The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Michael Kosta Tackles the Israel-Hamas War | Ian Bremmer

Episode Date: October 17, 2023

Michael Kosta tackles the Israel-Hamas War, an imposed gag order on Donald Trump, and Taylor Swift’s fans going to see “The Eras Tour Movie” in droves (with a little help from Desi Lydic). Plus, Jordan Klepper returns to the Trump Trail and President & founder of Eurasia Group & GZERO Media, Ian Bremmer, discusses the Israel-Hamas War, how social media is fueling anger and hatred, and makes the case why America may be the one country that can make a difference short, medium, and long term to reduce suffering in the region.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hey everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, The Weekly Show, coming out every Thursday. We're going to be talking about the election, earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast. You're listening to Comedy Central. From New York City, the only city in America. It's the show that Invention News.

This is the Daily Show with your host, Michael Casca. Welcome to the Daily Show. I'm Michael Costa. We are back on the air. Holy shit, it's been five months. Man, I love my family, but not for five months. This is my first night, and I'm very excited to be here. I've always wanted to host a late night show. I was hoping that it would be on a major network, but I'll take whatever channel this is

gone. Now, we have a great show for you tonight, so let's story in the world right now that we have to cover. The Taylor Swift movie. And we'll get to that later. But first, I want to talk about something that stirs up almost as much passion, the Middle East. That's right. It's my big week as guest host, and I get Israel Palestine.

I don't mean to complain, but as far as scheduling goes, this unspeakably tragic geopolitical crisis is not super convenient time for me right now. Because no matter what I come up with, people are just going to say, this guy doesn't know what the fuck he's talking about. And you're right. That's pretty much the only opinion everyone can agree on. Michael Costa is an idiot. And what do I know about the Middle East?

I'm from the Middle West. I'm from Michigan. The best way I would describe my position on the Middle East is poorly educated. And that sounds harsh. But at least I'm aware of it. Because I read a lot of your posts online and sometimes it's better not to pretend you know what you're talking about. I have friends on Facebook who have the whole Middle East figured out when I know for a fact they can't even get car insurance.

Hey Joey, interesting points. Don't you have three DUIs? Maybe you should focus on you. Thankfully, this is why later to tonight I will bring on an actual expert, political scientist Ian Bremer will be here to help us make sense of all this. But here's what I'll say for now. There's a cycle of violence here that feels like it's never ending. It's been going on my whole life and apparently even longer than that. And I'm sure I'm not the only one who wishes that this cycle would end.

And everyone has an opinion for who's responsible for it. It's Israel, it's Palestine, it's Netanyahu, it's Hamas. Everyone's taking a sigh, but everyone is wrong. Because I spent the weekend reading two lengthy Wikipedia articles, and I think it's pretty clear who we can blame for all of this mess. The British. Okay? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, Britain. And your nursing home king. They're the ones who barred into the Middle East a hundred years ago and drew the borders that caused all this mess.

And they did it all around the world, by the way. Like, how much of modern civilization is just undoing all of Britain's bad decisions? You want to know how bad they faked up maps? They made Ireland to Ireland. It's an island. It didn't need borders, but the British were like, there you go. So maybe that's the best way we can find peace. Israel and Palestine, it's time to put your grievances aside.

And join together to invade Britain. Yeah. Now, who's an idiot now? All right? Speaking of problems that won't go away, Donald Trump. As you all know, the former president is facing 6,000 indictments. And he's been complaining a lot about it, but today, a judge told to him that legally speaking, he needs to cram a sock in it. A federal judge just imposed a limited gag order on former president Donald Trump, restricting

what he can say about his federal election subversion case. He's now legally barred from attacking Special Counsel Jack Smith or his team or assailing potential witnesses. That's right. Donald Trump has a gag order and I guarantee he doesn't even know what that is. He probably thinks it means he can't deep throw to McRibb anymore. But good luck, good luck getting Donald Trump to stop talking. The guy is probably still spilling national secrets just out on the golf course like, Should I go with a four iron or a five iron? That reminds me, four and five, first two numbers in the nuclear codes. And guess what numbers come next?

You'll never guess. I'll just tell you. Let's move on to some business news. Rite aid, the only pharmacy chain that hasn't that hasn that hasn that hasn that hasn that hasn that hasn that hasn that hasn that hasn that hasn that hasn that hasn that hasn that has has has has has has has has has has has has that has that has that has thatell you. Let's move on to some business news. Rite Aid, the only pharmacy chain that hasn't refused to print my pictures announced that it's filing for bankruptcy. Just when I was about to buy that one DVD player that's been sitting behind the register since 2003. Seriously, this news is shocking to me. Are you telling me it's a bad business model to have one employee for every six stores?

I mean, maybe they'd have more profit if their deodorant wasn't locked up in a maximum security prison? Of course these guys were going to go out of business. I mean, just look at their logo. They were mashing their medicines the old-fashioned way. That's how I make guacamole. It's tragic, though, because as a part of this move, they sadly had to lay off their entire custodial staff 10 years ago.

My point is, Rite aid sucks, and I'm glad this happened to them. I am going to keep going to them though because they're the closest to my apartment. Also, in a related story, Spirit Halloween just opened 9,000 new locations. And finally, let's talk about the biggest story in the entertainment world. And finally, let's talk about the biggest story in the entertainment world. This weekend, the new Taylor Swift concert film took in $93 million at the box office. Yeah. But it wasn't just the ticket sales that made this a wild weekend at the movies.

A Taylor Nation takeover at the weekend box offices. Taylor Swift crushes the competition. Audiences bringing that swifty spirit inside, dancing and singing in their seats, just like Taylor did at the premiere. Okay, white people? We can't talk about black audiences being rowdy and movie theaters ever again.

All right, that's over. But it truly was a scene this weekend and movie theaters all around the country, so we sent our own Desilightik out there to capture the mood. Check it out. Ah, this cinema, where researchers just recently discovered people will actually go watch stuff about women. Who knew? All right, are you actual huge swifties or are you just here celebrating women dominating the economy? We're huge stuff these. We saw her in MetLife. Yes. We're seeing her in Amsterdam. We're seeing her in New Orleans.

This could actually make Taylor a billionaire and I know people get billionaires a hard time but isn't it kind of cool when it's a girl? I would say that it's better? but not great. Okay. Because Kylie Jenner is a billionaire and it's not, it's still not that cool. Okay, follow-up question. Why don't you support women's rights and wrongs? When a women does something right, it's like yay, like woman, and then when she does something wrong, it's a little more okay because she's a woman. Yeah, I've the entire brand on this. You don't have have to have to to to to to th. th. th. th. th. th. th. their th. their th. th. their th. th. their women, their women, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their. their, their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their their their their their their their th. th. th. th. th. thi. the. theat. th. th. th. their th. their their theeate. their their their their their their thi. Yeah, I built an entire brand on this You don't have to explain it to me

Tell me about your friendship bracelets. I have all the eras in what's your favorite one? What's your favorite one is you had to pick one my favorite one? We had to be our song My favorite era is my current era which is tired and always loaded Do you want to switch? Do you still listen to the scooter brawn versions? Occasionally. We do sometimes. Yeah. They listen to the scooter brawn version. They still listen to it. There's a lot of debate over whether to be standing or sitting, quiet or screaming. Will you be screaming? I think I want like the

full Rocky Horror Picture Show experience. You know like the calls and responses. You never get to scream in public and now you get to. You've never seen me in an orange Julius. A safe space for women to gather and let loose that doesn't involve stationary bikes. I'm in. Sold out. Totally sold out. Who would have thought? So how did you like the movie? No spoilers. But like, did she finish the concert? Yes. Which song did you use for a bathroom break? Be honest? We accidentally missed Andy Hero. Kids, you just have to learn to hold it in until you get a kidney infection. Oh my gosh. Was everyone singing in there or totally silent? I feel like I was kind of singing under my breath. Less singing and more muttering and enchantment.

Yeah, like a prayer, like in church. Do you think Taylor should be tax-exempt? She's already altering local economies everywhere. The fans were crazy. Everybody was singing, everybody was dancing. The sound in the cinema, it's amazing. Although everyone was screaming, I could hear everywhere. I mean, this is truly a once in a lifetime experience. Yeah, but I'm coming back tomorrow.

Oh, back tomorrow. Okay. Thank you, Dreszy. We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, Jordan Cleppers at a Trump rally, you I am here to tell you about my new podcast, The Weekly Show, coming out every Thursday. We're going to be talking about the election, earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about the election, earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on

sandwiches. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart wherever you get your podcast. Welcome back for the Daily Show. Donald Trump is back out on the campaign trail, which means Jordan Klepper is out on the trail with him for another installment of Fingers the pulse. The Daily Show is back on the air, and so I'm back in the field. Just last week I went to the shores of beautiful Lake Winnipezaki and hit up my first Trump rally in a while. The ex-president has been busy campaigning and juggling certain legal commitments, while I've

also been incredibly productive during these last few months. I've started four scripts, you know, a little bit of a novel, novella, actually. Long story short, five months later, Bubbjus. Very little to show for it. But I think it's been good, you know, emotionally, just to kind of stretch yourself, see what else is out there. Turns out, this is my voice. We're better th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th. We're better th. We're better th. We're better th. th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. thi, thi. thi. thi. thi. I's, thi. I's, thi. I's, th. I's, th. I's, th. I's, th. I's, th. I's, th. I's, th. I's, thi. I's thi. I's thi. I's thi. I's thi. I'm thi. I'm thi. I'm thi. I'm thi. thi. thi. t t toge. th th th th thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. I'm, see what else is out there. Find your voice, really. Turns out, this is my voice. We're better or worse.

So I'm still warming up. But I was excited to see the sights and sounds and the long lines of politically engaged citizens. Whatever Trump does is smart. That's just sort of your boilerplate. You don't have to think through it. You just give it him that credibility. And it didn't take long to spot the new piece of must have muck a merch, the mug shot. Never surrender to the tyranny. What is Trump doing here on this shirt? This is his mug shot. Gotcha. So that was taken when he

surrendered to authorities to have his picture taken. It's just trump. It's just true. So where's the where's the but. Is that on the back? Let me see the back. Let me see the back. But, oh no, it's just Trump. It's just Trump. So where's the butt part? That's implied. Nick, take me through your fit.

Ah, well, I bought the socks in town. These socks have a trump hair on it. Yes, sir. 25. I think I get a hat at least once a month. How many Trump hats do you have? Probably 40 or so. How do you feel America's doing under Biden? Not good. I think you know inflation and the gas price everything's going up. Milk and eggs are just through the roof like buying regular food is you know. So you've got to work four jobs to pay your rent and yeah. How much money have you spent on Trump's way? Couple thousand dollars. Wow, that's a lot. But people have been a hard time paying

for the necessities. Right. As the Donald rolled in, I wondered what fresh ideas I had missed on the campaign trail. He's been out in Iowa talking about how he changed the name from crooked Hillary to crooked Joe Biden. Oh, so he's focusing on the issues. Yeah. Great. Sadly, the Donald's campaign appearances aren't the only thing on his schedule. How many indictments we have to now? Georgia.

Georgia? Okay, great. That's the New York City. New York City. New York is the bankruptcy one, great. It's hard to keep them straight. There's a lot of them. There's a lot of indictment. There's way too many. I think you're just trying to throw him in jail. To which one?

Like what he said in New York? Is that pre or post the first indictment? Is the first indictment? I think so. Are you 100% sure you're voting for Donald Trump in the next election? Yeah. No matter what happens with these trials, this election still comes down to their guy versus the other guy. I mean, Trump has done more than Biden will ever do. And that's the other side of it. He should be in jail, him and his kid for tree. the tree thi thi th thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi. No thi. No thi thi. No thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi. thi thi. thi thi. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the try. try. try. try. try. try. try. try. try. try try. the the the the the the th. tason. I mean they've taken money from other countries who we're not really in favor of. It's insane, the fact that like you can have a memory of your family, get billions of dollars from Saudi Arabia is nuts. Yeah, right? Nothing about a big cover-up. So you think you think Trump should

be punished for all of that money that Avanka and Jared got? No? Who are you talking about? Who are you talking about Biden with his kid? Oh, not the, not the, not the Jared and Ivanka money from Saudi Arabia. No. Does that bother you? No. Right. And when it comes to which candidate makes a better commander in chief, there's a clear winner. Trump loves the veterans. Trump all the way.

He's got my vote forever. called for the execution of General Millie. Does that rub you the wrong way as a veteran? Well, I don't like Millie because he did the Afghanistan thing. Like, all these generals are supposed to know what they're doing, and it was a complete disaster. Yeah. So you don't trust the generals? No, I don't. What are you most excited to see inside? I just want to see him speak, see what he has to say about Israel? I just just the the the the the the their their their their their their their. I just their their their. I know Joe Biden was doing a barbecue with his people. We set a fleet of naval ships to Israel. Yes. So are you, you're against that? I am for that. Oh, that's good.

Yeah, that's good. Yeah, that's good. That's more the generals making the calls there. Do we trust those generals? I don't even know who's in anymore, so I don't th I don't care. Ultimately, I wondered, would these MAGA Faithful ever care about any of these criminal charges? Probably not.

Exhibit A, just ask what their favorite rally was. I think January 6th is probably my favorite one. You were there? Oh yeah. That's your number one. What stood out from January 6? Well, aside from all the violence that was planned by the FBI and such. Do you think, were they proud boys and oathkeepers? No, they're Antifa, the the the the the the theft?

they're Antifa, ISIS. Some of January 6 is perpetrated by ISIS? I mean, this is new. MS-13 Black Lives Matters, and I guess that means Antifa's here. So, good luck. What was your first rally? Uh, January 6, 2020 in D.C. If you're going to go to one. Go to one. Did you make it inside? Uh, I can't say that for legal reasons. So you may or may not been involved in at teasing this activity. Yeah, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, th. Well, thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi, thi, thi. thi. thi. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, th. th. thi, thi, thi, thi. thi. thi. thi. What thi. What thi. What thi. What thi. What thi. What thi. What thi. What thi. What, thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. the. the. theeeean, thean, thean, thean, thean, thean, thean, this activity. Yeah, well, can't get into that one. Sure, sure. We'll have fun.

Hopefully, I try not to overthrow any duly elected official. No, no, we'll be good today. Yeah, I trust him. Thank you, Jordan. When we come back, Ian Dremmer will be joining in the show. Hey everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, The Weekly Show, it's going to be coming out every Thursday. So exciting you'll be saying to you're to tell you about my new podcast. The weekly show is going to be coming out every Thursday. So exciting. You'll be saying to yourself TGID. Thank God it's Thursday. We're

going to be talking about all the things that hopefully obsess you in the same way that they obsess me. The election. Economics. Earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. And I know that I listed that fourth, but in importance it's probably second. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday? I mean, talk about innovative. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast. My guest tonight is a political scientist and author of the power of crisis.

Welcome back to the Daily Show. My guest tonight is a political scientist and author of the power of crisis. He helps business leaders, policy makers, and people like me make sense of the world. Please welcome Ian Bremer. So, thanks for coming. You help people like me make sense of the world. How can you help me make sense of what's happening right now? Why did Hamas attack right now and how can we make sense of this? So you know that story of the frog in the boiling pot? Yes. And you turn it up a little bit hotter and the frog

doesn't move, doesn't jump out, just dies. Whoever came up with that story has never been to Gaza. Okay. Yeah. I mean what has happened over the past years is that Israel has gotten itself in a much stronger position. Yeah. They're creating diplomatic deals with other countries around the past years is that Israel has gotten itself in a much stronger position. They're creating diplomatic deals with other countries around the region that want to work with them on investment and trade and tourism and even national security. And while that's been going on, the situation for the Palestinians has only gotten worse. So if you're sitting on the ground in the occupied territories, you feel like your friends in the region don't really care about you anymore. Not on Yahoo, the Prime Minister, has only been expanding his settlements, his legal settlements,

on the ground in the West Bank. And meanwhile, I've got to tell you, I've been on TV a lot talking about Israel over the last year. No one's been asking me about what's going to happen with the Palestinians. They've been asking about all those demonstrations that have happened on the ground, the judicial reform. So I mean, the fact is that you've got an impossible situation, especially in Gaza with over two million Palestinians who are living in atrocious conditions, and everyone, to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to be the the, and the the, and toe and the the, and toe and the the, and toe, and the way, includes here in the United States. So was it going to happen this last two weeks, or was it going to happen another month or three months?

You weren't going to keep this stable. The lesson we've learned is it turns out you can't actually forget about the Palestinians. When you say, when you're talking about Gaza, you know, man, social media right now, right? I don't, I'm scrolling, it's the, you know, I hear it's an open-air prison. Is that a safe description of how it's controlled by Israel? What's it like? It's also how it's controlled by Hamas. I mean, you've got 2.3 million people, and they're in a territory that is about twice as big as Washington DC,

50% hungry, 90% without access to clean water, and that was before the bombing. That was before the last two weeks. Now, Israel has said we want everyone in the north to evacuate because we're going to go and attack Hamas. We're going to destroy them, we're going to remove them. Well, Hamas doesn't want that to happen to happen that to happen that to happen that to happen that to happen that to happen that that to happen to happen th th th th th th th th th th th th th to happen th th to happen th th th to happen th th th to thii going to go and attack Hamas. We're going to destroy them, we're going to remove them. Hamas doesn't want that to happen. They want to ensure that the civilians are still there. So they can protect themselves and they can blame Israel for killing all these civilians. So, I mean, there's an open-air prison,'s not only blame the Israelis for what's going on. That's inconceivable. When they offer the directive of evacuation, you said

1.1 million Palestinians in northern Gaza. I mean where where do they go? Where do they go? Is anyone else accepting them? I mean, as of right now, no one else is accepting them? The Egyptians are the one country that actually has a border. That border is still as of now shut. So those homeless, those displaced, the over 1 million Palestinians that have been displaced in the last 10 days. They're not going anywhere except to the south where the infrastructure isn't there. There's right now no food yet getting in. Water has been turned on, but the power to make that occur is really spotty

and a lot of it's been blown up. It's a horrible situation. Also, about 2,000 Hamas fighters, terrorists were involved in the attacks. Yeah. The Israelis and the Palestinians estimate between 30 and 40,000 Hamas fighters total, terrorists total. Now if Israel is saying, and they have every reason to want to destroy Hamas after what happened to them, well they're going to go into Gaza to kill 30 to 40,000 terrorists. How many civilians do you think? With Hamas ensuring they operate in the midst of terrorists. How many civilians do you think with Hamas ensuring they operate

in the midst of those civilians? How many are getting killed? I mean, this is not a small number. I don't think we are prepared for the human destruction, the scale of the human destruction that we're about to experience. And that's if you can keep the violence contained to Gaza, which frankly, I think would be seen by many in the region as a relatively successful outcome compared to where it's going. Let's try to turn maybe to something potentially positive. You have a lot of young Palestinians who didn't vote for, I mean is Hamas voted? Was it a true election that they were voted into power? It was a long time ago. So you have so many young Palestinians who maybe didn't vote for this. You have so many the to to to to to to the to the to to the the to the the to the the to have so the the the to the the the the to to the to the to the to to to to to their to their their that they were voted into power? It was a long time ago. Right. So you have so many young Palestinians who maybe didn't vote for this. You have so many young Israelis who prior to all this were massively protesting their own government. The potential overreaches of their

government. Is it possible that the new younger generation is going to say enough of this? Did you say you were looking for good news in this story? Yes. Okay. Okay. So I can give you some good news but that isn't the end. Okay. No, that is that you're the guest. Well, I'm just I'm just asking the host. We are seeing right now for Israel. Not Yahoo is being blamed for this because he was, Israel is supposed to have the gold standard border security. This isn't like US Mexico, right? Yeah. Yeah. this. this is. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. I th. Well, I th. Well, I th. Well, I th. Well, I th. Well, I I th. Well. Well. Well. Well. Well. Well. Well. Well, I I I I I I th. Well. Well. Well, I. Well, I. Well, I. Well, I. Well, I th. Well, I's. Well, I's. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. th. th. th. thi. that's that's that's that's that's that's th. that's th. th. th. th. th't like U.S. Mexico, right? Yeah. Yeah. And so he failed and that's on him and the Israelis blame him. But what they have just experienced is a greater level of violence against Jews than has been experienced anywhere since the Holocaust. So you have a unity cabinet and everyone agrees we must destroy Hamas. So on the Israeli side, they're not talking about a two-state solution. They're not talking about how we can eventually find peace. It is

true that Israel and Israelis and Jews in Israel must live with Palestinians for the foreseeable future. They must find a way. This is not coming anytime soon. For the Palestinians, let's say you destroy Hamas. And I am absolutely certain that that For the Palestinians, let's say you destroy Hamas. And I am absolutely certain that that is the full intention of everyone in the Israeli Defense Forces. By the way, 360,000 have just been called up as reservists, to fight. That is 4% of the entire Israeli population has been called to war.

So this is incredibly personal in the most direct way for every certain, every person in Israel. They are, they blow up Hamas. What's going to happen to the civilians that are caught up in that? They're going to be further radicalized. So I, I don't see it. What can an American who is, I'm trying to be a global citizen.

I can't plead ignorance anymore to this part of the world. It was convenient for me for a while. What can I do? What can anybody do? I mean, what, other than just hear these sad stories or like something on Instagram, is there any action, how can I educate myself further?

I would say spend less time on social media. It's dehumanizing, it's disinformation, it's actively destroying our democracy and others around the world. It is making, algorithmically, it's taking people and it's making them angrier and more hateful than anything they would experience in real life. So, if you want to make a difference, the last place you can make a difference is on social media where you're only exchanging information with people that are telling you, here's exactly what you need to believe and those are the people you need to hate. No, it's spending more time with your family, with your community, in your school.

It's with people that aren't just like you, algorithmically. That's what you need to do. Really, simple question, not to be insensitive, but for so many Americans that see this as something so far away, why should they care about what's happening? Because in principle, we we the United States stand for something beyond just ourselves. I mean maybe America First doesn't quite say that but the Statue of Liberty does. We all came from somewhere, right? I mean...

The Jews and the Palestinians are the same people. They came from the same place. They've grown up in the same home. And we as Americans who have historically represented that ethos better than anyone else on the planet, how can we not care when that is falling apart right now in the most tragic possible way in front of our eyes? How can we not care about that? That's why now in the most tragic possible way in front of our eyes. How can we not care about that? Yeah. That's why it matters to us as

Americans. Not because oil is going to 150, not because people are losing their jobs. Not because we as Americans, if we stand for anything, we stand for that. Is it... Yeah. Is it a cop-out if I say I'm just anti-suffering? Yeah. It's a cop-out. It's a cop-out. It's a cop-out. It's a cop-out.

Because I see that one, and I can kind of like that one. Because I see that one, and I can kind of like that one. Everyone's paralyzed by this. Maybe you can see some of my paralyzation in my face right now, but why is that a cop-out? Well, I don't think it's a cop-out for a form of tennis pro. Right. I mean, I lost it. I think if Justin Bieber said that, I'd be happy with that. I mean, that's a low bar.

But for you and I having this conversation, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, anti-suffering because there are responsibilities. We have dropped the ball on this part of the world. You remember the pivot to Asia? It's like, we don't need to worry about the Middle East. Then the Russians invade Ukraine. Okay, we'll focus on Europe a little bit. The Middle East is unfinished business and is hurting. It's hurting so badly and it's explosive and it can get a lot worse.

And that's why the U.S. Secretary of State has been packing on frequent flyer miles like nobody's business, right? That's why the Americans have to take the lead in diplomacy right now, not because we're honest brokers. The Israelis are our top ally in the region, the Palestinians we've forgotten about them. But we now have to do everything we can. We're the one country with leverage. With the one country with real military assets that are all over the region. With the one country that in principle can make a real difference, short, medium, and

long term, to reduce the suffering that right now is exploding in this region. That's what we have to do. Thank you very much for talking with the it. Watch Ian Grimmer on GZero World on National Public Television. We're going to take a quick break. We're right back after this. Thanks. Some top topic that you just... Hey everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, The Weekly Show, it's going to be coming

out every Thursday. So exciting, you'll be saying to yourself, TGID, thank God it's Thursday we're going to be talking about. All the things that hopefully obsess you in the same way that they obsess me. The election, economics, earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. And I know that I listed that fourth, but in importance, it's probably second. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday?

I mean, talk about innovative. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast. That's our show for tonight. But before we go, please consider donating to save the children. They're on the ground in Israel and Gaza working to protect and support all children who are affected by the current conflict. If you can, please donate the link below. Explore more shows from the Daily Show podcast universe by searching the Daily Show, wherever you get your podcast. Watch the Daily Show Podcast Universe by searching the Daily Show, wherever you get your podcast. Watch the Daily Show weeknights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central and stream full episodes

anytime on Fairmount Plus. This has been a Comedy Central podcast. Hey everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, the weekly show. It's going to be coming out every Thursday. So exciting. You'll be saying to yourself, TGID. Thank God it's Thursday. We're going to be talking about all the things that hopefully obsess you in the same way that they obsess me. The election. Economics. Earnings calls. What are they

talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread ratio. On sandwiches. And I know that I listed that fourth, but in importance it's probably second. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday? I mean, talk about innovative. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast.