Title: Iran to US: Drop Dead! | DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou
Show: DeProgram Show with Ted Rall and Jamarl Thomas
Date: 2026-03-23
URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzxIhO2lKiw
Duration: 3607

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[00:12] Good morning. You're watching DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou. It's Monday March 23rd. Good morning, John. Morning, Ted. Hi, everybody. What a difference 37 minutes makes. So, you know, I I write up the description of the show usually about 7:00 in the morning Eastern time 2 hours beforehand. And usually not a lot happens between now and then. But when I wrote this up this morning, oil futures were up to $111 a barrel.

[00:44] The stock market was projected to collapse by about another one full percentage point. Then and of course there was a 48-hour deadline due to expire today by Donald Trump that unless the Strait of Hormuz were reopened but was reopened by Iran he would obliterate all of the civilian power plants in the country or at least maybe some of them, which is a war crime by the way. But you know, we don't in the American Nobody seems to talk about that. Um no. And anyway, so after that, I guess he

[01:17] got up and didn't like the look of his stock portfolio and he issued the statement on Truth Social claiming that that he had a product he there have been productive phone calls between the US and Iran. And that he's extending the deadline for blowing up power civilian power plants in Iran by 5 days. The market did a radical turnaround. It's currently the Dow Jones Industrial Average is projected to open up by about open up by about 600 points in 28 minutes. Oil futures are down.

[01:49] So, I mean, you know, it's everything's bouncing around. Interestingly, John the Iranians deny all this. This is the second time that Trump has said that there were productive talks. Iran says there's been no talks productive or otherwise. They're not interested in talks. I'm going to I got to I got to say why I believe the Iranian side of this story. Because Trump very specifically said that these were direct talks. Well, it's US policy not to carry out

[02:19] direct talks with the Iranians. That was the whole point of having the Omanis involved. Where the US negotiators are in one room, the Omani negotiate I'm sorry, the Iranians are in another room and the Omani foreign minister is just shuttling from room to room to room to room. We don't do direct talks with the Iranians. And now all of a sudden the president is saying that he's picked up the phone and he's, you know, negotiated this. We don't do that. So, either we've just witnessed though,

[02:51] right? If he wanted to. This would be a radical change in policy. Of course, he definitely could if he wanted to. But if if what he said were true and I were the Iranian leader, I'd say not only did he back off, but we forced him into direct person-to-person talks. And they didn't say that. They said never happened.

[03:22] Yeah, they are what they're saying is that like what looks to be true, which is that basically this was a a game of energy market brinkmanship and that the US blinked. Yes. And that's what it looks like to me. We blinked. >> Also, so the also Iran over the weekend threatened to mine the Strait of Hormuz. John, you've been you spent a lot of time in the Gulf states. And I guess I was really surprised to read I mean, obviously I knew that they're

[03:53] reliant on desalination plants. I mean, when you fly in, you know, you can see why everything's super dry. There ain't nothing there. Every tree that's there is irrigated. So, but the thing is what shocked me is that all of these countries including the UAE or are just they have about 5 days worth of water. And then that's it. Poof. That's it. And you know, the the complaint 35 years ago was

[04:23] yeah, we can desalinate seawater to drink it. We can import all the chemicals we need, you know, to do that. But if something happens like there's not energy for example, electricity to to power the desalination plants, we're screwed cuz we only have 5 days worth of of water. And you see water tanks all over the Gulf, all over the place. Well, if the Iranians hit the desalination plants

[04:54] or hit the water tanks everybody's screwed. There there just isn't enough water to go around. And without water, no life. So, John, what I'm assuming is happening you tell correct me if I'm wrong. But what I'm what I'm assuming happening at the White House is that panicked world leaders particularly in in shooting range of Iran are calling the White House and saying, "Please, when is this going to end? Please bring this in for a soft landing. We don't want to lose our desalination plants. We

[05:24] don't want to lose our power plants cuz Iran threatened to hit those, too. We can't afford to. We're getting destroyed by you know, I think also, you know, we think that they want higher oil prices. But they don't really want oil prices this much higher this quickly cuz it's going to a the entire global economy to seize up and then the end will fall off a cliff. That happened that after 1973-74. You and I are old enough to remember that. Yeah. Nobody wants shocks. Everybody wants

[05:55] stability cuz stability is to everyone's benefit. Shocks just change everything too quickly. See, this is the thing too about the Gulf countries, all the Gulf countries. The Arab the on the Arab side is they're all very very conservative when it comes to economics. They don't want shocks. They want everything to be nice and steady, nice and even. First of all, it's impossible to budget that way if if there are shocks. Prices are up here, everybody feels rich, then the prices

[06:25] collapse and people go hungry. You can't run a country like that. So, they don't like you have to know how to tax and all that, too. Exactly. And also, we're talking about some of the least diversified economies in the world. That's right. It's not like, "Oh, well, oil's not doing well, but you know, hey, we're selling potatoes." Kuwait is oil. Saudi Arabia is oil. Abu Dhabi's oil. Bahrain is banking. Dubai is banking. Oman is oil. It's pretty much all oil or it's banking

[06:57] tied to oil. Yeah. And then if you've got a hot war going on right there in your front yard it's just not good for anybody. Think about banking is banking can move. Banking is mobile. I mean, banking is virtual. >> moved. And that's what the danger is, Ted, because the banking center of the Middle East used to be Beirut until 1976. And then they all moved to Bahrain. And then the uprising began in Bahrain. And then they moved to Dubai. And they've just been in Dubai ever since.

[07:29] Well, if Dubai is going to be the recipient of Iranian rockets every 4 hours, how long they going to stay in Dubai? Banking in the future is going to be all in the cloud. There won't even be any like you know, I mean, it'll all be like Bitcoin or whatever. Everything's be floating in the ether. There's not going to be you will never go to a even a business person won't go to a brick-and-mortar's place anymore. Yes. It'll be a website or an app or whatever, both. The head of the International Energy Agency, John, Fatih Birol says that already where we are now

[08:01] as we enter the fourth week of this war the the impact on oil this we have two that this oil shock is already worse than the two oil shocks of the 1970s combined. And it's already worse on natural gas than the effect of the Russia-Ukraine war and the destruction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. That's massive. I mean, look, you and I both in our early 60s. I remember gas rationing. I remember um It depended on what the

[08:33] last number or letter of your license plate was. That was the day that you could get gas. My dad was out there with a screwdriver switching the plates all the time. >> [laughter] >> It was bad. Yeah, my mom my mom was like forward-looking unlike all of our neighbors who were driving giant tuna boats like, you know, LTDs and Cadillac Sevilles. They were all you know, my mom had a LeCar, a Renault. So, she was giving away her ration coupons to our neighbors and they were like, "Oh my god, Yvonne, thank you so

[09:03] much." >> [laughter] >> My parents had a crying. We we had a station wagon, a Ford LTD, the big one. But then my parents bought in 1973 because of the oil shock, my parents bought a um a Gremlin, an AMC Gremlin that got like, you know, 50 miles to the gallon at the time. Now, the thing is, John, correct me if your if my memory is faulty. But the way I remember it the United States economy did not recover from did not even begin to recover from the OPEC crises and the

[09:35] oil shocks of the early to mid-70s until the mid-80s. It was like 10 years. That's true. There were there the beginnings of the recovery were 1982. After the '82 That's not true. It's '83. That's when we we finally started to yeah, we came out of the recession. We started to grow the economy again. Um today I was reading Barron's. I've been traveling all week. I just got home last night. There was a copy of Barron's waiting for me. And Barron's says, "We're screwed. We're in

[10:08] a recession even if we don't admit it yet." Agreed. >> Um and not only has this 4-week long war wiped out the last year's worth of profits, but we're going to keep losing for the rest of the year because we're now in a in a recession. And this is an economic slowdown of choice. We decided to kill the economy. We decided to spike oil prices. And for what? >> Cuz Benjamin Netanyahu told us to.

[10:40] Yes, so you know, John, I was in the shower this morning. It was that time of the month and I >> [laughter] >> I thought about it and I was thinking about um you know, I don't think Israel and the US are checking in with each other. They're allies, >> that's very bad >> coordination. It's not like one side calls the other and says, "Hey, we're thinking of hitting this. What are you okay with it?" Um Right. Right. So, I mean, they So, basically, you have two allies. This is not, you know, unheard of, but have different agendas, right? You know, the US and the USSR had

[11:11] different agendas against Nazi Germany. But still, um you know, they're they're not coordinating. And so, Netanyahu, I feel like already got what he came for. He wanted to degrade um the uh you know, Iran's infrastructure and make it harder for them to. But I have so many questions. So, first of all, what do you make of this alleged Iranian missile attack on Diego Diego Garcia that um seems to indicate that that Iran has longer-range missiles than previously believed? Or is this a

[11:42] false report? Cuz it's not very well like you know, verified. >> very well sourced. No, I think it's I think the report is true. Mhm. Both of the missiles were intercepted, but I think what the Iranians did, I think this was a test. What they did, I think, was to just completely gut the missiles so that there was nothing in them, Mhm. which increased their range, Mhm. but made made their locational their directional targeting abilities degraded. Mhm.

[12:13] They fired them just to see how far a stripped-down missile could go. They got as far as Diego Garcia and then were shot down apparently by Patriots. Mhm. So, now theoretically, the tube can get to just about anywhere in Europe. Mhm. It probably can't do much. I will say both the British press today and the Greek press talked about this. Like, "Oh [ __ ] now we're within range. Now what are we

[12:45] going to do?" But I think it's not as scary as the media would have you believe. I think this was in part an Iranian test just to see how far these things could go. And at the same time, I think it was a propaganda operation to scare the [ __ ] out of Europe and to say, "Look, all you fools are within range. It totally works. >> It totally worked. And um still >> It did. And by the way, uh guys, if thanks for watching live on YouTube and Rumble. If

[13:16] you're watching on the 9:00 Eastern hour, please like, follow, and share the show. And please put your questions into the live chat. Uh super chats get priority. Much appreciated. Um okay, so but we'll try to get to all of them. As always, we have some leftover super chats from Friday. We will start with those um obviously. Um So, all right. So, the the vibe I'm getting is the Iranian where things currently stand, John, is that the Iranians are are going to get a lot of their [ __ ] blown up. They're going to

[13:46] continue going to get their [ __ ] blown up, but they're winning. Um basically >> actually. They're trying to input They're just trying to wait out to see how much economic pain they can inflict through the Strait of Hormuz and other way and otherwise before we blink. I mean, the 5-day extension, that's Trump blinking, isn't it? Isn't that a taco moment? Without any question. You know, it's funny, too, when he's when he said it when he when he made the threat, my first thought like yours was, "That's a war crime." Yeah.

[14:18] >> And we we're like the only country in the world that that telegraphs our war crimes. Like, "Listen up, everybody. We're going to commit a war crime in 48 hours unless you do what we say." And then the 48 hours comes, then he's like, "Okay, okay, listen now. We're going to we're going to seriously do this war crime. >> [laughter] >> We're going to we're going to give you 5 more days and then war crime central." And then the stock market's like, "Yay, we're not doing a war crime for 5 more

[14:48] days." Although, I don't think the stock market >> in the world that does this? Stock market doesn't care about the war crimes, I think. >> No, it doesn't. Um they they care about the crime to their bottom line. All right. So, John, the week's going to go by. You and I are going to be here all week covering this, but what's going to happen Friday? Um you know, is I mean, there are are there even indirect negotiations? Iran says no. I'm inclined to believe them, but there would need to be for anything to change. I mean, what Iran I feel like you know, Trump's not

[15:19] good at negotiating. And I think what Iran needs Trump can't give, especially not he can't get a sign-off from Bibi on it, right? I mean, what Iran needs is a guarantee that that they're not going to be attacked anymore. And and they also want some reparations and maybe an apology. And let me ask let me ask you a question, Ted. Where where do you think the Russians and the Chinese are in all this? They've been virtually silent aside from, you know, a couple of S-400s and, you know,

[15:50] radar systems. What what are the the Russians and the Chinese doing for Iran? Almost nothing, it seems. Well, I think it's tempting to sort of say that they're just sitting back and and eating popcorn and laughing, but I think it's more complicated than that. Um I think for the Russians, they're a little bit uncomfortable because they haven't been able to come to the aid of their ally. They're right now right now they've got their ally Cuba kind of you know, you know, spinning in the wind. Um Russia I mean, Iran also, you know, they're not there's not a lot they can

[16:21] do to help very much. Um and it's kind of like, "Well, we we hope it goes well. Keep us posted." Um and and that's not like a good look for, you know, sort of a semi-superpower. Um but on the other hand, you know, their ally is winning. Yeah. >> So, I think I think they're just sitting out and hoping that >> See, and this is this is the difference between the United States and a lot of other countries is we have a vastly different different definition of winning. Mhm. You know, I agree with

[16:51] you. I think the Iranians are winning. And we can define winning here as not losing. Right. Right? Yeah. Like there's not going to be General General Douglas MacArthur sitting at some conference room table across from some Iranian general as they sign their their, you know, intent to uh to surrender. Those days are gone. That'll never happen again. Winning is just surviving. Hamas won. Hamas won. Exactly.

[17:22] >> did not win, but Hamas won. >> [snorts] >> That's right. So, and as for China, I mean, my take there is that uh you know, they don't like this. I think the Chinese um you know, we think of them as >> [clears throat] >> just wanting to compete with us and we see the world as a zero-sum game. I don't think the Chinese see it that way at all. They want to do business. And all of this instability is bad for business, including for them. Uh I think they just sort of think that we're crazy and they want to stay out of our way. Um

[17:53] you know, I I think I wouldn't be surprised at all if they're offering their services as an as an intermediary. Yes. I think the US would take them up on it, but they probably should take them up on it. They probably should. Although, you know what? We've had other intermediaries. We've had the Omanis, we've had the Algerians, we've had the Italians, even the Swiss. And we just end up lying to everybody. You know, we pretend to engage in these negotiations. We come out and we say how great the negotiations were and then we

[18:23] start bombing 2 days later. So, why would anybody take us seriously? I wouldn't. No, we can't be trusted at all. So, yeah, no, I mean, it's going to be super interesting. Um before we go to some questions, John, politically um I mean, look, obviously the economy is always the most important issue in any US election. We're not I mean, you know, it's that election is now in eight a little bit about 7 and 1/2 months. It's going to be ugly uh for the

[18:55] Republicans. I mean, Democrats are going to are they're not going to have to become a decent party in order to to sweep the house and maybe get the Senate. You know, I looked at the at the polling numbers yesterday cuz a cousin of mine I have this cousin who is like such a blind Democrat, like a DNC down-the-line do-as-she's-told kind of Democrat. She posted something about Lindsey Graham being in trouble. And I thought,

[19:26] "That's just too good to be true." >> [laughter] >> So, so I went through literally every poll for every Senate race. It took me hours yesterday. Mhm. The Democrats have an honest-to-God chance of winning four Senate seats. They they need four to take over the Senate. So, everything would have to break in the Democrats' way. Um Lindsey Graham is 40 percentage points ahead of

[19:57] the MAGA Republican primary opponent that's running against him. 40 percentage points. He's not going to lose that nomination. But, he's only ahead by between four and six points of the Democrat in the general. And so, it all comes down to turnout. And the Democrats have an outside chance of winning Texas. They have an outside chance of winning Ohio and North Carolina. They may win in Maine. They possibly maybe could win in Alaska.

[20:29] But, um, but if they want to be serious, then they're going to have to focus on on races that a month ago they had no hope of winning. The House is different. The Democrats are going to win the House and probably big. Yeah, no. Oh, for sure. All right, let's do some questions. Uh, Tariq, thanks for the $20. Eid Mubarak to those celebrating and best

[21:00] wishes to all. Praying for peace. Us, too. For the innocent and John's pardon. Thanks for standing up for the rights of Muslims at a time when it wasn't easy not to. You're welcome. Um, Cheyenne Theory >> Everybody deserves human rights. Everybody. For sure. Um, thanks very much for the 1999. My great aunt lived in the building next door to the building Ishmael Khatib was bombed in. Their home is rubble. My family is anti-regime, but actions like this make us rethink the intervention we begged for.

[21:31] Wow. >> Yeah. Exactly. Yeah, that's that's I mean, John, how many I've been racking my brain besides Bosnia, besides Serbia, has an air war ever been successful? No. Even in Iraq where where Colin Powell famously said that we had bombed Iraq back to the Stone Age, it still wasn't good enough to win that war. No. If you're going to win a war, win a war, troops on the ground. Hundreds of

[22:04] thousands of them. And even then you may not win. Look at Iraq in in 2003, 2004. How many did we have on the ground in Iraq? A couple of hundred thousand. >> That's what I thought, right? Like two or three hundred. It was a lot. Let me see. How many And that country is a quarter of the size or or it's about less than a it's less than a third the size of Iran. Yeah, in fact, um, And we lost >> Iran is 3.8 times the size of Iraq. I

[22:35] just looked that up yesterday. We had, um, 150,000 American troops and 23,000 foreign troops. So, 173,000. Yeah, I mean, we would need half a million easily. We still need them. We still need them. We don't have them. And and don't forget, we had like 265,000 in the 1991 Gulf War. So, we were deadly serious about that. Yeah, you're flooding you're flooding

[23:05] the zone, right? We have We have between 50 and 60,000 now including Marines. We're sending another like 5,000, I think. You can't do anything with that number of troops. I mean, maybe I heard speculation yesterday that they were meant to invade Kharg Island, which is the sort of the center of Iranian oil processing. Um, but I want to propose something else. If I could take a minute. Please. Um, there are two little teeny tiny eensy-weensy uninhabited islands in the

[23:38] Persian Gulf called the Greater Tunb, T U N B, and Lesser Tunb Islands. For 100 years, they belonged to the Emirate of Sharjah. Right? And then in 1996, the Iranians sent like 15 troops and they just took them. And the Emirates didn't do anything. The UAE as a central government didn't do anything. Why? Because Dubai does billions and billions of

[24:08] dollars of business with Iran. And the Tunbs were owned by Sharjah. And it's not worth screwing up that financial relationship for these two uninhabited islands. The Emirati media yesterday was speculating that Donald Trump is going to seize the Tunbs. Liberate the Tunbs. Give it back to Sharjah. Make so make the Tunbs Sharjah again. Yes, make the Tunbs Sharjah again.

[24:39] Yes. Okay. Well, another speculation, John, what do you think about this? My idea was they're going to go to cuz you've seen these reports um, that you know, the enriched uranium is buried somewhere uh, below the you know, the the the the facility that we Yeah. bombed. Yeah. And that may would it is it feasible for us to send a squa- a squadron out there to sort of uh, you know, secure, dig there, you know, surround it, dig there, try to recover that that uranium?

[25:12] It's possible, but you you would have to recall, you know, the hostage rescue attempt in 1980 that President Carter initiated. A sudden sandstorm kicked up and one helicopter hit the other and 16 of our guys were killed and it was just a disaster. If we were to send, let's say we send an expeditionary force of Marines and they go to secure to secure the facility, which they could do in an hour, the Iranians would just bomb them and kill everybody. Drones. Yeah. Bombs.

[25:43] Yeah. Yeah. And remember, Donald Trump looked the American people in the eye last year and said we had, his word, obliterated it, that the Iranian nuclear program no longer exists. And then four weeks ago, he's like, "Oh, they're going to have a bomb in six weeks. Oh my god, we have to attack." And So, which one is it? Well, we have to re-obliterate it, John. >> Yeah. Um, yeah. Uh, Manchild5000, thanks for the $9.99. Morning, guys. My calendar

[26:14] says that today is possibly Eid, uh, end of Ramadan. Well, that was a few days ago. And I was curious if this will affect Iran's resolve and their intensity in various war shenanigans going forward. Well, you're the Arab expert here. You know what? In in Shia Islam, there are dispensations during times of crisis or war. Mhm. Um, so, you know, fast if you're a soldier. That's right. You don't have to fast. Uh, I I don't think it's going to have

[26:44] any any effect. I don't think the Eid is going to have any effect other than to say, "Dang, we're missing Eid this year cuz we got to fight this war." I think that's pretty much it. It's considered a little insulting to attack someone during Ramadan. >> Yeah. Very much so. gauche. It is gauche. And and that's why the Arabs attacked Israel on Yom Kippur in '73 cuz they knew that everybody would be home praying and having dinner with their families. And nobody would be defending the country. And that's exactly what happened.

[27:14] >> Washington crossing the Delaware. Christmas Eve. >> the best example. Um, Malarkey9219, thanks for the five bucks. Guys, give me the elevator pitch on Sufism. That's also reading the Quran for the first time. What should I keep in mind as a gringo while reading? John, I'll leave that >> let's let's talk about Sufism first. I have a I have a good friend who's a Sufi. And I jokingly asked her if she spins around cuz you know, they spin around very quickly. They're also called whirling dervishes. >> Mhm.

[27:44] And she said, "Yeah, I do." And the music's amazing. The music's amazing, but the idea is you spin around so fast that you begin to commune with God. Yeah, you can you develop an altered state. Yeah. >> You develop an altered state. Um, I I worked for a guy once who was married to a woman who was a Sufi. And she was like deep into Sufism. It's not just spinning around. That's kind of the joke in the West. But, there's a lot of really heavy uh, philosophy that goes

[28:15] into it. It's you you have to be learned to be a true Sufi. I think it's fascinating. To me, it's >> but like mainlines like Sunniism really considers it them to be apostates, right? >> Yeah, they do. Interestingly enough, Saddam Hussein's vice president Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri was a Sufi. And everybody just kind of tolerated that in Iraq. Cuz none of them were religious at the at the senior levels in government. None of them were religious. Yeah.

[28:47] Um, Jack Mongous9871, thanks for joining the show as a member. Hogs Candyland, thanks for the five bucks. This is the week we find out how my life life changes next. Thanks for keeping me sane every morning. We'll do our best. Manchild2, thanks for the two bucks. Does Israel's [ __ ] ass government expect the world to ignore its own past actions when it labeled the strikes in Dimona and Arad this week and as war crimes and asks for our sympathy? #screwisrael. You know, I have similar questions about that. I'm laughing my ass off. Netanyahu

[29:18] is like, "Oh, the Iran targets children." I'm just like, "Please, are you serious? You of all people. You of all people." Um, F20, thanks for the dollar. I'm rooting for Gog and Magog. Um, Alex Bringlow, thanks for the 999 pounds. Is Trump trying market manipulation? Iran denials, profiteering throughout the presidency, tweets oil crash 15% then re-retraction an hour later. Is he molding the markets to make

[29:50] obscene profits through family? Yes, he is. Yeah. Yes. >> We we we know from multiple sources that when Jared Kushner was out in the Middle East carrying out negotiations, he was also working out hotel deals, investment deals, financing. Yeah, it's not cool. I mean, the thing is okay, so like of course, you know, Trump is a narcissist and he's like wants his name all over the place and he wants to leave this legacy and he wants

[30:22] to make a lot of money before he dies to leave it to his family as a massive empire. All understood, right? Question for you, John. Um Yeah. I know he wants you know, uh he wants the Trump Hotel Gaza City and all that. He does. But he could have had full diplomatic relations with the Iran and he could have had Trump Hotel Tehran. You know, he could have had the whole thing. I mean, Iran is a big, powerful, rich country with that would be good to

[30:54] be friends with. Why did he choose to go that route instead of you know, why didn't he did he not choose that and you know, chose to climb further into bed with Bibi? Yeah, I think because the political pressure is such that he probably believed he had no no choice. Ted, how many times did I make an ass of myself saying in speeches that you know, in the '70s we used to say only Nixon could go to China, right? Nixon was the most virulently anti-Chinese, anti-communist president in American history, but he

[31:27] went to China and made peace with the Chinese. He went to the Soviet Union and made you know, detente with with the Soviets. And I I thought maybe we're underestimating this guy. And and really for years we have been underestimating Donald Trump. He's very wily. True. And I said multiple times, maybe only Trump could go to Tehran. And I didn't [clears throat] mean it literally Tehran, but maybe he could meet you know, President Posechkian in Riyadh for

[31:59] example or in Muscat. And then no, I was >> play would be to go to Tehran, though. That would have been the right play. I think something terrible would have happened because they're still angry about Soleimani's assassination. But I think that they would have met him. I think that they would have done it. I think they would have I think they would have rolled out the red carpet. I think it would have been like incredibly impressive. Just imagine the giant posters of Trump next to Khamenei on the buildings when he shows up. It would

[32:30] have been amazing. Yeah. Hey, John D. Rockefeller says something that's important. Um did y'all see that Israel backtracked super hard? Apparently this whole Iran business is America's war. Israel is just their ally. Oh, yes, I did see that. Hilarious. >> and Netanyahu now is being very specific that the United States is fighting Iran. We support them because we're their allies. It's like [ __ ] that. This is your war that we jumped in to save you.

[33:02] Victory has a thousand fathers, defeat is an orphan. This is defeat. That is exactly right. What what is he um Yeah, no, I mean Yeah, it's amazing. Um hey, so Marco Ferrari, thanks for the 1999 South African rand. You said in a recent show that Jon Stewart is a Zionist. Why do you think that? Seems his take on Israel is nuanced. Keep up the good work. Yeah, you know, I I said that and I was too strong by saying I I I still believe

[33:32] that deep down he's a Zionist. On these recent issues, war with Iran, Gaza, he's actually been pretty good. Yeah. >> So I I semi backtrack on that. But he used to be. Yeah, he did. I mean, I think fundamentally he has you know, like a lot of American Jews high a great deal of sympathy for Israel and it's hard for him to let go, but also he's seeing the reality, right? Um John, before we take the next question, um it's just I assume you heard about this plane crash at LaGuardia Airport.

[34:03] >> Yeah, how nuts is this? I wondered yeah, what you I mean, obviously look you know, that's that's my local airport and um that is a very lot of small runways. It's very Yes. hard to get in and out of that airport. It's like right in the middle of Queens. But anyway, apparently a Air Canada plane was given clearance to land and stupidly a fire truck drove in front >> Driving across the runway. Yeah, and so and a lot so two the two the pilot and

[34:35] the co-pilot it was a regional plane not one of not a big one, but they were both killed immediately and there were 41 injuries some of them pretty serious. And by the way, I wanted to before I get into that again, um Israel's we don't know really how many people have died in Israel cuz Israel as a matter of policy >> get 10 years in prison for reporting it. And that's another question I have for you, John. Um there why do any Western or American journalists go to Israel to cover this war considering that they're

[35:06] subject to military censorship? They can't do their job. Wouldn't it make more sense to go to Amman or Beirut or something like that? >> Oh my god, yes. It would Oh my god, yes. Go to Amman or Beirut and do the reporting from there. You know, this is this is a serious beef I have especially with with CNN and I shouldn't because it's not just CNN, it's MSNBC and Fox as well. They're all reporting from Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Almost all the reporters happen to be Jewish. I'll let you draw your own conclusions there and none of them are

[35:40] allowed to report freely because Israeli military censorship is so heavy, it's so onerous and the Israeli government at the start of the war doubled the penalties for reporting on censorable information that you can now get 10 years in prison just by saying an Iranian rocket landed over here in this neighborhood, 10 people were killed. 10 years in prison. Why are you there as a reporter? Why bother? >> Now, if you were

[36:11] an American journalist who happens to be Palestinian, let's say. Mhm. Uh like um like maybe for Al Jazeera, you're going to get shot in the face, right? >> Even though you're wearing a bulletproof helmet and a bulletproof vest that says press on it. Mhm. Uh Shireen Abu Akleh, for example, shot in the face by a sniper. So, you know, They knew they were doing. it's the worst of both worlds. >> [sighs] >> Uh yeah. Um so okay, so this plane crash um

[36:44] before I So with all that, LaGuardia is closed until 2:00 2:00 p.m. this afternoon Eastern time at least as they investigate the crash. But um meanwhile, uh I thought there were some harsh words from Hakeem Jeffries, um one of America's big [ __ ] Yeah. He ICE is being sent to the airports and he said ICE at the airport is the last thing that American people need potentially to brutalize or in some instances kill them. I mean, that's a big statement for the House minority leader to say you go to

[37:15] the airport, you to to catch a flight, you might die because of ICE. >> ridiculous and it's irresponsible. Listen, I hate ICE as much as any anti-ICE activist hates ICE. I really do. I've told the story when I was 4 years old, my my dad's cousin Angelo was literally hiding in the broom closet of my grandparents' house with not ICE, it was Immigration and Naturalization Service INS banging on the door and my grandfather, God bless his soul, >> [snorts] >> with a third grade education knew enough

[37:47] to go to the door and say, "No want, no come in." And Angelo ended up waiting it out, waited for an amnesty, got citizenship and ran the Pentagon barber shop for 30 years. So, I I hate ICE as much as the next guy, but it is irresponsible to hold the DHS budget hostage when you could have held the agriculture budget hostage or the Defense

[38:19] Department's budget hostage. Or the ICE or the ICE budget. Or the ICE budget. >> When you voted for it. Exactly. And instead, Americans now can't get through airports. There are three-hour-long, two- or three-hour-long lines in Atlanta, Hartsfield, in Houston, in Miami. I got to go to Miami day after tomorrow. I don't want to freaking wait 3 hours in line at security. Um so Hakeem Jeffries, this guy this guy is a freaking clown, first of all. Um he's

[38:52] only doing this for show. He's not doing it because he supports immigrants. He's just doing it because it's an easy shot against the administration. And to tell you the truth, I don't care who processes my driver's license at the airport, whether they're ICE or some guy from the Green Bay Packers. I don't care who it is. Just so long as I can get through the line and get on my flight. I personally think we should go back to the days of being able to walk straight to the gate and saying goodbye to your loved ones and greet your mom when she

[39:23] arrives at the at the gate. I don't think >> 100% agree. I don't even know we need we don't even need TSA really. Um do you think ICE will I mean, can what is what role will ICE be playing? Trump threatened in his truth, although I suspect this is all just lies, um that you know, and to his credit, it's lies, that you know, they were going to arrest illegal immigrants at the airport. I don't think that's true. But I don't either. What are they going to do? Just Are they even trained to check people's IDs? No.

[39:54] But you know, it's all automated now. Now at National Airport here in Washington, I don't even have to show an ID. As crazy as that sounds. >> face. Yeah. Yeah, it's all biometrics. Terrifying actually. Yeah. It's like very Chinese. Bugs and clowns, thanks for the 10 bucks. Very excited to be awake for this stream. Got to be a first. The stream starts at 3:00 in the morning for me. Wow, thanks bugs. Thanks for all you guys do. I try my best to stay positive and you guys make it a lot easier. Fantastic. Unlikely Utopia, thanks for the $10.

[40:25] Morning Ted as a cartoonist. I was wondering what your opinion is on the memification of politics with millennials and Gen Z. Could it be the metamorphosis of political cartoons or merely inanity? It's both. Yeah. Memes are basically cartoons, right? I mean, a cartoon is where it's plus pictures. That's what a meme is. Most of them are really stupid. Most cartoons are really stupid. You know, I was looking at the New Yorker last week and thinking about how dumb the cartoons are. Really stupid.

[40:57] But you know, it's just it's just I think with the ease of them is what makes them so popular. But there's still something to be said for professional cartooning. I'd like to think it'll come back, but I have no idea one way or the other. Thanks for the question though. >> Hey, I do want to insult one of our viewers. Peter 1VE, you're a clown, Peter 1VE. So John's cousin stole a job from a hardworking American barber. First of all, are you [ __ ] deaf?

[41:27] No, he did not steal a job from a hardworking American barber. He worked as a dishwasher in a restaurant until he became an American citizen. He also happened to be a trained barber from Greece. And as an American he became the manager of the Pentagon Barber Shop. Listen next time to the details. Aryan Gordy, thanks for the $9.99. Hey man, I hope your weekend was good. What are your thoughts on the Pakistani Afghan war? Glad Thank you for the

[41:57] question. What are your thoughts on the recent Tucker interview on The Economist? Seemed trashy by interviewer. Thanks for everything you all do. #pardonjohn. I didn't see the Tucker interview, John. I don't know if you did, but I would like to talk about Pakistan and Afghanistan. Did you see that one? >> I did not see this most recent one. I I try to keep up on everything that that he does. Just because it's all so timely that it it's almost like he's leading the debate on a lot of these issues. I'm going to go up there. I think week after next I'm going to be

[42:28] on the show next. I think it's week after next or maybe it's the week after that. I can't remember. But um I'm going to press him on some of the issues that are important to our viewers too. And I'm going to strongly recommend that he pick up some of these issues. Great. Um Pakistan Afghanistan, John. It's really tragic and again, what we really have here is a narrative that's sort of picked up and I'm not sure it was really true in the early 90s that the world forgot about Afghanistan and that's what happened with the Taliban. But that is what's happening now. The

[42:59] Now that the Taliban have won and have been running Afghanistan for 5 years, the world gives no shits about Afghanistan at all. And in some respects they're doing better than you'd think. But Pakistan just basically having fun bombing everything willy-nilly that they want is getting no attention whatsoever. And I think it's really I mean, it's in the world's interest and it's just decent for us to engage with the Taliban cuz they're the government of Afghanistan. We turned it the country over to them in in 2021.

[43:32] We should you know, we should have full diplomatic relations. We should have a presence in country. We should try to figure out We should be engaged. That would help the position of women and other problems there. I don't This whole wiping out [ __ ] these people, build a wall around them, say goodbye. I mean, I love the Afghan people and it just drives me insane that nobody cares. I I have to agree. I have to agree. This Pakistani strategy of just trying to kill as many people with each bomb as possible, that's not a

[44:04] strategy. It's a war crime. Um And it's not going to have any effect. It No No No. The people they want are not being controlled by the government in Kabul. That's right. They're not. They're just not. Michael M, thanks for the five bucks. John, what do you think Iran's Do you think Iran's displaying the ability to strike as far as London changes the game any? I think that that's the the Diego Garcia thing. I don't think it necessarily changes the game in the near term, but

[44:35] if I were the leader of a Western European country, well, if I were the leader of any European country, I would have to say, "Oh, we may have bitten off a little bit more than we can chew. Maybe I should make a public statement encouraging negotiations between the US and Israel and the Iranians. Otherwise, you know, you don't want one of these one of these rockets to land on your capital, even if the rocket doesn't have anything in it." Yeah, it's spooky. It is. Um

[45:05] Bryson, thanks for the $9.99. Hello Ted and John, two questions for both of you. John, how can we find out when you're doing an IRL speaking event? I will ask that they take that question first, John. Go ahead. I've got a website, johnkiryakou.com, that I don't keep up with enough. Um but I'm going to start posting all of my speaking events there. And there's another website that we just have a placeholder for called the clear and present tour.com.

[45:36] That was when I was planning to do it a nationwide tour. Now that I've signed with Creative Artists Agency, they want to take that over. And so it's it's on hold. The tour is on hold. Um How about your socials? And socials. Yeah, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, uh Instagram. Yeah, I've got this guy named Robbie who's running most of those. So I'll get with Robbie. He's [laughter] He's mainly trading on his looks.

[46:08] And Robbie, I promise you in the next couple days we're going to get to the bottom of this Instagram password. I know. No, it's all good. Oh, about Peter. That was a shot at me. That wasn't him taking a crap on your cousin. That was him going after me and my immigration stance. I'm sorry. Peter, we love you. We love you, Peter. God bless you, Peter. No, he was The dude was going after my argument. He just That's all about friendly fire. I [laughter] feel like an idiot. That's the problem with chronic Hey,

[46:39] thanks for taking him for the team there. >> [laughter] >> Yeah, I appreciate it. Usually I'm the one getting called a fascist on the show. Now I feel awful. >> [laughter] >> Robbie, we got an ad? Yeah, I'm going to I'm going to throw it. Thank you. We'll do another question in the meantime. Ted, as a fairly newer viewer, I'd like to hear more about your story and origins. Well, um best way is if you become a Rumble premium viewer, you can go to check out Ted Rall a life. There's a four-part series where John interviews me about my life. Um I think if you just

[47:09] you could do a Wikipedia search and you'll get the basics. >> Oh no, no, no. It's far more interesting to listen to you tell it. Well, that's probably true. Yeah. Well, yeah. But Yeah. But anyway, obviously lots of questions in the queue. Um I was going to say on a non-busy news day I might you know, entertain that, but it's not a non-busy news day. Zoe LaRosa, thanks for the 10 bucks. How is Israel able to bomb different places if they're getting bombed themselves? Keep up the great show. Trump seems to

[47:40] be backing off. Yes, he does. Yeah. We're feeding them as many missiles as we possibly can. And we've actually asked the Ukrainians to send back some of the missiles that we sent them so we can give them to Israel. And we have an ad up. Okay, let's do it. Thanks, John. Appreciate that. Still haven't tried 1775 coffee? Now is your shot. The 1775 starter kit just dropped. Only 1,000 units. You're getting the bold dark roast that hits hard, the smooth medium roast, and the

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[48:43] and grab your starter kit before they're gone. Bold beans, clean fuel, and a morning routine that stands for something, just like Rumble does. All right, now I have to Oh, wow. Okay. Um Thanks for the Mike in Nottingham, thanks for the 20 bucks. John and Ted, of all the despots and dictators you've met, who's the most demonic you've ever met face-to-face? Great show as always, guys. Much love. Oh, for me, it's really easy. It's Rashid Dostum. Uh >> Yeah.

[49:13] >> is the was the Uzbek warlord of northern Afghanistan based in Mazar-i-Sharif. And he basically had a massive role in reducing Kabul to rubble. He personally supervised or killed probably about 25,000 people just up close and personal. Um and he and I had to go and sit across the desk from him and beg him for help in evacuating a fellow journalist from northern Afghanistan. And I got to say

[49:44] he was nothing but incredibly kind and solicitous to me. But I was well aware it was like sitting in a cage with a wolf. It could eat you anytime it wants. And it chooses if it chooses not to it doesn't change its essential nature. He was an absolutely terrifying man and He's a monster. He was. Yeah. For me >> you? For me it was a it was an Indonesian general by the name of um Prabowo Subianto.

[50:16] Um I was hired to um consult on his presidential campaign in Indonesia in 2008 and I was specifically told to be the bad cop. And so I did as much research on this guy as I could. He was banned from the United States. He's banned for life from the United States. Because um in East Timor there were six PhD candidates who had participated in a pro democracy demonstration an independence demonstration. He lined them up.

[50:49] He had them cuffed behind their backs and then he stabbed each one of them in the heart. Just went down the line stabbing each one and he murdered all six of them. And he [snorts] could not understand why he couldn't come to the United States. He just couldn't understand it. But they were so Yeah, but but they were communists. He kept saying that. But they were communists. Mhm. And I said general you're a murderer. We don't want murderers in the United

[51:19] States. >> plenty. He just but but but they were bad. Yeah. We don't need to import them. I agree with you about Dostum. He was a monster. Um Aryan Gordy 499 thanks so much. Hi hi John and Ted. I'm a flying physician and I want to be able to make an impact on health policy in the country. What are your some roles that you've seen doctors take? Well, I've seen God bless. >> doctors without borders Medecins Sans Frontieres. >> 100% Um they certainly >> and God bless for doing that kind of work. Haiti is one of those places on

[51:51] earth that the world has just turned away from. Yeah. >> And it's it's inexcusable. It's also one of the most dangerous places on the planet. So God bless you for the work that you're doing there. Calling it a failed state would be would be >> Too yeah, it would be too nice. Yeah. Thanks for the 100 uh Emirati dirham from Jacques. There's no win out of this for the US. I agree with that. How far do you think Trump might take this? Would he follow the World War Japan playbook and use a nuke? We live in Dubai and frankly none of the obvious

[52:21] options are good. Yeah. Um I do worry about um the president's mental state. I don't feel like he's as sharp as he used to be John. But I still maybe the I try not to be optimistic cuz it's not realistic. >> Yeah. But I don't think that we would use a nuke. I'm I'm often accused of being too optimistic, but I agree with you. I don't think he'll use a nuke. I think it's far more likely that he is just going to wake up one day and post on Truth Social, "Oh my God, we've won

[52:52] the war. It's all over. We win. There's going to be a big military parade down Constitution Avenue. I'm bringing everybody home. Congratulations to the great US military. Thank you for your attention to this Donald J. Trump, President of the United States." >> be like and Iran's surrender I accept. >> Like the dogs that they are they surrendered like whimpering little girls. I accept. Yeah, that's exactly what's going He's living in his own reality. And and and you know what? He's

[53:24] going to have like Laura Loomer saying like another great job Mr. President. Yeah. Jacob Decker 999 is winning for the US preventing Iranian oil from being sold in Chinese yuan. How catastrophic would that be for our economy? I don't think that's primarily what this is about. I think that's a sideshow. Sideshow is still important, but it's still a sideshow. >> Yeah, I think that's right. We were talking about that just before the before the show started too. Yeah, we were. Um

[53:55] Uh five thanks for for the $5. John and Ted, have you seen Professor Jiang's accurate prediction video of the Iran war last year and other continued um content. Much seems to fill in the blanks, but is this a mix of truth slash Chinese propaganda? I don't I I had never heard of him until two or three weeks ago. And then I started looking at him and he's he's really good. Um I I have no idea what his backing is. You know, where his support comes from.

[54:26] But his analysis looks to be first rate to me. Uh I don't I like you I had never really I don't really know. I did not know anything about him. Meow meow. Thanks so much for the 999. Uh hey boo. Why does no one care that delegates are passing age verification laws for big tech apps and operating systems requiring ID and facial scans stored on random third-party servers for who knows why? Um Yeah, these age verification laws they sound good like for example to keep kids

[54:57] from looking at porn Yeah. >> and stuff like that. But it is it is you know, it's the the whole hitch is who's keeping the data, who's keeping the biometric data. And by the way, who is going to ever scan their face and their ID to say, "By the way, I'd like to look at porn. Here's my information." >> Who in their right minds would do something like that? You'd have to be a [ __ ] [ __ ] >> So that the state legislature has a record of what porn you like to watch. Like here's our perv list. Yeah, exactly. Um yeah, I don't know. Steve

[55:29] thanks for the 10 Canadian dollars. If the US was to destroy or take Kharg Island, what incentive would Iran have to keep the straits open at all even for civilian traffic? >> I would sink like four supertankers in the straits and just shut it off. Blow it up. Blow them up. Um James Kelly 9828 thanks for the five bucks. I guess the answer to that question the incentive would be to get their own oil out to market. That would be the only, but I don't think that's important enough. Um what do you think

[56:00] of the hit on the Israel nuke facility? Yeah, so so the Iranians hit Dimona over the weekend. Dimona is where the the Israelis uh enrich their uranium. At least that's the rumor if the Israelis had a nuclear program. Right. [laughter] Right, which we're not supposed to know about or comment on. >> Or care about. Or care about. Um they enrich the the uranium at Dimona. It's my understanding that the actual

[56:31] uh that the actual nuclear weapons are in an underground bunker deep underground west of Jerusalem. I don't know if that's true or not. I've just heard that from Israelis who whom I trust. But yeah, hitting Dimona was a major slap in the face because you would figure that this Iron Dome which is supposed to be so great and so impenetrable it actually isn't so great or impenetrable. And if the Iranians can get to Dimona, they can get anywhere.

[57:03] >> [snorts] >> Uh we have a question for Robbie. Robbie, if evangelicals and thanks for the 10 euros don't recognize religious tradition, but see the Bible as the main authority, how do you deal with the fact that the Baptist Bible doesn't use a lot of scripture that others use? Because we go with the Texas Receptus otherwise known as the Byzantine text. So this is one of the things that Ted and I have talked about. Mhm. Uh the canon was the canon for the Bible was canonized in the Council of Nicaea in the mid-300s. I don't remember exactly the right date.

[57:33] And so that's what we use. And the reason why why it's called the Texas Receptus or the or the preserved text is cuz it's literally and and John can back me up on this. Thousands of copies of every manuscript made. We don't have the originals, but we don't need them because we have thousands. And when Constantinople fell, one of the things that that brought about the Enlightenment was all those was all those manuscripts went west. And that's when the Enlightenment began. Uh so I I guess in a perverted way I guess I can thank the Turks for doing

[58:04] that. Yeah. I don't thank the Turks. I also don't thank the I also don't thank the Vatican for for the Fourth Crusade. No. Which led to the Ottomans. Thank you very much. >> That that was one of the greatest in history. Yeah, I agreed. Okay, last question before we go. It seems like a and we have some leftover super chats we're going to have to carry over to tomorrow Tuesday at 9:00 a.m. Eastern time. My apologies. Vilmar, thanks for the two Canadian

[58:34] bucks. Does Trump's constant tacos degrade US superpower? Yes. Yes. Whenever a president is you know, seen as not being credible Yes. >> it degrades a country's power. It harms us. Yeah. And I I would add too that he has not surrounded himself with the best and the brightest. That's part of the problem and he also doesn't have a team of rivals, right? There's Well, I mean I guess there's RFK Jr. and there's you know, Gabbie Tulsi Tulsi Gabbard.

[59:07] Tulsi Gabbard. What am I doing? >> [laughter] >> Tulsi Gabbard. They you know, they're they're more outside than Biden anyone Biden had in his cabinet. But they're the problem is they weren't they don't have enough power. Yeah, that is true. Uh but anyway, okay, thank you so much for joining us everyone. It's now 10:00 Eastern time which means I I to go do the TMI show with Milachan. John Kiriakou and I will be back for deep program Tuesday tomorrow 9:00 a.m. We're here Monday through Friday 9:00

[59:38] a.m. John always a pleasure. See you tomorrow. >> great rest of your day. See you tomorrow. Bye-bye. >> [music] [music]
