Latest news with #OnBalance
The Hill
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Senate Republican: Toppling Iran leadership would be ‘reset for the world'
Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) on Tuesday weighed in on the growing conflict between Iran and Israel, claiming the latter is moving toward toppling Tehran's regime and restructuring the world order. 'You're seeing Israel now with overwhelming amounts of force,' Daines told NewsNation's 'On Balance' host Leland Vittert. 'They know they've got the United States standing side by side with Israel in this very important moment.' 'Because once this regime topples, once they've destroyed Iran's nuclear capabilities, this is a reset for the Middle East and a reset for the world,' the senator added. Israel launched airstrikes against Iran on Thursday, hitting several nuclear facilities and missile sites. The attack also killed several top leaders and scientists — leading to a counterattack by Tehran and more than five days of air warfare. While the mission was originally pegged as an attempt to destroy Iran's development of nuclear weapons, Israel has seemingly expanded the goal to include overturning Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) rule in the Islamic republic. 'The resolve is clear. Iran presents an existential threat, not only to Israel but also to the Western world, including the United States,' Daines said Tuesday, adding, 'This is a regime that talks about Death to America, but they call Israel the Little Satan and the United States the Big Satan.' The IRGC also funds militant groups in Palestine, Lebanon and Iraq, including Hamas. Tensions first sparked in the region over Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza. The Palestinian militant group attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, leading to a nearly two-year war in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have pledged to eradicate the terrorist group and are now wagering the same effort against Iran. 'We have delivered significant blows to the Iranian regime, and as such, they have been pushed back into central Iran,' IDF Spokesperson BG Effie Defrin wrote on social platform X early Wednesday, after the Israeli military struck several nuclear sites in Iran. President Trump has not ruled out the possibility of the U.S. military aiding Israel in the conflict, but did shut down plans to target the supreme leader, for now. 'We know exactly where the so-called 'Supreme Leader' is hiding,' Trump wrote Tuesday on Truth Social. 'He is an easy target, but is safe there — We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now.' 'But we don't want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers. Our patience is wearing thin,' he added, leaning into pressure for Iran to sign onto a deal that would dismantle its nuclear program. Despite some bubbling support for Israel in their war against Iran on Capitol Hill, a bipartisan group of House lawmakers introduced a resolution Tuesday seeking to prohibit U.S. involvement in the conflict. Khamenei on Wednesday cautioned the U.S. against joining the fight and vowed to 'never' surrender its nuclear program or to threats from Israel's allies. 'It isn't wise to tell the Iranian nation to surrender,' the Iranian leader wrote online, likely responding to Trump's pressure for an 'ultimate' surrender. 'What should the Iranian nation surrender to? We will never surrender in response to the attacks of anyone.'
The Hill
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Hill
O'Reilly: Trump believes Iran will surrender
Conservative political pundit Bill O'Reilly said President Trump wants to see a full surrender from Iran in its ongoing military conflict with Israel over Tehran's nuclear pursuits, adding that he believes that's how the latest skirmish will end. '(Trump) doesn't want to use American air power at this point – because that would cause some problems with China and (Russia),' O'Reilly said Monday evening on NewsNation's 'On Balance' with host Leland Vittert. 'He would rather have the Iranians surrender, which he believes they will.' 'What President Trump's strategy is, is to play this out a little longer because Israel is getting stronger while Iran is getting weaker,' he added. O'Reilly, author of the upcoming book 'Confronting Evil' about vicious historical figures, said he had been texting with Trump on Monday as Israel and Iran traded air strikes for almost five straight days. '(Trump) believes that the mullahs are through; they will have to sign a deal,' O'Reilly continued. 'The deal will be that the weapons inspectors go into all of the places that are working on the nuke, they identify what they have, and then the Iranians themselves, under supervision of the United Nations, would destroy a lot of their arsenal.' 'The mullahs don't want to do that, obviously, but President Trump believes that will happen,' the former Fox News host added. Trump departed the Group of Seven (G7) summit of world leaders in Canada late Monday — a day earlier than expected to return to Washington to monitor the ongoing conflict. O'Reilly's personal conversation with the president echos what Trump told reporters early Tuesday when he described what he was seeking as a 'complete give-up' by Iran. 'I'm not looking for a ceasefire; we're looking at better than a ceasefire,' Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One his return flight. 'Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon — it's very simple.' The Middle Eastern nations have exchanged attacks since Thursday, when the Israeli military carried out a surprise strike on Iranian nuclear facilities and killed multiple top military leaders and scientists. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump warned residents of Tehran to evacuate Monday, after the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) had taken out Iran's air defense systems, giving them clear airspace to continue strikes. Netanyahu has said he wouldn't rule out targeting Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but Trump reportedly tried to dissuade Israel's leader from moving forward with an assassination plot. The president has not ruled out the possibility of the U.S. military getting involved.
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Opinion - Leland Vittert's War Notes: Debt of Gratitude
NewsNation Chief Washington Anchor and On Balance host Leland Vittert was a foreign correspondent for four years in Jerusalem. He gives you an early look at tonight's 9 pm ET show. Subscribe to War Notes here. 'This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning,' said Winston Churchill in 1942 at the height of World War II. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu loves Winston Churchill – if asked where in Israel's war with Iran we are, he might quote his hero. Iran's counterattack on Israel, while ineffective, will be answered with an even more aggressive Israeli bombing campaign. Remember: Israel targets Iran's military facilities. Iran targets all of Israel's civilian population. At this point, Israel has no choice but to fully dismantle Iran's military. This will go on for weeks. Programming alert: Tomorrow, Anna Kooiman and I will anchor 'Tribute to America: A Live NewsNation Special' from 6-10 p.m. ET – we hope you join us. By every available measure, the world is safer today than it was yesterday. America is safer. Peace-loving people owe the Israelis a debt of gratitude. If Iran had obtained a nuclear weapon, it would have all but guaranteed World War III – the Israelis say they have intelligence showing Iran was days away. Now, the ayatollah is on the run. Iranian Revolutionary Guard generals all wonder which of their own is Israel's insider source. The Iranian nuclear program is on its way to smithereens. How do I know things are going to be okay? Ben Rhodes of 'Pod Save The World' says that 'war is breaking out.' Tucker Carlson thinks the same. Carlson wrote in his daily note that it could be his 'final newsletter before all-out war.' Usually taking the other side of what Rhodes and Carlson think is a safe bet. The scope and scale of Israel's attacks are far bigger than they may appear on the surface. The impact of this will continue to be far bigger than we imagine. Israel released a lot of information about its spy novel operation, but there are far, far more details and far more operations. When the actual book is written on this attack, it will be a spy series, not a single novel. Israel's Mossad – their spy agency – snuck in commando units, drones, truck-mounted weapons and more. But that's just what they have admitted to. If you wrote the Mossad operation as a spy novel, nobody would believe it. 'How Mossad covertly prepared Israel's attack from deep inside Iran,' headlines The Washington Post. For decades, America's CIA tried to penetrate Iran – just to get sources – and failed. Israel snuck in an entire drone base. They knew where IRGC generals slept. They had a complete understanding of Iran's Air Defense Force system and took it apart from the inside. Almost more important than the surgical elimination of top Iranian Revolutionary Guard commanders and nuclear scientists is the distrust and discord that Iran's top leadership now feels. Israel's first-wave strike required deep human intelligence penetration to the top of the Iranian regime – they killed one target with a missile through his bedroom wall. It is impossible to understate the paranoia that must exist in Tehran right now. Click here for more on the Iranian leaders killed in the attack. The Israelis have been planning this for 20 years – it might be the finest military and intelligence operation in history. Trump sleight of hand: President Trump playing cover for Israel's attack is pretty epic. Trump all but took credit for the green light, saying he gave the Iranians 60 days to make a deal back on April 12th – the Israeli attack began around midnight on the 60th day. Let's look at the Middle East now and before October 7, 2023. Pre-October 7: Hamas and Hezbollah were the first in an Iranian ring of fire around Israel, capable of raining thousands of rockets and guided missiles on the Jewish state. Now: These terrorist groups are decimated – they were once the Iranian insurance policy against this week's Israel attack. The rest of Iran's proxies are either gone or severely degraded: Bashar al-Assad of Syria. The Iranian militias in Iraq. The Houthis in Yemen. Pre-October 7th: Iran could begin building a nuclear weapon whenever it wanted and appears to have run a parallel secret weaponization program. Now: Much of Iran's nuclear facilities are rubble. Many of its top scientists are dead. Iran will never have a nuke. Pre-October 7th: The Biden administration gave Iran carte blanche – and access to capital. With Biden in power, Iran built their ballistic missile arsenal, drone manufacturing facilities and exported terror … the list goes on and on. Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said the Middle East was the quietest it had been in decades – the October 7 attacks happened just days after his remarks. Now: Iran is crippled and unable to project power. The Arab world is almost all covertly supporting Israel, save milquetoast statements condemning the attack. The Iranian regime is on the rocks. I can't imagine how anyone thinks Israel attacking Iran was a bad idea. But some do: 'This was the start of World War III'; 'What if Iran reconstitutes its nuclear program'; 'This empowers hardliners in Iran'; 'But the Iran nuclear deal under Obama was working.' The above are supremely stupid takes. They are either objectively pro-Iran, anti-Israel or simply contrarian for the sake of it. They all prevented action against Iran for 20 years, and look where it got us. These are the same people who said that Trump killing Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in 2020 or moving the Israeli embassy to Jerusalem would end in war … they didn't. What about the 50,000 U.S. troops that are in range of Iran's weapons and would be in range of Iran's soon-to-be nuclear weapon? More importantly, they would be in range once Iran felt emboldened and protected by having a nuclear weapon. They were in range yesterday, except now: Iran's nuclear program is no more. Iran's surface-to-surface missile capability is severely degraded. Iran's drone forces are largely destroyed. Iran's military is on its heels. The world is safer today than it was yesterday. We all owe Israel, its pilots and intelligence operatives a debt of gratitude. Tune into 'On Balance with Leland Vittert' weeknights at 9/8 CT on NewsNation. Find your channel here. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of NewsNation. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Vittert: Hitting Iran nuclear sites step above targeted killings
(NewsNation) — 'On Balance' host Leland Vittert said Israel's strike on Iran could provoke different responses from the nation depending on why Israel launched the attack. 'We have to know what the Israelis hit,' Vittert, a former Middle East correspondent, said. 'The question is: Was this Israel letting the Iranians know that they can do it, or was this the Israelis actually trying to take out Iran's nuclear facilities?' State Department issues 'do not travel' advisory for Iraq Vittert added the Israelis care more about bringing the remaining hostages home from the war with Hamas, and that if the country's jets actually went into Iranian airspace, then it means there was a much larger operation underway because that means they needed search and rescue available. He said targeting the nuclear sites is a step above targeted assassinations. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced the preemptive strike against Iran that targeted the nation's nuclear infrastructure and said a missile and UAV attack is expected imminently on Israel in retaliation. A U.S. official told NewsNation there was no involvement or assistance from the United States in the Israeli strike. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Opinion - Leland Vittert's War Notes: Fighting With Trump
NewsNation Chief Washington Anchor and On Balance host Leland Vittert was a foreign correspondent for four years in Jerusalem. He gives you an early look at tonight's 9 pm ET show. Subscribe to War Notes here. Weather watch: Thunderstorms could cancel or postpone President Trump's military parade on Saturday. Who can argue with this: Florida's Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey on how his county is handling rioters: 'If you throw a brick, a firebomb, or point a gun at one of our deputies, we will be notifying your family where to collect your remains at. Because we will kill you, graveyard dead. We're not gonna play.' I don't get it: Members of Congress have big staffs – they could easily come up with some really good lines of questioning for Cabinet secretaries they don't like. Yet they choose to lecture and name-call. Case in point: Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Calif., to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth during a House Armed Services Committee hearing earlier today: 'I'm not going to waste my time anymore. You're not worthy of my attention or my questions. You're an embarrassment to this country. You're unfit to lead …you should just get the hell out,' Carbajal said. It's a both sides thing – Republicans would lecture Biden's Cabinet picks. I don't get it. It's pretty clear that California Gov. Gavin Newsom wants a fight with President Trump – he has one. Newsom is willing to have riots in his state to force the square-off. Now, his new attack line is that Trump is losing it – just like former President Joe Biden declined. From Axios: 'Newsom's jabs at Trump's age are part of a barrage of criticisms he's tossed at Trump in the past week. He's called Trump a threat to democracy who is putting the U.S. on a road to authoritarianism.' Points for style: The age and Biden comparisons will get under Trump's skin. Click here to look at Gov. Newsom's official website – more about Trump than anything else. I have just one question for Newsom Central Casting – who has ever won a fight against Donald Trump? Elon Musk – the richest man on Earth – just came crawling back apologizing. Crowded path: Two more Democratic governors also want to carry the Trump-resistance flag. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said Trump would have to come through him to arrest illegal aliens. Earlier today, he ended up getting bashed in front of Congress by Rep. Brandon Gill, R-N.M. – no, seriously, watch it Gill: Do you think men should be allowed in women's restrooms? Pritzker: I'm not sure why this has come to this issue. Gill: You tweeted: 'As a protest against President Trump, everyone should use the other gender's bathroom today.' Have you ever used the women's restroom? Pritzker: Not that I can recall. Gill: So you just wanted everybody else to do it, but you didn't? Pritzker: … Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz compared ICE to the Gestapo. Today, Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., asked Walz about his comments, and it didn't go well for Walz. Watch the full interaction here. 'Why Gavin Newsom Will Never Be President,' headlines our friend Batya Ungar-Sargon in The Free Press. Newsom and Democrats clearly have (some) deeply-held beliefs – namely, opposing Trump even on relatively popular issues. Only Trump: For Trump, 'flexibility' gets him out of everything. During the campaign, he promised to deport everyone – but just said farm workers could stay. is logic as explained in a Truth Social post is something only he could come up with: 'Our great Farmers and people in the Hotel and Leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace. In many cases the Criminals allowed into our Country by the VERY Stupid Biden Open Borders Policy are applying for those jobs. This is not good. We must protect our Farmers, but get the CRIMINALS OUT OF THE USA. Changes are coming!' Trump writes. In other words: If the Department of Homeland Security deports illegal immigrants who are working on farms, then other illegal immigrants (criminals let in under Joe Biden) will take their jobs. Ok – as I said, only Trump would argue this. But his base will buy it, and the Republican Party will get behind it. More: From the 'Fighting with Trump' files – who thought tackling a United States senator was a good idea? Well, it actually appears that Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., got exactly what he wanted. Fellow Democrats now have a cause celebrity – one of their own who 'confronted' the Trump administration. Padilla crashed a press conference held by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in his home state of California. 'I'm Sen. Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary,' video catches the senator saying as he pushes towards the secretary and then the Secret Service pushes him out of the room. Click here to watch Padilla being shoved to the ground. To be fair: Law enforcement right now – especially Secretary Noem's Secret Service detail – feels embattled. For what it's worth: Noem later met with Padilla and said her Secret Service detail had no idea who he was and viewed him as a potential attacker as he pushed forward. Question: Who thinks walking up to a podium surrounded by Secret Service is a good idea? Here is the video of the confrontation. It's hard to fault the Secret Service. It's hard to argue with Noem, who called Padilla's stunt 'political theater.' Even CNN seems to agree. Watch tonight: Rep. Ami Bera, D-Calif., joins us on the program to discuss the incident. I have followed events in the Middle East long enough to know that nobody really knows what will happen. The closest you will get to knowing what will happen in the Middle East is Barak Ravid of Axios – read his dispatch here. Bill O'Reilly told Chris Cuomo last night that this weekend is the weekend Israel will decide if they hit Iran, dependent on whether the U.S. makes a deal with Iran: 'There is no plan B – the mullahs are going to have to stop now. Whether they will or not, if I had to bet tonight, I would say there will be a deal because once the military thing is in motion, that's the end of Tehran. … So if the mullahs want to go and commit suicide, then they won't make the deal. I'm betting they don't want to commit, they always take it up to the brink, but this time with Israel ready to go right now … if this doesn't work this weekend, then all hell is going to break loose,' O'Reilly warned. Look back: In 2012, I canceled vacation after vacation to stay in Israel as a Middle East correspondent because that's when Israel would attack Iran. Good tactics: It's in Trump's best interest for Iran and the world to think the Israelis might strike. Go deeper: Listen to U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and journalist Bari Weiss warn about the Iran-friendly wing of MAGA. Thought bubble: It's perplexing to me why Trump doesn't return to the maximum pressure campaign, bankrupt Iran and force regime change from within. He could do it without the Israelis or the U.S. dropping a single bomb. Why give the ayatollah a way out or to survive? Tune into 'On Balance with Leland Vittert' weeknights at 9/8 CT on NewsNation. Find your channel here. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of NewsNation. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
