Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST.

Today we discuss:

• A JetBlue pilot accuses the US military of recklessly flying over Venezuelan airspace without active transponders, endangering thousands of civilian air passengers and causing a near miss.

• Running against crime and illegal immigration, rightist José Antonio Kast defeats a communist candidate for the Chilean presidency. Argentina, Paraguay, Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador are all governed by right-wingers.

• Trump designates street fentanyl as a WMD. Meanwhile, the US military blows up three alleged drug boats in the Pacific, killing eight unknown civilians.

• Blaise Metreweli, first female head of MI6, emphasizes threat from Russia and the war in Ukraine alongside high-tech/AI intelligence.

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Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST.

Today we discuss:

• Bloody weekend: Australia Bondi Beach massacre claims 15 at Hannukah event, gunman kills 2 Brown students and injures 9, director Rob and wife Michele Reiner killed at their L.A. home.

• “Dewoked” coins commemorating the 250th anniversary of the US canceled Frederick Douglass and shackled and unshackled hands, women’s suffrage and a “Votes for Women” flag and the civil rights movement and desegregation. Instead, we’ll get the Mayflower Compact, Pilgrims, Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and the Gettysburg Address with Lincoln.

• A tale of two presidential libraries: Awash in donations, Trump will probably use a foundation to avoid National Archives scrutiny. Biden has raised enough money to purchase a modest home on the beach.

• Dude, Where’s My Nuke? A CIA nuclear device loaded with plutonium has been missing in the Himalayas since 1965. Now the glacier where it was lost is melting. What could go wrong?

Got a question for CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou and/or political cartoonist Ted Rall? Today's your chance to bend their ear about the news of the day or anything else you feel like! It's a Rumble-only exclusive where you can call in live. Be pithy, be quick, be brilliant on DeProgram!

Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST.

Today we discuss:

• The U.S. seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, a dramatic escalation in President Trump’s pressure campaign against Nicolás Maduro, the leader of Venezuela. Is this why we’re spending $900 million a year on defense?

• The Federal Reserve lowered interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point on Wednesday in a highly contentious decision. The split among policymakers suggested that the central bank may be done lowering borrowing costs for the time being unless there are clear signs that the labor market is weakening further. Meanwhile, President Trump is trying to persuade the public that the economy is strong.

• The University of Alabama has suspended the publication of two student-run magazines — one primarily focused on Black students and another on women’s issues — citing recent federal guidance against diversity, equity and inclusion programs on college campuses.

• Australia’s landmark new social media age law is set to go into effect, barring anyone under 16 from holding an account as the government moves to enforce one of the world’s strictest online safety measures.

Scott Stantis, cartoonist for The Chicago Tribune, is filling in for John.

Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST.

Today we discuss:

• In a wide-ranging Politico interview, Trump said ideological divisions threaten to fracture Washington's alliances with Europe. “I think [their leaders are] weak, but I also think that they want to be so politically correct. I think they don't know what to do.” Ukraine—where Zelensky says he’s finally ready to hold elections—is the main point of contention.

• Russia has long used Mexico as a base for espionage, earning it the nickname “the Vienna of Latin America” during the Cold War. American officials say those efforts scaled up after Russia invaded Ukraine. But the U.S. says Mexico is ignoring the issue. American officials who asked about a list of GRU spies were told the Mexican officials never got it, that it was too vague or that junior officials lost it.

• Afghan fighters who served in “Zero Units” led by the CIA spiraled into despair because of inability to work, bureaucratic neglect and abandonment by the U.S. government, driving at least 4 to suicide. One was Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the man charged with shooting National Guard soldiers in DC.

• Another city goes blue: Miamians elected Eileen Higgins as mayor, the first Democrat in 28 years. Higgins, a former county commissioner, defeated Republican Emilio González, an ex-city manager who had the endorsement of Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis, with 60% of the vote.

• NYT reports that Trump Administration weighed sending survivors of U.S. attacks on alleged drug boats to CECOT prison in El Salvador, to keep them away from American courts. Lawyers say information disclosed in a court could undermine the legality of the attacks and the political rationale.

Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST.

Today we discuss:

• Japan is threatening China militarily which is "completely unacceptable", Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi says, after Chinese jets aimed radar at Japanese aircraft. China has blamed Japan for sending aircraft to repeatedly approach and disrupt the Chinese navy.

• Powerful Senate President Hun Sen vowed that Cambodia would carry out a fierce fight against Thailand as a second day of widespread combat drove tens of thousands of people to flee border areas. Is full-scale war at hand?

• 200,000 people have fled eastern Congo in recent days, as Rwanda-backed M23 rebels march on the strategic lakeside town of Uvira on the border with Burundi, and battling with Congolese troops and local groups known as Wazalendo. Scores have been killed. Here, too, we’re on the watch for full-fledged war.

• A bid by Paramount Skydance Corp. for Warner Bros. Discovery is backed by notable investors like Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, the Qatar Investment Authority and a less known player, Abu Dhabi’s L’imad Holding Co., founded recently and fully owned by the government. If TikTok is a matter of national security, how about this?

Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST.

Today we discuss:

• WarSec Hegseth declares an age of American “utopian idealism” over under the new National Security Strategy, demanding that U.S. allies fend for themselves, and called for a more conciliatory approach to China.

• Oral arguments in SCOTUS over Trump v. Slaughter, which will likely strip independence from agencies have regulated American monetary policy and stock trades, transportation systems and election campaigns, consumer product safety and broadcast licenses.

• Thailand bombed Cambodia in what it claimed was retaliation, leaving a peace plan presided over by Trump in danger of collapse.

• “I’ll be involved in that decision,” Trump says about Netflix buying Warner Bros for $82 billion. Will he scuttle this monopoly?

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Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST.

Today we discuss:

• The death from exposure to a rare, military-grade nerve agent called a Novichok in Britain of Dawn Sturgess, 44 and a British mother of three, seven years ago, illustrates the consequences of letting spies run amok. A perfume bottle containing the poison had been discarded by a pair of Russian operatives after using it in an attempted assassination months earlier. A new report blames Putin.

• Zelensky’s government systematically sabotages oversight, creating the perfect opportunity for corruption. Ukraine has stacked oversight boards with loyalists, leaves seats empty or stalled them from being set up at all. Leaders in Kyiv even rewrote company charters to limit oversight, allowing hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars to be stolen.

• Congress is focusing on two deaths in one boat strike. But 9 other people died in that same attack, and the United States has killed 87 in all. Were any of those killings legal?

• 55% disapprove/42% approve of Trump’s job performance. Much of his loss is among political independents; 31% approve, down from 41% in July. The president has also lost support among men, particularly white, college-educated men. Can he right the ship?

Chicago Tribune cartoonist Scott Stantis fills in for John today.

Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST.

Today we discuss:

• Admiral Mitch Bradley tries to explain himself to Congress today. As Trump claims each boat bombing saves 25,000 American lives, the man Hegseth blames for the double-tap strike is on the hot seat. Meanwhile, Signalgate is blowing up. Will this weekend mark the end of the former Fox News Weekend host?

• Israel is opening the Rafah border crossing to Egypt. Egypt says it doesn’t know anything about it. It will help sick and injured Gaza’s get medical care. But is this the beginning of Israel’s plot to ethnically cleanse and annex Gaza?

• Vladimir Putin to visit Narenda Modi in India to boost trade.

Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST.

Today we discuss:

• Pressure is building against Pete Hegseth. The Defense Department claims it was trying to destroy the rest of the boat, not the crew, while Hegseth blames Admiral Bradley for murdering helpless seamen. Is this the end of the line for Hegseth, or do the new neocons win again?

• Republicans are gambling that voters won’t resent them in next year’s elections for allowing Obamacare subsidies to expire, sending insurance prices to the stratosphere. Incumbents weigh the risk of a primary challenge for helping Democrats vs. the general election.

• Belgium, which holds most of the Russian assets being targeted for seizure as reparations to Ukraine, says its requests to the EU to be indemnified against Russian lawsuits and legal losses, and that other EU nations also agree to participate, are being ignored.

• Deep fake “Nudifying” software is out of control in schools around the world, where girls and female teachers are being humiliated by A.I.-generated phony nude images of themselves being passed around on smartphones by students. Schools are at a loss about how to handle it. Would cellphone bans solve the problem?