The Truth with Lisa Boothe: Iran in Revolt: Ellie Cohanim on Regime Collapse, Terror Funding, and Trump’s Stand for Freedom

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Truth with Lisa Boothe – "Iran in Revolt: Ellie Cohanim on Regime Collapse, Terror Funding, and Trump’s Stand for Freedom"

Date: January 22, 2026
Host: Lisa Boothe
Guest: Ellie Cohanim (Iranian-born former U.S. Deputy Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism)

---

Episode Overview

In this episode, Lisa Boothe hosts Ellie Cohanim to discuss the historic protests rocking Iran. The conversation covers the unique factors driving today’s Iranian uprising, the regime’s brutal response, foreign intervention possibilities, and U.S. policy under President Trump. Cohanim provides a personal perspective as a refugee from Iran and delves into the broader geopolitical ramifications, anti-Semitism trends, and what regime change could look like.

---

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Why the Protests Are Unprecedented

• Economic Collapse and Repression:
  • Iran’s economy “should be an oil and natural gas exporting country, but they've mismanaged the resources. The average Iranian is poverty stricken.” (Ellie, 02:09)
  • The regime has spent vast sums on terror proxies and nuclear programs, instead of its own people.
• Generational Shift:
  • Majority of Iran’s population was born after the 1979 revolution and is driven by a desire for normal lives and freedoms.
• International Support:
  • For the first time, a U.S. president, Donald Trump, “has expressed support for this freedom movement.” (Ellie, 02:09)
• The Scale and Nature of the Protests:
  • Nationwide demonstrations, brutal government crackdowns, thousands dead, and mass arrests.

2. Historical Context and Societal Change in Iran

• Pre-Revolution Iran Under the Shah:
  • Modernization, women’s rights, and protections for minorities (Jews, Christians, Bahais, and ethnic groups).
  • “He gave women access to education…and freedoms to religious minorities, like the Jewish community that I was born into, which did allow Iran's Jewish community to really flourish.” (Ellie, 04:42)
• The 1979 Revolution:
  • Led by the ‘Red-Green Alliance’—an unusual fusion between radical leftists (Communist Party/Tudeh) and radical Islamists.
  • “The first people that they executed was the very left who helped bring them into power.” (Ellie, 06:41)

3. Modern Parallels: Islamic-Leftist Alliances in the West

• Recurring Alliances for Power:
  • Ellie points out similar alliances between far-left and Islamist groups in Western politics:
    • “Both of these groups are small in number. But when they ally, they become powerful. And so for the sake of power, they are willing to throw all of their principles under the bus.” (Ellie, 08:11)
  • Example: LGBTQ rights abandoned in the face of alliances with Islamists.

4. What Iranian Protesters Want Now

• Desire for Normalcy and Freedom:
  • Protestors seek freedom of religion, end to imposed radical Islam, and government focus on Iranian—not foreign—affairs.
  • “They want to have freedom of religion. They don’t want to have this radical Islam imposed on them.” (Ellie, 10:20)
• Opposition to Terror Proxies:
  • Slogan: “No Gaza, no Lebanon, only Iran”—an expression of frustration about national resources spent on external conflicts.

5. Impact of Israeli and U.S. Military Actions

• Role in Weakening Regime Confidence:
  • Military strikes have destroyed much of Iran’s military infrastructure and nuclear capabilities—“the regime is now completely vulnerable.” (Ellie, 13:21)
• Emboldening the Protesters:
  • “The people now are emboldened…because they see that the regime has just been left completely weak and vulnerable…” (Ellie, 14:58)

6. Regime Crackdowns and Communication Blackout

• Ongoing Internet and Phone Blackouts:
  • “We are…into a complete Internet blackout.” (Ellie, 15:28)
  • Severely hampers protest organization and global awareness.
• Unknown Death Toll:
  • “We don't have accurate numbers…the Iranians who've been massacred…but we know that's in the thousands.” (Ellie, 16:35)
• Executions of Dissenters:
  • Over 800 scheduled executions reportedly stayed, but skepticism abounds.

7. Can Protesters Overthrow the Regime Alone?

• Severe Disadvantage:
  • Protesters are unarmed against live fire; face dire risks.
  • “Iranians have no weapons...they know that they're going to be shot at with live fire, often with machine guns. You’re talking about military grade equipment and they have nothing.” (Ellie, 18:06)
• Potential Avenues for Support:
  • U.S. aids could include Starlink internet, cyber activities, and kinetic strikes (e.g., on IRGC targets).

8. Military Defections and Prospects for Regime Change

• Early Signs of Defections:
  • Some mid-level military are defecting, which is “what you need in order to see a transition of power.” (Ellie, 20:27)
• Role of Exiled Crown Prince:
  • Prince Reza Pahlavi (son of the former Shah) has set up confidential contacts for defectors.

9. Regime Collapse Scenarios and Leadership Future

• U.S. Wary of a Chaotic “Iraq-Style” Collapse:
  • Past experiences in Iraq haunt policymakers.
• Ellie’s View:
  • “I don't see that as being worse than what we have right now, because for 47 years, this regime has undermined US national security interests…it has the blood of thousands of American service members on its hands…” (Ellie, 22:40; 23:23)
  • Argues that the regime’s pattern—immediately rebuilding nuclear/missile programs after suffering defeat—shows they cannot behave as a rational nation state.

10. U.S. Military Preparations and Potential Next Moves

• Major Military Buildup:
  • “We’ve got two aircraft carriers…F-35, F-15E strike fighters…three to four aerial refueling tankers…additional Patriot and Thaad air defense systems…” (Ellie, 25:53)
  • Indicates readiness for significant military action.
• Possible Strikes:
  • IRGC, missile stockpiles, and other strategic targets.
  • U.S. aims to prevent weapons falling into the wrong hands post-collapse and signals seriousness by the scale of the buildup.

11. Global and Domestic Surge in Antisemitism

• Antisemitism “Mainstreamed” Post–October 7th Attacks:
  • “What we saw happen was that Hamas massacred more Jews on October 7th…it was the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust…before Israel had a chance to even bury their dead, we start to see this pro-Hamas movement explode in every Western city…” (Ellie, 29:51)
• Policy Responses:
  • Under Trump, a “whole of government approach”: robust DOJ actions, hate crimes prosecutions, and stronger federal support.
  • Ellie criticizes Democrat-run cities/states for failing to protect Jewish citizens; American Jews now rely on federal intervention.

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Women’s Rights under the Shah:
  • “He gave women access to education and careers for the first time in the country's history...these things might seem minor in the West, but this was revolutionary.” (Ellie, 04:42)
• On Left-Islamist Alliances:
  • “How do these two groups ally? It makes no sense. It's a power play.” (Ellie, 08:18)
• On the Regime’s Priorities:
  • “They took again the country's resources and spent it on funding and training and arming their terror proxies, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis in Yemen…” (Ellie, 10:53)
• On U.S. Policy Shifts:
  • “I believe President Trump has reestablished deterrence when he came back…after four failed years of Biden policies, most notably the Afghanistan debacle.” (Ellie, 18:31)
• On the Risks of Regime Collapse:
  • “I don't see that as being worse than what we have right now, because for 47 years, this regime has undermined US national security interests…” (Ellie, 23:10)
• On Current U.S. Military Build-Up:
  • “The United States doesn’t move this level of assets into the region unless there is some seriousness behind that.” (Ellie, 26:36)
• On the Mainstreaming of Antisemitism:
  • “October 7th unleashed this horrific bloodlust all across the world...” (Ellie, 29:51)

---

Key Timestamps

• 00:04: Episode introduction—overview of Iran’s protest crisis
• 02:09: Ellie Cohanim explains why these protests are unique
• 04:42: Historical context—life under the Shah, modernization, women’s rights
• 06:41: Analysis of the 1979 “red-green alliance”
• 08:11: Leftist-Islamist coalitions in the West and their contradictions
• 10:20: What Iranian protesters want now
• 13:21: U.S.–Israeli military action’s impacts on the regime and protesters
• 15:28: Regime’s blackout and human rights abuses
• 18:06: Protesters’ risks and potential foreign support
• 20:27: Military defections and possible regime collapse scenarios
• 22:40: The risks and hopes of regime change, lessons from Iraq
• 25:53: U.S. military build-up—assets and intentions
• 29:51: Global antisemitism surge post–October 7th and government responses

---

Closing Thoughts

Cohanim emphasizes the unprecedented nature of the current Iranian movement, the central role of U.S. policy, and the deep costs of regime-sponsored terror and antisemitism. While wary of instability, she argues that regime change is less dangerous than the status quo and signals that U.S. military action may be imminent.

Final Word:
“People really need to understand that elections have consequences.” (Ellie Cohanim, 32:58)

Transcript

[A]

This is an iHeart podcast, Guaranteed Human.

[B]

Welcome to the Truth with Lisa Booth where we get to the heart of the issues that matter to you today. We're talking about Iran. Iran is at a historic tipping point right now. We've seen nationwide protests that have erupted over an economic collapse in the country as well as just living under oppression of the regime. We're hearing chants saying death to the regime. And this is all coming amid brutal crackdowns, thousands dead, mass arrests and Internet blackout within the country. My guest today has a unique perspective on her. Her name is Ellie Kahanem. She's an Iranian born refugee who fled Tehran with her Jewish family as a child during the 1979 Islamic revolutions, rising anti Semitism. She also later became and worked under the Trump administration as the first Iranian born US Deputy special envoy to monitor and combat anti Semitism in Trump's first administration. She's a prominent commentator, so we're going to dig in with her. What do you need to know about these protests? How are they different than protests of the past? Where is this thing heading? Stay tuned. Well, Ellie Kahanem, it's great to have you on the show. We know each other, you know, out of this. And then I've been able to interview you a few times on Fox Business. So appreciate you making the time for the podcast.

[A]

Lisa, thanks for having me on. I always love joining you whether you're on Fox or your own podcast. So honored to be with you.

[B]

Well, I always love seeing you. You know, you have such a unique perspective on what's happening in Iran right now because your family fled Iran at the start of the revolution. You know, it's hard to really know what's happening on the ground. I mean, obviously we have some reporting. There's a lot of videos being posted on X. But from your assessment, how big is the are the protests that we're seeing and how important is what's going on right now? Break this down for us.

[A]

Well, Lisa, like you said, I was born in Iran myself and my family and I escaped the Islamic Revolution in 1979 because we're Jewish and because the regime immediately upon taking power started to target Iran's Jews. There were about 100,000 of us there at the time. And so I was really blessed to find refuge in America and to serve under President Trump in the first administration as deputy envoy to combat antisemitism. And so, you know, I've been tracking Iran my whole life. I can tell you that where we stand today is historically unprecedented. There are a number of factors that make the protests different this time. It's a combination of economic factors where the regime has mismanaged the country's resources. Iran should be an oil and natural gas exporting country, but they've mismanaged the resources. The average Iranian is poverty stricken. The regime also, of course, has spent billions of dollars on their terror proxy activ. On this nuclear program that President Trump just took out in Operation Midnight Hammer. And so you combine the financial mismanagement, the fact that the regime has been oppressive and repressive for 47 years now of everyday Iranians, and then you have President Donald Trump in the White House, who is the first US President who has expressed support for this freedom movement. And so all of those factors combined make this time very different.

[B]

You were, I think, either five or six. Right. When your family fled, or roughly around how old were you at the time?

[A]

Exactly right. I was, I was, I was five and a half. I, I turned six in the U.S. exactly right.

[B]

And so, you know, you might not remember exactly. You know, that's a pretty young age. But like, what have your parents told you about when things changed? Because it was interesting, because under the Shah, my understanding is, you know, the, the country is modernizing fast. The economy is growing, there's better education, rights for women. But, you know, there were arguments over inequality and that, that money was being concentrated at the top and, you know, so kind of break down for us, I guess. Walk us through what you remember what your parents have told you about when things started to turn in Iran with the Islamic Revolution?

[A]

Absolutely. Well, well, the ruler at the time, the, the king was Reza Shah Pahlavi, and he was westernizing the country. And that was somewhat controversial. He modernized the economy. He banned the hijab in Iran. He gave women access to education and careers for the first time in the country's history. He also gave freedoms to religious minorities, like the Jewish community that I was born into, which did allow Iran's Jewish community to really flourish and become an integral part of society. But it wasn't just the Jews. There's also a Christian minority in Iran. There's also Bahais. There's also ethnic minorities. Like there is an Arab population in the Ahaz section of Iran. There's, there's Pakistanis, there's Balochi, so there's ethnic diversity as well. And so the Shah was really westernizing the country. The controversy was, and, and you can kind of see it in the banning of the hijab, that moving the country from a traditional Muslim country to a secular one was controversial at the time. And people will ask often, well, why did he ban the hijab? You know, you just say, anyone, any woman who wants to wear it could. And whoever doesn't, you know, feel free. And the reason, Lisa, is that in these traditional, very conservative Muslim countries, if you tell women that they have the choice, the family pressure, the community pressure, will be to demand that they continue to wear it. So when he made it a government edict, if you can call it a government law, then it took the pressure off the women because they could just say, hey, you know what? It's not my choice. Government is demanding that I no longer wear the veil. And, you know, these things might seem minor in the west, but this was. This was revolutionary in its own way in Iran at the time. So again, you're looking at a country that was westernizing, was modernizing, and it caused backlash. What I think you will hear that's interesting for us here in the United States in 2026 is a warning that you hear often from Iranians, which is that. Which is that what we saw in the revolution was this Allian alliance of the radical left, literally Communist Party in Iran was called the Tudeh Party and the radical Islamists. And while this is not a natural alliance, we're seeing it again all across the west and the United States as you and I speak. And what I think the west and the left need to understand is that as soon as the Khomeinius took power in Iran, the first people that they executed was the very left who helped bring them into power.

[B]

How do you think those. Because we are saying that here in the United States as well. Why do you think they align? Because if you look at what leftists believe, it is like the opposite of what Muslims believe in pretty much every way. So how do they find alignment? Why do you think there is a natural alliance there?

[A]

Yeah, you're exactly right, Lisa. They are not natural allies. And yet we see this red green alliance developing all across Europe and in the United States. You can see it in Mamdani's base in New York City. You can see it in places like Minnesota under Ilhan Omar in Rashida Tlaib's district. I don't think that, again, there's a natural alliance. It's a power play. And what we saw again happen in Iran in 1979 was that the Khomeinius, the radical Islam, they were happy to build that alliance with the left because they needed the left. You know, I think that the answer is that both of these groups are small in number. But when they ally, they become powerful. And so for the sake of power, they are willing to throw all of their principles under the bus. So, for me, the grand example of that is LGBTQ rights. Right? This is the issue of the left. And yet they ally with Islamists, the very people who. Who hang gay people from cranes in the center of town and push them off of rooftops merely for being homosexual. So how do these two groups ally? It makes no sense. It's a power play. And again, what we've seen play out is that the Islamists will summarily execute the left, the very left that brought them into power, because they actually don't have anything in common.

[B]

So what do you think the Iranian protesters want? Because obviously we saw Westernization and then that was rejected by society, which is why we saw the Islamic revolution, and then now living under oppression for quite some time, and that Islamist rule. So what do you think Iranians want right now in sort of this rejection of the regime?

[A]

Well, I'll tell you, and just to go back for a moment to 1978 with Khomeini, like Mamdani, he came into power promising the Iranian people all kinds of free things. He was going to give them free land and free benefits. And so I just want to state that I don't think the Iranian people back in 78 were only responding to the Shah's Westernization. There was also an economic component to it. And so we know that this promise, this utopian promises that the left often makes is filled with lies, but people fall for it. And so now Fast forward to 47 years living under this oppressive regime, which again, mismanaged the country's resources and also lined their own pockets by the billions. What do the people want, Lisa, you ask? So the Iranian population right now, the majority, the vast majority, have been born after the revolution. They are younger and they really just want to live normal lives. They want to have freedom of religion. They don't want to have this radical Islam imposed on them. In fact, what we know is the statistics show that in Iran there's very little mosque attendance and most of the mosques in the country are empty during Friday services. So they don't want to have Islam imposed on them. They don't want to have. They want to live under a normal country. You'll hear chants often over the years of not forgotten Gaza, not for Lebanon, but only for Iran. And what that is referring to is the Iranian regime's terror proxy activity, where they took again the country's resources and spent it on funding and training and arming their terror proxies, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis in Yemen, Kataib Hezbollah in Iraq. And all of that comes out of the regime's obsessive anti Semitism where they have spent again 47 years of resources trying to build a R of fire around Israel because they say that they want to destroy Israel. And in fact, this has not been merely rhetoric for 47 years. They spent 47 years taking the country's resources and spending it on terror proxies and their nuclear program. And so part of what the Iranian people want is they just want to live under a normal country. They don't want their resources wasted on this terror proxy activity. Which by the way, by the end of the 12 day war between Israel and Iran and by the end of Operation Midnight Ham under President Trump now the the Iranian military defense infrastructure has basically been destroyed and the nuclear program has been destroyed, eliminated by President Trump in in that beautiful Midnight Hammer that the president refers to glowingly.

[B]

Going to take a quick commercial break. More with Ellie on the.

[A]

How much.

[B]

Of that of both Israel's attacks on Iran and then as well as the United States and those bunker busting bombs, what role did that play in sort of spurring these protests or perhaps maybe giving confidence to people to protest?

[A]

Well, I think there's two factors. So one again is what I just mentioned, which is that the nation watched 47 years of resources get blown up all because the government, the regime is not ruling from a place of what's best for the country. But again, their obsessive antisemitism, their desire to destroy Israel. And so they see what happened in the two year war between Israel and Iran since October 7th. They saw Hamas get destroyed along with most of Gaza. They see Hezbollah get mostly decapitated, the Houthis mostly decapitated, decapitated. Syria fall under Syria's Assad fall. All of this was all of that roads lead back to Tehran. So the Iranian people watch as everything that the regime had spent resources on go to naught. And at the end of the 12 Day War and at the end of Operation Midnight Hammer, as you mentioned, the US Under President Trump sending in those bunker busters and eliminating Iran's nuclear program with the B2 bombers. What they saw was that the government, the regime is now completely vulnerable. Iran's air defense systems have been completely wiped out. Much of the Iranian military brass was killed in the 12 day war. So the people now are emboldened, Lisa, like you just said, because they see that the regime has just been Left completely weak and vulnerable at the end of all this, you know, to what degree?

[B]

You know, I know the Iranian media is highly, you know, controlled. To what degree do you know, I know we've seen TikTok posts and stuff like that. You know, how much access do people have to sort of the outside world and to what other people are saying about what's happening within Iran?

[A]

Well, right now, as you know, we are, you know, multiple, multiple days into an intern, a complete Internet blackout. So the regime in their fear of what is taking place in the streets of Iran, they have completely shut down the Internet. They have shut down even phone lines. We're talking about days and days and days. And what that does is it also doesn't allow any normal functioning of society because there's literally no Internet right now. But we are hearing some reports that in the past 24 hours the regime has started to allow some connectivity and it's believed that it's too regime officials and regime affiliated people. So it's very hand selected right now. Who has access? And the idea is that they're trying to stop people from coordinating protests, from organizing and also to stop the flow of images and video out of Iran to us here in the United States in particular, but to the rest of the world. We know right now that we don't have accurate numbers of the, the Iranians who've been massacred at the hand of the regime. But we know that's in the thousands every day. Human rights organizations are coming out with revised numbers. I think that we are going to be horrified and shocked, Lisa, when we do see more of the images come out of Iran. At the same time, President Trump has been apparently reassured that the executions which were scheduled to take place and the president said Yesterday something like 830 I think was the number that he was quoting. But over 800 executions that were supposed to take place of people who were taken to prison from the protests that those executions have been stayed. Now, I certainly have no trust for this regime. I believe that they would do such a thing to try to hold off American action, but I wouldn't trust them for anything. And I wonder if the fate of those individuals and the thousands of others that are in political prison across the country right now, you know, I know that they're not safe because history has told us they're not safe.

[B]

Do you think, are the protesters capable of overthrowing the regime on their own or would they need some sort of like foreign outside interference on their behalf?

[A]

This is a really important question. Iranians have no, they have no weapons. I wish they had our constitutional rights, but they do not. So the Iranian people who go out on the streets, they know that they're going to be shot at with live fire, often with machine guns. You know, you're talking about military grade equipment and they have nothing. But they're going out so courageously and literally taking bullets to their bodies. So they certainly need help. And I think that as President Trump is right now weighing his options. And I believe that President Trump is actively weighing his options on Iran. Look, he did draw a red line when he told the regime that if you kill protesters, we're going to hit you. We're going to hit you hard. And I believe President Trump has reestablished deterrence when he came back into this second administration after four failed years of Biden policies, most notably the Afghanistan debacle. And so the President has, he has brought us deterrence back. And I don't think he's going to diminish that in any way. So I believe he's weighing his options and he's a broad array of options. Kinetic options are obviously there, but some of the easier options are, of course, trying to get more Internet capabilities, more Starlink into Iran. And to your question about helping protesters, there are cyber activity that the US could take that would help the protesters. The US can also in theory hit irgc, that's the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, or irgc, and the Basij Militia, which are the local militias. The US could hit their sites. So there are ways that the US could help the protesters that are not highly escalatory. But at the same time, Lisa, we're seeing the US Move a tremendous amount of assets into the region.

[B]

Do you think that how much military defection are we seeing?

[A]

We're seeing reports of some mid level defections, which is very interesting because defections are definitely what you need in order to see a transition of power. You certainly need to see defections, and it's something that all of us are looking out for. The Iranian exiled craft, Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, who's the son of the former shah that we were speaking about, lives in the United States and he has created apparently some confidential mechanism where Iranian security officials can reach out to him and try to coordinate the defections. So in combination, let's say the scenario is that the US Conducts strikes on Iranian targets. You could see a scenario where the states might start talking to the leadership. You know, maybe similar to a Venezuela situation, right, where you decapitate the very top and then you talk to the to the second and third in command, right. And try to stabilize the country and stabilize the situation with them. And eventually, you know, if there's enough defections and there's deals made allowing people to escape the country, probably go to places like Russia where Assad is, you know, those are, those are scenarios that I could see happening. And the defections are a very key part of that, because those same individuals who defect could also be the same individuals who could help maintain order in a transition scenario.

[B]

You know, I think a lot of people, you know, obviously there's always a concern when, when you see these sort of, like, uprisings with what might happen next if the regime does crumble, if the regime does fall, what do you think that would look like in terms of leadership, and what would that regime change or change of control look like?

[A]

Lisa, I think this is a very key question that U.S. policymakers, my former colleagues in the Trump administration, are grappling with right now, because, you know, we do know that President Trump has no interest in troops on the ground. And so this is what everyone's grappling with. I will tell you this. I think that our own security establishment is somewhat traumatized, and I'm using that word, not unjust, but they're traumatized by our Iraq experience because Iraq fell into so much chaos. And then, you know, many would argue that what Iraq, the experience of Iraq was perhaps worse what we had under Saddam Hussein. The contrast for me, though, between Iraq and Iran is that what happens in a regime collapse scenario, I don't see that as being worse than what we have right now, because for 47 years, this regime has undermined US national security interests. It has the blood of thousands of American service members on its hands again, it has funded and tr and armed terror proxies, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, Kataib, Hezbollah. You know, it was, it was using Syria and Assad as their own proxy as well. So all of the destabilization in the Middle east, all of that was because of this regime. And also they were right at our doorstep via Hezbollah and Venezuela. And we heard that from the president.

[B]

So.

[A]

And then they were building the nuclear program, and the president said they were something like two months away from having a nuclear bomb. And Lisa, here to me, is the key point on this. After the 12 day war and after Operation Midnight Hammer, the Iranian regime could have licked their wounds, admitted to themselves that their ideology has been defeated, and said, okay, enough of this. Let's turn our attention to rebuilding the country. Let's stop, stop this foreign adventurism let's stop our radicalism. Let's try to be normal and run the country. Because they were left alone essentially after the 12 Day War and Midnight Hammer. But, you know, they didn't do that. They immediately turned to rebuilding their missile program and rebuilding the nuclear program. So this is why they're at. They are where they are today. They've proven over and over again that they are not rational actors, that they cannot behave like a normal nation state. And so this is why my belief is that a regime collapse scenario will not be worse than what we have today in Iran.

[B]

Quick break. Stay with us. If you like what you're hearing, please share on social media or send it to your family and friends. Where is this heading? What are you watching sort of in the next few days, the next few weeks? What are you looking for? For?

[A]

Well, what I'm seeing is that, that the United States is moving a lot of assets into the Middle east region and it's significant. So if, give me one second, I want to actually, I want to tell you how much is being moved into. So we've got two aircraft carriers that are already on their way and they have on them F35, we've got F15E strike fighters in Jord, and they've already landed. We've got about three to four aerial refueling tankers that are being moved to the Al Udai, the US Base in Doha. And the Wall Street Journal is reporting that additional Patriot and Thaad air defense systems are being moved to the Middle East. All this while President Trump is, according to reporting, seeking, quote, decisive military options from the Pentagon. So, you know, to my mind, the United States doesn't move this level of assets into the region unless there is some seriousness behind that. So this is why I am confident that President Trump is maintaining his red lines and that there is going to be activity in Iran very soon. I think as soon as those aircraft carriers get to the region. Now, if you ask, why do we need such a tremendous buildup when we do know that the Iranian air defenses are down and so forth and that they have been so weakened? Well, we can expect that. You know, I think this is like the final battle, Lisa. And so you can expect that whatever capabilities the Iranian proxies have, they're going to use it. So the Israelis, as an example, have, have apparently said that they needed more time to get prepared. So they're getting themselves prepared for I don't think Hamas has that much more capability, but Hezbollah in Lebanon does. So they're preparing themselves for potential Hezbollah missile attacks. You've got still the Houthis have capabilities in Yemen. We could see them activated, we could see Kataib, Hezbollah, we the region that are Iranian sponsored. And then of course, whatever the Iranians might themselves have in their own capabilities, I think that the Iranian regime understands that they are on their last leg. And so the US Is preparing for any scenario right now, as are our allies in the region. So again, Lisa, I am convinced that we're going to see, I'm convinced we're going to see Connecticut activity. We're going to see US Strikes and there's all kinds of targets. First of all, the US could decide to take out those very missile stockpiles that the Iranians have to try to limit that retaliatory capability and also to protect everyone should the regime collapse. Then you've taken out those weapons that were afraid of falling into the wrong hands after a collapse scenario. They could hit IRGC sites, they could hit Vasij sites, they could hit oil rigs and refineries. But I don't see the US Doing that because I think just like Venezuela, in a day after scenario, the United States want to partner with Iran on oil. But, but you know, I would say stay tuned because we will see. Excuse me. I'm convinced we're going to see activity very soon.

[B]

And then before we go, a lot of rampant anti Semitism in the country and around the globe as well. And it used to be more in like specific pockets and then now it seems like it's being mainstreamed. Why do you think that's happening? What's attributing to that?

[A]

I think that October 7th unleashed this horrific bloodlust all across the world because what we saw happen was that Hamas massacred more Jews on October 7th. It was a deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust. 1200 Jews and Israelis. And before Israel had a chance to even bury their dead, we start to see this pro Hamas movement explode in every Western city and all across the United States. So I believe that when Israel is attacked, essentially it becomes like open season on the Jews. And there was this sense of maybe there was weakness and vulnerability. And so the haters came out in droves and thought that they had a moment of power. And unfortunately, under the previous Biden administration in the United States, the movement was allowed to flourish and grow. Now with the Trump administration back in office, we're seeing them take really strong action. And I really commend the administration. And it has been a whole of government approach. So that's everything from the DOJ taking on the universities to when there are hate crimes committed, identifying them as hate crimes and prosecuting as hate crimes. So in the case of the two Israeli embassy staff that were shot down in front of a Jewish event in Washington, D.C. the Colorado attack, the Trump administration immediately again treated it as hate crimes, is prosecuting as hate crimes. And so this is exactly what we need to see. But we have problems because most of American Jewry happen to live in Democrat run cities and Democrat run states. Places like New York is the biggest Jewish population. Then you've got California, Florida. And so again, a place like New York City under Mamdani, the Jewish community is bracing themselves for what will unfold. And in fact, you know, we already saw a synagogue where synagogue goers were wanting to go inside to pray and also attend an event, real estate event for Israel and an event that was helping Jews to move to Israel, who wanted to move there. And they were targeted, harassed and assaulted on the Upper east side of Manhattan, New York City. This is the kind of thing that we see too often in Democrat run cities and states. And so, you know, I think that the American Jews are just looking to the Trump administration and federal authorities to help and to override. But it's really a sad state of affairs that that is the case. And, you know, all I can say is that people really need to understand that elections have consequences.

[B]

They sure do. And unfortunately, we've had to learn that the hard way, especially under four years into the Biden administration, so. And unfortunately, New York's gonna learn that under Mamdani as well. Ellie Kahanem, I appreciate you coming on the show. Thanks so much, my friend.

[A]

Thank you. Thanks for having me. Lisa.

[B]

That was Ellie Kahanem. Appreciate her for coming on the show. Appreciate you guys at home for listening every Tuesday and Thursday. You can listen throughout the week. Also want to thank John Castro, my producer, for putting the show together. Until next time.

[A]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.