Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Well, everybody, I'm Jesse Waters, along with Kayleigh McEnany, Harold Ford Jr., Dana Perino, and Greg Gutfeld. It's 5 o'clock in New York City, and this is The Five. At any moment now, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and the head of Central Command will give an update on Operation Epic Fury. President Trump was just speaking about the mission at the White House. Take a listen. They're calling.
They're saying, how do we make a deal? I said, you're being a little bit late. And we want to fight now more than they do. 47's also thinking about his next steps and wanting a say in who leads the regime. He told Axios this, quote, they're wasting their time. Khomeini's son's a lightweight. I have to be involved in the appointment, like with Delce Rodriguez in Venezuela.
Khomeini's son is unacceptable to me. We want someone that will bring peace and harmony to Iran. Meanwhile, the liberal media is stuck on TDS autopilot. They can't stop attacking the Trump administration over Epic Fury. I remember thinking, watching Pete Hegseth going, how childish is this? He's a child. Is this language he's using? Yeah.
Chapter 2: What is Operation Epic Fury and its significance?
And this sort of bro-centric, tough guy. We sunk their battleship. It was pathetic, but also... The Ayatollah's son, this guy, is said to be an even more of a hardliner than his dad. I hate to say Ayatollah so. The Trump administration's propaganda machine is in full, full, you know, sway right now. No one who Barron Trump has ever been in a classroom with is likely to have joined the military.
Chapter 3: How did President Trump describe the mission at the White House?
All right, Greg, so the media, it's less than a week into the beginning of the operation, and it seems like they've already turned on the war effort. All these guys love to portray themselves as Hitler killers. You know, everybody that they disagree with is a Hitler. And if they had the chance to go back in time and kill baby Hitler, they would.
Then they have the opportunity to take out an actual Hitler, somebody that kills thousands and thousands of people who try to murder Jews all the time. And they're like, oh, I only meant this in fantasy land. I only I'm only a tough guy about Hitler if it doesn't exist. But if it's actually in the world, in reality, I back off.
I don't think it's wise to view the OEF in a traditional way because Trump isn't traditional. It's like expecting Disneyland to remain the same after the Hells Angels buy it. We're in a fog of war, but we're also in a fog of Trump because he doesn't do what old leaders do. He weighs each decision differently. Like he would if he were working in a company, not as a politician.
Chapter 4: What are the implications of Iran's leadership dynamics?
He doesn't look at the polls. People on the right are, you know, kind of upset or they're worried about Trump. And I think I get it. But you have to ask yourself, you have to remember, you you can't hire a guy who lives to solve problems and then tell him he can't. This isn't a war thing for Trump. This is a problem thing. Iran is just a problem like the border, government fraud, trance and Cuba.
You saw what he said to the soccer guys in a couple of weeks. Everything will be fine. That's how we look. These are all problems. You put them on the plate on his plate and you say you can't touch it. Oh, he's going to touch it. What did Obama say to Trump in their last meeting? He said, North Korea, watch out for them. Biggest threat. What was the first thing that Trump did?
He removed that from our area of concerns through a psychological action that didn't require war. He basically said, we're not coming after you. You leave us alone, whatever. So there's this opinion that is actually a non-opinion. Yes, you're watching AOC do this. Yes, Iran's a murderous regime, but we can't have a forever war. Those aren't the only choices.
That's like saying, you know, my car's dirty, but I don't want a forever car wash. It's actually done to keep you from actually having the balls to make a decision and go forward in life.
Chapter 5: How is the media reacting to Operation Epic Fury?
And so now you have this thing where politicians would always kick the can down the road to the next guy. The next guy was Trump, and he doesn't kick cans. He steps on them. Mm-hmm. And very focused, Dana, on the next step, who the next leader of Iran will be. And he wants to say, I think it's going to be a pretty powerful say.
Well, on Saturday, after they had taken that shot that took out Khomeini and the 49 others, he did one of the interviews that he did when he got on the phone with the reporters. He said, yeah, I thought there were some options within that group of 49, but now that 49 is no more. And No doubt. Why would you go to all of this trouble and then just say, okay, cool, Khomeini's son's next grade.
Okay, moving on. It's not like passing on a Ford dealership. We were talking about cars before. It's not that kind of a thing. So I can understand his wanting to be a part of it. But nothing is everybody wants to just make a direct comparison of things. Well, Delce Rodriguez in Venezuela, the CIA was working with her or her brother for a long time to make sure that that was going to be OK.
So that was all planned out and orchestrated. I hope I live long enough to read the history of it because it's pretty incredible intelligence work. Here, I think it's just a little bit different and is a lot more complicated. And Iran is saying we're not they're not going to go down without a fight. And that's why they're fighting their neighbors.
And what they said today to Trump is that, well, maybe we do want to talk. And he's like, it's a little late for that. But what Iran always tries to do is delay. They want to delay. They want to see if they can draw out our pain and that if the political pain here gets too hot.
For example, gas prices go up quite a bit and they will believe that America will do what it has done in the past, which is just cut and run when it gets politically difficult. So I don't think that President Trump or the Israelis are going to do that in this case. And I think that the Gulf states want to deal with this issue once and for all.
But it's going to be a little while before everything feels more settled. Yeah, Harold, gas prices up about a quarter since Saturday and oils now up close to 80 a barrel. And market didn't like today because they got an oil tanker that was struck. How much pain do you think the president's willing to tolerate? Good to be back with everybody. I think a couple of things.
Our economy has grown three times since in the last 50 years. Yet our usage of oil has not correlated to that. It's really been kind of flat. Our dependence as Americans on Iranian oil has decreased dramatically since over the last 50 years as well. A combination of things have helped us. Government policy encouraging gas mileage standards being increased.
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Chapter 6: What strategies are being employed against Iran's military capabilities?
The explosion of natural gas discovery and extraction here in the United States. It being used as a substitute in being able to heat homes. You factor, you take that into account, and you realize that obviously the oil market is a global marketplace, which I've heard everyone around the table comment on over the last few days.
We will see increases, but it's unclear how much of an increase we're going to see here in America in the intermediate term. Two, we restored the Taliban back to power in Afghanistan after a 23, 24 year, 22, 23 plus year war there. I was in Congress and we voted for this.
And I remember I'll never forget the former senator from Tennessee, a former majority leader named Bill Frist, positing the idea years before that. OK, they're telling me we've got it. Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, and CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper holding a news conference. I'm honored to stand right here today alongside one of America's finest, Admiral Brad Cooper, Commander of U.S.
Central Command. We just had a chance to spend a couple of hours together, better part of two hours, going through the entirety of this operation, Operation Epic Fury. Admiral, I want to thank you for everything you do in your incredible leadership, your dynamic thinking, the way you're attacking this problem set on every level.
In just days of Operation Epic Fury, you and your team have delivered nothing short of devastating, precise strikes, taking out the better part of Iran's Navy, making it combat ineffective, neutralizing missile sites and launchers, and establishing total dominance over the skies we fly over and seas we fly over. Our forces are executing with unmatched skill,
and the mission is advancing decisively. This is the kind of no-nonsense, results-driven warfighting that America demands, and you're delivering it in spades. You are the man for this moment. Admiral Cooper, on behalf of the President, the Department of War, and every American watching, I want to thank you for the outstanding job you and CENTCOM are doing.
Keep pressing the fight, and we are with you all the way. A few thoughts before I hand it over to the Admiral for an update. Iran is hoping that we cannot sustain this, which is a really bad miscalculation for the IRGC in Iran. You see, there's no shortage of American will here.
We remember and honor our fallen, those six that we will soon welcome at Dover, who gave everything for their country in this mission. We remember them. But we remember them by rededicating ourselves even more fervently to this mission. Our commitment to our mission objectives only increases as our advantages continue to increase. We've got no shortage of munitions.
Our stockpiles of defensive and offensive weapons allow us to sustain this campaign as long as we need to. Again, our munition status only increases as our advantage increases. Our capabilities, we have only just begun to fight and fight decisively. Having a chance to hear from Admiral Cooper. If you think you've seen something, just wait.
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Chapter 7: How is the U.S. managing its military resources during this operation?
They had vague objectives with restrictive, minimalist rules of engagement. No more. Our authorities, his authorities, CENTCOM's authorities, through the president and myself, are maxed out. Our capabilities are overwhelming and gathering still, as are those of our Israeli partners. Our munitions are full up. And our will is ironclad, which means our timeline is ours and ours alone to control.
As long as it takes to ensure the United States of America achieves these objectives, and as we flow more forces, and as we flow more capabilities, and as our munitions, as we're flying over the top, have even more devastating effects, we set the tempo, we set the timeline, led by the commander on the ground.
Our ear is to the ground to listen to Admiral Cooper, what he needs and what he needs he will get. We are built for this fight, and we are in it to win it. And we have the right commander in the lead. So I'll now hand it over to Admiral Brad Cooper to give you an update right here from CENTCOM. Mr. Secretary, first, thank you very much, and good afternoon, and welcome to U.S.
Central Command Headquarters, America's warfighting headquarters. It's great to be here alongside the Secretary and representing the more than 50,000 men and women in uniform currently executing Operation Epic Fury.
So, Mr. Secretary, first, thank you very much for your leadership and support and the very clear vision and objectives that you've given us to allow us to use overwhelming force against the Iranian terrorist regime. And thanks to all of you for attending today, and welcome to Tampa. We are now starting our sixth day of a historic mission to eliminate Iran's ability to threaten Americans.
We are, if I could channel my inner Navy officer, we are at full speed ahead in executing orders given by leadership in Washington. The President and Secretary Hexseth have been crystal clear in their expectations, and we are at a high level of execution. As described by the Secretary and earlier this week by me, U.S. combat power is building as Iranian combat power declines.
Our air dominance allows us to hit Iran's center of gravity with overwhelming power and reach. A couple of examples. In just the last 72 hours, America's bomber force has struck nearly 200 targets deep inside of Iran, including around Tehran. And in just the last hour, U.S. B-2 bombers dropped dozens of 2,000-pound penetrator bombs targeting deeply buried ballistic missile launchers.
Notably, we've also struck Iran's equivalent of Space Command, which degrades their ability to threaten Americans. Then if I just look back over the last 24 hours of the operation compared to where we were at its start, ballistic missile attacks have decreased by 90% since day one. Drone attacks have decreased by 83% since day one. Having said this, we remain vigilant.
Our strikes against the Iranian Navy have intensified. You may have heard the president say just a little while ago that we have sunk or destroyed 24 ships. That was true at the moment. We're now up over 30 ships. And in just the last few hours, we hit an Iranian drone carrier ship, roughly the size of a World War II aircraft carrier. And as we speak, it's on fire.
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Chapter 8: What are the potential outcomes of the operation for Iran?
So thank you very much. Absolutely. And with that, we'll take a few questions. Yeah, right here. Amen. We're very familiar with Iranians' capabilities, and as you might imagine, we planned for it right from the outset, and I feel good about what the plan was. Like any good organization, we adjust as necessary to meet the environment, and we've made those appropriate adjustments. Absolutely.
Thank you. One, was an American pilot shot down today in Iraq? As CENTCOM pointed out, those reports of an F-15 being shot down are false. As you can imagine, Iran is doing everything it can to peddle in lies, deception, and inflation of numbers and reality, mostly to propagandize to their own people. Right. They don't. They've shut down the Internet.
They're hoping they can convince their own population that they're having success. One thing one of their leaders said recently is that 500 Americans have been killed. They claim these are lies. The lies will continue. CENTCOM will continue to debunk those lies. And as often is the case in conflict, first reports are often wrong.
As it pertains to nuclear material and things like that, one of the objectives the president has always said is that Iran will not have a nuclear bomb, nuclear capabilities. But we would never disclose what we will or will not do inside operational plans. So Admiral Cooper's got a plan. We're working that plan. And targets will be struck or not struck according to what we want to achieve.
Yeah, right there. The president said earlier today. Well, there's no expansion. Ultimately, I think the president's having a heck of a say in who runs Iran, given the ongoing operation we have. So there's no expansion in our objectives. We know exactly what we're trying to achieve. I think today's a great example of what this war department is capable of doing.
I was just in another part of Florida today where we announced, you know, America's countercourt counter cartel conference yesterday. 18 countries coming together from Central, South America and the Caribbean coming together to fight cartels. That is something that is ongoing. We're focused there. We're focused in the Indo-Pacific. We can mass combat power in CENTCOM.
UCOM is able to support that as well. So we know we're laser focused on our hemisphere and our homeland. That's why we lock down the border. That's why we're working with partners to take on cartels. That's why we're sinking drug boats. That's why we're on the offense there. But the beautiful things about combatant commands is that, you know,
Brad Cooper's laser focused on central command, just like Frank Donovan is laser focused on on Southern Command. We can do both. That's what a global power can do. Ultimately, this this issue of Iran's nuclear pursuit and their unwillingness through negotiations to stop it was something President Trump has said for a long time needs to be dealt with.
And after 47 years, he's doing something that no other president was willing to do. And we're doing it overwhelmingly and we're doing it decisively while also in other parts of the globe having the desired effects.
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