The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 6.18 Tucker Carlson DESTROYED Ted Cruz! MAGA Eating Itself As Trump Teases US Iran Strike & Adriana Smith

Episode Date: June 18, 2025

Go to https://sundaysfordogs.com/phil to get 50% off your first order of Sundays for Dogs! Go to http://vessi.com/pds for 15% off your first order.Use code “PHIL” for $20 OFF your first SeatGeek order & returning buyers use code “PDS” for $10 off AND your chance at weekly $500 prizes! https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/PHIL  Get $10 OFF https://BeautifulBastard.com "Very Normal" & "Bite the Hand" Tees right now! Subscribe for New shows every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday @ 6pm ET/3pm PT & watch more here: https://youtu.be/wZYVwMZfyvE?si=xTvazAq85HGHL4fv&list=PLHcsGizlfLMWpSg7i0b9wnUyEZWI-25N3&index=1    – ✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩ – 00:00 - Tucker Carlson Confronts Ted Cruz About Iran in Explosive Interview 08:28 - Braid Dead Georgia Woman Forced to Stay Alive Gives Birth 11:24 - Sponsored by Sundays For Dogs 12:30 - ICE Arrests NYC Official and Mayoral Candidate Brad Lander 17:18 - Iran Rejects Trump’s Call for “Unconditional Surrender”  24:25 - Sponsored by Vessi 25:35 - Cutting-Edge Cancer Therapy Offers Hope for Patients with Lupus 28:19 - Sponsored by Seatgeek 28:52 - Comment Commentary Full Carlson/Cruz interview: https://youtu.be/smemFVe0l5E?si=XosV3sr_lsJOfKOl  -——————————   Produced by: Cory Ray Edited by: James Girardier, Maxwell Enright, Julie Goldberg, Christian Meeks, Matthew Henry Art Department: William Crespo Writing/Research: Philip DeFranco, Brian Espinoza, Lili Stenn, Maddie Crichton, Chris Tolve, Star Pralle, Jared Paolino  ———————————— For more Philip DeFranco: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-philip-defranco-show/id1278424954 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6ESemquRbz6f8XLVywdZ2V Twitter:   https://x.com/PhillyD Instagram:   https://instagram.com/PhillyDeFranco Newsletter: https://www.dailydip.co TikTok:   https://www.tiktok.com/@philipdefranco?lang=en ———————————— #DeFranco #TuckerCarlson #TedCruz ———————————— Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The GMC employee pricing event is on now. Get a big cash purchase discount of up to $12,300 on the 2025 GMC Sierra 1500 and the 2025 Sierra HD. With Sierra 1500's premium interior and advanced tech, or Sierra HD's impressive power and capability, you'll have everything you need to get from work to play with confidence this season. Hurry in, employee pricing is on for a limited time. Visit your local GMC dealer for details. Tucker Carlson just destroyed and humiliated Ted Cruz over Iran in the most shocking maggot infighting we've seen since, well, Cruz had to hide in his supply closet on January 6th. What really happened with the Trump administration's

masked ICE officers arresting a man who was running for mayor of New York City because he asked to see a warrant. The Israel-Iran situation spiraling out of control in Trump's official stance is now, maybe I will, maybe I won't, no one knows what I'm going to do regarding the US military attack in Iran. And Adriana Smith just gave birth months

after being declared brain dead to a one pound 13 ounce baby, and it has people divided. We're jumping into all that and much more on today's brand new Philip DeFranco show. You daily dive into the news starting with this. Tucker Carlson absolutely destroyed Ted Cruz in a conversation about Iran and Israel

and you're seeing the internet divided right now. Because as we talked about yesterday, Carlson has adamantly opposed the US getting involved in a potential war between Iran and Israel. In fact, so much so that he's split from Trump on the issue and argued that Trump is complicit in Israeli strikes. And that is, you also had Carlson pointing out that Trump previously vowed to stop all wars

and claiming that getting drawn into another foreign war in the Middle East is not America first. And while Tucker has got a fair share of backlash for his remarks, including from Trump himself, there are also many MAGA conservatives who have come to his defense now, creating a major rift in the party. But throughout all of this, Ted Cruz has become

one of Trump's strongest defenders, which also isn't the most surprising because he's long been known as one of the most vocal anti-Iran pro-Israel lawmakers in DC. And then with all that, last night you had Carlson posting a clip from an interview that he did with Cruz that released today. And immediately because of how it played out,

you had people hooked and interested. How many people live in Iran by the way? I don't know the population. At all? No, I don't know the population. You don't know the population. At all? No, I don't know the population. You don't know the population of the country you seek to topple? How many people living around? 92 million.

OK. Yeah, I... How could you not know that? I don't sit around memorizing population tables. Well, it's kind of relevant because you're calling for the overthrow of the government. Why is it relevant whether it's 90 million or 80 million or 100 million? Why is that relevant? Because if you don't know anything about the country...

I didn't say I don't know anything about the country. Okay, what's the ethnic mix of Iran? They are Persians and predominantly Shia. What percent? Okay, this is... No, it's not even... You don't know anything about Iran. So actually the country...

Okay, I am not the Tucker Carlson expert on Iran who says... You're a senator who's calling for the overthrow of the government and you don't know anything about the country. No, you don't know anything about the country. You're the one who claims they're not trying to murder Donald Trump. No, I'm not saying that. Who can't figure out if it was a good idea to kill General Soleimani and you said it was bad.

You don't believe they're trying to murder Trump? Yes, I do. Because you're not calling for military strikes against them in retaliation. If you really believe that- We're carrying out military strikes today. You said Israel was. Right, with our help. I said we.

Israel is leading them, but we're supporting them. Well, you're breaking news here because the US government last night denied, the National Security Council spokesman Alex Pfeiffer denied on behalf of Trump that we were acting on Israel's behalf in any offensive capacity at all. We're not bombing them. Israel's bombing them. You just said we were. We are supporting Israel. It's high stakes. offensive capacity at all. No, we're not bombing them, Israel's bombing them. You just said we were. We are supporting Israel. This is high stakes, you're a senator.

If you're saying the United States government is, that war with Iran right now, people are listening. Okay, so a few things to unpack here. First of all, Carlson is correct that the White House and Trump himself have previously denied having any involvement in Israel's strikes on Iran, with Trump even vaguely reiterating that denial again today.

So it appears that Cruz is just factually wrong here, or the White House is lying. But then also I want to hit on the whole debate that they're having around Iran trying to murder Trump. So for some background here, it's been reported in the past that intelligence agencies have warned about Iranian assassination threats against Trump.

And in July, a Pakistani man with ties to Iran was arrested and charged with plotting to kill American officials with legal documents claiming that Trump may have been a target. And then shortly after the election, federal prosecutors brought charges against an Afghan national who allegedly plotted to assassinate Trump at the direction of Iran.

Now with that, Iran's president has denied all those allegations claiming back in January that his country never tried to kill Trump. Then just a few days ago, you had Benjamin Netanyahu telling Fox News that Israel had intel that Iran was behind the two close attempts on Trump's life in July and September. Though notably there, you even had conservative outlets like the New York Post noting that American security

agencies have never tied the two assassination attempts to Iran. And you have Carlson himself even explicitly saying that Netanyahu is lying about this. Right, and I bring that up because it's been a main element of how Cruz has responded to this now viral clip. With him posting about it repeatedly on X and writing in one,

did a long interview with Tucker, he released a snippet playing a gotcha on the population of Iran. I declined to play that silly game. Watch the full two hour interview where Tucker attacks Trump, attacks the AIPAC lobby and falsely claims Iran is not trying to assassinate Trump. With Cruz then also making another post

where he accused Carlson of refusing to acknowledge indisputable truth and sharing this recent clip from Steve Bannon's podcast. No, Iran did not try to assassinate the president during the last election. And by the way, if Iran did try to assassinate Trump and we know that, then why are we not at war with Iran? So again, there are a few different things on here

that I want to address. First of all, it is not in fact an indisputable truth that Iran was behind the two close call assassination attempts against Trump. Because again, American officials have not officially connected them and Netanyahu hasn't provided any new evidence. And then when you go and look at the full context

of the clip that Cruz shared, Carlson is clearly talking about Netanyahu's allegations specifically. With them arguing that if there was indeed credible evidence that Iran was behind two serious close assassination attempts, the US would have acted against them. But with all that said regarding Ted Cruz and Tucker Carlson and this clip,

it had a lot of people going, oh my God, is Tucker Carlson actually making decent points here? People asking, is it possible to absolutely loathe Tucker Carlson and enjoy the fuck out of watching him destroy Ted Cruz at the same time, asking for a friend. With another is echoing that saying that Carlson absolutely demolished Cruz and highlighted Cruz's total

lack of knowledge on the issue. I mean, he even had people on the left like Hassan Piker chiming in saying, why is Tucker Carlson capable of conducting an adversarial interview about the dangers of American intervention in Iran with Ted Cruz better than everyone else in legacy media. Shame. Of course, that was playing out

as there were also plenty of people who defended Cruz and criticized Carlson. Some accusing Carlson of disrespecting a sitting senator. You also had others arguing that Carlson was just asking gotcha question, writing things like, 99 out of 100 interviewees will not know the exact population of any country, but may know a lot of other things about it.

But also the conversation and debate around this interview, it's blown up since Tucker released the full two hour interview with Cruz today. And while obviously I'm not gonna hit on every single thing in the two hours, I do have to hit a few wild bites for you. Including this clip that the Tucker Carlson network tweeted with the caption, Senator Ted Cruz tries and fails to use the Bible

to justify his support for Israel's bombing of Iran. Growing up in Sunday school, I was taught from the Bible, those who bless Israel will be blessed and those who curse Israel will be cursed. And from my perspective, I want to be on the blessing side of things. Those who bless the government of Israel? Those who bless Israel is what it says. It doesn't say the government of it says the nation of Israel. So that's in the Bible. As a Christian, I believe that. Where is that? I can find it to you. I don't have the scripture off the tip of my, you pull out the phone and use the Google. It's in the Bible as a Christian. I believe that where is that? I can find it to you I don't have the the scripture off the tip of my you pull out the phone and use the ginger It's in Genesis, but so you're quoting a Bible phrase you don't have context for it. You don't know where in the Bible it is, but that's like your theology I'm confused

What does that even mean? Tucker I'm a Christian. I want to know what you're talking about. Hold on You're a senator and now you're throwing out theology and I am a Christian and I wanna know what you're talking about. Hold on, you're a senator, and now you're throwing out theology, and I am a Christian, and I am allowed to weigh in on this. We are commanded as Christians to support the government of Israel? We are commanded to support Israel. And we're told- What does that mean, Israel?

We're told those who bless Israel will be blessed. But what, hold on, define Israel. This is important, are you kidding? This is a majority Christian country. Define Israel? Do you not know what Israel is? That would be the country you've asked like 49 questions. Is the nation God's referring to in Genesis,

is that the same as the country run by Benjamin Netanyahu right now? Yes, yes. The crew is then going on to try to clarify. That is for me a personal motivation, but I also, what I was about to say, I don't believe my personal faith, not everyone who I represent as a Christian. It's not an argument for me

to give that we should do this because of my faith. And so as an elected official, I don't give that as the reason we should support Israel. That is a personal motivation for me, but I don't think it is the reason we should. The reason that I am the leading defender of Israel is because Israel is our strongest ally in the Middle East, an incredibly troubled part of the world, and supporting Israel benefits America. And then some of the other notable moments that have gone viral include Tucker grilling Cruz over his relationship with AIPAC,

the money that he gets and what they do. For also at one point, Tucker said that Ted Cruz was saying things like a quote, sleazy feline. And honestly, like these two stayed each other's throats the rest of the interview. Be a little less snarky. I know you're right.

That is a problem that I have, I'm sorry. But again, these are just a few moments from a very long interview that covered a lot of different topics. And I'm gonna link to the full thing down below so you can watch it. With that said, whether you've watched the full thing or given what you've seen here,

I gotta ask you, what are your thoughts and reactions to this whole situation? But then switching gears from that to other news, we need to talk about how a brain dead woman who was kept alive for months, not to save her, but to avoid breaking George's abortion law, just gave birth, if you can even call it that. But this is the Adriana Smith situation

that we talked about a few weeks ago. And the quick breakdown here is that Smith worked as a nurse at Emory University Hospital, and she had to be admitted back in February, which is when doctors discovered blood clots in her brain. But then shortly afterwards being declared brain dead and her family wanted to take her off life support, considering that she had no hope of recovery.

The staff at Emory University Hospital, they wouldn't allow it because Smith was eight weeks pregnant and they were scared that in a roundabout way, they could be accused of causing an abortion by removing her from life support. Because George's law, it bans all abortions if any cardiac activity is detected, which can be as early as six weeks.

Which as we've talked about, it's so early that many women may not even realize that they're pregnant. So this entire situation, it was seen as a prime example of how anti-abortion laws often have tragic and unforeseen consequences. Within all of that, bring us to Friday, where you had Shans being brought into the world via c-section and coming in at just 1 pound 13 ounces. Which is extremely small for a baby, even a premature one, and Shans is now in the neonatal intensive care unit. Though fortunately, at least according to his grandmother,

And he's expected to be okay. He's just fighting. We just want prayers for him. Just keep praying for him. He's here now. Right, and as you can imagine, this is a bittersweet moment for her because after Chance's birth, she spoke to the hospital

about removing Smith's life support. All of which then led her to say. It's kinda hard. It's hard to process. Me burying my daughter. My daughter should bury me. Now with all this, you know, one of the things we don't know is why Emory decided

to deliver the baby at this specific moment. The one possible reason is that they wanted to strike a balance between removing Smith from life support as soon as possible in accordance with her family's wishes while also avoiding Georgia's anti-abortion loans. As soon as her baby was potentially viable, they did the C-section. But also understandably right now,

the hospital isn't saying much. And that is, it's also not like Smith's family has much love for the hospital, following them allegedly bungling Smith's diagnosis. Because she had initially gone to the hospital due to headaches and then was sent home before needing to return the next day with Smith's mother saying.

Oh, she would say that they failed her. She would definitely say that, mommy, they failed me. If the shoe was on the other foot, I would have been there and I would have made recommendations. You know, while women, and especially black women getting their health concerns

ignored is unfortunately nothing new. I mean, we've done deep dives on the topic. That entire conversation, it's being overshadowed by the debate surrounding Georgia's abortion law. With the law itself being fairly vague about what to do in a situation like this, which is what makes Emory so extremely cautious.

But also you have Georgia officials claiming it wasn't even necessary in this case, with state attorney general Chris Carr saying back in May that removing Smith's support wasn't against the law because quote, there is nothing in the LIFE Act that requires medical professionals to keep a woman on life support after brain death. And adding removing life support is not an action quote,

with the purpose to terminate a pregnancy. And notably when the laws are vague like that, it's usually up to whether an attorney general actually wants to enforce it and whether the courts agree. So there I'll say it's possible that we won't have a definitive answer for a very long time unless lawmakers act sooner. And then you've got even more news in just a minute,

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to be mayor of New York. Or the city's controller, Brad Lander, who's one of 11 Democratic primary candidates who spent yesterday observing immigration court hearings in Lower Manhattan. But then, as he accompanied a migrant down the hall to leave the courthouse, several plain clothed federal agents wearing masks

shoved through the crowd and tried to grab the man. But then Lander locking arms with him and refusing to let go. I will let go when you show me the judicial record. Where is it? And that went on for more than 40 seconds as you had agents struggling to pry Lander and this immigrant apart,

pulling them down the hallway while reporters snapped pictures, but eventually they separated them out. I would like to see the warrant and then I will let go. I would like to see the warrant. And then I will let go. Then you saw an agent grab Lander's arms, pull them behind his back and handcuff him, telling him he was obstructing.

I'm not obstructing, I'm standing right here in the hallway. I asked to see the judicial warrant. You're arresting a police officer. By asking for a judicial warrant? Sub-rack law. You don't have the authority to arrest U.S. citizens asking for a judicial warrant.

Right, and so both the immigrant and Brad Lander were arrested and you had DHS assistant secretary, Tricia McLaughlin saying that his arrest was for assaulting law enforcement and impeding a federal officer. With her adding, our heroic ICE law enforcement officers face a 413% increase in assaults against them. It is wrong that politicians seeking higher office undermine law enforcement safety to get a viral moment.

No one is above the law and if you lay a hand on a law enforcement officer, you will face consequences. With one is above the law. And if you lay a hand on a law enforcement officer, you will face consequences. With that said, you had the US attorney's office clarifying that it was still investigating his actions and would decide later whether to charge him with a crime. And so in the meantime, you had Lander being released after a few hours in custody.

With him then exiting the building, accompanied by his wife and New York governor, Kathy Hochul. I'm New York City controller, Brad Lander, and I'm happy to report I am just fine. I lost a button. I'm going to sleep in my bed tonight safe with my family. At that elevator I was separated from someone named Edgardo, who I had just met a couple of minutes earlier.

Edgardo is in ICE detention and he's not going to sleep in his bed tonight. So far as I know, he has no lawyer. He has been stripped of his due process rights by a government and a judge that owe him a credible fear hearing before they deport him. You would lander then going on to say that he's come to the courthouse for the past three weekends and had walked four families out who were afraid of being snatched up by eyes without incident until now.

You also had him disputing DHS's claims saying that he did not assault a federal agent, but that he's ready to defend himself if they press charges. Though also regarding that you had Governor Hockel saying. To my knowledge, the charges, there are no charges. Charges have been dropped. And she wasn't the only one

who was demanding Landers release, right? I mean, hundreds of protesters gathered outside the courthouse as well. ICE out of the courts! ICE out of as well. Ice out of the courts! Ice out of the courts! Ice out of the courts! Hell, even some of his rivals on the Democratic primary, which is coming up next week,

either released statements condemning his arrest or personally went down there to show support. Was one of them Andrew Cuomo? Imagine that. But the current second place candidate, Zoran Mumdani, who recently endorsed and was endorsed by Brad Lander, saying. He showed us what leadership can look like.

And for that, he was arrested. And we have to be clear about this. This is not about an election. This is about ensuring that we protect the city and the country that we love. But a really big key takeaway here is that Lander is actually the fifth elected Democrat to be arrested or manhandled by federal agents in just the past couple

of months. With the first being Milwaukee judge, Hannah Dugan, who in April was arrested by the FBI for obstruction by allegedly helping an undocumented immigrant evade ICE agents. Then in May you had federal agents arresting Ross Baraka, the mayor of Newark, New Jersey for trespassing as he protested outside a new immigration detention center.

Then you had US representative, LaMonica MacGyver, also getting arrested and charged with assaulting and impeding federal agents after she tried to stop them from arresting the mayor. And then of course, last week you had federal agents forcibly removing US Senator Alex Padilla from a news conference in LA after he approached DHS Secretary Christine Noem to ask her a question. And actually with that, he gave an impassioned speech about what happened on the Senate floor yesterday and he broke down in tears. I was pushed and pulled, struggled to maintain my balance. I was forced to the ground. First on my knees and then flat on my chest.

And it's how I was handcuffed and marched down a hallway repeatedly asking, why am I being detained? Not once did they tell me why. Now throughout this country's history, we've had conflict. We've had tumult, but we've never had a tyrant as the commander in chief. Then from that, we need to talk about how the troubling situation between Israel and Iran is still escalating and developing in real time. You know, we still can't say for sure

what side of the debate about US military involvement in Iran Trump's gonna end on. Or with Trump saying today. I may do it, I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I'm gonna do. Iran's got a lot of trouble and they wanna negotiate. And I said, why didn't you negotiate with me before? All this death and destruction.

Now with that, I will say Iran has negotiated. But I mean, for one, they reached a deal back in 2015 with the United States and five other world powers to accept strict limits on its nuclear program. But then Trump withdrew from that agreement in 2018, ordering a strike that killed the top Iranian commander in 2020 and later threatened to launch a massive on its nuclear program. But then Trump withdrew from that agreement in 2018, ordering a strike that killed the top Iranian commander in 2020 and later threatened to launch a massive attack on the country.

But then with that, last year you had him campaigning as the anti-war candidate, with him even supporting a diplomatic solution once back in the Oval Office. And again, you know, Iran, they agreed to negotiate. But notably, it rejected Trump's demand that it stop enriching uranium and put forward a counter proposal instead.

But then a sixth round of talks scheduled to take place in Oman last weekend, that is until Israel attack. From there, you've seen Trump's own interest in talking, seemingly going down day after day. The media just straight up saying yesterday, he wasn't too much in the mood to negotiate. And then you had him threatening Iran's supreme leader on social media writing,

we know exactly where he is hiding. And adding our patience is wearing thin. And then in a separate post, calling for Iran's unconditional surrender. And today you had him answering a question about what he meant by that saying, two very simple words, it's very simple, unconditional surrender.

That means I've had it, okay? I've had it. I give up, no more. We go and blow up all the nuclear stuff that's all over the place. So then with that, notably when asked whether it was now too late, he said, nothing's too late. And so Iran has reportedly asked other countries

in the region to pressure Trump to push Israel toward a ceasefire signaling that it would be flexible in the nuclear talks if a ceasefire is reached. Though they then also made it clear that it will not negotiate while under attack. And with that, you had Iran's supreme leader claiming today that his country would never surrender and adding, any form of US military intervention will undoubtedly

be met with irreparable harm. With him then saying in another post in Farsi, the battle begins. But of course, post in Farsi, the battle begins. But of course with that more accurately, the battle, it's continuing. Now some of the latest news being that more than 50 Israeli fighter jets struck targets in Iran overnight, according to the IDF.

With them saying that those targets included a centrifuge facility, a missile production facility near Tehran, and a university linked to the Revolutionary Guard Corps. With then one rights group claiming the death toll has risen to at least 585 people across Iran, including at least 239 civilians. Then as far as Israel, as of recording,

there have been no new deaths reported beyond the 24 civilians that were killed in the first few days. And that is notably the country is now lifting some restrictions on civilians and allowing more people to return to work and gather in small groups. And that, seeming to signal that the Israeli military

believes that the threat from Iran, whose attacks have waned over the past two days, may be subsiding. Though there, I will say, Iran may also just be conserving resources in case the US gets involved. With another New York Times reporting that it's getting missiles and other military equipment

ready to attack American bases in the region. Because one of the big key things here is that the US has more than 40,000 troops deployed in the Middle East. And then with that, you have officials warning that if the US attacks Iran, it'll not only be the regime retaliating, but also Iranian-backed militias in Yemen, Iraq, and Syria.

And that is, you had others noting that Iran could start setting up mines in the Strait of Hormuz, which would be meant to pin American warships in the Persian Gulf. Which on the note of warships, more are reportedly on their way to the region right now. And then also something else worth noting

is that according to Politico, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has given an unusual level of authority to a single general. US central command chief, Eric Carrillo, someone who is reportedly pushing for a strong military response against Iran. Within one former official telling them,

if the senior military guys come across as tough and war fighters, Hegseth is easily persuaded to their point of view. And then adding, Carrillo has been very good at getting what he wants. Right, and that, as you then have other officials noting that nearly all of the general's requests for sending ships and jets to the Middle East

have been approved, even as other high ranking officials have urged caution. And while we're gonna have to wait to see what happens with all of that, we should also talk about what the justification would be for attacking Iran. Or with the two words of the week being nuclear weapons. Because you have Netanyahu claiming that there was an imminent threat

of Iran producing nuclear weapons requiring a preemptive strike from Israel. And Trump, he has repeatedly and emphatically declared that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. But the reality is, even if the Iranian government is a brutal, disgusting, repressive regime that says a lot of crazy shit, the actual consensus among US intelligence agencies

has long been that Iran hasn't made a decision to move forward on building a bomb. And in fact, back in March, Trump's director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, testified that the intelligence community continued to assess that Iran was not building a nuclear weapon. Then this week, when asked about that,

you had Trump replying, I don't care what she said. Trump saying, well, he thinks that they're very close to having a nuclear weapon, which I will say is not necessarily wrong. I mean, Iran has actually carried out research that could make it easier to produce a nuclear weapon. And according to Gabbard's testimony, Iran's enriched uranium stockpile is at its highest levels

and is unprecedented for a state without nuclear weapons. Since while Iran may not be actively building a nuclear weapon, it may have enough highly enriched uranium to do so relatively quickly, though how quickly is unclear. Some experts have suggested that it would take them only one week to get weapons-grade uranium

and then another few months to fashion a crude nuclear explosive device. But then you're also seeing reporting that US intelligence assessments have concluded that if Iran began actively developing a nuclear weapon, which as far as we know, it has not, you would actually need up to three years to have one ready to go.

And in either case, you also have the Wall Street Journal now reporting that the new intelligence that Israel shared with the US ahead of its attack still did not show that Iran had plans to build a bomb. And so saying because of that, Israel's initial attack may not meet the threshold for the type of preemptive attack

actually allowed by international law. And instead, based on the information available, it might be considered an illegal preventive attack, which is taken well in advance of a potential threat. And with that, you have a professor of international law at a university in the UK claiming, a legal argument Russia made for invading Ukraine is also actually very similar to this Israeli argument.

It basically said that at some point in the future, Ukraine and NATO are going to attack us and that's why we're doing this. That's not really about self-defense. Now with that said, some argue that the Iranian nuclear threat is so serious, there should be some wiggle room with the idea of self-defense. And that is, you know, others, they say that self-defense

doesn't apply here, at least from a legal perspective. And claiming that the conflict didn't start last Friday, but on October 7th, 2023, when Iran backed Hamas attacked Israel. And then you have people in that camp noting that Iran has directly attacked Israel on two occasions since then. Though then notably both were to retaliate

against attacks on Iranian officials or on Iranian soil. You know, with that said, beyond the legality question, there's also a question about effectiveness. You have some pointing out that if Israel does not succeed, it may actually have given Iran an incentive to develop a nuclear weapon. You have at least one expert claiming that the incentive, it would multiply dramatically

if the United States joins the war. And then with that, you have many having the sense that Israel's ultimate goal to eliminate the perceived threat is regime change. Especially because you have people like the Israeli defense minister saying, the symbols of government are bombed and destroyed from the broadcasting authority

and soon other targets and masses of residents flee. This is how dictatorships collapse. But ultimately, there's just so many layers to this and where I'll end is actually to take another step back. Because understandably, while so many eyes are now on Iran at the moment, another thing we need to remember is that the death toll in Gaza is still mounting.

And in fact, yesterday, it was one of the deadliest days in weeks. With local health officials reporting this morning that Israeli gunfire and strikes had killed at least 140 people over the previous 24 hours, including 59 people trying to get food. You have deaths like this becoming a near daily occurrence ever since the US and Israeli backed

Gaza humanitarian foundation took over aid distribution. You know, with all that, there's a lot going on. We're gonna stay on top of it. And in the meantime, of course, I'd love to know your thoughts. And then I've got more news for you in just a second, but first, have you ever left the house and you just instantly regret your shoe choice?

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they're 100% waterproof thanks to their breathable Dymotex tech, not water resistant, not kind of water safe, waterproof. And they've got the right mix of athletic and everyday. Like I could hit a museum, a lunch meeting, or a coffee in these and still look put together. And the comfort, elite. I mean, we're talking lightweight cushioning,

breathable knit, and a padded heel lock that actually hugs your foot. Plus they slip on and off like a dream, which means no fumbling at TSA. Also Vessi's vegan and PFAS free, so they're better for the planet and your conscience. They're also available in half sizes, which is a bonus for most.

That just being one more reason that they've replaced three different pairs of shoes in my closet. You know, they hold up. I've put miles on my sneakers and they're still going strong. So hey, use that QR code or go to Vessi.com slash PDS to step confidently into daily life

with the waterproof ultra light Vessi Pacific sneaker. With a one year warranty and worry-free 30 day returns, you're covered for every journey. But then to shift gears from that to a different kind of news as we begin to wind down today's show, let's talk about lupus. Well, Dr. House of course famously always said, it's never lupus.

It is a thing that affects people. It's an autoimmune condition in which the body develops antibodies against its own DNA and other cellular material. Meaning that the body is attacking its own healthy tissue. So people can experience joint pain, rashes, severe fatigue, inflammation and organs. And it typically appears between the ages of 15 and 44. And it's overwhelmingly in women.

And with that, you have Dr. April Barnato saying that, lupus, it often shows up when women are raising families or getting promoted at work and adding, they wake up and feel like they have the flu or a viral infection a few days a week, every week. That's pretty debilitating. And one of those women is Jennifer Lee. She's a 36 year old woman who was diagnosed back in 2016.

And every few months, Jennifer would wind up in the emergency room with a severe rash or joint pain and swelling or sores in her mouth or even after passing out from exhaustion. Jennifer's saying that she'd often have to take medical leave from work and it would take two months for her to feel healthy again. And she's also unfortunately among the 50%

of lupus patients to experience inflammation in their kidneys, which is something that often results in the need for dialysis or even a kidney transplant. Now with all that, currently severe forms of lupus can at best be managed with medications like steroids and immunosuppressants, and the patient has to just deal with this lifelong condition. At worst, if the disease resists treatment,

it can lead to organ failure and death. And Jennifer, she's tried all the conventional treatments, hoping that she could get her symptoms to stabilize and maybe she could have a baby. The medication she had to take, it meant that pregnancy just wasn't an option and it was too dangerous to be pregnant with uncontrolled lupus.

And then by last fall, she had run out of conventional treatment options. And so her physician offers her a chance to participate in a clinical trial that was testing a new therapy borrowed from cancer research called CAR T-cell therapy. And that therapy is kind of a living drug. It modifies patients' immune cells

to help them attack misbehaving ones. And notably, it had significant success in treating certain types of cancers, especially blood cancers. Then also, there's a growing body of evidence that suggests that it can be used to treat severe forms of lupus. Back in 2021, a medical student from Germany

was among the first to get this treatment for her lupus, and within days, her symptoms dissipated, and they haven't made an appearance since. And since then, dozens of lupus patients around the world have been successfully treated with CAR T-cell therapy. But, you know, I will say everything's not said and done here. With the FDA, they've yet to approve this treatment

for lupus in the US. And it's prohibitively expensive, with one-time costs for approved cancer therapies coming with a price tag of $500,000 or more. Not to mention, researchers still have a lot of unanswered questions. You know, things like how long does it last and are these patients really cured?

But as of now, what we do know is that patients that have gotten this treatment are able to live their lives more freely. And that now includes Jennifer, who's able to return back to her job and she can actually get a good night's sleep. They're saying that she's pain-free, energetic, and she's hoping to start trying to conceive later this year.

And so hopefully as we keep our eyes on this, we get more good news from the FDA, the costs can go down. But I also think, you know, it's just good to know that we are still pushing forward to find treatment and cures for diseases that countless people are forced to live with every single day. But then finally today,

I wanna end with a congratulations and talk about y'all's comments on yesterday's show. Starting with congratulations to Michael P, SeatGeek's weekly winner who just snagged $500 in tickets. With my man pumped to catch a giant steak on, the Packers, November 16. And for the rest of y'all, that's right, SeatGeek is still giving away $500 in tickets. With my man pumped to catch a Giants take on the Packers November 16. And for the rest of y'all, that's right. SeatGeek is still giving away $500 in tickets

and you should definitely enter today if you haven't already. I mean, you could be the next winner and snag $500 towards seeing your favorite artists, sporting event or play. The options feel limitless because there's like over 70,000 events to choose from. And all you gotta do, just add code PDS

to your SeatGeek app profile for a chance at the weekly $500 prize, no purchase necessary. But with all that said, let's talk about y'all's comments on yesterday's show and some comment commentary, starting with one of the top comments that wasn't even about a specific story.

But JobDow wrote, wonder if Phil misses when the daily news was about YouTubers suing each other and spicy secret links of the day. Which one, okay, you're making it sound like I was linking out to porn. That's not, I don't believe that's what was happening. A million years ago, the show had man show-esque stuff

that is in the rear view. But then also too, yeah, a lot of the early show was about like celeb and YouTuber drama. Though it could be argued that it is inherently the same show, it's just that the subject matter and the stakes have changed. Right, it's less YouTuber A versus YouTuber B and more politician versus like rights

versus the constitution. You know versus like rights versus the constitution. You know, billionaires versus the working class or countries. They had different characters. The stakes have changed though to tweak that question. I think what I would say is, you know, I would much rather live in a world where it was hard to come up with what the show is gonna be each day.

It would be bad for the views, but I think infinitely better for my mind and soul. But then separate from that regarding the stories that we were covering, we had Kiro SP saying, it is genuinely terrifying that the people running our country have so little empathy that when one of their colleagues is murdered, they immediately rushed to say the assassin was on the other team,

not even pretending to care about the loss of life. No thoughts and prayers, just immediate lies to make themselves look better. Which yeah, that feels more the situation than it's been in a very long time where it's really just teams playing one another. People out there who go, you know, who even cares about the reality of the situation

or the human element? How can I use this? And or how can I deflect if this makes my team look bad? You know, that sort of thinking, it's just a recipe for fucking disaster. You know, currently and unfortunately, that is what's on many people's menu. And actually with this, you had Jen sharing.

Minnesotan here, I visited my dad, a huge MAGA buff the day after the shootings. He had the fucking audacity to claim that the killer's attacks weren't politically motivated because he was a churchgoer whose mental was affected by a brain tumor. You know, that sort of thing that causes you to hammer out a hit list, accidentally impersonate a cop,

and drive to the houses of multiple elected officials in the middle of the night. Then regarding the Trump phone, you had Cryo saying, "'The moment I heard Trump work in phone service, my immediate thought was, oh, so that's how they're going to build their surveillance network.'" Which there, you know, I think maybe,

I think it's important to be skeptical. It would also easily be argued that it is just, it's a lazy cash grab. I mean, again, just looking at the site, it was so fucking messy. There were things that weren't applicable to the other thing that it was supposed to represent. Also I'll say in those comments,

there are a lot of people on the Marjorie Taylor Greene, Candace Owens, Tucker Carlson, criticizing Trump news. You had Amanda Rose saying, "'I hate that this timeline has had me saying "'even a broken clock is right twice a day, "'more times in the last month "'than I've said in my 31 years on the planet.'" Which yeah, I will say it is very interesting to see,

especially over just the last two months, how stupid, scary and dangerous a number of things have gotten that even people that are allied with the person responsible are like, this is fucking crazy. But I will say with certain different people on certain different topics,

I get confused as to why there is confusion or shock that Trump is doing a lot of the things that he actively said he was going to do. And then finally, it was awesome to see so many individual comments that were just loving the story about Peter yesterday. And also it was interesting to see that a number of you were actually already familiar with him.

It was my first introduction. And yeah, he just seems like an absolute vamp and it's just his situation. It shows like how one person helping another can have just such a massive ripple effect. But that is where today's show is gonna end. Thank you for watching. Thank you for subscribing. And I'll see you right back here tomorrow because I got a brand new show

for you every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 p.m. Pacific. Love you, mean it, bye.