- 3 months ago
In this week’s intel-packed roundtable, ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern and former CIA & State Dept. veteran Larry Johnson break down the biggest geopolitical flashpoints shaping the global stage 🌍🔥. From Iran’s bold missile responses and Israel’s regional setbacks, to Ukraine’s stalling counteroffensive and the US media's narrative shifts, nothing is off-limits in this brutally honest wrap-up 🧩⚠️.
Expect sharp insights on:
🛰️ NATO’s intelligence failures
Growing risks of US direct involvement
💬 Propaganda vs. truth in Ukraine & the Middle East
📉 America's waning global credibility
A must-watch for those tired of filtered headlines and hungry for raw, strategic breakdowns of global affairs.
#INTELRoundtable #RayMcGovern #LarryJohnson #ForbiddenNews #Geopolitics #MiddleEastUpdate #UkraineWar #IranStrike #IsraelCrisis #NATOExposed #CIAAnalysis #DeepStateNarratives #USForeignPolicy #RussiaUpdate #UncensoredTruth #WeeklyWrap #MilitaryIntel #WorldNews #GeoPoliticsDecoded #StayInformed
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NewsTranscript
00:00Transcription by CastingWords
00:30Hi, everyone. Judge Andrew Napolitano here for Judging Freedom.
00:36Today is Friday, June 13th, 2025.
00:40It's the end of the day, the end of the week.
00:41It's our favorite segment with our longtime collaborators,
00:45the Intelligence Community Roundtable, Ray McGovern and Larry Johnson.
00:49Gentlemen, welcome here. Thank you for the extra time.
00:52It's been a pressure cooker of a week for all of us, particularly the last 24 hours.
00:59I want to spend our time analyzing from a military perspective, Larry,
01:04and from an intelligence perspective, Ray, what we are witnessing in real time between Iran and Israel.
01:14Ray, to you first.
01:15What is the likely involvement of the CIA in the attacks by the Israelis on Iran perpetrated in the past 24 hours?
01:26Well, as usual, the CIA is embedded in Mossad, so there's a good chance that the CIA knew about these plans.
01:37On the other hand, there's the Israeli habit of not seeking permission,
01:43but rather preferring to seek forgiveness after they do these things.
01:48So I don't know which is the case in this instance, but I would emphasize that most people have really not mentioned
01:58what I think is one of the main factors here, and that is Netanyahu's very precarious position in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem,
02:08whatever you call it, you know.
02:09He almost got kicked out of power there earlier this week.
02:15I think he saw an interesting and a very lucrative opportunity to start a regional war to stay out of jail.
02:24Now, that sounds crazy, right?
02:26This is the guy that's doing genocide in Gaza.
02:28Would he start a regional war to stay out of jail?
02:32I wouldn't put it past him.
02:34Would he use nuclear weapons in this war?
02:38Again, that sends chills up the back of my spine, but I wouldn't put it past him.
02:42So this thing needs to be tamped down.
02:45I think the combination of Russia, China, and if Trump will divorce himself a little bit more from the Zionists in his government,
02:54I think this could be tamped down, but not before Iran retaliates in a very, very vicious way.
03:02Larry, have the neocons been triumphant in the Trump foreign policy machine with this series of events in the past 24 hours?
03:13Yeah, Trump did this.
03:16This is all on Donald Trump.
03:18In fact, you know, yesterday and the day before, they put out, oh, we told Bibi, don't you do it.
03:25And, oh, we had really no knowledge.
03:27So what does Trump tell the New York Post today?
03:29And I'm quoting, I always knew the day Israel would attack.
03:33I know everything.
03:36Okay?
03:36So Donald Trump was up to his eyebrows in this thing, and he knew it was going to take place.
03:46The U.S. military knew it was going to take place.
03:48The U.S. military was involved in planning and coordinating this effort with Israel.
03:54Chris, sir.
03:55That, without a doubt.
03:57And you know what this is?
03:59Let's call this Saddam Hussein Part 2.
04:02Remember in the lead-up to the war in Iraq in 2003, the American public were gaslit, as was most of the world, with this nonsense, this lie that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, and if we didn't stop him, oh, my God, the world would come to an end.
04:19Israel just did the same thing with U.S. and European support.
04:24I can't emphasize that enough.
04:26You notice last week, this document came out, allegedly, from the IAE, saying, oh, Iran has violated this and violated that, and they're a complete violation of the nonproliferation treaty.
04:38And then you had same talking points coming out from the U.K., from France, and from Germany.
04:43That is not a coincidence.
04:46I do not believe in coincidence.
04:48This was a coordinated operation.
04:50Israel's carried it out, but they're also carrying water for other people.
04:55Chris, cut number 16.
05:00Our president will start a war with Iran because he has absolutely no ability to negotiate.
05:07He's weak and he's ineffective.
05:11That's Donald Trump running against Hillary Clinton in 2016.
05:15Chris, Trump on his inaugural address, cut number 13.
05:20We will measure our success not only by the battles we win, but also by the wars that we end, and perhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into.
05:30You can leave that on the screen, Chris, and I'll read it.
05:36I'm sure Larry and Ray have seen a Trump's statement in the middle of the night.
05:42Well, it came out about 530 this morning, guys.
05:45I gave Iran chance after chance to make a deal.
05:48I told them in the strongest of words to just do it.
05:51But no matter how hard they tried, no matter how close they got, they just couldn't get it done.
05:57I told them it would be much worse than anything they know, anticipated, or were told.
06:01That the United States makes the best and most lethal military equipment anywhere in the world by far in caps, and that Israel has a lot of it with much more to come, and they know how to use it.
06:14Certain Iranian hardliners spoke bravely, but they didn't know what was about to happen.
06:19They are all dead in caps now, and it will only get worse.
06:23There has already been great death and destruction, but there is still time to make this slaughter, with the next already planned attacks being even more brutal, come to an end.
06:35Iran must make a deal before there is nothing left, and save what was once known as the Iranian Empire.
06:42No more death, no more destruction.
06:44Just do it before it's too late.
06:46God bless you all, Ray.
06:47Jeff Sachs says this is the most fascistic statement he's ever seen from an American president.
06:55It's basically saying negotiate with us and agree with us at the negotiating table, or we will kill you.
07:03Well, you know, it's really ridiculous, Judge, because the ostensible reason is that Iran is working on a nuclear weapon that would threaten Israel.
07:15Now, this all happened before.
07:17In 2007, everyone thought this was the case until a national intelligence estimate pointed otherwise, said with high confidence that Iran had stopped working on a nuclear weapon in late 2003 and had not resumed work.
07:35That judgment has been repeated every year since, as recently as two months ago.
07:41So they're pushing at an open door.
07:44Nuclear weaponry has nothing to do with this.
07:46They're doing a dream change.
07:47That's what he's trying to do.
07:49Now, here's Trump talking about his most recent discussion with Putin nine days ago.
07:56Okay?
07:57We also discussed Iran after Ukraine and the fact that time is running out on Iran's decision about nuclear weapons, which must be made quickly.
08:08I stated to President Putin that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, and we agreed on this.
08:17Well, we also agreed, did we, that Iran is not working on a nuclear weapon?
08:22Now, the reason I mentioned this is because the Zionists in Trump's government are more powerful than the ones in George W. Bush and Dick Cheney's government, because when that estimate came out, it prevented Bush and Cheney from supporting or acting with Israel in an attack on Iran.
08:46Now, this time, it's the same judgment.
08:49They're not working on a nuclear weapon.
08:51And Tulsi Gabbard was so upset about all these neocons and these warmongers that she made an unprecedented statement saying, don't you people realize what happens when nuclear weapons go off?
09:04That's how I read that.
09:05So, what Tulsi Gabbard is saying is, look, I'm having a hell of a time with these other troglodytes here.
09:11They think they can use nuclear weapons or risk nuclear war.
09:15I see that exclusively in the Iran-Israel context.
09:20And I think she's trying to plead with everybody who might listen and say, look, this is getting very serious because not even the intelligence community is allowed to express what is reality.
09:32And that is that Iran continues not to work on a nuclear weapon.
09:38And so, why do you want to blow it to smithereens when it's not doing what you're accused of doing?
09:44It's regime change.
09:46It's, I think, Netanyahu sees a really good opportunity.
09:50We'll get one, though, when Trump is diverted with tariffs and Los Angeles and a whole bunch of other things.
09:58Go ahead and do it and ask for, well, ask for excuses later or ask for, well, ask for forgiveness later.
10:09Although it does look like Trump is crowing about the fact that he was in on it from the beginning.
10:16Doesn't make any sense.
10:17The Iranians are going to retaliate.
10:19It's going to be fierce.
10:20We're going up the escalation ladder and there was no real need to, except for the Zionists wish to decapitate, which they have and emasculate Iran.
10:32Larry, before you respond, it's a brief one.
10:35This is Tulsi Gabbard under oath.
10:37Two months ago, March 25th.
10:39Chris cut number one.
10:41The IC continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon, not building a nuclear weapon.
10:46And Supreme Leader Khamenei has not authorized the nuclear weapons program that he suspended in 2003.
10:53The IC continues to monitor closely if Tehran decides to reauthorize its nuclear weapons program.
11:01But I don't know whether to believe her or not, Larry.
11:03This is based upon the unanimous conclusion of the intelligence community.
11:08And then she fired the people, didn't she, that wrote that report?
11:12No.
11:13Different.
11:13I don't think so.
11:16I'm not sure.
11:16Look, Iran, within the last hour, hour and a half, Iran has already retaliated against Israel.
11:24They've hit the Damona nuclear reactor.
11:26They've hit the defense headquarters in Tel Aviv.
11:30They've hit several other targets.
11:32They've launched at least three waves of missiles.
11:35The first wave was to attract air defense systems.
11:39The final ones you can see, again, these hypersonic missiles streaking in, not being stopped, exploding on impact.
11:46So Israel is now saying they're going to retaliate for that.
11:49So this thing, we're past escalation.
11:52This is war.
11:53This is war.
11:55We're now in a war.
11:56Iran's not going to back down.
11:59Israel's going to not back down.
12:01And the United States is, to this point, Iran's avoiding attacking U.S. targets, even though the Iranians have said and believe that this was carried out with U.S. support.
12:14But they don't want to fight the United States, at least not yet.
12:20But, Larry, apparently the President of the United States doesn't speak to his own Secretary of State.
12:26Chris put up the full screen from Marco Rubio.
12:29This is just incredible in light of what Trump said.
12:31This is last night.
12:32Marco Rubio, the Senate-confirmed, but not actual, real Secretary of State.
12:39Tonight, Israel took unilateral action against Iran.
12:43We are not involved in strikes against Iran, and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region.
12:50Israel advised us that they believe this action was necessary for self-defense.
12:55President Trump and the administration have taken all necessary steps to protect our forces and remain in close contact with our regional partners.
13:03Let me be clear.
13:04Iran should not target U.S. interests or personnel.
13:07Larry, the first two sentences are bald-faced lies, are they not?
13:13It is, as Ray calls it, male bovine excrement.
13:16In large, copious amounts and extremely odiferous, to use several adjectives.
13:25Look, Trump, upon getting that message from the Israelis, all he had to do is tell Netanyahu, don't do it.
13:32We've got peace talks.
13:33We're going to get this settled through peace talks, if he was sincere about that.
13:38Donald Trump is not sincere about that.
13:41I think Donald Trump now has established himself in the last 48 hours as a liar.
13:48Because, first of all, we don't know anything about it, and we told him to stand down.
13:52Now, the United States has the power and ability to stop Israel in a second.
13:59Because without continued U.S. support, Israel cannot sustain this kind of operation.
14:04Instead, Trump's point, oh, what can we do?
14:07Those Israelis, man, they're so tough, we can't stop them.
14:10And then, today, yeah, I knew when they were going to hit.
14:14I knew all about it.
14:15I knew everything, this sick narcissist said.
14:20I mean, it's really, it is disgusting because people now are dying that did not need to die.
14:28And these attacks by the Israelis, they've got 50 years of history of doing decapitations.
14:34They go out and they kill a leader.
14:37They killed the Hamas leader.
14:38Guess what?
14:39Still there.
14:40And we're talking Sheikh Yashem from 25 years ago.
14:44They kill, you know, Nasrallah.
14:47Hey, Hezbollah is still there.
14:49And so this thinking that they can kill their way out of this, it's a sick, perverse policy on the part of these Zionists.
14:58But it's also sick, Ray and Larry, that this is the opposite of what Trump told everybody he would do.
15:06Chris, cut number 17.
15:0817.
15:09Just as importantly, bringing back impoundment will give us a crucial tool with which to obliterate the deep state, drain the swamp, and starve the warmongers, these people that want wars all over the place.
15:23Killing, killing, killing.
15:25They love killing.
15:26And the globalists out of our government.
15:28We're going to get the warmongers and the globalists out of our government.
15:34Wanted the people, and I guess to a certain extent succeeded in getting a significant majority to believe that.
15:41All along, funding a war in Ukraine, where Ukraine is profoundly losing, perpetrating genocide in Gaza, even ratcheting it up more than Joe Biden.
15:58And now this, all at the expense of the American taxpayer, Ray McGovern.
16:05Were you surprised, Ray, that Mossad was able to set up some sort of a coordinating facility inside Iran and smuggled drones inside Iran?
16:18No, Mossad is pretty good at that kind of thing.
16:22Actually, the Iranians have done something similar.
16:24They sent their intelligence agencies to filch very important documents, which have yet to have been fully published.
16:32But they have to do with Israel's nuclear capabilities and who helped them become nuclear.
16:40One thing that I was just talking to UK ambassador, former ambassador, Craig Murray.
16:46He spent four months in Lebanon, and he watched what happened to Hezbollah when Hezbollah sort of laid back and let the Israelis pretty much attrit them.
17:01And he said that he thought that the Iranians probably had learned a lesson from that.
17:07There's no sense in waiting.
17:10You use it or you lose it.
17:13The Israelis continue to attack.
17:14He thinks, and I agree with him here, that the Iranians will have no inhibitions to fire all those hypersonic missiles that they have.
17:24And they can utter destruction within Israel, as they have already demonstrated the ability to do.
17:35They can't be shot down.
17:36No Patriot missile battery can shoot them down.
17:39So apparently, Larry just mentioned, they're doing that now.
17:42So this is going on.
17:44What's going to happen?
17:45Well, it seems to me that there is some saving grace here.
17:48Here's what Trump said.
17:49He asked the Russians to help.
17:51Well, did he really ask?
17:53Well, maybe they try to help.
17:54The Chinese are saying, oh, this is awful.
17:57We can act as intermediaries.
17:59This is a big problem, folks.
18:01It's a worldwide problem.
18:02China and Russia have real big interests.
18:06There are strategic interests in that area.
18:08There is a possibility that they can persuade Trump to ditch the Zionists that have already prevailed so far and say, look, this is really interesting and really difficult because Israel has nuclear weapons.
18:24Look what Netanyahu has already done.
18:27Do you think he will stop before using nuclear weapons just to stay out of jail?
18:35Sounds crazy, doesn't it?
18:36What he has already done.
18:39Larry, your favorite, our favorite, the favorite of the three of us, member of the United States Senate from South Carolina considers this a game.
18:49Here's what he said, game on, pray for Israel.
18:56This is the guy that whispers in Trump's ear whenever they play golf.
19:01He never met a war.
19:02He didn't want somebody else to fight.
19:06Well, yeah, again, Judge, the reason we do this, the United States never pays a price in blood.
19:13But, you know, we get all crocodile tears over all the people that died in Vietnam on the U.S. side.
19:20Well, excuse me, 58,000.
19:22That's how many we lose in automobile accidents in a year.
19:25And we don't give a damn.
19:27OK, the same in Korea.
19:29So, you know, these American soldiers who bravely sign up to serve, thinking that they're serving a higher cause, they just get used as, you know, they're expendable because not that many of them die anyway.
19:41And therefore, we can go around the world sowing mayhem, killing these other people, causing their deaths, causing the deaths of a million-plus Ukrainian soldiers, and we make money off of it.
19:54U.S. companies get richer.
19:56So that, you know, that's why I said this is a, you know, we've got a sickness.
20:01We're like a drug addict when it comes to this.
20:03How do you see, Larry, how do you see the war expanding?
20:09Is it just going to be Israel with the help of the U.S. against Iran, or will other countries in the region get involved?
20:18It depends on what happens.
20:20I mean, it depends if the United States now gets involved directly with these attacks, then the U.S. bases will then be hit.
20:28And to the extent that the Saudis and all the other Gulf Arabs, so far, they've come out and condemned this.
20:36Russia's Ambassador Nevincia, I watched his statement just about an hour ago, very, very strong condemnation blamed Israel entirely for this as an illegal act of war, as completely unjustified.
20:49So he was excoriating the Israelis.
20:53This, you know, this has the potential to spiral out of control.
20:57If Israel decides to use a nuke, then that's going to make it impossible for other countries in the region, like Pakistan, that have nukes, to ignore it.
21:07And, Ray, you just finished arguing a few minutes ago that Netanyahu was so desperate that he would, in your view, he would consider using nuclear weapons if he felt that that would preserve his time in office and insulate him from prosecution for crimes where the evidence of his guilt is overwhelming.
21:30I do.
21:32I fear that there's no guarantee that he wouldn't do that.
21:36I mean, he's got a lot at stake personally.
21:38They have that little bridal suite prepared for him in one of those Tel Aviv jails for him and his wife.
21:45As soon as he's out of power, that's where he lands.
21:47Now, maybe the chances are less than 50-50 that will happen.
21:52But, you know, if you're Netanyahu, you're going to roll the dice.
21:56And the dice, in this case, has caused already a major war and could end up in a situation where the Iranians, with their new capabilities, force Netanyahu into a decision.
22:09Does he give up?
22:10Does he go to jail for the rest of his life?
22:12Or does he use the sanction option, the nuclear weapons that we all know he has in quantities of about 200?
22:21Larry, do we know the extent of damage to the Ukrainian nuclear enrichment for civilian purposes program?
22:32You mean the Iranian?
22:33Uranian, excuse me.
22:34I meant Iranian.
22:36I'm sorry.
22:36No, no, I think, look, we're faced with a similar bit of what I'll call artificial intelligence and initial euphoric reporting that we saw with Ukraine's drone strike on the Russian airfields.
22:50Remember, 41 aircraft destroyed, five airfields hit.
22:55We had video footage.
22:56Oh, my God.
22:58It turned out it was not true.
23:00A lot of it, not true.
23:01It was actually two of the five airfields hit, if I recall correctly.
23:05And a total of about seven aircraft, and many, at least half of which, were out of commission because they were being used for parts.
23:15You know, some of their AWACs didn't have engines attached to the bottom of the wings.
23:19How accurate were the reports we all saw when we woke up this morning that Israel had inflicted, the BBC, unprecedented damage on Iran?
23:34Yeah, well, it's true, because Iran, the last time Iran was attacked like this was when we helped Iraq attack Iran, and Iraq never had that kind of capability.
23:46So, yeah, this is the first time Iran's been hit like this, and we're not quite sure how effective some of their air defense systems were or were not.
23:54A lot of this reporting is, I will maintain, propaganda from the West designed to paint a narrative and a story in order to encourage more support for Israel.
24:03One of the things I'd point out, Judge, is that the end of the Russian announcement said,
24:14we note that the U.S. is ready to hold another round of negotiations with Iran in Oman, having to do with the nuclear program of Iran.
24:27Now, that was the very end.
24:31That's what the Russians are hoping for.
24:33Most people would say, oh, my God, do you think the Iranians would do that?
24:38Would they, on this coming Sunday, go to talks with the U.S.?
24:43Well, the proof will be in the pudding.
24:45I don't know what the answer is, but the Iranians have this option.
24:48They know full well, okay, that Netanyahu's game is to suck the U.S. into open warfare with Israel against Iran.
25:00I think that makes them hesitant to hit the U.S. air bases, the bases in the immediate area, Iraq, elsewhere, Syria.
25:08And so I think there's a chance that they will be circumspect.
25:13Sure, they'll bless the hell out of Israel as long as they can.
25:20But on Sunday, the proof will be in the pudding.
25:22Will Iran decide to continue?
25:24This will be the sixth such round of talks.
25:29It's in Oman.
25:30Well, I wouldn't rule it out.
25:32And if that happens, then we have the Omanis, we have the Gulf people, we have China and Russia all interested in tamping this thing down.
25:41There is a smittering of hope in this.
25:45And also the fact that Trump did ask Putin to intervene with the Iranians.
25:50And there's a very close relationship now between Iran and Russia and Iran and China.
25:56So there's a chance that cooler heads will prevail, and we'll see what happens on Sunday, whether the Iranians would, by any stretch, decide to go and continue these negotiations.
26:09Larry, last question, because we have Larry Wilkerson coming up in three or four minutes.
26:16It's after what Trump did, after the duplicity in which he engaged.
26:21Can anybody trust Donald Trump or the United States of America in a negotiating posture?
26:28No, no.
26:28I think what Trump has said in the last 48 hours has damaged it.
26:33And Iran has already come out twice in the last 12 hours and said that they're not going to the talks on Sunday now.
26:40Now, maybe they'll have second thoughts.
26:43Maybe Russia will intervene with them and try to persuade them.
26:46But the problem that Trump has created now, instead of sticking with the line, gee, you know, we tried to stop those crazy Israelis, and I didn't know nothing about this.
26:55Hey, I knew about it.
26:57I knew everything.
26:58See what a smart guy I am?
27:01I mean, the narcissism is the worst part of this because he's taking great pleasure and joy in the deaths of Iranian citizens.
27:09Well, he's got his parade coming up tomorrow.
27:12I wonder if there was, which is also his 79th birthday.
27:15I wonder if the timing was to coincide with that.
27:19Guys, thank you very much.
27:21We could go on and on, but Uncle Larry is waiting for us.
27:24Ray McGovern, Larry Johnson, thank you for the double duty you always do.
27:27We'll see you both at your usual times on Monday morning.
27:30Have a great weekend.
27:31Thanks, Judge.
27:32And coming up at 4.30 Eastern, Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, Judge Napolitano for Judging Freedom.