Is America Armed And Ready For Conflict After Iran?

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1:00I'm Jimmy Fella. I'm Madison Hallworth. I'm Bill Hemmer, and this is The Fox News Run Down. Friday, March 27th, 2026, I'm Jessica Rosenthal. The president says Iran is negotiating and providing him oil as a gift. House and members of Congress push back against the operation in Iran. Others say let the president cook. The Iranian regime knows that the United States of America, and hopefully are allies in our partners, and many of whom are in the Middle East that have received missiles into their cities and into their ports, that they come together, and we mean business. I'm Benjamin Hall. This weekend, America will honor its Vietnam veterans. I could see that showing up at the hospitals, or, you know, at a fundraising event, or playing a concert at a military base, or Lieutenant Anne walking into a hospital room, could just make things a little bit easier for that family, or that wounded service member. We speak with Gary Sinese.

2:01And I'm Greg Jarron. I've got the final word on The Fox News Run Down. This week, President Trump said the U.S. is negotiating with Iran, and that they are talking sense as he put it. Number one, two and three is they can't have a nuclear weapon, and they're not going to have a nuclear weapon. And we're talking about that. And I don't want to say in advance, but they've agreed they will never have a nuclear weapon. They've agreed to that. The president spoke Wednesday, and reiterated Iran's diminished capabilities at Thursday's cabinet meeting. They are begging to make a deal. Not me. They're begging to make a deal. And anybody that saw what was happening over there would understand why they want to make a deal. During the week, some members of Congress insisted this was an unauthorized use of military force. Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy spoke on the Senate floor this week before his war powers resolution failed. We have not had a debate on a war authorization. We have not had a vote to allow senators to weigh in up or down as to whether they want

3:06the United States to be at war again in the Middle East. Though many note lawmakers will get to weigh in if and when the Department of War asks for supplemental funding for Iran, South Carolina Republican Congresswoman Nancy May said to that. I would say President Trump so far has been accurate on Iran, however, if there is a single U.S. troop on Iranian soil, that changes overnight. And I believe it will be overwhelmingly opposed. Now President Trump said this week that Iran had given a gift and at Thursday's cabinet meeting, he revealed what it was. They said to show you the fact that we're real and solid and we're there. We're going to let you have eight votes of oil, eight votes, eight big votes of oil. Iranian officials have said the Strait of Hormuz was open to vessels from non-anime countries noting in particular that Spain, for example, would be allowed to sail through. France has armed forces held a video call with multiple countries to discuss ways of reopening the strait.

4:06As far as the President's demands in a 15-point plan delivered through Pakistani officials, Tehran has called it unreasonable. We're obviously closely watching this. Somebody like myself who served in the Middle East understands the threat that Iran poses. Texas Republican Congressman August Flueger sits on the Homeland Security Committee. I mean, there's so many things that they're going to have to change. They've been committing atrocities for so many decades, for 47 years. They've been sponsoring terrorism across the world for 47 years. So this is not just a trust but verify approach. This is a fully transparent, change your behavior, really develop the trust from the international community. Only one President could have done this, and Donald Trump has led us into a position now where we can see Iran, you know, maybe become a country that wants to join a value system that doesn't just kill its own people and terrorize the rest of the world.

5:07But there's a lot of steps that they're going to have to take, and we're proud to see both the President and the Secretary of State leading this effort. On Wednesday, Iran's Foreign Minister Arakshi said there are no talks that the U.S. has failed in its goals here, but we know the President has said that the Iranians have given this gift of oil that they've committed to no nuclear weapons. What do you make of one higher ranking Iranian officials saying that none of this is happening? Well, again, I think that's the beyond trust but verify approach. I mean, there's a lot of rhetoric that the Iranian regime and their leaders and ministers have said a decade after decade, and when you finally have a President who uses a piece through strength approach to try to rid the world of this threat that has truly terrorized so many countries, then you expect to have a little bit of this rhetoric that continues to come out, but I certainly don't trust what the Iranians are saying. I trust what the President of the United States is saying.

6:08We heard reports that some of the 82nd Airborne out of Fort Bragg was going to be deployed, your retired Air Force. If you deploy the 82nd, that's not necessarily boots on the ground, right? But what does that signal at this point of the conflict, this sort of possible deployment? Well, we'll leave that to the Pentagon and spokesman from the Pentagon can better address that, but I think on the strategic front, you know, you have to have this situation where the Iranian regime knows that the United States of America, and hopefully our allies and our partners, and many of whom are in the Middle East that have received missiles into their cities and into their ports, that they come together, and we mean business. And that's where we really need our allies and our partners to step up and to say enough is enough. And I think that leads to the credibility of deterrence, it leads to the credibility of finding a solution. And you know, the President is trying to create leverage on no doubt, and he has done that

7:10through action. And it's time for the regime to lay down their arms, to lay down their nuclear weapons, and to become a transparent country that can once again be respected, because they're so far from that right now. Do you think a request for more money in the form of a supplemental will be approved by Congress, or does it depend on what stage this operation is in? Well, there's no doubt that that's going to be forthcoming. I mean, just the munitions and the weapons that we know we need to replenish. We'll see how that develops, and what that entails, but we're obviously always concerned to make sure that our war fighters have the right weapon systems, that they have the right training, that they are ready to go. And this is where we're just calling on Democrats, just come to the table and be normal. You know, support your national security apparatus, whether that's the Department of War or DHS, and so far, they have really refused to do any of those.

8:11I want to talk about your recent op-ed about the Air Force, and your concerns over it being spread dangerously thin. You write that you flew the F-15 and F-22 in combat missions in the Middle East. Much of what we relied on in Venezuela and, of course, Iran now twice in the span of this year have been our air assets, and you are worried about those. What do you think we need, especially if we're going to ask for more money? Some of that I imagine you think should go to the Air Force. Well, absolutely. I mean, the Department of the Air Force is the smallest and the oldest, and yet the most tasked Department of all the military services, responsible for providing solutions, joint air power solutions, that have been able to take down of the nuclear regime, that have enabled the extradition of Nicolomoduro, that have enabled the ability to get in and have air dominance, air superiority inside Iran to achieve other military objectives. And so the Air Force has long been the service that is called upon to execute very difficult,

9:15but yet highly strategically rewarding outcomes. But when you have a third, a third, a third budget approach to the Department of Army, the Department of Navy, and then the Air Force, yet the Air Force is being tasked to do all of these things. That's why you get into a state where I believe we are over tasked and yet have the oldest and most aged fleet that we've had in decades and maybe ever in the history of our service. So we absolutely need to recapitalize. We need to go faster to produce weapon systems to be ready, because the threats that we are required to face and deter include the Chinese Communist Party. And unfortunately over the past two to three decades, they've made great strides in their technology and in the number of the weapon systems that they have ready to go. And that's a totally different threat than we face in Iran. And there is, I mean, one can just look at that environment and know that the Department of the Air Force and the Space Force will be heavily tasked.

10:15God forbid that some sort of conflict should arise there. You also mentioned munitions. We had this low cost munitions hearing this week in the Senate, Chairman Wicker said we are right now at about 97% of our munitions being exquisite, right? The more expensive kind, just 3% are considered low cost. And while it did sound like from the witnesses, there's tremendous commitment to develop and build lower cost munitions in your mind, especially based on what you wrote, are removing fast enough on the entire front of munitions, let alone low cost. Well, we need a mixture of high low exquisite, non-exquisite, inexpensive weapon systems that can achieve a variety of effects. And I think the Secretary of Air Force will say that in any of his hearings that we need to be going faster. And the game that has been played is how inexpensive and how fast can you produce something that achieves the objectives that maybe in the effects, that maybe last decade was so exquisite

11:19and so expensive that you didn't want to use it. And now we have to change our mindset and our mentality. And I'm proud of the Air Force and all of our services for doing that. We need the military industrial complex to also come alongside and that's where the innovative startup projects and companies really play a big role. And we're rooting them on. We've also expressed concern about the pipeline of warfighters. We know recruitment is up. Are you worried about a lag time in those new recruits being ready? The services are going as fast as they possibly can, recruitment is up. We have finally gotten rid of the DEI and divisive policies that Joe Biden championed that really hit our readiness and our lethality so hard. And I think we're finally emerging out of that mess and out of that fog. But it does take some time and especially when you're talking about highly skilled positions, whether that's Airman or any of the positions that the Department of Navy and Army have.

12:19So we're always worried about training readiness, lethality, and want to instill that pride and that focus in all of our services. Before I let you go, I just need to ask your opinion, your comments on the, I guess it was the Republican Senate plan to possibly get DHS funding through without ICE and do ICE on reconciliation. I think I saw that you've said you expect the Senate to fully fund DHS. Are you a no on a plan that takes ICE out and deals with things piecemeal through reconciliation? Well, this week we'll vote on DHS funding in its entirety for a third time. It's just shameful that Democrats, especially Senate Democrats, have chosen not to fund DHS, the Department that is 100% tasked with keeping the homeland safe. So we do expect that they're going to continue to obstruct. And we're not against having the reconciliation bill as long as it continues to include codification of other President Trump agenda items, include national security objectives.

13:27But we really would like to see a solution come out of the Senate as the House has now passed, we'll have passed that proposal three times. Texas Congressman August Flueger, thank you so much for your time. Thank you so much. John Stamos here in partnership with Colorguard, and I've got to say, so you're 45 or older and at average risk, so what? That doesn't mean your life comes to a halt. The whole way, you can still do all the fun things you've been doing, but it's time to take your health a little more seriously. Calling cancer screening needs to be on your docket, and it's as simple as the Colorguard test. Don't worry, you got this. This is Greg Jura with your Fox News commentary coming up.

14:31This coming Sunday marks Vietnam Veterans Day, when thousands are expected to gather at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, DC. They are there to honor the approximately 2.7 million American men and women who served in uniform in Vietnam, including the nearly 60,000 Americans who gave their lives. One highlight of this weekend will be the National Welcome Home Celebration, hosted by Veterans United. The event will feature 10 vets who served in the conflict, and who recently returned to Vietnam for the first time in decades. The event will also include a concert featuring the Lieutenant Dan Band, a group named after its co-founder Gary Sinise, and his iconic role in the movie Forest Gump. In the film, Gary played a platoon leader severely wounded in battle, who found a second act as Forest's best friend and business partner. For decades, Gary has devoted much of his life to helping veterans, first responders and their families, but his passion for honoring those who served our country, especially the young Americans who went to Vietnam, began long before he played Lieutenant Dan.

15:35I have Vietnam Veterans in my family. I remember what it was like for them to come home from war and how difficult it was. Actor, musician, philanthropist, and founder of the Gary Sinise Foundation. Gary Sinise. That was a very difficult time in our nation. I was just graduating high school at the end of combat operations in Vietnam, and it was just a nation was divided, and the Vietnam Veteran got caught in the middle of all that, and some of them really just disappeared into the shadows, and it was a very, very difficult time for them. With Vietnam Veterans in my own family, I started supporting them in different ways back in the 70s and 80s, and then playing Lieutenant Dan Taylor of Vietnam Veteran in Forest Gump, led to all kinds of work after that, supporting Vietnam Veterans, and especially our wounded veterans. And then September 11th was a real turning point for me, and I just went towards service

16:40a lot. But I credit the Vietnam Veterans in my own family, and what we're doing on Sunday is it's Vietnam War Veterans Day. We are a part of a big event that is hosted by Veterans United. And I've done many, many things with Veterans United over the years, and this was something that they wanted to do, kind of a big welcome home celebration. There's going to be a welcome walk down Constitution Avenue, and then my band is going to be playing Craig Morgan's going to be there, Rob Riggle, a lot of great people are going to be there, and then my band goes on about three o'clock and plays a big concert for them. Nice. If you go to those events, you really do see how there is one community that comes together, it's always there, it makes people stronger, and yet I also wonder whether or not there are communities in America that aren't there so much, and whether or not, you know, the same way that maybe Veterans are forgotten after Vietnam, do you think there is still a split in the country?

17:40Do you think there are some parts who, yes, wholeheartedly, every minute of their life is supporting those service members, but others who maybe are not doing as much, and where does that crack come from? I do. I think, you know, if you don't have a connection, a personal connection to somebody who's serving in a military or Veterans, then you're kind of disconnected, you know, with what our military actually does and what our Veterans have done for us in the past, I have felt as a public figure, there are things, there are ways that I can kind of try to bridge that gap, you know, I go to the military community, I've been to the war zones and the hospitals and the military bases across the country and supporting them in different ways for many, many years, and then I can talk about what I see and how grateful I am and how fortunate I feel that we have men and women who are willing to do this heavy lifting to keep us safe and free. And sometimes there's a very heavy price, as you know, that gets paid for that.

18:43I wrote a book that came out in 2019 called Grateful American, and there are many, many stories about the service members that I've met, the service members in my family, you know, why I feel so blessed, you know, to live in this country and so grateful to have men and women who are willing to fight for freedom. You've said, for example, that, you know, 9-11 and speaking to some of the people, you know, the service men who ran towards the Twin Towers really was a turning point for you. When you think of that service, when you think of that strength and you think of the ability of someone to say, my life is at risk, but I am running into those flames to save others. What does that tell you about, about those people, but what does that tell you also about America? Yeah, I've met so many like that, Benjamin, you know, just selfless people that, you know, they just have service to others in their heart as part of their DNA, and, and, you know, there are many that serve, like, let's take the FDNY, for example, you know, you

19:45have firefighters, well, their grandfather served as a firefighter, their, their great uncle served, their uncle served, their brother served, their dad served, and now they're serving. It's just part of their DNA, it's part of their family. That's a dangerous business, and, you know, a lot of my mission starts right there with the family members, and so I'm grateful for people that are willing to put on the uniform and go out there and, and try to do something to help somebody out. Tell us a little bit about your mission and your foundation, but what is it that you are that really set out to try and achieve? And I also suppose that there's, there's no endpoints, there will always be more, there will always be more people to help, but what are you aiming to really do? You know, as long as we have a national defense, and we, and we need a national defense, as long as we have police officers and firefighters and communities all over the country trying to, trying to stop the bad guys or save somebody from a fire or something like that, we're going to need people to support them. I have, you know, veterans on my side, the family, my wife side, the family, I have great

20:49respect for them. I started supporting in the 80s, you know, in the Chicago area I was doing some theater work there, and, and I felt so badly after hearing the stories from my wife's brothers and her sister's husband who had all served in Vietnam, what it was like for them to serve there and then come home to a nation that had really turned its back on them. I felt a lot of compassion for them, so I started to try to find ways in Chicago back in the 80s to support Vietnam veterans. And then 10 years later, I played the Vietnam veteran in Forest Gump, and, and I started, you know, he was a wounded veteran, of course, Lieutenant Dan, and, and from there I started supporting our wounded, and then there's a chapter in my book, it's called Turning Point, and that was the September 11th chapter where I just felt called to action to try to help the men and women who were deploying to Afghanistan and Iraq at that point.

21:49And that's where the Gary Sinese Foundation grew out of. We're celebrating our 15 year anniversary at the end of June, and multiple programs at the Gary Sinese Foundation. If you go to our website, GarySineseFoundation.org, you look at our YouTube channel, you can see just dozens of programs and in a many, many people that were helping, we gave away a house to one of our wounded veterans. We built these specially adapted smart technology homes, and we, there's a Marine who lost both his arms, and he's very badly banged up, and this is our 102nd specially adapted mortgage-free smart technology home that we built for a service member. And I know that's what that makes, are those homes, being able to move around in them. The freedom it gives people that you're giving people another life when you're giving them that freedom, the ability to live with their family in one house, to move around. You are giving them so much, it's not just a home, it's a life, it's for their families,

22:52for their future. I know full well what you're giving and how grateful so many of them are. I suppose it must be interesting because there must have come a point in your career where you're doing the USO and everything else, you realize that people, that your voice had a real impact, that you could do something with the celebrity you've been given. And I guess there are two ways to do that. One is to go off and live the high life and do one thing. The other is to use that to help others, and you've chosen to do that. But does that also come with a bit of a weight? I mean, do you, people must look to you, say with PTSD, say with the hidden injuries. They must look to you for more than just support for help. But do you sometimes feel that you're given this extra weight? Because just because you're celebrating the great you've done, do you have to sometimes feel that you need to help people physically and personally get through difficult moments? Well, I'm one guy, before I had my own foundation, I was trying to support so many different organizations because I wanted to help as many people as possible. So I found, okay, supporting a lot of different nonprofits that are in this space that are

23:55doing good work in this veteran first responder space, that's a way that I could help a lot more people. I felt that there was a way that I could do something to help out, and I could see that showing up, you know, just simply showing up at the hospitals or, you know, at a fundraising event or playing a concert at a military base or whatever, the simple act of showing up, Lieutenant Anne walking into a hospital room, you know, could just make things a little bit easier for that family or that wounded service member. And I, when I saw that that was effective, I wanted to do it more and more. So that's when I started the Gearies and East Foundation. And so now we have a staff of nearly 100 people spread out all over the country constantly, every single day doing something to help, you know, our defenders and their families, every single day. And that gives life great purpose, you know, and, you know, while we deal with a lot of

24:57difficult things and, you know, hard stuff, grief and loss and, you know, injuries and burns and all these different, different things. You know, while it's difficult to see that and to experience that and to listen to the stories, there's also a joy in knowing that showing up can make a difference. I guess I just want to finish up by, again, coming back to, no, you're doing, but what more needs to be done? Like, what are we missing? How can we build on what you're doing or what the country is doing to really help these people? I'm believing or not. I mean, there's a lot of people that serve, but there's a lot more in the country that don't know anybody who does that. It doesn't have a family history of veterans or anything like that. So they're disconnected to what happens, you know, when somebody serves our country. And then, you know, why would somebody, you know, why would somebody want to, you know,

25:58put on a uniform and go to war? I don't get it, you know, but what if we had nobody that wanted to do that? One of the ways that I've found that I can serve is just trying to bridge that gap a little bit. And so, you know, what, whenever I can advocate for them or talk about them or express my gratitude, you know, I take those opportunities to do that. That's what this, that's what go into Vietnam or veterans day and doing a big concert on them all there for, for our Vietnam veterans is all about. Yeah. So if anyone's in DC, that's this Sunday, 1230, what begins at 17th Street, go down that. And if you can't make it and you see someone in uniform, go over just as Gary said, just a few words to them, goes such a long way. Gary, what a great pleasure to have you on today. I really appreciate it. Thank you for all the work. Personally, how much that means to the people who you talk to and who's your long side. So thank you for that and what a pleasure to meet you. I appreciate that Benjamin. We'll see you down the road. Thank you. And now, some good news with Tonya J Powers.

27:08Long lines and airports are happening more often these days, but this week, travelers got to experience a different one at Philadelphia International Airport. That's where National Cheese Steak Day was marked with more than 1,000 of the sandwiches lined up inside at a parter hall. Organizers say they achieved a new Guinness World Record for the longest line of Cheese Steak sandwiches. They had 1,291, easily surpassing the previous record of 500. It spanned the length of more than three football fields and was comprised of 225 pounds of cheese sauce, 990 pounds of shaved ribeye, and over 1200 foot-long rolls. The Cheese Steak originated in Philly in the early 1900s and is considered the city's signature food. After the record was certified, volunteers handed out the sandwiches to travelers, airport workers, and TSA staff who have been working without getting paid as a result of the partial government shutdown. A Guinness World Record official said rules require all food used in record attempts to be eaten or donated.

28:08Tanya J. Powers, Fox News. It's time to dance! A Los Angeles jury has rendered a verdict of liability against meta and Google, finding

29:16their Instagram and YouTube platforms created harmful digital addiction in children. The plaintiff, a 20-year-old woman, was awarded $3 million in compensatory damages and the same amount in punitive damages for the mental struggles she claims to have suffered as a child in teenager. That amount, by the way, is a mere fraction of the $1 billion that plaintiff's counsel was demanding from the jury. Does the judgment now spell doom for the social media giants under an avalanche of thousands of other similar lawsuits? Doubtful. Expect the verdict to get reversed on appeal. Why? First of all, 30 years ago, Congress granted Internet platforms a form of immunity. Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which provides that they are not liable for the content posted on their sites. Here, by her own admission on the witness stand, the plaintiff's reliance on social media

30:18was all about its content. Second, three years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld that exact same legal protection by refusing to hold social media companies liable for harmful, user-generated content amplified by their algorithms. The High Court stressed First Amendment-free speech protections. That's what content is about, free expression. And I doubt that the High Court justices are going to now change their minds. But there were other grounds for appeal. The plaintiff's narrative that social media was the cause of her harm has serious problems. She was treated for years by three therapists, none of whom ever diagnosed her with social media addiction. Instead, her struggles seemed to arise out of a tumultuous home environment that included allegations of physical and emotional abuse. Finally, this lawsuit was brought uniquely as a product liability case.

31:23In other words, it was alleged that Instagram and YouTube were defectively designed and therefore unsafe. But wait a minute. You can accuse just about any product on the market of causing addiction if it's excessively used or abused. For example, video games. How about television shows? What about candy? If a child binges on chocolate bars and develops type 2 diabetes or obesity, is Hershey to blame for a defective design, of course not. A sympathetic LA jury was swayed by the unfortunate plight of this young life, but shifting the blame from personal responsibility to a corporate scapegoat is not how the law operates, especially when it comes to the first amendment protected social media platforms. So the plaintiff's winning court, for now, may only be temporary. For Fox News, I'm Greg Geron.

32:42And for up to the minute news, go to FoxNews.com.