The Ben Shapiro Show - The Thing Nobody Is Saying About Airport Safety

00:00:00.000 It's time to ask a question.

00:00:01.000 When you get to the airport next week, and 171 million of us will get on a plane this spring, a new record, will you be safe?

00:00:08.000 When you look at the southern border or when you read about Sheridan Gorman, 18 years old shot in the head while going out for a walk with friends to see the northern lights, do you feel safe?

00:00:17.000 We're going to spend today's show answering that question.

00:00:19.000 I want to take you through the evidence the way a prosecutor would because there is an answer and it is worse than what they are telling you on CNN.

00:00:25.000 This is The Ben Shapiro Show.

00:00:34.000 Now, you may be listening to or watching this show right now at an airport waiting in line, probably for hours.

00:00:39.000 If you are, that is because Democrats decided to shut down funding for the Department of Homeland Security in order to punish immigration and customs enforcement ICE, which is a part of DHS, for enforcing the law.

00:00:50.000 Doesn't matter that ICE's legal authority has not changed for decades.

00:00:54.000 It doesn't matter that under President Trump, they're just doing their job for the first time in decades.

00:00:58.000 DHS must be closed down because ICE is doing their job.

00:01:01.000 See, that's the thing.

00:01:02.000 Democrats don't want to enforce the border. 0.99

00:01:05.000 If they get the chance, they will return to Biden-era open borders as soon as possible.

00:01:10.000 Let's start with this horrible story about Sheridan Gorman, an 18-year-old student at Loyola University in Chicago.

00:01:16.000 She was murdered by a masked man while she was walking in Rogers Park last Thursday.

00:01:20.000 According to CBS News, quote, the shooting happened early last Thursday as Gorman, who was 18 years old, was walking with her friends near the pier at Toby Prince Beach to see the Northern Lights.

00:01:31.000 Prosecutors said as Gorman and her friends were talking toward the lighthouse shortly after 1 a.m., Gorman told her friends she saw someone hiding behind the lighthouse.

00:01:40.000 When Medina came out from behind the lighthouse, Gorman and her friends ran away, and then Medina shot Gorman in the back.

00:01:46.000 Okay, so terrible story.

00:01:47.000 The police quickly arrested a suspect, one Jose Medina.

00:01:50.000 As it turns out, the alleged murderer was a Venezuelan national in the United States illegally.

00:01:55.000 According to the New York Times, the Department of Homeland Security said on Sunday that Mr. Medina was released into the country under the Biden administration in May 2023 after coming into contact with Border Patrol agents.

00:02:06.000 I know.

00:02:07.000 Gigantic shock, right?

00:02:08.000 Federal officials said Mr. Medina was arrested on suspicion of shoplifting in Chicago about one month later in June 2023 and then released.

00:02:16.000 So you should be asking yourself, if you get arrested for shoplifting and you are an illegal immigrant, why are you still here? 1.00

00:02:21.000 The answer, of course, is that Chicago is a sanctuary city.

00:02:24.000 That means that the city and state of Illinois prevent local officials from cooperating with federal law enforcement.

00:02:30.000 That is why Medina was freed to allegedly commit a cold-blooded murder.

00:02:33.000 You see, if local law enforcement had notified ICE that they'd arrested an illegal immigrant and then held him until ICE arrived, Gorman would probably still be alive.

00:02:42.000 Republicans, up to it, including the president, have pointed out the simple fact.

00:02:45.000 Senator Ted Cruz correctly pointed out, quote, Sheridan Gorman's killer was an illegal alien who should never have been in our country. 1.00

00:02:52.000 Joe Biden's open border policies and Governor Pritzker's refusal to accept President Trump's help are the reasons why she is not with us today.

00:03:00.000 Hey, well, that's right.

00:03:02.000 And here was President Trump being questioned by Daily Wire's Mary Margaret Olihan about the situation.

00:03:08.000 It's devastating.

00:03:10.000 These people were let in by Biden.

00:03:12.000 We're getting them out.

00:03:13.000 We're getting them out fast.

00:03:14.000 That's why ICE is so important.

00:03:15.000 They're doing such a good job.

00:03:17.000 This animal, I saw the whole thing last night.

00:03:21.000 They gave me a briefing.

00:03:23.000 Came in through Joe Biden with his open door policy and his borders are a Kamala who never saw the border.

00:03:31.000 Democrats, however, are still making excuses.

00:03:34.000 Here was a Chicago alderman named Maria Haddon saying that actually it might have been Gorman's fault.

00:03:40.000 You see, when you get shot in the back of the head by an illegal immigrant who was hiding while you were out seeing the northern lights, it's possible that it's your fault for startling that illegal immigrant. 0.98

00:03:50.000 It's sort of like walking into an endangered species arena at the zoo or something.

00:03:55.000 It's your fault if something bad happens to you.

00:03:59.000 They go out on the pier, they walk around.

00:04:01.000 So the kids were out doing normal, normal things people do in the neighborhood.

00:04:05.000 And it sounds like this might have been a wrong place, wrong time.

00:04:09.000 Running into a person who had a gun.

00:04:11.000 They might have startled this person at the end of the pier unintentionally.

00:04:17.000 Other Democrats, of course, are claiming that this is all happening because we incarcerate too many criminals.

00:04:22.000 This is the big Democratic move.

00:04:23.000 It's been true for decades. 0.98

00:04:24.000 The idea is that criminality happens because too many criminals are in jail.

00:04:28.000 Sort of like the argument that if you kill too many terrorists, you're just creating new terrorists, which is weird because when you kill terrorists, then they're dead.

00:04:35.000 And the same thing is true of people who are in jail.

00:04:37.000 When they're in jail, you know what they're not doing?

00:04:38.000 They're not on the streets shooting people.

00:04:41.000 And yet, this is the typical Democratic take. 1.00

00:04:43.000 It is idiotic. 1.00

00:04:43.000 Here with Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson back in November 2025. 1.00

00:04:48.000 We cannot incarcerate our way out of violence.

00:04:52.000 We've already tried that.

00:04:53.000 And we've ended up with the largest prison population in the world without solving the problems of crime and violence.

00:05:00.000 The addiction on jails and incarceration in this country, we have moved past that.

00:05:05.000 It is racist.

00:05:06.000 It is immoral.

00:05:07.000 It is unholy.

00:05:08.000 And it is not the way to drive violence down.

00:05:14.000 Well, I feel like it's a great way actually to drive violence down.

00:05:17.000 Again, keeping criminals in jail is a great way for them not to commit crimes against people on the streets because they're in jail.

00:05:24.000 That particular theory of crime, that we have to stop crime by freeing criminals, has cost the city of Chicago both lives and cash.

00:05:30.000 The free press reports this morning, Illinois has already paid some $1 billion to ex-gang members who stop crime in Chicago.

00:05:36.000 Spoiler alert, it doesn't work all that great.

00:05:39.000 Here is the free press quote.

00:05:41.000 While the mayor is supportive of community violence intervention, a key member of his public safety team said that CVI is a revolving door for gang members.

00:05:49.000 Some of these guys who are collecting money through CVI are still committing crimes, the public safety team employee said.

00:05:54.000 It's a huge problem.

00:05:55.000 Governor J.B. Pritzker, who has been losing weight in expectation, I assume, of a presidential run, which again is misbegotten in the extreme, his office issued a statement, quote, our thoughts are with the family, friends, and Loyola University community grieving the senseless murder of Sheridan Gorman.

00:06:11.000 Violent crime has no place in our streets.

00:06:12.000 We expect the alleged perpetrator to be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.

00:06:16.000 The Trump administration needs to stop politicizing heinous tragedies and instead focus on real solutions, like reinstating federal funds to prevent violence that support our public safety efforts.

00:06:26.000 That's crazy.

00:06:29.000 That's crazy.

00:06:31.000 Politicizing heinous tragedies instead of focusing on real solutions, it is not politicization to point to the specific policy that could have stopped this murder in the first place.

00:06:40.000 In fact, it is playing politics to ignore that policy for political reasons.

00:06:45.000 But Democrats are addicted to playing politics on illegal immigration.

00:06:48.000 They've decided that illegal immigrants are the finest among us and deserve our undying sympathy, and that we ought to defund the agency that houses ICE in order to facilitate illegal immigration. 0.97

00:06:57.000 Representative Eric Swalwell, who is running for governor of California, I don't know why.

00:07:02.000 I mean, man, Eric Swalwell.

00:07:05.000 Here he was yesterday saying he wants to abolish ICE, just running far to the left.

00:07:10.000 Here we go.

00:07:12.000 ICE get lost. 0.59

00:07:13.000 And if Democrats take control of the House, I hope we strip out your funding from the root to the stem because I can't speak for us, my colleagues, but I want to apologize.

00:07:24.000 Okay, the reason that he's saying he wants to abolish ICE is not because he actually wants to abolish ICE.

00:07:28.000 It's because he wishes to win a Democratic primary in the state of California.

00:07:32.000 He wishes to become the Democratic nominee, and he feels like the more radical he is, the more he can vault himself to the top of the pile.

00:07:38.000 In just one second, I'm going to get into our cultural arbiters playing offense on behalf of illegal immigrants, you know, like Miss Rachel. 1.00

00:07:47.000 First, I've been working with Pure Talk for six years now.

00:07:50.000 I wanted to work with a wireless company that actually shares my values.

00:07:53.000 PureTalk is veteran-led, so helping veterans is huge to them.

00:07:56.000 I think that's awesome, obviously.

00:07:57.000 They've donated over half a million dollars to America's Warrior Partnership.

00:08:01.000 That's a fantastic organization that's on the front lines of preventing veteran suicide.

00:08:05.000 And PureTalk is creating American jobs with a U.S.-only workforce.

00:08:09.000 Sure, it'd be a lot cheaper to send jobs overseas like other companies do, but they're committed to delivering the best experience possible for their customers.

00:08:15.000 And yes, I love Pure Talk's service.

00:08:17.000 They give you the same towers, same network, same 5G coverage as one of the big guys, but for a fraction of the price.

00:08:24.000 Again, it is costing you less.

00:08:26.000 I use it for all of my phone calls.

00:08:27.000 The service is fantastic.

00:08:28.000 Customer service is excellent.

00:08:30.000 They have the same tower network as the big guys.

00:08:31.000 My reception is great.

00:08:33.000 I choose to do business with a company that shares my values, supporting veterans every single day and also creating American jobs.

00:08:38.000 How about you?

00:08:38.000 Head on over to puretalk.com/slash Shapiro to switch to Pure Talk.

00:08:42.000 That's puretalk.com/slash Shapiro to switch to my wireless company and America's wireless company, PureTalk.

00:08:48.000 Okay, Savvy, we are going to check in with our members, folks.

00:08:51.000 As you know, if you're a member, you can ask me questions live during the show.

00:08:54.000 If you're not a member, you just have to sit there and take it.

00:08:56.000 So you should probably become a member.

00:08:58.000 Savvy, what are they saying?

00:08:59.000 The people.

00:09:00.000 The people have spoken.

00:09:01.000 Paul wants to know: how were Clinton, Bush, Obama so successful with deportations?

00:09:05.000 Is it purely partisan politics slowing things down?

00:09:09.000 So they weren't.

00:09:11.000 The answer is that when it came to Bill Clinton, there was an enormous amount of illegal immigration.

00:09:18.000 George W. Bush, serious illegal immigration, and the biggest, of course, was Obama.

00:09:23.000 There was serious illegal immigration under Barack Obama.

00:09:26.000 It really exploded under Joe Biden.

00:09:28.000 The counts that you are seeing, when it says that, for example, Obama deported more people than Trump, that's because they are counting turnaways at the border.

00:09:35.000 There are almost no turnaways of the border these days because President Trump has made it clear that if you show up at the border, you will be turned away.

00:09:42.000 So those numbers are kind of wildly inflated from past presidents.

00:09:47.000 And yes, of course, things are more partisan now.

00:09:48.000 Nobody on the Democratic side of the aisle in the 90s was saying that we needed to abolish ICE.

00:09:53.000 That was just not a thing that was being said.

00:09:55.000 If you go back and you watch 1992, Bill Clinton's acceptance speech at the DNC, he was a moderate on illegal immigration by today's standards.

00:10:04.000 So back to our cultural arbiters.

00:10:05.000 They have been playing offense on behalf of illegal immigration.

00:10:08.000 Miss Rachel, that is the radically political children's host who spends her days playing an overgrown child and also standing for terrorist groups like Hamas. 0.99

00:10:15.000 While she has now sounded off on ICE's supposed evils, she headed down to an ICE facility in Texas to lecture Americans on why we must allow illegal immigration to run unchecked across the country, you know, for the kids.

00:10:28.000 Do you really miss your school and your friends?

00:10:31.000 Very much.

00:10:33.000 Don't you be there to be happy.

00:10:36.000 If you could help us to live this life.

00:10:40.000 I don't know if I need to be here anymore.

00:10:42.000 Don't want to be here anymore.

00:10:44.000 You miss good here.

00:10:47.000 Oh, I'm so sorry.

00:10:49.000 A lot of people want to try to help.

00:10:51.000 I wouldn't let her go to the snowy indeed.

00:10:54.000 You have a real gift for spelling.

00:10:56.000 You're so smart.

00:10:58.000 When I deflect from here, my stomach starts hurting.

00:11:03.000 That is Miss Rachel programming to your five-year-old child.

00:11:07.000 Yes, as long as she cosplays as a little girl, as an adult, you know, kind of blues clues style, then it's fine for her to be as politically left-wing as she wants to be.

00:11:16.000 Popular TV shows, too, are pulling out all the stops.

00:11:19.000 The Pitt, an HBO medical drama that I actually enjoy with my wife because she's a doctor, so she likes to analyze it.

00:11:24.000 It recently featured this particular scene in which ICE raids an ER.

00:11:30.000 Hold on, she needs to sleep.

00:11:31.000 It's only take a minute.

00:11:32.000 We're leaving.

00:11:33.000 Hey, man, you're hurting her.

00:11:37.000 Jesus Christ, what's going on now?

00:11:42.000 You can't do this.

00:11:43.000 We'll take our own.

00:11:47.000 And then Nurse tries to obstruct to the arrest of the nurse. 1.00

00:11:49.000 I know.

00:11:50.000 I mean, no.

00:11:51.000 This is too hero for God.

00:11:53.000 He's getting it!

00:11:53.000 No!

00:11:54.000 We gotta go!

00:11:55.000 No!

00:11:56.000 Don't say anything.

00:11:57.000 You don't have to say anything.

00:11:58.000 They can't make you say anything.

00:11:59.000 We'll get you an attorney.

00:12:00.000 And that is the lead doctor telling the nurse not to talk to ICE.

00:12:00.000 I promise we'll get to the next.

00:12:03.000 And I promise we'll get you out.

00:12:05.000 Because this is how it goes.

00:12:06.000 Just people being randomly arrested in ERs and obstructing the working of ERs because ICE, of course, is totally evil.

00:12:12.000 That is the key. 0.98

00:12:13.000 ICE is a bunch of monsters.

00:12:14.000 They're even arresting ER nurses, not like the ER nurses who are out in the streets, you know, actively obstructing things, like ER nurses in the ER, mostly just to be particularly cruel. 0.64

00:12:24.000 Democrats must be high on their own supply at this point.

00:12:26.000 They are just drinking from this cultural well.

00:12:29.000 They think that shutting down the Department of Homeland Security is good politics.

00:12:32.000 At least House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries seems to think so.

00:12:35.000 He is saying that it's good to shut down the DHS funding because, of course, the GOP won't agree to keep ICE away from polling sites.

00:12:44.000 Now, I have a question.

00:12:45.000 Why are illegal immigrants at polling sites? 1.00

00:12:47.000 I mean, if ICE is there, like if ICE shows up at a polling site and I show up at a polling site, I'm not worried about ICE because I am not an illegal immigrant.

00:12:55.000 It seems to me that actually making sure illegal immigrants do not show up at polling sites is not a horrible use of ICE, actually.

00:13:01.000 Anyway, here is House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries saying we must withdraw taxpayer funding from the DHS.

00:13:08.000 But one of those demands is keep ICE out of sensitive locations.

00:13:14.000 And we've defined that as schools, houses of worship, hospitals, and polling sites.

00:13:22.000 We want an explicit prohibition that ICE can go nowhere near any polling sites in the United States of America.

00:13:32.000 Why?

00:13:34.000 I'm just why?

00:13:35.000 I don't even understand that one.

00:13:36.000 I sort of get schools because the idea is that you have a lot of kids of illegal immigrants who are going to schools, and so you don't want them to have to worry about mom and dad getting pulled out of line and then thrown out of the country.

00:13:46.000 I kind of get it, like on a humanitarian level.

00:13:48.000 The polling sites, I really don't get.

00:13:50.000 In any case, the partial DHS shutdown has had the effect not just of defunding ICE, but of defunding, of course, the TSA, the Transportation Security Administration.

00:13:59.000 This has led to these gigantic lines around the country at airports.

00:14:02.000 In response, the administration has said that they will deploy ICE officers to man the TSA lines because you see ICE actually has some leftover funding from the last round of funding.

00:14:10.000 Here was Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy explaining on Sunday.

00:14:14.000 Democrats want to see long lines at airports as leverage.

00:14:18.000 President Trump's trying to take that leverage away and not make the American people suffer.

00:14:22.000 So TSA agents are law enforcement.

00:14:25.000 They know how to pat people down.

00:14:26.000 They know how to run the X-ray machines because they are, again, under Homeland Security with TSA.

00:14:31.000 So if we can bring in other assets and tools to assist TSA to get rid of these lines, yeah, I think that makes a lot of sense.

00:14:37.000 And the president's looking around every corner to make sure the American people don't suffer during the shutdown.

00:14:44.000 Now, the Democrats are saying that deploying ICE to help out.

00:14:47.000 And again, it's not going to be ICE that's actually scanning your items that go through the machine.

00:14:50.000 It's ICE that's facilitating the movement of the lines.

00:14:53.000 You know how when you go to the airport, there are members of TSA who are directing you which way to go.

00:14:57.000 ICE can do that too, and they won't be masked at the time.

00:15:00.000 Democrats say this is not going to help the wait times.

00:15:02.000 Here's Corey Booker being as manipulative as he could possibly be as per our usual arrangement.

00:15:08.000 He's taking that agency that is recklessly out of control and bringing them to our airports under the lie that somehow this is going to help deal with the long lines that he created in the first place.

00:15:23.000 Well, I mean, they will help because as it turns out, even CNN is saying that ICE is helping with TSA wait times.

00:15:32.000 Finally, we can take a deep breath here.

00:15:33.000 The numbers have dropped off.

00:15:35.000 The lines are getting shorter.

00:15:36.000 I think the average wait time now is under 40 minutes.

00:15:39.000 So if you have a flight to catch today, it's a good time to come to Hartsfield-Jackson International.

00:15:46.000 So it turns out actually that it's kind of working.

00:15:48.000 Well, meanwhile, some Republicans tried to construct a workaround for this whole situation yesterday.

00:15:52.000 Senators John Kennedy of Louisiana and Ted Cruz of Texas tried to push a partial government refunding for TSA alone.

00:16:00.000 Their plan was to pass that funding for TSA and then stack the rest of DHS funding in a reconciliation package.

00:16:07.000 Reconciliation doesn't require Democratic votes.

00:16:09.000 You can do it without having to pass the filibuster limit in the Senate.

00:16:13.000 President Trump didn't want that.

00:16:14.000 He would love for Democrats to continue to own the shutdown.

00:16:16.000 Here is Senator Kennedy explaining the situation.

00:16:20.000 Senator Cruz and I came up with a plan.

00:16:22.000 We said, look, it's a two-step process.

00:16:25.000 The Democrats have offered to open up everything but ICE.

00:16:29.000 Tiet and I said, okay, let's accept their offer.

00:16:32.000 And then at the same time, we would offer a bill for reconciliation where we don't need any Democratic votes to do whatever we wanted to do with ICE.

00:16:44.000 And that way we're out of the shutdown and DHS is back open.

00:16:48.000 We submitted that.

00:16:49.000 Senator Cruffoon submitted that to President Trump as is his right.

00:16:54.000 He said, no, no deals with the Democrats.

00:16:59.000 Now, again, I assume here that President Trump doesn't want to deal with the Democrats because he believes that they basically own the shutdown, which is probably true.

00:17:07.000 According to Punch Bowl, President Trump threatened he would slam Republicans if they left town for recess coming up.

00:17:13.000 According to Punch Bowl, quote, the president wants Republicans to stay in D.C. and keep fighting with Democrats over DHS funding and the Save America Act, the GOP's voter ID and proof of citizenship bill.

00:17:24.000 So this begs the question of whether President Trump is right on the politics.

00:17:28.000 There's a new CBS News YouGov poll.

00:17:30.000 It shows only 31% of Americans believe Democrats are right to cause the partial government shutdown.

00:17:35.000 36% believe the Democratic position is not worth it.

00:17:38.000 So President Trump isn't totally wrong to browbeat Democrats with their own peculiar shutdown position.

00:17:43.000 Meanwhile, in better news, DHS does have a new secretary, so it is no longer Christy Noam, of course.

00:17:48.000 That person is Mark Wayne Mullen, who was confirmed yesterday.

00:17:51.000 Now we can only hope he actually has a fully funded department to actually run.

00:17:56.000 Now, speaking of the situation in the country, small business is the beating heart of the American economy.

00:18:02.000 We all know this.

00:18:03.000 We are a mid-sized to small business.

00:18:05.000 There are 36.2 million small businesses across the country, and 70% of them say they need additional capital at least once a year.

00:18:11.000 If you ever run a business, this is a constant necessity.

00:18:14.000 Sometimes you just have cash flow issues.

00:18:15.000 Sometimes you need a little bit of an advance so you can get to the next pay period.

00:18:19.000 Big banks have been tightening underwriting.

00:18:20.000 They've been approving fewer loans than ever.

00:18:22.000 There's a lot of bureaucracy, tons of red tape, endless paperwork.

00:18:26.000 It can turn that whole process into a marathon.

00:18:28.000 Sometimes it takes months, and that's too late.

00:18:29.000 So if you want bank rates without the bank delays, you need to check out cardiff.co/slash Shapiro for up to 500 grand in same-day funding.

00:18:38.000 You need to check them out.

00:18:39.000 They're the largest privately held small business lender in America.

00:18:42.000 They've already funded over $12 billion since 2004, $12 billion.

00:18:46.000 Again, as a business owner, you're constantly sort of running from behind.

00:18:50.000 It is drinking from a fire hose.

00:18:51.000 And so if you get caught up short, you really need everything to move quickly.

00:18:55.000 And sometimes banks can't move that quickly.

00:18:57.000 Very often, they're trying to lock out small businesses, but Cardiff has the key.

00:19:00.000 Big banks may not want to approve your business loan.

00:19:02.000 Cardiff does.

00:19:03.000 If you've been in business for at least a year, if you're pulling in 20 grand a month in revenue, apply now for up to $500,000 in same-day business funding at cardiff.co/slash Shapiro.

00:19:12.000 Again, that's cardiff.co slash Shapiro.

00:19:16.000 Real growth, fast funding, Cardiff, borrow better.

00:19:19.000 That's Cardiff.co/slash Shapiro.

00:19:22.000 Okay, Savvy, so we're checking in with the Facts Fam for more questions.

00:19:26.000 What are they asking?

00:19:27.000 So Antonio asks: The Cato Institute has argued against mass deportations based on analysis that illegal immigrants cost less than they contribute to the economy.

00:19:35.000 Daniel D. Martino and Manhattan Institute have released a study showing the opposite.

00:19:40.000 So what methodologies lead to these findings?

00:19:42.000 How do we accurately estimate the cost of illegal immigration?

00:19:45.000 Right.

00:19:45.000 So very often institutes like Cato Institute will not take into account the cost of, for example, children of illegal immigrants.

00:19:51.000 So let's say that you're an illegal immigrant.

00:19:52.000 You come here and you have a couple of kids.

00:19:54.000 And now your kids are going to be going to public school.

00:19:58.000 They're not illegal immigrants themselves, or maybe they are.

00:20:00.000 Maybe they're dreamers, right?

00:20:02.000 Meaning they came here as minors through no fault of their own, but they're illegal immigrants.

00:20:05.000 And now we have to pay for their schooling and their health care and all the rest.

00:20:09.000 So it depends how holistically you actually measure taxpayer costs.

00:20:13.000 If you holistically measure taxpayer costs, then overall illegal immigration does cost Americans more than they receive from whatever taxes people are paying into the system.

00:20:24.000 And this has also been suggested by the Center for Immigration Studies and Mark Crocorium.

00:20:27.000 Alrighty, folks, speaking of our airport, scary footage out of LaGuardia on Sunday night, according to the Associated Press.

00:20:33.000 An Air Canada jet carrying more than 70 passengers collided with a fire truck while landing at New York's LaGuardia airport late on Sunday, killing the pilot and co-pilot, injuring several other people, according to officials.

00:20:42.000 The impact severed the cockpit, hurled a flight attendant who was still secured to her seat far from the crash site, according to her daughter.

00:20:48.000 The flight attendant actually survived.

00:20:50.000 The firetruck was crossing the tarmac just before midnight after being given permission to check on another plane that had aborted its own takeoff.

00:20:57.000 Before the collision, you can hear an air traffic controller on airport communications telling the fire truck to stop.

00:21:03.000 Here's the CCTV footage.

00:21:04.000 Scary stuff here.

00:21:08.000 So you can see the plane.

00:21:08.000 It has landed.

00:21:09.000 And then here comes the fire truck and the plane just plows directly into the fire truck.

00:21:15.000 Terrible stuff right there.

00:21:17.000 Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:21:18.000 That's really, really bad.

00:21:19.000 And here you will hear the audio of the air traffic controller who admits that he messed up.

00:21:25.000 Frontier 4195, just stop there, please.

00:21:29.000 Stop, come. 0.96

00:21:30.000 Stop, stop, stop.

00:21:32.000 Stop truck one, stop. 0.68

00:21:34.000 Stop truck one, stop. 0.68

00:21:38.000 No 163, go around. 0.99

00:21:39.000 Roman heading 2000.

00:21:41.000 646.

00:21:44.000 646 a C collaborative vehicle has a full position.

00:21:46.000 I know it can't move.

00:21:47.000 Vehicle service 19 now.

00:21:49.000 Vehicle 98.

00:21:51.000 Vehicle 98.

00:21:52.000 Please show at this time.

00:21:53.000 Runway 422 is closed.

00:21:56.000 Frontier 4195.

00:21:58.000 I got the word that we're going to be closed for a little while.

00:22:01.000 If you want prepared to return to the ransom, let me know.

00:22:03.000 Yeah, we got stuff that progressed for that, man.

00:22:06.000 That wasn't good to watch.

00:22:08.000 Yeah, I know.

00:22:09.000 I was here.

00:22:10.000 I tried to reach out to my stuff, and we were dealing with an emergency earlier.

00:22:13.000 I messed up.

00:22:16.000 Ooh.

00:22:17.000 Ooh.

00:22:18.000 The plane was essentially totaled, at least the front of the plane was totaled.

00:22:18.000 Terrible.

00:22:22.000 You can see that basically the cockpit is gone.

00:22:24.000 Both pilots were apparently killed.

00:22:26.000 Listen, our air traffic control requires upgrades, radical upgrades.

00:22:30.000 This has been a priority for a long time.

00:22:32.000 Transportation Secretary Duffy suggested this a while ago.

00:22:38.000 Many of you have reported that we need more money for air traffic control.

00:22:42.000 We are modernizing our system, but we can't fully modernize it until the Congress gives us additional money.

00:22:49.000 It's not a partisan issue.

00:22:50.000 Both Democrats and Republicans agree, but they have to have the will to finish the funding.

00:22:57.000 I'm not saying that this crash would have been prevented if we had all the equipment deployed.

00:23:05.000 So, yeah, again, he is right about this, but there is an alternative priority here.

00:23:10.000 What if we privatize both TSA and air traffic control?

00:23:13.000 There are a lot of other countries that actually do this, including ones that are to our left, Canada, the UK in part, Australia, Germany, Switzerland.

00:23:20.000 That'd be a smart move.

00:23:21.000 It would cost us a lot less money.

00:23:22.000 You could have the airlines actually pay for TSA, essentially.

00:23:26.000 You'd have them control their own security into their airlines.

00:23:29.000 It would also prevent the government from being able to shut down air travel whenever politicians fight.

00:23:35.000 And by the way, it would create massive incentive for better service and more reliable service from the airlines.

00:23:39.000 If the airlines want you to be able to move more quickly in and out, then they will facilitate that.

00:23:45.000 It would also separate the FAA from service providers.

00:23:48.000 So if you have regulatory oversight of private agencies, that is better than the same people who are making the rules also implementing those rules.

00:23:56.000 It would create an incentive for people to actually follow the law because instead of people working for the FAA, creating the regulations and then failing, and then the liability lies with the agency that created the regulation, meaning the taxpayer, it lies with the airlines.

00:24:09.000 That would make a lot more sense.

00:24:11.000 But again, one of the biggest problems with a big government is that it is sclerotic, it is inefficient.

00:24:18.000 And if you take that back to the TSA and to DHS, it ends up with the American public significantly less safe. 0.99

00:24:25.000 In just a second, we're going to get into the idiotic socialists who traveled to Cuba as a PR stunt. 0.99

00:24:30.000 Truly, the most ridiculous thing that I have seen, at least this week. 0.99

00:24:34.000 First, today's episode is sponsored by our friends over at American Beverage. 0.77

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00:24:40.000 Whether it's a soda, a sparkling water, a tea, or a sports drink, the companies behind those beverages, like Coca-Cola, Dr. Pepper, Pepsi, they make them right here in America and they always have.

00:24:49.000 So while there's a lot of talk about bringing jobs back, America's beverage companies never left in the first place.

00:24:54.000 These are American companies making American products with American workers in America's hometowns.

00:24:59.000 275,000 men and women across all 50 states who show up every day, do the work, help keep the country moving.

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00:25:09.000 For more than 100 years, these companies have been part of the American story.

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00:25:18.000 Again, that's wedeliverforamerica.org, our friends over at American Beverage.

00:25:23.000 WedeliverForamerica.org.

00:25:26.000 Alrighty, Savvy, any more questions from our facts fam?

00:25:29.000 Yes, from Nurse Debbie.

00:25:30.000 We love Nurse Debbie.

00:25:31.000 She wants to know: all the illegal aliens that crossed in the Biden administration, they can't possibly all be deported by the Trump admins.

00:25:37.000 So how do we speed up the deportations and avoid a PR nightmare?

00:25:41.000 I mean, that is the biggest question.

00:25:42.000 And I think that the reality is the American people by polling data are much more focused on people with a criminal record than they are on sort of people who are down at the Home Depot looking to do some gardening.

00:25:53.000 And so this is always the delicate balance.

00:25:55.000 One of the things that has happened is an enormous amount of self-deportations.

00:25:58.000 A lot of people who see that the administration is not going to allow them to overstay their visa, simply leaving and going home.

00:26:05.000 And I think that will solve part of the problem.

00:26:07.000 But the idea of us mass deporting 15 to 20 million people, which is probably the number of illegal immigrants in the country, that I think is a non-starter in just realistic political terms.

00:26:18.000 And so we need to tranche this.

00:26:19.000 We need to make priorities.

00:26:20.000 And then sort of like tier one is criminals.

00:26:22.000 Tier two are people who are net draws on the welfare system.

00:26:24.000 And then you get to tier three, tier four, tier five.

00:26:26.000 All right.

00:26:26.000 Meanwhile, speaking of people who truly wish to undermine America's interests at home and abroad, the so-called Nuestra America convoy has ended.

00:26:34.000 I know it's sad.

00:26:35.000 Nuestra America, that's a group associated with Code Pink, which of course is a radical left-wing, partially foreign-funded group that brought rich and famous left-wingers to Cuba to yell about how terrible America is while enjoying drinks on the beach and some unearned feelings of moral superiority.

00:26:51.000 Now, as we've talked about, Cuba is a communist hellhole.

00:26:54.000 It has been for decades.

00:26:55.000 There's an average annual salary there of $156, not per day, not per month, per year, $156.

00:27:03.000 But Nuestra America didn't come to call for the liberation of the island nation. 1.00

00:27:07.000 They came to cover how terrible it is there and blame it on America and to cry America's evil.

00:27:12.000 And of course, do a little bit of poverty tourism.

00:27:14.000 Here are our communist friends enjoying a nice outing amongst the proletariat. 0.99

00:27:19.000 You can see them on one of these little buses here.

00:27:23.000 And they're singing and having a good time.

00:27:26.000 And then they're going to go take pictures of some of the poor people.

00:27:28.000 Exciting stuff.

00:27:32.000 They're all wearing, half of them are wearing masks, by the way.

00:27:36.000 Because you have to make sure that you're masked up.

00:27:39.000 Good people.

00:27:40.000 Don't worry, good little communists.

00:27:42.000 The best kind of communists are the ones who don't have to live in the communist countries.

00:27:47.000 Genius level stuff here.

00:27:51.000 Ah, yes, poverty tourism.

00:27:52.000 Well, according to Fox News, the far-left group Code Pink sponsored flights to the communist-led island, and the group was joined by Isra Hersey, the daughter of Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and left-wing Twitch streamer Hassan Piker, an ally of Democratic socialist New York City mayor, Zorhan Mamdani.

00:28:09.000 Well, here's how it went.

00:28:10.000 So, Isra Hersey, that would be Representative Ilhan Omar's kid, she goes to Barnard, showed up. 0.73

00:28:15.000 There, she engaged in some light poverty tourism and stayed at a Ritzy five-star hotel.

00:28:20.000 Her group then joined a concert led by Kneecap.

00:28:22.000 That's the Irish band most famous for screaming about the evils of Israel. 0.99

00:28:25.000 Here's some footage of that magical concert.

00:28:27.000 Again, people just, you know, starving just off camera.

00:28:40.000 Well, I'm glad they're having a good time.

00:28:42.000 That's the important thing, is the rich people flying in from abroad to celebrate amidst the dire poverty.

00:28:48.000 Meanwhile, Cuba is in a state of rolling blackouts.

00:28:52.000 The poverty tourist hotel, it is lit.

00:28:55.000 Everywhere else, ain't no power.

00:28:58.000 So this is Cuba, and there is no electricity anywhere because there's no oil, there's no energy.

00:29:10.000 And this is what it looks like.

00:29:12.000 Except that hotel, because it's a five-star hotel.

00:29:16.000 That's it.

00:29:18.000 Well, at least the communists, you know, from abroad are having a good time.

00:29:22.000 While defending herself, Hersey tweeted, quote, yes, I am in Cuba.

00:29:26.000 People are here from across the globe to express solidarity with the Cuban people, people who are standing against the oppressive blockade exacerbated by the Trump administration.

00:29:33.000 I am honored to be here.

00:29:35.000 I am honored to make history an Eid Mubarak to all.

00:29:38.000 Yes, she's making so much history.

00:29:40.000 People generations from now will remember the spoiled brat child of the luckiest immigrants in history going to communist nations to decry the nation that took them in. 1.00

00:29:50.000 So to get this straight, this person is the daughter of an immigrant from one of the most impoverished and terrible parts of planet Earth. 1.00

00:29:56.000 Her mother was elected to Congress.

00:29:58.000 She goes to one of the most prestigious and expensive colleges in America.

00:30:01.000 Tuition plus room and board over at Barnard is $90,000 per year.

00:30:07.000 Per year.

00:30:09.000 I mean, just to do some brief like mental math right there, it would take a lot of years of Cuban salary to pay for that $90,000 per year.

00:30:19.000 Like a lot.

00:30:20.000 Like a lot.

00:30:22.000 Like 70 years or something.

00:30:23.000 She stays at five-star hotels in Cuba.

00:30:26.000 And according to Isra Hersey, America is the bad guy.

00:30:29.000 Like mother-like daughter, of course.

00:30:30.000 Ilhan Omar is one of America's greatest attractors.

00:30:33.000 She is a seething cauldron of sneering vocal grind who sympathizes with terrorists and commies all over the globe. 1.00

00:30:39.000 She put out a statement, quote, I am incredibly proud of Israel.

00:30:43.000 I can't really do her voice.

00:30:44.000 It's like down here.

00:30:45.000 And everyone who made the trip to Cuba, they took tons of aid to make sure the people of Cuba knew that there are so many people across the world who stand in solidarity with them.

00:30:54.000 Cuba has always sent aides to country, has always sent aid to countries in need and has trained thousands of physicians across the world, including my childhood physician.

00:31:03.000 In reality, Cuba tried to export revolution during the 1960s and 1970s to large swaths of Africa and joined with some of the worst, most repressive regimes on planet Earth in doing so.

00:31:12.000 Ilhan Omar says, Isra Hersey is more than just my daughter.

00:31:15.000 She is a brilliant young leader who has always worked hard to advocate for a more just world.

00:31:19.000 She inspires me and so many people with her leadership and dedication.

00:31:23.000 I am forever fortunate to have her as my daughter, but I am even more fortunate to know her as the unflinching justice warrior for justice she is.

00:31:31.000 Well, joining Hersey was Nepo Baby Socialist and dog-zapping fashioniste, Hassan Piker. 0.95

00:31:36.000 That is a man whose love for communism is matched only by his taste for Cartier jewelry.

00:31:40.000 One day soon, perhaps he'll finally get his life stream and end up in a thrupple with Mojd Ab Khomeini. 0.96

00:31:45.000 But this week, he was in Cuba where he was explaining that he had to stay.

00:31:48.000 He had to.

00:31:49.000 He had to stay in a five-star hotel, guys.

00:31:51.000 By law, he had, but here's the thing.

00:31:54.000 The island peoples out there, they love having no power. 1.00

00:31:56.000 They love having no power.

00:31:57.000 So while he was relegated to the air-conditioned hotel, they out there, they were fine.

00:32:02.000 Everything was going great.

00:32:05.000 I mean, there's like rolling blackouts that take place throughout the day, every day, all around the country, right?

00:32:11.000 11 million people.

00:32:12.000 But today is a beautiful day out here.

00:32:14.000 It's like 75 degrees, sunny.

00:32:18.000 People are partying.

00:32:19.000 People are partying the streets.

00:32:21.000 People are partying in the effing streets.

00:32:24.000 They're having such a great time, you know, like not having anything to eat.

00:32:27.000 According to Hassan Piker, revolutionary new medical cures are being withheld because of our sanctions on Cuba.

00:32:32.000 Piker knows this because he plays a doctor on TV.

00:32:36.000 Or one time he watched an actor playing a doctor on TV.

00:32:39.000 Or he just put on his smart people $1,500 glasses that day.

00:32:43.000 Yes, he is wearing $1,500 glasses. 0.99

00:32:49.000 This made me so damn man. 0.98

00:32:50.000 Americans would rather die than admit a foreign enemy has any benefit. 0.99

00:32:53.000 Exactly. 1.00

00:32:54.000 Like, they do not want, they do not want to comprehend like real shit. 0.99

00:32:59.000 They just, if it goes against their priors, if it goes against their priors, they just go, no, that's not real. 0.99

00:33:05.000 I don't believe it.

00:33:05.000 I don't want to believe it.

00:33:06.000 It's unbelievable.

00:33:07.000 It's a lie.

00:33:08.000 It's an experience that I think every American should have.

00:33:12.000 It will change you.

00:33:13.000 When Ben Rhodes told me before I went to Cuba that I was going to be very sad, he was somewhat right.

00:33:19.000 I landed and I could not believe how beautiful this island was.

00:33:22.000 I could not believe how beautiful the people were.

00:33:25.000 That was my first reaction.

00:33:27.000 I was like, wow, I'm not a big nature guy, but this is one of the coolest places I've ever been to in my life.

00:33:32.000 And then it was an emotional roller coaster.

00:33:34.000 It turned into deep sadness.

00:33:36.000 You know, you arrive in Havana and you start seeing the trash that can't be collected because there's not enough oil and gas.

00:33:42.000 There's not enough oil to operate the trash trucks.

00:33:48.000 Communism, it's doing great, but he's blaming America.

00:33:51.000 I love that he is hanging out with Ben Rhodes.

00:33:52.000 Again, remember, Hassan Piker, who is one of the worst people in the commentariat, a person who routinely sympathizes with terrorists, like all over the world, that guy is hanging out with Zorhan Mamdani and he's doing interviews with all the Democratic politicians.

00:34:05.000 It's pretty incredible.

00:34:07.000 Now, by the way, you heard him mention right there, a cure, right?

00:34:10.000 Supposedly, it is an Alzheimer's working solution.

00:34:14.000 Well, not really.

00:34:15.000 It's actually an ongoing trial in Canada.

00:34:17.000 It is not being blocked because of U.S. embargo.

00:34:20.000 The original study itself actually says more research is necessary.

00:34:24.000 But here's the important thing.

00:34:25.000 The important thing is that Hassan Piker believes he's doing something virtuous. 0.98

00:34:29.000 And so do the rest of these clowns. 0.98

00:34:30.000 And so they perform sensual massages on the planet's worst dictators, from Cuba to Iran to terrorist groups, all in the name of their magical principles. 0.99

00:34:38.000 And then they say their critics are the problem.

00:34:41.000 If you ever want to hear somebody self-pitying beyond all belief, listen to this one.

00:34:44.000 Here we go. 0.89

00:34:46.000 Liberals get mad.

00:34:48.000 Right-wingers get mad.

00:34:49.000 It's like a lightning rod for some of the most like deeply unwell people.

00:34:54.000 It's very, very frustrating.

00:34:55.000 It's very strange.

00:34:57.000 But in any case, one of the things that I'm going to say is that I think a lot of people just simply don't do things, right?

00:35:05.000 So when they see someone doing things, it triggers something in their minds where they go, well, I'm not doing anything.

00:35:12.000 And that makes me feel somewhat like it may be a little immoral that I'm not doing anything.

00:35:18.000 So I have to find a way to disparage people who are trying to do their best.

00:35:24.000 You know, Hassan Piker is doing things.

00:35:26.000 He's doing things by taking a flight over to Cuba, taking pictures of all the poor people, and then proclaiming that he is virtuous.

00:35:32.000 Is there any way that we can just give him a one-way flight to Cuba and he can just stay there?

00:35:37.000 Well, speaking of America's enemies, the war in Iran continues.

00:35:40.000 It appears that Saudi Arabia and UAE may be getting closer to direct involvement against Iran, according to the Wall Street Journal.

00:35:46.000 Quote, U.S. allies in the Persian Gulf are inching toward joining the fight against Iran, getting tougher following persistent attacks that have disrupted their economies and risk giving Tehran long-term leverage over the Strait of Hormuz.

00:35:59.000 Now, all that makes perfect sense because our Gulf allies do not really want an Iran that survives and continues to prey on the oil industry in the Persian Gulf. 0.98

00:36:07.000 That is not something they're interested in.

00:36:09.000 And an early withdrawal or Iran still being in dominant position in the Strait of Hormuz means they can cut off oil supply at any given moment.

00:36:16.000 Now, President Trump, for his part, seems to be pursuing a dual track.

00:36:19.000 Negotiations with the possibility of even harsher action.

00:36:22.000 Yesterday, President Trump suggested that there were, in fact, negotiations with Iran happening.

00:36:27.000 He then detailed his Iran deal terms.

00:36:30.000 We're looking for all of the things that we've been talking about.

00:36:33.000 We want to see no nuclear bomb, no nuclear weapon, not even close to it, low-key in the missiles.

00:36:40.000 We want to see peace in the Middle East.

00:36:43.000 We want the nuclear dust.

00:36:46.000 We're going to want that.

00:36:48.000 And I think we're going to get that.

00:36:49.000 We've agreed to that.

00:36:50.000 Yeah, we've agreed to that.

00:36:53.000 Well, we will see what Iran actually agrees to.

00:36:56.000 He says that Iran actually reached out to him because they are worried about what's about to happen.

00:37:00.000 Here's President Trump yesterday.

00:37:03.000 If this happens, and I can't guarantee it, but I think it's going to, my life is a deal.

00:37:09.000 That's all I do is deals my whole life.

00:37:11.000 I think this is something that's going to happen.

00:37:13.000 And why wouldn't it happen?

00:37:15.000 So tomorrow morning, sometime, their time, we were expected to blow up their largest electric generating plants that cost over $10 billion to build.

00:37:29.000 It's a very good one.

00:37:30.000 There was no dearth of money.

00:37:32.000 And one shot, it's gone.

00:37:36.000 It collapses.

00:37:38.000 Why would they want that?

00:37:40.000 So they called.

00:37:41.000 I didn't call.

00:37:42.000 They called.

00:37:43.000 They want to make a deal.

00:37:46.000 Now, President Trump has not said who it is that we are talking to over there.

00:37:49.000 Some contemporaneous reports do suggest that back channels are open.

00:37:53.000 President Trump will not disclose who Steve Witkoff, our negotiator, is actually talking with on the other side.

00:37:59.000 We've wiped out the leadership phase one, phase two, and largely phase three.

00:38:05.000 But we're dealing with the man who I believe is the most respected and the leader.

00:38:11.000 You know, it's a little tough.

00:38:12.000 They've wiped out, we've wiped out everybody.

00:38:14.000 Not the Supreme Leader?

00:38:16.000 No, not the Supreme Leader.

00:38:18.000 We don't know.

00:38:19.000 Well, nobody's ever, nobody heard of the second Supreme Leader, the Sun.

00:38:24.000 Nobody, we have not heard from the Sun.

00:38:26.000 Every once in a while, you'll see a statement made, but we don't know if he's living.

00:38:31.000 But the people that seem to be running it, and they seem that based on really fact, because things they've said have taken place.

00:38:41.000 Mr. President, I know you're supposed to.

00:38:43.000 I don't want him to be killed.

00:38:46.000 Okay, I don't want him to be killed.

00:38:51.000 So, who is it that Trump could be talking to, considering that the current titular leader is probably either dead or in a coma?

00:38:57.000 Well, according to the Jerusalem Post, the answer is that it is a person who is the parliament speaker and longtime IRGC higher up in Mohammed Baker Khalibaf.

00:39:06.000 Khalibaf is a hardliner, of course.

00:39:08.000 Not a lot of not hardliners at the top of the Iranian government, as per usual arrangement.

00:39:12.000 As political reports, quoting one Ali Vaez, senior Iran analyst at the International Crisis Group, quote, Khaliba is a quintessential insider, ambitious and pragmatic, yet fundamentally committed to the preservation of Iran's Islamist order.

00:39:24.000 It makes him an unlikely candidate to offer Washington any meaningful concessions.

00:39:27.000 Even if he were inclined to test the boundaries, Iran's military establishment and the broader security elite would almost certainly constrain him.

00:39:35.000 For his part, Khaliba is denying any contact.

00:39:38.000 He put out a tweet saying, our people demand the complete and humiliating punishment of the aggressors.

00:39:42.000 All officials stand firmly behind their leader and people until this goal is achieved.

00:39:45.000 No negotiations with America have taken place.

00:39:48.000 Fake news is intended to manipulate financial and oil markets and to escape the quagmire in which America and Israel are trapped.

00:39:54.000 And of course, on Sunday, Khaliba also threatened the United States on X.

00:39:58.000 He said, in addition to military bases, those financial institutions that fund the U.S. military budget are considered legitimate targets because Treasury bonds are tainted with the blood of Iranians. 1.00

00:40:06.000 If you proceed to purchase them, you are in fact attacking your own assets in primary headquarters.

00:40:10.000 We are monitoring your investment portfolios.

00:40:13.000 The Iranian foreign minister is denying outright any negotiations, so President Trump laughed at them yesterday.

00:40:21.000 Telling the truth, when it comes to productive conversations, Dan Leville, they're going to have to get themselves better public relations, people.

00:40:29.000 We have had very, very strong talks.

00:40:32.000 We'll see where they lead.

00:40:33.000 We have points, major points of agreement.

00:40:36.000 I would say almost all points of agreement.

00:40:39.000 Perhaps that hasn't been conveyed.

00:40:41.000 The communication, as you know, has been blown to pieces.

00:40:44.000 They're unable to talk to each other.

00:40:48.000 So what's really going on?

00:40:49.000 Well, three things.

00:40:50.000 First, negotiations probably are taking place.

00:40:53.000 After all, it does make some sense to keep the phone line open in case Iran decides to give up the ghost into a Dulcie Rodriguez situation over in Iran, like Venezuela. 0.77

00:41:01.000 Second, even the possibility of an off-ramp talks down the oil prices.

00:41:05.000 So yesterday, oil prices fell by over 13%.

00:41:08.000 Brent crude futures had fallen around 17 bucks or 15 percent, down below $100.

00:41:14.000 U.S. West Intermediate Texas had fallen $13, about 13.5%.

00:41:19.000 Third, this all does buy time for some more resources to reach the region.

00:41:23.000 The Wall Street Journal reported last night, quote, thousands of U.S. Marines are slated to arrive in the Middle East on Friday, according to two U.S. officials, the day President Trump has set as the deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

00:41:35.000 The Japan-based amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli, the amphibious landing dock USS New Orleans, and roughly 2,200 Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit will cross into U.S. Central Command, which is responsible for U.S. forces in the Middle East.

00:41:48.000 On Friday, the officials said it would take another few days for the unit to get to the Strait of Hormuz.

00:41:52.000 The Pentagon has also ordered another Marine unit to CENTCOM, the California-based 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit aboard the USS Boxer Amphibious Ready Group.

00:42:00.000 The unit will depart in a few weeks.

00:42:01.000 It won't arrive in CENTCOM for a few weeks after that.

00:42:04.000 So, you may recall that President Trump negotiated with Iran for weeks while American aircraft carriers made their way to the Middle East just a few weeks ago.

00:42:11.000 So, this could be a similar situation.

00:42:13.000 Meanwhile, the Grievance Party having a very rough time of it.

00:42:17.000 Senator Chuck Schumer, who has constantly decried the evils of the Iranian regime, he is having a very tough time answering whether it is good or not that President Trump went after Iran.

00:42:26.000 And he just cannot answer the question on Morning Joe.

00:42:30.000 Is it a good thing that Iran, and I think you would agree with me, epicenter of terrorism in the world since 1979, is it good that their military infrastructure is being degraded to the degree that it is, yes or no? 0.85

00:42:43.000 You can't because it's a premature question.

00:42:45.000 What is going to happen in the next several months?

00:42:47.000 No, no, I can ask that question.

00:42:48.000 I've said that.

00:42:49.000 No, no, no.

00:42:50.000 I can't.

00:42:51.000 So you have a military side, but I can show you my chart.

00:42:54.000 But I think I threw it away.

00:42:56.000 You have the military side, you have the political side.

00:42:58.000 I'm simply asking on the military side, is it good, regardless of whether we agree with going in or not, is it good that Iran's military infrastructure has been seriously found?

00:43:10.000 Again, I have to tell you, Joe, first, you can't, what's going to happen three months from now?

00:43:18.000 Is it worth it?

00:43:19.000 What's going to happen?

00:43:20.000 Will the world economy collapse?

00:43:22.000 Will something happen even worse?

00:43:26.000 It's incredible that he's unable to just say the obvious, which is, yes, it is good that we have destroyed an enormous amount of Iran's military arsenal. 0.99

00:43:33.000 And what happens next, we don't know, but that at least is good.

00:43:36.000 Meanwhile, Joe Kent, who you remember is the former national director for the counterterrorism center, the one who quit amidst a full-scale federal investigation into leaking, he is still making the rounds and he's pretending to be a principled critic of the administration.

00:43:50.000 President Trump smacked him down yesterday.

00:43:53.000 He was a man that I met at Dover.

00:43:58.000 He came and his wife was killed.

00:44:00.000 He remarried fairly quickly.

00:44:03.000 His wife was killed.

00:44:05.000 And I felt badly for him.

00:44:07.000 He ran for Congress, he lost.

00:44:09.000 He ran for Congress again and he lost.

00:44:11.000 I said, you know, he's a guy, nice guy.

00:44:15.000 Seemed like a very nice guy.

00:44:16.000 I met him.

00:44:17.000 He was pretty heartbroken.

00:44:19.000 Pretty.

00:44:21.000 But I said, you know, it's a shame.

00:44:23.000 He ran for Congress twice.

00:44:25.000 Call him up.

00:44:26.000 Give him a job in the White House.

00:44:27.000 Smart.

00:44:29.000 They gave him a job in the White House.

00:44:30.000 And this is what he does to me.

00:44:33.000 You know?

00:44:35.000 Well, it turns out President Trump probably should not be quite as sympathetic to people who beg him for a job.

00:44:41.000 Turns out that Kent was almost certainly using his slot as director of National Center for Counterterrorism to leak information about Charlie Kirk's murder to Candace Owens.

00:44:51.000 When Candace said she had a source inside the federal intelligence apparatus, I think it would be hard to believe it was not Joe Kent.

00:44:57.000 So Andrew Colvett made clear over at TPUSA.

00:45:00.000 So Andrew is a high-ranking member over at TPUSA, very close friends with Charlie.

00:45:04.000 Obviously, after Charlie was killed, there's a lot of speculation about foreign involvement, driven largely by Candace.

00:45:10.000 And Andrew Colvett actually gave texts that he had had with Charlie Kirk.

00:45:14.000 There were texts that ended up in Candace Owens's hands.

00:45:18.000 And what he says is that he had sent those texts to Joe Kent, and then magically they ended up in the hands of Candace Owens.

00:45:25.000 Well, that's weird.

00:45:26.000 I'm not sure why we want the National Center for Counterterrorism head to be on a first-text basis with a person who is acting in totally psychotic ways, but all right.

00:45:38.000 Behind the scenes, we have given everything we know to give, every single piece of information.

00:45:42.000 This was one of them.

00:45:44.000 I was told I could trust Joe Kent.

00:45:45.000 I provided the screen grabs to Joe Kent, and I don't know what happened to them at that point.

00:45:52.000 Okay, I just want to make that very clear.

00:45:55.000 Eventually, Joe did message me and suggest that I make those screen grabs public.

00:46:02.000 I declined because those were shared privately.

00:46:05.000 I didn't want to be reckless with them in the public.

00:46:07.000 There could be innocent people on that group chat that would then be harmed.

00:46:11.000 So I declined.

00:46:12.000 But then, fast forward another week or two, and they were made public.

00:46:16.000 So that's what I know: Joe suggested that they be made public.

00:46:21.000 I declined.

00:46:22.000 Then they were made public.

00:46:25.000 Well, doesn't sound like he is innocent of being a leaker.

00:46:28.000 Mark Levin had Kent on to ask about the alleged leaks, and it didn't go amazing for Joe Kent.

00:46:35.000 He gave you text messages confidentially.

00:46:39.000 Hold on, man.

00:46:40.000 Let me just get the question now.

00:46:41.000 You can dispute it.

00:46:42.000 I can't even text messages to anybody.

00:46:44.000 But I have to explain it to the public.

00:46:48.000 Hold on.

00:46:49.000 So they got, they got, what is it?

00:46:51.000 Why don't you want to answer this?

00:46:52.000 You won't even let me set up the question.

00:46:55.000 He said that he gave you text messages from Charlie Kirk, all this discussion about the Israelis and donors and so forth.

00:47:04.000 That you called him and you said, make it public.

00:47:07.000 He said, no, I'm not comfortable doing that.

00:47:10.000 And then the next thing he knows, Candace Owens has it, and she makes it public.

00:47:15.000 And she's off to the races just like you and Tucker and the rest.

00:47:19.000 Did that happen or not?

00:47:22.000 Did you give it to Candace Owens?

00:47:24.000 I didn't.

00:47:24.000 Yes or no?

00:47:25.000 I did not give anything to Candace Owens now.

00:47:27.000 Well, this is good to know.

00:47:28.000 So you've never leaked.

00:47:30.000 You didn't give anything to Candace Owens.

00:47:31.000 I have a much higher regard for you now.

00:47:34.000 That's the truth.

00:47:36.000 I do not believe Joe Kent.

00:47:38.000 And we'll see what the results of the investigation are.

00:47:41.000 All righty, folks.

00:47:42.000 Coming up, we'll be taking your questions.

00:47:44.000 Remember, we can't do that unless you're a member.

00:47:47.000 If you want to be a member and hang out with us behind the paywall, we can all be best friends.

00:47:51.000 And again, we'll go to Ice Capades together.

00:47:53.000 You have to become a member and use Code Shapiro at checkout.

00:47:55.000 You can try two months free on all annual plans.

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The Ben Shapiro Show - March 24, 2026

The Thing Nobody Is Saying About Airport Safety

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