(New York, NY) – I woke up to a missed call, with another call coming in. War had broken out overnight. In order for the US-Israeli military joint operation to utilize the element of surprise, missiles flew and jets soared during daylight hours in Iran. Back in the Tri-state it was around 2:00 AM and most of the eastern seaboard was sleeping.
That’s when you know it’s time to get to work. I immediately penned an article for the radio station’s website, providing as many details as possible. Thankfully, President Trump had addressed the nation in a video that laid out the available details: major combat operations had begun against Iran. Nuclear negotiations had failed to yield an acceptable result, and force was the only remaining option. It later became clear that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had been killed — marking a truly historic chapter for the world — as the Islamic cleric was responsible for much death, destruction, and misery. That’s true both inside Iran and for people targeted by terrorist groups, funded by the mullahs.
The judge 👨⚖️ and Eric Levine broke down Operation Epic Fury 🦅:
Getting to the station on Saturday morning, 5AM News Hour Weekend Edition host Jake Novak was all over the story. He knows a ton about the geopolitical realities Israel faces on a regular basis, and his sources in the Middle East kept the show humming. It was hard to know what was real and what was false early on — as is often the case in the “fog of war” — but with Iran’s state-run media in the mix, that’s especially true.The station’s staff and hosts immediately got into “breaking news” mode.
Owner-operator John Catsimatidis hit the airwaves along with Novak, which led into a special edition of Bo Snerdley (James Golden) on Saturday — along with a litany of guests who were totally dialed in. Station president Chad Lopez was on hand, and I was already scheduled to do the news — as a “lucky break” of sorts — because routinely scheduled weekend news anchor John Terrett was on vacation in Las Vegas.
Larry Kudlow fought through a bad back and caught up with his good buddy, 🪖 General Jack Keane.
As I handed the news desk over to Lizzie Rattoballi, the entire story was still developing. She and I stayed in contact throughout the afternoon, as word spread of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s death on social media. 77 WABC hosts Sid Rosenberg and Mark Levin asserted he was dead on their X accounts sometime in the early afternoon. But the news wasn’t fully confirmed until the Iranian state-run media announced Khamenei’s death — and President Trump also reported it as fact.
The news cycle continued into the evening and overnight, in which President Trump warned Iran against further retaliatory strikes, vowing “something unprecedented” would result if he was pushed to respond further. And that led to a special edition of The Cats Roundtable on Sunday morning, with a jam-packed lineup of guests and lively discussion concerning Iran and other news items. If you missed any of it, check out our Minicast page — which is always a tidy way to check out highlights from our talk shows.
