The Ben Shapiro Show - Bonus Episode: THE REVENGE

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00:00:09.000 Well, we are here this evening bringing you a special episode of the Ben Shapiro Show, giving you updates as the conflagration between Israel and Iran unfolds.

00:00:18.000 Israel, of course, on Thursday night, struck a wide barrage of Iran. 0.95

00:00:35.000 And then this afternoon, Eastern time, the Iranians began firing back missile barrages.

00:00:41.000 About 100 missiles were fired into Israel, directed at civilian areas, unlike Israel's targets, which were military in nature.

00:00:49.000 Iranians obviously are simply attempting to kill as many Israelis as possible with their missile barrage. 0.98

00:00:55.000 The United States did aid Israel as well as other allies in knocking down as many of the missiles as possible.

00:01:00.000 Apparently somewhere between five and seven of those missiles actually ended up evading missile defense and landing inside Israel.

00:01:06.000 So let's begin at the beginning.

00:01:09.000 Obviously, over the course of this morning, there were more attacks by Israel on top Iranian nuclear scientists.

00:01:15.000 Here is some video of nuclear scientists.

00:01:18.000 Killed in the Israeli strike on a Tehran apartment building.

00:01:20.000 You can see here in this video the after effects of an Israeli strike on an apartment building targeting an Iranian nuclear scientist.

00:01:31.000 You can also see here in the background, there it is.

00:01:34.000 You can see it's a targeted strike.

00:01:35.000 Did not take down the entire building.

00:01:36.000 Took down a specific area of the building.

00:01:39.000 About as targeted as a strike can get.

00:01:40.000 But if you would like to see an even more targeted strike, an astonishing picture here of a hole in the wall, a precision strike against an Iranian military leader that apparently hit him directly in the bedroom.

00:01:53.000 It went only through the side of the building, leaving the rest of the building intact, hitting precisely one bedroom in this Iranian military.

00:02:00.000 That's how targeted Israel was. 0.71

00:02:03.000 We have emerging information on the extent of Israel's attack on the Natanz nuclear facility.

00:02:08.000 Israel is also apparently attacking Fordow.

00:02:10.000 That is a heavily bunkered nuclear facility.

00:02:12.000 Israel has been dropping weaponry on top of munitions.

00:02:16.000 The question is whether they will have the sort of munitions necessary to penetrate the deep bunkers built by the Iranians. 1.00

00:02:22.000 According to the Times of Israel, Iran's Natanz facility for uranium enrichment was hit by Israeli airstrikes targeting the Islamic Republic's nuclear program early on Friday, with Israeli defense officials assessing that the damage was significant.

00:02:33.000 According to the military, the IAF strikes destroyed the underground section of the site, which housed a multilevel enrichment hall, housing centrifuges, electrical rooms and other supporting infrastructure.

00:02:42.000 The strikes also destroyed critical infrastructure, enabling the site's continued operation and advancement of the Iranian regime's nuclear weapons project. 0.97

00:02:57.000 They said that the attack did damage several parts of the facility.

00:03:00.000 They then added there was no increase in radiation levels or chemical contamination.

00:03:03.000 However, the IAE chief, Rafael Grossi, said that the other main enrichment center in Iran, Fordo, was not hit, but that has changed since.

00:03:11.000 And, apparently, the IAEA is claiming that there may be some contamination at the Natanz nuclear facility, suggesting, of course, that the containment has been breached by the Israeli attack.

00:03:23.000 Meanwhile, other explosions in western Tehran as Israel attacks the areas around Tehran, military areas, nuclear areas around Tehran.

00:03:30.000 You can see the footage here in the background.

00:03:34.000 Significant explosions, mushroom clouds rising, smoke rising in the background.

00:03:40.000 Israel's intelligence penetration in Iran is extraordinary.

00:03:43.000 The Iranian regime legitimately does not know who is an Israeli agent and who is not.

00:03:47.000 Okay, well, all of this was lead up to the Islamic Republic's response to Israel.

00:03:53.000 Again, not particularly shocking, but Iran had suggested for hours, days, weeks, that if Israel attacked, they would, of course, respond.

00:04:01.000 It would be sort of a shock if that had not happened.

00:04:03.000 And, of course, Israel was prepared for that. 0.94

00:04:04.000 Immediately upon launching these attacks against the Iranian nuclear facilities and the military leaders of the regime, The Israeli officials told Israelis that they would have to stay inside much more than normal.

00:04:14.000 They'd have to essentially hunker down and wait it out.

00:04:16.000 This is a picture of what is called the SOFAR Red Alert Map.

00:04:21.000 The Red Alert Map, everybody in Israel has an app on their phone telling you who is being told to go down into the bunkers when there are a wide variety of missiles flying at Israel.

00:04:32.000 Pretty much everybody in the country goes into a bunker or if you are in a private house or an apartment building, what's called a mamad, which is essentially a safe room.

00:04:39.000 If you're in a major apartment building, then you might just go down into the parking lot, which is substantially fortified against the possibility of missile strike.

00:04:47.000 As you can see from this map, the entirety of Israel blanketed in these sort of red alert flags showing the possibility of an Iranian strike.

00:04:55.000 Now, this has become part and parcel of living in Israel.

00:04:57.000 It's just a reality.

00:04:58.000 Last time my wife and I and our children were visiting Israel, actually, there was a Houthi attack at about 625 on a Saturday morning.

00:05:05.000 The sirens went off in Jerusalem.

00:05:06.000 We immediately hopped out of bed, grabbed our kids, went to the Mamad and the place that we were staying, and waited until the all-clear happens, about a 10-minute period from the end of the sirens.

00:05:17.000 And then you can leave and it's all clear.

00:05:20.000 It's become kind of a regular part of life.

00:05:21.000 I was talking to friends in Jerusalem a little bit earlier today, and they said that last night they simply went to sleep.

00:05:27.000 And I know that the last time the Iranians were attacking Israel, which was several months ago, of course, last year. 0.97

00:05:33.000 Many of my friends didn't even leave the shower when the sirens were going off because their feeling was the chances of being hit were very, very low.

00:05:40.000 This is a bit different.

00:05:41.000 Everybody did, in fact, go into the bunkers as well they should have.

00:05:44.000 Now, it's a Friday night in Israel.

00:05:46.000 Friday night is, of course, the beginning of Sabbath for many Orthodox Jews. 0.77

00:05:50.000 And so many of the Israelis were gathering in this parking lot, in Mahmoud, to sing and dance in honor of the Sabbath as the Missal alerts were going on.

00:06:05.000 I can't even imagine.

00:06:07.000 Again, the difference between how Israel treats its civilians and how Iranian proxies treat their civilians is marked here.

00:06:14.000 In Israel, when the sirens go off, the civilians rush to the bomb shelters in places run by Hamas.

00:06:19.000 When the sirens go off, Hamas runs to the bomb shelters and puts the civilians directly on top of them.

00:06:24.000 But you can see this is sort of treated as normal in the state of Israel.

00:06:29.000 Israel is about to change that situation markedly.

00:06:31.000 By actively fighting back against Iran, the goal being to eliminate the Iranian nuclear capacity. 0.80

00:06:37.000 Okay, while all this was happening, there were interceptors that were fired over Tel Aviv.

00:06:42.000 Again, some five to seven missiles actually landed in the center of Israel, mostly in the Tel Aviv area.

00:06:47.000 Central Tel Aviv was impacted by ballistic missiles fired from Iran on Friday after Israel said it had detected dozens of missiles launched from Iran.

00:06:55.000 Apparently, that number is actually closer to 100 in a couple of different flights of missiles.

00:06:59.000 It's about nine minutes for a missile to get from Iran to Israel.

00:07:02.000 So all these sort of ordinance that is fired by Iran comes at different rates.

00:07:06.000 Drones may take hours because it is a significant distance.

00:07:09.000 The missiles travel quite quickly until you have a nine-minute period from when the missile launch is detected to when the missiles actually hit.

00:07:16.000 Here's some footage of interceptions over Tel Aviv.

00:07:20.000 And again, Israel has the world's most sophisticated missile defense system at this point.

00:07:25.000 President Trump is building Golden Dome for the United States, but Here's what it looks like from the ground in Tel Aviv.

00:07:38.000 You can see the interceptors are the objects that are moving in sort of erratic directions, attempting to locate and hit those missiles.

00:07:48.000 Now, of course, the sky over Israel was lit up all of tonight as those missiles were emerging over major cities in Israel.

00:07:58.000 The Iranian ballistic missile attack that actually struck Central Tel Aviv was caught on tape by reporters from Fox News.

00:08:04.000 Here's what that looked like.

00:08:08.000 Yaniv, get ready to pull it off the sticks.

00:08:10.000 Get off the sticks.

00:08:11.000 All right, let's go.

00:08:11.000 Time to go.

00:08:16.000 Okay.

00:08:17.000 Guys, come on.

00:08:18.000 Everyone move.

00:08:19.000 Everyone move now.

00:08:20.000 Stay with us.

00:08:21.000 Stay with us.

00:08:22.000 Pick up the gear.

00:08:22.000 Let's go.

00:08:28.000 W reporter Trey Yings, whose coverage has been less than stellar, but you can see, again, the missiles being shot down over center of Tel Aviv.

00:08:37.000 The other unknown, Sandra, is as Iron Dome and David Sling and the Aero System and the Terminal High Altitude Air Defense Systems are all going off at the same time, it seems, here.

00:08:46.000 The last time this happened, there was a coordinated defense between Israel, the United States, and other countries, including Jordan, to intercept these with aircraft as well.

00:08:57.000 Trey, I mean, it's unbelievable to see what we're seeing going on in the skies above Tel Aviv right now.

00:09:04.000 Yeah, John Sandro, you saw those live images.

00:09:08.000 Israel is under a massive ballistic missile barrage.

00:09:12.000 I have reported here for nearly seven years and never seen such an attack against an Israeli city.

00:09:18.000 The amount of air defense that you saw going off there, it's unprecedented.

00:09:25.000 And of course, Israel had fully expected that. 0.70

00:09:28.000 So for all of those alarmists who are suggesting that this took Israel by surprise, I mean, that's ridiculous.

00:09:33.000 Israel has been preparing for this. 0.88

00:09:35.000 And again, immediately upon the first attacks by Israel against the Iranian nuclear facilities, everybody was warned to prepare to stay near their mamad, and a statement went out to the general public to prepare to spend significant hours in their safe rooms and in safe places over the course of the next week or so.

00:09:53.000 The most stunning footage, of course, is footage of a ballistic missile hitting downtown Tel Aviv.

00:09:58.000 There was one ballistic missile that fell right in the heart of Tel Aviv.

00:10:02.000 Obviously, extraordinary footage.

00:10:03.000 *Squeak*

00:10:18.000 As you can see, that is the site of the missile falling.

00:10:21.000 Now, worthwhile noting that because Israel's air defense systems are so good, and also because Israelis do a good job of getting to safe places, the number of casualties thus far has been extraordinarily minimal.

00:10:34.000 Magandavid Adom, which is the Israeli Red Cross, says that the number of casualties in these barrages so far is 21 total.

00:10:41.000 17 of those are in mild condition or a state of anxiety.

00:10:44.000 So that'd be older people who have asthma and who have a panic attack because of the falling missiles, two of them in serious condition, two in moderate condition.

00:10:52.000 So by any statistical measure, a small miracle, given the fact that you're seeing these missiles fall in, again, populated areas.

00:11:01.000 Here's a picture of a residential building, apartment building, that was hit.

00:11:05.000 Again, the fact that you're not seeing larger casualty numbers is a testament to both Israeli defense systems and also to the fact that Israelis understand what to do in cases of emergency and they move quickly into safer areas of the buildings that they occupy.

00:11:20.000 The Iranian Revolutionary Guards put out a statement, quote, following the Supreme Leader's directive, we responded precisely and significantly.

00:11:25.000 We attacked dozens of targets, military centers, and air bases.

00:11:28.000 The response is part of Operation Promise of Truth 3, which sounds like just an absolutely terrible sequel.

00:11:36.000 I mean, if you were going to, you know, label that, that's worse than like Super Baby Geniuses 2. Operation Promise of Truth 3, or Return to the Blue Lagoon.

00:11:47.000 This one goes on the list of worst sequels, Police Academy, Mission to Moscow.

00:11:52.000 In any case, the Iranians also put out a revenge video.

00:11:56.000 This is a video they've distributed before.

00:11:59.000 You'll take note of the fact that it makes open reference to the attempted assassination of President Trump.

00:12:03.000 Again, the Iranian regime is not a regime that is rich in peaceful people seeking an off-ramp with the United States, despite the bizarre propaganda of folks who seem to be in league with those who love Iran deeply.

00:12:18.000 This is not the activity of a regime that really is ready to make peace, disarm, become a member of the family of nations.

00:12:26.000 Here is a video distributed by Iranian state media in the middle of all of this.

00:12:38.000 That is the podium of the President of the United States.

00:12:40.000 Footage of the near assassination of Donald Trump.

00:12:45.000 of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then pictures of the Iranian...

00:12:56.000 And the idea, of course, is that they are targeting President Trump as well as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well, of all of this.

00:13:06.000 Now, again, it is worth noting here that the Iranian regime, when folks say regional war might break out, a regional war did break out on October 7th.

00:13:16.000 It was all of Iran's regional allies versus Israel. 0.58

00:13:19.000 That is what happened.

00:13:20.000 And that is going to go down in the history books as one of the worst military moves in the history of mankind.

00:13:24.000 Because on October 7th, Iran gave the go-ahead to Hamas, one of its proxies, to walk across the border of the Gaza Strip and slaughter as many Jews as possible and take 250 hostage.

00:13:34.000 And the result over the ensuing year and a half has been the complete catastrophic demolition of Hamas to the extent that Hamas no longer exists as a governing entity in the Gaza Strip.

00:13:46.000 And the entire strip is going to have to be rebuilt.

00:13:49.000 And made safe.

00:13:50.000 Hezbollah, which was the most threatening arm of the Iranian regime, armed with up to hundreds of thousands of rockets and missiles with targeting technology, was completely destroyed by Israel at minimal loss of life from the Israelis.

00:14:06.000 The Hezbollah infrastructure was hit so hard that it ended up taking down Syria next door because Hezbollah was a supporting pillar for the Assad regime.

00:14:18.000 Turkish backed HTS group, and the regime was just gone.

00:14:22.000 So all of the Iranian proxies have been brought to heel by the Israelis, and now Iran, of course, has been catastrophically damaged militarily.

00:14:30.000 And that will continue.

00:14:32.000 That will continue, without a doubt, because Israel has already said that thanks to this latest round of attacks, there is more to come.

00:14:39.000 According to Channel 12 in Israel, one of the main news channels, quote, any missile fired at Israel will trigger immediate strikes against Iranian national infrastructure.

00:14:45.000 What could that infrastructure be?

00:14:47.000 Well, there's the possibility that that infrastructure is oil-related.

00:14:50.000 So far, Israel has only hit military targets, nuclear targets, members of the military, echelons.

00:14:57.000 Well, there are a couple of targets they have clearly not hit.

00:14:59.000 One is the ayatollahs themselves, and the other is the oil fields.

00:15:02.000 If Iran's oil fields go up in flames, Iran has no economy.

00:15:06.000 The economy is just gone.

00:15:08.000 A huge percentage of the Iran of the Iranian economy is oil.

00:15:13.000 In fact, asking.

00:15:22.000 And the answer, according to our friends over at Perplexity, oil exports accounted for more than 40% of Iran's total export revenue in 2023.

00:15:33.000 It represents a quarter of the country's GDP.

00:15:38.000 So, taking out the Iranian oil fields would devastate them.

00:15:42.000 Especially because that is the only thing that even makes them remotely valuable to places like China, which uses them as a giant gas station. 0.91

00:15:49.000 Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz says, Israel crossed red lines when it dared to fire missiles at civilian population centers in Israel.

00:15:54.000 We'll continue to protect the citizens of Israel and ensure the Ayatollah's regime pays a very heavy price for its criminal actions. 0.96

00:16:00.000 So this is not going to end anytime soon.

00:16:02.000 It was not going to end anytime soon.

00:16:04.000 This is all part of the plan.

00:16:06.000 Already coming up, the great one, Mark Levin, will join us.

00:16:08.000 We'll also have Plus, Democrat Congressman Ro Khanna stops by to disagree.

00:16:17.000 First, in these uncertain days, Israel now faces imminent attacks as war with Iran has already begun.

00:16:22.000 Families across Israel are living in fear, wondering if the next siren will sound in their neighborhood.

00:16:25.000 Israel just launched Operation Rising Lion, targeting nuclear and military sites deep inside Iran to prevent an existential threat while bracing for possible retaliation that could endanger millions of innocent lives.

00:16:36.000 In the midst of crisis, hope endures.

00:16:37.000 The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, IFCJ, is on the ground, delivering lifesaving aid where it's needed most.

00:16:43.000 IFCJ provides emergency food, shelter, trauma support, and security upgrades, including bomb shelters and fortified hospital units.

00:16:50.000 In the past year alone, IFCJ has helped over 2 million people, supplying basic needs to the elderly, Holocaust survivors, new immigrants, and children traumatized by war.

00:16:58.000 As Israel's defenders stand ready, IFCJ stands with them, funding bulletproof ambulances, supporting first responders, offering comfort to those in the line of fire.

00:17:06.000 Your support means food for the hungry, safety for the vulnerable, and hope for a nation under siege.

00:17:10.000 Now, as the world watches and uncertainty grows, you can make a difference through donations.

00:17:14.000 Together, we can bring light to the darkest moments.

00:17:16.000 Visit benforthefellowship.org to donate today.

00:17:18.000 That's one word.

00:17:20.000 And in fact, speaking of the fact that Iran is reliant on its oil exports, the Israeli Air Force apparently has now launched a series of attacks this evening on the oil exporting component of the Iran infrastructure.

00:17:36.000 They've been attacking energy facilities, according to a variety of sources.

00:17:39.000 the Raisi power plant in Isfahan, which is close to the nuclear refinement facility in Isfahan, is now being struck.

00:17:45.000 There are also reports of the IAF attacking on the coast of Iran, which would be Prime Minister Netanyahu is openly calling for the Iranian people to rise up and overthrow their regime.

00:17:57.000 Again, he has no intention of quote-unquote regime change directly.

00:18:02.000 Israel is not going to be sending troops anytime in there to simply take control of the country.

00:18:06.000 Iran is not a neighboring country, nor is he calling on the United States to do so.

00:18:09.000 But the Iranian people hate the regime.

00:18:11.000 And if this is a moment, if ever there is a moment for the regime to be overthrown by the Iranian people, that would be the moment. 0.92

00:18:17.000 Tonight I wish to speak to you, the proud people of Iran.

00:18:21.000 We're in the midst of one of the greatest military operations in history, Operation Rising Lion.

00:18:28.000 The Islamic regime, which has oppressed you for nearly 50 years, threatens to destroy my country, the state of Israel. 1.00

00:18:36.000 The objective of Israel's military operation is to remove this threat, both the nuclear threat and the ballistic missile threat to Israel.

00:18:45.000 And as we achieve our objectives, we're also clearing the path for you to achieve your objective, which is freedom.

00:18:55.000 In the past 24 hours, we've taken out top military commanders, senior nuclear scientists, the Islamic regime's most significant enrichment facility, and a large portion of its ballistic missile arsenal. 0.95

00:19:09.000 More is on the way.

00:19:11.000 The regime doesn't know what hit them.

00:19:15.000 They don't know what will hit them.

00:19:17.000 The nation of Iran and the nation of Israel have been true friends since the days of Cyrus the Great.

00:19:24.000 And the time has come for you to unite around your flag and your historic legacy by standing up for your freedom from an evil and oppressive regime.

00:19:36.000 It has never been weaker.

00:19:38.000 This is your opportunity to stand up and let your voices be heard.

00:19:44.000 Life.

00:19:45.000 Freedom.

00:19:47.000 As I said yesterday and many times before, Israel's fight is not with you.

00:19:56.000 It's not with you, the brave people of Iran whom we respect and admire. 1.00

00:20:01.000 Our fight is with our common enemy, a murderous regime that both oppresses you and impoverishes you.

00:20:11.000 Brave people of Iran.

00:20:13.000 Your light will defeat the darkness.

00:20:16.000 I'm with you.

00:20:18.000 The people of Israel are with you.

00:20:22.000 Well, again, this is going to be the next step here is Israel is going to be hitting the energy infrastructure. 0.98

00:20:28.000 If Iran continues to escalate, then the Ayatollahs may be on the menu. 1.00

00:20:31.000 Joining us online to discuss all of this is, of course, the great one, Mark Levin.

00:20:35.000 Mark, thanks so much for taking the time.

00:20:36.000 Really appreciate it.

00:20:38.000 Great pleasure, Ben.

00:20:42.000 So, Mark, why don't we start with the obvious, your quick reaction to everything that's been transpiring over the course of the last 24 hours, Israel's attacks on Iran, Iran firing missiles into civilian centers in Israel, and now it appears contemporaneously right now Israel is attacking the energy infrastructure in Iran, which is what it said it would do if Iran fired missiles into civilian areas.

00:21:02.000 Well, Iran's trying to kill the Israelis. 0.85

00:21:05.000 That's what they do.

00:21:06.000 That's why they exist.

00:21:07.000 Or anyone that gets in their way.

00:21:09.000 They've been trying to kill Americans. 0.98

00:21:10.000 They've killed many Americans. 0.99

00:21:11.000 They've maimed many Americans. 0.75

00:21:13.000 They've killed many Israelis. 1.00

00:21:14.000 They've maimed many Israelis.

00:21:16.000 I don't know why people are confused by this.

00:21:18.000 There's good and evil.

00:21:19.000 Is that what our faith says and Christianity and all great faiths say?

00:21:23.000 And that's what we're facing.

00:21:24.000 This is evil.

00:21:25.000 These are terrorists.

00:21:26.000 And imagine any one of these ballistic missiles having a nuclear warhead on them, being fired into Israel, or when they get intercontinental ballistic missiles, which is what they're also building.

00:21:37.000 They shoot them over to the United States. 0.96

00:21:39.000 I mean, you would have such horrendous, monstrous genocide by these absolute Islamist nutjob Nazis. 1.00

00:21:47.000 What I think is taking place right now is you're seeing a country that is not only fighting for its survival, it's fighting for the West, which has become quite weak.

00:21:56.000 It's fighting for the United States, which is strong.

00:21:59.000 And they have to support a strong president, Donald Trump.

00:22:03.000 And I don't think they're going to stop until they get this done.

00:22:06.000 They're apparently hitting their infrastructure and so forth because they warn the Iranians, you attack our population centers. 0.98

00:22:14.000 Notice Israelis aren't attacking the Iranian population centers because they know the Iranian people hate their government and they wouldn't do it anyway.

00:22:23.000 But it's the first place that the Iranians aim at, the biggest cities in Israel. 0.90

00:22:28.000 And so now the Israelis are taking out their infrastructure and they are going to crush that country. 1.00

00:22:34.000 Now, one of the things I would tell Your audience, Ben, is when you watch TV, you're only seeing one side of the war.

00:22:40.000 You're seeing what's happening to Tel Aviv and Israel and so forth, which is bad enough.

00:22:44.000 But what you're not seeing is what's going on in Iran.

00:22:47.000 And apparently, from what we're hearing from the Israelis and the Americans, is that a hell of a lot is going on in Iran.

00:22:56.000 There are military institutions.

00:22:59.000 There are nuclear institutions.

00:23:02.000 The top-level military, the top-level nuclear scientists, and as I said now, now they're hitting the infrastructure.

00:23:08.000 I mean, they're sending 200 jets over there, not all at once.

00:23:11.000 But Ben, could you imagine the sound of hundreds of jets like that?

00:23:14.000 I can't even imagine it.

00:23:15.000 I mean, it is brutal, I'm sure.

00:23:20.000 You know, Mark, I think that here we should take a moment to acknowledge the extraordinary handling of this by President Trump.

00:23:26.000 So there was a lot of consternation at President Trump by the so-called isolationist or restrainer wing inside his own party, some inside his own administration who are very upset with him for standing by Israel.

00:23:37.000 President Trump has been utterly consistent for over a decade about his perspective on this issue.

00:23:41.000 His perspective is clear.

00:23:43.000 The Iranians are the threat in the region. 1.00

00:23:44.000 The worst deal in history was the JCPOA.

00:23:47.000 He was never going to sign a new JCPOA.

00:23:52.000 He understood that the Iranians were unwilling to make a deal.

00:23:55.000 And as the president himself has said, Israel has the resources to do what it is doing and Israel has the moral capacity to do what it's doing.

00:24:02.000 President Trump deserves enormous credit.

00:24:04.000 America is not directly involved, but it has been involved in shooting down many of the the missiles and the drones that are being shot from Iran toward Israel.

00:24:13.000 He's the most pro-Israel president in American history.

00:24:15.000 And also, in my opinion, the strongest foreign policy president of my lifetime, bar none.

00:24:22.000 And so the isolationists are very upset.

00:24:25.000 They're all over TV and radio and the internet and so forth, saying that Donald Trump has abandoned MAGA.

00:24:31.000 The biggest of the bunch is this Chadsworth, you know, Katarlson, as I call Tucker Carlson, who seems to think he owns the country, who seems to think he was elected president, who seems to think he and a few of his embeds should be running foreign policy.

00:24:47.000 And for Tucker Carlson, there'd be no.

00:24:54.000 He seems to be a special pleader to the biggest, most evil, genocidal maniacs on the face of the earth.

00:25:01.000 Why that is, is something a psychiatrist will have to figure out.

00:25:05.000 I can't.

00:25:06.000 But to lash out and to say those of us who want to defend America, defend the state of Israel, defend our allies against this evil regime that keeps talking about trying to destroy us and destroy Israel, and on and on and on, It's his issue.

00:25:23.000 It's his problem.

00:25:23.000 He's a paper tiger.

00:25:25.000 That's what he is.

00:25:26.000 He means nothing.

00:25:27.000 And now he's broken from the president publicly because he says the president is broken from MAGA.

00:25:32.000 Let me ask you, Ben.

00:25:33.000 77 million people are MAGA.

00:25:36.000 77 million people voted for Donald Trump.

00:25:39.000 77 million people voted for Donald Trump, many of whom don't know who Tucker Carlson is.

00:25:45.000 Or despise him and still voted for Donald Trump.

00:25:47.000 Donald Trump has never been an isolationist.

00:25:50.000 He wasn't in his first term, and he's not now.

00:25:52.000 He's not an interventionist either.

00:25:54.000 You know, he's not a John McCain or anything like that.

00:25:57.000 He gave this regime, what, a thousand opportunities to surrender their nuclear arms, excuse me, their nuclear development, but they wouldn't do it because they don't want to do it.

00:26:08.000 And so he put his foot down.

00:26:10.000 His job is as commander-in-chief, not as a chief.

00:26:14.000 You know, subscriber-based platform, grifter, who's out there going on and on about how America really, World War II, how Americans really are at fault.

00:26:27.000 You know, how he attacks Churchill and praises Chamberlain.

00:26:31.000 How his friend, the Tulsi Cabaret, basically slimes and smears the brave men and women who destroyed Imperial Japan.

00:26:40.000 These people are crazy.

00:26:44.000 You know, Mark, when I look at the lay of the land right now, the transformative action that Israel just took really does lay the groundwork for a better region.

00:26:52.000 Again, President Trump deserves enormous credit here by really bucking all prevailing foreign policy wisdom for both his first term and his second.

00:26:59.000 In his first term, he was told that if he killed Qasem Soleimani by people like Tucker Carlson, that it would lead to a regional war.

00:27:05.000 It, of course, did not.

00:27:06.000 He was also told by many of those same folks on both the right and the left that if he moved the American embassy to Jerusalem, that would lead to a regional war.

00:27:13.000 It, of course, did not.

00:27:14.000 And President Trump was the only president in my lifetime who's been able to broker actual serious peace between Israel and her neighbors in the form of the Abraham Accords.

00:27:22.000 Now, with his support and his willingness to stand side by side with Israel, Israel actually does the dirty work in Iran. 0.82

00:27:29.000 The president has set the stage for what could be a complete transformation of the region.

00:27:33.000 Iran is completely isolated.

00:27:35.000 Iran has no allies of any serious import in the region or outside the region.

00:27:39.000 And so the ground is now clear for the possibility of expanding things like the Abraham Accords to include.

00:27:47.000 Your point is so important.

00:27:50.000 Donald Trump is doing something that no president has done for 47 years with Iran.

00:27:55.000 He is a transformative president.

00:27:57.000 He is a historic, iconic figure in so many ways, whether it comes to immigration, whether it comes to taxes and so forth and so on, and whether it comes to foreign policy.

00:28:09.000 He's not a war hawk.

00:28:10.000 You're not a war hawk.

00:28:11.000 I'm not a war hawk.

00:28:12.000 We're all peace lovers.

00:28:14.000 Why would we be war hawks?

00:28:15.000 The fact of the matter is he tried over, over, over and over again.

00:28:20.000 But what he wasn't going to do was going to surrender to this Islamist regime the way Obama did. 0.91

00:28:25.000 He wasn't going to subsidize them the way Biden did.

00:28:28.000 And so he comes in.

00:28:30.000 He says, OK, I want peace.

00:28:32.000 Let's try and reason with these people.

00:28:35.000 Let's make some offers to these people.

00:28:37.000 But they cannot spin centrifuges.

00:28:40.000 And they would not only wouldn't.

00:28:42.000 Stop spinning centrifuges.

00:28:44.000 While we're talking to them, they're speeding up the process.

00:28:47.000 They're buying fuel material from the Communist Chinese to build more missiles, long-range missiles. 0.86

00:28:54.000 In other words, rather than respect the United States, respect the process, respect the President of the United States, they took the opportunity to use that 60-day period to prove to the whole world.

00:29:07.000 That they have no intention of signing an agreement, certainly not an agreement that holds their feet to the fire.

00:29:13.000 So I agree with you.

00:29:14.000 Donald Trump has done something no president did in half a century.

00:29:21.000 You know, Mark, I think another leader who deserves enormous credit here is the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu.

00:29:26.000 He's been under consistent fire from an enormous number of people inside his own country, people on the left who've been protesting outside his home continuously for a year and a half, calling for something he doesn't have.

00:29:36.000 have the power to do, compel Hamas to give up the hostages.

00:29:40.000 They've been attempting to attack him in court on a series of charges that I consider to be spurious.

00:29:45.000 And he's been obviously at the center of a wide variety of conflicts ranging from Yemen to Lebanon to Syria.

00:29:52.000 And yet, he stood tall and made a very difficult call here to actually He's

00:30:24.000 a remarkable man.

00:30:24.000 He's a great leader.

00:30:27.000 He's being undermined at home, or at least was, and still is actually in many respects.

00:30:32.000 He's defeated every enemy that they're facing, whether it's Hamas and Hezbollah, the Houthis, and now it's the mothership of terrorism, Iran. 1.00

00:30:42.000 I don't think any of us would have imagined anything like this, but he did.

00:30:46.000 And he decided in some cases against the advice of some very weak generals and very weak members of his cabinet.

00:30:55.000 To pursue a course to put an end to this.

00:30:57.000 No more halfway deals.

00:30:59.000 No more Oslo's. 0.97

00:31:00.000 No more paper deals with Hamas and all the rest of it.

00:31:05.000 Not after October 7th.

00:31:07.000 And that's where he threw the gauntlet down and said, this isn't going to happen.

00:31:10.000 He's an enormously intelligent man.

00:31:12.000 He's an enormously brave man.

00:31:13.000 You know, we're very lucky, Ben, to have these two great leaders in the world right now, Trump and Netanyahu.

00:31:19.000 And I can tell you from my own knowledge, all these reports in Axios and elsewhere, By the isolationist embeds leaking against the president, leaking against Netanyahu, and undermining and disloyal to the president, as a matter of fact, that they were far apart, that Israel and the United States were far apart, that Netanyahu's a warmonger and Trump's not a warmonger.

00:31:40.000 No.

00:31:41.000 These guys were together.

00:31:44.000 They are close.

00:31:46.000 There was no space between them.

00:31:48.000 This decision that was made, the Israelis did infect. 1.00

00:31:53.000 Inform the United States based on what I'm reading here now.

00:31:55.000 Why wouldn't they?

00:31:56.000 Of course they would.

00:31:57.000 And I just think what people should be watching here is it's like Reagan, Thatcher, Cole, John Paul II.

00:32:07.000 But in this case, you have President Trump and you have Netanyahu.

00:32:13.000 This doesn't happen all the time.

00:32:16.000 In fact, it happens rarely.

00:32:20.000 When great men, and women in some cases, they line up as leaders of countries at a time when they're needed.

00:32:27.000 And this is one of those times.

00:32:29.000 I mean, Trump and Netanyahu are absolutely fantastic.

00:32:34.000 Well, that is Mark Levin.

00:32:35.000 You can check out and should check out his show on Fox News, Life, Liberty, and Levin every weekend.

00:32:40.000 Of course, you should check out his radio show and podcast as well, The Mark Levin Show.

00:32:43.000 Mark, thanks so much for the time.

00:32:44.000 Great to speak to you as always.

00:32:47.000 You, and thanks for everything, brother.

00:32:49.000 Take care.

00:32:50.000 Well, again, as we speak, Israeli kinetic action is ongoing in Iran.

00:32:54.000 Here to discuss the strategy of the Israelis, what they're trying to do is Mark Dubowitz of the Foundation for Defense of Democracy.

00:33:00.000 Mark, thanks so much for joining the show.

00:33:02.000 Thanks so much for having me, Ben.

00:33:05.000 So, Mark, looking at the progression of the Israeli attacks, the Iranian response, what do you make of the state of play in the Middle East right now?

00:33:12.000 Obviously, Israel's original strikes are sort of shocking in their success. 0.93

00:33:16.000 The Iranian counterattack, some of the missiles escaped.

00:33:20.000 Well, I think it's been an extraordinary 24 hours, certainly for the Israelis.

00:33:31.000 And I think they've exceeded once again their expectations.

00:33:35.000 I always said to people that if the Israelis don't surprise you, they lose. 1.00

00:33:39.000 If they surprise you, then they really are doing something extraordinary.

00:33:43.000 And like they did against Hezbollah with the beepers. 0.97

00:33:46.000 And against Nasrallah and against the whole leadership of Hezbollah and Hamas, I think they've once again really surprised us with remarkable capabilities, training, intelligence, dominance.

00:33:54.000 And so far, so good.

00:33:58.000 So looking at the amount of damage that Israel has done, we've seen some mixed reports about the damage to the nuclear reactor in Natanz.

00:34:04.000 Obviously, there's been bombing of Ford out.

00:34:06.000 There were serious questions that were raised about the Israeli capacity to seriously damage.

00:34:10.000 These institutions, obviously, we've only seen day one.

00:34:13.000 Israel is planning at least a seven-day barrage here.

00:34:16.000 You would imagine maybe up to 14 days is what they've announced.

00:34:19.000 What do you make of the Israeli capability to do serious damage to some of these underground facilities?

00:34:24.000 Yeah, I mean, it looks like they've destroyed Natanz. 0.97

00:34:26.000 They've begun to start bombing Fordow, much more difficult, buried underground, 60, 70 meters hardened with concrete.

00:34:33.000 They can do some damage.

00:34:34.000 Obviously, they need 30,000-pound massive orange penetrators, which is what the United States has, and we have B-2 bombers, and they don't. 0.96

00:34:41.000 So I think it's going to be a more difficult operation.

00:34:44.000 They started bombing Isfahan, which is an important conversion facility. 1.00

00:34:47.000 But Ben, what's a really important story that I think a lot of people are missing is that they went after 12 nuclear weapons scientists.

00:34:54.000 I mean, basically, the Robert Oppenheimer and the key physicists of the nuclear weapons program.

00:35:00.000 They've killed nine of them.

00:35:02.000 And we're waiting to see the sort of battle damage assessment on the other three.

00:35:06.000 But that is really remarkable because that is the key missing part of a deliverable nuclear weapon, right?

00:35:13.000 The Iranians have enriched material, they have missiles, but they haven't yet been able to build a warhead or even a crude nuclear device. 0.71

00:35:19.000 Well, this is the team of the top 12 most important nuclear weapon scientists.

00:35:25.000 We would build that warhead.

00:35:26.000 And if 9 of the 12 are dead or 11 of the 12 are dead, that's a devastating blow to Iran's nuclear weapons program. 0.79

00:35:34.000 Now, Mark, the Iranians obviously fired about 100 missiles at Israel over the course of the last few hours.

00:35:39.000 The vast majority of them were shot down.

00:35:41.000 I believe 93 out of 100 were shot down.

00:35:43.000 Seven landed.

00:35:44.000 Again, there are some dozens of injuries inside Israel.

00:35:47.000 What do you make of the Iranian responsive capacity?

00:35:49.000 What do you expect from Iran? 0.70

00:35:50.000 How much are they going to escalate?

00:35:52.000 And what are the risks for them in escalation?

00:35:54.000 Because obviously Israel has not yet touched the Ayatollahs or the oil fields in Iran.

00:35:58.000 Yeah, I mean, it does worry me.

00:35:59.000 They've got a massive inventory of ballistic missiles, 2,000 to 3,000 ballistic missiles.

00:36:05.000 So they have pretty extraordinary firepower.

00:36:08.000 And then they've got cruise missiles and drones.

00:36:10.000 They could do a lot of damage to Israel. 0.97

00:36:12.000 Now, obviously, the Israeli Air Force went in there with Mossad and it started to do significant damage to both the inventory and the production capability.

00:36:20.000 They also have to be very careful, as you acknowledge.

00:36:22.000 That if they're going to do damage to Israel, Israel can start to really escalate and go after significant leadership assets, including Khamenei himself.

00:36:31.000 Also, this is where the US role becomes really important because President Trump needs to message to Khamenei that he will not tolerate a response above a certain threshold against Israel and also against the United States.

00:36:43.000 And if he does, that could trigger a devastating US response.

00:36:47.000 And it's the credibility of a US response.

00:36:50.000 That's more important than if Trump actually does it.

00:36:53.000 The more credible it is, the more likely that Khamenei will be very careful because he knows the only force on God's earth that can bring down his regime is the United States military.

00:37:04.000 So, Mark, what do you think at this point is the possibility that the Iranian regime actually falls?

00:37:10.000 We've seen unexpected things happening in the Middle East, including, of course, the fall of the Assad regime after decades in power, thanks to the complete hollowing out of Hezbollah. 0.82

00:37:18.000 There's a lot of speculation.

00:37:20.000 The Iranian people do not like the Iranian regime at all.

00:37:23.000 The Iranians have shut down their Internet internally, so they do not want people obviously coordinating across Iran in the face of these Israeli attacks.

00:37:30.000 How real is the possibility that the Iranian regime collapses or that the Iranian people do something about it?

00:37:35.000 Because it does not look like a regime change is going to be forced from the outside.

00:37:39.000 Well, I think it can be both.

00:37:41.000 I mean, I certainly think that the Israelis taking out leadership assets. 0.97

00:37:45.000 I'm starting to go after the security apparatus of the regime, which, by the way, has two purposes.

00:37:51.000 One is for external aggression and one is for internal repression.

00:37:54.000 So you start to remove or to weaken or distract or undermine that internal repression apparatus.

00:38:00.000 Do you give space for Iranians to come back to the streets? 1.00

00:38:03.000 And Ben, as you know, they've been on the streets since 2009.

00:38:06.000 Millions of Iranians, multiple rounds, yelling death to the dictator, President Biden, Obama, Trump. 0.98

00:38:12.000 Are you with us or the dictator?

00:38:16.000 Weakening the regime, undermining the regime, potentially toppling the regime, a central pillar of their Iran strategy. 0.99

00:38:22.000 So pressure from the outside, maximum support for Iranians on the inside. 0.96

00:38:27.000 This is the Reagan strategy.

00:38:28.000 This is what Reagan did successfully against the Soviet Union.

00:38:30.000 I'm not going to predict the collapse of the Islamic Republic anytime soon, but I am old enough to have lived through the Cold War and the Reagan strategy.

00:38:38.000 And it was a matter of seven, eight years under Reagan where that strategy led to the collapse of the USSR.

00:38:46.000 So Mark, obviously you see some people who I would consider to be foreign policy, either ignoramuses or alarmists, who are suggesting this is going to escalate into a much larger, broader regional war or indeed World War III.

00:38:57.000 I have a hard time seeing exactly how that would happen.

00:39:00.000 And the fact is that the Iranian regime is at an all-time low in terms of its capacity, its military capacity, its ability to project force, its octopus tentacles have been essentially severed by the Israelis over the course of the last year and a half.

00:39:14.000 There's no cavalry coming for the Iranians. 0.89

00:39:16.000 The Russians are not going to step in and help the Iranians. 0.71

00:39:17.000 The Chinese are not going to step in and help the Iranians. 0.81

00:39:20.000 They're essentially on their own here.

00:39:21.000 So what do you make of people who are claiming that this is going to spiral out into a broader regional war that will quote-unquote suck in the United States or that it will turn into World War III?

00:39:31.000 I actually think those people are making war more likely, not less likely, because what they're trying to do is undercut U.S. military credibility.

00:39:38.000 If they undercut U.S. military credibility, that means the Iranians think they can escalate without paying a price. 1.00

00:39:44.000 If they think they can escalate without paying a price, they're more likely to do things that are going to actually create a broader regional conflict.

00:39:50.000 They may engage in attacks against U.S. forces, against our Gulf allies, terrorist attacks, not only in the region, but maybe in the United States.

00:40:00.000 Again, it's so important that Khamenei understands that he cannot go above a certain threshold.

00:40:05.000 And if he does, The wrath of Donald Trump and the U.S. military will come upon him.

00:40:10.000 But that crowd is making the argument, is really trying to weaken Trump, weaken his leverage, and weaken American military credibility, and in doing so, making that war more likely, not less likely.

00:40:23.000 Now, Mark, there's been a lot of speculation about the possibility that perhaps the Americans might join in for a couple of rounds.

00:40:29.000 That B-2s might be flown from Diogo Garcia to drop a couple of bombs on Fordow, for example, in an attempt to essentially destroy that remaining nuclear facility that, as you say, is deep underground and requires ordinance that the Israelis simply don't have. 0.87

00:40:42.000 What do you think are the chances of that?

00:40:43.000 Is that something the United States should actually consider?

00:40:47.000 Look, I think it really depends on President Trump.

00:40:50.000 I mean, if there's continued Israeli success, as there has been over the past 24 hours, I think he already is trying to own that success. 0.79

00:40:57.000 I mean, I think in his post today, you could see already him putting his arms around that success.

00:41:02.000 You know, I'm part of that success.

00:41:03.000 It was U.S. military equipment.

00:41:05.000 It was my support for Bibi.

00:41:07.000 These are the things that he's now starting to really embrace this, despite the fact that the isolationists in his party are starting to get very, very upset with the president.

00:41:18.000 I think at some point, President Trump could probably appreciate that.

00:41:23.000 Once the Israelis have done multiple rounds and have destroyed as much as they can, this would be an historic opportunity for him to really set back Iran's nuclear weapon program, not by months or years, but maybe decades. 0.89

00:41:36.000 And I think that may be the opportunity where he comes in with B-2 bombers, destroys Fordow, and gets rid of whatever remaining infrastructure the Iranians have. 1.00

00:41:45.000 The other potential option, and I think this is Khamenei's smartest play, is after this humiliation, wait a week.

00:41:52.000 But then actually send lead Iranian negotiator Iraqji to Oman to start negotiating with the Americans again.

00:41:59.000 Trump has already signaled.

00:42:00.000 He's prepared for a deal.

00:42:02.000 And he'll sit down with the Iranians and do this peacefully.

00:42:04.000 He's been warning about that for months.

00:42:06.000 We'll do this peacefully or we'll do this militarily.

00:42:09.000 And I think Trump was heavily engaged with Bibi in running a very well-oiled deception operation. 0.97

00:42:16.000 That lulled the Iranians into a false sense that the president wasn't prepared to greenlight Israeli military power.

00:42:24.000 And they were literally caught both figuratively and literally in their beds when the Israelis launched a preemptive attack and took out dozens of IRC commanders and army chiefs and nuclear scientists.

00:42:36.000 So Khamenei's best play, go back to the negotiations and see if he can get an offer that he can live with.

00:42:42.000 Trump, I think, actually now is in a much more powerful position, both at the negotiating table and in terms of his military option to strip Iran once and for all of the capabilities it needs to build nuclear weapons.

00:42:54.000 Mark Dubowitz, Chief Executive of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

00:42:57.000 Really appreciate the time and the insight.

00:42:59.000 Thanks so much, Ben.

00:43:00.000 Appreciate it.

00:43:02.000 Alrighty, folks.

00:43:02.000 Well, meanwhile, this weekend, you can expect the protesters out en masse.

00:43:05.000 Not against the Iranians who are firing missiles into the center of Israeli cities or against Hamas who are still holding hostages and shooting aid workers, nor indeed against criminal illegal immigrants or anyone else.

00:43:16.000 No, the protests are going to be against President Trump because no kings or something.

00:43:21.000 According to DemocracyDocket.com, millions of people are set to rally across the nation in opposition to President Trump's extreme agenda and to counter-program the military parade in Washington, D.C. To have no kings day, the over 2,000 planned demonstrations are set to kick off Saturday morning, June 14th.

00:43:36.000 And as I've mentioned on the show before, this does not mean a lot of people are going to show up at each demonstration.

00:43:41.000 You can declare yourself a demonstration in Chappaqua, New York, and it'll be you and a buddy.

00:43:47.000 And hey, cool.

00:43:48.000 You're one of the 2,000 demonstrations.

00:43:50.000 The protests have been organized by exactly the same organizations who are always there.

00:43:54.000 They just switch the signs and they're ready to go.

00:43:56.000 Professionals, people who are bored, have nothing to do, no jobs, don't need to prep for Father's Day since they don't have families.

00:44:02.000 Really great people.

00:44:04.000 The ACLU, public citizen, Planned Parenthood, the rogues' gallery of terrible left-wing groups.

00:44:09.000 Deirdre Schifling, the ACLU's chief political and advocacy officer, said, quote, No King's Day is about standing up for our democracy, standing up for our rights, our liberties, making sure we are sending a strong message that we are going to have a free and fair democracy.

00:44:21.000 Wow, that sounds like a real message to resonate around.

00:44:24.000 Very inspiring.

00:44:25.000 I still don't know what you're rallying for and against.

00:44:28.000 What is it?

00:44:29.000 Aside from Orange Man Bad, what is this, precisely?

00:44:31.000 Schifling said, we've had this democracy for 250 years.

00:44:34.000 As imperfect as it has been, we are going to keep that democracy.

00:44:37.000 Question, wasn't Donald Trump elected president of the United States?

00:44:40.000 Oh yeah, he was.

00:44:42.000 Weren't the Republicans in Congress elected?

00:44:45.000 Yes, they were.

00:44:47.000 Schifling said, we didn't want to be a conflict or an excuse to have conflict with peaceful protesters in this military parade, which is why they are not doing an event near the actual army parade.

00:44:56.000 They also, I would assume, understand the optics of protesting.

00:44:59.000 The United States military looks pretty unpatriotic and unpleasant.

00:45:04.000 Many Republican governors and law enforcement officials are saying that if protesters obstruct traffic, well, things are going to happen.

00:45:10.000 A Florida sheriff named Wayne Ivey said in a warning to demonstrators, if you throw a brick, a firebomb, or point a gun at one of our deputies, we will be notifying your family where to collect your remains because we will kill you graveyard dead.

00:45:22.000 And that sounds about right.

00:45:23.000 And I love the characterization by some of the No Kings people. 0.97

00:45:26.000 He's saying he's going to shoot protesters.

00:45:27.000 Nope, you don't speak English.

00:45:29.000 If you throw a brick or a firebomb or you point a gun at a deputy, then that is a deadly threat.

00:45:34.000 That is assault with a deadly weapon.

00:45:36.000 And so at that point, you being dead is a likely outcome.

00:45:41.000 Governor Ron DeSantis also suggested that the law in the state of Florida, my wonderful home state where we don't tolerate none of this crap.

00:45:48.000 That if you obstruct drivers, if you surround a car in a threatening manner, the driver does not have to stop and allow you to trap them.

00:45:55.000 That the driver can continue to drive.

00:45:57.000 You're not allowed to surround cars and threaten the people inside the cars.

00:46:01.000 That is because we do this thing called rule of law in Florida, a thing we didn't do back in my old hometown of Los Angeles.

00:46:08.000 Well, speaking of events in California and speaking of the unfolding events in Iran and Israel, Joining us online is California Democrat Ro Khanna.

00:46:18.000 Thanks so much for taking the time, Congressman.

00:46:21.000 Thank you, Ben.

00:46:21.000 Appreciate you having me back.

00:46:25.000 So why don't we start with, obviously, the news of the day.

00:46:28.000 Huge geopolitical news.

00:46:29.000 Israel has launched a series of devastating strikes against the Iranian nuclear facilities.

00:46:33.000 They've taken out an enormous number of the top members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.

00:46:38.000 Iran had been making very clear for years that they had an intention to develop a nuclear weapon.

00:46:43.000 What's your take on the situation?

00:46:45.000 Well, respectfully, Ben, I disagree with you on this.

00:46:49.000 One, my concern is that Iran is going to move their nuclear development underground, that they're going to get rid of monitoring.

00:46:56.000 I don't think this is like Syria or Iraq where you could just, through strikes, eliminate all the nuclear capability.

00:47:03.000 I also think it runs the risk of a regional war.

00:47:06.000 We've already seen oil prices.

00:47:08.000 Go up.

00:47:09.000 That's going to hurt Americans in the pocketbook.

00:47:11.000 Any regional confrontation could put American troops at risk.

00:47:14.000 And I really had supported President Trump's diplomatic efforts, the type that Tucker Carlson, Marjorie Taylor Greene were encouraging.

00:47:24.000 Okay, so I want to get into that briefly.

00:47:26.000 So first of all, the idea...

00:47:31.000 That obviously is untrue.

00:47:32.000 The IAEA itself found this week that that is untrue, that they have been violating all sorts of regulations and agreements they had made in the past to rush toward a nuclear weapon.

00:47:42.000 the idea that Iran needs a civilian nuclear program in the first place is an absurdity, considering it's one of the most oil-rich nations on planet Earth and its economy has been totally shut off to exports of oil.

00:47:51.000 So it's not like they're And then beyond that, the idea of a regional war spreading outward.

00:48:04.000 The fact is that the situation has changed rather markedly in the Middle East, given the fact that Israel has done such a remarkable job destroying so many of the Iranian proxies in the area.

00:48:14.000 Who precisely would come to Iran's defense? 0.86

00:48:16.000 What would a regional war look like?

00:48:18.000 Iran's worst move ever would be to strike at the United States, given the fact that right now Israel has been flying sorties literally in the middle of the day, unfettered over Iranian airspace, refueling over Iranian airspace.

00:48:29.000 Right now, the Iranian government is in the weakest military position that it has been, certainly, over the course of my lifetime.

00:48:35.000 And so, I don't even understand how you get from point A to point B with the idea of a regional war on the horizon.

00:48:40.000 The Saudis are quietly celebrating.

00:48:42.000 So are the UAE, so are Bahrain.

00:48:44.000 Pretty much everybody who's not Qatar is celebrating this morning in the Middle East.

00:48:49.000 Well, we responded with a few points.

00:48:51.000 First, you're absolutely right that Iran was cheating on the nuclear civilian development. 0.82

00:48:56.000 I'm not defending Iran.

00:49:00.000 But the main point remains that they still had a long way to go to actually put nuclear energy on a missile as a transport of actually having a strike land.

00:49:11.000 That's different than developing nuclear energy.

00:49:14.000 Second, it's unclear that these strikes are going to achieve anything because many experts believe they're just going to move the program underground.

00:49:22.000 Totally stop monitoring.

00:49:24.000 That's why President Trump was trying to pursue a deal that would have actually stopped.

00:49:31.000 Third, the fact that the oil prices have shot through the roof suggests that people believe there's going to be instability.

00:49:37.000 First of all, they could hit Israel, which they should not do.

00:49:41.000 They should not be retaliating.

00:49:43.000 Secondly, they could hit American assets.

00:49:45.000 I'm glad Secretary Rubio made it very clear that there would be a major consequence if they did that.

00:49:51.000 Third, this is going to inflame other countries that Look, the president ran on saying that he was going to de-escalate in Ukraine, de-escalate in Gaza, de-escalate with Iran.

00:50:11.000 All three of the situations arguably are more inflamed than when he took office.

00:50:17.000 So, final question on this, and then we'll move on to the situation in California.

00:50:21.000 If it were to be found that Israel had significantly hampered or destroyed nuclear facilities, including Natanz, which apparently no longer exists this morning, and if this does not spiral into some sort of regional conflict, would you acknowledge that this was exactly the right move by the Israeli government and that, in fact, Iran had been essentially stalling for time in these negotiations?

00:50:40.000 It appears that that was the conclusion that was come to not just by the Israelis, but it seems like that was the conclusion that the Trump administration was pretty clearly moving toward anyway.

00:50:49.000 Look, I'm always open to assessing based on the facts.

00:50:51.000 When they took out Nasrallah, And I've been a critic of Netanyahu.

00:50:59.000 So if the facts on the ground were to show that it was effective, of course, I would look at the facts.

00:51:06.000 But my view is that the diplomatic solution would have been better, wouldn't have caused the kind of inflammation we see, and is the one that President Trump was pursuing and should have pursued.

00:51:16.000 But look, I'll evaluate it based on the facts that come out and whether this actually does make any difference in Iran's view.

00:51:25.000 All righty.

00:51:26.000 Meanwhile, over in California, there was a fraught situation yesterday when Senator Alex Padilla sort of crashed a press conference by Senator Kristi Noem, sort of conflicting views over how to interpret the events that happened right there.

00:51:39.000 What was your interpretation of the events?

00:51:41.000 Because the video can be read a couple of ways.

00:51:43.000 I mean, the truth is, I probably would not know Alex Padilla if I ran into him on the street.

00:51:48.000 And it seems to me that one of the things that happened here is that Alex Padilla walked in.

00:51:52.000 That the security didn't recognize him.

00:51:53.000 He wasn't wearing a senatorial pin.

00:51:55.000 And he started shouting or at least asking very loudly questions of Kristi Noem when he was not invited.

00:52:00.000 And they sort of muscled him out of the room.

00:52:02.000 You read it differently.

00:52:03.000 What was your read?

00:52:05.000 Well, look, I sometimes wander into the Capitol.

00:52:07.000 I may not have my pin.

00:52:09.000 And I get people at the Capitol Police saying, sir, sir, what are you doing?

00:52:15.000 And right away, I show them my ID.

00:52:17.000 I say, I'm Ro Khanna.

00:52:19.000 I'm a congressperson.

00:52:21.000 Here, the problem was that when Alex Padilla kept saying, I'm a senator, I'm Alex Padilla.

00:52:26.000 It's on the video.

00:52:27.000 I am a senator.

00:52:29.000 Someone should have said, OK, sir, can you show us your ID?

00:52:33.000 They didn't do that.

00:52:34.000 They pushed him out of the room.

00:52:35.000 They threw him down to the floor, manhandled him, and then handcuffed him.

00:52:40.000 So regardless of one's view, certainly we could agree that that use of force and not asking him for his ID was way, way over the top.

00:52:52.000 Well, I mean, I think that you can make a security-based assessment that he is pushing back against them.

00:52:58.000 At this point, he probably should have just walked out of the room.

00:53:00.000 I assume that if you were confronted by security at the Capitol building and they said, sir, we need you to step aside, you would actually step aside as opposed to trying to kind of continue to move your force into the room before...

00:53:14.000 Do you think they ought to be fired or something?

00:53:16.000 I think there ought to be an investigation about whether they should have manhandled Alex Padilla, pushed him down to the ground and handcuffed him when he's saying, I'm a U.S. senator, I'm Alex Padilla.

00:53:30.000 I guess the first question I'd ask them is, did you really not know who he was?

00:53:33.000 Under oath.

00:53:34.000 Or did some of these people know that he was Alex Padilla, a U.S. senator?

00:53:38.000 Because there were six, seven people around them.

00:53:40.000 I find it hard to believe that no one there, including Secretary Noem, knew who he was.

00:53:45.000 I mean, someone, Secretary Noem, could have said he's Alex Padilla senator.

00:53:47.000 Now, do I think Secretary Noem knows all 100 senators or all 435 members of Congress?

00:53:53.000 Probably not.

00:53:53.000 But that should be the first question of the investigation.

00:53:56.000 And then they should look at the video, because a number of times he says, I'm Alex Padilla senator.

00:54:01.000 Did anyone say?

00:54:02.000 Okay, sir, can you please show us your ID?

00:54:04.000 Because he was led in that building legitimately.

00:54:06.000 He had a meeting with someone else in the building.

00:54:09.000 He showed his ID.

00:54:10.000 He's in the building.

00:54:10.000 So can you see from Senator Padilla's perspective, he's in that building.

00:54:14.000 He's legitimately there as a senator.

00:54:16.000 It's not like he snuck in.

00:54:17.000 And then there's a press conference across the hall.

00:54:20.000 And he goes in and, okay, yes, he's slightly disruptive, but Ben, you're a huge, huge, He was not engaged in violent protests.

00:54:31.000 He was engaged in speech, political speech.

00:54:34.000 The response to that can't be the overbearing handcuffing and manhandling of a U.S. senator. 0.69

00:54:41.000 Now, on a scale of 1 to 10, Congressman, this is being treated as like a 10-level crisis by some in Congress.

00:54:48.000 It seems very impassioned floor speeches from Senator Cory Booker and the like suggesting this is the beginning of authoritarianism in the United States.

00:54:53.000 On a scale of 1 to 10, how grave?

00:54:56.000 Is the situation, do you believe, with Senator Padilla?

00:55:00.000 I think it's a pattern, and I'd put it at a seven.

00:55:03.000 Look, I've appreciated some of your criticisms.

00:55:05.000 Of the Trump administration, you call from your ideology, balls and strikes, but I think you see an administration that has gone after universities, that is going after local governments and states, saying we want to be sending in National Guard and we want to be sending in the Marines, that is going after private corporations.

00:55:23.000 Whatever your view of DEI, the state is now telling private corporations, here's what you need to do and not do.

00:55:29.000 And now has a use of force if someone is in a And I think the totality of that says, well, this is not constitutional limited government, and we've got to stand up for that.

00:55:45.000 Now, I believe we will stand up for that, and Donald Trump is basically going to be a lame duck in a year and a half, and we're going to have the American people stand up for constitutional government.

00:55:56.000 I imagine you have concerns about the response of the state, given your views of limited constitutional government.

00:56:05.000 I mean, listen, I think there are interesting discussions to be had on a wide variety of the topics that you've just mentioned.

00:56:10.000 I will say that when I when I watch that video and then see Senator Padilla filming videos a little while later talking about it and having seen how many other actual authoritarian authoritarian countries work, I'm not going to put it a seven.

00:56:26.000 This ranks pretty low on the scale of authoritarian moves by government that I've seen in my lifetime.

00:56:31.000 But we can agree to disagree.

00:56:32.000 Congressman Khanna, really appreciate the time.

00:56:35.000 Thank you.

00:56:35.000 You're always fair.

00:56:36.000 Always enjoy chatting.

00:56:38.000 Also, it's Friday.

00:56:39.000 We made another episode and no one stopped us.

00:56:41.000 It's Ben After Dark, 7.30 p.m. Eastern, only on Daily Wire Plus.

00:56:44.000 Tonight, I hit send on a bunch of thoughts I probably should have drafted.

00:56:47.000 Glenn Beck meets a $3,900 goblin plush and his friends.

00:56:51.000 Dr. Phil assigns me homework.

00:56:52.000 I get ambushed by a license plate guessing game.

00:56:54.000 And for some reason, we're talking about Kristen Chenoweth's dog?

00:56:57.000 It's uncensored, unfiltered, and undeniably being paid for by Aaron Neffels-Moll.

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00:57:12.000 Alrighty, folks, we've reached the end of today's show.

00:57:14.000 Obviously, it's going to be a busy weekend, so we'll be back here Monday with, I am sure, a lot more.

00:57:18.000 I'm Ben Shapiro.

The Ben Shapiro Show - June 13, 2025

Bonus Episode: THE REVENGE

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