[00:08] Good morning everyone. Thanks for joining us. You're watching the program with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou. It's Tuesday March 24th, 2026. Thanks for joining us. Please like, follow and share the show. We're here Monday through Friday 9:00 a.m. Eastern time. And John, good morning. Great to see you. >> Ted. Good to see you, buddy. Enjoying your fresh cup of coffee? This is my my fifth espresso of the of the long morning. Yeah, I'll tell you jet lag with me is
[00:39] it's always been a thing. I just can't get past it. So, this is the second morning in a row I'm up at 4:00 a.m. answering Cameo requests until it's time to go on the show. And then when we finish, I'm going to do more Cameo requests and try to get myself to a regular sleeping schedule again. I love it. >> Yeah, I know. Well, once I'm I'm sort of in between working on like full out books. But when I do books, I find that like getting up at 4:30 in the morning and like working and banging out pages before I start my day
[01:09] is the right way to do it. >> Um Amen. I'm the same way. Um you know, I jet lag. Oh my god, I'm terrible with jet lag. >> Um All right. Well, um speaking of travel, um ICE is at the airports. Not all of them, but at many of them and they're going to be arriving at more. Reports are kind of mixed. Basically, it doesn't seem like they're doing a lot. Some ICE guys sort of roughed up and and carted off a might alleged illegal migrant at
[01:40] SFO, San Francisco International Airport. But that was before the current surge and I think TSA doesn't actually run airport security at SFO. I think it's one of the exceptions. >> It's it's one of just a small handful of airports and it's a major international airport, but one of a small handful that TSA doesn't handle. Yeah, San Francisco is a relatively small city, but it is it is not a it is a huge airport, a huge gateway. >> to to the uh
[02:11] Pacific, East Asia. >> Yeah, and so um but TSA union came out and said they are that as far as they're concerned, they don't view ICE as being helper bears at all. They don't want them there. Um and uh they say that they're making travelers scared and they're making TSA workers scared. Um and I'm not to mention, it's kind of like they're trying to do their jobs. John, what is the logic? Uh Steve Bannon says this is just a test run for posting ICE at voting stations in November. I kind of think he's probably right. I
[02:42] think he's probably right. But my question is, what would be the legit reason for having ICE at the airport? I mean, they can't check they can't really make the screens go by faster. They can't run your lug- They don't know how to scan your luggage. The TSA guys barely know how to do that. They don't know how to check your ID really. So, it seems to me like it's a secondary line that they're going to set up to screen people for their immigration status. And that would just make the lines longer, maybe. >> Yeah. It's an intimidation tactic.
[03:13] That's exactly what it is. You know, I flew back in from uh from Germany the day before yesterday, and I got like the chattiest immigration officer I've ever encountered. Um kept trying to make jokes and wanted to uh just wanted to chat. And the the line is gigantic, right? There are hundreds. We we came on a 747 for heaven's sake, and it was one of three that landed at the same time. So, I said to him, just because
[03:43] I don't know, I was pandering, I guess. I just wanted to make him happy so I could get through. Mhm. And I said, "Hey, sorry you guys >> Normalizing behavior psychologist call that. Uh yeah. I said, "Hey, sorry you guys are working for free, but your pay will catch up to you." And he said, he leans forward, he goes, "Oh, we're not working for free." Oh. And I said, "You're not?" He said, "No, only TSA is covered by this." He said, "We're considered law enforcement, so even though I'm immigration or Customs and Border Protection, I guess it is, CBP." He said,
[04:16] "All the rest of us are getting paid. It's only the guys who are actually looking at the IDs. They're the only ones not getting paid." >> With the blue with with the blue gloves. That's right. John, I got a I got a question. I I keep thinking about what you have said a number of times here on the program, um that they're going to get what you just said. The TSA guys are going to, when this when the shutdown is over, they're going to get their back pay. So, what's Elon Musk about when he's offering to pay their salaries? Does I
[04:46] mean, is he serious? And if he is serious, does that mean that essentially they would get double salaries when they got their, you know, they're going to get their Elon bucks and they're going to get, which by the way, I don't have a problem with TSA guys getting more money. They're underpaid. But, is that basically what he's talking about? I think so. I don't think it's legal for a private citizen to to do that. It's a it's a nice gesture, but I don't think he can. I think what's more important is Senator John Kennedy, the Republican from Louisiana, said something yesterday that put the whole
[05:17] situation into perspective. He said that the White House told the Senate leadership, "Don't make any deal with Democrats." So, that's why there's been no continuing resolution. When in every other budget shutdown, there's a continuing resolution for things like TSA. And there is none this time because the White House has specifically said, "No deals with Democrats." And then, the White House wants Republican senators to
[05:47] up and down and yell, "The Democrats are shutting down TSA and making the country unsafe." No, that's not it at all. Well, I I believe you and I believe that, John. So, why Okay, I I I I know this is a dumb question and there are there are no dumb questions, there are just dumb co-hosts. >> But but but what on Earth Why don't Democrats point this out and say, >> Why don't you say something? >> "You Why haven't the Democrats said anything? Well, why? What do you think?
[06:18] >> Bad, weak leadership. You know, I mentioned to you, I'm going to say 6 months ago, Ted, you and I were talking about Chuck Schumer. And I said, "I've never really liked Chuck Schumer. I think he's a blowhard. I think he's emblematic of everything that's wrong with today's Democratic Party." But, that week I spoke to three different people, independently of one another. None of them know the other two, right? And independently of one another, they
[06:48] told me that they had been in the room at different times over the previous years when Chuck Schumer either solicited or accepted a bribe. And we're talking >> serious allegation. Very serious allegation. Very serious. It shakes the foundation of our democracy. I mean, he's Yeah, I mean, he's he's the Senate minority leader. Yeah, and was the majority leader at the time. Would he Is he in the line of president No, he's not in the line of presidential succession. >> No, the president of the Senate is. The
[07:19] Yeah, the speaker of the house is. Mhm. That's right. Wow. >> Yeah. So, you know, the I hate to I hate to you know, start yelling early in the morning like this, but They're all corrupt since four. Yeah. They're all corrupt. They're all bums. None of them are worthy of our respect or our support. You know, yesterday Mark Wayne Mullin was um Let me correct myself. Yesterday former MMA fighter Mark Wayne Mullin was was
[07:51] confirmed >> on July 4th at the cage match on the White House lawn? Donald Trump has performed. That's true. He's in the WWE Hall of Fame. Oh, yeah. Um Mullin was approved uh confirmed by the Senate. Uh the vote was 54 to 46. Not close. One Republican voted no. That was Rand Paul. Two Democrats voted yes. John Fetterman, which surprises literally no one. And um and uh uh
[08:22] what's his name? Heinrichs of uh New Mexico. W- He just came out of the woodwork and voted yes. The funny thing the Washington Post said today, they said two things that really pissed me off. I actually canceled my subscription this morning. I was so angry. Wow. I did. It's my hometown paper. I've subscribed since 1982. And I canceled >> your job. I mean, reading the Washington Post I mean, I'm with you. You and I've talked about it. Washington Post sucks now anyway, so It sucks. >> It's no longer an essential reading. I
[08:53] think I should get The Economist or something instead. >> They said that the vote on Mark Wayne Mullin hearkens back to uh the golden age of the Senate when there was bipartisan cooperation. It's like, what are you freaking talking about? One Republican voted no. Two Democrats voted yes. How is that harkening back to the golden age of bipartisanship? What are you talking about? No, in the past uh an an appointment like this would have sailed through almost unanimously.
[09:24] He's a sitting senator, for heaven's sake. Yeah. You know, I remember it was national news, too. >> too. Right? >> national news, Ted, when John Tower was rejected as George H.W. Bush's Secretary of Defense. Tower was a long-time three-term senator from from Texas and chairman of the Armed Services Committee was rejected as Secretary of Defense. Why? Because he cheated on his wife. He cheated on his wife. And they were like, "Oh my god, we can't have him as Secretary of Defense. He cheated on his
[09:55] wife." Yeah, it's his moral character is lacking. >> Well, the reason it was so newsworthy is that they never reject a sitting senator, ever. Now, yesterday they almost did comparatively and it hearkens back to the golden age of cooperation. The other thing, there was an editorial, unsigned editorial by the editorial board specifically criticizing our friends Code Pink, Annie Shulal I saw that.
[10:26] everybody who went to Cuba with medicine and food um mocking them as stooges of communism. It was like this this editorial came right out of the McCarthy era. >> Totally. And that did it for me. That did It called them useful idiots. That it was old-fashioned when you and I were teenagers. Yep, it was. Seriously. Um all right, John. We're going to be talking about obviously we're going to be talking about Iran and whether talks
[10:57] are a real thing or are they just in Donald Trump's imagination um and climate change. New study finds that their rate of global warming has nearly doubled. That's worse than the previous most pessimistic forecasts um and it's sort of may explain some of the really extreme weather we've seen lately. But um we have some housekeeping to do. Uh first let's bring in producer Robbie West to talk to bring us up to speed on that and then we're going to get to some of the leftover uh super chat questions
[11:28] from yesterday uh that we had have unfortunately a chance to get to yesterday. Uh thanks Ted. Uh this is going to be really quick. So uh Ted uh just host appropriately to the left of me is uh he is he now has a official channel over here on Rumble just like John Kiriakou does. And he has broken a hundred followers. So what that means is is I can work on getting him into the Rumble Creator Program. I'm going to stream some uh stream some videos to him today, get that in.
[11:58] Awesome. So what I need for y'all to do is pretty easy. A bunch of y'all over there on YouTube come over here to Rumble. The weather's fine. And the reason why I bring that up is that the way that they monetize content here is different. YouTube pays by ads. Rumble pays based off of watch hours. So in English, the more content that you consume here on Rumble, the more that the host gets paid. And so if you like the work that John and Ted do come on over, watch the stuff here over here on Rumble. It's perfectly fine. Uh a lot of people do both. Yeah. I I get
[12:29] it. I mean the the Rumble's kind of like YouTube was 12 years ago, but you know it's it's slowly getting better. But uh you guys should get uh more unfiltered content you can't get anywhere else. Uh second, speaking of John's account uh he has cleared his metrics this month for the for for the Rumble Creator Program. Big shout out to all of y'all. Thank y'all for coming over. And uh we are working on getting premium content coming up that you will not be able to see on YouTube that will that will feature here on Dprogram on Dutch's
[12:59] channel and also on John's. And lastly, if you are looking for official John Kiriakou shorts and not the memes they're only here on Rumble because that's his home base. Oh, I thought you were going to mean different kind of shorts. Okay, we won't we won't get into that. That's for other merchandising that will >> Like well you can have shorts from me. Now I'm work I'm working on trying to make the you know the cartoons I made a meeting for you. Oh, those are good. I'm trying to make them into shorts. Trying to fix the formatting so they don't look gay. So, we'll see how that works out.
[13:30] You know, I got to say too, if I could add something. I I get texts like every couple of hours asking people which of the, you know, 200 John Kiriakou pages on TikTok are mine. The answer is none of them are. Everybody's making money on John Kiriakou on TikTok except John Kiriakou. So, I got to figure something out. That's why we're on Rumble. That way you get paid for it. Robby, quick question. I've had some people ask they'd like to
[14:01] do the $5 a month Rumble thing and just subscribe to the show, but they don't know how to do it even when they're on the live stream. So, if you're if you want to become a channel subscriber on Rumble you can't use the app on your phone. It has to be through a web browser. So, either Safari, Edge, whatever either on your phone or on your computer. On the live chat tab scroll down to the bottom. You're going to see a little button there that says subscribe. Click on it and that's how you become a channel subscriber. That way you get access to all of the premium
[14:32] content. Plus, and this is the big part. When you become a channel subscriber on Rumble the creator keeps 100% of it. YouTube takes a cut. Rumble does not. That is YouTube that's just a big difference between the two platforms. YouTube has his has his hand in the creator's pocket. Rumble doesn't. And on Rumble we share the the 10 bucks, but we don't share the 5 bucks a month, right? So, with the >> Yeah, the 5 bucks is 100% for you. If someone is a Rumble premium subscriber, then you can watch premium content with
[15:04] no ads across the the entire platform. It's kind of like YouTube Red and then creators get a profit sharing. If you're a channel subscriber though, the creator keeps 100% of it. Rumble does not take anything. Robby, we'll do an ad a little later on cuz I think we've waited too long for the questions as it is. Thank you so much. Okay, so let's do do some some leftovers from yesterday. Miss Moth, thanks for the $4.99. Hi Hi guys, good morning. Happy Monday. Well, it's Tuesday. What's the intro song? I love it. Have a great week.
[15:36] Well, so I I found it. Basically, it's just like I wanted copyright free stuff so that I'm not stepping on anyone's toes and YouTube has like a library of copyright free songs that you can choose from and it's one of those and I'm really sorry. I don't know what it's called, but you could probably you know Shazam that maybe and find out. Artan Arthur Nersisian, thanks for the $4.99 also from yesterday. Leftover question Artan, how will this
[16:08] war impact the South the South Caucasus, especially Armenia and Azerbaijan? As an Iranian Armenian, I'm very concerned. Well, they're not a direct target, of course, but there could be refugee flows. Yeah. And there could be accidental missile strikes. I I think they're going to they're going to lay low otherwise. What do you think, John? I think that's right. I think they're going to lay low. Thanks to See this is the thing. I'm sorry. One one one more sense. This is the the thing about the situation. It's
[16:40] like everybody's on the verge of a of a refugee crisis. Mhm. You know? This this could be disastrous for the whole planet. We've already seen a reverse migrant flow from Iran back into Afghanistan of exiled Afghans. Now, I think a lot of Iranians might not mind, but still. Yeah. Um Oh, I think we have an ad, Ted. We do? Okay, let me All right, let me go and take a look at that. Well, I need to
[17:11] Robbie, you have to put it into the uh into the chat so that I can see it. Let's do let's do another question in the interim. Aspire, thank you for the very generous from 3 days go $75 donation. Thank you very much. Do you think social media platforms are deliberately tuning their algorithmic waiting toward profit optimization rather than long-term user well-being? This is one of the easiest questions we've ever been asked because the incentive structure basically guarantees it. How much does this play into national security? I think the
[17:43] pardon is coming, John. Thank you for everything. History will remember you as one of the good men of our day. Agreed. Amazing work as always. Love the show. Can't wait to see where it goes. So, how might the I mean, yes, obviously the algorithms go toward profit optimization. How might this play into national security? That's a That's actually a pretty profound question, John. Yeah. Yeah. It is a profound question. Oh, I think the the answer is of course it's all about financial optimization.
[18:15] I don't think any of these private companies do anything for the public good. I think that if there is a benefit to the public, it's um almost accidental. Totally. No, I agree with that. It is totally accidental, but in terms of the national security implications, I mean, look, if we live in a world, John, where no You know, the first thing you and I lived in this world. We all All of us watching this show are where you see something break on social media and
[18:46] you're like your first thought is, "Oh my god." And your second thought is, "Wait, that might not be true." Well, what's that going to mean when you get a warning, for example, from the emergency broadcast system that you need to take shelter? Um and people might not take that seriously. What's that going to mean if there's like you know a disease outbreak that requires people to take certain steps? We already know that the government's credibility is has was compromised 6 years ago in a big way. A
[19:17] lot of people don't believe anything they have to say. I mean I think the the ability of the government to interact with its citizens and be believed is in the toilet. And that's that's a weakness for any society, John. John? You frozen? Um I don't know, John. Oh, yeah. Okay. Robbie, what do you think? John's frozen. Yeah, John's frozen. Let's go
[19:48] and do the ad before we lose it real quick. >> Okay, let's do it. Do you want to put it up? Yeah, it already is. Okay, thank you. Um all right. You've already 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,
[20:20] and more from your favorite creators. Right now, Rumble is offering $10 off an annual subscription. Just go to rumble.com/premium and use the promo code studio at checkout. That's rumble.com/premium, promo code studio. No ads, more freedom, and content you actually care about. That is the deal, and John Kiriakou is back. So, John, >> No idea what happened. You froze up a little bit um even though you're at home. So, so I was so I was just wondering if what you thought about my my claim that like if the government doesn't have an ability to be believed in any kind of
[20:50] credible way by the American people, that's a weakness That's That's a massive national security weakness. Huge national security weakness. Just huge. When people stop trusting the government for basic issues concerning life and death, yeah, that's a serious problem. Yeah, I don't even know if people would believe a tornado warning now. >> Exactly. That's exactly what I was thinking. What about a tornado warning, for example? >> ah, it's probably >> Yeah. It's It's really They're the ultimate
[21:21] boy who cried wolf. Yeah. All right, let's do some more. Manchild, thanks for the two bucks. Uh good morning. Now that Ice Barbie is out and Mark Wayne Mallon is taking over at DHS, I remember I remain skeptical of this new leadership providing better Any thoughts? And of course, Tom Homan is now like the man on the field instead of Dan Bongino. Um I guess that's a marginal improvement. Um What do you think? Do you think uh You know, Mark Wayne Mallon says that He says that unlike Kristi Noem,
[21:53] uh he doesn't He doesn't He sees prioritizing going to prisons and getting and and deporting criminals rather than, you know, your your babysitter as more of a priority. I mean, who can argue with that? >> Sure. >> If If it's true. But then at the same time, now we have ICE at the airport. Um so, I mean, >> Yeah. how much autonomy does he have? Is this really the You know, he can't really push back against the president. So, I don't know. Do you think it'll make much difference? I mean, Kristi Noem was a
[22:23] foul uh >> She was a horrible human being. Yeah. Just a horrible. And I'll tell you what, that was a twofer. Because when we got rid of her, we got rid of Corey Lewandowski, too, who was an equally horrible human being. Yeah, whoever's flying the ICE jet is certainly in a better mood these days. Um You can say that again. Uh Unlikely Utopia, thanks for the fiver. Morning. Hope you swept slept well. I'm I I assure you Well, John didn't sleep much. I'm sure you guys saw Trump's meeting
[22:53] with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. Yikes. That's the Pearl Harbor joke. Opinions on our future relationship with Japan. I was surprised she just took it. She just sat there and smiled politely and and nodded. Yeah, to quote one of my favorite movies Ace in the Hole, I've met some hard-boiled eggs in my in my time, but she's 20 minutes. She doesn't care. No, she didn't care. She's trying to make Japan great again. Yes. By the way, what Did you note Did you take note of
[23:25] the new military the new military cooperation agreement between Germany and Japan because hey, all that's missing is Italy and then the gang will be back together. Where where have I heard that before? That worked out great last time. Wow, wow. I mean, the whole point of of the of the immediate post-World War II talks was that Japan wouldn't have an army. And now not only not only did they have an army, they're allying themselves with Germany
[23:55] and they're going to start using that army overseas. Yeah, I mean, I mean, obviously the U it would be up to the U.S. to enforce this and they don't care. I mean, is it fair to say even despite all the that the Japanese and the Germans pulled, murdering tens of millions of innocent people, that, you know, at a certain point the world has to move on and say that's in the past? If we've learned the lessons from the
[24:25] past, maybe. I'm not sure that we have. Yeah, I'm yeah. Yeah. And and the Japanese are still fascists and the Germans, you know, having been in Germany all week last week, it I like Berlin very much. It's got an awesome art scene and music scene and it's a great city for restaurants. There's lots of life and activity, but these reminders of Nazism are everywhere you look, like in the architecture, for example. And
[24:56] it just seems to me thinking about um um Wow, breaking news. Crown Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman urges Trump to continue war against Iran. Wow. He says this is a historic opportunity to remake the region. No peace. Well, I've heard that before. Historic opportunity to remake the region. I didn't realize he was here in Washington. There were pictures of he and Trump together this morning. Anyway,
[25:27] We know that MBS often says things for public consumption that he and he says exactly the opposite in private. Could this be one of those times? >> may be the case. But getting back to to Germany, the Germans want the world to to see that they are so sorry for their Nazi past that they bend over backwards more than any other country to support Israel Mhm. to the point where they're now supporters of the genocide against the
[25:57] Palestinians, which puts them right back in bed with their Nazi past. Right, true. Yeah. >> I don't get it. Yeah, well, they're they they Yeah, they've lost the thread. Um you know, >> Yeah. Um Bugs and Clowns, thanks for the $10. Hey guys, back again at 3:00 in the morning. Do you have any thoughts and insights on the environmental impacts of the war in Iran, especially Tehran? Thank you for this question. I'm an environmental science freshman in college and it's been a hot topic at school as it should be. >> Good. Well, John, you and I both saw
[26:28] that Very pleased to hear that. >> We saw the acid rain the that was caused in Tehran by the by the bombing of the oil refineries right on the outskirts of the city of over 9 million people. If they really hit 8,000 targets, that's you know, that's that's heavy metals in the soil, that's contaminated ground water, that's I mean, there's obviously more energy pumped into the atmosphere from all of these explosions. There's
[26:58] obviously a huge carbon footprint from the military that's not generally appreciated or much discussed in the mainstream news. Yeah, I think that's exactly right. You know, every once in a while you'll see a picture. There was one that the Associated Press ran yesterday of a car completely covered in like oil droplets, you know? Mhm. I remember those days from uh the the weeks after the liberation of Kuwait. Mhm. When I was when I was assigned to
[27:29] Kuwait, I had to throw away all my clothes when I got home cuz all of it was just covered in oil droplets. >> set fire to the uh oil oil wells. >> Yeah. And and in Iran now they're breathing they're breathing that in and uh like you said, it's not just oil and smoke, it's heavy metals as well. This is going to cause I mean immediate problems, of course, immediate respiratory problems, but it's going to lead to cancers and all kinds of different craziness. Yeah, like you remember the wildfires a few years ago here in the United States and in Canada. And what's not generally
[28:00] appreciated when things burn, I remember this from 9/11. Um, like okay, so you think it's like when a building burns, right? Buildings are made of all sorts of toxic and furniture has toxic and there's wiring and all sorts of crap in there. And the World Trade Center was 40% uh built with asbestos until the law changed. Um, and this is the same thing in Iran, right? There when you blow up buildings, you're blowing up stuff that becomes, you know, toxic particulate. It's not
[28:32] like burning trees at a campfire. That's right. That's exactly right. This is very very dangerous and long-lasting. Yeah, the implications >> of, you know, depleted uranium. Now, we're not apparently we're not using that. Yet, but if we were to put troops on the ground, we would be using a lot of depleted uranium. >> Or phosphorus. Or phosphorus. Like we used in Fallujah. That's right. Um Neat Bunny, thanks for the 10. I live in Ohio and grew up in Canton. You people
[29:03] have talked You guys have talked about you people have talked about Ohio. You people have talked a lot about Ohio in the past. I was wondering if you guys had a favorite spot in Ohio. Best luck on the pardon John. I mean Ohio is my home state. I grew up there. I grew up in Kettering just south of Dayton. So I have lots of favorite spots. I mean my favorite thing in Ohio is really just to drive along state routes in the middle of nowhere look at old one room schoolhouses and stop at antique stores and all that, but my favorite city is Cincinnati.
[29:35] It's I think the most fun. It's It's a little bit wild and crazy for people who know the nightlife and it's like it's it's a cool looking city topographically. >> Beautiful. And by the way, oddly you know what John, did you know fun fact that it's it's where reform Judaism was founded? What? No. >> Ohio. It's where reform Judaism is from. I just assumed it was European. Yeah, everyone think that I thought that too and I grew up 45 miles north of Cincinnati, but yeah, yeah, it's it's
[30:07] but so so Cincinnati's cool, but I mean I really love I love the state. You know, the Appalachia is cool. I mean you know, it's home. I mean is it objectively like the best most fun state in the country? no, but but you know, it's mostly rust belt, but it's home. How about you John? My mom was born and raised in Warren, Ohio. My first wife was from Warren, Ohio. My first two kids were baptized Well, my first was born was baptized in Warren. My second was born
[36:54] about the rise of Greece as a as a player in the Middle East. I have not read it, but I have ordered it. And um just came out. So, I'm looking forward to it. I'm a voracious consumer of everything written about Greece. I just love it. I think this is going to be a good one. You know, funny thing I actually >> about Byzantium. I love it. I anything anything having to do with Byzantium. Um
[37:26] when I went to the Amazon website the Amazon page to to order this book, I noticed it only got like three and a half stars or something like that. So, I was like, oh, maybe it's poorly written. So, I clicked on it and it was just angry Turks gave it one star. >> just going to say that. Yeah, yeah. This is me off as an author. I'm looking forward to getting it. You should be a verified you should have to answer some questions to prove that you read a book before you give a review. Yeah.
[37:56] Anthony Favorito, thanks for the $19.99. Uh page 159 of Project 2025 calls for TSA to be privatized says, "Until it is privatized, TSA should be treated as a national security provider. Its workforce should be de-unionized immediately." Well, I don't agree with the de-unionization. They don't make enough money as it is. But um I don't know that we need TSA at all to be honest. I mean, there's no evidence Is there any credible evidence that you've ever heard of, John, that they've ever prevented a terrorist attack? No.
[38:28] No, in fact, I I wrote an op-ed, I'm going to say a year and a half, 2 years ago, um saying that NSA, I'm sorry, NSA, TSA had been responsible since 9/11 for the capture of exactly zero terrorists. Mhm. But more than 200 TSA employees had been arrested in the same period for stealing out of people's luggage. Oh, I'm surprised it's so few. So, do you mean
[38:58] >> had some valuables stolen from my luggage by TSA. Yeah, I believe it. Morshed Sadin, thanks for the two Canadian dollars. Can the United States invade and hold Carg Island with 3,000 Marines? John, correct me if I'm wrong. Oh, they can certainly invade. Oh, yeah, they can invade anything they want. They can't >> up. Yeah, not a chance. Um Joseph >> blown up. Exactly. 9999, good morning, John and Ted. John, I've seen you mention the economy is a wartime economy a few times. What would we do to go about changing it? When did it start? Love the show, guys. Pardon, John.
[39:31] It started on the 12th of September, 2001. Um in all seriousness. We We could do it, but it would require some real cojones on the part of of Congress and a leader in the White House that is willing to to shrink the Pentagon budget. Even if you don't cut the budget and then cut taxes, you can transfer a lot of what the Pentagon does to civilian agencies in order to improve
[40:02] infrastructure domestically. So, I'm not saying slash the Pentagon budget and, you know, shrink the overall budget, cut taxes, whatever. I'm saying you don't have to spend it all on weapons and overseas bases and military personnel. We need roads, we need bridges, we need modern airports. Our airports are compared to airports around the world. >> rail. High speed rail would be at the very top of the list. >> Free college. Yeah, seriously.
[40:33] >> countries have. >> Exactly. National health care. >> this is one of the reasons why I got European Union citizenship for my kids. Because college is free. It's civilized. >> And if they want to go get a master's degree in any European Union country, they can do it for free. Yeah, they just have to pay for the books. Yeah. Cheeks, thanks so much for the 349 New Zealand dollars. Big love from New Zealand. Um Amout, thanks for the Hungarian 2000.
[41:03] Um do you think I think they're Hungarian. Uh do you guys think that fire Iran firing a missile at Diego Garcia puts the US in a position to take more action because it scares the Europeans and through that fear Trump might get the EU to join that fight. It's not inconceivable. Yeah, it's not inconceivable. I I I agree with that. Um are you familiar with Sneaker Dad? Thanks for the 50 bucks, man. Appreciate it. Are you familiar with Graham Platner,
[41:34] the Maine oyster farmer campaigning for Susan Collins' Senate seat? I like this guy. Um you know, it's funny. He and the governor uh Kay uh I forget her last name. She's running for the Democratic nomination as well. But she's like 40 years older than he is practically. Or maybe, not even practically. He's 40 years She's 40 years older than he is. Their positions on the issues are almost identical. He's very slightly more to the left than she
[42:06] is. I think he would be an immensely stronger candidate uh against Susan Collins than Ivy the go- than Governor Kay um, would be. And, you know, Ivey's too old. She would be a one-term senator. She'd be a lame duck from the get-go. And, um, I think he would be better. And, he's more solidly pro-organized labor than she is. Uh, question for you, John, from Bryson. Thanks for the $4.99. Have you watched Snowfall? If so, what portrayal of the CIA in this >> I freaking love Snowfall. My son, Max,
[42:39] got me hooked on that show. I love it. Yeah, it's great. Um, Cleve 2 Antiquity, thanks for the $1.99. Thoughts Thoughts on the Mark Levin Joe Kent interview. I did not see. Geez, I didn't I didn't even realize that he had interviewed Joe Kent. That would have been hostile territory. You know what? Thanks for Thanks for flagging that. I'm going to check it out. >> Yeah, I'll check that out, too. I prefer I like I like Daniel in the lion's den
[43:09] situations. Uh, you and I, John, are not are not strangers to that. Um, 12 hours ago, Mediaite says Mark Levin blows up at Joe Kent over Iran war claim. Yeah, >> MAGA host Daily Beast. MAGA host melts down at Tulsi goon who quit. Mark Mark Levin. Um, what do you guys think about Thanks for the $1.99 from WNSN. What do you guys think about the Valero explosion? Uh, uh, you know what? I I don't know anything
[43:40] about it. >> I don't either. Uh, I was hoping you did. All right. Um, Valero explosion. All right, please look that up. >> Port Arthur, 2 hours ago. Oh. Texas oil refinery explosion sends smoke into air. Residents advised to shelter in place. Yeah, I don't I'm sure that's just an accident, but I mean, you know, it does it did bring to mind like, wow, like what if the war came home for Americans in the the that 9/11 brought it home to Americans. >> reported. Yeah, it looks like it was an accident. Or October 7th brought it home
[44:12] to the Israelis. Right. Jimmy D, thanks for the $4.99. With With the networks like 764 popping up, do you think there's still intelligent assets like Joshua Caleb Sutter, FBI informant, not CIA, but still Can Can you repeat that about Sutter? >> Um Yeah, sorry. With networks like 764 pop popping up, do you still think there are intel assets assets like Joshua Caleb Sutter? He was an FBI informant, not CIA. I don't know. I'm I'm totally unfamiliar, John.
[44:42] You know, I've heard rumors. I've never seen any proof, but I've heard rumors that that's the case, and it wouldn't surprise me. Damn well, thanks for becoming a member for a month. Hey guys, my friend George says that the reason we have millions of illegal immigrants in Europe is because the US keeps supporting all of these wars in the Middle East and Africa and now Iran. There it is. What say you? That's a contributing factor. Sure. And it's a And of course, it's also a legacy of European colonialism. Absolutely. Especially in in Africa.
[45:13] Geneva Gardner, thanks for the $7.99 Australian dollars. I've seen commentators say that this war will have long-lasting effect on gas prices that even if it ended tomorrow, prices won't go back to normal for years. I think that's right. They go up faster than they come down. Um and I think we're going to see Honestly, I think we're going to see four-digit um you know, gas prices, $10 and more in California and other places. Did you happen to see the report this morning? I saw it in the New York Times that the Trump administration is going
[45:43] to pay a $1 billion buyout to this French energy company. I think it's Total. It is. The big one. Um to for to get them to drop their wind farm idea. Mhm. Their wind farm idea was an awesome idea. True. So, they're going to get a billion dollars to break the contract. Donald Trump's not going to be president two and a half years. Nope. And if the Democrat wins, they'll get their wind farm back and they get to keep the billion dollars. Yeah. Oh oh Total I'm
[46:15] sure Total stock is is up. >> It must be up today. Yeah. No, it's But I tell you what the agreement is that the White House is forcing Total to invest in oil refineries in Texas. Mhm. That in and of itself makes me want to buy an electric car. You know? It's like we're being forced to cling on to oil and gas. What John, what happened to free
[46:45] markets? I mean markets have been very very clear. On my other show with Manila, we've often had this lady who's an expert Lauren Fix come on and talk about the auto industry. And she's very very clear. She's no lefty. But she's very clear that the American that consumers in this country, they want hybrids and if they can afford them, they want electric vehicles. Especially that's going to be true now. I mean it's stupid to you know to go backwards when the industry itself is already
[47:15] moving forwards. Yeah, that's exactly right. Um Destined for Nothing and I Bobalot were both gifted memberships by Poon Banger 69. Thank you Poon Banger 69. Q Q note 729 499. Thank you so much. Hey, tried to make a super chat on Rumble a rant. YouTube censorship won't allow me to post the question here. Will you read those? Yes, 100% Robbie always reads the Rumble rants and posts them. In fact, I'll read one right now from
[47:46] Gantry's $5. Love the love for Cincinnati. Don't abandon all hope. I I shouldn't have said that. At least I shouldn't have said it out loud. I tell myself all the time. Daniel 96, uh I don't know what Okay, oh so this is from Brazilian Stop, what's the currency there? God, I don't even know. It's uh reals. Oh, reals, that's right. 20 reals, thanks so much. Um >> Good morning, John and Ted. Shout out from São Paulo. What are your thoughts
[48:16] about America's Counter Cartel Coalition and the Shield of America? The way we all have to say it. I forgot all about the Shield of America. Anti-Shield of America summit in Florida on March 7th. Keep up the great work. I guess my invitation was lost in the mail to the Shield of America summit. Um I think it's is what I think it is. >> Yeah. Uh okay. Yeah. Oh, I got to tell you, I got to tell you, a good friend of mine from college listens to the show
[48:48] and she sent me a livid email because of the R word. Oh, but listen, and I'm I'm really the most guilty here. So, um apologies Sorry, Melissa. >> from me, but I can't promise it's not going to happen again cuz I just like the word too much. Besides which, you know thing is there's no other word that really quite works as well. >> No, in fact, you know what? It used to be an actual medical term. There There were There were degrees of it. Like you could be a or an idiot or, you
[49:21] know, there there were like four, five, six degrees. >> Now they're all members members of Congress. But Yeah, seriously. No, but like um so yeah, you're right. I remember I do remember that. Um but is just a French word for um you know, moving more slowly. Retardé, right? Like All right, when you say I was late to lunch. Oh, j'étais retardé. Pardon. Oh, I saw the funniest thing on on Facebook the other day. This woman wrote this just nasty letter to Crayola crayons
[49:51] because she bought a box of Crayola crayons at the dollar store. It happened to be in Spanish. And she pulls out the black crayon and it says negro. And she's like, how dare you say black is negro? How dare you? That's the word for it. >> She's demanding that all of these crayons be recalled and destroyed cuz it says negro on it. And they're like, it doesn't say negro. Crayola crayons are political, John. Do you remember when we were kids, the flesh-colored crayons?
[50:22] >> Yes. Which was of course Do you remember? not negro. No, I do remember. I'm sure that's gone. I think they changed it to peach. Okay, well, and rightly so. Vim Vim Alner, thanks for the two Canadian dollars. What's the best course worst best worst-case off-ramp for the Iran and the United States? Worst-case land invasion, I would say. Um Worst-case I mean, worst-case there's no limit to how bad worst-case could be.
[50:53] Nuclear. Um Best-case we sit down with the Iranians and we establish full diplomatic relations and we cut the Israelis loose. Oh, God, yes. >> Never to be talked to again. They should never get their calls returned ever again. Um I I agree with both of those points. >> Thanks uh thanks for making us number seven on Rumble, everyone. Um John, let's talk a little bit about Steve So, reports say that Steve Witkos has had some shit-chats with Abbas Araqchi. He's
[51:25] the foreign minister of Iran. Uh Iran says is not denying that the two men talked, but basically says there's been nothing substantive discussed. Um the uh And and so basically do you think that I kind of believe the Iranian narrative here that nothing much has happened. Um I agree. The EU says they're not going to use military force to reopen the Strait of Hormuz as much as Trump would like to do it otherwise. This part I thought was super interesting. Um, a lot of Iranians, of course, oppose
[51:56] the Iranian government. Um, it's not a popular government, but they say that they're angry and I remember this. I mean, I witnessed this personally. Um, John, I got to tell you, I never I don't know if I've told this story. I don't think I have. So, last time I flew out of Iran, um, it was very somber. There's no music in the terminal at at Khomeini International Airport at all. It's like very There's no like music or anything like that. It's like the lights are a little bit dim. It's like just It's not like the bright fluorescent lighting of a normal international airline terminal. And you
[52:27] know, there's all the women, you know, you just see their eyes and everyone's just very quiet and hushed, right? So, we all file onto the plane. It was Turkish Air to Istanbul. Get on the plane and we get off the ground and the pilot comes on goes Attention, ladies and gentlemen, this is your pilot. We have left Iranian airspace. Everything comes right off. Everything comes right off. All the women are like wearing like scanty clothes, big like busts like popping out all over the
[52:59] place. Some people are dancing out in the aisle. Music comes on the plane. It's like the drink cart comes down That's exactly how it is leaving Saudi airspace. Really? Does everybody All the women are in designer jeans and crop tops and all that comes right off. >> I was like, man, they're all they're all underneath the underneath the chador. It's great. >> Mhm. It's like It's like so So, yeah, so the point is the Iranians are, um, you know, but they say that they're in despair
[53:29] even though they want the government to fall because of all the they don't know how their country's going to be rebuilt and they worry about it collapsing into the kind of chaos that they saw in neighboring Iraq and Afghanistan, um, after the US invasion. I think they have good cause for concern. I just know Worth noting. Gringo change, thanks for the 99. Hey Ted and John, what are your views on the use of FPV drone drones against US forces? Are we prepared for a real war?
[54:01] What's FPV? That's the the suicide drones. >> Oh, okay. 5,000 Marines get to the Middle East the same time as Trump's deadline ends. Right? I think this is the future of warfare. Yeah. >> You know, between drones and robots and those robot dogs that scare the hell out of me more than the robot men do. Just because I love Black Mirror and that one episode, I'm still like having bad dreams about it. Yeah, I hear you. That's the future of warfare. It is. But
[54:33] one of the shames of that is is that it seems to me that whether we're talking about the Russians, the Ukrainians, the Iranians, you know, whomever, the Israelis, they're perfectly happy to crash these explosives-laden drones into civilian targets. Yes, yes, they are. Yes, they are. John, have you seen the new trailer for Wildhorse 9 um featuring Sam Rockwell and John
[55:04] Malkovich, supposedly about two CIA agents in 1973 being sent to Easter Island from Santiago. Thanks for the $2 from Jack Phil. By the way, John, did you know the statues there's a whole body buried underneath? >> body underneath. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, there's a whole body. I did see the trailer and I saw it in the theater just last time I went to see a movie and I was like, "Dang, that looks like a good movie. I'm going to have to check that out." It should be coming out soon. Looking forward. Cole Ballard, thanks for the 499. You guys are from Ohio and Pennsylvania. Have you guys ever
[55:35] traveled to places in West Virginia? What was your favorite place in to go in West Virginia? My ex-wife and I, this was my idea, we spent an entire month just doing road trips around West Virginia, the entire month we stayed there. Wow. Cuz it was like nobody ever goes to West Virginia. No. Um there was no So this is one of those trips where it wasn't about any one thing, although I was really taken by Matewan where the movie um about the coal mining uh strikes uh were set. I think Matewan was my
[56:05] favorite. I love West Virginia. Fantastic. Very poor, beautiful state. Really worth checking out. I um my grandparents lived in Weirton, West Virginia for a while. Um and so um I'm looking for something that I remember seeing in West Virginia and I was like, I got to Yeah, there it is. The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum.
[56:36] It uh it was a mental hospital from before the Civil War. It closed It closed in 1972. If you could imagine going that long. Hundreds upon hundreds of people died in there. Now they do tours and ghost tours where you sleep on a cot in the lunatic asylum. And people say you can hear you can in the darkness down these darkened halls, you can hear people talking. There's nobody down there. Mhm.
[57:09] Um But I wanted to take my >> or something. Yeah, I I wanted to take my kids. I thought it would be kind of a you know, fun thing to scare the hell out of them like that. And they were like, absolutely not. They wouldn't do it. But anyway, I I like um I like Morgantown. Uh my mom and I used to go shopping in uh Weirton or in um Wheeling. Wheeling's a nice town. You know Virginia and commute. And sorry.
[57:39] For some reason my phone phone phone microphone. And they commute into Langley from West Virginia cuz it's so much cheaper. It's nice. I wouldn't want to live there, but it's nice. Very, very quickly. Katana's last question for today and we will get to the ones we didn't get to tomorrow. $5. What do you think of the assertion that Abu Dhabi is a Trojan horse from Israel? Oh, no. I No. I think that the
[58:10] that the Emirates see dollar signs in this relationship with Israel, but but no, I wouldn't call it a Trojan horse. Okay. And with that we're going to call it quits for today, but no worries. We'll be back tomorrow Wednesday at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time with the D program with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou. Thanks so much for tuning in. TMI show with myself and Manila Chan coming right up in just a minute or two. Keep tuned.
[58:40] Stay tuned and John always a pleasure to see you tomorrow. See you tomorrow. Bye.