Bill O’Reilly’s No Spin News and Analysis

Iran Chaos Continues: Dr. James Robbins on Why the U.S. Can’t Reach a Deal, the Media Ignores Illegal Migrant Crime & Outrageous Claims Over WHCD Shooter’s Treatment

34 min
May 6, 202625 days ago
Listen to Episode
Summary

Bill O'Reilly analyzes the Iran crisis, arguing that the Trump administration faces a political time crunch as Americans prioritize economic concerns over geopolitical threats. Guest Dr. James Robbins discusses why Iran has no incentive to negotiate and proposes alternative pressure tactics including targeting IRGC financial assets and undermining military defections.

Insights
  • Public apathy toward foreign policy crises directly impacts presidential negotiating power—domestic economic anxiety overrides international security concerns in voter priorities
  • Authoritarian regimes with no regard for civilian suffering can outlast democracies constrained by election cycles and public opinion, creating asymmetric conflict dynamics
  • Economic sanctions and military dominance alone are insufficient without a coalition or clear exit strategy; Iran's strategy of waiting out political pressure is proving effective
  • Media coverage disparities on immigration crime stories reveal editorial bias that shapes public perception of policy effectiveness and migrant-related security issues
  • Activist judges crossing into political advocacy undermine rule of law and create moral equivalencies between premeditated assassination attempts and protest-related arrests
Trends
Rising gas prices ($4.48-$5.00 range) becoming primary driver of midterm election outcomes over foreign policy achievementsSelective media coverage of illegal immigrant crime stories based on editorial alignment with amnesty policies versus enforcement positionsAuthoritarian regimes increasingly confident in outlasting democratic pressure due to observable political divisions and election cycles in Western nationsJudicial activism in federal courts undermining executive branch security policies through sympathetic treatment of terrorism suspectsEnvironmental cross-border pollution from Mexico (sewage in San Diego Bay) becoming political liability for California coastal communitiesInsurance industry claims disputes during natural disaster recovery creating regulatory and reputational challenges for major carriersRepublican Party consolidation around Trump as unavoidable political reality despite policy disagreements among candidatesCIA and intelligence community covert operations potentially targeting Iranian military defections as alternative to direct military escalation
Topics
Iran Nuclear Negotiations and U.S. Military StrategyGas Price Inflation and Midterm Election ImpactIllegal Immigration Enforcement and Criminal Alien DeportationsJudicial Activism in National Security CasesMedia Bias in Crime ReportingEconomic Sanctions Effectiveness Against Authoritarian RegimesRepublican Party Cohesion and Trump LeadershipIRGC Financial Asset Seizure StrategiesMilitary Defection Operations in IranBorder Security and Cross-Border PollutionInsurance Claims Disputes in Wildfire RecoveryJanuary 6th Prisoner Treatment ComparisonsAuthoritarian Control Mechanisms and Population ManagementDemocratic Coalition Building in Foreign PolicySubscription Membership Models for News Commentary
Companies
State Farm Insurance
California regulators filed accusations against State Farm for allegedly underpaying wildfire claims; company claims ...
American Hartford Gold
Precious metals dealer sponsoring the episode; O'Reilly promotes physical gold and silver IRAs as hedge against econo...
Newsday
Long Island newspaper criticized for burying illegal migrant crime story on page 10 with minimal migrant status discl...
New York Post
Contrasted with Newsday as taking opposing editorial stance favoring deportation of illegal aliens in coverage of Lon...
People
Dr. James Robbins
Guest expert discussing Iran negotiations, military strategy alternatives, and IRGC defection tactics as pressure mec...
Donald Trump
Subject of analysis regarding Iran policy decisions, political pressure from midterms, and military strategy effectiv...
Marco Rubio
Mentioned as traveling to Rome to address diplomatic controversies regarding Iran policy and international coalition ...
Lindsey Graham
Referenced for advocating arming Iranian resistance; O'Reilly discusses risks of arming disorganized opposition groups
Judge Farouk K. Zia
Criticized as activist judge for sympathizing with WHCD shooter Cole Allen and comparing his treatment to January 6th...
Cole Allen
Subject of judicial sympathy case; charged with attempting to assassinate president; judge ordered improved jail cond...
Ronnie Rivera
22-year-old El Salvadoran illegal immigrant charged with murdering two women on Long Island; case used to illustrate ...
Karen Bass
Endorsed by Kamala Harris for reelection despite criticism; leading polls despite poor governance record
Kamala Harris
Criticized for endorsing Karen Bass as part of Democratic machine politics rather than merit-based decision making
Leland Vitter
Reported on possibility of Republicans distancing from Trump during midterm campaigns; O'Reilly disputes viability of...
Barack Obama
Referenced for distancing himself from social media commentary culture; used as example of avoiding gutter-level poli...
Bill O'Reilly
Host providing analysis and commentary on Iran policy, domestic politics, and media bias; promoting membership subscr...
Quotes
"Most Americans don't care about Iran. They don't care it's a terrorist state. They don't care it may have a nuclear weapon. They care about what's going on in their wallet, in their pocketbook, their home finances."
Bill O'ReillyOpening segment
"The mullahs know this. They know there's no popular support to remove them from the outside. Therefore, they have no incentive, none, to make a treaty, to settle it, none. Tough to negotiate on those terms."
Bill O'ReillyTalking Points Memo
"These are people that are fanatical. They're willing to die for whatever. They don't care about their own people. So where is the negotiating hammer?"
Dr. James RobbinsGuest segment
"So long as they're in power, so long as they're alive, they're going to say that they're winning. And what we've seen throughout the course of this is that rather than seeking compromise, they're actually expanding their demands."
Dr. James RobbinsGuest segment
"Once a judge, any judge, crosses into activism, you don't have justice. I don't care whether Cole Allen has lights on or not. If he wants a Bible, give him a Bible. But this is insane."
Bill O'ReillyWHCD shooter case analysis
Full Transcript
Hey, Bill O'Reilly here. Welcome to the No Spin News, Tuesday, May 5th. Cinco de Mayo on We Wish a Good One to All Our Hispanic Viewers and Listeners 2026. Time is not on President Trump's side. Iran is not evolving the way I believe the USA anticipated. And Republicans are getting nervous because the midterms are five months away. Here is the truth, and it's bleak. Most Americans don't care about Iran. They don't care it's a terrorist state. They don't care it may have a nuclear weapon. If its research goes undisturbed, they don't care about any of it. And they're tired about hearing it already. They care about what's going on in their wallet, in their pocketbook, their home finances. That is absolutely true. So therefore, a resolution is badly needed by the Trump administration and the GOP, the grand old party, and that's going to be a challenge. And that is the subject of this evening's Talking Points memo. So the U.S. is dominating militarily in the Iranian situation. There's no doubt about that, but not economically. So people are suffering all over the world. By Memorial Day here in the USA, gas prices might be $5 a gallon. That's a big hit. Okay. As I said, Americans, they're looking at their own personal portfolio, not the big geopolitical picture. Okay. And the big geopolitical picture doesn't have a lot of positives right now. There's one caveat here. I don't get classified information. I don't know what the plan might be for the Department of War. I simply don't. I do know what Iran's plan is. That's very clear. Wait it out. The world suffers. People in the United States dissent. The mullahs don't care whether their own people are suffering. They don't care whether they themselves die. I don't care about anything. Wait it out. That's obvious. As far as the USA, and they're obviously controlling everything, we, it's difficult to ascertain what the next move is. So we control the Straits of Hormuz in a sense that we can get ships in and out of there and we can block ships. All right. So then what? Inside Iran, and if there's a hope that the Persian people are going to overthrow the Mullahs, that's another tough one. 200,000 Iranian soldiers with orders to shoot to kill. You go out of your house, you're causing trouble, you're dead. Right. This is how fascists and communists control their populations. It's not hard. It's been going on since ancient Rome. Yeah, we know that. So if you're banking on that to happen, an uprising, a popular uprising, it takes some time if it happens at all. The world itself clearly doesn't care about Iran or what Iran does or has done or might do. Even the Pope doesn't care. It's just kind of shocking. And that I did not anticipate. And Secretary Sey Rubio is going to be in Rome tomorrow. on Thursday, I'm sorry, Thursday and Friday to try to mend whatever controversy there is there. But again, this is a truth telling forum you're watching. They don't care. NATO doesn't care. China doesn't care. No one cares. And you add that to the American apathy and got the president walking out, looking around, going, where am I? Guys, they're dwindling, according to all the polls. So the Mueller's know this. They know there's no popular support to remove them from the outside. Therefore, they have no incentive, none, to make a treaty, to settle it, none. Tough to negotiate on those terms. And that's the memo. Joining us now is a guy who knows what he's talking about, Dr. James Robbins. He was a special assistant for Secretary of Defense during the Bush administration. Bush the younger, Donald Rumsfeld was Secretary of Defense. And Dr. Robbins is the dean of the Institute of World Politics. politics where we plead to have him. So am I misstating anything? Am I missing anything in general, doctor? Bill, no, I think you've pretty much summed up what the dilemma is. We're fighting this war. It's not just a military war. There's an economic angle. There's a diplomatic angle. There's probably an intelligence angle that we don't know about. There's a lot going on, but as you say, it takes time. And there's not a big coalition that wants to wait for this. were suffering to a certain extent from the economic impacts of this, which, of course, is what Iran's plan is, is to increase that pain. And you're right about the fact that the Iranians think they just have to wait it out. So as you say, there's really no incentive for them to make a deal. All right. So I don't know whether President Trump anticipated all of this. I do know that I had a phone call with him about a week before the action started, and he wanted to make a deal. He wanted to go in with a negotiation. He did not want to use military action. And I talked to him about it very frankly, and that was his point of view. And I said to him, and I've said this publicly as well, it's the biggest gamble you've ever taken in your life. On any front, because these are people who simply see the world much, much differently. It's not Venezuela. It's not any of these other Western countries. These are people that are fanatical. They're willing to die for whatever. They don't care about their own people. So where is the negotiating hammer? And I believe that the Trump administration and Israel thought that a destruction of the country would bring them to their knees, and it has not. Were you surprised by that? I'm a little surprised by it. I mean, it's pretty extraordinary that we took out their top leadership, and they're still going. And then took a couple other levels of their leadership out, and they're still fighting. So that's interesting. I think that they believe, probably rightly that if they can wait this out if they survive they can declare victory That all they want to do That all they want Right Yeah no matter what going on in their country if they survive they going to say they won. Saddam Hussein did that in 1991 after the desert storm, because we withdrew, he declared victory. Now, you know, was it a victory? I don't know. He was still in power. So long as they're in power, so long as they're alive, they're going to say that they're winning. And what we've seen throughout the course of this is that rather than seeking compromise, they're actually expanding their demands. They're increasing their demands for ending this thing. So the economic strategy is beginning to tell. Their economy is kind of on the verge of a big collapse. But I think they think they can wait it out. And even if it collapsed, so long as they're in power, they don't care. You know, it's almost like the Vietnam War, where you could kill as many communists from the north, and the United States certainly did. All right. And they weren't going to surrender no matter what. No matter what, they weren't going to give up. And it went on and on and on and on. But now we have the added political component back here. Let's face it, the U.S. economy is under stress. National debt rising, trade war shaking the markets. And meanwhile, China is dumping the dollar and stockpiling gold. That's why I protected my savings with physical gold and silver through the only dealer I trust, American Hartford Gold. And you can do this. Get precious metals delivered to your door or place in a tax advantage gold IRA. They'll even help you roll over your existing IRA or 401k, tax and penalty free. With billions in precious metals delivered, thousands of five-star reviews, and an A-plus from the Better Business Bureau, you can trust American Hartford Gold as I do. Please call 866-326-5576 or text BILL to 998899. Again, that's 866-326-5576 or text BIL to 998899. and a biblical piece. Please join us wherever you listen to podcasts. And we also have a YouTube page as well. YouTube.com slash at politics by faith. Of a five term, five month, I should say, midterm election where the power structure could change in this country because Iran doesn't surrender. And you know, the mullahs know that. oh yeah they're watching our media they they probably are selecting media that tells them that donald trump is in a huge political crisis that the u.s economy is collapsing and things like that i'm sure that they're very selective in their choice of media you know what they want to believe uh it's not necessarily true but it is true that there are political pressures building And when you're fighting the type of war that requires patients and their economy to one day collapse, and we don't know when that day is, it becomes very difficult because you do get these countervailing pressures building inside our country for people to say, why are we doing this? And particularly the politicians. So, you know, we're just going to wait for this to happen. It's the folks too. They don't understand what's going on. and 50% of them don't. And they're mad because they're going to pay more money for gasoline, and that's going to reflect in inflation across the board. Last question for you. If you were advising President Trump on this, could you bring him anything that he has not done? I would say ramp up the pressure, not just the military pressure, although there could be some selective strikes on the oil infrastructure, share on the gasoline refineries and other things that would help send their economy over a cliff. I would say do more in terms of seizing the secret accounts of the IRGC leaders and other regime people who have these secret hard currency accounts, you know, their own personal fortunes. I mean, if you want to get their attention, that's a great way to do it. And then use that seized money to underwrite the revolution by buying arms, by underwriting propaganda, paying for members of the military inside Iran to defect. I think there are a lot of active measures in that respect, the things that we could be doing and maybe we are doing covertly, but really amping up that effort because we don't have a lot of time. Now, people don't understand how it works. So these mullahs, they all have money out of Iran and Switzerland and other places stashed away. And Lindsey Graham last night, the senator from South Carolina, was very bullish on the war. He basically said, well, give give the Iranian people guns. But as you know better than anybody else, we armed the Iraqi resistance and it turned on us. And I mean, you know, that's not an easy thing to do is to arm people who are disorganized and discontent. I mean, they may turn those guns on you. Yeah, that's true. It can be dicey. This is why I like the idea of undermining some of the military structures that already exist in the country, getting some people to defect. That's how it worked under Mossadegh. It was the army that switched sides. They already have weapons. They're already inside the country. They have a command structure. Maybe they can get the job done for us. And Iran already uses foreign mercenaries to kill their own people. So they don't even trust that their IRDC even would do the job for them. So if we can undermine that, I think it would be positive. That's what the Trump administration did in Venezuela. Just bought the army. You know, it's next time I talk to the president, if ever, I will bring that up. But you've got to assume that the CIA and they got to know that, that they have to get enough defectors with power to bring this thing at least to some sort of closure. We appreciate it, doctor. Very good discussion. Thanks for helping us out. Okay, as I mentioned, gas prices are looking like five bucks on Memorial Day. Right now, it's $4.48. This time last year, it was $3.16. So you can see. and you know people have the big gas guzzlers uh suburbans innocent as cost a hundred bucks to fill your tank it's a it's a burden and they don't want to hear mullah ayatollah you rich uranium and wire it now am i casting aspersions at these people somewhat somewhat i think we live in a very selfish country. I don't think the long term is very important anymore. I think that it's all about immediate gratification Where mine I don want to pay this stuff Not everybody but about 50 It a lot And it will swing the midterms So President Trump got a handful that for sure Now last night Leland Vitter our news nation, put forth that what if the Republicans running for office in November kind of veered away from President Trump. Roll the tape. Is there room for Republicans to move away from Trump? No. That's the answer to that question, no. No. He's the ship. Carl's wrong. You're either going to sail with it or go down with it. What Roe was talking about is that he wants the individual people running for office in November to be better campaigners, to connect with the voters in an emotional way. And of course, that would be best for the Republican Party if that were to happen. But if you think that you can cut loose the most charismatic populist president in the last 50 years, you're crazy. You can't. And if you try, you're going to get slaughtered. And so it's Trump's party. It's going to remain so, no matter what happens. So back home, one of the things that the Trump administration has to tout is the security and the ICE and Homeland Security campaign. OK, so they announced a bunch of people that they've taken into custody who are all brutal. And one story caught my eye because it's here on Long Island. So yesterday, there was a headline, Butchered, Illegal Migrant Slaughters Two Women on Long Island, including a mother of three. Okay, there he is. He's from El Salvador. He came here by himself, all right, when he was 12 years old, and he's a miscreant. Now, the story is just brutal. Now, this poor woman who got knifed by this guy at a Wendy's. She was working at a Wendy's with three kids. And the other woman was just a bystander and he knifes her. Now, due process, of course, but I don't think there's any question about he did it. So the other newspaper on Long Island, I have to correct myself, is Newsday. And I said yesterday it didn't cover the story. It did cover it, but like this, minuscule, page 10. I missed it. And I get the paper. OK, and it had way down at the bottom about the man's migrant status, because Newsday, as I explained, wants amnesty for illegal aliens. That's what they want. So the liberal newspaper, the New York Post wants to chuck them all out of here. That's what they want. Every major story has a version the news gives you and then a version that's actually true. If you're a critical thinker, if you're somebody who's not tribal, if you're somebody who just wants the facts so you can make your own decisions, Keeping It Real with Jillian Michaels is the show for you. Subscribe now wherever you get your podcasts. And page 10? And it's the third to last paragraph that you mentioned that the guy's here illegally? Come on. So anyway, very disturbing. That policy of rounding up criminal aliens has been very effective for the Trump administration, but it's not going to override the money, in my opinion. This guy, by the way, is Ronnie Rivera. He's 22. El Salvador. No gang affiliation. He's just a dangerous guy. A lot of them here. A judge in D.C., another outrageous story, is sympathizing with the shooter from last Saturday's D.C. dinner. All right. Let me run through the judge first. Then I'll tell you about the sympathy level. His name is Farouk K., Zia Farouk K. He's actually appointed by the Trump administration in the last months of its first term. There is Judge Zia. Now, he despises the Trump administration, this man. He sits in the District of Columbia, no surprise, and he's an activist. He's not a judge. He's an activist. He hates the Department of Justice and all of that. So he's in charge of this case. So this Allen guy, Cole Allen, comes before him, charged with all kinds of stuff. And Allen's lawyers, court appointed, say that his jail cell is harsh. Okay, he has no access to a Bible, and he has 24-hour lights on because he's on suicide watch. So the judge says, oh, we can't have that. And what is better treatment for Cole Allen? And then the judge, and this is unbelievable, put the judge's picture back up there. I talk about activist judges. Then he says that Allen's treatment was more harsh than the people arrested on January 6th. Well, yeah. Yeah. Some of those people, perhaps the majority of the January 6th rioters didn't know what they were doing. there were swept up. They committed crimes. No doubt they did, all of them. This guy was premeditated wanting to kill the president of the United States. And his judge is making a comparison, a moral equivalency. I'm bringing this to your attention because once a judge, any judge, crosses into activism, you don't have justice. I don't care whether Cole Allen has lights on or not. If he wants a Bible, give him a Bible. But this is insane, and it's going on all over the place. Kamala Harris endorses Karen Bass for Los Angeles mayor. No surprise. Bass leads in the polls. She'll be reelected, even though she's a horrible, terrible mayor. The people in L.A. simply don't care about it. So they'll like New York and Chicago. They'll elect people who will hurt them. That's it. That's it. That's democracy. There you go. We don't care. Out of control city. So Bass leads his Republican challenger Spencer Pratt by pretty good margin in all the polls She be reelected So Kamala Harris just goes like this Well that going to get elected I want to be in the democratic machine out here in California So I'm going to support her. That's all. That's what it is. California is mad at state farm insurance. This kills me. So state farm insurance is on the air every second, TV, with commercials that cost them, got to cost them hundreds of millions of dollars. So California says they are underpaying the fire claims for what happened out there in last year's wildfires. And they filed an accusation in order to show cause against State Farm because they say they're not paying the claims. This is California versus State Farm insurance. Now, I don't know. I mean, I don't know whether they're paying the claims. And that state farm says it's paid out 5.7 billion, but it owes. Apparently, the state says it owes another 2 billion or whatever. OK, estimated losses in those fires, 40 billion dollars. But the poor people who had their houses burned down in the middle of this. OK, and I let us every single day from people's insurance companies won't pay off. But you look on television and they got a commercial at the commercial at the commercial at the committee. And then you got to file a claim and not all of them, but a lot of them. You ever been to San Diego, one of the nicest towns, at least it was in the USA? There's a suburb of San Diego called Coronado Beach. It goes over the big bridge they have. OK, and it's a beach community and it's very affluent. Well, now you can't use the beach because it's sewage tainted from Mexico. So San Diego Bay, you can't go there. You can't go in there because all the garbage from Tijuana goes into a river that goes into the Pacific that flows right into Coronado Beach. It's been going on for years. So California finally figured it out. And they're mad. And they want a billion dollars to clean it up. Mexico's not going to give anything. All right? Mexico doesn't care. I mean, you go to Tijuana, it's one of the filthiest places on earth. So, you guys who have homes in Colorado Beach, I'm very sorry for you. Not coming back. All right, we got a final thought coming up that may be of interest. We'll be right back. Final thought of the day has arrived. That's a quick show. I thought it was a good show. It moved along. We are in renewal season for memberships. And what that means is, and we have a very, very high rate of renewal. People like the product and we don't charge. We're not gouging you. We're not sending the no-spin news to a foreign country to be refined, and then it comes back. We don't do that. It's all domestic. Anyway, mom and dad. Mom and dad. Mother's Day, coming right up, and followed by Father's Day. Great gift. Premium and concierge membership for mom and dad. But, boy, discounts on everything. 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Now, the upcoming book, you can get that free, Confronting America, What Has to Change, out September 15th. okay that's coming up everything's coming up you like this book this I'm going out with a bang if I don't decide to write any more books this one is because it's all my experiences that go through why we need this change and that change anyway mom and dad back to them so I would just you know all you got to who say, like this O'Reilly guy, you think he, well, because you make it easy if you're a premium concierge member for them to have their own schedule of events. They can watch whenever they want to watch. And I think you get a pretty positive experience. Now for you, yourself who are premium members and concierge members, I don't do this enough. Thank you. Because I can't hire and pay staff unless you guys are buying in. Simple as that. I got to have a basis of financial streaming to run this operation. And my message of the day is what differentiates us from most of the other people on social media who do commentary. And the linchpin of that is Barack Obama. So he got involved with, you know, saying some stuff. And then he said, well, I don't want to be part of the commentary culture. And I understand. Why would you want to be? because that stuff, you go into that swamp on social media, and they're doing that, they're the purveyors of this stuff, because they're trying to make money, trying to survive. So as provocative as they can be, they get some attention, and they make some money out of it. We're not in that business. I could be a gutter snipe every day, and just take people down every single day. You rarely hear me do that unless I feel the person is dangerous to you. Though it's just a commentator on social media who's espousing some conspiracy theory that the recent shooting in Washington was a set up and all. You know, it's out there. I'm not going to bother with that. Why would I bother with it? Why would I waste your time with that? foolish nonsense okay we don't do conspiracies here as you know I get a lot of conspiracy mail once in a while address something that rises that's not what we do we are actively looking for solutions to the nation's problems and telling you the truth about what's going on that's when we have the best guess that's what we have in point of view So anyway, interesting message of the day on BillOReilly.com. That's free for everybody. Just get up, pop over there, get your dose of enlightenment, and start your day. We very much appreciate you watching and listening to the No Spin News. I'm Bill O'Reilly. We'll see you again tomorrow.