THE NEXT MOVE: Trump weighs next phase after 10 nights of strikes

[00:00:02]So, President Trump is warning the regime that every US soldier who pay who dies will be avenged. His death will be avenged. Any weighs the next steps following a 10th consecutive night of strikes on Iranian and military sites.

[00:00:15]White House correspondent Aisha Hazny joins us now. Hey Aisha. Hey Ryan. Good morning to you. The president uh is weighing whether he's going to return to a fullscale conflict with Iran. That would include uh strikes that are closer to Thran, strikes that are closer to nuclear sites that they have been avoiding so far. And things are heating up even this morning. We see um sirens going off in Bahrain uh as uh Iran is striking uh US assets inside that country. Also overnight, Iran was targeting uh US assets and targets inside of Kuwait and Jordan as well.

[00:00:54]This is all in exchange for US forces striking Iranian military command centers, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites and air defense system uh systems. The US has been pounding Iran each night since three US service members were killed over the weekend. A fourth as well killed in a downed Iranian drone explosion in Iraq on Saturday. The president issuing a stark warning on True Social on Monday, writing, "Every time Iran kills an American soldier. They will pay for that killing many times over." And two soldiers, Brian, have now been identified as First Lieutenant Tyler James Fihan of Hawaii, just 25 years old, and Private Isabella Gonzalez of Texas, 19 years old. Very young. The dignified transfer of these fallen service members, which President Trump was supposed to attend, is now being rescheduled. It's been delayed. We don't have an update on when that would be rescheduled. So far, uh the president will host uh the president of Lebanon later today as Israel has begun withdrawing troops from the southern part of that country of Lebanon. That of course is part of the US broker deal that just took place a couple of weeks ago. Brian.

[00:02:09]>> All right, Aisha, thanks so much. very comprehensive. So, let's bring some more uh insight into it by bringing an ambassador to NATO, former ambassador to NATO, Kurt Vulkaro, really knows the region. And the Wall Street Journal story today has um Iran moving nuclear centrifuges into the Pixac Pix Mountain where they have an underground nuclear facility. Is it time to hit Picax?

[00:02:32]>> Yes, absolutely. There's no reason not to hit targets like that. Um we said all along they cannot have a nuclear program. They're never going to acknowledge that they're seeking to build a nuclear weapon. We should just take it out. Nothing wrong with that.

[00:02:45]>> The pressure is building because the blockades back. Iran not allowed to sell oil. They're no longer had that 60-day window to work out a bigger deal. And now they're they're suffering from 10 straight days of attacks that seem to be ramping up as we get more aircraft into the region. Ambassador, theou I know you were not a fan of, either was I. Is this a better answer?

[00:03:09]It's part of a better answer, but Brian, what we really need is a clear goal and strategy to achieve the goal. Um, opening the straight could be that, but that's a very difficult military lift and it's going to require permanent American military engagement. I don't think we want that. I I think as long as this regime stays in place, we're going to have a problem. Uh, they're going to attack shipping. They're going to attack their neighbors. They're going to threaten Israel. They're going to support the proxies. they're going to try to get a nuclear weapon. So, I'd like to see a strategy for how we actually get a different regime in Iran.

[00:03:44]>> So, uh the Houthis are saying they're going to start blocking Saudi Arabia from using the Red Sea. Uh that would be problematic. That is a almost a sidebar issue because those two have been going at it again.

[00:03:57]Well, it it is and it isn't because that route is what Saudi Arabia was doing and other countries would begin to do to avoid going through the straight of Hormuz, take it to the other side of Saudi Arabia, ship it out from there.

[00:04:11]So, by now saying, "Okay, we're going to have our proxies close that too," they're trying to really have a direct impact in the short term on oil prices and on gasoline prices here because they know that's our pressure point. What would hitting the Capitol do to this campaign?

[00:04:28]>> It would send another signal to the Revolutionary Guard that uh we are prepared to hit them, that we are serious, we can inflict pain on them.

[00:04:38]But unless there is a follow on that somehow convinces Iranians, the the army uh people of Iran, different insurgent groups that might be there uh unless there's a way that it brings about a change, the uh IRGC is going to hunker down and ride this out.

[00:04:56]>> Uh so we have the Gulf States being hit because we have bases there and they're allies of ours that isolates them from Iran. But in this, how do you feel this is going to affect our relationships with the Gulf States?

[00:05:09]>> Well, they are very frustrated right now because obviously they don't want to be hit. They didn't want this big war. Now that we've started it, they see us taking half steps where we're hitting Iran and causing Iran to fire back. Uh I think their view would be shouldn't have done it, but now that you've done it, you have to go all the way. I think the the word we started it I guess technically but they really started 47 years ago. This is the first administration to actually deal with it.

[00:05:38]>> That's right. No, you're absolutely right. For 47 years, ever since they took our diplomats hostage, we've had a problem with the Iranian regime. It was fairly stable. Um and we had knocked back their nuclear program just with the strikes last summer. Uh but this regime is not going to change character and the Gulf States know that. And so if I think their view is if you're going to deal with it, deal with it all the way. And they'll be prepared to help. They want they want to be supportive, but they don't want to be caught in the middle.

[00:06:08]>> All right. U can't have it both ways, though. Ambassador, thanks so much.

[00:06:11]Appreciate it.

[00:06:14]>> President Trump weighs a major escalation into full-scale war against Iran as US forces complete a 10th night of punishing strikes, hitting targets in the South and the West. Hostilities spreading across the region. and welcome to a brand new hour of America's Newsroom. I'm Dana Parino.

[00:06:30]>> Morning to you. Uh I'm Bill Henry. Good morning. On this Tuesday, the US campaign against Iran escalating daily.

[00:06:36]The president's top military leaders will be on the hill in a matter of hours, seeking emergency funding to maintain the operation and replenish weapon stockpiles.

[00:06:45]>> Meanwhile, Iranbacked Houthi rebels in Yemen declaring a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia. So this would choke off the southern gateway to the Red Sea, threatening to reduce global oil supplies and then of course widening that conflict further. We have Fox team coverage. Brett Bayer joining us in a moment. Aisha Hosny with more from the White House to kick us off. Hi Aisha.

[00:07:05]>> Hey, good morning to you Bill and Dana.

[00:07:07]So the pres president is weighing whether or not he's going to expand this conflict, but the Iranians already are saying that they have totally uh waged a fullscale war with the US. In fact, this morning, uh, there were strikes into Bahrain. Sirens were going off inside of that country as Iran began firing at US targets there. Iran also lodging missiles and drones at uh, Jordan and Kuwait's power and water plants overnight. There's also a maritime report out this morning that a tanker in the street of Hormuz was hit by an unknown projectile off the coast of Oman. A crew had to abandon the vessel, getting into a lifeboat for safety. This is all happening after US forces pounded Iran last night. Sentcom says it hit Iranian military command centers, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and air defense systems.

[00:08:01]The escalation, of course, comes after three US service members were killed over the weekend. A fourth was killed in a downed Iranian drone explosion in Iraq on Saturday. And the president issuing this stark warning on Truth Social yesterday. He writes, "Every time Iran kills an American soldier, they will pay for that killing many times over." Two soldiers have been identified over the weekend. That is First Lieutenant Tyler James Freehand of Hawaii, just 25 years old, and also Private Isabella Gonzalez of Texas, 19 years old. Uh the dignified transfer of the fallen service members was supposed to happen today. Uh that was uh the president was supposed to be scheduled to attend that. that has now been rescheduled. Uh the president in just about the next hour here will welcome and host the president of Lebanon, Joseph Aoon, here at the White House and they'll be talking about disarming Hezbollah as well as uh the Israeli military now uh withdrawing from certain sectors of southern Lebanon as part of this US negotiated uh treaty.

[00:09:06]Back to you.

[00:09:07]>> That's a big and important meeting today. Aisha, thank you.

[00:09:09]>> Thank you. I just want to bring a special report anchor Brett Bear. And Brett, good morning. Nice to see you.

[00:09:13]Good morning to you. Um, there's talk of a 10day ceasefire. I don't know how real it is or not. There's talk about making two different routes to the straight of Hormuz. One that would favor the Iranians and one would favor the rest of the world. At the same time, you've got Iran right now. Um, there are threats of incoming projectiles into Kuwait and Bahrain. So, you put all that together and where do you see it today?

[00:09:38]>> Well, good morning again. I I think there's frustration inside uh the White House and with the president about how they have bent over backwards to try to make some deal come together and each time each and every time the Iranians have stepped away have uh broken the ceasefire agreement uh let's not even go back to theou the memorandum of understanding which sort of never took off now you have the Pakistanis the Egyptians uh the Omanis uh the cutteries all trying regional partners to get them to do a cooloff period for 10 days. I just don't think there's the appetite for that inside the White House and more importantly with this president after the killing of those two soldiers uh in Jordan. Those missiles targeted barracks at the base in Jordan. It was not um a mishap, >> right? And targeted indeed. Okay. The Institute for the Study of War had this analysis. Some senior Iranian officials appear concerned that the renewed conflict will deepen Iran's economic problems and threatens Iran's internal security. And then you also have, you know, pick a newspaper. You can read a different headline. Here's from the Financial Times. Trump is slipping into an Iran quagmire. America cannot achieve its aims by negotiation. So regime change is back on the agenda. Um, is it?

[00:10:59]>> I don't know if it is or not. Clearly more bombing and stepped up escalation uh is with the hopes that you're going to uh beat back the Iranians to the point where they say we can't do this anymore and we in earnest need to be at the table negotiating. I think Israel probably is still in the mindset of regime change and um and and so there's that dichotomy between the two nations uh doing this. Listen, I I think that you have on Capitol Hill, there are some Republicans really worried about it.

[00:11:32]There are others that say finish the job. Democrats largely are using this as a political cudgel and saying that there is no end to this war. Right now, we don't see it. Um but Iran is in a bad place. And you had Treasury Secretary Bessant on this morning with Maria saying the economic fury, the sanctions, the things that are pressing Iran with 300% inflation and others u are really having an effect in his words.

[00:11:58]>> I don't know how this plays in the midterms, but we're starting to look at them. A little more than three months to go and our power rankings are out today.

[00:12:04]Th this is the soundbite that I think that's been played the most over the past three days. This is Van Jones.

[00:12:10]Remember Van Jones back with President Obama? I don't know if I would ever live to hear the day when he would talk about his party the following way. Uh he thinks they've lost their minds. Roll it.

[00:12:22]>> I am tired tired tired of a set of people on the very far left in the Democratic party, my party, telling us that in order for us to be progressives, we now have to believe ideas and support ideas that are completely nuts. These are terrible ideas. These are awful ideas. Where did these ideas even come from?

[00:12:43]>> So he talked about no police, no prisons, we can't deport anybody, even if they commit rape or murder, Israel should not exist. These are terrible ideas. He's clearly not a fan.

[00:12:53]>> No. And that's a red siren for Democrats. I think it is a flare being shot up by Van Jones. Also, you heard it for from Bill Maher. You've heard others step up. I had John McCarthy on my panel last night saying more Democrats, in his words, need to do that. Uh because they fear that this is going to absorb all of the tension, all of the oxygen in the room when it comes to races that they need to win in states that are purple.

[00:13:22]And when you get to a purple state, some of that DSA, um you know, the Democratic Socialist agenda is not selling in middle America. No, but selling for some sign for some places in pockets. So, it's been fascinating to watch. Brett, thanks for being with us.

[00:13:38]>> See you at six o'clock.

[00:13:39]>> Okay, >> Mr. President, follow up on Iran. If the Iranians do not make a deal ultimately, how long will it take for you to stamp out their threats to the straight and enable full shipping?

[00:13:52]>> So, if we left right now, it would take Iran 20, 25 years to rebuild.

[00:13:58]Okay? And we're not finished at all. But if we left right now, it would take them a long time, years, years to rebuild.

[00:14:07]But we're not leaving right now. Uh so we've had a big impact on Iran. Uh if we didn't do what I did with regard to two things, the uh Iran nuclear deal done by Barack Hussein Obama, I terminated that.

[00:14:23]If I didn't terminate it, you wouldn't have Israel right now because they would have had a nuclear weapon years ago. And if we didn't do the B2 bombers uh knocking out the nuclear sites a year ago, one of the first things we did early in the administration, they would have a nuclear weapon and you wouldn't have Israel. And in my opinion, you wouldn't have various other countries in the Middle East. They'd all be gone.

[00:14:48]They would have been terminated, extinguished. But I believe that by doing what we did, by terminating Iran, who's uh very evil people leaving that country, you saw the number of protesters that they killed, 52,000 plus. I put a couple of them up today, young kids that kill them. They kill them like they're like they're uh candy.

[00:15:11]It's crazy what they do. They treat them so badly. They they they're just killing people just at random. over 52,000 people and nobody talks about it. But if I didn't do the attack on their nuclear sites or if I didn't terminate the Obama agreement with Iran, which was a a absolute that was an absolute hit on having them get that was a road to a nuclear weapon and our deal will be a wall. It already is. They can't have a nuclear weapon right now. would take them years to produce it and we will absolutely attack. We you know the the new site that they're talking about. I mean how about these people? They're in this because of nuclear weapons and they're trying to possibly reconstitute a site. Uh we'll hit that site. Any site where they're even thinking about nuclear will be hitting it very very powerfully. Now, nobody knows except the Iranians the damage that we've done to them. We have damage that will take them 20 25 years to recover from. So, if we left tomorrow, we had a big we had a big success, but we're not leaving tomorrow. Mr. ability to threaten the street though.

[00:16:31]There's an applica. There's a bill right now that's being considered that would allow illegal aliens were working in farming to get legal status. Do you support that legislation?

[00:16:41]>> I don't know about it. I'll take a look at it.

[00:16:45]>> Last night, the Canada tariffs one, are those a response to the wildfires in >> No. No. No. That's separate. We're looking at that separately.

[00:16:53]>> And what is there anything? only response to the way they've treated our farmers and our people. You know, Canada's been very, very tough on us over the years, for many years, and no other president's done anything about it. I I love Canada. I love the people of Canada, many friends that live in Canada, but their leadership from Trudeau to the current leadership. Um, I mean, in all fairness to them, they need us to survive. Without us, there's no way they can survive. So, but they've been very very tough over a period of the last 50 years actually.

[00:17:34]>> Syria Tony and the CIV from Lebanon. Do you still support Syria entering Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah?

[00:17:40]>> You mean coming in and doing something with Hezbollah?

[00:17:43]>> Yes.

[00:17:43]>> Well, it's a concept. You know, we get along very well with the president of Syria's done a very good job. I wouldn't be surprised if this gentleman's going to do a job just like that. He's done a very good job. He's pull Syria together.

[00:17:55]He would like to come in and do uh something with Hezbollah. You know, they've been fighting, he's been fighting Hezbollah for a long time. I think it'd be very effective. So, it's something I think on tariffs. You increased tariffs on Canada yesterday. Can you say if you still expect to impose tariffs on the wildfire problem? And can you say when you might oppose 301?

[00:18:19]>> A lot of damage has been done. They're not managing their forest properly and the wind has a tendency to blow right over New York City, right over, you saw Detroit, they had to close the whole place. Michigan was really affected.

[00:18:32]They had to close businesses for 4 days.

[00:18:35]Uh, it's very serious what they're doing and they don't seem to be able to do anything about it. If they managed their forest, they wouldn't have the fire.

[00:18:47]Do you believe that Iran is trying to impact the midterm elections by threatening the street of four months?

[00:18:52]>> They won't have any impact on me. I'm just going to do the right thing. I don't view it as, gee, we're having an election in a period of time. You know, everyone says, "Oh, I'm doing something before." No, the election I I can't think about that having to do with this.

[00:19:08]I think people are very impressed. I mean, we took over Venezuela. We now have a great relationship with Venezuela. We went to war with Venezuela and the war ended in one day and we have now an incredible relationship with Venezuela. We're taking out millions of barrels of oil. They're making more money now than they ever made before, ever. And we're making a lot of money.

[00:19:31]We've paid for the war many times over with Venezuela. We lost nobody. We lost nobody. We didn't lose one. And it was a a violent attack, as you know. We took out a a man who was a very evil man.

[00:19:43]what he did was very evil. Many many in many different ways. We took took him out. Uh but you know, Venezuela, they said the same thing. When I did Venezuela, everyone said because look at the drugs. Look at look at what they did where they took all of their prisons.

[00:19:58]They opened up their prisons and they have everybody in a prison come in through Biden's absolutely insane open borders policy.

[00:20:08]And we did that in one day. Think of it.

[00:20:11]And now we are working very closely with the administration and we get along very well. Venezuela is a very happy place. I had a tragic incident with the uh you know the event that took place a couple of days ago a week ago. What a terrible thing that was. They had a they had a movement a shifting of earth that was unbelievable. Nobody's ever they've never seen anything like it. A lot of people were killed. Uh, so it's all unrelated, but by the way, we were the first ones there to help. We were there to help Venezuela. It was an earthquake, I guess you'd call it. It was a pretty massive earthquake, and we were able to do a lot of good, but they they lost a lot of people. Venezuela, the people are so happy that we're there. The jobs, everything's happening, and we're we're taking out many, many times the money that we spent on the war.

[00:21:05]uh this one uh Iran is bigger. Uh it's more it's a more complex situation, but we're probably doing equally as well if you look at the damage that's been done.

[00:21:17]And again, as I said to the young man that just posed the question over here, uh if we left today, it would take them decades to rebuild. And I don't believe they could ever rebuild. And honestly, they haven't seen anything yet. We've been nice. We've been nice.

[00:21:42]>> Haley Bull with Scris News. Thank you for the question. Do you believe that Iran has moved nuclear centrifuges into Pickax Mountain? And when you say we're not done yet, what is left to finish?

[00:21:52]>> Well, I think that they they may have.

[00:21:55]We don't have it on record. All we do is read the fake news. You know, we see through the the news is so wrong so many times. So, you know, maybe maybe this one they have right, but it's okay. It doesn't mean anything unless they have the material. You're talking about the centrifuges.

[00:22:11]>> Yeah. It doesn't mean anything unless they have the material. They don't have we follow the material. That's where the action is. And uh we'll be hitting that area very probably pretty soon. And there's not not a thing they can do about it. You know, normally I wouldn't say that. If I thought they could do something about it, I would never say that. But we'll be hitting that area pretty soon uh and and very heavily. Mr. >> After the major escalation in the Middle East as we await President Trump's top military leaders on the hill, you'll see and hear from them in a matter of hours.

[00:22:43]Meanwhile, Israeli forces on high alert as the president considers the possibility of a return to full-scale war against Iran. That would include the Israelis also. Dr. Michael Lighter, Israeli ambassador to the US. Sir, thank you for your time for being here today.

[00:22:58]Doctor, um, >> good morning, Bill.

[00:23:00]>> Yeah, there a number of things to talk about. I want to talk about Lebanon. I want to talk about Iran. I want to talk about Benjamin Netanyahu here in New York. First of all, on Lebanon, there was a pilot program being considered where Lebanese soldiers would move into towns in southern Lebanon and relieve the Israeli soldiers and they would be left to defend unless Hezbollah came to go to battle with them. Wall Street Journal. The US puts one's unthinkable ideas on the table to try and disarm Hezbollah. Doctor, do you think this is a good idea?

[00:23:35]Well, actually, I'm heading up the negotiations uh on behalf of Israel with the Lebanese, and it was an idea that we've uh uh advanced from the very beginning of the negotiations. We want to uh withdraw from Lebanon as soon as we can. We're there not because we have territorial ambitions, but we're there in order to protect our northern border so that will not come storming across the border as kamas did in October 7th and slaughter our civilians or fire missiles into our towns and villages.

[00:24:02]And the moment that is dismantled and only when is dismantled will we be able to withdraw. The idea of the pilot zone is to create a situation where the Lebanese armed forces can gradually strengthen themselves, have vetted units that have noispala operatives in them, and can actually take hold of area so that we can withdraw and have the Lebanese sovereignty established soundly without uh either compromising their sovereignty or compromising our security.

[00:24:33]>> Yeah. Ju just a quick followup on that.

[00:24:35]Are the Lebanese soldiers capable of defeating Hezbollah if it comes to that?

[00:24:41]>> Well, the Lebanese army needs support.

[00:24:44]Uh it needs support from us, from from all its friends. Uh it needs a vetting because some of the units have been infiltrated by operatives. U it needs better training. It needs more financing. But if they are committed to actually dismantling kbala, this can't be any more of this mambby pami. will accept them, you know, to a certain extent. We've lived with them. So, let's continue trying to, you know, finesse this. This cannot be finessed with the long arm of Iran. Iran needs this proxy uh and the front line against Israel.

[00:25:18]So, uh they've basically occupied Lebanon. They've deprived Lebanon of their sovereignty. Lebanon wants them out. We want them out. And if we uh uh uh support the Lebanese armed forces enough and guarantee that the president out has the support he needs in order to really rid the country of this Kazbala domination then yes it can work.

[00:25:37]>> Maybe get a handshake from the Lebanese government to the Abraham Accords and that would be historic as we await that possibility. Benjamin Netanyahu plans to come to New York in late J uh late sorry late September. I said uh the mayor here has other plans. Roll this and listen.

[00:25:53]He's the subject of this arrest warrant for alleged crimes against humanity um for war crimes and he's the architect of the genocide against Palestinians in Gaza as Israel's prime minister. I believe that when we when someone is charged with an international criminal court warrant, it's something that should be taken seriously.

[00:26:10]>> So the president yesterday afternoon said under no terms will he be arrested.

[00:26:14]Just your reaction on what we heard from the mayor.

[00:26:18]>> Well, I think Mr. Mdani was elected to remove New York's garbage, not to heap his own garbage on the Jews. This has a long history. Uh it goes back a long way and it's called anti-semitism. Whenever you have your own problems, you just blame the Jews for it. And this Mr. Mani's case, you know, he's talking about uh he's talking about crimes against humanity. He represents an ideology that has more crimes against humanity in the 20th century than any other ideology.

[00:26:48]Communism is responsible for 100 million people murdered and he's trying to bring that communism to the United States. uh he he should uh just concentrate on his own problems in New York and not try to elevate himself in his own stature by taking on the leader, one of the leaders of the free world who has been uh very much a churchillian leader of Israel during wartime and has been a great partner with the United States in fighting Iran and its proxies.

[00:27:18]>> Michael Lighter, the Israeli ambassador to the US. Thank you for your time, doctor.

[00:27:23]>> Thank you, Bill. Good morning. that >> you are in the Faulner focus. Iran launched more attacks against our allies in the region this morning. Our partners, our friends, the Abraham Accords, those people who are with us, Kuwait, Bahrain on the list of people who are taking incoming now, their militaries are trying to intercept the attacks coming from Iran. Why there?

[00:27:45]Well, they can't reach much else, but they can reach their neighbors still.

[00:27:48]And while the United States escalates its strikes on Iran for the 10th straight night last night, the latest wave comes after the death of three American soldiers during those Iranian attacks. The president posted, "Every time Iran kills an American soldier, they will pay for that killing many times over." A former Trump administration official here.

[00:28:11]>> The Iranians have consistently now targeted American soldiers as far a field as Jordan. They're targeting American bases. The president's going to hit back and he's going to hit back hard. I think that right now the American people are interested in trying to find a way to protect the men and women who are over there to protect our our assets in the region. Uh but to bring this conflict to the type of conclusion that the president and the vice president were looking for when they signed theou that Iran has not honored. Theou memorandum of understanding seems so far and that was just a few days ago. Iran reneged again.

[00:28:48]Retired US Army Lieutenant Colonel Darren Gobb will be with me in moments.

[00:28:52]I want to start off with chief foreign correspondent Trey Yinks in the Middle East. Well, look, Trey, this affects every country in that region at this point with Iran just doing what Iran does.

[00:29:04]>> Yeah, Harris, good morning. Absolutely.

[00:29:06]As recently as last hour, the Iranians were launching new attacks against US allies, including Kuwait and Bahrain.

[00:29:13]Sirens sounding there. And the Jordanians say they shot down at least five incoming Iranian drones earlier today. This does follow a heavy night of US strikes against Iran, the 10th consecutive night aimed at reducing Iran's ability to threaten vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. US Central Command released a statement saying, "Since early May, SenCom forces have helped facilitate the transit of approximately 900 commercial vessels and 450 million barrels of crude oil." They went on to say, "American forces remain postured and prepared to hold Iran accountable for unwarranted aggression towards civilian mariners, seeking to freely and openly transit the strait." Early this morning, Iran attacked another tanker off the coast of Oman, forcing the crew to evacuate, according to a maritime tracking group. Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson was asked this week about the possibility of US forces entering Iran. This was his response.

[00:30:08]>> They will face the consequences. I believe there are people in those very areas and they are not few in number who are counting the moments until they can welcome them.

[00:30:18]>> The comments come as we're also tracking developments related to Lebanon. The pilot program between Israel and Lebanon is now underway. In at least one Lebanese village, the IDF has withdrawn to allow Lebanese forces to take over.

[00:30:30]This is part of a joint effort to reduce the influence of Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. Now, today, President Trump will meet with Lebanese President Joseph Aoon at the White House. The pair are scheduled to discuss the normalization with Israel and efforts to disarm Hezbollah. Harris >> Trey, thank you very much. Let's welcome in now retired US Army Lieutenant Colonel Darren Gob. served as a Blackhawk helicopter pilot and a battalion commander. Um, Lieutenant Colonel Gobb right now, Pickax Mountain is front and center. I mean, if we know that Iran is moving nuclear material there, what does that inform us of exactly?

[00:31:08]>> Well, Harris, the first thing it informs us of is that Iran's not going to give up on the nuclear ambitions, and they never intended to. Uh, and so that's going to put Pickax Mountain right in the middle of the circle for future targeting. I would imagine that would come fairly soon once the intelligence is confirmed and the capabilities that we have are called upon and able to accomplish the mission of if not necessarily penetrating fully into the mountain at least enough to make sure that that uh they can't keep using it like that. So I I imagine you'll see something regarding that fairly soon once we know exactly what we're dealing with. Well, look, I I am curious to know just about the positioning of what some of these would be targets. Is that far from the city of Tyrron, their their capital? I mean, because it seems like now everything is on the table. If we go into full-scale war, you know, it is.

[00:32:00]>> Yeah. Everything's on the table and and frankly from the perspective of distance, Pickax Mountain is not far from Tyrron in general.

[00:32:07]>> And but neither is anything in Tyrron right or in Iran in general right now either. It's when you look at how we're trying to isolate the strait specifically with these 10 days of targeting over um very recently of course then we're going to try to do potentially the same thing with Iran in general from the you know specifically the eastern and northern border with some of these bridges that go into uh allied countries or supporting countries that they're using as backup logistics means as they've lost their ability to use the straits so much. So, >> um, I would expect you're going to see an expansion of this to very specific and high impact military targets nationwide.

[00:32:45]>> Le, let's talk about expansion from Iran's point of view that they're going to use their terrorist proxies and one of them would be the group of Houthis in Yemen, and they already are working to cut off Saudi Arabia's point at a key uh straight there, a key waterway there, so that they can't get ships in and out.

[00:33:03]Look, that was kind of the go-around for many countries uh per you know access to Saudi Arabia to get oil. What does that mean?

[00:33:13]Well, ultimately it is Iran sticking to its ultimate and larger vision that it's had for decades, which is the ability to dominate everything through Shiat fundamental and terrorism through from Thrron through uh Baghdad to Damascus and into Lebanon itself and then move south to be able to control uh those critical waterways. This is them trying to do that through the Houthis uh even while they've lost a lot of ground in Iraq and Syria and right now potentially even Lebanon.

[00:33:44]>> Lieutenant Colonel, I'm going to cut in with breaking news. Please stand by for me. The president of the United States welcoming the president of Lebanon. This is Joseph Aon. He is there to talk about the situation that's affecting his neighbor Iran to the north and to the south Israel. And who's controlling that now? Israel versus Hezbollah.

[00:34:07]Run, owned, operated by Iran. Can these two men come to an agreement where Lebanon's military has more support and they can take back their country from the hands of terrorists? It's crushing their economic situation right now because people are focused. Let's listen.

[00:34:37]I'm going to ask our team to roll that back and in a moment we will play what the president said. I talked over it inadvertently and we need to know what that was. So bat on me. We're going to show it to you as soon as we can. I'm going to bring back now the Lieutenant Colonel uh Darren Gob to talk a little bit about the importance of this relationship. If Lebanon can get hold of its military and take back territory and and crush the capabilities of Hezbollah, how does that change the game?

[00:35:07]>> Uh, it changes the Middle East significantly. Hezbollah has always been the book end of what tan was trying to do to reach specifically the Mediterranean and plant themselves on the northern border of Israel with a fundamentalist Shia group that they controlled. And we're talking about a militia that is 100,000 or so in strength and gained a lot of strength since they were freed up in just prior to the Gulf War in 1991 when Syria invaded and and basically planted Hezbollah there. So Trump in meeting President Ion by the way who's the only Christian leader in the Middle East right now of a country is a significant conversation. one, can uh Israel withdraw from the south and can Lebanon then take that vacuum, that power vacuum and fill it rather than let Hezbollah do it? And if they can't do it on their own, what do they need to accomplish that? And and frankly, you know, the French should be part of this because they're the ones who've had the mandate in Lebanon for for many, many years.

[00:36:06]They should be very interested in watching this as well. But there's a potential here for a significant change uh in the Middle East in general.

[00:36:14]Uh the Israeli ambassador to the United States who was heading up the negotiations was on Fox last hour. Let's watch a little bit of that.

[00:36:22]>> We want to uh withdraw from Lebanon as soon as we can. We're there not because we have territorial ambitions, but we're there in order to protect our northern border so that will not come storming across the border as kamas did in October 7th and slaughter our civilians or fire missiles into our towns and villages.

[00:36:40]>> Your reaction?

[00:36:43]Yeah, this is exactly what you would expect of Israel, especially if they know that there's a plan in place to actually fill that space with a friendly element from Lebanon rather than what typically happens is Israel withdraw Hezbollah moves back in and then ultimately nothing changes. We go back to what it always was. That's the significant change that could happen as a result of this. And I think Israel is right to not have territorial ambitions, just security ambitions. And this ties into what they've also occupied in a little bit of southern Syria as well.

[00:37:13]And if you can put that together, what you've got is a much more secure ally in Israel.

[00:37:20]>> You know, it's interesting. I I wrote down what you said. Israel cannot have territorial ambitions in all of this in order for this to work. I hear a little bit of of warning or or caution toward Israel with that. How problematic has that been?

[00:37:34]Well, it's always been problematic because it's used as an excuse by the nations around them as a bit of a hammer against Israel. They're just going to call them an imperialist power and try to, you know, put them back in their box for per se. Uh, and so I'm not saying that Israel shouldn't look to secure their own borders. Uh, but expansionism with Israel has always been a challenge too because as I just as I said, other nations will keep using that. But I don't think Israel wants to necessarily expand where they live right now. They just want to be left alone in a secure environment to live in what they already own.

[00:38:07]>> Yeah. Not having their neighbors lobb bombs and missiles and things into their country. So, we have gone back, roll back the tape on the president. This is a bit hard to hear. one of the reasons why I I couldn't really hear him talking when I was talking, but let's watch because I want the audience to to listen up and and see the president greeting the president of Lebanon in the context of can we get a deal to have Lebanon's military take over control uh from Hezbollah, the terrorist army. Let's watch.

[00:38:50]Hezbollah.

[00:38:53]>> So the president saying there, Lieutenant Colonel Gob, that you know, obviously welcoming the president from Lebanon. Very good to have him here.

[00:39:00]Very respected. I'm quoting him there and we expect to get a lot of progress.

[00:39:04]Talk to me about short-term progress because controlling Hezbollah is a long-term goal. I mean, the military is not control of the southern part of Lebanon. The government military.

[00:39:15]Oh, absolutely. A Hezbollah is not a uh a short-term problem. It's been, frankly, 36 years or so in building its strength where it's at that you're not going to fix within a few months.

[00:39:26]>> The president of the United States making a lot of news with that. I would talk with Hezbollah. That is the terrorist proxy of Iran. He is tightening the noose around Iran right now. You start talking to those neighbors that don't normally have a lot of conversations, were not part of the Abraham Accords, didn't want to do that.

[00:39:47]And now suddenly you bring one of them into the White House, the president of Lebanon, and you start talking about, well, what will it take for us to help you call the military separate from your government operating on the southern border of Lebanon, northern border of Israel, and killing people in Israel? I mean, they're they're always fighting Israel and Hezbollah. what what does it take to get Lebanon's military and government to be part of that their leadership? A lot of that conversation and then it went broad and wide. A lot of good questions coming from the media today. Um and and they needed to because we need to go far and wide at this point. What is the appetite I'm wondering on Capitol Hill to do what might be necessary and that is full-scale war to an event where Iran capitulates again. if they've even really done that. We don't really know who's running that country. Republican Congresswoman Cat Kamock of the great state of Florida, member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. So good to have you today. Energy a huge part of this discussion, but let's talk about what it looks like on Capitol Hill to have this president do what may be necessary. What is the appetite for full-scale war on the Hill that you can see?

[00:41:01]M well good to see you Harris and always great to be with you. Uh so the first part of of what you were commenting on though this is a pretty historic moment.

[00:41:11]This is two decades uh come full circle where we have the Lebanese president sitting down with the president of the United States having an open dialogue and and I I think people need to take a step back and really recognize the the gravity of this moment. People will say what is going on here? Well think about this. anytime that we have an opportunity to undermine a terrorist organization, we should take that opportunity. And that's exactly what's happening today. Because, as we all know, a sovereign nation can't have two armies. It can't have two flags. And that's really what has plagued Lebanon for the last several decades. They have had tremendous struggles with Hezbollah, the Iranian proxy, operating within their borders. And so as we look to basically kneecap Iran and their terrorist networks, you have to address the proxies that are operating around the globe, Hamas and Hezbollah. So I think you're seeing a lot of really really ex uh big excitement here on Capitol Hill about the idea that we are actually going to extend an olive branch and say, "Hey, >> let's let's stand with the legitimate government of Lebanon. Let's continue to undermine all operations of Hezbollah, which has been responsible for killing Americans. Let us not forget that. And is one of the strongest elements that Iran has in their global terror network.

[00:42:33]So I I think that this is a really important day that people need to understand. This all ties back, all roads lead back to Thrron on this one.

[00:42:40]And people need to remember that as it relates to Iran, they export terror like other countries export goods. This is something that we have to finish and see through to the end.

[00:42:50]>> Look, uh, from what you're saying too, and I I described it this way, tightening the noose around Iran. I mean, they really can't hit out too much. So, they hit those close-in neighbors, and part of what they're doing is using their proxies to do that, as you just explained. Also on the list are the Houthis in Yemen now putting pressure on a different oil shipping lane so that Saudi Arabia cannot help and be part of the solution and get oil to other countries. your thoughts?

[00:43:16]>> No, I mean that's exactly the game plan, right? I mean we we know that there are just signature traits of each entity or nation that operates, right? So China looks to lie, deceive and undermine.

[00:43:29]Russia looks to cause chaos. And when you think about the terrorist networks, they all have their their unique signatures. And you mentioned the Houthis. These are some of the most radical elements of a terror network at large. They have no problem uh going after American uh civilians, American troops, allies in the region. They want to disrupt and be agents uh of chaos because they know that if they can basically comp complete a strangle hold on the economic driver, which in that region we know is energy, then they can get power. So, this is really important that as we're talking about dealing with Iran and bringing that engagement to a close that we're addressing the terror networks that have been propped up in as a result of of Iran. So, I think that we've got to really support our partners and and our allies in the region and that's again why today's meeting with President Trump and the president of Lebanon is so critically important.

[00:44:27]>> Yeah. and and I heard you previously, you know, Capitol Hill uh some excitement around there because we are bringing somebody into the fold who really matters in the sense I mean that is potentially a better friend than we could have uh that sits between Iran and Israel. I mean now you start to carve out some areas around Israel making their decision-making process no matter who's at the table uh a bit more difficult. real quickly with regard to what happens next. You energy and commerce your committee um talk to me about the oil prices today. We bounced back so quickly. The lowest we have seen oil per barrel drop during this war was 70 uh $70 and that was back in March um or the highest was back in March. The lowest was just in June at 70. So, we were able to go from $100 a barrel in March all the way down in June below that. I'm looking at the indices on the markets today. Everything's in the green. The Dow up 384 points at this point. What do you think is our potential to bounce back uh as a country if we have a full-scale war?

[00:45:38]>> Well, first I'll say my hope and prayer and the work that I'm doing here on Capitol Hill is to avoid a full-scale war. Um, and of course I stand by my previous statements that full-scale war would require a declaration by Congress and there are a lot of really difficult conversations that need to be had between now and that decision and that vote occurring. But I will say to the domestic production element that is not really being discussed. We know that oil it's a global commodity, right? And and the speculation around the markets, it drives the price every day. But when we are talking about how we can really become resilient and and not subject to the whims of uh something popping off in the Middle East, we have got to talk about our refining capacity here in the United States. So we're working on the permitting reform, the regulatory reform. We need to actually build the infrastructure here and again embrace that above all energy portfolio. That's how we keep things steady here on the home front while addressing some of the issues abroad.

[00:46:35]>> Congresswoman Kamik, always great to have you and today on Breaking News.

[00:46:39]Thank you very much. Uh appreciate you.

[00:46:41]>> I President Trump making a lot of news last hour with his meeting with the president of Lebanon, >> Joseph Aon. Fox News has learned more about his potential plans to escalate the war against Iraq. Chief foreign correspondent Trey Yinx. Trey >> Harris. Good afternoon. President Trump just spoke from the Oval Office alongside Lebanese President Joseph Aoon. During that meeting, we also heard from the Secretary of War, Pete Hegth, who talked about the state of play between negotiations and strikes.

[00:47:15]Iran's been given every opportunity to to negotiate uh to show that they're reasonable on the straight of Hormuz. Uh but if they're going to shoot a commercial shipping, then we're going to hit them, as the president said, 10 times harder, which every night we're degrading them further and further. Uh and the president has all the options necessary. If they want to talk, they can talk. Otherwise, they can deal with the War Department. And we're prepared.

[00:47:37]Iran is launching new attacks today.

[00:47:38]Sirens were sounding in Bahrain and Kuwait amid incoming Iranian missile and drone fire. The Jordanians reported at least five Iranian drones were launched at their country. This does come after another night of heavy US strikes against Iran. The 10th consecutive night aimed at degrading Iran's ability to threaten vessels in the Straight of Hormuz. US Central Command released a statement saying, "Since early May, Sentcom forces have helped facilitate the transit of approximately 900 commercial vessels and 450 million barrels of crude oil." They went on to say, "American forces remain postured and prepared to hold Iran accountable for unwarranted aggression towards civilian mariners, seeking to freely and openly transit the straight." Early this morning, Iran attacked another tanker off the coast of Oman, forcing the crew to evacuate the vessel, according to a maritime tracking group. Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson was asked this week about the possibility of US forces entering Iran. This was his response.

[00:48:33]>> They will face the consequences. I believe there are people in those very areas and they are not few in number who are counting the moments until they can welcome them.

[00:48:44]>> The region is bracing for what comes next. The Israeli military remains on high alert, preparing for possible escalation. Parish >> Trey Inks. Apparently, I said Iraq instead of Iran at one point in using that word. So, I just want to get on the record. I do know the difference. My bad. Thank you.

[00:49:01]>> 29 minutes past the hour and any moment now, a crucial Senate hearing with top Pentagon officials on their emergency funding requests for the war with Iran.

[00:49:09]All of this as US allies fend off more attacks from Iran today and President Trump considers returning to full-scale war with Thran. Let's bring in Brent Sadler, a retired Navy captain and former Pentagon official. Welcome to you, sir. So, we're watching live on Capitol Hill for this to begin. Pentagon needs more money. What happens if it dries out?

[00:49:28]>> Uh, well, I don't think uh Congress is going to take that step. Quite frankly, the military has been expending ordinance that's top of the shopping list to replenish the arsenal. But this goes back to even back to 2023 fighting the Houthis who at the behest of Iran attacked Israel. Hamas attacked Israel and so did the Houthis and we did a lot of missile defense. We've also moved a lot of ordinance to Ukraine and we're still in the process of expanding the defense industrial base to be able to restock all of that expended ordinance.

[00:50:00]Uh something that long overdue in Congress is tardy in actually getting the resources there so that we can grow that industrial base and I think that's going to be the central issue in this hearing and I and I think it's long overdue quite frankly. All right, Senator Collins of Maine, you can see has uh started that hearing. They've gathed in. It's uh half past the hour.

[00:50:19]We're going to continue to monitor that uh for everyone. Meantime, uh her colleague in the Senate, uh Senator John Thoon, the leader, said this today on Iran. Listen, >> based upon the way the Iranians have reacted uh to the ceasefire and uh an unwillingness to sit down and actually make a deal, I think the president's actions are designed to force them back to the table. And I hope that that's effective and successful. We all do. Um and in the meantime, I think most of us at least believe that we ought to support our men and women in uniform and um hope and pray that they're successful.

[00:50:54]>> What about that? I mean, how much can we look back at the way the Iranians have behaved throughout this and how they may change their ways in the future?

[00:51:04]>> Well, the key thing is not to let them to reconstitute unreformed because we'll have a problem in the very near future.

[00:51:11]That's just as bad, if not worse, than what we had the eve before this current conflict with Iran. So success is what's necessary. It's what's necessary for American security and interest and certainly the best way to keep our partners on side in the region. So the Iranian behavior is expected. I think the military hammer that's being welded right now needs to continue, not put on pause while talks. It's the only way to keep the Iranians true to their word is to continue to hammer them. And I think that's more likely to get to an acceptable result than a repeat of what we did before where we would pause, negotiate, restart conflict, and then back again.

[00:51:51]>> Okay. So, we are about to uh hear from Secretary uh Hegathth any moment now from the Department of War. Uh meantime, he said this earlier today on negotiations with Iran.

[00:52:02]President Trump was and continues to to this day. Iran's been given every opportunity to to negotiate uh to show that they're reasonable on the straight of Hormuz. Uh but if they're going to shoot a commercial shipping, then we're going to hit them, as the president said, 10 times harder, which every night we're degrading them further and further. Uh and the president has all the options necessary. If they want to talk, they can talk. Otherwise, they can deal with the War Department. And we're prepared.

[00:52:26]>> In line with what we have heard from President Trump and others, a promise of retaliation. Yeah. Well, I think at some point you got it's going to get to what matters most to the United States and our our allies across the world, most notably our Asian allies that rely on energy coming out of the Persian Gulf more so than our European that can go through the East West pipeline in the Red Sea. And that is the threat to the shipping of the Straits or Hammuz. So perhaps if the Iranian regime will not change, will not negotiate, then perhaps there needs to be a more permanent change to the situation there in the Straits with our Gulf country allies.

[00:53:00]Got it. Brent Sadler, always appreciate when you can join us. Thank you very much, sir.

[00:53:04]>> Thank you.

[00:53:04]>> All right, Jillian. Hey everyone, I'm Emily Compano. Catch me and my co-hosts Harris Faulner and Kaylee Mcinenny on Outnumbered every weekday at 12 PM Eastern or set your DVR. Also, don't forget to subscribe to the Fox News YouTube page for daily highlights.