[00:00] Great to be back. Thanks for the invitation. >> you're everywhere. I see you everywhere. It's crazy. And people are loving you on Manneckt apparently cuz I see you everyday you're getting Manneckts. People are asking the questions on You're actually getting back to people. >> time. Oh yeah. And you know, I looked at the Manneckt the other day I'm like, "Why am I not in the super heavyweight yet?" >> [laughter] >> You're close though to super heavyweight, no? Are you almost there? Yeah. >> I am. >> Cuz you're first place in the heavyweight right now. So, we have the heavyweight champion in the house right now. So, I got a lot of things I want to talk to you about. I you know, especially with recent stories with SPLC that you saw that story broke. I'm
[00:30] curious to know what you think about that. The FISA thing which is like hey >> Oh yeah. >> Nixon-Carter we thought we going to get away but now we're kind of like, "Well, let's keep it." I want to know why you think we're doing that. What the motives are. I have my own ideas of why I think we're doing it. I want to know what you think about it. And then you said something about the vault which was like, "What is this vault?" What was it called? Vault 17 or Vault >> Vault 7. Vault 7. I want to hear about Vault 7. And a few other things with the scientists. You saw the whole scientist where >> Yeah. Some of them disappeared. disappearing, suicide, you know, or you
[01:02] know, missing or who knows? Like you can't find these guys four of them being from NASA. Mhm. And then the JPL the other four were from nuclear fusion and weapon and then three are apparently high clearance security. Not really a direct contact. One of them recently David Wilcox who said he wasn't going to commit suicide in 2022 in a tweet apparently just took his own life which is pretty wild. But I want to get into one thing right off the bat. You were on a podcast and my phone started blowing up. >> [laughter] >> And I'm like, "Why is everybody texting
[01:33] me this? Look what John said about you." What did I say? >> "John is about to get on the podcast." So, Rob, if you have the clip, I want to start off with this. I want to address it one by one by one. I want you to cover this for me. So, you're on a podcast. I don't know which podcast this is. But whatever it is I was texted by everybody with this. So, go ahead and play this clip. I was watching Patrick Bet-David yesterday. And Patrick is a a hardcore Zionist. He's Iranian. I don't think he's Jewish. I think he's like half Assyrian and half Armenian.
[02:03] But he's a hardcore Zionist and not just a Zionist, he is a like 1000% backer of Reza Pahlavi to return to Iran and to assume the Peacock Throne and blah blah blah. Um and he was saying yesterday that it's not 60% of the Iranian people who support the overthrow of the regime. It is 94% and I know There are no polls. You just make this
[02:35] [ __ ] up to put your stooge in. The monarchists are crazy online. I mean I saw some they've been passing around the message that Iran only became Muslim 100 years ago. No, that was 1000 years ago. >> 1000 years ago, yes. And I get that there are still Zoroastrians and Elliot Cowan Patrick Bet-David is Jewish? Okay, I stand corrected. I wasn't sure. You're not Jewish? No, I'm not Jewish.
[03:05] >> But I know he's not ethnic Persian. He's Armenian. Yeah, 94% of his family Literally I've been asking online like from these you know these Persian monarchists See this is what I get for listening to people in the chat. Everybody wants the Shah back. I find that very hard to believe considering how brutal the Shah was and the fact that he was overthrown by his own people, right? I mean it wasn't like he was cooed out by any foreign power quite the quite to the contrary.
[03:35] So he but yeah they they literally these these Persian monarchists they just they do polls of like anything Walk me through this. >> Oh I don't owe you an apology it's not >> tell me this I it's not I'm not I I don't want an apology. I I enjoy talking to you. The last time we spoke I think out of the seven clips that we posted, three of them was upset Jews cuz it was comments you made that were bad against Masada. We played I thought it was very revealing. I thought it was great. But walk me through each of these.
[04:05] Number one, hardcore Zionist, 100% backer of Pahlavi and then 94%. Tell me. Okay, the reason I said that is because of Netanyahu's appearance, number one. Um and uh and the comments that you made about Pahlavi, like why hasn't this guy called me back? I want him on the show. Like why? He's irrelevant? He's a clown? Why hasn't he called me back? I had him on the show two times. >> Yeah, but he when you first invited him >> Do you know what happened there? He's asking for help. He cuz the interviewer,
[04:37] the Iranian interviewer that interviewed me, is asking me "Are you Are you going to help him? Are you going to help Reza Pahlavi?" The And we're speaking in Farsi and English. And I said, "No." He asked me for help. I never heard heard back from him, but I made some very bad remarks about the guy. Have you heard what I've said about them?" >> No, I'd love to. >> I I don't know how you You must not know how monarchists think of me right now. No, I do You know they can't stand me today. Good. Do you No, no, it's not good. I like his father. I don't think he's a strong leader. >> He's not. He was following me, his wife
[05:08] was following me, his daughter was following me. Everybody unfollowed. The monarchists attacked me because I called them Oh, it it is in shambles with me and that relationship, right? Maybe play clip >> a that's a natural consequence. >> you want to play down That's a badge of honor. I'm going to leave Iran and go get By the way, you know what's the biggest thing that Iranian people are saying? "Hey, Reza Pahlavi, why don't you go to Azerbaijan and and say a few words from there. Come closer to Iran. Show some stuff." He's not doing it. The one thing about Trump, let me tell you what was very crystal clear about Trump, about Milei, about Bukele. You know what it was? They're
[05:38] willing to do the leg work. They're willing to go out there. They're willing to pay the price. They're willing to drive. They're willing to work their tails off. It's very obvious. We the markets said, "Who is this crazy Elvis-looking guy from Argentina? There is no way he'll ever win making out with people on stage." Guess what? He won. Who is this Bukele guy that's in his early [clears throat] mid-30s? And by the way, let me give you what's going to be confusing. I have a painting of his dad at my house. So, I'm a fan of his father. So, this is this is not like a bash towards
[06:09] the family. >> No, of course. >> And so, but this is towards I was critical of him because for 47 years he's been talking about he wants to have Iran be free and he didn't do it. And And keep in mind, a part of me is, yeah, that's the painting in my house. That's a 15-ft painting. His father's right in the middle. My criticism is of him. But I was watching, you know, I'm like, why did somebody tell you I'm a Zionist? Did you Who's that? >> It was in the It was in the chat. >> No, no, but I was reading the chat. >> Did any other influencers that you go and do interviews with? Did anybody whisper to you off camera, "Hey, be careful with Patrick. He's a Zionist."
[06:39] Yes. Who was that? Oh, I I don't want to out him like that, but he said, "Oh, you're going on PBD?" I said, "Yeah." He said, "Be careful. Patrick comes out swinging on Israel." Is this a big name? Yeah, it's pretty big name. One of the biggest names? >> [laughter] >> So, then I know who it is. >> want to I don't want to out him. >> Was his family in the CIA before, maybe? I I I I've got to stop. >> Okay. But But But I want to apologize on the record because I was wrong. Okay. So, so that and and the and the the Bibi side because Do you know who's the only person in the world that interviewed Bibi and Nick Fuentes within 30 days?
[07:11] >> It's got to be you. >> It's only me. It's got to be. >> You So, you know what the problem is with me, John? This is the problem. The same people that want freedom of speech that pitch it >> Yeah. don't practice it. Yeah. What do I mean by that? They generally want to only talk to people that agree with them. >> Yes. It's You and I don't agree on maybe a few things. >> No, which is why I so enjoy the conversation. I love the conversation because my my thoughts are Alicia, just bring it to me. It's totally fine. My thoughts are it's like man, I I don't know. He
[07:41] He's a CIA guy. He must know more than I do. You know, he has some experience. I want to know. But >> I'm wrong and I apologize. >> go to the other one cuz I want to clear all of this up. Let's go to the one about when you said 94%. I'd love to know when I said 94%. Rob, can you take one of the language learning models? Matter of fact, why don't we do both of them? Take uh take ChatGPT and do Grok and ask a question, how do you want to pose this question? What percentage of Iranians don't support the IRGC? What percentage of Iranians don't
[08:12] support the IRGC? Okay, ask the same exact question. So, what we'll typically do is we'll ask different and we'll go do our own and then we'll look at the numbers that's being given. Okay. Wow. This is which one? What does it say? Around 80 to 92% of Iranians appear to not support the IRGC based on available polls. Support the like the direct polling on the IRGC challenge and due to Iran repression, surveillance, and self-censorship. Okay, great. Leaked internal Iranian government poll 2025 commissioned by the presidency. A
[08:42] confidential report found 92% of Iranians hate the regime. And that's from Yahoo, explicitly including supreme leader Khamenei and the IRGC, not just specific officials or policies. This was cited by Iranian experts in alliance with widespread dissatisfaction. Gamon is the one that I saw. Uh by the way, I haven't even seen the one above that we're reading for the Go to the Gamon one. Gamon says what? Independent large online poll of 10,000, 13 to 14% have confidence in the IRGC. So, that leaves another 86.
[09:12] And what does it say? Broader regime rejection, only about 15 to 20% want Islamic Republic to continue. 70 to 80% favor regime change or major transformation. High agreement, 70% with designating the IRGC as a terrorist organization in Iran. Can you go to the Is this ChatGPT or >> was Grok. >> Okay, let's see what ChatGPT says. Zoom in a little bit. Okay, so direct IRGC split 2019 Maryland poll, 80%. Uh Maryland Iran poll, so that's Maryland. So, you can criticize that because that's from here, 80%.
[09:43] Gamin is the same one. I think Gamin is from Netherlands, 71% of Iranians oppose. 20% support. So, you see what numbers were repeated. We're repeating the reports that are coming in. So, it's not a You're you're right and I'm wrong and I apologize. No, I I appreciate that. And the And the last one I want to show you, which is crazy, to get this out of the way so we can have our uh uh conversation, is do you know who I brought on the podcast who never agreed to go on the podcast with anybody? And when he came in, he was the most suspicious guy here
[10:15] looking at me saying, "Why do you have me on the podcast?" You know who it was? >> No, who's that? >> The co-founder of IRGC. No. >> That guy right there. Mohsen Sazegara. Okay? Do you know who he was? >> I missed that. So, check this out. I'm going to I'm going to show this for you. So, if you go a little bit lower to see who is He's the founder of Go a little bit lower. Put IRGC arrest, blah blah blah blah blah. Can we find the IRGC there with him and Khomeini? Uh okay, right there in the middle. There he is. An Iranian journalist and political He was the founder of the
[10:46] Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps after the Iranian Revolution. He was the guy It was between him and Khomeini that started the IRGC. My god. He would do the intro to all the tapes where they would send in for Iranians to listen before the revolution happened to pin Pahlavi's people against him. This was the voice. Then you had Khomeini. I had him on the podcast. And the claim was that SAVAK killed 100,000 people. Now, keep in mind, he's the propaganda guy. >> Sure. That said, SAVAK, which is, you
[11:18] know, uh >> Intelligence service. >> Pahlavi's CIA, Pahlavi's Mossad, right? >> Right. At the end of the podcast, I wanted to ask him, "It's been 40-something years now. You were involved. Was it a lie that Shah killed 100,000 people?" This is not a fan of Right. This is not a Shah a fan of the Pahlavi. He did not come in knowing what we were going to talk about. Look at his answer here. Go ahead, Rob. Compare Shah with Khomeini. Let me say my judgment now. That many documents have come out and you know, for instance, on those days
[11:50] opposition claimed that 100,000 political prisoners Shah has. Uh there are 100,000 political prisoners in Iran. That was false. It was only 3,000. 3,500. >> 3,000 few hundred. >> Right. Uh This is the final round of your speech. >> Shah with Khomeini, definitely I I already said first of all his personality Shah was a better guy than Khomeini.
[12:21] First, second uh his [clears throat] what he did for Iran because that he believed in you know, modernization of Iran was definitely better than Islamic Republic. As I said You can pause it. I would suggest if you want to watch it, watch it. It's fascinating cuz it's a little back and I'll text it to you. I think you'll enjoy it, but these are my positions. My concern is John, people that have had good relationships. There's this one guy that
[12:51] I think he's the head of the snake that behind closed doors is creating division and creating rumors and stories about and he's a very influential guy. Could be the same guy that told you stuff about me. Very heavy weight guy. Very very heavy weight guy. I think we're talking about the same person. If I tell you I've heard 10 people that he said stuff about me behind closed doors, that's a small number. Wow. So this keeps coming back to me. I'm like, what is his issue? What is his challenge? We won't talk about the name cuz I don't want you to be in an uncomfortable position. I'm not going to push that topic. All I'm saying is I
[13:22] wanted to make sure I presented this to you and any pushback you have, please go for it. I'm all ears. No, no, I owe you an apology. I said you've you've shown me wrong and I I'm sorry that I uh perpetuated an untruth. And by the way, I don't even know what a Zionist is. What does a Zionist mean nowadays? What is it like it's like an N-word like people God forbid they say What would you say Zionist is? >> that the definition of Zionism has has changed. Now, I think it's much more it's much more well, depending on your point of political view, more reactionary or more
[13:56] more radical than it was when it originated in the UK in the late 19th century. Now, it is now it is it is political Judaism strictly for political purposes, not for religious purposes. at the cost of everything else. I I had lunch yesterday with um with um Mother Agapea who was on the Tucker Carlson show a couple of months back. She's a
[14:26] she's a Greek Orthodox. Actually, she's she's Greek Orthodox, but she's in the Russian Russian Orthodox Archdiocese of Jerusalem. And and we talked about this and she said in the 25 or so years that she's lived in Israel, that it's changed dramatically. And she said it's changed dramatically because of politics. The religion hasn't changed in thousands of years. It's the politics that have changed and have made it so difficult. She asked me when was the last time I was in Israel. I said
[14:58] 2022 was the last time I went. >> years ago. >> Yeah, a few years ago. I was actually afraid I wouldn't be able to get in, but I didn't have any problems at all. Had a wonderful time. Um was appalled at some of the the um oh some of the social situations I saw in the West Bank. I've never been to Gaza. I've never seen it with my own eyes. Didn't have a desire to go, you know, on my own. And um And it's dramatically worse just since
[15:28] 2022. Dramatically worse since 2022. >> For Palestinians, yeah. Okay. Got it. Yeah. And you got >> In the In the West Bank. I mean, in Gaza, obviously, there's a war going on. But I'm talking about in the West Bank. Yeah. Your experience when you went there. I have to say, I loved every minute of it. So your experience was a good experience. >> Yeah. So you think you think the criticism cuz it's becoming such a nasty Like it's almost I talked to people and some people are like, "I don't even go on Twitter anymore." I actually dropped I mean, I have a guy
[15:59] that runs my Twitter, but I I don't go on Twitter anymore. Yeah, because it's almost like each of the social media accounts, they have their own nasty bots that you attack and do You know, it's part of the game. You can't have an opinion not expect people to push back. The moment you say, "I believe LeBron James is the worst goat of all time." You're going to have people that are going to debate. The moment you have an opinion on that, but I think I'm right. I think he's the worst greatest athlete of all time because he whines so much and he [ __ ] so much. And go ahead and talk about it. Watch the comment section, right? So So we can't be like, "Oh my god,
[16:30] don't call me out. It's unfair. I feel bad." I don't think that's the problem. We deserve to be called out. Like we deserve to like what we just did right now. Hey, you said it. Great. I addressed it. I apologize. Great. We move on and we can have our own conversations together. I just think it's creating division. I just think it's creating a level of divisiveness. So do you Do you think a part of it is that guys are afraid of others getting paid? Like do Would you trust people that are getting paid from a government you don't trust? So let's just say some influencers are getting paid from AIPAC
[17:02] or Israel. Some influencers are getting paid from Russia. Some influencers are getting paid from Qatar. Some influencers are getting paid. You think that's what the fear is where the market believes that people are paid mouthpieces that you don't trust them? I think that's probably a part of it. But I think that the other part, and a very powerful part is is professional jealousy. Yeah, I think I I I feel very strongly that a lot of this is professional jealousy. I I hear it about you, I hear it about Tucker, I hear it about Sean Ryan. People are jealous. They're jealous of people's success.
[17:33] And you know, what easier thing to do than to just go on Twitter and start yelling about somebody? Yeah, there there's a there's an influencer. I'm not even going to say her name cuz she doesn't deserve for her name to be said. Uh who just out of the clear blue sky attacked me viciously a couple of weekends ago. I was never important enough to attack. And I've never met this woman and just came out and attacked. And heavy weight or middle weight? Heavy weight. >> a heavy weight. Okay, got it.
[18:03] >> And uh I uh I'm a communist. Nobody in my I'm decidedly capitalist first of all. Nobody's ever in my life called me a communist. And I actually had to chuckle out loud when I read it that I'm a communist, I'm a spy for the Russians. No, I have a TV show that uh that is produced by a company in Miami. And RT International happens to license it. So they run it, other platforms run
[18:35] it. All of a sudden I'm a Russian spy. Like, "Oh, you figured that out all by yourself, huh? Oh, he's got a TV show that runs once a week on this Russian network. He must be a Russian spy and a communist." Like, news flash, have you ever been to a history class? There are no communists running Russia anymore. Not for a very long time. But you know, she just rolled out of bed. I say this all the time and my friends hate when I say it cuz it's mean-spirited, but any slob can roll out of bed, log on to YouTube or
[19:05] Twitter and criticize. That doesn't mean we have to respond to them. Yeah, it's going to be non-stop. It is it is not to be That's not going to slow down anytime soon. And And I wonder like what words no longer carry weight. I don't know if being called a communist carries the weight of the '80s. No, exactly. Exactly. >> In the '80s that might that might have stung a little bit. >> Yeah. I I like bigot. Today does bigot does bigot have the meaning today of the '90s? I don't think so. >> remember this this little mini trend on
[19:38] on Facebook when when COVID first started? Uh admit to to um uh prejudice. Mhm. And I thought, okay, I'm going to I'm going to do this. So, I go on Facebook. I said, I admit I am prejudiced against Amish people. I am. I grew up with the Amish. I don't like them. They're mean, mean-spirited. They talk about >> [laughter] >> They talk about >> You posted this on Facebook? >> Yeah, yeah. And people jumped all over me. I'm like, people, I'm joking. It's a joke. What's wrong with you? People need
[20:09] to lighten up. Yeah. But this this this this is the current situation we find ourselves in. >> We are. We are It's a And I And I hope what I don't know if with the I do think we're going to get to a point where, you know, you know how today Las Vegas I don't know if you've been to Vegas. I'm sure you've been there a long period of time. Vegas isn't what it used to be 20 years ago. You go to Vegas, it's like it's a freaking ghost town. Like it used to be packed. Yes, it did. >> and then you see the stats where they're saying, why is Vegas having a hard time today? And And you'll see numbers where
[20:41] they're saying Vegas having a hard time because they're no longer Kids are no longer drinking alcohol like they used to. Uh going and hooking up today, I don't need to go to Vegas. There's Tinder. So, everything Vegas offers, I now have access locally, and I'm no longer interested in drinking alcohol like a lot of you know, maybe I did back in the days. And so, to me, I think we're going to come to a point where people are going to go on social media diets. I really believe that. I think I think people going to go on phone diets. I think people going to be like, "Dude, I am setting this guy aside. I'll come in to
[21:13] get my information that I need, but I'm not going through it the way I was addicted. Just What did they call it? Is it death scrolling or doom scrolling? >> scrolling. Doom scrolling. Just kind of going through it, man. That can really The probably has some effects on people today. >> I think it probably does. You know what? I I'll admit another thing. I doom scroll at night. But, you know, funny thing, the algorithm is relatively quick about determining what interests you. I have never seen one of my own shorts. Never. Not one.
[21:44] What I watch all freaking night long as I'm laying in bed >> [laughter] >> is people filming in public. Yeah. Like taking pictures of people's license plates, and then the people who are in the cars lose their minds and get out, and then they have to get pepper sprayed, and then the cops come. I love that stuff. Yeah. >> Because it's all about the First Amendment, right? But, I've never seen my own shorts. Well, I've seen a lot of your shorts. You know, one thing one thing I do is I I watch this this Jamaican pastor. I've probably seen him
[22:14] preach couple hundred times. Uh Rob, have you seen that clip or no? >> No. Well, you know, I don't know if I'm going to find it or not. This guy just This This guy fires me up. He's so funny. But, anyways, it just tells you the the the appetite and what things we're interested in. Okay, so let's let's go into issues. Um Iran uh uh war US. I think you were the first one that said 3 days before the attack that it was going to happen. I think you said it on the 19th. Was it March 19th? And and Marcus is like, "What's he talking Do you have that clip?" I took a lot of [ __ ] for that, too. Well, you did, but
[22:46] you ended up being right when you announced it. You said, "Hey, here's what I think is going on. Ex-CIA agent reveals US could attack Iran as early as Monday." And you said that on the 19th, 20th. I don't know the exact dates. And Rob, if you have the video, I wouldn't mind showing it because to to give him credit that he was the first guy that announced it and it happened. And so how did you know? What where did the information come from? The truth is I've got a friend at the White House. I have friends at the Pentagon, friends at the CIA, friends at the FBI. And And this was the criticism, too,
[23:17] Patrick. A A guy A guy posted a comment like, "Oh, we're supposed to believe that that people just walk out of the White House and walk up to this criminal and tell him classified defense secrets?" And I'm like, "Yeah." That's exactly what you should believe because that's what happened. So I've got friends all over Washington. I've been in Washington for 44 years, right? We're all neighbors and we hang out together. I'm the only person in my church who's not a retired colonel or
[23:48] lieutenant colonel in the military, seriously. It's like a VFW meeting at church every Sunday. [laughter] And uh And so yeah, a friend of mine said, "Hey, listen, there's some [ __ ] going on at the White House." I said, "Yeah, what are you hearing?" He said, "We really are going to attack Iran." Is Is this a CIA guy or no? Is this a >> He's He's a Uh I should probably protect his >> Just if it's military or intelligence. >> Military. >> Military, okay. >> Military. And he said we're probably going to be attacking on Monday. >> And I said, "Well, wait a minute. Wait a minute." I said, "I've been really hedging my my language here and what
[24:20] I've been saying," this is what I told him, "what I've been saying is one of the very first lessons that I learned at the CIA is that if you want to determine American military intentions, watch naval movements." You know, we can fly troops out all over the place, it doesn't make any difference. If you're going to send an an entire aircraft carrier strike group, you mean business. If you're going to send two of them, you're going to war. And we sent two. Mhm. And that was the determination I made. >> Interesting. So that was given to you you and Is this it, Rob? >> Yes, sir. Go forward. Uh I have a friend
[24:52] uh former CIA officer who was at the White House this morning talking to his friends and he says that a decision has been made to attack Iran on Monday or Tuesday. The president yesterday gave the Iranians 10 days to uh to you know, accept our proposals for an end to their ballistic missile program, an end to to uh their uranium enrichment program and It's pretty wild. So, you So, let me
[25:24] ask you when when normally cuz you're in a community and people talk. Like like I'm in the financial industry. I I was no longer So, my company almost four years ago. You still have friends? For sure. So, it when that happens, cuz there's two different ways of leaking information. The one information is leaking where it's like talk about it. Drop it. One information is John, please don't say this to anybody else. Right. Which one was this? I think this was please don't say this to anybody else to him. To him. Because this was real military
[25:55] planning. He panicked and said something to me. But you're exactly right. There are two different kinds of leaks. First of all, the White House and the Pentagon leak like a sieve. But usually those leaks are authorized leaks. Let's get an idea what public opinion's going to be. >> That's right. Let's just see what the networks say if we do X. That's not what this >> That's been happening for decades. This is just don't tell anybody and you ended up you ended up sharing it and then ended up being right. So, the guy And this isn't >> Joe Kent that you were talking
[26:26] >> Oh, no, no. No, You and Joe don't have a You and Joe don't have a relationship. >> No. That would be an interesting podcast of the two of you guys talking >> enjoy that very much. >> Because >> You know what what I did? As soon as he went public, I I called a producer that I know and I said, "Any chance you have Joe Kent's contact information because I'm a member of this group called Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity, VIPs. And we wanted to give him our It's called the Sam Adams Award for Integrity and Intelligence." And so, she sent me his uh his info and we gave him the award. Beautiful. >> But I've never spoken to the man. So
[26:57] what do you what do you think where we are now? So if if you if that was then that this has happened, is there any talks today of this coming to an end? Because there was supposed to be a ceasefire. All right, let's do ceasefire. Ah, I don't know if both sides committed to the full ceasefire, but let's just say it was a cease-ish fire that they did. Yesterday, yesterday at 4:45 in the morning our time, Iran attacks three ships. They seized two of them. One is from Panama. I think one of them's from Greek Greece if I'm not mistaken. Yeah. It is. So they take that. And so they
[27:28] and then President Trump is like the ceasefire is continuing indefinitely. What does that really mean? The negotiations are going back and forth. Where do you think we are today? I think the situation is unique because Donald Trump is president. Donald Trump has this innate ability to spin things better than any previous president, I believe. I could actually see Donald Trump saying in a nationally televised announcement, "We won. It's all over. We're coming
[28:00] home." I could see that happening. I'm not saying it's going to happen tomorrow, but I could see it ending that way. Now, with that said, I think that this is one of those times where we need to let the diplomats do what they're trained to do. We have not made great use of the Omanis. We've not made great use of the Qataris or the Algerians. I mean, these are all countries that we work with, work through over the course of decades to carry out
[28:31] diplomatic communications with Iran. I think the bottom line is we have one idea of what we want from Iran, but the Israelis have a different idea. You notice, for example, uh the president announces a ceasefire in Lebanon and boom, 24 hours later the Israelis bomb. It's because we have competing interests. You know, there's this old saying in Washington, there's no such thing as permanent friends, just permanent interests. Well, our interests diverge with those of the Israelis on on
[29:02] some of these issues, specifically Iran and Lebanon. So, I think really Patrick, the bottom line is at the end of this, we're going to end up with something that looks very much like the JCPOA. And we're just going to say, "Oh, we won. It's all over. We have this agreement. Peace is at hand." I think the real sticking point is going to be what to do with the uranium that's already been enriched, even if it's only 60% or 80% or whatever it is it happens to be. Um the American position is that they
[29:34] have to give it to us. The old position was they could transfer it to China, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia. We've changed our position on that. It has to come to us. They won't send it to us. That's going to be a sticking point. But otherwise, you know what? I think that I think that this conflict has also um brought to light some American weaknesses. And I think the most important one is that the conflict has pushed the Iranians deeper into the embrace of
[30:05] China, Russia, and India. All three of them all four of them are BRICS countries. We also know that there are rumblings of a unified uh BRICS currency. It's probably 30 years down the road, but it's going to happen one of these days. I think this conflict is going to make it happen a little bit more quickly. And that's going to further weaken the United States. So, if if for example, the international community either drops the petrodollar or begins
[30:38] trading buying oil in yuan, we're screwed. It's going to have a long-term deleterious effect on the American economy. And I think that this conflict pushed things in that direction. Yeah, and behind closed doors, China apparently got caught sending a ship. >> Yeah. Where the president said they send them a gift. What's in the gift? Well, it's secret. I can't tell you what's in the gift, but it was what? Chemical, missile, uh uh uh weapons, you know, kind of helping them out to have some missiles to defend themselves.
[31:08] >> That's right. So, you know, we've always known they've been close cuz when when uh China signed that 25-year deal with uh Iran, I don't know what the number was, 400 billion dollars, 300 billion dollars, it was a big number. We've always seen them being close and Iran being close to Russia cuz Iran would sell Sure. >> their uh is it Shahed uh uh drones? The drones that they make. >> They pump those drones out like nobody's business. >> So, kind of reminds you what happened with Ukraine and Russia, where Ukraine was attacked with their small drones, and they're the best producers of
[31:38] drones. So, you see similarities there. But, the difference is Ukraine was protected by NATO. >> Right. Right? So, and us, cuz it was under Biden, so they got so much money and funding. So, Russia had to kind of sit there and say, "What are we going to do here?" That's why everybody's so shocked at revelations that the Russians and the Chinese are giving the Iranians targeting information. Of course, they're giving them targeting information. >> We give the Ukrainians targeting information. This is We The Russians did
[32:08] this to us in Vietnam. Yeah, but the difference is, what you said is very important. You said the difference is uh uh the Trump effect, right? He knows how to negotiate. If there's anything we've learned from 2016 to 2026, uh in choosing presidents, if you ask somebody a question in 2000, "What qualities do you want in a president?" Top five, they would say, "Diplomacy, you know, uh being presidential, you know, great orator." I
[32:39] don't know what else you put in there, right? You would probably put a few different things. You know, good understanding of foreign affairs and all this stuff. You know what people are realizing from '16 to today? Negotiation skills. Yeah. >> And the guy's a The guy's a phenomenal negotiator. Obama wasn't a negotiator, you know? >> O- Biden wasn't a negotiator, Biden. >> Biden knew he was president. >> You're right. I mean, that was like a, you know, very funny situation. So, there's a So, So, the part becomes Trump uses the pulpit to speak to his allies and enemies.
[33:10] You know, I thought G and I were friends. He said, "But it's okay. Maybe that's what happens. We'll see what will take place. I hope he's not doing it. But if he is, I'll have a conversation with them. Who knows what we'll do?" I I have to add, too, that Democrats have consistently underestimated him. They treat him like he's an idiot, like he's some kind of a buffoon, and he's not. He knows exactly what he's doing. >> Do you still support him? Do you think he is You know, I I >> If we If no camera's on, we're at a place, no one's famous, people you
[33:40] trust, would you say you're happy he's your president today instead of anybody else? >> Uh yeah, I would say that. I would say that. Um I I have very strong feelings about the Democrats. They're strongly negative. Is what they are. Um I believe that behind the smiling faces and the advanced, you know, college degrees, it's just a cabal of criminals coming out of that Obama administration and extending into the Biden administration.
[34:11] Yes, the Trump administration has had problems, too. But for example, when Kash Patel was was named FBI director, I celebrated because the FBI's broken and it needed to be torn down to its studs. Same with the CIA. Now, that hasn't necessarily happened, but at least the idea was there, the thought was there. And instead, it's the Democrats that have become the party of the status quo. It's the Democrats that have become the party of the of the deep state.
[34:41] And we need to shake things up. I've been in Washington for 44 years, Patrick. I moved to Washington the week after I turned 18 years old to go to college. And back then, you know, Democrats and Republicans used to live in these group houses up on Capitol Hill. They'd play poker on Fridays. They'd go to church together on Sundays. Everybody was friends. 44 is what? What year is 1982. Wow. So, this is pre-Reagan. This is Wow. >> when Reagan was first elected. He'd been president for a year when I moved to Washington. >> What a time to move to DC.
[35:13] >> I'll say. What a time to move to DC. >> god. And I'll tell you a funny story. Don't think less of me. It was really cold one night, and I wanted to go for a walk. And nobody would go for a walk with me. I lived I was going to GW University, George Washington University, two blocks, three blocks from the White House. It was December, it was cold. Nobody wanted to go for a walk. So, my girlfriend said, "Okay, I'll go for a walk with you." So, we walk around the White House when you could walk around the White House. Now, it's impossible. But we noticed that the Let me think.
[35:43] That the West Gate was open. And I said, "Oh, something's going to happen. Let's stand here for a second." And sure enough, Reagan pulls out in the presidential limousine. He's going As it turned out, he was going to the Kennedy Center for the Kennedy Center Honors. I thought that I hated Reagan at the time. I was 18 years old. But it's the president of the United States. So, I started to applaud. Even though you hate him, cuz you're a liberal at the He's the president. I was liberal at the time. He's the president. I started applauding him. They stopped the limousine, and he
[36:14] rolls the window down. >> Stop it. Mhm. I get chills. Look at this. Stop. >> chills thinking about it. And my girlfriend's like, "Oh my god." And so, we said, "Keep >> [laughter] >> I go, "Keep up the good work, Mr. President." Even though you're not for him. >> [laughter] >> And your girlfriend, I'm assuming, is also not >> Afterwards, she's like, "You know, you can't tell anybody that this just happened, right?" I said, "I can't believe he stopped the car." >> Did he step out or did he pull down the window? >> It was freezing cold. He just rolled down the window and he said, "Thanks for
[36:45] your support." Like that. Wow. >> And then years years later, my brother's visiting me from LA and we're walking down Constitution Avenue. There used to be like a little tiny Barnes & Noble in the National Press Club at What is that? 14th and Pennsylvania Avenue. So, we're walking down the street and we notice two limos parked there. And my brother said, "Oh, I wonder who this is." I said, "It's probably cabinet member. You see them around town all the time." Um and he says, "Well, let's wait. Let's
[37:15] wait. I want to see who it is." I'm like, "Okay." So, we're standing there and then out of the Barnes & Noble comes Bill Clinton with Chelsea. It's a Sunday morning. They just went in to buy some books. >> [laughter] >> And I didn't know what to say. So, I just shout, "Keep abortion safe and legal, Bill." >> that. >> [laughter] >> You didn't say that. And he goes, "I'm trying." And he comes over and shakes hands. He, by the way, he is the smoothest out of all of them. >> Oh, I've got some Clinton stories, man. Do you? Like face-to-face like Face-to-face from my CIA days.
[37:46] >> What happened? Oh my god, I was assigned to the American Embassy in Athens, Greece from 1998 to 2000. This is immediately after the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Woolsey is Was Woolsey the CIA director CIA? >> Woolsey had left >> Cuz he was only there for 2 years. >> Yeah, he left in '94. >> Okay, so that's after. >> Right. Got it. And was replaced by John Deutch, who was horrible. So, we get this notification from the White House, the president's going to come to Greece. We ask The ambassador asked him, it was Nick Burns at the time, "Please don't
[38:18] come on the 17th of November because 17 November is the name of the big terrorist group that's active in Greece because that's the day that the that the military attacked the Athens Polytechnic University killed dozens of students. He comes right on the 17th of November. It's like the worst possible day of the year. But anyway, the ambassador had us pull jobs out of a hat. Like literally he had a hat and with jobs written on scraps of paper. I was the luckiest guy. Hit the lottery that day. I pulled out My job was to be
[38:50] the note taker in the president's meeting with the prime minister. So, the meeting is at the Intercontinental Hotel in the presidential suite, almost the entire top floor of the hotel. And it's it's Clinton, Secretary of State Albright, National Security Advisor Berger, the ambassador, and me. And for the Greeks it was the prime minister, the defense minister, the foreign minister, and the Greek note taker. So, we go there. There was a table almost the whole length of the room just covered in food and
[39:21] coffee and tea and drinks and anything your heart desired was there. So, everybody comes in and they sit down. I'm standing against one wall with my notebook. The Greek note taker is standing against the opposite wall with his notebook. And the president says to the prime minister, "Can I offer you a cup of coffee, a tea, something to eat?" No, and this one says >> President offered a prime minister. >> Yeah. And then he turns to me and he says, "May I offer you something to eat?" I said, "Oh, no thank you, Mr.
[39:52] President. I'm I'm good." And he goes, "Are are you with me?" And I said, >> got it. >> I said, "Yes, sir, I'm with you." And he said, "I thought you were Greek." And I said, "I I kind of am, but I'm not, but I'm with you." So, I'm ready to take notes in this incredibly important meeting and it's "We love you. You love us. We have lots and lots of Greeks in America. They own all the diners. They're all successful. You're the birthplace of democracy and mathematics and medicine and we love
[40:23] you. And then the Greeks are like, we love you, too. When our economy couldn't handle all these Greeks in the '20s and '30s, they went to America and you gave them a chance and we love you. And I'm like waiting for something important to write down. There's nothing. So, at the end of it everybody stands up, they all shake hands, Clinton hugs everybody and they leave. Then, Clinton walks out with Albright. I'm sorry. Yeah, that's right. And then Berger walks out with the ambassador. So, I walk out after them. I'm standing
[40:55] about 2 ft away from Clinton and Albright. They finish their conversation. Albright goes to the other two. So, I'm just standing there 2 ft away from Clinton and just as she walks away, the elevator at the end of the hall opens up and Hillary walks off with Chelsea. The story's about to change. She has this puss on her face like this. She walks right up to us. And one thing about Clinton, I I noticed it from the very moment that I met him,
[41:26] he hates silence. He wants to be joshing and joking and laughing and telling stories and and she's just standing there looking at him. And so, he says, "We sure had a good time at the Parthenon this morning, didn't we, Hill?" She's just staring at him. So, he repeats himself. "We sure had a good time at the Parthenon this morning, didn't we, Hill?" And she says, "Jesus Christ, Bill, it's raining all day. I'll be in the room." And she walks between us. And I'm looking at him like, "You
[41:57] poor man. You have to sleep next to that every night." He looks right at me and he goes, "Let's get out of here." So, the two of us walk to the elevator, the Secret Service runs after us and then everybody else files in. We go down to the basement. There are 500 screaming women from the Greek Greek-American Business Women's Association. And he gave this raucous, you know, vintage Bill Clinton. It was that Clinton magic that people used to
[42:28] talk about. I saw it with my own eyes. Yeah, it's it's funny that I can't tell you how many stories of people you ask of of Clinton, Bill, how many of them is positive? Yeah. Of how he was. And how it is with Hillary. We were at a Oh, she was just awful. >> Is that the only experience with Hillary? >> No, no, no. I I encountered her a number of times. After I left the agency, I was the chief investigator on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. And um she had just left the committee to become Secretary of State. So she used to come back all the time. And she was impossible. Impossible. I mean, they all are at that
[43:00] at that level. John Kerry was the one who See, now you got me on a roll. I'm going to be criticizing everybody. But uh John Kerry hired me just just as he became the chairman in January of 2009, he called me and said, "I'm going to reconstitute the investigative function at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Would you like to be the investigator?" And I said, "I'd love to be the investigator." So he said, "I want to make an impact. We want to, you know, root out wrongdoing." I said, "Great." Nothing could have been further from the
[43:31] truth. And I'll I'll tell you why if you don't mind me rambling on for a moment. Uh before I went up to the hill, I struck up something of a of a a proper friendship with Mack McLarty, who had been Clinton's chief of staff. Mack had partnered with Henry Kissinger to make Kissinger McLarty Associates. That became McLarty Associates. And Mack gave me an office in his suite of offices. It was a very generous thing to do. So Bill Richardson, the former governor
[44:01] of New Mexico, congressman, Secretary of Energy, Ambassador to the United Nations, he was also at McLarty Associates and Bill and I totally hit it off. I loved this guy. I even voted for him for president after he dropped out of the race. >> Stop it. >> I did. He's just a wonderful guy. He's He passed away now, but he's a wonderful, wonderful man. So, he came up to me one day and he said, "Hey, listen, can you keep a secret?" I said, "Of course." And he said, uh, "I invited, uh, I invited Obama to my house to watch the, uh, Super Bowl. This was in 2000 January
[44:33] of 2008 before the primaries." He said, "At halftime we went for a walk." And he had like a thousand acres of wasteland out in New Mexico. So, he, uh, he says, "Obama." He put his arm around my shoulder and he said, "Bill, if you endorse me and you bring the Hispanics, Secretary of State." And I said, "Oh my god, that's fantastic. It's what Richardson always wanted." He said, "I want you to be my deputy chief of staff." I said, "Done. I want to be ambassador to Greece in the
[45:03] second term." And he says, "Yeah." He says, "Great. Everybody's going to have a good time. We're going to We're going to make an impact." I said, "Great." I run home. I tell my wife, "Oh my god, I'm going to be the deputy chief of staff at State." So, fast forward a year and Obama wins the election. And I'm in the shower one day. I got the radio going to listen to the news and they said, "Former Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson was named by President-elect Obama today as the Secretary of Commerce." Not State. Uh-uh.
[45:35] So, I I go into the office and I go I go, "Mr. Secretary, congratulations." And he comes up to me. He goes, "What the [ __ ] do I know about commerce?" >> [laughter] >> And I said I said, "No, no, no, no. You're looking at this wrong. We can make this into something. There's the Foreign Commercial Service. There's the International Trade Representative. Tough it out for 4 years. You become Secretary of State in the second term. This is good. We can We can make this work. Week later he quits.
[46:05] Just drops out. Okay, so fast forward. What do you mean he drops out? >> Yeah, he dropped out. He was never Secretary of >> Withdrew a month later as he was being investigated for possible improper business dealings. >> Yeah, they never indicted him. There were all There was always this rumor that he had done something improper and nobody ever could vocalize it. So, I I go to Capitol Hill. I become the chief investigator in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and um one thing about John Kerry Kerry always thought always that he was smarter than everybody else. And so, his
[46:36] speechwriters would write these speeches and he would always go off script and just start winging it. And he always made himself look foolish. So, I go with him to the speech at the uh Brookings Institution and he's giving the speech he's reading the speech and then he goes off topic and he says, "You know, I was supposed to be the Secretary of State. I invited Obama over to my house at Christmas." >> Stop it. Uh-huh. And he says, "We went for a walk after dinner." Kerry saying this? >> Uh-huh. And he says, "Obama put his arm around my shoulder and he said, John, if you
[47:08] endorse me and if you do it before the Kennedys do it, Secretary of State." And he says, "I got screwed out of it. I was supposed to be Secretary of State." So, I'm in the front row and I'm going like this. To him? Yeah, like discreetly. Like you're off topic and this is not an issue you should be talking about in public. So, afterwards he says, "I I know I shouldn't have said that story. I know I And I said, "Bill Richardson has exactly the same story." I said, "Barack Obama promised half a dozen people that they would be Secretary of State. That's the kind of person he is.
[47:40] He duped all of you guys." Wow. So, it's not like he was telling Bill's stories that Obama told us to a bunch of people >> Mhm. and didn't keep the promise. Nope. He lied to everybody. Mhm. Unfreaking believable. Now, you wonder how much of that is a pattern that happens often. I wonder. Or if it was specific that if he's some kind of sociopath. But I'll tell you the reason why I started telling you the story is as the investigator, he
[48:12] wouldn't let me investigate anything because he didn't want to piss off Obama. He so desperately wanted to be Secretary of State. So I'm doing like the Dasht-e Leili massacre in northern Afghanistan. I go to Afghanistan, I go to Dasht-e Leili, they're like bones sticking out of the ground, still have the clothing on them. I come back, I'm like we have to investigate this. He's like, you're going to kill that investigation. I said, "Senator, you're the one who told me to go on the investigation." Well, you know, it's it happened a long time ago and all these years have passed and it's time to look forward. And it's
[48:42] like, "Okay. All right." And then somebody emails me and says, "Hey, you know, in the new American passports, they have these smart chips in them." I said, "Yeah." "The chips are made in China." I said, "Seriously?" "Yeah, you you you have to investigate it." So I investigate it. I go to State, I go to the manufacturer. All the chips are made in China and the passports are assembled in Thailand. They're not even assembled in the United States, American passports. So I write up a memo and I said, "Look, this this is potentially a problem. I'm not saying the Chinese have hacked into our passports. I'm saying
[49:13] that this could be a problem. Maybe just maybe we should we should manufacture our own passports in the United States." He's like, "Don't release that investigation." I said, "Why not?" "Well, we don't want to embarrass the uh embarrass the White House." I'm like, "Are you going to let me do anything?" I ended up resigning after 2 years. He wouldn't let me do anything cuz [clears throat] he wanted to be Secretary of State. Yeah, I mean he almost became a president uh until he did the flip-flopping thing. What was it that he went to one place, I don't know when it was, but it was the flip-flopping where
[49:43] he's like, "It's over for this guy." He gave two different messages. He did. >> Was he going against Bush or he was going against Bush, right? >> Bush in '04 and the only reason he didn't become president was Ohio. That was it was that close. >> Didn't they go to Yale together? What they They went to Yale. So what a what an interesting match up for both of them to be part of the Skull and Bones and >> Yeah, at the same time. And funny enough, because Kerry was supposed to be such an intellectual, Bush's grades were better than Kerry's. >> Bush's grades were better than Kerry. It was like an inside joke for us. Let me tell you one other John Kerry thing.
[50:15] The first time I met him, he he called me and invited me to come up to the office for a conversation. So I said, "Oh, I'd love I'd love to come up and have a conversation." He was in the Russell Building, which is the historic Senate office building, the oldest one. It's where all the big hearings have been held through history. So I go up there, and you go into his private office with these, you know, 15-ft ceilings, and literally from the floor to the ceiling, covering an entire wall, and it's about the size of your wall here, there were framed pictures of
[50:46] him with every leader in the world, from Gorbachev to the Dalai Lama, everybody that matters. But when you first walk in, right here on the side, there was a credenza. It had three things on it that struck me immediately. One was a picture of him in an embrace with John Lennon. And they're like goofing. Very cool. Who wouldn't want a picture of himself with John Lennon like that? Then on the other side, it was a picture of him with uh Peter, Paul, and Mary,
[51:17] the folk uh singers. And uh and uh I knew that they were close, and he gave the eulogy at Mary Travers' funeral. And then in the middle was a shadow box. And in the shadow box, it had his Silver Star, his Bronze Stars, and his Purple Heart. But he famously threw those medals over the White House fence to protest the Vietnam War. So I'm looking at that like, "What?" Like everybody knows, everybody in
[51:47] America knows he threw those medals over the White House fence. So, we did the meeting, he offered me the job, and I accepted it. And uh the chief of staff says, "Well, how did it go?" I said it went really well. He offered me the job, and I said yes, but I got a question. I said, "The shadow box with the medals." I said, "What's up with that? Everybody knows he threw those medals away." And he goes, "Are you kidding?" He said, "Those medals are the most important things in his life." He went to the PX that morning, and he bought copies. Wow.
[52:18] >> And he threw the copies over the White House Wow. >> "Nobody in America knows that." Wow. Has that story been told? Mhm. Wow. [clears throat] So, that was a whole, you know, spectacle to just get >> Wow. >> put him on the map. He ran for lieutenant governor of uh he he ran for Congress and lost, ran for lieutenant governor and won, then ran for Congress and won, and then when Paul Songas retired, uh he became a senator. Well, you look, you you know, he'll go
[58:59] Reagan. And he said, "I have an idea." We went up to meet with McCain's people. He wrote an amendment and it was hilarious. It was like one sentence. And it said, "Every American who had his pension confiscated for violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act between October 1st and October 31st, 2012, shall hereby have that pension reinstated." I'm the only person in the world.
[59:29] So, McCain says, "I'm going to slip this into the National Defense Authorization Act." He said, "That thing's like 3,000 pages long. Nobody reads them." He said, "I'm going to put it down in the bottom. Nobody's going to pay any attention. We're going to get you your pension back." So, he said, I said, "Well, but it's going to be in the Senate version. It's not going to be in the House version." He said, "I'll get myself appointed to the conference committee and I'll ensure that it is in there in the final bill." And then he got brain cancer. And so, he couldn't be on the conference committee. He was too sick. And so, they
[1:00:01] pulled it out. And Three pages, all the way in the back, and they pulled it out. The 780. And they pulled it out. So, here I am. >> McCain is number one on the list. >> Yeah. Go go with the stuff that we're talking about the Espionage Act. >> Yeah. And the stuff that Obama did. Go go to FISA because FISA >> Oh, yeah. >> goes back to what? FISA starts off with Teddy Ki- Ted Kennedy, if I'm not mistaken. Yeah. And he pitches it and he proposes it and I think Carter comes in. And the concern at the time, this is right after Watergate, if I'm not mistaken. So, hey, this is the way for us to catch terrorists. And then Obama ends up using that to go
[1:00:34] after people like you and also going after people like Trump. Look look at Carter Page, the poor guy. >> Exactly. >> They ruined his life. >> Yeah. You know, you make a very important point here that there's repeating. FISA is not new. FISA has been around since the Carter administration. Um Ted Kennedy was instrumental in the passage of FISA. Um They believed back then that there was a real danger of, you know, foreign involvement in American political
[1:01:06] machinations. And so, they passed FISA that would allow this secret court that sits on the top floor of the Justice Department. It's off-limits to everybody. The judges are constantly rotating in and out. They're They're sitting federal district court judges from around the country. And um the CIA and the FBI can go there and say we need a secret warrant to tap the phones of, you know, X, Y, and Z people. And they get it. And there's nothing in writing nothing that can ever be released to the
[1:01:37] American people. So, you don't have any idea if maybe there's a FISA warrant on you. There's not supposed to be because you're an American citizen, but so was Carter Page. These are supposed to be warrants on foreign nationals in touch with Americans. Well, you know, when the FISA court turns down something like whatever it is, 19/100 of 1% or whatever, where's the oversight? Who exists in government to say, "Wait a minute, this is wrong. You're abusing
[1:02:08] this program." To make it worse, Section 702 is being debated right now. Section 702 is something that has to come up for re-authori- re-authorization every 2 years. And what Section 702 does is it allows these continued secret Here it is. Secret warrantless uh wiretaps on people. But again, you know, on whom? And what's the threshold? We don't know what the
[1:02:39] threshold is. Nobody will tell us. And so you get somebody like Carter Page who it you know, was doing what he thought he was supposed to be doing as a, you know, mid-level Trump campaign person talking to an Australian ambassador, and the next thing you know, he knows Well, he didn't know it actually. The next thing he is experiencing is he's under investigation. There are FISA warrants against him. And then the FISA warrants were repeatedly renewed
[1:03:10] even though there was no evidence that he that he had ever committed a crime. I believe, I I many Americans believe that this was done at the behest of uh of John Brennan. And it was all part of Brennan's plan to deny Donald Trump the presidency.