Just the News No Noise with John Solomon and Amanda Head, January 5th, 2025

Summary

Podcast Summary: Just the News No Noise with John Solomon & Amanda Head

Podcast: Real America’s Voice (iHeartPodcasts)
Episode Date: January 5th, 2025 (Aired January 6, 2026)
Hosts: John Solomon, Amanda Head
Guests: Rep. Pete Stauber, Victoria Coates (Heritage Foundation), Ali Raza Jafarzada (National Council of Resistance of Iran), Dr. Peter McCullough

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Episode Overview

This edition of Just the News No Noise dives into a historic week in global and American politics. The episode unfolds significant developments: the apprehension of Venezuela’s deposed leader Nicolas Maduro, Minnesota’s Governor Tim Walz bowing out of the 2026 race amidst rising fraud scandals, CDC’s reduction on recommended childhood vaccines, and growing socialist resistance in the U.S. Guests provide on-the-ground insights into the Minnesota fraud scandal, U.S. military operations in Venezuela, implications for international security, ongoing Iranian protests, and shifting debates in public health.

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Key Segments & Discussion Points

1. Breaking News and Headlines

[00:26–05:20]

• Maduro’s Court Appearance:

  • Nicolas Maduro, ex-president of Venezuela, appeared in a Brooklyn court on narco-terrorism charges; he pled not guilty and insisted he remains president. Meanwhile, his vice president was sworn in with a more conciliatory tone toward the U.S.
  • John Solomon: “She actually made interesting soundings as though she would like to work with President Trump and the United States on oil and other issues. She gave a more conciliatory tone today. That's something we're keeping a close eye.”

• CDC Reduces Vaccine Recommendations:

  • CDC announced a significant decrease in recommended vaccinations for children, praised by “Maha movement” health skeptics.
  • John Solomon: “That's a big win for those concerned there were too many vaccines being pumped into children.”

• Minnesota Governor Waltz Steps Down:

  • Governor Tim Walz dropped out of the 2026 race, abruptly exiting a press conference without taking questions about his administration’s fraud scandals.
  • John Solomon: “He turned around and walked out. No questions, no accountability.”

2. The Minnesota Fraud Scandal & National Political Repercussions

Guest: Rep. Pete Stauber (MN) [05:20–15:24]

• Military Operation in Venezuela:
  • Rep. Stauber lauds the U.S. military’s covert extraction of Maduro and its implications for American security.
  • Stauber: “Our military is the best in the world… To do it in a way that nobody gets hurt and come back… and hold a narco terrorist… is incredibly important.” [05:58]
• Impact of Venezuelan Fusion Cell:
  • Venezuela allowed foreign adversaries (Russia, China, Iran, Cuba) to stage military assets in the Western Hemisphere.
  • Stauber: “We’re looking at not only nuclear weapons, but… cruise missiles and ballistic missiles… What [Trump] did… we are much safer and the world is much safer.” [08:04]
• Minnesota Fraud Details:
  • Explains scope: up to $9 billion Medicaid fraud, fraudulent daycare centers, food, autism, and Medicaid programs.
  • Stauber: “Nothing is better in Minnesota under Tim Walz… You go from an $18 billion surplus to a $9 billion tax increase in just a couple of years.” [09:59]
• Media & Political Accountability:
  • Asserts entire Democratic establishment shielded Walz until national attention arrived.
  • Stauber: “We knew that the Minneapolis St. Paul media really shielded him.” [10:19]
• Cultural Moment—1980 Miracle Olympic Hockey Team:
  • Stauber, a hockey player, on the significance of honoring U.S. Olympic heroes.
  • Stauber: “These Olympians were my heroes… honor them with the congressional gold medal 45 years after the event.” [13:52]

3. Maduro’s Capture & Socialist Reactions in the U.S.

Guest: Victoria Coates (Heritage Foundation) [16:48–25:42]

• Maduro’s Arrest's Political Fallout:
  • Leftist protest outside Maduro’s detention; Democrats frame action as “too harsh” under Trump.
  • Coates: “They are just so blinded by their hatred of President Trump that they can't even see what America first means anymore.” [18:07]
• Why Venezuela Matters Globally:
  • Oil/gold reserves, proximity to the U.S., foreign adversary activities on its soil.
  • Coates: “There are three things: A, the world’s largest oil reserves... B, a lot of gold... C, they're close enough to hit the United States.” [19:52]
• Post-Maduro Future:
  • U.S. should aid in technocratic reforms (like Argentina’s model), revitalize Venezuela’s oil industry, and support stable transition.
• Rise of U.S. Socialist/Anti-American Movements:
  • Growing sophistication and funding: “It’s as if the Venezuelan flag all of a sudden replaced the Palestinian flag as the symbol of these people.” [25:42]

4. Iranian Protests—A Turning Point?

Guest: Ali Raza Jafarzada (National Council of Resistance of Iran) [27:13–37:36]

• Economic-Driven Unrest:
  • Nationwide protests involve merchants (bazaaris), poor, and intellectuals united; challenge regime’s power.
  • Jafarzada: “Three sectors… at the same time involved… merchants… the poor… the intellectuals.” [28:26]
• Regime’s Brutal Response:
  • 2,200 executions in 2025 failed to prevent uprising; fear now on regime side.
  • Jafarzada: “The fear has shifted from the people to the regime… The young people are no longer afraid.”
• U.S. Stance & Policy Options:
  • Trump’s vocal support contrasts with Obama’s “mistake” in 2009.
  • Jafarzada: “For the regime to realize that there is accountability… Now the next step… is to recognize the right of the people of Iran to confront and to fight the Revolutionary Guards to end the rule of the clerics.” [32:39]
  • U.S. urged to back Iranian resistance and hold regime accountable, not deploy troops.
• Prospects for Nuclear Disarmament:
  • Iranian nuclear infrastructure weakened; regime vulnerable.
  • Jafarzada: “It’s going to be a very, very difficult… for the mullahs to build it up again back to where they were.” [35:07]

5. CDC’s New Vaccine Guidelines—A Medical Reboot?

Guest: Dr. Peter McCullough [38:14–44:09]

• Dramatic Schedule Shift:
  • Childhood vaccine recommendations reduced from 72 to approximately 11.
  • Dr. McCullough: “US vaccine schedule now looks a lot more like Scandinavia… overall burden of vaccines on children is dramatically reduced.” [39:08]
• Building Back Trust in Medicine:
  • Credits Trump, RFK, and acting CDC director Jim O’Neill bypassing “broken” committees.
  • Dr. McCullough: “We do need to rebuild trust, no doubt about it.” [40:32]
• Alternative Weight Management:
  • New oral GLP-1 (Drop), less side effects vs. injectables. Exercise tips (running, burpees).

6. Military Tactics and U.S. Strategy

[45:29–48:54]

• Trump Discusses Anti-Pirate and Narco Strategy:
  • Use of missile systems successful in deterring pirate and drug boats.
  • Trump (paraphrased): “We use the same exact missile on them… nobody capturing ships anymore… deadly accurate.”
• Iranian Drones & National Security:
  • New Year’s Eve, U.S. strikes destroyed Iranian drones in Venezuela, preventing their use against U.S. targets.
  • John Solomon: “Venezuela was the fusion cell for Iran, China, Russia, North Korea, Cuba… all park their wares and hatred for America on that country…”

7. Culture and Media Critique

[48:54–49:44]

• Awards Shows Mocked:
  • Jimmy Kimmel wins Critics’ Choice for best talk show, hosts mock “woke” critics and Hollywood detachment.
  • Amanda Head: “I think we should reboot the People's Choice Award and make it the actual people of this country, not the elites.”

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Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• "She actually made interesting soundings as though she would like to work with President Trump and the United States on oil and other issues." — John Solomon [00:50]
• “Our military is the best in the world and I'm so proud of each and every one of our service members.” — Rep. Pete Stauber [05:58]
• “There could be up to $9 billion of fraud in our Medicaid... daycare centers that never saw any kids, feeding our future… supposed to serve thousands of meals a week — hardly any.” — Rep. Pete Stauber [09:59]
• “No. They are just so blinded by their hatred of President Trump that they can't even see what America first means anymore.” — Victoria Coates [18:07]
• "Three sectors… at the same time involved… merchants… the poor… the intellectuals.” — Ali Raza Jafarzada [28:26]
• “US vaccine schedule now looks a lot more like Scandinavia… overall burden of vaccines on children is dramatically reduced.” — Dr. Peter McCullough [39:08]
• “We use the same exact missile on them… nobody capturing ships anymore… deadly accurate.” — Donald Trump [45:29]

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Memorable Moments

• Governor Walz’s abrupt withdrawal from the Minnesota gubernatorial race, dodging press questions [02:35]
• Pete Stauber’s detailed accounting of massive fraud in Minnesota’s social programs [09:59]
• Victoria Coates connecting U.S. socialist protests to global anti-American movements [25:42]
• Ali Raza Jafarzada’s optimism: “The fear has shifted from the people to the regime.” [30:23]
• Dr. McCullough on the dramatic cut in CDC vaccine recommendations [39:08]

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Flow & Tone

The episode maintains a rapid, news-driven pace with forceful, critical questions. Host John Solomon’s reporting style is direct and skeptical of government narratives, with Amanda Head contributing a conversational, occasionally sardonic edge. Guests speak in a fact-heavy, often urgent tone, emphasizing accountability, national security, and the need for political courage.

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Maduro’s Court Appearance / Headlines: 00:26–05:20
• Interview w/ Rep. Pete Stauber: 05:20–15:24
• Victoria Coates, Socialism & Venezuela: 16:48–25:42
• Iranian Protests (Jafarzada): 27:13–37:36
• CDC Vaccine Schedule (Dr. McCullough): 38:14–44:09
• Military Tactics, Drones, Piracy: 45:29–48:54
• Media Critique, Cultural Segment: 48:54–49:44

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This episode offered a deep dive into breaking global events, detailed investigative reporting on U.S. policy impacts, and a robust critique of establishment narratives, especially regarding security, public health, and political accountability.

Transcript

[John Solomon]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.

Good evening, America. Happy Monday and welcome to the latest edition of Just the News. No noise. I'm your host, John Solomon reporting you as always from Washington, D.C. my co host, Amanda Head, she'll be here in a little bit. She's over at the White House still on full duty, but we hope she'll get here as the show unfolds. History was made over the weekend. You all know about it pretty well today. But the latest chapter occurred in a Brooklyn federal courthouse a little while ago. The former and now deposed dictator of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, appeared in court to answer charges that he was a narco terrorist. He pled not guilty and then he insisted he was still the president of Nicaragua, excuse me, of his country. But in fact, someone didn't tell his deputy why. His former vice president swore as well soon today to be the next president of Venezuela. And she actually made some interesting soundings as though she would like to work with President Trump and the United States on oil and other issues. She gave a more conciliatory tone today. That's something we're keeping a close eye. I don't know if that was a head fake or something real, but we're watching that real closely. Meanwhile, the Maha movement struck again in a big way today. The CDC announced that it is changing the recommendations and lowering the number of vaccines that it recommends for young children. That is a big win for those who are concerned that there were too many vaccines being pumped into children at one time. Doesn't mean they're anti vax, just means they want to slow down the pace a little bit until they understand the impact of all of these vaccines coming into a young child's body. Meanwhile, Minnesota Governor Tim Waltz, well, he stepped up to the podium and dropped a giant political bombshell, announcing he's bowing out of the 2026 race. And then just as reporters leaned in to do their jobs, he turned around and walked out. No questions, no accountability. Just, just take a look at how his political career ended today. I'm proud of the way we treat our neighbors.

[Ali Raza Jafarzada]

I'm proud of the way that we.

[John Solomon]

Welcome people to this state. I'm proud of the way that we innovate and I'm proud of the way that we are optimists for the future.

No one's taking this away from us.

Not the fraudsters, certainly not this president. Not on my watch tomorrow. I'll be back with you. I'll give you an update on America's.

[Dr. Peter McCullough]

Best paid family medical leave program.

[John Solomon]

That is Now, a week into it, and at that time, I'll take all your questions. Thank you. Pretty amazing. You can hear reporters asking, what do you mean you're stepping down? Can't you take a question? Nope. Walked right off set. Kind of like what he did when he looked the other way and didn't look for all that fraud that his own legislative audit bureau, his own state employees were telling the governor, hey, we're being defrauded, the Minnesota and American taxpayers being defrauded. He looked the other way and walked out the room again. Now, unlike Tim Waltz, Jasmine Crockett isn't afraid of the spotlight. Since the Supreme Court allowed Texas's redistricting to proceed, which effectively ends her career, she continues to share her opinions. Additionally, she blames President Trump for attempting to rig the system. That's kind of funny coming from Democrats, but take a look.

[Victoria Coates]

So again, you know, obviously Trump is.

[Amanda Head]

Still doing his bidding with the state.

[Victoria Coates]

Houses and state senates and governor's mansions.

[Amanda Head]

To try to rig the system. Kudos to Indiana for saying you. Kudos to California for saying we're gonna fight back. Definitely kudos to the Trump justice who wrote the 160 page opinion denouncing what.

[Victoria Coates]

Took place in Texas and to the.

[Amanda Head]

Supreme Court for what they did.

[Dr. Peter McCullough]

As.

[Victoria Coates]

Well as you know, we'll see what happens in some other places.

[John Solomon]

How about that? Well, one other thing that I want to mention before we get to our first guest of the evening. You remember Last fall, the U.S. house and Senate voted to withdraw the money from PBS and NPR to government funded news organizations that often lean left and that conservatives long felt were unfair to them. Today, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the parent company for those two news organizations, dissolved itself, essentially ending the era of government subsidies of news organizations. More on that over atjust the news.com Be sure to check that out. Earlier today because we worked so hard on the Minnesota fraud story going all the way back to August 2024. That's when Justin News first reported on all of the allegations of taxpayer fraud in those entitlement programs, the food program, the autism program, the Medicaid programs. Well, a lot has happened since that time. One person who's been along our side all the way through it, working in Congress to get Congress to do right by these revelations was Congressman Pete Stauber of the great state of Minnesota. I had a chance to sit down with him earlier today and have a conversation. Take a watch.

All right.

Joining us now, the congressman who's been on top of that Minnesota fraud case from the second it Broke, by the way, long before the legacy media gotten focused on it. Congressman Pete Stauffer from the great state of Minnesota. Congressman, great to have you on the show today.

John, it's great to be with you once again. Again. Happy New Year. Happy New Year. Could be great year.

It is indeed. It's already begun with a bang. I want to just quickly turn to that, get your reaction to the idea that US Military forces could go into a country that had Russian and Chinese weaponry and pluck out a fugitive from justice with hardly any one noticing. Pretty, pretty remarkable military operation.

Yeah. You know, John, our military is the best in the world and I'm so proud of each and every one of our service members. To be able to pull this off and, and to do it in a way that, that nobody gets hurt and come back to this country and hold a narco terrorist, you know, ensure that he faces the US justice system is incredibly important. And that' we have to always support our men and women in uniform. We're giving them tough jobs and we've got to give them the equipment, the training necessary to make sure that whenever we give them a job to do that, they do it well and they've done it well. And again, I couldn't be more proud of the men and women who serve and the leadership within our U.S. military.

Congress doing its part with the recent authorization bill, getting pay raises and better equipment and better capabilities to our military. Congress has been a big part of that success story the last few years.

Yes. When you talk about the NDA, John, paying our military E5s and below have gotten the biggest pay raise in the history of this country. And it's the Republicans that have led that. And I'm very proud to have voted in favor of pay increases for our military men and women.

Yeah. So important. They do such an amazing job. We know about the drug kingpin that Maduro was and we've known about that since that big indictment in 2020. But another thing is he allowed his country to become the fusion cell or the fusion center for all of our enemies, China, Russia, Cuba and Iran, all playing in our hemisphere on Venezuelan territory. One of the places that our military struck on Saturday was an air base where the State Department and Treasury Department said large numbers of Iranian lethal long range drones were being staged in case of a potential attack against the United States. That was something that probably a lot of Americans didn't know about before this weekend.

Well, I think the military intelligence and this whole operation, obviously when they do it, they did it with precision, professionalism and the intelligence community is really important to the safety and security of not only the United States States, but our allies. And, you know, President Trump is right and the US Military is right when they talk about putting that golden dome or supporting the golden dome over the United States of America both on the southern border and the northern border, east and west. And we have the capability to do that. And we're not. We're looking at not only nuclear weapons, but, you know, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles. We have to make sure that we defend the homeland. And under President Trump's leadership, we're defending the homeland. What he did, he saved 600 deaths a day from drug overdose, fentanyl and cocaine coming from Venezuela and, and China, the ingredients from China. So we have. The president was decisive in this strike. He made the decision and we are much safer and the world is much safer. Making sure that Maduro sees the justice of the United States in a fair and an impartial way.

Yeah, that's an important part. Something he never really delivered in his own country. But he'll get it here for sure. He'll get a fair justice system here. So I want to turn to something else that you. In fact, we wrote our very first stories about the Minnesota fraud schemes back in August of 2024 as Governor Waltz was becoming the Democratic Vice Presidential nominee. 18 months in interactions with prosecutors, we've been chronicling this. You were the very first voice to come on the show and educate us about just how bad it is. It's pretty striking today, Governor Waltz announcing he can't run for re election because he's got these. So wounded by his own failures of his administration. Tell us a little bit about where you think this heads next.

Well, first off, nothing is better in Minnesota under Tim Walsh. Our economy isn't better. Our educational levels aren't better. Small businesses are leaving, large businesses are leaving. So the fact of the matter is we knew when Kamala Harris chose Walls as his running mate that we will finally get the national media's attention because we know that the Minnesota, in fact, the Minneapolis St. Paul media really shielded him. We could see the devastation that he was he and the Democrats were throwing into legislation that was negatively affecting Minnesotans. And so when he hit the national stage is when it started to fester and people were understanding it. Now everybody in Minnesota is aware that that there could be a 9 up to $9 billion of fraud in our Medicaid. Only daycare centers that were that were approved to help kids never saw any kids feeding our future. They were supposed to serve thousands of meals a week, hardly any. And the list goes on and on. And right Now, John, there's 11 national, or rather federal investigations into the state of Minnesota, the fraud. So Tim Walsh has been a disaster. He's been a failure from Minnesota in so many ways. You go from an $18 billion surplus to a $9 billion tax increase in just a couple of years. The Democrats in Minnesota have been devastating with their legislation that they put forth on all of Minnesota.

Yeah. And I think there'll be a natural tendency in the media to make Tim Waltz alone own this. But the entire Democratic establishment, even the senators in Minnesota, Amy Klobuchar, she can't claim that she was blind to this. It was sitting in plain open. You found it right away, as a member of Congress. Do the. How do the. How do we make sure that Democrats across the board pay for the strategy? Because this was a concerted strategy to look the other way.

[Victoria Coates]

Yeah.

[John Solomon]

We're first off, the Trump administration is absolutely right to bring these investigations to the state of Minnesota and hold fraudsters accountable. There was no accountability. There was no oversight with. With this fraud, and it just out of control. Listen, Minnesota, I've said Minnesota. Nice. Is now Minnesota. Might we. And Minnesota, regardless of what political party you belong to or support, we're not going to support fraud. And. And you saw the governor, you know, leave the race this morning. He's stating he's not running for a third term. He knows that we were going to fire him in November. Minnesotans are not going to stand for this fraud. And we are not going to be called racist when we want the fraud to stop. That's not going to work anymore. We want to get down to the bottom of this, hold these people accountable and bring Minnesota back to prominence where it belongs. This is a great state with good, hardworking people. And Tim Walls, again, has been a disaster the last eight years. In fact, the nation when the last presidential election, President Trump won all the swing states. And we knew that when Kamala chose. Rather when Kamala chose Tim Walls, it was going to be a disaster for her, and it certainly was.

Yeah. No doubt they rejected his style of running a state. There's no doubt about it. You mentioned mighty Minnesota. And when I think of mighty Minnesota, I think of mighty great hockey players. I saw you just before the holidays in the White House for that incredible celebration of the 1980 Miracle Olympic hockey team. Your thoughts of being in the room and being around all those extraordinary heroes of American history.

So being a hockey player myself and Coming from a hockey family in northern Minnesota, it was, it was spectacular. These, these, these Olympians, these 80 Olympians were my heroes. You know, you can go from Mark Pavlich to Neal Broughton to Buzz Schneider to Phil Verkhota to Jack o' Callaghan to Jim to Eric Strobel, and I don't want to Bill Baker, all these folks, they were, they were my heroes. And when you come from Minnesota and to be able to honor them with the congressional gold medal 45 years after the event, we wanted to make sure that we honored this team while the vast majority of them were still with us. We've lost three members of the team, including the head coach, but we had representation of three of the four team members that we lost at that event. And it was spectacular. Those, those cowboy hats that they wore, they were a replica, the exact replica, by the way. They were the Resist all hats made in Garland, Texas. The exact replica that they wore in the 80 Olympic opening ceremonies. It was very, very special. The, the, the men were very, very, very grateful that they could be honored by that our nation with the greatest honor of being, of having the Congressional Gold Medal. It was a super, super day.

It was indeed. It was fun to watch, no matter your political stripe. That was just a great American moment and you were right in the middle as you are in so many of the great things going on these days. Congressman Stauver, what a great honor to have you on. Happy New Year. Thanks for joining us.

Thanks, John.

Yeah, I really appreciate you so much. Wow, what a great conversation, folks. Up next, derangement syndrome strikes again. Yep. Leftists are not happy that President Maduro, who was captured as a Protestant outside of Maduro's detention center. But what does Venezuela's future look like after this? And what do those socialist leftists on our soil have as their intention? We're going to cover that next after these messages. All right, folks. Doctors call it weight cycling. Half of Americans do it. It's when you lose about 10 pounds, but then you regain that weight plus a few extra. It's very tough in your body and can leave you feeling really frustrated. Bottom line, most people need help losing weight. And here's a great way. Non prescription Lean was created by doctors. Lean is an oral supplement. You don't have to inject it into yourself. And the science is really impressive. The studied ingredients also target weight loss in three powerful ways. Lean helps maintain healthy blood sugar. It helps control appetite and cravings. That's important. And it helps burn fat by converting it to energy, which helps Keep the weight off. If you want to lose meaningful weight at a healthy pace and keep it off. Add lean to your diet and exercise lifestyle. Get 20% off when you enter the promo code just [e-mail] that's code just news@take clean.com.

[Amanda Head]

Welcome back, everybody, to Just the News. No noise. Obviously, a significant development happened over this past weekend. The United States Special Forces captured President Maduro in an overnight military operation in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, under the orders of President Trump. Now, you would think that capturing an alleged narco terrorist would unite us as a country. But the Trump derangement syndrome, well, it strikes again. Leftists are outside the detention center where Nicolas Maduro is being held protesting this operation. Democrats are definitely not happy about it. So why are leftists turning to protect an alleged narco terrorist and dictator instead of celebrating the administration's accomplishments? And what message does that operation send to the rest of the world? Joining us to discuss this is the vice president of the Heritage Foundation's Catherine and Shelby column, Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy. Victoria, thanks so much for being back with us. Happy New Year.

[Victoria Coates]

Happy New Year to you both.

[Amanda Head]

Thank you. All right, so let's see. Chuck Schumer, Mr. Margarita, Chris, Van Hollen, Chris Murphy, Amy Klobuchar, Elizabeth Warren. I can run down the list of Democrats who just a few short years ago would have praised an operation like this. We obviously know what changed. President Trump is in office and President Trump was behind it. But can't they see something good in this?

[Victoria Coates]

No. They are just so blinded by their hatred of President Trump that they can't even see what America first means anymore. And bipartisan presidents from both parties have taken actions against Venezuela since 1992, when Hugo Chavez came to power. This has been a consistency across US Foreign policy. Now they're deviating from it. Now they're saying President Trump is too mean to a communist dictator who had the blood of Americans on his hands, who had crossed that line from overseeing or turning a blind eye to the drug cartels to actually participating in them to the point that he was indicted in 1990 or, I'm sorry, in 2020, rather, in terms of his direct involvement in the drug trade. So rather than standing up for the American people against the narco terrorists, they're standing with them. It's inexplicable.

[John Solomon]

So I had a fun story over the weekend, just going through Maduro's history because it is such a vile history. All right, he was a drug kingpin. He ran a narco terrorism group. He consorted with the FARC rebels in Colombia. He stole a General Motors plant from Americans. He stole two elections from his own people. But the thing that was most shocking to me was the fact that recently he transacted to bring a large number of Iranian drones onto his El Librador base there. And those were long enough range that could potentially strike the United States or U.S. interests. We obviously hit those during the operation against Maduro. How big a development was it that Iran was sending long range drones here? And what do we need to know about Venezuela's ties to Iran post Maduro?

[Victoria Coates]

Well, thank you for reporting on that story because it's what explains why Venezuela is so important. There are three things that demand our attention in Venezuela. A, the world's largest oil reserves. And we can get into that. That is a critical resource for them. B, they have a lot of gold which they have been using to create illicit financial networks. But C, they're close enough to hit the United States. They're proximate to us. So they can, if they're hostile, represent this kind of a threat. And it just shows us that they're not operating in a vacuum. We have the Russians, the Chinese and the Iranians all mixed up in this situation, all plotting against us. And that the Iranians, who are in dire financial straits are still, still, you know, trying to run arms through Latin America. It shows you their main priority is to hurt us. So that is why this was so important, what President Trump did. And it's why it is going to keep the American people so much safer than we were 72 hours ago.

[Amanda Head]

And Victoria, something else I thought about was the fact that, I mean, the relationship between Venezuela and Iran and what is happening in Iran typically would drive Iranian leaders and they got into a desperate situation and backed into a corner, they would flee to somewhere like Venezuela. So now they're kind of backed into a corner even more because they don't have Venezuela as an option now.

[Victoria Coates]

No, that removal of a strategic asset is really important and there may be additional cleanup work to do because bear in mind, Maduro welcomed in militants from both Hamas and Hezbollah, the Iranian terrorist proxies. They're not just in Gaza and Lebanon, for example. They're actually active on this island north of Venezuela called Margarita Island. And you can imagine that they were trying to get into the United States during the Biden administration and may still have cells here. And that is because Venezuela welcomed them in. And so I think that is what we have to keep laser focused on. I mean, I hope for a free democratic future for the people of Venezuela. That's not our vital national security interest here. What is is making sure that the terrorists and the drugs are stopped from coming across the borders of the United States.

[John Solomon]

Yeah. So important. It really is. All right, so what comes next, Victoria? I know some people say, well, we're not going to get in a nation building. It's pretty clear this is a short term stabilization operation with a long term lens on keeping national security threats away from us. What does the Trump administration do over the next couple of weeks? What will it look like for the American people?

[Victoria Coates]

Well, I think. I think we all just need to take our time with this process. I think that there is a viable opposition movement in Venezuela that did win the election in July 2024. If you could figure out if they're going to coalesce behind a single strong candidate, that would be obviously highly desirable if that could happen. But again, that's going to be a process. And I think the more important work that should be done in Venezuela is technocratic. And that's a place the United States can and should offer significant assistance to Venezuela to help them from our Treasury Department to do the kinds of reforms that, for example, President Milei is doing in Argentina, getting that beautiful country off of its socialist past, going forward to a free economic future. It's hard, it's difficult work. And he has required some assistance for us. We have productively provided that we can do the same thing for Venezuela. And then also in terms of revitalizing their badly neglected but vital oil industry and the reason that matters to the United States. A lot of people are saying, well, why do we want their oil? We have plenty here. Absolutely we do. But at the same time, we also have the refineries that can process that oil. So we actually make money off of that. So it's a good thing for our industry to have access to that product as well.

[John Solomon]

Yeah.

[Amanda Head]

Victoria, there is an incredible story arc here that starts in 2016 between President Trump and Marco Rubio and the name calling, the nickname calling. And now you've got Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is the star of this administration when it comes to diplomacy. When you look at the skills that he has implemented during his tenure as secretary thus far, where do you think those skills are best utilized? What's the next mission?

[Victoria Coates]

I would actually like to take a few things off of Secretary Rubio's plate. Things like the National Archives, give him a little bit more time and bandwidth to do the work he's clearly doing. Well, But I think the really critical point here, Amanda, is that even in the heat of a primary, President Trump is not going to let you know whatever politics may go down, affect his long term strategic vision. And so I've seen that with, with, with Secretary Rubio. I've certainly seen it with my dear friend Senator Ted Cruz, who's now one of the most stalwart supporters of President Trump in the Senate, is very involved in this Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba issue as well. And then you have other voices. And, you know, President Trump wants to hear from Secretary Rubio. He also wants to hear from Vice President Vance, who has a somewhat different approach. He wants to hear that range of views and then make his decision. And make. No, there should be no doubt about it. No one is leading President Trump around. He's the ultimate decision maker in that room.

[John Solomon]

Yeah, yeah, there's no doubt about that. Victoria, before we let you go, we've seen signs of it for a couple of years now, a much more organized socialist resistance movement in America. It was in action within a couple of hours of Maduro's arrest. Trying to portray him as sympathetic or a victim of some American inappropriate behavior. It is much larger and well funded than it was maybe 10, 20 years ago. How concerned should we be about the socialists on our own soil who are allied with our foreign enemies?

[Victoria Coates]

No, this is a huge concern. And it's as if the Venezuelan flag all of a sudden replaced the Palestinian flag as the symbol of these people. And that is not an accident. They are just for anyone who is anti American is what they want to support. And so this is something I wrote about a lot in my recent book, the Battle for the Jewish State, that these people, the organized, anti Semites, anti Israel people, they're also going to be the pro socialists, pro communist people, and they are in this kind of a union together. It is deeply dangerous for the United States, especially for young people who can be vulnerable to this kind of messaging, but then also to our institutions when you have a vote like we just had in New York, where the immigrant vote, which is pro in many cases pro this cause dictating the outcome of that, of that election. So it's something we all have to keep a real close eye on, particularly on where the money's coming from, because none of this stuff happens in a vacuum.

[John Solomon]

That's right.

[Amanda Head]

Senior Research Fellow, Naval Warfare and Advanced Technology, Allison center for National Security Yes. Thank you so much for being with us, Victoria. Wonderful to see you. Happy New Year.

[Victoria Coates]

Happy New Year to you both.

[Amanda Head]

Absolutely. All right, everybody coming up next, we discuss the ongoing U. S. Iran conflict and what that means for America's international relations going into this year. We're here. More on that next.

[John Solomon]

Welcome back, America. Last week we were talking about Iran and the extraordinary protests were occurring there. And then we were talking about Venezuela's weekend. And it turns out there's quite a nexus between Iran and Venezuela, part of that evil of access that has tried to target the United States for so long. Here to bring us an update on not only that nexus, but what's been going on on the ground with the brave Iranian people protesting against the mullahs and their government is the current. Sorry. Is the director, deputy director of the National Council of Resistance of Iran and the author of the Iran A Must Read book, Ali Raza Jafarzada. Ali Raza, good to have you back on the show.

[Ali Raza Jafarzada]

Thank you so much. Great pleasure to see you. Happy New Year, both to you and Amanda.

[John Solomon]

Happy New Year to you. It could be a very happy new year for the people of Iran. It seems as though it could be.

[Ali Raza Jafarzada]

A happy new year for the people of Iran, the whole region, the whole world.

[John Solomon]

So tell us what it's like. I think we're on day nine of the protests, if I'm doing my math correctly. This began with street merchants in the bazaars. Where is it now? How big a threat is it to the leadership of Iran?

[Ali Raza Jafarzada]

Well, it started exactly as you said with the economic issue, but it soon expanded to other parts of Tehran and other parts of the country. Over 100 cities have been involved in the protests in almost all provinces of the country. You've gotten the young, the younger generation involved in it. What's interesting about the protest is that you have three different sectors of society were all at the same time involved. One was the merchant, the bazaar, who traditionally were the base of support for the mullahs. And then you have the poor, the deprived, the smaller towns and cities who again at some point were supportive of the mullahs. They have joined and turned against them. And then you add to them the intellectuals, the university students who've gotten involved. So the issue has expanded. It's all about the the fate of the mullahs. Are chanting death to the dictator, death to khamenei, death to the oppressor, be the shah or the supreme leader, making it very clear that they want an end to the rule of the clerics that are not going to settle for that, no matter how many people the regime is going to kill, which by now there are about three dozen that have killed. We have their names, but this is a very sensitive situation for the regime, and they don't know where things are heading and how they can contain it.

[Amanda Head]

ALIREZA the world has watched with horror as the last few decades have shown the world what oppression in that country looks like. So many human rights abuses that we could talk about, but this was economic. This was ultimately what brought down their currency so low that people came out to the streets. As you said, the Grand Bazaar, shut down, universities, boycotting. Does it surprise you that after all of the human rights issues, that this is what ultimately could bring things to a head?

[Ali Raza Jafarzada]

Well, that's an important point you raised, Amanda, because, you know, 2025, Iran saw the highest number of executions, including political prisoners and women, that they had ever seen since Khamenei, the supreme leader, came to power in 1989. 2,200 executions. The whole goal and purpose of those executions was to prevent another uprising in Iran. This is exactly what happened just before the year ended. And we have seen ever since these protests expanded. So it's very clear that the killings, the repression, the executions is not working. The fear has shifted from the people to the regime. We have seen since about three, four days ago that the protests have taken a very aggressive momentum against the repressive forces of the regime. The young people are no longer afraid. They're actually confronting and disarming some of the agents of the Iranian regime, the state security forces, the IRGC people confronting them. And the regime, you know, is getting very confrontational. They even invaded a hospital yesterday and today also. But that's not deterring people. So I think there's a whole new situation now that is not comparable to any other uprisings in the past. And I hope people realize that finally, how weak and vulnerable this regime is despite their repressive forces, and how important it is for the world to stand on the side of the people of Iran.

[John Solomon]

Alireza In 2009, a similar protest erupted. Barack Obama stayed mostly silent, and that was suppressed. He later said it was one of the big mistakes of his presidency. Barack Obama did. Donald Trump did not make that mistake this time. He was out front early, saying he would stand by the Iranian people if they were going to be slaughtered by the regime. Tell us what that meant and what more the United States could do now to potentially achieve regime change without having to send any US Soldiers to the region.

[Ali Raza Jafarzada]

Absolutely. This is so important to. For the statement that was made by President Trump saying that the. If the regime resorts to violence, that they're going to Pay the price for it. And again, the President repeated that on Sunday, saying that if the regime starts, you know, killing the way they were doing, that they're going to be hit and hit very hard. It's so important for the regime to realize that there is accountability because over the past four decades, the regime has been used to getting away with everything, doing terrorism, getting rewarded for it, developing nuclear weapons, getting the sanctions lifted, killing their own people and with impunity. That has changed. Now the next step, which is very important, is that, you know, we need to end all of this once and for all. No one is asking, as you suggest that no one is asking for boots on the ground or appropriation of money. None of that. Iran is a big country with some 90 million population. The good thing is that there is an organized force on the ground. You know, the MEK resistance units have been very active during the protests and the uprisings. There is a history and culture of defiance built by the sacrifice of tens of thousands of the members of this movement, the MEK against the Iran regime. There is a clear leadership, Mrs. Mariam Rajivi, heading the parliament in exile with a clear platform for change based on a 10 point platform that calls for suppression of religion, state ballot box as the only criteria for legitimacy. Freedom of religion, freedom of political parties, free market economy and non nuclear republic. Iran. So what the US and the rest of the world need to do is to recognize the right of the people of Iran to confront and to fight the Revolutionary Guards to end the rule of the Kurds. That's all that is actually needed. In addition to holding the regime accountable, you will see why the momentum shift will take place in Iran.

[John Solomon]

Pretty amazing.

[Amanda Head]

Ali, before we let you go, President Trump has addressed this concern. He obviously does not want to see Iran rebuild its nuclear arsenal. How concerned are you that that can happen? And what would a timeline for that look like?

[Ali Raza Jafarzada]

Well, the nuclear weapons program of the regime has been since day one a tool for the survival of this regime. So that's why the program has cost about $2 trillion for the Iranian regime. But they continued that to the detriment of the people getting poorer and the consequences, you know, that they wanted to tolerate that. Of course they're not going to give it up that easily. Obviously the circumstances has changed. A lot of those sites are no longer there. The ability to do what they did under the special international circumstances in the past two or three decades are no longer there. It's going to be a very, very difficult mullahs for the mullahs. To build it up again back to where they were. And that's why I think it's so important to just don't give him time, don't give him room to maneuver. Don't give him space. Hold them accountable. This is the time that the weakest time for the mullahs. This is the opportunity to end the nuclear threat, the missile threat, the drone threat, the terrorism threat of the Iranian regime and the killing of their own people. Think about the demand, John, and what a difference it will make when you have a free, democratic, non nuclear republic, Iran, the kind of impact it would have in the region and also globally.

[John Solomon]

Yeah, no doubt. Real quick, we only get about 20 seconds left. Eliraza, do you know of these reports of the Allah Ayatollah Khamenei looking to maybe to flee to Russia, Any truth to them or any belief that those might be underway?

[Ali Raza Jafarzada]

I don't know about those specific reports, but I wouldn't be surprised about contingency plans for the supreme leader because Khamenei has seen a lot of his allies or proxies are no longer around him. Assad in Syria was gone in 11 days. The biggest ally of the regime in Western hemisphere, Maduro, is gone. A lot of those proxies are gone and they are facing a discounted population. So obviously this is certainly in the mind of Khamenei and all the other top leaders of the mullahs.

[John Solomon]

History in the making. We're watching it unfold right in front of our eyes. Ali Raza Jafarzada, great to have you on the show, my friend. We'll be sure to to be getting back on real soon, but thanks for joining us.

[Ali Raza Jafarzada]

Thank you so much. Thank you both John and Amanda. Appreciate that. Happy New Year.

[John Solomon]

Always appreciate having a happy New Year. All right, folks, coming up Next, now the 2026 is officially here. It's time to get a little help to start our New Year's resolution. Our friends at the wellness company tell us their new supplemental line is just what we need to help our bodies curb cravings. Plus, we had the big news today. The CDC announced a lesser number of recommendations recommended vaccines for young people. We're going to have that at the next break with Dr. Peter McCullough right after these messages.

[Amanda Head]

Welcome back, everybody. Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's just like I did. But now it's time to put the Christmas tree away, save the last of our marshmallow hot chocolate and cookies and shift our focus to to our New Year's resolutions and like many, we resolve to embrace a healthier lifestyle with nutritious foods and clean eating. But that's only going to last probably a few weeks because that's how long it lasts for me. All right, everybody. Luckily we have our friend. He's world renowned doctor and chief scientific officer at the wellness company, Dr. Peter McCullough, here to discuss how we can curb those cravings. But also the very recent news from earlier today that the CDC has drastically reduced the vaccine schedule for children. So I'm looking forward to diving into that with Dr. McCullough. Thanks so much for being with us and happy New Year to you. Happy new year, Dr. McCullough. We went down. I've seen a few different figures, but it looks like most everybody agrees. We've gone now from 72 to roughly 11. Your thoughts on that?

[Dr. Peter McCullough]

This is really a stunning development. It looks like the chain of command was Trump, then RFK and then acting CDC director Jim o', Neill, who's not a doctor. They've bypassed the ACIP panel, the adult committee, advisory and advisory committee on immunization practice. They bypassed the panel altogether. And they, they count 83 doses now reduced by 55 doses. 11 different diseases being immunized down to 11 diseases. So the US vaccine schedule now looks a lot more like Scandinavia and other countries where there is no resurgence of legacy diseases like diphtheria or tetanus or measles, mumps, rubella. In fact, those vaccines are still on the schedule, but the overall burden of vaccines on children is dramatically reduced.

[John Solomon]

Pretty remarkable and a remarkable dynamic. Is this a moment where medicine gets rebooted in America? I mean, a lot of people feel like I'm want to trust my doctor, but all these public health officials said I can't. We went through the COVID 19 thing. We get bombarded with vaccines. Sometimes they don't work like the flu vaccine or COVID 19. Are we at a moment of maybe an extraordinary reboot in our great medical profession?

[Dr. Peter McCullough]

We haven't, you know, I think who gave the boot was Trump. I think Trump booted the doctors into action to say, listen, we've got to get to a more reasonable vaccine schedule. There still are great concerns if the vaccines even on the more trim schedule, if they're given later in life, they're going to be far safer. We do need to rebuild trust, no doubt about it. And one of the things that's come up, John, is the CDC still promoting influenza vaccination every year. They seem to get it wrong. And, you know, about three quarters of people hospitalized with influenza have taken the vaccine. So it's obvious it doesn't work.

[Amanda Head]

Absolutely amazing. Dr. McCullough, I am one of many, many, many Americans, I'm sure, who feels like I gained quite a bit of weight over the holidays. I did not hold back on anything and I had a grand time, but now I'm regretting it just a little bit. But there are a lot of Americans who have relied on things like GLP1 to get their weight under management. And I get it for people who are morbidly obese, they have diabetes, those types of health issues, but there are a lot of really, really bad side effects. What's the alternative?

[Dr. Peter McCullough]

You know, GLP1 receptor agonists have been on the market now 20 years. I've been using them 20 years in my practice. The prescription ones have been injection. They've gone from once a day to once a week. The problems is they have side effects in a lot of people. Once they're injected, you can't get them out of the body. The huge breakthrough for someone like you, Amanda, is Drop. Drop is a triple acting GLP1, but it's given by oral drops. You can control the dose, you don't need much of it, and it works very well in assisting people in trimming weight. So not only does it cut hunger and food urges, but it actually changes the metabolism in the body very favorably. Synchronizes the brain, the intestines, the stomach, and people naturally lose weight.

[John Solomon]

Yeah. One of the things I was reading on your side, in fact, is the fact that with Drop there are fewer side effects than there are with an injectable GLP1. Telescope a little bit about why they act differently and why we have fewer side effects with Drop.

[Dr. Peter McCullough]

That's our clinical observation. We clearly need large, prospective, double blind, randomized placebo control trials. This would be perfect for the new, you know, Trump RFK Bhattachara NIH administration to challenge the big pharma. You know, getting these injections which are very expensive and have side effects with something, you know, simpler like oral drops from the wellness company, a very well named product called Drop. There's also a wellness company product called Appetite. It helps curb appetite when people get control over their food urges, you know, and make healthy choices, reduce portions and exercise, the weight comes off. And this is great news for Americans.

[Amanda Head]

Yeah. Before we let you go, favorite form of exercise, something that could accompany Drop very well.

[Dr. Peter McCullough]

You know, my favorite and most efficient is running. I recognize a lot of people can't do running, so sometimes when I'M in hotel rooms and I know this applies to both of you just doing something called a burpee and that is going on the floor. From a push up standing up to a jumping jack, back down to a push up. If you do 10 of those, you get short of breath. Literally. It takes just a matter of minutes. Everybody needs a burst of energy after this interview. That's what I'm going to do.

[Amanda Head]

I gotta be honest, after 10 burpees, I feel like throwing up. It's not just shortness of breath. World renowned doctor, chief scientific officer of the wellness company, Dr. Peter McCullough. Great to see you, sir. Happy new Year to you.

[John Solomon]

Happy New year.

[Amanda Head]

All right, everybody. Folks drop, it's not a gimmick, it's not a crash diet. It's not a quick fix. It is a daily prescription. Free flavorless liquid peptide supplement. The core ingredient is retail a breakthrough peptide studied for its ability to regulate appetite, improve metabolism and help the body use energy more effectively. So combined with MCT oil and mineral rich Irish Sea moss, drop becomes a powerful, powerful tool to curb cravings while gently raising your energy. So if you'd like to start your 2026 resolution with some help, go to TWC Health just news and use promo code just news100 and you're going to save $100 on drop. So again, go to TWC Health SL and use promo code just news100 and save $100. We're going to take a very quick break. One more segment coming up. Welcome back, everybody. You know, President Trump is one of those transparent presidents. He talked about to the press practically anytime he can. And that is not limited to when he is on the ground. It is also when he is on Air Force One. He goes to the media area and gaggles with them for a while, always answering questions. And here is yet another one.

[John Solomon]

We don't let them take ships anymore. You know why? We use the same exact missile on them that we use on the drug carriers and it's very effective. So you notice there's nobody capturing ships anymore because as they head out to go capture the ship and the ship doesn't want to fire back because it's very flammable stuff in many cases. And the insurance companies don't want because they've, you know, they build a billion dollar ship and they don't want anybody firing rockets into the ship. But we're hitting them so hard. And it's very similar, same, same missile system. It's called deadly accurate. And do you notice that ships aren't being taken anymore. The pirates are right. I thought about the pirates aren't well known.

[Dr. Peter McCullough]

No Somali pirates.

[John Solomon]

It's actually very easy. They head out, we say, guess what? There's pirates. Bing. That's the end of the pirates, John.

[Amanda Head]

Apparently, just like Venezuelan drug boats, Somali pirate boats go boom.

[John Solomon]

I'd like to see the job listing for the next Somali pirate or Venezuelan drug boater. It's probably not got a short, short tenure.

[Amanda Head]

Speaking of exploding things, I know you've got a piece coming out tomorrow dissecting these Iranian drones.

[John Solomon]

Really important. I don't think a lot of people knew this, but on New Year's Eve, Treasury Department, Trump administration sanctioned Venezuela revealing that a large shipment of these drones, which are the ones that have been sent by Iran to Russia, Russia to attack Ukraine, other places. They're very deadly. Drones are very effective. Iran's really good at drone warfare. They were, a whole bunch of them were sitting in a Venezuelan port at a military base and within weapon shot of the United States. The United States military crushed them all at this base called El Libertad and taking them out. But it is a reminder that Venezuela was the fusion cell for Iran, China, Russia, North Korea, Cuba, all of our enemies. They all park their wear in their hatred for America on that country, inside that country. And I think that beyond the ending the narco terrorism, this is a real side benefit. And I think a lot of people can be shocked by the detail of these drones, what they could have done to America and how many of them were there.

[Amanda Head]

Yeah, it's interesting because you look at the perspective of. And I kind of highlighted this at the top of the show. I think it was Senator Mark Warner, some comments that he had made, but he kind of distilled. Another, of course, was previous to President Trump, but he distilled it down to. You would think that people could look at the taking out of someone like Nicolas Maduro as just something that's good for the United States. And I thought to myself, that argument still works today. Even if you're Mark Warner and you don't want to admit it, it's good for the United States to not have a narco terrorist that close to not have those Iranian drones that close to have the access to the oil that, by the way, we were supposed to have a long time ago, but it got piddled and piddled away, stolen from us. So it's good all around.

[John Solomon]

You know somebody who sounded like that 20, 30 years ago, Joe Biden. That's exactly what Joe Biden said when he pushed President Bush to take out Noriega in Panama. And it's so interesting to remember that Democrats don't remember their own history, this effort to sympathize a drug kingpin and to suggest that this was an illegal act. Democrats did this. They advocated for it and now they forget it because, well, they have, as you said, Trump derangement syndrome.

[Amanda Head]

Absolutely crazy. All right, John. So Jimmy Kimmel, in no surprise, after the controversy last year with his show getting taken off of the air very temporarily, he won the vote for best talk show at the Critics Choice Awards. And no surprise, his acceptance speech was riddled with criticisms of President Trump, just like his show. Can you believe it?

[John Solomon]

Comedy act for him. Yeah.

[Amanda Head]

Do you think it was a pity vote?

[John Solomon]

Of course it is. I think there should be a Choice Award created for TV critics because I actually think that they're so disconnected from the American public. We ought to like pick the most woke and silly critic and show you just how disconnected they are. By the way, there are many good film critics coming up on the right now. I can't wait to bring more of them on the.

[Amanda Head]

Well, and they're used. I think there still is a People's Choice Award as opposed to the Critics Choice Award, but I think it's just maybe it's music and pop culture and things like that.

[John Solomon]

So, yeah, crazy.

[Amanda Head]

I think we should reboot the People's Choice Award and make it the actual people of this country, not the elites. Anyway, thanks so much for joining us tonight. We are glad that you are with us. And we'll be back here again tomorrow night at 6pm Eastern right here on Real America's Voice. In the meantime, head over to justthenews.com for all of our breaking headlines. Let's get to Mark.

[Ali Raza Jafarzada]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[John Solomon]

Guaranteed Human.