Morning Wire - Intensified Strikes Hammer Iran & Cuba’s Final Chapter? | 3.11.26

Episode Date: March 11, 2026

The United States hammers Iran with its most intense strikes yet, Cuba’s communist regime teeters as it faces extreme fuel and food shortages, and the Trump administration works to end potentially harmful gender identity policies across the country. Get the facts first with Morning Wire.- - -Ep. 2675- - -Wake up with new Morning Wire merch: https://bit.ly/4lIubt3- - -Today's Sponsors:Balance of Nature - Join hundreds of thousands of customers in one simple routine that’s changing the world. Go to https://BalanceofNature.com to subscribe and save today.Vanta - Get started at https://Vanta.com/MORNINGWIRE- - -Privacy Policy: https://www.dailywire.com/privacymorning wire,morning wire podcast,the morning wire podcast,Georgia Howe,John Bickley,daily wire podcast,podcast,news podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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of voyage. The conditions can't Today will be yet again our most intense day of strikes inside Iran. The most fighters, the most bombers, the most strikes. Intelligence, more refined and better than ever. The Pentagon is cranking up the volume on Iran while the regime once again threatens President Trump. I'm Daily Wire, Executive Editor John Bickley with Georgia Howe.

It's Wednesday, March 11th. This is Morning Wire. As missiles fly in the Middle East, another crisis is brought. brewing just 90 miles off the coast of the U.S. How will President Trump take care of Cuba? They want freedom. They want to be reintegrated into the global system. They don't want to live in a Cold War artifact. And after gender identity disputes lead to custody issues across the country,

the Trump administration looks to change federal law. Surely we can all agree no state can be allowed to rip children from their parents' arms and transition them to a new gender. against the parents will. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. This episode is sponsored by Balance of Nature.

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The United States hammered Iran on Tuesday with its most intense strikes yet, as President Trump says Operation Epic Fury could soon come to a close. Wired-in live host Cabot Phillips is here with more. more haycap. So a flurry of activity in Iran over the last 24 hours, lots to monitor, to say the least. So what is the latest in the operation? Yeah, on Tuesday, Secretary of War Pete Hegsseth, vowed that the U.S. military would unleash its most intense strikes on Iran yet. And he followed

through. Over the last 24 hours, the U.S. deployed more fighters, bombers, and strikes than at any point since the conflict began, while the Iranians responded with fewer missiles than ever. Hegseth, joined by General Dan Kane, its chairman of the Joint Chiefs, reiterated the top three priorities for the U.S., destroying Iran's missile and drone capabilities, taking out their Navy to protect shipping lanes, and weakening the country's military industrial base, including nuclear research sites and related infrastructure. On day 10 of Operation Epic Fury, we are winning with an overwhelming and unrelenting focus on our objectives. No hesitation. No half measures. not relent until the enemy is totally and decisively defeated. For more on the U.S. urgency to achieve those three goals and also what it means for the U.S.

is standing in the Middle East, I spoke with retired Brigadier General Mark Kimet. Have a listen. Well, in the middle of a war, it's hard to get a tape measure out in terms of the U.S. standing. Most of the countries in the region just want this over. they understand the benefits to their countries by the United States actions if, in fact, Iran is neutered with its ballistic missiles, with its proxies, and with its nuclear program. I think the greatest fear of the Middle East is that we stop this war before those three goals were achieved. And I think at that point, the countries in the region would question why the United States

went to war if it did not achieve its core objectives in that fight. Despite those massive strikes Tuesday, there appeared to be growing optimism that an end of the conflict is in sight. That was certainly reflected in markets worldwide, which enjoyed a nice rebound after plummeting on Monday. So investors are clearly betting that this operation is entering its final stage. Certainly a lot of Americans hoping they're right on that front. Now, there was reports earlier this week that Russia is sharing intelligence. with the Iranians. Have we learned more about those reports? Right. They were allegedly disclosing to the Iranians,

sensitive locations, satellite imagery, showing where U.S. military assets in the region were. But on Tuesday, the Kremlin denied those allegations directly to the White House with Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Whitkoff, saying, quote, we can take them at their word. But according to General Kemet, there's plenty of reason to believe the Russians are not telling the truth.

Have a listen. We have given a significant amount of intelligence over the last four years to Ukraine about the targeting of Russian positions. So the fact that the Russians are returning that favor quid pro quo does not surprise me. I think we need to make it very clear to Vladimir Putin that that's unacceptable and should be halted immediately, primarily because that will only extend the war and raise the costs of the war between the United States. in Iran, and that certainly will have second order effects on his country.

Now, last week, there were rumors that the U.S. was working with rebel groups in the region to potentially mount an offensive against Iran. What is the latest on that front? Right. So according to numerous reports, the CIA had been in talks with Kurdish leaders in Iraq and other anti-Iranian groups with the aim of fomenting an uprising against the regime. That arrangement included potentially supplying them U.S. weapons. But this week, President Trump shot down the idea, saying, quote, they are willing to go in, but I've told them I don't want them to go in. And one more thing to monitor here, according to a CNN report Tuesday, U.S. intelligence indicates that Iran has begun laying underwater mines in the Strait of Hormuz.

President Trump initially said Tuesday, quote, we have no reports of them doing so, but an hour later announced on truth social, quote, I'm pleased to report that within last few hours we have hit and completely destroyed 10 inactive mine laying boats and or ships with more to follow. Remember, the U.S. is intent on opening up the straight to allow oil and gas to flow back through. So this is a crucial angle to keep an eye on. Very complex operation going on. Kavana, thanks so much for reporting. Absolutely.

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Andres, thanks for coming on. Thanks for having me. So President Trump has said he will take care of Cuba. That's his language there. What exactly does that mean? Well, I think that it means that President Trump is going to be looking very seriously at the security threat and the human rights threat. that the Cuban dictatorship has posed and it has acted as a landing pad, essentially, for

extra-hemispheric actors like China and Russia. And all that means that ignoring it, as too often has been the case in Washington, is no longer compatible with U.S. national security. Now, there's news of an economic deal in the works with Cuba that provides an off-ramp for the Castro's, potentially. That's what we're reading. What do we know about that potential deal? A lot of the reporting has been very unspecific.

We are aware, generally based on reporting of talks that have been going on between the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, and individuals within Cuba. Generally, the view is that there are at least some people on the island within the regime that recognize that essentially what time it is. That's a time that's pointing towards the sunset of the regime. this regime. What would be the goals for America of a deal with Cuba on a political level or on an economic level? It's really difficult to separate the economic realities in Cuba from the political realities from Cuba. The heart of the economic and humanitarian crisis in Cuba comes from

the regime's own control of every aspect of the economy and life, essentially on the island. That has developed the complete devastation of the once-functional economy there and has left the people on Cuba really suffering to access even basic goods. So leaving that kind of model or even a lot of those actors in place to any significant degree is really going to be a challenge to cure a more prosperous, more free and more integrated economy. in Cuba. And I think certainly Secretary Rubio will be well aware of some of the pitfalls that the United States has fallen into in the past. For example, under Barack Obama, with the Cuban dictatorship, opened broadly U.S. economic engagement, tourism, normalized political relations with the regime, with seeking really nothing in exchange. That's a model that is not one for success in Cuba. And certainly this administration is keenly aware of that.

How primed is Cuba for a complete transformation of its governmental system to a more democratic capitalist program? Well, I think there are going to be a lot of challenges in a broader transformation of the island. There are a lot of factors that are going to facilitate the transformation positively of the economy and the political system in Cuba. The fact that this is an island that's 90 miles off of the shores of the United States and has a substantial ongoing connections between the United States and the island. A big part of that is the Cuban diaspora, which is very active within U.S. politics and has many leaders within the United States and within the Cuban diaspora.

Cuban diaspora have really been looking towards a day where there's a reopening of the democratic and prosperous Cuba that they once knew and want to be a part of that solution. Well, it's a precarious kind of moment, but it's also a very exciting prospect, the idea of seeing real change in Cuba for the Cuban people who have been suffering for a very long time as you've laid out. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you so much for having me. During his State of the Union address, President Trump highlighted the story of a Virginia teen whose parents were denied custody of her for not affirming her trans identity.

The move highlighted the administration's focus on ending harmful gender identity policies. Here with more on that effort is investigative reporter Meg Brock. Meg, thanks for coming on. Thanks for having me. So a lot going on with this battle that you've been reporting on here at Daily Wire, including the Trump administration's latest action on this policy. So let's start there. What exactly has the president done with regards to the parental rights in custody issue? Yeah, as the Morning Wire has previously reported, during his campaign, President Trump vowed to eradicate gender ideology from the federal government.

And so this is him, again, taking action to keep that promise. Now, as John mentioned during the State of the Union address, Trump shared the story of Sage Blair, who was a teen that was secretly transitioned to another sex at school. And then her parents lost custody. of her because they would not affirm her identity as a boy. After she was found in a horrific situation in Maryland, a left-wing judge refused to return Sage to her parents because they did not immediately state that their daughter was their son. Sage was thrown into an all-boys stayed home

and suffered terribly for a long time. But today, all of that is behind them because Sage is a proud, and wonderful young woman. The administration for children and families has now alerted all 50 states that affirming biological reality does not constitute child abuse or neglect under federal law. Here's Assistant Secretary for Health Brian Christine explaining the administration's position. Our president exposed the reality of what is taking place in some of our schools across the country. And in response, HHS is sending a clear and unequivocal message to all 50 states about cases like that of Sage Blair,

acknowledging biological reality and exercising sincerely held religious beliefs should not constitute child abuse or neglect under federal law. First, it's worth noting the stark contrast of messaging between Admiral Christine and his predecessor, Admiral Rachel Levine, who pushed gender transitions at every turn. Right, so a complete 180 there. Now, is this actually enough for those parents calling for federal action? Will this actually prevent these things from happening in family courts now? Advocates would definitely like to see more permanent protections. Parenthoodal rights activists I've spoken to would love to see federal legislation passed affirming that you can't name parents as abusers for affirming their child sex. Several states have already taken steps to legally clarify that affirming a child sex is not abuse, including Indiana, North Carolina, and Texas.

Now, speaking of Texas, Attorney General Ken Paxton has been taking a lot of action on this in his state. Can you tell us what exactly he's done? Yeah, so just a couple of weeks ago, he announced that he'd filed a lawsuit against a major pediatric health system and a radical gender activist doctor for violating state law banning transing children. For some background here, the state of Texas passed the law back in 2023, SB 14, that outlawed so-called gender-affirming care for kids. This includes both hormone treatments and surgeries. The law allowed for a weaning period for children currently under hormone therapy, so they wouldn't have to stop cold turkey. However, at least one clinic seems to have found a loophole in this provision. The Children's Health System of Texas partnered with the University of Texas Southwestern to open a gender clinic in 2015.

Now, it was publicly closed in March 2022, but the same team involved in the clinic apparently continued seeing patients and conducting these same procedures without the gender clinic branding. Now, the clinic allegedly exploited the weaning provision to keep patients functionally transition until they turned 18 and could legally resume hormone treatment. So not weaning them at all. Yep, exactly. And totally separate from this lawsuit, Paxson also closed a loophole that could have allowed

therapists to get around SB 14. He said that psychologists, counselors, and social workers in Texas can be penalized just like doctors for helping facilitate children's sex changes under the state's ban on sex-rejecting interventions. Going straight to the source there. Meg, thanks for reporting. Anytime. Thanks for waking up with us.

And if you're listening to the show, you can now watch the show free on Daily Wire Plus. We'll be back this evening with more news you need to know.