Morning Wire - U.S. Decapitates Iran & D.C.’s ‘Epic Fury’ Divide | 3.2.26

Episode Date: March 2, 2026

Iran strikes back after the U.S. & Israel knock out the regime’s top brass, we analyze the geopolitical shockwaves of Operation Epic Fury, and the American Right and Left face internal divides on the Iran strikes. Get the facts first with Morning Wire. - - - Ep. 2659 - - - Wake up with new Morning Wire merch: https://bit.ly/4lIubt3 - - - Today's Sponsors: Zocdoc - Go to https://Zocdoc.com/WIRE to find and instantly book a doctor you love today. Alliance Defending Freedom - Visit https://JoinADF.com/WIRE or text 'WIRE' to 83848 to learn more. - - - Privacy Policy: https://www.dailywire.com/privacy morning 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

President Trump confirms that dozens of Iran's top brass have been wiped out and that some American service members have lost their lives in the fight. We grieve for the true American patriots who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation, even as we continue the righteous mission for which they gave their lives. Plus, the FBI investigates a suspected terror attack in Austin. I'm Daily Wire, Executive Editor John Bickley with Georgia Howl. It's my name. Monday, March 2nd. This is Morningwire. The crippling of the Iranian regime is sending shockwaves throughout the world. How will it impact Iran's enemies and allies, particularly China and Russia? Iran is important to both countries. This is a significant part of what George W. Bush might have

called the axis of evil. And the American right and left face internal divides on the Iran operation. How might the strikes affect looming political battles here at home? The Constitution is really clear. Only Congress has the power to declare war. To actually create real peace, you have to do these kinds of actions just like happened. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. Raise your hand if you've been putting off a dental cleaning, an annual checkup or honestly any kind of doctor's appointment.

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But we've also had our first confirmed American casualties in the conflict as well. Joining us now with the latest is Daily Wire contributor Tim Pyr. morning, Tim. So there's a lot to get to you here, but let's start with the first reports of Americans injured and killed in the operation. What do we know so far about the casualties? Right. President Trump, in his address, announcing the operation on Saturday, warned that American Warriors may end up losing their lives, and that has indeed happened. Early Sunday morning, we started getting reports that several U.S. service members were killed. U.S. Central Command issued a statement at 9.30 a.m. Eastern that three soldiers have been killed in action and five others,

seriously wounded as part of the operation. CINCOM also revealed that several others sustained minor shrapnel injuries and concussions, but are in the process of being returned to duty. In situations like this, additional information about the fallen heroes is often withheld for at least 24 hours out of respect for the families

and to allow time for them to be notified. The president also said that this operation would not be like Midnight Hammer or the capture of Maduro, that Americans should expect this to go on for days, if not weeks. So more lives will likely be long. lost in the effort. Right. We're all hoping we don't get more reports like this, but this will be a longer

operation. Now, on the other side, we have confirmation of scores of Iranian leaders taken out already. What do we know for sure at this point? Well, the most significant, of course, is Ayatollah Kameini, the supreme leader. When Kabbat reported for a Saturday, there were already unconfirmed reports that he was dead, but by Saturday night, President Trump made it official and used the confirmation of his death as another call to action for the Iranian people, saying this is the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their country. Trump also announced on Sunday morning that the U.S. had destroyed at least nine Iranian naval ships and largely destroyed their naval headquarters. Meanwhile, U.S. Central Command says that it has destroyed the headquarters for the Islamic

Revolutionary Guard Corps. And we're now starting to learn more details of the specific strikes, including the one that took out the Ayatollah, correct? Right. We now know that on Saturday morning, Kameen convened a meeting of his top military and intelligence aids above ground in Tehran. At the same time, two other meetings were taking place in the city. Typically, these strikes take place at night, but the U.S. and Israel reportedly felt that this was their best shot for a decapitation strike, and they took it. The obvious question now is who will fill the power vacuum in Tehran, and could this ultimately lead to the collapse of the regime? Right. Now, leading up to this operation, many experts were sounding the alarm over the potential response from Iran, including

sleeper cells here in the U.S. We've now had this horrific mass shooting in Austin. The FBI quickly announced they were looking into it as a potential act of terror. What do we know so far about that incident? Yes, at least two people were killed and over a dozen wounded at a bar Saturday night in Austin. Authorities are investigating the mass shooting as a potential act of terrorism. The gunman was reportedly wearing a sweatshirt that said, property of Allah. And underneath that, he wore a shirt with an Iranian flag on it.

authorities also found a Quran in his car. He appears to have become a U.S. citizen in 2013 and is originally from Senegal, a Muslim majority country on the west coast of Africa. There is no definitive connection to the regime yet in this particular case, but there are certainly grave concerns that there could be attacks like this in the coming days and weeks because of what is happening in Iran. Now, before we let you go, I wanted to ask you about the response we've seen so far from Iranians and Iranian Americans to this operation? What have we seen here and abroad? It's been truly remarkable. We've seen videos flooding social media showing Iranians around the world celebrating. That's included big demonstrations in Washington, New York, London, and most

significantly all across Iran. What we saw there was really incredible demonstrations of bravery. Thousands flooded the streets, dancing, honking horns, and setting off fireworks. In one video, there was a large group of demonstrators who tore down a statue of the Ayatola. Those watching the show will be able to see some of this footage. Really a remarkable sight there. Tim, thanks so much for reporting. Thanks for having me on. Well, before we continue, I'm excited to give you some amazing news about an issue that we care about here at the Daily Wire. Our friends and Alliance defending Freedom have just announced that the state of Vermont has agreed to change its policy that discriminated against Christian foster families.

Families like the Woeatis and Gantz were model foster parents. They had taken in siblings and even focused on caring for kids with struggles like fetal alcohol syndrome. And these parents had lost their foster licenses because they refused to compromise their faith by participating in a lie. They were told they had to agree to promote the state's radical gender ideology, including by taking kids to pride parades. Following a victory in a similar case out of Oregon last year, this win in Vermont means we're winning the battle, folks. I can't tell you how inspiring it is to learn about the courage of these families, moms and dads who have answered the call to care for vulnerable children who deserve. a loving home. Go to join ADF.com slash wire and find out more about this incredible victory and how Alliance defending Freedom is standing up for everyday families and protecting our

constitutional rights. That's join ADF.com slash wire or text wire to 83848 and celebrate this amazing victory with us. The world is already beginning to feel the geopolitical impact of the U.S. operation in Iran. Joining us now to discuss is Lester Munson, head of the international practice at BGR Group and former staff director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Thank you so much for joining us. My pleasure. So first question, the end goal here. President Trump has called on the Iranian people to rise up to overthrow the Iranian regime,

signaling the change needs to come from them, ultimately. What might this process actually look like? Well, that's a wonderful question. President Trump has indicated that he's got a lot of flexibility in what comes next in Iran. He's looking for someone who can take charge of the Iranian government, and it may be another Ayatollah. It may be someone from the IRGC. It may be what we would think of as a reform leader. It may be someone from outside the country who can make the tough decisions necessary to do business with the United States and the rest of the legitimate international community.

He's not looking to change the society. He's not looking to impose U.S.-style democracy. This is the way I read that. This is very different than what the U.S. did in Iraq 23 years ago and in Afghanistan 25 years ago. Now, what does this mean geopolitically, particularly for the enemies of the United States like Russia and China? What kind of message does this operation send? Does it help or hurt the U.S.? Well, I think it's terrifically interesting that neither Russia nor China, which have backed the Iranian regime, have done anything to help them in this very difficult situation. you would normally think that an ally would come to your aid when you're being attacked.

If nothing else in the last 36 hours or so, the nature of friendship with Beijing and Moscow has been exposed. So I think that's a very big reveal. Iran provides a lot of oil and energy resources to China. It provides drones to Russia for its war in Ukraine. And if the government there changes, as it sure seems likely now, that's a significant blow to the bad guy. Do you think this will impact Russia's war on Ukraine? It could in the long run. We're going to, you know, right now Russia is relying on weapons from Iran and troops from North Korea for its war in Ukraine.

The Iranian inputs are now in question. Now, historically, Russia has done quite well in wars of attrition, but right now on the battlefield, it doesn't look very good for Russia, and this certainly won't help. Now, Saudi Arabia has expressed support for the actions of the U.S. Other countries in the region have as well. How do you see this changing the dynamics in the Middle East, this operation against Iran? Well, it's been very interesting. Again, just in the last two days, a lot of the Sunni Arab states, which had expressed

reservations about the U.S. attacking Iran, have basically said, we now support these attacks on Iran because, in part, Iran launched counterattacks against U.S. bases in their countries. So that is kind of, again, been a big reveal here that behind the scenes, it's very likely leaders from Saudi Arabia and these other countries were in fact encouraging the United States and then by extension Israel to make this attack against Iran. Iran is the enemy of pretty much everyone in that region, whether you're a Sunni Arab state or Israel or even Turkey, which is also voiced concerns about this attack. Iran doesn't really get along with anybody.

Right. They really do seem fully isolated. If this regime is replaced with a more U.S.-friendly government, how might that impact oil and arms trade in the region? And does that heighten risks or make America safer? Well, that's a great question. Iran is a huge oil producer. So if you have a changing government there and they're suddenly complying with the international system that we've established, that's actually much better for us in the grand scheme of things. And it makes it a lot harder, again, for these bad guys to do the wrong thing. In terms of weapons sales, you know, the Middle East is going to remain a thorny neighborhood for sure. But I think if this regime in Iran changes significantly, that eliminates a lot of the conflicts that we've seen in the neighborhood,

whether it's Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas, in Gaza, the Houthis in Yemen. Iran has been their biggest supporter. So pulling them out of the game is going to reduce tensions across the board. I certainly hope so. Thank you so much for lending us your expertise today. My pleasure. The U.S. political class is in an uproar over what may be the most consequential Foreign Policy Act by any U.S. President in decades. Here to break it down for us is Daily Wire political reporter Cameron Arcand. So Cameron, debate is raging over Operation Epic Fury, of course, heightened by the fact that we now

have confirmed casualties of U.S. soldiers, as well as fear that we may see more terror attacks here at home. We've heard from the White House earlier, so let's start with Republicans. Their messaging has been somewhat mixed, but it's mostly been supportive. What are we hearing from them? Yes, many Republicans have been supportive of these strikes backing the president's message as senators like Lindsey Graham have wanted to see changes in Iran for years now. You've also seen some conservatives that might not be so thrilled about the prospect of military intervention, while others in Congress are also

wanting to see some more details about the information in these post-strike briefings. However, one key aspect of this is the overall concern about domestic threats, like the reports that we saw out of Austin, Texas over the weekend, including the possibility of Iranian sleeper cells and people like Senator Dave McCormick have called on Homeland Security shutdown to come to an end as that department plays a critical role in monitoring these kinds of threats. Right. Now, what have we heard from Democrats so far? From mainline Democrats in Congress and in the commentary world, they've strongly rebuked the decision by the president to attack Iran without prior congressional approval. Of course,

Some members of Congress were briefed in the week leading up to the strikes. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the highest ranking Democrat in the country, did say that he's been very unhappy with the Trump administration in regards to this. He wants some more information about these strikes and wanted Congress to be more included in this process. Here's liberal commentator Rachel Maddow saying that the recent move is probably not about helping liberate the Iranian people from their regime. Iran isn't about to have a nuclear bomb.

And I think it's fair to say this is not about Donald Trump's emotional desire to provide support to the Iranian people. If it were, we might actually be supporting the Iranian people. Former Vice President Kamala Harris, who lost to President Trump in 2024, said that Trump is dragging the U.S. into another war that we do not want. There's also some nuance developing among Democrats with some like Democrat political advisor Mosch Madera who went on CNN criticizing members of their party. I am a Democrat. I have been a huge Democrat. I am incredibly disappointed with my party. I do not see myself in them in this moment. Most notably, Senator John Federman of Pennsylvania said that, quote,

President Trump has been willing to do what's right and necessary to produce a real peace in the region. He also said that he would vote against a war powers resolution in Congress if one went up for a vote. Now, one of the biggest questions and concerns among people on the right is how this is going to affect President Trump politically, particularly with midterms coming up. Well, yes, we've got the midterms coming up, including some primaries in the coming days. And as complex as a situation as this is, this could be more simple than we think in terms of the actual political outcomes here when it comes to foreign policy. Dilleywire host and editor emeritus Ben Shapiro weighed in on the potential electoral impact of the operation and said that Pataculous is actually simple math. A lot of people talking about the electoral consequences. This is somehow going to stop people from voting for Republicans in 2026.

Okay, here's the deal. If America succeeds, it won't. If it turns into a prolonged war, then it will. Pretty simple. Americans like winning and they don't like losing. I'm sure we'll be getting more information, including data in the coming days about what voters think about these strikes. And it could take months to see how this situation actually pans out. Well, definitely a high risk move, potentially high reward too.

Cameron, thanks for reporting. Thank you. Thanks for waking up with us. And for those listening to the show, you can also now watch the show free on Daily Wire Plus. We'll be back this evening. More news. We'll be back this evening.