C-SPAN’s Washington Journal Open Phones dissects Trump’s Operation Epic Fury, a $X military strike against Iran after three U.S. jets were downed in Kuwait, killing six crew and halting 70% of Strait of Hormuz traffic. Callers clash: Democrats like Senator Tim Kaine call it unconstitutional, while Republicans like Lindsey Graham defend it as dismantling Iranian terror networks, though Peter (TN) pushes regime change via the Shah’s son. Nora (MD) frames Iran as "evil," dismissing $37T debt concerns, while critics like Jonathan (TX) link strikes to Israeli influence and civilian casualties in hospitals. The debate exposes deep divides over legality, morality, and geopolitical motives amid escalating U.S.-Iran tensions. [Automatically generated summary]
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Welcome to today's Washington Journal.
Before we get to your calls, quick update on the latest news.
This is Axios reporting three U.S. jets downed by friendly fire over Kuwait.
It says that they were mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses Sunday night.
All six air crew ejected safely and are in stable condition.
It says that the incident shows how chaotic the air war with Iran has become as allies defend against Iranian attacks while American jets fly through the same airspace.
Some live updates from the Associated Press: oil tankers and refineries under attack as U.S. and Israel exchange strikes with Iran and war widens.
It also says that traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has dropped by about 70%.
Well, President Trump, before leaving Mar-a-Lago yesterday evening, he posted a video on Truth Social.
This is about six minutes.
We'll show you the whole thing.
Over the past 36 hours, the United States and its partners have launched Operation Epic Fury, one of the largest, most complex, most overwhelming military offensives the world has ever seen.
Nobody's seen anything like it.
We have hit hundreds of targets in Iran, including Revolutionary Guard facilities, Iranian air defense systems.
Just now, it was announced that we knocked out nine ships plus their naval building, all in a matter of literally minutes.
Iran's formerly supreme leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, is dead.
This wretched and vile man had the blood of hundreds and even thousands of Americans on his hands and was responsible for the slaughter of countless thousands of innocent people all across many countries.
Last night, all over Iran, the voices of the Iranian people could be heard cheering and celebrating in the streets when his death was announced.
The entire military command is gone as well, and many of them want to surrender into saving their lives.
They want immunity.
They're calling by the thousands.
Combat operations continue at this time in full force, and they will continue until all of our objectives are achieved.
We have very strong objectives.
They could have done something two weeks ago, but they just couldn't get there.
Earlier today, CENTCOM shared the news that three U.S. military service members have been killed in action.
As one nation, we grieve for the true American patriots who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation.
Even as we continue the righteous mission for which they gave their lives, we pray for the full recovery of the wounded and send our immense love and eternal gratitude to the families of the fallen.
And sadly, there will likely be more.
Before it ends, that's the way it is.
Likely be more, but we'll do everything possible where that won't be the case.
But America will avenge their deaths and deliver the most punishing blow to the terrorists who have waged war against basically civilization.
They have waged war against civilization itself.
Our resolve and likewise that of Israel has never been stronger.
America is now again the richest, most powerful nation in the world by far.
But the only reason we enjoy the quality of life that we do and the freedom and security is we have done things that others are unable to do.
But it's because of warriors who are willing to lay down their lives to do battle with our enemies.
And they do battle better than anybody.
An Iranian regime armed with long-range missiles and nuclear weapons would be a dire threat to every American.
We cannot allow a nation that raises terrorist armies to possess such weapons.
It would allow them to extort the world to their evil will.
Not going to let it happen.
We're not happening to us, and we're not going to let it happen to others.
The United States has the strongest military the world has ever seen.
I rebuilt our military in my first term.
There's never been a military like we possess.
And frankly, there's nobody even close, but we are now using that military for good.
We want to have it for good purpose.
We're undertaking this massive operation not merely to ensure security for our own time and place, but for our children and their children, just as our ancestors have done for us many, many years ago.
This is the duty and the burden of a free people.
These actions are right and they are necessary to ensure that Americans will never have to face a radical, bloodthirsty terrorist regime armed with nuclear weapons and lots of threats.
For almost 50 years, these wicked extremists have been attacking the United States while chanting the slogan, death to America or death to Israel, or both.
They are the world's number one state sponsor of terror.
We are the world's greatest and most powerful nation, so we can do something about what they do.
These intolerable threats will not continue any longer.
I once again urge the Revolutionary Guard, the Iranian military, police, to lay down your arms and receive full immunity or face certain death.
It will be certain death.
Won't be pretty.
I call upon all Iranian patriots who yearn for freedom to seize this moment, to be brave, be bold, be heroic, and take back your country.
America is with you.
I made a promise to you, and I fulfilled that promise.
The rest will be up to you, but we'll be there to help.
Thank you.
God bless you to our incredible warriors, and God bless the United States of America.
Thank you.
That was the President's video address from Sunday yesterday evening.
Let's go to calls now to John Queens, New York Democrat.
Good morning, John.
Good morning, America.
How are you?
I'd like to make a few points, especially about what the President just said.
Number one, everybody needs to remember that back in the day, Barack Obama, President Obama had a deal with Iran that he made.
He included Russia and China in this deal.
And that every international monitoring agency confirmed that Iran was sticking by that deal and not doing the things that they weren't supposed to be doing.
And Trump pulled us out of that in his first term.
So this is partial of his making.
Also, that remember when we went into Iraq, George W. Bush, trillions of dollars in debt that we still haven't paid off.
And never asked any sacrifice for America to do that war.
Trump not asking any sacrifice other than from the military families who are burdening, are being burdened, many of which an extended tour.
They just had their tours extended by six months, many of these naval personnel.
The other thing to remember is this war is being started by three people: Trump, Netanyahu, and MBS.
MBS being part of the family that sent murderers to kill our people on 9-11.
And we're doing their bidding.
Are they going to pay for this?
Israel, you know, this is a lot of, a lot of this is, you know, Iran was a bad actor.
The Ayatollah was a bad actor.
Religious extremism, the same religious extremism we're seeing in the West Bank settlers.
So, you know, how are we going to pay for this war?
Trump says we're doing this for our children and grandchildren.
We're going to leave them trillions of dollars in debt again.
That's what we're going to be doing.
We're borrowing money to pay for this war.
Trump is not following off on his promises.
His promise was not getting involved in a war where we would pursue regime change.
He hasn't justified why to do this.
He has no constitutional authority to do this.
And Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the Eunuchs or the Speaker of the House, whatever, he doesn't do anything about this, doesn't take Congress.
So remember, this is a war of choice.
And the choice for America is made by Donald Trump.
All right, John.
Remember that?
Got that.
And this is Senator Chris Van Hollen writing about those three U.S. service members who were killed.
He says, I'm thinking of the brave American soldiers killed today.
He posted that yesterday.
They should still be with us.
Trump said he would keep us out of war.
This is his war of choice.
I'm praying for their loved ones.
Representative Brian Mast says, three American service members have been killed while defending the United States of America.
To them, I say, I love you, and I'm proud to be your brother in arms.
Congressman Greg Kesar says, horrific.
Three American service members have already died in Donald Trump's reckless regime change war.
My prayers are with their families.
Donald Trump chose this war.
He needlessly sent our men and women in uniform into harm's way.
Now three are dead.
We must end this war.
Cindy in Norwalk, Connecticut, Republican, you're on the air.
Hi, good morning.
Yeah, my condolences to the military families who lost loved ones and be praying for our boys there, so brave doing this.
Three Fallen Warriors00:05:18
You know, I have really mixed feelings with this.
I'm 64.
I remember what happened in 1978.
The time to overthrow this.
It was a long time ago.
It is solidly a Muslim country.
And although we saw some clips of people celebrating, I saw a clip of the mourners for the Ayatollah and a square there, and there were hundreds of thousands of people there.
What are you going to do with all those people who supported the Ayatollah?
I mean, I don't know what you're going to do with hundreds of thousands of millions of people.
You know, I'm very concerned about that.
How you're going to, you know, stop that and bring it back to what it was 47 years ago.
To me, it's, I don't know, I'm going to wait and see what happens.
You know, I am very concerned about what's going on.
I hope so well.
What would be the determining factor on whether or not you continue to support the war?
What do you think?
You know, I'm really, I'm really not sure.
I have a biblical worldview, so I'm not very positive about all this.
I don't know, to tell you the truth.
I honestly don't know.
This did surprise me.
I wasn't expecting this action.
I did hear, you know, Iran, we did have a nuclear deal.
Iran, at the end, did stop letting inspectors in to their nuclear facilities.
Okay.
There was that.
Okay.
And Cindy did mention the mourners for Khamenei.
Here's the front page of the New York Times with that picture.
It says a crowd chanted death to America and death to Israel at a rally to mourn the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, killed in an airstrike.
Iran's top national security officials said that an interim committee would run the country.
That's that picture there on the front page of the New York Times.
Virginia, California, Independent Line, good morning to you.
Yes, hi.
I disagree with what he did totally.
I think this president needs to be impeached.
He just doesn't have the wherewithal to run the country.
Thank you.
Doug's calling from Fairfax, South Dakota, Democrat.
You're on the air, Doug.
Yeah, good morning, Mimi.
I don't know what's happening here.
Are we going to turn Iran into another Gaza?
It looks kind of like it.
They're hitting a school.
They bombed a school over there, killed 150 schoolgirls.
And then I heard they hit a hospital last night, too.
And then I guess we had three planes shot down by Kuwait by the sounds of it.
And they've had, what, three killed.
And then I think they had one killed when they were going over.
Somebody fell off the ship.
They left him in the water and buried him at sea, I believe.
But it sounds to me like we're going to try to turn it into Gaza again.
But this has been planned for quite a while.
Last time Benjamin come in here, they were talking about this.
And this has been ongoing forever.
And they finally got their window the other day, but they were actually planning it a week ago, but probably somebody on CNN talking about it.
But it looks to me like they're going to turn into another Gaza.
And then here the other day, I was at the grocery store, and I went in there, and the lady tells me she's losing her insurance because she can't afford it.
And then I hear Trump sending two ships over to Iceland over there to help give them free health care.
So what's going on there?
And then we got Cuba.
Cuba's folding up.
He's got that going.
He's got Benzael all messed up.
So I don't know what's going to happen.
This world is going downhill.
And then Texas, what happened to Texas?
That's going to come here.
They had two people killed and 14 injured there from a shooting from a terrorist.
Now Trump's got his FIFA coming.
What are they going to do about that?
They won't be able to let nobody into the country.
It's just going downhill, Mimi.
And I hope you have a good day.
Somebody needs to get rid of Trump.
All right, Doug.
And a couple of things there that Doug mentioned to update you on.
So this is the New York Times.
Iran says dozens are killed in strike on school.
It says the strike on an elementary school in the southern Iran town of Minab was one of two attacks that appear to have hit schools during U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran on Saturday.
It says dozens, probably most of them children, were killed in a strike.
That's according to Iranian health officials and state media.
It was one of two strikes that appear to have hit schools since U.S. and Israeli planes launched their attack on Iran around 10 a.m. local time.
Saturday is the start of the work week in the country, and many Iranians have already had already dropped off their children and headed into their offices as explosions began to shake the Capitol.
Iran's Red Crescent and several state news outlets said that more than 60 people were killed in a strike on a school in the southern town.
By Saturday evening, Iran's state news broadcaster raised the toll to 85 dead and 93 injured.
Iranian Schools Bombing00:05:53
Daniel in Vancouver, Washington, Republican, good morning.
Hey, good morning.
How are you?
Good.
So I think, well, the situation is pretty crazy, but I think mostly we should focus on getting the niggers out of America.
Vidalia, Georgia, Independent Line.
Daniel, you're on the air.
Yes, ma'am.
Ma'am, I'd just like to say I think that this should have happened many years ago, and it would have never come to this.
Iran has never been nothing but a problem.
Congress, what needs to happen is Republican and Democrat name needs to go.
And what's wrong with just being true blue American and having your opinion?
It's got to where Democrats and Republicans, all they do is fight amongst each other.
They can't get along.
That's wrong.
It's not fair to the American people.
They needed to blow Iran off the map 40 years ago.
So that's my thing.
And all these people talk about the border and everything.
Them people don't need to come over here unless there's a list of safe friends to come over here.
So Daniel, staying with Iran, how long would you support this war going on for?
I just blow them off the map, ma'am.
I wouldn't care what I hit.
They don't care what they hit.
They don't care if they kill women, children, and everything.
What's the difference?
You fight fire with fire.
You don't play games.
You just bust.
That's it.
And here is Pierre in Washington, D.C., line for Democrats.
Go ahead, Pierre.
Yeah, one thing I've noticed when watching the news from around the world is that people do not trust us anymore.
We have lost the trust of a lot of people.
You know, we're on the same, they're like, well, you know, Iran's not trustworthy, but guess what?
America isn't either.
They can't trust what we're saying, and that has consequences.
And the fact that we were not, as a country, you know, consulted about this makes it just one person's fault, one person's fault.
We only have one person to blame for it.
I don't appreciate this.
I don't like the Iranian government, but I'll tell you something else.
I don't like where this is going either.
But it's very easy.
I have friends over around the world, and they're all worried about this.
I have friends who are being told not to speak to their kids in English anymore because they're worried about retaliation on the streets.
This is not good for us in general.
This is not good for the world as a whole.
All right, Pierre, let's hear from Senator Lindsey Graham.
He was on Meet the Press yesterday, asked if the U.S. was at war.
I don't know if this is technically a war, but here's what I can say.
The headline is for me, Sunday.
The mothership of terrorism is sinking.
The captain is dead.
The largest state sponsor of terrorism, Iran, is close to collapsing.
The leader of the largest state sponsor of terrorism and his inner team are dead.
The mothership that fuels the proxies is in sinking mode.
The goal of this operation is to change the threat, not the regime.
When this operation is over, no matter who takes over in Iran, they will not have ballistic missiles to hurt us, Israel, or the region.
They will not have the capability to be the largest state sponsor of terrorism, whether it's their cleric or a group of representative of the country where there's an election.
It doesn't matter right now.
Iran in the future will no longer be the largest state sponsor of terrorism.
They cannot reign terror on the region.
They cannot commit mass murder.
That's the goal of this operation.
Again, the mothership of terrorism is sinking.
The captain is dead.
Well done, President Trump.
It's been the policy of this country for decades to eliminate this regime.
President Trump did it.
Admiral Cooper came up with a military plan that's unbelievable.
We're not done yet, but when it is done, Iran will no longer be capable of being the largest state sponsor of terrorism.
That is the goal, and that goal will be achieved.
Senator, let me ask you, because as you are saying, the leader, the Ayatollah supreme leader, is dead.
Will the United States pick the next leader of Iran, or will the Iranian people pick the next leader?
I talked to the Crown Prince.
He's got some ideas about transition.
There will be no American bootstrand on the ground.
This is not Iraq.
This is not Germany.
This is not Japan.
Wonder what you think about that.
That was Senator Lindsey Graham speaking yesterday.
We are also standing by to take you to a news conference being held by Secretary of Defense Heg Seth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Kane, who will be speaking and taking reporters' questions.
We're going to take that to you live.
That is scheduled to start at 8 a.m.
So stay with us for that.
We'll show you the whole thing once that gets underway.
Matt, Plattsburgh, New York, Independent Line, good morning.
Yeah, good morning.
I'll save my opinion on this, what's happening until it's completed.
But I just have a suggestion that I made to you a while back on basically your call-ins.
And a lot of time it's Democrat, Democrat, Democrat, Republican, Independent, Democrat, Democrat, Independent, Republican, Republican.
So, Matt.
I just think it's fair.
Let me be clear.
We take them as they come in.
I cannot force people to call us.
I can't choose who calls us.
They come in.
We take the calls.
Congress Needs to Grow Up00:05:20
Do you have anything on the Iran strikes?
Yeah, no, everybody's got their opinion.
I'll just wait till it's all over and then we'll see what happens.
Thank you.
All right.
Sounds good.
Sheila, Youngstown, Ohio, Democrat, good morning.
Good morning.
The U.S. is not a benevolent force in this.
The administration couldn't give a reason.
Tulsi Gabbard said there was no emergency with Iran.
Their ballistic missiles could not reach us.
Trump said their nuclear was obliterated.
If he wanted to help the Iranians, he could have restored the internet so that they could organize.
The Iranians are without weapons.
They're pretty much helpless.
When he told them to rise up, he wasn't there to do anything.
And who?
You have to follow the money.
Who are Iran rivals and enemies?
Israel, Qatar, who gave Trump a $400 million plane, United Arab Emirates, who added $2 billion to rescue the Trump family crypto financial firm, Saudi Arabia, who gave Jared Kishner $2 billion at the end of Trump's last administration.
People were alarmed.
And the administration said, well, Jared Kushner will never work for the government again or work in Washington, so there's no quid pro quo.
But who is leading the negotiations with Iran?
It was Trump's real estate buddy, Witkoff, who recently sought to add to his family's fortune by seeking money from Qatar's Sovereign Wealth Fund.
And guess who?
Jared Kushner.
And could you imagine if Jimmy Carter said, I'm going to send my son-in-law who couldn't get a security clearance.
Remember, Kushner's father was a convicted criminal for fraud.
He was pardoned.
And if Trump believes in this war so much, will he send his own son?
Remember the suckers and losers comments.
That's what he thinks of our military.
Thanks.
Doug is a Republican in Virginia.
Doug, what do you think?
I think that Congress needs to grow up because if they think the president is supposed to come in front of Congress to tell them before he makes an attack like this, you're going to have that blasted off to the news media all over the place.
They've been doing it.
And then we're going to lose more troops.
I've served.
I've been in that area.
And the last thing you need is to go in front of a bunch of people that can't even make laws, much less decisions, and get along with each other to move this country forward.
This needed to be done a long time ago, all the way from Bush Sr. up till now.
Trump's the only one.
I don't agree with everything he does, but this needed to be done.
What are you going to do?
Wait until a missile with warhead hits New York and then go, oh, we need to do something about this.
That's not how it works.
The American people do not understand what freedom costs.
And they need to grow up and figure that out, not go out in the street and protest for somebody that wants to kill everybody here.
It's just ridiculous when you listen to these people talking.
And they need to go ahead and put some time limits and let's put some fresh people in Congress on both sides of the aisle.
If you can't work together and make honest decisions and not go to the news media and leak out information that will get Americans killed.
All right, Doug.
Well, this is Senator Tim Kaine.
He was on Fox News yesterday talking about his war powers resolution.
This is an illegal war, Shannon, because the representative cited a statute, but he neglected to mention the Constitution.
And the Constitution can't be changed by statute.
The Constitution says no declaration of war without Congress.
The President has called this war against Iran.
The President can act to imminently defend the United States against imminent attack if that happens without congressional approval, needing later ratification by Congress.
But if you're going to initiate war, you need Congress.
The President not only did not come to Congress to seek a debate or vote, he acted without even notification to the vast majority of us.
This is an illegal war.
I have a war powers resolution queued up for vote this week, and I'm encouraging my colleagues to assert the constitutional power vested in the legislative branch.
More importantly, though, haven't we learned something from 25 years of war in the Middle East?
Have we learned nothing?
It looks like this president hasn't learned a thing.
And the claims about we're going to change the regime, we're going to stop a nuclear program, there was some threat.
All of the intelligence I've seen in 13 years on the Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees tell me there was no imminent threat from Iran that justifies sending our sons and daughters into war.
We're getting your reaction for the next half hour or so on U.S.-Israel strikes, the widening war in the Middle East.
Peter's Concerns About Iran00:10:09
And we'll hear from Rob, who is in Port Crane, New York, Independent.
Go ahead, Rob.
Good morning.
First of all, Tim Kaine is just a total moron.
This is a war against Islam, and rightfully so.
We let people into this country who want to kill us.
Our FBI said that we have al-Qaeda cells in all 50 states.
They said there's Iranian kill cells here in the U.S. run in the streets.
So, you know, good.
After what happened in Austin again yesterday, another Muslim mowed down a bunch of innocent Americans.
The hell with Muslims.
You know what I mean?
Anybody who follows a book.
So here is CNN about that shooting in Austin.
It says, Austin Mass shooting may have been motivated by Iran's strikes.
Officials say here's what we know.
Early hours of Sunday morning as a bar in a busy nightlife district of Austin, Texas prepared to close for the night, patrons and staff were startled by the sound of gunshots.
Armed with a pistol and a rifle, a man opened fire from outside the venue on the city's bustling 6th Street, killing two people, wounding 14 others.
According to Austin police and FBI, investigators are now working to determine whether the suspect who was fatally shot by police was motivated by recent U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran.
Multiple law enforcement officials briefed on the case saying it's too early to draw firm conclusions.
It says the suspect is a 53-year-old.
He's wearing a shirt with an Iranian flag design on it underneath a hoodie printed with property of Allah.
It says, This is the acting special agent in charge, the FBI.
Quote: Obviously, it's still way too early in the process to determine an exact motivation, but there are indicators on the subject and then his vehicle and then his vehicle that indicate a potential nexus to terrorism.
Here is Jonathan, Grand Prairie, Texas.
Democrat, good morning, Jonathan.
Good morning, Mimi, and thank you for taking my call.
First, I'd like to say, you know, C-SPAN does a wonderful job in the face of absolute crazy, some of the folks that are calling in with the attacks.
That being said, I think that this is an illegal war.
Obviously, Congress is supposed to be notified by the president for any declaration of war.
People are calling in saying, you know, they wipe Iran off the face of the earth and whatnot.
Now, we all know that it is a sponsored state terrorist regime.
Nobody in their right mind thinks that this is a regime that really should be legitimate.
However, there are people that are being killed who have nothing to do with the Iranian government, innocent people, like for example, the school that was hit, the hospitals that were hit.
It's easy for us to sit back in our comfortable lives and say, well, these people are that.
We should just go ahead and wipe them off the face of the earth.
The fact of the matter is, Americans have to understand this president broke the law.
He has an unfit Secretary of State, Pete Hedgeset, and those folks around.
Now, I can tell you this: I would be a lot more confident if it was another president that had smart, qualified people making these types of decisions.
And by the way, they went ahead and they got the Congress before they did the strike.
For me, I just think it's illegitimate government, and what are they going to replace them with?
That remains to be seen as well.
There's no plan after.
Mimi, thank you for taking my call and you have a blessed day.
And we will be hearing from administration officials, Secretary Hagseth and Chairman Kane.
They will be holding a news conference set to start at 8 a.m.
Stay with us right here on C-SPAN in order to see that in its entirety.
As far as I know, the Congress was notified for military action to the gang of eight.
Furthermore, it's a real tragedy after school children die.
But don't forget that thousands of children were killed.
Daughters of parents were raped before they were executed by the Iranian government.
And it's a brutal government, and it's part of the global cartel of violence that maybe things will be safer in the future.
I can't predict the future.
And I surely hope, as in Iraq, we don't get into a big wave of Sunni massacres of each other.
Hopefully, there's a peaceful outcome.
I understand Christianity is growing like wildfire in Iran.
So we'll see what happens.
But I thank you.
All right, Chris.
And Times of Israel reporting that Iran media outlets report that strikes hit hospital in Tehran.
And Frank in Port Ritchie, Florida, Independent Line.
Good morning.
Yeah, yes.
The president wants to make a war with them, but he needs troops, like we did in World War II, like my uncle, the POW from the Nazis.
He was captured by Nazis.
We need a younger breed of people, and they need to be in seventh grade to 11th, the 12th, the 13th grade, and they need to be drafted.
That's how you make an army.
Okay, and here's Barbara in San Diego, line for Democrats.
Good morning, Barbara.
Good morning.
I'm sad about the children, but then again, they killed their own people all the time.
90,000 people were killed, is what I was told by a friend of mine.
And I'm just sad for them and the people who live there because they're going through hell.
But I'm all for Trump.
And I say get rid of Hamas, get rid of Houthis, and get rid of Hezbollah.
Thank you.
Peter in Collierville, Tennessee, Republican, you're on the air.
All right, thank you.
So I think the problem is most people don't understand the history here.
And actually, if you go back 1,400 years, the goal of radical Islam has always been the global caliphate, Islamic domination of the world.
And that's really what Iran has been, the driving force behind Iran.
It's been the cause of Islamic Islamism for the whole world.
And that's the support of terrorism against the West.
And for 47 years, you really look at Iran as not been a country.
It's been, as Henry Hispanic said, Iran has chosen to be a cause.
It was the cause of radical Islam.
That's the only, you think about what have they done for 47 years to support radical Islam.
And we've actually been at war with Iran for these 47 years.
We've been intact multiple times, starting with the U.S. Embassy in November 1979, the takeover.
That was an act of war against the United States.
And you have to take them seriously when they say debt to America, debt to Israel, America the great Satan, Israel the small Satan.
They mean that.
And I think this should have happened a long time ago.
Okay, so President Trump.
Yeah, go ahead.
So, Peter, let's talk about what you think could happen.
The Ayatollah is dead.
It looks like they're going to be replacing him.
What do you think?
I mean, is it possible that we have this Western-style democracy in Iran?
What are your thoughts on that?
That's up to the people of the Persian people.
That's up to the people of the citizens of Persia that want freedom from this tyrannical Islamic dictatorship.
And the goal is victory, elimination of the entire framework of the theocratic dictatorship.
But can that be done militarily, Peter?
In other words, what if we end up with a more extreme regime in Israel, in Iran?
I mean, that could happen, right?
It could.
It theoretically could happen.
I think that the Shah, who is really the rightful ruler of Iran, Frazier Palavi, son of the late Shah, is in a position maybe to be a transitional leader.
I think people support that, most people in Iran.
And if you can have a transition like that, but you have to eliminate the theocracy.
All elements of the radical Islamic theocracy need to go because it's basically Iran has not been able to function as a normal country for 47 years.
You have to let that happen.
You have to bring that about.
All right.
Well, Peter, let's review real quick a little bit of the history, key events in U.S.-Iran relations.
So going back to 1953, the CIA orchestrated a coup in Iran.
79 was the Iranian revolution.
Of course, they took the embassy.
From 1979 to 81 was the Iranian hostage crisis.
They were released at that point.
1988, the U.S. shoots down an Iranian passenger plane.
2002, President George W. Bush includes Iran in the axis of evil.
2020, U.S. kills Iranian General Suleimani in a drone strike.
And 2025, just this past June, U.S. bombs Iranian nuclear sites.
We got that from history.com.
If you want to review that, you can do that there.
Coup and Conflict00:13:35
Nora, Gaithersburg, Maryland, Independent Online, what do you think about what's going on in the Middle East?
Well, I just agree with Peter.
Everything Peter said was spot-on correct.
And, you know, I just bring it down.
I want to boil it down just to simplicity.
We have good and we have evil in this world.
And Iran and the Ayatollah were evil.
They have perpetrated crimes against humanity across the globe, and they have made their threats continuously.
Debt to America, debt to Israel.
And, you know, someone was saying they were going to kill you.
Would you just stand there and let them do it?
And in addition, they're killing their own people.
And Trump warned them.
He said, stop killing your own people or there's going to be hell to pay.
And at least, I thank God for Trump every day.
Finally, we have a president that has the courage to do the right thing, regardless of the political BS that comes with the job.
And the Democrats, I just think they have lost their way.
They are completely, Trump said he could cure cancer and they would find something wrong with it.
And it's true.
It doesn't matter how good he does for the world and for the citizens of Venezuela, or in this case, Iran, or the citizens of our own country.
It's like these people are completely deluded.
So, Nora, let me ask you to respond to this because some people call and say, look, we can't afford this war.
We've got people that can't eat, that don't have health care in this country.
This is going to be too costly, let alone the cost in lives.
So how do you respond to that?
What would you say?
Well, we're already $37 trillion in debt, and we can thank Obama for the majority of that debt because he accumulated more debt during his eight years in office than all the previous presidents combined.
And so I think the question is, do you do the right thing or is it all about the money?
Is it all about the money?
I think you do the right thing and then you try to figure out a way to deal with it.
Now, if we would have kept the oil in Iraq, the $13 trillion that Trump said we should have kept, we could have paid off a significant portion of our debt back then.
I mean, so I think President Trump will find a way.
I don't think Congress is helping him at all on both sides of the equation.
We've got way too many rhinos up there and way too many deluded socialist communists.
All right, got that point, Nora.
And a quick update for you from U.S. Central Command has just posted this on X. As of 7.30 a.m. Eastern Time today, four U.S. service members have been killed in action.
The fourth service member, who was seriously wounded during Iran's initial attacks, eventually succumbed to their injuries.
Major combat operations continue and our response effort is ongoing.
The identities of the fallen are being withheld until 24 hours after next of Kin notification.
That is news that a fourth service member has been killed.
Jonathan in Baltimore, Democrat, you're on the air.
Hi, how are you doing?
Thank you for C-SPAN.
I really do appreciate you guys.
You are like the best form out there, so I can hear everybody's opinion on how angry they are about stuff.
My opinion on this situation is that I don't support Trump, but I do support our government.
I don't think what he's doing is a good idea, but I understand, but I just don't think it's a good idea.
I just more so hope that we are not being part of a manipulation from Israel, and we're just the puppets of it.
The more you look into stuff and you go down a rabbit hole of what, you find out that we, you know, it's really not our business to be over there and this is just fighting for someone else's fight.
And I don't support that part, but I do support our troops.
I am happy that they are doing what they have to do in a nice, tactful way, manner, and achieving the goals that they got to do.
And I do appreciate that.
And I can say thank you, Trump, for properly leading us in that kind of way.
But I still don't agree with the stuff that he's doing, but he's got to do what he's got to do.
But I just really hope that we're just not part of a manipulation plot with Israel or anyone else, and we're just the tools to be used for it.
That's all.
Thank you, El.
Let's talk to Dave in Michigan, Republican.
You're on the air, Dave.
Good morning, Mimi.
Good morning.
I love to watch C-SPAN in the morning.
I go through all the channels that C-SPAN has.
So informative.
I really appreciate it.
A couple of things.
Iraq, or Iran, as far as that goes, it's been going on for years.
Obviously, a lot of people know that that inform themselves and don't just go to the cable news channels for all the information.
And the fact that it's been coming for years, it's amazing why the previous administration have not done anything about it either.
It's just amazing.
What always goes to me with the thing with the representatives and stuff like that, not being told ahead of time, you don't tell anybody when you're going to do something like this.
Their intelligence that they've got nowadays, they get way ahead of time as to what they're doing.
They plan it.
It isn't just, I got to do it tomorrow.
They plan and plan and plan before they do these things.
Otherwise, it's just a waste of time, waste of money.
As far as money goes, as far as that goes with that cost and stuff, there's cost in everything.
With the United States, all the fraud that's going on, that's where we could use that money for all the fraud that's going on.
One thing that really interests me, and I'm 81 years old, and I voted all my years and I've been able to, I always look at statistics, percentage of people that don't vote.
It would be interesting to ask all the people that call in how much whether they had voted this year, whether they vote, and see that.
So many people are just so uninformed, they need to take and read other stuff.
Don't just listen to what comes across on you on the TV other than C-SPAN, of course, because you guys have a very, very, very good variation of things to watch.
I only wish it would come out at 6 in the morning.
I live on the East Coast here, and we have to wait till 7 o'clock.
Sadly to say, I get up at 5 every morning and listen to a couple of the views of the other cables, and I just can't wait till 7 o'clock to be able to turn you guys on.
All right, we appreciate that, James.
And here's David in Florida, Independent Lion.
Good morning.
Hey, Mimi.
Thanks for taking my call.
And thanks for C-SPAN.
You guys do a great job.
My opinion on the war with Iran, it's all a distraction.
It's all about the Epstein files.
This is why it's being done.
Thanks, and have a great day.
Let's talk to John in Georgia.
He's a Democrat.
Good morning, John.
Good morning, Mimi.
Glad to be on C-SPAN.
That caller before me, it took the words right out of my mouth.
Because I told my wife about two, three weeks ago, I said, when those Epstein files started getting out, I said, Trump is going to start a war.
I think he's going to start a war to distract people from the Epstein file to something else.
Since Saturday, Epstein's name has not been mentioned one time.
Why?
Because that is what Trump wanted.
Because now that Trump is a pedophile and that stuff came out about him and that teenage girl or that young girl, all of a sudden, a few days later, we're in a war.
So this is not about regime change or it's about Donald Trump covering his butt because he knows, Donald Trump knows that it's all about Epstein and he's trying to distract the American people from the Epstein files.
All right.
And Rodney in Greensboro, North Carolina says, as a veteran, I do not support war for regime change.
None of the billionaires in office are seen in their kids are sending their kids to fight in this war.
What is the cost of this war?
A Patriot missile costs $4 million.
Tomahawk missile, $1.2 million.
Cruise missiles, $3 million.
But yet, health care for the American people in America cannot get paid for.
U.S. Central said that if the choice is between a radical theocracy or a U.S. puppet regime, we are screwed.
I think this will increase the national debt to $48 trillion by the end of this year.
That's Mike in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
And John in San Antonio says this rush to freak out over everything Trump does by Democrats is so tiresome.
Even if it's what's best for America, they oppose it.
Striking Iran is 39 years in the making.
Let's talk to Steve in Charleston, South Carolina.
Republican, good morning.
Hey, good morning, Mimi.
For those people who are concerned about the Epstein situation going away, don't worry, it's not going away.
Democrats will never let that die.
And some Republicans won't either.
Okay, but let me cut to my point.
I'm going to share a little history with you.
And this is relevant, so don't get mad at me.
And I'm kind of baiting the viewers and the listeners a little bit.
You remember the World Trade Center tragedy?
Everybody says, yes, that was 9-11.
Nope.
I'm talking about February of 1993 when terrorists bombed the bottom floor, well, under the bottom floor of the trade center, putting a 100-foot crater down there.
They tried to take it down.
Six people were killed.
About 1,000 were injured.
Well, they taught those guys and put them in jail, and they're spending their life in jail.
But here's the problem: that happened on Clinton's watch.
He had seven years to react to that and do something to preclude another event.
You know what happened?
Nobody did a thing.
So guess what?
It landed in Trump's lap when he was elected in 2000.
He took office 2001.
And then, of course, the tragedy of ethnic proportions happened in 9-11, 2001.
Here's what I think.
And I don't know if this is an intention for Trump, but this is being proactive.
This is saying, hey, this is not going to land in the lap of a future president of the United States.
I'm taking care of this problem now.
I'm going to make sure that nobody has to respond to a nuclear event in the future because we need to deal with it now, get it done with, because I don't think a future president, especially maybe a Democrat.
So, Steve, let's talk about that because you mentioned the nuclear program.
So, do you believe that this campaign should just be focused on destroying or delaying Iran's nuclear program?
Should it also include changing the regime?
No, I think it should concentrate on the nuclear program and let the Iranian people take care of their situation there with regard to political power and who should be in power.
I want the regime to change, but I don't think that's our situation to deal with.
And Trump has said, hey, it's up to the Iranian people to do it.
They need to make the change.
They're going to have to do that.
We need to keep out of that business.
But let me tell you, a byproduct of this campaign is going to be congressional people on both sides, especially on the Democrats, need to understand before they object that women will be treated like humans in the future over there, and people will be able to exercise their right to protest in the streets like they do here.
But here's the counterpoint to that, Steve, and that's the Taliban, right?
We spent a lot of blood and treasure in Afghanistan, and in the end, women are being mistreated now by the Taliban.
The Taliban are in control.
It's a very bad human rights situation.
You are exactly right, and it's a shame.
The best answer I could give you is we have to eliminate this nuclear threat so a future president won't have to react to that in the future.
And I think that's one of the goals.
Got that, Steve.
John, Independent, Westchester, Pennsylvania.
What do you think, John?
Hey, Mimi.
I just wanted to lead off with a quote.
The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.
You know, I listened to one of the callers earlier.
He mentioned the Shah as the rightful heir to kingdom of Iran.
And I mean, it just shows how ignorant folks are and how lacking of the critical thinking skills are.
I mean, the Shah tortured and murdered hundreds of thousands of people.
And we think that after 50 years in exile, that his son can come back and unify Iran.
It just, there's no chance.
It's the best claim I've heard yet, and it's horrible.
The fact of the matter is it's going to be very bad for Iranians and very bad for Trump.
People want to act like this is good for the future, but this just is just Iraq 2.0 with even better trained soldiers becoming the terrorists.
This war only serves Israel.
I'm sick of fighting wars for Israel.
Is anybody else on this line sick of fighting wars for Israel?