“Will End In DISASTER!” Will Trump Strike Iran? With Mohammad Marandi & Mike Huckabee

Summary

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Podcast Summary: "Will End In DISASTER!” Will Trump Strike Iran?

Podcast: Piers Morgan Uncensored
Host: Piers Morgan
Episode Date: January 13, 2026

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Main Theme & Purpose

This episode dissects the escalating crisis in Iran amid mass protests and a violent regime crackdown. Piers Morgan assembles a diverse panel—former Governor Mike Huckabee, Cenk Uygur (The Young Turks), Goldie Gamari (ex-MP), Chuck Todd (journalist), Rob O’Neill (ex-Navy SEAL), Mohammad Marandi (Tehran University professor), and comedian Omid Djalili—to debate whether US President Donald Trump is poised to strike Iran, the possible outcomes, and the real drivers of regime change or foreign intervention. The discussion explores US/Israeli motivations, the risks of military action, the legacy of foreign interventions, and the real sentiments of the Iranian people.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Trump’s Position and Options on Iran

• Piers Morgan sets the scene: Since the last broadcast, Trump has authorized multiple military actions globally, including airstrikes on Islamists and a Delta Force mission, signaling a readiness to "help" Iran’s protesters (00:57).
• Trump’s Message: “Iranian patriots, keep protesting... they will pay a big price. I've canceled all meetings with Iranian officials... Help is on its way. Make Iran great again.” (04:00)
• Uncertainty of Response: Mike Huckabee, Trump’s ambassador to Israel, says, “All options are on the table,” including both military and economic measures, but refuses to specify details (07:28).

2. The Panel Debate: Foreign Interests, Propaganda, and Dangers of Intervention

• Cenk Uygur’s Critique:
  • Accuses Israel of pushing for regime change and influencing US policy: “Israel wants regime change in Iran. They've wanted it for 20 years... everything [Mike Huckabee] just said to you was propaganda for Israel.” (00:13, 17:29)
  • Warns, “If you bomb them... they will rally around the flag... I guarantee you this will end in disaster if Israel forces us to get involved.” (17:45)
  • Urges against “repeating the Iraq war disaster” and imposing a puppet regime.
• Goldie Gamari’s Rebuttal:
  • Insists the uprising is homegrown: “Iranians right now are literally risking their lives out there and they are saying this is the final battle. Pahlavi will return... we used to be a constitutional monarchy just like England. That is what we are fighting for.” (20:34)
• Chuck Todd’s Analysis:
  • Notes regime desperation: “There’s not drinking water in Tehran... the level of desperation... is at a level we haven’t been able to fully understand... this is coming.” (23:56)
  • Questions the pace: “This regime will fall, but it may not be until this time next year.” (25:00)
• Rob O’Neill’s Military Perspective: Expresses support for Iranian people but is wary of US ground intervention: "We definitely don't want boots on the ground... all we're getting is people screaming at each other. If you're a regime that's turning off the Internet, it's a telltale sign of what's going on." (46:36)

3. Inside Iran: Competing Narratives

• Mohammad Marandi (Regime-aligned):
  • Insists the protests were infiltrated by foreign agents and turned violent: “We had currency manipulation... peaceful protests among business people... then we had infiltration and we had violent rioters... Mossad is on the ground with the rioters.” (31:23)
  • Claims millions turned out for pro-regime rallies, dismisses reports of mass killings as Western fabrications (34:23).
• Challenge by Panelists:
  • Goldie Gamari and others dispute footage/timelines—“That footage is from [General] Soleimani’s funeral in 2020. That is 100% propaganda.” (36:47)
  • Piers: “When a regime shuts off the Internet, what it’s really doing is... so that we can’t see what we’re doing.” (39:51)
  • Marandi: “That is an utterly dishonest take. The numbers are fabricated… you are just like journalists who talked about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.” (40:45)

4. What Should America Do? Division on Policy

• Mike Huckabee (Pro-Trump):
  • Repeats the “peace through strength” mantra, draws analogy to the fall of the Berlin Wall: “There may come a time very soon when some police... say, I’m not going to kill my neighbors... then it’s game over.” (11:12)
  • Refutes isolationist criticism: “America first. Absolutely. But that doesn’t mean America only. We’re not isolationist… President Trump did not get us into a protracted war...” (13:25)
• Cenk Uygur’s Opposition: “If you bomb them... the regime is going to use that to rally the Iranian people to their side... deeply counterproductive.” (47:57)
• Chuck Todd’s Moderation: “Finding a way to support these protesters is something we should be leaning into… That doesn’t mean you do it with tanks.” (51:46)

5. The Protests and the Fate of the Regime

• Momentum and Hope:
  • Goldie Gamari: Outlines a transition plan to democracy with exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi; “We’re not asking for boots on the ground... we’ll determine the form of our democracy by a national referendum.” (52:59)
  • She emphasizes unity and determination: “It’s either liberty or death.” (54:50)
  • Omid Djalili: “Estimates are between 2,000 to 12,000 people being killed in two days... something incredible; we're looking at something seismic.” (61:05)
  • Chuck Todd: “Maybe the current president [of Iran] could be their Gorbachev?” (67:18)

6. The Information War: Internet Shutdowns and Narratives

• Fog of (Info) War: Regime shut down the internet; this is seen as an attempt to hide mass repression.
• First Hand Reports: Omid Djalili shares stories of friends’ families killed, bodies withheld unless their deaths are blamed on protesters—“That kind of propaganda is being pushed.” (62:23)
• Muted International Solidarity: Hollywood and global leaders have been slow to publicly support Iranian protesters, with Djalili and Morgan calling this out as “othering” of the Iranian people (60:20, 60:42).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

“When a regime shuts off the Internet, what it’s really doing is... so we can kill them, and the rest of the world can’t see what we’re doing.”
– Piers Morgan (39:51)

“If Trump carries out an attack on Iran, Iranian retaliation will be massive.”
– Mohammad Morandi (38:00 / 44:42)

“All this bullshit about how the Iranian people would like to be bombed... I guarantee you this will end in disaster...”
– Cenk Uygur (17:45 / 47:17)

“Iranians are literally risking their lives out there and they are saying this is the final battle. Pahlavi will return... we used to be a constitutional monarchy just like England.”
– Goldie Gamari (20:34)

“We have a regime that funds terrorism... the whole modus operandi and aim is to destroy Israel... and that’s fact. Iranians know. That’s the thing that we are pushing back against.”
– Omid Djalili (64:16)

“No boots on the ground... this, again, has to come back to the Iranian people... all we're getting is people screaming at each other.”
– Rob O’Neill (46:36)

“America first. Absolutely. But that doesn’t mean America only. We’re not isolationist...”
– Mike Huckabee (13:25)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Trump’s Recent Actions & Statement: 00:57–04:22
• Mike Huckabee Interview: 03:43–15:12
• Panel Debate Launch: 15:15
• Cenk Uygur on War, Israel, and Propaganda: 16:28–19:27, 47:17
• Goldie Gamari’s Rebuttal and Advocacy for Monarchy: 19:39–22:10, 52:59
• Chuck Todd on Regime Collapse and Aid: 23:56–26:14
• Rob O’Neill’s Military Perspective: 27:03–29:07, 46:36, 57:44
• Mohammad Marandi’s Regime Defense: 31:23–43:42
• Panel’s Response to Marandi: 43:40–47:03
• Closing Panel Arguments (Risks of War, Protest Spirit): 47:17–54:50
• Omid Djalili Interview: 59:25–69:33

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Tone & Language

The episode is heated, often adversarial, with sharp exchanges and frequent interruptions.

• Cenk Uygur and Goldie Gamari in particular clash fiercely over who speaks for the Iranian people and the dangers of foreign intervention.
• Piers Morgan challenges both regime narratives and panelist hyperbole, while maintaining urgency and skepticism.
• Omid Djalili ends the show with heartfelt advocacy for the Iranian people’s agency, injecting humanity and emotional resonance.

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Concluding Insight

The episode reflects the complexity, passion, and international stakes of the Iranian uprising. The guest lineup embodies the broader ideological struggle over foreign intervention, regime change, moral clarity versus realpolitik, and the limits of Western influence. As Iran’s fate hangs in the balance, all agree: what happens next could reshape not just the Middle East, but the world order.

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Transcript

[Piers Morgan]

We're looking at it very seriously.

[Rob O'Neill]

The military is looking at it, and.

[Piers Morgan]

We'Re looking at some very strong options. Does American help look like all options.

[Mike Huckabee]

Are on the table?

[Cenk Uygur]

Israel wants regime change in Iran. They've wanted it for 20 years. Everything he just said to you was propaganda for Israel.

[Goldie Gamari]

I let you speak your garbage. Jihadi Islamist propaganda.

[Cenk Uygur]

You should know your native language.

[Goldie Gamari]

You do not. You do not get to talk over me.

[Omid Djalili]

Piers, this is serious. The estimates are between between 2,000 to 12,000 people being killed in two days, and the people are still coming out on the streets.

[Mohammad Morandi]

If Trump carries out an attack on Iran, the Iranian retaliation will be massive.

[Rob O'Neill]

I was here listening. I wanted to tear my own arm off so I had something to throw at the screen. He's obviously never been punched in the face.

[Mohammad Morandi]

History will remember your lines, Pierce.

[Piers Morgan]

In the short time since our last show, President Trump has ordered airstrikes on Islamists in Nigeria and Syria. He sent the US Delta Force to seize Venezuelan President Maduro in a stunning overnight raid. And he's out controlling the regime by video link while a naval armada lurks in the Caribbean Sea. He threatened to seize Greenland from Denmark one way or another. Mexican cartels, he says, could be bombed, too. And most consequential of all, Iran is now on notice. Hundreds, if not thousands of Iranians have been killed in the past week for protesting against the Islamic regime. Today, the president's posted cryptically that help is on its way.

[Rob O'Neill]

They're starting to, it looks like, and.

[Piers Morgan]

There seem to be some people killed.

[Rob O'Neill]

That aren't supposed to be killed.

[Piers Morgan]

These are violent, if you call them leaders.

[Rob O'Neill]

I don't know if they're leaders or just they rule through violence.

[Piers Morgan]

But we're looking at it very seriously. The military is looking at it, and we're looking at some very strong options. Well, the mullahs have run Iran as an Islamic dictatorship for almost 50 years. Dissent is punished by death. Women are beaten for not covering their faces. Minorities are denied housing and services. There's little dispute about any of this because the Iranian government wants its own people to know about it. Every popular uprising to date has been beaten down by one of the most formidable and ruthless security services in the world. Bodies are piled high as a warning, and eventually the protesters go home. So why will this time be any different? Well, Iran's exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi says the difference is Trump. And I think we have some serious leaders that understand what is necessary, that understand the ask of the Iranian people and are responding to that. I think President Trump is responding to the call that the Iranian people have. The Iranian people have heard his words. They are naming streets after him in Iran. There's a difference. They know he's not Barack Obama or Joe Biden, and that's why they do have a higher expectation. Well, there's no sane argument that the Iranian regime is good for the Iranian people, but you don't need to be an apologist for the mullahs to worry about what happens next. A regime that spent half a century embedding itself in every community, on every street corner isn't going to just vanish into thin air. And many sympathetic Americans want to president to focus on rebuilding their nation, not anybody else's. Only Trump knows what he'll do next. But right now, peace through strength is starting to look like a lot like, well, the strength. And he wants the Ayatollah to know about it. Well, we start this debate by talking to someone close to President Trump, the US Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee. Mike Huckabee, great to have you back on uncensored.

[Mike Huckabee]

Thanks, Piers. Great to be back with you.

[Piers Morgan]

So much going on in this year and it's only, what, two weeks old? As we are about to talk, Donald Trump has posted to his Truth social platform in the last few minutes. Iranian patriots, keep protesting. Take over your institutions. Save the names of the killers and abusers. They will pay a big price. I've canceled all meetings with Iranian officials until the senseless killing of protesters stops. Help is on its way. Meager. Make Iran great again. President Donald J. Trump, first of all, your reaction to that pose. What, what should we read into this?

[Mike Huckabee]

Well, I think President Trump is monitoring this situation very carefully. He's very admiring of the fact that the Iranian people are taking their country into their own hands. They recognize that if they don't stand up to the ayatollahs who for 47 years have made their lives a living hell, then no one is going to do it for them. I think the president is giving them encouragement that they just need to know that they're not being forgotten, that there are people who recognize that their quest for freedom is a legitimate quest. Iranian people are right now in an economic mess for the cost of what used to buy them a car. They can barely buy a loaf of bread. They don't have water. Their government is spending all of its money throwing it away on Hamas, the Houthis and Hezbollah murdering people. They're the number one state sponsored terror organization in the world. They operate all over the world. It's not just a Middle east issue. It's not a Gulf States issue. It's a global issue. And these bad boys have not only made it difficult for people across the Middle east and the world, but they've really made it horrible for their own population. And this past summer, Pierce, the Iranian people saw that their Nation, which is 10 times the size of Israel, got its butt kicked by Israel in the 12 Day War. And they're wondering, why don't the Iranian officials spend some money on making our country better rather than on murdering people in other countries?

[Piers Morgan]

What is Donald Trump going to do, do you think? Because he's making it clear in that new statement that if the killing, as he puts it, senseless killing of the protesters doesn't stop and the Iranians, the regime's admitted at least 2,000 people have been killed. Many people on the ground believe you can add, you know, at least 10,000 to that number, potentially more. Clearly, a lot of innocent people are getting killed here. What does Donald. Sorry.

[Mike Huckabee]

I was just saying, without a doubt, there are many. And, you know, back in 2009, in the green Path movement, there were like a hundred people killed and it almost toppled the regime then. We know that there are thousands who have already been killed by their government this time. So this proportionally is a much larger movement than we saw even back in that particular moment. So we're watching something that is clearly organic, that happened from within. It wasn't something that was stimulated by a foreign government. It was stimulated by the desperation of the Iranian people and by their being fed up with a government that just seemed to forget that they were hungry, they were thirsty, and their government was ignoring them and spending all their money sending big checks and weaponry to the worst terror groups in the world.

[Piers Morgan]

So in terms of what Donald Trump could do here, again, he says help is on its way. Make Iran great again. What does that help look like? What does American help look like if the killing of the protesters continues?

[Mike Huckabee]

It would not be for me to say. I would tell you what the White House press secretary said today when I asked that very question. She said, all options are on the table. And I think that's what the president will look at. All options, what could those be? They could range anything from economic aid to military. May just be the encouragement. I wouldn't try to put a particular option in the hands of President Trump. His instincts are better than anyone's I know. And he seems to know what to do and when to do it. And time and again, he confounds the people who assume he won't do the right thing, and by golly, he ends up doing it. So I'm going to sit back myself and watch and see. But I have every confidence that when the President says something, he means it. And I think the Iranians didn't understand that in the summer. You know, there's a saying down South Pierce, that there's no education in the second kick of a mule. And I don't think the Iranians maybe learned everything from the first kick of the mule they had last summer. And it may take a second kick of the mule. And I would just remind them there's no education in that.

[Piers Morgan]

That first kick of the mule. That's a great phrase, by the way. That first kick of the mule was a collaborative kick from Israel and the United States. Would Israel get actively engaged again with the United States if there were to be new military strikes against Iran?

[Mike Huckabee]

I don't think we know. I mean, nobody at this point knows. It was very apparent. And even the Mossad indicated that they were caught off guard by the uprising. So anybody saying that this was instigated by Israel or instigated by the United States, they're saying something that just doesn't match with the reality. This has happened because the Iranian people are saying, we want to be unshackled from this oppressive and very horrible government that has made our lives terrible and that have put us in a position where we don't have food, we don't have water, we don't have a future, but, boy, do we ever have missiles. And, you know, there's a point at which people in their desperation, just say, that's enough. That's what we're seeing in Iran. What Israel will do, what America will do right now, is to say, what can we do to be helpful? But we don't want to get in the way of the Iranian people taking their country in their own hands. I think we all have great admiration that this is coming from them, not from someone else.

[Piers Morgan]

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[Mike Huckabee]

Here's I think you and I both remember back in the late 80s when everyone in the world was caught off guard when the Berlin Wall came tumbling down one night and the people of East Germany said, that's it, we're done. And over the course of the next few months, the entirety of the communist empire started falling apart and people had freedom again. Nobody would have imagined, nobody could have predicted. My gosh, if I could have predicted that, I could have predicted the stock market for the next 20 years. But why did it happen? It didn't happen because the US Instigated it, or because the Brits instigated it, or because NATO instigated it. It happened because people finally got fed up and they were willing to risk their lives. What we're seeing on the streets of Iran, and here's what's important, is it's not just in Tehran. It's in over 100 cities across this vast country. So this is not a limited issue with a few university students who are yelling and screaming and carrying signs. These are people who are now engaging in physically challenging the oppressive police and military. There may come a time very soon when some of the people in the police forces of these communities across Iran say, I'm not going to kill my neighbors so that I can somehow please a government. That makes me sick, too. When that moment happens, and I think we could see it soon, then it's game over.

[Piers Morgan]

Final question, Ambassador. There are people in the MAGA movement, many people in the MAGA movement in the United States, who are a little bit confused because they voted for a man named Donald Trump who wanted to end American involvement in foreign wars. And now they're seeing potentially new strikes against Iran. They're seeing perhaps an attempt to take Greenland. They're seeing the decapitation of the leader of Venezuela and America. Now, according to Donald Trump, running the country in the interim period before that is stabilized properly. Ukraine, obviously, is still going on with United States help there, and they're saying this is incompatible with what they thought they were voting for. What is Your response to that?

[Mike Huckabee]

That's a small minority of the people in the MAGA movement, because most of us who truly are the America First MAGA movement and have been since Donald Trump became president, 2016. I think what we say is, look, America first. Absolutely. But that doesn't mean America only. We're not isolationist. We live in a real world. And it matters to us that people like Maduro were poisoning tens of thousands, killing tens of thousands of young Americans with illicit drugs. So the President didn't do that because he just cared about Venezuela. He did it because he cared about the sons and daughters of Americans who were dying because of this drug trafficking that was coming out of Maduro's corrupt Venezuela. President Trump has not engaged us, got us into long lasting wars that last for 15 or 20 years. My gosh. It was less than an hour that the B2 bombers went over Iran, bombed the ever loving daylights out of Fordeaux and the nuclear sites. There were people who think they're maga. They're not. They're posers. And they said, Donald Trump will get us into a 20 year war. 20,000Americans will be killed. We'll have boots on the ground. They look really stupid right now because that's not what happened. President Trump did not get us into a protracted war. No Americans died and we didn't put boots on the ground. So some of these folks just need to maybe do a little bit more reading and a little less screaming and they would recognize that what President Trump is doing is exactly what he said he would do. And he's doing it because he is truly making America great again.

[Piers Morgan]

Ambassador Huckabee, always great to have you on uncensored. As I said at the top of the interview, and I say it even more emphatically now. Thank you very much.

[Mike Huckabee]

Thank you, Pierce. Great always to be with you.

[Piers Morgan]

Well, to debate this, I'm joined by the founder and CEO of the Young Turks, Chenk Yuga, the Iranian born, former Canadian mp Goldie Gamari, the journalist and host of the Chuck Todd cast. Chuck Todd. And the former US Navy SEAL, Rob o'. Neill. So, a powerful panel to launch our first show back this year. Chet Yuga. Happy New Year. First of all, let's get the pleasantries out of the way. I suspect things are about to turn unpleasant very quickly, so let's be civil to start. Check. I thought it was a good time to have a vacation, if I'm completely honest with you. Turned out to be one of the worst times to ever have a week off in history where basically all hell broke loose everywhere. And as we try and wrestle with this, let's talk primarily for the purposes of this debate about Iran. First, what do you feel about what's happening there? It does seem significant to me that the German Chancellor is now coming out saying this is the beginning of the end of the regime and it could happen in weeks. Is that your sense that this, despite a number of repressed attempts at overthrowing this regime that have failed, that this time we might be seeing the hand of history?

[Mohammad Morandi]

Yeah.

[Cenk Uygur]

So first of all, Happy New Year. Back to you and everybody on the panel. So Piers, in this case, the most important thing to recognize is that there are two separate issues going on here. One is the Iranian people's battle with the regime, and there we support the Iranian people 100%. I would love for Iran to be a democracy, control its own country and be a beacon for freedom in the Middle East. That would be amazing. I would hope that everybody would want that. But there's a second issue also going on at the same time, which is that Israel wants regime change in Iran. They've wanted it for 20 years. They've agitated it for this entire time, including through representatives of Israel like Mike Huckabee. He's not our ambassador, he's the Israeli ambassador. And we know that now. Cuz he had a secret meeting with Jonathan Pollard, who's a traitor to America. So he meets with traitors secretly, by the way, behind Trump's back, behind the American people's back. Everything he just said to you was propaganda for Israel. They've wanted this regime changed forever. And now here's how you could tell that.

[Piers Morgan]

That doesn't mean he's wrong. They will not cenk it doesn't mean it's wrong. Yeah, it might well suit. It might well suit. Hang on, hang on. It might well suit Israel's interests, but that doesn't mean it doesn't also suit America's interests or indeed the rest of the world's interests.

[Cenk Uygur]

Right, so Piers, then we get to the issue of, yes, but what is America doing and what should America do? So if you want to accomplish the thing that we all want, which is Iran to be free, the worst possible thing you could do is bomb them. Because if you bomb them, like all countries, they will rally around the flag. If you think there is no one who supports the regime in Iran, you're also wrong about that. I think they're a minority, but they're the minority with the guns, etc. And so at this point the idea that, oh, don't worry, we'll just bomb the Iranians, we'll kill a whole bunch of their civilians, and then we'll be greeted as liberators. You know, Mike Huckabee talked about two kicks of the mule, except he got the wrong mule. So we got kicked in Iraq in the same exact way. Neocons like Mike Huckabee coming out there and going, oh, this is going to be easy. We're going to liberate the Iraqis, and the Iraqis are going to love us for it, etc. I don't need to get kicked by that mule twice. I guarantee you this will end in disaster if Israel forces us to get involved. If you care about the Iranian people, we should not bomb them. It will be greatly counterproductive. And I guarantee you that both Israel and America does not want democracy in Iran. What they want instead is a puppet leader. So they will bring in the former shah, a king, a dictator who will do everything that Israel wants, and then the Iranian people will revolt against him. And then we'll go through this cycle again and again and again. This literally how we got to the Ayatollah, by us imposing a shah upon them. So that is a disastrous idea. Do not go into this war. Anti war means anti war. War is not peace. George Orwell was a genius.

[Piers Morgan]

Okay, Goldie Gamarra, you were pulling a number of faces there, none of which I would describe as particularly indicating an agreement with what Cenk was saying. So what would you like to say?

[Goldie Gamari]

I mean, first of all, Cenk is not Iranian, so he has no idea what's going on in occupied Iran. Pretty sure Cenk doesn't speak Persian either. So he probably has no idea what the tens of millions. No, actually, it's Persian. Persian is the English word for Farsi, so don't correct me when I'm speaking and don't interrupt me. I let you speak your. Your garbage. Jihadi Islamist propaganda.

[Cenk Uygur]

You should know your native language.

[Goldie Gamari]

You do not. You do not get to talk over me. You do not get to talk over me or interrupt me when I'm speaking on behalf of 90 million Iranians who are out in the streets right now fighting for their lives.

[Cenk Uygur]

You're not speaking on behalf of.

[Goldie Gamari]

You speak. Yes, I am. You speak about how you know the bombings.

[Cenk Uygur]

When did they elect you?

[Goldie Gamari]

Why are you. Why are you speaking over me? Why are you speaking over me? Are you threatened by what I'm about to say? Is that why you want to interrupt me? I suggest you keep your mouth because.

[Cenk Uygur]

You'Re pretending until I'm done, people that never elected you.

[Piers Morgan]

Well, let us speak. Cheng, all respect, she'll let you speak. Let her respond.

[Goldie Gamari]

Yeah, I let you speak your garbage propaganda. So now it's my turn to speak the truth. So do not interrupt me again. So like I was saying, like I was saying, Pierce, Iranians right now are literally risking their lives out there and they are saying this is the final battle. Pahlavi will return. Pahlavi is of course the current Shah of Iran in exile. And what people don't know is that back in 1979 that it's not actually a revolution. It was an Islamic coup d'. Etat. It was orchestrated by Jimmy Carter or, sorry, action was orchestrated by the Islamists and the communists and it was funded and supported by Jimmy Carter, the UK and France. So what is happening right now? This is Iranians trying to rectify and they are rectifying 47 year old mistake that was made. And what Iranians are saying is that we are going out and we are not going to stop fighting until we not only overthrow the Islamic dictatorship, but we return our king. Because there is only one person that we Iranians trust to transition us from a dictatorship to a democracy and that is His Royal Highness. And one final point, one final point. Point. Iran was not an authoritarian dictatorship prior to 1979. We were a constitutional monarchy just like England. That is what we are fighting for. So anyone who says that Iran was an authoritarian dictatorship, they know nothing about the country because we used to be a constitutional monarchy.

[Piers Morgan]

Today's show is sponsored by Veracity and their Metabolic Power protein. Let's be honest, life moves fast and regular meals sometimes don't have the punch we need. Verasity focuses on the root cause of many health issues. Metabolic health. Metabolic power protein delivers 20 grams of plant based protein in just two scoops without all the unnecessary sugar and calories in other products. It's all natural and developed by doctors allowing you to get the protein you need and support your metabolism with two easy scoops every morning. It's also third party tested for toxins and heavy metals. So get the protein in your diet the natural way with verasity. Head to verasityhealth.co and use code peers P I E R S for up to 45% off your order. Once again, that's VeracityHealth Co for up to 45% off. And make sure you use my promo code peers so they know I sent you. Chuck, Tom, welcome back to Uncensored. Happy New Year. Thank you sir, there's a lot going on, Chuck. Someone said to me, wow, what a week to not be on air. And I was like, the thing about Donald Trump is there's always another week and another week and another week. So there's never a good week to have off in Trump land. There's an awful lot going on. You know, it's funny, I was talking to somebody the other day. If you take away Trump's rhetoric, which can often be very inflammatory, and you focus on what I think is his vision here, a lot of what he's doing, whether it's Greenland, whether it's Venezuela, whether it's Iran, I can understand the argument. You know, I may not like the way he expresses himself with some of this. I understand the argument. What do you think is the overview here for Donald Trump?

[Chuck Todd]

Well, I think this is a case of opportunism. Right. Look, I was just in the region. I was in Abu Dhabi about a month ago, which obviously is a home to quite a. Quite a large Iranian diaspora. And this is before these protests got the attention. And I came away from there in my discussions and meetings with various Iranian journalists and experts. The optimism that the regime is going to fall was. Was high then. And I had another colleague who's been, who went in country over the last six months, and they, look, there's a. There's not drinking water in Tehran, right? Like this. What you're seeing, the level of desperation with the people, I think, is at a level that we haven't been able to fully understand as frankly, as outsiders, because of the media repression and how little we actually are seeing what's happening in country. But when you talk to Iranians that have either been in country or are communicating, you know, you do get this sense. So this is coming. And I think this is a question, what is. What does Donald Trump want to do? This is a bit of opportunism. I don't think he wants to get involved. Like, I think pre protests, he was probably willing to negotiate with the regime in some form or another. Now I think he sees where the wind is blowing. And again, if you talk to enough folks in the Iranian diaspora, you will. You can feel that optimism that this regime's days are numbered. But we gotta remember, just like Assad in Syria, we knew his days were numbered, but are they hundreds of days? All right, or was it going to be, you know, 10 or 20 days? And it's possible this is still, this regime will fall, but it may not fall until this time next year at this point. But it is going to be sooner. So the question really is, is what role? And I think, boy, could the United States use an agency right now called usaid, because in some ways, that was what it's the theory of the case behind aid is to be there to help those that are either looking for freedom and democracy or trying to build a fledgling democracy. And that is the best toolkit we have. And unfortunately, it's not a toolkit in that. It's not in the President's toolkit right now, thanks to Doge.

[Piers Morgan]

Okay, Rob o'. Neill. A lot of the time it's worth taking a look at the amount of money being leveraged in the prediction markets where the money's going. Looks like somebody thinks they know something because Polymarket has a $19 million market right now. Almost the Ayatollah will be deposed, and they're now saying there's a 24% chance, so pretty much a 1 in 4 chance that the Ayatollah goes here. From a, from a military perspective, given the scale of these protests, which might well be unprecedented, we can't be entirely sure because the Internet's been shut down and footage is scarce. But if it is unprecedented, do you think we're beginning to see the beginning of the end here of this regime?

[Rob O'Neill]

Thanks for having me and Happy New Year to everyone. I'm optimistic about it this time. We've seen it before. Excuse me. And like, like Chuck Todd said, it's kind of up to the media how much they're going to report on it, because we're only, we only know what we're told from over there. At least, you know, like the first guess. I don't speak Persian or Iranian or Farsi or Urdu, so I'm going to say in English, so I don't even confuse myself. But in the past, when they see the, the, the Iranians rising up, when they get to that point, for some reason, our media blocks that out. And then it seems to me, because I'm not there. And if I'm not there, I can only, you know, go by what I hear or read. Then they crack down hard, they kill people. Then it goes back to business as usual. This time, what the Iranians have seen is that we bombed a mountain. We hit them pretty hard. So hopefully, regardless of the media blackout or what our media chooses to say, the Iranian people know that we will support them. The biggest problem that we had, well, one of the major problems that we had in Iraq, the biggest problem being we went into Iraq, was we immediately disbanded the Ba'ath party. And although they looked bad because they were doing what Saddam Hussein wanted, they're doing that because they want to keep their heads on their own shoulders. They're going to do what they need to do to survive and keep their family alive. We got rid of them, and then foreign fighters came in. And obviously, we know the civil war started. It was chaos for a long, long time. Right now, what's happening there, if the Iranians know that we're going to help, but then our media backs out and they're not sure about us, who knows what they're going to do? But I do know that foreign fighters are now going into Iran to try to help the Mahdi Army. Who, the Shias, or is it Hezbollah? Even Hamas? I mean, they were funding, getting funding through the Iranians, but I believe they're Sunni. And I'm not sure what's going to happen there. But I think the bottom line, and this is me just trying to be an honest broker, I think we should do as, as allies, everything we can to support the Iranian people and help them get what they want. This, this is not. Rob o' Neill from the United States is. It's not my decision, but I would love to help the Iranian people because I think everyone would agree. They've been, they've been beaten down in the press for almost as long as I've been alive.

[Chuck Todd]

Can I, can I quickly add something? Piece of reporting that I got while overseas is that there's some thought that the current president, okay. And I may mess up his name is. He's turned out to be, at least rhetorically, more moderate than some expected. And I had a source who's said somebody close to him, indicating he thinks he can be the Iranian Gorbachev. Meaning. And that's a real. And so if you actually ask strategically, what could the United States do? Can it start to find people that are within the regime who want to help get rid of the regime? Right. And look, and who's to say that this even worked out as that? Well, but you do in some cases where without Gorbachev, does the Soviet Union fall as cleanly as it fell?

[Mike Huckabee]

Right.

[Chuck Todd]

And I, and I think so. When you're asking, like, how do we deal with the next day? I think finding out whether indeed the Iranian president wants to play a role here or not is something that. That's the type of thing our intelligence community, in theory, should be able to help with.

[Piers Morgan]

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[Mohammad Morandi]

Well, first of all, when you say a supporter of the regime, you're framing it in a certain way. I assume you're a supporter, you are a supporter of the British or the American regime. But it's obvious what happened. We had currency manipulation. Last week. The currency fell 30, 40%. It was carried out by the United States, forcing neighboring countries not to cooperate with Iranians over the currency. Then we had peaceful protests among business people and there are a few thousand people in two, three different cities. There was no violence, there were no arrests. Nothing happened. Then the next day we had another more protest, roughly the same size, I guess, I don't remember exactly. Then we had infiltration and we had violent rioters. And that was the beginning of the of extreme violence which peaked on Thursday night. And we know that Pompeo, the former head of the CIA, said that Mossad is on the ground with the rioters. We have Mossad in a Persian statement. They said that they are on the ground. And the most interesting thing of all is that late on Thursday night during the height of the riots and roughly 100 officers of the law were murdered, a couple of them burnt alive, beheaded, head smashed. We had a nurse who was burned alive in a clinic. The clinic was burnt down. We had many buses, ambulances and fire engines destroyed, tens of each. I'm not sure about ambulances, but I know tens of fire engines and public buses and private property. But the point is that late on Thursday night or early in the morning, they cut off the Internet and suddenly everything died down. The reason, because all these groups, these small groups, violent groups that were spread out in different cities and different parts of Big cities, they could no longer communicate with their bosses abroad. So it was really spontaneous. The riots would have continued, but now we have had four days of quiet. And yesterday we had massive anti riot protests across the country. And I asked your producer to show footage of the protests in Tehran against the rioters. And this is from the middle of the footage. This is Engelob Square. It goes from Imam Hussein Square to Azadi Square, from Engelab Square south to Imam Khomeini Square. That is millions of people. That is huge. Anyone can look on the map or use Deep Seek or some other AI app and check what sort of distance this is. This is a helicopter.

[Piers Morgan]

But just to stop you there, Professor Omega, just to be clear, that's footage you've supplied. We've been unable to independently verify it. So it is what it is. Clearly there are people, it seems from all the independent reports I've read, who are. Okay, so Goldie, for example, one of our panelists is saying that footage is from 2020. So we don't know what you're showing us there. You accept that?

[Mohammad Morandi]

No, that's a dishonest take. That footage is very clear. This misinformation is being produced by the West. And the reporter who was on that helicopter, whose face is there, he came on television, showed the footage. I was at the protest. There were millions of people. What you are trying to do, just like you did during the Israeli regime's attack on Iran, is you are trying to help war. Because when the Israeli regime carried out that blitzkrieg attack, as we were negotiating with them, you invited me and started badmouthing Iran. Why? Because you and many others like him.

[Piers Morgan]

I didn't badmouth Iran. Sorry, just to be clear.

[Mohammad Morandi]

Oh, yes, you did.

[Piers Morgan]

Just to be clear. Hang on, hang on, hang on, hang on. Professor, Professor, Professor. Just to be clear, I never badmouthed Iran. I bad mouthed the Iranian regime, which I think is one of the most malevolent regimes in the world. That's not badmouthing the country of Iran or the Iranian people. Now, I want to bring in Goldie Gamari because she wants to directly challenge. She wants to directly challenge what? You have said one on one. Yes.

[Mohammad Morandi]

You said one on one. That's fine, your producer.

[Piers Morgan]

But you've accused her.

[Mohammad Morandi]

You do not allow me to continue. Your producer said. Your producer said it's a one on one between you and me.

[Piers Morgan]

Yes.

[Rob O'Neill]

You're escaping the debate.

[Piers Morgan]

Hang on, hang on, hang on, Goldie, hang on, Goldie, hang on. Please don't all talk at once. Professor Morandi. Professor Morandi. Professor Morandi. Goldie, please let me handle this. Professor Morandi, here's why I brought Goldie back into the conversation with you.

[Mohammad Morandi]

No. So you're being decided because you.

[Piers Morgan]

Well, because she has said, she says to us, have you watched that footage? It is actually not what you have said, it is. Goldie, tell the professor what you believe that footage is.

[Goldie Gamari]

That footage is from Ghassein Soleimani's funeral in 2020. That is not footage from today. That is 100% propaganda. The Islamic regime, they are liars, they are murderers, they are thieves. I don't even know how he has access to the Internet right now. The Internet is shut off. The Internet is shut off. Where is he communicating from.

[Mike Huckabee]

Now?

[Goldie Gamari]

The Internet is shut off.

[Mohammad Morandi]

To remind you, I just want to remind you that your producer said this is a one on one.

[Piers Morgan]

Yeah.

[Mohammad Morandi]

And like on previous occas, you do not abide by what you say you'll do.

[Piers Morgan]

Well, you made a statement and gave us footage which one of our panelists has directly challenged.

[Mohammad Morandi]

But just to respond. In the General Qasem Soleimani's funeral, the bodies were on trucks and there are no trucks in this crowd. And the crowd goes from Imam Hussein Square, which is to the top, towards the top. The crowd here goes all the way to Imam Hussein Square. The bodies never went there. The bodies began. The funeral procession began at the University of Tehran. So the path of the General Soleimani funeral and his companions was not towards Imam Hussein and here. Where are the trucks? Where's the funeral procession? Because they were. It was not just him, there were a number of people who were murdered. Don't pretend, no one can pretend that the rallies yesterday which took place across Iran, in Mashhad, in Tabriz, in Maran.

[Goldie Gamari]

The rally all been debunked.

[Mohammad Morandi]

This woman, this Pierce, if you next, I won't come again on your show because every time you're dishonest.

[Piers Morgan]

To be fair, to be fair. Let me explain, Let me explain. Goldie. I will come back to Goldie and the panel in a moment. I'll go back to one on one. I will go back to what, Professor? I will go back to one on one with you now. She wanted to directly challenge that footage. She's done. So you have responded. That is perfectly legitimate journalism from where I'm sitting.

[Mohammad Morandi]

No, that's not acceptable, Piers. In any case, the very just. Yes, just hours ago, the BBC was showing this, the footage of the protests across Iran against the rioters yesterday and talking about an uprising, implying dishonestly that these people on the streets who are protesting against the rioters are in fact supporters of the rioters. This is how it works in the West.

[Piers Morgan]

Well, the best way. The best way, surely, Professor. The best way. Professor.

[Mohammad Morandi]

Like this.

[Piers Morgan]

Professor. The best way to talk about.

[Mohammad Morandi]

Professor, Just one moment.

[Piers Morgan]

The best way to clear this up is to allow journalists to do their job freely in Iran. Turn the Internet back on. Let everybody work out for themselves what is really happening. But when a regime shuts off the Internet, what it's really doing is not trying to stop communication between protesters. It's trying to stop the truth about what it is doing in response being communicated to the world. And what it's doing is murdering thousands of Iranians who are protesting. They've admitted killing 2,000. Reports are that may be as many as 12,000 or more. We're seeing footage here of body bags everywhere. And that is why the regime is turning off the Internet. It's not out of some great altruistic. Well, we just, you know, don't want these people communicating. It's so that we can kill them and the rest of the world can't see what we're doing.

[Mohammad Morandi]

No, Piers, that is an utterly dishonest take. The numbers are fabricated. You. No one has. The government has not given any numbers. And As I said, 2000. I'm talking. Pierce, you don't want me.

[Piers Morgan]

You're just wrong.

[Mohammad Morandi]

You are. You are just like journalists who are talking about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and the incubators.

[Rob O'Neill]

And.

[Piers Morgan]

Well, I led the campaign against that, as you may remember.

[Mohammad Morandi]

Well, you've been. You've. You've flipped.

[Piers Morgan]

I'm flipped to anything. I try and deal.

[Mohammad Morandi]

In fact, Pierce, we had rioters who burned people alive, who cut people's heads off, and it's the evidence.

[Piers Morgan]

And what has your regime done to the protesters?

[Mohammad Morandi]

The protesters, Pierce, the millions of people that came to the streets yesterday. Why did they come to the streets? It's because your narrative is nonsense.

[Piers Morgan]

Well, how many protesters have been killed?

[Mohammad Morandi]

Your narrative.

[Piers Morgan]

How many protesters have been killed?

[Mohammad Morandi]

I don't know the numbers. I do know that hundred, roughly 100 officers of the law have been murdered.

[Piers Morgan]

So you know how many people you believe have been killed on the regime side, but you have no idea how many people the regime's killed. Interesting.

[Mohammad Morandi]

You don't want me to talk because you're afraid. Because you're afraid that I'm going to wreck your narrative. That's cowardly, Pierce.

[Piers Morgan]

I think what you're afraid of you're afraid of this uprising, this time being the one that actually topples the regime that you prop up.

[Mohammad Morandi]

You want to help. Just like you were preparing as the Israeli regime carried out its blitzkrieg attack on Iran. When Iran was negotiating, you were saying all sorts of nonsense about Iran to demonize the country, to justify the aggression and the slaughter. So you have blood on your hands and this is what you're doing now today for Trump. The protesters on the street, streets across the country yesterday said a big note to you and your fake narratives, but people like you will just go out and say, this is fake. There was no demonstration, whereas there were reporters in Iran. Al Jazeera was there. Many other people were there. You had Iranians across the board there. It was shown live on television, Pierce. It was shown on Iranian channels live. You can go. Your producers can go back and look at the footage online as it was being shown. Cannot pretend that millions of people were not on the streets in Tehran. You cannot pretend that simultaneously millions of people were not on the streets throughout the country. It's a fact. It was shown live through.

[Piers Morgan]

It was. I'm not sure. Professor, all due respect. All due respect, I'm not sure that you and fax are easy bedfellows, but I appreciate you.

[Mohammad Morandi]

That's your problem, Piers.

[Piers Morgan]

Not really.

[Mohammad Morandi]

You're the one who actually, it may.

[Piers Morgan]

Be a problem for you.

[Mohammad Morandi]

You're the one who denied the genocide in Gaza for a year and a half and you tried to justify the actions of the Israeli regime for a year and a half. And let me be very clear, that if the United States, if Trump carries out an attack on Iran, Iranian retaliation will be massive. And people like you, like it was.

[Piers Morgan]

After the strike last summer, people like you. You said this last time.

[Mohammad Morandi]

People liked you.

[Piers Morgan]

You said this last time. But this is the trouble. You're full of crap, aren't you? Because you said this last time. Do you remember? It was all going to happen last time.

[Mohammad Morandi]

When Steve. Last time. Steve Bannon, the day after the war ended on his show, said that the reality was that during the last three, four days of the war, Israeli regime was in serious trouble and they were begging for a ceasefire.

[Piers Morgan]

But what happened to the retaliation that you said would happen?

[Mohammad Morandi]

And Trump, because the Israeli regime was begging for.

[Piers Morgan]

What happened to your retaliation?

[Mohammad Morandi]

Did you see Tel Aviv? Did you see how we hammered Tel Aviv?

[Piers Morgan]

Please, please. It's embarrassing.

[Mohammad Morandi]

It's embarrassing, okay?

[Piers Morgan]

You come on here all the time and you say it's going to be. Retaliation is going to be Horrific. It's going to be this, it's going to be that, and it doesn't happen. Iran doesn't have the capability to respond in the way that you talk. It's all bluff. It's all bluster. And what it seems to me, professor, now is the people of Iran have had enough of this bullshit and they're rising up. And as the German chancellor says, I believe this is the beginning of the end of that regime. And puppets like you that have helped prop it up are going to look very stupid when that day comes. But I appreciate you joining me. Thank you very much indeed for joining me. I'll go back to the panel.

[Mohammad Morandi]

Piers3 will remember your lies.

[Piers Morgan]

Yeah, okay. I'm sure they'll remember someone's lies and it won't be me. But thank you. Always a pleasure to talk to you, Professor Morandi. Let me go back to the panel. Robert. Neal, your reaction to that?

[Rob O'Neill]

I had a hard time listening to it. I'll be honest, Pierce. I had to mute that guy. I can always tell when I'm listening to someone who. Two things. He speaks in front of people who were forced to listen to him, and he's obviously never been punched in the face. I was here listening. I wanted to tear my own arm off so I could have something to throw at the screen. I mean, I'm not sure what kind of ratings that guy's going to get you. I'm serious. I don't know what he was talking about. He's a mouthpiece. He looks like the Butcher of Baghdad. I wasn't listening to. Can we talk about. You got another question?

[Piers Morgan]

Well, I think the interesting thing to me is that he. After the airstrikes in the mountain last summer, he came on and was full of the same bluster about the retaliation is going to be horrific and America will wish it had never done this. Israel wish it had never done it. And it turns out that they chucked a few fireworks at Tel Aviv and that was it. In other words, I don't think Iran has anything like the military capability. He and other puppets of that regime like to pretend they do.

[Rob O'Neill]

No, they absolutely do not. But again, as a guy who thinks that we should not have invaded Iraq, and I was excited about it, but I think we shouldn't have. I could see getting excited about it again as a young Navy seal, but that's not the case now and we definitely don't want boots on the ground. This again has to come back to the Iranian people. But unfortunately, like your last guess, all we're getting is people screaming at each other. If you're a regime that's turning off the Internet, it's kind of a telltale sign of what's actually going on.

[Piers Morgan]

Yeah, and they're not doing that. As I said to him, they're not turning off the Internet because they want to stop the protesters communicating. They're doing it to stop the world watching how they are treating the protesters.

[Cenk Uygur]

Yeah. So look, the idea that the regime are good guys is absurd. So there's been Iranian propaganda here, there's been Israeli propaganda, but what I care about is the American people. And the propaganda I'm sick of is pro war propaganda. So we've seen this movie before and you guys are falling for it like suckers again. All this bullshit about how the Iranian people would like to be bombed and how they would love for America to conduct Israel's war for it and we should do regime change and it'll be easy. We'll be greeted as liberators. It'll be cheap. We won't have to put troops on the ground.

[Piers Morgan]

Bullshit.

[Cenk Uygur]

You can't run a country from afar. At some point you're going to have to put troops on the ground. And you know what's going to happen. They're going to get harmed. And when they get harmed, then they're going to come back on TV and say, I can't believe the Iranians did this. I can't believe the Venezuelans did this. We're going to have to hit them more and then they're going to put in more ground troops. It never ever works. So if you believe peers and everyone else that these riots, these protests are legitimate and have nearly toppled the regime, that's wonderful. I don't like this regime. Let them keep going. But the minute you bomb them, first of all, they're going to lose all credibility on the ground. The protesters are. The regime is going to love that action. They're going to use that to rally the Iranian people to their side. It is going to be deeply counterproductive. And then if it is somehow successful in toppling the Ayatollah, I guarantee you Israel and America are going to insist that Iran be run by. By a different dictator. They can call him Shah, they can call him king. It doesn't matter that that brother's a good a dictator. And we tried it before with, literally with a different shah, with his dad. And when we tried that, it was so bad, it was so oppressive that it led to an Islamic revolution which we've had to deal with this Whole time. Every time we interfere with Iran, it creates massive blowback. And then the American people have to pay the price in blood and treasure. I've already seen this disastrous movie in Iraq, I do not want to repeat it. And I'm seeing the same exact bullshit propaganda supporting this war of regime change. And yes, it's obviously on behalf of Israel. Who are we kidding? Look at the Israelis frothing at the mouth. We've seen them for 20 years. Go, you have to invade Iran on our behalf. You have to invade Iran on our behalf. Okay, well why doesn't Israel do it? And by the way, look at all this bullshit about how the Iranians are the regime is bad guys. Of course they are, but so was Saddam. That didn't mean we should go into Iraq. So Kim Jong Un is a terrible leader, abuses his people so badly in North Korea, how come there's no propaganda against him? Because Israel doesn't have North Korea within Greater Israel. So since it's not related to Israel, there's no talk of the terrible leader of North Korea. How about you guys are worried about state sponsored terrorism? Israel is a terrorist state. So they killed 2,000 in Iran, these protesters. And I hate that the regime did that. Israel killed 70,000 Palestinians. They occupy five and a half million of them and they say they're never going to free them. So why are we helping a terrorist state start another disastrous war in Iraq that we're going to in Iran in this case that we're going to have to pay for. Okay, people don't know this. Iran is four times the size of Iraq. They're walking you into another disaster and I guarantee it. And it'll be for Israel again. And then they'll pretend that it wasn't and they'll call everyone an anti Semite. This America, listen to me, this isn't our war. I hope the protesters win. But do not let these people sucker you into another multitrillion dollar war on behalf of Israel.

[Piers Morgan]

Okay, Chuck Todd, your response?

[Chuck Todd]

Well, I actually don't think that. I mean I sort of, you know, sometimes we all debate the extreme potential ideas when I don't think that's what's happening here. I think. Look, as much as I am concerned that President Trump is got the YOLO virus, meaning he's more likely to do things that might not that are politically unpopular because he wants to do it. He wants to legacy build or whatever it is, whether it's Venezuela, whether it's overthrowing the Cuban regime, Greenland, etc. Look, I think any sort of military assistance here will come up is more likely to backfire than not.

[Mohammad Morandi]

Right?

[Chuck Todd]

That is what history has taught us. At the same time, finding a way to support these protesters is something that we should be leaning into. We're the United States of America. When people want freedom and democracy, if we're not standing by them, who is? Right. That doesn't mean you do it with tanks. It doesn't mean you do it with bombs. And by the way, it's not just Israel that wants this Iranian regime gone. You know who the number one supplier of drones is to the Russians to kill innocent Ukrainians? It's Iran. You know who else would like to see Iran gone? Pretty much the entire Gulf Peninsula, that regime gone. So this, in fairness, this is not about Israel.

[Cenk Uygur]

So what?

[Chuck Todd]

Not everything is about Israel. When it comes to the Middle east, you know, there's certainly, you know, protecting Israel has been a priority of this country for a long time. I understand that. But in this case, this is about.

[Cenk Uygur]

Come on.

[Chuck Todd]

The Iranian regime. I'm not going to die. But the Iranian regime here is been a bad actor to a lot of people, not just the state of Israel.

[Piers Morgan]

Yeah. Goldie, let me bring you in here. You were born in Iran. Do you feel this is different to previous uprisings?

[Goldie Gamari]

Yes, absolutely. This is different. This time around, the stars have aligned. Pierce. So this isn't the first time that we have tried to overthrow the Islamic dictatorship. We've been trying for the last 47 years, in fact. But this time we have. We, you know, we have a leader. We have His Royal Highness King Reza Pahlavi, who has. He's heeded the call of the Iranian people. He is going to be stepping in as a transitional leader. He's going to be taking country from a brutal Islamic dictatorship into a functioning secular democracy. Now, what type of democracy that's going to be? That's going to be based on a national referendum that the Iranian people will vote for. So whether they want a constitutional monarchy or whether they want a republic, we Iranians are going to determine that. And that plan is actually available online. It's on a website called Iran Prosperity Project. It's been online for over six months. I can't think of any other revolution, in fact, where the. The transitional plan for the emergency government has already been published and peer reviewed and is also available in English online. There are. There are also a number of other factors here. So Elon Musk providing Starlink and. And Starlink devices, that is huge because that has allowed us to continue receiving messages from People in occupied Iran, despite the mass slaughter. The other really important factor as well is that President Trump is, is now giving his support to the Iranian people. And we're not asking for boots on the ground, nothing like that. But when you look at President Ronald Reagan, President Ronald Reagan's support for the oppressed people is what led to the fall of the Berlin Wall. And there were no boots on the ground there. The, the propaganda that Cenk is putting out there, that's, it's, it's the other.

[Cenk Uygur]

Side of the bomb. The Soviet Union.

[Goldie Gamari]

Can you please don't interrupt me? I did not interrupt you when you were spouting your garbage. So as I was saying, the propaganda that Cenk is putting out there, that's the other side of the coin of the Islamic dictatorship. So there, you know, it's, it's meant to put fear into Americans by saying, oh, let's go bomb Iran. Well, no, no one's going to go bomb Iran. Israel and the United States, back in the 12 Day War, they targeted Islamic regime bases. They never targeted civilians. And in the 12 day war, yes, there were civilian casualties. 200. 200 Iranian civilians lost their lives in the 12 day war. But in the past two days alone, the Islamic dictatorship has slaughtered over 12,000 Iranians. And that's at a minimum right now for what we know. So what Iranians are saying is that they, they will fight until the very end because they know that at this point, it's either liberty or death. And so they are still going out, they are still fighting. And the one person, the one person that has mobilized us Iranians around the world to rise up and overthrow the Islamic dictatorship is His Royal Highness King. So, you know, people like, people like Chenk can complain and bark all they want, but ultimately their opinion is irrelevant. We Iranians, we've already decided what we want and self determination is our right.

[Piers Morgan]

Okay, I'm going to leave it there for the panel. Thank you.

[Cenk Uygur]

What are you talking about?

[Chuck Todd]

No, no, no.

[Cenk Uygur]

Can I just say, she keeps pretending to speak for the Persian people. There's been no vote. She doesn't represent any of them. So some do. Like the Shah. I don't dispute that. I think that they're very, very mistaken in that. There's some earnest people who believe that. And then there's people who work for Israel who say, yeah, he's a perfect puppet for Israel and he should be. And then Chuck says, oh, well, the UAE also wants him gone. And Turkey. Why do I care about those countries? You're just, I don't care about those countries. I care about us. Can I ask?

[Piers Morgan]

Out of your mouth.

[Cenk Uygur]

You're military. You're irrelevant.

[Mike Huckabee]

No one.

[Goldie Gamari]

Even in Iran.

[Cenk Uygur]

How many? How many military. Hold on a question. Let me ask Rob a question. Hey, is Israeli.

[Piers Morgan]

Don't talk over each other. Israeli population, don't talk over each other, please.

[Cenk Uygur]

Hey, Rob, when you do enough military exercise. Look, it was. What we did in Iran was tactically amazing. What we did in Venezuela was tactically amazing. That isn't strategy, that's tactics. But if you take enough risk, Rob, at some point, aren't you going to lose someone?

[Piers Morgan]

Goldie, let him finish.

[Cenk Uygur]

A plane is going to get knocked down, you're going to lose some members of, of a delta force, etc. And at that point people are going to get mad and then they're going to want bigger war and bigger retaliation and we're going to get sucked in.

[Chuck Todd]

Maybe.

[Cenk Uygur]

I don't understand it.

[Piers Morgan]

Rob.

[Cenk Uygur]

Rob, has the US military become perfect and we can never lose anyone? There's no risk, or are we taking significant risk here?

[Rob O'Neill]

Yeah, Cenk, I like what you're saying. As far as we're thinking outside of the box because what happened in Venezuela was not an anomaly. It's something we can do, but with no one getting killed, no Gila getting shot down, we had birds get hit. If one goes down, like you said, yes, we'll probably lose people if one of the birds that got hit, like Venezuela goes down. We've had it before with extortion 1.7 and turbine 3. 3. Everyone on board dies and then you, you got to go recover the body of the aircraft and then you get the sentiment of, yes, we want to go and take more action. It's very, very dangerous. Like my biggest concern with Iran is I don't want the United States of Halliburton to get their boots on the ground again. And you're really towing a very, very dangerous line. Once we start sending these, look at we. We flew in with two Stealth birds, came back with one. One went down. We had to blow it up. We're outside all of a sudden with the locals in Abbottabad, Pakistan, very dangerous. They don't know why we're there. The local police that are there don't know why we're there. We don't want to kill local police because we're in their country. There are so many complications that can potentially happen. That's why, hopefully we can do something. The worst thing we can say that we've done, as history repeats itself, is Say, well, this is the way we've always done it, then we're going to end up with another bad war and another panel of people like us who obviously know more than everyone else solving all the problems. I think we can do something simpler. I think it obviously starts with talking with the people, negotiations, and then all hopefully listening to other people, because nobody's perfectly right and nobody's perfectly wrong. But I think we all need to agree the Iranian people need to get a much better way of life they've been living for the past 47 years.

[Piers Morgan]

You know what? Let's end on that note of common sense and nuance. What a pleasure to hear a bit of nuance about a complex situation. Thank you to my panel. I appreciate it all very much. I'm joined now by the British Iranian comedian and actor Omid Djalili Ahmed. Welcome back to how are you?

[Omid Djalili]

How are you feeling after all that? Take a breath. Are you okay?

[Piers Morgan]

Do you know what? It was nice to end with somebody taking a slightly more nuanced view of what is a very complicated story, as it is with Venezuela, as it is with Greenland, as it is with the ice protester who got shot. None of these things are black and white. Bang, bang. And yet everyone is so tribal now they want to immediately make it a tribal intransigent. There is only one way to look at this story.

[Omid Djalili]

Yeah, that's the. That is the problem. And by doing that, we're othering people.

[Piers Morgan]

Yes.

[Omid Djalili]

Majority of people, they actually even see they can't support the people in Iran because some people say, oh, dear, if we support people of Iran, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. And, you know, they are standing up to Israel. So if I support the people of Iran, I'm a Zionist. Oh, dear.

[Piers Morgan]

Well, I was really struck. I was really struck by the Golden Globes, that there were lots of support there for the anti ICE protesters, lots of support for Gaza and other things. Nobody expressed any public support in Hollywood for the people of Iran. And that's exactly what you're getting at, I think, is that was very telling to me.

[Omid Djalili]

The othering people. It's like as if the people of Iran are expendable.

[Piers Morgan]

Right?

[Omid Djalili]

They're dispensable. It doesn't really matter. But they don't want to get involved. And that is what we're seeing evolve in Iran is one of the most extraordinary stories of revolution of all time. I was at the Berlin Wall. I was there. I was actually there knocking bits of it down because I thought it was a real moment.

[Piers Morgan]

Were you really.

[Omid Djalili]

I was actually there. I was 24 years old.

[Piers Morgan]

Well, you happened to be there or you went.

[Omid Djalili]

I went there because, you know, there was a velvet revolution in Czechoslovakia. I actually ended up living in Czechoslovakia from 1990 to 1995. I was very excited by this time in history and I want to be part of it, but I can tell you it's pretty velvet revolution. One person died. Berlin Wall pretty much peaceful. 12 piers. This is serious. The estimates are between 2,000 to 12,000 people being killed in two days. And you're telling me nobody cares about this? We are now seeing, and the people are still coming out on the streets, Something incredible we're looking at something is going to happen that's pretty seismic. And the whole world.

[Piers Morgan]

Do we really know Omid what is? Given the shutdown of the Internet and the paucity of the footage that we're seeing and the ability of regime supporters like Professor Morandi, who comes on and says, here's this footage. It shows millions of people protesting in support of the. Of the regime and so on, none of which can be verified and was in fact directly challenged by one of the panelists.

[Omid Djalili]

Right.

[Piers Morgan]

But given this sort of fog of unverifiable claim and counterclaim, because there is no Internet there at the moment.

[Omid Djalili]

Yeah. Five days of it now.

[Piers Morgan]

Yeah. So what can we really believe? Have you spoken to anyone in Iran? Are you getting a feel for what's really happening?

[Omid Djalili]

A friend of mine, a brother, was killed and it's very difficult to even get information, but they said to get the body, you've got to pay what is equivalent to $5,000, which is unpayable. But very, very significantly, they had to sign a piece of paper to say that the body belonged to the security forces and he was killed by protesters. So it's that kind of propaganda that is being pushed. And I think at the end of the day, we're seeing videos. Look, I'm not the kind of person to share those kind of gory videos. I've seen them. I've hardly slept, Piers, in the last two weeks because I'm so invested. I should tell you, not as an Iranian, but as a human being watching other human beings stand up to repression that's been going on for years. And frankly, this narrative that it's Israeli led or that it's American led, this misinformed, patronizing narrative which is so offensive to Iranians that we've had these uprisings for years when Israel and America would have nothing to gain, this is the narrative that is Pushing people to kill protesters. So I'm all for free speech, but when you're pushing this narrative, and it's why. And it's why people killed, right?

[Piers Morgan]

And it's why the Hollywood stars didn't want to put their head over the parapet and support Iranian people, because they have bought into a narrative that's being put out there very forcefully. This is all at the behest of Israel. And the point I made to Chen Yuga is, well, it might be in Israel's interest. Clearly they would love to see the Ayatollah deposed and the regime got rid of. So would America. Yeah, so would many, many other people and countries around the world. This is a despicable regime that everybody knows that.

[Omid Djalili]

And this moment, I would say when we say all eyes on Iran, it's more significant than Ukraine, Russia, Venezuela, all of it put together, short of an alien invasion and contact with aliens. This is the moment of history where if something changes here, it could change the whole landscape.

[Piers Morgan]

Why?

[Omid Djalili]

Because we have a regime that funds terrorism. And this is something that people who are listening need to hear this very, very clearly. And all the people who were saying, oh, but Iran stands up to Israel. Bear in mind, there was a football match and we're big football fans. And after October 7, there was a football match between two of the big rivals in Iran. And a regime person came on, was waving a Palestinian flag. The football fans of Iran started singing, shove that Palestinian flag up your backside. And everyone said, this is so offensive to the people of Palestine. But no, I went on and I explained what they're shouting at is the regime official because football fans knew their support of the Palestinian cause is non existent. Their whole modus operandi and aim is to destroy Israel and what is in the IRGC constitution, to kill all Jews everywhere. And that's fact. And that's what Iranians know. And that's the thing that we are pushing back against.

[Piers Morgan]

What do you think is going to happen here? Because we have seen a number of uprisings that got repelled and quashed in ruthless, violent manner by the Ayatollahs. We've seen the German Chancellor come out and say he believes this is the beginning of the end and it could take just a few weeks. Do you share that optimism?

[Omid Djalili]

Yes, I do. Because we have intelligence from people who are in the know, people like Tom Tugenhat, who is the former Minister for Security. He seems to have intelligence the regime are actually over. These are the final death pangs of a regime. And I think that look at the end of the day, will it be this week? Will it be next week? Will it be up until March even? We don't know. But mullahs have been seen leaving the country. The economy is unsavable. There is no way this regime can survive. So it's a question of not not if, but absolutely when. And that we've. And the people have said there's the most incredible war of attrition going on because you keep killing us, but we ain't moving. You're going to have to. We've seen telegram messages today. We need some help because they're literally going to slaughter all of us.

[Piers Morgan]

Is the answer Rever Pahlavi, the crown prince? Because as people have pointed out, the shah, his father was overthrown himself in 1979. That precipitated the mullahs taking over. Is that the answer for Iran to go back to a constitutional monarchy with the crown prince?

[Omid Djalili]

I think that that particular revolution had something to do with 1953 and the coup with Mossadegh. And people in Iran were upset with American interference. So in a sense, the Iranians don't mind if Trump get involved because it might be righting the wrongs of the past. Even Obama said he should have done something in 2009 with the Green Movement. But Reza Pahlavi, all I can tell you is he seems educated. He seems to be talking a big game with regards to transitioning Iran to a secular democracy and a democratically elected government, possibly a constitutional monarchy like Britain, that is next to a secular government. And at the end of the day, the Iranian people saying, we have agency and we will decide. And I think that's the most important thing.

[Piers Morgan]

What Chuck Todd, former NBC anchor, was on just now saying that he's got some reporting that the president of Iran is actually a lot more moderate than people expected. Yes. Yeah. And that actually he could end up being a Gorbachev figure in this. Is that something you could see potentially happening?

[Omid Djalili]

I really don't know. But one of his ideas was to pay protesters, pay all of Iran$7 a month. And I think that was with the economy being the way it is, it was a shocking suggestion to make. And what's happening right now in Iran, they're trying to change the hearts and minds of the regime forces, saying, who are you defending? Your money is as worthless as our money. Which is why we see. Which is very significant. Last night and the day before, many Iranian regime forces did not come out. And a lot of the killing is being done by Iraqis and people from outside the country who just paid money to kill Iranians because Iranians themselves, very few of them will do what Iraqis have been doing to Iran.

[Piers Morgan]

You know, I've been struck just in my own little way by the sheer volume of Iranians who've been messaging me on social media, all pleading for help in getting this over the line.

[Omid Djalili]

Yeah.

[Piers Morgan]

And I've never seen anything quite like it.

[Omid Djalili]

It's do or die. It really is, because the Iranians have got to the point where they've got no money. There are.

[Piers Morgan]

So.

[Omid Djalili]

They're so angry with the regime, they've been using their money for terrorism. And some countries don't even have. Some cities don't even have clear water. It's a moment where you see people who are actually saying, we'd rather die on our feet than live on our knees.

[Piers Morgan]

Yeah. Which is an amazing thing. And actually how most revolutions end up being successful. When people.

[Omid Djalili]

Well done to you. Well done to you for giving a voice to all this. I think it's absolutely fantastic.

[Piers Morgan]

I think it's essential, and I do think this narrative that just because Israel may stand to gain by this, therefore, if you have a position about what Israel's been doing in Gaza, you can't be supportive of the Iranian people. I think. I think that is such a selective, morally bankrupt position to take.

[Omid Djalili]

If that's your position, then, people, you have absolutely no leg to stand on. And we will really question all your other things. And I think at the end of the day, if you. If you. If you want to stand up for the people of Iran, that's good. But any of the other cultural stuff around it, shut the hell up.

[Piers Morgan]

Yeah, I agree. I mean, great to see you. Thank you very much. Piers Morgan on Sense that he's proudly independent. The only boss around here is me. To enjoy our show, we ask for 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.