Ben Meisellis (2:46)

This has been on breaking news. I'm Ben Meisellis. And let's get into the breaking news. The war rages on in Iran and the United States, unlawful war without congressional authorization. The latest reports right now are that a US Fighter jet has been downed over southern Iraq. Drop sites reporting Iraqi police say a US Fighter jet crashed in southern Basra Province with the pilot ejecting right before impact. According to the statements reported by Al Jazeera and also Iranian state media, there were videos circulating as well that appear to show a pilot ejecting after one of our fighter jets crashed. The Basra police command told Al Jazeera their officers were dispatched to search for the American pilot who ejected within the province. Authorities say the pilot has not yet been located. And of course, you have both Iraqi forces and Iranian forces right now trying to search down this fighter pilot who apparently ejected. Images circulating show the aircraft going down. We're going to keep you posted every step of the way as we learn more there. We'll also talk about on this episode, of course, some domestic news. Kristi Noemi has been fired by the Trump regime. She's been now put in a position that the Trump regime made up, a position that never really existed before. So we'll talk about that in a little bit as well. What went down there? Mark Wayne Mullen will be replacing her. He's the MAGA Republican senator from Oklahoma, and he's the one who wasn't aware that that there was an authorization for Iraq and Afghanistan's war. And he was also the person who was who said that we were at war with Iran and then said, actually, I didn't mean to say that I misspoke. So we'll talk about that in a little bit as well. Donald Trump firing Kristi Noem via a social media post that we will get into on this episode as well. As I mentioned at the outset, you have the entire Middle east region right now engulfed, literally, figuratively as well in this war right now. Sure, the Iranian ballistic missiles and shahed drone strikes have decreased from what we saw a few days back, but they are still launching a lot of Shahid drones. We saw oil interests and other American interests still, you know, in Bahrain, which you're watching right there in Saudi Arabia. We've talked about that before in Riyadh, in the United Arab Emirates, in Dubai, in Abu Dhabi, in Jordan, in other surrounding areas still being targeted by Iran. And of course, inside Iran, Tehran is getting hit very hard by the United States, and Israel and other cities throughout Iran are getting hit very, very hard. As we previously reported. I did a whole video on this yesterday. The Kurds don't appear that they want to be dragged into this war, and the Trump regime wants to drag the Kurds into this war. It's so important that we cover international news here on the Midas Touch network so that when these things develop, you're not left confused of like, well, who are the Kurds and why. Why does the Trump regime want to get them involved in here, and why were they unlikely to get involved, you know, here? First off, you know, when you talk about the Kurds and the Kurdish group, what they want most is their own kind of sovereign, autonomous territory, okay? And the Kurds are spread out in different regions within the Middle east, so to say, the Kurds, it is not recognizing already that there are different Kurdish factions that don't always have the same interests, living in different countries in the Middle East. But at the heart is to have sovereign territory. And different Kurdish groups have consistently helped the United States in prior wars against Iraq and Afghanistan, against Al Qaeda and isis. And time after time, the US has betrayed the Kurds, specifically, Donald Trump. Donald Trump himself, one of the people who have betrayed the Kurds, like the most during Donald Trump's first regime, his first administration, which I still think is a regime, betrayed the Kurds to Turkey and other interests after the Kurds were instrumental in going after isis, Al Qaeda, other terroristic cells and forces in the area. And most recently, Donald Trump absolutely screwed over the Kurds in Syria. Donald Trump's authoritarian in Syria, Al Jelani, the leader of Syria, who was a former Al Qaeda leader, the United states had a $25 million bounty of on Al Jelani's head. He's that guy who was in the Oval Office that, remember when Donald Trump was spraying the perfume that was the Syrian leader, the Syrian President, Al Jelani, and Trump would sniff him, and Trump would say, oh, you smell so good. You smell so good. Remember that moment? Well, what was happening there as well was a plan to screw over the Kurds. The Syrian forces loyal to Al Jalani ended up going into the autonomous areas controlled by the Kurds, where the Kurds were living in peace and relative democracy relative to Syria. And the Syrian Al Jilani forces basically forced the Kurdish forces to either join the Syrian army, essentially a lot of people with those connections to Al Qaeda and loyalty to Al Jelani, or be killed. And there were massacres of the Kurdish community taking place. And the US Basically, basically did nothing, allowed Al Jelani to destroy, you know, the Kurdish area. When the Kurds called on the US for help in Syria, the US Trump refused. And so now Trump was begging the Kurds, we need you to do a. We need you to do an invasion right now of Iran because we need ground forces. And what then Trump tried to do is put out a statement and say, or he tried to leak to the media, the Kurds are invading. The Kurds didn't want to invade Iran, but Trump and Netanyahu put out statements to the media that the Kurds were invading because the Kurds didn't want to invade. So the plan by Trump and Netanyahu, and I've been talking about this now before it's been reported, if you've watched my prior reports, I called exactly what was going to be happening. So Trump and Netanyahu wanted to say, yes, the Kurds were invading to try to get Iran to attack the Kurds and then get the Kurds to want to be involved because they've now been attacked by Iran. That's how Donald Trump tried to draw the Kurds into this war, by lying, in typical Trump fashion, and saying that they were ready to invade to get Iran to attack the Kurds. And the Kurds weren't having any of it. And so they put out a statement. The different Kurdish groups and Kurdish leaders put out statements denying that there was any Kurdish ground forces that were planned. And then you had a Kurdish leader, the Iraqi president's wife, the first lady, if you will, and a leader in the Jalal Talbani party, Shahnaz Abrahim, said that after what happened to us in Syria, we refused to be pawns again by global powers. And the release by this very influential Kurdish leader is, leave the Kurds alone. We are not guns for hire. Then it goes on and talks about how most recently, we see what happened in northern Syria. After all the promises that were made after Syria's Kurds stood on the front lines of the war against isis, we witnessed how they were treated. Today, the Kurds of Iraq have finally tasted a measure of stability and dignity in life. Because of this, it is very difficult, indeed impossible for Kurds to accept being treated as pawns by the world superpowers. The experiences are there. The empty promises are there. Too often the Kurds are remembered only when their strength or sacrifice is needed. For that reason, I appeal to all sides involved in this conflict, Leave the Kurds alone. We are not guns for hire. Leave the Kurds alone. Per Al Jazeera, a US Official is denying reports that a US Fighter was shot down over the Basra Province in Iraq. So I want to just give you that data point as well. There were other videos circulating of a pilot ejected. Some are saying that that video is actually another video that happened different. Happened at a different time or is not what actually went down there. But there appears to be some sort of search and rescue operation on the way that's taking place in Iraq right now. And the Basra authorities have at least said they're searching for this pilot who's been, you know, who's been shot down. But the US Is denying it. And I think one of the big problems and challenges right now that we deal with, frankly, in reporting on this, is that the Trump regime lies about literally everything. Everything is a lie out of this regime. So they can literally say, we invaded Iran because Israel was going to invade Iran first, and then we thought Iran would attack us. That's why we did it. That's what Marco Rubio said. Then they're asked about that. Then they go, oh, we didn't say that. That's actually. Was not the question that was asked. We're like, we heard the question that was asked. We heard you say it. We know what went down. Like, why do you lie about literally everything? And again, we are seeing the real ramifications of this disastrous war that was not planned out, where the State Department hadn't even come up with an evacuation plan. At a bare minimum, it doesn't even seem like the State Department was even aware that we were going to go to war when we went to war. Like, it didn't seem like Rubio even knew or others at the State Department weren't told. Because now we have so many people stranded in the Middle East. When they call the State Department hotline number, it's like, sorry, nothing we can do. We wish you the best. Try to find a commercial flight. While the commercial airlines are being targeted by Iran. We know that the liquefied natural gas in Qatar, which is the second largest supplier of liquefied natural gas, is basically all but shut down at this point. Chinese exports out of the Middle east are all but shut down at this point of their oil and their crude. The prices of the Brent crude is starting to reach closer to $90 a barrel. That's going up. The price at the pump for you is going up significantly right now. Some of the largest increases that we've seen in, in a short period of time in history. Right I mean, the price of gas has gone up. I mean, we're approaching now what national average, $3.50. I mean, soon that could start heading up to, you know, $4 a gallon. I think that because of all of the times that Donald Trump has chickened out or whatever the taco expression or whatever the hell that, you know, with Donald Trump injecting so much lies and disinformation into the market, I think the markets are probably overly optimistic that this, that there's a resolution in sight here. The Trump regime tries to put out propaganda that, oh, Iran wants to negotiate. Iran wants to do this. And all of the statements coming out from Iran are to the contrary. We don't want. They're putting out statements. We don't want to negotiate with you. We have no interest in discussions. You know, there was a recent incident as well, in the past, you know, 48 hours or so where there was an Iranian ship called the Dena, the D E N A, that was in India, invited by India to basically take part in a military parade. Part of the stipulation about being invited by Modi to India was that this Iranian ship had to sail into the port unarmed. Whether that actually took place, I don't know. But that was the requirement by India. But they were guests of India. The United States was also invited. The US Turned down that invite. So the US and others were aware of this Iranian ship, this Dena ship that was there in India and then was 2,000 miles away from. It was 2,000 miles away from Iran. It was off the coast of Sri Lanka. And a United States submarine using a torpedo. One of the first times there was a submarine torpedo takedown of a naval ship since really World War II, although there's been some other incident, but one of the rare times it's been utilized that way, blew up, sunk this ship, this Dena ship, killing close to 100 maybe, you know, maybe more people on board. On the, on the Dena, I think there were maybe like 30 survivors. And the, you know, after the U.S. hit it, there was no attempt at following maritime law, which is after you hit it, if there are people struggling in the water, the rules of engagement and maritime law, for those who know it, is you actually have to render assistance. You can't watch people drowning who are defenseless, but the US Let the individuals drown. It was actually ships from Sri Lanka who had to save the 30 or so people who actually lived. And so, you know, the. The US Is engaging in stuff like that. You have Pete Hegseth talking about, we are raining down death from the sky. When you look up in Iran, you will think of death. Just the things that he says, you know, just to hear a United States regime just speak and vocalize like. Like the bad guy, you know, is. Is, you know, certainly a. A sight to behold. All of this is also taking place. The Strait of Hormuz, as you know, it's basically shut down at this point. A few ships get through, but by and large, the Strait of Hormuz is. Is pretty much closed. Right? That's where a lot of oil gets shipped from. 20% or so has to go through the Strait of Hormuz. And again, even as Iran's arsenal, or they're not able to execute some of their Shahid drone strikes and their ballistic missile strikes as they did before, as long as they just create this strategic uncertainty in the area and make it a high risk to visit Doha in Qatar, or Dubai, United Arab Emirates, or Abu Dhabi or to visit one of these locations, it has a chilling effect on the economies there. And, you know, I saw statements that were made by a very wealthy Emirati billionaire, for example, Caliph Ahmad Al Abtor, slamming Donald Trump, saying, who gave you the authority to drag our region into a war with Iran, and on what basis did you make this dangerous decision? Who gave you permission to turn our region into a battlefield? And he goes on to say, for before the ink was even dry on your Board of Peace initiative that you announced in the name of peace and stability, we find ourselves facing military escalation that endangers the entire region. So where did those initiatives go? And what is the fate of the commitments made in the name of peace? Most of the funding proposed in those initiatives came from the countries of the region themselves and from Arab Gulf countries that contributed billions of dollars on the basis of supporting stability and development. And these countries have the right to ask today, where did this money go? And are we funding peace initiatives or funding a war that exposes us to danger? This Emirati billionaire is asking the same questions that retail investors were asking. Who put their money into Donald Trump's meme coin that note holders and investors put into Donald Trump's casinos in the past. This is what Trump does. He's a con artist. He's a fraud. He lies. You think the Kurds are going to help you out after you screw them over? You think that you're going to rally the international community behind your back to support you after you put tariffs against the world? And now Donald Trump's out there begging Zelensky for help, saying, Zelensky, you have the expertise to deal with these Iranian shahed drones because Iran's been giving these drones to Russia. Russia's been using them against Ukraine. Also, the ballistic missiles that are launched into Ukraine by Russia, the United States had been basically starving Ukraine to death, quite literally of weapons that were promised, of munitions that were promised, that were promised. Let's be clear. And now you have Trump and his regime begging Zelensky for help. Zelensky, even after all this, said, sure, I will help, but you got to help me over here in Ukraine. Remember that? And then yesterday I was watching the press conference of Caroline Levitt, and Levitt was still mocking Zelensky and blaming Zelensky. Why? There is a lack of munitions in the Middle East. That's why this Trump regime is just so despicable. They're dumb and despicable. On the one hand, you're begging Zelensky for help to stop the Shahid drones and ballistic missiles, since no one in the region really has the expertise to deal with it. Right. And then on the other hand, you've got the Trump regime still attacking Zelensky. And what, two days ago, wasn't Donald Trump calling Zelensky like the PT Barnum? And was it Donald Trump saying, oh, this guy was like a con artist. And now you're, and now you're begging this guy for help. I just want you to, I just want you all to think about that. Now. Middle east countries who are running out of munitions, Arab states in the Persian Gulf are running dangerously low on interceptors to take down Iranian fired ballistic and cruise missiles. Just think about this. These interceptors are like $4 million to $8 million a pop. That's what the interceptors cost. You know what those Shahid drones cost that the interceptors are used on? Anybody know in the chat? $20,000. So a $4 million interceptor to stop a $20,000 drone where Iran has a huge supply of these drones. They can produce thousands and thousands a month. We can only produce six or seven interceptors in that same time period. And also now the Arab countries nearby are running out of their interceptors, which they got from the US and that's why also that Emirati billionaire is like, did you think about any of us before you did this? No, he didn't. He didn't even think about American citizens there. The State Department had no evacuation plan for the Americans who were there. Think about that right now. So these Arab states in the Persian Gulf are running dangerously low on interceptors. They don't know what to do the taxpayers. Are we going to be on the hook now for some $50 billion supplemental spending package right now while our health care is being ripped away, while the American people are getting screwed in every aspect of life? Now there's a $50 billion supplemental package that has to happen. What in the world is going on there? And what we see in Iran, if we're being honest and truthful about it, is more radicalization against the US And Israel. What do you think is going to happen if you basically bomb the equivalent of Iran's White House? Kill the equivalent of. Well, it's a little bit different in Iran because the Ayatollah is a spiritual leader. But kill a spiritual leader. Terroristic, horrible, all true, brutal, but is still a spiritual leader for 300 million Shiites in the region, not just in Iran. Kill other spiritual leaders there. And then Donald Trump puts out statements like today saying that he wants to be the person who picks the next Ayatollah and the next president. He goes, I want the selection. I'm going to do it. Me and Netanyahu are going to do it. You think saying that's going to encourage support? And then Donald Trump also publicly says that he wants, that he wants, he's fine with someone in the Islamic Republic to still keep running Iran. So what message are you also sending to protesters there? Who, by the way, you threw into the meat grinder last month when you said go out and protest, we got your back. And 30 to 40,000 protesters were massacred who were supporting democracy because they thought you were going to go in then. And now you're saying you want someone else from the Islamic Republic. You're using Venezuela as your model, saying Delsey Rodriguez is your model. By the way, you know that Trump did a deal with Delsey Rodriguez yesterday where she's giving him $150 million in gold. Did you hear about that? They did a gold deal yesterday. So remember that story about Donald Trump holding an indictment over Delsey Rodriguez's head and then the Justice Department denied it? Yeah. Well, Donald Trump wanted gold. If you don't give me gold, I may indict you. So that's how Venezuela is being run right now. The Chavistas are still in power. By the way, Trump has his own hand picked person in Ecuador right now. Naboa, do you know that we have troops on the ground in Ecuador right now? There's a war going on in Ecuador. American soldiers are there in Ecuador. Just I know that's not being discussed enough, but anyway, that's the model that Trump wants in Iran. The people in Iran are like, the hell is. What are you even talking about? You don't even understand the way it works in Iran. So who do you think can help us all make sense of this? Everybody. What guest should I bring on right now, while we are live? Right Now, I've got 35,000 people who are watching this live right now. Should I bring on Pete Buttigieg? You want to hear from Pete? Do you do. But should I. Do special guests Just go live. Bring in Pete Buttigieg, get his perspective. Remember, Pete Buttigieg served in Afghanistan outside the wire. Right. He knows a thing or two about war. This is an interview before I went live. I did this interview with Pete Buttigieg moments ago. Let's bring in the interview with Buttigieg now. I want to bring in someone who needs no introduction. Want to bring in Pete Buttigieg. Pete's great to see you, as always. You know, you served in Afghanistan. I want to get your perspective right now in this war in Iran. I know one of the things when you were in Afghanistan, you know, driving outside of the wire, you know, in areas that were very, very dangerous, the IEDs that tragically killed so many of our service members, some of those parts were made in Iran. And I don't think that gets enough attention as well, because as we think about this phase that's already begun in Iran, where they've been launching the ballistic missiles at our interests in the Middle east and in the neighboring countries, and Donald Trump so cavalierly throws around ground invasion, this, that, and the other, you know, what we're seeing, what you've seen and what you're aware of. It just seems that there's no plan here, even on details like that. So I want to get your perspective on everything that's happening.

Pete Buttigieg (28:48)

Yeah, I mean, one thing I take away from my experience, which, to be clear, was not in Iran, but was in Afghanistan, which is impacted by Iran. You know, everything is connected and everything is extremely complicated. That almost goes without saying when you're talking about the Middle east or when you're talking about war and peace. But I think it's worth reminding ourselves, ourselves of, because we have learned this the hard way repeatedly in our lifetime. We saw how hard it is to achieve regime change in Iraq. We saw what happens when you don't have a clear sense of mission in Afghanistan. And here we are just a few days into this Iran war. There are already casualties. We have not yet heard a consistent explanation for what we're even doing. There, which means we are a long way away from understanding what it would take for the mission to be accomplished. It's more like mission to be determined. And when you're putting American lives on the line, not to mention sending billions of dollars that we really need here at home into a war, you have to have a better plan than that.

Ben Meisellis (29:52)

Yeah. Which is the question that needs to be always asked is who's paying the price for war soldiers abroad, what that actually means. And we know that we've had service members who have been killed and Hegseth described that as. Why is media, why is the, the fake news always focusing on those things? Why aren't you focusing on the blowing up stuff in Tehran? Focus on that. Then at home, the military families here. Can you discuss that?

Pete Buttigieg (30:22)

Yeah. I mean, when, when you get ready to deploy, you of course are constantly thinking about the worst case scenario and the scenario that you pray hard is never going to happen, is that your loved ones get the knock on the door. That has now happened to six families that we know of. And that, you know, the people who served, they're patriots. They're ready to go wherever their chain of command tells them they are needed. In exchange for them making that promise, putting their lives on the line, they are supposed to be assured that their commander in chief would never put their lives on the line unless it was absolutely necessary. Unless there was no alternative. Look, we have a military because sometimes a country needs to use force. But one thing we have learned over and over and over again is that you only use force if you absolutely have to. And that simply has not been what happened here in Iran. This was very much a war of choice. And the burden is being carried by those service members. And by the way, this is service members all over the region, many of whom did not think of themselves as being deployed into an active combat zone. Those who lost their lives were a reserve unit that was deployed to Kuwait. You know, when I heard that missiles had been launched at Al Udid Air Base in Qatar, I couldn't stop thinking about what it felt like when I was at that base getting ready to go into Afghanistan, then later getting ready to come home after the deployment, because that is or was a stopover base for so many of the troops who came and went. So really, troops across that entire region, not to mention civilians, like the American civilians, who have been told by the State Department to get out of the countries that they're in, but with what is clearly a very after the fact attempt to help them do it with no real Plan having been put in place, they're the ones who are most at risk. And then all of us are paying in some way. We just learned this week through investigative journalism in the New York Times, we just learned that the VA has cut thousands of doctor and nurse jobs. And this is after assuring the public last year that the medical care was not going to be impacted. How is it that this country, this government, this administration, is cutting doctors and nurses who take care of our service members when they are veterans? Says we don't have the money to take care of them, but, but can find the money to take out of our communities, out of our taxpayer funds and send it into this war with no clear mission. All the way over in Iran.

Ben Meisellis (33:00)

And there's this split screen. Of course, while this war is raging on, while there are these massive cuts to VA and healthcare being ripped away, you have this Mar A Lago class or Epstein class. I mean, quite literally partying away at Mar A Lago. I mean, with the images of people dancing in martini glasses and just so disconnected and feel like they're rubbing it in the faces of all the other, of all the other Americans. But quite literally, when this war began, rather than address the people, Donald Trump was holding like a million dollar fundraiser at Mar A Lago, he couldn't even get to Washington, D.C. he stayed at his fundraiser instead of addressing the American people. And I just, you know, look, there's definitely outrage among the people, but it's just so fascinating that that's not even like talked about of, like such a betrayal. I just, when I saw that, I was like, what's he doing? Get your. If you're going to send our troops to war, get your ass to DC Address the American people. Talk about what are you doing?

Pete Buttigieg (34:05)

Yeah. The symbolism could not be more extreme. Right? The Commander in Chief, as a side hustle, literally owns a club for rich people that costs a million dollars just to get into. And he's on the sidelines of the golf course at that club, launching American troops, who, of course, aren't the kinds of people who can buy memberships to Mar A Lago or, you know, invest in his crypto fund. They're the ones who are going to be paying the price. I mean, think about this. You've got money from the Middle east going into the Trump family crypto fund, while you have Americans going to the Middle east for Donald Trump's war. It could not be more upside down, more wrong in terms of the priorities and the interest that this president has at heart. But it's because he knows that this isn't going to impact him or his buddies. The richer you are, the less you are likely to feel either the deployments themselves or the tax dollars that all of us are sending abroad at the moment. When there are tax cuts going to the richest, this is another thing, right? America doesn't usually cut taxes, especially for the wealthy, in the middle of a war effort. George W. Bush changed that. We had a tax cut at the same time as the Iraq war. Most of us believe, most of us Americans, not just Democrats, believe that that was wrong on both counts, that the war was wrong, and that the enormous deficit, the debt we're going to be paying for the rest of our lives created by that tax cut for the rich was wrong. All of these things are connected and we've got to demand better. Now, here's the important thing. The American people already understand what's going on, right? Most Americans reject having a war of choice in Iran. Most Americans reject the Trump tax cuts for the wealthy. Most Americans reject the idea that it's okay to cut health care, cut meals on wheels for seniors, cut doctors and nurses at the va. While all of this is going on, the important thing now is to make sure that the American people have our voice heard. Whether that's town halls taken to the streets, but most importantly of all, of course, at the ballot box.

Ben Meisellis (36:11)

Yeah, when you mention all these things are interconnected also. I mean, the Doge cuts to the State Department, gutting it. And now probably would be nice to have diplomats and people in the Middle east who can start interfacing with American citizens who are terrified right there. There was apparently no plan to evacuate Americans in the Middle East. People would call a phone number and it would basically say, good luck. Try to find a commercial airport. We wish. While commercial airports are under attack, you have that, then you have the attack on our allies. And when you're gonna go to a war, you need the help of your allies. And, you know, Donald Trump's out there tariffing everybody, you know, attacking Ukraine, when Ukraine actually holds unique knowledge about how to deal with Shahi drones and ballistic missiles, then rushing to Zelensky and saying, hey, actually, you know what? Forget all the stuff I said. We need your help right now. And shooting down the Shahi drones. But then Trump sends out Caroline Levitt, who then blames Zelensky for other issues in the United States on the same day. It's just like, what are you. Like they don't know what's happened. Like, it's so bizarre. Then they have Steve Witkoff, you know, a guy who did like real estate stuff with, with Trump, you know, a Trumpy real estate guy, you know, out there doing these negotiations with the Foreign Minister of Oman. Like, what are you doing?

Pete Buttigieg (37:36)

And the thing about this is, again, it's not just that it's a bad look. It's that there are life and death consequences for troops and ultimately for our whole country to this being done the way it's being done. Think about this. Many of those Middle east embassies, even deep into the second year of the Trump administration, still aren't properly staffed. They don't even have confirmed ambassadors. And they've been removing or firing a lot of career foreign service ambassadors just because they happen to serve, because again, they're not political appointees. So of course, course they did under Democratic as well as Republican administrations. When you do that, that weakens this country, let alone the putting a thumb in the eye of our allies. I remember serving alongside troops from Denmark, to take one example. They gave more lives per capita than any other ally in the Afghanistan operation. Obviously, pissing them off through the Greenland rhetoric is not something that strengthens the alliance. And NATO matters. NATO is involved in missiles that had to be shot down on their way to Turkey from Iran. So we continue to see just the utter chaos. And I think that's the biggest thing to be concerned about here, that when you go in, we've learned this the hard way, when you go into the Middle east without a plan, the result tends to be chaos. And chaos eventually can lead to harm to Americans, even sometimes on American soil. The administration needs to give us answers. Congress needs to demand those answers. But they're doing the opposite. Senate Republicans had a vote, and now virtually every Republican senator is on the record endorsing this war of choice that most Americans are against. It's one more reason why we have to remember that the ultimate backstop here is the American people. In this country, the people are still in charge. The people need to tell Congress that we expect them to hold the administration to a higher standard when troops, lives and American treasure are on the line.

Ben Meisellis (39:29)

We talked before about who pays the price for war. I remember a story that you've shared before about the letter on your life before you were, but before you went to war and writing, you know, if anything were to happen to you. And that was a significant, you know, experience for you, you know, having to write that and reflect on your life in general before we go. I mean, for people who haven't heard that story, if you could talk about that, especially in light of the fact that as we hear the American service members who have been killed in this war, and you just see their photos and you see their people and you see, regardless of their age, but particularly when I see a young person too, it hits particularly hard. They all hit hard. But talk to us about that.

Pete Buttigieg (40:17)

Yeah. You see the faces of the fallen and they remind you maybe of somebody you know, somebody you grew up with. They remind me of people that I served with. And this terrible news of their sacrifice certainly reminds me of what it was like to sit down and write that letter. I still have it around here in my desk drawer. It says just in case, on the outside they tell you to write a letter like that, just in case. In case you don't come back. And there are some things that you want the people you love most to know. And it's a reminder for me, I keep it around as a reminder of what was on the line and a reminder of how thankful I am that I did come back. Okay. But also what it felt like not being sure, which is something that so many people, hundreds of thousands, millions of Americans over the years who have been deployed have gone through. And by the way, many answer the call to serve and are deployed many times. There was a period where I know some of the people I served with were on their fifth or sixth deployment. And we made a decision, an increasingly cross partisan decision among the American people that we weren't going to go into another generation's worth of forever wars like that. And that was something that this president promised his base, promised the American people. It was part of his appeal. It felt for a minute like you didn't just have to be a Democrat to want us out of the forever wars, but the Democrats and a whole lot of independents and a whole lot of Republicans had come to see this. And now the reverse is the case. And this isn't going to matter just because of lines on a map or words on a page. This is going to matter because, as the President has assured us, more families are going to get that knock on the door, are going to have to open that letter from someone they loved, whose life was put on the line by this president without a clear plan.

Ben Meisellis (42:09)

And Pete, before we go, any other message you want to Send to our 7 million subscribers out there who are certainly glad to be hearing your voice right now during these difficult times?

Pete Buttigieg (42:20)

I think the most important thing to remember now is it doesn't have to be this way. The administration does a good job of creating this sense of powerlessness, like there's this steamroller that's just rolling over all of us and there's nothing you can do about it. And yet we have seen how they can be stopped. We saw them stopped on the tariffs. We saw them stopped in their attempt to completely cover up the Epstein files. We saw them stopped in some of what they were trying to do on healthcare. And what that tells me is you don't even have to wait till election day for people rising up in this country to matter. When members of Congress started to be afraid to see their own constituents at town halls and then started changing their votes. And I'm talking about some Republicans here. When some places like my home state of Indiana, which is of course a very Republican state, stood up and rejected the president's gerrymandering plan to grab power. All of these things are pieces of evidence that we can turn what is happening in this country. Of course, the best moment we'll have for that this year will come with those November elections. But we don't have to sit around waiting. It is a big deal that millions of Americans will be marching toward the end of this month in the next no kings set of marches around the country. It matters to speak up and get the attention of your elected representative. Especially is there one of these Republicans running cover for this present. While they know deep down that that is wrong, you know, they are beginning to realize that this president will not be in charge forever. We in the opposition need to realize the same thing and start planning accordingly.

Ben Meisellis (43:55)

Pete Buttigieg, thanks as always for joining us and thanks for your voice. Right now, we need it more than ever.

Pete Buttigieg (44:02)

Appreciate you. Thanks for having me on.

Ben Meisellis (44:04)

Great surprise right there to have Pete Buttigieg on our live right there. An interesting development in the continuing coverage of the war in Iran. So the United States regime is posting that it is absolute false that a US Jet was shot down over Iraq. But then they deleted the post and then says it's absolutely false. What are they saying right now? Yeah, it's absolutely false that the plane was shot down. They said before was absolutely false that it crashed. So they changed the language from it's absolutely false that it crashed to now it's absolutely false. And that was confusing. That was absolutely false that it was shot down. So it seems to be based on what they're saying in Basra, there seems to be a crash. But it does seem that the US Is saying it wasn't shot down, it crashed. But the Trump regime lies about everything. I mean, before Donald Trump was holding a press conference today where the markets tanked and right now the, the dow is at 47,000 and Trump's like, it's 50,000. It's 50,000 right now. Here, let me just play not that clip, but let me just show you the one because I want to show you that this is breaking right now. As I'm recording this. Donald Trump says things are going so well in Iran that now it's time we go and invade Cuba. Here's what he says.

Donald Trump (45:37)

Anymore, I don't see it. He's doing some job. And your next one is going to be we want to do that special Cuba. He's

Pete Buttigieg (45:47)

where's the clip?

Ben Meisellis (45:49)

Where'd the clip go? We try it one more time to play the clippers streamyard. Is streamyard glitching and watching me wipe my nose during the. Well, instead of, instead of playing the clip. Can we try it one more time?

Donald Trump (46:01)

And anymore I don't see it. He's doing some job. And your next one is going to be we want to do that special Cube.

Ben Meisellis (46:09)

We want to do the special Cuba. You can't even speak in sentences. Yeah, it's a little stream yard glitch right there. The special Cuba. By the way, if you're wondering who's standing behind him right there, who are his props? It's the Miami Football Club is behind him. And this is what Trump does a lot too. He lines up athletes because he thinks they're good looking and strong. And then he talks about invading countries. He's done this a ton of times. So I mean, and here's the thing though, like, if you are, you know, if you were in those football clubs and you're like, you know, or you're the baseball team or the hockey team or whatever, and you're like, look, man, it's not political. It's just, it's just a great time to be in the white. Look, it's the White House. This isn't a political thing. Okay, great that you say that, but Trump views it as a political thing. I agree with you that regardless of who the administration is, even if I despise the administration, in normal times, when a team shows up to the White House after winning something, they should get applauded. Cool. Great work. That's it. Photos.

Pete Buttigieg (47:25)

Okay.

Ben Meisellis (47:26)

If that's really what it was. Okay, I get it. The moment you go in there, he's gonna use you for all of his propaganda. He's gonna put AI words in your voice. He, he's going to AI your name, image and likeness. He's going to use you in the background to talk about invading nations and killing people. So when you're in the background there, you should know that your name, image and likeness is going to be used as propaganda to kill people. And by the way, I mean, don't say, oh, it's not political, it's not political. Or come on, man, you can't be talking. That's, you know, this, this is, this is soccer, man. This is, this is hockey. Okay, I love soccer. I played soccer in high school. I like hockey. I, I sit on the board of something called the Hockey Diversity alliance with lots of professional hockey players. My best friend's a former professional NHL player. Okay, I like hockey, I like watching hockey. But Trump's the one politicizing it, not me. You know, we're not politicizing it. He then uses these people for his own propaganda. All right, so let's take our first and only quick break of the show. We will be right back. Got a lot more to discuss. Let's take our first and only quick break.

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Ben Meisellis (53:08)

our pro democracy sponsors. Right there. Sponsors help the show go on. They help build this network. And Jordy spends a long time picking out the right sponsors and getting the discount code. So thank you to them. Another housekeeping announcement that I think that you will all like. So after this live stream ends, I held a discussion with multiple Democratic governors. So I spoke with Governor Bashir, Governor Shapiro, Governor Hochul, Governor Sherrill, Governor Healy, Governor Grisham, seeing if I'm leaving anybody out there, but spoke with all these various various governors. I spoke to them before the Iran war started. So I don't address the Iran war in it, but it's a conversation with all of these governors and it's a really good conversation because we talk about things that they're actually doing for the American people. Kind of refreshing, right? Like rather than Trump ranting and raving like a lunatic. So I think you will, I think you'll enjoy that. Just some other news that we're seeing over the break. We're learning now that jet fuel has doubled in price. We know that your gas prices are going up significantly, but jet fuel has doubled. So ultimately plane tickets, travel is going to become much more expensive. That's obviously going to impact the airline industry. Inflation was already rising. I think these next inflation reports are going to be catastrophic and it's obviously going to impact the ability of the Fed to lower interest rates. But I think we're going to see catastrophic report on, on the inflation coming up. Just, I, I would, I wonder if Donald Trump will even show the report. I think he'll probably say we're at war, we can't show it right now. You know, we'll, we'll, we'll see what he does. Right. There should also be Noted. Pam Bondi has been subpoenaed by the House Oversight Committee to testify about the Epstein files. Actually a bipartisan vote. Five Republicans joined with Democrats. Burchett Boebert, Clementine Cloud, Mace Perry joined with the Democrats. And so she'll have to testify before the House Oversight Committee. That will be, I think, something important for us all to watch. Of course, the news today about Christy Noem being fired. Governor Newsom says new Christie just dropped the just fired meme right there after she played dress up over and over again. Donald Trump announced her termination via a social media post. He said that she would now become the oh first, he said, I'm pleased to announce that the highly respected United States Senator from the great state of Oklahoma, Mark Wayne Mullen, will become the United States Secretary of Homeland Security. The current secretary, Kristi Noem, who has served us well and has numerous and spectacular results, especially on the border, will be moving to the special envoy for the Shield of the Americas. That's just a made up thing that doesn't exist. And then she goes, thank you, Donald for appointing me to be the special envoy for the Shield of Americas. Thank you Rubio and thank you Hegseth. They're incredible leaders. I look forward to being the Ambassador of the Shield. The Ambassador of the Shield, everybody. Very, very, very big, bizarre stuff. Now you all know Mark Wade Mullen. He's the MAGA Republican senator from Oklahoma. He's this guy right here. He's a total train wreck. He's a Trump MAGA sycophant who like literally lives on Fox every day. He was the guy the other day who said we're at war, we're not at war. We're at war, we're not at war over and over again. But you know, it's, it's a, a, a complete and utter CL I, I what, what did somebody say? I I read on social media. It's crude, but I, I, I'll say it. It was like bringing in Mark Wayne Mullen to be the Director of Homeland Security is like finding out you your pants and going home and changing your shirt, you know, something like that. But you know, he's an absolute disaster. I hope I'm, I hope that was the expression there. I mean, it's not an expression at all. I think we've got that video fixed of Rubio, of Trump talking about Rubio, that he's doing Cuba next. He says he's doing Cuba. Let me play this clip.

Donald Trump (57:41)

This was moments ago and anymore I don't see it. He's Doing some job. And your next one is going to be, we want to do that special Cuba. He's waiting, but he says, let's get this one finished first. We could do them all at the same time, but bad things happen. If you watch countries over the years, you do them all too fast. Bad things happen. We're not going to let anything bad happen to this country.

Ben Meisellis (58:04)

Hell is he even talking about there? What else did he say? Here's what Trump had to say on Iran. He lied and said, they're calling to say, how do we make a deal? By the way, when he, like, lies about this stuff, not only is it stupid, but who. Don't you realize how weak that makes you look to them and to our allies who know that's not what's happening. And here's the thing. Even if Iran wanted to make a deal, let's say Iran wanted to make a deal. I've said this before. You can't do a deal with Donald Trump. He doesn't do deals. Right. The same way he lies about everything. You know, when up is down and left is right. And like, he's a deal maker, is a front for. He's a fraud and a con artist and a felon and a sexual predator. It's not a deal. He doesn't do deals. There was a mediation taking place between the United States and Iran. The US Picked the mediator, the foreign minister of Oman. There was a deal in principle reached on Friday. Not according to me. According to the person the US Picked, not Iran. The US Picked the foreign minister of Oman. Foreign minister of Oman said on Friday, deal in principle. On Monday, we're going to have some technical details we have to hammer out. So again, I'm just giving you who the US Picked, because that's how I can try to decipher it. Okay. What'd this person say? And said it before the US Struck. So let's just assume the foreign minister of Oman was lying, went on American media and then lied and said that we had reached a deal in principle, but that was not true. Right. So if you were the Trump regime and it's a regime, so they lie about everything. But if that type of disinformation was coming out there, right, if you were in the government and the foreign minister of Oman was going on your networks and saying that you had a deal in principle, right, wouldn't you go out there, send whoever press secretary, somebody, secretary of State, Department of Defense, and say that's 100% false. So you get that out there and then Explain. Actually, not only is it false, folks, there is an imminent threat, and we have to explain to you what's going on. Like, let me be very clear. The ayatollah led a brutal regime. The new ayatollah is more extreme than the old ayatollah. We all believe the new ayatollah is my job of the sun, the one responsible for massacring the 40,000 protesters that Donald Trump said he was going to help. Munjaba is the new ayatollah. We all believe Trump says, man job is a lightweight. Dude, you don't even know what you're talking about, man. Jabba's a lightweight. You don't even know who man Jabba is. Dude, what do you mean he's a lightweight? So that's what Trump was saying. And Trump said, I don't like, man, Jabba, Trump says that I got to be the person who picks the next ayatollah. Me and. Me and Bibby pick the next ayatollah, okay? That's what the Iranian people want. You and Bibi picking the next ayatollah. So you got Donald Trump out there, you know, saying he picks the next ayatollah. And by all accounts, just so we all know, like, what's actually happening in Iran right now is that you have people on the streets day in, day out who previously maybe thought the. Who were not supporting the ayatollah, but the Shiite communities pissed right there and further radicalized by Trump making the ayatollah into a martyr when he was 85 years old and was probably going to not live for much longer anyway and was deeply unpopular. And that's why the experts in the intelligence community were like, just wait it out. Let him die. Because if you waited it out and were patient, and the Ayatollah. The ayatollah, remember, you must say, well, Ben, Ben, but if you waited it out, then they can get nuclear weapons. So don't do that. Come on, Ben. Be smarter about it. Well, Trump said he obliterated the nuclear weapons in June, right? He said he obliterated it. So if you obliterated the weapons, wouldn't the strategy. Then. We know that was a lie. But he said he obliterated it. So then wouldn't the strategy be, you wait out the ayatollah to die if they. If the clerics try to appoint a new extreme person who's even more extreme than the ayatollah, rather, then you actually lend support to, you know, democracy groups in there, and then you protect the people. You rally the international community, you rally your allies. As Iran is massacring the people, you now have the moral high ground because they're massacring the protesters. You're there to help the protesters install democracy. You now build a coalition to protect the like. I'm just saying, if you, by the way, would I have supported that even. I don't want regime change. I want health care for all of you in the United States. Okay, let me be clear about that. I want you to have affordable housing. There's so many problems. I don't want regime change, wars. As much as my heart goes out to the people in Iran, and it truly does. As much as I think the ayatollah is brutal, terroristic, horrific, I just. We see where regime change, wars go. But I'm just saying, if you wanted to do this with a level of sophistication, like, I think there's a way to do it, at least that's not this. This is the most demented, dumbest, idiotic, dangerous thing, the way to do it. And now you have the Chinese ambassador or the Chinese foreign minister is being called in by Middle Eastern countries. You have Wang Yi, the China's foreign minister, Wang Yi, and he's out there being called in by Arab states to mediate between the Arab states and Iran. Not Iran and the United States, but to mediate between the Arab states and Iran, because these Arab states are getting crushed. Because even if the ballistic missile strikes are less consistent and less significant in terms of the sheer quantity, you, you go in a visit Dubai anytime soon, you go into Abu Dhabi anytime soon, you go into Doha, Qatar or Riyadhya, you go in there, Is that where you go and clubbing over there, right? Is that where you're going to be? Is that where you're going to be partying? You think the, you think the influencers in Dubai are going, you know, are going there? You think you want to buy one of those mansions on Palm island or whatever they call it in Dubai? That's, that's what you, you want to do. You want to get a spot on that, on that beach area right there.

Pete Buttigieg (64:54)

Come on.

Ben Meisellis (64:55)

And the Arab countries know that. That's why I read for you the Emirati billionaires post earlier as well. So here's Donald Trump, though, claiming that in Iran they're calling up, how do we make a deal, Donald? We want to make a deal, which is not happening, but okay, go for it, Donald. Say,

Donald Trump (65:13)

I said what's left? But they're tough and they want to Fight. And they're calling, they're saying, how do we make a deal? I said, you're being a little bit late. And we want to fight now more than they do.

Ben Meisellis (65:28)

I said, you're being a little late now. We want to fight more than they. What the hell are. What words are you even saying? What? What mush is even coming out of your mouth? Rights? What slop? It's like it's not even saying sentences. We want to fight now more than they do. What are you talking about? They're begging for a deal. They're too late. Dude, what are you saying? And then he says that Pam Bondi's terrific. She's doing amazing. Here's what he says about Pam Bondi

Donald Trump (66:01)

not going to let anything bad happen to this country. Also with us are Attorney General Pam Bondi, who's a terrific person and fan. And she's proving how tough she is. And I think the next three years she's going to really prove it.

Ben Meisellis (66:19)

Right?

Donald Trump (66:20)

Huh? Like these people.

Ben Meisellis (66:23)

Ah, you gotta. You're gonna prove it by covering up those Epstein files, huh? Huh? And here's the thing, too. Now you've got that. Just so you know, all of those Miami soccer players, you're covering up or you're clapping for a cover up of a child sex trafficking ring. And by the way, as I said before, you're, you know, if I don't agree with an administration's perspective on tax policy or taxes or reducing inflation or health care and whatever, we have strong disagreements. But the team shows up, by the way, props. I don't want to even speculate on this because we know that it's impossible with Trump and obviously he's never done this, so I can't even say that. But look, if ultimately in the past, if he started and the teams would show up and they would just be congratulated for being a champion of the sport, and that was the only thing that happened. And then the team was like, look, it's a visit to the White House. I'd still tell them they shouldn't show up, but whatever. Right? Okay, I would still not be for it. But no, he's using you as a prop now to cheer for an unlawful war. Right? Where also we know in Iran a elementary school was hit, resulting in the deaths of close to 200 little girls and boys and teachers in the area. And that it seems it was potentially a double tap as well, of a strike at the hospital, then the elementary school, then nearby also like. And now our regime denies it, but by all Accounts, you know, it happened. I mean, we are aware of it happening and our regime provides no justification about it. But you are all clapping for an unlawful war where service members have died and have been seriously wounded. You've now clapped for the COVID up of the Epstein files back there. I mean, you be clowned yourself. You don't tell me it's not political when you've been used as a political prop. That's who you are. You are a political prop. You are a tool to cover up child sex trafficking. That's what you are. Undisputed fact. Great work. That's your legacy. Tell that to your children. For real. Tell your children. Or, or do you not see it? Are you too dense to recognize that? And don't be like, oh, well, Ben, you know what, how are you gonna, how are you gonna attract like, like, like, you know, men? You know, that's a big problem Democratic Party have. Well, dude, if, if men support covering up child sex trafficking. They're not, excuse my language, they're not men. Oh. I'm not trying to have them in the coalition. Okay? And we need to stand up and be strong and call out, you know, I like soccer. Just because I like soccer, I have to support clapping of covering up child sex trafficking. What are we talking about here? No, it's time that we actually stand up strongly for our values and not worry about, oh, how's this going to politically sound? Or how is that going to politically sound? No, we just look at something and say, that's wrong. That's right. That's leadership. That's not. That's what, that's what leaders do. That's how people should behave. And I'm sick and tired of the coddling. Oh, Donald Trump's up there. Oh, it looks like the dow is over 50,000. No, have you looked at it today? It's not over 50,000. It's not a benchmark of how the American people are doing, by the way, who are suffering. It may be a benchmark how your rich oligarch friends are doing, not how the American people are doing. And it's not even at 50,000. How do you go? It's 50,000. No, it's not. It's not. Not at 50,000. Here, play the squid.

Donald Trump (70:15)

And in the long term, the actions we're taking will dramatically increase the stability of the region and oil prices and stock markets and everything else. You know, we set the all time record in history with the dow going to 50,000. Dow is at 50,000. It was supposed to be. Maybe if we were lucky within by the end of my presidency in four years. And we did it in my first year. We did the S and P. We

Ben Meisellis (70:44)

did the S and P. We did the S, P, everybody. We did the dao. This guy is an idiot. He is demented. He is a criminal adjudicated as such. He's a sexual predator adjudicated as such by a civil jury. When the corporate news is like, no evidence, he's found civilly liable of sexual assault. What are you talking about, no evidence? Mar A Lago is used for the sex trafficking undisputed fact, right? Is. Is your home used as a site of sex trafficking of children? Trump's. Trump's is probably a red flag. When your home is used for child sex trafficking by. By Jeffrey Epstein. It may be a red flag. And then you say the guy's a great guy who likes women on the younger side. And then you say you own beauty pageants so you can inspect girls naked. And you say you grab women's genitals because you're rich. They let you do it. But probably some red freaking flags right there, eh? Probably some red freaking flags right there. But that's. That's our. That's the country right now. Across the world, Cyprus, Israel, Jordan, Iraq, Bahrain, Oman, Turkey, Kuwait, uae, Qatar, Saudi Arabia have all been hit. Donald Trump posting memes of himself. I stand with. This guy's just freaking demented. Do we have Treasury Secretary Scott Besant saying, these are fantastic? Okay, I. I despise so many people in this regime. Besant may be the worst. And I know it's hard. Like, how do you Lutnick Besant Hexit. But there's something about Besant. He's like, I just don't like these fantastical account. We are prospering. I mean, it's like every time I look at this guy, he's like basically saying, f U. F U, F U. You're stupid. You're stupid, you're stupid. That's to me what he's saying all the time here. Play this clip is arrogant. Asshole.

Scott Besant (72:43)

Becky, I will tell you the region is not on fire. What is happening Is that someone with an iPhone? And look, it's terrible when a hotel gets hit in Bahrain, when there is a drone that hits the airport in Doha. But those are one offs the Iranian. The attack capabilities have been substantially degraded. The US Is getting stronger and stronger every day. And the most fulsome part of our campaign is just starting. So that there are the people in the market willing to look through this and that's what I think everyone should do because President Trump has a vision here and I think everyone should just step back and think about what he

Ben Meisellis (73:28)

has a vision here. You should step back, step back and listen to President Trump. He's a visionary. He's a visionary. Cut to Donald Trump on A scale of 1 to 15. This was 15. A scale of 1 to 10. It's a 15. A visionary, a genius. He's a genius. Everybody here, just play the, play the clip of Trump on a scale of 1 to 10. 15. 15. Here, play this clip.

Donald Trump (74:02)

And we're doing very well on, on the war front, to put it mildly. I would say somebody said on a scale of 10, where would you rate it? I said about a 15. And, and we're going to continue to do well. We have the greatest military in the world by far.

Ben Meisellis (74:19)

And wise words from a visionary. Wise words, Besant. There you have it, folks. I'm going to cut right now to the special that I've done with the governors. So if you want to hear all of the governors, I think you all want to hear it, right? We've got Governor Bashir, we've got Governor Shapiro, we've got Governor Mikey Cheryl, we've got Governor Maura Healey, the Governor Grisham of New Mexico. That's. Did I say Shapiro? We've got Shapiro. So I want you to watch that. I do the show with the brothers this evening. We'll give you updates on everything that's going on. I did a good interview as well with Mark Hertling, which I'm excited to, to share that with you. Brett did a good hot take on Christy Gnome. Didn't he do a great hot take on Christy Gnome? So we'll share that with you. And, and folks, just I, I want you to hang in there. We have to stick through this together. Shoulder to shoulder. Democracy and truth is prevailing. I mean, the fact that Kristi Noem was fired today, there are so many other people that we need to keep the pressure up on. Obviously, the midterms are coming, but for me, the midterms, a broader message needs to be sent. Not even a political message. It's truly a message about values and principles. I was speaking at a, the School of Communications in Annenberg School of Journalism at USC today. And I let them know, you know, that first and foremost, this YouTube channel and this network is a, is a channel and network about values and principles. And that's the most important thing, standing behind those values and principles. All right, My producers are saying my interview with Governor Bashir is happening right now. Watch Governor Bashir, then Shapiro. We do a bunch of great interviews. You're going to want to watch this. Stay on the Midas Touch YouTube channel. Hit subscribe. We're going to take. You don't have to do anything. We're going to take you right over right now to the Governor's Special.

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