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Jan. 20, 2025 - Stay Free - Russel Brand
53:25
Inauguration Day Live! – SF522
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Thank you.
Looking for this deal.
In this video, you're going to see the future.
Looking for this deal.
Hello there, you awakening wonders.
Thanks for joining me today for Stay Free with Russell Brand, live from Washington, D.C. Whilst an inauguration might be regarded simply as a ceremony, it has a lot packed into it.
And as the sirens that pass, the rumble studios indicate, there is always suppressed chaos amidst apparent order.
You might be watching us on YouTube that's probably not as censored as much today as it was yesterday.
You might be watching me from X or Facebook or any of the places where...
Oligarchs now align in the rotunda to pay homage and bend the knee at the new augmentation, inauguring and implementation of a new set of power.
But ceremonial power is but one thing.
What does that power...
And from where is that authority derived?
And who will be the beneficiaries of that power?
In short, what meaningful changes can we urgently and immediately anticipate under this MAGA revolution, under this transition of power?
Let me know in the comments and chat what you're anticipating and how you feel in particular about the pardoning of Fauci and the Jan 6 Committee and what that indicates when it comes to the age-old topic of corruption.
Joining me in Rumble Studios today, and this is a staggering and astonishing, and I can't believe that it's actually happening, is the special presidential envoy for hostages, Adam Bowler.
Thank you for joining me, Adam.
I'm real happy to be here, Russell.
It's pretty exciting that you're here.
I know that you're just taking a few moments to be with us before joining President Trump and the new government, of whom you are a member for the event of the Capital One Stadium.
Is that correct, isn't it?
Yes, I'll be there with the president.
Yeah, that's pretty interesting and exciting.
Thanks for joining us in the midst of this giddy, giddy carnival.
Also, Bashar Masri, a leading Palestinian, perhaps the leading Palestinian businessman, is joining us.
And I suppose that's significant given that you, Adam, are here in your capacity as a hostage negotiator with some interesting stories to tell us, some interesting revelations about the situation not only in the Middle East but across the world and how that will likely be impacted by this new administration.
Very curious that someone who's so obviously pro-Israel, as yourself, you are Jewish yourself, and I guess anyone who's followed your political career in the last administration will be surprised that you are joined by Bashar Mazri.
And I suppose, look, I'm not an expert on that region.
It seems that no one in the world is an expert on that extraordinary part of the world and all of its significance.
But Bashar, what do you consider to be your role and aim?
In particular, with your relationship with Adam and hostage release, given all of the extraordinary changes that have happened in just the last couple of weeks between Israel and Palestine.
Well, thanks for having us.
Thank you.
It's a very important relationship to have.
The Palestinians are half of this deal.
So it's important to work with Adam, to work with the new administration for Concluding the deal and beyond the deal, I hope.
We need a long-lasting peace.
We need to see the rights of my people, the Palestinian people, being answered.
And we need the long-term peace and security for both the Palestinians and the Israelis.
I suppose many people are...
Astonished, excited, and consider it to be precipitous and important that even prior to Trump being sworn in, there appeared to be movement and a temporary ceasefire was achieved.
Do you accredit that to now officially the previous administration, the Biden administration, or do you have a sense that possibly that's as a result of today's events and changes, Adam?
You're right, I didn't even think about it, that we're now in the administration.
Yeah, you're in it now!
Sorry, you know, so we're 25 minutes in.
When are you going to get some work done?
I know, I know.
Right away, we're going to work hard.
Yeah, 25 minutes in and I'm with you.
What's wrong with me?
I think that it's absolutely due to President Trump.
And I think what's amazing...
I think it's so amazing that with what he writes on True Social, expanded through X, that he says that he wants all hostages.
That before he comes into office, just sending them, it changes things and people are released.
Do you know that, and this isn't covered, you know that three Americans were released from China?
No one covers that.
And it was after the message.
And so he's...
It's unbelievable.
There's no person.
I didn't think I would go back into government, not because I had a bad experience, but because you never think you're going to go back.
And to do something like this with the backing of somebody like President Trump, it's a dream, really, because I know how much difference we can make.
The bar is low.
There are American hostages held all over the world, but I suppose I'm not unusual in that when I... Think about hostage and hostage negotiations in this newly minted, inchoate administration.
I primarily think of the relationship between Israel and Palestine, this most historically contentious relationship, this seemingly irresoluble situation.
Like no other topic, people are divided and wounded, and it seems like an unassailable task.
Can you tell us, Bashar, how the release of hostages is likely to be a component establishing new and hopefully peaceful relationships between Israel and Palestine?
And I suppose you must feel some optimism that that's possible because you were here.
Absolutely, absolutely.
Part of the release of the hostages is the truce also.
So it's much more than just the release of the hostages, which is very important.
It's the truce.
It's the release of the Palestinian prisoners.
So it sets the ground to a new positive era, we hope.
It's a great opportunity.
If that did not happen...
Nothing else will move.
Now that this is happening and hopefully we'll move smoothly into the second phase, which is the more important phase or a continuation of the first phase, then it will set the ground for hopefully a new deal of a long-lasting peace between the Palestinians and Israelis.
I'm not trying to simplify things.
Things are very complicated.
It's not going to be easy.
But we do have a strong President Trump.
That is a deal-maker, and we are optimistic with that, with starting off so positive, with a truce deal and a hostage deal, it's a great start.
Definitely, I'm optimistic.
My assumption is that within Palestine there is a broad spectrum of political perspectives, and so I suppose it would be presumptive and reductive of me to consider you...
A voice of a unified Palestine.
But in the most general terms, do you think that a strong American president, inverted commas, a president who one might imagine being truculent and pugnacious in the event of ongoing conflict is somehow more beneficial, even to a president who one might imagine being truculent and pugnacious in the event of ongoing conflict is somehow more beneficial, even to Palestine and the
or, Lord forbid, Harris Waltz.
We needed someone like President Trump badly.
We need somebody to shake up the whole area to show both the Palestinians and Israelis what's best for them.
Right now, and they have not been seeing the light, they've been blinded by the hostilities.
So now at least...
For this moment, the hostilities have stopped, and we hope it continues, and then he will push with his team for a deal.
It's important to have a deal.
If we do not have a deal, then the whole problems that happen will be repeated, maybe in a different way, but more violence will occur in the future.
So it's very important, I emphasize.
On the next step, after the second phase or during the second phase, what that deal will look like.
Yes, Bashar.
I suppose when I'm listening and I'm trying to think, how do you moderate a conversation around this most contentious of subjects?
In my mind, I feel the phantoms of more extreme perspectives.
For example, I can sort of hear Ben Shapiro, who is understandably very resolute, On the subject of Israel as a devout Jew, saying any exchange for hostages and prisoners will mean innocent folk on the side of Israel and hardened prisoners or terrorists on the side of Palestine.
Then, of course, elsewhere, there are many, many people that believe that events since October the 7th have been so extreme and one-sided that Palestine are beyond a disadvantage in a position where you can't conceive of a peaceful solution.
It's notable, then, that Bashar is a...
I don't want to use this word because I don't want to presume this word is universal, but secular, i.e.
the idea that Palestine could head in a direction that was not ultimately governed by militant or, dare I even venture, Islamic undergirdings.
Is that...
What is significant here, the possibility of a different direction for Palestine?
And Adam, it seems quite complex to me to consider that that would not be regarded as being, I don't know, managed.
I think, and I bet what I share with Ben Shapiro, who I think moved to Nashville, by the way, where I am, I think we share upbringings that are absolutely very heavy Zionist.
That are very strong in what we believe.
And I will tell you, it's people like us, strong people, that actually can make peace like we were talking about.
And so here's what I think.
I think for years, forever almost, the Palestinians, it's called, it's victimization politics.
There are countries that use those people for their purposes.
For a while, it was Arab countries.
And these countries want to leave those people in squalor for political gain.
Because it means for them that they can use it to influence world opinion.
And everyone can feel bad.
And feel bad that you have children.
Because all people feel bad for children.
So if they fix the issue, what is there left to do?
They don't want to fix the issue.
And so what is interesting about Bashar is Bashar has been successful in business.
He's never been in politics.
He doesn't care.
He's not using the Palestinian people.
What you want, imagine us if we had a president or we had control or something.
We've never been colonized.
We pushed it out.
We didn't accept the British.
Sorry.
We would have accepted you.
If it was you and not the king, it would have been much better.
But you need someone that actually cares about the people.
And so Bashar is an option.
He's raised his hand.
But there are real people.
If you have someone that cares about the Palestinian people, then what they understand is peace will benefit them economically.
And we can actually...
Take them out of squalor if we want to.
And it is the best.
Think about long-term security for Israel.
It's the best gift that could be given to Israel.
Michelle, what do you think about that?
I mean, I'm guessing that the countries Adam's referring to, I'm guessing, Iran or Syria or Saudi Arabia.
How do you feel about those assumptions, the plight of Palestine?
It's beneficial to sovereign Arab nations and is exploited in order to leverage, I don't know, sort of political or resource-oriented favor, presumably in their relationships with Russia or China or even the United States.
What do you feel about that?
I fully agree, and I think I'll go further, that dictators in our area, many of them survived over the Palestinian issue.
Always using the Palestinian issue as the excuse that they are supporters of Palestine and the Palestinian people, when in reality they're really not.
The Arab masses are definitely supportive of the Palestinian people, but the dictators use the Palestinian cause to get support of their masses.
But when it comes to delivering to the Palestinian people, it has been very little, very limited, and sometimes...
Against the Palestinian people, some of the leaders, the Arab dictators, fought the Palestinians, including al-Assad in Syria.
In Lebanon, they fought the Palestinians.
They killed so many of them and so on.
So I think it's very important that we defuse the Palestinian-Israeli conflict for the benefit.
Not just only of Palestine and Israel, but also for the benefit of the rest of the Arab countries, which are now much more moderate than before.
Bashar Majri, you are the most successful Palestinian businessman.
And there are rumors, I understand, that in the event of a sustained ceasefire between Israel and Palestine...
Ultimately, a degree of governmental authority could be achieved in that region that will require leadership.
Is it possible that that's something that could involve you in the future?
It's possible.
As a Palestinian citizen, we have not had elections in 20 years.
We need to have elections.
We've always strived for a secular, democratic state.
Most people know the PLO as a terrorist organization, but ironically, the PLO have always called for a secular democratic state.
This is our upbringing in the days of the revolution.
Now we're not in the days of the revolution.
Now we're in the days of state building and we need to cherish that and we need to have Palestinian elections to choose the next leader.
I will do whatever it takes.
To benefit my people and the area.
If it's in business, if it's in business.
If it's in politics, it's in politics.
I think after what has happened in the last 16 months, it is unfair for any Palestinian to say no to anything that will benefit the people.
Too many people have been killed.
Too many people are still suffering.
The survivors are also suffering.
And we need to get out of this mess.
Adam, you look like you were going to say something, but if you're not going to say something, because I know you're a good negotiator, I know you're always negotiating people to freedom, I've got questions if you don't have statements.
I had one thought.
It was going through my head.
I thought about the relationship with what Bashar is saying in MAGA, believe it or not.
And it took me a long time.
I was in the first Trump administration.
I love working for the president.
But I didn't always know what MAGA meant.
Maybe it's because it's evolved, maybe.
But when the president was elected this time, I stayed up all night and I was so excited.
And part of that's because of October 7th.
And truthfully, part of it is, in my head, I couldn't even imagine.
I'm pretty good at imagining forward scenarios.
I couldn't imagine the reverse of who would win.
And I think what MAGA is, is it's about Americans.
It's not about D or R. It's not about parties, even.
It's not about the people that control things.
It's because we're sick and tired of it not being run for Americans, not for some special interest bullshit.
The reason it speaks to me is I'm always wondering, how the hell did I get here?
Like, I'm from a small town outside of Albany, New York.
And I'm here on this, in a suit, and I negotiate.
It's amazing.
By the way, only in America.
So why him?
And this is what I think.
MAGA for the Palestinians is, well, you have people, this is me saying it, sorry, Abu Mazen and some of these people, they steal money.
They're billionaires.
The current leadership of the Palestinian Authority, that individual and his sons, run a classic mafia protection racket, which means they go to businesses, they force them to pay them for protection from themselves, like the godfather.
You can't deal with them because why would they want the situation to change?
They're making so much money off the situation, they're not going to have it to change.
And obviously, Hamas...
You can't have terrorism either.
So what, in my opinion, Palestinians need a leadership that cares about Palestinians.
They need to make a Palestinian great again.
I never was.
Make it great, the first.
Make it not shitty.
I don't know.
Yeah, I'm not a good brander.
He's got a couple of them.
Yeah, you're going to have to work on that slope, madam, if you're going to create unity.
It definitely cannot have expletives in the acronym.
Bashar, do you think it's really possible to bypass a revolutionary moment coming out the back of the devastation that has ensued between October the 7th and current day?
How do you respond to Adam Bola's claims that the Hamas leadership are fundamentally a criminal rather than political?
organization.
Do you think that's legitimate?
Is it possible for Palestine to come out of this period of terrible conflagration and devastation and bypass a militant and revolutionary moment and move straight into some administrative, bureaucratic, secular and political solution?
Sort of almost something we've never imagined.
I think it's easy for the Palestinian people and the vast majority of the Palestinian people are not fighters.
They're not revolutionary.
They want to live a fair life.
They want their basic rights and they want to move on.
And just like any other people.
And they have not had that for a very long, long time.
So I don't think where the people, the majority of the people are going to hold on to this organization or that organization.
Whether it's Hamas or Fatah or any organization.
The militants become militants often because of a reason.
And I think we need to deal with the reason.
And the reason is that the Palestinian plight has not been dealt with for a long, long period of time.
Now, of course, there are radicals in the world that love to ride on these Quote-unquote, revolutionary movements or terrorism movement.
It depends which side you're on.
I believe the popularity of the radicals when you do have a peace process drops dramatically.
When you do not have a peace process, people have no hope, no future.
They move to radicalism and they...
Tend to move to religious radicalism as well in all religion, not just Islam.
And I don't think religion is the problem.
Religion is good, actually.
It's good to believe in God and watching whatever religion it is.
Islam, Christianity, Judaism.
It's being radicalism and to be a militant, make the religion a militant tool, is negative and very bad in my opinion.
I find it hard to conceive of an evolution of the crisis, or plight is the word you used, of the Palestinian people, into a process that's political and non-violent.
I suppose precisely because you've said that it's such a grief-stricken, historic, scriptural, woe-saturated...
I just find it very difficult.
And I wonder how, like on the ground, how that's going to, what that process looks like.
And may I ask as well, Bashar, how it won't seem like it's being organized and manipulated by significant US and international power to afford Israel the solution.
Israel wants rather than a truly mutual beneficial solution for the people of Palestine and Israel.
Well, what you stated last has to be the answer.
It has to be for both.
For the best of Israel, a long-term solution is good for the security of Israel.
So answering the...
Giving Palestinians the right of self-determination, creating a Palestinian state is not bad for Israel.
It should be good for Israel as long as the two states are in peace together.
I know it sounds simple and it is complicated, but it's not as complicated as people thought.
Keep in mind that in 1993, right here in this city, Arafat, who was the leader of the PLO, Which was seen as the big terrorist organization was here shaking hands in the White House with Prime Minister Rabin and Le Chimon Peres also and signed the peace agreement.
And the peace agreement moved on for a long time.
It still is holding today with a lot of problems.
The big problem with that agreement was a five-year agreement and then we discuss what's next.
What we need today is a full agreement that decides what happens day one, next year, the year after, etc.
It's a full process outlined till we reach the end of it.
It may take 10 years.
It's not going to happen over a few months period.
I'm not simplifying things that...
It's just peace and it's going to happen like that.
There's going to be a lot of confidence-building measures between the two people.
I think there should be a confederation between the state of Palestine and Israel so that both people are enjoying the peace dividends and that will bring people together.
A hundred years ago or less, we had wars in Europe.
Today we have the European Union.
More people died in the European wars than...
The people that died in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
So I think it's very doable, and violence could drop dramatically.
Even radical groups can adjust as well.
They are political groups for the most part, and they will adjust.
The radicals will try to sabotage a deal, and that's why we need strong leaders to do a deal like this.
In my humble opinion, we do have a strong leader in the United States, and I think he can deliver a deal, he can push a deal that's beneficial to both the Palestinian people and to the Israelis, and to the whole region.
Thank you, Bashar.
And I'd like to add on, which is a few things to what Bashar said, because I agree completely.
First of all, sometimes things that seem unimaginable in the moment are very imaginable.
If you take a step back and look.
So I'll give you an example.
Vietnam.
Think of the horror of what happened to Vietnam.
It reminds me of our retreat from Afghanistan, which I can't stop thinking about.
But what did we learn from Vietnam?
I've been in Vietnam now.
They love Americans probably more than America.
It's a market economy, and the people love Americans.
In Vietnam.
Remember what happened.
Napalm, all these things, the horrible things on both sides.
And that wasn't that long ago.
So if you take a step back, you see exactly what Boshar said.
It's possible.
But what does it require?
First and foremost, the United States can't pick the leader.
We can't impose.
Every time we do it, it doesn't work well.
In fact, we left Vietnam.
We didn't impose any leadership.
That is the people eventually chose.
You've got to have the people.
Choose.
It's good for us to do that.
When we impose, it's bad.
And so the people need to be there.
Then you create a situation where someone legitimately speaks for the people.
That creates sustainability.
And that's possible.
And then the second thing you need is you need very strong leadership.
And this is unique in President Trump's re-election.
It's a unique time.
And it makes so much possible that wasn't possible before.
It's inauguration day.
We're taking the opportunity to examine and analyze what genuine changes might emerge in this second Trump presidency.
And that is why we're joined today by Bashar Masri and Adam Bola.
Adam Bola is here, of course, in his capacity as the government's special presidential envoy.
Four hostages.
And along with Bashar Mazri, we're talking about how this new administration might lead to that most extraordinary of goals being achieved, peace between Israel and Palestine.
Let me know in the comments in chat what you're thinking about our conversation.
So far, we're going to take a, as you know, we run this operation.
In conjunction with some commercial partners.
I'm so sorry to tell you that we need money occasionally from corporate entities.
But actually, Dylan, do you know what the first commercial is?
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We'll be talking more about Adam's forthcoming role in the new administration.
We'll be talking, of course, about our hope, our shared hope and prayer for Middle Eastern peace.
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Thanks very much for joining us.
Now that me and Adam...
And Bashar have covered Middle Eastern peace, which we hope to have achieved in the next couple of months.
We're going to have a little more of an idle chat about matters in D.C., some of the events that are going on, some of the extraordinary sights that you will see.
Last night I was at the Bible Museum and I saw things you won't believe, unless you are a faith-based Christian, in which case you would believe it.
But there's some interesting people wandering around this city right now.
Let me know in the comments and chat what you're expecting to see.
Join us on Rumble now.
Adam, where are you?
Where are you heading straight after this?
I have a quick meeting with a senator, and then I'm going over to the arena, the big basketball arena, where the president will be and where he'll speak.
And he's just going to lay out a vision for America that astonishingly includes you.
Well, he's got a whole bunch of speakers, and actually one of them speaking about Middle East peace is Steve Witkoff, and that is actually his coordinator.
So we work a lot because my job is to get every single American, And so we'll be able to hear Steve's vision.
And I'll tell you something.
Steve is a fantastic pick.
He's unbelievable.
So you're going to be working very close to him on this most important of topics.
Roshal, how are you finding it in D.C.? Have you been to an inauguration before?
Never.
I lived in D.C. for a while, a long time ago, but this is very exciting and we've been going from one place to the other.
Meeting a lot of people, great networking, but it's nice.
Damn cold.
Yeah, it's really, really cold here.
But do you think the inauguration was moved inside because of cold weather or because of numerous security threats?
We were talking about this.
I mean, the reality, we were out last night walking around, and you know how cold it was last night.
And you know it's colder right now than it was last night.
And so I think, honestly, what would have happened is people are very devoted to President Trump.
And if you had people, if you're outside for three hours, you would have people that are frail.
Come and stay.
And I worry people would die because they'd be out there.
They wouldn't fully bring the right dress and they'd sit.
And I think you would have had frailer, older individuals die.
That's what I believe.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
Well, I was safely ensconced in the Museum of the Bible in D.C. attending an event last night, which I wasn't even invited to, by the way.
I just, like, have ended up as a result of a string of...
I thought you were an exhibit.
Well...
That may yet happen.
Who knows what the next decade holds?
Maybe in 10 years, they'll say.
And then, of course, there was this chapter in the history of Christianity.
Richard, I don't even know if you are a Muslim, are you?
I am Muslim, yes.
You are a Palestinian Muslim and you...
Feel that the current leadership, there can be no solution while there is a militant component.
There has to be a political and diplomatic solution.
Do you think that some people in Palestine will see even that as a kind of apostasy or heresy?
That somehow it has to be a violent solution because of the nature of the conflict?
I'm sure there are, but I think this is the tiny minority.
And I'm sure there are those people on the other side, but I'm also confident it's the tiny minority.
The majority of the Palestinians, and if I may speak of a lot of Israelis, I know the majority of Israelis both want to live in peace.
It's the radicals that have taken us down the drain, and we need to grab things back and respond to the vast majority of the...
Well, there's no doubt that the Israel-Palestine conflict is unique.
That dynamic of extremists determining the nature of the conflict is a much broader issue, isn't it?
I think most of us understand that whether even in domestic American politics or UK politics, people at the extremes tend to define the nature of the conflict.
That seems to be generally true.
Would you say, Adam, even beyond this issue?
Absolutely.
I mean, look, at the end of the day, Even when you see it and how in the U.S., right?
You've got extremes, very heavy right, very heavy left, and you know that that spectrum is a circle.
Far left and far meet right meet.
They're almost the same if you're very far right.
One is fascism and one is straight social communism, right?
It's almost the same thing.
And so it's unbelievable in how that works.
And also the other thing I'd say is you guys know.
It's not fun.
To talk about working together.
It's not newsworthy.
No one reports and says, oh, that person actually did fine today.
Or, look, there was a great interaction.
I'll give you an example.
In my role, and SPIHA is the acronym, so you don't have to say it.
SPIHA. SPIHA, yeah, yeah.
That's catchy.
You know that government mandates the acronym?
It's in law.
Wow.
Not just that, but every acronym.
They're very into acronyms.
Doge!
Mandate acronym?
Well, that was just good marketing.
You know, you got to give it to Ilan.
He's good, you know.
I don't know who came up with that, but Doge is just good marketing.
So in the SPIHA role that's set up that way, no one would talk about the fact that yesterday I'm back and forth with the, it was the current, now it will be former SPIHA, who's a great guy and is working his butt off.
I'm not allowed to swear, right?
You can actually.
But, I can't say ass.
You can say whatever you want.
Will you get fined?
I live in the Museum of the Bible.
Oh, yeah, sorry, sorry.
It's missed by Christian principles, but free speech-wise, you can go crazy.
I think, yeah, at that point, I think we've found a threshold that's manageable for our three separate faiths, Islam, Judaism, and Christianity.
Actually, that's a good point.
Yes.
It's like the new face of religion.
Please, God.
All right.
You know, no one wants to talk about people working together.
Because the one thing that I love about my role, here's one thing I'll tell you.
Every single American in the United States wants Americans home that are held abroad.
We all share that.
It's not bipartisan.
It's American.
And I think it's one of the only roles like that.
But no one will report on that.
You're here with family members.
Is that true?
In D.C., there are family members of hostages that are currently still held in Afghanistan.
Yes.
It's unbelievable.
I'll give you an example.
Right now, the Taliban hold seven of our people.
Seven.
How is that acceptable?
How have we allowed that to happen for years?
Not that long, because they only took over a year and a half ago.
But we have people that have been in prison for, Years.
How do we allow that?
Why don't Americans know that?
Why don't we know that?
Why is that confidential?
Why?
You want to know why?
Because that's what they've done before.
Nobody rethinks it.
It's not even that it's bad intention.
It's, I don't know, that's just what we've done before.
We'll follow it.
And so, the good news is there's so much positive to change.
And it's not because I'm smart or I'm good.
It's because The President of the United States is just going to do what makes sense practically.
That's all.
It's just saying, why do we do that?
People don't even know.
And that's how we're successful.
Yes, there's been a lot of bureaucratic inertia even in areas that seem like they would require novel, new, and innovative thinking.
In fact, if there's any particular strain that defines the matter that I hope that you two can participate to a resolution for, it's a kind of entrenched and unending near eternal sense of conflict.
As a new Christian, I'm reading the Bible every day, and it's so extraordinary to encounter in the Old Testament reports of this conflict.
Prophecy about this conflict, the history of this conflict, you get the sense, even scripturally, that this is somehow something that's fraternal, familial, molecular, one body divided, one family divided.
And there's been so much inconceivable hurt and bloodshed.
I can't...
I've got to tell you, I don't look at it.
I don't look at it because I can't bear to look at it.
I don't want to deal with it.
I don't want to become one of those people who makes my identity when I'm not Jewish.
I'm not an Arab.
I'm a human being and a Christian.
And I don't want to be one of those people that takes a position and alienates people.
They're perfectly good people on both sides.
I love loads of Israeli people.
I love loads of Muslims who could not be sympathetic to the Palestinian plant.
It's just gotten to the point where we feel like, well, really, like as Trump said, I want people to stop dying.
I want people to stop dying when talking about Ukraine, Russia.
And it's clear that what's going to be required is innovation.
And I just...
I pray that there is a political solution.
And even whilst I would reject the idea of secularism in so many ways, because I feel that it's, in a sense, one of the ways that we're primarily controlled is by denouncing the divine where we need it most in organisation.
I can see how, given the nature of your scenario, it's going to be a requirement.
I hope that this is a successful visit for you, Bashar.
It's very successful, and it's very joyful, and it comes at a very special time.
When we arrived here, the hostage deal has been concluded, and that adds to the excitement.
Being at a historic moment in Washington, D.C. is a great honor.
Participating in the events is not only fun, it's just a great honor to be involved and just looking forward for a much better time, we hope.
And I think we have short windows.
Yeah, I think you're right about that as well.
People assume that it's like a four-year administration, but it does feel sometimes that there are encroaching external forces.
Because if, Adam, you're correct that any peaceful resolution between Palestine and Israel is disadvantageous to potent Middle Eastern interests, one might imagine that there would be geopolitical maneuvering to prohibit such conclusions being reached.
Well, I think there's another unique difference, and we owe Israel, the world owes Israel such a debt of gratitude.
And the reason I say it is they realized, they acted, despite world criticism, and took out all of Iran's terrorist infrastructure in glorious fashion.
And we owe them a debt of gratitude because Iran was funding so much terror.
And now they're still funding things.
They're still behind terror, but they're nowhere near like they were before.
It's why it is such a great opportunity that we can't miss.
We have everything aligned.
We have the President of the United States that is fearless.
That is fearless.
We have reduced terrorist infrastructure.
And so things are possible.
That weren't possible before.
It's got to be a day for optimism.
If you can't on Inauguration Day...
Have some optimism for a bright future, then presumably you're someone that's ideologically connected to the previous administration, which ultimately I came to see as globalism under the guise of cultural wokeism, under the pretense of care and concern, never neglecting to implement further control, whether that's in response to disease or climate or geopolitical issues or the protection and preservation of the rights of...
Minorities, all of which is afforded to us if we accept one another as part of the same human family and do our best to act in love.
We've got a quick message now from one of our partners and we'll be back with an announcement from Adam that I think might finally shift world politics in the correct direction if a second Trump presidency doesn't do that.
Have you ever lied to a priest in a church on Christmas Day?
I have.
I need to be atoned and redeemed by the Lord, and how am I going to do that when I'm at home?
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Yeah, that is a good app with Jonathan Rumi on it, who plays our Lord and Savior in Chosen.
If you haven't seen the episode of Break Bread with Russell Brand, in which I was joined by Dallas Jenkins, have a look at that now.
You get that if you are a member of Rumble Premium or if you're a Locals member.
And I can't see your comments, but I'm saying hello to you and I'm conveying as much love as I can summons up because I'm in Rumble Studios.
In DC with Adam Bowler and with my new friend Bashar Masri on this auspicious occasion where we seem to have, in a matter of moments, brought about some sort of Middle Eastern peace solution prior even to anyone getting on so much as a flight.
And now, Adam, would you please inform our beloved community about the matter that we discussed only briefly prior to coming on air?
Yeah, I... You know, you were asking a lot about ingredients, you know, what makes Middle East peace and what brings hostages home, right?
And we've talked a lot about this recently, Russell, right?
We've talked about how you could help because you are somebody that knows, you, this is what I love about you, you want to use your fame to accomplish great aims.
Which, by the way, I didn't even, I took him to a football game.
I didn't realize how famous you were.
I couldn't go, I couldn't go a second.
I mean, everybody loves you.
It was hard.
I didn't know what I was going to deal with.
The Army and Navy football game you're referring to.
Go Navy!
You learned that.
He's a huge American football fan, I'll tell you right now.
Navy, in particular.
Massive.
Navy.
It's specifically there.
Now the Army's going to be really angry at you, by the way.
I apologize for that.
In a sense, we're all in this together.
If we can achieve peace between Israel and Palestine, at least branches of the U.S. military can come to some kind of cohesion.
That's asking too much.
Another day.
So, I realized, what is the missing ingredient in getting hostages out?
And I think, I thought, it might be you, Russell.
Yes.
I've been thinking the same thing.
And I said it to Russell, and he's really, you have so much humility.
And so you just said, you're right, I am the missing ingredient.
That's right.
And that's what I love about you.
Just get him.
Yeah, I love your humility.
And so, then I thought, and I told you, you told me you didn't like this name, so we can work it out.
I thought, and...
It made me think, let's start a program with very few people that are focused on the hostages.
All of our hostages around the world to get them out.
And we call them goodwill champions is what I was going with.
You can't say ambassador because ambassadors are ambassadors.
And I thought goodwill champions and maybe I thought it made it feel like a boxing, like rumble.
I didn't know.
I think I've showed up here before thinking I was doing the boxing class.
It's not a boxing gym, Rumble.
There's a very popular program on Rumble where people slap each other.
It's a Dana White commodity.
It is confusing.
So Goodwill Champions, and you're offering me this role as one of very few Goodwill Champions, although we're going to work on the name, participate in complex issues of hostage release around the world, in the Middle East, but globally, wherever there are hostages.
I will be turning up to put their situation into stark and striking context.
So are you accepting?
I accept that role.
Okay.
So suddenly, hostages around the world may leap into Stockholm Syndrome rather than accept the new terms of release.
Come on, we're out of here, guys.
No, no, no, I'll give it another chance.
I think it's brilliant that you're applying such innovation and open-mindedness to something that's seen as, understandably, rather tragic, intransigent and difficult to resolve.
Put me in, coach.
Let's get some hostages free by the end of this inauguration day.
Well, Russell, what I know will happen is you'll go to these countries and after a while they'll say, please.
And the release of the hostages will be like, let Russell, get Russell out.
Get him out!
I'll take him out, but you have to get the hostages out.
All right, all right, yeah, deal, deal, deal.
Can't remember what this war was about anymore.
Ask that guy, stop talking.
Well, listen, thank you so much, Adam.
I accept this goodwill hunting role that I've been offered.
Thank you so much, Bashar, for...
Handling such a delicate and complex conversation so articulately and as a Muslim and a Jew and a Christian, we can pray that this...
Beautiful day for America leads to solutions, resolution and peace for the people across the world that are suffering right now because of steep ulterior globalist ideas that perhaps ought to be discarded immediately.
We'll be back tomorrow.
Before that, though, I want to thank you both.
Thank you, Bashar.
Thanks, Adam.
Thanks for doing this.
I really appreciate it.
And we'll be back tomorrow.
I'm going to be speaking with Michael Schellenberger about censorship, the about-turn at Facebook, the oligarchy.
who are now in congregation around the new President Trump I hope that your country Bodes well under its new stewardship, and I would like to add that true sovereignty is to be found within you in a relationship to the most potent force there is, a loving creator.
Human beings come and go.
Perhaps love is our one chance at eternity.
Love and devotion to him, for me as a Christian, but I accept that's not everybody's path.
Thanks so much for joining me today.
I'll see you tomorrow, not for more of the same, but for more of the different.
Until then, if you can, stay free.
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