[00:03] [music] >> Good morning. You're watching the program for Tuesday, March 3rd, 2026. I'm Ted Rall. John Kiriakou is my co-host. How are you, John? >> Hey, Ted. Doing well, and you? Good. Good. Um so, uh we're obviously we're continuing to follow the uh US and Israeli attack against Iran and how the war is spreading throughout the Middle East. Um once again, uh we have uh replays of 2003 and uh differing
[00:35] rationales for war. Yep. Uh things are spreading throughout the We're We're going to have our financial expert uh Achilles Larrea joining us at 9:15. The stock market just opened half an hour ago. And as predicted from the futures market, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged uh over 700, 800 points. Um we're looking at a possible uh total downward trajectory on the stock market today of 1 to 2 percentage points. That's a lot. Um and it's not good. Uh defense stocks and oil companies being
[01:06] the exception. Marco Rubio finally explained the rationale for the war. He said, and we'll get into that. And of course, there's a series of primaries in Texas uh where the futures of the Democratic Party and and and Republican Party are being sort of analyzed. Uh we're going to read the tea leaves out of that um and try to predict what's going to happen there. Uh as always, please like, follow, and share the show. Uh we always love to get your questions in the live chat on Rumble and on YouTube. And uh for those of you who
[01:38] piped in early with the aha um slides, uh please bear in mind we currently have like uh 49 questions in the queue. So, we'll try to get to all of them, but it's going to be a little challenging. Um and uh you know, we're over We're over 22,000 subscribers. So, thank you for helping us our our show. Uh it's uh really gratifying. Okay. >> and this let me add real quickly. I I I want to say thank you, too, for subscribing to the show. This has been completely utterly organic growth.
[02:09] We've been guided very very wisely by Robbie. True. Robbie understands these algorithms way better than we do, but really it's just because you guys get up and watch every day that we're able to continue doing it. Otherwise, we would have walked away 6 months ago. It's true. Thank you for that. And it was Yeah, I mean it was definitely a a slog um for months. You know, we're basically like >> It was tough. It's like is you know, we're we're not making a penny. Like does you know, is any does anyone care? Does anyone want want us to do this? Is
[02:40] this worth doing? Is this worth our time? But I think that we've turned that corner thanks to you guys. Um Uh speaking of which, let's go and quickly remind people because we need Robbie. We do need you to help um pitch in to help uh help us keep Robbie. Please, we look for $1,000 every month. It's the beginning of March. So, uh please go to gofundme.com and go to deprogramrobbie or go to gofundme.com/effisinfrank/deprogramrobbie,
[03:11] one word, and uh just do whatever you can. Uh we will stop asking when we get to $1,000. John and I each put in $500. Um and I guess we should just get to it, John. Um obviously, we'll get to Texas later, but let's uh >> And and we made a little mistake. Achilles is is not going to be with us today. It's tomorrow. >> Oh, it's tomorrow. Okay. Uh all right. Well, so uh we will >> We've got a lot to talk about anyway. >> Yeah, it's it's fine. And and we can still talk about the economy even without Achilles. Okay, so Real quickly,
[03:42] I wanted to say that the Dow futures The The market opens in 25 minutes. The Dow futures are down almost 900 points, 1.8%. The S&P 500 is down 1.7% the NASDAQ is down 2.2% it's going to be hideous today and now with the Strait of Hormuz being being closed in the last two days oil has gone from $66 a barrel to $83
[04:13] a barrel. Gas prices in the United States literally went up an average of 10 cents yesterday. Yesterday in one day. Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, so that's we're just going to see more of that. So okay. So we're going to I I think we should just go John if you don't mind can we just talk about Marco Rubio? Yeah, let's talk yeah, he needs a smack across the chops. So Rubio you know basically he he said look we you know under the as we know under international law
[04:44] you preemptive war is not allowed. You have to either be directly attacked in which case you can defend yourself. That's legal or you could there can be an imminent risk of attack like you know the classic example is you look across the border. I guess a good example would be Ukraine and Russia be before February of 2022. You Russian forces were massing and and preparing to attack Ukraine. There was Intel credible intelligence. If Ukraine had attacked Russia first, they could have made a credible case that they made
[05:15] a there was an imminent threat. There's nothing like that here. All the experts say that there were not going to be that that Iran did not have nor was seeking a nuclear nuclear weapons program. The long range missiles there's no there's no indication that Iran even began researching or developing much less manufacturing them. It would have taken at least 10 years for them to get there according to the intelligence assessment. So Rubio goes on and says well is Israel called us and said they
[05:47] were going to attack Iran. So, they we they said you got to be careful cuz then the Iranians will retaliate against your troops in the Middle East. Therefore, you should you have to come to our side and attack Iran also. Now, Jonathan and I were both talking right before the show. Um there is a doctrine under international law, uh rule 20 of the customary international humanitarian law, specifically article 57 2 C of the additional protocol passed in 1977. The
[06:18] United States is a party to this and um US soldiers and and and uh and sailors are taught this in the academies that they have to provide an uh member state has to provide a a warning when it knows that there's going to be an unjustified attack. So, Trump if Rubio's telling the truth or then Rubio or Trump had a legal obligation under US law and treaty law to contact the Iranians and say, "Listen, they're coming for you." And
[06:49] It's called the duty to warn. maybe ask the Iranians for a favor like since we told you, do you mind leaving our our guys alone? That would be great. Um and you you know, also what's to stop Trump from telling Netanyahu, "If you do that, there will be no more money and there will be no more weapons from us." George H. W. Bush was the last American president to stand up to the Israelis. It was on the issue of settler housing. And he said, "If you don't stop with these settlements, we're going to
[07:21] suspend um loan guarantees." And the the Israelis said, "Go ahead and try." And he did. And they suspended The Israelis suspended um uh new housing for settlers. It was temporary, but at least it worked. And since then, we haven't had a single president of either party willing to stand up to the Israelis. Do you believe Do you believe um Rubio's story? I'm not sure I do. No.
[07:52] I think that's just an effort to make him look like or make us look like the good guys. Um I mean, the truth is there's no legal justification here. And what's interesting is uh you know, maybe because of the fact that only one out of four voters support this, uh all the mainstream media outlets that normally would be cheerleading a war like they did in 2003, they're all saying, you know, getting experts to come on and say, "Yeah, there's no justification. This is illegal." And so on. >> Right. Yeah, I think that's right. It's uh >> that's right. It's very, very different.
[08:24] Um we could go in uh we Oh, and the other thing is I guess the main news today is that 787 Iranians so far at least have died and six American soldiers at least have died. And you know what? If those If those numbers are correct, that is 20% of those deaths are children. Mhm. From that uh school that was bombed by the Israelis. Yeah, that's just from that school. You know there's more children there, too. >> Um so uh yeah, so both interestingly um
[08:56] we talked about this yesterday, John, that uh Iran clearly is holding back their more powerful weapons for later. And uh they've decided to take a totally different approach than they did previously in their last two times that they were attacked by this coalition. Um but the But Trump also has said, "Oh, we're about to hit them even harder." John, what does that look like? I think they're going to they're going to start Uh I think we're going to initiate more sustained bombing um attacks. I think we
[09:29] are going to probably send a third carrier battle group. Um I think that um that we're going to begin diplomatic work to bring other countries into it, which would be just a terrible, terrible mistake. Uh in fact, the the Greek in the Greek press this morning, the prime minister went out of his way without being asked to say, "We are not bombing Iran. We will not bomb Iran. We don't have anything to do with the bombing of Iran."
[09:59] And I think he said that because he knows that it's coming, but the request to up the ante is coming. But meanwhile, other countries, other US allies like uh France and Germany are, you know, they say that they're going to be participating with defensive operations. What what does that mean as opposed to offensive operations? You know, Does that have a meaning? Is that a distinction without a difference? >> any of these countries have Patriot missile batteries, they could send them to the Emirates or Qatar or Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia.
[10:30] Um but even if they do have Patriot missile missile batteries, those are finite um arsenals. And so, I think that's what that would mean. Um we >> would That would I mean, we're talking about a week or 2 weeks' worth of defense. Kurt Swanson had this question for me, but I don't see why you couldn't answer it, John. Is it Are we the closest we've ever been to needing the 25th Amendment re you know, getting rid of with pulling out the president? By the way, speaking of which, I just posted J.D. Vance. J.D. Vance is the man
[11:03] who would have to trigger it, the vice president. >> triggers it, and then gets a simple majority vote from the cabinet in order to remove the president. It's never been done. No, no. >> J.D. Vance said I I I want to get this right. This is this morning, or sorry, yesterday. Pres- This is a quote. "President Trump will not get the United States into a years-long conflict with no clear objective. Iran can never be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon. That's the goal of this operation, and President Trump will see it to completion." I'm sorry, John. Um, didn't Trump
[11:33] announce that Iran's nuclear weapons program had been completely decimated last time, a few months ago? >> I think he used the word obliterated. Okay, obliterated. >> is a big word. Either he was lying to us or these guys are lying to him. Or he's lying now. That's right. And I mean and so yeah, and there's not even a statement like, well, we got pretty close, but we really have to finish the job. We were wrong. We meant 80% obliterated. I mean >> Right. Um, okay, so 25th Amendment, I
[12:05] mean, I say yes. I think the president's out of control and and should be removed. I think you know, he's he should have gone to Congress. He didn't. Um, okay. So, let's uh shall we do some questions? Yeah, let's do questions. And and we we've got to thank some people first. Oh, yeah. Yeah, we've got to thank uh well, first of all, Heartmade 99 lb 99. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Really appreciate that. Yeah. Yeah, thank you. And >> thank you for five bucks from Tati Mary.
[12:36] Good um, what do we think the off-ramps for this war look like? It's a good question. How likely is this this this ends without becoming a long-term conflict? I can I I can I answer the second one? I think I think we're 50/50 on that one. I think that this I mean, you know, the this this could I mean, it's going to be weeks, maybe months, but I mean, does it go years? I mean, years is hard to fathom um, just given the mismatch in weapons between the US and Iran, but what do you think?
[13:06] Yeah, I I think that if if the United States really wants to destroy Iran, it can destroy Iran. Mhm. But what does destruction look like? Mhm. I My guess is it's going to be decades of chaos. And like like we said yesterday, Ted, that's to Israel's benefit. It's not to our benefit, nor is it to the benefit of our friends and allies in the Gulf. I You know, John, the more we talked about this sort of very fleetingly when
[13:37] we did the special shows over the weekend, but I now I'm really convinced that civil war is the most likely outcome here. God almighty. And you know what would be worse? Um is and you know it's going to happen, that the United States and the Israelis are going to begin arming factions in Iran. You said probably radical factions. Most likely. Isn't that always the case? >> That's what we always Why is that, John? Why do Why in Afghanistan did we arm the Mujahideen as opposed to another force?
[14:08] Why do we always go for the crazies like the Taliban? >> the white Russians versus the the red Russians. Um Yeah, I I don't know. Yeah, I never understood what >> always this very short-sighted analysis. Always. Like I mean going to help us win today. Okay, these these really terrible people, they're going to help us win today. And if they win, then we'll deal with them later. And or and they'll they'll owe us. They'll remember us. >> Oh, yeah, sure, cuz that always works out so well. >> [laughter]
[14:38] >> That I think they always think that though. Um [snorts] Okay, so let's see. Um and then off What do the off-ramps look like, John? Hard to Hard to see. Yeah, [snorts] I I don't really see an off-ramp other than just declaring victory and going home. You wiped out most of the leadership. Mhm. You know, and I think Trump was hinting at it yesterday when he said that uh that the Iranians wanted to talk. In fact, the reporting is that we want to
[15:09] talk. The reporting is that we approached the Italians and asked the Italians to tell the Iranians that we're interested in a ceasefire, and it was the Iranians who said no ceasefire. Mhm. Um by the way, I have some good news, John. Um we uh Robbie 8 is is now fulfilled. We have We have our $1,000. So So uh that's great. Thank you. We will not be bugging you about that. By the way, for someone who asked about this, they saw that there was like a total of
[15:39] $4,000 in there. That's because it's been 4 months. So um we go for $1,000 a month. So it's a total I'm sorry about that confusion. It's not a new GoFundMe every month. It's an old GoFundMe. Maybe there's some way that Robbie can like edit that in order to explain that in the entry because I could totally see why that would be confusing. People like, "Hey, you say you need $1,000, but there's $4,000 in there." But that's spread out over over time. For people who've been watching the show, they know that to be true.
[16:09] Um okay. Uh John, this is a question from Papadopoulos. Thanks for the 2 euros. Do you think there will be Greek-Turkish tension more than now? I do. I do. The Turks are probably the most militarily powerful country standing in opposition to Israel. And the Greek government couldn't get any more pro-Israel. You know, this is funny the funny thing in Greece the the Greek people are solidly anti-Israel
[16:43] because they're pro-Palestinian. But the Greek government is solidly pro-Israel because Cyprus is sitting on an ocean of natural gas and the Greeks, the Cypriots, the Israelis, to a lesser extent the Egyptians, are lifting the gas together and sharing the money from it, >> [snorts] >> which is driving the Turks crazy, but it's made the situation where as bad as things are between Greece and Turkey, they're sort of on track to get worse.
[17:13] And then this war in Iran doesn't help anything at all. Uh question for both of us and thanks for the $4.99. Um how do we feel about the nine dead Pakistani protesters killed outside the U.S. Embassy in Karachi? Um my I saw the video of that. It looked to me like it was Consulate. >> embassy guards who were or consulate consular guards who were firing at the Pakistanis, right? >> Yeah. >> were the Pakistanis trying to enter the compound and I would imagine I would imagine that's why. >> in Pakistan is a country where American
[17:45] embassies and American consulates have repeatedly been attacked and they've been burned to the ground. Um diplomats have been murdered there inside the embassy. Uh Pakistan is one of the most dangerous countries in the world if you are an American. For sure. It's not unusual for people to fire rockets at the embassy, to shoot you as you're coming out of the embassy parking lot, you know, to throw Molotov cocktails or hand grenades. And so, you
[18:15] can't you can't risk it spinning out of control. You've got to You've got to shoot. If you feel your life is truly in danger, you've got to shoot. I mean, in Pakistan, if you look like me or John, you're dead. There's a good chance that, you know, like just being in a cab, people will throw rocks at you or, you know, whatever or worse. >> Yeah. Yeah. It's happened to me. Um Italic, uh John, what do you think about Italy's position? And thanks for the 2 euros. Um the the Italians are trying to the the
[18:47] Italians are trying to stay neutral as best they can. The Italians actually told us that they would deliver such a message. And in fact, the reporting is that they did deliver a message that the U.S. was interested in a ceasefire. It was the Iranians who rejected the ceasefire uh because they haven't yet begun fighting back, not really. Let me add one other thing. Several different people asked me about um Kathimerini, the Greek newspaper Kathimerini's documentary on 17 November. Have I seen it? I've not
[19:18] seen it, but I'm in it. Um I sat for an interview last March um that lasted like 3 hours, but I haven't seen it. I look forward to checking it out. Um John, um the it's it's all over the press today that um the Trump administration has no plan whatsoever for post-war, post- uh Khomeini um uh leadership, right? For what Iran should look like. Yeah. Um this keeps
[19:49] happening, right? And the thing is, I mean, obviously the most the the classic example is we didn't know, you know, who was going to replace the Taliban, and we were flirting with the the the exiled king, who was living in Italy, and then we find we we dredged up Hamid Karzai, who was not widely popular, I think would be fair to say, um even from the very beginning. Oh, yeah, we were flirting with Ahmed Chalabi. We didn't know what we're going to do about Saddam, and we never did figure it out, really. Um Iran ended up
[20:20] filling that power vacuum. But this this US um you know, regime change thing, it goes back to like World War II, right? Like um you know, the FDR didn't seem to know what he wanted to do about France after D-Day, and he didn't want de Gaulle, and I mean, what is with the United States um not understanding cuz over and over and over um they're told, policymakers are told, you have to have a plan for the post-war. You have to have a regime. You don't overthrow
[20:51] someone and create a power vacuum unless you have someone credible to replace them. Venezuela, I mean, I guess it kind of like worked out because we just kidnapped the dude, and the government's still there. What is happening here? I'm sure the CIA um advises presidents to, uh, you know, "Hey, here's a list of people who could run this country you're thinking of overthrowing." Um, don't they? Yeah. Hey, before I answer, uh, the United States just announced
[21:22] that it is closing its embassies in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. This is dramatic. >> is it true that the Qataris shot down an Iranian fighter jet? You know, I saw the report and I didn't see any confirmation. Yeah, that's that's exactly it. Yeah. Um, all through the the first Gulf War, we never closed any embassies. I mean, the Iranian Well, obviously, we had to close Kuwait because it was it was attacked and invaded and our our diplomats were held as hostages, human
[21:54] shields in Iraq. But, to close two American embassies means that the White House and the State Department have decided that this is going to get a whole all hell of a lot worse than what it is right now. John, what are the obligations that the US, um, emba- embassies and consulates have to US nationals and affiliates in a war zone? I mean, over and over we're seeing these facilities close, but other countries, like the UK, is sending chartered planes to try to rescue their nationals.
[22:26] Usually, the US does that. Usually. But, we're we're so deep into a hot war so quickly, like there was months in the run-up to the Gulf War. There's no time to do it. There was an announcement made yesterday by the State Department urging all Americans in the Persian Gulf to get out. But, there's no flights. There are no flights. And so, today >> are closed. >> Today, the the UAE government said that any person, any Westerner, stuck in a hotel
[22:58] and unable to evacuate will have all of his hotel bills paid. So, just stay, relax, protect yourself, and we'll figure things out later. Well, I guess that I guess there's worse things than that. That's very generous. That's That's That's the Emiratis. That's how they are. They're very generous. But it's like what's what's the uh But like I just saw the official X um you know, notification from the State Department telling Americans in Israel that they should get the [ __ ] out and leave as soon as they can, but that
[23:28] there's no flights and that they're not going to provide them with any assistance. And the advice was on your own. Try to make your way to Jordan. I'm like, wait. So, you want them to make their way through the West Bank right now. Right now. That's what you're saying. Freaking believable. Right? Cuz yeah, where are they going to go? Rafa is closed, so you can't go to Egypt. You can't go to to Lebanon. You wouldn't want to anyway because the Israelis and Hezbollah are fighting in the south. You can't go to Syria cuz it's no man's land. Yeah.
[23:59] >> But you can't get to Jordan cuz you have to cross the rest the West Bank and the Israelis won't let you. It's a It's It's It's really like man, US passport is not worth not worth what you think. Um Balint TCC, thank you very much uh for uh the uh Hungarian forints, 4,000. I don't have no idea how much that's worth. I'd like to think it's a king's ransom, but I suspect it's not. Anyway, do you guys think that the news of 50% of Iran's missile launching capabilities have been taken out is
[24:31] true? If not, what do you think the true figure is? Iran's missile capabilities? Uh-huh. Yeah, that's I mean, that's what the Pentagon is reporting. The Pentagon is saying that we've destroyed all these these missile launchers. I saw I saw a report yesterday saying that 50% of Iran's missile launchers have been destroyed, but the Iranians can still take deliveries from Russia and China through the north. And if the Russians have any idea what's
[25:01] good for them, they're going to try to get back to us for for Ukraine by continuing to send um surface-to-air missiles and missile launchers to the Iranians. I would. I would, too, big time. Um LOL, thanks for the five bucks. Saudi analysts say that that Israel attacked their Aramco oil refinery, not Iran. Is this another Israeli false flag? What other false flags should we expect? Uh speaking of false flags, on the other side of that, Iran was accused uh by
[25:34] right-wingers of attacking that school themselves. Yeah, so stupid. >> That didn't happen. I had a friend tell me today that he uh does not wish to speak with me any longer because he posted he's he's very, very religious, and he posted this thing on Facebook saying that there are millions of people in the streets in uh Iran, and that they're all secretly Christian, and now a Christian Iran's going to turn into a Christian nation. And I And I will literally not one single word of this is
[26:05] true. >> [laughter] >> And he says, "Oh, because you're the expert." And I said, uh "Yeah." >> [laughter] >> Ridiculous. Um Johanna, thanks for the $4.99. I'm in the process of enlisting as infantry in the army. What are the chances that we ever use boots on the ground in this in this war? 48 hours ago, I would have said we're not going to do that because it's going to go very quickly. And today, I'm going to say it's probably a 50/50 prospect because even after the president said
[26:36] repeatedly, we are not going to send boots on the ground, um yesterday morning, Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of Defense, said, "Well, not so fast." And then the president refused to reiterate his earlier position that we won't send boots on the ground. I think there's a chance. I do, too. I mean, I don't know if it's quite at 50% but we're we're moving toward that direction. Magnus Coronas, thanks for the 50 Norwegian Krona. Why did Iran bomb all the Gulf countries? We did address this so it's
[27:08] just quickly though. How would the Gulf countries react to this when the Gulf countries aren't the biggest fans of Israel? The Gulf countries, I mean, I was just there in the Gulf and we talked about this. They would have they would have very nervously just sat the whole thing out, right? This is between the Americans the Americans, the Israelis, and the Iranians. But you know, when you're blowing up hotels in Dubai or the airport the civilian airport in Manama and in Kuwait and you're bombing of all people the the
[27:39] peace-loving Omanis who have been trying to broker peace between the two sides, okay, then you've made a lot of enemies that you really didn't need to make. Goresh thanks for the five bucks on Rumble. Uh Trump starts a war and you're on your own to get out. What a prick. I agree. Um Uh I would like um B Wen, I would like thanks for the 10 euros. I would love for you guys to invite Professor Chiang. He has some great takes on the situation in geopolitics in general. Robbie, please
[28:10] look into that. And Robbie, do we have an ad by any chance? All right. We're ready for it. We'll take another question in the interim. Um Okay, so um all right, let's get to some of these aha questions slides questions. Will China provide Iran with intelligence and continue to sell them weapons? Absolutely, yes. Um Bahrain is buzzing with revolution talk. Is it likely that a full-scale uprising will occur? What would be the consequences?
[28:40] >> That is a very important question. So, historically Bahrain had been between 2/3 and 3/4 Shia Muslim. The royal family is Sunni Muslim. When I was there, I was there during what Okay, guys, new situation. Yeah, I I was living there during what was then called the Intifada. It became now known as the first Intifada. And um and it was freaking hideous, let me tell you. So, what the what the Bahraini royal family
[29:12] did in the intervening 30 years, I was living there 30 years ago, is they imported Syrians, gave them Syrians are mostly Sunni Muslims, gave them Bahraini citizenship, and then started naturalizing Indian and Pakistani Muslims, Syri- uh Sunni Muslims. So, now it's closer to 50/50. But, even though it's closer to 50/50, the Shia the Sunnis still have money, the Shia are still poor, so there is always a
[29:43] threat of an uprising in Bahrain. Uh [snorts] let's do that Let's do that spot. You've probably noticed Rumble is growing fast, and it's not slowing down. They're building a real alternative to Big Tech that puts creators first and actually protects free speech. And now there's Rumble Premium, an easy way to upgrade your experience. With Premium, you get ad-free viewing across the platform, no pre-rolls, no interruptions, just the content you came for. Plus, Premium members unlock exclusive content like bonus videos, behind-the-scenes drops, and more from your favorite creators like John and
[30:46] pays pays off of your ads. So, you click on a YouTube video, if you let the ad run, the creators get paid. Rumble, because Deep Program is part of the Rumble creator program, is paid off of watch hours. So, think about the TV or radio. The more that you watch, the more that they get paid. So, basically for every nickel that they make on YouTube, they make about 95, 96 cents over on Rumble. So, the money's definitely there. Uh also, if you are a channel subscriber on YouTube, YouTube takes a nice
[31:17] generous 40% cut off of your subscription fee. Uh with Rumble, you subscribe for $5 a month, and John and Ted keep every penny of it. Rumble doesn't take a dime for themselves. One of the listeners is is asking, "Robbie, what about the the reputation Rumble has for being right-wing?" I mean, obviously, We're changing that. John's not right-wing. Yeah, exactly. Well, I mean, So, let me Let's just suggest that for a little bit. When last year, when YouTube, the progressive liberal platform,
[31:47] demonetized John and Ted for almost 3 months, Rumble didn't. When the war with Ukraine started, YouTube, not Rumble, deleted John's channel. YouTube, not Rumble, uh shut down and throttled Ted Rall's channel. YouTube, not Rumble, removed RT. So, if you're going to use YouTube as your beacon of free speech, um maybe you should consider moving to Israel, because that's the kind of free speech that you want. If you want free speech, go to Rumble.
[32:18] It's true. We've never once heard from Rumble to say, "Please take this down, take that down. We don't like the cut of your jib." That we YouTube's been a lot of trouble for us. And lastly, I mean, the how y'all talked earlier No, at the at the top of the show about the just thanks for all the people coming and watching, when YouTube was paying a couple of hundred dollars for uh for what John and Tit are doing, Rumble just off of people watching was allowing them to pay their bills. Not YouTube. Thank you very much, Robbie. Just because it was just just
[32:50] because someone's right-wing doesn't mean that they're that they're your enemy. That's true. I can vouch for that. I got censored more by the Nation and Mother Jones than I ever did by Forbes or Fortune as a cartoonist. Slay 123 thanks for the 10 bucks. Didn't you guys catch the president's war briefing? Beautiful. Oh my god, this is like moving beautiful curtains and the construction in his new ballroom. At this point idiocracy feels less like satire and more of a documentary. What the [ __ ] You know, it's the gold leaf that I just
[33:21] don't get. >> [laughter] >> There's gold leaf everywhere. Everywhere. It's going to all have to be taken down. It's just a waste of time and money. It's you know, it's like the decor is early Dolomite if you are. >> [laughter] >> Do we think Gulf countries want the US to build bases that have been damaged? I guess rebuilt, sorry. From Breed, thanks for the 499. That's a good question. I mean, the damage hasn't been very extensive,
[33:51] right? So Not not so far. Although there's there's breaking news Robbie highlighted for us that Cutter is now bombing Iran if you can imagine such a thing. A country of 250,000 people is bombing a country of 92 million people right now. The Cutteri Navy has intercepted 15 minutes ago the Cutteri Navy intercepted a ship full of Iranian missiles and drones and is >> [snorts] >> is forcing it into harbor in Doha. John,
[34:24] how good is the Cutteri military? It's very tiny, but it's trained and equipped by the United States. So, it it's good. It's good. The Qataris are The Qataris are playing hardball right now. Um it's been reported that Russia and Saudi Arabia spoke on Monday. Any significance to this? Um yeah. The The Saudis You know, this is Mohammed bin Salman. I mean, the guy is just the most
[34:55] unpredictable uh leader or deputy leader in Saudi history. They're You might as well keep the the lines of communication open. Like, maybe maybe the Russians can say something to the Iranians while the Saudis say something to the Americans and we can all back off this thing. Um by the way, I do want to John, are you If you're okay with this, I'm focusing on the on the questions related to the war and and sort of prioritizing those over other things, if that's okay. >> Of course. >> Um I've been seeing reports unconfirmed
[35:27] that Israel has been bombing oil infrastructure in Saudi Arabia and blaming it on Iran. So, that's more um Although, you know, you can see on radar, you can see incoming missiles. So, I No, I I don't think the Israelis are bombing Saudi oil fields. They don't need to because the Iranians For the last 40 years, the Iranians have been targeting Saudi oil fields. Mhm. Mhm. Uh now that the war has started, is there any way to end it with peace in the region and without an increase in terror attacks?
[35:58] Not the Not the second one. >> [snorts] >> Um what will the impact be if Congress does take uh Trump's war powers away? I don't think Doesn't look, John, like that's going to happen, right? We're going to see a vote, um but there's enough uh There's even though there's some conservatives um who are um you know, I think Thomas Massie, uh Rand Paul, people like that who are going to vote for the war powers resolution, but there's also going to be the John Fettermans and other Democrats in name only who are going to cross the other way, so it'll probably look kind of like
[36:30] a normal vote in Congress that Democrats try to get through that fails. Yeah, and if it's written as a resolution, a sense of the Congress resolution, it's not going to have any any teeth or authority anyway. If it's done as as a, you know, bill being passed into law, the president's going to veto it. Um let's see. Over the past year, several current Israeli former Israeli officials have pointed at Turkey as the next strategic
[37:00] threat to Israel. God, what a change. They used to be buddies. Yeah, they used to be close buddies, which is one of the reasons why the Greeks and the Palestinians were so close. Um Yeah, you and I should explore this more deeply at some point, but but let's say that let's say that the Israelis are successful in Iran. And and the Iranian leadership is removed from from power, there's no need to worry anymore about uh
[37:31] about an Iranian nuclear program. But the Israelis are always looking to attack the next guy. Yeah, well, this is that's the rest of this question from our anonymous question here. Uh does Turkey constitute a meaningful military, diplomatic, or economic threat to Israel? Not only in terms of capabilities, I would say yes in terms of capabilities, but also in terms of Oh my god, just uh just um it's just it just it moved forward. I'm sorry. Anyway, Oh, that's okay. >> you get the idea. Yeah, um
[38:01] diplomatically, yes. I I do believe diplomatically the Israelis have their hands full with the Turks, but that's life. Maybe the Israelis should try to to start getting along with people. Um militarily, economically, no. No, the the the Turks aren't going to invade Israel. No. No. No. Yeah, I don't think they Yeah. Um have you seen that Israelis are going to advance troops into southern Lebanon? They already have. >> They did. >> Greater Israel coming true. Although they do that all the time, so it's hard to say whether this is
[38:31] >> time. There's this like 20-mi no-man's-land along the border. Yeah. Yeah. Um okay. Thank you uh Sorry. Um Do we think Hezbollah's intervention was a smart move for them? I mean it does feel a little bit like nothing to lose. >> They've nothing to lose. But remember Remember martyrdom is something to be aspired to. Right. Um is there a big John big big fan of
[39:03] the content you produce. I want to ask is there a reason why the UAE and Dubai is being disproportionately targeted compared to other Emirates in the country other Gulf countries be by the count of missiles intercepted. Other question is that reports are showing UAE and Qatar running out of THAAD Patriot missiles. How do you think that will play out? >> Yeah, so the reports from last night were that the UAE would be out of THAAD missiles in 7 days and the Qataris would be out of them in 4 days and we can't
[39:34] resupply them quickly enough. So this is a problem. I think that the reason why the UAE has been so disproportionately targeted is that the UAE has been at the forefront of the attacks against the Houthis. Mhm. >> And um you know, despite the fact that Dubai is is home to thousands of Iranians and Iranian businesses, I think the Iranian government just wants to bloody the Emiratis' noses as best they can. Um what do you make of Marco Rubio and
[40:05] Mike Johnson's suggestions that we attacked Well, we talked about this because Israel was going to attack Iran. Um what could possibly be the PR strategy of such statements from such pro-war and pro-Israel leaders. It's really it is baffling. It's bad PR. I mean, I'm interested in in crisis management. I mean, they knew they were going to do this, right? For at least months. So, why did they Why do they not know how to spin this? John, why is the president still not speaking to the American
[40:35] people? You know, when he announced the the attack, the start of the attack, he did it at 2:00 in the morning Mhm. on Truth Social. He did not address the American people. He did not stand at the podium in the East Room of the White House and and make an announcement that essentially we're at war. He did it on Truth Social. And you're right, he's only been going between Washington and Mar-a-Lago back and forth. He has not begun crisscrossing
[41:07] the country to explain why he decided to send young American men and women into battle and put their lives at risk. He owes that Well, I mean >> to the American people. >> is I mean, the only thing I can think of, John, is that the reason that the we haven't seen a prime-time Oval Office address to the nation is he wants to do this as kind of a side project. He doesn't want it to become a defining feature of his presidency, >> Right. But But you can't It can't not
[41:37] be. It's so embarrassing. This morning on NPR, they were playing all of these clips of of him promising, you know, criticizing Obama for attacking Iran, saying, "I'll never get in I'll never get you into any wars. These wars are stupid. Why do we spend money on blood and treasure overseas?" Over and over and over. Yeah. And then this. I mean, the American people aren't that sharp, but they're not that stupid, either. No. No. And you've got to talk to the
[42:09] people. You've got to explain the policy. And there's no there's no effort here at all. I mean, I don't maybe he just doesn't think maybe they don't think that they could they have a good story to tell. You know, I saw um I saw a a clip on I don't remember if it was BBC yesterday or wherever it was. Um where uh they were interviewing Republican voters. Do you support or oppose the attack
[42:41] against um against Iran? So, it was like a third of Republicans support it, two-thirds oppose it. And the supporters are well, why do you support it? Well, these are very these are very bad people. Iran's a bad country or Iran is a bad country. You're right. Like there are a lot of bad countries out there. A lot. You're going to attack all of them? Like what are you nuts? It's it's a good question. I've I've always wondered that. I used to in the run-up to the war against Iraq, I like used to compile all the lists of dictatorships that the US
[43:13] supports or tolerates around the world. It's a long list. Um Ted, uh the markets are now open and they're all crashing and oil is skyrocketing. Okay, let's take a look at that. Um looking at the Dow Jones Dow Jones Industrial Average is down over a thousand points right now that with the market having opened 14 minutes ago. We're down 2.13%. Oh my god. I would say this is a free fall. Um this is a free fall. >> They're going to have to they're going to have to shut down uh trading. Yeah, I
[43:44] think well, there's there's use there's automatic triggers. Um so, that probably will happen. Uh if they shut down trading, that's going to be a huge signal. I mean, look, this is this is something that the president can't ignore, right? Um you know, he's getting calls right now from Fortune 500 CEOs are flooding uh the administration and saying, "You're [ __ ] up the economy." Um you know, Donald Trump doesn't want to [ __ ] up the economy. That's the one thing he can't afford to do. Um but
[44:16] then, let me ask you, why in the world would gold and silver be crashing? Gold and silver should be going up. And they should be going up, and gold's down 3 and 1/3 percent, down $178.90. The only thing I can think of is that we're seeing some uh profit taking because there's been uh you know, people who invest in precious metals traditionally do so over a longer period. It's not something that they trade in and out of in a day. And so, I think you might have like people who bought like a few months ago and thinking like, "I'm going to get this
[44:48] right now like while the market is is high and and we'll see what I would watch that." Um if it keeps go I would that's really going to be strange if it keeps going down later in the day, but it could bounce back. Uh >> Yeah. Yeah, interestingly, what's the Rus- So, the uh the Russell interestingly, the small cap Russell 2000 index is very small companies, uh and that's up. That's crazy. It's up. Yeah, mhm.
[45:18] Yeah, that's So, that's super interesting. >> Um yeah, we are uh Okay, now sorry, now it's dropping. Uh yeah, okay. Okay, yeah. All right, now it's falling again. Okay, so we shall see what happens here, but Okay, if you're the president, you're sitting there, you're watching the you know, he's getting this news. Um what's How's the administration going to respond to uh a stock market crash? Knowing Donald Trump, he is going to he's going to put on a tough face, and he's going to say, "Stay the course. This is the right
[45:49] thing to do. We're going to fight until we win. We're going to destroy the Iranians and their nuclear program, and everybody's going to make money, so just stay the course." Uh what are our thoughts on reports that MBS of Saudi Arabia encouraged Trump to attack Iran? I mean, we know that's true. Um, who benefits from spreading such reports? Do they have a net positive or negative effect effect for MBS or Saudi Arabia? I got to think negative. I would think negative, too. It doesn't make sense to me because it was MBS's idea to try to normalize and
[46:22] improve relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran. So, why why attack? I just don't get it. Um, I do want to take this question even though it's not about Iran. Um, Eastern Congo is experiencing one of the worst humanitarian crises on the planet right now, has been for decades. 80% of women there say they've been raped. There are US-backed agreements that critics say are designed to legally extract their resources without consent. We hear nothing about it with one out of
[46:52] four people on Earth being African within 50 years. Powerful interests are already playing the long game over the continent while we look away. What's your specific position on US policies toward the Democratic Republic of the Congo? Any mission in Africa in the past? I guess that question's for you, John. Um, one mission in Africa in the past, in Kenya, that I I'm sorry to say I'm not permitted to to talk about. Um, I'm not even sure I'm allowed to say I had been in Kenya, but there it is. It
[47:22] was a long time ago. Um, and then when I was at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, yeah, I did work in um, Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Somalia. You know, the odd the odd thing is US DRC [snorts] uh, relations are actually quite good. Mhm. We buy as much of their rare earth metals as they could possibly dig out of the ground. We make everything from, you know, from chrome bumpers to cell phones to
[47:53] guided missile systems with their rare earth metals. And that's what the DRC government is very weak in the eastern part of the country. Very, very weak versus Rwanda of all countries. Rwanda's like this big, DRC's huge, and the Rwanda the Rwandans just just batter them about the face and head at will. It's it's chaos over there in the east, but this is one of those conflicts that Donald Trump took credit for solving. This was one of his arguments in support of the Nobel Peace Prize that he brought
[48:25] peace to the eastern Congo. And the peace lasted a couple of weeks. Um yeah, yeah. Um Yeah, well, I mean, it's yeah, it's interesting cuz Rwanda and and Congo were both Belgian colonies, so it's not like like their colonial experience differed that much. They were both raped by King Leopold. Um I guess I mean, but why does nobody care? Nobody cares I think this is because it's very remote, it's hard to get to, and if
[48:56] you're a reporter who's interested in Congo and like I want to be stationed out there, I want to go out there for a couple of months, you could never like if I called everyone I know, I could never get anyone in radio, TV, or the internet, or print to send me to Congo. It's a no [ __ ] way. No one's interested, no one will publish anything about it. They American It's not the BBC. American media outlets give no shits about it, which is why the American people It's completely off their radar. Which is why I watch BBC.
[49:27] 6:00 every day on PBS if you don't have access to the actual BBC. Uh Beats and Meats, thanks for the 999. Do you think Putin will threaten Israel with nukes if they threaten Iran with nukes? Uh this is essentially what Professor Jiang hypothesized a few years ago in his infamous video, The Iran Trap. I don't think so. Yeah, I don't Honestly, I think the I think the Russians are far more responsible on this issue than the Israelis are. I don't think I don't think they'll make
[49:59] any threats like that. Frank Ham, $5. I have a family friend traveling to Europe next week, is worried about terror attacks because of the Iran war. Would I tourist travel? I guess I would now. But I'd be more worried in a year than I'd be worried next week. How about you, John? I agree with that. There There will always be a threat from lone wolves. Wolves. And um And it it's true that the Iranians have cells here and there around the world. I
[50:30] mean, if you're talking about traveling in Europe, no, I don't think there's any problem. I think I think Western audiences always kind of think that, you know, there's going to be a a quick reaction to this sort of thing. That's not That's just not how it is. But there will be a reaction. Oh, yes. Thanks for the $2 $2 tip on Rumble wallet. We are number eight in the nation right now on Rumble. I think we have like over 2,000 live people watching live on YouTube. So thank you to all you guys. Um
[51:00] Will the Kurdish people one day achieve independence and full freedom? Muhammad wants to know. I believe so. I sure hope so. You know, we've talked about this a minute here and a minute there for a long time. You and I both love the Kurds. You and I both support Kurdish independence. Absolutely. I don't see it happening, you know, Not soon. Right. Right. But I sure hope someday the Kurds have their their independence. They deserve it. They deserve it. It's been promised to them. I mean >> Many times. Yeah. By by the biggest
[51:31] powers. And they need it. I mean, they have they really do need it. Um Let's see. Okay. Let's see. Someone's asking, please try to answer Just Samantha, what did you ask, Just Samantha? Channel activity. Um, please answer my my super chat question. I don't know. Um, Robbie, try to find Samantha's question, please. Uh, I'm sorry, things are moving. Anyone in the scroll knows this is really happening fast. Uh, Meow Meow wants to know, is this happening because
[52:02] Benjamin Netanyahu is up for election this year? Well, it's not not a reason. >> It can't hurt. Yeah, it's not not a reason. That's it. That's it, Ted. Yes. Yeah, that and the and the uh ongoing felony corruption charges pending against him. So long as he's the prime minister, he's not going to prison. Uh, why would the State Department list Egypt as some somewhere Americans should immediately depart from or I should say depart to? Or depart from? Israel
[52:33] wouldn't be dumb enough to strike it, Trump's favorite dictator, right? No, no, that's not it at all. That's not it. >> It's that the Arab street really doesn't like Americans. And so, sure, while we're buddy-buddy with the the military dictatorship that rules [clears throat] Egypt, the average Egyptian is pretty darn angry at us right now. No doubt. No doubt. Um, Tammy, thanks um thanks for the question. We'd like to like to know our opinion on uh Ayatollah Khamenei as
[53:03] a leader and as a person. Thank you for your reply. That's a good question. You know, Ted, yesterday I did an interview, I don't even remember I've done so many, I can't remember with whom. I did one last night. And I stole one of your lines that really went over well. Okay. Killing uh killing uh Khamenei is like killing the Pope. You kill the Pope, you don't bring down Catholicism. They just pick another Pope. Well, killing uh Khamenei is not going
[53:34] to bring down Iran or Shiism. They're just going to pick another Grand Ayatollah. And he may be worse. Yeah, that is 100% right. Do we think Trump had the foresight to seize control of Venezuela's oil before destabilizing the Middle East? >> Yes. Yes, I believe that is indeed the case. That's crazy. Just in case we screw things up and the Straits of Hormuz are closed, which they could be
[54:06] closed in the next, you know, 8 hours. Hello from Vietnam. Thank you for the show. Sudden notice from the State Department for Americans to get out of the Middle East by any means necessary. How should the average Americans try to get out in such a situation? The economic fallout's going to be massive. Which dominoes do we see falling first and how will it affect the rest of the globe? I have a lot of experience escaping places that are going tits up. Um I would say first of all, I like land crossings. Oh, land crossings are better as a rule,
[54:38] but if you're not sure Oh, travel with locals. That's also one of my big pieces of advice. Like offer if you know some locals who want to go somewhere, go with them in their shitty local vehicle. Um is always a way to go. Like when I was leaving >> That's how you get out of Afghanistan. That's how I got out of Afghanistan, yeah. I was like all wrapped up in scarves in the back of an old Soviet pickup truck. Um and you know, and we offered like the locals like,
[55:08] "Hey, you know, you want to go? Free ride, come on, more the merrier." Um but also, you might want to hunker down. I think you're more of a target when you're in you're in motion. Yeah. Um >> That's a good point. >> Which which economic dominoes will follow will follow first? I don't know. Trump's Trump's chances in the midterm elections. >> [sighs] >> Yeah, you know, we should talk about that actually. Mhm. If only 1/3 of Republicans think this is
[55:41] a good idea, and if this thing extends beyond, you know, the next three or four weeks, we're potentially looking at an anti-Republican bloodbath coming in in November. John, you know I wrote my column this week and I I you've you've kept your your counsel about what you think of it about the possibility of a canceled election. But I'm not alone now in my paranoia. The Atlantic and NPR both are entertaining the same possibility.
[56:12] Yes, that is true. Um more and more people are talking about it. It's not a bad idea. I'll tell you it's never happened before in American history. No. Never. Uh but elections have been delayed. Yes, the New York mayoral race um was delayed on 9/11. And it changed the outcome. And it changed the outcome and Mike Bloomberg won. Yeah, it would have been Mark Green otherwise and everyone's like, "Who?" It's like, "Exactly." No, Mark Green was great. Oh, I know. He would have been a fantastic mayor of New
[56:43] York. >> have been absolutely one of the best. Totally. He was great. He was great. You know, he was he he he was consumer advocate for New York City. And among the two things that he did is he said women get overcharged for haircuts. Why should women get charged more for haircuts than men? So he passed a law to make it the same. And he said, "Why should a woman's blouse cost more to dry clean than a man's shirt? It's the same exact object." >> Yes. So um but then all that was reversed under Bloomberg. Um Kieran, thanks for the 5 lbs. We see the BBC We
[57:15] see the BBC is biased in the UK, but in the US it's seen as a less biased. I find that crazy how bad the propaganda is in the US. Um my take on that, John, is that the BBC is less trustworthy about things in the UK. Oh, yeah. But, you know, in other words, if I were in England, I'd want to watch non-English news about domestic British stuff. Yes. >> But, you know, but the BBC is less biased about the US. It is. It is. The BBC has
[57:47] has a long history of of offering both sides. Which we we don't do here in the United States. And you know what? When I was in the CIA and we were getting ready to to to liberate Kuwait, it would drive me crazy to watch the BBC and and they say, um, yeah, the the Iraqis invaded Kuwait, but the poor starving Iraqi children, the sanctions are killing them. And it's like, but but food's not sanctioned. It's this It's just that Saddam won't distribute
[58:18] the food. That drove me nuts. Sodan, thank Speaking of of Saddam, Sodan, uh, with just a minute or two left, thanks for the $49.99. Very generous. >> you. Thank you, Sodan. Thank you. >> and Gaddafi the buffer for us with Iran? Yes. They Yeah, they were the counterbalances. The user, thanks for the 219 Turkish Lira. What's the end game for Israel? No country active besides Turkey in terms of what's ahead in the region. Europe is asleep and other Gulf countries are just not as effective.
[58:49] I don't know. I mean, Israel is they're on the [ __ ] warpath, man. And I don't know >> They are. It's like they're >> for a bruising, too. You know, we're the only ones who can tell them stop, and we just won't do it. No. That's what's needed. We need to elect a a president who would just cut them off once and for all. Um, we are at now 9:59. I am very apologetic. There was just no way to get to all of your questions, many of which were really great and deserved to be answered today.
[59:20] But, the good news is we're back tomorrow and Thursday and Friday. And we will have Achilles Larrea with us at 9:15 Eastern Time tomorrow. We're here at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Monday through Friday. We'll be back tomorrow at 9:00. Thanks for tuning in. Please like, follow, and share the show. Thank you once again for your generous support of Robbie Aid, allowing us to do this show together. John, always great to see you. Please stay tuned for the TMI show with me and Manila Chan. That's coming up right now.
[59:50] >> [music]