Goldie Ghamari - What Rubio Just Said About Iran Should Terrify the Regime

00:00:00.000 Let meânia

00:00:30.000 Thank you.

00:01:00.000 We'll be right back.

00:01:30.000 Thank you.

00:02:00.000 Well, hello, everyone.

00:02:25.460 Welcome to an earlier edition of The Goldie Show.

00:02:31.480 I've been meaning to watch the entire committee hearing that happened today with Secretary Marco Rubio.

00:02:41.500 And instead of watching it on my own, I figured I would do a live stream commentary so that we can watch it together.

00:02:50.380 And we can also analyze a little bit more in depth what Marco Rubio is saying about Iran and, of course, the conflict.

00:03:01.180 So get yourself a drink or whatever you like.

00:03:05.780 I'm drinking a, what is it, apple flavored bubbly.

00:03:10.460 And yeah, let's just let's just dive right in and I'll give sort of my political commentary and analysis.

00:03:18.180 And I'm also looking forward to what you guys have to say and what you think.

00:03:24.360 So without further ado, let's go.

00:03:28.080 Because, you know, as a former politician, this stuff is like my bread and butter.

00:03:32.720 I love watching this stuff.

00:03:33.840 I'm like a political nerd when it comes to these sorts of things.

00:03:38.760 And let me know in the chat where you're tuning in from.

00:03:43.700 I'm always curious to know where people are watching from all around the world.

00:03:48.460 And hello to all of you.

00:03:50.460 Okay, let's get started.

00:04:13.700 Thank you.

00:04:43.700 Thanks.

00:05:13.700 I don't know.

00:05:43.680 Senate Foreign Relations Committee will come to order. It wasn't orderly to begin with, but it's

00:05:50.000 orderly now, thanks to our good crew. And we welcome here, as always, our Secretary of State,

00:05:56.940 Marco Rubio, a distinguished alumni of this committee, and I know he's always glad to come

00:06:01.980 back here and visit with us. Marco, we haven't had this kind of excitement since you've been here

00:06:09.660 last time i know you think this is the way it is every time but it's not so uh in any event

00:06:14.940 we're glad to have you um uh for the uh information of the committee the secretary has four hearings

00:06:22.700 in these two days so we have negotiated a hard stop at 12 30. to that end uh we'll use the usual

00:06:31.180 uh array of the way we do things here and that is uh first of all um i will make an opening

00:06:38.860 statement, and then I'll yield to Senator Shaheen, and then we'll turn the floor over to Senator

00:06:43.980 Rubio. Then we'll do a five-minute round of questions based on arrival time. So with that,

00:06:54.780 Secretary, it's good to see you here again. You're not on the Hill often. A lot has changed,

00:07:01.740 obviously, since the last time you testified on the President's international affairs budget last

00:07:06.060 year. The Department has undergone a major reorganization, making it operate more efficiently

00:07:11.500 and more in line with America's interests, as we discussed before you even took the job,

00:07:17.920 and that's been being executed, I think, quite well. At long last, foreign governments are being

00:07:24.740 encouraged and, when necessary, pushed to live up to their responsibilities to respond

00:07:29.980 to the needs of their own citizens. America will stand up by our allies and provide life-saving

00:07:36.660 assistance to people in their hour of need, but we are not the world's ATM. And so the department

00:07:43.020 is testing new ways of providing strategic assistance and breaking the cycle of dependence

00:07:47.040 on aid. Renewed emphasis on trade over aid will help the American people and lift up countries

00:07:54.340 around the world. This is American generosity and ingenuity in action. Through this budget,

00:08:01.800 the administration is holding UN organizations to account, badly, badly overdue, and alongside

00:08:07.660 Ambassador Walsh, making sure American values are leading in international organizations.

00:08:13.600 You've made securing the Western Hemisphere a top policy and budget priority, and have

00:08:19.140 successfully reduced illegal immigration at the southern border to the lowest level in half a

00:08:24.780 century. That has not gone unnoticed. You've helped curb the trafficking of illegal fentanyl

00:08:30.120 into the United States, saving countless lives. The budget prioritizes countering China's unfair

00:08:35.260 trade practices, expanding military and malign influence operations around the world,

00:08:40.640 which pose some of the greatest threats in modern history to the American people.

00:08:45.720 At the same time, we've been working to ensure these efforts are strategic, targeted, effective, and we appreciate that.

00:08:52.300 The administration has also taken care to ensure taxpayer dollars don't go to those who are able but unwilling to pay for their own defense.

00:09:01.560 Through concerted effort by you and your colleagues, our NATO allies have increased their defense spending and have committed to reach the 5% by 2035.

00:09:10.500 This is a major change from the way you and I used to deal with this for the decade or more before this.

00:09:17.640 Together, we need to create a next-generation NATO that is stronger, more interoperable,

00:09:23.020 and takes advantage of the industrial potential of American and European economies.

00:09:28.320 We also must continue to coordinate with our European partners as they take greater responsibility for supporting Ukraine

00:09:35.800 and work with our partners to deny Russia strategic gains.

00:09:39.160 The administration has prioritized efforts to end conflicts in Africa, which undermine decades of investment in economic growth and global health security.

00:09:50.580 All is not well there.

00:09:52.140 The latest Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo, now affecting the entire region, highlights how conflict and humanitarian crises abroad threaten the health and security of the American people here at home.

00:10:04.220 I know the Department is working hard to protect us from this threat, and I look forward to hearing how the budget supports these efforts.

00:10:10.320 And, of course, the administration has taken decisive action to protect American citizens from the threat posed by Iranian nuclear capabilities and ambitions.

00:10:20.880 On behalf of the American people, thank you for your hard work on that.

00:10:24.260 You and I have been through this before, and we know how difficult it is.

00:10:27.660 Change is hard, but it is also necessary.

00:10:30.260 Your efforts to make the State Department more responsive to the needs of Americans will help us all meet the challenges of the 21st century.

00:10:38.220 I look forward to discussing how the budget will further those efforts.

00:10:41.480 With that, I will turn it over to the distinguished ranking member, Senator Shaheen.

00:10:46.720 Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman.

00:10:49.260 Good morning, Secretary Rubio.

00:10:52.500 Mr. Secretary, you were a senator.

00:10:55.080 You sat on this committee.

00:10:57.220 You sat on the Intelligence Committee.

00:10:58.840 You know, as well as anyone, that effective American foreign policy requires a strong partnership with Congress.

00:11:07.720 Allies need to know that our commitments can stand the test of time, and that only happens if Congress is brought into the discussion.

00:11:16.260 Congress cannot be a partner if it's kept in the dark.

00:11:19.720 I have a long list of unanswered requests sitting on your department's desk.

00:11:25.300 and Mr. Chairman, I'd like to ask that these letters be submitted for the record.

00:11:30.540 Yeah, okay. Just because you ask a question doesn't mean that you deserve an answer,

00:11:37.840 especially if your question is stupid. So I'm just putting it out there. But here we go.

00:11:45.940 I've requested a briefing on changes to U.S. forced posture in Europe.

00:11:49.960 and after 33 days, we still have no response. We've requested a briefing from the Iran war

00:11:57.640 on displacement. After 90 days, we still have no response. We've asked for a briefing on Ukraine

00:12:05.440 on a number of issues. After 180 days, we still have no response. We've asked for a briefing on

00:12:12.940 lifting Milorad Dodix sanctions. And after 225 days, we still have no response. We've asked

00:12:21.600 for a briefing for the US Agency for Global Media. No response after 344 days. The Romanian

00:12:30.040 visa program termination. We've followed up five times over 435 days and we've still

00:12:37.840 gotten no response. In January, when you were before this committee, I ask if you would report

00:12:44.540 to this committee once an audit system was in place to track Venezuelan oil revenues. You said,

00:12:50.760 and I quote, oh, absolutely, yeah, we are still waiting. And when you do notify Congress,

00:12:58.680 it's to inform us of decisions you have already made. That is not consultation, as you well know.

00:13:04.760 That is not advice and consent. Congress has been clear on a bipartisan basis. We do not want to

00:13:12.600 cede ground to China. Yet this administration is closing consulates and cutting funding

00:13:18.060 in the Indo-Pacific. The same pattern extends to global health. USAID supported Ebola detection

00:13:26.220 and prevention activities in drc and uganda for years and we can see in this poster even

00:13:35.020 elon musk admitted that one of the things we accidentally canceled very briefly was

00:13:42.220 ebola prevention well those programs were dismantled and today we have to screen for

00:13:51.260 ebola at dulles airport rather than in the drc and uganda more than 7 000 miles away

00:13:58.780 you're asking for a 44 reduction in the state department budget that includes eliminating

00:14:04.620 funding to the world health organization it includes eliminating all disease specific funds

00:14:10.620 yeah usaid was like the biggest scam usaid was basically just a slush fund for communists and

00:14:18.380 and terrorists and ngos in the middle of an ebola crisis that's affecting americans

00:14:25.180 yet no one from your department can explain to us why this is a good idea you sent congress

00:14:31.820 one notification saying you needed 19 billion you know something it's a good idea because president

00:14:39.020 trump literally ran like one of his plat like one of his campaign promises like in his platform

00:14:45.740 president trump literally said that he wants to um get rid of the waste and mismanagement

00:14:53.100 in usa that was literally part of his platform and part of his campaign so you know who thinks

00:15:01.900 it's a good idea the american people who voted for president trump based on his platform which

00:15:09.660 included creating doge to get rid of waste and mismanagement so who are you to question um

00:15:18.780 the american people's choice

00:15:25.180 it's a good idea and the american people voted on it instead and and agreed that it's a good

00:15:31.660 idea that's one of the reasons why president trump got elected in the first place on literally he

00:15:36.860 he got elected on that mandate dollars to close out USAID then you sent another saying you needed

00:15:43.580 some of that money to respond to disease outbreaks Congress has asked for an explanation and we still

00:15:50.060 have not received one the same pattern extends to our alliances I just returned from a bipartisan

00:15:57.200 delegation to the Arctic we are on the verge of losing the very alliances that we have built for

00:16:03.860 decades because the president manufactured a crisis over Greenland. And nowhere is that

00:16:09.400 clearer than with Russia. In 2017, you wrote as a senator that Vladimir Putin will never

00:16:16.800 be a trusted ally or a reliable, constructive partner. But since taking office, you, the

00:16:23.720 president, the vice president, Steve Whitcoff, not one of you has been to Ukraine. And yet

00:16:29.980 your envoys talk to Putin on a regular basis? Yeah, it's called diplomacy. Just because

00:16:35.780 you don't think someone is reliable or beneficial or useful, it doesn't mean you don't talk to them.

00:16:44.240 You still have to talk to them. That's literally part of your job, right? Like, what an insane

00:16:50.140 comment. What an absolutely insane comment that she's making right now. President Trump went to

00:16:59.520 China does that mean he's buddy buddy with Beijing absolutely not he's even said so he said

00:17:05.060 he doesn't trust them like this is how politics works you're supposed to um speak with everyone

00:17:11.580 and engage in diplomacy like communication like communicating with with someone doesn't mean that

00:17:21.740 you're endorsing them like how in like how low IQ are you I mean this is like obviously like this

00:17:28.460 narrative like whatever it's basically it's very very like partisan and very biased right

00:17:35.740 the president has invited him given him the red carpet treatment on american soil

00:17:41.100 but yet you won't come up here and brief congress on any of it

00:17:44.940 and decisions congress has made on russia have been systematically undermined

00:17:50.620 why should marco rubio answer for the president he's there to answer for his department

00:17:58.460 Congress passed support for Ukraine.

00:18:00.820 The administration has slow-walked it.

00:18:03.320 And instead of sanctioning Russia, the administration issued oil licenses that have sent billions to Moscow.

00:18:11.360 Congress has asked what this approach has produced.

00:18:14.940 Russia has conducted five times more drone strikes on Ukraine since 2024.

00:18:22.700 More U.S. businesses are being directly targeted than at any point in this conflict.

00:18:27.520 And Russia is providing targeting intelligence to help Iran hit our facilities and personnel in the Middle East while we're helping them fund this war.

00:18:38.380 When I talk to my constituents, they ask for economic relief at home, not regime change in Havana or Caracas or Tehran.

00:18:48.080 Instead, you sent Congress a war powers notification saying we are not in active hostilities with Iran.

00:18:54.360 while the U.S. was conducting strikes against Iran and Iran was bombing U.S. embassies and

00:18:59.940 bases throughout the Middle East. That was not consultation. It was an attempt to avoid

00:19:06.480 answering to this committee and this Congress about this war. Congress has asked basic questions

00:19:13.740 about the war. Why are roughly half of our Patriot intercepted stockpiles gone? Why does the Strait

00:19:19.880 Hormuz remain closed? Why is gas up $1.50? Why did 13 American service members lose their lives in

00:19:27.160 this war? Congress deserves to know why, and Americans deserve to know why. Mr. Secretary,

00:19:34.200 you would not have stood for this kind of stonewalling by the administration when you

00:19:38.280 were a senator, and you certainly shouldn't stand for it as Secretary of State and National Security

00:19:44.200 advisor. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Senator. We'll now proceed to a round of five

00:19:49.080 minute questions. I'm sorry. We'll try. Did you want to do? We talked about that. Do you want

00:19:56.740 one? We actually talked about that, but he thought that questioning might be easier. Why don't you

00:20:00.760 go ahead? I have it in writing. You want me to read it? Give us your best shot. Okay. Well,

00:20:05.800 thank you for having me here. There'll be a lot to talk about today. And I just want to remind

00:20:10.100 everybody, you know, our foreign policy is one that's solely focused on the national interest

00:20:18.440 of the United States of America, on the defense of our country, both its military defense and

00:20:22.480 our security, but also our economic security and the vibrancy of our economy, our sovereignty

00:20:26.540 and our future. We believe that America should lead the world and I believe that we are and

00:20:31.520 we'll have a very good story to tell about that. American leadership, however, should always be on

00:20:35.980 behalf of the American interests. I say this because I think over a period of time in our

00:20:40.300 foreign policy, we lost focus on that. The reality of it is that our foreign policy first and foremost

00:20:45.640 must always be what is in the national interest of the United States of America. And determining

00:20:50.100 the national interest oftentimes requires us to make pragmatic decisions. Sometimes in foreign

00:20:55.800 policy, the choices are not between a good choice and a bad choice. It's between two less than ideal

00:21:00.680 choices. And you're trying to figure out which one of these two choices is the one that is best for

00:21:05.100 the United States and least harmful to our interests. And that plays out every

00:21:08.700 single day. That said, we remain the world's sole global superpower, the most

00:21:13.200 powerful country on Earth. We have the largest economy. We have the most

00:21:16.260 formidable and powerful military, ever known to man, by the way. Our dollar

00:21:20.100 remains the reserve currency of the world. Our language is used extensively

00:21:24.700 throughout the world to transact all sorts of business and many of our

00:21:28.380 engagements. But all this means very little if that power is not used to

00:21:31.980 protect the people who built it, the people who it is meant to protect. I also remind everybody

00:21:36.980 the United States government is not a charity. We are not here to play social worker. We are here to

00:21:41.160 win. We are here to win on behalf of the American people and on behalf of the national interest,

00:21:45.420 to win for our country, to win for the people of America, to win for the things that are important

00:21:50.060 for our future. And that's what we exist to do. The State Department exists to carry out the

00:21:54.220 foreign policy of the United States, both in diplomacy and in aid, in a way that furthers

00:21:58.560 the national interest and helps the American people. And it's guided every decision that's

00:22:02.880 been made since January of 2025. I'll give you a perfect example is in our own Western Hemisphere,

00:22:09.000 an area that this committee and many of its members long argued, as I did,

00:22:12.320 has long been neglected and not been paid attention to. We now have in this hemisphere

00:22:16.600 a coalition of friendly countries, over a dozen, who have aligned to work on not just the issues

00:22:21.220 of security that we all have in common, but also economic prosperity that go hand in hand.

00:22:25.840 It's an amazing story that basically, other than Nicaragua, other than Cuba, obviously other than Venezuela, remains with some challenges.

00:22:34.080 And, of course, Brazil, although they're in the midst of an election cycle, and to some extent the current government in Colombia as well, at least the president's been problematic.

00:22:42.020 But generally speaking, it is now a region filled with American allies, American-friendly leaders, and an America-friendly direction.

00:22:48.700 Now, obviously, we have to operationalize that into action after 20 years of neglect in which China and other global powers have intruded in our Western Hemisphere to the detriment not just of American national interest, but to the detriment, in our view, of the people of those countries as well.

00:23:03.580 So these are important achievements and one that I'm very happy about.

00:23:08.320 I'm also happy about the way we've transformed foreign aid.

00:23:10.720 In any transition, there will be bumps in the road, but largely speaking, if you think about how those programs that existed in the past were failing us, the old model had to be replaced.

00:23:21.780 And the foreign assistance that remains is being brought under the strategic direction of the State Department.

00:23:26.300 So we're not just providing money, we are also seeking outcomes.

00:23:29.280 It's not just how much money you spend on a program, it's whether you're getting outcomes from it, but it's also being guided with our strategic view in mind.

00:23:37.140 And that means that we are able to provide aid, not just all over the world, but specifically targeted at those most in needs and those places around the world most important to the national interest of the United States.

00:23:47.880 That will remain our guiding principle. That's been our guiding principle in our reforms.

00:23:52.560 So, you know, the I would just I mean, we can get into a lot of these details in our questions.

00:23:58.640 The bottom line is that all this and more is a reflection of this belief that I outlined at the outset.

00:24:04.760 And that is that foreign policy cannot be separated from economic policy, from border policy, from energy policy, from any of these other spheres that are critical to our national interests.

00:24:13.480 A country that cannot build ships or produce medicine or control immigration or access vital resources, cannot defend its people, cannot defend its interests and cannot defend its way of life.

00:24:24.420 So our foreign policy continues to be reoriented around the real foundations of national strength.

00:24:30.160 This budget is yet another step, I believe, in that direction.

00:24:33.000 And obviously, the appropriators here will have a huge say on the outcome of what that budget ultimately looks like, as we don't anticipate that for the first time in modern history, Congress will just take up our budget and pass it.

00:24:45.160 We think it'll go through some substantial reforms along the way, and we look forward to engaging you like we did last year to produce what we think is a very good spending bill at that time.

00:24:53.060 So anyways, I look forward to your questions.

00:24:55.680 At least that's what it says here.

00:24:56.600 I'm not sure if I really look forward to your questions.

00:24:58.340 I look forward to probably half your questions.

00:25:00.180 Thank you.

00:25:00.640 Thank you, Secretary Rubio.

00:25:05.720 We will now do a round of questions, five-minute questions, based on order of attendance.

00:25:12.680 And I'm going to start, and I'm going to say thank you for the work you've done with

00:25:16.360 respect to Iran.

00:25:18.180 All of us that have worked on this for years know how frustrating that is, how difficult

00:25:22.540 it is to work with this regime, who've sponsored terrorism, kidnapping, and killed thousands

00:25:28.040 of Americans for the last 47 years. Thank you for doing something about it. I know you and the

00:25:33.040 president are doing all you can to ensure this comes to a place sooner rather than later. I

00:25:38.040 wonder if you could give us at least a brief update on where we are. Well, first let me remind

00:25:42.780 everybody that while I've not been before this committee since I believe February when we briefed

00:25:47.400 on the Venezuela operation, I have appeared on multiple occasions here, both in my role as

00:25:52.280 National Security Advisor and Secretary of State in both all Senate briefings, multiple times,

00:25:56.540 gang of eight briefings, gang of 16 briefings. So we've talked about this topic with some of you

00:26:02.680 in those settings in the past that you've heard from us. Let me just lay the predicate here.

00:26:07.280 Okay. Iran's desire to build a nuclear weapon was going to be built, was going to be effectuated

00:26:13.580 behind a conventional shield. They were going to build for themselves so many missiles,

00:26:18.840 so many drones, so many conventional weapons, including a Navy.

00:26:23.280 guys so he's not wrong i mean the islamic regime literally built underground missile cities okay

00:26:31.440 so let me let me pull it up um um so this is one of the things that always frustrates me

00:26:41.960 you have these like stupid people who know nothing about iran um and they go around and

00:26:49.320 they say things like, oh, the economic sanctions are hurting the Iranian people. The economic

00:26:54.660 sanctions are why the Iranian people are poor. So, you know, if you want the Iranian people to

00:27:00.320 be happy, lift the economic sanctions. No, the economic sanctions are not against the Iranian

00:27:04.860 people. The economic sanctions are against the Islamic regime. But here's the thing.

00:27:09.800 If the economic sanctions were actually, let's say, really having a negative impact on the

00:27:15.680 Iranian people, why is it that for the last 20, 30 years, the Islamic regime has spent billions,

00:27:26.380 if not trillions, not just building secret underground nuclear facilities, but they've

00:27:33.620 also built secret underground missile cities? What you've seen in like Gaza is nothing compared to

00:27:45.540 what we have recently uncovered in occupied Iran. And here's the thing, for the longest time,

00:27:54.180 for the longest time, right, especially in the last 20 or so years, the Islamic regime would

00:28:00.940 randomly arrest hikers and environmentalists and scientists and biologists, you know, people who

00:28:11.660 would go out into nature to, you know, study Iranian wildlife or, you know, whatever, like do

00:28:19.300 some hiking or whatever the case might be, even like off-roading ATV type stuff. The Islamic regime

00:28:26.080 would arrest these people and put them in Ibn prison. Ibn prison is the political prison.

00:28:33.480 And we, for the longest time, we didn't know why. All we knew is that, you know, the Islamic regime

00:28:37.980 also hates environmentalists and hikers and whatever the case might be. It's only recently

00:28:44.520 we found out why they've been arresting all these people and putting them in political prison. It's

00:28:50.540 because more likely than not, these people, while they were out in the field doing research or

00:29:02.560 you know, whatever the case might be, they would accidentally stumble across

00:29:07.820 the entrances, the secret entrances to one of the, you know, underground weapons or missile

00:29:16.480 facilities or whatever the case might be. And in order to keep that information hidden from

00:29:22.360 everyone else, the Islamic regime would just take that environmental activist or, you know,

00:29:28.840 the hiker or whatever, and just throw them in jail arbitrarily and just, you know, pin some

00:29:33.600 random crime on them, like spying for Mossad or, you know, waging war against Allah or whatever,

00:29:41.360 right? So it's only when these underground facilities were discovered that we finally

00:29:48.760 put two and two together and realized why Iranians who go out hiking in nature are put in jail.

00:29:56.420 Let me find it for you.

00:30:03.980 Because they were speaking about this.

00:30:12.160 Or is it?

00:30:16.440 I'm going to find a good video of this.

00:30:20.600 So.

00:30:24.260 I'm going to find a good one for you.

00:30:26.420 And you're not really going to find this in, um, mainstream media, but

00:30:45.680 I think it's this one.

00:30:48.920 Yeah.

00:30:52.020 Okay.

00:30:54.220 Let's just go with this one for now.

00:30:56.420 Okay, look at this. So this is footage of the underground missile facility, right? So when

00:31:06.060 Secretary Rubio is talking about Iran, first of all, he means the Islamic regime. But when he

00:31:13.620 says, you know, the Islamic regime was looking to build all these missiles and nuclear bombs and

00:31:20.580 things like that. He's not exaggerating because 70% of the Iranian people live below the poverty

00:31:27.100 line because the Islamic regime takes all the money, right? Guys, Iran is not a poor country.

00:31:33.240 Iran is an incredibly rich country. Iran, at the very minimum, makes $500 million a day just on

00:31:42.840 oil sales, okay? That's part of the reason why the Islamic regime is literally going scorched earth

00:31:49.860 and is murdering Iranians every single day

00:31:52.640 and murdered over 40,000 innocent Iranians

00:31:55.260 on January 8 and 9.

00:31:57.080 They did that because they don't want to leave

00:31:59.160 because it's a cash cow for them, right?

00:32:02.260 They oppress the Iranian people

00:32:04.340 because they use Iran as an ATM

00:32:07.120 to fuel and fund their never-ending jihad,

00:32:13.580 their terrorism, right?

00:32:16.100 Watch this.

00:32:17.000 This is insane.

00:32:18.040 So think about it.

00:32:18.800 If the economic sanctions are really the reason why the Iranian people are poor, then how the hell is the Islamic regime able to spend billions, if not trillions of dollars to build these underground missile cities?

00:32:37.200 Look at this.

00:32:45.080 There's no audio here.

00:32:49.440 let's see this one doesn't have audio let's see i can find one with audio

00:32:55.600 all right let's try this one

00:33:07.040 all right we have some more breaking news coming in iran has released a dramatic video through the

00:33:13.120 the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The video shows what Tehran claims is a vast underground

00:33:19.500 missile arsenal. Tehran signals its continued military strength despite heavy bombardment.

00:33:27.160 These are the images of missiles, mobile launchers and rocket systems. The video also makes bold

00:33:33.820 claims of targeting an f-35 lightning to mocking u.s military superiority as the war enters a

00:33:44.060 critical phase iran reiterates that its missile program featuring systems like imad missile

00:33:50.620 sejil missile and khuram shahir missile remains a central pillar of its defense strategy

00:34:09.340 so there's you know there's some footage for you i'll try to find more

00:34:13.820 you know what i should probably do a whole video where i talk about

00:34:17.260 the underground missile cities because it's insane it's literally insane um guys they even

00:34:22.780 built subways like the the missile cities are so huge that the islamic regime has built full-on

00:34:31.820 underground subways okay to transport everything around and these underground cities and tunnels

00:34:40.540 are only accessible by the Islamic regime.

00:34:45.160 So, okay, so there is just a little sneak peek

00:34:48.620 into the underground missile cities.

00:34:51.180 So now going back to Secretary Rubio, right,

00:34:56.060 when he's talking about how the Islamic regime

00:34:58.300 is building all of this stuff,

00:35:00.340 he's not exaggerating because we've already seen the proof.

00:35:03.840 so we've talked about this topic with some of you in those settings in the past you've heard from

00:35:12.700 us let me just lay the predicate here okay Iran's desire to build a nuclear weapon was going to be

00:35:20.100 built was going to be effectuated behind a conventional shield they were going to build

00:35:25.060 for themselves so many missiles so many drones so many conventional weapons including a navy

00:35:31.460 that at that point there's nothing you could do about it what they tried to do is they were going

00:35:35.800 to try to build a conventional shield and hide behind that conventional shield and basically say

00:35:39.940 to the world if you come and do anything about our nuclear program we will overwhelm you with

00:35:44.380 missiles we will overwhelm you with drones and we will overwhelm you with our navy and you will not

00:35:49.300 win you will not be able to do anything about it they were seeking that point of immunity which is

00:35:53.160 why the president chose to act to deny them that point of immunity operation epic fury some of you

00:35:58.860 didn't like it, some of you did, was highly successful in achieving its military objectives,

00:36:03.760 which is dramatically reducing the defense industrial base of Iran, the ability to build

00:36:08.900 these missiles and to build these drones, especially the missiles program, substantially

00:36:13.040 degraded. A substantial percentage, and I'll leave the exact numbers to the Department of War,

00:36:17.340 because I'm not a general and I'm not here to speak as a military planner, but a substantial

00:36:21.420 degradation in the number of launchers that they have as well. They still have a lot of drones

00:36:25.320 because these are easy to make. We all know it's not an Iran challenge. This is a global challenge

00:36:29.500 and it's playing out every single day around the world. I mean, Mexican cartels

00:36:33.180 are using UAVs against each other. We should imagine at some point may even use it against

00:36:38.080 our own, against our interests. So this is a pervasive problem around the world. The economics

00:36:43.680 of it is something we have to solve for. But nonetheless, even their drone building capability

00:36:48.260 has been eroded. Today, there is no Iranian Navy. There is no such thing. There's a bunch of Boston

00:36:53.460 whalers with machine guns on them, but there is no navy. There is no Iranian navy. It lies at the

00:36:58.380 bottom of the ocean and will soon, within a number of years, be prime fishing spots because they'll

00:37:03.840 turn into reefs. So my whole point is that the Iranian conventional shield has been substantially

00:37:12.140 eroded. Now, in the aftermath of that, two things have happened. The first is they entered into a

00:37:17.260 ceasefire. They agreed. We agreed to stop. But part of that agreement is that they would reopen the

00:37:22.080 Straits. They did not, at which point the president decided, and I think appropriately, we can't have

00:37:28.280 a world in which Iran, only Iranian ships get through the Straits. And so if they're going to

00:37:32.640 shut down the Straits for everybody, we're going to shut down the Straits for them. And we have

00:37:37.280 done that through a very effective blockade, and by the way, through the seizure of sanctioned

00:37:42.040 ships in the Indo-Pacific as well. The cost to Iran every single day in lost revenue is in the

00:37:48.360 hundreds of millions of dollars that they are losing and lost revenue that they're not generating

00:37:52.740 as a result of that. Now we are in talks and I say talks because talks with Iran are not like

00:37:58.000 talks with Switzerland. Okay. They're very different. They require the use of intermediators.

00:38:02.980 Okay. So, so that's really important. Okay. When Marco Rubio is saying, you know, talks with Iran

00:38:07.980 and then he, he clarifies, he says they're very different, right? Because people just assume

00:38:13.440 when president Trump or Marco Rubio or someone else says, you know, we're talking with the

00:38:17.780 Islamic regime, people think that that means, oh, okay, so you see them as like a legitimate

00:38:27.260 entity. That's not the case. And Senator Rubio, sorry, Secretary Rubio makes that very clear.

00:38:37.340 He's like, talks with the Islamic regime are not the same as talks with Switzerland, right? Like,

00:38:42.640 Again, you're not dealing with rational, normal state actors.

00:38:47.780 You're dealing with a brutal Islamic dictatorship that is stuck in the 7th century.

00:38:54.980 And President Trump rightfully calls them lunatics because that's what we've been trying to say.

00:38:59.780 They're literally lunatics, right?

00:39:02.800 Unfortunately, but there is the prospect before us, which could happen today.

00:39:07.120 It could happen tomorrow.

00:39:07.800 it could happen next week, that for the first time, certainly in my memory, they have agreed

00:39:14.240 to negotiate aspects of their nuclear program that just a month ago, just a year ago,

00:39:19.800 they were refusing to even mention, much less enter into discussions about. That is not a

00:39:24.420 guarantee that ultimately it will lead to a deal that's acceptable to the Senate or acceptable to

00:39:28.400 the American people. But we'll be able to engage them in a process to truly test the proposition.

00:39:33.160 sorry let me go to some of the super chats really quick because i think they're on the topics that

00:39:38.140 i've been discussing um so ehef says every country has missile stockpiles under the justification of

00:39:45.400 domestic in-country defense but we're supposed to believe iran had them for the giggles yeah

00:39:51.620 like that's exactly it right like we're supposed to believe that the islamic regime i like to call

00:39:56.100 it the islamic regime occupying iran um because you know iran is very different from the islamic

00:40:01.940 regime, Iran is occupied, kind of like how, you know, there's Germany and Nazi Germany.

00:40:07.500 So right now, occupied Iran is basically like Nazi Germany, and the real Iran is, you know,

00:40:15.580 being occupied.

00:40:16.580 So, yeah, but the Islamic regime literally spent billions and trillions of dollars building

00:40:22.740 underground missile cities and underground nuclear facilities, right, in mountains to

00:40:29.660 try and keep them hidden.

00:40:31.660 I agree. And then Heartbreaker says, the key word you need to pay attention to is the word program

00:40:39.480 when Cruz asks Rubio about arming civilians inside of Iran. Okay, absolutely. I will

00:40:47.620 keep an eye out for that. I know we played it earlier today, but I'm interested in hearing the

00:40:53.020 entire conversation as well because we only listened to like a 20 second clip and I thought

00:40:58.080 that was you know super short but i will definitely keep that in mind thank you um and then we have

00:41:04.380 a new member kevin welcome welcome to goldie's gang okay let's continue

00:41:12.960 about how far they're willing to go complicating that process unfortunately

00:41:18.640 is their internal regime is somewhat fractured in the sense of it takes days to get responses

00:41:23.900 from their system that agreed to negotiate aspects of their nuclear revenue is in the

00:41:31.900 hundreds of millions of dollars that they are losing in lost revenue that they're not generating

00:41:36.060 as a result of that now we are in talks and i say talks because talks with iran are not like

00:41:41.020 talks with switzerland exactly they're very different they require the use of intermediaries

00:41:45.820 unfortunately but there is the prospect before us which could happen today it could happen

00:41:50.380 tomorrow it could happen next week that for the first time certainly in my memory they have agreed

00:41:57.580 to negotiate aspects of their nuclear program that just a month ago just a year ago they were

00:42:02.940 refusing to even mention much less enter into discussions about that is not a guarantee that

00:42:07.820 ultimately will lead to a deal that's acceptable to the senate or acceptable to the american people

00:42:12.620 but we'll be able to engage them in a process to truly test the proposition of how far they're

00:42:17.100 willing to go it's complicating that oh i just want to go to this comment i saw so so conrad says

00:42:24.300 love your content hello from michigan hello welcome i hope you're enjoying the live stream

00:42:31.100 and uh yeah i'm trying to keep an eye on the the chat but um because i'm also i'm also listening

00:42:37.580 and trying to pay attention to what senator uh sorry i keep saying senator uh it's terrible

00:42:42.700 uh secretary rubio is saying um so i'm kind of focusing on that but uh but i'll try to like

00:42:50.540 keep an eye on the comments when i can but this this is guys so literally this is uh just like

00:42:56.140 a watch party right just casual unscripted i'm just here providing some commentary giving some

00:43:01.660 background details um like uh you know normal so let me put it this way before i started my youtube

00:43:10.300 channel. Um, I would watch all of these anyway. Like I would just put it on my TV, sit there and

00:43:15.880 just, you know, watch and analyze and, you know, sometimes get frustrated or whatever the case

00:43:19.660 might be. Um, so instead of doing that right now, like instead of laying on my couch and just like,

00:43:25.460 um, watching, uh, this instead, I'm here watching it in front of my camera. I put on guys, I put

00:43:32.500 on my blazer cause you know, former politician gotta look the part. Um, but yeah, we're watching

00:43:38.360 it together. So I hope you guys enjoy not just the video itself, but also my commentary and

00:43:48.340 analysis. I'll try not to go on too many tangents.

00:43:55.920 ...that they would reopen the straits. They did not, at which point the president decided,

00:44:01.540 and I think appropriately, we can't have a world in which Iran, only Iranian ships get through the

00:44:06.340 Straits. And so if they're going to shut down the Straits for everybody, we're going to shut down

00:44:11.200 the Straits for them. And we have done that through a very effective blockade. And by the way,

00:44:15.640 through the seizure of sanctioned ships in the Indo-Pacific as well. The cost to Iran every

00:44:21.260 single day and lost revenue is in the hundreds of millions of dollars that they are losing in

00:44:26.340 lost revenue that they're not generating as a result of that. Now, we are in talks. And I say

00:44:31.620 talks because talks with Iran are not like talks with Switzerland. They're very different. They

00:44:36.600 require the use of intermediaries, unfortunately. But there is the prospect before us, which could

00:44:41.840 happen today, it could happen tomorrow, it could happen next week, that for the first time,

00:44:46.440 certainly in my memory, they have agreed to negotiate aspects of their nuclear program that

00:44:52.840 just a month ago or just a year ago, they were refusing to even mention, much less enter into

00:44:57.940 discussions about that is not a guarantee that ultimately will lead to a deal that's acceptable

00:45:02.020 to the senate or acceptable to the american people but we'll be able to engage them in a

00:45:06.680 process to truly test the proposition of how far they're willing to go complicating that process

00:45:11.800 unfortunately is their internal regime is somewhat fractured in the sense of it takes days to get

00:45:17.160 responses from their system we can go into more depth guys the the islamic regime is more than

00:45:26.300 just somewhat fractured it is literally fractured um it's full-on game of durka which is what i call

00:45:35.100 kind of like game of thrones but with terrorists so game of durka um so again if i just let me just

00:45:40.140 pull up my boom boom bingo sheet because we're probably gonna refer to that quite a bit so um

00:45:46.140 you know when you look at the boom boom bingo sheet the divisions um it's more than somewhat

00:45:55.020 fractured guys first of all we don't even know if um much tabo is alive okay um if he's alive we

00:46:03.740 don't know if he's you know in a coma or not um pete hexath president trump and marco rubio have

00:46:11.100 all confirmed that he is injured um they've hinted at sort of the extent of um his injuries but we

00:46:18.700 don't know he could be possibly missing a leg an arm maybe half his face we literally don't know

00:46:23.420 But so right now, the current supreme dictator, nowhere to be found, no sign of life or proof

00:46:31.980 of life.

00:46:32.980 Right?

00:46:33.980 Also, I want to point this out because this is big.

00:46:38.400 The former supreme dictator, his evil, demonic dad, Ali Khamenei, who we called Mushtaba,

00:46:47.760 which means rat, and he was hiding like a rat in bunkers.

00:46:53.080 He was boom-boomed on February 28th.

00:46:58.500 He still has not been buried.

00:47:01.080 They still have not held a funeral ceremony for the Supreme Dictator.

00:47:05.800 You would think that if the Islamic regime is so strong,

00:47:10.600 and that, you know, according to fake stream media,

00:47:14.140 and according to the Democrats and according to, I don't know, supporters of the Islamic regime or

00:47:20.080 communist or Antifa or, you know, whatever, you would think that if, you know, if they're saying

00:47:27.540 that, oh, the Islamic regime has never been stronger than ever, okay, genius, why haven't

00:47:33.420 they buried Khamenei yet? Why is his corpse running away in a fridge somewhere? You would

00:47:41.200 think if the Islamic regime is so strong, they would have, they would have buried him because

00:47:44.880 according to their own religion, right, they're supposed to bury someone within three days.

00:47:56.140 February 28, he was exterminated, like the garbage that he was. Right now, it's the 2nd of June.

00:48:05.760 I don't know about you, but that's a little bit more than three days, right?

00:48:10.620 A little bit more than three days.

00:48:13.780 So that's another thing to factor in.

00:48:18.580 The Islamic regime still hasn't buried Khlamideh, right?

00:48:25.160 No one's talking about that.

00:48:29.300 Now let's get into the internal divisions.

00:48:31.600 So, of course, there's Khalibaf, okay?

00:48:35.760 And so he's one versus Vahidi, the guy with the like the skid mark on his forehead, the crazy guy.

00:48:43.520 And then there's the Jalili and then there's like some other Durkhas as well.

00:48:48.900 Now, this is a new character.

00:48:50.740 I mean, new character in like the more recent events here.

00:48:54.320 So Javad Zadif, he right now is being accused by the supporters of the Islamic regime of being like a spy, a Zionist spy for the United States and Israel.

00:49:12.100 And there was like that footage of him. Let me see if I can find the footage of, let's see.

00:49:16.820 yeah here we go look at this so the um the guys the the the game of durka is strong right now

00:49:31.460 so this cardboard uh image here that's this guy okay that's java zadif he's a former uh foreign

00:49:41.340 minister. And, you know, he used to be like very important, maybe still is, I don't know,

00:49:48.620 within the Islamic regime structure. Wait, I'm getting some weird trolls. Let me ban them.

00:49:58.720 All right. Okay. So, so he, you know, is pretty relevant, but now the Islamic regime supporters

00:50:08.280 are accusing this guy of being a secret Zionist slash American spy, okay? So he's down here,

00:50:19.320 right? He's former officials, influential figures. So this is how bad the cracks are within the

00:50:26.920 Islamic regime itself, right? So all these various factions, and now some people are literally

00:50:34.280 taking like they made this like cardboard um cardboard cutout of java zadif and they're like

00:50:42.360 and they're they're burning it right and then they they basically have like i think the flag

00:50:47.340 of israel on one side and then um the flag of the united states on the other side so just watch this

00:50:52.880 this is like new footage

00:50:54.040 oh the quality is not the greatest let me see if i can find a better better version um

00:51:06.640 let me see i can find it

00:51:10.600 that might be better version

00:51:14.860 okay no the quality is all pretty low all right okay we'll just go with the first one

00:51:25.540 so this is as good as the quality is gonna get all right

00:51:44.860 The

00:52:09.080 so um i don't know if you there so you can see that's the flag of israel on one side

00:52:22.040 that's the flag of america on the other side so they're basically

00:52:26.180 right these are supporters of the islamic regime this is how bad the internal infighting and the

00:52:33.100 internal fractures are getting guys we've never seen anything like this right so in the 47 years

00:52:38.180 that the Islamic regime has occupied Iran. You know, there's always been rumors and hints of

00:52:44.680 dissatisfaction, you know, mostly behind the scenes. People have kept it quiet. We've never

00:52:49.720 openly seen outward displays of one group of supporters of the Islamic regime attacking

00:53:02.040 another group of supporters of the Islamic regime and burning their effigies and openly

00:53:07.400 accusing them of being like, you know, a Mossad or CIA or, you know, whatever, right? So don't

00:53:16.240 discount this. And you won't see this in mainstream media. And if you do see this in

00:53:22.760 mainstream media, you'll probably see it like two or three weeks from now, right? But this is what

00:53:27.800 this is what's happening in occupied Iran right now. So going back to, and remember, that's this

00:53:33.800 guy here. So on the boom, boom, bingo sheet, that's, um, this guy right here. Java anxiety.

00:53:40.120 Okay. So going back now to Marco Rubio, now that you have some context about, um, how fractured,

00:53:49.580 how fractured it is, Marco Rubio seems to be downplaying it a little bit, right? Cause he says,

00:53:56.040 you know, it's, it's somewhat fractured. No guys, it's not somewhat fractured. It's incredibly

00:54:01.740 fractured and i believe part of the reason that it is so fractured um is because of the current

00:54:08.940 strategy that president trump and prime minister netanyahu and their administrations

00:54:16.540 and of course their militaries are putting on the islamic regime so let's go back a little bit now

00:54:26.220 guarantee that ultimately will lead to a deal that's acceptable to the senate

00:54:29.260 unfortunately but there is the prospect before us which could happen today it could happen

00:54:35.000 tomorrow it could happen next week that for the first time certainly in my memory they have agreed

00:54:41.740 to negotiate aspects of their nuclear program that just a month ago or just a year ago they

00:54:47.480 were refusing to even mention much less enter into discussions about that is not a guarantee

00:54:52.240 that ultimately will lead to a deal that's acceptable to the senate or acceptable to the

00:54:56.020 American people, but we'll be able to engage them in a process to truly test the proposition

00:55:00.680 of how far they're willing to go. And here's the interesting thing. Marco Rubio knows full well

00:55:06.020 that you cannot trust the Islamic regime and they're lying. And the Islamic regime has come

00:55:10.800 out openly, like certain elements within them. And they've said that we're never going to negotiate

00:55:17.660 and the negotiations are cut off. But the reason that there's a fracture is because there are some

00:55:24.120 elements that apparently are negotiating with the United States. And I noticed a lot of you are

00:55:29.660 asking, well, who? Who is negotiating with the United States? We don't know, right? President

00:55:37.280 Trump, Marco Rubio, and others are purposely keeping that vague, because that's another way

00:55:43.220 for the United States to add fuel to the fire when it comes to the internal divisions.

00:55:50.000 If I had to guess who's negotiating, I would probably say Ali Boff is probably secretly negotiating. Not because he's a reasonable person. They're all terrorists. There are no good Nazis. They're all Muslim Nazis. They're all terrorists.

00:56:06.820 right? But I would say he's probably negotiating because he's a little bit more of a pragmatist

00:56:12.500 and he just wants to survive, okay? He wants to survive. Whereas someone like Vahidi is so out

00:56:20.640 there, him and along with like, you know, the clerics or whatever, they're just like,

00:56:24.480 like, kill them all, right? Now, the challenge that Qalibov has is that he's not in control of

00:56:32.360 the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC. But here's the thing. He is a former general,

00:56:39.260 okay? So he actually used to, you know, years ago, he held the role that this guy currently

00:56:48.480 has, right? So IRGC commander, Qalibov was IRGC commander at some point. So there are still

00:56:55.460 elements within the IRGC that are loyal to Qalibaf, including this guy, Abdullahi, right?

00:57:02.340 So when you look at the game of Durka, wait, let me do this so I can go like that. So in the game

00:57:09.260 of Durka, I would, if I was going to guess, I would say it's Qalibaf who's secretly negotiating.

00:57:16.140 I could be wrong. I mean, I don't know, but based on just what I know, that's the most likely person,

00:57:22.260 especially since we're also seeing his name being sort of whispered around in the news media cycles.

00:57:27.080 So there's Qalibov. This guy, Abdullahi, is on Qalibov's side.

00:57:33.220 So that means there's also fractures within the IRGC command itself,

00:57:37.860 because you have Wahidi versus Abdullahi, right?

00:57:42.200 So even within the IRGC, there are elements that are fighting one another, okay?

00:57:49.120 So just keep that in mind.

00:57:57.680 Complicating that process, unfortunately,

00:57:59.320 is a program that just a month ago, just a year ago,

00:58:02.400 they were refusing to even mention, much less enter into discussions about.

00:58:06.420 That is not a guarantee that ultimately it will lead to a deal

00:58:08.720 that's acceptable to the Senate or acceptable to the American people.

00:58:12.240 But we'll be able to engage them in a process

00:58:14.300 to truly test the proposition of how far they're willing to go.

00:58:18.060 Complicating that process, unfortunately, is their internal regime is somewhat fractured in the sense of it takes days to get responses from their system.

00:58:26.080 We can go into more depth in your follow-up questions.

00:58:28.920 But we're hopeful that something like that could happen in which the straits would reopen.

00:58:32.720 We would enter into a period of negotiations on very specific topics, delineated negotiations, in the hope of reaching an outcome that's acceptable to us and something that they would be able to do as well.

00:58:43.780 If it doesn't work out, then obviously we still have a problem with respect to their nuclear ambitions.

00:58:50.720 But what they won't have is the conventional shield behind behind any longer.

00:58:55.000 Thank you, Secretary. I'm going to ask one more question. Hopefully this.

00:59:00.360 Just a quick super chat. Adam says, hey, saw you debating Chank and like you belted him.

00:59:09.800 i mean i did beat him but i mean that's chunky yogurt for you um yeah like i i'm glad that you

00:59:20.540 guys appreciated that the guy's basically um an idiot and a loser and uh yeah like his his whole

00:59:28.500 shtick like chunky yogurt's whole shtick is just interrupting people and just blaming everything

00:59:33.660 on the Jews. Right. Um, which is just like, he's, he's literally like a low IQ grifter. Um, anyways,

00:59:40.800 he was, he was banned from going to the UK. I thought that was pretty hilarious. Uh, and he's

00:59:45.740 even blaming that on Israel. Like he's literally blaming the fact that the United Kingdom, uh,

00:59:50.760 banned him from, from going by the way, like he has like, no one has the right to enter a country

00:59:59.640 that they're not a citizen of, right? Like, you don't have the right to just show up to any

01:00:06.300 country. Any country, if you're not a citizen of that country, they can refuse you. They can

01:00:12.500 refuse you entry. They don't even have to give you a reason for that, right? I mean, it happens

01:00:18.700 all the time. Like, people want to, like, cross the border into, like, another country. If the

01:00:24.060 border guard, you know, just has like an off feeling or, you know, whatever, they can just

01:00:29.360 say no, they can deny entry. Like you don't have a right to enter a country. The only time you have

01:00:36.620 a right to enter a country is if you're a citizen of that country, then of course, then you're going

01:00:41.180 home, right? That's the only time you have a right. But the fact that like he's making this a big deal

01:00:47.120 like, oh, I was denied entry to the UK. Oh, that must be the fault of Israel. Like blame the

01:00:53.960 jews right it's just he's literally insane like you you cannot negotiate or sorry not negotiate

01:00:58.740 you can't even debate with people like that right it's just basically jihadi propaganda

01:01:02.520 um but yeah thank you i'm glad you enjoyed that okay let's continue it'll shorten as we go around

01:01:09.660 there'll be more questions obviously on that topic but um i know you just got back from china not long

01:01:15.120 ago could you give us a quick update on the state of u.s china really yeah look i mean china and

01:01:20.760 united states are the two largest economies in the world the two most powerful militaries in the

01:01:24.520 world the chinese government and the u.s government have to speak i mean there's really it's not a

01:01:29.960 choice here we have to have some measure of communication if for nothing else in order to

01:01:34.600 de-escalate potential points of conflict that could lead to something broader oh so apparently

01:01:40.040 felted means that um i lose so oh so that person thinks that so that person thinks i lost well i

01:01:49.400 I mean, the fact that you're using a word like felted, I think that just shows your IQ anyway.

01:01:55.020 So I don't know. Like, I just if if you think I lost that debate, then that just shows your I don't know, guys.

01:02:03.400 I don't know these weird terms. OK, felted. I don't know what that means.

01:02:08.340 Oh, I felt I felt him. OK, OK, then. Yeah, I agree with that. I agree with that. So thank you.

01:02:17.040 Sorry, guys. I don't know these words. I don't know these words. But look, we learned something new today. We learned something new today. All right. I should probably do like a live watch party of like that, that Pierce Morgan show or something at some point.

01:02:37.520 There are obviously very significant irritants in our relationship with China.

01:02:42.160 Some of these are long-term problems that we know we're going to have to address.

01:02:45.680 And so what we're trying to do is manage a period of strategic stability

01:02:49.060 while recognizing that there are areas of our relationship

01:02:52.080 in which we are going to have struggles,

01:02:54.080 not just for years, but perhaps for decades.

01:02:56.340 We recognize this.

01:02:57.760 But I think as much as anything else,

01:02:59.740 we have to recognize that the United States and China

01:03:02.080 have to be able to have points of dialogue and speak to one another.

01:03:05.540 as i said for for no other reason than be able to have a communication channel i think in our

01:03:10.840 meetings it was abundantly clear which are the areas that we do not have strong alignment or

01:03:14.800 agreement on we understand that there are areas in which long term we're going to have some real

01:03:18.860 challenges whether it's supply chains put it to you this way let's leave china aside for a moment

01:03:23.620 the united states and i would argue the world cannot depend on one country for 90 of anything

01:03:29.240 especially 90 of things that are critical to our economies to our not from our weapon systems to

01:03:34.920 our pharmaceuticals we just can't live in a world in which we rely on anybody for 90 percent of what

01:03:40.300 we get in one sole source that could be cut off at any time as leverage against us or punishment

01:03:45.580 or in a time of conflict that's exactly what china does though like that's literally what they do so

01:03:51.640 guys in like a previous you know previous lifetime before um i became a politician i was an

01:03:58.740 international trade lawyer i practiced uh international trade law for five years you know

01:04:03.500 dumping subsidies, imports, exports, that's China's strategy. They will just like, you know,

01:04:09.700 just, it's called dumping, they'll dump a product into a country at a very, very low price, a price

01:04:16.520 that is lower than the cost of manufacturing. What that does is it makes people buy the cheaper

01:04:24.600 product. And then all of the local domestic producers eventually go out of business. And

01:04:32.480 once they go out of business and then the um the industry pretty like the local domestic industry

01:04:38.320 in that country dies china will then immediately jack up the prices on their own products to even

01:04:45.680 like much higher than what the local domestic industry was selling the products at and

01:04:52.560 a very good example of that is the bicycle industry in uh in canada

01:04:58.560 and so we are actively searching and have plans in place and we're implementing these

01:05:05.060 to diversify where we get critical minerals where we get our supply chain secure that supply chain

01:05:10.340 and obviously the chinese would like to retain their monopoly position in some of these this

01:05:15.900 is going to be a long-term issue that we're going to have to continue to confirm

01:05:18.420 critical minerals guys one of the biggest untapped um areas for critical minerals

01:05:27.240 is iran is occupied iran front and work on work on that continues even even while we are engaged

01:05:35.860 in the ability to dialogue and speak to them because we we have to it's responsible and we

01:05:40.120 truly have no choice but to be able to do that it's to their benefit at ours and i would argue

01:05:43.720 to the benefit of the world that these two countries are able to speak to one another

01:05:47.380 Thank you, Secretary. And I think your comments about the supply chain and the critical minerals and everything else that's in the bottleneck, these are things that are relatively new to us. They've always been there. But COVID underscored that. And then, of course, the Ukraine war brought it out even more. And I appreciate your remarks. I think everybody at the status knows we are, as a nation, looking at that. With that, Senator Shaheen.

01:06:12.020 thank you mr chairman um mr secretary okay before we go to that let me just go to the the super chat

01:06:19.080 so pc says goldie i do not want those to my country i'd have banned them if i had the power

01:06:24.140 to yeah i agree i don't i mean they should just go back to turkey and they can be turkey's problem

01:06:29.260 and yes i see all the comments so i misunderstood the felted thing so yes it was a compliment thank

01:06:34.680 you i appreciate that i i learned something new today so i felted him okay the guys this this is

01:06:43.380 how you can tell like i'm not like a gambler or like i don't really go to like i don't really go

01:06:47.020 to casinos or anything like that terry at this budget hearing last year you testified that no

01:06:53.000 one had died as a result of foreign aid cuts um sadly i think we're seeing in real time that

01:06:58.780 that's not true today. There are more than 1000 cases, more

01:07:02.960 than 200 Ebola related deaths. And as we know, one of the

01:07:10.420 entities that is a critical global health tool is Gave,

01:07:14.720 particularly during a disease outbreak. It plays a role in

01:07:19.100 distributing Ebola vaccines and it has committed up to $40

01:07:22.420 million to develop a vaccine for the current Ebola strain.

01:07:26.920 Okay, so, um,

01:07:28.780 kind of just want to focus on the parts about iran so i'm just gonna like

01:07:33.740 i'm going to skip through this part until we get to the next part about iran

01:07:40.780 that has no vaccine right now so how are you making sure that

01:07:47.980 okay let me just

01:07:50.780 to it on this specific item i would

01:08:00.140 stigma on that oil and give an extra windfall desire i think through

01:08:06.400 rush this committee as soon as matrix we will we will follow up and i hope you will share with

01:08:12.720 this committee as soon as you get it resolved um i want to go to oils russian oil sanctions

01:08:18.660 and general licenses because president trump gave russia a lifeline allowing it to sell oil

01:08:26.020 globally through licenses issued by the treasury department while i think the administration should

01:08:32.820 have known that the iran war would make russian oil more desirable they decided to remove the

01:08:38.340 stigma on that oil and give an extra windfall of cash to putin so can you

01:08:44.980 let us know whether you believe or whether you will support extending those licenses when that

01:08:54.160 license when it comes back up mid-June? Yeah, a couple points. First of all, two things have

01:09:01.320 happened. One is actually the U.S. production and U.S. playing a role in the global energy

01:09:08.860 supply has increased. I think we had our largest amount of exports from the United States we've

01:09:12.900 ever seen. So we've also benefited from this and our energy dominance has really come into play.

01:09:18.280 The Russian waivers were a decision. These are the policy, the underlying policy remains on

01:09:23.220 the sanctions. What has changed is these time limited extensions to sort of try to alleviate

01:09:28.520 the global. The problem we're facing too is there's a contagion potential. And that is that

01:09:33.600 at some point we can do strategic reserves. We can do some of the other things that we've done

01:09:39.580 to sort of alleviate global supply.

01:09:41.780 But at some point, you have to ensure,

01:09:43.760 this is not so much for us at the end of the day.

01:09:45.860 Our economy is not in need of it,

01:09:47.120 but there are other economies around the world

01:09:48.560 that have benefited from this.

01:09:49.980 So these are time-limited extensions

01:09:51.580 that ultimately at some point will expire.

01:09:52.560 We've certainly benefited China.

01:09:53.800 Well, China doesn't, I mean, China refines oil.

01:09:57.460 They import a lot, but they refine oil.

01:09:59.340 But they also benefit from Russian oil.

01:10:02.400 But my question for you is,

01:10:03.900 can you commit not to extend the general license again

01:10:07.400 when it expires on June 17th?

01:10:09.580 Well, that ultimately is a decision that's made by Treasury.

01:10:12.040 But I will tell you, it depends on the circumstances at the time.

01:10:14.500 We would like to end it as soon as we possibly can, because the underlying policy of this country has been to sanction their oil.

01:10:20.260 These are time-limited waivers for the purpose of opening up more global supply.

01:10:25.040 I understand that. But if we continue to extend them, they're not time-limited.

01:10:29.400 I want to get a final question in on Food for Peace.

01:10:32.340 You know, that's actually the sign of a stupid politician.

01:10:35.560 When they ask someone a question about like a policy or a decision or a government program that's not actually related to their department, that's literally the sign of a stupid politician.

01:10:52.580 So like this woman, she's asking him questions that he can't even answer because that would be up to Scott Besant.

01:11:02.340 Right. So it just goes to show like she's just literally asking stupid questions and she doesn't even care.

01:11:11.080 Guys, here's the thing. She does not even care about the answer.

01:11:15.720 So this entire like Senate committee hearing, especially, you know, from the side of the Democrats,

01:11:24.260 What they're basically looking for is sound bites and sound clips that they can use in the upcoming like midterms or, you know, whatever. Right. So they're basically just trying to create some sort of sound bites or something so that they can play this during the midterms and be like, look at me.

01:11:45.220 I was so good at this. Vote for me to continue representing you. It's literally what all

01:11:52.540 politicians do. They don't actually care about the answer. They just want to find their gotcha

01:12:01.000 moment or just create a sound bite or whatever to help them get reelected. Because especially

01:12:09.600 with this one, it's very obvious. She doesn't actually care about making a difference in her

01:12:14.780 country. All she cares about is getting reelected. So the only thing on her head, the only thing in

01:12:19.260 her mind, in her, you know, empty mind, is what can I say or do that like my comms team can then

01:12:28.920 turn into a soundbite and I can use this, you know, as part of my re-election campaign footage,

01:12:33.320 right? That's literally all she cares about. She doesn't actually care about the United States.

01:12:39.000 And, you know, that's, that's the challenge with career politicians.

01:12:42.000 As you know, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has deepened the humanitarian needs

01:12:52.880 in food insecure countries such as South Sudan.

01:12:58.140 And yet in your opening statement, you said that RA targets those who are most in need.

01:13:03.540 But I think it's very concerning that the country selection process for Food for Peace,

01:13:08.800 i understand is led by the department of state includes only two priority countries from world

01:13:15.040 food program hunger hot spots that's haiti and the democratic republic of the congo so

01:13:21.680 the question i have is why are we adding countries that aren't facing acute food insecurity

01:13:28.720 like el salvador guatemala and rwanda why are we not helping countries who are facing acute

01:13:36.640 well, famine in some cases. Sudan, Gaza, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Syria, Somalia,

01:13:43.280 these are all countries that have humanitarian crises, and yet we're helping countries that

01:13:49.040 don't have acute food insecurity. Yeah, so a couple points. First of all,

01:13:53.280 on Gaza we have spent hundreds of millions of dollars, including after the ceasefire,

01:13:57.600 and providing through the World Food Program and other entities, and we continue to do so. I think

01:14:02.560 if we're not the world's largest donor, I'd be surprised because it's a massive amount of money

01:14:05.920 that we've provided through those mechanisms of various means on the point of south of sudan in

01:14:10.480 particular the complication in sudan which i wish were different and we're very involved in this i

01:14:14.720 mean we i had a meeting on sudan yesterday the problem in sudan has largely not been our

01:14:19.680 unwillingness to provide funds we are willing to step forward and we have the flexibility through

01:14:23.840 what we've been able to do with foreign aid to surge up that it's been distribution it's been

01:14:28.400 the ability to get that so as an example in these conversations we're having between the warring

01:14:32.400 sides, one of the things we're trying to identify is four safe spots where people can go receive

01:14:38.060 humanitarian assistance, where we can actually have the outside groups, the NGOs, international

01:14:44.160 organizations that we contract with have the ability to go in and actually deliver the food

01:14:48.320 without having their trucks hijacked or blown up or their workers killed. That's been the

01:14:52.400 fundamental challenge in Sudan is distribution. The distribution is being threatened because we

01:14:56.920 don't have conditions on the ground that allow for it. And so to allocate money towards something

01:15:00.900 that we can't distribute is unwise until we have that in place. That's deeply tied to the ability

01:15:06.020 to have a peace deal, which I can tell you has been very frustrating. On the one hand,

01:15:09.440 with Sudan, we had a donor conflict. So the issue in Sudan as well is that

01:15:13.940 the Muslim Brotherhood is there and the Islamic regime is there as well, right? So there's all

01:15:21.220 of that happening as well. That's why I'm listening to his response on Sudan, because

01:15:27.160 it is linked to the middle east i interrupt you mr secretary but i'm out of time and it doesn't

01:15:32.920 explain why we are providing food for countries that don't are not insecure i appreciate the

01:15:39.480 challenges in sudan we have those challenges in many places but because we have dismantled

01:15:44.520 the distribution network when we eliminated usa idea i aid we've exacerbated those challenges

01:15:51.320 in countries around the world and we are not providing the help based on humanitarian needs

01:15:56.360 and that's my concern thank you yeah i don't know maybe like feed americans first and then once

01:16:02.040 americans are well off then you know feed other people i don't know have you tried putting america

01:16:07.240 first mr chairman senator ricketts thank you very much mr chairman secretary of state thank you for

01:16:15.720 being here really appreciate good to see you communist china is trying to win the ai race

01:16:20.840 and they will use it, for example, to dominate our military if they're able to do that

01:16:26.840 in so many other ways. A world where communist China is dominant and AI is very bad for the

01:16:33.340 United States and for the entire world. That's why it's critical that us and our allies cannot

01:16:39.420 lose this race. Semiconductor supply chains, particularly semiconductor manufacturing

01:16:45.120 equipment smes are critical to winning this competition it's one area that beijing is

01:16:51.200 spending billions and billions of dollars to be able to produce chips in china and they've failed

01:16:59.200 to be able to produce those high-end ships so far president trump understands this better than anyone

01:17:04.880 because as much as i want to watch this part i need to fast forward to the iran part um just

01:17:12.160 because i really want to focus this particular episode on iran the semi-manufacturing equipment

01:17:17.600 that's going to communist china and that's our hope is that we can create

01:17:25.760 and our consensus behind that thinking well secretary that's why i recently introduced

01:17:30.320 the match act with senators kim rish and schumer okay so now he's getting into the

01:17:35.760 political side it's right so so guys again another midterms are coming up so you know i'm just i'm

01:17:41.360 just pointing it out i'm not saying it's a bad thing like i'm not criticizing him all i'm saying

01:17:45.440 is like you know when he says well that's why i recently introduced the match act with you know

01:17:49.920 blah blah blah whatever the match act is i don't know what that is but so guys everyone's literally

01:17:54.960 making like sound bites they're looking for the sound bites for the midterms right because they're

01:17:59.920 going to use this in their like political stuff okay my best uh thank you mr chairman uh thank

01:18:06.240 you mrs secretary for being with us today um despite the differences that existed between

01:18:11.600 republicans and democrats prior to this administration on how to approach iran's

01:18:15.360 nuclear program the theory was basically the same that we're going to impose significant harm on the

01:18:21.920 iranian economy in order to force them to the table to negotiate um what is happening now is

01:18:29.440 fundamentally different. This war and the... So that's not entirely accurate. The economy

01:18:36.040 of Iran is already in shambles. Guys, remember, this entire thing started because on February 28,

01:18:44.400 the real reached a historical low of 1.4 million reals to one US dollar. And that started,

01:18:56.800 that sparked a nationwide strike by the businesses, also known as the, like, the Bozaris.

01:19:03.760 And within 24 hours, that nationwide strike went from, you know, striking about the economy

01:19:10.560 to calling for revolution and the overthrow of the Islamic regime and the return of the Shah,

01:19:17.680 literally within 24 hours, right? The Iranian economy, guys, is already collapsed.

01:19:25.300 Iran is a failed state thanks to the Islamic regime.

01:19:28.220 The only thing that's happening now is that the United States is actually cutting off the funds of the Islamic regime itself.

01:19:38.060 That's why they're feeling the pressure right now.

01:19:44.300 because the economic sanctions, they were still able to avoid all of that by using, you know,

01:19:55.140 Bitcoin, cryptocurrency, you know, whatever, right? Also, they were using money exchanges

01:20:04.700 in the UAE to launder money. They were using China. That's why Scott Besant has been all over

01:20:11.060 on Operation Economic Fury,

01:20:16.740 sanctioning all these places

01:20:17.920 and shutting them down.

01:20:20.120 All right, let's go back a little bit.

01:20:21.060 I just wanted to make that clear.

01:20:22.060 So the economy of Iran

01:20:24.820 has already been in shambles

01:20:26.900 due to the mismanagement

01:20:28.340 of the Islamic regime itself.

01:20:30.080 Because when you put a bunch of

01:20:31.560 7th century inbred mullahs

01:20:34.520 in charge of a country,

01:20:37.500 right, and all they know is

01:20:38.860 and like you know marrying nine-year-old girls or whatever they don't know how to run a country

01:20:46.060 they don't they don't understand the economy they've literally used uh uh iran as an atm

01:20:52.460 to line their own pockets in the millions sometimes billions of dollars and to fund

01:21:01.580 terrorism around the world me in order to force them to the table to the theory was basically the

01:21:08.140 same, that we're going to impose significant harm on the Iranian economy in order to force

01:21:14.680 them to the table to negotiate.

01:21:18.780 What is happening now is fundamentally different.

01:21:21.460 This war and the administration's decision to blockade has now held the entire world

01:21:30.760 economy and the U.S. economy hostage to the ability to negotiate an agreement with Iran.

01:21:37.440 How is the U.S. economy hostage?

01:21:38.820 This is why the entire country is seized by the question of when there will be an agreement,

01:21:45.020 because apparently until there is an agreement, the Strait of Hormuz remains closed.

01:21:50.740 Since when has, what? Since when has the United States economy relied on the economy of the Islamic regime? What? That's insane. Obviously the sky knows nothing about the economy or politics or geopolitics.

01:22:10.900 There is a cost to the Iranian economy, but now there is a devastating cost to the U.S. economy.

01:22:19.720 It has been indecipherable, the information coming from the administration, especially in the past several weeks, as we get signals that a deal is imminent.

01:22:30.880 The president said yesterday he's bored by the negotiations. He doesn't care whether we get a deal.

01:22:36.140 yeah he doesn't care because if the if if the islamic regime doesn't sign the surrender deal

01:22:44.960 president trump will boom boom boom that's what he means when he says he doesn't care

01:22:48.640 like this guy is like literally taking it out of context as if like he doesn't care if the

01:22:55.220 situation is resolved no that's not what president trump says and you know this guy's like

01:23:01.800 misinterpreting those statements in bad faith. I think it's really important for us to understand

01:23:06.340 what your bottom lines are, what you're asking for in this negotiation,

01:23:11.340 what commitments you need Iran to make in order for you to release the blockade,

01:23:18.160 and we hope for them to release the blockade. The commitments are very simple. No nuclear

01:23:23.780 enrichment. United States has to go in and remove the enriched uranium. A commitment to stop funding

01:23:31.040 their, you know, well, stopping to fund their terrorist proxy groups, severely limiting or

01:23:37.400 stopping their missile program and reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Those are the conditions. Like

01:23:44.080 it's always been there. It's been there. It's never changed as well. So give us a little insight

01:23:50.940 into what your bottom lines are. What is going to get the Strait reopened? Because this is

01:23:59.500 kind of the only question that matters for American consumers right now. And every day we

01:24:03.940 get wildly different signals from the president as to whether he even is engaged in this question

01:24:10.320 as to whether the strait is going to reopen. Yeah, I think your question gets right to the

01:24:15.020 heart of the matter. So I think that's a good question. Let me let me first bifurcate two

01:24:19.760 things. The only reason there's a blockade, the only reason why there's a U.S. blockade is because

01:24:24.000 Iran has closed. They're firing on commercial ships and they've mined large segments of Hormuz

01:24:30.040 international waters. And so the blockade is only against Iranian ships. And it's very simple. The

01:24:34.960 notion is if no one's ships are going to get out, then Iran's ships aren't going to get out either.

01:24:40.240 We can't live in a world in which they get to close the straits and tell everybody, pay us a

01:24:43.700 toll or we'll blow you up. But their ships get to go out unfettered. So that's the reason why

01:24:47.700 there's a blockade. There wouldn't have been a blockade if Iran had agreed to do what they said

01:24:51.900 they would do when the ceasefire kicked in, which is they were going to open the straits.

01:24:55.860 So let me just focus on the straits for a moment. Number one, what they're doing is unlawful and

01:24:59.340 illegal. There isn't a country on earth other than Iran, and maybe Oman that flirted with it,

01:25:04.420 who's in favor of what Iran is doing in the straits. The Chinese are against it. The Russians

01:25:08.520 are against it. Everyone is against it. The whole world is against it. So condition number one is

01:25:13.480 they have to reopen the straits. And reopening the straits means the following. Ships can sail

01:25:17.740 through international waters the way they can do through other choke points around the world

01:25:21.220 without being fired upon, without paying a toll. That's condition number one.

01:25:25.180 But the strait is closed because of our decision to invade Iran. This is a consequence of our

01:25:32.040 military action. So I guess I'm not interested in litigating that question. We all know why

01:25:36.160 the strait is closed, because you took military action against Iran, and we knew ahead of time

01:25:41.360 that that would be their likely response. The question is, how are we going to get it reopened?

01:25:45.480 are you going to drive a bargain that is so tough and so hard that the strait remains closed?

01:25:52.100 So how are we going to get it open?

01:25:54.280 The first thing, that is a predicate to anything else happening.

01:25:56.960 The straits have to be reopened.

01:25:58.200 So the way to think about it is this.

01:25:59.820 If Iran wants to be able to move its oil again through the strait,

01:26:03.120 they will have to reopen the straits.

01:26:04.840 If they refuse to do so, then we have other options available to us,

01:26:07.720 but we would prefer to negotiate the opening of this, which means-

01:26:10.420 Tell us about the negotiations.

01:26:11.620 What do you need from them in order to get the strait reopened?

01:26:13.700 We need the strait reopened tomorrow.

01:26:15.160 Well, what needs to happen is very simple. They need to they need to announce that they will no longer fire on commercial ships that are going through or threaten to fire on ships, because in many cases, ships just won't move.

01:26:24.480 They won't go not because they got fired on, but because of the risk of being fired upon.

01:26:28.420 And so they have to announce very clearly the straits are now open.

01:26:31.820 We're not charging a toll. We will help remove the mines that they put in there and they will not fire on ship.

01:26:37.500 But the president says they also need to make commitments on their nuclear program.

01:26:40.860 That's what I'm asking. What commitments do they need to make in order for the Straits to not have a nuclear program?

01:26:47.580 The second thing they have to agree to as part of this is, so in addition to the Straits, that's the predicate that opens the door to phase two.

01:26:53.180 Phase two is they have to commit to very specific negotiations on highly enriched, the disposition of the highly enriched uranium that still is buried deep in a mountain somewhere.

01:27:02.620 They have to agree on negotiating severe and long-term limitations and or cancellation of enrichment activity in their country.

01:27:12.940 In the second phase of negotiations.

01:27:15.200 Well, obviously, these are highly technical matters, so I don't think you could work those out in five days.

01:27:19.500 That would require a team of experts to meet over a 30-, 60-, 90-day period and work out the details.

01:27:24.760 But they have to commit to their willingness to do that.

01:27:27.140 For example, they have to commit to say, we will dispose of the enriched uranium.

01:27:31.280 And the question now is, what are the mechanisms by which we do so?

01:27:34.740 That can be negotiated.

01:27:36.100 Final question.

01:27:36.740 In order to get to that second phase, are you willing to release sanctions or release frozen money that the United States is withholding from Iran?

01:27:45.980 Right now, everything that's been discussed with them is that any sanctions relief.

01:27:49.920 Now, remember, there's international sanctions, there's congressional sanctions, there's executive sanctions.

01:27:54.480 So some we can release and some we cannot.

01:27:55.980 But any sanctions relief is condition-based, which means it has to be in return for the reason why those sanctions were put in place in the first place, which is their nuclear program.

01:28:05.260 So, yeah, look, Iran is being sanctioned because they enrich uranium.

01:28:08.560 Iran is being sanctioned because they've highly enriched uranium.

01:28:11.180 Iran is being sanctioned because of their nuclear activities.

01:28:13.620 If they agree to give up those things, there will be sanctions relief associated with their commitment and compliance with those agreements.

01:28:20.920 So you will not give sanctions relief just in exchange for reopening the strait?

01:28:24.400 No, that's not been discussed.

01:28:25.980 it's not been offered why why would he why would why would they do that why why why would the why

01:28:32.220 would the united states give sanctions relief for reopening the strait of order that's literally

01:28:37.980 counterintuitive wow oh my gosh that democrat is like guys that democrat that guy murphy or

01:28:45.680 whatever his name is like he sounds just like a politician you know from from like the islamic

01:28:52.720 regime like he might as well he might as well run for office in occupied iran and just yell

01:28:57.600 durka durka and he would get elected like that's that's wild what i heard right there thank you

01:29:04.700 mr chairman and secretary ruby it's good to see you here i want to commend you and the administration

01:29:08.600 for actually implementing a foreign policy that advances america's answers thank you

01:29:12.980 we could i'd like to start with the philippines an area that we know very well it's a geographic

01:29:18.080 center of the indo-pacific region it's an area that is along critical sea lanes where a tremendous

01:29:24.700 amount of world trade and energy uh commerce actually move a strong alliance with the

01:29:30.860 philippines clearly is in okay so this guy probably has like a big like filipino community

01:29:36.640 um in his district that's what i would guess anyway all right let's see where we get to iran

01:29:44.860 the new administration is dramatically a project which when i was ambassador japan

01:29:48.860 worked very hard to get that back for america and i see that as a tremendous opportunity for

01:29:53.180 us to deepen our economic ties damn peninsula both in port facilities and in quarrying operations

01:30:02.220 only to be confiscated by the mexican government then the mexican government came

01:30:08.140 extension the embassies to play a leading role in economic diplomacy and so i would argue that

01:30:14.380 virtually every engagement thank you mr chair and thanks to senator hagerty for mentioning our work

01:30:21.020 together in philippines and mexico mr secretary you won't be surprised i'm going to ask you about

01:30:25.420 the western hemisphere you and i traded the gavel and the ranking on the western hemisphere subcommittee

01:30:30.460 when you were on this committee and that was good productive work i want to ask you about operation

01:30:35.660 southern spear um the opera okay this are on the deck that has to make it to terminate theaters

01:30:42.780 around the world here's here's what i want to ask you about so you're generally aware of the

01:30:46.060 targeting criteria

01:30:54.460 for traffickers we've attacked narco traffickers how

01:31:02.940 the chief so i think what you're asking is why haven't the office of legal counsel provided

01:31:06.860 they don't work for the national security i'm actually don't work for me will you use your

01:31:10.860 influence as well i will certainly inquire so here's what i'll do i can certainly inquire as

01:31:15.180 to why it has not been available i don't think there's a reason why i i have not aware that

01:31:20.300 in fact my understanding is they have provided documentation to the committee and not not the

01:31:24.860 opinion part of the war not well that's different and and you wouldn't accept that all right well

01:31:29.340 let me take that back and ask the office of legal counsel but it's certainly they provided the legal

01:31:34.620 rationale for the strike you're asking for the actual written opinion the way it was they provided

01:31:38.700 us and Southern Spear an absolute result. I'll take that back. Thank you. Senator Lee.

01:31:45.500 Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thanks, Secretary Rubio, for being-

01:31:48.380 You look like Ricketts. I apologize. This threw me off a seat.

01:31:51.260 Well, look, bald is beautiful, and we can't help that. But thanks for all of your efforts.

01:31:59.180 You are a very effective spokesperson for not only President Trump and the administration,

01:32:04.860 book for the united states and i'm grateful for that i was wondering at the outside if you could

01:32:08.860 talk to us a little bit about the fractured iranian regime and how that might be making

01:32:14.380 negotiations more difficult one of the things i've wondered for example are whether the diplomatic

01:32:20.780 iranian channels are sort of crosswise at odds with or working hand in glove with the irgc

01:32:27.980 which is itself causing a lot of these ceasefire violations or is it is it all sort of coordinated

01:32:33.580 chaos to try to undermine uh uh and and tip the scales in favor of iran and the negotiations

01:32:41.180 that's a great question um yeah actually that's a good question let me try to give this answer to

01:32:45.100 you in a way that's not boring or wonky because it's been a shift obviously the you know the

01:32:50.620 original supreme leader the one that was there is no longer with us for a month by all reports

01:32:57.100 open source reporting i think you've all seen it he was severely injured in the same strike

01:33:01.260 and so forth. Are you confident he's still alive, by the way? Yeah, I think there's indications

01:33:05.900 that, in fact, we've not heard from him publicly. We haven't seen him publicly. And I would imagine

01:33:10.220 given what's happened to multiple leaders in that system, being very public is probably not

01:33:15.440 something that's recommended for them internally. But that said, I think there are indications

01:33:20.920 out there that he is increasingly engaging at some level, although all of his communications

01:33:26.380 have been in writing and through intermediaries. So the way to think about it is the following.

01:33:30.480 have the supreme leader and understand that at the end of the day the supreme leader in their system

01:33:34.000 is there really is no analogy to it in our system or anybody else's system it is the theological

01:33:38.560 office it is it is it was the you know the the head of of the islamic uh republic in the sense

01:33:47.040 of the ultimate decision maker and uh and every major decision has to be run by them yeah they

01:33:53.600 are advised by a council it's not clear if it's six people or eight people but there is a council

01:33:57.920 made up of both irgc and other elements of the regime that surround that supreme leader and

01:34:03.280 ultimately that council so guys he's talking about the beta so if i bring up my like boom

01:34:08.800 boom bingo sheet okay um where is it if i bring up the boom bingo sheet okay

01:34:18.080 he's talking about this right so there are well let me make this i'm gonna go like this so

01:34:25.680 So there are people that are, you know, within the office, although some have been boom,

01:34:32.960 boomed.

01:34:33.960 But then you also have the, the security council.

01:34:38.800 And then you also have, if I move this over, how do I move it over?

01:34:46.880 Assembly of experts, although most of the assembly of experts have been boom, boomed.

01:34:50.400 So basically you have like the, the, the Beta Rahbari, which is these people.

01:34:56.680 And then you also have like this group here.

01:35:00.860 So that's what, that's what Marco Rubio is speaking about right now.

01:35:04.040 When he's speaking about these institutions and that's why he's like, you know,

01:35:07.240 there's like six of them or eight of them. Cause I mean, who knows, right?

01:35:09.600 Like they're, they're all like going around.

01:35:14.280 Yeah. Okay. So let's go back a little bit.

01:35:18.300 Now you know what he's referring to.

01:35:20.400 the you know the original supreme leader the one that was there is no longer with us

01:35:27.380 his son takes over nobody hears from him for a month by all reports open source reporting i think

01:35:32.560 you've all seen it he was severely injured in the same strike and so forth are you confident he's

01:35:37.680 still alive by the way yeah i think there's indications that in fact you we've not heard

01:35:41.640 from him publicly we haven't seen him publicly and i would imagine given uh what's happened to

01:35:46.520 multiple leaders in that system being very public is probably not something

01:35:49.820 that's recommended for them internally but that said I think there are

01:35:54.380 indications out there that he is increasingly engaging at some level

01:35:58.880 although all of his communications have been in writing and through

01:36:01.500 intermediaries so you the way to think about is the following you have the

01:36:04.820 supreme leader and understand that at the end of the day the supreme leader in

01:36:07.520 their system is there really is no analogy to it in our system or anybody

01:36:10.940 else's system. It is a theological office. It is the head of the Islamic Republic in the sense of

01:36:21.340 the ultimate decision maker. And every major decision has to be run by them. They are advised

01:36:28.260 by a council. It's not clear if it's six people or eight people, but there is a council made up of

01:36:32.480 both IRGC and other elements of the regime that surround that supreme leader. And ultimately that

01:36:37.920 council has to sign off on anything. And then there are the people you see on TV, like Arachi,

01:36:43.460 who's out there every single day, and Goluboff, who's the speaker of the Magiles, who's been

01:36:48.420 playing a pretty prominent role. And they are the ones that they have sent to negotiate.

01:36:51.940 Oh, so now Marco Rubio is talking about these people. So if you go back to the boom, boom,

01:36:59.540 bingo sheet. So he was referring to initially these people and these people who kind of like

01:37:05.880 surround um the supreme dictator when he's referring to like the people who have to like

01:37:11.020 sign off it's these people although i'm increasingly thinking these people are playing a role as well

01:37:17.400 um and then when he's speaking about uh the people that you're seeing on tv uh this is ad hoc chi

01:37:24.000 ad hoc chi is the uh foreign affairs minister this one here um now here's the thing ad hoc chi even

01:37:31.080 though they're both like, you know, technically like politicians, um, they're on, they're on

01:37:36.460 opposing ends. Araqqi, okay. Araqqi is actually working with this guy, Vahidi, okay. Um, Vahidi

01:37:47.360 is against Qalibaf. So, uh, Araqqi is on TV, Qalibaf is on TV. Um, and then when Marco Rubio

01:37:58.900 said the word um i don't i don't remember how he pronounced it but it's pronounced majlis okay so

01:38:04.580 majlis is the um iranian word for parliament so alibov is currently the speaker of the parliament

01:38:13.700 also known as majlis so that's what um marco rubio is referring to here so but you guys are familiar

01:38:20.580 with all this because you know we've been going over the boom mingo sheet for for quite a while

01:38:25.140 So essentially, you know, you have these people who are sort of working behind the scenes, and then you have Araqchi and Qalibaf, who are, you know, some of the ones who are more prominent on TV, especially on like the English side as well.

01:38:43.860 All right.

01:38:45.440 That was a little reference there.

01:38:47.160 but that said i think there are indications out there that he is increasingly engaging

01:38:56.400 at some level although all of his communications have been in writing and through intermediaries

01:39:01.120 so you the way to think about is the following you have the supreme leader and understand that

01:39:05.140 at the end of the day the supreme leader in their system is there really is no analogy to it in our

01:39:09.060 system or anybody else's system it is the theological office it is it is it was the you

01:39:14.480 You know, the head of the Islamic Republic in the sense of the ultimate decision maker.

01:39:22.540 And every major decision has to be run by them.

01:39:26.320 They are advised by a council.

01:39:27.880 It's not clear if it's six people or eight people, but there is a council made up of both IRGC and other elements of the regime that surround that supreme leader.

01:39:36.220 And ultimately, that council has to sign off on anything.

01:39:39.300 And then there are the people you see on TV, like Arachi, who's out there every single day,

01:39:43.640 and Galibov, who's the speaker of the Majils, who's been playing a pretty prominent role.

01:39:48.680 And they are the ones that they have sent to negotiations and so forth.

01:39:51.960 It is our view of the system, as we understand it, and as it's been expressed to us both by the intermediaries

01:39:57.600 and by Iran directly, that what Arachi and Galibov bring or take from us,

01:40:05.160 they then have to run back to this council and ultimately get guidance from them.

01:40:09.700 And that process oftentimes takes three to five days to get a response.

01:40:13.640 Now, some of it is logistical. They're operating probably using couriers and things of this nature.

01:40:18.160 Part of it is internal fissures on exactly what they should agree to or not agree to.

01:40:22.540 I think the second point that needs to be driven in this regard is that there is evidence that there are communications issues within the regime as well.

01:40:29.300 So, for example, it's pretty clear that at the outset of hostilities in the conflict, they had delegated decision making to field commanders.

01:40:40.480 And so oftentimes field commanders have delegated authority to act on a, let's say, a preoperational planning that I already put in place.

01:40:48.200 And so unlike our system, where perhaps, you know, that the president or the secretary of war is directly making orders and decisions or the chairman of the Joint Chiefs and their system, a lot of decision making at the tactical level, like which ships to hit and so forth, are being made at the commander level.

01:41:03.880 So that's why from the outset, it can look like fire ready aim, but it's part of the design of the system, perhaps.

01:41:08.560 Well, I think it was a design of the system in the sense of regime survival and the ability to operate in case there was decapitation strikes or people removed.

01:41:15.400 But let's go back to the essence of the negotiations.

01:41:17.420 What's complicated them is you ultimately are negotiating with people who then have to negotiate within their own system to see what they're allowed to give and where they're allowed to agree to.

01:41:27.500 What is abundantly clear is that Iran is facing severe internal economic.

01:41:31.240 All the problems Iran had before this conflict not only are still there, but they're worse.

01:41:36.920 all the things that led to the protests, all of these are worse than they were before.

01:41:41.080 And I think there's definitely elements within that regime that understand it. And

01:41:44.940 then there are other elements of it that are more immune to it and perhaps more resistant

01:41:48.940 to making agreements. And so what we are working through is, in many cases, is delays in getting

01:41:54.420 the responses to people. And this is why you see reporting about there might be a deal in the next

01:41:58.460 few days, because internally it takes time to get responses from them, sometimes upward to five or

01:42:03.240 six days undoubtedly they're using that to their advantage sort of like the guys marco rubio just

01:42:10.500 confirmed everything that we've been saying everything that i've been saying about how

01:42:17.240 fractured the islamic regime is and how there's a lot of internal divisions and infighting

01:42:24.820 and how President Trump's statements are actually adding fuel to the fire

01:42:30.820 and making it even more difficult,

01:42:37.100 that, like, Marco Rubio literally just confirmed that.

01:42:40.240 He literally just confirmed that the reason that they can't even come to, like, a deal

01:42:45.920 is because the negotiators will say one thing, but then they go back

01:42:48.920 and then, you know, the Durka jihadis are like,

01:42:52.240 no, like, bomb them all, la, la, la, la, la, right?

01:42:54.160 So Marco Rubio literally just confirmed everything that that I've been saying for the last few months.

01:43:01.860 And we're seeing that internal division and fracture even more now.

01:43:06.640 Wow.

01:43:09.040 The car dealer or the salesman has to go talk to his manager, make you wait.

01:43:13.620 See reporting about there might be a deal in the next few days, because internally it takes time to get responses from them, sometimes upward to five or six days.

01:43:21.440 But undoubtedly, they're using that to their advantage, sort of like the car dealer where the salesman has to go talk to his manager and make you wait and think about it for a while, even more complicated, even more complicated than that.

01:43:32.180 One more question. I think we could benefit from hearing from you about the need to zero out funding for a couple of entities, including the National Endowment for Democracy and U.S. ADF. Can you tell us about that?

01:43:45.480 Well, look, these programs, I think, have served a purpose in the past.

01:43:51.400 And obviously, there's a congressional role to play here, right?

01:43:53.660 I mean, at the end of the day, these programs have had, especially the National Endowment for Democracy,

01:43:57.920 has had support in Congress in the past.

01:43:59.640 And look, I was here for 16 years.

01:44:02.120 I understand that you're going to pass an appropriations bill,

01:44:05.300 and the appropriations bill is going to have things in it that we don't have in ours.

01:44:08.540 That's just the way it is.

01:44:09.980 And we understand it.

01:44:10.860 We'll make it work.

01:44:11.540 But we are concerned or have been concerned in the past about organizations that sort of have lost their purpose and what they're advancing.

01:44:18.180 And at the end of the day, look, we have a lot of resources.

01:44:21.400 The United States is the richest country in the world.

01:44:23.360 We have the largest government budget in the world, but we don't have unlimited resources.

01:44:27.460 We still have to be able to strategically spend our money.

01:44:30.940 And the State Department, you know, when I took over, a lot of people are like, oh, that's a mess.

01:44:34.080 The State Department is not that big.

01:44:35.600 The majority of our employees are local hires overseas.

01:44:39.260 We have, you know, foreign service officers, career civil servants.

01:44:43.240 But compared to some of these other agencies that are out there, we're not that large.

01:44:46.400 And yet we have a global footprint.

01:44:48.320 We're really, other than the department, I would say beyond the Department of War,

01:44:51.140 we're the only ones that are present almost everywhere on the planet.

01:44:54.220 So we have limited resources, and we have to be able to allocate those resources

01:44:58.340 in ways that are driven by the core mission of advancing our national security.

01:45:04.040 And oftentimes that will mean that things we have paid for in the past, we can't continue to fund.

01:45:08.700 because there are other things. It might be good, but there might be something else that's more

01:45:12.140 important and even better. Other cases, we may still spend money on a purpose, but we want to

01:45:17.360 be driven not just by, we don't want to be judged just by how much money we're spending on something.

01:45:21.280 We also want outcomes for it. We want to show outcomes. That's been the goal behind these MOUs,

01:45:26.860 these compacts with the 32 countries that we've entered into. We're not just trying to solve the

01:45:31.860 disease problem this year. We're trying to build the local capacity so that five years from now,

01:45:35.900 They won't need aid anymore because their local systems can handle it.

01:45:39.260 I'm saying five years.

01:45:40.120 Some countries may take 10 years.

01:45:41.520 But nonetheless, that's the goal, and it's been very well received.

01:45:44.560 Thank you.

01:45:45.240 Thank you, Senator Lee.

01:45:46.020 Senator Merkley.

01:45:47.700 Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Mr. Secretary.

01:45:50.000 Good to see you.

01:45:51.840 As Senator Shaheen noted, you've expressed that no one died as a result of the sudden shutdown of AID.

01:45:59.940 And I did ask you last time you were here.

01:46:02.600 Okay, let's go to the next part about Iran.

01:46:05.900 see humanitarian aspect to it there's clearly a there's an economic visiting camp the prospect

01:46:21.980 we don't know they're talking about american leadership and american interests and later this

01:46:26.940 month the g7 is going to be meeting in france and then next month nato meeting in turkey just

01:46:34.060 Just an overview, what are the priorities

01:46:37.080 you're gonna go into those meetings with?

01:46:38.640 G7?

01:46:39.760 G7 and NATO, yeah, coming up next month in this.

01:46:42.440 Well, NATO will be a fun meeting.

01:46:44.800 Let's start with a G7 one.

01:46:46.360 The G7 forum this year has largely been focused,

01:46:49.580 obviously because of the straits.

01:46:50.940 So when I went to the foreign ministers meeting in March,

01:46:53.480 a lot of the conversations in April were about the straits.

01:46:56.100 And the one point we've made is,

01:46:57.500 and what's interesting is a lot of the countries

01:46:59.000 involved there, even though it's not a military forum per se,

01:47:02.260 UK and France are members of it. They've put together this initiative, which they say they

01:47:07.460 will send minesweepers and escort ships, but they will do so once hostilities has ended.

01:47:13.140 Kind of a catch-22 on the one hand. I mean, why do you need naval escorts if no one's shooting at

01:47:17.940 the ships? That said, I don't diminish the utility of it because I would imagine the first few ships

01:47:23.540 to go through are going to like to be escorted. So I think that's going to be a key feature of

01:47:27.620 of that conversation i think there's a shared interest in all these countries on rare earth

01:47:32.280 minerals and supply chains generally i think there is a growing global consensus and we had a great

01:47:37.740 uh maybe a few of you had attended part of it we had a great um ministerial here earlier this year

01:47:44.760 on on rare earths and supply chains that brought in dozens of countries and all the g7 countries

01:47:50.440 were represented at it and so i think that's going to be a feature here is how do we create

01:47:54.700 how do we diversify the global supply chain on anything from rare earths to pharmaceuticals?

01:48:00.200 There's growing consensus. So I think that point will be quite dominant. And then given the makeup

01:48:04.460 of who's in the G7, the Russia-Ukraine conflict will always come up because obviously it directly

01:48:09.720 impacts at least three or four of those members who are on the continent. So we will also, and I

01:48:15.540 don't know, I don't recall exactly who the French have invited, but in addition to the G7, they'll

01:48:19.780 always invite two or three other countries to attend. I believe Ukraine has been invited,

01:48:23.680 if I'm not mistaken, there's usually a couple other countries that they'll invite that are not

01:48:27.480 members of G7. But I think those issues will dominate depending on where we are with the

01:48:31.560 Straits, and then clearly the critical minerals and supply chains has been a key focus of G7

01:48:36.500 actions. The last point is, I think there's been an interest in, and so, and I think Canada deserves

01:48:42.900 credit for this, that Canadians have really taken a lead, and we've been very supportive of this,

01:48:48.140 in highlighting places like Haiti. And as a result of these G7 meetings, we've actually had

01:48:53.520 number of countries in the g7 including japan step up and contribute to the uh to the to the

01:48:58.880 effort there and the reason i mentioned nato there's an article in the hill mr chairman i

01:49:03.360 asked unanimous consent we put this in in the record it says sweden is now america's most

01:49:08.080 valuable tech ally you're talking about working together with other other countries it goes on

01:49:12.480 to say this was just last week sweden joined nato they've now signed the bilateral defense

01:49:16.960 cooperation agreement they said in march sweden became the first european member uh european

01:49:22.880 Union member state to sign the Paxilica Declaration, Washington's flagship initiative to secure

01:49:28.500 global AI and semiconductor supply chains, and now the technology prosperity deal. I want to know

01:49:34.220 how you've accomplished so much, and is this a model for U.S. relationships going forward with

01:49:39.620 NATO? Yeah, the interesting thing about Sweden is because they, and Finland to the equal extent,

01:49:45.820 is because they were not members of NATO for many, many years, they had a self-sufficiency in their

01:49:50.540 defenses. And so now that they've joined, they've actually added to the equation. I'm not here to

01:49:54.960 beat up on any specific country, but generally speaking, the countries you added to NATO were

01:49:59.160 countries that needed from NATO. Sweden and Finland have actually contributed because they brought

01:50:03.400 their own defense industry, their own advanced technologies. So they've been a great partner.

01:50:07.560 They've been an extraordinary partner. We were just there because we had the NATO foreign

01:50:10.580 ministers meeting in Sweden, and it was phenomenal. And I think that Sweden is a great ally and a

01:50:14.920 country that we're continuing to find a lot of synergy and cooperation with, especially on the

01:50:19.660 field of technology but also on defense i mean they have their own defense industrial base which

01:50:24.040 is an impressive defense industrial base i wish every country in nato had what they have but i

01:50:28.240 understand why sweden has it the uh in number of travels a number of members have done in

01:50:33.320 bipartisan ways we found out as we go around europe that most countries will say they've been

01:50:37.460 too dependent on the united states for military too dependent on russia for energy and too

01:50:41.500 dependent on china for materials this administration has really made uh okay so not really

01:50:48.700 um not really part of the show but it kind of is because i i just kind of wanted to watch this

01:50:57.540 um senate hearing on iran completely uninterrupted but there is some breaking news so let me just

01:51:04.520 play this really quickly um kuwait poor kuwait is once again under attack right now by the

01:51:12.380 terrorist uh islamic regime occupying iran as we speak

01:51:30.780 okay let me let me change let me change my layout so you guys can see

01:51:42.380 so there you go um that's according to uh my friend emily schrader who's saying kuwait under

01:51:59.660 attack of ballistic missiles by the islamic republic of iran as the irgc and u.s clash in

01:52:06.260 foremost. So things are escalating, not really cease fiery. I mean, it doesn't doesn't really

01:52:13.600 look too cease fiery to me. But all right, let's continue. These nations step up to do what they

01:52:22.820 need to do in terms of putting the money forward of moving from 2% to 5%. Countries are on track

01:52:27.380 to do that. Others are not. Let me let me just speak about it in general terms. There's a real

01:52:31.680 challenge. On the one hand, they've made these pledges that they're going to increase their

01:52:34.900 defense spending and their defense capability. It actually has to be on defense. That's the

01:52:39.160 first thing. You can't say that pensions for former soldiers and sailors would have built

01:52:45.920 in the United States. This is not an anti-NATO statement. Same time as I'm in NATO, I have to

01:52:49.420 speak to the Indo-Pacific East. No cooperative like that makes a shared with, but these sovereign

01:52:54.600 national territories. Chairman and welcome, Mr. Secretary. This is your first public hearing

01:53:02.960 since President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu

01:53:07.260 launched an illegal war against Iran.

01:53:11.020 Oh my God.

01:53:13.020 Launched an illegal war?

01:53:14.960 You idiot.

01:53:15.860 It's not an illegal war.

01:53:17.180 The Islamic regime declared war against the United States and Israel

01:53:22.720 back in 1979 when they started yelling,

01:53:26.100 ala ala ala ala aloha Akbar, death to America, death to Israel.

01:53:28.920 And by the way, did you forget about the American hostage crisis, 444 days?

01:53:36.460 How is this an illegal war?

01:53:38.400 What makes a war legal or illegal?

01:53:41.840 Like, even the whole term, illegal war, literally doesn't make sense.

01:53:47.240 War is war.

01:53:49.000 There's no legal war or illegal war about it.

01:53:53.480 Like, this is insane.

01:53:55.160 um let me go a few of your super chats and then we'll continue uh todd rough garden says the

01:54:03.260 democrats have tds and nothing trump does is good in their eyes i agree i agree president trump could

01:54:08.920 literally walk on water and the democrats would claim that he doesn't know how to swim like that's

01:54:13.940 how they would spin that um adam says the problem is democrats don't care about us that's true

01:54:20.540 um it is like it's it's unfortunate um yeah and then bk99 iran irgc is attacking koweit yeah i

01:54:28.740 just i just saw that so wow gonna keep an eye for that all right let's continue who said he's been

01:54:37.660 waiting 40 years to do this turns out he finally found a president who was both stupid and

01:54:44.600 reckless yeah i wonder what this idiot would say about what's currently happening with the irgc

01:54:50.100 attacking kuwait is that illegal i don't know is it is that not illegal like why is the irgc

01:54:59.220 attacking kuwait like silent on that right that's how hypocritical these people are they're literally

01:55:04.100 carrying water for islamic terrorists enough to join him the war has killed 14 american service

01:55:10.820 members wounded hundreds more and killed thousands of civilians it's driving up the price of um

01:55:20.100 First of all, do not ever politicize the blood of Iranian people for your own political gain, okay?

01:55:33.500 Thousands and thousands of innocent civilians have not been boomed.

01:55:41.260 Thousands and thousands of IRGC members, people affiliated with the Islamic regime, have been exterminated, and rightfully so.

01:55:49.280 now have there been civilian casualties yes absolutely there have been civilian casualties

01:55:56.060 and we mourn the loss of every single life but the Iranian people not me like not not even those

01:56:04.160 of us outside okay Iranian people inside of the country want this war I shouldn't even call it a

01:56:14.880 war. Because it's not. The Iranian people inside of occupied Iran want the international

01:56:22.900 humanitarian intervention. They have paid for it with blood. Over 40,000 innocent, unarmed

01:56:33.860 Iranians were slaughtered on January 8 and 9 by the same Islamic regime that this Democrat

01:56:43.240 is now carrying water for. Let me just share this message. Let me just share this message

01:56:50.860 from an Iranian, okay? This was on January 8. It was right when the massacre began,

01:57:00.460 and it was right before the Islamic regime shut down the internet.

01:57:04.680 this is one of the last videos that we got from inside of occupied iran see you see january 8

01:57:16.420 okay january 8 that's when the slaughter began and that's when the islamic regime

01:57:23.600 shut down the internet right after that okay

01:57:26.520 watch this

01:57:31.800 I am Mr. Trump, here is Merchad city, Ayatollah killed my people, please help my people, please

01:57:44.600 help to Reza Baalavi, come to Iran, baby Netanyahu, please call to Iran, please help to Iranian

01:57:53.520 people, Ayatollah killed my people, please help.

01:58:01.800 let me um i know he has a little bit of an accent so i will i'll just repeat what he says

01:58:10.100 this is on january 8th right when the massacre began you can literally hear the gunshots and

01:58:18.940 screams in the background hi mr trump he says hi mr trump here is mashad city here is mashad city

01:58:29.400 Let me show you where Mashhad City is on the map, okay?

01:58:39.300 Let me zoom out.

01:58:42.820 Okay.

01:58:44.580 So, Mashhad disappeared.

01:58:49.840 Where'd Mashhad go?

01:58:53.220 There you go.

01:58:54.000 So, there's Mashhad.

01:58:55.100 Let me zoom out.

01:58:58.100 There you go.

01:58:58.920 so that's that's mashad city okay so that's that's where it is just for reference okay

01:59:05.020 so he says hi mr trump hi mr trump here is mashad city here is mashad city

01:59:14.460 he says ayatollah killed my people please help he's referring to um the supreme dictator

01:59:25.180 Khamenei and the Islamic regime. He's saying, Ayatollah killed my people, please help.

01:59:30.960 Please help to my people.

01:59:34.480 Please.

01:59:38.300 He's like, please help to Rizal Pahlavi. Rizal Pahlavi is the current Shah of Iran,

01:59:46.100 Israel Highness, who's the leader of the Iranian Lion and Son National Revolution. And he's the

01:59:53.360 only one that we trust to transition Iran from an Islamic dictatorship to a functioning secular

01:59:59.740 democratic society. So even on January 8, right, right when the massacre began, he's like, please

02:00:06.260 help Reza Pahlavi come to Iran. He's like, Bibi Netanyahu, please come to Iran. Please help Iranian

02:00:21.120 people please help iranian people ayatollah killed my people please help

02:00:34.720 okay so now now that i translated it i mean not transit but now that i just kind of repeated it

02:00:39.760 um now just watch this again watch this again so whenever someone says oh iranians didn't

02:00:48.800 want this. No, Iranians want, you know why? I'll tell you why. Because after 47 years of brutal

02:00:54.100 occupation, and after the mass slaughter of over 40,000 innocent unarmed Iranians on January 8

02:01:02.200 and 9 alone, and guys, the number is actually much higher than that, okay? It's much higher.

02:01:07.900 But after all that, Iranians know that if the Islamic regime survives,

02:01:15.780 that's more dangerous and so Iranians have said they're literally willing to risk their lives

02:01:23.060 they're literally willing to lose their lives in the conflict in any sort of humanitarian

02:01:29.360 intervention they're willing to lose their lives if it means overthrowing the Islamic regime and

02:01:37.040 freeing the country for good Iranians have made that choice they have made that choice

02:01:43.400 And it is shameful that you have, you know, these Democrats who are completely ignoring that very, very difficult decision that Iranians have made.

02:01:57.440 And just talking about, you know, Iranian civilians and using the spilled blood of Iranian people for personal and political gain.

02:02:08.320 It's disgusting. It's shameful.

02:02:09.580 Where were these people when on January 8th, when on January 8th, these Islamic regimes started mass slaughtering people, right?

02:02:21.500 Let's watch this again.

02:02:39.580 So please call to Iran, please help to Iranian people, Ayatollah Keel to my people, please

02:02:51.040 help.

02:02:56.220 One of the last videos that we received before the Islamic regime shut down the internet.

02:03:04.760 go back to um this garbage democrat now who's who's shamefully politicizing the blood of my people

02:03:11.720 to push his trump derangement syndrome agenda in support of the islamic regime shame on him

02:03:18.680 prime minister netanyahu launched an illegal war against iran netanyahu said he's been waiting 40

02:03:27.860 years to do this good turns out he finally found a president who was both stupid and reckless enough

02:03:34.600 Wow. To join him. The war has killed 14 American service members, wounded hundreds more and killed

02:03:41.340 thousands of civilians. It's driving up the price of gas, food and much more. Trump obviously

02:03:48.140 doesn't care. He called high gas prices peanuts and said, I don't think about Americans financial

02:03:55.360 situation. That's from the president of the United States. And all for what? The president told us

02:04:01.160 91 days ago that we had, quote, won the war in Iran. Last year, he told the country Iran's key

02:04:08.660 enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated. Was that false?

02:04:15.780 Let's face it, Mr. Secretary, the Trump foreign policy.

02:04:18.660 The issue isn't whether or not the underground, the secret underground nuclear facilities have

02:04:24.940 been obliterated. The issue is the fact that the Islamic regime are rebuilding them. And they've

02:04:29.920 said that we will never stop trying to acquire nuclear weapons how stupid are you see has become

02:04:36.620 a dumpster fire this is the same president who's more interested in flattering vladimir putin

02:04:43.440 than in protecting ukrainian sovereignty wow the president who lifted restrictions on the

02:04:48.580 transfer of sophisticated u.s chips to china but came back from his trip there with nothing but

02:04:55.280 ballroom envy tweeted about that the other day this is the president who brought on what an idiot

02:05:00.660 like the fact that president trump is posting about ballroom envy that's actually an insult

02:05:07.900 to china because what president trump guys like what president trump is basically saying is that

02:05:13.260 the only good thing about visiting china was their ballroom right like he's not compliment he's not

02:05:19.360 He's not complimenting, like, Chinese, you know, military strength or the economy or the culture or, you know, whatever, right?

02:05:27.260 All he's saying is, oh, that's a great ballroom.

02:05:31.260 Like, it's, what, do you think it would have been better if President Trump came back and said, oh, I'm so envious of the Chinese economy?

02:05:38.980 Or, I don't know, like, I'm envious of Chinese military strength?

02:05:44.780 Or I'm envious of communism?

02:05:46.820 them? Like how stupid can you be? Oh my gosh. Elon Musk to take a chainsaw to AID, which has

02:05:55.780 enabled the current Ebola outbreak in the DRC. We've also witnessed corrupt crypto deals with

02:06:01.860 the UAE royal family that have enriched the Trump family at the expense of our national security.

02:06:06.980 We've seen an administration engage in extrajudicial killings in the Caribbean,

02:06:10.720 hijack venezuelan oil threatening greenland and weaken the nato alliance here at home a reagan

02:06:18.780 appointed judge said that you and former secretary noem abused your powers when you locked up and

02:06:24.820 still seek to deport students for protesting the destruction of gaza the reagan appointed judge said

02:06:31.240 you did that quote primarily on account the guy wasn't a student he's like a 33 year old terrorist

02:06:36.960 speaking of gaza he's not even a citizen board of peace seems to run around around meanwhile

02:06:43.760 senator rubio once proclaimed that the u.s must quote work to ensure that refugees who flee war

02:06:51.360 torture and persecution are provided safe environments to live and thrive in now as

02:06:57.360 secretary of state in this administration you have capped refugees at a record low of 17 500

02:07:06.080 and white South Africans, Afrikaners, have comprised roughly 99% of those slots, Mr. Secretary.

02:07:15.680 A race-based refugee system. At the same time, the President is preventing Cuban political

02:07:21.120 refugees from entering the United States, even as you've imposed a near-oil blockade on that

02:07:26.160 repressive regime. The stated goal is to change the government there, but the only real change is

02:07:34.880 humanitarian crisis inflicted on millions of people, not members of the regime.

02:07:39.840 And in that regard, Mr. Secretary, I have a question for you regarding the

02:07:44.320 designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism. On the very first week, at least,

02:07:50.720 of this administration, you reinstated, the administration reinstated that. And in a recent

02:07:58.080 January 26 EO you made statements suggesting connections to Hezbollah and Hamas. The previous

02:08:07.280 administration did a thorough review with the intelligence community and concluded that there

02:08:12.320 was no evidence that Cuba was engaged in ongoing state sponsor of terrorism. Did you find new

02:08:18.960 evidence to support that conclusion? Well first of all let me just say that was that's your question

02:08:23.760 but you made this long statement of which I disagree with most of it we won't have time to

02:08:27.120 address every point that you made so let's stick to cuba specific because that's the question that

02:08:31.280 you asked cuba has sponsored terrorism it's been supported groups for example virtually every left

02:08:36.480 wing radical violent uh terrorist group in the western hemisphere has at some point relied on

02:08:41.760 support from cuba the eln the farc the farc dissidents including them have been involved

02:08:46.640 there we also know for example that cuba continues to host a pretty substantial collection uh

02:08:52.400 intelligence sites on behalf of the chinese and the russians but you you look at the region and

02:08:56.480 And you look at all of these leftist, Marxist, terrorist organizations, all of them, in many cases, got their money from the people.

02:09:02.400 I can move on. I noticed you did not answer my question, because my question is specifically related to whether there was new evidence, new evidence to support that conclusion.

02:09:10.060 I can just tell you.

02:09:10.580 Why would I need new evidence?

02:09:12.400 Because you're claiming that they're a state-sponsored terrorism, suggesting they're ongoingly involved in that.

02:09:18.660 My final question to you, Mr. Secretary, relates to the El Aska-Mas complex.

02:09:23.800 There have been reports that the United States is working with Israel to take away the Kingdom of Jordan's custodianship over the Al-Aska Mosque complex in East Jerusalem.

02:09:33.700 Can you confirm today that there's no—

02:09:36.080 I'm not even aware of those reports.

02:09:37.400 There are reports, so I was hoping you could confirm.

02:09:39.220 Is that like a media report or—

02:09:40.580 There have been several media reports.

02:09:42.080 Ah, well, you know the media is always accurate.

02:09:43.840 No, they're not, and that's why I'm getting—

02:09:45.260 Yeah, no, I've never even heard that.

02:09:46.600 That's the first time I even hear anybody discuss that.

02:09:48.500 All right, well, I'm glad to hear that.

02:09:49.820 But we have a great relationship with Jordan, you know, and we're very helpful.

02:09:52.660 I've just never heard that before.

02:09:54.140 You should, I don't know what article you were referring to.

02:09:55.920 Just give it to me.

02:09:56.560 I'll look at it.

02:09:56.960 I'm happy to.

02:09:57.700 Is it a credible website?

02:09:59.220 I'm glad to hear you say, Mr. Secretary, there's no truth.

02:10:01.900 I've never heard that discussed by anybody.

02:10:08.020 You're up next.

02:10:09.200 Oops, I'm sorry.

02:10:10.200 Senator Deans was here earlier.

02:10:11.600 I apologize.

02:10:12.800 Senator Deans.

02:10:14.060 That was crazy, by the way.

02:10:15.200 I was listening to that.

02:10:17.060 That was wild.

02:10:18.740 What a crazy person.

02:10:20.160 Not even worth it for me to comment on what he was saying.

02:10:22.340 A Democrat. Chairman, thank you.

02:10:24.720 Rankin Member Shaheen, good to see you as well.

02:10:27.940 One of the underreported successes for your diplomacy and this administration

02:10:33.920 is what's happened to the peace agreement, a landmark agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

02:10:40.480 I know, Secretary, you just were in the region most recently.

02:10:45.980 A major step forward for a region long beset by conflict.

02:10:50.660 nearly 40 years of a hot war okay and through your leadership i wonder he might say something about

02:10:57.540 um iran but let's just go to senator secretary rubio's response we land we signed the the trip

02:11:03.940 agreement between the u.s and and armenia and this is you described it as a corridor which i look i

02:11:09.620 i know it's the anchor of a peace agreement with armenia and azerbaijan and that's critical but

02:11:14.340 it's much more than just the anchor of a peace agreement it really has the opportunity to

02:11:18.260 revolutionize Armenia's strategic location and become a central hub for trade in the region.

02:11:24.820 It solves the issue of access that Azerbaijan cared about and it was an irritant in their

02:11:28.900 relationship, but it does much more than that. It has the ability to transform the Armenian economy

02:11:33.620 in a very powerful way. Here's the other thing that it's done. For a long period of time,

02:11:38.740 our relations with Armenia were quite stagnant and in many cases I would argue almost non-existent.

02:11:43.700 it has also reinvigorated that relationship between our two countries and allow us to explore

02:11:49.220 opportunities in all sorts of other fields. So we're involved in that very heavily now,

02:11:53.060 we just literally just signed the agreement, and it will allow us to drive and hopefully

02:11:58.500 incentivize U.S. private sector investment in this corridor to the benefit of American companies and

02:12:03.300 American interests, but also to the benefit of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and other regional countries.

02:12:08.020 I would also argue, by the way, and just to point out, and I don't mean this again,

02:12:11.540 I think this is pretty well understood in the open source reporting. The Russians are less

02:12:15.460 than happy about our engagement there. I think there's evidence that they would like the current

02:12:20.180 president to lose his election as a result of this growing relationship with the United States.

02:12:26.420 To be clear, we're not there to infringe on Armenian sovereignty. We're not asking them not

02:12:30.000 to be friends with other countries. We just want to be able to have a relationship with them that's

02:12:33.960 built not just on peace. Peace is important, but that's just the beginning. It's the economic

02:12:38.720 opportunities that it provides. There are American companies and American workers that will benefit

02:12:43.140 from it, but the Armenian people will be the ultimate beneficiaries of this corridor opening.

02:12:47.740 It's remarkable. And we were there together, in fact, last August at the White House when

02:12:50.860 President Aliyev of Azerbaijan, Prime Minister Pasha in Armenia came to sign that agreement

02:12:55.680 with President Trump's leadership. I think a Shiite Muslim country, Azerbaijan, and Armenia,

02:13:02.560 one of the oldest Christian countries in the world, came together to sign a peace agreement

02:13:06.980 was truly a breakthrough.

02:13:08.340 And so it's an underreported story,

02:13:10.260 in my opinion, Mr. Secretary.

02:13:11.840 I think we need to get the story out.

02:13:12.840 This is a critical geopolitical problem

02:13:15.560 that has been definitely remedied

02:13:17.940 by the leadership of this administration.

02:13:18.860 Yeah, I mean, the key, Senator Danes,

02:13:20.200 is going to be execution.

02:13:21.620 Like, you can sign an agreement,

02:13:22.880 you can have the things in place.

02:13:24.160 We now have to make sure

02:13:25.260 we are focused on driving it

02:13:26.800 and ensuring that to the extent

02:13:28.460 American companies can contribute

02:13:29.900 to the infrastructure,

02:13:31.020 to the railway, to the highway,

02:13:32.440 to everything that needs to happen

02:13:33.700 in order for that corridor to open.

02:13:35.500 And then the spinoff effect of it

02:13:36.800 as well. We don't want to, we don't need to dominate it. We're not asking for an American

02:13:40.400 monopoly economic, but we do want our companies to get a fair shake in there. And by the way,

02:13:45.060 partnering with Armenian companies in many cases, so it becomes mutually beneficial.

02:13:48.340 Before my time is out, I want to bring up one very important final point. As you well know,

02:13:53.360 I've been spending a lot of time over the past few years working with my friends in Central Asia,

02:13:56.220 across the Caspian there, with the five Central Asian countries. Things are progressing well,

02:14:00.340 thanks to your engagement and encouragement and President Trump's. And we're seeing a lot of fruit

02:14:05.180 from last year's C5-plus-1 summit that was right here in Washington. That being said,

02:14:09.800 there's still a major hurdle to strengthen our ties, one of the key irritants to our

02:14:15.300 financial sector and our encouragement from our friends.

02:14:17.500 I'm the Secretary and Senator Deans with you, and I've talked to the President about

02:14:23.140 this, as you know. And I have actually talked to the Chairman of the Finance Committee,

02:14:28.520 who I know relatively well. And we actually have a plan for going forward. You and I are

02:14:34.740 going to meet on that here. Great. I'm glad I have friends in high places, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.

02:14:38.540 No, you're absolutely right on that. It's just in the queue. So with that, let us go to Senator

02:14:47.920 Coons. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, ranking member, Mr. Secretary, National Security Advisor. Good

02:14:52.740 to see you again. I know from our service here together that you agree that China is the greatest

02:14:59.000 national security threat that we face. And one of the key reasons is their repeated threats to

02:15:04.660 take control of Taiwan by force if necessary. And Taiwan, as we both know, is not just some

02:15:10.220 faraway island. It produces 90% of the semiconductor chips critical to everything

02:15:15.120 from F-35s to iPhones. And its geography makes it indispensable, both to global commerce

02:15:21.420 and military power. Do you agree with that? Taiwan? Yeah, it's not just strategically

02:15:28.240 important in terms of where it's located. It also is the message that it sends to the world

02:15:32.140 if something were to happen to it.

02:15:33.560 Agreed. That's why for decades,

02:15:35.420 really with leadership from the Senate in a bipartisan way,

02:15:38.320 we've provided arms to deter the PRC's potential military aggression.

02:15:42.360 In fact, you introduced the Taiwan Peace Through Strength Act of 2023.

02:15:47.060 In January, Congress pre-approved a $14 billion arms package for Taiwan.

02:15:52.740 It's been six months. We haven't received a notification.

02:15:55.900 Have you advised President Trump to proceed with this?

02:15:57.920 Yeah, it's under consideration.

02:15:58.880 I don't know if you were here a moment ago when I discussed.

02:16:00.900 We just did $11 billion in December, which was, I think, the largest sale in history.

02:16:06.120 I think it was more than the accumulative amount under the Biden administration.

02:16:10.100 And I recall during six years of the Obama administration, there was zero gone to Taiwan.

02:16:14.160 So some way you would argue that we're trying to make up ground.

02:16:16.680 So why hold off on it now?

02:16:18.180 Well, so the other 14 is being reviewed.

02:16:20.060 It's under review.

02:16:20.760 It hasn't been, I think it's been noticed, but it hasn't been reviewed.

02:16:23.960 I mean, it hasn't been approved yet.

02:16:25.400 So it's under review under the White House.

02:16:26.940 Mr. Secretary, my concern is that President Trump has said publicly

02:16:30.380 that arms sales to Taipei are a great negotiating chip with China.

02:16:35.140 And my concern at a time when the PRC were going to arm its words in a meeting or not,

02:16:41.540 it's suffice it to say that, you know, that specific question you just asked,

02:16:44.580 that's not the context in which the president has raised this in the past.

02:16:48.700 When the president says it's a great negotiating thing, what he's really saying is it's because

02:16:52.320 China, as you can imagine, always mentions this.

02:16:55.240 like this is a top priority for them. They are constantly talking about Taiwan arms sales. But

02:17:00.120 that in no way is what is holding up our decision making or the White House's decision making. It

02:17:05.640 is something the president will have to decide on the timing of when and how that is executed on.

02:17:10.120 It's been approved by Congress. It's been noticed. The money's available. And as I said, we are just

02:17:14.600 coming off the heels of a very large sale in December of last year. So there are a variety

02:17:20.280 of reasons why these things don't happen immediately. Well, I'll just assert, Mr.

02:17:23.800 Secretary, that there is more reason than ever for the administration, with congressional support,

02:17:28.840 to continue providing robust military capacity to Taiwan, given that the PRC is more and more

02:17:35.960 regionally aggressive. You also introduced and passed legislation in 23 prohibiting any president

02:17:42.200 from unilaterally withdrawing from NATO. I assume this was because you recognize that our alliances

02:17:48.440 are a key advantage against Russia, against China, against other adversaries. Do you still consider

02:17:54.360 Article 5 an unconditional commitment? Yeah. So let me address that holistically,

02:18:00.240 if it's okay, because I think we have time to do it. First of all, you're right. I have throughout

02:18:04.460 my entire career in the Senate and through much of my time now in this administration been

02:18:08.760 a supporter of NATO. I see its utility. The key, and I'm just being honest with you when we talk

02:18:14.700 about this. One of the key arguments that I would always use on behalf of NATO. Is it not true that

02:18:24.460 some of the challenges in our NATO relations have terror? I think he publicly said both.

02:18:28.880 You asked whether we should be in NATO. And I think you were asked by members a year and a half.

02:18:35.060 And there is talk of sending them either back to Afghanistan into the waiting arms of these are

02:18:40.080 risk. Can you commit to working with me and others in this body to support the relocation

02:18:45.520 of these vetted individuals to the United States, especially those who are family members of

02:18:50.540 currently serving U.S. soldiers? Yeah, I can't. First of all, as you know, we're under an

02:18:54.480 executive order now after the National Guard attack here. And so that happened last year.

02:18:59.440 Yeah, I can't admit any Afghans at this point into the country. That said,

02:19:03.080 you just pointed to them being sent back to Afghanistan. Our goal, we've worked on this

02:19:06.620 and we'll work with you on it, is we have talked to multiple countries. Now, I don't know of any

02:19:10.660 single country that's going to take a thousand people, but we've talked to multiple countries

02:19:14.300 about taking several hundred of these people and allowing them to move to a safe location.

02:19:19.400 As you know, we are operating under not just those restrictions, but broader restrictions

02:19:23.100 about immigration into the United States after 20, 25 million people entered this country illegally

02:19:27.520 over a four-year period leading up to this administration. But I'll work with you to find

02:19:31.700 the right places for them to go. We want that to happen. The president just raised the refugee

02:19:36.040 gcap exclusively to allow africaners indoor for his family sir paul i'd like to revisit for a

02:19:44.840 moment the uh boats that were blowing up in the caribbean and the pacific that uh referred to as

02:19:50.840 drug boats people uh sorry because we're just focusing on iran here if you just have them on

02:20:04.520 the book then i think they're of little value in changing behavior thank you senator booker

02:20:11.320 thank you very much uh mr checker you and i talked a lot about africa and i raised concerns

02:20:16.920 about a lot of the cuts we're seeing globally an increase in tuberculosis an increase uh in

02:20:23.160 malaria cases we see a continued ongoing on the continent hiv crisis and the united states has

02:20:29.800 pulled back from a lot of its investments in those areas now with the crisis with ebola

02:20:34.520 um we see that the challenges that have been brought about as a result of our surveillance

02:20:39.960 uh early detection and and the like so i'm just very concerned about what the administration's

02:20:45.000 strategy is because we're clearly seeing here that what goes on in the

02:20:50.360 we made those cuts like are people in like third world countries voting for you like

02:20:57.880 i don't understand who is your voter base here that we cut early detection

02:21:04.520 who's your voter base buddy i don't know maybe those countries themselves should like invest

02:21:11.020 in ebola early detection instead of like i don't know not being corrupt yeah hold on and that was

02:21:19.300 the exact deal that you guys vilified that the president and you vilified president obama wait

02:21:27.260 what's going on now nuclear program okay now he's going oh wow of course let's move on my time is

02:21:33.700 limited I know that's an important I don't want to eat up your time but I need to answer that

02:21:37.080 because I just don't agree with that Mr. Secretary you can't even agree on the facts

02:21:40.080 wait what about a lot of the cuts we're seeing globally an increase in tuberculosis

02:21:47.720 an increase in malaria cases we see a continued ongoing on the continent HIV crisis and the

02:21:55.920 United States has pulled back from a lot of its investments in those areas now with the crisis

02:21:59.780 with ebola um we see that the challenges that have been brought about as a result of our surveillance

02:22:06.660 uh early detection and and the like so i'm just very concerned about what the administration's

02:22:11.700 strategy is because we're clearly seeing here here it's not just how much money you split was

02:22:16.020 for that big early connecting the two really like to actually have my questions answered so very

02:22:19.940 quickly we cut early detection uh when it comes to infectious diseases on the continent factually

02:22:27.780 this is not an opinion why is it why is it the response early warning so i i don't these crisis

02:22:33.620 anywhere is a threat to public health everywhere the united states has made major reductions in

02:22:37.860 these areas other cuts we've made a state department personnel that i've talked to

02:22:41.780 are saying we're less prepared for global outbreak than we were before

02:22:45.700 that's some of the kind of things that could prevent uh have us more prepared my time is

02:22:49.700 limited i know that's an important question i don't want to eat up your time but i think i

02:22:52.980 you can't even agree on the facts that's not accurate i mean again you look at what we've

02:22:59.540 entered into it's not accurate that we cut early detection because those have all been repurposed

02:23:05.300 and different arrangements that we now have with these countries as an example well i would like

02:23:08.980 for the record because we're not going to cover it in my short time if you're telling me we are

02:23:13.940 as prepared or more prepared before the trump administration came in i'd like to see the fact

02:23:18.020 i think when these reforms are finalized which we're on the verge of doing we're actually going

02:23:20.980 to be better prepared we are we are responding today faster not just to humanitarian crisis but

02:23:25.540 to outbreaks than we were before we are responding in some cases within 72 hours are able to move

02:23:30.580 funds to task which you weren't able to do in the old system and we're also building the capacity

02:23:37.300 may i please reclaim my time to shift gears the straight of humus i was listening to

02:23:41.140 their conversations you had with some of my colleagues we we've now seen the straight

02:23:45.380 closed for months and you explained that we're going to see an opening of the strait and ultimately

02:23:52.740 the exchange we will get for that is after that fact we will release certain sanctions

02:23:59.140 no that's not what i said what i said was that we if they open the streets wow so this guy just

02:24:04.900 claimed he was listening if you were listening marco rubio already answered this question he said

02:24:09.860 no we're not going to release sanctions just for reopening the straight you have to meet all the

02:24:14.500 conditions like reopening the strait is one of five conditions wow these people are are not very

02:24:21.860 intelligent we will lift our blockade the straits in the blockade are what are interrelated and so

02:24:26.580 for the nuclear program in exchange for getting rid of the fiscal material out of country i imagine

02:24:33.780 is what your highly enriched uranium we would release sanctions is that correct well it's not

02:24:38.180 just that it's also their enrichment activity they would have to you know they would make very severe

02:24:42.420 and significant concessions on what they intend to enrich and already with the march relaxing of

02:24:49.220 sanctions allowing iranians to sell oil to the chinese estimates have been between 10 and 50

02:24:56.180 billion dollars they got from that relaxing of sanctions how much money might we see in a deal

02:25:03.620 in a relaxed uh so the islamic regime didn't actually get the money scott besant was very

02:25:10.980 clear the money the funds um acquired from those sales are currently being held in like a in an

02:25:20.620 account somewhere they're frozen by the united states the islamic regime has no access to them

02:25:25.980 and scott besant clearly said those funds are going to remain there and they will be released

02:25:31.600 like when when all this is over because the money belongs to the iranian people that's what he said

02:25:38.060 so china got their oil but the islamic regime didn't actually get the money because the u.s

02:25:44.220 was was doing sort of the the united states was the intermediary like you idiot

02:25:49.100 things of sanctions in order to get rid of the highly enriched union and stop their enrichment

02:25:53.540 well let me just tell you on that portion the the sanctions that were released on iran were

02:25:57.360 were boats on the water and so that what that that oil is already out in the marketplace it

02:26:01.660 was sold at market rates but the sanctions covered and to the extent we've been able to enforce them

02:26:06.160 we have the revenues of those sales. So yeah, the oil, the Iranian oil was unsanctioned so that it

02:26:11.220 could be sold. The revenue would have to flow back to block the counts, which our sanctions

02:26:15.120 were able to go after. We've also seen, I literally just said that. So yeah, the oil was sold,

02:26:20.760 but the money did not go to the Islamic regime. The money is being blocked. It's being held

02:26:27.940 in trust by the United States and will be released when, when Iran is free and the Islamic regime has

02:26:34.780 been overthrown like i literally just said that like how is it that i know more about like u.s

02:26:40.480 policy than the democrats and i'm not even american seized i believe six vessels in the

02:26:44.960 indo-pacific that involved iranian sanctioned oil on top of it so that wasn't necessarily a trade

02:26:49.900 they didn't get 50 billion dollars directly as a result of they might have gotten some of it they

02:26:53.700 certainly didn't get the majority of it they are now losing hundreds of millions of dollars a day

02:26:57.520 in revenue because of the block and the blockade is exists because of what they're doing in the

02:27:02.600 straights right and and I guess the the conclusion I have in my times expired is that thank god the

02:27:08.620 Strait of Hormuz was open before this unjustified war we're now scrambling to try to find a way to

02:27:15.960 get it back opened again not only is it causing economic havoc to our country and to residents

02:27:20.920 all around this nation families trying to make ends meet how is it causing economic havoc to the

02:27:26.100 United States you guys don't even rely on finding ways to leverage that as we allowed them to do

02:27:30.520 the chinese for tens of billions of dollars wow my point is before we even get to a nuclear negotiation

02:27:37.160 this regime is getting money to rebuild purchase more drones cause more havoc no this is before

02:27:44.520 we're even trying to get back to it but i don't i apologize i don't understand how they're getting

02:27:48.200 this what revenue you're referring to well there's two sources of revenue we're seeing one is the

02:27:52.280 revenue from the chinese that's factually documented and number two the revenue that

02:27:56.520 you're proposing that they should receive by releasing all of their highly enriched uranium

02:28:01.560 as well as in making a commitment about their enrichment capacity yeah hold on and that was

02:28:07.160 wow exact deal that you guys vilified that the president and you vilified president obama from

02:28:14.920 having here we have a worse situation where our adversary and our enemy who's causing havoc in

02:28:23.320 the region who is funding proxies and terrorists has discovered thanks to you all the power of

02:28:29.880 shutting down the strait of her moves now they didn't they knew that a long time ago clearly

02:28:34.440 we all knew that a long time ago that's why this and they didn't do this at some point should have

02:28:38.520 never happened yeah but have made our adversary in a stronger negotiating position we are the

02:28:44.200 strongest nation on the planet earth and we're in a stalemate with iran and now we're begging

02:28:49.880 to get back into a deal that you all trashed in the first place.

02:28:53.600 There's no one begging.

02:28:54.520 Clearly, this is a shame.

02:28:55.980 Senator Booker, your time's up.

02:28:57.680 Senator Rubio, since he's gone, where you can respond.

02:28:59.060 I do want to address these points because they go to the heart of the matter.

02:29:01.480 No one's begging for anything here.

02:29:03.260 The Iranians might be begging because their economy's losing hundreds of millions of dollars

02:29:06.980 a day, that they are losing.

02:29:08.880 Understand, Iran had street protests going on before all of this started.

02:29:12.780 All of those factors, economic factors in Iran, are far worse today than they were six

02:29:17.260 months ago when those protests were happening.

02:29:18.840 they have hyperinflation their currency is completely devalued they're struggling to

02:29:23.080 make payroll for their government workers iran is in a very serious situation and if it was up

02:29:27.780 to the political class there and i understand everybody there is sort of radical in some way

02:29:31.400 but if it was up to the people that actually like go to elections and wear the suits and you see on

02:29:35.180 tv they probably make a deal tomorrow it's the the issue they're facing is that the supreme leader

02:29:40.000 in the irgc corps are a little bit more immune from those pressures until they can be convinced

02:29:44.680 otherwise and i and i think that's the direction that they're moving in because the reality they're

02:29:48.520 I don't know where you're getting this perception that Iran is stronger.

02:29:51.240 Iran has no Navy left.

02:29:52.460 They've lost a substantial percentage of their defense industrial base, that Iran has lost

02:29:56.640 a substantial percentage of their missile launchers, and their economy is far worse

02:30:00.380 today, and I mean far worse today than it was six to nine months ago.

02:30:03.800 And they are looking at hundreds of billions of dollars of reconstruction costs just to

02:30:08.180 get to where they were six months ago.

02:30:09.120 Mr. Rubo, you keep telling us how we're winning this war.

02:30:11.300 The president keeps saying-

02:30:12.320 Well, the war is over now.

02:30:12.980 Completely annihilated.

02:30:14.180 The war is not over.

02:30:15.300 and yet the american people see how we're losing at the pump and with their costs and yet this

02:30:21.100 thing still hasn't been resolved every day he tweets out oh we've obliterated them we've

02:30:25.700 annihilated them they're going to surrender but yet we still find ourselves spending billions of

02:30:29.680 a week yeah senator booker you've gone way over it it would be nice if we had hearings where

02:30:35.800 thank you senator booker scott all right section rubio so um first off it you think it's important

02:30:42.740 to Americans that the Iranian regime doesn't have nuclear weapons ability to destroy. I think it's

02:30:47.720 important to the world. I agree. The whole world. I mean, this question about the Straits is a great

02:30:53.520 example. Imagine the Straits gives them leverage. Imagine what nuclear weapons would give them

02:30:57.280 leverage to do. At that point, they wouldn't even have to announce that we're controlling this. They

02:31:01.280 would just say, we control the Straits. There's nothing you can do about it because our nuclear

02:31:04.680 weapon will allow us to do it. You will have to pay us a toll for using an international waterway

02:31:09.140 from now on. And you can't do anything to us militarily because we'll blow you up with a

02:31:12.560 nuclear weapon that is the leverage that they were trying to build if they ever got a nuclear

02:31:17.020 weapon not only would they have a nuclear weapon not only would they control the straits they would

02:31:20.420 be able to act with impunity because you wouldn't be able to touch them you wouldn't be able to do

02:31:24.220 anything about them all right i want to thank you for what you're doing let's talk about latin

02:31:28.000 america which is as you know important to a lot of people in our state so thanks for what you've

02:31:32.760 done so we'll move forward we'll we'll go forward because latin america is not a part of it

02:31:41.280 okay

02:31:42.560 In 2013, in response to a question from the now chairman of SASC, General Mattis pointed out that if you don't find, and I quote him, if you don't fund the State Department fully, then I need to buy more ammunition, ultimately, end quote.

02:31:56.920 unfortunately despite his service in the first trump administration

02:32:00.340 the second time around you seem to have taken the message as a blueprint rather than as a warning

02:32:06.720 the budget that you're presenting today cuts the state department by about a third after you

02:32:12.140 previously tried to enact steep cuts and eliminations last year yeah it's probably just

02:32:16.700 getting rid of like duplication and mismanagement and waste good for him good for you if not more

02:32:21.680 money in iran than he thinks okay there we go now of course of course the democrats getting to iran

02:32:27.360 over so you would cost some some uh uh look at her struggling look at her struggling to find her

02:32:34.680 question she literally doesn't even know what she wants to talk about like she's scanning through

02:32:40.080 her paper and like oh oh like wait wait what what so uh guys i'm not i'm not going to 2c because

02:32:47.680 I'm doing a stream on the Senate committee hearing, and it's uninterrupted. This is not

02:32:54.400 Iran Revolution Live. If you guys want to watch Tusi, you're more than welcome to go tune in to

02:32:59.820 Tusi. Yeah, like I support him. But I'm doing like an uninterrupted documentary watch party and,

02:33:08.020 you know, political analysis of the committee hearing. But yeah, guys, listen to her. So she's

02:33:13.420 just like uh like she doesn't even know what she wants to ask about like this is liquor the thing

02:33:21.020 that i look i i would think you would have some over some some uh uh over some insight because

02:33:28.280 you are on national security well i've seen the testimony that uh secretary hexeth and others

02:33:32.360 have conducted in front of the the their oversight committees but i just can't i don't want to give

02:33:36.680 you an answer that's not accurate okay well this week let me let me let me put out some numbers

02:33:41.520 that i have this week the cost of president trump's illegal war of choice against iran are likely to

02:33:45.440 illegal 35 billion dollars by the rate from dod's own may calculations and surpass your fy 2027

02:33:52.720 budget request of 35.1 billion for the state department and related programs that's an

02:33:57.840 astonishing figure worth repeating in just 14 weeks 14 weeks president trump will have blown

02:34:03.760 through as much if not more money in iran than he thinks congress should spend on u.s diplomacy for

02:34:08.720 the entirety of the next fiscal year this administration's distorted priorities have

02:34:14.480 unfortunately revealed some stark lessons okay just a quick update so there are explosions being

02:34:19.120 reported in bahrain iraq and kuwait um so yeah yeah the islamic regime has launched missiles at bahrain

02:34:30.640 kuwait and iraq um and there is an update from centcom i'll just i'll read this really quickly

02:34:40.160 but i i really just want to watch this senate committee hearing um okay so centcom just put

02:34:46.160 out seven minutes ago oh wait my browser lost access uh to audio just give me a moment guys

02:34:52.960 let me reconnect my browser here um quick intermission quick intermission to talk about

02:34:58.800 the boom-booms happening by the Islamic regime terrorists, which, you know, makes these Democrats

02:35:06.480 look even dumber. All right, so CENTCOM just posted seven minutes ago. U.S. partner forces

02:35:12.640 defend against aggressive Iranian behavior. They mean the Islamic regime. I just, oh, I hate it when

02:35:18.020 they say Iranian. But anyways, U.S. partner forces defend against aggressive Islamic regime behavior.

02:35:25.760 U.S. forces successfully defeated multiple Iranian ballistic missiles and drones and conducted self-defense strikes on Qish island in response to attempted attacks by Iran across the Middle East June 2nd.

02:35:40.820 Iran launched several ballistic missiles toward regional neighbors, however, all failed to hit their intended targets.

02:35:48.220 Two Iranian missiles fired at Kuwait fell short or broke apart en route.

02:35:55.240 And three missiles launched at Bahrain were immediately intercepted by the United States and Bahrain Air Defense Forces.

02:36:02.900 Moments earlier, U.S. Central Command forces shot down three one-way attack drones launched by Iran towards civilian mariners that were rightfully transiting regional waters.

02:36:14.500 American forces also conducted self-defense strikes on an Iranian military ground control

02:36:20.060 station on Fishm Island. No U.S. personnel were harmed. CENTCOM forces remained vigilant and ready

02:36:26.920 to defend against unwarranted Iranian aggression during the ongoing ceasefire. What a strange

02:36:33.120 sentence. Guys, what a very strange sentence. CENTCOM forces remain vigilant and ready to

02:36:41.040 defend against unwarranted Iranian aggression during the ongoing ceasefire. Literally the

02:36:48.920 least ceasefire that has ever existed. Let's see what happens in the future. But guys,

02:36:56.100 that's pretty much the breaking news. That's pretty much it. So there were boom booms,

02:36:59.980 there were attempted attacks. Obviously, the United States stopped it all because the United

02:37:04.580 States military is, you know, the most powerful military in the world. And that just makes this

02:37:11.260 Democrat look even dumber now. For our allies and partners as well. The United States use of force

02:37:15.540 first will make them less secure as they'll be caught in the crossfire left scrambling to protect

02:37:19.420 themselves and their people. Mr. Secretary, do you agree? No, the United States literally just

02:37:24.600 defended all three countries. That under Operation Epic Fury, our allies and partners in the region

02:37:31.600 have expressed concern about their security and the threats are followed from this administration's

02:37:36.540 uncoordinated actions? No, I think our allies in the region have been very cooperative. Some

02:37:40.620 obviously very aggressively cooperative, like the UAE as an example. Kuwait's been fantastic.

02:37:46.280 Obviously, no country likes to have their oil and their energy infrastructure hit, but I think it's

02:37:50.200 a reminder to them of the threat that Iran poses. And the one lesson when this is all said and done

02:37:54.080 is it's reminded them of, you know, despite all the friendly talk that you've seen in the past,

02:37:58.920 how dangerous iran is to their own interests how the billions of dollars iran has spent despite

02:38:03.700 sanctions iran found the money to build drones and rockets and luckily we've taken a lot of them

02:38:08.340 out but they still have some and they still have the ability my question is about our allies and

02:38:11.760 reaching expressing concerns because you see public reporting in early may revealed that

02:38:16.500 saudi arabia denied u.s basing and overflight related to trump's ill-conceived plan to escort

02:38:21.360 ships through the straits of hermuz yeah and saudi arabia also refused to give the united states

02:38:26.560 oil in the 1973 Arab oil embargo are you going to blame that on President Trump as well you fool

02:38:33.020 Saudi Arabia denied permission because Saudi Arabia is not your ally that's why and they're

02:38:40.780 still not supportive of this risky tanker escort plan and the strait is still worse off today than

02:38:45.200 it was before Trump initiated this war and that doesn't even touch on like like imagine using

02:38:50.900 saudi arabia as the moral compass really really like like you're using saudi arabia as the moral

02:38:57.220 compass in the middle east wild these people are insane i bet you she probably can't even point out

02:39:04.900 saudi arabia on a map she probably doesn't even know what the capital of saudi arabia is wider

02:39:10.100 global lessons being learned by our allies and partners yeah we don't face it from the shangri

02:39:13.780 law dialogue where i heard from folks across the indo-pacific and especially in southeast asia

02:39:18.180 we're being hit hard by the same rising energy costs that are devastating american community

02:39:22.100 she doesn't even know what she's talking about right now she's literally just reading a piece

02:39:26.420 of paper that like her staff are just prepared for her probably using chat gpt and frankly this

02:39:31.780 administration insists on using military force as a first resort instead of a last resort no matter

02:39:36.980 the deadly cause of self-defeating impacts your budget request here would sadly perpetuate that

02:39:41.700 trend and undermine the roles and responsibilities that you should be fulfilling a secretary of

02:39:45.060 state i don't even know what she's asking you're back okay question oh wow so no no wonder i'm

02:39:54.740 confused i'm like what is she even asking obviously she didn't even ask a question she's

02:39:58.500 basic it was basically just like you know democratic like word vomit right like that's

02:40:03.540 basically what it was you want me to answer can i answer anyway okay well but she made a bunch of

02:40:08.100 points i get to answer them right first of all i don't understand this thing but let me tell you

02:40:12.420 we were just here maybe you weren't here we were just talking about it we did a peace deal with

02:40:15.540 azerbaijan and armenia we just signed the trip agreement to yesterday actually or last week we

02:40:20.580 signed it last night i officialized it that that was diplomacy that's great but the administration

02:40:30.900 senator duckworth i'm going to let senator rubio reply to the statements that you made

02:40:36.260 at his request yeah that's but we want we've got a hard stop at 12 okay but i know but she said a

02:40:41.300 lot of stuff i get to answer some of it all right so the first is the the second is india pakistan

02:40:46.100 we ended that war we were involved in helping broker that thailand cambodia that's diplomacy

02:40:50.820 we've been very engaged in as in fact as i sit here now speaking to you i've got the lebanese

02:40:55.220 government and the israeli government meeting at the state department starting at 8 30 this morning

02:40:59.540 for the fourth time after engaging last week at the military level so we're carrying out now you

02:41:04.980 know i we're carrying out diplomacy all over the world constantly and very successfully in many

02:41:09.140 cases now let me make one more point that you raise about the budget request

02:41:12.800 because we understand how this process works okay you guys understand I know

02:41:15.620 because I've been around time we OMB produces sort of timelines for every

02:41:19.880 agency we put forward a budget we said this is the money we've been allocated

02:41:22.880 this is how we would spend it there is a congressional process which I'm sure

02:41:26.660 you're aware of and in my time here 16 years that I was here I don't ever

02:41:30.380 recall us once ever taking the president's budget and passing it into

02:41:33.320 law I'm not walking away from the budget we

02:41:35.480 can make it work if that's the budget you give us but I have a sense

02:41:39.140 I have a suspicion, right, Senator Schatz, that we're not, that we're going to have to work with you guys, Schatz, that we're going to have to, well, you know, that we're going to have to, that we're going to have to work with you guys on a budget request that meets your priorities and ours.

02:41:51.120 That's how it works.

02:41:52.340 You guys are the appropriators.

02:41:53.820 We have to work within the, we will tell you what we care about.

02:41:56.320 We will tell you how we're going to spend the money.

02:41:57.720 But ultimately, you will provide a suspending bill, and we will work through those parameters.

02:42:02.260 But we have given you what we can live with.

02:42:03.940 We can make it work.

02:42:05.280 But if you want to, you know, you're obviously going to have changes here in Congress.

02:42:09.140 But this stuff about diplomacy and the money spent on the war, diplomacy has always cost less money.

02:42:13.580 We don't buy missiles.

02:42:14.640 We don't buy rockets.

02:42:15.720 We don't buy large airplanes and aircraft carriers.

02:42:18.460 But we've been very effective.

02:42:19.580 And I can give you list after list of places where we have had an impact in either de-escalating crisis before it started or ending active wars.

02:42:27.140 And I'm very proud of the work that we've done in that regard, some of which haven't even been publicly discussed in some cases because they weren't high profile.

02:42:33.240 And my last point, we remain heavily engaged in areas that may not be at the core of our national interests,

02:42:38.680 but nonetheless are related to our national interests.

02:42:41.100 You think about Sudan for a moment and the Quad.

02:42:43.540 This has been a very frustrating situation to put together.

02:42:46.220 But we helped convene a donor conference that got pledges for when that is resolved.

02:42:50.940 We've put a lot of time and energy in a situation that now, unfortunately,

02:42:54.560 has turned into a proxy in the Middle East because of the UAE and the Saudis on opposite sides of it.

02:42:58.700 in Libya, where our work in Libya now has still divided, but they for the first time ever have a

02:43:04.240 joint budget for the first time ever are cooperating on energy deals that are going to be

02:43:08.920 beneficial to the people of Libya. So I just don't think it's fair to say we're not actively involved

02:43:13.000 in diplomacy on last year's budget and spending because we are and we have been and to great

02:43:17.200 success. Thank you. Senator Curtis. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Clock setter. Thank you for resetting

02:43:23.560 o'clock. Mr. Secretary, thank you for being here. And I'm always truly impressed with your ability

02:43:30.400 to navigate around the globe so articulately and explain the positions. Like you previously,

02:43:36.600 I chair the Western Hemisphere subcommittee. One of the focuses that I've had is on Taiwan

02:43:41.320 subcommittee. There are switches from term presidentship. There's a switch recognition

02:43:47.880 patients even grow up with lower cost a financing mechanism

02:43:55.320 where a lot of the state language training takes place with

02:43:59.320 in an important part of the world and so i i think we want to see a language proficiency that's

02:44:06.760 okay i'm going to another democrat and the suffering of palestinian civilians

02:44:11.000 oh my gosh yeah go after like blame hamas for that you fool you don't have the answer because

02:44:16.120 there's not u.s dollars that have flowed these are donor funds so can you tell me how much how

02:44:20.120 much money is in the jp morgan account okay what's all this and it's going to be laying about how

02:44:25.400 many full-time personnel do you expect organization ship you've terminated dozens of awards supporting

02:44:32.760 women and girls you shuttered the office of global women's issues yet global women's issues

02:44:38.760 what has the office of you know what has the office of global women's issues ever accomplished

02:44:47.640 for the women of iran who are for literally for the last 47 years okay for the last 47 years

02:44:54.880 iranian women have been raped before they're executed because the islamic regime wants to

02:45:02.900 make sure that in their like disgusting religious ideology their souls don't go to heaven because

02:45:08.400 they believe virgins go to heaven so iranian women are raped before they're hanged

02:45:14.720 hanged by a crane what is the global women's issues office done for that like guys all of these like

02:45:21.680 like global organizations it's all fake it's all a fraud right like the united nations is

02:45:27.600 the biggest joke the united nations should be disbanded it's literally a garbage organization

02:45:33.760 at this point okay united nations has done absolutely nothing for the iranian people

02:45:39.360 in fact the united nations defends the islamic regime so shame on you for this global women's

02:45:47.280 office bullshit sorry nonsense right like it's it's utter nonsense utter nonsense right what's

02:45:55.680 going on here like

02:46:03.040 yeah we'll follow up and i'll give you the right piece whatever vice president in negotiations

02:46:08.320 vice president in negotiations even iran's foreign minister oh now she's going to iran

02:46:13.200 jared kushner both of whom were never confirmed by this body to be america's diplomats a couple

02:46:18.480 they don't have to be confirmed if the president wants them to be part of the negotiations the

02:46:22.320 president has the right to do that i think the vice president in the negotiations even iran's

02:46:26.960 foreign minister was not there yet you were yeah why do you think that is not was there excuse me

02:46:33.120 and you were not i just feel that's embarrassing for us and it's embarrassing for you so mr

02:46:37.920 secretary congress represents the american people we have the power to confirm who represents america

02:46:43.040 abroad we confirmed you to be our secretary state we confirmed you to be in the negotiations that

02:46:49.520 are happening and it's just unthinkable to me that you are not you are missing high stakes

02:46:54.480 negotiations or that you're not involved he's not president trump literally said that marco rubio

02:46:59.760 is working on the iran file behind the scenes it's sad senator rosen your time thank you

02:47:05.600 your time's up uh secretary rubio you're 100 inaccurate and 100 wrong here's why number one

02:47:12.400 the vice president of the united states was there and he wasn't confirmed by us and he was elected

02:47:16.000 by the American people, okay? He is the second in line of the presidency of the United States. He

02:47:20.120 was present. Mr. Witkoff is the president's envoy for negotiation for peace deals. Mr. Kushner is

02:47:26.040 a private citizen that serves as an advisor on these functions. They were the team that we sent

02:47:29.960 to Pakistan. I was not at a party. Where I was is next to the president, because in the midst of

02:47:34.560 those negotiations, I was in communications with them. And in fact, I think there is media reporting

02:47:39.260 from that evening on how multiple occasions I went into a back room, I came back out and spoke

02:47:44.200 to the president and was constantly updating him. On that evening, I spoke to Mr. Kushner

02:47:49.380 and our negotiating team and Mr. Woodcock on at least six occasions, including twice

02:47:53.220 on a secure line from the phone they had access to over there. So you don't know what you're

02:47:56.740 talking about. I know your staff wrote up this cute statement for your TikTok video,

02:48:01.680 but it's not true and it's not real. That's not what happened. I'm the national security

02:48:06.300 advisor and secretary of state. I was co-located with the president in the midst of a high stakes

02:48:10.380 negotiation so that i could immediately inform him about events occurring halfway around the world i

02:48:15.740 was where i needed to be at that moment because we had a very capable team on the ground in pakistan

02:48:20.060 led by the vice president led by the vice president of the united states thank you sir

02:48:25.660 guys i literally told you earlier i told you earlier like all of these statements it's basically

02:48:31.340 just their staffers just writing whatever nonsense statements for like their gotcha moment so that

02:48:37.500 they can use it for the upcoming midterms or you know as part of their re-election campaign right

02:48:43.180 like everyone knows that everyone knows that so marco rubio just called it out as well right so

02:48:48.940 see guys i'm i'm giving you trust in me trust in me i will give you the insider info when it comes

02:48:56.460 to how these politicians operate and think and why they say and do certain things i got you

02:49:04.780 i got you i i will translate political speak to english according

02:49:12.540 secretary rubio um i've heard some of my colleagues here on this committee suggest that the u.s

02:49:19.660 started a war with the iranian regime 92 days ago i happen to believe that the iranian regime

02:49:26.220 started a war against the West and Israel and has been at war with us since 1979.

02:49:34.140 Yes, I agree. Well, if you go back to 1979 into taking hostages and build it out from there,

02:49:40.700 I don't know the numbers. If we could even add them up, it's incalculable. Thousands

02:49:43.820 of people around the world, including many Americans, have been killed because of direct

02:49:47.420 Iranian action. All the IEDs, those roadside bombs that maimed and killed our soldiers,

02:49:53.260 were all the man all the mastermind work of the irgc for decades the irgc sponsors terrorist attacks

02:49:59.820 all over the planet in fact they were involved for example in the bombing of a jewish center in

02:50:04.060 argentina in 1993 or 1994. they're consistently they it's now we have people convicted convicted

02:50:11.340 in the united states of america and one was arrested yesterday iranian agents plotting the

02:50:15.340 assassination of american political leaders including the president of the united states

02:50:19.580 to be fair they were they were not actually iranian agents they were agents of the islamic

02:50:24.220 regime and they were like pakistani they've been waging non-stop not to mention their

02:50:29.980 massive sponsorship of hamas of hezbollah and all the activities those groups have undertaken

02:50:34.780 so you're absolutely right that the that the iranian system has been waging war on the on the

02:50:39.420 west but why is anybody in the united states in specific for over three decades but why is anyone

02:50:44.060 surprised they openly chant openly chant death to america death to israel they openly say israel is

02:50:50.220 the little satan but we're the big satan so i think at some point when people say this repeatedly you

02:50:55.260 believe their rhetoric and their actions back their rhetoric there's a very dangerous regime

02:50:59.420 and the notion that they would ever possess nuclear weapons sorry uh so when it comes to the

02:51:03.900 assassination attempt of uh ivanka trump that was also um an islamic regime agent um he is from

02:51:11.500 Iraq. So he's an Iraqi terrorist, a Muslim Iraqi terrorist who's part of the terrorist group

02:51:16.900 Hashdashabi, who was planning on assassinating Ivanka Trump. So again, not Iranian. That's why

02:51:23.700 when you say Iranian agent, it doesn't actually mean anything because first of all, they're not

02:51:28.460 Iranian. Second of all, they don't represent Iran. They represent the Islamic regime, which is

02:51:33.580 occupying Iran. And they're not even ethnically Iranian. Like some of them were from Pakistan

02:51:38.860 And then that other dude that wanted to assassinate Ivanka Trump is from Iraq.

02:51:44.560 People that are willing to conduct those kinds of terrorist acts,

02:51:48.060 whatever possess a nuclear weapon is unthinkable, unbearable and unacceptable.

02:51:52.300 And it's not going to happen under President Trump.

02:51:54.700 So ever since 19, well, since the Iranian nuclear program started and they basically

02:52:00.980 blocked the IAEA and others from doing the inspections that would be required in order

02:52:05.700 to monitor their use of enriched uranium. We've had presidents, Democrat and Republican,

02:52:13.940 say that an Iranian nuclear weapon was unacceptable,

02:52:17.940 but it took President Trump to actually do something about it.

02:52:26.020 It shocks me to hear some of our colleagues suggest that there was not an imminent

02:52:32.340 threat from an Iranian nuclear weapon. You and I both sat in the same skiff on the Senate

02:52:38.020 Intelligence Committee. We won't talk about the details, of course, but we knew that they continued

02:52:42.820 to enrich to the point where they could produce a nuclear weapon within a specified time. There's

02:52:47.780 some debate about how long that breakout would take, but the idea that an Iranian nuclear program

02:52:55.300 did not present an imminent threat to the United States to me is just ludicrous,

02:52:59.620 and I think it defies all evidence to the contrary, but do you think if they had acquired

02:53:05.780 a nuclear weapon that that would change the ability of the United States and our allies

02:53:10.740 like Israel to deal with this nuclear-armed Iran? I think if Iran ever acquired a nuclear weapon,

02:53:17.220 they could very well use it, because given the theological nature of their decision-making,

02:53:21.700 but just as problematic as they would have immunity. At that point, your options on what

02:53:26.980 you could do about them would be quite limited and their ability to hold the world hostage

02:53:30.340 they'd be like north korea for example they'd be north korea but worse they'd be better funded

02:53:35.380 uh they would have they would at that point decide that they own the straits of hormuz so

02:53:39.620 the difference between north korea and the islamic regime is that north korea is just focused inward

02:53:44.180 the islamic regime it's like a revolutionary thing so for them um the revolution didn't end

02:53:50.340 in 1979 1979 is the beginning of their islamic revolution because they're engaging in jihad

02:53:58.020 against the rest of the world and they literally want to like take over the world

02:54:02.180 that's why they're like colonizing all these all these countries right

02:54:07.060 and sending their terrorists to the united states and other western countries forever and everyone

02:54:11.300 has to pay them a toll and nuclear weapons you can't do anything about it um they would be able

02:54:15.540 to act with them yeah that's the other thing like if they if they acquired nuclear weapons then

02:54:19.780 goodbye to like cheap gas prices in the strait of hormones right because once they have nuclear

02:54:24.740 weapon they can do whatever they want and you can't stop them anymore at that point your options

02:54:29.620 on what you could do about them would be quite limited and their ability to hold the world

02:54:32.740 hostage they'd be like north korea for example they'd be north korea but worse they'd be better

02:54:37.460 funded uh they would have they would at that point decide that they own the straits of hormones

02:54:42.260 forever and everyone has to pay them a toll and nuclear weapons you can't do anything about it

02:54:46.420 um they would be able to act with impunity they would sponsor hezbollah they would sponsor how

02:54:50.660 much they would hyper scale their efforts of global terrorism and completely try to drive

02:54:56.180 us out of the region and ultimately destroy the state of israel that that's what their goal would

02:55:00.100 be and you wouldn't be able to do anything about it because they have a nuclear weapon

02:55:02.820 and would threaten to blow people up if you tried to move against them notwithstanding the importance

02:55:08.020 of denying uh iran a nuclear weapon i do uh i do applaud the president's attempt to try to use some

02:55:16.020 diplomacy here in order to deny them access to the enriched uranium and their other weapons

02:55:23.380 that they use against Israel and the West. But tell me, why do you think anything that the

02:55:29.460 Iranian regime agrees to that they will comply with? What evidence is there that they will agree

02:55:35.380 to anything that they ultimately will stick with? Well, again, and that's why any deal with them

02:55:40.900 has to—you have to enter into it with clearly verifiable steps. So as an example, simply putting

02:55:45.300 something on a, simply putting something on a piece of paper is not satisfactory. You have to

02:55:49.940 actually commit to doing it, then you have to actually do it. And so that's our view of it.

02:55:54.000 Our view of it is that any concessions that are made, and I don't even call them concessions per

02:55:58.020 se, but any arrangements that are made with Iran have to come after not just they agree to certain

02:56:02.200 things, but they actually do certain things. Let's be clear about this, because I don't think this

02:56:05.880 is talked about enough. If what Iran wants is nuclear energy for their country, there are

02:56:10.240 mechanisms to do it there are countries all over the world that enrich that that are able that have

02:56:15.360 nuclear energy but they don't enrich they certainly don't enrich the 60 yeah you they also they also

02:56:21.700 don't build secret underground nuclear facilities in mountains right like regular normal countries

02:56:30.220 who have good intentions with their nuclear program don't build secret nuclear bunkers

02:56:38.200 under mountains. Okay. They don't do it hidden in a mountain. Oh my gosh. I literally just said,

02:56:50.460 oh my gosh. I literally just said that. Wow. See guys, see guys.

02:56:57.780 It's like, it's like, I know what he's going to say. If what they want is nuclear energy,

02:57:02.000 they can have it. There are mechanisms for them. The problem with Iran is not that they want

02:57:05.580 nuclear energy. The problem with Iran is that everything they do is consistent with the

02:57:09.500 activities of a nation that seeks to develop a nuclear weapons capability.

02:57:14.020 Thank you, Senator Schatz. Thank you, Chairman.

02:57:17.740 Secretary, thank you for being here. Tomorrow, I'm going to have you in the

02:57:21.220 Appropriations Committee, and we'll walk the list that we talked about

02:57:25.640 a couple of weeks ago on a conference call, so I won't cover that. I want you to

02:57:29.760 sort of answer the China watchers who saw that visit

02:57:33.520 to china and saw that nvidia is now going to sell h200s i understand that's not our highest

02:57:40.800 technology but it's better than what china has and that's why people are worried and that i mean

02:57:47.760 it's pretty plain that the president violated one of the six assurances i understand that

02:57:54.880 the ambassador and you and others have sort of followed up to kind of smooth the edges but i

02:58:00.800 I mean, it's pretty clear. He says, we discussed arms sales in great detail. It depends on China.

02:58:08.340 It's a very good negotiating chip for us. So what do you say to China watchers who say

02:58:14.780 they got some pretty good deliverables and we didn't get much?

02:58:20.120 I don't see the trip. There were some deliverables, you know, the purchase of additional Boeing

02:58:24.780 aircraft, which of course is beneficial to the Chinese as well, but helps our company,

02:58:27.960 some of the agricultural concessions but the relationship that are long-standing and that

02:58:35.640 if you guys if you guys want to know uh why president trump went to china go watch my video

02:58:42.120 um it's it's in one of my playlists it's called um like not appeasement or something like president

02:58:47.320 trump's trip to china was not about appeasement these democrats are just very you can imagine

02:58:53.720 the chinese are against it everyone is we have hasn't come up for a vote yet it's not just

02:58:58.600 predictable it was predicted this was what everybody said you don't have to be some

02:59:04.600 expert in foreign policy you don't need to get into a skiff you could literally put into this

02:59:08.600 put this into an llm and say what will happen if we take kinetic action against iran and the first

02:59:13.800 thing that would pop out is well they'll probably close the strait of hormuz so it's really shocking

02:59:17.880 to me the degree to which this administration expresses it's it's absolutely wild to me it is

02:59:25.240 wild to me that the democrats are blaming the actions of a terrorist failed state on the on

02:59:36.660 president trump right it's like so so the islamic regime is engaging in terrorism in the middle east

02:59:45.280 but but that's somehow the fault of president trump right like it's it's wild it's wild to me

02:59:52.860 shock that the thing that everybody said was going to happen ended up happening but but here's the

02:59:58.060 point i would make on that in that the reverse of that is so that the the alternative is to say well

03:00:02.220 then we have to go ahead and let iran develop a nuclear weapon or they'll close the straits of

03:00:06.120 hormuz yeah exactly i mean at some point you have to take action on this situation understanding

03:00:10.020 there'll be a reaction and keep in mind keep in mind if you you know allow the islamic regime to

03:00:17.940 develop a nuclear weapon in order to keep the straight of hormones opened what do you think

03:00:22.860 is going to happen when the islamic regime acquires nuclear technology they're going to

03:00:27.380 immediately shut down the straight of hormones and then oil prices are going to go up to like

03:00:31.320 300 a barrel because then they're going to shut down the straight of hormones and no one will be

03:00:36.840 able to touch them because they're going to have the nuclear the nuclear bombs to back it up like

03:00:44.160 these these democrats are such short-sighted to it but it cannot be iran will always have the

03:00:50.900 ability to threaten the straits you don't need much sophistication to if you threaten commercial

03:00:54.880 vessels and shooting them they're going to stop moving drop you know dropping mines by the way

03:00:58.780 it's not just the iran that can do it the houthis could do it in the red sea and they're not nearly

03:01:03.280 as large as Iran is. I think this is a more fundamental challenge, and that is, are we now

03:01:08.540 forever limited doing it? Do we just have to let Iran go ahead and develop a nuclear weapon because

03:01:12.820 of their threat to close the Straits of Hormuz? That's an untenable situation.

03:01:19.080 I agree.

03:01:22.220 But I'll see him tomorrow, so don't worry.

03:01:24.100 Yeah, okay, that's good.

03:01:26.440 Tomorrow's approach.

03:01:27.640 I know we're supposed to have a hard stop at 1230, but...

03:01:30.620 No, we'll do it.

03:01:31.160 Senator Cruz has been...

03:01:32.600 Oh, this is a good one.

03:01:34.620 Only because it's him.

03:01:35.560 One more bite of the apple.

03:01:38.140 Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

03:01:39.500 I will say, Mr. Secretary, since you left the Senate, I've been obliged to serve Cuban coffee in my meetings because you left me as the only Cuban-American left behind.

03:01:48.340 So come by if you want a cafecito.

03:01:52.460 Let me start by saying that President Trump's decision to strike Iran was the most consequential decision of his second term as president.

03:02:01.180 And I want to commend you, I want to commend the president and the entire administration on the extraordinary success we have seen.

03:02:09.220 In less than 40 days, the United States has utterly and completely destroyed the military and nuclear infrastructure that the Iranian regime spent nearly 50 years building.

03:02:21.160 Every day that passes increases American leverage.

03:02:24.540 Iran is weaker, poorer, and more isolated than it's been in decades.

03:02:28.620 The president has laid out four red lines for any resolution to this military conflict.

03:02:36.700 Number one, that there be zero enrichment by Iran. Number two, that they hand over all of

03:02:42.660 their enriched uranium. Number three, that they stop funding terrorism worldwide. And number four,

03:02:49.020 that they open the Strait of Hormuz. I agree with all three, all four of those red lines.

03:02:53.760 do you agree with those red lines and how achievable do you believe they are

03:03:00.860 in the coming weeks and months yeah you stated the the poor positions of presidents take it

03:03:06.060 accurately and the entire administration is supportive of it because that's what we're

03:03:10.320 we take our directives from the president and and personally during my time in the senate these

03:03:14.880 would be consistent with my thinking i would only reverse it in the following order the straits of

03:03:18.760 hormones not it would have to come first because what they're doing there is unlawful and illegal

03:03:23.540 to begin with. That has to open immediately. And that has to open immediately in exchange,

03:03:28.240 not for anything else other than us lifting the blockade. We have a blockade on Iranian oil

03:03:32.200 leaving. And the reason why we have a blockade on Iranian oil leaving is because they closed the

03:03:36.160 straits. If they open the straits, and by open the straits, understand what we're saying. It's

03:03:40.520 saying you're not going to threaten to shoot at commercial vessels of civilians and create,

03:03:44.980 you know, ecological disaster. That's what they're doing. It's unlawful. It's illegal. It's outrageous.

03:03:48.960 Just every country in the world condemns it.

03:03:51.500 If they end that, we lift the blockade.

03:03:53.860 Then we enter into the second phase,

03:03:56.160 which is the nuclear question.

03:03:57.920 On enrichment, they don't need to enrich.

03:04:00.520 If what they want is a nuclear energy program,

03:04:02.460 they can have one without enrichment.

03:04:04.220 And somebody a few questions ago, I forgot who it was,

03:04:07.340 said that what we're working on is similar to JCPOA.

03:04:09.900 It is not.

03:04:10.740 JCPOA would have expired this year,

03:04:12.620 and it allowed them to keep all the enrichment equipment

03:04:14.700 that they needed, and clearly that equipment

03:04:17.120 could get them to 60 and 90 percent because they've done 60 percent as a

03:04:20.600 result of it so it would have to deal with that question and it would have to

03:04:23.840 deal with a highly enriched uranium that they currently are in possession of

03:04:26.660 there's no reason to have the only reason to have 60 percent of rich

03:04:29.660 uranium is to turn it into 90 percent enriched uranium and put it into a

03:04:32.780 weapon so those remain and on the sponsor of terrorism absolutely to the

03:04:36.740 point where I would argue for example it's one of the interesting things that's

03:04:39.680 happening and I know Senator Shaheen has a great interest in Lebanon it's one of

03:04:43.820 the most ironic situations in the world the lebanese government and the israeli government

03:04:47.860 could do a peace deal tomorrow israel has no territorial claims in lebanon and hezbollah is

03:04:52.700 in particular in fact hezbollah is called for the overthrow of the current lebanese government

03:04:56.240 the impediment in lebanon is the fact that hezbollah has embedded itself into that country

03:05:01.100 and is the reason for all the suffering that's happening there right now and all the suffering

03:05:04.880 that's historically happened and keep in mind guys hezbollah is 100 funded by the islamic regime

03:05:10.640 That's why the Islamic regime is saying that, you know, as part of the conditions for them to, like, I don't know, accept whatever ceasefire or deal or whatever, Israel needs to stop attacking Hezbollah.

03:05:20.700 Why? Because the Islamic regime needs Hezbollah to survive.

03:05:24.900 Right. The fact that Israel has severely weakened Hezbollah, that makes it even more precarious for the Islamic regime.

03:05:33.640 Hezbollah is occupying Lebanon the same way that the Islamic regime is occupying Iran.

03:05:37.320 In fact, one of the ways that, you know, one of the most important and I guess successful ways that the Islamic regime has suppressed the Iranian people from rising up to overthrow them is whenever things get heated, the Islamic regime will bring in their proxy forces, especially Hezbollah. Right? That's why the Islamic regime wants Hezbollah to stick around. And Marco Rubio knows that.

03:06:03.460 Entirely funded, entirely controlled by Iran.

03:06:06.320 guys i literally just said that right see everything everything that i have been telling

03:06:14.240 you about hezbollah iran the islamic all of it all of it all of it for the last last i don't know

03:06:21.080 however many years literally all of it it's true and senator marco rubio just agrees with me he

03:06:29.900 literally just said it's all funded by the islamic regime great interest in lebanon it's one of the

03:06:36.300 most ironic situations in the world. The Lebanese government and the Israeli government could do a

03:06:40.740 peace deal tomorrow. Israel has no territorial claims in Lebanon, and Hezbollah is in particular.

03:06:45.680 In fact, Hezbollah has called for the overthrow of the current Lebanese government. The impediment

03:06:49.820 in Lebanon is the fact that Hezbollah has embedded itself into that country and is the reason for all

03:06:55.040 the suffering that's happening there right now and all the suffering that's historically happened,

03:06:59.020 entirely funded, entirely controlled by Iran. There is no Hezbollah without Iran. There is no

03:07:04.820 Hezbollah without Iran. I mean, there might be a political movement with ideology, but they don't

03:07:08.760 have a bunch of rockets. They don't have a bunch of weapons without Iran. They are a complete total

03:07:13.620 proxy of Iran. And that's the kind of activity that needs to be. I want to come back to Hezbollah

03:07:18.120 in a moment, just focusing for a second on Iran itself. For some time, I have urged the

03:07:25.840 administration, I've urged Israel to arm the protesters in Iran. I don't think it is fair

03:07:33.080 to expect the Iranian people to stand up, protesters to stand up with rocks against

03:07:38.000 soldiers with machine guns. Are we arming the protesters and should we be?

03:07:43.560 Yeah, I'm not aware of any program to arm civilians in Iran to overthrow their government.

03:07:48.140 I mean, there may be other countries doing it or other elements, but certainly not the U.S.

03:07:51.260 government. All right, let's go back to Hezbollah. So you spoke with the Lebanese

03:07:56.980 President Joseph Aoun over the weekend. Very interesting. He's not aware of any programs

03:08:04.800 arming civilians. Very interesting. But he leaves the door open, right? He leaves the door open.

03:08:14.760 You know, the State Department sent out an email to journalists shortly after your call in which

03:08:20.560 the State Department spokesperson said, quote, Iran wants to prolong the conflict in Lebanon

03:08:26.160 so it can claim credit for saving the day.

03:08:29.960 I have to admit that didn't strike me as accurate.

03:08:34.020 I don't think Iran wants to keep the conflict going in Lebanon.

03:08:38.800 I think they desperately want Israel to stop killing Hezbollah.

03:08:41.920 Do you agree with that?

03:08:42.820 Yeah, I think the point I was trying to make is that

03:08:46.240 we are trying to view the Lebanon-Israeli talks

03:08:50.400 as separate and distinct from Iran.

03:08:52.900 And what Iran wants to do is mix it all together.

03:08:54.980 because hezbollah is not legitimate there's a government in lebanon that's who we're dealing

03:08:58.640 with yeah and hezbollah is not their equal in terms of who we're going to be dealing with or

03:09:02.920 who needs to be in charge so the point we're trying to make is that is what iran is trying

03:09:07.000 to stymie they are trying to stymie any effort in which israel and lebanon can work together

03:09:11.760 and prolong it so that if an arrangement is reached at some point in the future they can

03:09:16.320 claim credit for having forced it through leverage and and that's why you see for example hezbollah

03:09:21.460 agreed to a ceasefire about a week ago and then immediately violated the next within hours you

03:09:27.380 would agree every hezbollah terrorist that the idf kills makes america safer well hezbollah is a

03:09:32.740 danger to the united states there's no doubt about it i think the question is how do you do that and

03:09:36.240 how do you achieve the objective of demilitarizing and defanging hezbollah while at the same time

03:09:41.940 strengthening the legitimate government of lebanon and particularly the president and others

03:09:46.440 that's been the challenge there for a very long time that remains the challenge now of course

03:09:50.880 The capabilities of the LAF are not where they need to be.

03:09:55.740 But there are also elements within the LAF that are not who they need to be

03:09:58.700 because they facilitate in some cases and cooperate with Hezbollah.

03:10:02.520 So it's a very tricky situation.

03:10:04.100 But I point you back to two things that have happened in the last few months.

03:10:07.240 Number one, the Lebanese government expelled the Iranian ambassador because of Hezbollah.

03:10:12.500 The Iranian ambassador says, I'm not leaving, and you can't make me.

03:10:16.780 Okay, that's number one.

03:10:17.720 The second thing that's happened is just a week ago, Hezbollah openly called, went on, they openly called for the overthrow of the Lebanese government.

03:10:25.540 So no one here should be under any, Hezbollah is not just an enemy of Israel and an enemy of America.

03:10:29.940 Hezbollah is an enemy of Lebanon and of the Lebanese people.

03:10:33.480 Thank you.

03:10:33.740 Thank you.

03:10:34.180 Thank you, Senator Cruz.

03:10:35.580 Senator Ruby, you've been very generous with your time.

03:10:37.620 We appreciate it.

03:10:38.280 Okay, so that is a wrap.

03:10:41.300 We're running a little bit behind schedule.

03:10:44.340 So I'm going to go through the super chats very quickly and then we're going to call

03:10:50.820 it a night.

03:10:52.380 Guys, don't forget after this, my sister is doing a live stream documentary about space.

03:11:00.760 So for people who are interested in taking a class field trip with me over to her channel,

03:11:07.620 um the link to her channel is in uh it's posted um but like here let me let me include the link

03:11:16.000 here again for all of you um on all of the streams um so if you're interested in watching

03:11:24.920 a documentary about space that's where I'm going next so let me just add that there as well um

03:11:34.000 But guys, just remember, remember, that is a class field trip.

03:11:40.660 So don't go there and ask me questions about Iran because I'm not going to answer questions about Iran on her channel.

03:11:47.040 Her channel is a space channel.

03:11:48.300 So if you're not interested in space, don't join us.

03:11:52.360 The school field trip is optional.

03:11:56.400 It's not mandatory.

03:11:58.140 But I'm very interested in this stuff.

03:12:00.740 So, okay. Let's go to, uh, yeah, it's also about my childhood fear. Like she literally picked a

03:12:06.900 documentary about my childhood fear. So there you go. Um, all right, let's go to some of your

03:12:13.660 super chats and then, oh, let's get like a nice picture of Mark. There we go. Um, so, uh, Carla

03:12:22.200 says, Goldie Van Hollen misses sipping margaritas with Maryland men. Yeah, absolutely.

03:12:32.760 Forewarning new member, welcome. Welcome to Goldie's gang. Kat Knott says, regarding Babel

03:12:40.380 Mandab, IRGC has repeatedly threatened the Houthis will strike Israel and close Babel

03:12:45.300 Mandab, yet the Houthis haven't and been quiet because Saudi Arabia pays all government salaries

03:12:51.320 $4 billion a year. Every paycheck is from MBS. Won't jeopardize that. Well, I mean, the Houthis

03:12:58.380 are separate from the Yemeni's government. But I do have a feeling that Saudi Arabia is doing

03:13:03.880 something behind the scenes. I think the Houthis also are seeing the writing on the wall, which is

03:13:08.640 probably why they haven't gone involved yet. Although I do know that the IRGC, through their

03:13:15.440 Quds Force, they're trying to like mobilize the Houthis. They just haven't really been successful

03:13:19.920 as of yet. I mean, the Houthis are basically like the lowest IQ people,

03:13:29.780 like terrorist group in the Middle East, right? So they're basically like a rabid dog that you

03:13:35.400 just can't control. Mark Dennis says, I see multiple people in chat saying IRGC expanding

03:13:42.360 attacks. It sounds big. Thank you. Yes. So I did bring up that post from

03:13:49.380 CENTCOM. CENTCOM pretty much confirmed everything that is going on and provided an update saying

03:13:57.680 that American military had intercepted everything and there were no reported casualties.

03:14:05.960 Hop3YEdit says, Goldie, huge stuff happening right now. Yes, I know. Check to see IRGC bombing

03:14:11.940 Kuwait, Saudi, US about to start. I mean, I will keep an eye on that. I don't know if the United

03:14:18.780 States is going and Saudi Arabia about to start. But guys, so this live stream was specifically

03:14:27.120 about Marco Rubio's Senate committee hearing and my political analysis and commentary on it. And I

03:14:35.660 just wanted to keep it all in one video. But I did give some updates. And guys, I really do

03:14:40.700 appreciate that you guys give me the updates and the breaking news. So anyways, I'm going to end

03:14:47.980 the live stream here. And I will see you all or those of you who want to take a optional field

03:14:57.320 trip. Those who want to take an optional field trip, I will see you guys here. Let me just pull

03:15:03.300 it up so you guys can see what what we're doing and watching soon. So for those of you, for those

03:15:15.680 of you who are interested in learning about space and you might want to take a little bit of a break

03:15:22.580 from geopolitics, I'll see you guys here. And we're going to watch a documentary about my childhood

03:15:29.820 fear, which is called The Dying Sun. And like I said, my sister is a smart one in the family.

03:15:36.220 She's the aerospace engineer. All right, guys, have a great evening. Thank you for tuning in

03:15:43.480 to tonight's uh evening live stream of the goldie show and um yeah if i don't see you later

03:15:51.720 i'll see all of you guys tomorrow i'm israel hi god bless america fayanda iran and javitsha

Goldie Ghamari - June 03, 2026

What Rubio Just Said About Iran Should Terrify the Regime

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