody wants to be the first one to poke their head out their door. Be like, you know, maybe we could do something different here because your head's not going to stay on your shoulders. That's the concern.

[Clay Travis]

The other suggestion that I have seen is that we should take the island with boots on the ground, Delta for style, where they actually produce all the oil and just take control of their ability to produce oil. Because this is kind of crazy. Iran is continuing to produce oil.

[Buck Sexton]

Yeah, you're talking about grabbing Carg Island. I mean, that's, that's some pretty next level stuff.

[Clay Travis]

If we were to. That is. I was doing all my reading, Buck. I was trying to prepare myself. Like, what are the different.

[Buck Sexton]

Very good. You're going deep under this one.

[Clay Travis]

I, well, I'm fascinated by it. I don't have the background of knowledge that you do, so I'm trying to read as much as I can. And there's an idea out there that Israeli and U.S. special forces could seize the island of oil production and basically end any ability of Iran to have control over the ingress or egress of oil. Not dissimilar in some ways to what we did with Venezuela, but just take control of this island and say, hey, we now are the captain of the Iranian oil ship and we determine everything. Because it's kind of crazy to me, Buck. I didn't realize Iran has continued to refine and be shipping oil even as we have been attacking them. I think that would surprise a lot of people.

[Buck Sexton]

I mean, Kharg island is essentially where all of the processing of oil. Remember, there's. You'll hear these things. And I know that some of you are listening to this are like, I've been an oil man for 40 years, Buck. Like, you know a lot more than me. And sorry, I, I'm just assuming the oil men are in Texas. Pardon me, but I know there's other places. But you know, there's some of you that know this stuff backwards and forwards, but you hear things like heavy crude and sweet crude and all this different stuff. This, it has to be refined for it to be usable in the marketplace. Right. It's not just like it pumps out of the ground that it goes right into a car. And 90% of, of of Iranian oil is processed at Carg Island. And you're talking about almost a billion barrels of oil a year there. Right. So if you are, you don't have to stop the oil from being pumped out of the ground, nor do you have to touch the oil infrastructure that does that, which would be a very, very bad idea to have essentially a total choke point for Iranian oil exports because they can't refine it, they ain't selling it. Not the same way, 100%.

[Clay Travis]

And this is why I think, in addition to not wanting to give away Strategic operational goals. This is why boots on the ground doesn't necessarily mean tens of thousands of troops. It could mean not only on this Carge island, but also on some of the nuclear mountainous terrain that you might have to go into. It could mean elite commando style raids with boots on the ground. That is very different than what we saw, for instance, in Iraq. The Team 47 podcast is brought to

[Buck Sexton]

you by Cozy Earth Comfort, style and quality. You can count on Cozy Earth.

[Clay Travis]

You're listening to team 47 with Clay and Buck. We were just talking about the terror attack at Old Dominion University in Virginia and we mentioned that the ROTC students apprehended, killed and disarmed this individual with their bare hands during the attack. Unfortunately, one life was lost. And I want to make sure that I read this correctly. The victim of the terror attack at Old Dominion. This is according to Greg Price, who does good work on social media, has been identified as Lt. Col. Brandon Shaw, who was a professor of military science and the leader of the university's ROTC program. He was a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Atlantic Resolve. His awards included two Bronze Stars, Senior Army Aviator Badge, Combat Action Badge, Parachutist Badge, Air Assault Badge, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal with Valor, Joint Service Commendation Medal, Army Commendation Medal, and the Joint Service Achievement Medal. He died on the campus in this attack. His students disarmed and killed the attacker. But we want to make sure that we honor the individuals who are victims of these different terror attacks. Again, Lieutenant Colonel Brandon Shaw. And if there are people out there listening to us right now that know anything about him or served with him, be great to hear some of your talkbacks. But Buck, this is, we were, as we went to break, just talking about this. I think one of the stories here is there is so much innate goodness in America. The attack would be attack on the synagogue in northern Michigan or just north of Detroit and Oakland county, still southeastern Michigan, but just north of Detroit. These guys were ready for it and they killed the attacker. This was, I think the number was over 100 kids in a Jewish preschool that were there that could have been victims. But for the security being there, the only person who died on that day yesterday was the would be attacker in basically his vehicle that he drove in intending to blow up and kill as many people as possible. Again, everybody needs to stay hyper vigilant given what's going on right now. But I think it's a testament to the bravery of so many people across America that we have now had four would be Terror attacks, four actual terror attacks, and I believe there have only been three victims. Every loss of life is awful. I believe two people lost their lives in Austin, innocent people at a bar when a guy started shooting. And now this ROTC leader on Old Dominion's campus. But no deaths. And these guys were apprehended in New York City. The brave police officer who we talked about who jumped over the barricade and went and tackled them immediately and got them arrested. The brave security officials at the synagogue who killed. This would be terrorist. I mean, to have, I think it's five different terrorists, if I'm not mistaken, who have attempted to take as many lives as possible. And for them to only get three lives and for the bravery of responders to immediately take them out, I think is a testament to security officials and also just the bravery of first responders and everybody out there in America right now. But unfortunately, I know you're looking and thinking about this quite a lot, based on your background, it seems unlikely this is going to be the end. And so more are coming.

[Buck Sexton]

No, it's not the end. And they tend to hold grudges in the jihadist world. So it's not like even if the air campaign stops tomorrow, which I don't think it will, they would say, ok, we're going to leave things alone now and move on with our lives. I would just second what you said, Clay, about the security at that synagogue in Michigan. Think about this. Probably saved, I don't know, dozens of lives by being armed, present and ready to go. I understand the bomb didn't go off that this guy had in his car, but he was prepared for that possibility. And he also had, I believe, a rifle and was ready to start shooting people. And if you're in a synagogue and you don't have armed security, even if you rush a shooter like this, a lot of lives are going to be lost in that process. And instead, no innocent life was lost in the process. It's just a reminder, the good guy with a gun thing that Democrats still sneer at. They don't really ever want to look at what actually works, what actually keeps people safe. You know, I mean, I got to tell you, even here in Miami, I'll see sometimes like a venue or a place and they'll say, you know, no weapons allowed. And I just want to be like, you know, you're just disarming the good guys. Yeah, you're just saying in a state where we have very pro two way laws, thankfully, Florida's great on this. New York is Is New York City is preposterous. New York City is just one big violation of the second amendment. But you look at Florida, Florida's great. But you go private venues, you know, for concerts, things like that, and they're, you know, they'll have no weapon signs and you know, now you gotta think, okay, I'm gonna be in, I'm gonna be in violation of law if I care. What is the point of that? If someone, whether they're a gang, gang member or a terrorist, wants to hurt people, they're carrying the gun no matter what. You know, I just, I don't know how many times we have to go through this. You know, Virginia is currently looking at a legislation to create some kind of a ban. You know, they're gonna have some specifics in it, but essentially an assault rifle ban in Virginia. Yeah, after, after moderate Spam burger fooled enough Virginia soccer moms that she was able to, and you know, dads, she was able to win the election. And you sit here and you just go, when will the lesson be learned? When do they figure out that their little rules and their little, you know, they're pro clutching over people who like to go shooting on the weekends, who are law abiding second amendment people. They're wrong. They're just wrong on this issue. If we had listened to them and not had armed security at the synagogue, you know, God knows what would have happened there.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah, and again, you're really just notifying the bad guys where they should go. When you say gun free zones, you're just telling them, hey, this is an opportunity to go after people who are predominantly not going to be able to defend themselves. And this is why, look, I hope what happened at the synagogue, I hope it's a lesson to every school and every religious institution in America. I would prefer that there be armed security everywhere. My kids go to schools with a lot of armed security. I want everybody's kids going to schools with a lot of armed security. Public school and private school. By the way, in Tennessee, where I am, I feel very fortunate when I drop my kids off and I see the security guard strapped. And I think most of you out there listening right now feel the same way. Here's the other thing. It also is important, for instance, one of my kids in elementary school right now, when you have an officer in the school, young kids learn that they can trust police and that police are there to help them, which they might not hear at home. And so having a school resource officer who is there, who is armed, who is there to make sure that the kids are all safe. It's an important lesson. I hope that they never have to use their weapon ever. But it's an important lesson for young kids to begin to understand that police are not bad guys. And unfortunately, there's lots of people out there who will try to teach them that police are bad guys.

[Buck Sexton]

You know, the estimates are that it would be maybe $10 billion to have armed security at least available in every school in America. $10 billion. I mean, that's like around how many. How many fake.

[Clay Travis]

Yes.

[Buck Sexton]

How many fake Somali daycares is that? Not that many. You know what I'm saying? I mean, how many fake autism centers in California, which we're going to talk about that later, by the way. Just people ripping off the system with fraud.

[Clay Travis]

Yes.

[Buck Sexton]

$10 billion to keep. To keep schools safe. And people say, oh, but sometimes they'll shoot the security guard. Okay? Nothing is perfect. Everyone. But you know, you know what's really imperfect?

[Clay Travis]

Have to shoot the security guard first, then immediately go to kids and teachers.

[Buck Sexton]

You know what's really imperfect? Making me wait five days. Well, if you have your concealed carry, you can actually. But, you know, making people wait five days, and I'm still waiting for my concealed carry permit to arrive. Actually, I've already applied for it before I can go get my, like, ninth gun or whatever. Oh, that's keeping people. Make me wait five days before I can get my latest range. My latest range gun. You know, like, this is idiot rules. These are idiotic rules. And people still push them. Like, guns are scary. They go bang. Bang is loud. Loud is scary. They know nothing.

[Clay Travis]

You know what? I've also been seeing, and I want to encourage this. Carol Markowitz is a friend of the program. She's part of the Clay and Buck podcast network. She's learned how to use a gun. My wife now goes to the range once a week.

[Buck Sexton]

I bet Laura is kind of nasty with a pistol. She is.

[Clay Travis]

She is very talented with a weapon. But I've been amazed at how many women I now meet who you wouldn't expect to be very adept at weaponry, that are aware that danger is out there and they want to be able to take care of their families. And I think the number of guns has skyrocketed. Right. This is the real impact of trying to regulate guns is every time Democrats try to regulate guns, it's the greatest advertisement for guns that has ever existed. Everybody out there understands what I'm talking about. As soon as there is the hint of gun regulation, millions more guns get sold almost overnight and the amount of guns on the in good hands has skyrocketed, I would say since you've seen it buck since, since 2020 where people just thought that they were never going to be in danger and they've seen crime and they say I'm not risking or relying on somebody getting me. I'm going to take care of my family.

[Buck Sexton]

The same way that Mayor Mamdani is currently Florida real estate salesman of the year. Barack Obama was actually national firearms salesman of like the decade because every time they would try to, you know, browbeat us and shout at us and say give up all your AR15s and give up all, you know, people would just go out and get more.

[Clay Travis]

Yes. No.

[Buck Sexton]

Well, I'm going to get grandfathered in now.

[Clay Travis]

That's totally right. And by the way, if you want to go to data, we've got more guns in America than we ever have. Crime is overall going down substantially, the lowest in 125 years. When it comes to murder, based on the data from 2025 and you know this, I think it should be screamed from the heavens more loudly. If you have a legal permit to own a gun, your rate of criminal violation is infinitely lower than the average American is. Gun owners are the most law abiding community on the planet. And again, that's a data set that isn't very well known, but I think is consequential.

[Buck Sexton]

Who you're referring to is CCW holders have fewer infractions of law per capita than law enforcement, which is really.

[Clay Travis]

That's even, that's even, even crazier, right? I mean, because you're talking about. It is evidence that should be within the public discourse on a level that it is not.

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[Clay Travis]

You know, Eddie and I recently stopped by. Yeah, in Nashville. It's an incredible nonprofit empowering kids through music education. Thanks to Hyundai, we recorded a special

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podcast episode while we were there.

[Buck Sexton]

How do you think learning an instrument helps kids with confidence?

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Learning an instrument allows them to discover a little bit further of who they are and be comfortable with it and then share a little bit about that with others. And if it's done in an environment

[Clay Travis]

that is celebrating and championing them, then

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that confidence can only go up.

[Clay Travis]

The full episode is out now, presented

[Buck Sexton]

by the Hyundai Ionic 9.

[Clay Travis]

To donate and learn more about yeah's mission, just visit Yarocks. Org.

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