Benjamin Hall (4:20)

Mm.

Jesse Watters (4:21)

And very focused, Dana, on the next step, who the next leader of Iran will be. And he wants to say, I think it's going to be a pretty powerful set.

Kayleigh McEnany (4:31)

On Saturday, after they had taken that shot to that took out Khamenei and the 49 others, he did one of the interviews that he did when he got on the phone with the reporters, he said, yeah, there were some options within that group of 49. But now that 49 is no more and more. No doubt. Why would you go to all of this trouble and then just say, okay, cool, Khomeini's son's next. Great. Okay, moving on. It's not like passing on, like, a Ford dealership. We were talking about cars before, it's not that kind of a thing. So I can understand his wanting to be a part of it. Nothing is. Everybody wants to just make a direct comparison of things. Well, Delsey Rodriguez in Venezuela, the CIA was working with her or her brother for a long time to make sure that that was going to be okay. So that was all planned out and orchestrated, and I hope I live long enough to read the history of it, because it's pretty incredible intelligence work here. I think it's just a little bit different, and it's a lot more complicated. And Iran is saying, we're not, they're not going to go down without a fight, and that's why they're fighting their neighbors. And what they said today to Trump is that, well, maybe we do want to talk. And he's like, it's a little late for that. But what Iran always tries to do is, is delay. They want to delay. They want to see if they can draw out our pain. And that if the political pain here gets too hot, for example, gas prices go up quite a bit, and they will believe that America will do what it has done in the past, which is just cut and run when it gets politically difficult. So I don't think that President Trump or the Israelis are going to do that in this case. And I think that the Gulf states want to, to deal with this issue once and for all, but it's going to be a little while before everything feels more settled.

Dana Perino (6:14)

Yeah.

Jesse Watters (6:14)

Herald gas prices up about a quarter since Saturday, and oil is now up close to 80 a barrel. And market didn't like today because they got an oil tanker that was struck. How much pain you think the President's willing to tolerate?

Harold Ford Jr. (6:28)

Good to be back with everybody. I think a couple things. Our economy has grown three times since in the last 50 years, yet our usage of oil has not correlated to that. It's really been kind of flat. Our dependence as Americans on Iranian oil has decreased dramatically since over the last 50 years as well. A combination of things have helped US government policy encouraging gas mileage standards being increased, the explosion of natural gas discovery and extraction here in the United States, it being used as a substitute and being able to heat homes. You factoryou take that into account and you realize that obviously the oil market is a global marketplace, which I've heard everyone around the table comment on over the last few days. And we will see up increases, but it's unclear how much of an increase we're going to see here in America in the intermediate term. Two, we restored the Taliban Back to power in Afghanistan after a 23, 24 year, 22, 23 plus year war. There I was in Congress and we voted for this. And I remember, I'll never forget the former Senator from Tennessee, a former Majority Leader named Bill Frist, positing the idea years before that. Okay, they're telling me we've got Secretary of War.

Jesse Watters (7:47)

Hence right now we have the top spears Alert Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper holding a news conference.

Dana Perino (7:54)

Let's watch. I'm honored to stand right here today alongside one of America's finest, Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. central Command. We just had a chance to spend a couple of hours together, better part of two hours, going through the entirety of this. This operation. Operation Epic Fury. And Admiral, I want to thank you for everything you do and your incredible leadership, your dynamic thinking, the way you're attacking this problem set on every level. In just days of Operation Epic Fury, you and your team have delivered nothing short of devastating, precise strikes. Taking out the better part of Iran's navy, making it combat ineffective. Neutralizing missile sites and launchers and establishing total dominance over the skies we fly over and seas we fly over. Our forces are executing with unmatched skill and the mission is advancing decisively. This is the kind of no nonsense results driven war fighting that America demands. And you're delivering it in spades. You are the man for this moment, Admiral Cooper. On behalf of the President, the Department of War and every American watching, I want to thank you for the outstanding job you and CENTCOM are doing. Keep pressing the fight and we are with you all the way. A few thoughts before I hand it over to the Admiral for an update. Iran is hoping that we cannot sustain this, which is a really bad miscalculation for the IRGC in Iran. You see, there's no shortage of American will. Here. We remember and honor our fallen. Those six that we will soon welcome at Dover who gave everything for their country in this mission. We remember them. But we remember them by rededicating ourselves even more fervently to this mission. Our commitment to our mission objectives only increases as our advantages continue to increase. We've got no shortage of munitions. Our stockpiles of defensive and offensive weapons allow us to sustain this campaign as long as we need to. Again, our munition status only increases as our advantage increases. Our capabilities, we have only just begun to fight and fight decisively. Having a chance to hear from Admiral Cooper, if you think you've seen something, just wait. The amount of Combat power that's still flowing, that's still coming, that we'll be able to project over Iran is a multiples of what it currently is right now. When you add up our capabilities and those of the Israeli Defense Force forces and we have no shortage of authorities, the Admiral knows we have clear objectives with maximum authorities on the battlefield. The dumb, politically correct wars of the past were the opposite of what we're doing here. They had vague objectives with restrictive, minimalist rules of engagement. No more. Our authorities, his authorities, centcom's authorities, through the President and myself, are maxed out. Our capabilities are overwhelming and gathering still, as are those of our Israeli partners. Our munitions are full up and our will is ironclad, which means our timeline is ours and ours alone to control as long as it takes to ensure the United States of America achieves these objectives. And as we flow more forces and as we flow more capabilities, and as our munitions, as we're flying over the top, have even more devastating effects, we set the tempo, we set the timeline. Led by the commander on the ground. Our ear is to the ground to listen to Admiral Cooper. What he needs and what he needs, he will get. We are built for this fight and we are in it to win it. And we have the right commander in the lead. So I'll now hand it over to Admiral Brad Cooper to give you an update right here from CentCo.

Admiral Brad Cooper (11:59)

Mr. Secretary, first, thank you very much and good afternoon and welcome to U.S. central Command headquarters, America's war fighting headquarters. It's great to be here alongside the Secretary and representing the more than 50,000 men and women in uniform currently executing Operation epic fury. So, Mr. Secretary, first, thank you very much for your leadership and support and the very clear vision and objectives that you've given us to allow us to use overwhelming force against the Iranian terrorist regime. And thanks to all of you for attending today and welcome to Tampa. We are now starting our sixth day of a historic mission to eliminate Iran's ability to threaten Americans. We are. If I could channel my inner Navy officer, we are at full speed ahead in executing orders given by leadership in Washington. The President and Secretary Hexath have been crystal clear in their expectations, and we are at a high level of execution, as described by the Secretary and earlier this week by me. US Combat power is building. As Iranian combat power declines, our air dominance allows us to hit Iran's center of gravity with overwhelming power and reach a couple of examples. In just the last 72 hours, America's bomber force has struck nearly 200 targets deep inside of Iran, including around Tehran. And in just the last hour, US B2 bombers dropped dozens of 2,000 pound penetrator bombs, targeting deeply buried ballistic missile launchers. Notably, we've also struck Iran's equivalent of Space Command, which degrades their ability to threaten Americans. Then, if I just look back over the last 24 hours of the operation, compared to where we were at its start. Ballistic missile attacks have decreased by 90% since day one. Drone attacks have decreased by 83% since day one. Having said this, we remained vigilant. Our strikes against the Iranian navy have intensified. You may have heard the President say just a little while ago that we, we have sunk or destroyed 24 ships. That was true. At the moment, we're now up over 30 ships. And in just the last few hours, we hit an Iranian drone carrier ship roughly the size of a World War II aircraft carrier. And as we speak, it's on fire. The President gave us another task to raise or level Iran's ballistic missile industrial base. So we're not just hitting what they have, we're destroying their ability to rebuild. And so, as we transition to the next phase of this operation, we will systemically dismantle Iran's missile production capability for the future. And that's absolutely in progress. This is going to take some time, but our forces are well supplied, as the Secretary said, and we are absolutely ready to prosecute this mission decisively. Our combined joint forces have relentlessly destroyed Iran's air defenses over the past few days, and they've continued hunting for more systems to kill. Our air defenders are operating at the very top of their game. I couldn't be prouder. Shoulder to shoulder with our partners in the region, in many cases providing the most integrated air defense network in Middle east history. We are fighting to win through combined US And Israeli combat power. We will continue decimating Iran's ability to project power outside its borders. And if I can just conclude by saying a strong salute to the brave men and women who are out on the pointy edge of this really doing exceptional work, I just couldn't be prouder. And I know the American people share in that same pride. So thank you very much.

Dana Perino (15:25)

Absolutely. And with that, we'll take a few questions. Yeah, right here. The US has asked for specific capabilities. Can you guys talk about what you asked for? And has there been any surprise, any surprises from Iranian capabilities that you guys have seen in the past six days?

Admiral Brad Cooper (15:50)

We're very familiar with Iranian's capabilities and as you might imagine, we planned for it right from the outset And I feel good about what the plan was. Like any good organization, we adjust as necessary to meet the environment. And we've made those appropriate adjustments.

Dana Perino (16:06)

Absolutely.

Admiral Brad Cooper (16:07)

Right here.

Reporter (16:11)

One, was an American pilot shot down today in Iraq. And two, I've heard reports that there's a mixed uranium stored in Isfahan. Also read reports that there's not a lot of bombing there. Is that on point? Do we believe there's new there and would we ever send special forces to secure it?

Dana Perino (16:28)

As CENTCOM pointed out that those reports of an F15 being shot down are false. As you can imagine, Iran is doing everything it can to peddle in lies, deception, and inflation of numbers. In reality, mostly to propagandize to their own people. Right. They don't. They've shut down the Internet. They're hoping they can convince their own population that they're having success. One thing one of their leaders said recently is that 500Americans have been killed. They claim these are lies. The lies will continue. CENTCOM will continue to debunk those lies.

Admiral Brad Cooper (17:00)

So.

Dana Perino (17:02)

And as often is the case in conflict, first reports are often wrong as it pertains to nuclear material and things like that. One of the objectives, the President has always said, is that Iran will not have a nuclear bomb, nuclear capabilities. But we would never disclose what we will or will not do inside operational plans. So Admiral Cooper's got a plan. We're working that plan. And. And targets will be struck or not struck according to what we want to achieve.

Admiral Brad Cooper (17:25)

Yeah, right there.

Dana Perino (17:26)

Secretary Hicksup, the President said earlier today in an interview that he would like to have a say in who's the next leader of Iran. Is this an expansion of your military objectives? Do you view it that way? And additionally, you spoke earlier today about how previous leaders have drawn resources from our hemisphere, Middle East. How do you avoid that? Well, there's no expansion. Ultimately, I think the President's having a heck of a say in who runs Iran, given the ongoing operation we have. So there's no expansion in our objectives. We know exactly what we're trying to achieve. I think today's a great example of what this War Department is capable of doing. I was just in another part of Florida today where we announced, you know, America's counter cartel conference. 18 countries coming together from Central South America and the Caribbean coming together to fight cartels. That is something that is ongoing. We're focused there. We're focused in the Indo Pacific. We can mass combat power in centcom. EUCOM is able to support that as well. So we know we're Laser focused on our hemisphere and our homeland. That's why we lock down the border. That's why we're working with partners to take on cartels. That's why we're sinking drug boats. That's why we're on the offense there. But the beautiful things about Combatant Commands is that, you know, Brad Cooper's laser focused on Central Command just like Frank Donovan is laser focused on Southern Command. We can do both. That's what a global power can do. Ultimately, this, this issue of Iran's nuclear pursuit and their unwillingness through negotiations to stop it was something President Trump has said for a long time, needs to be dealt with. And after 47 years, he's doing something that no other president was willing to do. And we're doing it overwhelmingly and we're doing it decisively, while also in other parts of the globe having the desired effects. I mean, take for example what we displayed yesterday. The Iranian ship in the Indian Ocean sunk by Indo Pacom. Another Combatant Command who coordinated with us in order to make that happen. So America's reach is global. Our focus here, though, those missions, these missions are narrow, they're scoped, and Admiral Cooper is well on his way to ensuring that we reach those objectives right here. Yes, sir. Howard. Troops building. The Korean is talking about providing low cost interceptors. Given their experience. Is that something that Pentagon is looking for in front of Cooper? Can you walk us through a little bit about the. How effective the Lucas drones have been, what kind of targets these and how much that's helped, given that they're low cost alternatives and the more expensive.

Admiral Brad Cooper (20:07)

Sure. I'm not familiar with the particular offer, but interceptors in general, we've had a number of new capabilities being fielded. Obviously, I'm not going to talk about it from the operational perspective of what those are, but I think you have seen over a period of time us kind of get on the other side of this cost curve on drones in general. If I just walk back a couple of years, you remember what you used to always hear, we're shooting down a $50,000 drone with a $2 million missile. These days, we're spending a lot of time shooting down $100,000 drones with $10,000 weapons from ours. So that's one aspect. But Lucas, indispensable, as many of you know, and if you don't know, this was an original Iranian drone design. We captured it, pulled the guts out, sent it back to America, put a little Made America on it, brought it back here, and we're shooting at the Iranians good targets.

Dana Perino (21:00)

Good targets, absolutely. Right there.

Reporter (21:02)

Thank you so much, Secretary. President Trump, in his first speech after the launch of the Operation Epic Fury, he addressed Iranian people and he said that there's going to be a time for you to come out, but it's not now. Stay home.

Dana Perino (21:18)

It's not.

Reporter (21:20)

I want to know if there is a timeline for that, that you're going to urge Iranian people to come out, how that is going to play out, and how are you going to protect the protesters? You know that they're going to be shot, probably, as we witnessed in January. That's what happened. How are you going to protect and support the protesters? And, Admiral, I have one question for you. How are you going to minimize the civilian harms? We have a lot of evidence that the BASI units, IRGC commanders, they are now gathering in schools and hospitals in purely residential areas because their headquarters are bombarded. They are ruined, of course. So how are you going to protect the civilians while you're attacking the irgc?

Admiral Brad Cooper (22:10)

Beautiful heart.

Reporter (22:11)

Thank you.

Dana Perino (22:12)

I would just say on the protests, obviously, a lot Iranian people. The Iranian people showed a lot of courage in those protests. And we saw the Iranian regime was revealed for what it is in the way they reacted to that. The world saw that. No one's done more than President Trump to reopen the opportunity for those who want a free Iran to do so. Ultimately, it's common sense, as he said up front, don't go out and protest while bombs are dropping inside Tehran and elsewhere. So there will come a moment where he determines, or they determine that it's the time to seize that advantage. But there's a lot of things we're doing and the Israeli military is doing, targeting those individuals who are targeting those who protest. The more you do that and you erode their will and you erode their capabilities, the more you create an opportunity for people to boldly stand up.

Admiral Brad Cooper (23:00)

Yeah, I would just reinforce the point. We're targeting the people, targeting the headquarters and the people who are targeting the protesters, first and foremost. I'd also just double down on the president's comments that he previously made to the people. Stay in your homes, keep things calm, stay out of the way. There's a lot of US And Israeli capacity coming over. We're hitting a lot of targets. The best thing for them to do for right now is just to lay low right here. One common outcome of American military action in the past has been taking in thousands of refugees into the American homeland.

Harold Ford Jr. (23:37)

And I'm wondering if there's any safeguards put in place to make sure that the American people aren't having to have

Admiral Brad Cooper (23:42)

another wave of refugees from the Middle

Dana Perino (23:46)

east or anywhere else come and stay here. I think it's safe to say there's no plan for a wave of new Middle Eastern refugees to the United States of America. I think, as the president has pointed out for a long time, there are a lot of countries in this, in the region who would be capable of providing that kind of support if need be. But that's certainly not something we're planning on. Yes, sir.

Harold Ford Jr. (24:09)

Michael, in Washington Times, I wanted to ask, I know you know, Semper Gumby

Dana Perino (24:13)

is always a truism in the military. Did the British decision to refuse Diego Garcia have any impact on the mission itself? Did you have to adjust, or were you able to just completely go with the mission without even worrying about that? Well, as the President stated, it was unfortunate that the Brits didn't from day one say, hey, go ahead and have access. But we got there, we got there. And that's now part of the way that we're operationalizing bomber runs. And as part of when we say more to come, it's more fighter squadrons, it's more capabilities, it's more defensive capabilities, and it's more bomber pulses more frequently. The amount of firepower over Iran and over Tehran is about to surge dramatically. And part of it is that we're going to have even more basing. And it's not just the UK We've had other friends step up, and we're grateful for that. Maybe, maybe one more right here.

Admiral Brad Cooper (25:09)

The Azeri president earlier today basically authorized his minister of defense to begin preparing troops for some type of retaliatory action

Dana Perino (25:16)

at the airport strike.

Admiral Brad Cooper (25:17)

As the Department of War and CENTCOM been working on deconflicting with the Auseri if they were to move in or attempt something in retaliation.

Dana Perino (25:25)

I'm sure there are plans and I'll let the admiral speak to that. But that does allow me to kind of address this idea that the war might be expanding or there's chaos and nothing could be further from the truth. If anything, what Iran is doing by targeting allied countries that would otherwise want to stay out of this, they've actually pulled them into the American orbit. So now you've got UAE and Qatar and Bahrain and Saudi and Kuwait and others saying, hey, we're with you. Here's we'll shoot with you, we'll fly with you, we'll defend with you, we'll allow you more basing and other, a lot of which you know, we can't talk about and won't talk about, but it's actually firming up the unity of the resistance in order to focus exactly where we need to. So this idea that it's expanding or going. No, it's actually. It's actually simplifying in a number of ways exactly what we need to achieve and how we'll achieve it.

Admiral Brad Cooper (26:16)

I don't know if you will not. We'll get ahead of policy in terms of what we might do. What I will point out is this is now the 12th country that Iran has attacked. 12 countries. And it goes right back to the secretary's point. Those 12 countries are none too happy. And I look forward to working with all the partners who are willing to join us in this.

Dana Perino (26:35)

And I would just close by saying,

Admiral Brad Cooper (26:37)

Mr. Secretary, one more question.

Dana Perino (26:39)

Would you. What is your message to Americans who are concerned about security here at home

Reporter (26:45)

with the change up that we're going

Dana Perino (26:46)

to see at the Department of Homeland Security? Well, I think, I think Kristi Noem did an excellent job over there securing our border and keeping us focused on threats and President making a change. We all serve at the pleasure of the President. I'm sure Mark Wayne Mullen will do a fantastic job. He's been a friend of mine for a long time. But Christie did a great job setting this up for success. So I don't have any concerns about whether or not the homeland will be covered down on. And I'll just end by saying I wish every American could get a chance to see what we see. I had a chance to go into the control room, into the tactical operations center, go see these young men and women that are doing this, the dedication that they show at every level, the way they've refined their craft. I'm talking to a young colonel who's iterating on how we target and how we find and fix different aspects of what the Iranians are trying to do. If they. They don't know what they're up against, and if they think they've got it solved for, they're wrong. And ultimately, the combination of our ingenuity, the skill, the professionalism, the discipline, and then the sheer weight of the capabilities of the US Military, what you're going to see may look routine. It might start to be like, oh, another boat. Oh, another launcher. Oh, another drone facility. What it takes to do this with the precision that we do is world class. No one else can do it. And it's world class Americans like the ones I saw here, like the ones that are coming home that we're going to greet home that are the engine of what makes our country great. And so I'm so grateful for folks like those here at centcom, at Central Command who are under your command. Thank you for your decisive leadership and, and all I'll say to you is what I say to them. Keep going because the President and myself, we have your back. Thank you, everyone.

Admiral Brad Cooper (28:28)

Appreciate it. Thanks very much. Mr. Secretary, how is this operation going

Dana Perino (28:31)

to ensure Iran never gets that was

Jesse Watters (28:34)

Secretary of War P. Teg says, saying the Iranians don't believe the United States has the capability to sustain this operation. Secretary of War says we have the will, we have the commitment, we have the munitions, and we've only just begun to fight. And Admiral Cooper said all of these things that we've been doing, the Navy, the stockpiles, the deep bunkers, we've been systematically destroying their missile production capability and ticked off a list of targets and says tonight and the next few days over Iran, we're going to have a lot of firepower. Kaylee, what do you think?

Ainsley Earhardt (29:07)

It was incredible to hear from Admiral Brad Cooper. He said in the last 72 hours, we've taken out 200 targets. He said in the last hour there have been dozens of bunker missiles. He said dozens of penetrator bombs, I should say that went into deeply buried missile launchers in Iran. You noted the ballistic, ballistic missiles, missile attacks coming from Iran, down 90%. He said they have sunk 30 ships in the Iranian navy. There's an Iranian drone ship. He said that as we speak, is on fire. That is a real time update. It's incredibly impressive. And when you hear Pete Hegsett at the top of those remarks say Iran is calculating that we're going to run out of fuel here, we're going to put our foot on the brakes. And he said that is a bad miscalculation. And you look at, we're six days in day one, the Ayatollah is gone, four, 49 other leaders, then all of a sudden they're counting votes for the next ayatollah. Wipe out 88 leaders, you wipe out, decimate their entire Navy. And then, of course, the first sinking of an enemy ship by a torpedo since World War II. This is impressive. And my question for all the Democrats who voted against this, if not now, when? When did you plan on keeping religious fanatics from obtaining a nuclear weapon and potentially destroying civilization? Now is the time. President Trump is commander in chief.

Jesse Watters (30:21)

So these two men believe the mission is going extremely well and ahead of schedule. How do you think it's going?

Harold Ford Jr. (30:26)

I hope that, I hope that they're right. I think that what is clear is a couple things from this. And I thought both the Secretary of Defense and the CENTCOM commander did a great job. The American people are curious about the timeline. I heard what Greg said at the outset. I do think there's some people who sheeplessly say that, yes, you know, we want Iran to not have a nuclear weapon. I certainly want to be clear. I want them not to have a nuclear weapon. I think the President laid out a few weeks ago, even at his State of the Union, that we would not allow that to happen. I think the question now is are we going to eliminate their ability, which many people thought we may have done last June, or are we going to eliminate people? And that will take a longer period of time. I heard that. I heard Secretary Hex had say, look, we are built for this fight and we will fight it till its end. And we have the munitions to ensure that as long as it takes, we will be there to fight it. I think that's where there's some discomfort amongst Americans who've had a long, who've had, whose appetite for long wars over the last 20 years has just extinguished. But I agree with what we were saying when we were not on air. They need to do more of these and they need to get their message even tighter and more consistent. Because at the end of the day, we want. No American wants, no sane American wants Iranians to have a nuclear weapon. No sane American wants their ballistic industrial base to live. But at the same time, we all want to know, even those of us sane ones who are Democrats, how long is this going to take? And I think I'm joined by a lot of Republicans in asking that question as well.

Jesse Watters (31:49)

And after a few days, we got base agreement with the Brits in the Indian Ocean. Pete said that's going to be helpful.

Dana Perino (31:56)

Yeah.

Kayleigh McEnany (31:57)

And also the British are ridiculous to even think about letting it go anyway. So I think holding their feet to the fire on that is important. I think the CENTCOM briefings are excellent. So if you are looking for additional sources, they might not always make it on air here because there are so many other things going on. If you want more information, CENTCOM briefings are great and they're doing something that is smart because they have something in the morning and something in the afternoon because it's a 24 hour media cycle. But it's, it's such a different way of communicating because now you're also competing with the algorithm, like on TikTok, it's not good. Very anti Israel guys. So just be cautious about that. The thing that's curious is that there's so little video coming out from inside Iran. And it's strange. Like, think about even, like the protests. We had a lot of video during the protests. They had Starlink. As I understand it, the Chinese provided some technology to the Iranians that allow them to jam Starlink. So when the 30 to 34,000 people were killed by the Iranians on January 8th and 9th, there's no video, there's no video of the grieving, there's no protest. And I hope that could turn around because I think that's a very powerful communications tool. What are they thinking? What are they saying? We're sort of guessing, like, what. What do the people inside Iran want? We can talk to people who live here in America, who have been here for a long time, but even they are having a hard time communicating back and forth. So if there's one angle that I'm looking for in the next 48 hours, I'd love to see more from inside of the country. Especially as Pete had said, or maybe it was Mr. Admiral Cooper said to the Iranian people, still stay inside. We're working on it. Be patient. But I would love to hear from more of them.

Harold Ford Jr. (33:32)

Greg?

Greg Gutfeld (33:33)

I don't know. I was a little disappointed. Where was the land acknowledgement at the start? And I didn't see a lot of diversity up there.

Jesse Watters (33:41)

You thought it was going to be Bradley Cooper.

Greg Gutfeld (33:43)

Yeah. What did I see there? Two white males. Two white males. Not a lot of. Just a lot of toxic masculinity. You know, it does say something that there's almost no criticism I've seen of the actual strike or the incursion itself. That's because the opening gambit was so decisive and unquestionably awesome. It's like you can't criticize it. So almost all of the criticism, and a lot of it is legitimate is the phase that hasn't happened yet. It's like, well, what's next? What next? I can guarantee you the person that is asking how long this is the loudest is Trump, because, I mean, you think you're impatient. This guy doesn't get into something until he already knows how to get out of it. You know, he's like a rock band that has another hotel room next to his hotel room. So he could say, I'll be right back, and then he just leaves. I learned that from somewhere. But, you know, I do think, like Normally this feels like it would already be over. Like when you completely clean out the head and leave the body, you just think maybe there's just nobody who can declare surrender because they're dead. I don't know. But I don't see how this thing can continue much longer. But I'm not a military expert, although many people think I am.

Jesse Watters (34:58)

Coming up next, Iran's deadly drone attacks are wreaking havoc across the Middle east battlefield. Benjamin hall, who's reported from war zones around the world, joins us next with his insight.

Harold Ford Jr. (35:08)

Joins

Ainsley Earhardt (35:11)

this is Ainsley Earhart. Thank you for joining me for the 52 episode podcast series the Life of

Dana Perino (35:16)

Jesus A listening experience that will provide

Greg Gutfeld (35:18)

hope, comfort and understanding of the greatest story ever told. Listen and follow now@foxnewspodcasts.com or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Admiral Brad Cooper (35:35)

This is what we are facing. Now. Imagine

Harold Ford Jr. (35:45)

it aimed at your house.

Greg Gutfeld (35:50)

I don't know what happened there, but Israel's UN Ambassador showing off an Iranian drone that was used in an attack in the region. For some insight on the changing battlefield, FOX News senior correspondent Benjamin hall joins us now. Benjamin, what was going on there? I have no idea.

Benjamin Hall (36:05)

One of the weapons everyone is talking about are the drones, right? They say that Iran may have up to sort of hundreds of thousands of them and they cost $20,000 and they're being fired across. And we were using missiles, Patriot missiles worth millions to shoot them down. But we just heard from Admiral Cooper, they have technology of their own. They're shooting them down for a lot less. And we heard earlier on that perhaps the Ukrainians might come on board and give their advice as well because those drones are being fired all over Ukraine. So it's modern warfare. It's cheap, it doesn't cost so much. And we're adapting.

Greg Gutfeld (36:35)

What do you think of that offer of assistance from Zelensky?

Benjamin Hall (36:39)

Well, it comes a day after President Trump called him P.T. barnum. So it's I mean, relationship there isn't strong. Look, the Ukrainians have worked very hard to figure out how to do it on the cheap. And I think President Trump also said that they would welcome help from anywhere if it helps them. So look, that relationship is never going to be close and President Trump's trying to solve that.

Kayleigh McEnany (36:57)

But I'm really interested in the technological changes of war. And you've covered so many different ones. I mean, this is really dramatically different.

Benjamin Hall (37:05)

Absolutely. And the things that we are seeing every single day, the communications, you know, the pulses they're using are things we've never used And I think that Iran is being really hit back on so many levels that it doesn't understand. We saw it in Venezuela, the ability to hit pulses over a city. You can take them all out. And you were saying that we're not hearing a lot out of Tehran. It's because the US Is shutting down so much communications, they cannot talk to one another. They are sitting there, they can't talk, and they're being bombed constantly.

Kayleigh McEnany (37:29)

Is that why they get together in person and then get annihilated?

Benjamin Hall (37:32)

Well, there's a big question. Why on earth the Ayatollah got together with 49 people? Why they keep meeting, we will never understand. Is it arrogance? Is it because they love martyrdom? They don't mind it if it happens that way, but not the right move.

Harold Ford Jr. (37:45)

94 million. First of all, Ben, it's always good to see you. Your family remains in a lot of people's prayers, including mine. 94, 93 million people in Iran. We've heard the. Our desire to destroy their ability, eliminate the ability to develop a nuclear weapon, to launch ballistic missiles, and to perhaps regime change. Do you think these are all three achievable? And if so, how long does that take? And will the American people have the patience for that?

Benjamin Hall (38:12)

The primary objective is to remove the threat. It's to remove the missiles. That's to hit nuclear programs, and it's to make sure they can't rebuild those programs as well. That's the primary goal. And that I believe will happen in a few weeks. The question is regime change. How long does that take afterwards? And I was getting messages very, very rare from people inside Tehran who support this action and who were saying just today, you reduce that hierarchy, you get rid of the leaders, and we will rise up. President Trump has said it as well. The people of Iran have to do this. So if you can tear apart the regime, you can tear apart their weapons program, the people of Iran should do it. So, look, that may not happen immediately. I think that might happen over a year or so. But I think the US can go and do its primary objective, which is get the military, and then the people of Iran really need to be the one.

Kayleigh McEnany (38:53)

Can they do that without weapons?

Benjamin Hall (38:55)

Well, we're already hearing whether or not weapons might be given. But if you demolish the regime to a certain degree, then yes, they can. But, yes, it's an important point that they don't have weapons.

Harold Ford Jr. (39:03)

Can they do it without American ground troops? I mean, that's where I was going to. Can you do without American troops on the ground, you think?

Benjamin Hall (39:08)

Yeah, I think already even before this began, you know, epic fury, we saw the millions of Iranians on the streets really destabilizing the regime. And if you totally take apart the regime from the air, I think they certainly can do it. Yes.

Ainsley Earhardt (39:21)

Just quickly, Vladimir Putin, do you think he obviously watched Venezuela, he's watching Iran. Does this drive him to a deal in Ukraine?

Benjamin Hall (39:29)

No, I do not think it does. Absolutely. Vladimir Putin has no interest in a deal at all.

Greg Gutfeld (39:34)

What can we just. We got to move on. But I want to add, you have a new book out. I just want to make sure that people know about it.

Benjamin Hall (39:39)

And I do, indeed. And I know it's a funny time to be talking about a kid's book, but it's connected to many of the things I learned in war. There's this little hedgehog there, and he stands up and he learns to stop the people who are causing threats. And he finds a way of doing that. And that's the message I teach my children all the time. If there's something wrong happening, you go and you find a way to stop it. So that's happened in the book, and it's also based on a little hedgehog that I took to war zones as well. I've got this little hedgehog. It was with me wherever I went.

Kayleigh McEnany (40:03)

I believe it was seen on the five when you first were talking about saved.

Greg Gutfeld (40:07)

It's like Jesse's hair.

Kayleigh McEnany (40:10)

And he tells his kids where the hedgehog is.

Benjamin Hall (40:13)

This little guy's been on the five before and he was with me. And you. Ukraine when we were hit. He was in my body armor. We survived. And when I was barely alive, I held onto this hedgehog and I gripped him for days trying to get out. And I thought, this is going to keep me alive. My kids are going to keep me alive. This hedgehog is in a book now. He's going off around the world. He's creating adventures, and he's hopefully conveying messages to our children, which I think are so important. So I appreciate you mentioning the book. Thank you.

Greg Gutfeld (40:37)

Got it.

Ainsley Earhardt (40:37)

Congratulations.

Greg Gutfeld (40:38)

All right. Thanks, Benjamin. Coming up next, God is non binary and translated can get abortions. Dems pick another woke freak. All night.

Jesse Watters (40:59)

No breaks.

Kayleigh McEnany (41:00)

I'll tell so Democratic Texas Senate

Jesse Watters (41:05)

here.

Kayleigh McEnany (41:05)

Jtricko he's trying to sound like a moderate, but holy guacamole. Talarico. Past comments on X tell a different story. During COVID he said people with white skin spread racism wherever we go. He called mass shooters radicalized white men and illegal aliens were undocumented Americans. And there are tapes.

Harold Ford Jr. (41:23)

Our trans community needs abortion care too.

Dana Perino (41:26)

Our southern border should be like our front porch. There should be a giant welcome mat out front.

Harold Ford Jr. (41:31)

There are many more than two biological sexes. In fact, there are six. God is both masculine and feminine and everything in between. God is non binary. Prophetic voices like Jesus have helped me reckon with my own whiteness, my own masculinity.

Kayleigh McEnany (41:51)

Jesse, what do you think of this candidate now that you got to know him a little bit?

Jesse Watters (41:53)

How did we go from Lyndon Johnson to James Talarico? Lyndon Johnson used to play baseball, drink scotch, chase women, ride around in a convertible, tell the dirtiest jokes you've ever seen. Where are the Johnsons? Pause. Where are real male Democrats in Texas? I don't know if you are a straight white male. As a Democrat, you have to simp in order to get elected. You have to simp to trans, to illegals, to the feminists. Planned Parenthood is going to be jerking this guy around on a leash. The story hour weirdos are gonna be jerking this guy. Roll over, sit. Good puppy. The guy's a pet. He's a skinnier walls, he's a newsome without the hair grease. They can't make these guys. In the real world, this guy is a Texas woke preacher slash teacher that went to Harvard and is on the View and thinks there's six genders. Who cooked this guy up? Netflix, Schumer, Stephen Colbert, just so that they can beat someone like Paxton. These people don't exist in the real world. I don't even think he owns a gun. I bet he's a vegetarian. But he's welcome on primetime. I'm very open minded.

Kayleigh McEnany (43:20)

Harold, do you think this is not a bad idea for the Democrats?

Harold Ford Jr. (43:23)

Well, no, the point I was making, Democrats nominated him and I think when you look, you have to, you have to lose to someone if he's going to lose. And if you look at John Cornyn and Ken Paxton, they're going to have a battle. I know people believe that President Trump is going to come in and endorse someone and he very well, very well might. But I've watched some of the ads, I was in Texas and watched some of the ads and Mr. Cornyn ran against Mr. Paxton. And it's hard for me to believe that the unbelievable invective that was thrown at Mr. Paxton that he will just get over if he is not chosen. And it's unbelievable to me. It would be disingenuous if Mr. Cornyn believes all of those things he said about him. Just because Mr. Trump says, I'm endorsing Mr. Paxson, I don't know who he's going to endorse. Then all of a sudden, Jordan Cornyn says, well, I don't believe in any of those things I said about him. Now, James Talarico, as a candidate and as a person is going to have to explain how he grew, how he's evolved, how he's matured, if he has it all and voters will make that decision. I got to tell you, 10 years ago, I've said it before, and it's been said on the show. Mr. Vance had horrible things to say about Mr. Trump, but he changed, and I believe him. Ms. Durubio had horrible things to say about Mr.— Trump, and he changed, and I believe him. The question will be if James Talarico can convince voters in Texas that he's not that guy that said those things several years ago, and if he can, he will be a formidable candidate. And I argue he's got as good a chance to win as I have the other two guys.

Kayleigh McEnany (44:37)

What I learned from Carl today is that the six Sanders thing was in response to legislation that was on the floor in Texas about men in women's sports.

Greg Gutfeld (44:47)

Of course, I'm, I, as you know, I have a bit of the stomach flu and a head cold. I could explode at any moment. This story is going to cause that to happen. Look, you know, being. Being critical of Trump, like, say in 2015, 2016, wherever, is a lot different than having a kind of immoral and deviant view of the universe. The. A lot of these ideas all come from the same place. It's a deeply kind of subversive look at humanity. I mean, there's no such thing. He has a lot of old tweets about whites who are racists, and white whiteness is essentially a virus. Okay, you can say you evolved to do that. You have to disown those ideas. How can you disown an idea that you still hold? None of? No, but none of these guys are going to say, you know what? I don't believe in this stuff anymore. They never do. They just want to. It's going to be up to the media to hold and say, like, do you still believe that whiteness is a virus? Do you still believe that there are six genders? Do you still. That men can have abortions? Will anybody ask that question but us? This is a national issue, in my view, because this kind of thinking has infiltrated schools, obviously, churches, and politics. Woke has not gone away. It's Actually gotten more concentrated and sicker. Do you think Latinos and blacks and men in general will be okay with this tripe? You gotta. This is nothing more than a woke. Like, to use your word, it's a simp for awfuls, betas and identitrons. There's not enough of them to put this guy in. And you know what? We have to. This show has to expose him the way we. We expose the trans mania every day. We got to say this guy is bad news in the end.

Kayleigh McEnany (46:29)

Kayleigh, do you think Republicans can hold the seat?

Ainsley Earhardt (46:31)

Yeah, I think they can. Look, he's bad for all the reasons Jesse mentioned, minus the Lyndon Johnson chasing women portion. But that aside, here's what Republicans need to do. Let me speak to Republicans for just a moment. There is a very generous offer by Attorney General Ken Paxton. He said, pass the save Act, John Cornyn. And he took it further in the filibuster. If that's what it takes, and I will drop out of the race. So Donald Trump should come in, twist the screws. Paxton has said, here's your. Here's what we need to do. Why won't you do it, Cornyn? Why won't you do it? The filibuster has like blackmail material on so many Republican senators. And the filibuster saved the Senate seat in Texas.

Kayleigh McEnany (47:07)

And the filibuster becomes the House dims

Ainsley Earhardt (47:11)

are going to end it. So wait for James Carville to do and make Puerto Rico a state or

Kayleigh McEnany (47:15)

keep the majority and don't let it happen at all.

Harold Ford Jr. (47:17)

This is why I say Talarico has a chance.

Kayleigh McEnany (47:19)

Yeah, I hear you now, Harold. Okay. All right. One More Thing is up next.

Jesse Watters (47:34)

Sign now for One More Thing. Greg.

Greg Gutfeld (47:35)

Oh, tonight we got a great show. If I don't throw up first. Watch out, Dana. Eric McGuire, Steve Cortez, Michael Loftus, Tyrus.

Dana Perino (47:43)

That's next.

Jesse Watters (47:45)

Tonight, 8:00pm Larry Kudlow, Dana Lash, Jack Carr.

Benjamin Hall (47:50)

Dana.

Kayleigh McEnany (47:50)

Okay, well, I have an update on Punch the Monkey. He's outgrowing his little stuffed animal. They're saying that, but see, then I talked to Tyrus. We did the thing on Instagram. You can find it at Dana Perino. And he says that the plush toy was maybe not a good idea at all from the beginning, so.

Harold Ford Jr. (48:06)

All right, Bailey, go to Kaylee.

Ainsley Earhardt (48:08)

Thank you, Harold. That's so generous. I just wanted to announce my exclusive interview on Saturday with Vice President Mike Pence. His first thoughts on Iran come in live on Saturday in America.

Kayleigh McEnany (48:16)

All right, 10:00am Say anything, Harold?

Harold Ford Jr. (48:20)

No.

Kayleigh McEnany (48:20)

Thank you, Harold.

Ainsley Earhardt (48:23)

Thank you.

Jesse Watters (48:24)

Emily would have said about 16,000 things in 15 seconds.

Greg Gutfeld (48:27)

100%.

Harold Ford Jr. (48:28)

100.

Ainsley Earhardt (48:29)

You guys.

Harold Ford Jr. (48:29)

You guys listen to the 5 ad

Greg Gutfeld (48:31)

free on Amazon Music with your prime membership or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.