Iran Strikes Back: Gulf Energy Facilities Under Fire

Hi everyone, it's Brian Kilmeade here. Are you tired of those uncomfortable dress shirts, especially when they bunch up under a sweater? If so, then you must check out collars and go. Makers of the dress collar polo. Listen up. These shirts are four-way stretch, buttery soft polos with firm dress collars on them, so they give you the dress shirt look, but extremely comfortable polo feel. You can wear them with anything under a sweater, with a blazer, or by themselves as an elevated polo. They work for any occasion. These polos are perfect, whether it's in the office. on a golf course or a night out. Collars and Co is exploding and have gone viral on social media thanks to the $1 million investment they received on Shark Tank from Mark Cuban and Peter Jay Jones. You don't have to worry about collars that flop down and spread out. They stay firm and sharp all day. It's an amazing array of sweaters, quartersips, pants, and outerwear. If you're looking for the performance dress shirt or polo that looks great all day, check out collarsandco.com. Use promo code Brian or 15% off of any purchase of $100 or more. That's promo code Brian. From the Fox News Radio Studios in Midtown Manhattan, it's the fastest growing radio talk show. Brian Kilmeade. Hi everyone, so glad you're there. Brian Kilmeade, fresh off Fox and Friends. Getting into action now. Josh Crash hour at the bottom of the hour. Senator John Corning coming up in a matter of moments. We're watching the House now get there briefing from our intelligence experts. The House Senate got yesterday. It was a little fiery. There was an agenda. Too much politics. Not enough facts. And people are zeroing in on what Tulsi Gabbard thinks as opposed to John Ratcliffe when it comes to the war in Iran. We'll have all that. And more. Before we get to Senator John Cornyn, let's get to the big three. Number three. The governor of California is an enemy to the people of California. He's literally working to support the fraudsters. Meanwhile, he could be working to expose the fraud. Why doesn't he say, hey, Nick, great video. How can we help? Because Nick Shirley's going out there exposing the hospice scandal as well as another child care scandal. But this time in California, fraud and blue states worse than anyone thought as California gets the spotlight. And their governor, uh, wiltz under the scrutiny. Number two. The average TSO lives paycheck to paycheck. Their job is to look for bombs on the airplanes that you and your family are about to board. Let's not forget that we are now in a heightened threat environment. If there was ever a time that we needed to fund the Department of Homeland Security, it's right now. So Jay Johnson, he was Homeland Security Secretary under Barack Obama. End it now. D.H. shutdown costing us time, energy, and for many, their ability to pay their bills. It's jeopardizing over three of us at the airport. our safety and over 350 TSA agencies have walked out in the job. Number one. A lot of developments on the energy front overnight after Israeli forces struck the South Pars gas field in southern Iran. This was a strike that according to Israeli officials was coordinated with the United States.

Maybe, but it doesn't seem like the U.S. was coordinated, easy on the energy. Trump makes it clear to Israel and Iran. Hitting gas sites is not good. We're going to see if they get the message as the Iran regime has experienced a slow decapitation. And with us right now, he's on the Budget Foreign Relations and Intelligence Committee, Senator John Cornyn. John Cornyn, welcome back. Thanks, Brian. Good to be with you. I know you're in a big battle to get the nomination to keep that job for another six years. But in the meantime, what is your takeaway from the Intelligence Committee hearing yesterday? Well, I thought it was very enlightening. It reassured me that the president is doing exactly the right thing, eliminating the capacity of not only Iran to acquire nuclear weapons, but the ballistic missiles and even the reentry vehicles, which are prerequisite to an intercontinental ballistic missile that could actually reach the United States. So I was very pleased with it, but I wasn't pleased. with the fact the Democrats continue to defund DHS, including Homeland Security Investigations, which Director Kash Patel said was essential in fighting the homegrown terrorists that have popped up all across the country, including my hometown, Austin, Texas. Of course, and that guy came from New York, Senegal. He already had a criminal record here, but shows up in Austin, and your courageous cops took it down or it could have been worse. Senator, let's go what you just said about DHS and the showdown. Sometimes it's complex, and sometimes it isn't. This is not hard. You're basically trying to defund ICE, which is funded, not you, but Democrats. They've already gotten, I counted five things. No more Greg Gregory Bovino, no more Kristi Noem, no more roaming patrols. Now they're going to have some type of ID on their uniforms where that's four, that's five major things that the Democrats could say, hey, we really got a lot out of this. But they want more. What do they want? Well, they want to stop enforcement of immigration laws. I mean, this was four years of the Biden administration, open borders. And now President Trump has done what he said he would do, which was to secure the border and is now in the process of enforcing the law. Brian, as you know, these are people who have either criminal records or who have exhausted all of their legal remedies and simply defied the law and stayed in the United States. And in these blue states like Minnesota, we see tragic consequences when civilians interfere with law enforcement operations. But I have a lot more competence in Tom Homan. He's a real pro. And we're not going to give up enforcing the law. They want you to wear. They want the masks off. And they want judicial warrants. You were former judge. They want judicial warrants before you take any action. Really? That's not even practical. Tell us why. No, it's, I mean, these folks have largely gone before immigration judges, and they've gotten final orders of deportation. So the idea that you have to go back to court and to prove a crime, which is required to get a warrant or a police probable cause for a crime, is completely irrelevant to an immigration proceeding, which essentially is a civil proceeding, not criminal. So it's just a pretext for making it harder and harder for our...

ICE officials and other law enforcement enforce our immigration laws. So, I mean, they're trying to work on a compromise. Tom Suozzi in the House who's worked with Brian Fitzpatrick, Republican Democrat. One of their proposals is take the masks off, but now we're going to pursue anybody who doxes. I mean, is that the type of compromise? Are we talking to any type of compromise? Anything moving forward? You know, I don't really. I think they just keep moving the goalposts. Democrats really don't want to solve the problem. They don't want to pay TSA agents, and they don't want to pay the other functions like FEMA and Coast Guard and Homeland Security investigations through the Department of Homeland Security. This is their... This is how they roll. And unfortunately, this is the second major shutdown, as you know, for this year. It's just unacceptable. So I don't know how long this is going to go on. So it looks like the administration is not denied. Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of War, just on television on his briefing, it looks like they're going to ask for $200 billion more for this, for a supplemental. I know you just hearing this, just came out. But do you think they'll get it? Well, the number keeps moving. Originally, we heard 50 billion and then 100 billion and then 200 billion, so I don't know what the number will ultimately be, but we definitely need to fund our efforts to replenish our weapons that are being expended in this righteous cause. And so I'm going to be supporting it whatever the appropriate amount is. This is a lot cheaper. than letting Iran get a nuclear weapon and engaging in a nuclear standoff. So I'll be supporting it. Is simple majorities in both chambers? Yeah, yeah. I think, well, it could well require 60 in the Senate, but I think we can get the, I think we can get enough Democrats to get that done. I want you to hear this exchange where we live it, John Ratcliffe sparring with Senator Michael Bennett, who doesn't seem to have control of his emotions, cut eight. President Trump has offered no credible justification for the. an imminent threat, no clear goals. Here's the most important thing. You mischaracterized this as saying there aren't clearly defined goals. The defined goals are very clear. Degrade and destroy the IRGC Navy that could control the strain. These are all defined goals that were set out specifically. The premise of the question is that... May I have my time back, Mr. Chairman, I can't get a word in edgewise. He won't answer the question, and then he's taken a minute of my time. You're both big boys. You can...

credible person in the Trump administration who disagrees with what the president's doing. But the truth is he's wrong. But I give him this, Brian, the right thing for somebody to do if they can't follow administration policy is to resign. But I don't like what he said on Tucker Carlson and some of these other folks that I think are terribly misguided. They are largely anti-Semitic. And it is very disturbing, but I'm proud the president has stayed the course. And one of the statements was, we're doing this war for Israel, which the facts don't line up. And Senator, even if you don't believe that, look at the timeline of events. We were going to hit three weeks before we did. Do you know why we didn't? Because the prime minister says, we're going to be targeted if you do that. And we're not ready. We don't have the interceptors. We need some time. So we pulled back on the date we were originally going to hit. If you want to be critical of the president on that, you could do that. But you can't say that we're looking for the green light from a country of 9 million, and we supply most of their weapons. Right. Well, Israel is... proving to be, once again, one of our most dependable allies in the Middle East. The fecklessness of some of the Europeans who say, well, we're not going to even help open the Strait of Hormuz because they're afraid of irritating the Ayatollos and the people in charge of the Iranian regime is just disgusting to me. These are supposed to be our allies who want us to help in places like Ukraine. And they won't even help when it's in their self-interest when it comes to things like opening up the Strait of Hormuz and defeating this radical ideology that is leading and controlling the Iranian regime. Senator John Cornyn with us. Senator, now you've got to have till May to win the primary against Ken Paxton. And you were down by double digits, and you came back and you won, but now you're in a runoff. So what's it going to take to get across the finish line again? And then you have a general election against what they people believe is a formidable foe. But what are your thoughts about the primary? Yeah, well, I'm looking forward to running against James Talarico. He's proven to be the radical leftist that everybody thought he was, but kind of in sheep's clothing. But in the meantime, we're going to just encourage our supporters to get to the polls and vote. You know, only about 11% of registered voters voted in the primary, and we worked very hard to try to encourage folks to get out and cast their ballot.

in the early voting, and we're going to do the same in the runoff, which starts on May the 18th, goes through the 22nd, and then the final election, the runoff election is made 26. But it's a matter of simple arithmetic. But the big, real message, Brian, is that I think a Ken Paxton nomination would jeopardize the Republican, everything we've worked for decades to build in Texas in terms of the Republican Party. and Republican stronghold in a state that is the envy of the country because of our conservative leadership. And I don't want to lose that. I don't want to lose all of our good candidates down ballot, including five of the new congressional seats that the president's depending on to maintain the majority in the House. And so I think I can help. And I think Ken Paxton would be an albatross around the Republican ticket in November. You've always been a great voice of reason, Senator John Cornyn, real asset, and best of luck in the primary. I hope you win. Thank you, Brian. Appreciate you. You got it. Senator John Cornyn. We're going to come back, and I'll be able to take your calls. 1866408-7669. We also see the House has the intelligence community. They're briefing the House Intelligence Committee right now. We'll bring it back with some of those recaps and how it might be different from yesterday in front of the Senate. You're listening to the Brian Kilmeade. The headlines, the stories behind them, and the people who make them, only on the Brian Kilmeade. At Walmart, we're helping our associates build meaningful careers. One way we're doing that, investing $1 billion in training and education. Last year, more than 100,000 associates earned promotions. Combined with benefits like 401K matching and paid parental leave, we're proving that Walmart isn't just a place to work, it's a place to grow. Learn more at walmart.com slash grow at Walmart.

If you're interested in it, Brian's talking about it. You're with Brian Kilmeade. The reality is, overseas, they're feeling it far worse than we did because we've taken the steps to protect our energy economy. For example, what we did working with these allies that we released hundreds of millions of barrels out of all these petroleum reserves so that we could put some downward pressure on prices. We're working on a number of things. In fact, a couple of things that I think will be announced in just the next 24 to 48 hours. I don't want to get ahead of the president on that. So that is JD Vance talking the economy over in Michigan yesterday. And that's what he's going to be doing. You know, JD Vance clearly is not on the same page as the president when it comes to Iran, but he's closing the ranks. And we have gas at 120. $105 a barrel. So the market kind of tanked a little bit. Why? Because the Israelis hit a gas field and a natural gas field, the largest in the country. Iran came back and hit Cutters gas field. That was the second, the other half of the largest in the country. So the market's down about 300 points right now. And the president said, hey, guys, knock it off. And here's why. When you hit energy, you just bring it up the global prices. That speeds up the, I guess, the timeline. in order to end this conflict, and we can't end it before we achieve our objectives. So to get that straight open, to be able to protect the oil and gas from the Gulf states, that's going to be key. Now, if it gets to the point where Iran is trying to destroy and is successful with Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and hits their energy sector, the president will just wipe out everything. I mean, they will literally have not an oil well left. Because we have our way with the government, which has been almost totally decapitated. Word is, there's a sense of complete paranoia amongst the higher ups that are left and not dead. The Supreme Leader is afraid to come out and show himself because he's got a foot injury. I don't believe it. Then you got Ali Larijani, who was actually running the country and taunting us. He's dead. The head of the IRGC, he's dead. The head of the Beshees commanders, the top five are all dead. And I think thousands more. The Mossad is evidently, when we have the exchange, it was heard by the Wall Street Journal reporter, they are contacting the police commanders and saying, you're on the blacklist. You're going to die. put down your weapons, and start fighting for the people. And the comeback was, we're on your side. We just need your help. So my feeling is there's going to be a big story coming up tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday, the Persian New Year.

They're going to celebrate outside. They were told not to. If the people come out and celebrate anyway like they did the fire festival on Tuesday, that's going to be the beginning of a defiance. And it's a test period to see what is left of the inner workings of their secret police. And then, of course, if they do come out, we got drones looking at them and we'll be able to take them out. Cheers to America's 250th birthday. Get 20% off your first purchase at Fox Newswineshop.com with code FM Radio 20. 20% discount excludes wine club offers and cannot be combined with any other promotion. Expires July 31st, 2026. Must be 21 order to order. Please drink responsibly. makes you think. This is the Brian Kilmeade. You told the media that I was a freaking snake and that you completely understood I had been assaulted. Tell it to my face if that's what you believe. Mr. Chairman, first of all, I didn't know the exceed of your damage. And you offer no apology today and no regrets. Sir, actually it wasn't heated and I'm not apologizing for pointing out your character. Good. Wow. That was the exchange. Republican on Republican, chairman against the nominee. Josh Crashauer joins us now. Fox News Radio political analyst, editor-in-chief of the Jewish insider. Josh, it actually got worse from there. What was the point? Well, it was fascinating. I mean, first of all, Republican senators, I don't think ever, or very, very, very rarely have ever opposed. a nominee, a cabinet nominee from their own party. And here you have Rand Paul, who's the chairman of the committee that decides his nomination, Markwayne Mullin's nomination, literally getting into a, you know, confrontation about, I guess, they, you know, as Markwayne Mullin, so they just don't like each other. And Mullen said he understood when Paul was assaulted by one of his neighbors, which was not. Not a good thing to say. He did not apologize for it. And these two clearly do not like each other. And Paul may not even vote for him out of committee, which is a pretty, pretty shocking development. Won't really affect anything, though, right? Well, John Fetterman. John Fetterman's on that committee, the Democrat, who seems to be kind of in tune with where the average American is. And his, if he does vote yes, that would be able to get mulling out of committee. But it's kind of struck. Paul has always been, we know this, we've talked about Rand Paul over. over the years. But, you know, he's always been sort of an odd duck within the Republican Party and isolationist Republican and someone who is not a, you know, he kind of rubs a lot of his colleagues the wrong way. Mullen is also someone who wears his emotions on his sleeve. I think he almost threatened to pick a fight with a labor leader on Capitol Hill about a year ago. He is someone who, a lot of his colleagues really like him, Democrats and Republicans alike, but he also tends to kind of show his emotions. clearly has no love for Rand Paul. And that showed loud and clear at the hearing yesterday.

Yeah, I mean, Randolph doesn't do anything. I mean, he's an ideologue. He should be in a think tank, not as a lawmaker. I mean, I know really, you know, conservatives are very conservative, very liberal people, but do you want to get something done? Or do you want to sit there and say, well, my ideals don't let me do any spending bill, don't want to support any conflict ever. But you could say, I don't want to support a conflict, but this is what I want in exchange. That's the wheeling dealing. I don't know why he even wants to be senator. He doesn't do anything. Yeah, I mean, he's following in the footsteps of his father, who was known as, you know, Mr. No, Dr. No in Congress, who just voted as a lone vote against a whole lot of spending issues, a lot of foreign aid issues. Rand Paul clearly does not believe in American military engagement. He's been that way ever since the Senate in 2010. He is someone who has been a lone Republican vote on a whole host of issues, namely spending and foreign policy issues. So this is nothing new for him. I think what's new in this. is you have the ideological disconnect, but now you also have the personal hatred between Paul and the, what he, you know, what he displayed towards Markwayne Mullin at the hearing yesterday. I know, absolutely. So let's talk about, if we can, the Save America Act. So was there some give a little bit from Chuck Schumer about ID specifically? Or is that being overstated? Yeah, I think it may be overstated. I'm usually the optimist when I think there's some opportunity for bipartisanship and dealmaking in Congress. I just don't see Democrats fighting when it comes to the SAVE Act. You need 60 votes, first of all, so the legislative pathway has always been remote. It's hard to get anyone other than John Fetterman, and I don't even know John Fetterman's on board with the SAVE Act to get to get any legislation passed. And, you know, I think, look, what Chuck Schumer has to reckon with is that voter ideas. Democrats, Republicans, and independents when you look at polls tend to support being required to show your ID when it comes to voting. There are other provisions as part of the Save Act that are, I think, a little more controversial, a little more polarizing. So there's that. And there's also the issue, which you don't hear a lot from Democrats, but it's one that I actually hear more from Republicans about, you know, why are we spending so much capital on a bill that would federalize, essentially, election law. That's something that Republicans have always, conservative certainly, have always been against. when Biden tried to, you know, bring up this one, one, uh, HR one of these, these big election rule laws from the Democrats' point of view that would have federalized a lot of election rules. Republicans have always been, been very adamant that this should be up to the states. And I think that's where things are going to end up because I don't see, uh, you know, any chance of this passing. Uh, here's, uh, Chuck Schumer yesterday, Cup 48. They are trying to dupe us, folks. They are trying to dupe America. They say, oh, this is just a voter ID law. Bullshit. It is a law that will kick millions of Americans off the voting rolls. Is that true? Well, I think that goes to show that he knows that the voter ID element of the legislation is popular, widely popular. So he's trying to.

provisions in the legislation would require people to show proof of citizenship. And that's what Chuck Schumer is at least arguing as it could inconvenience or make it harder for people who don't have all the necessary paperwork to vote. I mean, it's a debatable issue. It's a disputed issue. But, you know, look, I think it may have been a mistake to kind of add on, you know, other, you know, the voters. It was, I think. I think it was to add all that stuff about men and women's sports and all those things. Why do that? Yeah, I mean, those issues on their own to be popular, but boy, the messaging and the polling behind just showing an ID when you vote, that's hard to argue politically. Even Chuck Schumer was having trouble doing that in that sound clip, and that would at least have been, I think, more of a political straight hit for the Republicans. Yeah, I guess we'll see what happens on that. I think they're going to end up having a vote. And I think, excuse me, like a talking filibuster. I mean, where do you think John Thune's going with this just to get everybody on the record? Because he's not going to get Lisa Murkowski. He's not going to get Mitch McConnell. He's not going to get Thom Tillis, it seems. I mean, boy, this is the last thing that John Thune wants to deal with. And if you talk to Republican senators, at least some of them privately, it's a distraction for issues that they think are more relevant and more politically favorable to them. Again, if it was just about voter ID, if it was just about, you know, a straight messaging bill, you'd have much more support. But there's a lot of other stuff here that Democrats have been, you know, and using a lot of those other provisions to go on the attack themselves. Look, soon I think wants to get this over with. And one of the bigger complications is that Trump was, according to some reports, was going to endorse John Cornyn in this really big Texas Senate primary in this runoff. But then he kind of withheld that endorsement and kind of dangled the support of the Save Act and getting rid of the filibuster.

It's made John Toon's alive. The whole politics within the Republican caucus have been a headache for John Boone. He doesn't have 100% support within his own caucus. Democrats are actually going on offense on this issue more than they usually do. And it's an issue that I think is a distraction. No doubt about it. So let's talk about what's happening with the war. Gas is over $100 a barrel. The president's making great progress in the military aspect of it, but wants to get a hold of the energy aspect, and that's what's forcing these prices up and maybe putting economic pressure on the president. What's it like in Washington? How would they, is you think the Republicans are feeling the pressure? Well, this is an asymmetrical war where the big, big military achievements have been pretty remarkable from the U.S. and the Israeli fronts in terms of taking out Iran's top leaders, including the Ayatollah, of degrading the ballistic missiles and nuclear facilities to some extent. You know, from the top lines on the military front, the achievements have been pretty successful. Iran, because it's now weak and weekend, is fighting an asymmetrical war trying to target the economies of the West in invasion. And the Strait of Hormuz has been their main battleground, and they've had success in driving up the price of oil and going after Gulf State oil and natural gas facilities. So I think the question is, like, this was easily anticipated at the beginning, even before the war started. That was obviously one of the tools in Iran's toolkit. The concern on Capitol Hill is that, you know, we don't have, you know, and I know Trump has. publicly aired his frustrations that some of the NATO allies aren't helping out and trying to come up with a game plan to kind of restore access to the Strait of Hormuz that have a military operation to do that. But I think it's going to take a lot of, a lot more assets that are currently envisioned. And that's why you're starting to hear talk about more, you know, more military, maybe even, you know, more U.S. military assets, you know, in that region. So that's, I think, I think in terms of the rate of Hormuz gas prices that's become a domestic political pressure point for Trump. And it's something that he's, you know, I don't think he's right now offered a clear solution or clear proposal on how to deal with it. Here's the, they want to point to a difference between John Ratcliffe and Tulsi Gabbard, Tulsi Gabbard and Trump, cut five. The ICSS is the regime in Iran appears to be intact but largely degraded due to attacks on its leadership and military capabilities. Its conventional military power projection capabilities have largely been destroyed, leaving limited options. Iran's strategic position has been significantly degraded. Even if the regime remains intact, the ICSS is that internal tensions are likely to increase as Iran's economy worsens. Even so, Iran and its proxies continue to attack U.S. and allied interests in the Middle East. The ICSS is that if a hostile regime survives, it will likely seek to begin a year's long effort to rebuild its military missiles and UAV forces. So saying the regime is largely intact when you took out a third, including the most important people in the Iran regime, I found it was a little interesting. Well, yeah, and I think it speaks to where it would help this administration to be clearer on what their endgame is and what their...

you know, the goal of the operations, is it to get rid of Iran's ability to produce and manufacture ballistic missiles in their nuclear program, or is it regime change? And in Israel, you've started to hear more leaders, including the prime minister, talk about regime change. It has not been the stated U.S. preference, and I think, you know, that's one of the – I mean, this has been a very closely coordinated military operation between the U.S. and Israel, and then increasingly the Gulf State allies of ours as well. But you've got to have to the public in America, but also in terms of your goals strategically, how long is this going to go on for and what is the end game? I think what Tulsi Gabbard is acknowledging and what a lot of American military officials are acknowledging is that regime change will not be easy. This regime, you know, even though they've taken out a lot of their top senior officials, the IRGC is very much still in place, still empowered, and still conducting. military operations and attacking Israel, attacking the UAE, attacking all kinds of U.S. and Gulf state interests. So I think the big question is, is there off-ramp at some point and how long is that going to take or is the goal to get rid of the regime once and for all? And that really might take more time and more manpower, but it might actually lead to a much better result in the end. I mean, I would probably not say imminent threat. I would say persistent threat that was only going to get worse. That probably would be the language I would use. But you know as somebody who knows this region. Iran was going to be a problem that was only going to get worse as they built up their ballistic missile cache and tried to achieve that enrichment, which was that enriched uranium or made their own, right? Oh, yeah. I mean, this was, I mean, look, I think the strike. last year in the, you know, the 12-day war set back their capabilities dramatically, but, you know, they could have rebuilt in a couple years. The operation already, according to both U.S. and Israel military officials, has really set Iranian-Ran's military operations and their capacity to really do damage in the region, very, very much set back. I think the bigger question, though, is that, you know, once you go as far as they have, like how much more would it take to actually... take out the regime and have a much more stable and less extremist regime in place. Like if you can go, you can do as much as they've done in a few weeks to get rid of a lot of their offensive capabilities and to take out their military facilities, how much more would it take to really degrade the power of the regime? And that's what... the U.S. and Israel right now. This is clearly the most political, risky thing the president's done. In fact, this is really national security leadership. It's not let me do good in the midterms. Am I correct? Oh, yeah. We talked about it. I think I said high risk, high reward on the show before the war started, and that we're still, that still is very relevant, that if this is successful, if Iran's regime is ousted, or if it's capability to do havoc in the middle, the rain havoc on our allies in the Middle East is rolled back. I mean, big success. But we're also seeing the pressures right now with high gas prices, economic instability, and uncertainty of when this is going to end and whether we actually need boots on the ground to actually finish the job. So those are the variables. There's still a lot of known unknowns, as Don Rumsfeld like to say. But the politics are still where they are. Trump is spending political capital now. If he's successful, it'll get a lot of it back. We'll get a lot of public support.

But right now there's a lot of uncertainty on what the end outcome of the war is. How much damage, if any, did Joe Kent's resignation in his letter do? I mean, I've always abused by sort of the strange new alliances with someone who was tied to neo-Nazis and white nationalists and couldn't even win a congressional seat in the Republican district in one. And when he ends up, you know, coming out with this letter, resigning and blaming Israel and, you know, blaming the, you know, Israel lobby. It was filled with all these anti-Semitic tropes. And yet all these Democrats started to say, hooray, hooray, Joe Kent is a truth teller. I mean, the reality is that this guy never should have had that role in the intelligence office in the first place. And, you know, now he's being hailed as a hero by kind of the usual suspects. But part of the shows how deeply partisanship has kind of. a lot of Americans, that he was one of the bad guys when he was nominated for the position. And now he's one of the truth tellers, according to Democrats now. This guy's always been a bad apple. He never should have been appointed to that position in the first place. And now I think the Trump administration has seen the mistakes that they made when they initially appointed him. And how much damage does he do going on a podcast afterwards? Yeah, I mean, we now know, according to reports in the media, that he was leaking sensitive information from their parents. and then he's under FBI investigation. So there's not a person who should have been trusted with sensitive national security secrets. And, you know, this is a mistake. I think one of many, in terms of staffing, like that matters, having good personnel matters. I think that's one of the challenges. And, like, you know, there are people that are leaking and people that are, you know, in the case of Ken, apparently leaking actual sensitive military intelligence or private intelligence. So, I mean, this is a big, big mistake. And now he's being treated as a hero. I know that about it. Thanks so much. Josh Crashow, interesting times. Thanks so much for joining us. Indeed. Thanks, Brian. Back in a moment. Real talk, real guess, real insight, where curiosity meets conversation. It's the Brian Kilmeade.

News, unique opinions. Hear it all on the Brian Kilmeade. If this were a one-off, it would be one thing. If you just dislike me so much that you approved a violence against me, people are going to just write it off, or maybe they hate each other. But really there's a pattern of this. Let's go ahead and roll the tape. Sir, this is a time. This is a place. You want to run your mouth? We can be two consenting adults. We can finish it here. Okay, that's fine. Perfect. You want to do it now? I'd love to do it right now. Well, stand your butt up then. You stand your butt up. Oh, hold on. Stop it. Is that your solution every pulling? No, no, sit down. Sit down. You're a United States senator. It just cracks me up, right? But we played that because that was some of the exchange yesterday. Then they played after Rand Paul says that he didn't like the comments he made after he was assaulted because Mullen is so frustrated by Rand Paul's votes. So maybe I understand why he was assaulted. Maybe he didn't realize how serious it was. But they didn't want to back off each other. And then they played that clip to show you that he's got an attitude problem. It didn't work. Rand Paul chairman of the committee, I'm sure didn't vote for him. But it looks like John Fetterman did voted yes. And Rand Paul voted no. 8-7. Senator Markwayne Mullin gets out of committee. There's supposed to be a vote on Tuesday. I was texting with him last night, and he felt it went well. I think it went well, too. And I think he's going to be a fantastic secretary of Homeland Security. Fantastic. Selfless guy, indefatigable worker. If anyone can run this, he can run it. I hope they could use this as an off-ramp the Democrats. Look, I'm very happy with the senator and his approach. I think we'll get, I think ICE is going to be on a better path. Let's give him a shot. Get an off-ramp so we can start paying these people. Brian Kilmeade. Oh, hold that. Oh, stop it.

Maya Tom, Fox News headquarters in New York City. Always seeking solutions, never sewing to fission. It's Brian Kilmeade. I'm so glad you there. It's Brian Kilmeade moving forward. We're watching so many different things, so many different balls in the air. The Intel Committee are actually having the Intel leaders of the Trump administration from John Ratcliffe, Tulsi Gabbard to FBI Director Kash Patel and others telling everybody for the public, point of view, not in the skiff, what exactly, what exactly they're doing and what they're worried about. And there's a lot. But a lot of it also sounds very familiar since really 9-11. Also, good news. It looks like Senator Markwayne Mullin has gotten out of committee. Tuesday, he's going to have a vote to become the next Homeland Security Secretary. It's one of the fastest approvals ever. Mark Tyson standing by, Congressman Brian Stile is also standing by. So let's get to the big three. Number three. The governor of California is an enemy to the people of California. He's literally working to support the fraudsters. Meanwhile, he could be working to expose the fraud. Why doesn't he say, hey, Nick, great video. How can we help? Yeah, but that's Gavin Newsom. And Gavin Newsom's about Gavin Newsom. Not you, Nick Shirley, sadly. Fraud in blue states worse than anyone thought as California gets the spotlight and their governor wilts under the scrutiny. Number two. The Aravage TSO lives paycheck to paycheck. Their job is to look for bombs on the airplanes that you and your family are about to board. Let's not forget that we are now in a heightened threat environment. If there was ever a time that we needed to fund the Department of Homeland Security, it's right now. That is Jay Johnson. He was Homeland Security Director or Secretary, I should say, under Barack Obama. Ended now. DHS shutdown costing his time, energy, and for many, their ability to pay their bills. It's jeopardizing over 350 agents who have said, I quit, I'm done, I'm through. They have walked off the job. Fix this Democrats. Number one. A lot of developments on the energy front overnight after Israeli forces struck the South Pars gas field in southern Iran. This was a strike that according to Israeli officials was coordinated with the United States. That is, of course, Trey Yinks. Easy on the energy. Trump makes it clear to Israel and Iran. Hitting gas sites is not good. We're going to see if they get the message as the Iran regime is experiencing a slow decapitation. Mark Tieson, I know when you were the Bush administration, you wrote speeches, wrote a book on terror. You knew about the danger of Iran. You did not need to be briefed by John Ratcliffe in a skiff. Why do you think so many on the left are having trouble understanding?

that this is indeed a persistent threat. Well, it's been a persistent threat since 1979. I mean, you just go through the litany of things they've done from taking our hostages in our embassy to the Marine barracks bombing all the way through their alliance with al-Qaeda. I mean, people, I don't think people realize how cooperative Iran has been with the al-Qaeda in the lead up to 9-11. It was Iran that trained al-Qaeda to blow up our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Al-Qaeda didn't know how to bring down buildings. And it was an Iranian operatives that trained them how to do it. And then they brought down the World Trade Center soon after that. And to this day, right now, the leader of Al-Qaeda, Saif Al-Qaeda, who is the successor of Osama bin Laden and Iman Zahiri, is living in Tehran. And there's an al-Qaeda cell that's been operating there. They escaped from Afghanistan, went to Iran and have been living there, working there, moving money, moving operatives, training inside Iran. So it is the nexus. of both Sunni and Shia terrorism against the United States. I want you to hear Israel Katz, their defense minister, about the takedown of their intelligence minister. The day after Ali Larijani was killed, he was running the country, cut 11. The intensity of the strikes in Iran is increasing. We are in the decisive phase, following the powerful eliminations of senior regime figures, the de facto leader of Iran and the head of Bezizh murder organization, Ali Larijani and Soleimani. Overnight, the Iranian intelligence minister Kati was also eliminated, who was responsible for the regime's internal oppression and assassination apparatus in Iran and for advancing external threats. We're about to see Mark Teeson if the people of Iran feel secure enough to celebrate their new year tomorrow and throughout the weekend like they normally would. They were told not to go outdoors. I think they're going to anyway. What do you think? Well, so this has all been going sequentially. I mean, people don't realize. We weren't initially, our plan wasn't to take out 48 senior leaders of the regime on day one. It was just because they presented a target of opportunity because they were stupid enough to meet out in the open and get together and do that. And so we took them out. But the plan always was in the military campaign, a sequential campaign. First, you take out their air defenses and their ability to strike at us as we struck at them. Then you take out their ability to strike outside their country, to take out their missiles and their drone capabilities to strike U.S. bases and U.S. allies in the region. That has largely been accomplished. Their strikes are down 95%. And now Israel is moving to the next phase where they're primarily responsible for leadership targets. And they've been taking them out one after another. And that campaign is increasing.

They've got drones all over the country where they are literally the Iranians are calling in locations of the besieged forces and they're taking them out. And then the final phase is going to be to take out their WMD capability, their nuclear material. So I think this is culminating. And there's a very, there's a very well-thought-out plan that they're executing in a sequential fashion, and it's going swimmingly well. So what Iran's strategy is is ratchet up the price of oil and gas. And that's where they're targeting the energy sector. So it's a race to open up the Strait of Hermuz, and it's a tactic. One of the tactics was illustrated in the Wall Street Journal today and said what we could be doing with the USS Tripoli with the 2,500 Marines. And we can start taking strategically the islands, not just not just. the one island, the big island, but there are other islands right around there that we could be taking and possibly pressuring and saying if you hit the Strait of Ramoos, we're not going to release it. Karg Island is one. There's another island called the Kesh Island. It also sits on the strait and hosts naval vessels and has missiles underground. The Kish Island is an economic hub, and it houses small attack ships. We could take. take them with very little effort and hold. I mean, is this some of the things they're talking about? Yes, absolutely. And also keep in mind, though, I mean, this problem in the Strait of Hormuz is a temporary problem, right? And the idea that we've been at this war for, what, two and a half weeks? The idea that a temporary poll to traffic in the Strait of Hormuz and a temporary spike in oil prices is enough to break our will is absolutely pathetic. I mean, as Trump has made clear, once this is over, the oil prices are going to go back down. So, you know, the idea that we can't endure this. I mean, if you think about how effective this campaign has been, how low the casualties have been, and how overwhelmingly the United States is defeating them. That's never happened in almost any other military campaign that we've ever seen in our lifetime, much less going back to World War II. I mean, the people who are cheering for defeat and talking about how terrible this is and all the rest of it, imagine how they would have covered D-Day. Imagine how they would have covered Iwojima. It's ridiculous. And so, you know, yes, we have to open the Strait of Hormuz. We're going to be able to do it. I'm sure we're going to get some Allied support in doing that soon. Even if it doesn't happen in the next week or two, so what? We're doing something much more important, which is taking out this regime that is a threat to the security of the world. And if it takes some a little bit slightly higher gas prices for a few weeks or even a few months, that is a price worth paying. The prices will go down. And Mark, the one thing I can't handle, and I'm just not comfortable with it, is putting down President Bush. And I really like what Secretary of War is done. Pete Hegseth-Seth, he's a friend. But stop saying dumb presidents. Stop saying things like that. If you don't agree with the tactic.

Or you didn't agree with the messaging? Just take it at the messaging. President Bush has got a master's from Harvard, an undergrad from Yale, a two-term governor, owner of a baseball team who assembled the most experienced Republicans, conservatives in the country at the time. I mean, I'm biased, but you work for him. He is not dumb. No, he is not dumb. And look, there are two different presidents who are handling things two different ways. And I think you don't need to tear down their predecessor in order to in order to tout the current commander in chief and what he is doing. I mean, I think it is fair to say that no president would have done what President Trump is doing today. And he's also inheriting a different situation than President Bush inherited. So, you know, he's much more in a situation like Ronald Reagan was when he came in office in 1980. When Americans had, you know, just come out of the experience of Vietnam, there was no appetite for putting boots in the ground. And he had to figure out a way, Reagan had to figure out a way how to project force and push back on the Soviet Empire without putting boots on the ground. And after 20 years in Afghanistan and Iraq, there was no appetite for putting boots in the ground anymore. President Bush, President Trump is pioneering a new way to lead on the world stage. And it's enormously successful so far. It's an experiment. It seems to be working. And he deserves all the credit in the world for what he's doing. And it doesn't come at the extent of those who came before. So we need $200 billion more. And the one thing, Mark, we've talked about this now, I think for six years. We have to increase our ability to produce weapons everywhere, every type of weapon, along with the R&D. And we're still dealing with this problem. And our allies are impressed with our stuff. They want to buy it. This is a for-profit thing we're doing. What's it going to take to up our manufacturing? Because I'm not the one. I'm the only one who realizes this. Yeah. So a couple of things. Number one, we need to take advantage of the manufacturing, the defense industrial base that Ukraine is built. So for example, there's a shortage of Patriot Interceptors out there. Why don't we let you give Ukraine a license to produce their own Patriot Interceptors? And as a price for that license, we get 25% of everything they produce. So Ukraine can produce its own Patriot Interceptors, doesn't have to depend on the U.S. stockpile for it. And not only will they not depend on our stockpile, they'll actually contribute to the stockpile by giving us back, you know, thousands of interceptors that they can produce themselves. Another thing that we have to take advantage of is the advances in 3D printing. There's a company out in Los Angeles called divergent technologies, which can produce Patriot Interceptors, Tomahawk missiles that normally take weeks and months to produce. They can produce them in days.

because they use 3D printing in order to do it. They started their company doing chassis for Bugatti's and other supercars, and they've now turned it into military technology. You could speed the production of all of these missile defenses and offensive weapons. by a scale of, you know, by a scale of 10 by going to 3D printing. So there's lots of ways to do this if we're creative about it. I would hope so. So how much damage, if any, did Joe Kent do with his letter and his resignation? You know, I hesitate to criticize Joe Kent because he served our country. He lost his wife. You know, I don't like, he's earned his right to his opinions. The only thing that friends speak from feeling that way is the way he made his case, which is that President Trump was dragged into this by Israel, which is an anti-Semitic trope. And it's just not true. No one drags President Trump into anything. And so, you know, I thought that was an unfortunate way to frame it. It's not surprising to me that he's showing up on certain podcasts now with people who share that kind of conspiracy theory. So I think it's a shame that he's fallen into in with the fever swamp, right? But, you know, he's served our country well and so I have respect for him. And what I would say is I'm going to resign, but I'm going to do it at a time to not hurt the guy that hired me. Unless you say, you know, you want to be that anonymous guy or you want to be Vindman, doesn't like the president. What did the president do to him? He lost two congressional races and he gave him the opportunity of a lifetime. Where it is, he's being investigated now by the FBI for leaking. Yeah. It's a shame. It's a sad situation, but you're right. You don't do that to the man who gave you a job and who gave you an opportunity to serve your country. So, you know, if you really disagree with the policy, you should resign quietly and step away if you can't execute the policy. That's the right thing to do when you're ever in government. If you disagree with the policy and you don't want to carry it out, then you should resign, but you don't go in publicly trash. of the man who gave you that opportunity. I hear you. And so far, I think this is by far the biggest move that a president has done in my lifetime. I mean, the surge with President Bush was a huge move. Everyone was telling him we lost. And he's like, no, I'm going to try this. That was going to go down in history and it worked. And for President Trump, the more people pressure him and, you know, see the price of the barrel of oil go up, he gets calm. And it makes them more determined. And his people are performing. And I just wonder what you thought because you've seen so much. And you now are pretty tight with the president.

Yeah, so great leaders keep their heads when everyone around them is losing theirs. And there's been a little bit of panic in some quarters of the administration about how long this is taking, about the gas prices, about the midterms and all the rest of it. And Trump looks at this and he's not panicking at all. And he looks at it and he said it publicly the other day. He's like, I don't want to have to come in and do this again in two years. You know, he could declare victory today and he'd have a huge success in terms of what he's done in terms of disarming the Iranian regime. But it would be necessarily reversible. Because if long as the regime is in power, it may take them a while, but they'll reconstitute and they'll start building again. They're absolutely determined. And so he said, I don't want to have to do this in two years. And I don't want to have to leave this to my successor one day because you might have a president one day who's not willing to do this. And then we'll be in trouble. So he wants to see this through. He wants to see this regime ended. And we've got to give him the patience and the time to achieve his ends. We tape a lot of these shows. So I'm going to say something now. I'm going to put myself on the record. I think within two weeks, we're going to see the people of Iran rise up. And a part of it is I have such faith in the Israelis contacts on the ground, Iranians who hate the regime and their own people. And what I've seen so far, the elimination of the very high value targets. I don't know. How do you feel about that? I agree with you. I think, look, if you think about this, the Iranian people rose up in January and went out by the millions and protested their regime and it took the massacre of 32,000 people to get them back into their home. That was before we started bombing. How do you think they're going to be going to be taken out the besieged forces and the IRGC and all their oppressors? I think there's, there's, I will go on record with you as saying, I think the Iranian people are going to rise up and take back the country. All right. Well, it's got it. Mark Tyson, thanks so much. All right. Take care. Thank you. Go back to the day. Washington Post columnist and Fox News contributor. Don't move. Big guests. Bold opinions. Better information. This is the Brian Kilmeade.

The fastest three hours in radio. You're with Brian Kilmeade. What they're really worried about, Larry, is we haven't seen anything quite like this before. A president comes in and wants to reset the entire Latin American political ideological map with Venezuela, Cuba, and now the whole Middle East. And if Trump were beat as successful, that would be a foreign policy triumph that no president in living memory had even attempted, much less carried off. So the stakes are pretty high for the left. They feel that he'll be a Reagan-esque or even greater president if this works, and they're going to try to stop it. And if it does work, and if we finish it off in the next two and a half weeks, let's say. It'll take a while. Not long, I'd say within six weeks, the market rockets up the day it ends. And then within six weeks, you see the flow of oil really pick up the pace and people have some backlog. And then there's going to be people buying oil to refill their strategic oil reserves that other countries have put into play, put into the market to keep the prices somewhat palatable. So you could see the president if he has another victory with Cuba on deck. And then you get the prices down and we get a quarter in June where things are turning around. Look, this is a consequential move. I just went over that with Mark Tyson. Got it. But what you also have is it's March. And with our short attention span and with the speed of the news cycle, if things go back to normal, for now you're paying $3.83 per gallon, things get back down because all the policies are in place. You don't need a favor. You just don't need a war. So when the war is over... You could have a bunch of things hitting hyperspeed, and people are going to say, oh, by the way, Democrats, I know you don't like Trump, but what are your ideas? Yesterday, it turns out most of their ideas, even after Trump is at office, is still going after Trump. That's not a plan.

getting you talking. You're with Brian Kilmeade. Also, also as a Democrat, you know, that I made me the only Democrat that refused to shutting our DHS down. You know, some people might say that that doesn't mean I have any less commitment to reform ICE. That's just categorically not true. But it's a strange devotion. I don't understand why you would shut the entire agency down just because you want those kind of reforms on ice that has absolutely no impact on ice and doesn't force any of those things. I refuse to do that. And I refuse to punish those union members that are working. And that is a very sensible Senator John Fetterman. And he wants to actually fund the government. Can you believe it still? Brian Stile joins us now, chairman of the committee on House administration, Republican. Congressman, what do you think about the senator? Why aren't there more common sense Democrats like that or are there ready to jump over and just fund this thing? This is not your grandfather's Democratic Party anymore. You have one Democratic senator there who's willing to say what is common sense and makes sense. The rest is just radicalized. The idea that Democrats in the United States Senate are willing to not, willing to shut down the Department of Homeland Security and put at risk our homeland security and then not pay TSA agents who they're requiring to show up for work. shows you how radicalized the Democrats have become. It's absolutely essential that we break through this logjam. We fund the Department of Homeland Security. We pay these hardworking Americans, and we protect the United States of America. And the fact that the Democrats continue this is incredibly dangerous and reckless. So I don't know if you've noticed, but your colleagues, Brian Fitzpatrick, Tom Suozzi, are trying to do a compromise bill. And one of the things they have when it comes to mass, take off the mask, but pursue doxing with criminal charges. I don't know where they stand on judicial warrants, but they already got a lot. Have you heard about this? Yeah, there's a lot of conversations. The administration put forward a letter just the other day that lays out exactly what they're willing to do. And I think there's a lot of support for this, making sure that there's, for example, body cameras that individuals can be recognized by a badge number. And so the reforms that are there, I think, are common sense, they're reasonable, the administration's on board. Yet we continue to see Chuck Schumer and Democrats in the United States Senate continue to say it's my way or the highway. The House got its work done. The House has passed this legislation. All the eyes are on the United States Senate and the fact that we can't find seven Democratic senators to have common sense and recognize that the Department of Homeland Security should be funded in a period of time when we're in a conflict with Iran.

It just is frustrating. Do you think that maybe an off ramp is the naming of a new HHS secretary and the thought of fresh set of eyes on this? I mean, they wanted no amount. They got no them out. And now Mullen comes in there. Do you think that could be an off ramp? I mean, everything that is taking place, I thought would be an off ramp. I mean, in comes home in. He settles things down in Minnesota. We have Markwayne Mullin coming in as a new secretary, the Department of Homeland Security. We have the administration coming forward and saying they're going to continue the work to make sure that our ICE agents have body cameras, that they're going to be identifiable badge number. Yet we continue to see radical Democrats. taking an extreme position. And it really shows you that the fear of a primary by even further left Democrats is such a threat to Chuck Schumer and others in the United States Senate that they refuse to come recognize that there's common ground here and fund the Department of Homeland Security. It's my concern that it's either going to be a catastrophe. in the homeland as a result of their reckless action that will force their hand. Because isn't Cyber Command also? Isn't Cyber Command also not getting paid? Yeah, no, it's the broader Department of Homeland Security. And here's what's frustrating is these men and women are required to show up for work. Now, some TSA agents are quitting altogether, and I understand their frustration to do that. But many of these men and women are required to show up to work to continue their job, yet they're not getting paid. Imagine what the morale and hiring process is in these agencies at a period of time when we need them now more than ever. It's crazy. So, well, I guess we'll see what's going to happen. The ice restrictions add a couple of days to the academy. There's things you could do. And you could say if you're a Democrat, hey, I did good. You know, we got a lot of what we wanted. But judicial warrants are a dead end. Yeah, you need to be able to utilize the current process where there is due process, right? So when you get to the end and you have an extradition order to remove or removal order of an individual, that is the completion of the due process phase. Then it's to remove that individual. And so ICE needs that authority to remove criminal, illegal aliens from the United States to make our country safer. And again, it's this, the Democrats. saying, we need one more thing. Sometimes you feel like it's the old book you read to your children, give a mouse a cookie. That's the Democrats. If you give them anything, they want one thing more, and they're willing to put at risk of all agencies, the Department of Homeland Security, which is needed now more than ever.

Congressman, the other thing we're dealing with a lot, but number one with the war, you have a situation where the Pentagon wants $200 billion more. How heavy a lift will this be? Not necessarily with you, but with others. Well, it's always difficult at a period of time when the spending in Washington is way out of whack. But if there's an area that we need to make sure that we're supporting and funding, it is our national defense. These men and women who are on the front lines need to know that they have the best equipment, weapons in care in the world. And at a period of time, when we're in a conflict with Iran, we want to make sure that that is absolutely properly funded. Ultimately, we want to see resolution to the conflicts around the globe, from Russia and Ukraine to what's taking place in Iran to China's threats of Taiwan. But as a conservative, we all know that the best way to get to peace is peace through strength. And making sure that we're investing and providing those resources to our men and women wearing the United States uniform on the front line is actually our best investment to get to a peaceful world. And hopefully more people see that and understand that. We are able to get this funding request through. Here is General Dan Cain on what's been going on and their goal to open up the straight of her moves, cut two. We're flying further to the east now and penetrating deeper into Iranian airspace to hunt and kill one-way attack garrisons, destroying Iran's ability to project power outside of its borders. The A-10 Wardhog is now in the fight across the southern flank and is hunting and killing fast attack watercraft in the Straits of Hormuz. In addition, A.H. 64 Apaches have joined the fight on the southern flank, and they continue to work on the southern side. And that includes some of our allies who are using Apaches to handle one-way attack drones. So our allies are slowly coming around, but the market's down 300 points and oils over $100 a barrel. Is it a race to re-grab that straight? Yeah, we want to make sure that the straight is open and operational, but it has been, we've got to recognize it's also that straight has been under threat by Iran for years, obviously most recently through kinetic activity. But Iran has threatened this straight and has provided a risk there for a long time. This is our opportunity to truly remove the ability of Iran to project force and to be able to block. the strait of Hormuz. And so our men and women are on the front lines, removing Iran's ability to threaten global shipping traffic through that strait, and they're going to continue to do that. There's been a serious degradation of Iran's ability to project force. But I think the president is going to continue these operations in that area to make sure that ultimately...

those shipping lanes are open for not only for oil, but for all other products moving through. Yeah, I guess we're going to move forward. And as you guys battle to keep the house, what's your greatest obstacle now? Is it the gas prices? And if you get that down, is there an overall strategy two weeks after that caucus that you guys had at Doreau? Well, I think what we're going to see is the policies that have been implemented by Republicans over the course of the last now 15 months, but all the way through the election, are going to actually continue to bear fruit. Now, there's a temporary aspect here where oil prices have gone up as a result of the activity with Iran. But largely, if we step back and look beyond just that conflict, what we're seeing is the fruits really are the one big, beautiful bill. Right now, so many Americans are filing their taxes and recognizing that the relief that they needed is on the way. They're getting the benefits of no tax on tips. Seniors are recognizing that they don't have the impact of a tax on Social Security. Businesses are making substantive investments in creating jobs all across the country, and the economic growth of the United States continues to rise. In connecting those reforms and those policies, backed for voters is going to be essential. The same way we're going to have to talk about the importance of how we successfully secured the U.S.-Mexico border in a way that Democrats and those in the legacy media told you was impossible. We've had great success under the first two years here, the second Trump administration, and I think the voters are going to recognize that and reward Republicans at the polls. All right, Brian Stile. Thanks so much, Congressman. Thank you. 1866408-7669. We'll have that, the latest news from the intel hearings, as well as a look at what's going on in the war. We had a press briefing a couple hours ago from the Pentagon. We'll bring you back some of the highlights. You'll listen to the Brian Kilmeade. Where big stories meet bigger conversations. Stay informed and energized with the Brian Kilmeade.

He's so busy. He'll make your headspin. It's Brian Kilmeade. And being conscious of the facts that I need people who are high net worth to support the generous social programs that we want to have in our state. Right. Now, there are some patriotic millionaires who stepped up. Okay, cut me the checks. They just, if you want to be supportive, but maybe the first step should be go down to Palm Beach and see what you can bring back home because our tax base has been eroded. So I feel so if we don't have a problem. It is like I have to look at the fact that we are in competition with other states who have less of a tax burden on their corporations and their individuals. And I would say remote work changed everything. There were people who could only work in an office in Manhattan and work in New York State. And they were captives to our state. They were going to stay. We saw that that's not the case. I mean, you know, Wall Street. Businesses looking at Texas, they're not going there because they have a nicer governor. I know that for sure. But they're going there because of the tax rate. We have to be smart about this. But we can fund what we want to fund with what we already are taking it. No, no, no. Number one, the problem is. You're the fraud, number one. Number two is the amount of things you're funding. And so what you want to do is you jack up the rates on corporations, so they move. You jack up the rates on successful people, so they move. And then you tell landlords they can't raise rent, so they go out of business. And then you tell working class people. Or people not working that everyone's abusing you. The rich are terrible. And that's the policies prior to Kathy Hochul, Andrew Cuomo. He destroyed our energy sector by getting rid of Indian Point, got rid of nuclear at nuclear power. How does that work out? We're on target to have no gas engines and getting rid of oil and gas by 2035. We're trying to follow in California's footsteps. And that's failing spectacularly. And now Governor Kathy Hochul says, this isn't working for me. cannot possibly go by this energy sector, this abandonment of fossil fuels. And look at the utility costs. So now you're going to go reach into Palm Beach and tell people to come home? It's okay to recruit. I mean, we had Governor Rick Scott here for. years recruiting people in companies right out of here. You had governor, excuse me, Mayor Suarez over in Miami recruiting people out of California. And the governor of Texas, Rick Perry first and now this governor will come and tell New Yorkers, look at the opportunities you have here. And now Dallas has their own Wall Street. So J.P. Morgan has this huge building and it's beautiful. I see it every day walking at Grand Central Station. Got it. But he's got, I think he's got more people in Texas now.

That's what happens. I mean, rich people in successful corporations don't just pay money because they have it. They have an over there, a board of directors to answer to, stockholders to answer to. And they go, why are you in New York City? Why are you in California? And then you got people with pride like Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk go, yeah, I'm not, I'm not doing this. There's no appreciation. I'm building Tesla cars and building SpaceX. And all you guys do is jack up my rates and tell me how bad I am and hit me with regulations to make it impossible to build. And Governor Kathy Hochul sit there going, this doesn't balance. And he's got a mayor. who she now finances preschool to second grade. I think that they're looking for now. Excuse me. Preschool up until, you know, starting at two years old. So now we're financing that in New York City from the state. Really? Okay. I know child care is a big deal, but there's a reason why every state and every city is not paying for it because it gets impossible. Plus, what about the quality of care? Oh, the city's watching my kid. That'll work out. Sandra, you'll listen on WABC. Brian, I loved watching your show last night. Well, you were hosting. It was so great. Oh, for Jesse. Thank you. Yeah, yeah. So I was thinking about. Us, Americans, you know, how could we quibble about the price of gas going up just a little bit? When I think back of World War II, Americans sacrificed so much they gave up gas, they rationed food, they were separated from their husbands for long periods of time. That was a lot of sacrifice. So to me, give up a little bit inconvenience with the price of gas going up for a short time. To get rid of an evil regime, there's no question in my mind that I support Donald Trump the whole way through this. And I want you to know. Just my own little victory garden, when I have to buy a few little groceries, I now take my bicycle. It's healthier. Yep. I'm getting, I'm getting, I'm doing my little, you know, whatever to show Donald Trump, I support you. And, and, and, and it's only temporary. So people should get over this when I hear every day. You know? Well, Sandra, yeah. I mean, I know what you mean. But if people are paycheck to paycheck, they go, well, something's got to give now. I understand it. The president's got to continue to explain it. He's talking four or five times a day. I think you should keep it up. The other thing that I don't understand and I can't explain in the TSA, what they're doing with TSA and cybersecurity and everybody else, not a coast guard and not paying them when you're not paying him a fortune anyway, that I have no patience for.

But back to the war for a second. I want you to hear Brian Hook, former U.S. Special Rep for Iran, who they put a bounty on his head because he was in on the killing of Soleimani. He was talking about the decapitation of the regime and what the Israelis are doing and how important it is to take out the evil doers up top. Cut 16. They are decapitating the Iranian leadership. They did that to a degree during the 12-day war. And now in this conflict, They're going to have an even longer runway to, I think, address the people who are behind the government, that is the world's... strongest supporter of terrorism. And we could have a post-conflict sort of scenario where the Iranian regime is largely at peace with its neighbors, not by choice, but because they have no other option because they have been demilitarized. That would be great. But I'll tell you what, the Gulf states said they're never going to forget. They said the relationship will never be the same. Beijing came and cut a peace deal right over Joe Biden's head in 2023. And Beijing and they called the Beijing deal. We've seen Tehran and Saudi Arabia. Got it. They said, okay, let's agree not to attack each other. They said, fine. And guess what they're doing? Attacking each other. I mean, that's who Iran is. So cut 17 is more, Brian Hook. President Trump is trying to avoid two things in a post-conflict scenario, chaos and occupation. And one of the lessons that we learn from Iraq is that if you destroy everything, it's total chaos that follows. And we don't want Iran to look like Sudan or Syria or Libya or Iraq. And so... I think the plan right now is to ensure that a lot of the institutions that could be important in a post-conflict scenario are stable. Yeah, and that's his hope. He really knows his stuff, too. I wouldn't be surprised if he's back in the administration. Go to the Brian Kilmeade. Don't forget to check out my YouTube at the brinekillmead show.com.

Radio Studios in Midtown Manhattan. It's the fastest growing radio talk show. Brian Kilmeade. Hi everyone, so glad you there. It's the Brian Kilmeade. This is that. We're going to be joined by Michael Duran. He's here with the Hudson Institute, Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East. He's coming to us from Israel. Also, Mark Wallace is here standing by former United States ambassador to the United Nations and a real expert in this area. He was kind enough to join us on Fox and Friends earlier. And keep in mind, too, as we move through, there is a Fox's understanding we're at war right now. So we're joining with. supporting our troops and the Red Cross on the daily needs that our troops need, from their families to the emergencies, to those that are hit, injured, or whatever. Help, if you can, go to Fox slash Red Cross to donate to service to the arms forces today. So do that. Let's get to the big three. Number three. The governor of California is an enemy to the people of California. He's literally working to support the fraudsters. Meanwhile, he could be working to expose the fraud. Why isn't he say, hey, Nick, great video. How can we help? Yeah, that's Nick Shirley. Fraud in the Blue States, worse than anyone thought as California gets the spotlight and their governor wills under the scrutiny. Number two. The Ravich TSO lives paycheck to paycheck. Their job is to look for bombs on the airplanes that you and your family are about to board. Let's not forget that we are now in a heightened threat environment. If there was ever a time that we needed to fund the Department of Homeland Security, it's right now. End it now. D.H. shutdown costing us time, energy and many their ability to pay their bills. This is a totally fixable situation. It's time to do it today. Number one. A lot of developments on the energy front overnight after Israeli forces struck the South Pars gas field in southern Iran. This was a strike that according to Israeli officials was coordinated with the United States. Trey Yinks, easy on the energy. Trump makes it clear to Israel and Iran. Hitting gas sites is not good. We'll see if they get the message because right now the price of oil has gone up and the market has gone down because of it. But joining us now to discuss this and more is Mark Wallace. Mark, welcome back. Hey, Brian. Good to see you again. It was good to see the other day. Yeah. And let's see how we had the Pentagon gave us a briefing earlier today. And one thing that did come out of it, they need another $200 billion. As they try to navigate that through Congress, you think they'll be successful?

I hope so. And I'm so glad that you start your show, as you always do, about talking about our brave men and women in theater that are fighting for us. But I think some perspective is in order, Brian. You and I spoke after the show the other day. And we could see oil continuing to spike. For the last 47 years, though, the global economy has paid a tax. a very expensive tax called the Strait of Formuz tax, where the Iranians have limpid mines shipped, threatened the Straits-Fermews, seize vessels, and otherwise. Right now, we have the opportunity to internationalize that straight and reduce any threat from Iran. And that's what's happening. And we'll see that happening over the next couple of weeks. I expect, sadly, in the very short term, oil prices will spike. But the global economy long term will no longer have the Iran's Beta Formoose tax that we have all been paying to the tune of arguably trillions of dollars over the last 47 years. So how do you internationalize that straight? Well, I think what the president, Governor Bush and I at United Against Nuclear, ran the organization that I've run and founded for over almost 20 years now, called for an international force to ensure the safe passage to the Strait of Formuz, meaning convoying. Like the United States and Israel are doing the serious heavy lifting of taking on the capabilities of the regime, including its ballistic missiles, is Chehed 136 drones and the like. But that straight supplies. 20% of global oil supply almost universally to the rest of the world, not to us. And it affects the global economy. And we have been the protectors of that straight now for 47 years as Iran has threatened it over and over again, threatened its neighbors. It's time for some of our European and Asian partners, frankly, who continue to have very old minesweepers. in their navies, which are wooden-hold boats, Brian, to help us in that convoying process. Because when we secure the straits from attack and provide that air cover, convoying is the next step. And that will be the internationalization of the strait. But you're more worried about drones, aren't you? No, I think it's a multi-layered risk that is all fully manageable. When you look at the air combat air patrols that will be there, are anti-ballistic missile weapons, our drone weaponry, and including the Marines that are coming on the Tripoli. Those Marines and others are going to deploy into a convoy in context. We have significant technologies to arm. convoys and defend against strikes. And as Iran continues to expire, if you will, it's offensive and defensive capabilities. That convoying will get safer and safer. And frankly, the tax that the global economy has been paying for 47 years will decline and decline. And I believe that you'll see oil prices plummet. Do you think, so Russia is helping Iran with targeting.

Has that the reason why we see Kuwait, Bahrain, UAE, Oman, and Qatar being hit significantly? And we see office bill, you know, our offices being hit in Saudi Arabia, CIA office or initially, do you think it's helping a lot? Yeah, the strike, thankfully, the strike at the embassy compound include that it's reported to include the CIA station in Riyadh was relatively minor, thank God, but still it's a strike. Look, I think all these attacks were predictable. These war plans have been on the books for a long time. We're very well vetted and were. Some are predictable. And look, you never want to see attacks, Brian, and are our men and women and our allies in harm's way. But they were predictable and they are certainly manageable. Russia is classically playing a double game. And look, that's one of the reasons why I'm a robust supporter. of supporting our friends in Ukraine against Vladimir Putin, Vladimir Putin's Russia, because he is not our friend and he plays a double game. And remember, it was Iranian drones that were raining on Ukraine and Europe supplied by Iran to Russia. And now Russia is supposedly returning the favor by helping with some targeting opportunities for the Iranians. Although commanding control of Iran's defense is getting diminished by the day, Brian. Yeah, I mean, it's amazing to take it out one-third of their leadership, let alone the how many died in June on the original 12-day war. I want you to hear with Tulsi Gabbard saying, see if you could sign on to this. Cut five. The ICSS is the regime in Iran appears to be intact but largely degraded due to attacks on its leadership and military capabilities. Its conventional military power projection capabilities have largely been destroyed, leaving limited options. Iran's strategic position has been significantly degraded. Even if the regime remains intact, the ICSS is that internal tensions are likely to increase as Iran's economy worsens. Is that a diagnosis you would give? I think it's pretty accurate. I mean, you're already seeing an incredibly weakened Iran. And look, we started your show talking about 47 years of Iran projecting this tigerish power and putting attacks on the global economy, spreading terror around the world.

That's over, Brian. And either this regime is going to fall or it's going to be fully diminished in such a way that it can no longer threaten us. And no longer in the short term, we're going to see some oil spikes. But in the medium and long term, we're going to see a much more reasonable flow of oil and, frankly, other material through the straight of four moves. So Iran's in trouble, Brian. Mark, you really under Mark Wallace is our guest, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. But Mark, You've seen these drones up close. You have one of them. I've got to bring it on the show. I want all your viewers to send an email. We need to bring it to Fox and friends, Brian. Have a Shad 136 in studio. So do we have, I know what Ukraine has developed to stop the Shahed drone. So, and they have offered help. They're in the Gulf states right now. They're experts have fanned out. I give them tremendous credit being that they're under siege on daily basis. Do we have what it takes to knock these down and to find them? What are your sources telling you? Yeah, I mean, I think you should think of, Brian, your student history, you know I've talked about it before. It's like the V1 buzz bomb, the buzz bomb that reigned on London a long time ago where the Germans were launching this. It's not the case of one drone. Hopefully you see this thing. It's a big, sinister-looking aircraft. But imagine 12 to 15 of them coming from different directions. And it requires different technologies and techniques to bring it down while also ballistic missiles are coming down. As fewer and fewer drones are coming in and ballistic missiles are coming down, we have a higher success rate in eliminating them all. So you should think of it as almost a group swarming weapon to try to overwhelm defenses. And the Ukrainians have been heroic. and have used technology and ingenuity to bring him down. We probably don't need as much help as it appears, but I am. proud of the Ukrainians offering that help when we see some of our other allies running for the tall grass. Right. And it looks as NATO is coming around. Mark Rutte is getting them, sobering them up. Is there anyone that you know that has the naval assets to be a true help? Because I've had people write me and say, part of the reason why the Europe is not stepping up is that they're trying to save face because they can't. They don't have the Navy. Well, the irony of this, Brian, is that what we really need is a fairly discrete technology. If we can use ships to convoy, which is a very specialized Navy doctrine, and European Union ships and allied ships, which frankly are the old-style minesweepers, which are wooden hull, we don't have any of those in our arsenal anymore. We have littoral combat ships, and we have helicopters, and we don't want to take our destroyers and other things offline from engaging in offensive capabilities.

to engage in convoying. So there are still wooden-hold minesweepers inside the European Union. And there's a little bit of an irony that they're that antiquated, but they can be useful so that we can use our best, most expensive technology to bring the fight to the Iranians. So I think that the Europeans, our European NATO allies and some of our Asian allies should step up. And the initial response, and look, you know, people's egos get wounded and there's national. pride at stake, but I think the European Union response was initially childish. They benefit dramatically and overwhelmingly from the free flow of commerce through the straight. And they should step up as part of this convoying exercise. And Mark, they know the problem. When they get together and talk about security, dangers and worries, it's always Iran first, even when the Iraq war was going on. It was always Iran first. Think about it. Afghanistan. They were enemies to Taliban. As soon as we went in there, they were friends with the Taliban. There were enemies to Iraq. As soon as we went in there, they started infiltrating into Iraq. And that's the story. They take hostages from Germany and Britain and they humiliate them. They make them pay cash as Joe Biden just did. So this is what I just find maddening. And they're upset. We didn't brief them. Security reasons has a lot to do with that. But number two, they should get over it because we're doing them a huge favor. No doubt, Brian. And look, I just was at the Munich Security Conference. Please forgive me for being there. And the Europeans were outraged that we, they want us. And look, I'm a devoted Atlanta system. So in full disclosure. And I am devoted to supporting Ukraine. But they asked us to help defend Ukraine because our allies are right on the border of Ukraine. And they were receiving incoming from Vladimir Putin. Ukraine is not part of NATO. NATO was asking us to help with their friends. It took until January 29th of this year for the European Union to even designate the IRGC. Where were they in supporting us on Iran for all these years? They've been very slow to the dance. And look. History will show to our allies across the Gulf that when push comes to shove, the only military and the best friend that you can have is the United States and Israel. And I think our European Union allies, NATO allies are starting to realize that. And you see them scrambling to try to deploy whatever naval assets they can. They can actually help with this convoying exercise. And Mark, now leaders who run for office in Germany and France and England can actually say, we have to build up our military. We have to be able to defend ourselves. Before, there was hardly, you know, when they, there was all this pressure on their social programs. But now they got to say, if you want to run for office, and I'm sure every leader wants a strong military, but they don't think politically as possible. Now it's necessary. So, so President Trump is actually helping them right now. And Mark Rutte knows that with NATO. He knows that Trump work going out and saying this makes his job easier.

You know, I'll go back to Munich. I was on stage with my friend Radix Sikorski, who's the foreign minister of Poland, probably the strongest foreign minister in Poland and a great ally in the United States. And he's been angry at the United States on a variety of things. And he said he has to give President Trump credit because now you're seeing NATO allies starting to defense spend. The polls have been spending nearly 5% on NATO spending for some time. You saw MERS in Germany talk about spending much more. Look, I have mixed emotions about Germany's defense spending. But you should see the Brits do much more. Frankly, Prime Minister Keir Starmer has showed unbelievable weakness. Unbelievable weakness. And our friend Emmanuel Macron is trying to have his cake and eat it too. It's time for the European Union, NATO. to a defense spend much more. And I think President Trump, who's a disruptor, look, we've tried through success of presidents, Republican and Democrat, to get our NATO allies to spend more. We haven't done it. President Trump may be offending them, but it's working. And they have a long way to catch up, and it's time for them to step up. I'm Mark Wallace. Just real quest. Before we go, there's going to be a Persian New Year, but asking our guests this, and they usually... They come out in Iran and they celebrate. They were told not to. Do you think they will? And do you think they're going to get a sense of what's left of that Gestapo security force? Brian, there's one thing I'll tell you. I'm very close to a lot of Iranians. We can say don't celebrate Persian New Year or do celebrate Persian New Year, but the Iranians, one way or the other will celebrate Persian New Year because they are so devoted to it. There are prideful people and they will celebrate it knowing that their abusers, murderers, tormentors, and jailers are being hunted. as we speak and literally living in tents and hiding under underpasses. So the Iranian people, one way or the other, will be celebrating, and they're going to be celebrating the demise of their murderers. All right, Mark Wallace. Thanks so much. Appreciate it. Thank you. Goodsini, Brian. They're decapitating the regime while still racing to reclaim those straight-up removes. We have it all on the Brian Kilmeade. Don't move. In a world of noise, get the signal, sharp, informative, and always on point. You're listening to Brian Kilmeade.

information you want, truth you demand. This is the Brian Kilmeade. What amazing me about the panel today was watching all those Democrats who have statements on the record saying Iran is a threat. Iran must never be allowed to receive nuclear weapons. Say to the three witnesses, why are you doing anything about the threat that we've been talking about for years? How dare you act on the things that we said needed to be stopped? This is what drives me crazy about the polarization in Washington, where people now abandoned the positions they held when it comes to war and peace and defending our nation. And they no longer are willing to support our nation at war because they'd rather just argue against the positions they themselves took. Yeah, I mean, it's crazy because I think it's a political advantage. I mean, Chuck Schumer's got a few with them. Number one, of course you need voter ID. Now he says it is Jim Crow 2.0. Again, so I guess it should be 3.0. And that's Ari Fischer, just saying, how do you abandon your position on Iran and still consider yourself a member of Congress, still consider yourself a member of the Senate? Because he was there trying to message when the Iraq war started. And everyone knows that Iran in a short period of time was involved in that war. And we all knew it, and they've all been briefed on it. And sadly, a lot of these guys don't go get other jobs. They stay there. And now they're coming out and showing no support for it. But it doesn't bother Trump. He's going to finish the job. And I've been reading all about the Gulf states, the best I can, talking to people. The Gulf states are enraged that they're being. targeted and their energy sector. But they're not saying outside Qatar who made some statements that we should have a secession of violence. For the most part, they're saying, finish the job, especially in Saudi Arabia, finish the job. And you're seeing just what these people are made up, meaning the Iranian regime, can never be trusted. And they're going for the jugular. What they don't have is leverage.

From his mouth to your ears, it's Brian Kilmeade. Why are we helping Israel prosecute this war if they're going to pursue their own objectives? We hold the cards. We have objectives. Those objectives are clear. We have allies pursuing objectives as well. And the truth speaks for itself. I mean, President Trump was very clear about that. Iran has weaponized energy for decades. Israel clearly sent a warning, and POTUS has made it clear, very clear. Iran knows when you hit Karg Island and you hit military capabilities on Karg Island, which is the only thing we hit, we can hold anything at issue, anything. The United States military controls the fate of that country. Iran has the ability to make the right choices. It should not, going forward, target Arab allies, Arab countries trying to create pain, the pain that they created themselves. Yeah, looking at the war right now in day 20, there's a lot going on. Big success, but the only... offense Iran has. I mean, their armies not moving anything. They're not having any military success at all. It's going after the energy sector of our allies. You know, we're going after our bases, which have in almost no effect. So we were, I was with Dr. Nazi Moyni and her husband's a big time real estate guy. She was born in Iran. She's got direct contacts there. She's talking about what's happening on the ground, cut 22. We are militarily very, very close. All the objectives have been achieved and there are more targets to be hit. But with the firepower between the Israelis and the Americans, I have no doubt those will be hit also. So she's got real good contacts. She actually has contacts of who are the ones we got to take out and that Israel and our CIA is doing just that. With us right now is Michael Duran. He is the Hudson Institute Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East. Michael, welcome back. Here we are in day 20. What has been the biggest surprise for you, a guy that knows this region as well as anyone? I was a little surprised by the, first of all, thanks for having me back. Great to be here. I was a little surprised by the, the. decision on both sides, on the Iranian side and then on the coalition side, to hit the energy infrastructure. I was expecting, like everyone, you analyze the coming war according to the way the last war went, and both sides last June were careful to avoid those targets. But now we definitely have this. The other thing that I'm surprised by... Not totally surprised, but I'd say in a way almost impressed, is the staying power of these missile and drone teams of the Iranians. We have to recognize it's a very serious tool they have a very serious capability. And despite all the decapitations that have gone on, including this week, Lara Johnny was decapitated. The Americans and the Israelis have enormous, incredible penetration into the Iranian system.

The Iranians built redundancies and secrecy so that these missile and drone teams can continue to operate even in these very difficult circumstances. I guess the launchers is going to be key. There's about 420 and they've knocked out about 300. But every time they launch them, they blow them up. So that's a bit of a risk when it comes to missiles and rockets. The drones are more, but they're trying to get into the manufacturing of the drones as well as the drones themselves. And I guess we're going to see if they're able to reconstitute or are they just going. after their current stocks? Well, they can, the thing with the drones is they're the most difficult because the teams can be very small and highly dispersed. You can put together an Iranian drone in a garage, and then you can launch it off of the back of a pickup truck. And the drone factories, the Iranians have drone factories outside of Iran in Tajikistan and Belarus and so on. So... Ending once and for all the supply of drones and the manufacturing of drones is very difficult, as is seeking down the teams. But what we can do is go after the backbone of the IRGC. That's one way to destroy them. You know, the coalition is doing a good job of putting the entire regime under pressure from lots of different directions. But the center of gravity in this war... are the missile and drone teams and their stockpiles. And we want to decide if we're having a decisive victory or just a victory on points, we have to follow what's going on with that. That's more important than anything else. There's going to be some tactics and decisions to be made. We made a decision to get rid of the military, all military hardware at Carg Island. But there's other islands in the area. And the question is, when those Marines come to town, do they take these islands? They'll have it. It's not going to be Uwajima. It's going to be very little fight. The question is, do you take them and hold them? Because they have energy assets. They also have drone teams. They have missiles in caves. I'm talking about the Quishan Island, Kish Island. Do we begin to pressure that way? I think all of it goes back to what I said just a minute ago about the missile and drone teams. You can't have an amphibious landing into Karg Island or Keshem Island. while those missile and drone teams are operating at the level they're operating at now because our Marines will be sitting ducks. So we have to degrade them more or destroy them. And we have to also push all of the Iranian forces along the coastline opposite those islands back, I don't know, 80, 100 kilometers, something like that. So there's a lot of work to be done before you can do that. Now, if we got to a point, Brian, where... The Marines could actually take Karg Island. That's basically the end of the war because Iran then, 90% of Iran's oil goes out from that terminus. So we actually control the economy of Iran. That would be a wonderful ending. But...

There's a long way to go because first we have to break the back of those drone teams. So, Michael, you think if you take that island with missile defense along with it, you know, we have it. It's portable. There's the Ukrainians have pioneered a way to take down those Shahid drones. If we land with Marines with some missile defense, I mean, that should be enough to take Carg Island. I always think it's just a decision by the president. Well, look, if part of it is also they have the Iranians all along the coastline have anti-ship missiles. So if they're Iranian, imagine, you know, if there was a lucky shot by the Iranians and they hit the USS Tripoli and hundreds of Marines were killed and wounded, that would be a game changer for Donald Trump. It would be a political crisis at home. So he's going to be very, very cautious. He's going to be very cautious before he brings landing teams through the Strait of Hormuz, either to Keshem Island or on to Kark Island. The question is, we're in about the – we're winning, absolutely winning, no doubt about it. And if President stopped the war right now, Iran would be bleeding badly. I mean, they started this war with their economies in a total shambles. They're not coming out of this better in any way. But we're in like round five or round six of a 12-round fight. And the question is... from the Iranian point of view, what they're asking themselves is, can we hold out long enough to cause economic pain through, by holding the energy supplies of the world hostage? And can we force the Americans and the Israelis to run down on their interceptors? And thereby force Donald Trump to go to a ceasefire before he really deals us a knockout blow. It's a question of time. If Donald Trump thinks he has the time, then we're going to win. them down, we're going to defeat those missile and drone teams, and then we're going to win the war decisively. And Michael, it's a question of... Yeah, even with your great context, it's impossible to know exactly what's going on in the ground. And how weak the besiege are, right? And if they are truly weakened, right, these commanders are weakened. So I'm not going to say I know either, but I'm just reading everything possible, trying to go on all the Arab websites I can through translation. And it looks like the besieged commanders have been hit hard. And they are freaked out at the higher echelons of the Iranian government. If they're on the blacklist and if they're going to be killed next because of the scope of people and the magnitude of people we've taken out. I think we might find out tomorrow. with the celebration of the Persian New Year. They were told not to go out and celebrate. But if they do, and there's no blowback, what message does that send would be protesters?

Oh, totally. I mean, this could break in a moment. You and I don't know. We don't know. There's no way that the leadership of Iran is as confident as it is attempting to portray itself when it's in front of the TV cameras. I mean, you think about, we took out the, the Israelis took out the head of the besiege this week. His name was also Soleimani. He was in, he and his, he had 10 top commanders around him of the besieged. siege, and they were in a tent because they knew that their facilities had all been destroyed or would be destroyed if they met in them. So they were meeting outside in a tent, and the Israelis knew where they were. So we're hunting them like animals. They feel it. It's got to be degrading the morale of their drone and missile teams. Absolutely. I think if the president can hold on, then we will break their backs. I hear you. Here's the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of staff, Dan Cain, on the breakdown today. on a press conference you may have missed at 8 a.m. Eastern Cut 1. U.S. Centcom remains on plan to achieve our military objectives and remain unrelenting in our pursuit of Iranian missile capabilities, UAV capabilities, and their Navy, and as the Secretary said, their industrial base. Each day, we continue to attack deeper into Iranian territory. As reported by U.S. Central Command yesterday, the U.S. military dropped 5,000 pound penetrator weapons into underground storage facilities, storing coastal defense, cruise missiles, and other support equipment. These weapons are bespokely designed to get through concrete and or rocks. and function after penetrating those barriers. And you don't drop them unless you're aiming for something that you know is there, right? And a lot of people think it's where they're building or storing the drones. And the key word he said there was coastal defense. So they are laying the groundwork to give the president the option to bring the USS Tripoli and whatever other ships he wants to bring through the Strait of Hormuz. I don't know that the president's made that decision, but the military is giving him that option. So, Michael, how's it resonating throughout the Gulf states? I know they had an emergency meeting. There's anger. Saudi Arabia says that our patience is not forever, meaning that they are tempted to start striking back. Are you surprised that they seem and appear to be unified? A little bit. A little bit, I was expecting them to, I was expecting them to waiver. What we're hearing, what I'm hearing anecdotally and what I'm reading in the press is, as you reported, that they are, they are telling President Trump, this is intolerable, this threat that Iran poses to us. We have to, we have to see an end to this, which means taking down the IRC's capability to do this. And that kind of fortitude I probably

wasn't expecting. If we don't go the distance with them and we leave this wounded animal, this rabid animal, which is the IRGC in place, then we'll see hedging from the Gulf states again. Not because of their, you know, they have weak characters. It's just where they are geographically. And militarily. They're going to say, yeah, what do I have to defend myself and my, you know, forget my people and my army. What do I have to defend my, my energy sector? And that's what they're, that's what they're aiming for. And their desalinization plants. I mean, Iran showed a willingness it hit the desalienization plant in Bahrain. The Iranians are not limiting themselves to military targets. They pretend they are, but they're not. And that's a weakness. I mean, that's an imbalance in the conflict here because we, by and large, are restraining ourselves with respect to those targets on Iran. You know, what's interesting is, doesn't it sound like we have nothing to lose? where they were like, okay, there is no tomorrow. That seems to me a nation that says, I'm not keeping my powder dry for the next conflict. This could be our last. Their backs are to the wall. Absolutely. And I suspect that President Trump sees that this blackmail that they have over 20% of the world's energy supplies won't end unless he goes to the distance with them. Yeah, and that's it. And I think that the new leader of Iran, we have not heard anything from him. And yesterday there was just some statement promising revenge for the killing of Ali Larijani. So where do you think this guy is? I hear rumors he was taking to Moscow for medical treatment, others that he didn't want this job when they gave him this job. Everybody else is speaking. He said foreign minister speaking, the deputy foreign minister speaking. Ali Larijani was speaking until they... killed him. Why is he not speaking? Look, he's a placeholder. He's there just to protect the IRGC. What basically happened here is we got a coup d'etat. We now have a military dictatorship in Iran, run by the IRGC, and Mostabah Khomeini is the figurehead for that military dictatorship. All right, so don't give him much credence like we did his dad? No, no. No, except that his hardline statements are crucial. This country is now closer to North Korea than it is to the other Gulf states. It's not North Korea in the sense that Iran is porous. You can't control every little movement in Iran like you can in North Korea. But the mentality of the people running it is a North Korean mentality. And this might be impossible to quantify. But Michael, what do you think their reach is? You know, we hear about that they have sleeper cells and it's been basically acknowledged here. You know, they were trying to hire some Pakistani to hire somebody else to assassinate Trump. We need to put bounties on Brian Hook, John Bolton, Mike Pompeo, and Trump's head. What is their reach? It has to be taken seriously. They do engage in this kind of activity. You know, they tried to blow up Cafe Milano in downtown D.C. five or six years ago, seven years ago. But they were capable of doing that.

But they're not that good, which means, you know, they work through drug, they work through drug gangs, biker gangs, other cutouts. The FBI has to be very, very vigilant about it. We should all be vigilant about it. But we shouldn't allow ourselves to be scared by it. Yeah, it's just amazing. One of those shootings, the guy who pulled off the, who ended up dying. He was a Hesbola linked directly to Hesbola. How he was able to get a gun and walk around in America, I just think they didn't think that was possible, who had relatives killed in Beirut. So it's just crazy. Brian, when I worked in the White House, which was 2005 to 7, I had a bunch of diplomats came to me and said, Mike, there's an Iranian guy, senior Iranian official, who's in town, and you're having secret negotiations with him, and you're not coming clean with us. And I said, no, no, no, no. And then a friend of mine, it was from the British embassy came and said, Mike, you're losing all credibility because we've seen the guy downtown. And I went to my boss, Steve Hadley, and I said, look, are we having secret negotiations? Because I'm looking like a fool. And he said, the national security advisor said, look, if we are, then I don't know about him. And I'm a fool, right? So what was the story? The guy is a senior official in the Iranian government. He had a green card. And he came into the United States through Canada over the land border. For some reason, that didn't get caught up in the system. Why are we allowing people who are members of a terrorist regime to have green cards? This is crazy. Michael Doran, thanks so much. Appreciate it, Michael. We'll stay up to date on this historic time. You listen to the Brian Kilmeade. It's Brian Kilmeade. A talk show that's real. This is the Brian Kilmeade. Sponsored by Previgin. Previgin, made for your brain. I think the TDS, I think that's the leader right now. You know, right now our party is governed by the TDS. And now it's made it virtually impossible without being punished as a Democrat to agree something's good. I agree with the other side. So that is Senator John Fetterman. He does not have TDS. I think he appreciates Trump. But like he said, he wanted reforms to ICE. I think that's a normal guy. That's a guy that's there to get something done. Senator Markwayne Mullin got out of committee. He's en route on Tuesday to become the official next secretary of Homeland Security. He's going to get stuff done. So he says, Ed, there's some things that we could do different, maybe extend some of the training. But it's no reason to keep the government shut down. When Joe Manchin left and Kristen Sinema left, they lost a lot. If wasn't for John Fetterman, we'd really be in trouble. as a country. Hey, if you want to hear highlights and see highlights from the show, go to YouTube.com slash at the Brian Kilmeade. I got a highlights from radio and everything else I'm doing, including my features on Fox Nation. It just started, so don't blame yourself for not subscribing, but go to YouTube. Hi, good night, everybody.