CSPAN - Washington Journal Open Phones
Aired: 2026-05-06
Duration: 45:59


=== Confusion Between Tactics and Strategy (15:18) ===

[00:00:00]  It'll happen, but never again.
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[00:00:48]  Welcome to today's Washington Journal.
[00:00:50]  Let's start with the Truth Social Post from yesterday from President Trump.
[00:00:55]  That's the latest news.
[00:00:56]  This was 6.52 p.m. Eastern Time yesterday.
[00:00:59]  He said this.
[00:01:00]  Based on the request of Pakistan and other countries, the tremendous military success that we have had during the campaign against the country of Iran, and additionally, the fact that great progress has been made toward a complete and final agreement with representatives of Iran, we have mutually agreed that while the blockade will remain in full force and effect, Project Freedom, parentheses,
[00:01:26]  the movement of ships through the Strait of Hormuz, will be paused for a short period of time to see whether or not the agreement can be finalized and signed.
[00:01:36]  And Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, briefed reporters yesterday at the White House.
[00:01:42]  Yesterday, he said this about the offensive operation in the war against Iran.
[00:01:46]  If the fighting were to resume, because you've said that Operation Epic Fury is over, the president also said that the U.S. would bomb them off the face of the earth if they tried to go after U.S. ships.
[00:01:56]  So if the fighting resumes, are you saying that it would resume under Project Freedom?
[00:02:01]  And I ask, as it relates to the War Powers Act.
[00:02:04]  Yeah, look, the Operation Epic Fury is concluded.
[00:02:08]  We achieved the objectives of that operation.
[00:02:10]  I'm not going to, you know, we're not cheering for an additional situation to occur.
[00:02:15]  We would prefer the path of peace.
[00:02:17]  What the president would prefer is a deal.
[00:02:19]  He would prefer to sit down, work out a memorandum of understanding for future negotiations that touches on all the key topics that have to be addressed, a full opening of the straits so the world can get back to normal.
[00:02:28]  And he preferred that that be negotiated through the route that Steve and Jared have been working and that all of us have been supporting.
[00:02:33]  That's the route he prefers.
[00:02:35]  That is so far not the route that Iran has chosen.
[00:02:37]  And so the result has been that the United States has to do something about the fact that we're the only nation on earth that can do anything to open up a lane within the Straits of Hormuz to get product and to rescue these people that are trapped in there.
[00:02:48]  And that's what we're undergoing now.
[00:02:50]  What that may lead to in the future is speculative.
[00:02:52]  I'm not going to speculate about what it would take or what it would do.
[00:02:54]  But look, the message to Iran, these guys are facing, they are facing real catastrophic destruction to their economy, generational destruction to their economy, generational destruction to the wealth of their country, imposed on themselves by the actions that they're taking.
[00:03:08]  They should check themselves before they wreck themselves in the direction that they're going.
[00:03:12]  That was the Secretary of State yesterday and some polling.
[00:03:17]  The latest poll is from the Washington Post ABC Ipsos poll.
[00:03:22]  This was taken last week.
[00:03:25]  The question have the same question we're asking you.
[00:03:28]  Have U.S. actions in Iran been successful?
[00:03:31]  Here's what the poll said.
[00:03:32]  It says this, 19% of U.S. adults overall say it has been successful.
[00:03:39]  39% say it has been not, it has not been successful.
[00:03:43]  And 41% say it's too soon to tell.
[00:03:47]  Wonder where you fall in that if we are asking you that same question.
[00:03:52]  Has U.S. military action against Iran been successful?
[00:03:55]  Let's hear from Lucas in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, Independent Line.
[00:03:59]  Good morning, Lucas.
[00:04:01]  Good morning.
[00:04:01]  Thank you for taking my call.
[00:04:03]  I don't think the Iran war has been successful by any stretch of the imagination.
[00:04:08]  Even in the clip that you just played of Marco Rubio at this press conference, he says the goal is to get it back to where we were, back to freedom of navigation that we already had before the Iran war even started.
[00:04:22]  They've now completely done away with all the other reasons they stated for this war, regime change, the ballistic missile system, the nuclear program, all of that.
[00:04:33]  Even in the proposal that was just released, they talk about allowing Iran to continue having their enriched uranium potentially or shipping it to a friendly country and having them being able to buy it and having them ship it in for civilian purposes.
[00:04:51]  So they've lost all containment on this conflict.
[00:04:56]  All right.
[00:04:56]  And what do you think should be done, Lucas?
[00:04:58]  Do you think we just completely pull out?
[00:05:01]  And I mean, now that we're in it, what should we do?
[00:05:03]  What do you think?
[00:05:05]  Yeah, I mean, we should completely pull out.
[00:05:08]  We should pull out from the region.
[00:05:10]  We have no business there.
[00:05:11]  We've been there for the last 40 plus years, whether that be CIA or direct military involvement.
[00:05:18]  We have no reason to be there.
[00:05:20]  We've destroyed the Gulf State countries.
[00:05:22]  We've destroyed their economies.
[00:05:24]  Iran has been under sanctions for the last 40 plus years.
[00:05:28]  They've developed a sovereign economy that is not reliant on the American dollar.
[00:05:34]  And Pakistan has already allowed them to do land transfers for their supplies.
[00:05:40]  They don't have to ship out of the Strait of Hormuz.
[00:05:43]  We've completely destroyed any hope of rehabilitating the Gulf Coast countries.
[00:05:50]  All right, Lucas.
[00:05:51]  And this is Reuters from early this morning.
[00:05:54]  U.S. and Iran closing in on memorandum to end the war.
[00:05:59]  According to a Pakistani source, it says the Pakistani source says, quote, we will close this very soon.
[00:06:06]  Iran demands fair, comprehensive deal and talks, according to their foreign minister.
[00:06:11]  Trump claims great progress towards agreement, pauses ship escorts through Hormuz.
[00:06:16]  French container ship hit in strait.
[00:06:19]  The crew has been injured.
[00:06:20]  And blockade of straight ongoing conflict disrupts oil supply and global economy.
[00:06:24]  That's a summary from that Reuters article.
[00:06:29]  Tashar in Daly City, California, Democrat?
[00:06:34]  Amy, yes.
[00:06:35]  I believe, even though I'm a Democrat, that the intervention in Iran was a success because I feel very safe in the United States of America.
[00:06:43]  I think it's enhanced my opinion of Donald Trump because he's a president.
[00:06:48]  And I mean, I have all types of other opinions about Donald Trump, but I think this is success because I feel safe at home.
[00:06:57]  All right.
[00:06:58]  And Tom in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey, Independent Line.
[00:07:02]  Good morning.
[00:07:03]  Hi there.
[00:07:05]  What I seem to think is that it really depends how you're defining success.
[00:07:12]  I think that really the White House has had a tremendous success with this.
[00:07:16]  They're able to promote this safety element, as the last man just expressed.
[00:07:21]  And then the man before that put all of the counterweight to it that really makes it seem unsuccessful.
[00:07:27]  So I really think you're not going to be able to get a conclusion on success or not unless you determine personally inside whether or not having a bomb, thorium-based nuclear energy type going forward is what to you is a success.
[00:07:43]  So I don't think you're going to be able to do that.
[00:07:45]  So Tom, tell us what you consider success in this case.
[00:07:50]  Transparency, more so, more freedom of press.
[00:07:54]  I hear that they want to drop leaflets.
[00:07:56]  Well, how about dropping those little Royoku devices so there's more internet, sort of alternatives for communication that, in my opinion, bolsters transparency.
[00:08:07]  So do you think the regime would have to change?
[00:08:11]  I think this regime has changed like a chameleon over the years to accommodate, and it isn't ever going to really, again, be enough because of the moving goalposts of what each administration is determining success really is.
[00:08:28]  Before we had a fatwa against nuclear power, we killed that man and everything around him.
[00:08:35]  So now is success then the next guy ends the fatwa on nuclear bombs because I guess we really need one like North Korea, Pakistan, Israel.
[00:08:45]  So I don't know what success, if we're going to kill the regime that has a fatwa against nuclear bombs, I don't understand.
[00:08:54]  You see what I'm saying?
[00:08:55]  Where the success changes with the administration and people's feelings.
[00:09:00]  So how do you determine consistently?
[00:09:03]  All right, Tom.
[00:09:03]  Let's hear from Deborah next.
[00:09:05]  Republican, South Bend, Indiana.
[00:09:07]  Good morning, Deborah.
[00:09:08]  Good morning.
[00:09:09]  How are you doing?
[00:09:11]  Good.
[00:09:13]  Okay, how I see it, Andrew.
[00:09:16]  Okay, all I want him to do, we got to be real careful how we go in and address this human rights.
[00:09:24]  If you can see the human rights policies are not strong enough, we need to tell these people, you cannot cut somebody's head off.
[00:09:34]  You cannot cut their fingers off.
[00:09:36]  You cannot cut their toes off.
[00:09:40]  It's got to be.
[00:09:43]  Okay.
[00:09:44]  And this is Representative Jason Crowe, a Democrat from Colorado.
[00:09:48]  He was on Face the Nation on Sunday criticizing the Trump administration's approach to the war.
[00:09:56]  Do you think the U.S. can end the war or whatever we're in with Iran right now without clearing that Strait of Hormuz?
[00:10:03]  Do you expect a return to combat?
[00:10:06]  Well, first of all, it's Iran that's blockading the Strait of Hormuz, and we're blockading their blockade.
[00:10:12]  I think the real question that we should all be asking is, does America really want to continue to have conflict in the Middle East for another 5, 10, 20 years?
[00:10:23]  The problem is, is that we have confused as a nation tactics versus strategy.
[00:10:30]  Most of the conversation around Iran is about tactics.
[00:10:34]  Should we blockade?
[00:10:35]  How do we counter drones?
[00:10:38]  Who is moving oil around where?
[00:10:41]  What is our strategy?
[00:10:42]  We spent trillions of dollars in Iraq and Afghanistan to replace the Taliban with the Taliban, in Iraq to replace Saddam Hussein with ISIS.
[00:10:52]  We are not good at having off-ramps and accomplishing large strategic decisions in the Middle East, right?
[00:10:59]  And this is just yet another example of that.
[00:11:01]  So let's actually talk strategy and what it is we're trying to accomplish here instead of having a constant discussion around blockades.
[00:11:08]  So when Secretary Hagseth was before your committee this week and he was asking for this one and a half trillion dollar budget request, are Democrats going to say no until they get those answers or do you have to fund the troops who are in harm's way?
[00:11:21]  Well, I'm just going to say no regardless of what's going on in one area because we don't need that money, right?
[00:11:29]  The Department of Defense has never passed an audit, never in the history of that department.
[00:11:35]  It's the only government agency in the U.S. government.
[00:11:38]  Do you want to tell us how they're spending money?
[00:11:41]  We have already funded munition stockpiles amounts.
[00:11:44]  And what I am not going to do is continue the pattern, like we continue to Iraq and Afghanistan, of throwing good money after bad and constantly funding conflicts that never end and will not end up in a good result for America.
[00:12:00]  And what do you think of what Jason Crowe just said, Democrat of Colorado?
[00:12:04]  We will take your calls on the question: Has the U.S. military action against Iran been successful?
[00:12:09]  But a quick update for you, because yesterday was primary day in a couple of places.
[00:12:14]  So wanted to make sure you knew about the results of that.
[00:12:17]  This is the Associated Press.
[00:12:19]  Takeaways from Indiana, Iowa, and Michigan.
[00:12:21]  Trump's flex pays off, and Democrats win special election.
[00:12:26]  Says that those elections reinforced a picture that is becoming increasingly clear.
[00:12:31]  While President Donald Trump still dominates the Republican Party, Democrats seem to have the momentum ahead of November's midterm elections.
[00:12:38]  Biggest test of Trump's power came in Indiana, where he backed primary challenges against seven Republican state senators who rejected his redistricting plan in December.
[00:12:48]  Five of the president's candidates won with the help of an avalanche of cash.
[00:12:54]  Meanwhile, in Michigan, a Democrat comfortably won a state Senate race in a bellwether district, latest in a string of special election victories.
[00:13:03]  And over in Ohio, primaries locked in candidates for two major races with national implications.
[00:13:09]  You could read the rest of that in the Associated Press.
[00:13:13]  Back to our topic on Iran, Larry in Houston.
[00:13:16]  Democrat, you're on the air.
[00:13:18]  Hey, thanks for taking my call.
[00:13:20]  No, we never done nothing.
[00:13:22]  And I mean, as a combat version of the first Gulf War and Deslaw, I had two kids fought in Afghan.
[00:13:31]  My daddy fought in Vietnam.
[00:13:33]  Grandfather fought in World War II.
[00:13:36]  I mean, when will it stop?
[00:13:40]  You know, we started most wars than any other country since World War II.
[00:13:47]  And people have to stop going with the rhetoric.
[00:13:50]  You know, the boogeyman, oh, Iran will attack.
[00:13:54]  Do we even know why Iran did have sanctions on Iran?
[00:13:59]  Because they had a revolution that kicked out the Shah of Iran, who was a puppet to America.
[00:14:06]  So if we did a revolution, would you expect other countries to sanction us?
[00:14:13]  Because we want to change in our country.
[00:14:15]  So Larry, what do you make of the Iranian regime being brutal to their own people, but also being adversarial to the United States and to our allies in the region and the whole, you know, death to America chanting?
[00:14:32]  What do you think of that?
[00:14:34]  Well, I mean, we got to go like, again, we got to start with the propaganda.
[00:14:38]  You see, people don't understand.
[00:14:42]  I remember 1978, I was eight years old.
[00:14:45]  I remember when they kicked the Americans out and when they took the hostages.
[00:14:50]  Turning back 10 years later, well, 12 years later, I'm fighting in our ranks, the country that we funded Iran to fight against.
[00:15:04]  You know, so the main thing is stop with the rhetoric.
[00:15:08]  These people here, you know who got the most atomic weapons up in nuclear weapons up in the Middle East that nobody knows how much they have?

=== The Cost of Backing Oppression (14:32) ===

[00:15:18]  Israel.
[00:15:21]  You know, do you hear?
[00:15:23]  We hear the boogeyman, oh, they go to Iran, get a nuclear weapon, they're going to go blow up America.
[00:15:29]  First of all, they can't reach America, people.
[00:15:31]  So y'all might as well stop with that rhetoric and stop believing that.
[00:15:34]  We heard the same thing with North Korea.
[00:15:38]  Have North Korea attacked America?
[00:15:40]  They got a nuclear, a nuclear weapon.
[00:15:43]  Have they attacked?
[00:15:44]  People do not understand that.
[00:15:46]  First of all, if you send off a nuclear weapon, we'd send one off.
[00:15:50]  So there go your country.
[00:15:51]  All right, Larry, let's go to Missouri Independent Line.
[00:15:54]  Ron, what do you think?
[00:15:57]  Well, I think everybody's in panic.
[00:16:01]  Just this morning on the business channel, they're saying oil is down $89 a barrel.
[00:16:09]  So that means gas prices are going to be dropping.
[00:16:14]  You know, they never give Trump a chance.
[00:16:17]  Every time he does something, it's right after he gets to needs to just chill out a little bit.
[00:16:24]  Thank you.
[00:16:25]  All right.
[00:16:26]  And I mentioned a Wall Street Journal editorial, and I want to read you a portion of that and get your reaction to it.
[00:16:35]  This is from yesterday's Wall Street Journal editorial.
[00:16:39]  It says this: When Iran runs out of oil storage, it will have to stop production, causing permanent damage.
[00:16:48]  Reliant on imports, Iran also faces a gasoline crisis, which is politically combustible.
[00:16:55]  While Trump critics say Iran can hold on forever because it withstood sanctions in the past, the situations aren't comparable.
[00:17:03]  Iran has already lost some 40% of its GDP in two months.
[00:17:08]  No wonder Iranian businesses are closing.
[00:17:10]  Inflation is rising and the currency hit a new low.
[00:17:13]  Wednesday, down another 15% in two days.
[00:17:17]  All as the regime's costs rise from salaries to food and fuel subsidies.
[00:17:22]  Maybe the regime thinks it can hold out, but its resolve may not be as great as critics of the war suggest or hope in many cases, even in the U.S. Mr. Trump deserves credit for staying the course when so many around him are losing their nerve.
[00:17:39]  You can comment on that as well.
[00:17:41]  Here's Randy in Wisconsin, Republican.
[00:17:43]  Hi, Randy.
[00:17:45]  Good morning.
[00:17:46]  I tell you, that's the first time Wall Street Journal really said something that's truthful.
[00:17:53]  But Iran constantly said death to America, death to America.
[00:17:58]  The people, do you think they were lying?
[00:18:01]  Look at the underground tunnels and look at all the weapons that they stored up underground.
[00:18:06]  And they always said, well, we don't want, we're not doing a nuclear weapon or have a nuclear bomb or nothing like that.
[00:18:13]  We'll come to find out.
[00:18:15]  They were constantly lying to the world.
[00:18:18]  And now they found them and they destroyed them.
[00:18:21]  Iran is not a nice show over there where I had told a Khomeini, whoever the guy was, they were nothing but liars.
[00:18:30]  I mean, they were out to try to take over all the oil and the world and everything else with all their weapons.
[00:18:41]  So, Randy, regarding our question, you would say the U.S. military action has been successful?
[00:18:49]  Absolutely.
[00:18:51]  My goodness, sake.
[00:18:52]  So, what do we do at this point?
[00:18:54]  Do you think we stay the course?
[00:18:59]  I mean, are you going to be okay with the costs of the war, either in the price of gas or in the cost itself of the military action?
[00:19:10]  And for how long?
[00:19:12]  Well, yeah, hopefully it will not last much longer because Iran has got to make some kind of a consignment or deal and give up their nuclear weapons.
[00:19:22]  That's a big thing they're they're trying to do.
[00:19:25]  And as far as doing what the the United States is doing, keep it up because they've taken out all their military, you know, everything from the Navy.
[00:19:36]  They don't have nothing left to really defend themselves.
[00:19:40]  But we're not going to, you notice that Trump is not bombing the people.
[00:19:45]  Although Iran killed last month, killed 45,000 of their own because they were protesting against the regime.
[00:19:54]  Stop and think about what kind of country that is.
[00:19:57]  This has to be done.
[00:19:58]  The world is going to be much safer.
[00:20:00]  The Middle East is going to be much safer.
[00:20:02]  Everybody's going to come together.
[00:20:04]  And if you think you're going to get a Democrat out here today, that's going to be for Trump.
[00:20:09]  You got another thing coming because everybody hates, they got the Trump syndrome.
[00:20:15]  All right, Randy, let's talk to Gene.
[00:20:18]  We are getting your comments on has the U.S. military action against Iran been successful?
[00:20:24]  You can call us.
[00:20:25]  Gene is calling on the Independent Line in Yorktown, Virginia.
[00:20:29]  Good morning.
[00:20:30]  Good morning, America.
[00:20:32]  As a retired soldier, senior non-commissioned officer in the U.S. Army, who I'm not red, I'm not blue.
[00:20:40]  I am American.
[00:20:42]  I do go independent, but I am an American.
[00:20:45]  So I don't think that the reporter yesterday, I'll just stick to this point.
[00:20:51]  The reporter when Rubrio briefed, a reporter asked him one question.
[00:20:56]  So, have we met our mission as far as in regard to their nuclear weapons?
[00:21:03]  Do they still have them?
[00:21:05]  Have we met that goal?
[00:21:06]  Because ultimately, I thought that was the goal of trying to strip them of their nuclear weapons.
[00:21:12]  And he couldn't answer it because we've lost a lot.
[00:21:16]  Now, there are jobs that have been created because in the federal government, defense contractors.
[00:21:24]  So people are making money, but the goal still hasn't been met.
[00:21:29]  So we've disrupted order over in the Middle East, over in the United States.
[00:21:37]  People are paying gas prices, and people talk about what the Irans do to their people.
[00:21:43]  But then, come on, look at what's happening in the United States.
[00:21:46]  Anytime we're fighting against each other, Democrat, Republicans, are we any better?
[00:21:52]  So, Gene, now that we've started, what do you think should be done?
[00:21:55]  Do we keep going until we achieve that objective of no nuclear weapons and getting that enriched uranium out of the country?
[00:22:04]  Personal pride is keeping them going back to what former President Obama and Biden had.
[00:22:10]  We need to let that country, every country has the right to defend themselves.
[00:22:16]  We need to go back to the agreement that was already in order in place prior to the dismantling.
[00:22:24]  Now, I'm not a Trump bashing.
[00:22:27]  Again, I'm not red, blue.
[00:22:28]  I'm an American.
[00:22:30]  So, we need to go back to that arrangement that we had, that agreement that we had.
[00:22:37]  And if it takes Obama making that agreement with them, hey, do what's right for the American, for America.
[00:22:49]  Gene, let's talk to Secretary Pete Hegseth.
[00:22:54]  He also gave a briefing yesterday.
[00:22:56]  He said this about Project Freedom.
[00:23:00]  Well, as you know, President Trump has directed U.S. Central Command to restart the free flow of commerce through the Strait of Hormuz under the umbrella of Project Freedom.
[00:23:11]  To be clear, this operation is separate and distinct from Operation Epic Fury.
[00:23:18]  Project Freedom is defensive in nature, focused in scope, and temporary in duration, with one mission: protecting innocent commercial shipping from Iranian aggression.
[00:23:31]  American forces won't need to enter Iranian waters or airspace.
[00:23:34]  It's not necessary.
[00:23:36]  We're not looking for a fight, but Iran also cannot be allowed to block innocent countries and their goods from an international waterway.
[00:23:45]  Iran is the clear aggressor, harassing civilian vessels, threatening mariners from every nation indiscriminately, and weaponizing a critical choke point for its own financial benefit, or at least trying to.
[00:24:01]  For too long, Iran has been harassing ships, shooting at civilian tankers from all nations, and trying to impose a tolling system.
[00:24:10]  Iran's plan, a form of international extortion, is unacceptable.
[00:24:17]  That ends with Project Freedom.
[00:24:20]  Two U.S. commercial ships, along with American destroyers, have already safely transited the strait, showing the lane is clear.
[00:24:29]  We know the Iranians are embarrassed by this fact.
[00:24:33]  They said they control the strait.
[00:24:35]  They do not.
[00:24:36]  So American ships led the way, commercial and military, shouldering the initial risk from the front, as Americans always do.
[00:24:45]  And right now, hundreds more ships from nations around the world are lining up to transit.
[00:24:52]  Secretary Hagseth, yesterday afternoon, talking about Project Freedom, that has since been paused by the president.
[00:24:58]  He put that out on Truth Social yesterday evening, pausing that in hopes of getting a permanent agreement with Iran.
[00:25:07]  On the line for Democrats, Palm Coast, Florida.
[00:25:10]  Ira, you're on the air.
[00:25:12]  Yeah, good morning.
[00:25:14]  Well, my take on this affair that's going on in the Middle East, the United States is totally wrong, and they're biased.
[00:25:24]  There'll never be peace there until there are two states, the Palestinians.
[00:25:29]  This is all about the Palestinians and the Israelis.
[00:25:32]  And the United States has started this war.
[00:25:34]  They invaded Iran, and the straits were never closed before.
[00:25:38]  Iran wasn't attacking any ships.
[00:25:40]  So the United States is coming from this thing from a racist point of view.
[00:25:47]  Until they free Palestine and put Palestine back as a country so those people can have their own self-determination, then there would be peace.
[00:25:56]  Until then, there won't be no peace because they've been there for you believe that it would just take a Palestinian state and not the complete destruction of Israel?
[00:26:06]  Because the Iranians are calling for death to Israel.
[00:26:09]  These people are sick and tired of this.
[00:26:12]  The Israelis, the common people, and the Palestinians, and that whole Middle East is sick and tired of this.
[00:26:18]  They're exhausted from this fighting and wars.
[00:26:22]  But the United States is backing this, and the American taxpayers have enriched one side and gave them a country and dismantle the Palestinian side and the Israeli people occupying and humiliating, disrespecting the Palestinian race of people.
[00:26:42]  And the United States is backing it.
[00:26:43]  The United States is backing oppression there.
[00:26:46]  The United States needs to get out of it if they're going to go to the table, stop assassinating the leaders, because they're the same representatives, same as the president here, same as Netanyahu.
[00:26:57]  But the United States let those people assassinate those leaders and they went over there and killed the Iranian leader.
[00:27:03]  Stop that.
[00:27:05]  Go and what did you do?
[00:27:08]  Take that weapon out of Israel, the nuclear weapon.
[00:27:10]  Then they'd have something to go to Iran and talk about and come to the table with.
[00:27:14]  All right, Ira.
[00:27:15]  Let's talk to Mark.
[00:27:16]  New York, Independent, you're on the air.
[00:27:18]  Good morning, Mimi.
[00:27:20]  It's amazing how some of your callers don't know any history.
[00:27:24]  Was this a success?
[00:27:26]  What we did was we disarmed a country that would have eventually gone into Israel.
[00:27:34]  We all know it.
[00:27:35]  Your previous callers just don't know history.
[00:27:38]  We took their weapons away.
[00:27:40]  We stopped them from sending over nuclear weapons wherever they would have eventually done, maybe not in our lifetime.
[00:27:48]  And yes, we didn't get the uranium.
[00:27:50]  We shot our arrow really high and we got a high mark.
[00:27:54]  All we have to do is get the straight open and leave.
[00:28:00]  And if it comes to a time they build up their missiles again, we do the same thing.
[00:28:05]  Okay, so you said, Mark, that we have disarmed them.
[00:28:08]  And of course, there's been a lot of damage done to their Navy, their Air Force, but they're still producing drones, which do a lot of damage to the area, to our Gulf allies.
[00:28:24]  And they're very cheap and they're being able to be produced very quickly.
[00:28:29]  So what do you say to that?
[00:28:31]  Well, what I say to that, part of the agreement, we tell them they can't do any more drones and we'll leave.
[00:28:38]  Let them have the uranium and let the next president worry about it.
[00:28:44]  Too many people are worried about things that are not going to happen or going to happen.
[00:28:51]  We've disarmed them.
[00:28:52]  We took their ability to hurt us away.
[00:28:56]  And as far as the people, this is coming back to Israel again.
[00:29:00]  And what people are saying about Netanyahu and Israel and genocide, it's just not true.
[00:29:09]  And thanks for taking my question.
[00:29:10]  Wait, Mark, before you go, though.
[00:29:13]  Before you go, so I just want to ask you: do you think it would be best right now to just say, look, open the strait and we'll go home?
[00:29:21]  And you would call that a success?
[00:29:24]  Yes, as long as they don't start with drones.
[00:29:27]  Yeah, I would call that when you take a test and you shoot for an A and you get a B plus.
[00:29:35]  I'll take that.
[00:29:36]  I'll take that.
[00:29:37]  We didn't lose many people.
[00:29:40]  And, you know, the 13 we lost was very bad.
[00:29:45]  But yeah, that's a success.
[00:29:47]  All right.
[00:29:48]  They can't hurt Israel and they can't hurt us.

=== Opening the Strait Without Drones (11:17) ===

[00:29:50]  Thank you.
[00:29:50]  Got it.
[00:29:51]  Chrissy, Virginia Beach, Virginia, Independent Line.
[00:29:53]  Good morning.
[00:29:55]  Hi.
[00:29:56]  I am thinking that it's been successful with Iran because I really think that they had ill intentions toward Israel, toward Europe, and eventually toward America.
[00:30:07]  And we needed to take things out before they became increasingly worse.
[00:30:13]  Thank you.
[00:30:14]  And Tom in Rock Island, Illinois, Independent Line.
[00:30:18]  You're on the air, Tom.
[00:30:20]  Thank you.
[00:30:21]  I'd like to start off with a couple of perspectives.
[00:30:24]  First off, I was a member of the military during the time of Vietnam.
[00:30:30]  I went because I listened to the same kind of rhetoric that's going on right now, and I believed it all.
[00:30:37]  Now, second.
[00:30:42]  Where'd you go?
[00:30:43]  Looks like we lost him.
[00:30:45]  Can you call us back?
[00:30:46]  Looks like your connection dropped there.
[00:30:50]  Robert, Indiana, Republican, you're on the air.
[00:30:53]  Yes, ma'am.
[00:30:54]  I believe President Trump should go ahead and do what he's got in mind.
[00:31:00]  Which is what?
[00:31:01]  There's these people worrying about the prices of gas, these baseball stadiums, football stadiums, music, all that.
[00:31:10]  They don't mind paying for that, but yet $4.50 worth of gas, they pay thousands of dollars for these tickets, you know.
[00:31:18]  It's crazy.
[00:31:20]  Let Trump do his job.
[00:31:22]  He's doing his job.
[00:31:24]  They never transfer my work with him at all.
[00:31:27]  Not at all.
[00:31:28]  So, what do you think?
[00:31:29]  Yeah, so Robert, what do you think should be the next step?
[00:31:32]  You know, our previous caller said, Look, we've done what we need to do.
[00:31:36]  Let's just get that straight open and then go home.
[00:31:40]  Well, that's what Trump's trying to do.
[00:31:43]  So, you agree with that?
[00:31:44]  Man, you look what Biden did for four years.
[00:31:47]  He's got us.
[00:31:48]  That's right.
[00:31:48]  We got what we got right now.
[00:31:51]  People go, better wake up.
[00:31:54]  All right, Robert.
[00:31:56]  And let's take a look at a couple more numbers from that poll.
[00:32:00]  This, again, is Washington Post ABC's Ipsos poll.
[00:32:04]  And it was asked about military action in Iran.
[00:32:10]  Do you think it was a mistake?
[00:32:11]  So that's the question.
[00:32:12]  Do you think military action was a mistake?
[00:32:15]  61% of U.S. adults overall think this military action was a mistake.
[00:32:21]  Among those, 91% of Democrats, 19% of Republicans, but independents is at 71% consider military action against Iran a mistake.
[00:32:34]  So we're asking you, what do you think of that?
[00:32:36]  Let's hear from an independent.
[00:32:37]  Here's Rock Island, Illinois.
[00:32:39]  Tom, you're on the air.
[00:32:40]  What do you think?
[00:32:42]  Hi, I'm back.
[00:32:43]  Oh, there you are.
[00:32:44]  Good.
[00:32:46]  So you were saying you signed up for Vietnam.
[00:32:49]  Because I believed in Reddit.
[00:32:51]  I'm not dig into it and look deeper.
[00:32:55]  Now, am I to okay?
[00:32:59]  Here's the second perspective.
[00:33:02]  The situation in Iran really is very akin to what's going on in the Vatican.
[00:33:08]  We have a Pope, and the Vatican has its small, small army, consider a much larger animal.
[00:33:15]  Now, if we bomb the Vatican, if somebody bombed the Vatican and killed the Pope and destroyed all their army, does that change the Catholics?
[00:33:26]  Or does that make them enemies of whoever bombed their leader?
[00:33:30]  We're creating our own enemies.
[00:33:33]  Now, I'm only, is this a success?
[00:33:36]  Is this what we want as a success?
[00:33:38]  Okay, I'll end it there.
[00:33:40]  Please, people, think.
[00:33:42]  Thank you.
[00:33:43]  Doug in Fairfax, South Dakota.
[00:33:46]  Democrat, you're on the air.
[00:33:48]  Yeah, good morning, Morning.
[00:33:50]  And I like to really know what we accomplished over there than spending $50 billion and run our gas prices way up.
[00:33:57]  And I don't understand why we're there, other than Israel is the one that's kind of wanting to do this, I believe.
[00:34:03]  And by my understanding, Israel is going to come in and finish the job that we don't do anyway, because look at what they're doing in Lebanon.
[00:34:11]  They're wiping it out just like Gaza, southern Lebanon.
[00:34:15]  They turn into Gaza over there, and they're destroying it totally.
[00:34:21]  Yeah, Doug, do you think there's been any benefit to the military action that the United States has undertaken in Iran?
[00:34:29]  No, I really don't, because what have they accomplished?
[00:34:31]  You know, if Iran is so bad, they could have had a dirty bomb and sent a dirty bomb a long time ago, but they haven't.
[00:34:38]  And actually, by my understanding, we went into Iraq because of information from Israel that they had a bomb there, I suppose.
[00:34:47]  But I don't see what we're accomplishing.
[00:34:49]  They're running our gas prices way up.
[00:34:51]  And this is Benjamin's war.
[00:34:53]  You know it is, and we all know it is.
[00:34:56]  But the Israel lobby has got a lot of power in this country.
[00:34:59]  And you guys even bring that, what is it, FDDC or whatever they are?
[00:35:04]  They're on there all the time.
[00:35:05]  And that's by Wippipedia.
[00:35:08]  That's actually kind of an Israel lobby.
[00:35:11]  They're a nationality, so I don't know.
[00:35:14]  We never hear the other side.
[00:35:15]  The networks never say nothing.
[00:35:17]  But if you go like BBC, they show what's happening over there, but American networks don't.
[00:35:23]  So I don't know.
[00:35:24]  It's total waste of money, and we're doing it all for Israel.
[00:35:29]  All right, Doug.
[00:35:30]  And this is Senator Jack Reed, Democrat of Rhode Island.
[00:35:34]  He was on ABC over the weekend talking about the potential for more strikes.
[00:35:39]  Here he is.
[00:35:40]  Do you believe a new round of strikes is imminent?
[00:35:46]  Well, there are certainly positioned for strikes.
[00:35:48]  That's what a military force has to be.
[00:35:52]  Again, one of the things that's so confounding in this whole situation is I don't believe the president has a plan.
[00:35:58]  I think it's impulsive.
[00:36:00]  It's day-to-day.
[00:36:01]  It's how he feels.
[00:36:03]  And he's not being given, I think, the support and the planning that is necessary to make judicious judgments.
[00:36:14]  So this is like a minute-to-minute what's ever in the president's head at the time, and that's not a pathway to success.
[00:36:21]  Secretary Hegseth told your committee that the administration doesn't need congressional authorization to continue the war past 60 days because the clock pauses because of the ceasefire.
[00:36:34]  President Trump has essentially said the same.
[00:36:36]  Do you agree with that?
[00:36:39]  No, no.
[00:36:40]  The language of the statutes does not provide for timeouts like in a football game.
[00:36:48]  From the day you begin, 60 days, the president has to comply with the law.
[00:36:55]  There can be a 30-day extension to 90 days, but that has to be requested by the president.
[00:37:01]  We have to be notified.
[00:37:02]  No such notifications come through.
[00:37:04]  The president's ignoring the law.
[00:37:07]  He does that constantly.
[00:37:08]  This is not the first example where he just completely ignores the law.
[00:37:13]  And we have to keep the pressure on.
[00:37:16]  In contrast to President Trump, at least President Bush came before the United States Congress and asked for authority to conduct operations in Iraq.
[00:37:26]  Now, I disagree with that.
[00:37:28]  I thought it was going to be a disastrous situation.
[00:37:31]  But nevertheless, he provided Congress the opportunity to opine and decide and gave him legitimacy that this president lacks.
[00:37:43]  Back to the phones, John in California, Independent Line.
[00:37:46]  What do you think?
[00:37:46]  Has U.S. military action against Iran been successful?
[00:37:51]  Good morning.
[00:37:53]  Yeah, tactically, perhaps.
[00:37:55]  Strategically, not at all, because the strategy seems to change.
[00:38:00]  And one of the, first off, Iran didn't have a nuclear weapon.
[00:38:05]  I mean, they're suspected of having getting close to a nuclear weapon, but a number of callers have said we have to take the nuclear weapons away from them to destroy them.
[00:38:16]  The strategy has changed because there have been a few different operations.
[00:38:21]  First, we went off and bombed the sites where the nuclear operations were happening.
[00:38:30]  That didn't succeed fully.
[00:38:32]  It wasn't completely wiped out.
[00:38:34]  The strategy was that it would be over in a few weeks, and it's been over two months now.
[00:38:40]  The strategy seems to be aligned with the same way that this government has gone toward attacked our institutions, you know, just with, you know, Musk going off and just firing everybody.
[00:38:58]  And then if that didn't work, you go at him legally.
[00:39:00]  And as was just mentioned by the last speaker, you know, he hasn't gone legally at this thing as a strategic force.
[00:39:10]  Now, we have a Navy that's falling behind in quantity with China's Navy.
[00:39:19]  But the quality of our Navy is greater, but Quality is catching up with the Chinese, and they intend to take Taiwan.
[00:39:30]  They've said us so much.
[00:39:32]  I don't know when their timeline was 27, 2027.
[00:39:37]  Yeah, that's what I heard as well.
[00:39:40]  We're stretched very thin in that regard, and we've been exposing our neighbors, showing what we can do and what we can't do.
[00:39:49]  If the strategy is to open the Strait of Hormuz, I don't know how people and the market and everybody gets so excited.
[00:39:58]  Operation Freedom, the Strait of Hormuz is not open.
[00:40:02]  And we've heard this story before that there's talks and they're positive and they're going to happen.
[00:40:08]  You know, we're putting a lot of money out and exhausting a lot of assets as far as our missiles, our munitions, the cost of the war, and some, you know, a lot of people have been killed in this thing.
[00:40:24]  But I'm paying $6 and change.
[00:40:27]  They keep saying $4.
[00:40:28]  It's $6 and change here, and that's a regular price here in California.
[00:40:34]  Now, for those people that say, well, California is a democratic state and they deserve it because they tax the gas and all that, but the United States military is trying to get another, I don't know, a trillion dollars, trillion and a half dollars for that.
[00:40:53]  And as was said by the Republican, the representative that this is, we went to Iraq to replace, you know, Afghanistan to, you know, replace the Taliban with the Taliban.

=== Bridging America's Political Divide (03:46) ===

[00:41:08]  It just seems like there is no real strategy.
[00:41:13]  And how much longer can this go on until we've exhausted our ability to fight three wars?
[00:41:21]  That's what the military is supposed to be: fight three engagements around the world.
[00:41:26]  And we've got our hands full with one here.
[00:41:30]  All right, John.
[00:41:35]  You're watching C-SPAN.
[00:41:38]  Democracy Unfiltered.
[00:41:45]  Start your day with Washington Journal, your window into the nation's capital.
[00:41:49]  The only nationally televised forum for discussing the latest issues in Washington and across the country.
[00:41:56]  It gives the people an opportunity to speak for themselves on the issues that they actually care about.
[00:42:01]  This is a great forum, and you get to talk to real Americans and look forward to the callers.
[00:42:04]  I've always enjoyed doing the program.
[00:42:06]  And I'd be remiss.
[00:42:07]  This is my first time ever on C-SPAN if I didn't say that I think, and all your callers, our country would be a better place if every American just watched one hour a week.
[00:42:16]  They could pick one, two, or three.
[00:42:19]  Join us for a live three-hour conversation with a variety of congressional members and Washington influencers.
[00:42:26]  You can watch Washington Journal live every morning at 7 a.m. Eastern on C-SPAN.
[00:42:32]  C-SPAN now or online at C-SPAN.org.
[00:42:42]  Best ideas and best practices can be found anywhere.
[00:42:45]  We have to listen so we can govern better.
[00:42:47]  Democracy depends on heavy doses of civility.
[00:42:50]  You can fight and still be friendly.
[00:42:53]  Bridging the divide in American politics.
[00:42:55]  You know, you may not agree with La Don Proud on everything, but you can find areas where you do agree.
[00:42:59]  He's a pretty likable guy as well.
[00:43:00]  Chris Coons and I are actually friends.
[00:43:02]  He votes wrong all the time, but we're actually friends.
[00:43:05]  A horrible secret that Scott and I have is that we actually respect each other.
[00:43:08]  We all don't hate each other.
[00:43:09]  You two actually kind of like each other.
[00:43:11]  These are the kinds of secrets we'd like to expose.
[00:43:14]  It's nice to be with a member who knows what they're talking about.
[00:43:16]  You guys did agree to the civility, all right?
[00:43:18]  He owes my son $10 from a bet.
[00:43:23]  I'll fork it over.
[00:43:24]  Fighting words right there.
[00:43:25]  Glad I'm not in charge.
[00:43:27]  I'm thrilled to be on the show with him.
[00:43:29]  There are not shows like this, right?
[00:43:30]  Incentivizing that relationship.
[00:43:33]  Ceasefire, Friday nights on C-SPAN.
[00:43:42]  Philanthropist, media mogul, and environmental advocate Ted Turner has died.
[00:43:46]  The Ohio-born businessman was a pioneer in news television, founding CNN in 1980, the first 24-hour news network.
[00:43:55]  Starting with his father's billboard company, Ted Turner purchased radio and later TV stations, launching the first satellite channel in 1976.
[00:44:04]  He later merged his broadcast holdings with Time Warner for $7.5 billion.
[00:44:09]  He was later forced out of his position in 2000 after a merger with AOL caused massive losses.
[00:44:15]  As a philanthropist, he founded the United Nations Foundation and advocated for the elimination of nuclear weapons.
[00:44:22]  His environmental activism led to his becoming one of the foremost landowners in the United States, and he played a crucial role in reintroducing bison to the American West.
[00:44:32]  In 2018, Mr. Turner announced he had Lewy body dementia, a degenerative brain disease.
[00:44:38]  He was 87 years old.
[00:44:41]  Up next, a 2013 interview with Ted Turner and biographer Todd Wilkinson, who wrote a book about Mr. Turner's environmental advocacy and political involvement.
[00:44:51]  This is Half an Hour.

=== Ted Turner's Montana Legacy (01:04) ===

[00:44:55]  Thank you, everyone, for coming out this evening.
[00:44:57]  It is my pleasure.
[00:44:59]  Such a treat.
[00:45:00]  First of all, any time to come out to this neck of the woods, but certainly to get to participate this evening with Ted and with Todd and you this evening.
[00:45:09]  I want to start, Ted, with Montana.
[00:45:12]  You have other properties.
[00:45:13]  You are all over the world, but you have four here in Montana.
[00:45:18]  What brought you out here and made you fall in love with this country?
[00:45:23]  It's just a beautiful place.
[00:45:25]  The people are beautiful, and the weather's great.
[00:45:29]  It's just the closest thing to heaven I've found on this earth.
[00:45:39]  I like the Rocky Mountain front.
[00:45:42]  Well, they mentioned the conservation easement.
[00:45:44]  That is a huge easement on the Flying D and other properties.
[00:45:50]  What possessed you to preserve that much land?
[00:45:54]  Temporary insanity.
[00:45:57]  No, I loved it.