Verdict with Ted Cruz - Trump Bombs Iran-Decisive Strike Obliterates Iran's Nuclear Weapons Capacity

00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.

00:00:02.660 Guaranteed human.

00:00:05.700 Welcome, it is Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you.

00:00:09.540 Senator, we got really not a lot to talk about today.

00:00:12.680 It is America first. 0.89

00:00:15.140 You got 60 days to figure out what you want to do.

00:00:17.860 And after that, we don't play around.

00:00:19.760 What a message to the world with what just happened in Iran.

00:00:22.800 Well, this weekend was incredibly consequential.

00:00:25.120 President Trump made the decision to take out Iran's nuclear capability.

00:00:30.340 Israel had been bombing Iran for over a week, and yet there were certain facilities,

00:00:36.260 particularly the Fordow facility under a mountain in Iran, that Israel lacked the capability to take out.

00:00:42.840 And we talked about this at great length.

00:00:46.380 Tucker Carlson and I went round and round on this.

00:00:49.060 Tucker did not want the United States to engage in this bombing.

00:00:51.780 I believed that we should act decisively to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons that they could use to murder Americans. 0.97

00:00:59.460 And this weekend, President Trump resolved the issue by ordering an incredibly successful attack,

00:01:06.280 an incredibly beautifully orchestrated attack that devastated Iran's nuclear capability with no casualties on our part. 0.75

00:01:16.740 We're going to break it down.

00:01:17.460 We're going to talk about what exactly happened, what the consequences are, and what to expect in the days and weeks coming up.

00:01:24.420 It truly was consequential, and it was one that I think made not only America safer, but the rest of the world.

00:01:29.500 And we're going to break down how we got to this moment and what the president had to say about it as well in a second.

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00:03:38.520 So, Senator, let's just talk about the 60 days was the deadline.

00:03:43.280 Clearly, Iran didn't want to work on a deal.

00:03:46.900 And there was a consequence for those actions.

00:03:49.700 And it was the fact that they were so close to being able to get a nuclear weapon.

00:03:54.040 Well, that's exactly right.

00:03:55.420 President Trump gave Iran 60 days to reach a deal.

00:03:58.220 The deal, the terms he set out, was that the deal must entail complete and total dismantlement

00:04:04.880 of their nuclear weapons capability.

00:04:06.700 Every centrifuge being dismantled, being shut down.

00:04:09.420 Iran took the entire 60 days. 0.75

00:04:11.800 And then on the 60th day, the Ayatollah announced nothing.

00:04:15.360 We give you nothing.

00:04:16.440 We will not dismantle a single centrifuge.

00:04:18.720 We will build more centrifuges.

00:04:20.440 We're going to keep enriching weapons, keep enriching uranium.

00:04:23.680 And the entire purpose is to develop a nuclear weapon to be able to use it against Israel or 0.76

00:04:28.900 more to the point, against the United States of America.

00:04:31.560 On the 61st day, Israel began the aerial assault with incredible precision. 0.65

00:04:37.160 And I've got to say, by the way, the precision of the Mossad in terms of identifying senior

00:04:41.640 military officials in Iran, taking out one after the other after the other.

00:04:46.060 You know, every person that got named the chief of staff of the IRGC, it seemed within

00:04:50.340 hours they were taken out.

00:04:52.000 Then they named a new chief of staff of the IRGC.

00:04:54.520 And within hours, he got taken out, one after the other after the other.

00:04:57.560 I've got to tell you, that call saying, hey, Ben, you're the new chief of staff of the IRGC,

00:05:01.580 I think people stopped answering their phone calls.

00:05:03.500 It was almost like they were Hezbollah terrorists getting paged.

00:05:06.840 That was their reaction to it.

00:05:08.920 However, as incredibly effective as Israel's attack was on the senior military leadership,

00:05:14.460 as incredibly effective as Israel's bombing attack was on nuclear facilities, there were

00:05:20.360 certain facilities they did not have the equipment to take out.

00:05:25.100 And chief among those was Fordow.

00:05:27.040 Fordow was built into the base of a gigantic mountain, and it was built to withstand aerial

00:05:33.580 assaults.

00:05:34.620 So at midnight on Friday, the B-2 strike package left the continental United States.

00:05:41.080 Part of the package went east.

00:05:42.960 The other part went west as a decoy.

00:05:45.560 The main strike package was comprised of seven B-2 bombers, which flew for 18 hours into the

00:05:54.080 target area.

00:05:54.720 Those seven B-2 bombers dropped 14 Bunker Buster bombs.

00:06:01.360 Each of those bombs weighs 30,000 pounds.

00:06:05.080 By the way, this is the first battle use of these bombs in history.

00:06:08.900 In addition to that, 75 precision guided weapons were used during the operation.

00:06:14.420 More than 125 U.S. aircraft participated in the mission, including B-2 stealth bombers, multiple

00:06:23.700 flights of fourth- and fifth-generation fighters, dozens of air refueling tankers, a guided missile

00:06:30.600 submarine, and a full array of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance aircraft, as well

00:06:37.280 as hundreds of maintenance and operational professionals.

00:06:40.280 This attack was a spectacular success.

00:06:44.200 We had no American casualties.

00:06:46.140 The Iranians did not know it was coming. 1.00

00:06:48.440 And suddenly, the crown jewel of their nuclear weapon operation was destroyed, was devastated,

00:06:54.760 was on fire.

00:06:56.440 Let me start by saying congratulations to the incredible airmen who led this attack, the

00:07:01.780 fighting servicemen and women who risked their lives.

00:07:04.940 This was a dangerous combat operation and who carried it out with absolute precision.

00:07:10.100 But I also want to praise President Trump for having the strength of resolve to say, we will

00:07:16.840 not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon and we will do whatever it takes to stop it. 0.91

00:07:21.220 He was exactly right.

00:07:23.040 I stand with President Trump.

00:07:25.100 And tonight, we are saluting our brave servicemen and women and the commander-in-chief who sent

00:07:30.800 them out to keep America safe.

00:07:32.860 I want to ask you a question, and we're going to go backwards and talk more, obviously, about

00:07:37.280 this attack and how important it is.

00:07:39.880 But there is a new headline and a real concern that has come up, and that is about, okay, how

00:07:44.720 will Iran retaliate, Senator?

00:07:46.320 And one of the big concerns that's really been brought up, it's being written about right

00:07:50.980 now, I'm seeing articles pop left and right on this, is the possibility of Iranian sleeper

00:07:57.300 cells in the U.S.

00:07:58.160 You and I have been talking about this now, unfortunately, for years, that the wide-open

00:08:03.140 southern border was allowing for people on the terrorist watch list to get into this country.

00:08:08.940 And the numbers are also, I think, shocking of how many Iranians came across our southern 1.00

00:08:15.420 border, that we just, or the Biden administration, I should say, just let them into this country 0.88

00:08:20.480 and let them walk freely, and we just let them go.

00:08:23.820 And that is something that every American should be really concerned about right now.

00:08:27.700 Yeah, absolutely.

00:08:28.860 It is a very dangerous time.

00:08:30.840 And understand, I am not remotely Pollyannish about the threats we are facing.

00:08:35.940 You know, you and I talked in the last podcast about the interview I did with Tucker Carlson,

00:08:40.380 where he got all agitated and said, well, it could be dangerous if we attack Iran, that

00:08:45.380 all sorts of bad things could happen.

00:08:47.340 I don't deny that.

00:08:49.020 Yes, it is very, very dangerous right now. 0.97

00:08:51.360 I just think it is more dangerous to have a theocratic lunatic like the Ayatollah who chants 0.99

00:08:57.060 death to America and death to Israel, who calls Israel the little Satan and calls America 1.00

00:09:01.920 the great Satan, to let a lunatic like that have nuclear weapons, which could kill millions 1.00

00:09:07.140 of Americans. 0.98

00:09:08.200 One of the things to understand, you know, a lot of the commentators, particularly those

00:09:12.400 who don't want to see us stand up to Iran, they say, this is all for Israel. 0.77

00:09:16.700 This is all for Israel. 0.97

00:09:17.760 Listen, I agree with President Trump.

00:09:19.140 We should stand unshakably with Israel. 1.00

00:09:21.640 But understand what happened this weekend.

00:09:23.660 This was not for Israel. 0.99

00:09:24.680 This was for the United States of America.

00:09:26.440 Why?

00:09:27.520 Because the Ayatollah is actively developing an ICBM program.

00:09:32.320 What does ICBM stand for?

00:09:34.560 Intercontinental Ballistic Missile.

00:09:36.020 Ben, you don't need an ICBM to go from Iran to Israel.

00:09:41.000 That's not intercontinental.

00:09:43.620 Iran is right now firing hundreds of ballistic missiles into Israel.

00:09:50.120 They need an ICBM for one purpose and one purpose only, which is to carry a nuclear warhead

00:09:55.740 from Iran to the United States of America.

00:09:57.840 They were actively developing the capability to detonate a nuclear bomb over a major American

00:10:03.740 hit city, whether New York or Washington, D.C. or Los Angeles.

00:10:08.260 And the president acted decisively to say he's not willing to wake up one morning and

00:10:12.980 discover that millions of Americans have been murdered because the commander in chief didn't

00:10:17.980 act.

00:10:18.540 This was a threat to America.

00:10:20.180 Now, what are the potential escalations?

00:10:22.720 They're really threefold.

00:10:23.620 The most likely is a continued and even an escalated barrage on Israeli civilians. 0.82

00:10:29.920 More ballistic missiles being launched into Israel targeting civilians.

00:10:34.420 And I think there's a very real possibility that we will see potentially hundreds of

00:10:39.220 Israelis killed in the days ahead, that that's that's Iran striking back Israel and the United 0.98

00:10:46.380 States, both targeted military facilities, military leaders.

00:10:50.480 Iran is not doing that.

00:10:51.660 Iran is not targeting military facilities.

00:10:53.600 They're deliberately targeting civilians. 0.99

00:10:55.440 They're trying to kill little old ladies. 1.00

00:10:57.120 They're trying to kill children. 1.00

00:10:58.080 They're trying to kill babies. 1.00

00:10:59.000 They're lobbing missiles into densely populated urban environments, hoping to kill as many 1.00

00:11:04.220 Jews as possible. 0.99

00:11:05.700 That's one escalation.

00:11:07.620 A second escalation that is a very real possibility is an attack on U.S. servicemen and women in

00:11:14.320 the Middle East.

00:11:14.900 And we have thousands of servicemen and women stationed in the Middle East.

00:11:18.340 Now, I will tell you, President Trump has made unequivocally clear to Iran, do not do this.

00:11:24.520 If you kill American servicemen and women, the consequences will be massive.

00:11:29.160 I spoke with President Trump just over a week ago, and I said, Mr. President, thank you.

00:11:33.620 Thank you for making that clear.

00:11:35.640 You are keeping our servicemen and women alive because Iran knows the consequences of attacking 0.99

00:11:41.660 them and trying to kill them are massive.

00:11:43.820 But that's a second escalation that is entirely possible. 0.99

00:11:46.580 We could face that in the coming days.

00:11:48.700 The third escalation, Ben, is the one you referenced, which is terrorism here in the

00:11:54.340 United States or abroad, but in the United States in particular.

00:11:58.500 We had four years of open borders under Joe Biden.

00:12:01.740 We had 12 million illegal immigrants flood into this country.

00:12:04.960 And I think there is the very real risk of sleeper cells, of Iranian sleeper cells, carrying

00:12:10.200 out an act of terrorism, whether targeted at U.S. servicemen and women or targeted at civilians,

00:12:16.240 targeted at a shopping mall, targeted at a sporting event, targeted at some place where

00:12:21.560 they could commit a significant act of mass murder.

00:12:24.460 I pray that that does not happen.

00:12:26.720 I am confident the Trump administration is doing everything humanly possible to protect

00:12:30.540 against it.

00:12:31.480 But the odds of that have gone up.

00:12:33.280 And so all of us need to, number one, be praying, be praying for our friends in Israel,

00:12:39.420 be praying for our servicemen and women in harm's way, and be praying here in America that

00:12:44.180 that we not face a major act of terrorism.

00:12:48.060 But secondly, we need to be vigilant.

00:12:49.880 We need to be watching because it is dangerous right now.

00:12:53.200 But understand, even if some or all of these escalations happen, these escalations are less

00:13:00.560 dangerous than what the world would be like with the Ayatollah, with a nuclear weapon that 1.00

00:13:05.840 he could use to murder millions of Americans.

00:13:08.860 The chances of that scenario have dropped dramatically this weekend because of President

00:13:13.320 Trump's strong, decisive leadership.

00:13:15.700 You know, you hear the numbers, by the way, and I just want everyone to hear what Tom Homan

00:13:20.140 had to say on Fox News Sunday morning.

00:13:23.080 He was talking about the number of nationals of Iran released into the interior of this

00:13:29.440 country.

00:13:29.880 We don't know where they are.

00:13:30.980 Here's what he said about it.

00:13:32.280 So I pulled numbers this morning just from a CBP under Joe Biden.

00:13:36.380 There was 1,272 nationals of Iran released in the country between OFO and the Border Patrol.

00:13:44.060 And you compare that to the Trump administration, zero, right?

00:13:46.860 Zero releases.

00:13:47.980 And right now, because of President Trump's leadership, we have the most secure border in

00:13:51.620 my lifetime, most secure border in history of this nation.

00:13:54.100 So we have a secure border.

00:13:55.700 So that was President Trump's big win on securing this nation.

00:13:59.520 So we're not releasing people in this country, special interest aliens, aren't crossing that

00:14:02.840 border undetected.

00:14:04.220 But under Joe Biden, we had over 10 million people cross that border.

00:14:07.140 But my biggest concern from day one, beyond the fat and all, beyond the sex trafficking

00:14:11.280 women and children, were the two million known gotaways. 0.99

00:14:14.320 Over two million people crossed that border.

00:14:16.720 We don't know who they are, where they came from, because they got away.

00:14:19.940 Because Border Patrol was so overwhelmed with the humanitarian crisis that Biden created,

00:14:24.400 that over two million people crossed the border and got away.

00:14:26.700 That is my biggest concern, and that's what created the biggest national security vulnerability

00:14:31.180 this country's ever seen.

00:14:33.120 You listen to the way he describes this, Senator, and he's talking about, look, Iran wanting 0.96

00:14:38.720 to hurt us, and the possibility of sleeper cells here, directly is a border security issue.

00:14:45.840 And so this brings two of the biggest reasons why so many people listening to the show voted

00:14:49.780 for Donald Trump, why you advocated and supported him and voted for him as well, and I did too.

00:14:53.840 And it seems like, look, Iran has, in essence, been waging a slow war on the U.S. 0.95

00:14:58.680 and our allies.

00:14:59.940 The Biden administration was asleep.

00:15:01.560 The EU was asleep.

00:15:02.600 Hell, the U.N. was asleep in advocating for Iran now.

00:15:05.420 And literally, we now understand how vulnerable we are because of their actions.

00:15:12.900 1,200 Iranian illegal immigrants released into this country by Joe Biden and the Democrats.

00:15:19.880 In any sane world, every Democrat in Congress tomorrow would be asked, why did you release

00:15:26.660 1,200 Iranian illegal immigrants into America?

00:15:31.080 Are you worried about terrorism from the 1,200 Iranian illegal immigrants you released into 0.99

00:15:36.340 America?

00:15:37.200 What possible interest did America have in releasing these?

00:15:41.400 The contrast, under President Trump, the number is zero, which is what Tom Homan just said there.

00:15:46.480 Look, this is an enormous difference.

00:15:48.680 And by the way, 1,200 does not limit it.

00:15:51.320 Those are the ones we know they released.

00:15:53.520 As Homan rightly noted, the even more troubling number is 2 million gotaways.

00:15:59.320 So it could be thousands.

00:16:00.760 It could be tens of thousands of Iranians.

00:16:03.300 We don't know.

00:16:03.880 We just know there are over 2 million people that we have signs they crossed the border and

00:16:08.360 they got away.

00:16:09.140 They evaded detection. 0.99

00:16:10.200 So some combination of those are murderers, some are rapists, some are child molesters,

00:16:14.920 some are gang members from Venezuela or elsewhere. 0.98

00:16:17.840 And some of those, in overwhelming likelihood, are terrorists, whether Hamas terrorists, Hezbollah 0.86

00:16:23.780 terrorists, Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists, or specifically Iranian terrorists.

00:16:29.160 But the danger is serious.

00:16:32.220 And I will say this is a time for law enforcement in every jurisdiction to be vigilant and for

00:16:37.400 citizens to be vigilant, to watch.

00:16:39.480 And, you know, in the wake of 9-11, it was frequently repeated, if you see something, say

00:16:45.900 something.

00:16:46.440 This is a dangerous time.

00:16:48.060 I wish it were not so dangerous.

00:16:49.940 But four years of open borders exposed real vulnerabilities to us.

00:16:54.080 And the one thing I'll say is I have confidence that the Trump administration is doing everything

00:16:59.760 humanly possible to keep us safe.

00:17:02.400 And I think that's important, especially now.

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00:17:35.920 Let's talk a little bit about the liberal logic that has been coming out of so many Democrats

00:17:39.680 since this attack took place.

00:17:41.460 And the people who seem to be obsessing over Iran's response, implying that their response 1.00

00:17:48.820 is Donald Trump's fault that they're going to respond, are the same idiots that were not 1.00

00:17:55.140 afraid of Iran getting a nuclear weapon. 1.00

00:17:57.440 Can you explain that liberal logic, please?

00:18:00.060 Sadly, today's Democrat Party sides with every enemy of America.

00:18:04.740 They side on the other side.

00:18:06.280 Look, J.K. Rowling tweeted this weekend about this person, India Willoughby.

00:18:13.320 Now, I'll confess, I have no idea who India Willoughby is. 0.94

00:18:16.340 But J.K. Rowling tweeted, India, a fan of women hating, gay hating, authoritarian regime, 0.97

00:18:23.340 color me astonished. 0.89

00:18:24.760 So, I went and Googled who is this India Willoughby person.

00:18:27.700 And it turns out, according to Wikipedia, quote, she is Britain's first transgender national television

00:18:36.320 newsreader.

00:18:37.940 Now, pause for a second, Ben. 1.00

00:18:40.660 Iran murders transgender people. 1.00

00:18:44.380 They throw them off buildings. 1.00

00:18:45.840 If you are gay, they murder you. 1.00

00:18:47.940 And think about the mindset of a leftist who, this transgender newsreader in, I guess, the 0.99

00:18:57.520 UK, is like, even though the Ayatollah wants to murder me, I stand with the Ayatollah rather 0.79

00:19:05.460 than America.

00:19:06.880 That is how messed up leftists are right now. 1.00

00:19:09.520 They're like, oh, homicidal, theocratic, women-oppressing, gay-murdering, torturing, 1.00

00:19:17.920 genocidal lunatics. 1.00

00:19:19.980 Those are my people. 1.00

00:19:21.880 It doesn't make any sense to me.

00:19:23.780 And then you go back to also the quotes that people have been posting.

00:19:28.300 And I think it's really important that history reflect.

00:19:31.120 You go back to Bill Clinton, Senator, and he said that Iran couldn't get a nuclear weapon.

00:19:36.280 Hillary Clinton, when she was a senator, Secretary of State, and running for president, said Iran

00:19:41.660 cannot get a nuclear weapon.

00:19:43.220 Barack Obama said that he cannot get a nuclear weapon.

00:19:47.100 You had Joe Biden that said they couldn't get a nuclear weapon.

00:19:50.340 And then they're at 60-plus percent.

00:19:52.900 And Donald Trump stops them.

00:19:55.020 And then all of the left's like, you can't do that.

00:19:57.600 You're going to start World War III. 0.70

00:19:59.060 This is somehow your fault.

00:20:00.440 You're the aggressor.

00:20:01.340 And understand, the reason we are here is because of Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

00:20:07.680 Barack Obama negotiated the disastrous Iran nuclear deal.

00:20:11.280 That flooded billions and billions of dollars into Iran.

00:20:15.500 Listen, remember, Obama literally flew $1.7 billion of cash, unmarked bills on a pallet to

00:20:21.660 deliver to the Ayatollah.

00:20:23.320 That agreement set the stage for Iran to get nuclear weapons. 0.80

00:20:27.980 Donald Trump, when he came in as president.

00:20:29.880 Can we look at that deal for a second?

00:20:30.980 And just now, in hindsight, what really was that deal?

00:20:35.560 Was that deal a, hey, I don't want to have to deal with you guys, so let's just, you

00:20:39.580 kind of play nice with me, and then I'll kick the can down the road to another administration?

00:20:44.140 Like, in hindsight, what was that?

00:20:46.240 Why did we do that deal?

00:20:48.120 It was radical ideology.

00:20:50.200 You know, when Barack Obama first became president, he went and gave a speech at the University

00:20:54.860 of Cairo in Egypt, and in that speech, he said Iran has a right, and he used the word 1.00

00:21:00.940 right, a right to nuclear technology.

00:21:04.640 Now, that is nutty.

00:21:06.060 That is, I'm familiar with the right to the pursuit of happiness.

00:21:09.900 I'm not familiar with a right to possess thermonuclear weapons.

00:21:13.900 And at the end of the day, I think Barack Obama and his entire team came in with an

00:21:20.180 ideological view that America's role in the world is fundamentally illegitimate, that we

00:21:25.780 are colonial oppressors.

00:21:27.240 Look, as you know, my last book was Unwoke, How to Defeat Cultural Marxism in America.

00:21:31.760 These are the cultural Marxists.

00:21:33.160 They view America as illegitimate, and therefore, they view that we have no business, we have

00:21:40.020 no right stopping Iran from getting nuclear weapons.

00:21:43.480 Listen, the Obama-Iran nuclear deal would inevitably lead to Iran with nuclear weapons. 1.00

00:21:49.180 These guys are not idiots. 1.00

00:21:50.500 They knew that. 1.00

00:21:51.840 They're fine with that outcome, because they believe America has no right to prevent it.

00:21:56.960 My view is, yes, we do.

00:21:58.580 If you've got a lunatic who's saying death to America, and we have the power to stop 0.91

00:22:03.080 him from getting nuclear weapons, we will use that power, because the commander-in-chief 0.90

00:22:08.180 is not going to fail to protect America. 0.99

00:22:10.500 And I've got to say, by the way, the useful idiots across the globe, hey, you've got the 1.00

00:22:14.580 Democrats today who are all chirping about, how dare you act to stop Iran from getting 1.00

00:22:19.020 a nuclear weapon?

00:22:20.160 We also had the Secretary of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, who put out a statement.

00:22:25.920 I'm going to read it to you.

00:22:26.700 Quote, I am gravely alarmed by the use of force by the United States against Iran today.

00:22:32.900 This is a dangerous escalation in a region already on the edge and a direct threat to

00:22:38.600 international peace and security.

00:22:40.800 There is a growing risk that this conflict could rapidly get out of control, with catastrophic

00:22:46.440 consequences for civilians, the region, and the world.

00:22:49.200 I call on member states to de-escalate and to uphold their obligations under the UN Charter

00:22:55.780 and other rules of international law.

00:22:58.220 At this perilous hour, it is critical to avoid a spiral of chaos.

00:23:03.380 There is no military solution.

00:23:05.520 The only path forward is diplomacy.

00:23:08.100 The only hope is peace. 1.00

00:23:10.720 What a blithering idiot. 1.00

00:23:12.820 I'll tell you what I tweeted today. 1.00

00:23:14.220 I tweeted, of course, the UN sides with Iran. 0.81

00:23:19.020 Clown face emoji, clown face emoji, clown face emoji.

00:23:22.820 The only thing they couldn't decide is which chant they agree with more strongly. 0.97

00:23:29.340 Quote, death to Israel or, quote, death to America. 0.73

00:23:34.060 And then I asked a simple question.

00:23:36.380 Remind me again why we're paying their bills?

00:23:40.100 It's a fair question.

00:23:41.020 And you've got to wonder, what's the point of being involved if this is how insane they

00:23:45.420 actually are?

00:23:46.500 So let's move to the point.

00:23:47.560 But by the way, Ben, I also observed, I think Tehran would make a lovely UN headquarters,

00:23:53.980 just located right there, maybe on the smoldering ashes of Forda.

00:23:58.460 We can put the UN there, and they can all get together with their anti-Israel hate and

00:24:03.140 their anti-American hate, and they can sit there and glow radioactive while they talk about 0.64

00:24:08.240 developing nuclear weapons to bomb America.

00:24:12.300 At least it would be intellectually honest.

00:24:13.900 Like, where's the UN?

00:24:14.840 It's in Tehran.

00:24:15.600 Okay, that makes sense.

00:24:18.180 Look, that's who they—this should not be complicated.

00:24:24.720 Iran, like—let me ask you, Ben, seriously, put yourself in the head of the UN Secretary 0.92

00:24:30.840 General.

00:24:32.100 How do you look at this and say, where do I stand?

00:24:35.040 I know, with Iran. 0.93

00:24:36.360 Like, what thought process goes through your brain?

00:24:40.160 Yeah, what's the upside of doing that, and why?

00:24:42.380 And especially if you know what Iran just did and how many terrorist organizations they've 0.95

00:24:46.640 supported that are just beyond—I mean, factually accurate.

00:24:51.500 Hamas, Hezbollah, and the UN's like, we got you. 0.91

00:24:53.840 We're going to cover for you.

00:24:54.880 Don't worry.

00:24:55.560 We got your back.

00:24:56.360 It is—and that's the reason why I think it delegitimizes the United Nations to the

00:25:00.920 point where I just roll my eyes at them.

00:25:02.520 Now, I don't pay attention to what they say.

00:25:04.680 No, no, they're complete zealots.

00:25:06.500 Now, in contrast, I want you to listen to President Trump Saturday night as soon as the

00:25:11.280 bombing run was complete.

00:25:12.500 Give a listen to his address to the nation.

00:25:14.080 A short time ago, the U.S. military carried out massive precision strikes on the three

00:25:20.800 key nuclear facilities in the Iranian regime, Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan.

00:25:30.520 Everybody heard those names for years as they built this horribly destructive enterprise.

00:25:37.280 Our objective was the destruction of Iran's nuclear enrichment capacity and a stop to the 0.87

00:25:45.200 nuclear threat posed by the world's number one state sponsor of terror.

00:25:50.080 Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success.

00:25:58.340 Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated.

00:26:03.280 Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace. 1.00

00:26:08.280 If they do not, future attacks will be far greater and a lot easier. 0.98

00:26:12.880 For 40 years, Iran has been saying death to America, death to Israel. 0.96

00:26:18.580 They have been killing our people, blowing off their arms, blowing off their legs with roadside 1.00

00:26:23.420 bombs. 0.99

00:26:24.400 That was their specialty.

00:26:26.220 We lost over a thousand people and hundreds of thousands throughout the Middle East and around

00:26:32.080 the world have died as a direct result of their hate.

00:26:35.080 In particular, so many were killed by their general, Qasem Soleimani.

00:26:40.880 I decided a long time ago that I would not let this happen.

00:26:46.000 It will not continue.

00:26:48.000 I want to thank and congratulate Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu.

00:26:52.560 We worked as a team like perhaps no team has ever worked before.

00:26:57.420 And we've gone a long way to erasing this horrible threat to Israel. 0.91

00:27:01.240 I want to thank the Israeli military for the wonderful job they've done.

00:27:06.520 And most importantly, I want to congratulate the great American patriots who flew those magnificent

00:27:11.880 machines tonight and all of the United States military on an operation the likes of which

00:27:17.840 the world has not seen in many, many decades.

00:27:20.960 Hopefully, we will no longer need their services in this capacity.

00:27:24.920 I hope that's so.

00:27:27.060 I also want to congratulate the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Raisin

00:27:32.420 Cain, spectacular general, and all of the brilliant military minds involved in this attack.

00:27:38.840 With all of that being said, this cannot continue.

00:27:41.860 There will be either peace or there will be tragedy for Iran far greater than we have 1.00

00:27:47.860 witnessed over the last eight days.

00:27:50.300 Remember, there are many targets left.

00:27:53.020 Tonight's was the most difficult of them all, by far, and perhaps the most lethal.

00:28:00.460 But if peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision,

00:28:06.320 speed, and skill.

00:28:08.600 Most of them can be taken out in a matter of minutes.

00:28:12.540 There's no military in the world that could have done what we did tonight, not even close.

00:28:17.460 There has never been a military that could do what took place just a little while ago.

00:28:23.020 Tomorrow, General Cain, Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, will have a press conference

00:28:29.100 at 8 a.m. at the Pentagon.

00:28:31.460 And I want to just thank everybody, and in particular, God, I want to just say we love

00:28:38.740 you, God, and we love our great military.

00:28:40.800 Protect them.

00:28:41.440 God bless the Middle East, God bless Israel, and God bless America.

00:28:47.460 Thank you very much.

00:28:48.840 Thank you.

00:28:49.380 I do got to, I have to say at the very end there, his part was so sincere about thanking

00:28:55.220 God.

00:28:55.660 You could tell he was very concerned about the safety of our men and women in uniform.

00:28:59.860 He was so thankful for what they did and accomplished.

00:29:03.540 And there was also, I think, a warning in there.

00:29:06.080 We hope that they're done, right?

00:29:08.380 That their service is finished.

00:29:10.820 That, in other words, don't mess with us, because if you do, you may meet these people

00:29:16.860 yet again.

00:29:18.080 We don't want to do that.

00:29:19.860 But if you come after American interests, we will defend ourselves and we will come after 0.97

00:29:24.740 you, which brings us to the questions in our, all right, what's next moving forward?

00:29:29.440 Well, let me say one thing that struck me listening to President Trump on Saturday night, which

00:29:35.980 is the president is old enough, and I'm old enough to remember the 1970s.

00:29:40.560 And Ben, you're 10 years younger than I am, so you don't remember the 70s.

00:29:46.420 But when Iran took American hostages at the embassy, when the Iranian revolution happened

00:29:52.920 and they took American hostages, Jimmy Carter was president.

00:29:56.540 Jimmy Carter sent a military operation, a U.S. military operation, to rescue the Americans

00:30:01.840 from the embassy.

00:30:03.880 And not all military operations happen like the one did this weekend.

00:30:09.460 The Jimmy Carter military operation, he sent in helicopters, and the helicopters crashed

00:30:14.820 in the desert with no opposing fire.

00:30:18.520 And it was a level of ineptitude and incompetence on the part of the Carter administration.

00:30:24.180 It played a pivotal role in Ronald Reagan winning in 1980 because the inability of the president

00:30:31.140 to protect our nation was perfectly encapsulated by our troops crashing in the desert.

00:30:39.020 When the president, when the commander-in-chief gave this order, he didn't know what the result

00:30:42.740 would be.

00:30:43.360 It could have resulted in an American plane crashing.

00:30:46.920 It could have resulted in an American bomber being shot down by a fighter plane.

00:30:50.660 It could have resulted in an American bomber being hit by surface-to-air missiles.

00:30:55.620 These are dangerous operations.

00:30:57.780 We had these stealth bombers fly halfway around the world, carry out an incredibly precise precision

00:31:04.760 bombing attack.

00:31:05.520 By the way, it also could have resulted in one of the bombs going awry and instead of taking

00:31:10.540 out one of these facilities, hitting a civilian location and killing a large number of innocent

00:31:17.000 people.

00:31:18.060 None of that happened.

00:31:19.180 And I want to credit the military, the military, for their precise execution of this.

00:31:24.300 But I think when the president was thanking God, listen, you and I have never been in the

00:31:29.900 position of ordering our servicemen and women into combat in a circumstance where you know

00:31:36.560 that that order could literally be sacrificing their lives.

00:31:40.000 And I think the president was feeling real gratitude that this operation proceeded so successfully.

00:31:46.560 It was the right thing to do.

00:31:48.220 And even if it had proceeded with American casualties, we obviously would not want those casualties.

00:31:52.640 But I think the president was very much focused on his responsibility to protect American civilians

00:31:59.400 from the threat of an Ayatollah with a nuclear weapon. 0.71

00:32:03.320 That's what he was acting decisively to do.

00:32:05.360 So this could escalate further, but I think the president is laser focused on his job.

00:32:10.060 And let me be clear.

00:32:11.800 There's some voices chirping on the Internet.

00:32:14.180 Oh, it's World War III.

00:32:15.540 Oh, we're going to get drawn into a long foreign entanglement. 1.00

00:32:20.000 Now, boots are going to be on the ground before you know it. 0.74

00:32:22.000 The odds, right, the odds of American boots on the ground in Iran are essentially zero.

00:32:28.140 No one is advocating that.

00:32:29.600 No one wants to see it.

00:32:30.700 I do not believe President Trump has any interest in American boots on the ground.

00:32:36.000 I don't have any interest in American boots on the ground. 0.76

00:32:39.160 This was a limited and very targeted bombing run to take out Iran's capability to develop 0.97

00:32:46.060 nuclear weapons, nuclear weapons they could use to murder Americans. 0.85

00:32:49.920 That is peace through strength.

00:32:51.860 That is focusing on defending this nation.

00:32:54.300 And so the prospect, you know, people are saying, oh, this is another Iraq war.

00:32:59.100 Listen, I oppose the Iraq war.

00:33:01.460 Donald Trump opposed the Iraq war.

00:33:03.980 Nobody wants a long American war in the Middle East.

00:33:07.480 But what we do want is what we have, a commander in chief who is strong and who will act decisively

00:33:13.800 to protect our nation.

00:33:14.980 That's what the president did.

00:33:16.720 And I, for one, am immensely grateful that Donald J.

00:33:20.020 Trump is the commander in chief tonight.

00:33:22.100 Final question.

00:33:23.360 And this is what is next.

00:33:25.600 It's very clear there's a warning from this president.

00:33:27.940 Don't screw with us moving forward. 0.99

00:33:30.460 If Iran is dumb enough to retaliate against Americans in the Middle East, maybe even shutting 0.98

00:33:37.680 down the Strait of Hormuz, what is the president's obligation moving forward on that? 0.97

00:33:43.360 Well, one of the consequences of the bombing run is the parliament in Iran did vote to shut

00:33:48.100 down the Straits of Hormuz.

00:33:49.440 Now, the parliament's not the decision maker.

00:33:52.000 At the end of the day, the Ayatollah is the decision maker. 0.95

00:33:54.180 So it's not clear if Iran is going to do so or not.

00:33:57.340 If it did so, it would impact America, but it would impact China even more. 0.81

00:34:01.900 Roughly half of the oil that China uses travels through the Straits of Hormuz.

00:34:06.320 A very small percentage of American oil travels through there.

00:34:09.600 But that being said, if the Straits of Hormuz were shut down, it would impact America because

00:34:15.260 it would drive up global oil prices.

00:34:17.600 It would drive up gasoline prices at home.

00:34:19.640 And that would impact Americans.

00:34:21.540 I hope that doesn't happen.

00:34:23.260 I think if they try to shut down those major trade routes and commerce routes, I think

00:34:27.800 we will see force to open them up because Iran does not have the right to shut down the 0.96

00:34:34.400 ability of America and the rest of the world to engage in trade and commerce.

00:34:37.760 That is a possible escalation.

00:34:40.480 I think the most likely escalation is going to be continued attacks on civilians in Israel

00:34:46.560 because at the end of the day, I think the Ayatollah and the Mullahs, they hate the Jewish 0.92

00:34:51.200 people. 0.97

00:34:52.500 And murdering innocent civilians is something that they believe in.

00:34:58.260 I worry, as I said, about the risk of terrorist attacks as well.

00:35:03.120 I think those are sadly the two most likely.

00:35:06.640 The people of Israel, I know the government of Israel, the Iron Dome, they're working hard

00:35:11.340 to protect their civilians.

00:35:12.740 America is assisting in that.

00:35:14.120 And here at home, law enforcement and Homeland Security and the Department of Justice are

00:35:19.220 all working hard to intercept and stop any terrorist attack before it occurs.

00:35:26.100 But understand these are dangerous times, but they're dangerous times because we have

00:35:31.460 enemies that wish to do harm to America.

00:35:34.360 And that's why the responsibility that the president has is so grave and serious.

00:35:39.180 And I will say, listening to President Trump speak Saturday night, I think there are times

00:35:44.400 where the weight of the job really falls on his shoulders and he feels it.

00:35:49.720 And I think Saturday night was one of them because it was an incredibly consequential moment

00:35:56.280 in our nation's history and a very positive moment of the president standing up and saying,

00:36:02.100 my first responsibility is to defend America and I will not shirk from that responsibility.

00:36:07.360 Yeah, great point.

00:36:09.080 God bless America.

00:36:10.120 We are going to keep covering this.

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00:36:14.400 We'll have the latest breaking news for you Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

00:36:17.640 And if there's anything obviously big that happens in between, we do those special pods

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Verdict with Ted Cruz - June 23, 2025

Trump Bombs Iran-Decisive Strike Obliterates Iran's Nuclear Weapons Capacity

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