HOT TOPICS | Donald Trump's Iran War Has Killed Seven Americans! Are we next?!

It is that time on a Monday morning. Good morning everybody. Thank you for joining us. I appreciate it. Uh got in late last night. So, here I am back back in the place where uh we belong. So, thank you for joining us here on the Don Lemon Show. We appreciate it. Uh let me know, you know, first order of business. Don, change your start time. No, it's my start time is 10 a.m., but we had a little thing. My earpiece wouldn't work this morning, so I had to use my AirPod. All kinds of things happen in the morning as you're getting dressed. So, go easy on me, guys. I've been traveling and working. I was looking back on the plane through all of the shows. I was sitting next to a guy. He's like, "Oh my gosh, you're amazing." I'm like, "Okay, whatever. Thank you." But I was reading a newspaper, like the actual paper, and he was surprised. He's like, "I don't see many people actually reading a paper." Like I'm like, "Yeah, I like to read the paper." So I was actually reading the Saturday paper on Sunday and then finished the Sunday paper overnight. So um yeah, good morning everybody. Thank you. First order sort of business like and thumbs up. Um it affects the algorithm. more people become aware of our conversation and our channel and that's really important to us. That's how it works. Okay, so make sure you do that. There's our guy. Thank you. Good morning. I see you are I am back in New York. Yes, I am. So glad that you're here. Um I don't know how else to describe this. Everything that I've been reading and I've been reading a lot about this war, there's regime change, just all kinds of things. So, if you think that there is some if you're out there and you're thinking that there is some rationale for this war, I I I'm here to tell you that you're sadly mistaken. And if you think that this administration knows what they're doing, I'm sadly you're sadly mistaken. Um, and I don't say that because out of some sort of spite or Trump derangement syndrome. It's just that every time I'm reading everything from the Wall Street Journal to um the Financial Times to the New York Times, the Washington Post and everyone is trying to make sense of this war and there's nothing to make sense of except that people are dying. Gas prices are going up. They're have they're making every single excuse for the war that you can make. It's just like, you know, that old saying, throwing spaghetti or throwing something against the wall and hope that it sticks. It's the same story over and over. It really is. And it is. I've been calling this and maybe you agree, I certainly agree that it's the Epstein distraction war. It's crashing the economy right now. $100 for a barrel of oil for I mean, it's crashing the economy, not just the the US economy, but the global economy. There are so many ram ramifications with this. when you're in a situation like this where where um you can't get ships through the straits of Hormuz and all of that stuff that that that has a that has an impact on the oil production and so oil production there's oil production has slowed not oil production the um the being able to ship the oil to other places that's no longer available as easily as it was before because of what's happening with this war. So all of the facilities that store the oil in the middle middle east they are topping out and so there's nowhere to store it. So then that means that they have to either slow or stop production and that is a whole production in itself because in order to that has look it in order to like ramp up productions again sometimes that takes days weeks sometimes months and then that's that causes all kinds of problems with clogging and all of that and so it is a mess and I don't think that the I know that the the regime the Trump regime did not think about this before this or otherwise I don't I don't believe they would have done it but the Epstein distraction is so crazy and prevalent and top of mind for him that he cannot help himself and the Dow the Dow the Dow is not at 50,000 the Dow tumbles 500 points at the open after $100 oil triggers stagflation fears that's the report from CNBC oil shipments through Interest rates of Harmuz have ground to a virtual halt, unleashing the most severe energy crisis since the 1970s. That's according to the very conservative Wall Street Journal. US crude futures shot up a shocking 36% last week. The biggest surge since the market began back in 1983. The long feared Persian Gulf oil squeeze is upon us. That is from the Wall Street Journal. And that means that your gas prices are going to cost a lot more. I was reading a story, I think it was in the journal about a man who said it gas prices were like at $3 or three. He goes, he goes, "I can stand to 350. Maybe I can still support my business, but after that I'm just going to have to close shop because if it goes to $4 or$450, it's over. I can no longer afford to own my to have to have my business run to run my business." So since 1983, after Trump's call on Friday for Iran's unconditional surrender squashed the hope of of of Wall Street, the hopes of Wall Street that he might reach a quick peace deal. This is not going to be quick. This is not going to be a couple days. Prices rose more than they have on a single day since rebounding from the pandemic crash in 2020. This economy is being compared that we will go into to pandemic the pandemic economy in 2020. And then the the oil futures rose another 20% after markets opened on Sunday evening. On Sunday more than a thousand ships were waiting to pass through the straits of straight of Hermuz. Their owners and sailors scared of being attacked after strikes on at least nine vessels that left one crew member dead. And by the way, seven US service members are dead now. And this is the early days of the war. Here's a quote from the journal. In the whole written history of the strait, it has never been closed ever, said JP Morgan Chase analyst Natasha Kneva. Canaba quote to me it was it was not just the worst case scenario. It was an unthinkable scenario. We're looking at what is by far the biggest disruption in the world history in terms of daily oil production. That's what energy historian Daniel Jurgen said. If it goes for on for weeks, it will reverberate across the global economy. We are up Shitz Creek without an oil pump. It seems like the White House officials know that they have a problem on their hands. They know it. They should know it. Over the weekend, Israel struck 30 Iranian fuel depots. Far beyond what the US expected. That's according to Axios. So why aren't they coordinating? Why aren't did you hear what I said? Israel struck 30 Iranian fuel depots far beyond what the US expected according to Axios. Now, whose war is this? Whose war are we fighting? Who's in control of this war? Who's going to suffer the consequences? If Israel is striking more than they told the United States that they would or that the United States expected, that's problematic. One White House official told Axios, quote, "The president doesn't like the attack. He wants to save the oil. He doesn't want to burn it, and it reminds people of higher gas prices." According to the same report, an Israeli official said that the US message to Israel was, and I quote here, this is a quote, WTF. And then over the weekend, just last night, it was breaking news everywhere, getting alerts everywhere. There is regime change. Now, you heard Pete Hexet saying this wasn't the plan to have a regime change, but the regime, you know, that this is a change, but the regime did change. However, you know how he talks like that. Well, it's not really a regime change. And if it is a regime change, it's a regime in the wrong way. It's a regime change that is worse than before. Because you know the man they killed the Ayatollah Ali Kam. Well, his son was appointed by the Council of Adviserss to become the new leader of Iran. Here's a report. >> Authorities in Iran announced that Mushabi, son of Le Ayatah Ali, has been selected to succeed his father as supreme leader. The country's assembly of experts appointed Muchaba after a week of deliberation following the killing of Ali K on the 28th of February. Ali Ki was the second supreme leader of Iran and has held that position for almost 37 years since 1989. The younger Ki has been described as a secretive 56-year-old cleric who maintains close ties with the country's paramilitary revolutionary guard corps. He was appointed to the top Iranian job despite having never been elected or serving in a government position. Many have criticized his selection, disagreeing with the idea of handing over the Supreme Leader title based on heredity, thereby creating a clerical version of the rule of the Sha, which the Islamic Revolution toppled in 1979. The panel of clerics, however, likely selected him to prosecute the war. Mucha who is believed to hold even more hardline views than his late father will now be in charge of Iran's armed forces and any decision regarding the country's nuclear program still holds stock of highlyenriched uranium that's only a short technical step from weapons grade levels many fear mush may do what his >> so here's the thing he is more hardline than his father who they killed now you remember when Donald Trump was asked have you thought about what's the worst case scenario. And he goes, well, I guess if they put someone in there who's worse than before, that would be worse. That would be the worst case scenario. Well, they have put someone in there who is worse than the regime before. He is more hardline than his father. So then what is the point of this? And by the way, so his his father was killed, his wife was killed reportedly. And so he what does he have to lose then? What does he care about American lives? What does he care about? Iranian lives. He is I believe that he will avenge the death of his father and of his family members and of his wife. So what is the point? We've heard so many reasons, none of which make sense about about what the point of this was. And here we are stuck in what is a quagmire now. Our economy is tanking. Our troops are dying. And guess what the big fear is that no one will tell you is that every single person I speak to, everyone is worried that this is going to come to American shores with attacks here in the United States. We'll discuss that right after this word from our sponsors. This episode of the Donovan Show is brought to you by Graza, makers of crazy fresh olive oil. And let me just tell you something. If you cook even a little bit, do you know good olive oil makes all the difference? At my place, Tim and I cook a lot. Sometimes it is a quick weekn night dinner. Sometimes we're hosting friends. Either way, I always keep graza on the counter because it's just that good. 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This is this is a mess. How was your weekend, Don? That's where we should start. Let's start there. Like that might be a little bit more uh cheery than uh than that that litany of that litany of horrors you just uh rattled off there. >> My weekend was fine. I spent uh the weekend in Los Angeles. I did the Bill Mar show and as you know that's always an adventure. Um and then yeah and then I got stuck in LA uh marathon traffic. It took me two hours to get to the airport. >> Okay. Well that's a little that's a little better than uh a little better than the what's going on in Tyrron. I guess I mean although LA traffic can be pretty hellish. >> You see those those apocalyptic oil fires in in tan you think okay stuck on the 405 or an apocalyptic oil fire. Yeah. You know flip the coin. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. But look, I mean, people are actually afraid. I don't know if they're afraid that the fires are going to come here, but we can start that. Well, also there's the possibility of the draft, but when at that dinner in LA, people were concerned that this may come to our shores with sort of, you know, domestic, I don't know if you'd call it domestic terrorism or, you know, I hate to say it, the old suicide bomber and that kind of thing. That's what people are concerned about. And you saw what happened this weekend in New York with the IED found um near the the mayor's home. So there's there's concern here. >> I mean, look, you you if you are if you take the Trump administration at their word and and and actually I shouldn't shouldn't say that. I should say the take the the word of every administration we've ever covered, Don, uh at their words. You know, that's it's the and it's the reality that, you know, Iran's one of the great sponsors of uh state terrorism um uh of our lifetime. And so I don't think there's any reason u uh one doesn't want to stoke paranoia about about those kind of things and and and yet it also is the case that you know the the one of the premises although there are so many premises of this war it's hard to kind of figure out exactly what the reason was the rationale have been evershifting sometimes inconsistent sometimes contradictory self in internally contradictory I mean the notion that they are u that they are uh can they sow terror across the region and have uh the ability to so terror even outside the region. It's not it's not a completely crazy thing to be concerned. I think the main thing that a lot of people are are worried about is that they don't you know there's there's the acute thing of is this going to come to our shores in a direct way. It's already coming to our shores in an economic way. Look at that. If you see what's going on, you mentioned the the price of oil spiking and you look at the those are the pictures that you're showing there of the apocalyptic nature of what's going on in Thran. But, you know, there's something else that's I don't want to diminish that when I say there's something also equally kind of comparatively apocalyptic going on in the economic realm, which is oil over $100 a barrel for the first time in in uh since uh since Russia invaded Ukraine. And and some people in the energy market saying we could get up to $150 a gallon, which will put uh gas prices uh at an all-time high. >> Some are saying $200. >> Yeah, Donald Trump's Donald Trump is constantly talks about things being an all-time high and they're really not all-time highs. You could have gas prices really skyhigh uh as we head towards the summer. So, um I think you know you see the markets reacting to that in a pretty pretty dramatic way today. So, the war is you know at our at our shores already, right? It's here. it's it's here and the economic implications of it are already upon us and and and depending on how long this lasts um I don't think I don't think it's wise to rule out anything um in terms of unintended consequences. This is a Pandora's box we've opened up here, Don. And uh I think that's one of the reasons why um the United States has has intervened across the Middle East in a variety of places almost everywhere in the course of the last 30 or 40 years. The one place that the United States and others have decided and wanted not to intervene was in Iran because of that Pandora's box quality of it. The risks are always really high and unpredictable. And so, uh, I don't I don't want to I don't think there's absolutely anything that you can say is I I I do not think it's possible for Iran to strike the United States with the nuclear weapon, as some people in the administration. >> No, no, that's not suggested last week. But other than that, >> that's not possible. >> I I agree. That's I'm saying I don't want to say anything is possible, but the the range of unintended consequences from this war is vast. >> Yeah. Yes. And look at since you were talking, here's Peter Baker from the New York Times. Peter Baker says Trump State of the Union February 25th, not that long ago. Gasoline is now 230, $230 30 cents a gallon in most states and some places $1.99 a gallon. Okay, that could have been fact checked some places. That was probably right. >> Gas one or two gas stations selling this bootleg gas. Yeah, >> right. Price of gas Monday $348 a gallon. That's >> and rising today. And rising by the rising. Yeah. And um so >> yeah, >> go on. >> No, no, go ahead. You >> Well, I was going to show you this because there is you talked about the different u rationalizations or reasons for uh this war, they don't really have any. But as it relates to the pain that we're going to suffer, at least economically, it seems that they all got a script in their email or on a call, a Zoom call or something because this is what they're all saying. Short-term pain for long-term gain. Watch. >> This is a short-term disruption for the long-term gain. >> Short-term pain for the long-term gain. >> Short-term pain be for long-term gain. >> We're going to have some short-term pain uh with long-term gain. >> Short-term pay for a long-term gain. >> Some short-term pain. Yes. But we've got some long-term gain. Short-term spike for a long-term gain. >> Some short-term pain for American consumers. We may have to deal with that. >> It goes on and on and on. And And but what does that mean? short-term pain for what? When you have um Mktaba uh I think it's Mkt M I forget what it is. >> Yeah. >> Uh who's taking over who is the son of Ali and he's more hardline then what is the point if you're going to install or have someone install that's worse than the guy before him? >> Uh meet the new homonyy same as the old homonyy. Um I think that's a line >> same as old homonyy but worse. >> But worse. Yeah. I mean, and also just a just a note, you'll recall last week, Don, that that Trump was asked at one point, "What's the worst case scenario?" And he said, like as if he hadn't even thought about it. He said, >> "Well, >> uh, kind of almost in a kind of sort of bittersweet way, he say, well, you know, I guess the worst thing would be if we look up a few weeks from now and we're in the same place we were before. So some of the same, we have a regime in there that's just as bad as the old regime." And someone I think told him that didn't sound great. So he came out the next day and said,"I will be in charge. They have to ask me who's going to be their new supreme leader." And and I I point to that only because this is the biggest middle finger you can imagine from Iran, right? Which is, you know, not only are they not going to let Donald Trump choose, which of course was always fanciful unless we were going to literally take over the country. But they chose someone who would be someone he had already said uh when he said they had to ask him who the next Supreme leader should be. He said this one person. He said that you can't put the put the sun in there. And Ron turned around and said, "Well, you know, yes, we can. We we're we're still a sovereign nation. We're going to do what we want." I I I think there there is they it is not so much that they have had no ration for this role war, Don. It's that they've had every rationale under the sun. We've heard uh about the about the the nuclear threat um and that's been uh exaggerated and downplayed at the same time. I mean, one of the crazy things about this is is that the the hawk case for war, you hear two different things. You hear one, Iran is really weak, so we can now wage this war without very much consequence. And the other is Iran is incredibly strong. Uh, so we have to wage this war. It's kind of, you know, heads you, we should wage war, tails, we must wage war, but no matter how you phrase it, it's like we're going to end up having to have a war. And and that's one. So there's the nuclear thing. There's the the threat to the to to those in the region. There's regime change. Donald Trump at one point said, you know, we want to create a a stable and free Iran Iran so that the people can rise up and take control of their government as if um that was a kind of an implausible thing coming out of his mouth. But you've heard all kinds of rationale given um including the notion as as Marco Rubio said at one point last week that there was an imminent threat from Iran sometime off in the future. Now, Don, um, >> an imminent threat in the future, >> right? You're a master, you're a master of American vocabulary. I know. I wanted to say, Mr. Secretary, I don't think these words mean what you think they mean. Um, you know, an imminent threat is not a threat that's off in the future. They're actually got definitionally not an imminent threat if it's off at some point in the future. So I don't I I think the most amazing thing about this is the contrast between the awesome truly awesome capabilities on display of the American military, especially its air power. Uh and the total lack of planning, strategy, message consistency despite that talking point that you played now that has obviously circulated throughout Fox News. But as you think about the first week of this war, a war of choice, the administration had no idea how to explain it in a way that made any sense or that would allay some of the fears of the people you were talking to at your dinner parties in LA and that everybody's talking about at dinner parties all over the country. How do you launch a war of choice at a time and place of your choosing without managing to get everybody on the same page about why are we doing this? What's it going to accomplish? And when are we going to get out and how? What's the endg game? What's the plan? What's the strategy? What's the endgame? We've heard nothing in the course. We're on week two. We have no idea. >> Okay. So, you've been around, you know, for a while, as have I. We're men of a certain age. >> So, then what do you what So, then what do you think it is? Because I started by saying this was an Epstein distraction war, but I think it goes even beyond that. I think it's a distraction from a lot of things. Sinking poll numbers. um you know what's happened what has happened on the streets of Minneapolis and in other places uh in Minnesota and and other places around the country. I think it's a distraction from a lot of things but um the intelligence shows John that there was no imminent threat that Iran was going to strike Israel. Um, Marco Rubio came out a couple days later and said, "Well, uh, Israel was going to strike Iran and we wanted to sort of, you know, you wanted to fix fix that or make sure that our u men and women over there or our facilities over there were uh were not harmed. So then what is what do you think this is? What's your rationale? Why do you think they're doing it?" Well, look, you got to get that the most dangerous job in America is psychoidalizing Donald Trump. But I I will venture into that territory for you now, Don. Only for you when am I willing to do this. I you know, one of the things at the beginning of this that we heard a lot was and rightly so, people pointed out, Donald Trump spent 10 years uh running for president, being president, running for president again on on if nothing, the only one of the few consistent things he ran on was being anti-war. You know, he said over and over again, no more uh endless wars, no more forever wars, no more wars in in period. I'm a peacemaker. As recently as this term he's been, you know, I should have won the Nobel Pri prize because I've ended all these wars and now we're engaging in this war with all of its risks, right? And a lot of people have pointed out said, well, you know, he's very hypocritical. You know, Trump says one thing does the other. And I I like I don't think this is hypocritical. I think it's a another piece of evidence that Trump is of insincerity and macacity, right? It's Trump he doesn't believe anything he says ever. He just says he says in any given moment what he thinks will advance his interest. So I think what changed at the beginning of the second term was and I think this is a place where where BB Netanyahu has been masterful at playing Donald Trump is appealing to you've won. Okay. You've had the one of the great political comebacks in in the history of the world when you came back after launching an insurrection after people thought you were writing you off for dead as a political figure. He came back and won in 2024. What's next? Well, what's next is to be the president of the world. What's next is to be able to is to is to change bend the course of history by not just changing America, making America great again, but by in his point of from his point of view, but by exerting America's will throughout the world. And you saw him unbeknownst without very little notice by a lot of people doing things over the course of the first year that he would never have done in the first term in terms of using military force. There was that Axio report that had him launching more that shows that in the first year he launched more air strikes and drone strikes in the course of one year this first year of the second term than Joe Biden did in the entire four years of the presidency. Right? He attacked the hoodies. Nobody kind of paid. He bombed Fortoo. He bombed Nigeria on Christmas Day. And then he has Venezuela. And Venezuela was this war where this this had this the attack on Venezuela and the abduction essentially of the head of state where everybody said, "Well, this might go wrong. Your base might abandon you. Uh this thing could go haywire in six different ways." And it didn't. And I think Trump has got to this point where he thought this was just another thing he could do without any blowback, without any consequence, without any political consequences. And I think he got seduced in the way a lot of presidents do on the basis of all that. Every one of those, every one of those strikes, all of those things that he's done over the in terms of military intervention over the course of the year has got has fed his sense, which you and I both know is one of the dominant treat traits of Donald Trump. It's kind of the the narcissism, the grandiosity, the hubris, you know, of I c I I have this awesome military at my disposal and this is, you know, the next the next the next the next great challenge for me. Uh the next the thing the next big win I can score without unleashing without opening that Pandora's box. And I I think he didn't I think he the logic of those things led him to a place that is just not going to prove to be true. >> Well, the lo or logic or illogic because logical or illogical because he he thought I guess and I think you said this in so many words that he thought it would be like Venezuela. >> He could just go in and bully and you know he could go pick up Madura or the you know and then he could or he could go in and then pick up a new leader, a new regime in Iran and then that did not happen. He did not He doesn't understand that Iran has been preparing for this for decades. >> Yes. And and and that there are all the that there that Yes. They've been preparing for it for decades and that because of for because of oil for one thing but a a whole bunch of other things. Um this is not you can't do a surgical strike um where you he said this thing, Don, in the New York Times about Venezuela to your point. And I and I I do think it's like a it's not just Venezuela, but it's all been building towards this. But he said this thing in the New York Times about Venezuela where he said it was it literally like the quote was this is the perfect scenario. We got what we wanted >> and we only had to change out two people and everyone else kept their jobs. He didn't actually change the regime. They're all the same people. They're all Maduro's people are all running the country now. And he said we got 140 million barrels or 140 billion barrels of oil. And it's like it that that's his idea of the perfect scenario. We can go in, get rid of the guy we don't like, put in somebody we do like, even if they believe the same thing as the guy we don't like, get a bunch of oil out, and there's no consequence. My base doesn't abandon me, the the stock market stays high, none of that, nothing else happens. That is just not an applicable frame of reference for Iran. Yeah, but that didn't obviously that is not happening right with Iran. >> That's what I'm saying. And it was never it was never applicable. Anybody who put any thought of this would have said, "Uh, Mr. President, it's not going to be the same in Iran." That was pretty obvious to anyone. I'm not even a foreign policy expert. I could have told them that. >> All you have to do is just be on the planet for just a little while to know that. I mean, I remember we were trying to figure out about, you know, the last time that we had uh a draft and that was I think it was the 70s when it was an official draft for the Vietnam War and then in the 80s it came back um I believe in the 80s around the first Gulf War. Do you remember that when >> that's 90 the first Gulf War is 91. Well, there was and but in the in the 80s I think it came back and then in 91 there was some talk about implementing it again because I remember when I went to get my driver's license that you had to do it and something for signing up because of the because of the Gulf War. But um yeah, and so now uh there's talk of a draft again. So my point is is that what is next for him because this is going to go badly. And so if you cannot improve your poll numbers, if you can't get people to stop talking about Epste in a way that you want them to, then what's next after war, John? I don't think there's much except for, you know, end times. That's not good. Let's hope for not for end. Don, I mean, come on. I just We're trying to keep people Well, no. But what is what's the next thing after a war? If you can't distract people, if you can't gain the overwhelming support of the people after you have declared war in the Middle East of all places, >> yeah, >> then what's next? >> Maybe May, maybe Don, what how about this? You just go back to Mara Lago at the end of your term and say, you know what? I I grifted and grafted my way towards untold wealth and I made America great again and I take my gold watch and I go home. I'm not saying that's what he's I'm not saying that's what's in his mind, but it would be Wouldn't it be nice? Would it be nice to think if the the president just thought, you know what? Um I'm done here. You know, I you know, I can I can go play golf for the rest of my days. I don't know if that I don't know what's going to happen, Don. I don't I don't Look, I don't want to predict that this is going to We don't know. Trump could bail at the end of the week and I would say bail from Iran. That is he could he could decide he he has in the past. We've seen him over and over again when the one set of of data, the one piece of push back where the market, broadly speaking, the market pushes back against him. When he sees that happen, he tends to, as they say in the that that phrase, the taco phrase, right? Trump always chickens out. That's usually what changes his behavior. That's what we've seen. We saw it with the original Liberation Day tariffs. He saw the markets tank and he kind of backed out of that. He was backed off of the Greenland thing when the markets uh turned against him. The market's turning against him now. Is it possible that Trump announces? I'm not saying he will. These will be true. But hey, we did what we always wanted to do. We wanted to get rid of the Ayatollah. Pay no attention to the fact the Ayatollah's son is in there now. This is the way Trump operates. He always says, you know, it's just it says, "Hey, look over there. You see that thing? It looks white. It's actually black. That thing that looks up, it's actually down." Trump just announces, "Well, we're done now." And pulls out after a week. Is that possible? I think that is possible. And do I think that that will reverse the damage that's been done and you know recontain the Pandora's box of potentially uh calamitous or regional aftershocks that will ripple across the Middle East as a result of this? I don't I think that those things are now out in the world. It's like you take off the lid off Pandora's box and the bad stuff inside the box is out and it's not going to be put back in very easily. But I do think Trump could do that. And I I you would think if you're concerned with your poll numbers, uh you look at the popularity of this war, not popular. I mean, really not popular. And you and I are old enough to remember when America launched a major military intervention someplace, the country rallied around the flag no matter what. You would see you'd see the numbers rise. Trump's this the war is at 35%. >> You know, there's no it's a there's there been no nobody who's just rallied to to the cause here. It's basically his base. that's uh his base and hardcore Republicans and some old neocons who are for it and everybody else is against it. So I don't I it doesn't seem like the war is the way out of his problem politically. You know, it seems like he's getting he's running out of options here. >> I was looking I just was googling. We're the exact same age, buddy. That is crazy. >> Yeah. What's your birthday? >> Uh March 1st. Yours is January 23rd. Yes, sir. >> Just a little I'm a little bit older than you. >> Happy belated birthday. But what does he But what does he care about most? Does he care most about saving face or does he care most about reports like this? Roll it, Andy. >> And a Fox News alert. It's a Monday morning and the market is open and it doesn't really like what's happening out there on the energy front. Apparently, uh, the market down about 666 points right now, but it's early in the market open and we'll see if, um, the administration can reassure people that things are moving forward in the straight of Hormuz. So, we'll keep that in mind as we move forward because the strikes in Iran sending crude oil to over $100 a barrel for the first time in four years. President Trump just posted this on True Social, saying short-term oil prices, which will drop rapidly when the destruction of the Iran nuclear threat is over, is a very small price to pay for USA and world safety and peace. Only fools would think differently. Today, a gallon of gas is costing Americans $347. A week ago was about $2.99. >> So, I mean, and look, the the the that's going to penetrate the Trump bubble is all I'm saying. Yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah. And as I said as I said this a second ago I think you know >> maybe look to the and to the to the person in the thing what nuclear threat what was the what was the threat before there was no threat. So in that go on but I'm sorry but in that whole truth social post was a lie about world safety and whatever. If anything, he has made the world less safe by do by, you know, going over uh and doing this when he didn't have to when there was no rationale or reason or imminent threat to do it. Sorry to cut you off, but >> No, no, I I think that look, I think that's right. And and and you know, I I had Jake Sullivan on my podcast uh uh that's just out today and and he's uh you know, former >> That's a good national security adviser for Joe Biden and and someone who was an architect of the Iran nuclear deal in 2015. And I said, "So what's the just give me your sense, Jacob, like what of what Iran's nuclear capacity is now?" And he said, you know, that he that that that everyone in the realm of experts about this sort of says that the the the last military strike that we that we struck with with Israel back in uh back last year had significantly degraded the Iranian nuclear program, not eliminated. you're never going to probably be able to eliminate it, but that they were not imminently or close to imminently on any time horizon that we that we care about. Uh that's kind of conceivable, meaning not this week, not today, not this week, not next month, not next year, but in the in the in the short and medium term, Iran's not does not have the capacity to launch a nuclear warhead. They don't have the capacity to launch a nuclear warhead here. They don't have an capacity to launch a nuclear warhead in Israel. They don't they won't have one very soon. So I think the the that is a madeup thing. I agree with you. They are still a this is a bad regime that does a lot of bad stuff in the Middle East. They are still a giant sponsor of terrorism in the Middle East. There's no there's no you can't cry any tears for for the Iranian for the Iranian regime. to your point like the the question remains what is the what are we getting out of this that uh that makes it worth uh all of the instability that we're unleashing and and the potential cost and blood and treasure to the to the United States. They haven't given a good answer to that. I don't have a good answer to that. I can't you can't I can't make one up. And and just as I can't really predict I mean getting in the prediction game, Don, with Donald Trump, you know what it's like. It's like what are you supposed to say? I mean, you know, I don't know what he's I don't know what he's gonna do. I just I don't know what he's gonna do. I know that he's gonna that his distraction is one of the things that is to your point earlier, distraction is one of the key uh tools in his arsenal, right? He's that's, you know, he he's got there's a lot of bad things going on for him politically. He wants to try to distract people. you know, the next, you know, question is going to revolve around what Trump is going to try to do to mess with the midterms because he's on he's deepening the hole that he and the party are in right now and making it even more likely that he's going to lose control of one or both houses of Congress. And so, can he afford that? Does he want to spend the next two years under investigation? Um, I think we're going to see increasingly crazy [ __ ] out of Donald Trump. Uh, I hope I hope it's not more war, but I but I don't know. I don't know. It's like, you know, I predicting the future about anybody is hard, but predicting about Donald Trump is really a sucker game. >> Oh, he's gonna They're already coming up with a way to steal the election. They're already coming up with some sort of convoluted backhanded way for Donald Trump to take over the election. I don't know if you've seen that, but we can discuss. Of >> course, I have. You've seen it. Okay. Well, let's talk about that. And I want to talk about the uh the attack Donald Trump um blaming uh the attack on the or at least the the bombing of the the school uh in Iran. He's blaming that on uh Thran or Iran itself when it's truly a lie. We'll discuss all of that. Give me two minutes. I'm going to get a word in from our sponsors and we're back. The Don Show is brought to you by the Freedom from Religion Foundation. Now, I say this a lot because it matters. Equality under the law only works when the government stays neutral. The First Amendment wasn't written to protect one religion. It was written to protect all of us, believers, non-believers, everyone. But right now, that principle is being tested. You've got Christian nationalist groups trying to blur the line between church and state, pushing policies that force their beliefs onto everyone else. 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Now, you've probably heard people talking about magnesium before, but here's the thing. Most magnesium supplements only use one or two forms, and a lot of it just passes right through your body without doing much. Magnesium Breakthrough is different. It combines seven different forms of magnesium along with co-actors that help your body actually absorb and use it. People talk about deeper sleep, feeling calmer, better workout recovery, even better digestion. And you know me, I don't recommend something unless I'm willing to try it myself. So, I'm starting Magnesium Breakthrough and I've been doing it and I'm inviting you to try it with me. Pay attention to how you're you sleep. Notice how you feel when you wake up in the morning and see if you feel more rested and more balanced. And here's the best part. Bioimizers offers a full 365day money back guarantee. That's a full year, no questions asked. So, if you want to try it, go to bioopimizers.comdon. That's biooptimizers.comdon and use the code don 15 to get 15% off of your first order. Make this the year you finally start sleeping better. Thanks to our sponsors. Yes, thank you so much to our sponsors. Okay. Um, Andy, can you get me the one where they're on the plane and they're talking about uh who's responsible for the uh it's Trump and Hegathth about the girl school? Here it is. >> Mr. President, did the United States bomb a girl's elementary school in southern Iran on the first day of the war and kill 175 people? >> My opinion, based on what I've seen, that was done by Iran. >> Is that true, Mr. Except it was Iran who did that? We're certainly investigating. >> Still investigating. >> But the only the only side that targets civilians is Iran. >> We think it was done we think it was done by Iran. >> Very inaccurate, as you know, with their munitions. They have no accuracy whatsoever. It was done by Iran. >> Now, here's the thing. The kind of munitions that they're claiming that would have that happened there, the reportedly that's happened there, Iran doesn't have those kinds of munitions. It's Americans who have those kinds of munitions. So, um, are they just lying there? Here it is. Confirmed footage. Here it is. Footage reviewed, John. Um, and geollocated by Bellingot confirms US Tomahawk missiles hit the girl's primary school in southern Iran that killed 180 people, most of them children. Researchers Trevor Ball notes, "Israel does not possess Tomahawk missiles. United States does." So what is the deal? So Israel doesn't, the US does and I don't think Iran has that kind of munition. >> I I believe it is the case then and he kind of um threw a red herring into that when he answered the question where he said, you know, only Iran uh target civilians. I don't think anybody is right now, Don, claiming that we targeted this school, which is really a different order of magnitude of a problem. It's a It's terrible that this happened. I don't want to in any way minimize it. Okay, this is the problem with war. The one of the problems with war, especially war from the air, is that innocent civilians are going to get hit. It doesn't matter how accurate your missiles are, you're going to make mistakes. Doesn't matter who you're targeting. Sometimes things go ary. That's again, that's not ne that's not I'm not offering a a we we launched this war. We're responsible for those civilian deaths if those were indeed killed by an American missile. though I'm not letting America off the hook, but I am saying that it's like a it's like a diversionary tactic to say, "Well, it must have been Iran because we never target civilians." Well, no one's really saying they targeted civilians. What someone's saying is that they killed civilians, which is is a is a a categorically different thing. And I believe it's the case there's an Iranian military facility not far from that school that was probably the intended target. None of it, all of it in some sense that none of it matters because we again we started this war and part of the reason why traditionally in the time that we've covered uh these kinds of things. If you I I've said to a lot of people and people some civilians out there don't believe me when I say this but I've met a lot of generals in my time you know and and in reporting I I've never met a bloodthirsty general. The generals, right, are the generals are the most cautious people out there. They will follow the order that they're given by the commander-in-chief. They will go out and execute it, and whatever that order is, as long as they think it's legal, they will go and do it. And they're incredibly proficient at it. The American military is fearsome and awesome and everything else. But their attitude basically is, we want to be fearsome and awesome so that we don't have to fight these wars because if we fight the wars, we're going to kill some civilians. We're going to lose our own uh sons and daughters. We want to be the toughest guy on the block so that we don't have to beat anybody up. It's like pol most most cops, not all cops, but most cops who are like the proudest cop you'll ever meet is the cop who is like, I worked 25 years and I never had to draw my gun from my holster. That's that's the way most most of them are. That's the way most generals are because they're they recognize that once your gun's out of the holster, bad [ __ ] can happen. And that's the case with once you launch a war, bad [ __ ] can happen. This is a good example. I think they're lying about it because that's what they do. They lie about everything. Donna, they never take responsibility for anything that, you know, this is a terrible thing that's happened. And the fact that Pete Hexith and Donald Trump are trying to lie about it and claim that the Iranians did it, that this surprises me uh about as much as it surprises me that you look better than the average 60-year-old. >> Oh, please. I'm I'm only 40, so I'm just saying. I keep >> You said we were the You said we were the same age, dude. Come on. Sorry. Sorry, I didn't mean to out ouch you there, but like, you know, you you brought it up. >> Let's talk about let's talk about what could happen because we said, you know, um what comes next if after you start a war, there's not much else that can help you politically. Um and then so this is put this up, Andy. This is from u you know Keith Ellison is the attorney general in um >> Minnesota and he wrote this on his substack. He says Trump is not is not just flirting with authoritarian fantasies anymore. The evidence now points to an active plan for a federal takeover of the 2026 elections. And the alarm bells could not be louder. In recent months, he has openly mused what what we um shouldn't even have and that we shouldn't even have an election after winning the presidency and talked about the need to take over elections and nationalize the voting signaling to desire desire to pull control away from the states and into his own hands. Those weren't throwaway lines. They were uh the public the the public tip of much more dangerous iceberg. And so this is a problem. This is the issue. Let me make this bigger because my eyes as an older person is not so good. Behind closed doors, his allies have been quietly building the machinery to make that takeover real. On February 19th, a 30p person round table in downtown Washington DC brought together senior federal officials and some of the most notorious 2020 election deniers at the Gold Institute for International Strategy. Retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, Trump's former national security adviser, chaired the meeting, which focused on how Trump could use a manufactured national emergency to sidestep the Constitution's clear rule that states, not that states, not the president, run elections. And so, and then ProPublica has a great article. If you click on that, Annie, go to ProPublica. Trump's officials, Trump officials attend a summit of election deniers who want the president to take over the midterms. I'm telling you, I'm telling you, they're going to try this and they may succeed. And I have been warning people about this forever. When especially the folks who can't come on and say, "No, you know, he can't take over the election." And I'm really I'm really um I I have the most confidence that the Democrats are going to win and it's going to be a blowout election. And I say if we have an election, they say we're going to have one. I don't know if we are. Well, Don, I'm I'm I'm quiet only because you know you guys you and I are singing from the same song book. I I I you look I there are not that many things. Donald Trump says a wide variety of things that are [ __ ] where he says things he doesn't do anything about them. He throws them off top of his head all the time and says things that he doesn't mean and says things he never has any intention of following through on. If you look back over the course of his time in public life, these things that he says over and over again that he keeps coming back to um time after time, those are things where, you know, if you don't pay attention to them and don't assume that he that they are now kind of lodged in his brain and that he's that he's projecting and talking about stuff that he's saying the quiet part out loud, you're nuts. I mean, he everything everything Trump does is something he's announced beforehand. And to the point of this story and and to the point of a lot of the commentary that you offer and that I offer at various times, Trump's been talking about this now pretty much for the last like year. You know, he's been doing exactly what he did in 2020 where he spent nine months attacking the mail-in voting system during COVID. >> He's kind of setting the ground laying the groundwork for the Stop the Steel movement. You know, he told everybody what he's going to do. He's he was basically undermining the election so that if he lost he would try to steal it and that's what he did and he's doing it now and that that thing about the musing about how there might not even be an election. You know there's the you know his discussion he did this New York Times interview when they finally got into the Oval Office and had a long interview with him. He talked about how, you know, he wasn't he thought about, you know, how he he should have maybe deployed the National Guard in 2020, but he had thought about it now and decided that the National Guard might not be up to the job. And and I mean, that's interesting on a bunch of levels. He's thinking about it. He's thinking about, you know, why is he thinking about it? Not just retrospectively, he's thinking about it going forward. And if you think about the ICE situation, um what what is Los Angeles to Washington DC to Chicago to Minneapolis look like to you if not the the the test runs for using ICE instead of the National Guard, which Trump has kind of I think decided, well, those those people might be too loyal to the law to do what I need to do, but I'm so I'm going to build my paramilitary force and now I'm going to start doing test runs in these various cities where I roll out the the these ICE incursions. They're not just about trying to get all the black and brown faces or as many of them as possible out of the country. They're not just about the immigration uh and detention and and and deportation agenda. They're about they're about exercising the muscles uh that his paramilitary unit, which is just what ICE has become. That's all it is. It's clear what it is. And it's clear that if you saw it in any other country, you would say this is a paramilitary operation. A a military operation that's loyal not to the Constitution, not to the country, but to one person, the president of the United States. it it given what you're seeing on the streets and Trump's repeated discussions of how we shouldn't have an election, we don't need an election, uh his his threats to invoke the insurrection act and and all of that, I I think you'd have to be nuts not to think and and this reporting we're starting to see, there's apparently a draft executive order about about declaring a national emergency. Um, I think there are a lot of potential different ways, wrinkles, and flavors of this, but Trump and his people trying to figure out the correct combination of justifications, legal ration, paperwork, and then at the same time, the the muscle that you would need to send to to actually seize control, whether it's of of of ballot boxes or whether it's of just trying to intimidate uh voters from who are trying to in in the in key states try to intimidate people from going to the polls on election day or whether it means he tries to call them off alto together. All of that's on the table right now. It's not this is not it's and finally Democrats, the actual Democratic party as opposed to just activists and people in the in the election law world. It's you're finally starting to see some United States senators and and congressmen go, "Okay, this is like serious. We have to deal with this." Um, it's just now dawning on people as you're seeing reporting like this ProPublica report that uh the the the last to know or the last to take this seriously are the elected representatives and the in the Democratic party uh hierarchy. They are now finally waking up to this and realizing, boy, we [ __ ] need a plan. I've been asking this. You're right. I've been asking this for months and they've all been saying no. I'm I'm I'm pretty certain. I'm confident that we're I'm like I don't know. Not with this guy. Look at what's happening. All right, John. Um, thank you, sir. >> Dude, >> it's always a pleasure seeing you. I'm I'm I'm I'm dragging today. I have the Mondays. This is the first time I'll admit I have the Mondays. You ever have the Mondays? >> I have the Mondays every Monday. What are you talking about? I have the Monday. I have the Mondays on Tuesday, Wednesday. I usually by on like Thursday and Friday I'm usually I'm usually cranking but the first to three days of the week especially on those ones you go out to LA and go to do Mar show you know they got the long flight back and forth you got all the seeing all your friends in Los Angeles and they're all worried about stuff so there's a lot of you know uh indulgence going on and like I you know I could be wrecked for days I see it I but you dude you're you know you're tireless you're tireless you're on this you're on you're on this live stream all the time. You're flying. You're, you know, in the world of independent media, Don. Um, the thing I love most, uh, is that you're about you, is that you're still doing field work, which I think is just the is rad because a lot of these independent media people, and I, again, I got a lot of respect for independent media across the board. I'm like, go go go you guys, but a lot of them are just sitting in their sitting in their home studios, you know, talking to people. Again, that's valuable. I'm not I'm not [ __ ] on it. But the thing we're the thing that independent media doesn't have yet is the thing in some ways we most need which as the as the traditional news media atrophies like no one's doing field I mean there's a you look at all the cable networks you look at broadcast networks how many people the number the number of correspondents they have in the field people on the ground you know where the stories are happening that is getting smaller and smaller and smaller in traditional media and independent media hasn't yet picked up the baton on and and taking that on and you're doing it and I love that. >> Yeah. Thank you. Look, look, when big stories happen, you know, they send everybody there, but rarely right. It's it's rare than >> they're not and everybody is a lot smaller number now, Don. It's like they said to everybody, they send they don't they send a couple of people with a very small crew. It's not like the old days when we were in the in the cable news business where it was like, you know, these guys are out there, you know, with giant teams and trucks and all that stuff. Now they've got like you know uh these skeleton crews and and a lot fewer of them and and a lot of them have not very much experience in the field either and and that's something you also have which you notice that yeah noticing that >> and I and I don't want I don't want to piss off look they're young they're young I don't want I'm not I'm just being discouraging everybody's got to get experience somehow but you do look around you don't see a lot of familiar faces out there anymore right and it's again one of the reasons why I like to see it when you're in Minneapolis or in Chicago or wherever it is you've gone because it's like I'm like oh you know Don's man Don knows what he's doing. He's, you know, he's done this before. Um, and that's a valuable thing. >> Thank you, sir. We'll talk about the draft at another time because it's concerning to me, but they don't want us guys. >> I was going to say you're past you're I think we're both over the age limit, Don. Can you imagine? They like, you bring them in for the >> past my military prime. >> They'd be like, Don, uh, can you uh can you uh how many uh pull-ups can you do? You'll be like, I can uh pull up a few genonics as well. Do I got I can pull up nine or 10 of those in a row. No problem, buddy. >> I still got a couple pull-ups in me. >> I know you do. I I'm just a little bit. Can you imagine though going through basic training right now at your age? Can you imagine like basic training like going down to Fort Bragg or something? They're like, you know, making you do basic train see what like watch like eyes wide shutter or not Eyes Wide Shut up, Full Metal Jacket. And yeah, >> I that's not, you know, >> I'd take eyes wide shut over a full metal jacket. >> I bet you would, Don. I bet you would. >> Thank you, John Hman. It's so good to see you. All right. Make sure you catch uh Mr. John Hileman on his program, which is the uh co-host of the Hacks Untapped podcast, an MS Now analyst, which I watch him all the time. I watch the podcast as well, and I've been on the podcast, and a partner at Puck News. Thank you, John. I'll see you soon. >> Bro, thank you. Uh, if you want to know anything about the Don Lemon Show, see, but people are noticing we're out here. We're working. We're working. We're working. Um, I I should have told him and, you know, doing field reporting and they're trying to stop that, if you know what I mean. So, we'll see. We'll see. We're We'll be okay. We're going to be um um victorious in this process. So, thank you for watching. I'm going to see you back here tomorrow, excuse me, to this evening at 5:00. But I just want to tell you if you want to know anything about the show right there donleman.com. Uh our tickets for DL and DL right at the top. You guys go. I got a call this weekend saying the tickets are selling. Tell the folks if they want to get it, get them now. Especially after the because there's going to be some promotion that goes into it. And once that promotion starts, the ticket's going to go. So uh we're going to be in Raleigh uh 43. We're going to be in Cleveland 44. We're going to be in Boston 417 and in Tyson's Virginia 418. DL and DL anything goes. Don Lemon, DL Hugley, and then also how we say viable out here on these streaming streets is that you uh through your generosity. So if you uh are a member, you can gift a membership. If you're not a member, become a member. It's very reasonable. All you have to do is go hit that watch button, excuse me, it takes you to our main YouTube page. You can become a member there where it says join or just become a subscriber. 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Uh and that is through the shirts that we have shirts and the stickers right there that says we will not be silenced. Uh we support freedom of speech. We stand for independent journalism, the Don Lemon Show. Okay. All the proceeds go to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Nothing goes to the Don Lemon Show. Okay. So, thank you for watching. I'll see you back here at 5:00 p.m. Eastern time here on the Don Leman Show and the Don channel. You are informed. I had so much more to talk to you about as it relates to this war and I couldn't even get to it because there is so much I I just like overloaded on information this weekend about the war looking for a rationale or something that made sense about why this is happening and it just there is none there's nothing except for the only thing would be to um stop the killing of people of and to get rid of the regime but They're saying it wasn't about a regime change and then they have just put in the person who is the son of the person they killed and who was more of a hardliner. So none of it makes sense. So I don't even try to make sense of heads or tails of it because there's not. I've done the research for you. Okay. So until I see you back here at 5:00 p.m. Eastern time, be informed without being inundated and turn the TV off. Thanks so much for watching everybody. Your support means the world to us. Don't forget to hit that like button and subscribe so you never miss a show. We're live every weekday at 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p. p.m. Eastern time with new clips dropping at 2 p and 8 p.m. And if you want even more Don Lemon Show content, join the Lemon community. Members get exclusive posts, behindthe-scenes videos, and live chats just for you. So, hit the join button or visit our channel page to sign up. Thanks again for all your love and your support, and I'll see you next time.

This morning, we’re breaking down the latest developments in the war with Iran, and the situation is becoming more alarming by the day. According to Karoline Leavitt, Trump is not ruling out the possibility of a draft, raising serious questions about how far this conflict could escalate. Meanwhile, talk of regime change appears to have gone nowhere, with the son of Ali Khamenei expected to take power, signaling an even more hardline future for the country. Back home, the fallout is already hitting Americans’ wallets. Gas prices are climbing, markets are sliding, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average is taking a hit as the economic consequences of the conflict ripple across the globe. So where does this go from here? How long could this war last, and how much more strain can the economy take? Today, we're joined by journalist John Heilemann to break it all down. This episode is sponsored by Graza. Take your food to the next level with Graza. Visit https://graza.co/LEMON and use promo code LEMON today for 20% off your first order! This episode is brought to you by Shopify. See less carts go abandoned and more sales go with Shopify and their Shop Pay button.Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial today at https://SHOPIFY.COM/lemon This episode is sponsored by FFRF. If you believe freedom means freedom FOR EVERYONE, join them. Visit https://FFRF.US/DON or text “DON” to 511511 This episode is brought to you by BiOptimizers. Go to https://bioptimizers.com/donlemon and use my exclusive code DON15 to get 15% off any order. Make 2026 the year you finally start sleeping great again. WE HAVE MERCH!! Purchase here: https://don-lemon-merch-store.myshopify.com/ WATCH & Subscribe on YouTube @TheDonLemonShow! Become a member of our channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXs0PlIGUDSXfBaF7j-1euA/join Follow Don on Substack! Listen on Apple, Spotify and iHeart Radio!