Panel: Why is there so much confusion about the terms of the ceasefire?

[0:00] What kind of ceasefire negotiation would result in this kind of confusion? [0:05] Why would the White House allow that to be the case on something such high stakes? [0:10] Well, it's not a ceasefire. I don't think you can trust the Iranian regime. [0:14] Now, too, we can't control what the Israelis do. [0:17] But I do think the administration needs to put some pressure on Prime Minister Netanyahu [0:22] to don't get in the way of what the United States is trying to do here. [0:25] We certainly want to support Israel. I think that's important. [0:27] But the president wants to open up the strait. [0:30] There are real economic implications here for the American people. [0:32] There are global economic implications here. [0:34] And I think at this point, it's very clear to me that the White House is trying to do everything they can [0:39] to bring some type of closure to this. [0:42] Israel launching those strikes into Lebanon certainly does not help, one. [0:46] But two, what this also indicates to me, which is rather troubling, [0:49] the Iranian regime appears to recognize they really can't control the strait of Hormuz, [0:55] the strait of Hormuz. And that is problematic. That was never the case in the past. [0:58] This creates further issues, I think, for the United States of America and many of our allies [1:03] in that part of the world. Even if we somehow broker a deal with the regime, [1:08] can Saudi Arabia, can Kuwait, can others in that part of the world trust the Iranian regime [1:13] not to close it again when they're unhappy about something? [1:16] And that's an unpredictability that I'm not comfortable with. [1:18] Yeah. And they want to toll it. It's not just that it's closed. It's bad enough that it's closed. [1:24] But they want to charge people money to go through the strait. [1:27] And President Trump, rather than saying that's completely unacceptable, [1:31] we need to go back to the pre-war status quo, he says to John Carl, [1:36] we're thinking of doing it as a joint venture. He's talking about tolling the strait. [1:41] It's a way of securing it, also securing it from lots of other people. It's a beautiful thing. [1:48] A joint venture with the IRGC? [1:50] No. You know, this is just like when Donald Trump said that he was going to [1:54] maybe put Trump Tower on the Gaza Strip. Like, that was a way to motivate... [1:58] He did also say that, by the way, about Iran today as well. [2:02] That was his motive way to motivate the Arab states to get busy about a Gaza ceasefire plan [2:08] that they could enforce. This is his way of getting to the United Kingdom. [2:11] You know, Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, is headed to the Gulf region. [2:15] He is eager to help arrange a plan to keep the strait open once this is over. [2:20] This is Donald Trump's way of kicking Keir Starmer and EU in the pants and making sure they do that. [2:24] Wait, what is his way of doing that? I'm not sure I understand. [2:27] His offhanded saying the United States will be in a joint venture for Iran, [2:33] it's so preposterous that this is just another way to... [2:36] No, it is preposterous. [2:38] I want to go back to where we were just a second ago with Lebanon and Hezbollah and Lebanon. [2:43] You have Iran now basically taking full ownership of Hezbollah, [2:47] basically saying these are our troops, this is our projected force. [2:50] That is a big change, and it tells you once again why we had to go to war with Iran. [2:55] And if the Iranians can't get comfortable with the fact that once this is over with, [2:59] Hezbollah is out of business, then there is going to be no permanent answer here. [3:04] Well, I just want to make one quick note on the Lebanon piece because I think this is important. [3:08] Israel is fighting Hezbollah, that's what they say. [3:12] But we have to acknowledge hundreds of civilians are being killed. [3:16] And today might have been one of the bloodiest days for civilians so far in this entire conflict. [3:22] You cannot disentangle that from the military operation in Lebanon. [3:28] But getting rid of Hezbollah will be good for the people of Lebanon. [3:30] Sure, but my point is today, this is the day one of the so-called ceasefire, [3:36] probably the deadliest day for civilians in Lebanon. [3:38] But not from the United States. This is from another country. [3:42] Absolutely. [3:42] But here we are. [3:44] So the first is the clip-in from Heksef is saying all the mandates were met. [3:51] We don't know what they are. [3:53] We never knew what we were trying to get from this from the beginning. [3:56] Now, I am very clear Iran is our enemy, which is why it is ludicrous for the president to say we're going to tax it together. [4:02] You can't make a business venture with your enemy. [4:05] Or if you do, it's bad business, first of all. [4:07] And they won't. [4:07] Right. And so I think the problem is when we started this conflict, sure, everyday Americans, including myself, [4:15] are not going to know the intimate war plans, or at least we shouldn't when you don't accidentally send them over a signal. [4:19] We should not know the war plans of this. [4:21] You had to put that in, huh? [4:22] I did. I kept my receipts. [4:24] But you shouldn't know the war plan. [4:26] She's going to do it again, too. [4:27] I know. [4:27] Well, I mean, it's a fact. [4:29] He'll deserve it. [4:29] Okay, right. [4:30] But you should know the war plans of a country, right? [4:32] But you should know what your desired outcome is. [4:34] And we never got that from the administration. [4:37] And if we're just honest, we still don't have that clearly. [4:39] It continues to move. [4:41] And that is what feels destabilizing. [4:43] I think if the president would have come out and said Iran is our enemy, I want to accomplish boom, boom, boom, whatever those things are, [4:50] some people would be concerned, some people weren't. [4:52] But the target seems like it keeps moving. [4:55] Now, you're right. [4:56] And you said it wasn't the most deadly day for Americans. [4:59] But the question that I think people are starting to question is, like, [5:02] what is the value of a life right now in this conflict? [5:05] And Hezbollah is an enemy as well. [5:08] But the Lebanese people deserve to live with dignity and free. [5:12] And I'm not saying that Hezbollah is allowing that. [5:15] But we don't want to stoop to Hezbollah's level. [5:18] We don't want to be at the level of the Ayatollah. [5:22] And so when we do not have parameters that we follow and not become a war criminal, it becomes a very slippery slope. [5:30] And then you start to wonder, like you're saying, it's so the United or the EU comes to the table. [5:37] But do they want to come to the table with somebody who doesn't value a life, whether or not it's an American life or not? [5:43] And I think that is the mercy part of this whole conflict. [5:46] I would just say quickly, that is a very valid point. [5:49] And that's a bit of part of the conundrum with Israel. [5:51] We can't necessarily control what the Israelis decide to do in this conflict. [5:56] I think the president is trying to find an out here. [5:59] Rightfully so. [6:00] But the Israelis are going to do whatever they decide. [6:03] If true, but they did back down immediately. [6:05] They were like, well, Lebanon's not a part of it. [6:07] So, yeah, I don't think they really tried that hard to stand up to the Israeli government before. [6:11] They'll take an action and then they'll step back. [6:14] That's not good to what the president is trying to do. [6:16] I'm saying Trump is not standing up to anybody. [6:18] He conceded the Lebanon point pretty much immediately as soon as they started complaining about it. [6:22] So here we are. [6:23] Well, and also, I mean, whether they were part of the ceasefire deal. [6:28] I mean, I think the fact that J.D. Vance, who is our chief negotiator in all of this, [6:32] or now he's becoming, based on what the negotiations are going to look like moving forward, [6:38] is now saying that this whole thing on Lebanon and the ceasefire was a misunderstanding. [6:42] It is amateur hour and you're dealing with a whole bunch of incompetent individuals [6:47] if you can't negotiate a ceasefire and exactly what that ceasefire means. [6:52] The fact that there are so many lives in Lebanon that are now, people were killed. [6:58] Don't you think if you were part of the U.S. government, you would be able to have a clear deal? [7:05] But instead, this has only led to chaos. [7:09] And the victory that Donald Trump and J.D. Vance and Pete Hegseth said yesterday and today [7:16] that this whole ceasefire was a deal, there is nothing about this deal, this ceasefire, [7:22] that is actually a victory. [7:24] At the end of the day, there are people who died and... [7:28] The strain of hormones is still close. [7:29] And it's still close. [7:30] I think where we are is that all the sides do not agree on what they agreed to. [7:34] Here is the Iran parliament speaker, Galiboff, saying in a tweet that one of the violations [7:42] that they're claiming is that the United States has denied Iran's right to enrichment, [7:47] which was included in the sixth clause of the framework. [7:50] Where are, where, are we on Earth and Mars? [7:55] Like, we're not even on the same planet. [7:58] Iran is not the equal and equal partner in these negotiations. [8:00] They don't have any leverage. [8:03] We're going to end this with the United States of America having secured the Strait of Hormuz [8:07] for the free flow of commerce. [8:09] Iran's going to have given up its nuclear program and it's going to agree to not fund its proxies. [8:14] That's how this ends. [8:15] I think that's a dramatic dream. [8:16] That is just a dramatic dream that is not happening. [8:19] And they do have leverage. [8:20] The Strait of Hormuz is close. [8:22] What we ultimately have is easy pass for the Strait of Hormuz. [8:25] Was that the biggest win that we got from this war is we now have easy pass in the Strait of Hormuz? [8:31] When you look at insurers who are shipping, you know, on the shipments, on the cargo shipments, [8:36] they're not backing down on their pricing. [8:38] And that's what the markets are watching. [8:39] But when you look at them, it's a recalibration of risk in the market right now. [8:46] It's not a we believe this is peace. [8:48] It's how do we recalibrate this moment. [8:49] And the markets don't buy it. [8:50] Even though we're seeing relief today, I don't think that's it. [8:53] The markets went up 2% the first day. [8:55] They did the first day. [8:56] The markets are waiting to burst. [8:57] Can I be honest what I worry what happened is that we're at, like, week 6, 7 now of this war. [9:06] What if in, like, four more weeks, six more weeks, we actually get back to basically the same place we were when we started? [9:14] And we just—and the Strait is open. [9:16] And I get it. [9:17] I understand. [9:18] Their Navy has been—but there are still humans that can rebuild ships and rebuild. [9:23] And they're not going to just succumb to—and so I guess their worry is, like, have we done any of this for, like, an actual win for the American people? [9:33] Like a tangible win. [9:33] A tangible win. [9:34] And I don't know what that is. [9:36] And I'm not asking it as a political question. [9:37] No, no, no. [9:38] I think it's a fair point. [9:39] From my perspective, I think we have got to stop their ability to enrich uranium. [9:43] That, to me, should be a non-starter. [9:45] Now, what does that look like, the facilitation of ceasing that? [9:48] I'm not exactly sure. [9:49] I am worried that the regime will now feel more emboldened because maybe they'll realize if we get a nuclear missile quicker, then this won't happen again. [9:57] And so we have to figure out— [9:58] And it does at the very least sound like they believe that a core thing—a core tenet that they want to come out of these negotiations is a recognition of their right to enrich uranium. [10:10] And that has to be a non-starter. [10:11] It has to be a non-starter. [10:12] It has to be a walk-away thing and start bombing again. [10:16] We just can't accept that. [10:17] Are we going to be willing to just bomb them? [10:20] I mean, this is the core problem that I think we're going to see. [10:22] You have to weed the garden every once in a while. [10:24] And until the Iranians decide that they're going to be nice to their neighbors, they're not going to threaten Western civilization, then they're going to be constantly— [10:30] They're going to stop funding proxy groups across the globe. [10:33] Correct.