REDACTED News Podcast Summary

Episode: "Ukraine bans Christians, Trump Sends Troops to Chicago, German AfD members being murdered"

Date: September 4, 2025
Hosts: Clayton & Natali Morris
Guests: Jim Jatras, Colonel Douglas MacGregor, Naomi Seibt, Ted Walter, Terry Newsom

Overview

This wide-ranging episode of Redacted focuses on underreported global developments, including Ukraine’s crackdown on the Orthodox Church, US escalations in Venezuela, the suspicious deaths of German AfD candidates, and domestic unrest as President Trump sends in troops to Chicago. The hosts, Clayton and Natali Morris, probe mainstream narratives, questioning US and NATO actions, European internal politics, and ongoing repercussions of 9/11. The episode features interviews with experts and journalists, offering alternative perspectives on worldwide political and social trends.

Key Segments & Insights

1. Ukraine Bans Christians: Crackdown on the Orthodox Church

[03:49 - 13:48]
Guest: Jim Jatras (Former US Diplomat, Russia specialist)

• Event: Ukraine escalates legal moves to ban the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), claiming ties to Moscow.
• Historical Context: The UOC represents ~85% of Ukraine’s historical religious affiliation. Recent years saw US-supported creation of a schismatic "fake church" to break spiritual Ukrainian-Russian unity.
• Property Seizures: Government forces seize church properties, displacing monks and parishioners. Minimal adherence to the new "political" church.
• International Silence: US and Western officials, including religious freedom watchdogs, largely ignore this persecution.
• Quote:
  • "This is the heart and soul of these nations...they want the new Western democratic, limp wristed rainbow values to piggyback upon breaking the back of the church..." — Jim Jatras [09:45]
• Peace Talks: Putin extends invitations for negotiations, refused by Ukrainian leadership and ignored by Western media.
• Analysis: US and European coalition aim to avoid Ukraine’s total defeat while shifting burden to Europe—suggesting an ongoing "Punch & Judy show."
• Russian Strategy: War of attrition favors Russia; Jatras suggests Kyiv should surrender to save lives, but says Zelensky is "a puppet...whoever replaces him will be another Banderas Nazi."
• Quote:
  • "The only way this war can end is in a Russian victory. And the faster we get there...the quicker the people will stop dying." — Jim Jatras [12:37]

2. US Escalates Against Venezuela: "Narco-terror" or Pretext for Regime Change?

[16:53 - 32:20]
Guest: Col. Douglas MacGregor

• US Action: Trump administration claims to have killed 11 Venezuelan "narco-terrorists" on a boat; announces military readiness for further strikes.
• Global Reactions: Russia condemns the US move; UN protests dismissed by US officials.
• Motivations Questioned: MacGregor questions the official story, noting legal irregularities ("extrajudicial execution"), and doubts the scale of the supposed threat.
• Resources & Realpolitik: Venezuela’s vast reserves (oil, gold, minerals) seen as an underlying motive, despite more pragmatic alternatives for US policy.
• False Flag Concerns: Voices like Max Blumenthal and Glenn Greenwald raise alarms about manufactured pretext for intervention.
• Quote:
  • "We're trying to create a casus belli...an excuse to take dramatic and decisive action against the Venezuelan government to replace Maduro. It's regime change again..." — Douglas MacGregor [28:42]
• Geopolitical Shifts: MacGregor notes global movement away from US dollar hegemony ("de-dollarization") and emergence of a gold-backed financial bloc led by China, Russia, and India.
• Implications: US may be refocusing on regional hegemony as it loses wider global influence; MacGregor says actions are "impulse-driven," lacking strategic planning.
• Root Problems: Suggests US fentanyl crisis is a domestic issue, not one solved by foreign intervention.

3. Germany’s AfD Candidates Dying: Coincidence or Political Terror?

[37:22 - 50:29]
Guest: Naomi Seibt (Journalist & Commentator)

• Event: Seven local election AfD (Alternative für Deutschland) party candidates die unexpectedly within weeks of key elections; causes cited as "natural" or suicide.
• Skepticism: Seibt and hosts doubt coincidence, especially given party’s growing popularity and repeated state/media smears ("far-right extremists").
• Media/Government Response: Mainstream narrative dismisses concerns as conspiracy theories; families and party demand proper investigations.
• Quote:
  • "I truly feel like something is very off...And then even though they claim they have been some pre existing conditions...Seven almost at once. Something is wrong." — Naomi Seibt [39:26]
• Surveillance: Seibt discusses high-level German state monitoring of AfD and alternative media, reminiscent of East German Stasi practices.
• Precedents: Reference to government fabrications in Alexei Navalny poisoning case used as reason for public distrust of official narratives.
• Quote:
  • "I know a couple of people who used to live in East Germany under socialism and they say this is worse..." — Naomi Seibt [45:30]

4. Trump Sends Troops to Chicago: Urban Crisis or Political Theater?

[56:21 - 68:32]
Guest: Terry Newsom (Host, Behind Enemy Lines)

• Situation: Trump announces deployment of federal troops to Chicago to address crime crisis; met with city government resistance, anti-ICE efforts, and local "neighborhood watch" alerts warning illegal immigrants against ICE raids.
• Crime Data Dispute: Local authorities claim crime is down; Newsom alleges severe underreporting, with suburbs increasingly affected.
• Quote:
  • "They're purposely trying to turn it into making Trump into evil...The businesses want them to come in here. So everything that they're saying is an absolute, absolute lie." — Terry Newsom [59:58]
• Federal-State Tension: City measures (executive orders) directly counter federal efforts, especially regarding cooperation with immigration enforcement and law enforcement protocols.
• Political Divide: Event framed as a fight between leftist political class and ordinary citizens/businesses desperate for order and safety.

5. 9/11 Truth: 24 Years of Cover-ups and New Investigations

[71:57 - 86:35]
Guest: Ted Walter (Director, International Center for 9/11 Justice)

• Event: Upcoming "Turning the Tide 9/11" conference in DC (featuring Tucker Carlson, Ron Johnson, Dennis Kucinich et al) aims to re-examine official narrative.
• Critical Points:
  • Physical evidence and eyewitness testimony strongly suggest controlled demolition, especially of World Trade Center Building 7.
  • Official narrative—poorly trained hijackers performing superhuman maneuvers—debunked by pilot simulation studies.
  • Numerous intelligence and investigative failures (or deliberate suppression) documented but excluded from the 9/11 Commission.
  • Quote:
    • "The tide has continued to grow in our favor...we are in the middle of a turning of the tide that is happening in front of us and that we are making happen." — Ted Walter [73:27]
• Audience Discussion: Hosts and audience members express near-universal skepticism toward the official 9/11 account, referencing the physical impossibility of Building 7 collapse, lack of airplane debris at key sites, and government handling of evidence.
• Quote:
  • "Once you just lay out Building 7, I mean, you would have to be mentally retarded at that point to still believe the official narrative." — Clayton [92:23]
• Connection to Present: Civil liberties lost after 9/11, the rise of mass surveillance, and forever wars are framed as ongoing consequences of the event.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Ukraine banning Christians:
  • "This is what made them who they are for hundreds and hundreds of years. And that’s why part of this is that they want the new Western democratic, limp wristed rainbow values to piggyback upon breaking the back of the church in these countries..." — Jim Jatras [09:45]
• On US moves in Venezuela:
  • "We're trying to create a casus belli... to take dramatic and decisive action against the Venezuelan government to replace Maduro. It's regime change again..." — Douglas MacGregor [28:42]
• On AfD deaths:
  • "I think it might be crucial for us to at the very least investigate what's actually going on...But the most important thing...we are calling for further investigations." — Naomi Seibt [42:28]
• On urban crisis in Chicago:
  • "They're purposely trying to turn it into making Trump into evil... The businesses want them to come in here." — Terry Newsom [59:58]
• On 9/11:
  • "The obvious and easy answer is Building seven. Most people can look at that and just tell immediately...that looks like a controlled demolition." — Ted Walter [79:56]
  • "Once you just lay out Building 7, I mean, you would have to be mentally retarded at that point to still believe the official narrative." — Clayton [92:23]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Ukraine bans Christians / Interview with Jim Jatras: 03:49–13:48
• Venezuela & US escalation / Interview with Col. MacGregor: 16:53–32:20
• German AfD deaths / Interview with Naomi Seibt: 37:22–50:29
• Trump troops to Chicago / Interview with Terry Newsom: 56:21–68:32
• 9/11: Revisiting the evidence / Interview with Ted Walter: 71:57–86:35

Tone and Style

• Forceful skepticism of official and mainstream narratives
• Direct, at times irreverent or blunt ("coalition of idiots," "limp wristed rainbow values," etc.)
• Heavy emphasis on "suppressed" truths, independent investigation, and institutional corruption
• Blending of factual exposition, historical framing, and pointed personal commentary

In Summary

This episode of Redacted delivers unfiltered perspectives on international and domestic stories often avoided or framed differently by legacy media. Major themes include the weaponization of religious and cultural institutions in Ukraine, challenges to US empire in Latin America, the dangerous consequences of political polarization within Europe, and the reevaluation of 9/11—a signal event with ripple effects still felt today. The show closes by reaffirming its mission to challenge censorship, demand accountability, and support emerging alternative media voices.