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?

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

Today we discuss:

• Sudan’s military government has offered Russia what would be its first naval base in Africa and an unprecedented perch overlooking critical Red Sea trade routes, reports the WSJ.

• Negotiations between the U.S. and Ukraine focused on where the de facto border with Russia would be drawn under a peace deal. Russian President Vladimir Putin — who will meet with President Trump's envoy today — wants the entire Donbas region.

• A lawsuit by an immigration judge fired by Trump has the potential to scramble the federal workforce and upend foundational civil rights laws. She says she was dismissed because of her gender, her status as a dual citizen of Lebanon and the fact that she once ran for municipal office in Ohio as a Democrat, all in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the First Amendment. The government has responded by arguing that the president's power to oversee the executive branch under Article II of the U.S. Constitution essentially overrides that core civil rights law.

• A small, highly anticipated study shows a glimmer of hope in the long effort to control HIV without medication and search for a cure for a virus that attacks immune cells. In six participants, the virus rebounded slowly and stayed at a low level for months, and one person’s immune system kept the virus in check for more than a year and a half.

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

Today we discuss:

• WaPo reports that the Pentagon deliberately launched a “double tap” second bombing strike against the survivors of a boat blown up by the U.S. in the Caribbean. A bipartisan group of Congressmen wants the incident investigated as a serious war crime. Can you commit a war crime in a non-declared war against a fictional entity?

• Trump issues ultimatum to Maduro: Leave Venezuela now.

• A.I. data centers are driving up electricity rates in Red America. Will the rising price of kilowatt hours be as politically charged as the price of eggs?

• Trump blames Biden for the Afghan ex-soldier who shot two National Guardmen in D.C., who was trained by the CIA, even though the suspect was granted asylum in April.

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

Today we discuss:

• The Pentagon Investigates Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) for Democratic Video Telling Troops to Disobey “Illegal Order.” Is It Treason or Just the Law?

• As Ukraine Gets Closer to a Deal with Russia and Russia Meets with the US in Abu Dhabi, European Nations Are Getting Skittish About Russia. France Calls for a Bigger Army as Chief Says the French Must Sacrifice Their Kids; Poland and Croatia Bring Back the Draft. Paranoia or Smart Planning?

• Trump Had a HealthCare Idea. Republican Congressmen squished it.

• Why Don’t Zoomers Protest? Things Aren’t OK, Boomer.

JOIN US LIVE ON RUMBLE!

https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShow

FOLLOW TED:

https://rall.com/

https://x.com/tedrall

FOLLOW JOHN:

https://www.instagram.com/realjohnkiriakou

https://x.com/JohnKiriakou

LISTEN ON SPOTIFY:

https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8Zu

LISTEN ON APPLE MUSIC:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-john-kiriakou-and-ted-rall

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

Today we discuss:

• Marjorie Taylor Greene resigns from Congress. What's next for her and for MAGA?
• US, Ukraine and Europeans make progress in Geneva but doubts remain over security guarantees: Is this the beginning of the end for the Russo-Ukrainian War?
• Psst—eight months ahead of schedule, DOGE no longer exists!

JOIN US LIVE ON RUMBLE!

https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShow

FOLLOW TED:

https://rall.com

https://x.com/tedrall

FOLLOW JOHN:

https://www.instagram.com/realjohnkiriakou

https://x.com/JohnKiriakou

LISTEN ON SPOTIFY:

https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8Zu

LISTEN ON APPLE MUSIC:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-john-kiriakou-and-ted-rall/id1825379504

On the “DeProgram” show with political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou, a high-level U.S. military delegation lands in turmoil-ridden Kyiv, pushing a 28-point peace plan coordinated with Moscow. Zelensky grapples with a $100 million energy sector corruption probe implicating allies. Meanwhile, a FBI whistleblower exposes the Internal Counterespionage Cell's "executive exemption," shielding Senior Executive Service brass from probes into fraud, retaliation, and espionage.

• Ukraine's Corruption Scandal and Political Turmoil: Anti-corruption watchdogs unravel a $100 million embezzlement scheme in the energy sector, fingering Zelensky ally Timur Mindich as the mastermind amid nationwide blackouts. Protests erupt in the Rada, toppling two ministers—Justice's German Galushchenko and Energy's Svitlana Hrynchuk—while opposition demands Yermak's ouster and a national unity coalition. Zelensky distances himself, imposing sanctions on Mindich yet dismissing graft as commonplace, fueling fears of deeper regime instability as investigations probe defense and banking ties.

• U.S. Military Delegation's Push for Peace: Army Secretary Daniel P. Driscoll and Gen. Randy George spearhead the highest-ranking Trump-era visit, briefing on a 28-point U.S.-Moscow peace blueprint that mandates halving Ukraine's military and territorial concessions. Zelensky receives the plan, pledging talks with Trump while insisting on unbreakable security, as the delegation secures an "aggressive timeline" for framework signing amid Russian strikes killing 26 in Ternopil. Observers question the scandal's timing, suspecting deliberate pressure on a vulnerable Kyiv to accept capitulation-like terms.

• FBI Whistleblower's Counterespionage Exposé: An insider accuses the Internal Counterespionage Cell of shielding SES executives via an unwritten "executive exemption," blocking probes into fraud, retaliation, and espionage despite credible tips from other agencies. Retaliatory transfers punish reporters, with no SES clearances revoked since protocols began, allowing classified hoarding and evidence destruction—including a retired assistant director's untouched leaks. The disclosure highlights decades-long practices spanning directors, contrasting aggressive actions like the 2022 Mar-a-Lago raid while lamenting zero espionage busts post-2001 Hanssen case.

Uncover the shadows of history and the fractures of modern power on the DeProgram show with political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou. Tune in as Ted and John dissect today's bombshell disclosures.

• CIA Cover-Up in JFK Assassination Probe: Former CIA historian, Thomas L. Pearcy, steps forward as a whistleblower for the first time, exposing a secret 50-page inspector general's report from 1978 in which the CIA brags about misleading Congress about Lee Harvey Oswald's Mexico City activities before Kennedy's slaying. Pearcy, now a professor at Slippery Rock University, stumbled upon the document in a secure CIA safe room in 2009 while researching Latin American policy; it details how officers handed over "sanitized" duplicates of files to House Select Committee chief counsel Robert Blakey, deleting key evidence and prompting a CIA memo mocking Blakey's "incurious" review after just 20-30 minutes per volume. As the 62nd anniversary of the stunning assassination approaches Saturday, Trump's pledge to release all JFK records under the 1992 Act comes under scrutiny, with the CIA claiming commitment to transparency despite withholding photos, films, and admissions of monitoring Oswald via agent George Joannides—fueling calls from experts like Jefferson Morley for immediate declassification of this blueprint for lying to the public.

• Ambassador Huckabee's Secret Meeting with Spy Pollard: U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee hosts Jonathan J. Pollard, the convicted Cold War spy who served 30 years for leaking classified intel to Israel, in a clandestine July gathering at the Jerusalem Embassy that blindsides the White House and CIA. Pollard, 71 and now eyeing a right-wing Knesset run while pushing Gaza annexation, describes the off-schedule encounter as "friendly," marking his first U.S. government-hosted meeting since 2015 parole; Huckabee, courting Israel's right wing, thanks Pollard for past advocacy without detailing discussions that touch on Trump's Saudi arms deals. Critics like ex-Ambassador Daniel Kurtzer decry the breach of protocol, questioning rehabilitation of a traitor who embraces "Israel first" over America, especially after Huckabee's prior hosting of sanctioned far-right ministers—exposing deepening rifts in U.S.-Israel diplomacy.

• Trump-Mamdani Oval Office Showdown: Trump confirms a Friday sit-down in the Oval Office with New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, the 34-year-old democratic socialist who surged from Queens lawmaker to victory on an affordability platform backed by over a million voters. After months of Trump's "communist" smears, deportation threats, and vows to slash federal funds, this customary-yet-charged meeting shifts toward shared rhetoric on economic security and public safety, following Republican election setbacks in key states. Mamdani, a naturalized Ugandan-American, pledges to "Trump-proof" the city while collaborating where it benefits New Yorkers, testing detente amid Trump's recent pivot to affordability as the "Party of Affordability!"—highlighting clashing visions for urban America.

Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou tell you all about a bizarre scheme by the Ministry of State Security to ensnare UK lawmakers, staffers, consultants, economists, and think tank experts. Shifting to the U.S., the latest NPR/PBS News/Marist poll reveals Democrats surging 14 points ahead—55%-41%—on congressional ballots, independents favoring them 33 points, signaling a possible “blue wave” if Democrats don’t mess it up. Trump is greenlighting CIA covert ops in Venezuela—prepping sabotage, cyber, or psyops battlefields—as the State designation of “Cartel de los Soles terrorists” turns out to be a figment of the imagination. And Montreal's Allan Memorial Institute survivor leads a class-action lawsuit exposing CIA's MK-Ultra mind control via unwitting LSD dosing, electroshocks, "psychic driving" tapes, barbiturates, stimulants, nitrous oxide, sensory deprivation, and comas on thousands of Canadians across 100+ sites.

• Wanted in the UK: MSS Spies: MI5 unveils China's Ministry of State Security (their CIA) deploy China-based headhunters like Amanda Qiu and Shirly Shen to covertly approach UK targets via LinkedIn and fake firms, posing freelance geopolitical gigs to harvest low-value intel pieces as a predecessor for broader efforts. Security Minister Dan Jarvis calls it a threat to democracy, just months after prosecutors dropped charges against accused spies. Beijing's embassy fires back, calling the allegations "malicious slander," as MI5's Ken McCallum last month decried Beijing's cyber thefts and public life intrusions.

• U.S. Midterm Poll Bad for Republicans: The November 10-13 NPR/PBS News/Marist survey of 1,443 adults shows Democrats commanding a 14-point edge—55%-41%—in congressional races, with independents swinging 33 points blue, evoking 2017's prelude to 40-seat gains amid Trump's 39% approval low and 48% strong disapproval peak. Voters blame Republicans or Trump for shutdowns hits 60%, while 57% prioritize price drops over immigration, eroding GOP momentum despite 90% base approval. Institutional distrust soars—80% hate Congress, 75% hate media—with 80%+ across aisles viewing opponents as "closed-minded," 70% "dishonest," independents harsher on Republicans, brewing volatility after the Dems’ recent wins.

• Trump Goes Covert Against Venezuela: President Trump authorizes CIA covert measures—potentially sabotage, cyber, psyops, coinciding with the USS Gerald R. Ford's weekend Caribbean arrival, 15,000 troops, and "Operation Southern Spear" buildup rivaling 1962's Cuba blockade, as planners map drug facility and Maduro-loyalist strikes. Back-channel parleys yield Maduro's rejected two-year delay on resignation for U.S. oil access, with State set to terrorist-label the fictional “Cartel de los Soles,” enabling escalation; Trump hints at ground forces, stressing drug/immigration curbs publicly while eyeing resources privately. 21 congressional-bypassing boat strikes killed 83, only hitting cocaine despite fentanyl talk, amid undecided endgame—diplomacy, voluntary exit, or forcible removal.

• MK-Ultra Lawsuit Advances in Canada: A Montreal judge rejects Royal Victoria Hospital's appeal, advancing class-action suit by Allan Memorial survivor Lana Ponting, age 16 in 1958, against CIA-backed MK-Ultra experiments involving unwitting LSD, electroshocks, "psychic driving" tape loops of conflicting messages, barbiturates, stimulants, nitrous oxide, deprivation, and comas on thousands via 100+ sites. Committed for "disobedient" teen antics post-move, Ponting uncovers files revealing Dr. Ewen Cameron's McGill horrors—unbeknownst CIA-funded till 1964—yielding lifelong meds, nightmares, memory loss; excluded from 1992's C$100,000 humanitarian payouts sans liability.

Is Israel furtively indulging in slow-motion ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from Gaza to South Africa and other countries? South Africa suspects yes. Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou bring you up to speed on this shocking story as well as alleged prosecutorial screw-ups threatening the high-profile indictment of James Comey to global shifts in migration and education.

• Comey Indictment in Jeopardy: A federal magistrate judge drops a scathing 24-page ruling, slamming inexperienced prosecutor Lindsey Halligan for "fundamental and highly prejudicial" misstatements of law during her solo grand jury appearance seeking charges against former FBI Director James Comey for lying to Congress in his notorious 2020 testimony. Judge William E. Fitzpatrick orders immediate disclosure of incomplete grand jury materials to Comey's lawyers, raising "genuine issues of misconduct" that could force dismissal, while prosecutors scramble with an emergency halt request. The jurist’s extraordinary rebuke, amid doubts over Halligan's legitimacy, underscores unraveling Justice Department efforts, including Trump's ousting of her predecessor for insufficient evidence.

• US International Student Enrollment Plummets: New research finds a 17% drop in first-time international student enrollments at US universities this fall, driven by Trump administration visa delays, denials, and heightened scrutiny including mandatory social media checks following pro-Palestine campus protests. The Institute of International Education's survey across 828 institutions notes a modest 1% overall decline but warns of steeper losses in the future, as 84% of schools say they prioritize foreign recruitment amid $55 billion economic contributions. Universities respond with 39% more deferrals, countering factors like travel restrictions affecting 2% of students and growing perceptions of an unwelcoming environment, despite Trump's recent pledge to double Chinese student visas for business gains.

• South Africa Rejects Palestinian Charter Flights: South Africa's Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola bans additional chartered flights carrying Palestinians, calling the recent arrival of 153 from Gaza a "clear agenda to cleanse Palestinians out of Gaza and the West Bank" in an orchestrated global resettlement push. The group, routed via Nairobi without prior coordination, endured over 10 hours stranded at OR Tambo Airport due to missing departure stamps before intervention by a charity allowed 130 to enter the RSA on compassionate grounds. This follows a similar flight two weeks prior, amid Israel's voluntary relocation rhetoric criticized internationally, as South Africa—long a Palestinian ally since Mandela's era—investigates amid its ICJ genocide case against Israel.

• UN Security Council OKs Trump Plan: Highlights include the deployment of an international peacekeeping force and a possible path to a sovereign Palestinian state. The resolution, passed by a vote of 13-0 with abstentions by China and Russia, was the price the US paid for backing from the Arab and Islamic world, who are expected to provide peacekeepers. However, Netanyahu, restated his adamant opposition to the creation of a Palestinian state. Hamas rejected what it described as an imposed “international guardianship mechanism” and insisted it would not disarm. What now?

Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou catch you up from the weekend in news. Among the highlights: Trump’s Epstein flip-flop, Chile chooses between extreme left and right, Iran stops uranium enrichment, and the US plan for Gaza gets bogged down in the Security Counsel.

• Trump's Sudden Epstein Files Reversal: Trying to avoid a humiliating defeat in the House, President Trump now urges House Republicans to back a measure compelling the Justice Department to release Epstein files, marking a sharp pivot after his campaign to quash GOP dissent and halt the vote after the shutdown. He posts on social media, insisting Republicans vote yes "because we have nothing to hide," while dismissing the push as a "Democrat Hoax" to deflect from Republican victories like averting a shutdown. This turn follows intense White House pressure, including Situation Room meetings with his AG and FBI director, amid scrutiny over newly released emails where Epstein claims Trump spent hours at his home with a trafficking victim; tensions erupt with allies like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.

• Chile's Presidential Runoff Pits Left Against Far-Right: Chile's election heads to a December 14 runoff between Communist Party's Jeannette Jara, who edges out the first round, and far-right José Antonio Kast, amid surging crime and immigration debates fueled by 1.9 million foreigners, including 330,000 undocumented Venezuelans. Jara pledges lithium production increases, minimum wage hikes, new prisons, and army border deployments to expel drug-trafficking foreigners, warning that democracy faces risks after costly recoveries. Kast vows Trump-style walls, ditches along Peru-Bolivia borders, mass deportations, and El Salvador-like maximum-security prisons, blaming migrants for crime despite studies showing lower offense rates; his Pinochet-linked family history and anti-abortion stance rally splintered right-wing votes from Evelyn Matthei and Johannes Kaiser, potentially tilting Chile rightward in Latin America's shifting tides.

• UN Security Council Clashes Over Gaza Resolution: The U.S. pushes a resolution annexing Trump's 20-point Gaza peace plan for international mandate, seeking UN backing for stabilization forces and a vague Board of Peace, but Russia counters with its own 10-point resolution demanding Palestinian statehood and unity of West Bank-Gaza, omitting U.S.-favored structures. China aligns with Russia, while Algeria, France, and Europeans demand clearer Palestinian Authority roles and self-determination pathways; the U.S. finalizes minimal changes, adding six-month progress reports but deferring statehood to the plan, prompting accusations of rushing texts that sideline Council authority. Tensions peak as Russia decries U.S. discord-sowing, with joint U.S. statements from Qatar, Egypt, UAE, Indonesia, and Pakistan hailing the plan as a "viable path," yet veto threats loom in a deadlock echoing two years of Gaza stalemates.

• Iran Halts Uranium Enrichment: Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi declares that no uranium enrichment is taking place at any site, following June bombings by Israel and the U.S. on facilities now under IAEA safeguards and monitoring. He affirms Iran's "undeniable" right to peaceful nuclear tech, including enrichment, vowing never to relinquish it while hoping for U.S. recognition to resume talks. This statement emerges during an AP-hosted summit on "International Law Under Assault," where Iranian analysts critique the 12-day war, spotlighting German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's praise for Israel's "dirty work." What’s Iran trying to do?