00:01:09.040We are working with our Department of Justice partners.
00:01:11.260And I am never going to let this go because they not only have personally attacked the presidency of the United States and President Trump,
00:01:17.260but they tried to thwart our elections and rig the entire system.
00:01:20.500And that is not something that is going to stop on, that is not something I'm going to allow on my watch.
00:01:26.740But you just have to remember, they built this disease temple over 20 and 30 years.
00:02:13.780I wish in my soul, I wish that any of these people had a conscience.
00:02:19.200Ask yourself, what is my task and what is my purpose?
00:02:22.980If that answer is to save my country, this country will be saved.
00:02:29.160War Room. Here's your host, Stephen K. Band.
00:02:35.560It's Monday, 20 April, year of alert, 2026.
00:02:39.160From the Persian Gulf to the Shenandoah Valley of the Commonwealth of Virginia, we're going to be covering it all today.
00:02:47.860I asked John Solomon if he could start with us today.
00:02:51.760We're going to get in. We've got bowling. We're going to talk about a bailout for MBZ.
00:02:58.140Did I tell you we had no allies? We'll get all into that.
00:03:02.420But I want to make sure for the Warren Posse, because you're the most sophisticated audience in all media, because we cover stuff, we're not going to chase the ephemeral.
00:03:14.920If you remember a couple of weeks ago, Kristi Noem was then DHS secretary, was in testimony in front of the Senate.
00:03:24.160And I think it was Senator John Kennedy, who has a very theatrical style to him.
00:03:29.980remember he's very incredibly well educated i think he went to oxford but he comes off you know
00:03:35.400he tries to play senator claghorn right and and so he he literally eviscerated her so when you
00:03:42.720see something like that that's called a sanctioned hit that is signed off on they're trying to get
00:03:49.760some information out or trying to see exactly if somebody's really doing their job maria bartiroma
00:03:55.420up. That was a sanctioned hit yesterday on Cash. I think somebody wants to know when Cash and the
00:04:01.240FBI are really going to start to ramp up here. John Solomon, Cash said the moral equivalent,
00:04:07.680it's coming in two weeks, right, when Maria braced him up. Help me. You're my guy. Help me
00:04:14.520out. Is the FBI, Todd just took over there at DOJ. Is Cash right? Are we going to get some
00:04:22.860arrest on on voting because i saw that president trump's now saying and getting doj in detroit
00:04:28.400because he's saying hey mike rogers won the 2024 senate race where do we stand here are we two
00:04:34.780weeks away from perp walking guy sir well uh as i said earlier in the month i think that the the
00:04:41.340goal was to make decisions on the first few indictments before the end of the month john
00:04:45.560brennan and james comey are at the top of the list right now there's also some fbi agents
00:04:49.580involved in the gathering of phone records that they're looking at.
00:04:53.080That timetable is still operative, except for one thing.
00:04:56.720This goes back to a story I broke Saturday morning.
00:04:59.680There's been a major delay caused by Republicans.
00:05:02.940The John Thune Senate has yet to send the John Brennan transcripts over.
00:05:07.040The House did it several weeks ago, but the Senate, John Thune, hasn't been able to do it.
00:05:11.720Why? Because he's trying to negotiate with Democrats.
00:05:14.580And what the Justice Department probably should have done from the beginning, don't send a Friday letter and then try to get a negotiated deal.
00:05:23.020Democrats, they're never going to make a deal if they think their peeps are about to get indicted.
00:05:27.680Drop a grand jury subpoena, force the issue, go to court and enforce it if the Senate doesn't comply.
00:05:33.000I think there was a too cordial a situation for the time clock.
00:05:37.020And now John Thune sent it because he can't get Democrats yet to sign off on giving the documents in a cordial way.
00:05:44.920It may have run a good part of the clock out.
00:05:46.980So I'm a little worried, based on what I know right now, that that timetable is a little bit in jeopardy because you need those transcripts, those official transcripts, if you're going to make a decision.
00:05:56.720The grand jury is going to say one way or the other whether John Brennan should be indicted.
00:06:00.380Now, more firepower came, also in that same story that I broke about Thune on Saturday morning, Joe DiGenova, the former U.S. attorney, the former independent counsel, the guy that put Marion Barry away and many of his corrupt administration officials, the former D.C. mayor back in the Reagan 80s, and the man who also captured and convicted Jonathan Pollard, the Israeli spy.
00:06:24.740He's been sent to Florida to sort of become the new chief prosecutor down in Fort Pierce.
00:08:18.060So I think the Justice Department, before Todd took over, probably put this thing in motion.
00:08:25.480But listen, if they don't get it out in the next couple of days, I bet you Joe DeGeneva is not going to wait for it.
00:08:30.460He'll be dropping grand jury subpoenas on Tuesday.
00:08:33.820So talk to me about DeGeneva is, but Joe is, it's not his first rodeo, which is great, but he's also, he's close to 80 years old, isn't he?
00:09:46.040He's going to go back and do some great work in Miami.
00:09:49.800But I think at the same time, the Senate, the flow of evidence from the Senate has slowed things down.
00:09:56.200It shouldn't take this long for a Republican administration to get what it needs from a Republican Congress, but it keeps happening.
00:10:02.360the central way that uh we continue to prosecute this is the grand conspiracy uh theory that
00:10:11.080interconnects everything talk to us you've got articles up this morning about that because the
00:10:15.720left media is starting to pick up on that and saying hey this is you know it's happened longer
00:10:20.060than seven years ago this is all ridiculous they're going back into ancient history uh this0.75
00:10:25.020is more of the wingnut trump uh you know inner circle that just wants vengeance uh you've got
00:10:30.600new reporting on that to go see ukraine and everything what do you do yes the second that
00:10:35.480bob muller said donald trump didn't engage in russia collusion uh the many of the same actors
00:10:40.920began concocting a story on ukraine now in fairness i wrote the first stories in march of 2019 at the
00:10:47.160hill that said joe biden bragged about firing the prosecutor was investigating his son's company
00:10:52.300burisma and that's what started it then the new york times and abc news confirmed my reporting
00:10:56.920Then the deep state got really panicked.
00:11:00.460And so just like they did on Russia, where they had to solve a Hillary Clinton problem, Hillary Clinton had a Russia problem, and they hugged a fake Russian shingle on Donald Trump's campaign house, Joe Biden suddenly had a corruption quid pro quo problem in Ukraine.
00:11:16.400So they turned around and hung a fake quid pro quo Ukraine problem around Donald Trump's tax.
00:11:22.860And by the way, later this week, you're going to see a story to see just how deeply involved the Russia collusion people were in prompting the Ukraine impeachment.
00:11:32.260So that's that wash, rinse, repeat cycle that we talked about.
00:17:05.240But I think the timing of this, especially in light of what we are hearing from the Iranians on the official side, at least, you know, the timing of this, it's kind of anyone's guess right now when we should actually see these talks move forward and take place.
00:17:19.660Now, I do want to get into a little bit of the back and forth here, because what I found so interesting is everything that we saw happen over the weekend was a major departure from the kind of the optimistic posturing we saw from the Trump administration on Friday.
00:17:32.260They were really trying to push this idea that they believed a deal could be finalized in the next few days.
00:17:38.280Now, from the conversations I've had throughout the weekend, Kate, the position of the White House remains that they still want diplomacy.
00:17:45.920They are hoping for a diplomatic solution here.
00:17:48.240They do not want to resume, have this resumption of military operations and attacks and really see the ceasefire fall apart and lead to more war.
00:17:56.680But, of course, there is a lot of distrust right now on the Iranian side as well.
00:18:01.100And there was a lot of anger after the U.S. targeted one of their tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.
00:18:06.900We actually heard the Iranians arguing that it was the landing, the U.S. of landing terrorists,
00:18:11.260not Marines who, you know, took, seized the ship, but terrorists.
00:18:15.120So that's kind of the posture we're hearing on the Iranian side.
00:18:18.200What happened to the idea that you bomb Iran, the regime gets weakened,
00:18:25.540people will, there will be, there will be genuine regime change.
00:18:28.700I mean, Trump uses the phrase now, but obviously it's the same regime.
00:18:35.440I think it was a fantasy and a hope that it actually was never tested with evidence of history everywhere else.
00:18:42.180People don't usually rebel in the middle of a war when bombs are falling on their head.
00:18:47.240There was no love lost for the Islamic Republic when the war started,
00:18:51.880given the massacres that happened in Iran in January and the unhappiness of the people.
00:18:56.020But first of all, Iranians are not organized around a political movement that can keep their rage going, can channel it into politics.
00:19:04.340Secondly, the war basically created a crisis for Iranians on a daily basis.
00:19:10.540And then as the war went on, it became very clear to the majority of the Iranians that war is not liberating.
00:19:16.680The Islamic Republic is not going to go anytime soon.
00:19:19.800And the United States and Israel are not there to look after their safety.0.98
00:19:25.040They're actually bombing their neighborhoods. They're bombing their hospitals, their universities, their historical sites.
00:19:30.700This is increasingly a war against Iran. When President Trump says, I'm going to destroy every single bridge you have,0.83
00:19:36.640what you saw was that the Iranians' political reaction was not to go into the streets and demand the departure of the Islamic Republic,0.82
00:19:43.620but to create human chains around power plants. And so the head of the country is somewhere else right now.0.88
00:19:51.660Potentially, when there is peace, when the guns fall silent, you can go back to politics.
00:19:56.360And we shouldn't forget that the January protests came six months after the June war.0.95
00:20:00.660So I think this idea that Iranians would basically serve as America and Israel's boots on the ground0.93
00:20:07.420and finish the job for them was an idea that was concocted as a hope,
00:20:14.200but it was not really a solid policy at any time.
00:20:18.180Chinese officials claim their country does not want to replace the United States.
00:20:23.560Its business leaders insisted that America remains the more innovative economy.
00:20:28.520Even though America has soured on China, those leaders continue to admire Silicon Valley,
00:20:34.100America's great universities, and the scale and sophistication of the U.S. market.
00:20:39.900China's strategy is to use this crisis to build its economic strength and global influence.
00:20:47.000China is doubling down on the frontier technologies that it believes will define the next era of growth.
00:20:52.940Green energy, robotics, artificial intelligence applied to real industries, advanced manufacturing and services.
00:21:01.960Its dominance in some of these sectors is already staggering.
00:21:06.420It produces 80 percent of the world's solar panels, about 60 percent of the wind turbines and 75 percent of the batteries.
00:21:15.040It supplies 70 percent of all electric vehicles on the planet.0.55
00:21:20.700China has used the last three economic shocks to further its dominance.
00:21:26.740During the pandemic, Chinese firms surged to supply much of the world with medical equipment.
00:21:32.440As the artificial intelligence boom swelled, China became central to its physical buildout.
00:21:38.640the metals, electrical equipment, batteries, cooling systems, and industrial components needed for data centers.
00:21:46.880Now the Iran war has produced a global scramble for new energy.0.93
00:21:51.940Here again, China is the indispensable power.
00:21:55.100It dominates the green technologies, solar, wind, batteries, electric vehicles
00:21:59.740that countries will need to reduce dependence on imported oil and gas.
00:22:04.720Beijing turns these industrial strengths into influence. It offers financing, infrastructure
00:22:11.980and supply chains. It locks countries into Chinese made systems. It shows governments0.99
00:22:17.280that America brings volatility, while China brings equipment, credit and continuity.
00:22:22.840Part of the reason I think we are in the position we are today, where there's a lot more
00:22:26.560skepticism of whether or not a deal could actually be reached is I remind you of where we were
00:22:31.420Friday. The conversations I had heading into the weekend was that we had seen the Pakistanis. They
00:22:37.100were in Tehran. They were having their third day of talks. Things were going, at least on the White
00:22:42.000House side, they believed very well. But then we saw President Donald Trump begin truthing a lot
00:22:46.580of, you know, I was told that he was getting regular updates throughout the day on Friday1.00
00:22:50.400from the Pakistanis. And the president then went out and started sharing a lot of that
00:22:54.920on True Social, something that we saw publicly the Iranians really take issue with and argue
00:23:00.540that they didn't understand what the U.S. was doing, that they didn't agree to a lot of those
00:23:04.920things. And then we saw the breakdown in the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend. Today,
00:23:09.400things not really as in as much of a great place as I think they were previously before the weekend.
00:23:14.920And so there's a lot, I think, that still needs to be worked out. We have to see really what is
00:23:18.900going to happen with these talks. But it remains that the vice president, Wyckoff and Kushner,
00:23:23.800are going to be in the region and they're hoping that they can hash some of that out in the second
00:23:27.840round of talks came. Would an operation like this be worth risking American lives? In my opinion,
00:23:34.160yes. Retired Vice Admiral Robert Harward is a former Navy SEAL and Deputy Director of U.S.
00:23:41.440Central Command. He led elite special operations in the Middle East and says an operation in Iran
00:23:48.320could take many weeks and require a large footprint involving all the branches of the military.
00:23:55.320It's high risk. You have to occupy territory, you have to confront, you have to force your way in.
00:24:04.040So all those risks are inherent in that operation, but we can do it.
00:24:09.080It's been said troops would have to secure a full perimeter around any facility they'd enter.
00:24:14.760They might have to bring in their own bulldozers to clear rubble,
00:24:18.680maybe even build their own landing strip in order to pull this off as a successful operation.
00:24:23.400That's what our military does. When we went into Afghanistan, we built a runway in the desert and we brought in C-17s.
00:24:32.960What does concern Vice Admiral Harward is the weapons still available to Iran on today's battlefield.
00:24:40.440The most prevalent threat is their abilities then to respond with drones, kinetic drones, maybe whatever's left in their inventory of missiles.0.65
00:24:51.140That's your real threat to your time on the ground and the force.
00:24:56.020Would you expect casualties in an operation like this?
00:26:05.400Of course, here, Iran war will squeeze U.S. voters long after conflict ends.
00:26:09.360Economists say, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
00:26:12.260Sub-headline, the important sub-headline is that Tehran, no Tehran delegation.
00:26:17.700Eric Bolling, quickly, because we're going to go to break, but should we be a supplicant even to get a meeting?
00:26:26.040I mean, we've so shattered their command that there's five or six nodes, and none of them can deliver a deal.
00:26:35.180Should we even be hinting at saying a delegation until we know, until they step up, and we find out who exactly represents Iran right now, sir?
00:26:45.560It feels like they're on their own, and that's the point that I think the blockade has proven, that Trump does hold the Trump card.
00:26:53.320He took the one thing that they had, which was holding the Strait of Hormuz at hostage.
00:27:14.480So there's a wait and see what to see what's going on.
00:27:17.080Steve, I don't know how this idea that UAE is coming hat in hand saying, hey, we're going to need a bailout if this thing goes on a little bit longer.
00:27:27.440When in fact they are they and the Saudis were the most vocal to say, finish this.
00:27:32.060Keep going, Trump. Let's get let's end this. Yeah.
00:27:34.340And they did. Was this the plan all along?
00:27:36.440They get a higher oil price revenues go up and they say, oh, by the way, we're going to need some help.0.99
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00:32:24.720They're one of the biggest sponsors of the Muslim Brotherhood0.88
00:32:27.200in the rollout in this country of Sharia law, full stop.0.99
00:32:30.900The UAE who punches way above their weight, MBZ, MBZ, who's the one guy you can kind of trust,0.92
00:32:43.340although he did try to cut a deal with the CCP to have a submarine base in UAE about seven or eight years ago.
00:32:50.920and he's our best ally and the one that's got a really some modicum of a military force that can
00:32:58.060that could actually put some lead on a target. UAE came over, sent a delegation to see Scott
00:33:06.860Besant last week. And what did they want? They wanted these credits, the same type of bailout
00:33:11.880that Bernanke was caught lying about when we bailed out all the European banks back in 2008.
00:33:17.880As you remember, when you went under or your assets were cut in by 80 or 90 percent or many Hispanic Americans and African Americans had the equity in their homes wiped out overnight, never to recover because the American middle class got did not get a did not get a bailout in the working class.0.92
00:33:37.900Got to screw you. Well, we bailed out every bank, we bailed out Goldman Sachs, we bailed out GE credit.
00:40:33.020I've been saying, make sure if we get a meeting, it's with somebody, not just can sign a deal or go in front of a mic,
00:40:38.160but somebody can execute a deal, and people will listen up.
00:40:41.020I think we've shattered the command so hard that you've got conflicting groups.
00:40:46.140But, Eric, I don't think these guys think for a second that they've lost.
00:40:51.660I think they now see with this exclusive story in the Wall Street Journal that, hey, I think we really got America on the back foot now, right?
00:41:00.660Because now they have to make this thing work in the Persian Gulf, and they're going to be stuck there for a while, sir.
00:41:07.620It's a Mexican standoff, two sides pointing the trigger at each other.0.76
00:41:11.080Our trigger is we're going to blow you into oblivion.0.59
00:41:13.640Their trigger is, well, we'll do things like keep oil prices high, maybe get the U.S. dollars.
00:41:20.140There's no longer be a petrodollar, be it a Chinese yuan currency or a basket of bricks countries.
00:41:25.600It's a legitimate threat, but they would need support from the other countries involved.
00:46:27.040In fact, I would call, I put Scott Besson ought to put outgoing calls right now to Saudi Arabia, to Riyadh, and go to Doha and call the, because these are all fake countries.
00:49:54.800And just to show you, I'm not picking on Israel, and I'm not picking on Netanyahu.
00:49:59.100I think the Greater Israel Project is redonkulous, and it's got us into a lot of stuff, and Netanyahu is the worst of the worst.
00:50:05.940They ain't any better in Riyadh, and they're not any better in Abu Dhabi, and they're not any better in Doha or Kuwait or any of them.
00:50:14.560Raymond, is anything I've been saying on this topic incorrect, sir?
00:50:20.900No, I emphatically agree with what you've said, actually.
00:50:24.800And as far as these Arab Gulf nations, even before the alliances or the U.S. alliance business partnership and all that sort of thing, I usually see things from a sort of theological, historical prism.
00:50:37.900And I've always been against the cozy relationship that the United States has with these nations based on who they are and what they actually preach to their own people.
00:50:48.400uh as just one example saudi arabia our great friend and ally and um uh qatar many many years
00:50:56.020ago and i was the first one to call this out actually had published online uh in arabic
00:51:01.060basically upholding the doctrine of which i've spoken of before which in short calls on muslims
00:51:08.820to always have nothing but hatred for non-muslims okay so think about that our friend and ally
00:51:13.940qatar and saudi arabia have fatwas telling their citizens that while on the one hand their kings0.60
00:51:19.700dance and you know wave swords with our presidents and and whoever on the other hand they're telling
00:51:24.340their citizens just remember when it's all said and done you have to have hatred for these people0.93
00:51:29.140in keeping with islamic principles and these are also the same nations that fund millions0.87
00:51:34.980spend millions to fund and disseminate what we call radical islam and jihadism whether in the
00:51:40.820guise of actual literature and school curriculum and mosque literature in Europe and around
00:51:46.600the West in general, or whether actually funding real live Islamic Jihadist terrorist organizations