Trump slams Iran's proposal response, hantavirus-exposed Americans back in U.S., more | The Takeout

0:01 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

0:04 What he told 60 Minutes about what he told President Trump before the Iran war

0:08 about the straight of Hormuz and importantly

0:11 what Trump told CBS after watching that interview.

0:15 And for the first time since the war began, Netanyahu on camera offers specific

0:19 numbers on Iranian nuclear scientists targeted

0:22 and killed and describes its new Supreme Leader as physically weak,

0:27 hiding, and beset by internal divisions.

0:31 American cruise ship passengers airlifted from a Havirus stricken vessel,

0:35 returning stateside under quarantine to a medical facility in Nebraska.

0:49 Hello everyone.

0:50 I'm Major Garrett in New York where I just returned

0:52 a couple of hours ago from a flight from Tel Aviv.

0:55 Welcome to the Takeout.

0:58 Wow.

0:59 Wow, am I glad to be back.

1:01 I don't know if you miss me,

1:02 and it would be arrogant for me to assume that you might,

1:04 but I most certainly miss you, and I miss this show when I'm away.

1:08 As you might know by now, I was on assignment in Israel for several

1:11 days to interview Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

1:15 Interesting footnote.

1:16 We were told after the interview was the longest

1:18 TV interview the prime minister had ever done,

1:21 which is interesting because he's the longest serving head of state in Israeli

1:24 history and by far the most media experienced and the most media savvy.

1:29 The interview ran some 90 minutes and you can watch it all in full on YouTube.

1:34 We traveled to Israel because right now

1:36 so much quite obviously hangs in the balance.

1:39 Two ceasefires, one with Iran, one with Lebanon,

1:42 both appear to be hanging by a thread.

1:44 Negotiations to end the war with Iran appear to have minimal momentum

1:48 and hanging over the Middle East and the energy dependent global economy,

1:53 the spectre of a return to allout war,

1:56 something President Trump keeps threatening and Netanyahu

1:59 in our conversation did not rule out.

2:02 We will play many news-making moments from the interview,

2:05 including Netanyahu's take on the health and actual

2:09 influence of Iran's Supreme Leader and what he regards,

2:12 but has never said before as the most

2:15 significant Israeli accomplishment in its war with Iran.

2:18 Get my camera straight here in a second.

2:20 I'm back in New York.

2:20 Everything is a little hectic,

2:22 but we will start with what has proved to be a nagging Achilles heel

2:26 in the war strategy and has become

2:29 quite obviously an economic pressure point worldwide.

2:32 That is the strangling by Iran of the straight of Hormuz

2:35 and then the subsequent US naval blockade done as a response.

2:40 Was this choke point, we wondered, factored in as a prewar risk?

2:44 I asked the prime minister about extensive New York

2:47 Times reporting that in pre-war conversations with President Trump,

2:51 the prime minister and his team asserted Iran

2:54 would not choke off the straight of four moves.

2:58 the the problem of the hormonal straits was

3:01 uh was understood as the fighting went on.

3:04 I think that's

3:05 it became understood.

3:06 It became understood.

3:07 Was it misread at the beginning?

3:09 I think I'm not sure it was misread but you

3:11 know there's a great risk for Iran to do

3:13 it and it took a while for them to understand

3:16 how big that risk is which they understand now because of the blockade.

3:19 Because of the blockade and that's that's

3:21 actually a brilliant move by the president.

3:23 I think it's it's very smart.

3:25 uh and you I I don't think they calculated a that uh

3:31 that well I think they didn't calculate the response that this would have.

3:34 Yes, they could cause a global uh dislocation of markets

3:39 uh trying to take over an international maritime route.

3:42 They could do that but they should

3:44 have understood that that would eventually cause uh

3:47 uh you know a reaction that was very

3:49 powerful and that is now collapsing their economy.

3:52 So, did people understand?

3:54 Did we understand that?

3:55 Yeah, they could do it, but then they wouldn't do it because they

3:57 understood what would happen if they did do it.

4:00 Uh, yeah.

4:00 No, I don't claim perfect foresight, and nobody had perfect foresight.

4:04 Neither did the Iranians.

4:05 They should have figured out that that's what's coming.

4:08 Did you say that most of these risks would be minimal?

4:11 I don't remember using that language.

4:13 And I would that be a fair interpretation?

4:15 No, I would say I would say that uh

4:17 the overall conception was that this would elicit a problem,

4:22 a response that they probably would not shoulder,

4:24 but they did shoulder and now they're respond they're attacking.

4:27 They're being attacked accordingly.

4:30 My colleague Nancy Cortis spoke by phone with President Trump

4:32 today about the Netanyahu interview which he said he watched.

4:36 Nancy, I understand the president had a somewhat pointed reaction

4:40 to what we just heard from the Israeli prime minister.

4:44 Right, Major.

4:45 Overall, he said he thought the interview,

4:47 which he did watch, uh was pretty good in his words,

4:50 but he did take issue with Netanyahu's claim that um

4:56 it wasn't possible to have perfect foresight about the fact

5:00 that the Iranians would do as much as they have

5:03 to hold up the straight and choke off global oil supply.

5:09 Uh when I asked President Trump about that today,

5:12 he said actually he did have the foresight.

5:15 He knew it was going to happen.

5:16 He said, "I knew they would close it.

5:18 That's the only weapon they have.

5:20 It's not much of a weapon anymore." Uh so

5:24 the president disagreeing with his part main partner in this war,

5:29 BB Netanyahu, uh saying that he was well aware of the risks

5:33 that he was taking on when he started this war.

5:37 uh and he still believes that he is going to be

5:39 triumphant at some point in getting the Iranians to reopen the street.

5:43 Nancy, the other big question is what is the state

5:45 in the president's mind of the current ceasefire with Iran?

5:50 Uh well, he had some choice words for Iran today.

5:53 You know, over the weekend he said

5:54 that the latest Iranian proposal was totally unacceptable.

5:58 So, I asked him today what it was about that proposal that was unacceptable.

6:04 Was it um the fact that they weren't

6:06 willing to make concessions on their nuclear program?

6:09 And he said it was everything.

6:10 It was just a bad proposal, a stupid proposal, badly written, badly delivered.

6:16 And in remarks in the Oval Office, he said that the ceasefire itself,

6:22 which was already on shaky ground, is now in even more trouble.

6:27 Take a listen.

6:29 It's unbelievably weak.

6:32 I would say I would call it the weakest right

6:35 now after reading the piece of garbage they sent us.

6:38 I didn't even finish reading it.

6:40 I said I'm not going to waste my time reading it.

6:43 I would say it's one of the weakest right now.

6:46 It's on life support.

6:49 He said he may return to Project Freedom or something in his words more severe,

6:55 but he wouldn't say what that more severe option would look like.

6:59 Nancy Cordis, before I let you go, very quickly on the federal gas tax,

7:02 the president told you something interesting about what he has in mind and how

7:05 that might might address a very noticeable

7:09 and uncomfortable spike in gas prices nationwide.

7:12 Yes, he's said he's very open to suspending the federal gas tax.

7:16 That would mean that gas prices would drop by about 18 cents a gallon.

7:20 As soon as he said that, Republicans in Congress began drafting up

7:24 legislation immediately to impose a 3 to sixmonth pause in the gas tax.

7:30 Democrats had already proposed something similar a couple of months ago.

7:33 So, it looks like this may be heading down the track.

7:36 Major Congress would need to be involved.

7:37 Nancy Cordis, thank you so very much.

7:39 I spoke with the Israeli prime minister about where the war

7:41 stands and what it would take to end the conflict.

7:44 Please listen.

7:46 Is the war with Iran over?

7:48 And if it isn't, who will decide when it is?

7:52 I think it accomplished a great deal,

7:53 but it's not over because there's still nuclear material,

7:56 enriched uranium that has to be taken out of Iran.

8:00 Uh there is still uh enrichment sites that have to be dismantled.

8:05 There are still proxies that Iran supports.

8:08 There are ballistic missiles that they still uh want to produce.

8:12 Now, we've degraded a lot of it,

8:14 but all of that is still there, and there's work to be done.

8:18 President Trump,

8:19 this war, this war cannot end until all those things are eliminated.

8:23 Well, certainly we want to get the nuclear material out.

8:25 We certainly want to get the enrichment sites dismantled.

8:28 Uh we've curbed a lot.

8:30 We've degraded a lot of their missile production sites,

8:32 but the agreement should cover all these areas, including the proxies.

8:36 Uh can it end with as President Trump has uh uh has uh led

8:42 now a blockade and economic pressure on them to do it with non-military means?

8:47 Fine.

8:47 If it can be accomplished, why not?

8:49 Uh but if not, both the United States and Israel, we both agree,

8:53 President Trump and I, that if necessary,

8:55 you can re-engage them militarily if it's necessary.

8:59 If it's necessary, how do you envision

9:02 the highlyenriched uranium will be removed from Iran?

9:05 You go in and you take it out with what?

9:08 Special forces from Israel,

9:10 special forces from the United States

9:11 working in tandem under international supervision.

9:14 How?

9:14 Well, I'm not going to talk about military means,

9:16 but the pres what President Trump has said to me, I want to go in there.

9:20 Uh, I mean, he's said that publicly.

9:22 He said it uh and I think he's right.

9:24 He's very committed to this.

9:25 Uh, and uh and I think it can be done physically.

9:28 That's not the problem.

9:29 Uh, if you have an agreement and you go in and you take it out, why not?

9:34 That's the best way.

9:36 What if there isn't an agreement?

9:37 Can it be taken out by force?

9:39 Well, you're going to ask me these questions.

9:41 I'm going to dodge them.

9:42 So, you can ask me that second time,

9:44 third time, and I'll dodge it second time, third time.

9:49 Mhm.

9:49 Because I'm not going to talk about our our military uh possibilities,

9:54 plans, or anything of the kind.

9:56 Mhm.

9:56 And I think you understand that.

9:57 I do understand that.

9:58 But it's of great concern to the American people and the people of Israel how

10:03 long this will take and absent an agreement

10:07 what kind of thing should they prepare for?

10:09 I think the most important thing for people to understand in America

10:14 and in Israel I think they do understand it but for in the world

10:17 in Europe you have to understand Iran that declares not merely death

10:22 to Israel but death to America that's what they want to achieve.

10:26 They don't not only want to kill Americans, which they have,

10:29 killed and wounded them by the thousands,

10:32 burned up your embassies, uh killed your marines,

10:36 burn your flags, try to assassinate the president of the United

10:40 States and your and some of your chief uh officials several times.

10:45 They're committed to destroy America.

10:48 They say that.

10:49 Okay.

10:50 Their commitment involved their uh plans over the years to build

10:56 nuclear bombs and the means to deliver them to the United States.

11:00 They were very close to developing a nuclear bomb.

11:04 Okay?

11:04 Very close.

11:05 In fact, if we hadn't done the two military operations that we did,

11:10 they'd have a bomb within now or within a month or two.

11:14 Now, you don't want a fanatic regime like that that hates America.

11:19 that is has no compunction of murdering its own citizen,

11:23 murdering and wounding tens of thousands of its own citizens.

11:27 You don't want them to have nuclear weapons.

11:30 That's what prompted President Trump and me to go out and stop them,

11:34 prevent them from having them.

11:36 And I'm just trying to get at how long is it going to take to achieve that aim.

11:40 I'm not going to give a timetable to it,

11:42 but I'm going to say that's a terrifically important

11:46 mission because you don't want Iran to have ballistic

11:50 missiles to reach any city in the United States

11:53 with nuclear warheads because no American would be safe.

11:56 And I think President Trump understood that from the start.

12:00 I don't think I know that he understood that from years of discussion with this.

12:04 you know, uh I came to uh United States in 2000 uh um uh 2016, right?

12:15 Right before the elections because I I made it

12:18 a habit to meet with the candidates of both parties either in America or here.

12:23 So I go to 2016, it's right before the elections and I meet

12:27 with uh Hillary Clinton and then I meet with Donald Trump in New York.

12:33 The first thing he says to me in Trump

12:35 Tower is we can't let Iran have nuclear weapons.

12:38 I'm going to walk out of that terrible Iran deal.

12:42 Jump forward eight years later, there's another election.

12:47 Uh I meet President Biden and Kla Harris in Washington.

12:52 And then I go and meet Donald Trump in Mara Lago.

12:55 And the first thing he says to me even before I sit down,

12:59 he says, "You know, BB, we cannot let Iran have nuclear weapons.

13:04 I'm not going to let it happen." So, he's infused with this mission.

13:09 What do you think changed from the first term to the second term?

13:12 Because it was a phrase he spoke to you in 2016.

13:16 It's action he took with your government now.

13:19 Well, I think it in the first term he believed as did I that we

13:23 could enforce sanctions a sanctions regime which he

13:26 did uh and and basically bring Iran to its knees which is a phrase he used.

13:32 Yeah.

13:32 Well, they stopped exporting oil, you know, just reduced it completely.

13:37 He hoped that that would uh work and it did for a while,

13:41 but it didn't really stop them.

13:42 It it uh I would say it it slowed them down, but it didn't stop them.

13:48 Then they went back to enrichment.

13:51 They went back to full their full

13:52 efforts on nuclear to develop a nuclear weapon.

13:56 And what changes that they were very close to achieving it.

14:00 That's what prompted the action.

14:02 And it amazes me frankly, you know,

14:04 when we talk about it say people ask what is the purpose of this war?

14:08 What's the point?

14:08 The point is not to let a regime committed

14:11 to the destruction of the United States and Israel.

14:14 They call us the little Satan.

14:15 They call you the big Satan.

14:17 What do you do with the big Satan?

14:18 You have to remove it from the world.

14:20 That's their doctrine.

14:22 Not to let such a regime have

14:24 nuclear weapons because it's it's very different if

14:27 I don't know, let me pick a country.

14:28 U if Holland has nuclear weapons, it's not the same as the Ayatollah regime

14:34 that calls for your destruction having nuclear weapons.

14:36 So that's what prompted this these military operations.

14:41 Mr.

14:41 Prime Minister, what is your evaluation

14:43 of the state of the Iranian regime today?

14:45 Is it just as well composed, wellorganized, and fanatical as you just described?

14:52 I think it's at the weakest point it's been since

14:54 the uh since it uh hijacked the Iranian people into since 1979.

14:59 Yeah, absolutely.

14:59 It's the weakest it's been.

15:00 The hardliners are just as hardline as they were before.

15:04 But there are fissures in the uh in the regime.

15:07 I mean there there cracks in it because they're you know they've been hit

15:11 very hard by our joint efforts our joint military efforts we destroyed a lot

15:16 of their uh their money machine their petrochemical

15:20 plants their steel plants in which they

15:22 produce these the raw material for these rockets

15:25 and and and ballistic missiles and other things.

15:28 we we hit them very hard but uh and so

15:32 it causes now a debate within this uh with this regime.

15:38 Some say you know let's keep on you know let's keep on trucking and others

15:42 are saying you know if we do our economy will collapse and the people will rise.

15:46 That's their real fear.

15:47 The people will rise because they're really afraid of the Iranian people.

15:51 So they are you know there's there's a debate.

15:54 They're weak.

15:55 They're certainly weaker than they were before,

15:57 but it's not over and the jury is still out.

15:59 I'm the first one to say it.

16:02 Former US national security adviser in the first Trump

16:05 turn and CBS News contributor HR McMaster joins me now.

16:08 HR, I'm always glad to have you with us.

16:10 Uh, you watched the interview, you've seen what we just played,

16:12 your reaction to what you heard from the prime minister.

16:15 Hey Major, great to be with you and hey, great interview.

16:18 I'm glad that we got a chance to hear from Prime Minister Netanyahu.

16:21 Hey, you know, I I I agree with the guy.

16:24 When you look at the nature of the Iranian regime,

16:27 its permanent hostility, you know, to the United States, Israel,

16:30 its Arab neighbors, the damage, the suffering,

16:33 the death uh and destruction that they've inflicted on so many for 47 years.

16:39 I agree that this is really a campaign to end a war rather than,

16:44 you know, a new war itself.

16:45 So, I think that was a really important point.

16:47 And and also Major I I agree with his assessment of the weakness of the regime.

16:52 I mean so much of the reporting has been

16:54 about like gosh how strong they are and everything.

16:56 Well I mean I I think from the perspective

16:59 of Ayatollah and and and the leadership there.

17:03 They're not very strong.

17:03 Of course there's been a great deal of upward mobility you

17:06 know in in the uh in in the Islamic revolutionary guards

17:09 core ranks and the ranks of the government uh because so

17:12 many of them have been taken out by the initial phase.

17:14 If you look at the attrition on their military

17:17 as well as on their industrial base now,

17:20 the effects the economic effects of the of of the blockade

17:24 on um on Iranian ports are losing about $450 million a day.

17:29 Unemployment is skyrocketing, hyperinflation.

17:32 I think they are in a profoundly weak position.

17:36 But what they're encouraged by, Major,

17:38 is they think they can maybe affect our will, right,

17:41 by by these attacks essentially on the global economy

17:44 and on the Gulf States economic model and so forth.

17:47 You heard HR my conversation with the prime

17:49 minister about highlyenriched uranium inside Iran,

17:53 how to get it out, which he identified as a preeminent priority.

17:58 The only way to guarantee that this nuclear ambition of Iran is ended,

18:02 is to get that highlyenriched uranium out.

18:04 How difficult is that going to be?

18:07 Well, you know, it it'd be difficult and it'd be lengthy.

18:10 I mean, this there's not you can't do like a quick strike,

18:12 you know, and get it out.

18:13 I mean, if if you knew exactly where it was, which I think we probably do,

18:17 uh you would you would have to you

18:19 would have to secure a broader objective area,

18:22 probably including an airfield, you know,

18:23 and and and fly in some of the capabilities to to get it out.

18:27 You'd have to dig it out.

18:28 Then you have to have specialized teams remove it.

18:31 remember when Kazakhstan when when Ukraine others you know gave

18:37 up their enriched uranium at the end of the cold

18:40 war often times it took months to extract

18:44 that material that was already in containers and so forth

18:48 and that was on a voluntary basis HR if

18:51 this isn't voluntary this is a messy military situation straight up

18:55 it is and I think this is why President

18:58 Trump is increasing the the coercion of the Iranian regime.

19:01 I think really what he wants to do is to get

19:04 it out by ascent to have the the Iranian say, "Okay, hey, enough of this.

19:09 I I we for a nuclear weapon.

19:12 We we'll go to to no enrichment.

19:14 We'll agree to that and you can extract,

19:16 you know, this a,000 pounds." Now, of course,

19:18 it's a lot less than than enriched materials

19:21 that were in the former Soviet states, right?

19:23 But it's it's buried.

19:24 You know, you got to dig it out.

19:26 Uh and then you're going to have to to fly it out.

19:28 And if you're doing that in a contested way, you know,

19:30 this is a a major and a protracted, you know, military operation.

19:34 HR, as you know, this is a global economic conversation.

19:37 You also are well aware that President Trump travels

19:40 to Beijing later this week to meet with Xihinping, the leader of China.

19:44 I want to play for you what I asked

19:46 the prime minister about what we picked up while

19:48 we were in Israel from various sources about nervousness

19:52 within Israel about continued military support from China to Iran.

19:58 Please listen.

19:59 Yes.

20:00 I'd like to ask you about what you know

20:02 because in our conversations here the last couple of days,

20:05 we picked up some interesting suggestions about this about China providing

20:10 materially valuable military support to what remains of the Iranian regime.

20:20 True.

20:19 China gave certain amount of support on particular components of uh

20:27 u missile manufacturing but I can't say uh more than that.

20:33 Does that disturb you?

20:35 Well, I didn't like it.

20:36 But I I I think that uh I think that if China weighs its interests,

20:42 does it really want to have Iran controlling

20:46 the waterways to supply the energy that China needs?

20:51 Would it not prefer to have open waterways

20:54 that are not subjected to this kind of violent blackmail?

20:58 Uh you know, not everything is a zero- sum game.

21:01 uh just as uh you know if you look about you

21:04 think about it you know I'm talking about the brilliant future

21:07 of AI but there's dangers in AI a lot of dangers

21:11 uh it's not it's not just a simple proposition so you have

21:15 to advance the benefits and contain the dangers would it not

21:18 make sense and I'm sure it will for President Trump and President

21:22 Xi in their upcoming meeting to talk about advancing humanity's benefits out

21:29 of AI but jointly controlling the dangers that could be quite frightening.

21:35 So, you know, it's not everything is a zero- sum game,

21:37 and I don't think everything is a zero- sum game when it comes to uh to Iran.

21:43 Do you really want to have a fanatic regime

21:46 with nuclear weapons that is committed to Islamist revolutionary revolutions?

21:52 That's what Iran's constitution says.

21:56 We're committed to export the China.

21:58 So, China, I think should should think about

22:01 because it's apparently doing it right now.

22:03 Could be.

22:04 Could be.

22:04 I don't want to speak for China.

22:05 I don't want to speak also.

22:06 But you have eyes on this.

22:11 Yeah.

22:11 Well, you know, um, but I also have a closed mouth when necessary.

22:19 HR, evaluate that answer right there.

22:22 Hey, I'm so glad you asked it.

22:23 He's tiptoeing around it.

22:24 He should be more direct.

22:25 you know, he's typically not somebody who's going to beat around the bush.

22:29 But hey, China's providing all kinds of support uh to Iran.

22:32 Of course, China's the reason why the regime's on life support

22:35 to begin with, because it's buying 90% of Iran's oil exports.

22:39 It's also helping Iran evade sanctions in all kinds of ways, you know,

22:44 with its ghost flee with these cutouts of of uh of companies,

22:48 you know, front companies to to launder their money.

22:51 Uh I mean so China China is is a main sponsor of Iran.

22:55 They entered into a comprehensive strategic partnership with Iran in 2021.

23:00 And hey Major going all the way back

23:02 to the 80s they've been giving them missile capabil HR.

23:07 What does it tell you that he's tiptoeing around those facts?

23:11 I know it tells me that he's reluctant

23:14 to call out this broader axis of aggressors.

23:18 He was like that with Russia for a long time when Russia

23:20 was playing the role of arsonist and firemen in the Syrian civil war.

23:25 I think because you know Israel fears more than anything being isolated, right?

23:30 I mean that's a you know they're fighting for their lives.

23:32 All right.

23:32 They've been fighting a six-front war.

23:34 Yeah.

23:34 You know since since October 7th,

23:36 2023 so he's trying to to he's trying to argue to Xiinping,

23:40 hey this isn't in your interest but Xiinping is on the side of Iran.

23:46 I mean just in February of this year Major the the Chinese,

23:50 Russians and Iranians did a joint naval exercise

23:53 right uh in in in the Persian Gulf.

23:56 HR McMaster always a pleasure.

23:57 Thank you sir.

23:59 Great to see you.

24:00 Still to come on the takeout, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu admits

24:03 that his country is losing the reputational

24:05 battle over social media and the damage that it is doing.

24:10 Losing that battle to support for Israel here in America.

24:13 Also, speaking of Americans, they're exposed to the HANA virus,

24:16 have been flown back to the US, and now they are in quarantine.

24:19 Plus, the suspect in the White House correspondents

24:22 dinner security breach makes his initial plea in court.

24:25 More on all of that when the takeout returns in 90 seconds.

24:37 Welcome back to Takeout.

24:38 This portion of the program coming to you from New York.

24:40 Israel has seen its support of the United States deteriorate since

24:44 the start and really the prolongation of the war in Gaza.

24:47 It's interesting to note that right after the October 7th attacks,

24:50 support for Israel was pretty solid.

24:52 But a recent survey from Pew Research found that 60% of US

24:57 adults that were surveyed said they

24:59 had an unfavorable unfavorable view of Israel.

25:02 That number was at 42% two years ago.

25:05 I asked the Israeli prime minister about why that might be.

25:08 Please listen.

25:10 We have seen the deterioration of the support for Israel in the United States

25:16 almost uh I would say it correlates

25:19 almost 100% with the geometric rise of social

25:24 media and that by itself is not what caused it and I I don't

25:28 believe in you know in censoring them

25:31 or anything but I'll tell you what happened.

25:33 We have several countries that basically

25:36 manipulated social media with bot farms,

25:40 with fake addresses to break the American uh sympathy to Israel,

25:46 to break the American Israeli alliance

25:48 because they think it's in their interests.

25:50 And they do it in a clever way.

25:52 You know, it's like uh you hear a text message,

25:54 I'm a, you know, red-blooded Texan.

25:57 I always supported Israel, but I can't stand what they're doing.

26:00 I'm turning against Israel.

26:01 and then you trace the address to some basement in Pakistan

26:05 you know and that's that's something that has hurt us

26:08 badly while we were fighting the physical military battle on seven

26:12 battlefields sevenfront war we were completely exposed on the eighth

26:18 front the media war really the the social media war

26:21 and you know we've been busy so we we haven't

26:26 seen that while they're attacking us with the equivalent

26:28 of F-35s we're trying to fight them with the Polish cavalry.

26:32 It's like it's almost what happened in World War II.

26:36 So, I think we have to engage on that front,

26:38 not by censorship, but by finding ways that are applicable to democracies.

26:45 We can't do what these authoritarian regimes do,

26:47 but finding ways to fight the battle for the hearts

26:50 and minds of young Americans on the social media.

26:53 And that we have to do.

26:54 Absolutely.

26:55 We have a problem.

26:56 I recognize it.

26:58 and we have to uh get our act together.

27:01 Do you in any way consider yourself responsible for that problem?

27:06 No, because I don't think that they're not only attacking Israel.

27:10 They're attacking America.

27:12 They're attacking America.

27:13 They're trying to create ruptures within America.

27:16 Not only between America and Israel, between Americans and Americans.

27:19 They're trying to say

27:20 foreign operation bot farms,

27:23 enormous ones, and also getting to your universities,

27:27 getting to your academic curricula, doing all sorts of things.

27:31 That is a a true a true scenario.

27:35 But do you believe that's the only explanation or is it

27:38 possible that some Americans have come to a different sense of Israel

27:43 because of the last two or three years organically and through their own?

27:47 You can track it inquiry.

27:48 you can track it actually.

27:50 No, I think what they see is

27:51 so many falsifications and vilifications that are unfounded,

27:55 but they don't know because they just get it,

27:57 you know, they just get the last reel in the movie.

28:00 They don't see the entire movie.

28:01 But I'll tell you what happens.

28:03 We saw that several years before the uh you know, before the uh the Gaza war,

28:09 which definitely causes a lot of damage because it was mispresented.

28:12 But I'll tell you what, it was like the Gaza war was pouring

28:17 uh kerosene on a fire that was already there.

28:20 We could see that happening.

28:22 We didn't understand it initially.

28:23 We didn't see when it started going down,

28:25 we didn't understand why is it going down, what's happening here.

28:28 Before the Gaza war, but now we know, we know a lot.

28:31 We know a lot.

28:32 And there's that eighth front.

28:35 But it's not only our front, it's also your front.

28:40 CBS News contributor Elliot Aki joins me now from Washington DC.

28:44 He's a former CIA officer and Marine Corps veteran.

28:46 Uh, evaluate what you just heard, Elliot.

28:49 The prime minister told me that was the principal problem, not a problem,

28:53 the principal problem and the principal explanation

28:57 for the deterioration here in America of support for Israel.

29:02 Social media.

29:05 Well, I think that the way the prime minister speaks about social media,

29:08 you know, is almost to trivialize it, that this doesn't matter.

29:10 But I mean, listen, major, fundamentally, war is a political action.

29:16 And the way that we communicate politically these days is through social media.

29:20 So if Israel is going to prosecute a successful war,

29:23 they have to figure out how to communicate effectively to get

29:26 their message out uh and to explain not only to their own

29:30 people but to the international community what they are doing

29:32 so that they can sustain the required support for their war.

29:35 And clearly that hasn't been going well since the October attacks.

29:39 I want to play for you something the prime minister told me about what he

29:43 considers in the long view the most

29:46 important Israeli accomplishment in its war with Iran.

29:50 Listen, I'll tell you what our greatest accomplishment was.

29:54 And I can count them.

29:55 The degradation of their nuclear program,

29:57 the degradation of their ballistic missile program,

29:59 the degradation of their military industries,

30:01 the knocking out of their uh of their military command and political command.

30:08 If I had to cite two things,

30:12 one on the operational level and one on the broader level.

30:18 On the operational level,

30:20 I think the most pointed success is knocking out 20 top nuclear

30:28 scientists who are working on the atomic bombs to be used against Israel,

30:32 America, and anyone else.

30:35 and 12 were knocked out in the first

30:37 minute of operation roaring line, rising line,

30:43 first minute and another eight were knocked out in uh now in the present

30:49 operation and I think taking out

30:51 that amount of knowhow doesn't eliminate the knowhow but it sets them back.

30:57 So the 12 number we knew the Israeli

31:00 prime minister had never based on our research

31:02 said the eight number of nuclear scientists

31:04 that were targeted in this most recent operation.

31:09 Evaluate what the prime minister said about that.

31:11 Elliot I think it just further

31:14 underscores you know how significant the degradation

31:17 of not only military capability but nuclear

31:19 capability has been for the Iranian regime.

31:23 But the the challenge as it exists right

31:25 now is to really tether those operational successes,

31:29 whether it's battlefield successes or the decapitation of the regime

31:32 and its knowhow to a broader vision of how this war

31:36 is going to be run and what an off-ramp looks

31:39 not only for Israel but also for the United States.

31:41 So it's it's tethering operational success with strategic success.

31:45 I also asked the prime minister what he thought or what he knew

31:49 about the circumstances of the Iranian regime

31:51 and its new supreme leader Moaba Hamei.

31:55 Listen, what do you believe is the physical condition

31:58 and operational influence of the current Supreme Leader?

32:05 Yeah.

32:05 If you ask me what his condition is, first of all,

32:07 if you ask me if he's alive, I think he is alive.

32:11 His condition is it's hard to say.

32:12 you know, he's holed up in some bunker or in some uh secret place.

32:17 Uh and he's uh I think he's trying to uh exert his authority.

32:24 I don't think he has the same authority that the his father, the had.

32:28 I don't think so.

32:29 That's also creating the the disruptions in that regime.

32:33 And I don't think that's a bad thing.

32:36 So, it's clear the Israelis,

32:37 who spend a great deal of energy, as you well know, Elliot,

32:41 trying to understand the inner workings of the Iranian regime,

32:45 they're still a little bit unsure what's going on right now.

32:48 That was reflected, at least to my ears,

32:49 of what the prime minister said and couldn't say.

32:53 Yeah, it seems that that's right that Mohabak Kami is

32:56 very much held up um really operating more as a figurehead

33:01 and his intermediaries uh in the revolutionary guards corps are

33:04 really the ones making um the decisions at this point.

33:08 But that doesn't mean he's not effective as a figurehead.

33:11 Um and in many ways a strategy that really sort of diffuses power throughout

33:15 the Iranian regime is probably going to be

33:17 effective for their continued prosecution of the war,

33:19 but we'll just have to see.

33:20 Ella Acriman, always a pleasure, sir.

33:22 Thank you.

33:23 Thank you.

33:24 As I suggested, I'm out of it now.

33:26 That does it for me.

33:27 Today's program here in New York,

33:28 cuz I've got to give do some work reading news.

33:30 Ed O'Keefee, my colleague and good friend, picks up our show.

33:33 Please, Ed, my brother, take it away.

33:35 Major, you've had a heck of a few days.

33:37 So, uh we'll be appreciate you spending some time with us this uh this Monday.

33:42 Welcome back.

33:42 Congratulations on a on a news making agenda setting interview,

33:45 but we'll take it from here and we're

33:47 going to change topics entirely because Americans

33:49 exposed to Hunter virus are now back in the US and they're headed to quarantine.

33:53 Up next, we'll hear from Dr.

33:54 John Leuk about what happens next and the current risk of spread.

33:58 You're watching the takeout.

34:10 Welcome back to the Takeout.

34:12 I'm at O'Keefe in Washington in for Major Garrett.

34:15 A and now for something completely different.

34:17 Those Americans exposed to HANA virus aboard a cruise

34:20 ship are now quarantining back here in the United States.

34:23 Most of those people are isolating at what's

34:25 known as the National Quarantine Center in Nebraska.

34:28 At least one person has tested positive and another is showing mild symptoms.

34:31 Health officials are insisting the risk to the public is low.

34:35 CBS News chief medical correspondent Dr.

34:37 John Leuke is with us to discuss this now.

34:40 Dr.

34:40 Great to see you.

34:41 Happy Monday.

34:41 walk us through this quarantine.

34:43 What's happening right now?

34:44 Why should people care?

34:47 So, this is an example of when public health works, nothing happens, right?

34:52 What am I talking about?

34:54 Well, when these passengers were potentially exposed to the virus,

34:57 the fear was that it has an incubation period of up to six weeks.

35:01 So, if they were in fact infected, at any point in that six week period,

35:06 they could suddenly start to have symptoms.

35:08 And we know from a lot of research that was done

35:11 that the they're most infectious around

35:13 the time when they start getting symptoms.

35:15 And unfortunately the symptoms at the beginning are

35:17 sort of like a little flu-l like symptoms,

35:19 headache, a little fever, and people could blow it off and say ah it's nothing.

35:22 Uh and not realizing that they're spreading it.

35:24 So in an abundance of caution, knowing the science,

35:28 they brought them back to Nebraska where they're going to be in quarantine.

35:31 And and then the really smart thing was

35:33 that um knowing that somebody had tested positive, apparently weekly positive.

35:37 I want some more details on that from a medical point of view,

35:40 but uh they put that person in a special bioontainment kind of like a protective

35:45 pod on the plane on the way back so that they didn't infect other people.

35:48 So that's an example of when public health works, nothing happens.

35:52 What's the nothing that what the something

35:54 that could have happened was the person just went

35:57 went out to wherever they lived uh

35:59 with no precautions suddenly got became infectious and infected

36:02 other people and then you're off to the races

36:04 again because everybody who's exposed can then

36:07 have another beginning of the clock of of up

36:09 to six weeks of potentially turning positive.

36:12 But was it risky for the passengers and frankly

36:14 for that crew to fly them back here in the first place?

36:18 So from everything that they're telling us, no,

36:21 because they had PPE protective uh equipment that were on the clothes,

36:25 they also for the people who were really u

36:28 they were worried about when they did the assessment,

36:30 they put them in these protective pods.

36:31 Remember back in the day of Ebola, they used those then,

36:34 right, when they were bringing people back to the United States.

36:36 When you're not sure,

36:37 what you don't want to have happen is for somebody to seem to be fine,

36:40 suddenly mid-flight, they get symptoms, and then you go, uh-oh, too late.

36:44 We've infected others.

36:45 And instead, they put them in these protective pods.

36:47 So it was not dangerous for the other people.

36:49 And if it turns out that that they said weekly positive PCR,

36:54 remember that from the days of COVID,

36:55 this is not CO, but the weekly positive PCR.

36:58 If that turns out to be true, then that was a really great move.

37:02 Uh in in our remaining minute or so, I I'm I'm curious about two things.

37:05 one uh you can't help but think about corona virus and how would you compare

37:12 this response to that five six years ago and the strains that have been put

37:17 on the CDC and the federal public health

37:19 system especially in the last year or so how does this stress test that what

37:23 are you concerned could happen given the changes

37:26 that I'm just going to say and this is totally different

37:28 I'm going to just say this is not going to be

37:30 a pandemic the viruses are totally different you know we had never

37:33 seen corona virus we know H virus been around for 30 years.

37:37 This strain uh we know about it.

37:39 Um people of course have PTSD for the pandemic.

37:42 So they go like this.

37:43 The reassurance from the WHO and the CDC is helpful.

37:47 But what is really reassuring is the science

37:49 is is knowing that there's basic public health uh

37:52 effect and and response where you do boots

37:54 on the ground and you and you have contact isolation.

37:58 The people who have the contact uh they think they've been exposed,

38:01 you put them in quarantine.

38:03 basic stuff that we know how to do.

38:05 So people should not think this is going to be the next pandemic.

38:07 I understand that that they do think I will

38:10 end with this with the five seconds I have left.

38:12 This is a think of this as a mini stress test, right?

38:15 It turns out that you know I think it's going to be okay.

38:18 It's you know there may be a few more cases

38:20 but what if it had been a lot more infectious?

38:22 Are we really prepared given as you alluded to some

38:25 of the cuts that have been made in our preparedness?

38:27 I think that's a good thing to talk about the next time you and I get together.

38:31 Well, hopefully it won't be about Honda virus spreading,

38:33 but it's always good to talk to you, sir.

38:35 Good to see you.

38:36 Theoretically, right?

38:37 All righty.

38:38 Dr.

38:38 Leuk, thank you from New York.

38:39 We appreciate it.

38:40 Coming up, another group is now trying to block more

38:43 of President Trump's attempts to change iconic parts of Washington DC.

38:47 Why renovations of the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool may now be in hot water.

38:52 You're watching The Takeout.

39:09 Welcome back to the Takeout.

39:10 Here's a look at what else we're watching this evening.

39:12 A preservation group is suing to block the Trump administration's

39:15 changes to the reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial.

39:18 President Trump announced a plan to resurface

39:20 the bottom of the pool in American flag blue.

39:23 It would cost about $2 million.

39:25 Well, the New York Times reported today the firm that won a no

39:28 bid contract for the project is instead being paid more than $13 million.

39:33 The lawsuit claims the contract was awarded without a proper

39:35 bidding process and that the project didn't earn congressional approval.

39:41 The man accused of attacking the White House

39:43 correspondents dinner last month pleaded not guilty today.

39:46 31-year-old Cole Thomas Allen is facing multiple charges here in the district,

39:50 including attempting to assassinate the president,

39:52 assaulting a federal officer, and other firearms counts.

39:55 Allen's lawyers are also moving to have

39:57 the Justice Department officials overseeing the case disqualified,

40:00 including US Attorney for the District of Columbia,

40:02 Janine Piro, and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanch,

40:05 claiming they have publicly presented themselves as victims

40:07 in the case since they also attended the dinner.

40:12 Coming up, today's CBS News Radio flashback brings us to the Middle

40:16 East and how Americans first learned the details of Operation Desert Storm.

40:20 You're watching The Takeout.

40:31 Welcome back to The Takeout.

40:32 We end tonight with our latest c our latest tribute

40:34 to CBS News Radio with a clip from more recent history.

40:38 beginning of the Gulf War against Iraq and 1991's Operation Desert Storm.

40:43 Here's CBS News Radio's coverage before the US launched major military action.

40:48 Now, direct from CBS News, this special report.

40:51 This is Mitchell Krauss, CBS News, New York.

40:54 CBS News has learned that President Bush is planning

40:56 a major military response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.

41:00 And CBS News reporter Jim Stewart is at the Pentagon.

41:03 And Jim, what can you tell us about this new Bush administration move?

41:06 Major air and ground forces are scheduled

41:09 to leave for Saudi Arabia late this afternoon.

41:12 Part of a US commitment there to defend that nation from invasion from Iraq.

41:17 CBS News Update.

41:18 I'm Randy Riddle.

41:19 Disturbing news this morning about the 2500 Americans trapped in Kuwait.

41:23 Standing by with a live report now from the State Department,

41:26 CBS News correspondent Bill Plant.

41:28 CBS News has been told that Iraqi military authorities in Kuwait

41:32 have instructed Americans and all Britons to assemble at various hotels.

41:36 The Britain have expressed concern

41:39 that this could mean an interning situation where

41:42 their nationals would be taken and and put away for the duration of the war.

41:46 The first shots fired in this Gulf

41:48 introduction effort came from the fast frigot Reed.

41:52 It happened at about 400 p.m.

41:53 today, Gulf time, when the Reed encountered an Iraqi tanker,

41:58 challenged it by radio.

41:59 When the tanker would not stop,

42:01 the commander of the reed got permission from higher

42:04 authority to fire warning shots across the tanker's bow.

42:07 He did so, not one, but six of them.

42:10 The tanker apparently still did not stop.

42:12 What happened then is not clear.

42:16 Israel saw retaliation from Iraq for joining the US-led coalition.

42:19 In our next clip, you may recognize

42:21 the voice of current CBS News contributor Robert Burer,

42:24 who was reporting for CBS at the time from Jerusalem.

42:28 Now, from the Oval Office, here is President Bush.

42:31 Just two hours ago, Allied air forces began

42:34 an attack on military targets in Iraq and Kuwait.

42:38 These attacks continue as I speak.

42:41 And this is Doug Polling, CBS News New York,

42:43 with continuing coverage of the Persian Gulf War on the CBS radio network.

42:48 Robert Burgerer in Jerusalem, our our reporter there.

42:51 Robert, are you there on the phone?

42:52 Yes, I'm here.

42:53 Can you hear me?

42:54 I'm speaking through a gas mask.

42:55 Yes, I can.

42:56 Tell us tell us what's happening.

42:59 Well, there has been an announcement on the radio

43:01 that Israel has indeed come under a missile attack.

43:05 Uh residents have been advised to put on their gas masks.

43:09 I'm here in the room with my uh family.

43:12 We're wearing gas masks.

43:14 Uh my my two little girls are in tent in enclosed tent kind of thing.

43:21 My wife and my mother-in-law and I are all wearing gas masks.

43:25 I am at an air base in eastern Saudi Arabia.

43:27 We are now under attack.

43:30 There have been incoming explosions at this base over the last several.

43:34 The air raid sirens are on.

43:36 Just a few minutes ago, the siren sounded briefly and we began hearing

43:41 explosions in several places here on the base.

43:45 There were at least a halfozen explosions

43:48 and the sounds of jet engines overhead.

43:51 That was another familiar voice, Scott P.

43:53 The sooner we closer we get to today,

43:55 you may start to recognize these radio voices a little more.

43:57 Now, as the US made advances in Kuwait,

44:00 Iraqi forces withdrew and set fire to oil wells there.

44:03 Here's how they were described.

44:05 From this ship at this moment, looking towards Uwait,

44:09 I can see the entire coastline on fire.

44:12 I have counted nearly 40 separate huge columns of flames

44:16 and smoke rising thousands of feet above the shoreline.

44:19 And beyond them, the night sky glows with many, many more.

44:24 It looks tonight as if all Q8 is ablaze.

44:27 At 9:00 yesterday morning, there was bombardment from every direction.

44:31 from a warship presumably the Wisconsin

44:33 or the Missouri out in the Gulf from artillery

44:35 and and overhead from from bombers and under

44:39 that cover the tanks that had arrived

44:41 from the west moved up along the sand wall the 12ft sand wall that's

44:45 a mile from us along the border and moved into position so the front moved up.

44:50 We at first light this morning can't see them.

44:52 We don't know if they're still there.

44:53 We don't know if they've moved over the night.

44:56 But one thing we can tell you is that the bombardment

44:58 last night and it continues to this moment has been exceedingly heavy,

45:02 heavier than anything we have heard.

45:05 Iraq's occupation of Kuwait officially ended in February of 1991,

45:08 bringing a celebration from the US, its allies and residents of Kuwait.

45:14 People screamed into the streets, men, women,

45:16 children by the thousands screaming with joy.

45:20 resistance fighters and the Allied troops who entered the city at midm morning,

45:24 firing their weapons jubilantly into the air.

45:32 The throngs carried hundreds of the black, white,

45:35 red, and green Kuwaiti flags, waving them with abandon.

45:39 That's our CBS News radio flashback for today.

45:42 And that does it for this special edition

45:43 of the Takeout from Major Garrett in New York.

45:45 I'm at O'Keeffe in Washington.

45:47 The Daily Report is coming up next.