No Spin News - Weekend Edition - August 23, 2025

Summary

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Bill O’Reilly’s No Spin News and Analysis

Weekend Edition - August 23, 2025

Host: Bill O’Reilly
Notable Guests: Mark Levin, Mikhail Troitski, Greg Harper, Scott Baio

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Episode Overview

This episode centers on sharp media criticism, deep dives into the Trump-Putin Alaska summit, the ongoing Ukraine and Gaza conflicts, congressional accountability, and the realities of ideology-driven ‘cancellation’ in Hollywood. O’Reilly is joined by conservative commentator Mark Levin and several subject-matter guests to break down pressing issues: media spin on world events, how foreign policy is portrayed, ethical lapses in Congress, and the cost of heterodox views in entertainment. Throughout, O’Reilly maintains his signature "no spin" approach, emphasizing fact-based analysis and direct critique.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Media Coverage and the Trump-Putin Alaska Summit

[01:07 - 05:31]

• O’Reilly launches a scathing critique on mainstream media outlets (MSNBC, CNN), arguing they are tainted by ideological bias and fail to report truthfully, using coverage of the Trump-Putin Alaska summit as a prime example.

• Clips of Nicole Wallace, Michael McFaul, Farheed Zakaria, and Mark Halpern are played, whom he derides for suggesting Trump organized the summit for self-serving reasons or lacked control.

  Quote:
  “I've never seen stupidity like this on national television in my life. I've been doing this 50 years.”
  — Bill O’Reilly [02:40]

• Noted that critics claim Trump is exploiting the summit for distraction, to which O’Reilly rebuts by citing the absence of a Russian invasion during Trump’s first term.

2. Expert Analysis: Russia-Ukraine War & Summit Implications

Guest: Dr. Mikhail Troitski, Fletcher School, Tufts Univ.
[06:14 - 11:12]

• Troitski explains why Trump pursued a negotiation-based approach: military solutions weren’t working, and economic pressure is mounting on Russia.

• Troitski cautions that wartime economics are unsustainable for Moscow, agreeing the summit only occurred because Russia is feeling strain.

  Quote:
  “Running a war, waging a war like that for three and a half years is unbelievably expensive... you cannot go on like that forever.”
  — Dr. Mikhail Troitski [10:09]

• O’Reilly advocates for harsher economic sanctions, with Troitski agreeing these could be critical if oil trade with China/India is curtailed.

3. Gaza Ceasefire Update and Middle East Analysis

[11:19 - 15:24]

• O’Reilly briefly reports a new (but historically unreliable) Qatar/Egypt-brokered ceasefire in Gaza, involving hostages, Palestinian prisoner release, and humanitarian aid.

• Emphasizes the intractability due to dealing with “evil people” and terrorist regimes.

  Quote:
  “You lose count... that thing is so irrational, so out of control because you're dealing with evil people, you're dealing with terrorists who kill... these Iranian mullahs, the Hamas... would kill every single person on the planet who didn't conform...”
  — Bill O’Reilly [12:00]

4. Deep Dive with Mark Levin: Power, Putin, Trump, and Israel

[15:25 - 31:46]

• Mark Levin joins for an extended discussion about power dynamics between Trump and Putin, Russia’s economic/demographic troubles, and the logic behind Trump’s foreign policy (delivering arms to Europe, leveraging tariffs).

  Key Exchange on Trump vs. Putin:
  Levin: “I think Trump is more powerful, and I'll tell you why. Right now, Putin's economy is a shambles... Trump has the cards.” [17:12]
  O’Reilly: “But in this negotiation, Putin holds more power than Trump. And the reason is that Putin knows that NATO and the United States will not go to World War III to save Ukraine.” [18:25]
  Levin: “I don't think that's the test... Trump is a wild card... not the isolationist as some of the fake MAGA say.” [18:55]

• Discussion shifts to the durability of sanctions and what both see as the upcoming “deal,” with China as a critical external factor.

• On Israel, Levin decries Western media bias, the double standards facing Israel, and the influence of left ideology on perceptions of victimhood and aggression.

  Notable Quote:
  “The media in Europe, in our country, and even some in Israel have turned Israel into the oppressor. Why? Because Israel can actually defend itself now.”
  — Mark Levin [26:06]

• O’Reilly points out the moral clarity needed:
  “When you play it down the middle, the middle is okay, who's the aggressor, who's acting out of good faith, who is conducting themselves in a highly immoral way...”
  — Bill O’Reilly [29:44]

• Both agree that fact-driven analysis can cut through ideology, referencing criticisms of figures like John Bolton for opposing Trump reflexively.

  Memorable Moment:
  Levin praises O'Reilly's new book for its factual rigor; O’Reilly jokes about the New York Times’ supposed displeasure at their mutual success. [31:22]

5. Congressional Accountability and Ethics Committee Secrecy

Guest: Greg Harper, former House Ethics Committee Member
[32:17 - 42:59]

• O’Reilly runs clips of Rep. Jasmine Crockett (TX), Rep. Dan Goldman (NY), and an AOC quote, alleging inappropriate, disrespectful, or seditious language. He argues these should trigger Ethics Committee scrutiny.

• O’Reilly voices frustration about the committee’s secrecy and lack of public process transparency.

  Exchange:
  O’Reilly: “If these aren’t ethical violations, nothing is... you should go out of business.” [38:01]
  Harper: Explains confidentiality is essential for fairness; bipartisan committee structure ensures balance, but the process requires discretion.

• O’Reilly proposes a solution: issue minimal public statements acknowledging the committee is looking into high-profile breaches.

  Quote:
  “All you need to do is tell the press... The people need to know they are being scrutinized to some extent.”
  — Bill O’Reilly [42:51]

6. Hollywood: Cancellation, Ideology, and Scott Baio’s Story

Guest: Scott Baio, actor
[44:09 - 53:17]

• O’Reilly relates his own experience with Hollywood reluctance to engage non-liberals before introducing Baio.

• Baio recounts the professional repercussions after publicly supporting Trump in 2016; shares direct evidence of being denied projects because of his political views.

  Quote:
  “I knew that the blowback would be astronomical. I knew that I would probably be canceled. I knew that I would be an outcast... and I was right.”
  — Scott Baio [48:45]

• Names a specific executive who refused to work with him post-endorsement.

• Baio's solution: get more conservatives/non-political people in entertainment, but acknowledges ongoing “fear” prevents change.

• O’Reilly affirms Baio’s convictions and the iconic status of Happy Days.

  Memorable Moment:
  Baio warmly thanks O’Reilly for past kindness: “You went out of your way to say hello to me. And I want you to know how much I appreciate that.” [52:12]

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Notable Quotes & Segments with Timestamps

• On Media Spin:
  “I've never seen stupidity like this on national television in my life. I've been doing this 50 years.” — O’Reilly [02:40]
• On Ukraine/Russia War Costs:
  “Running a war, waging a war like that for three and a half years is unbelievably expensive...” — Troitski [10:09]
• On Putin:
  “Putin is a monster. He's a genocidal maniac. He's only getting worse.” — Levin [15:32]
• On Trump’s Power:
  “Trump has the cards... Ukraine has done more damage to Russia than anybody thought was even possible.” — Levin [21:36]
• On Moral Clarity in Journalism:
  “Playing it down the middle means sometimes you got to take a side. The middle is what's the truth, what's the morality?” — Levin [28:58]
• On Hollywood’s Political Bias:
  “I don't want anything to do with Scott Trump Baer.” — Baio quoting an ABC exec [49:49]
• On Fact-Finding:
  “Usually when you gather the facts, the truth becomes known.” — O’Reilly [29:51]

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Major Takeaways

• Media Bias: O’Reilly sharply criticizes near-universal ideological slant in major news coverage, especially concerning international affairs.
• Summit Strategy: The Trump-Putin Alaska Summit represents a new attempt at negotiation, prompted not by policy whim but material constraints on Russia.
• Power Politics: Both O’Reilly and Levin see Putin as unpredictable but weakened; Trump holds more cards due to economic leverage and arms sales, but the outcome of negotiations remains uncertain.
• Congressional Ethics: Concerns over transparency and ethical accountability in Congress, with disagreement on whether secrecy best serves justice or the public.
• Hollywood Cancel Culture: Firsthand accounts reveal a monolithic liberal culture in entertainment, where deviation is punished regardless of achievement or popularity.

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For Listeners

This episode is a blend of sharp media critique, detailed foreign policy analysis, advocacy for transparency in government, and personal impact stories from cultural figures. It’s unmistakably in O’Reilly’s no-nonsense style: irreverent, direct, and fact-focused, with a dose of cultural nostalgia and concern for truth in public life.

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End of Summary

Transcript

[Bill O'Reilly]

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[Bill O'Reilly]

Mint mobile.com welcome to the no Spin News Weekend edition.

The press coverage is pitiful. And you know, look, I compete against all these people. I'm upfront about it. We're 10 times better than they are every day. If you're watching them, you're wasting your time. They just don't report the truth. They're all ideologically infected. They're not interested in giving you what's really happening. Not only on Trump and Putin, but on anything. It's all spin. That's why this program is the no spin news. All right, I'm going to run it down. MSNBC got booted today from NBC. You might have known that they changing their name. I mean, what's the point? Everybody knows what it is. One of their people is Nicole Wallace. Used to be a communications person for Bush the younger in his first term. Sold out for money. Makes about $1 million over there. But now she works for a different company because NBC booted them. Here's what she said. Go.

[Mark Levin]

This was for Trump, a television production that may have been rooted in different motives, but one of them was likely to change the topic of news coverage. It succeeded in that. We've all been covering this all day, for better or for worse.

[Commercial Announcer]

But clearly Trump was not in control of anything. I mean, Putin was the alpha all.

[Mark Levin]

Day long from Trump holding on his plane and waiting for him like a, you know, middle schooler waiting for their first date.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Yeah. So Trump should have split, right? Go down to Juneau, maybe had A couple of cocktails, really. You know, talk about fifth grade. It's just ridiculous. Trump organized a summit with Putin to try to end the Ukraine war to distract from another story. I mean, come on. This is just you sitting there and you go, I have never seen stupidity like this on national television in my life. I've been doing this 50 years. I've never seen stupidity like this. The second one is Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul. He was Obama's guy over there in Moscow. Hates Trump. Roll the tape. So Ukraine is actually worse off under President Trump. And this myth that he keeps going back to. And Putin did him the courtesy of underscoring the myth that there would be no war and everything's better under President Trump. The facts on the ground are exactly the opposite. And this guy just isn't telling the truth. Okay, so he says that Ukraine is actually worst off under President Trump. Trump was president four years, 16 to 20. Putin didn't invade Ukraine. So you're telling me now, Mr. Ambassador, that now that Putin has invaded under Biden, okay, that they're better off than they were under Trump when there was no invasion. That's what your point is. Come on. Again, this is stupidity. Absolute rank stupidity. And these people don't care because they're getting paid. Next sound bite. Farheed Zakaria, cnn. Go look. The atmospherics of the entire summit were somewhat cringe worthy. The fact that Putin was being welcomed on American soil, the fact that Trump gave him literally a red carpet treatment, the kind he has rarely given to any, you know, democratic ally of the United States. So what, you nitwit, you don't have anything. You're like Bolton, you got nothing. So what? He comes to the United States, Putin, if they had a deal, wouldn't that have been fantastic? Does it matter where they are? She's. And finally, one of the strangest things I have ever seen. Mark Halpern, he's a journalist. He does a lot of Internet stuff. He was on. He's been all over the place, this guy. Here's what he says. Go.

[Mark Levin]

I think they're gonna arrest him.

[Bill O'Reilly]

I think they're gonna arrest. I think that's the whole thing, is this is to trick him to coming to the US and gonna arrest him.

[Mark Levin]

He's a war criminal.

[Bill O'Reilly]

I mean, really. He says before Putin shows up that US Authorities are going to arrest him. All right, have I made my point? I think I have. Joining us now from Boston is a visiting process professor at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. One of the Top schools in the country. Tufts University, Mikhail Troitski. I think I have it right. Doctor, you're kind enough to join us a few weeks ago, and we really appreciate you coming back. So my analysis. Where am I going wrong here?

[Mikhail Troitski]

Well, clearly, President Trump is trying a different approach to the resolution of the Russia, Ukraine war. So apparently, three years of this war before Donald Trump took office showed that there's no way, under the circumstances, to force justice upon Russia in the way that Russia has to be held accountable for its invasion and the atrocities and so forth. So Donald Trump is trying a different approach. He's trying to convince the sides, including Russia, to end the war while keeping the stick in his hand as well. He did hint about the possibility.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Did you object to the red carpet and Putin coming to Alaska? Did you have any problem with any of that?

[Mikhail Troitski]

Well, I mean, it depends on your optics.

[Bill O'Reilly]

No, no, I want you. I want you. So you, you know, both countries, you know, Putin, you know, you're one of the top experts here. When you watch that exposition, aggressors do.

[Mikhail Troitski]

Not get red carpet treatment. But in a situation when the decision was made and it is supported by virtually everyone, including Ukraine and Europe and, and others, including, I guess, China, India, that there needs to be a negotiation, then you have to give the parties in that negotiation some kind of treatment to just make sure that there's nothing personal that can prevent.

[Bill O'Reilly]

So you didn't object to the exposition. You understood why it was happening. Now, Trump clearly was disappointed in the outcome. He wanted to get something, and I understand that he was assured he would. And then, of course, of course, evil Vlad didn't live up to what was suggested in advance. You're not surprised by that, are you?

[Mikhail Troitski]

No, I'm not. Of course, Putin was supposed to be evasive. Yeah. And that's what Donald Trump, I think, got out of him in Alaska.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Well, Putin's words means nothing. And that's why Trump's angry, because he believes that Putin is manipulating him. But now he's got to find a seam, and the only seam that I can think. And you read my column, Dancing with the Devil is harsh, really harsh economic measures against Moscow. I don't see any other way to force Putin into, to stop the madness. To you, is there another way to do it?

[Mikhail Troitski]

I think, you know, speaking softly is clearly one sort of part of reaching a deal. But, yeah, the stick is. Is. Is there as well. So. And I believe there are ways to kind of put additional pressure on the Kremlin short of, you know, having a showdown A trade showdown with China or India over buying Russian oil. And I Trump administration has been doing some of that, at least in the run up to this, to today's meetings in the White House. So, yeah, yeah, pressure needs to be maintained. And I think Donald Trump does indicate that he wants a resolution soon. He wants a decision.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Yeah, he's going to have to. But I don't think it should be made public. You don't have to do all this stuff in public. You can do it behind the scenes. A lot of this stuff. I understand that Putin's running out of money to fund his war machine. Is that what you're hearing?

[Mikhail Troitski]

Yeah, of course. I mean, even if you don't look at the figures, and of course, statistics coming out of Russia is completely skewed these days, and you cannot know what to believe and whatnot. But running a war, waging a war like that for three and a half years is unbelievably expensive. I mean, you can just refer to the cost of the wars the United States was waging in the past. This is very expensive. And in Russia, what the Kremlin wants, what Putin wants, is to keep the semblance of normalcy for everyone else, for those who are not involved in the fighting and those who do not want to make money on volunteering to fight. And that puts additional pressure on Russian state coffers. So for sure, you cannot go on like that for forever. You'll destabilize your economy. And I guess the Kremlin has finally come to terms to that. And they did loosen up some of their conditions to end the war, which made the Alaska meeting possible. And today's engagement also.

[Bill O'Reilly]

All right, professor, we really appreciate it. Keep an eye on it, and thanks for your time tonight.

You're listening to the no Spin News Weekend Edition.

All right, the other big story is there is another, I think this is the 10,001 peace, ceasefire, whatever, in Gaza. This comes from Qatar, in Egypt, and it would involve the 20 hostages that are purportedly still alive being exchanged for Palestinian prisoners. That's Hamas terrorists. And then it'll be a ceasefire. And then humanitarian aid would be allowed to go into Gaza. That's the framework. Now, the terrorists, Hamas said, yeah, we'll do it. How many times have they said that in the past? You lose count. We don't know what Netanyahu and Israel are going to do about that, but I have to report it. And you know, that thing is so irrational, so out of control because you're dealing with evil people, you're dealing with terrorists who kill, do you? Don't. People don't understand that these Iranian mullahs, the Hamas, the isis, the Al Qaeda would kill every single person on the planet who didn't conform to their insane theocracy. They kill everybody. Let's face it, the US economy is under stress. National debt rising, trade war shaking the markets. And meanwhile China is dumping the dollar and stockpiling gold. That's why I protected my savings with physical gold and silver through the only dealer I trust, American Hartford Gold. And you can do this. Get precious metals delivered to your door or place in a tax Advantage Gold IRA. They'll even help you roll over your existing IRA or 401k, tax and penalty free with billions in precious metals delivered. Thousands of 5 star reviews and an A from the Better Business Bureau. You can trust American Hartford Gold as I do. Please call 866-326-5576 or text BILL to 998899. Again, that's 866-326-5576, or text BILL to 998-899. Did you know that Fast Growing Trees is the biggest online nursery in the USA? Thousands of plants, more than 2 million happy customers. They have everything your yard needs. Fruit trees, privacy trees, shrubs, more. Whatever plants you are interested in. Fast Growing Trees will deliver your dream yard right to your door. They're alive and thrive. Guarantee ensures your plants arrive happy and healthy. And this fall they have the best deals. Up to half off selected plants. Plus my listeners get 15% off the first purchase with code BILL at checkout. That's an additional 15% off with code [e-mail] Again fast growing trees.com code BILL now is the perfect time to plant. Save today with Code Bill offer valid for a limited time terms conditions may apply. Okay, let's bring him on in. Mark Levin, you know him, he comes on occasionally on this program. We're pleased to have him. He's got a new book out on power. Very apropos, of course, hit number one on the New York Times list. Ninth time for Mr. Levin. Very impressive radio guy. 300 stations he leads into me on our flagship WABC in New York City. And he joins us now from Leesburg, Virginia. About that, I don't have a red carpet I can give you down there. I would have done that for you, you know. I would have.

[Mark Levin]

You're a good man, Bill. No matter what they say, you're a good guy.

[Bill O'Reilly]

And they say a lot.

[Mark Levin]

And let me say something I really couldn't Disagree with the thing you said. Putin is a monster. He's a genocidal maniac. He's only getting worse. You make a great point. Even today, he's trying to bomb the hell out of the civilian centers in Ukraine. And let us not forget, in 1994, Soviet Union, well, what was then Russia, signed a deal that Ukraine would turn all their nukes over to Russia, and in exchange, the United States, Britain, and Russia would protect their boundaries. And, of course, he violated that. So the key here is, you know, Putin wants all this land, and he also wants those areas where the Ukrainians are really dug in and they believe they have a very strong line of defense beyond which the Russians have been unable to go. And he wants that, too. And of course, the issue for the Ukrainians is, well, look, how are we supposed to keep doing this? We need security here. This guy's untrustworthy, as Bill says. As you say, this guy is. Is. Is really a head case. He's written Bill, and he's written at length or somebody did for him. It doesn't really matter. He believes it. This is just the first step. He thinks he's more aligned with Stalin than he is with Gorbachev.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Stalin is his idol. When you read my new, when you read my book, you'll see he models his whole thing on Stalin. But I have a very, very tough question for you right now. Are you ready for that?

[Mark Levin]

Barely.

[Bill O'Reilly]

All right. In this world, who's more powerful, Trump or Putin?

[Mark Levin]

I don't think the answer is that tough. I think Trump is more powerful, and I'll tell you why. Right now, Putin's economy is a shambles. When you're relying on North Korean troops who don't know how to fight, and you are, to some extent, and you were relying on Iran for your drones, and you're relying on China and India to pump up your economy, you're relying on a lot of outside factors. And you mentioned in your opening, there have been about a quarter of a million Russians who have died in this war. And on top of that, you have about 900 to a million casualties. In addition to that, they're taking more incoming in terms of death and casualties than the Ukrainians are. You look at their equipment. I went back and looked at this. They're losing tanks and personnel carriers at a clip of about 5 to 1 compared to the Ukrainians. And so plus, Donald Trump has basically opened the spigot. As much as Europe wants to buy our military equipment, he's going to sell it to them. And also this issue of tariffs against India and China to get them to stop buying oil. Trump could pull that trigger. He's talking about.

[Bill O'Reilly]

He hasn't done China yet because he's still working on it. But I'm going to, I'm going to play devil's advocate here in this negotiation because I'm going on the framework of your book. In this negotiation, Putin holds more power than Trump. And the reason is that Putin knows that NATO and the United States will not go to World War three to save Ukraine. What do you think?

[Mark Levin]

Well, I don't, I don't think that's the test. I think the test is whether or not they'll go to World War iii. Putin is more concerned about holding onto what he has. Then Trump leaves office. Then he figures he'll, he'll be able to roll over any Democrat and most Republicans. That's my concern. I don't think he's thinking about World War III with Donald Trump in position. See, he saw what Trump did with, with Iran. And he knows from his perspective, Trump is a wild card. He's not sure what Trump's going to do, and most people aren't. But Trump is not the isolationist as some of the fake maga say he is. He's not an appeaser. He's not a pacifist. He's a realist in many respects. So I also think that he saw what Trump was capable of about three or four weeks ago, when Trump lost his patience with him and started to choke India and was planning on choking China and again was willing to flow arms into Ukraine through Europe, purchasing them. And I think that helped bring him to the table. Because my concern is that after Trump leaves, he's going to say, all right, let me deal with Trump. Let me see what I can get under Trump. Let me, you know, I'll take what I can get. And then we'll, we'll wait out. See, there are.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Long term, yeah, we'll violate everything when the next president comes in. But why hasn't President Trump sanctioned the banks yet? So he could have, he could have done it. He could have basically said, look, no banking corporation in the world who does business with Moscow in any way can do business with America or the EU that breaks the banks. They can't do business with Putin. It starves Putin. Why hasn't he done it yet?

[Mark Levin]

Maybe he will.

[Bill O'Reilly]

I mean, I've done.

[Mark Levin]

There's seven months he's in there. Seven months. And he's been doing a hell of a lot. And in a lot of parts of the globe. So he may well do that, but maybe he doesn't want to open up yet other fronts of economic battle yet until he's. He's done everything he can. But I don't speak for them. They don't sit down and explain it to me. I'm just giving you my judgment. That's still on the table. And even more than that, choking off their ability to bring any revenue in through their oil sales. That's the killer.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Yeah.

[Mark Levin]

That second level of sanctions, which would be the bank. If he wanted to destroy Russia, he can destroy Russia economically the way Reagan destroyed the Soviet Union.

[Bill O'Reilly]

He can't.

[Mark Levin]

And that's why, to answer your initial question on power, Trump has the cards. Number one, Ukraine is not our country. They're an ally. Number two, they're a victim. Number three, they've done enormous damage to Russia. Russia's done enormous damage to Ukraine. Ukraine has done more damage to Russia than anybody thought was even possible. In fact, every country that looks at Russia now sees that they're not the conventional military threat, that they want support. They're a nuclear threat. There's no question about that.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Yeah, that's the problem.

[Mark Levin]

They're not the same conventional military threat.

[Bill O'Reilly]

That they were before.

[Mark Levin]

I think Putin's play is to work through Trump as best you can and then wait for the next president to make further moves.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Okay. And that's why I think there will be a deal. But it's. China is the key to it, because China could speed it up. Now, let's segue into Hamas and Israel. A couple of questions, because I follow your commentary on this, and you've had some feuds with people that you believe are anti Semitic and are shaping their foreign policy against Israel because they simply don't like Jews. Want a little more clarification on this? So in college campuses, the progressive left, which has always despised Israel since 1949 and Harry Truman, progressive left, is always despised. It thinks it's a fascist state, thinks it stole the land from the Arabs. You know the whole history better than anyone. Okay. If a person buys into that, a younger person, say, at Harvard or wherever, do they automatically hate Jews?

[Mark Levin]

No, and I've never said that. I think when you platform Holocaust deniers and you platform people who are sympathetic to Hitler and are trashing Churchill, in other words, frauds. Or when you platform people who are, in fact, out of the closet, anti Semites, that makes you an anti Semite, too. If you're marching in the streets against the war, that doesn't make you an anti Semite makes you buffooned because the terrorists are the terrorists. The same people hit us on 9, 11, and we'll have a different type of debate about that. But when you have comics and others who come on and flat out spew, you know, the KKK lines, the neo Nazis lines, or when you have people talking about the river to the sea, when you're marching on that, you're talking about the extermination of the Jews. Yeah. You are what you are. And many of them are proud of it.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Oh, there's no doubt about it. It's just a. It's a tough line sometimes to delineate, but here's the power quotient there. So you've got Israel, and I open up confronting evil with the October 6th attack to demonstrate to the reader, you want to know what evil is? Here's what evil is. And we have unbelievable description of what happened on that day. And that's how I kick off the book. But now you have a power. Israel, very capable of defending its own people. Has to be. Has to be against a movement. Hamas, no rules. There's not one rule. They'll kill babies, they'll hide behind women, they'll blow up hospitals, they'll steal food for people who are dying. We all know that. So that, again, makes it very difficult for an Israeli to negotiate anything with people who got no rules, no compunctions. Word means nothing. Correct.

[Mark Levin]

That's 100%, which is why this whole thing is rather bizarre, I think. And to have Qatar, which is a terrorist regime, and Qatar, which. Which funded Hamas and protected its leaders and their billionaires, those who are still alive. Qatar is a very dangerous country as far as I'm concerned. In the United States, it's got its money everywhere and in both parties and in the executive branch and in Congress and everywhere else. And both, as I said, it doesn't matter, even matter who's in charge of what. It's a very dangerous situation. And so as an example, you have Qatar and Egypt, which is on the border with Gaza, which has a real wall and will not allow any of those people out. I mean, even Netanyahu says, well, why don't you take them? Egypt, you keep negotiating, you're mediating, and you've got the whole Sinai Peninsula that we gave back, and Egypt wants none of them, not one of them. So they've closed the gate, they have the wall, they won't let them out. Qatar keeps supporting Hamas. They used to do it openly, now it does it behind the scenes. And those are the mediators, those are the people negotiating. And so it's a very strange thing. You know, Bill, what I see here is more of this Marxist model, this oppressor, oppressed. And the media in Europe, in our country, and even some in Israel have turned Israel into the oppressor. Why? Because Israel can actually defend itself now. Israel needs the equipment. It's a tiny country, 9 million people. It doesn't have massive industry, but it's got massive technological know how and, and it's got warriors who are willing to fight because they know the. The alternative is death. And so all their people, they fight, they come out of the cafes, they have to go wherever they go. But you're right, the idea that you negotiate with terrorists as if it's crazy, called terrorists for a reason, because they don't believe in rules.

[Bill O'Reilly]

But you have to. And to Trump's credit, he has neutralized Qatar a bit. And it's the way he operates. I don't know what his personal feelings are about it. I don't know if he has any. We centralize them. Last question for you. Is there a television network news operation in America that gives Israel a fair play?

[Mark Levin]

Well, I think you do. I think there are certain podcasters who do. I think Fox does, I think Newsmax does. I think the rest of them, not that I watch them that much, but like on these Sunday shows, they're absolutely horrific. New York Times, Washington Post, they have a whole history of being horrific about this. And they are. They take the Hamas numbers and they regurgitate them. They bring in the most repulsive politicians, whether it's Bernie Sanders or people like that who, who come on. And he, he's an out of the closet Marxist and, you know, he went to a kibbutz in Israel as a young man that was known as Astalonus Kibutz. This guy's. And they bring him on like he's just your average politician. They bring on people like that who will speak what they know, will say what they know. So I would say very few. In Europe, it's gotten horrific too. So there's very few.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Yeah. Even England and Ireland. Even in England and Ireland. Even in England and Ireland, Israel cannot get a fair shake.

[Mark Levin]

Yeah, but you, but I have to say, you, you know, we're friends, but they're friends. I disagree with. You're very honorable. You, you play right down the middle. And playing it down the middle means sometimes you got to take a side. The middle is what's the truth, what's the morality? What's virtue, what's the belief system? And as you point out, it's terrorists versus a democratic civilization. And so when you play it down the middle, it doesn't mean six terrorists versus six Israel. You play it down the middle. The middle is okay, who's the aggressor, who's acting out of, out of good faith, who is conducting themselves in a highly immoral way, and so forth and so on. So when you play that down the middle, it shouldn't be that hard to know who's right and who's wrong. And that doesn't mean you agree with everything, but it means there's a good guy and a bad guy.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Well, you're astute enough to understand, because you're a historian like I am, that there are facts in this world. And usually when you gather the facts, the truth becomes known. So on a Putin, you know, you'll remember in the beginning of the Ukraine war, you had high profile people in the United States sympathizing with Putin. It was like you had him. You had Joseph Kennedy and Lindbergh sympathizing with Hitler. You had it. It was there, okay, But I tore them the pieces on the facts. And just last week, I just annihilated Ambassador John Bolton. I annihilated the man because he hates Trump so much that whatever Trump does, he's going to oppose for personal reasons and thereby he helps Putin, he helps Russia by doing it. That's called gathering the facts. And then the truth then exposes itself. And I think that's why you and I have been successful all these years. The book is on power, number one New York Times bestseller, which makes them deliriously happy. They love to put Mark levin and Bill O'Reilly's name at the top of the bestseller list. You know, I think they have parties, Levin, when you and I hit number one, I think they go out, have a bunch of drinks and hey, those guys have done it again, you know.

[Mark Levin]

Well, let me say one thing on your behalf. You sent me an early copy your book. Obviously, I've been busy with mine. I started, I just, I broke the back of it starting last night. It's another killer book. It's just a fantastic book for the reasons you say. You bring the facts to the table and then you reason through the facts. I ask people to do the same thing, just reason through these things, right?

[Bill O'Reilly]

Stop with the agenda driven garbage. When you have to just struggle to make your position even coherent, you know, you're not on the right side. All right, Mark, it's Always a pleasure. Hope we can do it again soon. Thank you for taking the time. I know you're the busy.

[Mark Levin]

Well, you'll be coming on my show. God bless you, brother.

[Bill O'Reilly]

You take care of yourself and it won't be boring. When you and I get together, it's never boring. Okay, we'll see you later.

This is the no Spin News, Weekend Edition.

So what happens, though, when an elected official on Capitol Hill, a senator or a congressperson goes over the line and tries to and does something or says something is so outrageous that Americans are going, this isn't legitimate criticism. I'm going to run you sound bites from Congresswoman Crockett of Texas and Congresswoman Congressman Dan Goleman of New York. Those are two radical left loons. I'm going to run you the sound bites, then I'm going to give you an AOC quote. So let's go to the tape first. Roll it. Listen, Donald Trump is a piece of. Okay, we know that. Yes, yes, he is. He is. He is. But in a functioning democracy, he still would not be able to get away with this. It is just unquestionable at this point that that man cannot see public office again. He is not only unfit, he is.

[Mark Levin]

Destructive to our democracy.

[Bill O'Reilly]

And he has to be. He has to be eliminated. Goldman apologized for using the word eliminated, but he did use it, and it's a threat. All right, here's Cortez, quote, president's disastrous decision to bomb Iran without authorization is a grave violation of the Constitution and congressional war powers. He has impulsively risked launching a war main Sunera for generations, absolutely and clearly grounds for impeachment, unquote. She said this while US Planes were in the air coming back from bombing Iran on its nuclear facility. This woman said it. So immediately I got in contact with the House of Representatives Ethics Committee, chaired by Congressman Michael Guest of Mississippi. They blew us off at first and just said, we're not able to accommodate your request. Some stupid, ridiculously disrespectful thing. So I basically told the Congress in gas, you better wise up.

[Mark Levin]

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[Bill O'Reilly]

Okay. And then they assign somebody, a big shot in his crew to talk to me off the record. And I had a civil conversation with that person. I was told that this is all confidential in the House Ethics Committee, so we can't tell you anything. That's essentially what they told me. And I said that's really not acceptable. So because we do due diligence here on the no spin news, we got in touch with a former member of the House Ethics Committee from Mississippi. I wanted to keep it very close to home. Joining us now from Flowood, Miss. Is Greg Harper. He served four years in the House and he was on the House Ethics Committee. So I was surprised when, and you know, guess pretty well. You're a statement. I was surprised when they were so rude, number one. And then they said, look, we can't tell you anything because everything is confidential. Is that true?

[Greg Harper]

That's very true. And Bill, you know, I had the privilege of serving in the house for 10 years and four of that was on the Ethics Committee. And I've never seen Michael Guest do anything but his job and do it well. And so I would tell you that it is a unique committee and one that it's, it's, you know, it's the only committee in the House that has the same number of Republicans as it does Democrats. You know, any other committee, it's going to be a situation where the majority party has the most. They can control that committee completely. Here you have five Democrats, five Republicans. They're appointed by the, you know, the speaker and the minority leader. The majority party gets to name who the chairman is and then the ranking member. But it's to get anything passed, there has to be an agreement. It has to be a bipartisan approach. And, and I will just tell you, nobody wants to serve on the Ethics Committee. Okay. First of all, nobody wants to be on it.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Why?

[Greg Harper]

I remember my very first year when John Boehner asked me to serve. Well, I don't know if he asked me. Maybe he told me I was going to be on the Ethics Committee. I had friends that asked me. So was Boehner mad at you about something. It's one of those thankless assignments.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Well, why is it thankless? The audience doesn't know. Why is it a bad job? Why is it thankless? Why?

[Greg Harper]

Because it's a lot of pressure in it. You can't discuss anything about your committee's activity until let's walk through it. Yes.

[Bill O'Reilly]

I don't understand this. All right, so you're in business. The House of Representatives represent the people. You represent the people. So you got Crockett, okay, saying the President, United States, a piece of s. You got Goldman saying he should be eliminated. You got AOC saying should be impeached while US Planes are in the air. If these aren't ethical violations, nothing is. Then you should go out of business.

[Greg Harper]

Yeah, look, I understand what you're saying. Some of these things are handled internally by the. If you do something on the House floor, then it could be handled by the whole body. And there are a lot of things. Because here's the flip side of that. If you have everything wide open, you know, the minute something's filed, that can be come about because of somebody in your own party or another party.

[Bill O'Reilly]

And I understand that. I understand that. But so do the American people understand it. Due process extends to the House Ethics Committee. It does. But if you're gonna say, we're not gonna tell O'Reilly or any other journalist what we're doing, not even if Crockett's going to be called in to be questioned by the Ethics Committee, we're not even going to tell you that. That's not what the Constitution was put in place to do. And, you know, I'm a historian.

[Greg Harper]

Absolutely.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Jefferson, Madison, Franklin. None of them said, you know, we want to have one congressional committee that's so secret, nobody knows what's going on, they didn't do that. You guys did it. You guys slapped a secret on it. And I don't think it serves the people well.

[Greg Harper]

No, I. And I would respectfully, very respectfully disagree that this committee is made up of some of the best members that you're going to have in the House. It's. It's a heavy burden to do this. Nobody really wants to serve in it. But you cannot. You cannot go around talking about what the business of the committee is. And when it's done, when they're finished with their business, then you'll see a report come out. For instance, we don't even know.

[Bill O'Reilly]

But in the meantime. Okay, I got it. I got it. And due process is very important to me and my viewer and listenership. But we don't even know whether you're going to call Crockett in to be questioned. Republicans or AOC or Goldman or even a Republican. I mean, you know the guy that yelled at Obama during his State of the Union? He got sanctioned by the whole House and he should have. You can't have that kind of disrespect. You're a liar. That was insane. But we don't even know if you're going to call the three that I ran in. You really think that's good?

[Greg Harper]

I really don't know any other way to do it. If we're going to say that you are innocent until proven guilty, then you have to be able to say that. That's. We're not going to discuss it. Discuss a mirror.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Okay, but why don't you just do this investigation? I'm going to get. I'm going to give you a solution process. I'm going to. Because I'm a solution guy. All you need to do is tell the press and you issue A one. The chairman guest issues one paragraph. Said we were a bit disturbed. The Ethics Committee wants to find out what exactly happened when Congresswoman Crockett called the president an S word. And then we'll let you know what we found out. Isn't that reasonable?

[Greg Harper]

Well, it is. And there are times in the process where you may learn some things that are going on. But to have an initial allegation, it's probably not something you could go ahead and say. This is, hey, we've got this. We're looking at this. I think you've got to protect the. You know, they're. Soon enough, Bill, these things will come out through the course of an investigation and you get a report and that way you don't wind up.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Not soon enough for me because it's.

[Greg Harper]

Going to get used against them in a political campaign the minute there's a story.

[Bill O'Reilly]

But that's not what I'm. That's not. My main concern is politics. You're a good man. I want everybody to know that you stepped up to come on. And nobody else wanted to come up against me on this. But I disagree with you. I don't think you need to do conclusions or accusations. And I'm talking now about the House Ethics Committee. You shouldn't do that. You are absolutely, 100% correct. But you can tell the people we are looking at this because it's out of control. You have sitting members of the House calling the president of C names and asking for an elimination even though Goldman apologized. You know who he is. Okay.

[Greg Harper]

Absolutely.

[Bill O'Reilly]

The people need to know they are being scrutinized to some extent. We appreciate you coming on, Congressman. We really do.

[Greg Harper]

Thank you so much, Bill. It's a pleasure.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Now you're a stand up guy.

You're listening to the no spa news Weekend edition.

[Mark Levin]

Hablas espanol spries to joy nosk.

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[Bill O'Reilly]

Mike and Alyssa are always trying to outdo each other. When Alyssa got a small water bottle, Mike showed up with a 4 liter jug. When Mike started gardening, Alyssa started beekeeping.

Oh, come on.

They called a truce for their holiday and used Expedia trip planner to collaborate on all the details of their trip. Once there, Mike still did more laps around the pool.

Whatever.

You were made to outdo your holidays. We were made to help organize the competition. Expedia made to travel Hollywood.

All right, now I was talking to a bunch of people this week about entertainment because a very prestigious Hollywood company has bought Confronting Evil to stream to make television episodes. And we were hoping that obviously comes to fruition, but they bought it. So I'm back in Hollywood. I've had four movies produced. I'm the CP on all of them. Killing Lincoln, killing Kennedy, killing Jesus, killing Reagan. All fabulously successful. You can get them all on pay per view if you want to see them. Okay, so I'm back in that Hollywood milieu or whatever, and I'm finding that there is no repentance at all, none for the radical left taking over the industry. You know, the television industry in New York is pulling back. You know that. Not in Hollywood. Okay. Adjacent to this is a incident that happened on Fox News where on Gutfeld's program, one of the featured players said that Scott Baio, the former Happy Days actor, and he did a lot of other stuff too, but that's where he's primarily known from. Okay. Was dead or disappeared. Yeah, it was a stupid comment. And then I know Baio for a long time and I went Whoa. That wasn't very nice. And then Bao came out, as he should have, and said, no, I'm alive and well and I'm doing great. And I said, let's get Scott on the program because I got a bunch of questions about Hollywood I want to ask him. But first, if you don't know him, Scott Baio, I want to set it up with a Happy Days clip. Go. Come over here. Look in there. Good sized closet. That's the bedroom. Ace. Water heater in the bedroom. Don't knock it. It keeps it warm. Good point. If you want a school, follow me. There's the air conditioner. On, off. It didn't move. It moves when you pay the rent. There you go. So the main character in Happy Days, Richie Cunningham, played by Ron Howard. Very talented guy, by the way. Howard. But you don't get more left wing than Howard. And he's prospered in his career because he's right in there with all the other lefties in Hollywood. So I just want to put everything into perspective here. And joining us now from Sarasota, Florida, where he now lives, is Scott Baio, who has a podcast. Everybody has a podcast. Bayo, I don't want to diminish yours. I'm sure it's excellent. But, you know, I had a. A person come in and do my pool yesterday out here on eastern Long island, and they have a podcast. Everybody's got. Yeah, everybody's got one. Take a dive, I think is the podcast. Hey, do you watch my podcast? I'll tell you how to do your pool. Right.

[Scott Baio]

Mine is good, Bill. It's on. We go live every Wednesday night at 8 o'. Clock.

[Bill O'Reilly]

I heard that it was good. Somebody told me in our editorial meeting today is, hey, you know Bayo's podcast, pretty good. And so now I have to watch it, which thanks a lot. I only have 23 hours of work to do every day, so I want to talk about this. I want to talk about this. I've known you for a long time, and I think that you're a good man. And I also think, and you correct me if I'm wrong, because I don't follow you around, that your acting career suffered because you are a traditional, conservative man. Am I wrong?

[Scott Baio]

You're not wrong. You're 100% correct.

[Bill O'Reilly]

I.

[Scott Baio]

The story goes, Donald Trump asked me to speak at the Republican convention in Cleveland in 2016. He asked me personally face to face, and I knew I was going to do it. And I knew that at that point my career would have suffered I even said in an interview that I don't care if I ever work again because I want to do this for my child. And I know what's going to happen to me.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Well, what did you know?

[Scott Baio]

I know that the blowback would be astronomical. I knew that I would probably be canceled. I knew that I would be an outcast. I knew, I knew it would ostensibly be over.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Did you know?

[Scott Baio]

And I was right.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Did you know who was going to do that? Did you know the names of people who were going to do that?

[Scott Baio]

I'll give you one example. After Trump won in 2018, my friend George and I, who's in the business, had an idea for a show and we sent it to somebody. He, he emailed somebody he knew at ABC who was a VP of television or whatever. And he goes and his email Bill said, hey, this is George and I have this idea with Scott Baio, blah, blah, blah, blah. Her name is Dawn Soleil or Dawn Solar. And she writes back to George, I don't want anything to do with Scott Trump Baer.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Oh, and I cannot dispute that. You know, I can't dispute that because not the same thing happened to me. But we have had a lot of good projects, projects that make people lots of money. And because I'm not a liberal, guys like Ari Emanuel, the head of William Morris, you know, stuff like that, they wouldn't deal with you. They just absolutely won't deal with you unless you have what they call the credentials, the political credentials. I know them all. I know every one of them. Now, will they admit it? Not in public. But you were lucky enough to get that email shown to you. So is there a solution to this problem because you moved to Sarasota where you're much better off than if you were living in Burbank and you look good and your career, I think is, you know, you're doing, you're happy, you got a good family. Is there a solution to the problem?

[Scott Baio]

Well, of course there's a solution, but I don't think it'll ever happen. The solution is you've got to get more either non political or conservative people into the entertainment business. And there are some there, but Bill. But they're afraid. No, they're afraid and I think they're still afraid. And there's no apology. The Democrat Party won't apologize for Covid?

[Bill O'Reilly]

No. No.

[Scott Baio]

Russia?

[Bill O'Reilly]

No. They justify it for anything. Absolutely justify it. If you don't think the way they do, then you're not worthy. As this Mike Myers once said on snl, we're not worthy anyway. Scott, look, you're doing well. You need us for anything at all. Anybody does anything toward you, you know, I'm your first call. I saw Scott last at the Joe Namath benefit to help the football players with brain injuries. A good guy, as I said. So thanks for checking in.

[Scott Baio]

Just, just let me say something. Can I just say something about.

[Bill O'Reilly]

Absolutely.

[Scott Baio]

You know, it's about you. And I consider you a friend. And it was in Florida somewhere, I think, and I don't remember. I just moved here.

[Bill O'Reilly]

It was Jupiter. Okay.

[Scott Baio]

It was crowded. And I'm sure people look at you, Bill, and see you as an intimidating man intellectually and physically. And I was talking to somebody and you went out of your way to say hello to me. And I want you to know how much I appreciate that.

[Bill O'Reilly]

You know, I mean, look, I try to be a not, I don't think nice would ever be applied to me, Bale. But I try to be respectful. And you're a man of, you're a man of accomplishment. That Happy Days program, that was an iconic broadcast that gave pleasure to tens of millions, hundreds of millions of people around the world, and it should be respected, as should you and these Hollywood pinheads who would, you know, cancel you. Boy, you got anybody on your sheet, you send me the name and we'll. I will. We'll have a chat. We'll have a chat with them. All right, Scott, thanks very much. Be well.

Thank you for listening to the no Spin News Weekend Edition. To watch the full episodes of the no Spin news, visit bill o'reilly.com and sign up to become a premium or concierge member. That's billoriley.com sign up and start watching today.