The Empire Strikes Back, Hegseth Outlines War Timeline, Neocons Push More War | Redacted

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Redacted News – "The Empire Strikes Back, Hegseth Outlines War Timeline, Neocons Push More War"

Host: Clayton Morris & Natali Morris
Guests: Professor Saeed Mohammed Morandi (University of Tehran), Dennis Kucinich (Former US Congressman)
Date: March 4, 2026
Episode Focus:
A critical, independent analysis of the US and Israeli war on Iran. The hosts and guests challenge official narratives, discuss the realities on the ground, explore propaganda, the roots of bipartisan war support in the US, and the broader decline of Western order.

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Episode Overview

The episode centers on recent US and Israeli military actions in Iran, dissecting the gap between Western media narratives and reports from inside Iran. Featuring voices from Tehran and American political dissidents, the hosts examine how propaganda, “bots” on social media, and establishment politics perpetuate war. The conversation moves from military reality to the deeper issues of elite power, loss of democratic control, and the need for popular resistance.

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Major Discussion Segments & Key Points

1. Western Media Narrative vs. Reality in Iran

(00:36–07:44)

• The hosts introduce the theme of media distortion about the war in Iran.
• Reports are circulating from US and Israeli officials that Iran’s military infrastructure has been decimated, with promises of a swift victory.
• Clayton notes:
  “If you listen to the Western media outlets, of course the United States in Israel's bombing of Iran is going very, very well…This thing will be wrapped up very, very soon.” (04:23)
• Secretary of War Pete Hegseth claims a quick mission, while General Dan Kaine and President Trump signal a timeline of “many weeks” for completing objectives.

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2. On-the-Ground Reality: Live from Tehran with Professor Morandi

(07:44–23:29)

Professor Saeed Mohammed Morandi shares firsthand observations:

• Iran's succession: The Ayatollah's death has set into motion constitutional processes, with a temporary council governing until a new leader is chosen. Security concerns prevent all officials from gathering in one place. (09:20)
• Double-tap bombings: US and Israeli strikes are targeting not just military but civilian locations, including schools. Iranian authorities have asked civilians to leave Tehran.
  • Quote:
    “They bombed an elementary school...and murdered 165 or so girls. Their funerals will be held tomorrow…” (11:07, Morandi)
• Military status: Contrary to Western claims, Iran’s asymmetrical warfare fleet (speedboats, drones, underground missile bases) is untouched and operational.
  • Quote:
    “The United States has not touched any of [our speedboats]. They’re in the Persian Gulf and they can begin destroying tankers or oil facilities...anytime.” (13:22, Morandi)
• Civilian response: The narrative of Iranians “celebrating liberation” is a myth. Most people are mourning and protesting the strikes, not celebrating US or Israeli intervention.
  • Quote:
    “No, this is complete nonsense. People are mourning…Millions were on the streets across Tehran and they were not...waving an American flag or an Israeli flag.” (16:41, Morandi)

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3. Narrative Manipulation and Manufactured Consent

(19:01–20:54)

• Professor Morandi highlights the persistence of Western regime-change propaganda since the 1980s, with recycled storylines about Iranians desiring regime change.
  • Quote:
    “If you remove the headlines from the 1990s and put them in the New York Times today...you won’t be able to tell the difference.” (19:29, Morandi)

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4. Iranian Military Resilience & International Context

(20:54–23:29)

• Despite decades of sanctions, Iran maintains military self-sufficiency.
• Morandi clarifies that Turkey is cooperating with the US, while Iran’s actual military strength is rooted in indigenous weapons and underground infrastructure.
• The population and leadership are prepared for a drawn-out conflict.
  • Quote:
    “The Iranians are prepared to fight for a very long period of time because they know that the United States is completely unreliable…” (22:29, Morandi)

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5. Political Response & Decline of US Political Legitimacy

(25:29–53:26)

With Dennis Kucinich (Former Congressman):

• Elite disconnect: US and Israeli leadership is detached, prioritizing their own interests over citizens or soldiers.
  • Quote:
    “Leaders and elites are removed from the reality that descends upon mass publics in a war.” (29:15, Kucinich)
• Western civilization is depicted as declining, “led by elites who legitimize child rape, child murder, cannibalism, war…”
• Bipartisan (Uniparty) support for war: Both parties, despite rhetoric, endorse the war.
  • Quote:
    “Democrats are too. John Fetterman seems to be just as excited as Lindsey Graham…I recall they are a uniparty when it comes to war.” (32:25, Natalie)
• Israeli influence in US politics: Kucinich recounts how Netanyahu has shaped US war decisions for decades, referencing the lead-up to the Iraq War and persistent demonization of Iran.
  • Quote:
    “It was Netanyahu who came to the United States to beat the drum for war against Iraq... Now with Iran, his mission has been the same for 30 years.” (36:43, Kucinich)
• Loss of democratic recourse: Americans, even if majority-opposed, have little practical power to halt the war owing to congressional complicity and the Supreme Court’s expansion of executive impunity (referencing Trump’s 2024 decision).
  • Quote:
    “The real power right now is with the Congress…Absent that, people have to wait till November to vote in the elections and indicate their displeasure…” (42:15, Kucinich)

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6. Grassroots Response and the Case for Protest

(53:26–58:34)

• The panel discusses the suppression of dissent (boycott laws/crackdown on campuses/anti-criticism laws).
• Despite this, Kucinich expresses hope in the American capacity for protest, framing the current moment as an inflection point akin to anti–Vietnam War activism.
• Quote:
  “...It may not be through the political parties, but it's certainly going to be through Americans rallying to the defense of our own freedoms...” (49:23, Kucinich)
• The consequences of the war include a likely global nuclear arms race due to perceived Western aggression; escalation is inevitable unless checked by mass mobilization.
  • Quote:
    “Any nation that’s thinking about [acquiring a nuclear weapon] now is going to move ahead and do it to try to prevent themselves from being attacked. That's another consequence of this.” (56:58, Kucinich)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "The narrative never changes."
  (19:29, Morandi)
• "Leaders and elites are removed from the reality that descends upon mass publics in a war."
  (29:15, Kucinich)
• "We are in the thrall of this foreign interest, and it's affecting the legislative and the executive branch."
  (33:08, Kucinich)
• "Iran is going to be responding in a way that no one has ever been able to properly anticipate...that will change public opinion and the calculus of the war."
  (42:15, Kucinich)
• "We have to be prepared to go in another direction…our freedom is being taken away here."
  (49:23, Kucinich)

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Key Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:36 – Episode introduction, media critique
• 06:38 – US officials on war progress/timeline
• 08:27 – Prof. Morandi joins live from Tehran
• 11:07 – Bombing of Iranian elementary school
• 13:22 – Reality of Iranian military capacity
• 16:41 – Iranian civilian response (mourning, not celebrating)
• 19:29 – Decades of unchanged anti-Iran narrative
• 22:29 – Iranian resolve for long-term conflict
• 29:15 – Kucinich on elite detachment and decline of Western civilization
• 33:08 – Bipartisan (uniparty) complicity described
• 36:43 – Israeli influence in US politics and war
• 42:15 – Limits of electoral/legislative democracy to stop war
• 53:26 – Suppression of dissent, need for mass protest
• 56:58 – Escalation risk and the nuclear proliferation consequence

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Conclusion: Episode Takeaways

• US/Iran war is far from over—contrary to establishment narratives, Iran retains military strength and popular resistance is real.
• Bipartisan US political consensus, driven by elite and foreign interests, enables ongoing war despite public skepticism.
• Suppression of dissent is growing, but both hosts and guests urge Americans to reclaim agency through mass protest and direct action.
• The episode closes with a call for independent analysis, visibility of protest, and a challenge against propaganda, corporate media, and political elites.

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For listeners seeking a grounded, skeptical analysis and a voice for antiwar dissent, this episode of Redacted offers both detailed reporting and urgent calls for critical engagement.

Transcript

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[Clayton Morris]

It is time to wake up. On this show, we cover the stories the mainstream media won't touch. Live from the Rocky Mountains, welcome to Redacted with Natalie and Clayton Morris. Are you ready? Let's get uncomfortable. Oh, and war makes us uncomfortable. Welcome into the show. We've got a very busy show for you today. We're going to be joined by Professor Morandi from Tehran, Iran, to get a sense of, you know, the western lies that are being spread about Iran right now and how bad it is there. Is their military destroyed as our Pentagon is telling us that, hey, nothing to see here. This is going to be over very, very soon.

[Natalie]

Are the people doing what President Trump expected? Rise up, overthrow your government. We got you. So we're going to talk about that which is widely talked about on X. There are so many bots on X. They wanted it. They say the Iranian people wanted to be bombed. There are in their cities.

[Clayton Morris]

Chris Martinson said his whole weekend was spent or this past few days has been spent just like going after bots because, man, the don't do it. What's crazy, only 27% even support an attack on Iran. And so why is X being flooded with all of these fake bots and all of these people who are like pro, pro war against Iran, like, come on, we need to wake up. They're all fake.

[Natalie]

Yes. We're also going to talk about, you know, the American response to this inside political parties. What are we going to do? If you're mad as we are, what do the American people do? So we're excited to talk to Dennis Kucinich, former presidential candidate and Democratic congressman about. Yeah, what, what do we do with all this angst, Clayton?

[Clayton Morris]

Well, and he wrote a great piece because, you know, over there they're calling this Epstein, like the Epstein administration. They're calling it Operation Epstein Fury. Right. So like an attack on this Epstein pedophilia administration. That's what's being said by the Russian side, by the Iranian side. And he just wrote a great new piece on his substack about Iran Epstein and these elites and how these like sort of pedophile elites are like leading us to war while the rest of Americans are like, hey, who are these sick elites that are running the show here?

[Natalie]

Yeah, that want this war? You know, it's bad when they call your government the pedophile government. And we can't really refute that.

[Clayton Morris]

Can't argue with that.

[Natalie]

Yeah, that's, that's kind of true. We don't want it, we don't stand for it. But they have power over us. But at least we have the power to speak. Before we get to all of that though, we want to tell you about our friends over at Shopify. Because you know when you're shopping around the Internet and you see that little purple shop pay button, you know you're on a Shopify site. What you're looking at there is the redacted store, which also runs on Shopify. We are happy customers of Shopify because it's so easy to put our products online for you to [e-mail] we can come up with an idea, we can design it and we can implement really quickly. We don't have to worry about graphic design. We don't have to worry about making a beautiful store. Shopify does that for, for you. They also handle the back end of payment systems and execution of those sales. So if you have an idea to launch your store to the world, you need to check out Shopify. Go to shopify.com redacted and you can sign up for a one month trial period today so you can go from that first sale to your million dollar sale. And again, they will support you every step of the way. So if you get confused, there's always someone to help you. And it's really user friendly, intuitive. That's why so many businesses use use Shopify. Now that you know that, you'll see how often you notice that shop button because so many people rely on Shopify. One more time, that's shopify.com redacted.

[Clayton Morris]

And we want to tell you about our friends over at Bright Core Nutrition. Because early onset dementia and Alzheimer's are on the rise, Reports show a 373% increase in diagnosis among 30 to 44 year olds and a 30, 311% increase in four 45 to 54 year olds in the United States in recent years. And when doctors treat brain diseases, they often focus on medicating the brain itself, addressing symptoms instead of the root cause, which is chronic inflammation and oxidative stress. These factors damage brain cells, lead to the buildup of toxic proteins, the hallmark of Alzheimer's disease. But much like much of the body, many brain diseases trace back to the gut microbiome. And there's a direct line of communication between your gut and your brain, which is where bacteria influence inflammation, mood, memory, cognitive function. I mean, read Dr. Perlmutter's great book on the gut brain connection. I mean, it's all right there. That's why kimchi contains over 900 probiotic strains and studies show its bioactive compounds help reduce inflammation. But a lot of people, you know, maybe don't like the taste of kimchi because you're not South Korean. So that's where Bright core created Kimchi Chi 1. It's actually a supplement, has all the benefits of real kimchi in a convenient capsule. No taste, no smell, virtually no sodium. Made in the US Non gmo. And now you can get an exclusive offer by clicking the link below. In our description, you get 25% off your entire order. I take it every day as part of my supplement stack. You're going to get 25% off by going to my brightcore.com redacted. An even better deal though is if you actually call, call them. They'll give you 50% off and free shipping. Just get on the phone and call them. They're an American company. 888-404-6312. Get 50% off and free shipping. One more time, call them. 888-404-631200. Well, the fog of war is very real right now. If you listen to the Western media outlets, of course the United States in Israel's bombing of Iran is going very, very well. Their entire military leadership has been wiped out, almost their entire navy. And that this thing will be wrapped up very, very soon. At the start of the week, of course we heard from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and said this will not be a protracted war, that this should wrap up very soon. Listen to the Secretary of War, Secretary

[Natalie]

Hegseth, and one for Chairman Kaine as well. I understand to your point here that you don't want to broadcast everything for our adversaries to hear. But the American people also want to know what they're sending their men and women to war for. Is there a concern of this spiraling into a longer war? And then one for the chairman when you're done.

[Safeway/Albertsons Announcer]

Did you not hear my remarks? I mean, we're ensuring the mission gets accomplished, but we are very clear eyed as the President has been unlike other presidents about the foolish policies of the past that recklessly pulled us in to things that were not tethered to actual clear objectives. So we know we have plans, we have generals, we have chairmans, we have commanders, CENTCOM commanders, Admiral Cooper, who's executing very deliberately to ensure outcomes that I laid out are accomplished. But we would never, in front of a press pool, lay out how long that may take. The mission for our war fighters, which is what matters to us, is very, very clear. And they're executing it right now violently.

[Clayton Morris]

So that's what the Secretary of war is saying. But top General Dan Kaine says that this is going to take time to achieve these military objectives in Iran. This is not a single overnight operation. President Trump also saying it could take many weeks. So what actually is happening in Iran right now? Well, let's go live to Tehran with our special guest, Professor Saeed Mohammed Morandi, who is in Tehran right now. He's a geopolitical analyst, professor at the University of Tehran, host of Demystifying Iran. And we apologize. The Internet is very, very spotty. I think only about 4% of the Internet is actually working in Iran. But, professor, thank you so much for joining us.

[Professor Saeed Mohammed Morandi]

Thank you very much for having me. The Internet works for Inside Iran, for Iranian websites and, and apps. But if we want to connect abroad, then we have to go to studios. So I'm basically at this, I come to studios. I'm spending my whole day in the studio basically doing interviews.

[Natalie]

Well, we're so glad to have you so that we can get real news, not the American interpretation of news. So what I want to ask you, the United States seemed to think that a quick and fast regime change in Iran was possible. Now, that does not seem like that is an easy plan. What is the succession plan in Iran now that the Ayatollah is dead? And how do you think the government stands this week?

[Professor Saeed Mohammed Morandi]

Well, the constitution is clear the there will be a council of three that runs the government, the country, until the leader is chosen by the Council of Experts. And that should happen in the next few days. They don't want all the members of the Council of Experts who are elected to gather in one place because obviously Trump or Netanyahu may try to murder them. So they're arranging so that they can meet from abroad or meet from a distance and, and decide who will be the next leader. So for the time being, the government is, the state is being run by the president, the head of the judiciary, and a representative from the Council of the Guardian Council.

[Clayton Morris]

Can you Tell me what is happening right now. We've seen double tap where US and Israeli bombs hitting many targets across Tehran, across Iran. And then when rescue crews are showing up, they're being hit again. We know that Israel loves to do that. That's one of Israel's favorite pastimes which is to when rescue crews show up to try to remove bodies, then they hit them again. Can you tell me what's happening across Tehran at this hour?

[Professor Saeed Mohammed Morandi]

Actually one of my friends who I spoke with just 45 minutes ago on the phone, he was in one of these places where they did a double. It was the fair dose square which actually, which also I used to live there before many years ago. And as when they bombed the place, rescuers went to help and ordinary people to remove the rubble and see if they can find survivors. And then they struck again. So that was a personal friend of mine was, was witness to this. The Israeli regime, the Americans, they are striking Tehran regularly. They are bombing homes but also civilian infrastructure. They have caused the government to ask people who don't need to be in the city to leave. Especially since the day before yesterday they bombed an elementary school in and murdered 165 or so girls. And who. Their funerals will be held tomorrow morning in the city of Minob. It's not, it's not a big city actually. I've never been there, but it's not a big city. So imagine, I mean 160 or so young girls murdered in any city would be horrific. But when it's in a small city, I think the impact would probably be even more painful and long lasting. So after the, the strike on, on that school, the government shut down all schools and universities. I, I'm not, I'm supposed to, I was supposed to have class today, so there's no class. Whether there will be online courses in the coming weeks, I don't know. But, but. So we have no schools open, no universities and the government and the armed forces have asked people who do not need to be in the city of Tehran to leave. So Tehran is much less crowded now. But I'm in Tehran.

[Clayton Morris]

Can I ask you, we heard the Secretary of War saying that this will not be protracted, this will not be dragged out. We've also heard from President Trump that the Iranian navy has been completely severed. The top military infrastructure, the leadership in the top of the military has been destroyed. Can you tell us what you know? Is that truth or false?

[Professor Saeed Mohammed Morandi]

No, that's false. First of all, the ships of the navy are in port. The, the Ships that will be used in this war are small speedboats for asymmetrical warfare. And there are thousands of them. And the United States has not touched any of them. They're in the Persian Gulf and they can begin destroying tankers or oil facilities and gas facilities anytime they are asked to do so. And alongside the drones and missiles and the underground bases that are most, most of them have not even been used yet. They are, they're all intact. So with regards to the leadership, yes, they've murdered Ayatollah Khamenei. But this was not successful like eight years ago as eight months ago. Eight, nine months ago, because a large number of senior commanders were murdered then. But this time around four or five, I think, were murdered. So the armed forces, as you've seen, they're functioning, they're firing missiles at Israeli regime regularly and they're striking US Targets in the Persian Gulf. And of course, they're also striking places which US Troops are based. And many of them are in hotels and in other buildings. So the Iranians are striking those hotels as well. So you see that the Americans have failed to get oil to leave the Persian Gulf. The price of oil obviously will go up and there are lots of tankers stuck in the Persian Gulf and they will continue to be stuck. And if it, if the situation escalates, I think they could be destroyed. And if the situation escalates and the oil facilities and gas facilities and tankers are destroyed, then even if there's a ceasefire later on or a halt and cessation and hostilities, there won't be any oil or gas that can be taken out of the Persian Gulf and there won't be any tankers to take that oil or gas. So we're going to have, I think a long term economic crisis or energy crisis if this escalates.

[Natalie]

Now, I want to ask you, because this is the number one talking points of idiots on X, if you can just give me the real answer. So people who support this war inside the United States, either by the lie that Iran had a nuclear program or, or they say, oh, but Iranians wanted this, they don't like the Ayatollah, they don't like the regime, we're liberating them, they're celebrating this. What is the actual. Are there celebrations inside Iran for US Action. Can you please give me that answer? What's actually the temperature of real Iranians once and for all?

[Professor Saeed Mohammed Morandi]

No, this is complete nonsense. People are mourning. And I actually, last night were gatherings across the country under fire, under missile fire, under missile Strikes. I, There were gatherings across the country, and in Tehran, they didn't have a single gathering because for security reasons, because they were afraid the Americans or the Israelis would bomb the people. So they have, they spread them out in different roundabouts and squares in the city. And I put some of them in my Telegram channel and in my Twitter and I tweeted, I tweeted one clip where people are, are chanting slogans as airstrikes are being carried out or missile strikes. And I gave, put a link to my Telegram channel and I put the clips of the gatherings in different parts of Tehran. So if anyone wants to see what, where the people were last night and what they were doing, it's easy. All they have to do is go to my Telegram channel. Millions were on the streets across Tehran and they were not. And that's despite the fact that a lot of people left because people who have, who can leave or ask to leave, and these people on the streets as they were, the, the city was being attacked. And as I said, there were massive crowds in different parts of the city. So this is just propaganda.

[Natalie]

What are they chanting? Specifically that. What are they chanting? Like, give us a saying, a phrase, a temper. Like what?

[Professor Saeed Mohammed Morandi]

We're prepared to die. We won't accept humiliation. Death to Trump, death to Netanyahu and that sort of thing. I, you know, I was so, I didn't go myself because I've been doing lots of interviews, and last night I was, until very late in, in the studio doing interviews. But if you go to my telegram channel, you can see them. And my, I, it's, it's clear as day what the sentiments are. All you have to do is watch the people, even if you don't know what they're saying. And in the sky above, you can see air defenses working and so on.

[Clayton Morris]

So then it's a lie. When Laura Loomer and Mark Levin say that we started this war for the Iranian people, that's the quote. This is for the Iranian people because their lie about a nuclear program has been exposed. So it's not about the nuclear program. It's for the Iranian people. Do the people on the streets, have you seen anyone waving an American flag or an Israeli flag at all saying thank you?

[Professor Saeed Mohammed Morandi]

No, this is all disinformation to justify war. In fact, if I have this, which you alluded to earlier, I have this weekly program on Al Mayadeen, it's called Demystifying Iran. And this last week, just this last Friday before the war, I did a program where I compared the US media in the 1990s and the 1980s and the beginning of the new century with today. And the, the framing is exactly the same. If you remove the headlines from the 1990s and put them on in the New York Times today or the Washington Post, you won't be able to tell the difference. In the 1990s, they were saying the young generation is sick and tired of this revolution. They, they want a new revolution or the revolution is collapsing. The regime is, you know, they love to say regime. The regime is unpopular. They've been saying it's about to fall and collapse and implode and it's a house of cards for 40 years now. And it's the, the narrative never changes. If any, if anyone is interested, they can just go to my, that, that show and just watch the first 10 minutes of it. And it's clear as day that this is what they've been saying since I was a teenager.

[Natalie]

Yes, I guess, you know, I studied closely the sanctions that the Obama administration put on Iran and it gave us the impression that life inside of Iran was so much harder because of American imperialism. So my ignorance, I guess, is that I am surprised at how Iran is able to build such a strong military response to this despite decades of sanctions. And so what, how do you think Iran can withstand, how long can Iran withstand a war like this? And with whose support? Because we're very curious what Russia, China and Turkey will do. Who's behind you?

[Professor Saeed Mohammed Morandi]

Do you think Turkey is in the American camp? US Bases are being used against Iran. AWACS jets are flying over Turkey and gathering information from Iran. But the missiles and drones are all Iranian made. And that's the main part of Iran's capabilities. And they're deeply underground. They're very much underground and they cannot be destroyed. And that's why the United States and Israelis are focusing on targeting cities.

[Clayton Morris]

So for the audience, that's, again, the Western media is telling us they're sort of carpet bombing Tehran, that this is, it's going to be very fast. You're telling us, though, that that's not the case. And the Iranian military is resolved to carry this on for quite a long time, as they've said publicly, years. Is that the case? Do you, do other Iranians believe that,

[Professor Saeed Mohammed Morandi]

that the Iranians are prepared to fight for a very long period of time because they know that the United States is completely unreliable. Every time we negotiate, they stab us in the back. Every time Iran negotiates, it turns out that they're secretly conspiring to attack the country and they're always violating their commitment. So what is there to talk about? The only way to change the situation is to make the United States and Israeli regime recognize that military assault will have economic, political, and military consequences. And Iran is determined to make that happen. Already we see that prices of energy go up. I think the Iranians are prepared to take it far higher than where it is now. And the military across the United States, I think is.

[Clayton Morris]

It looks like we lost the professor again. The Internet is not cooperating in Iran, as you can imagine. Right.

[Natalie]

That was ambitious. But we really appreciate his perspective. To his point, what he was saying is that every time the United States and Israel go to a negotiation table, they turn around and stab in the back. And that's why in the United States, we're going to be sold this idea that this is called Operation Epic Fury, but in Iran, they're calling it Operation True Promise four. Well, why number four is because this is the fourth time in two years that Iran is retaliating over being struck first. It is the US And Israel that strikes first every time. So starting in April 2024, October 2024, and you may remember last June 2025, this is the fourth time that they are hit. So how long can they tolerate that before they bring out the firepower of deterrence? That does seem to be what we're experiencing.

[Clayton Morris]

Right. And to his point that they are prepared to carry this out for as many years as. As is necessary, unfortunately. I was going to ask the professor, but we lost him there. If, you know concerns about Israel using a nuclear weapon, of course, Israel pretends that it doesn't have nuclear weapons, but if they get desperate enough, would they in fact use that? And to his point about all of these thousands of smaller boats that are out in the Persian Gulf and are ready to attack at a moment's notice. So, again, put this through the lens of, like, the Western media lying to you on a regular basis and then listening to members of the Pentagon lying right to your face. Scott Ritter the other day on our show said, it's the responsibility of the Pentagon and these advisors to the President to tell the truth, not make up stuff to the President of the United States. And the President of the United States goes out there and says, yeah, this is gonna be done. You know, it won't take very long. Everything's lining up. We've completely wiped out most of their navy. The rest of it will be destroyed very, very soon. Well, that's just not true.

[Natalie]

And we've seen.

[Dennis Kucinich]

True.

[Natalie]

We've seen that narrative change in the. In the course of just five days. Five days of this war. So, anyhow. All right, coming up, we're going to talk to what this does to the United States politically, because now we see a divided camp, those who believe the war narrative. I mean, the Pentagon is lying to us out through their teeth, through their nose. What is the expression? They're lying through their teeth.

[Clayton Morris]

Yeah.

[Natalie]

And so what is this going to do politically? What's it going to do to various parties? Do. Do we even care anymore? Political parties? Some people do. So we're going to talk to Dennis Kucinich about it. Former Democratic leader, presidential candidate, and he warned this. The last time we spoke about this, he was warning about the Uni Party's support for war. So I'm really keen to talk to him.

[Clayton Morris]

We're going to get to all of that. But first, you know, for years on the show, we've talked about how the old World Order is falling apart. The end of the Bretton woods agreement, the decline of the US Dollar system, and the rise of a multipolar world. Well, according to legendary investor Ray Dalio, that shift isn't coming. It's already here. And after the 2026 Munich Security Conference, Dalio said the post 1945 world order has officially broken down. We've entered what he calls stage six, the the war stage. I mean, look around. He's absolutely right, by the way. He said this before the war broke out a few days ago. So it's the end of Great Disorder, where debt collapses, border shift and power replaces rules. But here's what most people don't realize. When the system breaks down, the money doesn't vanish. It actually moves. So the question is, do you know where it's moving right now? That's why I want you to join me and my friend Mark Wilburn from Neos capital at the 2026 Freedom Summit. It's a live online event this week, Thursday and Saturday at 4pm Eastern time. So Mark is going to show you exactly how to position yourself right now to protect and grow your wealth during this new era. Mark called tops in Tesla, Meta, and even Bitcoin. Before their respective crashes last year, 78% of his trades made money. This guy knows the cycles better than almost anyone. So don't wait. Go to 2026freedom.com that's 2026freedom.com right now. Claim your free ticket again. It's totally free. That's2026freedom.com take control of your financial future while everyone else is still trying to figure out what in the heck just happened. We want to bring in former Congressman Dennis Kucinich, author of the Kucinich Report on Substack. And he's written a really fantastic new piece. I encourage all of you to read it. It's called Iran Epstein and Human Sacrifice. And of course, many people are calling this the Epstein administration that's carrying out these attacks. And to listen to the Iranian people, listen to the Iranian officials, they think of this as an existential fight against the pedophile regime in the United States and in Israel, of course, Israel is one of the leading countries in the world that defends and actually openly welcomes pedophiles into its midst, as we've covered here on the show. CBS News, before Barry Weiss took over, did a whole in depth report about Israel being really the safe haven for pedophiles. So to have a point here, and the larger question about culture, right, which is these pedophiles, these elites, don't care about you and I, and they certainly don't care about the American forces that will be killed as a result of this. They're bloodthirsty and they don't care. I mean, Netanyahu's son is hanging out in Miami. His wife is sunning herself in Miami, having coffee on the balconies. That must be nice for the elites. Former Congressman Dennis Kucinich joins us now. Congressman, great to see you. Thank you so much for being here.

[Dennis Kucinich]

Well, thank you. And you've certainly set the stage for this discussion by talking about how leaders and elites are removed from the reality that descends upon the, upon mass publics in a, in a war. And that's, you know, one of the things that I wrote about my Subset column was that we're really looking at a, at a departure from what we have known as Western civilization. We're looking at the decline of Western civilization led by elites who legitimize child rape, child murder, cannibalism, war, aggressive war against whoever they choose for whatever purpose they desire. Generally goes back to some kind of greed. Yeah, we're in a serious moment here, and not just the history of our country, but in the history of the world. And, you know, you, you raised the question about what happens if Israel, in its maniacal drive towards a greater Israel, moves towards using one of the many atomic bombs they don't, they say they don't have. If, if Israel or the US Were to drop a bomb in Pakistan or in, in Iran, the radiation would go to Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, throughout the Persian Gulf, and the Middle East. So Israel will be bombing itself ultimately. Now, I, you know, this whole idea about aggressive war needs to be met head on. But unfortunately, as you pointed out earlier, you have a uniparty. There's no real opposition. You might have a few members who might be willing to either A, put a resolution forward to cut off funds for this abhorrent enterprise, or B, put forth an articles of impeachment which would authentically cite chapter and verse the constitutional violations which are many that have been committed by the current president. But you know, I don't know that anything like that will actually happen or that the Congress as a whole will be ready to do anything because they're complicit. They've already provided funds for over a trillion dollar budget. The administration has asked for 1.5 trillion annual military appropriation in the next budget. And that is actually one of Congress's powers that is not being exercised. You know, we're in a very dangerous moment.

[Natalie]

Yes. I want to ask you about partisan politics, even though it kind of turns my stomach to ask it. Republicans seem to, at least the older MAGA generation seems to have support of this war because they are buying the line about nukes and Israel's our greatest ally and all of that. But Democrats are too. John Fetterman seems to be just as excited as Lindsey Graham. Yeah, they. I don't see any daylight between the two of them and I am mad as snakes about it. But then I recall that they are a uni party when it comes to war. So can you respond about the partisan politics that just don't seem relevant anymore?

[Dennis Kucinich]

Well, just go back to July of 2025, when Netanyahu last visited Congress. He had over 50 standing ovations. Now, how does that come about? It comes about as a result of years and years and years of interest working on behalf of the state of Israel through funding congressional campaigns, through opposing certain members of Congress who will challenge Israel's narrative. It comes about through the media's support for that narrative. It comes about as a result of there being no enforcement of international law because of the United States veto and UN at the UN and there's this narrative about Israel being our ally. As I write my column, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and others have warned about foreign entanglements. And we, you know, Israel right now is there, there is absolutely no question that this attack would not have happened on Iran, would not have happened absent Israel and Israeli interests, putting enormous pressure on the Trump administration and also on members of Congress who are constrained to say anything even when over 150 little girls get killed in a bombing strike, where assassination has become a policy of the government, notwithstanding previous executive orders, you know, we, we are, we're in the thrall of this, of this foreign interest, and it's, it's affecting the legislative and the executive branch.

[Clayton Morris]

Can I take you back to 2002? Can I take you back to September 12, 2002? I think you know what happened on that day when you sat across from Netanyahu in Congress, and of course, he famously responded to your question. That question, of course, has surfaced, and people are sharing it all over the Internet. Of course. Once again, I love seeing you ask him, you know, like, are there other. Any other countries that we should be concerned about? And Netanyahu at that point turns to you and says, you know, he snaps at you, by the way, in, in his condescending way, but let me finish, let me finish what I'm talking about here. As if he holds court over the entire US Congress even then. And he tells you that one of the main concerns is Iran. So, you know, 24 years ago, he was telling you this, and Congress, I don't know, stood fast against it. I don't know. But what, what do you think has changed now in 24 years, has Israel managed to get its teeth and claws into just about every corner of Congress, and that's what's changed?

[Dennis Kucinich]

Well, they certainly have a greater hold on Congress. There's no question about that. And they've been impactful in elections. Aipac in particular, has helped to elect or defeat members of Congress, depending on where they stand on favoring Israel. Now, going back to September 12, 2002, you have to remember that it was Netanyahu who came to the United States to beat the drum for war against Iraq. You know, he helped to propel the weapons of mass destruction narrative that led the United States Congress to, you know, in October of 2002, to pass a resolution that put us on a path to war with Iraq. That was part of Netanyahu's mission. Now with Iran, his mission has been the same for 30 years. When it comes to Iran. It's been. He's been. BB One note, you know, Iran could have a nuclear weapon at any time. I mean, what, what he would do was to conjure up this hatred towards Iran. And I would say, generally speaking, American people aren't really aware of what our government has done in Iran. They don't know about 1953 when we overthrew a democratically elected government of Mosadde understand how we set in motion the forces that led to the 1979 Iranian Revolution. They don't understand the psychology of the Iranian people who are not afraid. They don't understand the technological advancement of Iran, which is not a pushover like Iraq, which had 1% of the military capability of the United States, Venezuela, which really had no defense at all. This is a technologically advanced nation of 93 million people who have the capacity to fight back, and they will with everything they have. And when I spoke to Netanyahu, what was interesting, I talked to him afterwards out in the hall. In addition to what, you know, the exchange that everyone can see on the Internet, I talked to Mr. Netanyahu out in the hall. We have some mutual acquaintances from Cleveland. And so I, you know, began with that. And then I, I said, look, you, you have all of these ambitions to go after all these countries, you know, including Syria and Libya, Syria and Iran. I said, why don't you do it? Why don't you do it?

[Clayton Morris]

Right?

[Dennis Kucinich]

And his response was, oh, no, no, no. We, you know, you have to do it. You know, you have to do it. And there is this toxic relationship that's developed between Israel and the United States, which has brought about carnage in the Middle east and has ruined any hope that America would have to try to be an honest broker of peace in the region. And the equation has flipped. We've been Israel's cat's paw. And why is Netanyahu doing this right now? Because he's trying to avoid going to jail. I mean, that's the bottom line. His coalition in the Likud, with Ben GVIR and Smotrich, who are as objectionable people as you will ever find involved in government at any level anywhere, came about because, you know, Netanyahu is in trouble politically in Israel. And so you take this admixture of his political troubles, of his playing with the, with fire of the Greater Israel, whether it's from the, you know, Euphrates to the Nile or wherever, and Trump's lack of understanding that he's not a king, he's a president, and that as president, he's governed by laws, and, you know, that's out the window. So you put these kind of things together and you have the basis for

[Natalie]

a wider war disaster, really. Now, as you mentioned, Congress is complicit, which means that Americans who feel furious about this, like I do, don't have any way to stop it. Now, I've seen some optimists on X saying, oh, once there's ground troop Casualties. Americans won't abide this. We already don't. There was no support for this war before it began, but we can't do anything, which is making me so crazy. You can hear I'm getting a little hysterical. I am a woman. I will take that point of privilege. Now, last week, the day before the. This war began, on Friday, Gallup published a poll, and for the first time, it showed that Americans expressed more sympathies with Palestinians than Israelis. Support for Israel has plummeted, which made me think that it was now or never, because Americans would not be dragged into this going forward. But what now? What do we do now? We just sit here and watch this play out? What. What can we do?

[Dennis Kucinich]

Well, I think the, you know, we're at a point where people have to become visible in their objections to this war. They have to demand their members of Congress take action to cut off funds. They have to demand their member of Congress start the discussion about an impeachment of the president. Now, I know that, See, here's the thing about impeachment. They don't have the votes right now. They might have the votes in the House possibly to render an indictment, and, you know, there's a justification for it, but they need two thirds of the Senate. That's not going to happen right now. But the process itself is part of curtailing an administrative abuse, extreme abuse of power. Unfortunately, The Supreme Court's 2024 decision in the case of. In the case of Donald Trump has given a great measure of impunity to the chief executive of the United States. And it's become ever more difficult to prosecute. Not just before, but it's difficult to prosecute after someone leaves office if they've committed a grave offense against peace and humanity. The real power right now is with the Congress cut off funds or start the impeachment process for the purposes of pulling back the administration's use of aggressive warfare. Absent that, people have to wait till November to vote in the elections and indicate their displeasure with the administration to voting up or down certain members of Congress. But as you pointed out, we have a unit party, and then the issues of Israel, there is not much difference between Democrats and Republicans. So, you know, the Democrats taking over the Congress will restrain Trump somewhat in his grifting and rapaciousness. But it's not going to change things in the Middle East. And I think what will change it is that Iran is going to be responding in a way that no one has ever been able to properly anticipate to defend their country against this attack and in their response, that will change the public opinion and the calculus of the war. That is going to be, I think, determinative about what happens when the President finally realized that he was. That he was led into a trap by Netanyahu, willfully, by the way, and by the supporters of the Zionist ambitions. He's going to understand that he asked to be able to extricate himself. But by then, look, this could go on for quite a while. We. Once war starts, things happen. You know, you assassinated a leader, killed 150, some if not more school girls, little girls, bombed them. There's. There's more carnage on the way, and four servicemen and perhaps women have been killed already. You're going to. The administration blindly says, well, yeah, there's. There's going to be more. Sorry about that, but yeah, I mean, what's at the core of this and. And the link that ties it to what's happening with Epstein? It's just a total disregard for human life, a total disregard for human values. No code of morality. You know, the House of Representatives has a border above it. Of all the lawmakers in history, okay, Moses, Hammurabi, Napoleon, on and on, throw all that out the window, because this group doesn't care a wit about morality, about law, about. About anything except megalomaniacal ambitions and grifting. And so we're in a moment now, an inflection point in human history where everyone watching has to go out and be visible by the millions of people in objecting to this because, you know, maybe they maybe and to. And to, by their very presence, force the government to recognize that we're just not tolerating this. You can't. You can't murder people in our name anymore. And I think that's what it's going to take. And so this peace movement, this movement that we have to liberate ourselves from this yoke of permanent warfare which our government and both parties has visited upon us, requires our own, reflecting the power of our own hearts. And I just want to point out, you know, talk about women feeling this. You know, women tend to be a little bit more connected to the earth. They can. Their heart might be a little more connected to the heart of the earth. And I have. I just want to share. I've been approached by not just women in my life, but, you know, on a flight, I talked. I had a couple stewardesses come up to me, express their grave concern and their distress over what's happening. Look, people need to translate those feelings into action, nonviolent action. And challenge this administration, which has, without our consent, taken America down the rabbit hole of maybe the most dangerous war that we've ever been involved in since World War II.

[Natalie]

Well, thank you for saying that. Validating my hysteria. We're not birthing their soldiers.

[Clayton Morris]

Well, I hope you're right about that. I mean, the thing is, though, I think what we had, the problem with Vietnam, of course, is that so many Americans were coming home in body bags. And America has been disconnected from war because it's like going to the grocery store when you get a piece of chicken in cellophane wrap. You're disconnected from the butchering process. And Americans have for far too long been disconnected from that. We don't see it. It's sanitized. And I fear. Maybe I don't have the female sensibilities here, but, Congressman, I fear that that's really at the heart of this, that it won't really start to resonate with people in the United States to take to the streets and protest like they did during Vietnam until thousands of Americans end up coming home dead.

[Dennis Kucinich]

Well, I'll tell you what I see going on. You have to look at how US Israeli interests have tried to suppress dissent right from the go. No boycott laws are permitted in many places. Suppression of dissent on campuses, even states passing laws where you can't criticize Israel. I mean, this is all part and parcel of an attempt to keep suppressing dissent. Well, I think they misread America. I mean, it really. We misread America and Americans because there still resides in, I think, most of us, this sense of freedom. And when we feel it being constricted by some amorphous, anonymous force, we rebel. And I think that has to be part of what's injected into the public response, because, you know, this is happening because of another country. Iran has not done anything to hurt the United States. I mean, people could talk about terror this, terror that, overthrowing the embassy in 1979. You know, we're. We have been consistently the aggressors. You know, we started this mess. And the label of terrorist is thrown about for political convenience without any substantive effect. And Iran's defense of Palestinians is something that is not just a political statement, it's a moral statement. Why are we permitting Palestinians in Gaza to be murdered? Why are we permitting and standing by while the IDF makes sport of shooting children in the head? Why are we permitting the theft of lands under the most brutal conditions of settlers just going in and grabbing people's home or burning. Burning it down, of seizing the land of Killing their cattle or their. Or their other livestock. This is. I mean, I follow this daily, and it is horrific. And as the American people come to understand what their government right now represents and how every dime that they spend, Eisenhower said it years ago, every dime they spend for the military, every dollar, every million dollars is taken away from the health, from the education, from the general welfare of the people of this country. We are in economic trouble. We have a $31 trillion debt. Our dollar is losing its value. We're finding trouble selling, you know, getting people to invest in America. We want to expand over 80% of our domestic budget for military. Hey, America has to stop this. We have to be prepared to go in another direction. And it may not be through the political parties, but it's certainly going to be through Americans rallying to the defense of our own freedoms because our freedom is being taken away here. They're not going to Congress to ask for this approval. Whether Congress would do it or not is beside the point. They're not giving getting our permission to go and bomb other nations. They're not getting our permission to put soldiers in the streets of our city to put. To take down the Posse Comitatus act and send ICE in as a private army. Hey, you know, we're at a point where Americans have to speak up. 250 years of nation experience. Well, you know what? Everything's come around and now we have to stand up for our freedoms again. And in doing that, we may help liberate the world.

[Natalie]

Now you're spe. You're talking about them taking our rights. The anti war collaboration that we see online. The right and the left who oppose this, not our leaders, but the people can still speak. But for how long? How long do you think we still will have free speech? Because they can't have this if they need to. You know, I've been thinking a lot lately about the yellow ribbon campaign that was so successful in the 1990s to get us to support a war that we might not otherwise have done. And they don't have that now. That's not going to happen again. So what is at risk here when it comes to freedom of speech and expression?

[Dennis Kucinich]

Yeah, I think the cauldron is bubbling. Okay. And there'll be. I don't think that we're sunk. I think. I think. I still believe in the American people's capacity to respond to the outrages of their government. And as we saw in rallies around the country a couple months ago, no kings, this now is an expression of the misuse of Executive power. And this gives people an opportunity. I mean, we now have to come forward. It needs to happen soon, because as you pointed out a moment ago, the body bags are going to start coming back. That was one of the factors that caused the war in Vietnam to bring it to a close. But there was another thing too, and that was college campuses coming forward. Zionist interests have done everything they can to squelch dissent on campuses and to put sanctions. If people start to criticize, we might see some of those walls come down. So, you know, I still have,

[Natalie]

I

[Dennis Kucinich]

still have some confidence in the innate abilities of Americans to stand up for what's right, to stand up for freedom, to stand up for humanity, to stand up for morality, just to stand up for their families and their homes and everything that's ever meant anything to any of us. So, you know, and we're at this kind of a moment right now, just no question about it, we are at the most dangerous moment that we have been in, in our time because of the wanton exercise of aggression by our government. The lies are pancaked on top of each other in a way that is shameful. But, but, but it's, Everything's carefully devised here. When you hear the Pentagon today saying, yeah, you know, the head of the Joint Chief saying, yeah, yep, we're, you know, war is gritty and, you know, there's going to be more losses and, and the President basically okaying the war while he's at a party at Mar A Lago. Yeah. You know what I mean? There's this detachment that you've spoken about, but I think they're going to get a rude awakening.

[Clayton Morris]

Well, I hope it doesn't come in the form of a bloody nose for the American people.

[Dennis Kucinich]

It's going to be more than that, I promise you. You see, you know, Iran doesn't have a nuclear weapon and they weren't trying to develop a nuclear weapon. But I can tell you any nation that's thinking about it now is going to move ahead and do it to try to prevent themselves from being attacked. That's another consequence of this. We trashed the START treaty with Russia. We didn't renew it. And as a result, with this attack, which we say is about stopping, one of the many prevarications is, oh, well, they're, they're at. Some day they may have a nuclear weapon. Please. This will result in other nations building nuclear weapons and we're looking at a whole new round of fear and aggression and a lot of people killed because our leaders do not understand the limits of power. And because the elites who help support them don't care about human life at all. They're in a different world than we are. They don't understand how ordinary people live and they could care less, frankly. And so goes back to we the people. What is our capacity to stand up, speak out, resist this attempt to annihilate other nations and our own. And it's time for us to stand up.

[Clayton Morris]

Well, I encourage everyone to read your great piece in the Kucinich Report on Substack. Congressman, you're a rare voice in these times and we really appreciate it. And I hope you're right. I hope the American people can wake up and stand up to this. Thank you so much, Congressman. Great to see.

[Dennis Kucinich]

I believe it. Thank you. Thanks to be with both of you. Thank you.

[Clayton Morris]

Man, that guy's amazing. I really miss having him in government. But you know, sometimes he mentioned only a few voices we've got like Thomas Massie, Marjorie Taylor Greene just got booted out basically, or left on her own volition. But I mean, there's very few voices.

[Natalie]

Ro Khanna at least. Yeah. You know, if think that Democrats are actually against this war again, you know, I refer you to their major leaders and the leaders they, you know, David Hogg is someone who was elect, you know, was a supposed to be a rising star in the Democratic Party. They kicked him out and he is condemning this war. So, you know, they're a uni party again.

[Clayton Morris]

They are if you're anti war. I mean like Matt Gaetz gets, you know, he cannot be attorney general. He's like, why are we in Syria?

[Dennis Kucinich]

So.

[Clayton Morris]

All right. Well, yeah, we're going to wrap things up here in a second.

[Natalie]

But first, first we want to tell you about our friends over at Connect Invest because you know that the US Dollar is only going to tank in value because we are now involved in a major war which we've been predicting. Which is why if you are saving US Dollars, savers are losers. You need to look at performing assets, real things, gold, silver, real estate. But if you don't know how to invest in in real estate, if you've never done it before and you don't have the appetite for managing an actual property, well, then you can invest in real estate short notes with Connect Invest. So if you go to redacted.inc./invest, you can find out all you need to know in investing in notes and you can get annualized returns of up to 9%. So no volatility, no surprises, no sleepless nights. And here's the shocking part. You can start with just $500. So here's how you do it. You go to redacted.inc./invest, open your free account and drop $500 or more into your digital wallet. And then you choose the terms of your note, either 6, 12 or 24 months. And then you sit back and collect monthly income guaranteed. You're helping fund real estate, commercial and residential real estate projects, but you don't actually have to do it. So it's real assets, real income every every month. And because you're a part of our audience, you can get an extra 50 bonus as soon as you sign up and fund your account. So learn how to do it. Redacted.inc/invest. You don't want to just hunker away declining value dollars. You want to make sure you have real assets in times like this. So one more time, redacted.inc invest.

[Clayton Morris]

All right, so we want to tell you about hey, before we wrap it up, we got do to newsletter. We publish it every day. If you want to stay connected to like what's happening in the world right now and you know, all of these fast moving things that are happening with this war and everything, we try to publish this newsletter every day. It'll be delivered to your inbox first thing in the morning. When you go to redacted.inc is the place to go. And when you sign up for that newsletter, you're going to get like you can read it about four or five minutes over your cup of coffee and we cover like four or five of the big stories of the day. And you know, again, the mainstream media is spinning you a yarn right now. So where can you go to get actual truthful news? Check out the redacted newsletter. Redacted.inc sign up. You have to click that welcome email, click confirm and then it'll be in your inbox first thing in the morning.

[Natalie]

All right, thank you for joining us. We will see you here tomorrow. Stay tuned to redacted. It's crazy times you guys. Crazy times get hysterical.

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