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Hey, Bill O'Reilly here. Welcome to the no Spin News. Wednesday, April 8, 2026. Stand up for your country. The best coverage and most honest of Iran begins now. That is the subject of this evening's Talking Points Memo. So the latest is that the negotiations between the United States and Iran will begin Saturday morning in Pakistan. JD Vance, the vice president, is going to lead our delegation there. And I have no expectations whatsoever, obviously hoping for the best for my country. But you're dealing with really savage people here. And we may not even get there on Saturday because they may do something crazy. Remember, the Iranian leadership does not care how many of their citizens die. Doesn't care. Now, we've seen regimes like that. Putin's like that. The difference is Putin cares if he dies. The mullahs apparently don't. Anyway, you have heard an amazing amount of misinformation, even quoting enemy dispatches, press releases put out by the mullahs, then find their way into the American press and the Democratic Party, which spits them out. It's. I've never seen anything like it. And it's not an exaggeration. All right, let's run it down and using the facts. So the president is in a quandary, okay. He has to show the American people that there is a concrete benefit by using the military against Iran. Has to. Okay. The benefit would be that weapons inspectors would go in and remove the uranium and that the Straits of Hormuz would get back to normal. I predicted on Monday that there would be an extension of negotiations. Roll tape. Now, the president reiterated that the end of Tuesday, tomorrow, if he doesn't have some kind of deal with Iran that involves nukes, that he'll bomb their electrical grid, take them out, they won't have any communications. I believe that that might be extended. The Tuesday deadline might be extended. Well, how do I know that? Because I talked to the president, that's how. That's my job, to be a reporter and to get the best information possible. And I knew from the very beginning of this whole mess. Trump did not want Armageddon to be unleashed on Iran. He wanted a deal. And that continues. I also predicted that no matter what the President does, the press and the Democratic Party would vilify him. Go. President Trump can't win. We can't win. So if the United States were to pull back at the last minute and not bomb Iran, then he'd be surrendering. Then he'd be, you know, Teflon, whatever they call him. If we do, then he's a war criminal. You see, this is the vice that the American left has. Clamp down on President Trump. So two predictions, which is why you watch this program. One, the ceasefire would be extended and it would not be Armageddon militarily against Iran this week. And two, that it's manufactured that Trump could not win. They call him Taco now. He's a taco. Trump always backs out or some stupid acronym. So when you understand the game, and it is a game for these people, some of them hate Donald Trump more than the mullahs. There's no doubt in my mind. Now, I can't read minds, but just on their behavior over the years, they would rather have Trump go down than the Mullis go down. All right, so I'm just going to run you a few soundbites. After this happened, you would think that everybody in the world, not just in the United States, would say, boy, I'm glad that the US Military didn't have to go in and kill tens of thousands of civilians. That is such a good development. No. No way. That is. No. Immediately the sniping began on cnn. Go. And there will be some who will call it, you know, Taco Trump always chickens out, which is making way too light of it. But it is also a truth, which is that he makes giant threats that he does not follow through on.
C
It didn't. It was the Taco Tuesday of all Taco Tuesdays. As our president decided not to drop the chal for at least another two weeks. He announced that at the request of Pakistan, which has been facilitating negotiations, he was giving Iran two weeks to live.
B
And so we're happy that that didn't happen. No, no, no. He's a taco. No, he's weak. Okay, now let's get specific. So I must have heard 30 times yesterday how Iran is controlling the Straits of Hormuz. That is a lie. They are not controlling anything. What Iran can do is fire drones at freighters. The insurance companies around the world have told the freighters, if you get hit by an Iranian drone, we're not going to cover you. Okay? That's what that is. And so many freighters say we're not going to take a chance. But Iran isn't controlling anything. In fact, if the US Military wanted to regulate the Straits of Hormuz, it would take them about 24 hours to do so. But that would require close quarter combat. I and the American people don't want that. Okay, so they don't want this cliche boots on the ground, and that's what it would require. But Iran doesn't have the power to control that strait. US can wipe them off the face of the earth down there. So that's what's one lie. Okay, then there is the nukes. Now, we don't know much about this other than Defense of war. War Secretary Pete Hagseth says we're getting all the nukes out. I don't use Hegseth on this broadcast because he's not an objective. All right. Purveyor of information. He's not. All right? Now, if the president says something, he's the president I have to use. But if it's an acolyte, I don't use it. I independently verify everything. Again, this is why you watch me. All right? But Hagseth did say we're going to do what we said we're going to do. Hope so. Because if you don't, that would be the end of Donald Trump's presidency. You've got to get those nukes out of there. Now, the stock market liked it. It was up 1300 points at the open oil, down 18%. So the world is breathing a sigh of relief. Financial communities, okay. Doesn't really matter to me. But that's the react. That's how you gauge the react. I'm going to end with this sound bite because it's just so outrageous. Now, remember during World War II, okay. If you said something like you're going to hear now, you would have been arrested and charged with treason or whatever. This is Ed Markey. Okay? A senator from Massachusetts. Go.
C
The Strait of Hormuz is now in control, is controlled by the Iranian army. That's going to turn it into a toll road that is going to raise prices around the globe. The uranium is still under the control of the of the Iranian army. The people in Iran are not free. This has been a complete and total failure militarily, but it has also been a moral failure for our country.
B
So he would have been arrested. Marking. I'm going to tell you about the most unforgettable gift you can get Mom. This Mother's Day. Have you heard of Gold Belly? It's this amazing site that celebrates the best of America by shipping our country's most iconic foods from legendary eateries straight to your door. And they'll ship anywhere across the nation free in time for Mother's Day. I'm loving my lobster rolls and Levain Bakery cookies from Gold Belly. Shipping is quick and the quality outstanding. So if you are looking to make Mother's Day perfect or just want to impress your friends and family with an epic meal next time you host them, please go to goldbilly.com get free shipping and 20% off your first order with promo code BILL. That's goldbelly.com, code BILL. Free shipping, 20% off your first order. Did you know Fast Growing Trees is America's largest and most trusted online nursery with thousands of trees and plants and more than 2 million happy customers. It's like your local nursery bought anywhere you live with more plants than you'll find anywhere else right now. They have great deals on spring planting essentials, up to half off on select plants. And listeners to our program get 20% off their first purchase when using the code Bill at checkout. That's an additional 20% off. Better plants and better growing. @fastgrowingtrees.com using code BILL at checkout. Fast growing trees.com code BILL now is the perfect time to plant. Let's grow it together. Use Bill to save today. Offer valid with a limited time. Terms and conditions may apply by saying, oh, the Japanese are winning, Germans are winning. Because it's an ebb and it's a flow. And you don't give that kind of an assessment to say that this is a total failure militarily. I mean, it's a staggering lie. Staggering. The United States and Israel has downgraded the capacity of Iran to wage offensive warfare and killed their entire leadership corps. I mean, you know, and Markey doesn't care because he, again, he's one of those guys that I think hates Trump more than the Mullis. Just an opinion. And that's the memo. All right. Joining US now from D.C. is Leland Vitterd, who listen to this title News Nation's Chief Washington Anchor. Wow. So, you know, I'm on with Vittered every Monday on News Nation. And he has a lot of experience in the Middle east. And of course, he's watching the coverage because he's right in the middle of it. So where did I go wrong in my Talking Points memo?
D
I don't think it's what you said, Bill. I think it's what you didn't say. We don't know whether or not the Strait of Hormuz is open. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the Iranians are charging tolls in Bitcoin and in Chinese yuan. I'm old enough to remember when sending billions of dollars to the Iranians was a bad idea. Allowing them to receive massive amounts of funds, especially in cryptocurrency is a bad idea because we know what they're going to do with it, which is they're going to try and fund terrorists to kill Americans.
B
Okay, but let me stop you there. That toll is paid for by the shipping companies. That's who pays for it. Okay, so it's Iran's got his hand out. You put money in the hand or you don't put it in the hand. They don't control anything. As I said, if.
D
Okay, well potato tomato. If I say to you, Bill, if you want to walk past me, you have to give me a million dollars or otherwise I'm going to start firing cruise missiles at you.
B
We don't have cruise missiles down there.
D
Okay, you want to call? Okay, they have remotely piloted drones and yes they do have some cruise missiles and they still have the anti ship missiles that China gave them. This is beside the point. We don't know is the real answer because we don't know what the final deal is. You're a reporter, so am I. I don't trust what the White House says. I don't trust what the Iranians say. I wait to see what happens. If the uranium comes out of Iran it in into US hands. That is an enormous, unmitigated walk off grand slam home run for Donald Trump. If the Iranians are still able in a month to charge tolls to shipping companies because otherwise the companies can't get insurance for fear of being shot at by the Iranians, then it is an unmitigated disaster for President Trump because we get the status quo with the Iranians getting more and more money. We just don't know yet. You have to evaluate the ground truth based on an objective set of criteria.
B
Okay, that's fair, but these people who are saying we lost, they're wrong. I mean nobody's far beyond wrong. It's subversive because they have to know the negotiation doesn't start until Saturday. All right, and why would, why would the Iranians even bother to negotiate if they weren't getting pummeled? They wouldn't.
D
Well, two ways to look at that, right? I just got recently married. So go, go with me. For a second here, if the Iranians need view Trump as needing a deal, as you said on my show, you said, I don't want to use the word desperately, but he needs a deal. If I show up at a Persian rug store and the guy selling me the rug knows that, my wife told me, you better buy a rug or you're not coming home tonight, I'm not gonna get a good deal on the rug. And that is the problem right now. The Iranians view Trump as needing a deal. And to your point, they don't care if they die. They don't care if their people die. They're going to extract the highest price possible. And because they think Trump needs a deal, they, the price is going to be very high.
B
But the counter to that is if you don't do the deal that President Trump wants, that there's going to be hell to pay. And you're right, they don't care. But they did come to the table.
D
In fact, they've always been, they've always been at the table. It's been the US who says we should, who has said we don't want to negotiate. The Iranians were saying they would negotiate 38 days ago. They were the ones crying that the negotiations weren't continuing. So the Iranian position hasn't changed. But I'll give you one more thought on this. The. The Trump process here shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the Iranian regime. You have said that you can't ferment regime change. I got very excited yesterday when the US Bombed Carg island, which is the Iranian oil export center, yesterday. Because if Trump cut off the money flow into the regime the regime uses to pay everyone off and stay in power in Iran, the regime would fall apart from the inside. Bombing power plants doesn't do that. I think that President Trump has been getting some bad advice, perhaps, from Pete Hegseth about how to bring the Iranian regime to its knees. And I would look towards Israel. That makes a very big separation between, between the Iranian people and the Iranian regime. That's something President Trump stopped doing a couple of weeks ago. I don't know why.
B
So you, you believe that if there's a choke point for the Iranians getting money from whatever source, they'll be overthrown from within, the generals will turn on them.
D
Yes. And the reason I know that is because the past couple of times the Iranians have been willing to negotiate at all, albeit they've gotten sweetheart deals, has been when the regime was threatened because they were financially strangled. That is the choke point to the regime because the generals will stop getting paid off. The generals will turn and become far more open to entrees from either the United States or Israel.
B
But China and Russia are financing Iran to some extent. So it would be very difficult to choke that, that flow of assets off.
D
No, not at all. And here's why. Because you can choke off the ability for Iran to export its oil to China very easily. You can shut down the ability for the Chinese to get money and equipment in and material in. The Russians are broke themselves. And why do you think the Iranians got so upset when the Israelis bombed their gas facilities and their oil facilities? The Iranian regime, just think about what the mullahs care about. The IRGC cares about. They don't care about their people or power plants or bridges. They care about staying in power. What keeps them in power? The flow of money. Where's the flow of money come from? Oil. Stop that. And you have them buy whatever body part you would like to note on your show.
B
So then you would be in favor of the United States next move should the negotiation in Pakistan not bear fruition. US troops seizing Hormuz?
D
Absolutely. And not only seizing Hormuz, which I don't know what they're seizing it from because Bill, you said the Iranians didn't control it. So who are they seizing it from?
B
Well, you have to take out the drones and, and the people that surround the area that are firing.
D
That sounds like control, doesn't it?
B
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D
They're.
B
Well, not really. I mean, they've been using terror methods against Israel for four decades. They don't control Israel. All right? So boots on the ground. I hate that. If we, in a perfect world, NATO would be with us. Of course, if we sent them in, it wouldn't take long to clean those people out. You know that.
D
No, it wouldn't. And I don't think you would even have to, quote, unquote, seize or take the ground. What you'd have to do is sail a couple of US Navy cruisers through there as escort ships and you might lose a cruiser or two, to which you point out the American people wouldn't be willing to do. When I ask admirals and generals, why didn't you all plan for this and have a plan to open the strait? It's basically the cost would be too high. That, that I think is the worst thing that has come out of this, is that the Iranians now know they can blackmail the world by, by exerting this control, this force, this terror method, whatever you want to call it, over the Strait of Hormuz and thus over the world economy. And Trump has to take away that feeling on their part by choking them off. The only way this changes is by getting rid of the Iranian regime. The only way you get rid of the Iranian regime is by killing it from within, by choking off its control and its, its ability to pay everybody off.
B
So you wouldn't be in favor of the two week cease fire? No. You would have obliterated the country.
D
No, I wouldn't have obliterated the country. I wouldn't have listened to what Trump said. I would have listened to, seen what Trump did, which was attack the oil facilities and stayed on that. It is very clear the Iranians have not capitulated, okay, with what they're saying right now and the fact that they're charging tolls and the fact that they're complaining that the US Broke the ceasefire and on and on and on shows that they're not begging for mercy. Quite the opposite. It was actually the Chinese, reportedly, who forced them to come to the negotiating table. That's not people who are in a position that they feel that they need to make a deal. As I said, the Iranians think Trump needs to make a deal. That's a bad position to be in. Give it a couple of weeks, choke off their oil, and then maybe the Iranians would be in a position where they feel like they needed to make a deal. How about this? Give us the uranium, then we'll talk. That would have been a starting point,
B
but they weren't going to do that. They wanted to talk before the uranium thing was made.
D
Who sets. Who sets the rules, the Iranians or President Trump, the leader of the free world?
B
It's a negotiation. No, you're right. You're right in the sense that the mullahs are not cowed by President Trump. And then you also have China in the background, and China's got a lot to say about this because it gets 80% of its oil from Iran and doesn't want this to go on much longer, which is a hopeful sign because the Chinese can put a lot of pressure on the mullahs. And, you know, if it works in concert with the United States, even furtively, that could lead. See, I would have given him the two weeks because, you know, the war crime drum. United States is.
D
How many times did we extend this deadline? Was it 4 or 5? The Iranians were given opportunities.
B
What do you mean? In totality?
D
Two or two or three weeks ago. Trump was talking about two or three weeks ago.
B
They had a whole new regime that wasn't dead. And they had.
D
They're the same capacity. They're all.
B
They may be the same people, but the circumstances changed. So they're not nearly as strong militarily as they were. You know that. I mean, they're ballistic.
D
You know, they don't need to be strong militarily. They need to have their uranium and they need to be able to effectively shut down the. Why do they need uranium?
B
They don't need that uranium.
D
No, that's. They. They need it because that's their negotiating point.
B
Point.
D
That. That is their.
B
They're going to have to give that up. You're going to have to give it up. What?
D
Okay. They don't. They don't seem to think that. And there's no indication in any way, shape or form that they, they are going to agree to that. What I will say to this, as long as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, members of it, associates of it, whatever you want to call them, are in charge of Iran, is until there is real change in Iran from a popular uprising, that country will spend the rest of its life because it is controlled by a Shia Marxist ideology trying to kill Americans and do everything they can to harm America.
B
It's going to be a tough sell. Right now, if you're right and they don't get anywhere in Islamabad, it's going to be a tough sell because the world does not want to confront the mullahs final word.
D
That that is the final word is that the, that there is no deal that Trump can sell as a win, that Iran will actually live by and it's enforceable, and that Israel believes guarantees its security. Those three things do not exist. The only way to break that triangle is by cutting off this regime's source of funding. You don't do that in a negotiating table. You do that by cutting off their ability to export oil and not allow them to blackmail us.
B
That would require some ground action, that's for sure. All right, Leland, appreciate you coming on. Thank you. And Leland's cohort, Chris Cuomo. This is interesting. So last night on his show, he doesn't even believe Cuomo, apparently. And I'm going to be on Cuomo tonight. I'm going to ask him. He doesn't even believe there is a nuclear threat. Roll the tape.
C
The justification for it is a question mark. We don't know what the nuclear capabilities were. We don't know what was built up and what wasn't. We know what he says. We don't know what is true.
B
Well, it depends who you believe. So Rafael Grassi is the director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, iaea, which has not been bullish on confronting Iran in the past. He quite clearly said, all right, on March 22nd of this year that Iran is at 60% enriched uranium and it's just a few weeks away from getting a bomb. Now, this is not Hegseth, it's not Trump. This is an independent agency off the UN and the guy comes out and says it. Now people believe what they want to believe. Okay? And you're going to have people who you say, I don't believe it. I don't believe. Now what's that based on? Nothing. They don't know what Iran has.
A
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Hey, this is Mike Slater. I have a podcast called Politics by Faith. I would love for you to listen. We take the news of the day and we run it through the Bible. What does the Bible have to say about this? Because there's nothing new under the sun. You read the headlines. Everything's all crazy. World's coming to an end. It's all in the Bible. And after every episode, hopefully you leave with a proper perspective and a biblical piece. Please join us wherever you listen to podcasts and we also have a YouTube page as well. YouTube.com politicsby faith
B
okay, massage. CIA. Apparently they do, but I can't use them as a source. I got to go out of that. And when I saw Grassi again, not a guy who's been pounding a pavement to confront Iran. Say, they're almost there. Got to pay attention to that. So I'll be on Cuomo tonight with this, and we'll see what he has to say. Let's see if there's anything else that we need to tell you. Trump's in a tough spot, and I said that from the very beginning. The biggest gamble, and as Leland points out, there's a lot of things involved with this, although I'm not quite sure that the United States is as powerless as Leland thinks it is. You know, the threat of Armageddon there, I think that got them to the table, and that's certainly what the Trump administration believes, and it will become a campaign issue. So how this works out definitely is going to influence who runs the government the next two years. Head of NATO, Mark Ruta met with President Trump today. I'm going to have to patch things up, I guess. NATO, my God, if those people would just cooperate. But selfish, you know, myopic. You use the word. Let's go back home. This is an interesting ruling. Judge Eric Tostrude, appointed by Trump, said to Minnesota, no, you can't have $243 million in Medicaid funds because Minnesota sued. So Trump can't deny us these funds. And the judge said, yeah, you can, because you got a fraud problem and it's not fixed. So right now, Minnesota's not getting the money. Did you know about this story? I bet you didn't. But the judge also said that in the end, Minnesota might prevail, but it's going to be a while because they're going to have to show that they made inroads in this fraud thing and they can't because they have it. So that's that final thought coming right up. Okay, so once again, I just want to review. We have Howie Mandel on the Do It Live, long form podcast, whatever you want to call it. And then we are on cuomo tonight at 8:00 o', clock, News Nation. And then we have our some journalist traders on our YouTube channel. I'm exhausted. I do all this stuff. I can't believe at my age I'm still doing this. Nobody else can either. Everybody. What are you doing? I said, ed, you know, I have to do it. I mean, I was given his gifts. I'm using them. And come on. If I predicted that, that it would be extension on Monday, that's pretty impressive that I think that's almost as big as me predicting that President Biden wouldn't run again. Months before he packed it in. I knew he wasn't going to run and I knew they were going to get an extension. What I don't know is how this negotiation is going to turn out. Leland may be right, but let's pray that we don't have to annihilate civilians. That is not going to be good for our country. But we can't let them have nukes. You've heard it and heard it and heard it, but it's true. Okay, you want to reach me billoriley.com bill@billoriley.com name in town if you wish to opine. We will see you on Monday.
C
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Episode: CEASEFIRE: Did Trump Win or Lose to Iran?, Leland Vittert Weighs in on the President's Strategy & NATO's Chief at the White House
Date: April 9, 2026
Host: Bill O’Reilly
Key Guest: Leland Vittert (NewsNation Chief Washington Anchor)
This episode centers on the escalating US-Iran standoff, focusing on President Trump’s handling of the crisis, the extension of the ceasefire, upcoming negotiations, and the political/media fallout. Bill O’Reilly breaks down media narratives, political implications, and strategic options, later joined by Leland Vittert for a dynamic back-and-forth about military and diplomatic realities, the prospects for regime change, and whether Trump’s approach constitutes a “win” or “loss.”
Overall Tone:
This episode offers crucial context around the Iran crisis, the practical challenges facing the US, and the complex web of military, economic, and political factors. O’Reilly aims to cut through partisan narratives, while Vittert provides hard-nosed analysis about real leverage and regime stability. The takeaway: both highlight uncertainty and the limits of American power, while warning against easy claims of either victory or defeat.