5/6/26: Trump Blinks On Iran 'Project Freedom', Trump Voters Flip, Van Jones Humiliated On Israel Nukes

19:49Emily Jashinsky:If you're listening to this, Ryan just had a very gif-able reaction. He said, okay, Jesse. I mean, incredible. Yeah. Because if you have too much success, then the Iranians, they lose face. You can't have that. You can't have too many haters in this world. You have to be better guests when you're attacking another country. Here is how Trump was discussing the war in the Oval Office just hours before he posted that true social on Tuesday evening, A3. I call it a skirmish because Iran has no chance. They never did. They know it. They expressed it to me when I talked to them. Then they get on television.

20:32They say how well they're doing. And they have no Navy totally wiped out. They have no Air Force totally wiped out. They have no anti-aircraft capability, totally wiped out, no radar. They have no leaders. The leaders are wiped out, the whole thing. And then I read the papers and they say how well they're doing. They're not doing well. That's why you have no credibility.

20:57Emily Jashinsky:OK. Axios reporting early this morning via Barack Ravid and Jeremy as well. We can put the next element up on the screen. exclusive U.S. and Iran closing in on one-page memo to end the war, according to officials Ravid, posting that, among other provisions, this is including, well, he says, among other provisions, the deal would involve Iran committing to a moratorium on nuclear enrichment. The U.S. agreeing to lift its sanctions and release billions in frozen Iranian funds, and both sides lifting restrictions around transit through the Strait of Hormuz. So just as we mentioned earlier. And Ryan, that's basically what Jeremy has as well, right?

21:34Yeah. And I just love the idea that Trump is doing it so he doesn't humiliate the Iranians.

21:43Emily Jashinsky:Well, Joe Weisenthal, this is maybe another part of Trump's thoughts right now. Joe Weisenthal pointing out that markets are already surging, already surging. This was as of 4.54 a.m., Just looking at where things could go from here, Ryan, that probably explains a little bit of Trump's eagerness. If your interpretation of this true social as of about 20 minutes ago is correct, Trump's eagerness to actually stop the escalation trap in action. Yeah, and Trump and Rubio gave about an hour-long press conference yesterday, which is kind of mooted at this point by the developments that have happened since then.

22:26But there was one clip I wanted to play from that because I think it suggests how bleak the situation had gotten for Jesse Waters in the United States. Let's jump to A6 here. Here's Marco Rubio in what has to just be a truly historic moment for American collapse, explaining what the new goal of the ongoing war is. As President Trump has said, and the facts clearly bear out, the United States of America holds all the cards. There is no scenario here in which if they decide to join a ladder of escalation, they wind up getting the last say. But our preference is for these straits to be opened to the way they're supposed to be open, back to the way it was.

23:10Anyone can use it. No mines in the water. Nobody paying tolls. That's what we have to get back to, and that's the goal here. So the U.S. preference is for things to go back to the way they were. Lindsey Graham is going to be having a difficult day. Here he is yesterday kind of trying to talk himself through what he sees as the next step here.

23:33Emily Jashinsky:This is after the True Social post on Hannity. So Trump posts that. Lindsey Graham reacts. Yeah. How do you now define victory as this seems to be in the closing days? regain freedom of navigation of the Strait of Hormuz if they continue to attack our allies like the United Arab Emirates. The UAE has been champion allies. They've done everything we've asked and more. So when Iran attacks them with missiles and drones, we need to be there for the United Arab Emirates. If they do this, they continue to do this, attack ships and our allies, I would let Admiral Cooper finish the job, go against targets like General Kellogg indicated.

24:16I'm not a real advocate of taking Karg Island. I think we ought to tell the Iranians we will destroy it from the air. That will accomplish the mission I have in mind, which means they can never regenerate anytime soon to become the largest state sponsor of terrorism and their nuclear program's been obliterated. We're close to victory. Victory to me would be regaining freedom of navigation of the Strait of Hormuz, degrading a little bit further, short, big, strong response to degrade their military capability a bit further, threaten Khurag Island with destruction and pull out and try to get Israel and Saudi Arabia back to the peace table.

24:54The ultimate victory is that Saudi Arabia and Israel make peace, ending the Arab-Israeli conflict because Donald Trump put Iran in a box. He was not Obama. He was not Biden. He didn't beg them. He didn't give them a bunch of money. He blew up their capability to wage war and terrorism. You will go down in history, Mr. President, as being the greatest peacemaker in the history of the Mideast if you can put Iran in a box and have Saudi Arabia and Israel make peace on your watch this year. That is victory.

25:24Emily Jashinsky:So this is not the JCPOA, Ryan. He's saying Trump is not giving anyone lots of money. He was only able to accomplish this. Billions of dollars. Literally, that is what's on the table right now, per this morning's reporting. Lindsey Lindsey Graham is saying he's not giving them billions of dollars. It's their money, too, in Trump's defense. The frozen. Yeah. Yeah. But then apparently also lifting sanctions. So these are as the day plays out, we're going to see how the Lindsey Grahams react. Yeah. This is what happens when you lose. And on to Graham's point about regional relations, and we're going to be joined, I believe, by Ahmed Khan in a moment to talk about, I think, why he can talk about why Iran was in the position to get this if they do.

26:07Regional relations have been utterly scrambled. So put up A9 just real briefly. This is the IRGC spokesperson saying, in recent days, the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran have not carried out any missile or drone operations against the UAE. Had any such action been taken, we would have announced it with full firmness and clarity. Therefore, the report from that country's Ministry of Defense is categorically denied and is entirely devoid of truth. Should any measures be taken against Iran from Emirati territories, our response will be severe. Now, obviously, we take all statements from all governments with heavy doses of grains of salt.

26:48Their point, though, is that they say when we've attacked the UAE before, we have said it every single time. More importantly, talking to a lot of different Gulf officials, both in Saudi Arabia and from the Emiratis, and looking at their public statements, what emerges is that the UAE actually is not totally convinced that Iran struck the Fujairah port. There is a strong suspicion that it was Saudi Arabia that hit that port. There is a suspicion that Saudi Arabia hit it in retaliation for the UAE and or Israel previously hitting the east-west pipeline. The east-west pipeline that was hit earlier in the war was hit with precision that they do not believe that Iran possesses from that distance.

27:37and Saudi Arabia has and so Saudi Arabia believed that the UAE hit this east-west pipeline or that Israel did it in coordination with the UAE UAE and Israel have not liked the east-west pipeline ever it cuts both of them out Israel would prefer a pipeline that cuts up their direction UAE doesn't want Saudi Arabia to be the kind of hegemonic power there. And so the suspicion, whether it's true or not, the very strong suspicion among very powerful Gulf figures is that the UAE and Saudi Arabia are blowing up each other's industrial, fossil fuel industrial capacity right now, which is wild.

28:23Emily Jashinsky:Yeah, absolutely wild. Well, let's actually get to Ahmed Khan then. May is Mental Health Awareness Month and your 20s, they can feel like a lot. On the Psychology of Your 20s podcast, we unpack the anxiety, the overthinking, the heartbreak, the identity crisis, all of it that comes with being in your 20s. Because if you've ever thought, is anybody else feeling this way? They definitely are. I feel like my 20s was a process of checking off everything that I was not good at to get to what I was good at. Oftentimes we take everything a little bit too seriously and we get lost in things that we later on decide weren't even important to us to begin with.

29:06There was a large chunk of my 20s that I was just so wanting to be out of that phase, out of my skin, and I just really regret not living in the present more. Each week, we break down the science behind what you're going through and give you real tools to navigate it. Your 20s aren't about having it all figured out. They're about understanding yourself just a little bit better. Listen to the psychology of your 20s on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

29:57Spotful solutions. Psych! I'm a comedian! I'm not qualified to give good advice!

30:02Emily Jashinsky:Join me and my comedian friends as we riff, rant, and recommend some of the most legally dubious advice known to man. If I'm calling you, even if you're on your phone, let it ring twice. One ring is too scary. Cream of chicken soup. Hey, cream. Cream of chicken soup. This is Help from a Hypocrite, the worst advice from the dumbest people you know. Listen to Help from a Hypocrite as part of the Mike Cultura Podcast Network, available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The story I've told myself about love or relationships can then shape my behavior, and that can lead me to sabotage the possibility of connection.

30:45This Mental Health Awareness Month, tune into the podcast Deeply Well with Debbie Brown and explore the journey of healing, self-discovery, and returning to yourself. We explore higher consciousness, emotional well-being, and the practices that help you find clarity, peace, and self-mastery in a world that can feel overwhelming. The world is becoming lonelier. We're not becoming more social and connected. We're becoming more individualized. but we actually need people in connection. If you've been searching for a soft place to land while doing the work to become whole, this podcast is for you.

31:23To hear more, listen to Deeply Well with Debbie Brown from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Joining us now is American philanthropist and humanitarian activist Ahmed Khan, who has been working, who has been traveling to Iran frequently over the years, has a lot of contacts in Iran. And several years ago was engaged in a fascinating kind of interplay in which he helped to get some refugees. And I think people might have missed this news at the time. We can put up A10. And refugees from Afghanistan, you know, who had worked with the United States while there into Iran because they were having such a difficult time getting them all out in time as the kind of American occupation was collapsing and the Taliban was taking over.

32:22the Washington Post reported, this is back in 2021, that you kind of had the idea, wait a minute, looking at a map here, Iran is a country that might actually be willing to help here. And as a result of that, you've developed contacts in the kind of humanitarian space in Iran, which will be relevant to our conversation today. But give us the thumbnail version of that story. Were you surprised that the Iranians were willing to be helpful? Because you can imagine, I think most Americans would say, why would Iran help? This is an American occupation. They're our enemies. I presume they would just tell us to get bent.

33:07Yeah, I mean, that's the corporate media story that they tell us. And it's just not true. I mean, obviously most of those reporters have no idea what they're talking about. They don't know anything about Iran. They've never been there. They don't know any Iranian people except for maybe some, you know, lunatics and shisha joints in LA or Vancouver or something. So what that was, was that was actually after the American withdrawal. And as you remember, it was a complete fiasco and disaster. And the reality is the Biden administration left behind many, many people who actually worked for the United States and risked their lives for the United States mission in Afghanistan.

33:49They wound up taking some people who didn't do anything for the United States. So I had been over there and, you know, had committed to get these people out. And I wasn't going to give up, even though the United States had already pulled out. So this is actually after the United States had pulled out. And sort of, we went to Iran and And they said, sure. And we actually did it in the Iranian consulate in Herat, Afghanistan, toward the west of Afghanistan, near the Iranian border, and chartered a plane from Mashhad, Iran. And, you know, they gave the they gave the visas. We flew them. And now they're all either in the United States or Canada and doing really, really well.

34:25And, you know, it wasn't surprising to me because that's what sort of diplomacy is. And unfortunately, right now, we don't really have any professional diplomats doing this kind of work. We have, you know, sort of people who develop mixed use commercial properties, and that's not really relevant to being peaceful and getting along with people. I think the Iranian government is always anxious to find common ground. I mean, who wants to be in war? Like nobody literally wants to be in war, you know, among people. I mean, certainly governments and, you know, the weapons industry and then people with real other agendas have their issues.

35:07But for me, it wasn't surprising and it was a great. So you've been in war zones for the last 20 plus years, everywhere from, you know, Gaza to Rwanda to Ukraine and beyond. Based on the information that you have from your sources and travels, what is the situation in Iran? and how would you compare it to the effort that the U.S. has made to annihilate the country, smash the economy, and bring it to its knees to bring about a capitulation? Well, I mean, the reality is most of the work I've done, I think 90 % of it has been in countries that the United States has invaded in wars of choice. And I just sort of, as an American, go there and try and do what any individual could possibly do, whether it's bring humanitarian aid or reconstruct.

35:54I've done everything you can imagine. In the Christian provinces of Nineveh, in Iraq, I rebuilt churches and rebuilt homes of Christians that have been displaced by ISIS, which happened as a result of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. I did the same things in Afghanistan. In Syria, I actually evacuated Syrians who worked for U.S. Special Forces, whose lives were in danger when U.S. Special Forces came out of Syria. So I've done sort of everything you can imagine in all these wars of choice, but this literally is the worst one. I mean, we were given absolutely no reason to do this. You know, we were told that they're two weeks away and two weeks away.

36:34And apparently, you know, US intelligence figured out that they're after the June bombings, they were nine to 12 months away, if they so chose. And there was a fight was, you know, against pursuing a nuclear weapon. And apparently now they're still nine to 12 months away. So what was achieved, we dropped over 30 ,000 bombs between Operation Epic Fury and Roaring Lion, the Israelis. I mean, these are giant bombs and missiles. We killed children. We destroyed hospitals. We destroyed schools. So essentially, we've done an incredible job of uniting the Iranian people behind their government and behind their country before their government, I would say, but behind, you know, sort of they're united now.

37:17And this is something that's completely different than we've seen before. Perhaps the Israelis' goal was regime change. That was never going to happen. Perhaps it was complete chaos. You know, that was never going to happen either. And I think apparently we've got good news today that Epic Fury is over. So, you know, I think it's maybe cause for celebration. But in terms of thinking this through and doing this, I mean, this is what happens when you have people who have no idea about the country they're dealing with. Whoever the decision makers are, I mean, I'm sure none of them knows what a Shia is.

37:51None of them knows that there are tens of millions of Iranians, for better or worse, who are religious Shia and support their government. None of them know that actually from the protesters in January, many of them now are out protesting in support of the government or, you know, they say in support of the country. And so the protesters in January were economic. And they've understood now that that was a result of sanctions, of years and years of sanctions. We've had sanctions on Iran since 1986. We had them in 79 and 80 as a result of the hostage crisis. We pulled them off and then Reagan started again.

38:26President Reagan started again in 86. I mean, they're debilitating, right? And I think everybody in Iran knows that. I think, you know, it's just, it's just, it basically we've achieved the opposite of, I think, what we wanted to achieve.

38:39Emily Jashinsky:So I was going to ask about that question because this is the rationale behind our Cuba policy too. Why was there not a regime change despite the debilitating sanctions, despite the administration taking out almost the entire top layer of leadership on the first day of the war? They were being told, apparently, according to reports by Israel, there was a decent likelihood that people would rise up, freedom-loving Iranians would rise up and they would overthrow the IRGC. that didn't happen. Why? And what's happened now, to your point? That was complete nonsense. It was never going to happen. Literally, there are millions and millions of people who support the government.

39:26There are millions of people who are critics of the government, but they do not want to change their government. They don't want a foreign country coming in and changing their government. They've had that, and they've had that for years. I mean, everybody knows about Mosaddegh in 53, but it happened in 41. It happened in 25. The British and the U.S. have done this over and over and over again. And Iranians in Iran know this, and they know nothing good comes out of it. So that's why it didn't happen. And again, with the result of killing all these top leaders, what they've done is revitalize the Iranian government, actually, which is, I think, what they didn't want.

40:02It was really sort of a decaying gerontocracy. And I think Ayatollah Khamenei knew that, and they probably just left himself out to be martyred. And, you know, look, the reality is anyone who's worked in a bureaucracy knows that DOD, there's probably 2 ,000 people who are better equipped to be the Secretary of Defense than Pete Hegseth. And State Department, there's probably 1 ,000 people who are better than Marco Rubio. So literally, when people say, oh, now there's the B team or the C team or the D team, actually, they're better people. They're younger, they're smarter. And I don't know that that's what the United States wanted because now they're really dealing with an adversary.

40:41So, you know, it's just like the misinformation from the media and the government is just crazy. Like, there were zero refugees, right? Imagine 33 ,000 bombs, 31 provinces in the country, nobody left the country. All the borders are open. Iranians don't need a visa to Armenia. They're great allies. Turkey, no visa. You could cross any time. All the borders remained And basically during the bombing, they remained normal. You know, there's truck traffic and then people going on vacation. And I talked to plenty of them. I was on all the borders. And there was nobody who said, you know, there's some giant revolution about to occur in Iran.

41:19So last night on Emily's Megyn Kelly Network program, there was a really fascinating call in from an American responding to Trump's war in Iran. I wanted to play that and get your thoughts on it. Let's roll a eight. Hi.

41:35Emily Jashinsky:First of all, I want to say that I voted for Trump three times. I'm a hardcore supporter of his, but I am extremely disappointed in what he's doing. He needs to blow them to smithereens. He needs to come back in America and take care of us, the American people. I mean, I would never, I can't believe that out of my mouth I'm saying these things because I am completely disappointed with him. He's going to lose. We're going to lose the election in November, all of them. Trust me. if he continues this route. The gas prices are so high, you know, working two jobs, we can still barely make it. My son and my grandkids are never going to be able to own a home.

42:13I mean, this is not the way it's supposed to go, you know. I don't understand what's going on. I had a friend who has a business, and the tariffs killed my friend's business. They've been in business for 40 years. I don't know what happened to Trump, but this is not the same person I voted for, And if he doesn't, I'm giving him personally till the end of May. If we're still in this mess and gas prices have not come down and he hasn't blown the Iranian people to.

42:39Emily Jashinsky:I mean, he needs to get in there and just destroy them. And simple as that. If he doesn't do that, I will never vote for him again. And I will never believe a Republican. I mean, he's really damaging. I can't believe I'm saying this. That was Connie in Las Vegas said that you can't make it work in two jobs, that her sons will never be able to afford a home. She also went on in the call, this is on SiriusXM, to say that she was supposed to retire in two years, doesn't think she's ever going to retire. She said she was giving Trump, you heard this at the end of the call, until the end of May. Her perspective was you either have to, I think she said something like, just blow the Iranians.

43:17Emily Jashinsky:It was like another four or five minute call, but something about how blow the Iranians and get out of there, blow them up and get out of there. But in the rest of the call, it sounded like she was talking about the government, the IRGC specifically. And Ryan, I don't know if you had anything to add on the question for Ahmed. No. Yeah. I guess the other question would be for Ahmed Khan. Related to this, you know, you've done this relief work all around the world. You said that there were no, you know, no refuge. There's no refugee crisis in Iran. What about humanitarian aid? Like, how are they doing?

43:51You know, did you offer any kind of aid? What's been their reaction there? Yeah, I checked out what the situation was. And of course, it's tough. But my contacts through the Turkish Red Crescent, who are working in Iran, said basically, the stuff that you're sending to Lebanon and Gaza, just keep sending it to Lebanon and Gaza. We're getting by. And that's kind of, again, the opposite story of what you're being told. you know your people are people on these people on the media that show up from these fake think tanks that are like you know people are collapsing and the place is collapsing and it's falling apart and that's just not the case I mean we did hit thousands of hospitals and schools and civilian infrastructure but somehow they're they're piecing it back together and there's no urgent appeal the reality is five million people were internally displaced so you know the difference between internally displaced and the refugees the refugees the one that leaves their country these people lost their homes, but they didn't want to leave the country.

44:47I mean, they're voting, you know, people often vote with their feet. So that's another sort of data point that, you know, things are, they're not okay, but people want to stay, right? And so, yeah, I've been told multiple times, I'll look into it, and no one's really said we have an urgent appeal. Like, for example, with Lebanon, I have an urgent appeal from the Catholic Church, even up to the Vatican, where their clinics and hospitals are overwhelmed, but in Iran, no such thing, which is wild considering the amount, the tonnage from land, sea, and air, the bombs and missiles that landed on Iran.

45:23To Connie's point, look, the DOD budget, they want to do$1.5 trillion now. It was$1 trillion. And the reality is if you ask any sober-minded, long-time DOD employee, what should the DOD budget be really to keep Americans safe? The answer is like$500 maximum is what you'll get. So now they want to, it's already double that. Now it'll be triple that. Like the things we could do with that money, you know, we could actually have a real education system or hospitals and schools and our airports can not look like we're a developing world country. I mean, this is obviously the health care, you know, so obviously she's got a point on that.

46:00I mean, it's a misallocation of resources that's just brutal.

46:04Emily Jashinsky:Yeah. And like you said earlier, Ahmed, you go around the world. People don't want war. People don't want war. Yeah, no normal citizen wants to be in war. Like you don't meet anyone. So I met a truck driver who just exited Iran in Armenia and he was crying. I said, are you okay? And he says, you know, why are they bombing us? Like, you know, what did we do to them? And I really had no answer for him because he's like, can you tell me what they were, what did we do to them? Why are they doing this? And you just feel like normal people just don't want any part of this. And there's got to be a better way than just 24-7 airstrikes.

46:40Like, for example, I know someone at U.S. Transcom, and they told me we've done over 4 ,000 airlifts to Israel. Like, I think the Israeli government has said we've done 403 full of weapons since February 28th. I mean, 4 ,000 is just a crazy number. It's 100 planes a day. Like, what a waste of resources, which leads to people dead. Like, what is that? Well, hopefully this is it for the foreseeable future. Ahmed Khan, thank you so much for being here. Really appreciate it. Thanks, Emily. Thanks, Ryan. Take care. Be well. You too. Yeah, we have good news, I think. I hope so. Yeah, fingers crossed.

47:21May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and your 20s, they can feel like a lot. On the Psychology of Your 20s podcast, we unpack the anxiety, the overthinking, the heartbreak, the identity crisis, all of it that comes with being in your 20s. because if you've ever thought, is anybody else feeling this way? They definitely are. I feel like my 20s was a process of checking off everything that I was not good at to get to what I was good at. Oftentimes we take everything a little bit too seriously and we get lost in things that we later on decide weren't even important to us to begin with. There was a large chunk of my 20s that I was just so wanting to be out of that phase, out of my skin.

48:05and I just like really regret not living in the present more. Each week, we break down the science behind what you're going through and give you real tools to navigate it. Your 20s aren't about having it all figured out. They're about understanding yourself just a little bit better. Listen to The Psychology of Your 20s on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The story I've told myself about love or relationships can then shape my behavior and that can lead me to sabotage the possibility of connection. This Mental Health Awareness Month, tune into the podcast Deeply Well with Debbie Brown and explore the journey of healing, self-discovery, and returning to yourself.

48:49We explore higher consciousness, emotional well-being, and the practices that help you find clarity, peace, and self-mastery in a world that can feel overwhelming. The world is becoming lonelier. We're not becoming more social and connected. We're becoming more individualized, but we actually need people in connection. If you've been searching for a soft place to land while doing the work to become whole, this podcast is for you. To hear more, listen to Deeply Well with Debbie Brown from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

49:27Hey, I'm Jared O'Donnell. You might know me as that loud guy who yells out, help on the internet. Help!

49:33Emily Jashinsky:Somebody! Please! But there's so much more to me than that. I'm an actor. I'm a comedian. And recently I've become quite the helper myself. And on my new podcast, Hope from a Hypocrite, I'll be changing lives, helping people in need with my sage advice and thoughtful solutions. Psych! I'm a comedian. I'm not qualified to give good advice. Join me and my comedian friends as we riff, rant, and recommend some of the most legally dubious advice known to man. If I'm calling you, even if you're on your phone, let it ring twice. One ring is too scary. Cream of chicken soup. Hey, cream. Cream of chicken soup.

50:13Emily Jashinsky:This is Help from a Hypocrite, the worst advice from the dumbest people you know. Listen to Help from a Hypocrite as part of the My Cultura Podcast Network, available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A group of House Democrats is demanding that the United States break the taboo surrounding Israel's nuclear weapons. We can put our first element up on the screen. This was a story in the Washington Post that reported on a letter saying a group of House Democrats is urging the Trump administration to publicly acknowledge Israel's undeclared nuclear weapons program, a move that would abandon decades of U.S.

50:53Emily Jashinsky:policy but confirm what has been an open secret among intelligence officials since the late 1960s. Now, this letter was addressed to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The Post published the letter in full. And you can see I'm very curious to get Ryan Grimm's reaction to this. Again, 30 House Democrats, not just squad type House Democrats either. You have like Al Green on there. AOC is on it. Becca Ballant's on it. Some of the, You know, Greg Kassar, some of the obvious types, Mark Pocan. But it's not just squad types. Lloyd Doggett is on this. So we can also then, Ryan, take a little trip down memory lane to Jonathan Pollard years ago.

51:38Emily Jashinsky:That's a familiar name. But set us up, Ryan, because you had us pull this clip to kind of understand the significance of what's really happening here. Yeah, so Jonathan Pollard, one of the maybe the most infamous Israeli spy who helped build Israel's nuclear program by stealing American nuclear secrets and sending them to Israel. Israel, as we reported a while ago, and this has been in books and other stuff, when Netanyahu came to the U.S. in the 90s, he mentioned to President Clinton that Israel had tapes of him in communication with Monica Lewinsky. He just mentioned it like as a friend would do, not not making any threats whatsoever.

52:25Just saying, hey, just just bro, FYI, we've got these tapes. Something to think about. Not great. Then he also said, I need you to free Jonathan Pollard as part of this peace deal that I'm trying to get, you know, get brokered with Arafat here. The George Tenet, who was a CIA director at the time, told Clinton, if you do that, I'm resigning and saying that's why I'm resigning. Like, we as the American intelligence community will not allow this spy to be sent back to Israel. That was the 90s. He was eventually kind of given some humanitarian parole in 2015 by the Obama administration. And then the Trump administration allowed him to head back to Israel, where he promptly threatened to nuke the United States.

53:15So let's roll Pollard. The O 'Biden administration, as I called it, did threaten us. But I said, you're mistaken if you think there's never a choice. There was a choice. He said, well, what, is it to have our weapons cut off? I said, no, let me bring you back to October 1973 during the Yom Kippur War when Henry Kissinger instituted an arms embargo against us. He stopped the aerial resupply of our army at that point to extract diplomatic concessions from us. And what happened? What happened was an A-4 Skyhawk was parked at Telnoff Air Base with some interesting weapons under its wings. and we told the Americans, take your eye in the sky and take a good look at the airplane that's on that runway.

54:16And the next day, the airlift started. So the guy that I was talking... Which airlift? To Israel, the arms airlift. So in other words, we threatened their... We threatened to use unconventional weapons. I'll leave it at that. And so he said, is this what you want us to threaten now? I said, absolutely, except this time I want us to go forward with it if necessary. Oh, isn't that nice? After that—

54:45Emily Jashinsky:Unconventional weapons. Unconventional weapons. Some fancy weapons under the wing. After that, Mike Huckabee, our ambassador to Israel, met with Pollard, which then drew protests from American officials in the embassy who were like, what on earth are you doing? meanwhile Pollard is taking the hint you can put up B3 here he's announcing according to the Times of Israel he's planning on entering politics slamming Netanyahu and Bennett from the right obviously so I look forward to when Pollard is prime minister people saying that they condemn the Pollard government but not Israel so yeah that'll be interesting by the way I was looking through the list of the 30 people that signed a ton of them are not coming back to Congress next time.

55:31However, some that are, interestingly, one of them, Maxine Dexter. Oh, that is interesting. So Maxine Dexter, she beat Pramila Jayapal's sister, Sushila Jayapal. Pramila Jayapal signed this letter. She got more than$2 million from AIPAC that they secretly funneled through this group 314 action. So she was elected with$2 plus million worth of secret AIPAC money.

55:58Emily Jashinsky:And is running again. And is running again. And she has been, constituents hammer her constantly for that secret AIPAC money. She's Portland area? Yes. Yeah. Very low. And so that's interesting that she would sign this. That's very interesting. AIPAC, you spent$2 million to get her in there. Now she's telling Israel to out its nuclear program, which has legal implications because if the United States ever acknowledged that Israel had undeclared nuclear weapons and it is not a signatory to any of these treaties. We can't arm a country like that. It is illegal to arm that country, which means it is illegal to arm them.

56:36Emily Jashinsky:There's so much on the line. And I get that this is just like a silly little letter, people will say from House Democrats, but it's a huge sign that this taboo with massive implications is in the process of shattering. Van Jones on CNN was discussing this with Abby Phillip. It had a little bit of, honestly, a crash out. You can see why. I mean, he's sort of calm throughout, but you can see he's pulling at the stud that Ryan's talking about. Why, why, why, why are these House Democrats saying it? Roll the clip here. Here are some of the questions that Joaquin Castro is posing on this issue. Maybe this might answer some of your questions.

57:14What nuclear weapons capability does Israel have? Has the administration received any assurances from Israel that nuclear weapons will not be used? Has Israel communicated to the United States any nuclear doctrine, any red lines or thresholds for nuclear use in the context of the current conflict with Iran? Has the administration assessed what circumstances could lead Israel to consider nuclear use? What contingency planning has the administration conducted for such a scenario? I mean, we do. I mean, look. Is there any, I'm asking an honest question. Why? I mean, has there been some rumor that says that Israel is going to nuke Iran?

57:55Here's the thing. I guess the question is, the question is, again, now there's been a change of status quo. There's a war between the United States, Israel, and Iran that is going on right now in the Middle East. and under those circumstances that is actually different from what we've been experiencing for the last you know 40 50 years and so under those circumstances there's only one power in the Middle East um that has a nuke and it's Israel and so the question is what are the circumstances what are the boundaries are there any boundaries they don't acknowledge that they have them people know that they that they do but are there any boundaries I think that seems like a fair question to ask.

58:39I'm assuming that they're in executive session.

58:42Emily Jashinsky:It seems like a great question to ask, Abby Phillips says. But Ryan, Van Jones is saying why, I think because he's getting it exactly to your point. He's saying why, because he believes the answer is so that, because Democrats now want to stop arming Israel. I think that's what he was, my interpretation is that's what he's pushing at. He's saying, well, nobody thinks Israel is actually going to nuke Iran. So the only reason you're doing this. He didn't come out and say it, but it's because you don't want to keep sending arms and military support to Israel, period. And I think that's obviously what the real threat is to people like Van Jones here.

59:16Yeah. And the status quo position among a lot of Democrats at this point is, okay, we're not going to subsidize Israeli weapons transfers anymore, but we're still going to facilitate massive weapons transfers. And the next terrain for the fight is going to be, no, we should actually not be sending, period. We should not even be selling Israel weapons as long as they are continuing this expansionist project into Lebanon, into Syria, into Gaza, into the West Bank. And then, in fact, they should be under sanctions. And if you're making the case that they should be sanctioned, having an illegal undeclared nuclear program, I believe we're at war with Iran over its nuclear program right now.

1:00:07Although maybe we're pausing that project freedom momentarily. But yeah, so that will play in when if the U.S., you know, if the American people are like, wait a minute, we don't necessarily trust the ability of this country to self-regulate this behavior.

1:00:29Emily Jashinsky:Yeah, this is a big picture conversation we've been having about Iran for a long time. So you look at polling in America, supporters just cratering for Israel almost across the board except for among older Republican voters. And you're starting to see, I mean, this letter kind of shatters the taboo in and of itself. And so as these conversations increase, you have Pollard being somebody who's entering Israeli politics. You have an ascendant far right in Israeli politics because there's this idea that this is kind of the end of the line when it comes to protection, that shield from the United States because Americans no longer buy that the relationship is beneficial, is mutually beneficial to the American people.

1:01:16And so sort of a sign there that's probably correct. Yeah. Yeah. I love the Van Jones response. Why? Leave these guys alone. Why? Why are you singling out this Israel in the Middle East just because they're the only country with an undeclared nuclear program?

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