“Shut The F*CK Up!” Joe Kent Quits Over Israel & Trump Attacks ‘Weak’ NATO | With Glenn Beck

Summary

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Piers Morgan Uncensored | “Shut The F*CK Up!” Joe Kent Quits Over Israel & Trump Attacks ‘Weak’ NATO | With Glenn Beck

Date: March 18, 2026
Main Topics: U.S.-Iran war fallout, Trump’s strategy and political repercussions, NATO/UK/European responses, Israeli lobby influence, Iranian dissident perspectives, deepening conservative divides

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Episode Overview

This high-stakes episode sees Piers Morgan moderate a fiery roundtable on the U.S.-Iran conflict and associated global fallout. Key focal points: Joe Kent’s resignation over the war and Israeli lobbying, Trump’s bold gambles and potential political costs, NATO’s fraught unity, and raw dissident testimony from Iranians. Regular contributors and special guest Glenn Beck spar energetically, often contentiously, in a debate defined by sharply divergent perspectives and several personal outbursts.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The U.S.-Iran Conflict: Military and Political Dimensions

Military Success vs. Strategic Ambiguity

• Ben Hodges (04:50 - 07:38): Praises the military efficiency of U.S. and Israeli forces against Iran, but expresses concern over the lack of a clear strategic endgame. Points out:
  • Two parallel wars: U.S./Israel's military campaign, Iran's economic/asymmetric retaliation (e.g., Strait of Hormuz).
  • “When there’s not a clearly defined end state, this is how you get mission creep. And that’s what really worries me the most.” (07:35)
• Richard Dalton (08:16 - 10:43): Asserts U.S. leadership should not have been surprised by Iranian responses. Criticizes the lack of past restraint among U.S. military advisers and questions whether Iran was truly on the nuclear threshold justifying war.

Trump’s Gamble and Its Political Risks

• Piers Morgan (12:26 - 15:35): Expresses skepticism about Trump’s grasp of the strategic landscape and his shifting rationales, warning that political blowback could intensify if the war drags on.
• Ben Ferguson: Considers the campaign “insanely successful” militarily, emphasizing national security (“His big victory is making sure they are not a threat... That is the victory that I care about the most.” 12:49).

2. Strait of Hormuz & Economic Fallout

Unanticipated Secondary Effects?

• Ben Ferguson: Argues the administration anticipated threats to the strait; disputes media portrayal of the White House being “hoodwinked.” (16:03)
• Cenk Uygur (16:54 - 20:42): Blasts this as revisionist spin: “What did you think they were going to do? That they were going to get attacked and they weren’t going to counterattack? ... The Strait of Hormuz is blocked. Who effectively blocked it? Iran did. Who can’t open it up? Dumbass Donald Trump.” (18:56)

3. Israel’s Influence & The U.S. Political Divide

Israeli Lobby and “Narrative Control”

• Cenk Uygur (20:42 - 21:16): Claims the Israeli lobby “obviously” sways both major parties, referencing campaign contributions: “They’ve given over $300 million to Donald Trump. Obviously they control Trump. Obviously they control Biden. Obviously they control Congress. This should not be a taboo topic.”
• Ben Ferguson/Panel: Push back fiercely, leading to repeated interruptions and a near-breakdown in order.

Joe Kent and Conservative Fractures

• Piers Morgan (02:59): Notes the speed with which Trump and conservative media turned on Joe Kent after his resignation and marginalization.
• Glenn Beck (22:42 - 23:53): Sees the right as more fractured than ever: “I unfortunately see it destroying so many people on all sides of this... We need to have the conversation about principles and not the people.” (34:14)

4. Trump’s Rationale & Risk Calculus

“Biggest Gamble” of Trump’s Presidency

• Glenn Beck (22:42 - 27:31): Admits the outcome is wholly unpredictable: “How this works out, I don’t know. It could be fabulous, could be World War Three.” (22:42)
• Sees Trump’s calculation as an attempt to fix “the fundamentals” quickly, betting on a “peace dividend,” but agrees with Morgan that failure (e.g., lasting Hormuz closure) could prove catastrophic economically.

Was Trump Duped by Netanyahu?

• Piers Morgan (29:25): Floats the theory Trump was “worn down” by Netanyahu’s entreaties.
• Glenn Beck: Rejects the idea; says responsibility lies with Trump, not Israel: “You can’t have it both ways. You can’t say, Donald Trump is doing a great job, he was duped... he knows the buck stops with him.” (31:00)

NATO, UK, and U.S.–Allies Friction

• Ben Hodges (36:41): Warns about Trump’s “bashing of allies” and the importance of coalition-building: “The burden is on us to demonstrate, make the case why it’s in everybody’s shared interest to do this together, not go in there [unilaterally].”
• Ben Ferguson (38:23): Pushes back, citing public warnings and travel advisories, and frames Trump as the only president “brave enough” to act.

5. UK/Europe: Sidelined or Principled?

UK’s Response and Forces Readiness

• Piers Morgan and Dalton (41:41 - 46:32): Debate the extent and wisdom of the UK’s limited involvement. Morgan laments British military decline: “Our armed forces right now in terms of our ability to... contribute... are pathetic. Our army’s been reduced to the size of a football stadium.” (45:10)

Legal and Strategic Justification

• Dalton: Argues the UK was right to avoid the offensive phase due to lack of a “sound legal base and a proper plan.” (44:04)

6. Raw Panel Infighting & Flashpoints

Verbal Clashes & Notable Outbursts

• Cenk Uygur, Ben Ferguson, Piers Morgan (49:50 - 56:14): Debate devolves into shouted accusations and explicit language:
  • “Will you shut the fuck up? ... That’s why we have to shout on this show, because these assholes won’t shut the fuck up.” – Uygur (51:01)
  • Morgan, weary: “I think there are actually less chances of Ben Ferguson shutting the fuck up than there are of the Bob Hope analogy I gave earlier.” (51:18)
• Uygur to Ferguson: “Ben Ferguson, that traitor, said that it was no big deal. That 13 Americans died. It’s a huge deal. You sent your goddamn Israeli friends into a war.” (53:22)
• On Ground Troops: Questioned why only Americans are expected to deploy, not Israelis—a topic Uygur says is “not even being discussed in Washington.” (54:59)

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Iranian Dissident Voices: War, Brutality, and the Real Stakes (56:58 – 69:33)

Massey (Iranian Activist)

• Describes personal and collective trauma—family uncontactable, regime brutality, digital blackout:
  • “We are in the middle of war. To be honest, my heart is broken when I don’t even know whether my family members... are alive because the regime shut down the Internet and they live in total darkness.” (56:58)
• Response to “Where Are the Protests?”
  • “More than 32,000 people have been killed in January... How come we expect people to take back to the street? ... Bombs are falling and I think the next wave will be much heavier.” (60:50)
  • Criticizes European leaders’ inaction and international normalization of the regime.

Shiva Amini (Exiled Iranian Athlete)

• Relates the fates of Iranian women’s soccer players, discussing the regime’s hostage tactics—family threats drive even those abroad to return:
  • “There is a big guilt on your shoulder... their manager was actually working with the Iranian federation and at the same time with IRGC... because the regime threat your family.” (65:26)
• Profiles the pressure and surveillance faced by Iranian athletes, which extends to their relatives in Iran.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “How this works out, I don’t know. It could be fabulous. Could be World War Three.” — Glenn Beck (00:32 & 22:42, repeated)
• “When the Americans ask Britain to help, we’ve got to say yes. That is part of the special relationship.” — Piers Morgan (00:36)
• “There are, in fact, two wars going on in parallel. The Iranians are fighting a completely different war... escalating the conflict horizontally to make it much more difficult for the US to accomplish whatever it is we wanted to accomplish now.” — Ben Hodges (05:58)
• “This is the biggest gamble I’ve ever seen... He is also an extraordinarily intelligent... man. He is not duped.” — Glenn Beck on Trump (27:31)
• “We get the fuck out of there, okay? We have zero interest in there. None, none, none.” — Cenk Uygur (53:55)
• “Our armed forces right now, in terms of our ability to be a meaningful contribution to situations like this, are pathetic. Our army’s been reduced to the size of a football stadium.” — Piers Morgan (45:10)
• “We need to have the conversation about principles and not the people.” — Glenn Beck (34:14)
• “Every single night we go to bed crying, Shiva, my hero soccer player. She can tell you how now we are worried for the soccer players being forced to go back to Iran.” — Massey (63:24)

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Summary Timeline (Timestamps Key Events)

• 00:32 – Debate opens with Beck noting unpredictability: “Could be World War Three.”
• 02:59 – Joe Kent’s resignation, Trump immediately turns, conservative infighting starts.
• 04:50 - 07:38 – Ben Hodges outlines military “success” but warns of unclear strategy and mission creep.
• 08:16 - 10:43 – Richard Dalton says U.S. should not feign surprise; Israel’s influence noted.
• 12:26 - 16:32 – Trump’s leadership, military PR campaigns questioned.
• 16:54 - 20:42 – Cenk Uygur’s first major rant, “assembly line of lies,” Israeli lobby.
• 22:42 - 34:47 – Glenn Beck reflects on Trump’s motives; personal/political risks; new Middle East alliances; admits “massive gamble.”
• 36:41 - 40:46 – Ben Hodges on the importance of alliances and multilateralism.
• 41:41 - 46:32 – UK military decline, symbolic contributions, UK politics.
• 49:50 - 56:14 – Bitter infighting, expletives, debate over priorities (U.S. vs. Israeli ground troops, lobby influence).
• 56:58 - 69:33 – Iranian dissidents testify: trauma, regime repression, athletes’ plight.

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Final Thoughts & Context

This episode exemplifies Piers Morgan Uncensored’s “global arena for fearless debate”—sometimes tipping into chaos, but surfacing the raw divisions over Mideast policy, American politics, and the burden of war and authoritarianism on ordinary people. Glenn Beck’s “biggest gamble” framing and Massey’s heartbreaking account of regime brutality bring gravitas beyond the panel’s politicking—placing Iran’s war under a brutal, unflinching spotlight.

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Transcript

[Cenk Uygur]

Fox News is now streaming live on Fox 1. When news breaks, we don't just report it. We go beyond the headlines to get the full story. Get live coverage in depth analysis and perspectives from the voices you trust all in one place. Whether you're at home or on the go, stay connected to the stories shaping our world stream. Fox News on Fox 1.

[Richard Dalton]

Download today.

[Glenn Beck]

How this works out, I don't know. It could be fabulous. Could be World War three.

[Piers Morgan]

When the Americans ask Britain to help, we've got to say yes. That is part of the special relationship.

[Richard Dalton]

Your account of British policy, I'm afraid, is a travesty.

[Piers Morgan]

Hang on.

[Ben Ferguson]

The straightforward moves, the idea that Donald Trump didn't think of it. That is one of the biggest narrative lies I've seen in a long time.

[Piers Morgan]

Just to correct you on one thing Trump literally said yesterday, nobody expected that about straight in full Moose.

[Cenk Uygur]

Every time I start talking, some Israel first son of a bitch comes in and starts talking over me.

[Ben Ferguson]

America first right there. American flag, bro.

[Cenk Uygur]

Oh, yeah, yeah, my ass.

[Piers Morgan]

Cenk. For 15 minutes, you managed to stay relatively calm. Don't blow it out. They spent billions on day one of

[Cenk Uygur]

the cutting me off.

[Piers Morgan]

Pierce, There's a tiny amount of money.

[Cenk Uygur]

You're talking about tiny amounts of money, Piers. Are you mental? $337 million.

[Piers Morgan]

Joe Kent is a gold star husband, a retired Green Beret and a veteran of 11 combat tours across 20 years service in the US Army. He blamed the October 7th terror attack on America's failure to curtail Iran's threat. And amid a flurry of media criticism about reported links to far right groups, he publicly disavowed the likes of Nick Fuentes. All of this earned him the endorsement of the American conservative commentators as he sought political office. President Trump then appointed him as a top counterterrorism official in the US a position from which he dramatically resigned yesterday. His statement said, I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation. It's clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and his powerful American lobby. Well, Joe Kent is now facing the full force of the war spin machine spearheaded by Ben Shapiro, Lindsey Graham and Mark Levine, who says he should be investigated for espionage.

[Ben Ferguson]

What are you doing? You're giving aid and comfort to a lie. There was an imminent threat.

[Glenn Beck]

How much more imminent could you be

[Ben Ferguson]

within 2 weeks having enough material to make 10 bombs?

[Piers Morgan]

How close could you come?

[Ben Ferguson]

Not much. Now that is conspiracy trash. It's also kind of strange since President Trump has said that it's conspiracy trash. So apparently, Trump is so deeply, deeply enthralled to those strange, powerful American lobbies. We're not going to say it. We're not going to say that he, he apparently has been so bamboozled by them that he's still under the impression that he's his own man.

[Piers Morgan]

Well, for his part, President Trump, who appointed Joe Kent as the director of the National Counterterrorism center, said he's not a smart person and has always been weak on security. If nothing else is another lesson in how quickly the worm can turn on those who step out of line. And in a much more consequential pivot, the president is now threatening to leave NATO altogether over its failure, as he sees it, to help police the strait of Hormuz. NATO's making a very foolish mistake, and

[Ben Hodges]

I've long said that, you know, I wonder whether or not NATO would ever

[Piers Morgan]

be there for us.

[Ben Ferguson]

So this is a, this was a

[Ben Hodges]

great test because we don't need them,

[Piers Morgan]

but they should have been there. But it's the fact that every single one of America's allies has a major interest in opening the Strait of Hormuz to the billions of barrels of oil which, which is supposed to pass through it. It's also a fact that the world's oil was flowing freely through the open strait until Israel and the United States started this war. And the crisis over Hormuz is really a perfect snapshot of the entire Iran saga. No amount of bombing is going to ever change the fact that Iran's border covers the entire Hundred Mile Waterway. It will always be able to choke the world's economy with its divers mines and small boats unless the regime is changed or controlled. And that will take precisely the type of conflict that everybody says they want to avoid. Joining me to discuss all of this is Ben Hodges, retired U.S. army officer and commanding General Sir Richard Dalton, the former UK Ambassador to the Islamic Republic of Iran Chen Yuga, founder and CEO of the Young Turks, and Ben Ferguson, co host of the Verdict with Ted Cruz. Well, welcome to all of you, some old friends and some new faces. It should be a lively debate here. Let me start with you, Ben Hodges. You're a retired American army officer. You were commanding general. From a purely military perspective, what is your assessment of how this war has gone so far?

[Ben Hodges]

Well, of course, I have to tip my hat to the US Navy, the US Air Force, and the Israeli Air Forces and our intelligence professionals who have helped them accomplish what's been done so far. I mean, there's no denying, from a military standpoint, enormous damage done to Iran's military capabilities.

[Piers Morgan]

Right. Could two things be true at once? That that is all true, and that the combined firepower of the American and Israeli military has been overwhelmingly successful purely at targeting Iranian military assets and so on. But that at the same time, the Iranians have been fighting a slightly tangential war which has been throttling the Strait of Hormuz and attacking the neighboring Gulf states in a way that is clearly deterring people from visiting them and clearly making a lot of people get on planes and get out of there. And their strategy appears to be meeting military might with economic tactics, which are proving to be unexpectedly effective.

[Ben Hodges]

Well, you put your finger on the. The key issue. What our military is doing is exactly what they were told to do. But that's not going to get us to where we need to be strategically. There are, in fact, two wars going on in parallel. The Iranians are fighting a completely different war, partly because they knew that they would never be able to stand up to US and Israeli firepower. And I think they've been preparing for this possibility for decades. And so even after so many of the leaders were lost in the opening hours, they still launched huge numbers of counter strikes against other countries, escalating the conflict horizontally to make it much more difficult for the US to accomplish whatever it is we wanted to accomplish now. And I have to say this, it's not entirely clear exactly what the desired end state is. The there's been, for the US there's been a lot of talk about we don't want the Iranians to have nuclear weapon. True. We don't want them to be able to launch ballistic missiles.

[Ben Ferguson]

True.

[Ben Hodges]

Then there was talk about regime change, then backed away. We want to protect the protesters. You don't hear anything about that anymore. And then today, the admiral in charge of Central Command, who's doing a hell of a good job, he said, you know, we've got to make sure that we deter the Iranians from ever disrupting oil flow through the Strait. That's a great objective. But that was not even mentioned 19 days ago. So this is the problem. When there's not a clearly defined end state, this is how you get mission creep. And that's what really worries me the most.

[Piers Morgan]

Right. It's Richard Dahl. Welcome to Uncensored. I mean, just from a diplomatic point of view, the, you know, the Trump administration appears to be saying that we had no idea the Iranians might attack the neighboring Gulf states, which I find extremely hard to believe. I mean, the two things I would have thought would be entirely predictable if the Americans and Israelis launched up such a massive attack on Iran would be that they would try and close down the Strait of Hormuz and they would probably attack American bases along the Gulf states because that would be the leverage they could then get themselves. Why would anyone be surprised by this?

[Richard Dalton]

There was no reason to be surprised. This kind of a war has been war gamed on many occasions in Washington and the end result was always conflict over the Strait of Hormuz and if the US Navy got in close, losses of large United States naval ships. I think of a factor that hasn't been brought to play in public discussion yet, and I think it's worth asking for comment from United States side of this discussion on it, which is when I was involved in the early part of this century and subsequently in track three, track two endeavors, the assumption about Israeli intentions was that they wouldn't attack Iran unless the sword was at their throats, the expression they used. And that was meaning if a Iranian nuclear weapon was unstoppable. And there's no evidence produced yet to justify the claim that that point had been reached by January, February this year. And personally, I don't believe it. I do not think an Iranian nuclear weapon was inevitable. Secondly, there's been a change of military advice in the United States. On previous occasions when Netanyahu, at least two, to my knowledge, tried to succor the United States into this kind of a war, the chiefs of the defense staff said, well, hold on, there are major consequences separate from an attack on Iran and whether that's going to go well, namely a regional war and the Straits of Hormuz being brought into play. Now, this time, the chiefs of staff have not stood their ground. They've yielded to their commander in chief's totally superficial and ignorant analysis of the situation, not being interested to look at it in depth and saying because of this concept of American exceptionalism that they can do what they want because they're so powerful. Let's go with what Netanyahu wants to do.

[Piers Morgan]

Yeah. Well, Ben Ferguson, I can see you pulling a number of phases there. It's good to see your face remains Botox free. So you're able to do that, unlike the Oscars we witnessed at the weekend. But in relation to this, you know, I'm really concerned about this and I'm concerned about where Donald Trump's head is. I was asked on the BBC at the weekend, does he really have a clue what to do here? And I replied, honestly, I Don't think he does, because I think unlike Venezuela, which he likened this to very early on, it would be another Venezuela. He's decapitated the head of the regime, killed the ayatollah and many of the top people and carries on doing that. But there's a kind of asymmetric war going on that seems to be completely oblivious to that affecting any kind of regime change. The IRGC are still clearly in control. There is no sign of any uprising on the street whatsoever, partly because I suspect so many protesters got killed in January, but also because of the constant risk obviously, of bombs flying through the air. But none of those early predictions that Trump was making so confidently have, have manifestly played out. And now it looks to me like he's really scrambling for a way to get out of this that claims any kind of victory that can make any sense to people. And the longer it goes on, the more damage it will do to him politically right, when he least needs it, which is in the run up to the midterm elections. When you, as a Trump fan is a Republican, but desperate, presumably not to lose the House and potentially the Senate in November, you must be starting to get twitchy about this.

[Ben Ferguson]

On, you know, I'm not. And that's because I think there's a couple of misconceptions here. One, this has been insanely successful. As it was mentioned by your first guest. What the President has been able to accomplish is incredible. The number of people that have been taken out in the leadership is incredible. The minimal loss of life of Americans is incredible. And there's two different victories here that you can have. And the President understands this. The first one is the one I care about the most and that's national security. He said he had an objective and that was to make sure that Iran, who is on record as saying they wanted a nuclear weapon and if they get it, they want to kill the little Satan, which is Israel, and the big Satan, which is the United States of America. They're the number one state sponsored terrorism. They've killed more American soldiers than anybody else in the world in my lifetime. Those are all facts. His big victory is making sure they are not a threat. That is the victory that I care about the most. Now there's a second PR victory. If you have the people show up and rise up in the Ayatollah falls and the regime falls the way that the President and many would love, that is the victory that you get for tv and it gives you a bump and that would be amazing for the people. But to be clear, I don't think the President is nervous the way you're describing it at all. His objective was to make sure they were not a threat to the US and to the world. That is the same objective. I think it's clear for Israel. Except instead of the US are saying to Israel directly, they're still doing that right now. The second part about the straightforward moves, the idea that Donald Trump didn't think of it, that is one of the biggest narrative lies I've seen in a long time by many on the left in the media. Donald Trump, and this is easy to find. You can chatgpt it, you can google it. In 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20, talked about the Strait of Hormuz being shut down and the threat that Iran can have to it. The idea that they were sitting in a room and Marco Rubio and, and Pete Edseth weren't talking about this is total nonsense. They have all talked about it, including Marco Rubio back as early as 2012 when he said it publicly. So they knew that the straight was going to be an issue. And this idea that like, they were somehow just like hoodwinked, they didn't see it coming, that's just a straight up lie. So I think the President's doing what he thought he was going to do from the beginning. I do not believe, based on the people I've talked to at the White House and, and the people of the DoD, that they are concerned in any way. The way you're describing, like this is going to be a quagmire. He understands the midterms. He understands it seems to be quick. He understands he's on a short deadline here and the main deadline for him is are they a threat, yes or no? The US he believes we're getting to the point where they will not be. That is the clear victory for him. And then the people, why are they not on the streets right now? Because there's a hell of a lot of bombs dropping. Is it easy to rise up right now? No, because there's a lot of bombs dropping. The question is, when we pull back and stop, will the people rise up then? They're not crazy, they're not insane. They're not going to go outside when all the bombs are coming in. Like, that would be insanity. So people demanding like, where are they? Why aren't they in the streets? They were in the streets weeks ago because there were no bombs dropping them. So let's see what happens when America finally completes that main phase of the mission. And then they say all right, now is your moment. But no one's going out in the streets right now.

[Piers Morgan]

You wouldn't do it.

[Ben Ferguson]

I wouldn't do it.

[Piers Morgan]

No, listen, I agree, I agree. I said that was probably the reason. I mean, just to correct you on one thing. Trump literally said yesterday, nobody expected that about the straight little moose crisis. And he's also, he's also said. He's also said several days ago. He's also said nobody expected the attacks on the Gulf states. So he didn't seem to expect any of this coming back from Iran, which I find very, very difficult to believe.

[Ben Ferguson]

Here's. I don't think the Gulf states thought they were going to get attacked either, because it was insane for Iran to attack and then bring and draw them all in. I think if you talk to most military experts, they thought they would not do that because why would you then want to take fire and have all these states that usually say neutral coming into it? I think that also shows how desperate the regime is right now. It's like unload everything we got, see what happens and what we hit. Show some sort of strength. Right now, that's desperation. Warfare is the way I would describe.

[Piers Morgan]

Okay, well, the only person putting more faces than you has been Chuck Yuga listening to you. So let's bring Chenkin. Welcome back. Cenk, your response to what Ben Ferguson saying that nothing to see. It's all going great. It'll be over soon. Everyone knew exactly how this was all going to play out. Nothing to worry about, Governor. Yeah.

[Cenk Uygur]

So let's start with the stupidity and work our way to lies. So first off, Donald Trump says Joe Kent, he's, he's not very smart and he's very weak on security. Then why did you make him the national counterterrorism director? I mean, it doesn't get any dumber than that. If you believe him. Number two, then he says NATO. A couple of days ago, we all saw it with our own eyes. Oh, you got to help us. This is more your war than our war. This is more your interest than our interest. Please, please help. And now he says, oh, we didn't need their help anyway. Yeah, after they said no. I mean, it's pathetic and it's obvious and it's silly. So then you go to what you were just mentioning. So, my God, no one could have predicted they would attack our bases in the Gulf countries. I predicted it. Every rational person predicted it. Well, what did you think they were going to do? That they were going to get attacked and they weren't going to counterattack. I mean, are the people running our government that preposterously stupid? Of course they're going to attack our bases. The reason why that talking point even exists is because we spent all of our time, resources, and defensive missiles on protecting Israel, and we left our own bases and our own soldiers vulnerable. So that's why they put out that incredibly dumb talking point. And then in terms of the Strait of Hormuz. Okay, hold on. I let you talk for like an hour. So now in straight of Hormuz, they say, well, I mean, nobody could. You're right. Trump literally said no one could have seen it coming when everyone could have seen it coming. But number two, let's say that he's just lying about that and not a moron, right? Well, what difference does it make if you saw it coming, you apparently did not adjust well enough and you got clowned by Iran. So the Strait of Hormuz is blocked. So look at all this propaganda. But the propaganda doesn't actually change the facts on the ground. Is the Strait of Hormuz blocked or not? It is blocked. Who effectively blocked it? Iran did. Who can't open it up? Dumbass Donald Trump. Because this war never made any sense. We all knew the Strait of Hormuz was going to get blocked. We all knew the oil prices were going to go high. And in fact, today, Israel exasperated it by bombing their gas fields, which we told them not to do. It's going to drive the gas prices through the roof. Now Iran is going to counter by attacking the Gulf country's oil fields. That's going to double the disaster. And why won't Israel ever listen to us? And then that gets us to the lies. I mean, look at all these. So Ben Shapiro said about this show that it's a circus or Jerry Springer or whatever. No, the real circus is cable news and mainstream media. I mean, look at these preposterous lies. Lindsey Graham. They were going to get nukes in a couple of weeks. That is a brazen lie. That is not anywhere near true. They just regurgitate things that are lies on Fox News 24. 7. It's an assembly line of lies to scare the boomers watching television. Oh, they were going to nuke you? Preposterous. No one in their right mind believes that. Then you go to Ben Shapiro and he says, oh, the idea that politicians would be affected by a lobby, of course, of course they're affected by lobbies. Big pharma controls our government so thoroughly we can't even negotiate drug prices. We're allowed to say that. We're allowed to say the big oil controls us so much that we give them billions in subsidies, which makes no sense at all. But when it comes to the Israeli lobby, that's when all of Washington, en masse, especially television, pretends that it somehow magically has no power. That's absurd. They were the number one donors in this election cycle. They gave over $100 million and they've given to 94% of Congress and they've given over $300 million to Donald Trump. Obviously they control Trump. Obviously they control Biden. Obviously they control Congress. This should not be a taboo topic.

[Ben Hodges]

It.

[Cenk Uygur]

It is patently absurd to say that.

[Ben Ferguson]

To recap, you're saying that Israel is one lobby.

[Cenk Uygur]

Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. I'm almost done. I'm almost done. It's patently absurd to say that the Israeli lobby is the one lobby that is not effective, that has no effect at all, even though they're the number one donors to our politicians. Absurd. And it's done all to protect.

[Piers Morgan]

You now had way more than Ben Ferguson. Hadn't you claimed Ben had a.

[Ben Hodges]

You.

[Piers Morgan]

You have. You claim that Ben had an hour, so Ben, hold your fire.

[Ben Ferguson]

That was like seven hours.

[Piers Morgan]

Ben, hold your fire for a moment because I'm going to bring in another guest.

[Cenk Uygur]

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[Piers Morgan]

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[Cenk Uygur]

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[Piers Morgan]

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[Glenn Beck]

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[Cenk Uygur]

by Grainger for the ones who get it done.

[Piers Morgan]

Briefly, to discuss this, Glenn Beck, the founder of Blaze Media, is broadcasting a live report tomorrow called Exposing the Islamist Blueprint for Conquering the West. Glenn, great to have you back on our sense. I've been meaning to talk to you about this war. What is your overview here? It seems to me a lot of things can be true at the same time. The Iranian regime is vile and evil, and no one should shed tears for the Ayatollah being killed or any of the top people running it. But that this massive strike by America in conjunction with Israel is already looking like it's not going to be anywhere near as easy as President Trump hoped it would be. It's not going to be like Venezuela and these other situations. And you add the Strait of Hormuz crisis. You add the attacks by Iran on the Gulf states and so on. This has got the potential, the potential to become a massive hornet's nest, doesn't it?

[Glenn Beck]

So I have to tell you, I mean, you know, I've been listening to the guests and with all respect to everybody, how the hell do you know what it's going to turn into? I don't know. I know that I'm glad I'm not the President of the United States. I wouldn't have had the guts to do it. Every president since Ronald Reagan said, we got to take care of that, got to take care of that. And they all kick the can down the road because they know this could be a nightmare. They know what Iran, the tentacles of Iran means. This president just decided, we don't know on what, but he decided, I'm going to go for it. So he goes for it. I know I, it wouldn't have been the decision that I would have made only because I'm a coward. You know, this president is like, I'm just going to take care of it. So he does. How this works out, I don't know. It could be fabulous, could be World War Three. I think that's a much more logical place to be than arguing whether we should be in it or not, because that's not going to change anything.

[Piers Morgan]

But what about Glenn? I mean, I agree with you. I have no idea how this is going to play out. And if it was to play out successfully in the longer run for Trump, it could be a triumph. I mean, I wouldn't rule that out.

[Glenn Beck]

Right. However, I don't care if it plays out well for Trump. I want it to play out well for the, for the Iranian people.

[Piers Morgan]

But the right.

[Glenn Beck]

America first, but the rest of the world, too, if we think that's great

[Piers Morgan]

by playing out well for Trump, I'm assuming that if he played out that way, it would be obviously also good for Trump. But if it played out, I could see a situation where this plays out very badly for him. And in relation to you not wanting to do that, to do that, because you're a coward. A, you're not a coward. But secondly, I do think it was an unbelievably big gamble for Donald Trump to take. I mean, a legacy defining gamble. And I'm slightly, I've known him a long time, like you. I'm slightly wrestling with the logic of doing it now, with all the complexity and the difficulty involved in going after Iran in this way, given that he's facing the midterms in six months or so already, already looking like he may lose the House, may now lose the Senate. We don't know. I'm not going to make any prediction. But if he was to lose both and lose all power over Congress, he becomes the kind of lamest of lame duck presidents for the last two years. And you're like, huge gamble. And he didn't need to do it now, did he? I mean, his thing about is going to be a nuclear weapon. So I don't know because I don't believe that.

[Glenn Beck]

Right. I don't know what the intel was. And I said on day one, don't tell me about weapons of mass destruction. They're two weeks away from a nuclear weapon. I've heard that since, you know, the 1990s. I'm tired of that. Yeah, show me the proof and I'll go there.

[Piers Morgan]

Yeah.

[Glenn Beck]

So I don't know what the intel was, et cetera, et cetera. I do know what is different this time around, and it doesn't mean it's going to work out, is we talk a lot about the ally of Israel, but the allies all throughout the Middle east are different this time. They are. I mean, he put that council of peace together, and what I think he's trying to do is he's already done it to Europe. He's trying to show Europe you're, you're toast. You are toast if you can't defend yourself because we're not going to be able to defend you forever. And quite honestly, you're living a pipe dream. Go ahead and try to raise an army with all of the people that you have in your country now that you've let in. So he's taken care of that and, and saying, we're not going to be babysitting this. We're not going to babysit the Middle East. And I think between the Abraham Accords, the peace council that he put together, he built this coalition that I thought. I think he thinks that they're going to, we're going to be able to go and strategically hit, not break it like we did in Iraq and Afghanistan, but disable it so that Council of Middle east can take control of that region and we can get the hell out. I think that's what he was thinking.

[Piers Morgan]

How does it sit, Glenn? How does it sit with Donald Trump, the campaigner for the 2024 election, repeatedly saying that unlike Biden, Obama, all the others that came before him, I will not take this country into any more of these expensive, unnecessary wars in the Middle East. I'm Going to focus on America first. I'm going to focus on the economy. I'm going to bring things roaring back. You know, I'm going to sort out inflation, I'm going to sort out cost of living. You know, when I say this could be a disaster for him in many ways. One way is simply that if the strait of hormones does not reopen properly for weeks or months, God forbid, the knock on effect in a few months time on the American cost of living of the average American, both at the gas pump, food prices and so on from that straight of hormuz, being strangled for a sustained period of time could be absolutely unprecedented and horrendous.

[Glenn Beck]

Let me, let me make it worse for you. The 2008 collapse happened because we had sustained oil prices over $130 a barrel. The Western world is not built for $130 a barrel sustained. If, if this goes poorly, it will collapse the economy and not just ours, but of the West. It is a massive, massive gamble. However, I look at it again and just try not endorsing, not anything, just trying to understand his mindset. He told me at one point I was talking to him about other things and I said, are you gonna, are you gonna be able to take care of these things in, you know, in four years? He said, glenn, I've got two. He's, if you're wanting to fix the American economy and fix, you know, get away from the World Economic Forum and everything else, you have to fix the big fundamentals first. And so he's, that's what he's doing. He's fixing the fundamentals as he sees them. If you don't get us out of the Middle east, we're going to go back into the Middle east, you know, the next president, because there'll be another war. What he's trying to do, and it may work and be miraculous, it may not and be horrible, but that's his gamble. Let me take care of these things now. I've got two years and those two years are almost up. Let me, let me take care of all of this stuff. Now then the peace dividend that, you know, he hopes is going to come from this will then be able to quell everything else. That's why I say, I'm glad I, I wasn't in the room even near the, the question, because this is the biggest gamble I've ever seen. Yeah, but he is also an extraordinarily intelligent. He doesn't get credit for this. An extraordinarily talent, intelligent man. He is not duped. I just don't believe that he was duped into this. He's very clear, and he's been clear about this since 1982, on record saying what he would do.

[Piers Morgan]

The thing that worried me about the duping bit, not that he was duped, but that he may have been slightly barreled into this by Netanyahu. And the reason I say that is purely based on two things. What Marco Rubio said before they did a screeching U turn when he basically said on camera, look, the reason we had to attack preemptively was we were told by another country, Israel, clearly, that they were about to attack Iran, and that as a consequence of that, Iran would respond by attacking American interests. And so we felt we had to act preemptively against that, which was an incredibly convoluted defense, which they then reined back on. And then, just to finish, then we then had Anthony Blinken, the former Secretary of State, say, well, Netanyahu tried this with both Biden and Obama. He said to both of them, I'm about to attack Iran. Are you with me? And they both said, no. And then he ended up not attacking Iran. And that's the only bit of this where I do wonder. You know, Netanyahu went to the White House, I think, eight times in the months leading up to this. You know, did he just wear Trump down and say, I think that is a legitimate.

[Glenn Beck]

I think that's a legitimate question that needs to be answered at some point. I mean, some of the charges that are coming out, they, you know, they need to be answered. We need to know these things. Okay, no, nobody gets away with. With answering it. But on that particular question, my thought is, that's not Benjamin Netanyahu's fault. Then you're not. You shouldn't be angry at Israel. You should be angry at Donald Trump.

[Piers Morgan]

Correct.

[Glenn Beck]

Because. Right, yeah, people want to say that. And look, I'm a huge fan of Donald Trump. I think he's doing a fantastic job. So this is not my opinion, but what I'm. What I'm trying to say is you can't have it both ways. You can't say, donald Trump is doing a great job. He was duped. Donald Trump has said, why do we have the trade policies that we have? Why do we have all these endless wars? Because our presidents were stupid and they didn't see what was happening, and they were duped into it. So he knows the buck stops with him. And I have to tell you, I know the man well enough to know I Can't. I cannot imagine the person that could dupe him or wear him down. I really can't. I think this is a larger strategy. Whether it turns out to work or not is be honest. I pray that it does. Because honestly, Piers, everybody who is saying we shouldn't be there, let me just take you back to Ronald Reagan, Beirut. If you stop now, we're trapped.

[Piers Morgan]

Okay?

[Glenn Beck]

You have to finish it now. If you stop now, what do you think you will teach the terrorists of the world? You cannot stop now. Whether you like it or not, what is your option? If you want to be safe in a Western world from terror operations like Iran, forget about what happened yesterday or the decision that was made a week ago. Right now, you've got to finish it. You have to.

[Piers Morgan]

I just want to end just by playing. This is a fascinating thing you did. You interviewed an AI version of George Washington. And I just want to play a clip from that because it's very personal, I think. Let's take a look.

[Cenk Uygur]

I said once, to prepare for war is one of the most effective means of preserving peace.

[Ben Ferguson]

That's not saber rattling.

[Piers Morgan]

That's different. It's insurance.

[Ben Ferguson]

Think of it like this.

[Cenk Uygur]

A homeowner who never locks their door isn't more peaceful. They're just more vulnerable. During the revolution, even some Virginian leaders wanted to keep pursuing negotiations with British. But I came to recognize long before it became popular that some risks had

[Glenn Beck]

to be met with resolve, not appeasement.

[Piers Morgan]

Very, very interesting comments in light of what we're now watching.

[Glenn Beck]

This is AI. This is not ChatGPT. This is proprietary AI. This is only based on all of the founders writings, etc.

[Piers Morgan]

Etc.

[Glenn Beck]

And that was recorded in January. That was not about the war. This is going on.

[Piers Morgan]

How press this?

[Glenn Beck]

We.

[Piers Morgan]

Yeah, yeah, just finally, Glenn, there's a lot. As you know, the whole conservative movement in America right now is split in a way I've never seen it before. You've got neither the Ben Shapiro is on one side. You've got Tucker and Megyn Kelly and others on the other. Everyone's, you know, raging away. But they're also having massive ideological disputes over a number of different issues in a way I've never seen. What do you. What do you make of this? Quickly? And how do you see this playing out?

[Glenn Beck]

I unfortunately see it destroying so many people on all sides of this. I mean, I am not engaging in. I'm too old for this, especially when we get to micropenis. I think too old means I'm 13 to engage in that. But we need to have the conversation about principles and not the people. I mean, I thought about you coming on today. I thought, you know, I used to say horrible things about you. I didn't know you and peers. Every time we get together, we might disagree with things, but we can have a conversation.

[Piers Morgan]

Yeah.

[Glenn Beck]

That's the way we have to this.

[Piers Morgan]

I agree.

[Glenn Beck]

And we have just keep torpedoing.

[Piers Morgan]

Yeah, I agree.

[Glenn Beck]

Personalities.

[Piers Morgan]

And we don't, and we don't descend into really bad ad hominem stuff, which I think is often the, the refuse of somebody who doesn't really want to have the argument because they know potentially their argument is times.

[Glenn Beck]

Times are too serious. In your country, in my country, in the entire Western world, this is not playtime. This is time for adults to sit down and have logical conversations and say, ask any question. Everything is fair, but let's have a logical discussion about it.

[Piers Morgan]

Yeah. Glenn Beck, great to have you back on the sensor. Thank you very much.

[Glenn Beck]

Thank you.

[Piers Morgan]

Really good. Well, let's go back to the panel. Ben Hodges, really interesting listening to Glenn Beck. He's, he's certainly mellowed over the years since I first locked horns with him. But it really interesting what he was saying there about a number of things, but not least the admission that he doesn't know how this is going to work out. He prays it's going to be successful. But I also found that a clip with the AI George Washington talking to, using his actual words, also quite prescient. You know, Donald Trump's argument will be, as would Netanyahu's be, which is that sometimes you have to do this. If you want to get rid of a greater evil, you have to do tough things. And that's what they're now finally doing. And there's no doubt if you go back and find quotes of every American president since 1979, you will see all of them. To a man saying, we've got to deal with the Iran problem, Trump's like, okay, I'm the one who finally did. Now we don't know how it's going to play out, but I can. Certainly there is a merit to that argument, which is they all talk to good game. Trump's doing something about it.

[Ben Hodges]

Well, look, you know, I was a cadet at West Point in 1979 when the Iranians took over the US embassy. So my entire adult professional life, Iran has been the enemy of the United States. So I am not against taking steps necessary to make sure that Iran is not a threat. My issue, I guess, is the how the United States needs allies. We cannot defend America from North Carolina or from Texas. You need allies. We need forward presence, and we need forward friends. And what our allies have always given us was access, basis, and also intelligence, whether it's in Europe or in the Middle East. And so I think the President's bashing of allies and demanding that they do something when they were not involved in the original planning may not have been the most effective way to get allies to work with us. The burden is on us to demonstrate, make the case why it's in everybody's shared interest to do this together, not go in there. No warning. Hundreds of thousands of European citizens are trapped along with American citizens in the combat zone with no warning. And then we've. We've done this, and now we turn to them and say, you guys, you've got to help us solve this problem. I don't think that's the best approach. Every professional officer I know there was any of our services knows how important it is to work with. Well, Ben, you shake your head if you want.

[Ben Ferguson]

No, but there was warning. We gave a time frame.

[Piers Morgan]

Hold on.

[Ben Ferguson]

Like, we got to deal with facts here. There was a time frame. The President put the time frame out there. We were moving our entire fleet to the Middle East. There were betting sites that had the number of days that you could bet on until we attack. The President said, if a deal is not done while we are meeting with the Iranian delegation, you've got 10 days. The idea that there was not a warning, you would have to have been in a coma during the entire Donald Trump presidency since January 1st. The idea that someone was shocked that we attacked when we attacked is insanity. There were multiple warnings, not just for the people that were there from Europe or America. There were also warnings to get out. There were travel warnings that said you should leave. There were multiple countries that put those out. I even think the UK had one out, if I'm not mistaken, where they were saying, you don't want to be there and you should make plans to leave from the consulate. Like, you can't just rewrite and make it up. Like, I think we should deal with facts here. And if you go back to the core here that Sonny Glenn Beck said that I think everybody should look at Donald Trump is incredibly brave to do this. You look at Jimmy Carter's quote in 1979. An attempt by any outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf will be repelled by any means necessary, including military force. Ronald Reagan. We will not permit Iran to. To intimidate the United States or its allies. George Bush. Goodwill begets goodwill. But Iran must end support for terrorism. Bill Clinton, Iran's support for terrorism in pursuit of weapons of mass destruction. This is in 1993, threatens the national security of the United States of America. I'll skip Bush 4043. We know what he said. Barack Obama, Iran's actions continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security of the United States of America. Joe Biden, Iran will never get a nuclear weapon on my watch. He also said they are a serious threat to global security. All of them agreed. There's just one that had the cojones to actually take the political risk instead of kicking the can down the road. And Jimmy Carter said it. I agree with him. Barack Obama said it. I agree with him. Even Joe Biden said it. And I agree with him. Okay, why did they not act? Let me bring in, actually have what needed to be done.

[Piers Morgan]

No, no, I mean, you're kind of making the same point I made. I mean. Richard Dalton, the interesting thing about this has been the way that the Europeans have reacted. You know, almost all the major European countries are just not having any of this war if they can possibly avoid it. Are they, are they right to do that? Tony Blair sort of reprimanded Keir Starmer, albeit in what he thought was a private speech, but he said, you know, when the Americans ask for Britain to help, we've got to say, yes, that, that is, that is part of being the special relationship, the main ally. And that when Keir Starmer wouldn't even allow permission for the Americans to use our bases without any commitment of British forces, that, that was a smack in the face. Do you see, do you see it like that? I mean, is it wise for Britain to literally say, we're not going to do anything for you from the get go here?

[Richard Dalton]

Well, that's not what they said. Your account of British policy, I'm afraid, is a travesty. First of all, Britain was extensively involved in the buildup of American air forces to the Middle East. Secondly, we were not prepared to engage in the offensive phase of the war like our European allies. And that was for two main reasons. First, Iran's conventional capabilities, including its missiles, its first use of those conventional capabilities was thoroughly contained by American forces, Israeli forces and allied forces in the region. There was not going to be first use by Iran of those missiles. Secondly, and here for a digression to some painful facts, which is that we are here on the nuclear question because President Trump, on Israeli advice, sabotaged the 2015 deal implemented in 2016, which Iran observed to the letter.

[Ben Ferguson]

It was a disaster.

[Richard Dalton]

I know that's controversial, but they were cheating.

[Ben Ferguson]

It's disaster. It was a disaster.

[Richard Dalton]

That's a lie.

[Ben Hodges]

They were trying to listen. But the Imperial.

[Ben Ferguson]

Come on, are you going to let that go?

[Piers Morgan]

You can respond in a minute, Ben.

[Richard Dalton]

They were not cheating. And that is attested by the International Atomic Agency. That was the referee on this matter accepted by the United States.

[Piers Morgan]

Mr. Richard, just to jump in. Hang on, Richard, just to jump in. You know, you were very indignant at what I suggested. And isn't the fact, when you're talking about facts, the fact is that when this attack was determined by the Americans and Israelis, Donald Trump called Keir Starmer and they asked for permission to use our bases and we said no. We only changed our position on that 36 hours later when actually the Iranians began to attack places that had British citizens. But I mean, I'm.

[Cenk Uygur]

Surely I'm right.

[Piers Morgan]

I mean, our initial position was to say we're not going to have anything to do with this. We're not even going to let you use our bases to launch your planes from.

[Ben Ferguson]

Exactly.

[Richard Dalton]

We had a lot to do with the initial buildup. But the important point that I was getting to is that British policy is based on the fact that there should be, when you go to war, sound legal base and a proper plan. And everybody knows there was no sound legal base and there was no proper plan. Now, when British interests became directly engaged through Iran's reckless attacks on the Gulf states, then it was right for Britain to change its position and said, yes, your Lancers can fly bombing raids against missile sites from British bases. So I believe the British government has called this right, particularly on the Strait of Hormuz, because simply sending ships where the US Navy is not prepared to go is not the solution.

[Piers Morgan]

Well, by the way, even if we wanted to, we can't. Right. We have seven mine hunting vessels in the UK fleet, Right. Of which three, three are currently unoperational. Three have to stay in British waters to protect British waters. And the one remaining one was in the Gulf before the war kicked off and has now been brought back. You know, I'm afraid what this has exposed to Richard is, and I speak as somebody with many members of my family who've served in the armed forces, including in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. What is exposed is our armed forces right now in terms of our ability to be a meaningful contribution to situations like this are pathetic. Our army's been reduced to the size of a football stadium. Our vessels are pretty well unoperational. You know, the one we are sending is going to take two more weeks to get there. The whole thing looks completely embarrassing. And if you just compare our fleet now with the fleet Margaret Thatcher sent to the Falklands in 1982, it is unbelievably tiny by comparison to what we even had in 82. So I'm afraid that when Donald Trump says, look, you guys aren't serious and we don't really need you, there's kind of a truth to that, isn't it? I mean, why would he.

[Ben Ferguson]

Symbolic at best. It's symbolic at best, yeah.

[Piers Morgan]

I mean, I don't know why. Why would the Americans, with half the world's military firepower, need the British forces right now? Which frankly are an embarrassing pittance compared to what we used to have. Yes.

[Richard Dalton]

Let's hope that in the period now that we've got rid of a Conservative government and we've got recovery from the 2008 crash and we've got rid of austerity and we're starting to recover from the disaster of Brexit, we can have economic growth that will allow us to rebuild our armed forces in accordance with our commitments to NATO.

[Piers Morgan]

Well, I think there are two. Honestly, with all due respect, I think the United States looking at the British chancellor, it was Richard, with all due

[Richard Dalton]

respect, we have underspent on defense.

[Cenk Uygur]

Right.

[Piers Morgan]

But looking at the outpourings from Rachel Reeves, the chance of exchequer in the uk, there are two hopes of that happening anytime soon. No hope. And Bob Hope and he's been dead for at least 20 years. Ben Ferguson, look, I think Trump, as always, amid all the blood to go back to Ben, you know, just to quickly.

[Ben Ferguson]

Ben Ferguson not saying sorry, the one.

[Piers Morgan]

I'm going to let you round things off, so don't worry and you can do your equivalent of whatever Ben now says. But Ben, you know, the thing with Trump is through the brashness and the rhetoric and so on, a lot of it is very incendiary. But there's often a sort of salient point nestling in the middle of it. There was when he called out Naito for not paying their member dues. And the kind of is about the support that he could get from a country like the UK even if we were prepared to offer it, which is frankly pretty negligible.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, it's symbolic at best. And look, I think this is part of the calculus within this second administration of Trump and the people around him. You look at what you want and then you look at reality, and reality is there's a lot of people in the Trump administration that feel like the UK right now is very vulnerable in their own borders. They have not done enough to protect their own citizens from Islamic extremism. In the UK right now, the military, as you described it, unfortunately, and I say this because I'm rooting for the UK to be able to protect and defend itself, is in a really bad spot. And so did you need it? No. Would have been great to symbolically have the UK stand up because, look, we all know in the US the uk, they have a problem. It's going to call us begging for help, and America will come to the aid of our ally. I think a lot of this just comes down to the hardcore liberal government that you have right now in the uk. Sharmer's not a guy that's going to take chances. He's certainly not fighting to protect his own people in his own country from Islamic. Why would we expect them to work

[Richard Dalton]

with us in Iran five of the NATO treaty?

[Piers Morgan]

All right, let me, Let me.

[Ben Ferguson]

I understand your point, but you go back to the core here. Is he going to stand up with the US the answer is no. And the Trump administration knew that. And that's why we did the right thing, no matter what.

[Piers Morgan]

Okay, well, whether it's the right thing or not, time will tell. Check. Let me allow you to round things off. You know, it looks to me like this is increasingly a massive quagmire from which it's very difficult to see how Donald Trump pulls one of his usual extrication operations where he claims victory and moves on. And everyone kind of pretends it didn't happen. It's too big a deal for him to be able to do that, I think.

[Ben Hodges]

Yeah.

[Cenk Uygur]

So I have a solution to this, but first, let me wade through all the lies that have been said. So if you notice, before the war, people like Ben Ferguson were saying, oh, we're not necessarily going to attack Donald Trump's a peace president.

[Piers Morgan]

He's not going to.

[Ben Ferguson]

He's not going to put. It's not what I said ever.

[Cenk Uygur]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Ben Ferguson]

I never said it.

[Cenk Uygur]

Go find a video. Go look at.

[Ben Ferguson]

Listen to anyone of my shows. I never said that. Not one damn time.

[Cenk Uygur]

Piers, this is why I shout on your program. Because every time I start talking, some Israel first son of a bitch comes in and starts talking over me. Hey, you made all your Israeli talking points over.

[Ben Ferguson]

Be quiet.

[Cenk Uygur]

Oh, yeah, yeah, my ass.

[Piers Morgan]

Yeah. Okay, so 50 minutes. Cheng for 50 minutes. Can I just stay relatively calm. Don't blow it now.

[Cenk Uygur]

Yeah, okay, but that's what Israel first does. They just jabber, jabber, jabber. And anyway, so here we go. So then Ben said, and all the Israel first clowns said, oh, we're doing this for the Iranian protesters and once we start bombing them and murdering them, they're going to love us. And now he's saying, well, never said that either.

[Ben Ferguson]

Can't come out either.

[Cenk Uygur]

We're bombing them. We're bombing them pretty. That's what we said.

[Richard Dalton]

All right.

[Piers Morgan]

Yeah.

[Cenk Uygur]

All right, here we go. Will you shut the fuck up? Will you shut.

[Ben Ferguson]

If you're putting stupid Israeli talking points.

[Cenk Uygur]

Yeah, yeah.

[Ben Ferguson]

When you put into my mouth, I

[Cenk Uygur]

know that's why we have to shout on this show because these assholes won't shut the fuck up.

[Piers Morgan]

Like, just to be clear. Yeah, just to be clear. I think there are. There are actually less chances of Ben Ferguson shutting the fuck up than there are of the Bob Pope analogy I gave earlier. So why don't we just assume both of you can be equally garrulous. Chen, finish your point.

[Cenk Uygur]

No, no, I haven't interrupted him once. Okay, so look, guys, we're ignoring the 800 pound gorilla in the room. For example. If somebody was to come in here and they were going to listen to this discussion or debate, but we told them ahead of time, hey, these guys are all clean and honest, then they listen to it and try to figure out what's happening. If we told them ahead of time, someone gave him $100 million to all say the same thing. We go, well, then we're a little bit more skeptical to say the least. So that is what's happening with our politicians. Israel has given Congress 100 million. They've given Donald Trump $337 million. So this is all a fake conversation.

[Piers Morgan]

These are tiny amounts of money. They spent billions on day one of

[Cenk Uygur]

the cutting me off.

[Piers Morgan]

Pierce. These are tiny amounts of money.

[Ben Ferguson]

You're talking about making up crap.

[Cenk Uygur]

Tiny amounts of money. Piers. Are you mental?

[Piers Morgan]

Do you know how much

[Cenk Uygur]

costs $337 million that the Adelsons have given to Donald Trump because Adelsons are corrupt on Israelis. The Israeli Adelsons gave Jonathan Pollard a trip on their private jet back to Israel and celebrated him like a hero because they love people betraying America for Israel. I can prove it. I can prove it. So tell me if we should put American troops or Israeli troops in. Okay, why are we putting our guys in? Ben Ferguson, that traitor, said that it was no big deal. That 13Americans died. It's a huge deal. 13Americans died. You sent your goddamn Israeli friends into a war.

[Piers Morgan]

All right, Said by me.

[Cenk Uygur]

You know, I've never. I'm never going to let anyone else on this program talk because the minute I start talking, they start interrupting. Israel's the greatest. Israel's the greatest. They bribed all of us. It is exceedingly clear. So stop working for Israel, you corrupt sons of bitches, okay? Work for America. Here's your solution. Here's your solution, and it's super simple. We get the fuck out of there, okay? We have zero interest in there. None, none, none. So let you know why Trump had

[Ben Ferguson]

to do what he had to do.

[Cenk Uygur]

You put in the ground troops. You put in the ground troops. Ben Ferguson, answer this question. Should we be sending Israeli ground troops or American ground troops?

[Ben Ferguson]

I think there's no major ground troop movements because the President's made it clear we're not invading the country. If you listen to what he said, you would already know that.

[Cenk Uygur]

Not have we put in ground troops. Now that's another lie.

[Ben Ferguson]

What about Israel?

[Cenk Uygur]

I always said we would have put a ground troops.

[Piers Morgan]

You know what I'm going to call an entrance?

[Cenk Uygur]

American or Israeli? The truth is American or Israeli. Which ground troops?

[Piers Morgan]

Calm down. The truth is the American military has sent several thousand marines into the area. They'll take a few more days to get there. And as we know, when there was a massive buildup before the war started, there must be a high likelihood they may get deployed. Otherwise why would you send them? And it may be that Trump calculates that to get to, say, the enriched uranium, he may have to use some ground forces. I hope it doesn't come to that. I think it would be a disaster. But we shall see.

[Cenk Uygur]

So why not Israeli ground forces?

[Piers Morgan]

But we shall see. You know, think about why not Israeli ground forces and Israeli ground forces.

[Cenk Uygur]

Why is that not even being discussed in Washington?

[Piers Morgan]

Well, you just mentioned why are we

[Cenk Uygur]

so subservient to Israel that we don't even have a national discussion about Israel?

[Piers Morgan]

Israel's troops, Cenk, you know, sometimes.

[Cenk Uygur]

So you're saying send in Americans, right? Americans to die because they think Israelis are superior to us? And you think the Israeli lives are so important? Only 21% of Americans wanted this war. We don't want this war. The only people who want this war are the Israelis. They should fight their own goddamn war.

[Piers Morgan]

You made your point.

[Cenk Uygur]

Americans killed on behalf of stupid anti Semitism. 101 Israel.

[Piers Morgan]

Cenk, for the sake of your spleen if nothing else, I'm going to draw an end to this panel debate.

[Cenk Uygur]

I'm totally fine. I just love America. Well, I'm not like Ben.

[Ben Ferguson]

We can tell.

[Cenk Uygur]

And Ted Cruz who served who literally he's there to. I'm going to leave it there like a servile dog. Okay, dog bark for Israel, little doggy.

[Piers Morgan]

Okay, I'm going to leave America.

[Ben Ferguson]

No more.

[Cenk Uygur]

America's dead.

[Piers Morgan]

Thank just for the record, America first

[Cenk Uygur]

panel start a national discussion, Jack. Make every politician answer why we should die instead of Israelis.

[Piers Morgan]

Thank you very much, Cenk. And thank you very much to all of you. I appreciate it. Well, thank you to my panel for joining me today. He nearly got there. He was five minutes away from a glorious first ever Czech Yuga debate where he didn't lose his mind. Unfortunately, we went on another five minutes. I want to bring to the guest now Shiva Amini, who's a former Iran women's soccer player who fled the country after being photographed playing without a hijab, an Iranian activist and regular on Uncensored. Massey. Welcome to both of you. Matthew, welcome back to the show. What is your view of how this war is going right now?

[Massey]

First of all, thank you so much for having me. We are in the middle of war. To be honest, my heart is broken when I don't even know whether my family members, my fellow freedom fighters are alive because the regime shut down the Internet and they live in a total darkness. But no one talks about it. No one talks about it. This is a war crime that a regime which the officials going to media tour coming to your own show and talking freely, misleading the rest of the world, repeating the narrative of murderous regime. But my people live in a total digital blackout and we don't know, as I said me, Shiva, we have no idea whether our beloved family members are alive or not. But at the same time, I have to say that people are happy. I know that very well because I carry the wound of this war on my own body. Two of my brother, two of them, two of my beloved brothers were injured during the war between Iran and Iraq. And I know that this war is ugly, but this war is being imposed on us Iranians by the Islamic Republic. None of us wanted this war, but we want now the United States of America to finish the job and do not leave the people of Iran alone with a wounded regime. We don't want Ali Khamenei to be replaced with another Khamenei. And believe me, Piers, when I heard the killing of Ali Khamenei, I celebrated Alongside millions of Iranians, especially alongside of the mothers whose children were killed by the same government. And it breaks my heart when I see now Ali Laurijani, one of the top security guy, being killed in the west. Some actually saying that he was the pragmatic leader. Leader. And I want to say, yes, I agree with you. Ali Alijani was a pragmatic killer. He was a pragmatic hardliner. And people in my country know that very well. He was the one who ordered the crackdown. He was. Alil Arijani was the one actually made tough decision to attack Arab neighbors. He was the speaker of parliament using hostile language against the us. He was the one actually tortured millions of Iranians when he was actually making decision in the Ministry of Culture. Top security guy suddenly became a pragmatic and reasonable leader in the eyes of left and liberal in the West. That breaks my heart.

[Piers Morgan]

Yeah, I saw that too. I saw John Simpson, one of the top BBC editors. You know, he was saying how reasonable that guy was. I was like, reasonable? Really? You think that guy's reasonable? I think any members of this regime

[Massey]

at a reasonable killer.

[Piers Morgan]

Yeah. Massey, before I go to Shiva for her story, one question that keeps being asked is why has there been no sign of any uprising on the streets given the military success that the Americans and Israelis appear to be having? You know, my conclusion has been, and correct me if you think I'm. I'm mischaracterizing what is happening is that it's twofold. That one, obviously people remember what happened in January when many thousands of protesters were killed in the uprising then. And secondly, obviously lots of bombs are flying around and the streets are a very dangerous place to be out on right now. Is that the two pronged reason we're not seeing any real protests yet?

[Massey]

Let's be very, very clear. The entire nation, my beloved country, is being traumatized of seeing the dead bodies that, you know, piled on the top of each other in the streets. Pierce, we never forget that more than 32,000 people have been killed in January and they stormed into hospital finishing off the wounded. One gang raped the nurses who were helping the wounded ones. This is the reality. And how come we expect people to take back to the street? There is still mourning for their children, bombs are falling and I think the next wave will be much heavier. But instead of asking that why people are not in the streets, I believe that we need to ask questions to Europe especially. I'm asking Prime Minister Keira Summer, who actually decided to send his representative to the embassy in London to celebrate the anniversary of the Islamic Republic, the same regime massacred innocent and unarmed people. We need to actually ask these leaders who are safe, they have power. Not asking, you know, powerless people of Iran who face mass killings, that why you are not in the street? We must ask those anti war activists who were saying, free Palestine, free Palestine, where are they? Why they are not in the streets? Because if we want to free Palestine, we need to free Palestine from Hamas and the greatest sponsor of terrorism, which is Islamic Republic. I don't think this is a moral question asking unarmed Iranian who actually faced massacre and torture that why you are not in the street while you are cut off from the rest of the world when you don't have Internet. And I really, I really want to ask European leaders, the leaders of G7, where are you? Why the diplomats are walking freely on your own soil, why you don't kick out them, why the embassies are still open. This is a barbaric regime, Piers. This is a barbaric regime that totally, totally, you know, putting people in darkness. And none of the leaders are talking about them. We are not the warmongers. The Islamic Republic is a warmonger. And I get angry when I see that. People saying that, oh, you're welcoming war.

[Ben Hodges]

No.

[Massey]

Every single night we go to bed crying, shiva, my hero soccer player. She can tell you how now we are worried for the soccer players being forced to go back to Iran.

[Piers Morgan]

Well, that's what I wanted to.

[Massey]

Iranians are not in the streets.

[Piers Morgan]

Yeah, that's what I wanted to talk to Shiva about. Because, Shiva, for those who don't know your story, you played on the Iran national women's football team until 2017. And at that point, you were pictured playing football with male friends in Switzerland. It was deemed a crime by Iran's regime because you weren't wearing a hijab and you were told it would be too dangerous for you to go back home. You said at the time, I lost everything. My family, my safety, my home, even my dog. You still have money in an Iranian bank account you can't access. After trying to get your family to visit you abroad, your mother was finally granted leave by Ram. Your father was blocked. While your mom was visiting, your father died. You were unable to return to Iran for his funeral. You still fear for friends and family in Iran, and you're often too afraid to check your phone for news in the morning. So that's a pretty harrowing account of what you went through and continue to go through. And of course, we have this replicated now by these Iranian national women's football players in Australia. Initially, a number of them, seven of them, wanted to have humanitarian visas to stay in the country after they did their protest by not singing the anthem. But now only two remain. And the word is that the others were bullied and threatened and persuaded to go back because of reprisals against their family. And you know all too well what those reprisals can look like. So welcome to Uncensored Achiever. But what is your view of what has been going on with these Iranian women's football players?

[Shiva Amini]

So look, Pierce, it's beyond sad because you saw that picture of those female athletes, Iranian soccer players in Australia, when they actually had a big smile without hijab on and you could see freedom and joy in their eyes. But at the same time they were worried and because of the regime, because the regime held hostage their families. And in that moment, I totally understand them because the regime put you in that situation. You have only two choices, or think about yourself, your future and be free, or return back to Iran because the regime threat your family. So there is, I can explain you, like there is a big guilt on your shoulder because you feel guilty. You know, it's really hard to. Being in that situation. I totally understand them. But at the same time, let me tell you something, because I was in contact with them and it's so sad because their manager was actually working with Iranian federation and at the same time with irgc. So she asked asylum in Australia because she wanted actually to get information. And her mission was to convince them to get back to Iran. So after that they decided to get back because, for example, Zahra Gambari, the captain of the team, she recently lost her dad and after she asked asylum in Australia, they got hostage her mom. You know, this is really sad. And they are under massive pressure. So they decided to get back. And today you saw that video that they are like with that hijab again, depressed under pressure. And those pictures can tell you everything about this regime. This is the, the regime strategy, the regime tactic to put and get hostage your family to control you. So the next step is the regime actually forced them to make a statement in national tv, like regime tv, to praising them, to praising regime. And they cannot be free. Even those two players, Atefe and Fatemeh, they decided to stay in Australia, but they are under pressure as well because their family are in Iran. And I'm really worried and I cannot understand what they are going through.

[Piers Morgan]

Well, nobody would know better than you what they're going through. It's extraordinarily brave and heroic, but obviously the potential consequences are enormous for them, for their families, and it's a desperate situation. I want to thank you both very much indeed. Massey, for coming back to the show again. Always good to have you. And you're such an eloquent and powerful and passionate advocate for change back in Iran.

[Massey]

Thank you so much for having me. And Shiva.

[Ben Hodges]

Thank you.

[Piers Morgan]

And Shiva as well.

[Massey]

I hope next time you will bring the women who were shot in their eyes because none of your audience ever heard of their stories. Piers.

[Piers Morgan]

I will do that.

[Massey]

I will do that better than these old bunch of men. You bringing them fighting. It's not about debating. It's our live experience. And you can bring the war to hear the women with one eye.

[Piers Morgan]

Yeah.

[Massey]

They can talk about the real war being imposed on us. Iran.

[Piers Morgan]

I will tell you now. I will do that. If we can find the right people, we'll get them on. Okay, you have a deal.

[Massey]

Thank you so much.

[Piers Morgan]

Okay, thank you.

[Massey]

Thank you, thank you.

[Piers Morgan]

Thank you both very much. This Morgan Uncensored is proudly independent. The only boss around here is me. You enjoy our show. We offer only one simple thing. Hit subscribe on YouTube and follow Piers Morgan Uncensored on Spotify and Apple podcasts. And in return, we will continue our mission to inform, irritate, and entertain, and we'll do it all for free. Independent, uncensored media has never been more critical, and we couldn't do it without you.

[Glenn Beck]

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[Cenk Uygur]

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[Glenn Beck]

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[Cenk Uygur]

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[Glenn Beck]

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[Cenk Uygur]

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[Glenn Beck]

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[Cenk Uygur]

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[Glenn Beck]

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