[00:00] You just have to see this thing. >> No more safe moments in the sky over Russia. It is important that this be heard by the relevant airlines. They are asking us to resume negotiations, asking for personal meetings. Negotiations are not held with terrorists. >> We have zero tolerance. We are going to
[00:31] economically asphyxiate this regime. We are tracking down the IRGC's assets. >> These are important videos and important comments, and this is the effect, the Sanchez effect. Let's do this. Hi, I'm Rick Sanchez, and uh I want to thank you so much for being there. You are not going to believe today where Zelenskyy is now planning to go. He is saying what is pretty much, I
[01:01] think, unthinkable at this point, right? He is making a threat that goes so far beyond what I consider to be the realm of of of of normalcy and decency. It actually made me do a I've been doing this for a long time. But when I heard this, it made me do like a double take. Like, did I just hear this right? Is this guy serious? Ukraine's strongman, Zelenskyy, appears to now be, get this, threatening
[01:32] to shoot out of the sky commercial airliners. >> We want to warn every airline that uses Russian airspace, every insurance company, and everyone who still uses key Russian airports. Russian airspace is becoming completely dangerous. We are warning our partners. There are no more safe moments in the sky over Russia. It is important that this be heard by the relevant airlines that currently fly
[02:02] to airports primarily in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and other key destinations in Russia. Civilian aviation has no place among the drones. >> Civilian aviation has no place among the drones. Do you hear this? I mean he said a lot while he was talking there, but what there are no more safe right? moments in Russian skies.
[02:34] No more safe moments in Russian skies. What the hell does that sound like to you? I mean to me I mean it's what a mafia guy would say. Isn't that what they always do? They they don't say they're going to kill your family. They don't say they're going to destroy your house. They say wouldn't it be a shame wouldn't it be a shame if if something were to happen to your beautiful daughter? Right? Isn't that what they say? Or it would be horrible if your business were to one day catch fire, wouldn't it?
[03:06] You see what they're doing? You see what he's doing? What Zelensky's doing here? He's saying it's a shame that people on planes in Russia aren't safe. Oh, what a shame. Hmm. By the way, when does he make this comment? Think about this for a minute cuz I started thinking about this. Think about this. I don't know, maybe I'm wrong, but when does he make this comment? He makes it right after meeting with Europe's leaders, right? Which we've been showing you the video of these meetings that he's had. The same leaders who've told him in the
[03:37] past to hit oil refineries and then cheered him on when he's done it, to hit consumer warehouses and other civilian targets. Right? We heard Stoop say that the other day. We heard Merz say that, right? We heard uh what's his name, the new guy in uh in the UK uh say that, the guy who looks like uh Jerry Lewis. Now, so here's my question. Did they now encourage him to hit airplanes? Is this the next request? I mean, they're just going to double down?
[04:08] Man, sure looks like it. In fact, does Zelensky ask yourself, does Zelensky ever do anything, right, without first confirming with Macron and company? But by the way, and and this is also something we got to talk about. Wouldn't you think that instead of encouraging this type of thing, that these European leaders would be asking Zelensky to back off, maybe? I mean, shouldn't they be saying, "Whoa. Wait a minute. Did you just threaten to
[04:38] blow up planes flying into St. Petersburg and Moscow? Did we just hear you say that?" I mean, that's what they should be saying, right? That's what a responsible leader would be saying. But then again, come to think of it, if you go by their recent comments, once again, and we played them for you this week, right? Europe's leaders are in many ways sounding to me, anyway, more maniacal than Zelensky. Fact is, he generally will do whatever they tell him to do so that he can
[05:11] remain in power. See, that's a really dangerous combination. And and it's one that President Vladimir Putin couldn't help but comment on. Putin went in front of the cameras yesterday and started talking about this, which kind of like, you know, usually he waits. This time, he just he he went right in front of the cameras. President Putin came out and essentially called this this threat by Zelensky of blowing up commercial airliners terrorism. >> If this is said out loud, it's simply a
[05:42] declaration of state-sponsored terrorism, and I want to emphasize that they are asking us to resume negotiations, asking for personal meetings. Negotiations are not held with terrorists. And secondly, in the same context, if God forbid such tragedies occur, we will find a way to respond. Let no one doubt that. They will find a way. I bet they will. Um by the way, Mr. Putin says the threat of blowing up a plane makes it difficult
[06:13] then to consider what he's being asked to do, which is sit down and negotiate with this guy, right? In fact, the comment from Zelenskyy will likely have the opposite effect in so far as how his people will now uh uh feel the brunt of what Russia will likely do because the Russian military is not going to let up. And they're already taking a cue from Ukraine because Ukraine, as you know, has for months been targeting Russian energy and industry and trains and apartment
[06:45] buildings. So, Russia's now saying, "Well, I guess we're going to try and do the same thing." We were just fighting on the front lines between soldiers, but if you're going to go there, then we have to go there. So, they're now hitting Russia is now hitting industrial facilities, and I mean big. All over parts of Odessa and Kyiv and Lviv, right? And And you know what else they're hitting now? Trains. I I want to go to the map because I think this kind of changes the equation
[07:17] a little bit. You know, all this week I've been taking you to the map to showing you what the score is, what the geography is in the situation. So, we're here now to break this down by showing you pretty much what's going on as as it pertains to Zelenskyy's very dire situation right now. May- Maybe the best to to the best way to explain this is to explain why perhaps now more than ever Ukraine is stymied. Stymied. Like what's Do they have a move?
[07:48] And and let me begin with the fact that Ukraine is losing ground on a daily basis. And that's in and around this area that we've known. I mean, just just look at the look at the red, right? The more red you see, that means more of what used to be Ukraine is now becoming Russia. And the key place is right here. That's Zaporozhye. Right? Because that's going to go anytime now. And when that goes, that belt or that defense line that was set up by Ukraine is pretty much gone. And then it's kind of Katie by the door. But you know this already. We talked about this, I think, on Monday, right?
[08:19] Um the other thing now that is a problem is Ukraine is unable to stop the attacks on their energy and their industry in and around Kyiv. And that's huge. They've got no way of stopping the missiles, for example. That's happening right here. And it's because they have no missile defense system right now, right? And and then there's So so stymied, stymied, and now here, stymied as well. Black Sea, right? The This is what's going on in the Black Sea. Ukraine can't get anything out or
[08:51] anything in through the Black Sea. They used to be able to use the Black Sea to get in shipments, grain, oil, weapons. You know, they can't do that anymore. So that's like what? Number three? And finally, this one's kind of the the coup de grâce right now. Knowing that Europeans will see this and say, "Well, we can't do anything here. And now they're hitting them here, and they've stopped them here. What are we going to do, right? We got to get more weapons to Zelenskyy, right?"
[09:21] And in an effort to try and get more weapons to Zelenskyy, the only thing left, and Russia knows this, is they're going to try and bring them in by rail. So Russia's hitting the military supply lines, and most notably the railways and the railroad depots that are coming in from And I think I think we mentioned this like a few months ago when we when we were talking about the airport. But now it's more about the railroads. This is happening in Poland. Let me show you where it's happening. It's right here. You see this right here?
[09:52] You see this city right here? In fact, any and all of Ukraine's rail networks right now suspected of being used for shipments of weapons is getting hit by missiles and there's many of them coming in as you see in these lines right here. But this this is the most important what it's called Rzeszów, right? I know it's spelled weird. R Z E S Z O W, but it's pronounced Rzeszów or at least that's my pronunciation, right? So, what do they do? The Europeans bring in plane through planes, they bring in all the supplies right here and then they get them onto Lviv. And from there they're distributed
[10:24] into Ukraine and that's how Ukraine has been maintaining this war with Russia. This is the by far the primary rail artery for weapons into Ukraine right there. Heavy equipment is also also goes into there. And it's unloaded there at the Rzeszów logistics hub, lab, and hub. And then it's loaded onto freight trains and it moves east all the way to Lviv, right? Think about that.
[10:55] With that now out, it means Ukraine can't stop the missiles. It can't stop the Black Sea anymore. It's the Black Sea is literally blockaded by Russia. It doesn't have the manpower to stop the Russian military here where the main war was mostly um uh identified at the beginning. Now things have obviously expanded. Um it can't manufacture or assemble new weapons because all the factories are being hit with missiles and drones
[11:27] here on a daily basis, right? And now they also can't get shipments of weapons because the Russians are using their air superiority and Ukraine's inability to have missile defense systems and they're using that to knock out trains suspected of carrying drones and missiles. I mean, when when you go through this analysis, right? What what are they What would they say? What would they call this in in tennis? Game, set, match. Starting to look that way.
[11:58] By the way, here's President Putin explaining why he's uh going to continue. It's been eight straight days of hammering Kyiv. He says he's going to continue doing it. >> We continue to strike military facilities, industrial enterprises, ports, and logistics infrastructure in Ukraine, all serving the Ukrainian armed forces. That's in response to the Kyiv regime's ongoing attacks on civilian infrastructure, the fuel and energy sector, and Russian oil refineries. Last night I was informed a large number of
[12:30] drones [clears throat] again attempted to breach the air defenses of Moscow and St. Petersburg, also targeting civilian objects, including oil refineries. They attempted to hit three oil refineries. With all this in mind, strikes against Russia, against these targets, the Russian armed forces have been given instructions to prepare and launch massive strikes against Ukrainian energy facilities. They strike ours, and they will receive a response. >> See, really what's happening here is
[13:00] that Mr. Putin was effecting a symmetrical war, symmetrical warfare, war on the battlefield, the old-fashioned way. The Europeans told the uh Ukrainians, "No, no, no, no. You needed to go asymmetrical. Forget about fighting on the battlefield. Just start lobbing missiles and hitting civilian targets and everything else in Russia." So now Russia, that's basically what Mr. Putin is saying. Russia is now fighting an asymmetrical war while at the same time continuing their symmetrical war.
[13:31] And that's really what's made the difference here in the Black Sea, in Kyiv, in Lviv, and in so many of these other areas. By the way, this is crazy what I'm about to share with you. So, um barely had Putin finished this sentence that I just showed you of him talking when something even more nutty just happened. So, the GUR, which is Ukraine's CIA, has been in a gunfight with the SBU, which is Ukraine's FBI.
[14:03] Can you imagine? This really has been happening right now in Ukraine. Here's the video. It's a literal gunfight that's out in the open. Look at this. This is shootout. It began at night, continued into the morning hours. You Ukraine
[14:34] media began reporting the details and images that were being sent in, I guess, by citizens. These are people in the streets of Ukraine just walking around. And all of a sudden they they they're looking at these two groups fighting each other, and it's like it would be like if in Washington, D.C., the FBI was have was in a gun battle with the CIA. Is this happening in a place called Shumsky Street? You just saw it right there a little while ago. That was Shumsky Street. They say a lot of people are wounded. Still unclear what really happened, but from from what I've been able to read and understand, it it
[15:05] sounds like it was sparked because there was a GUR guy, an agent, he was apprehended by the SBU guys. Remember, GUR is like their CIA. And the other guys got angry. That started this whole battle between them, and before you knew it, you have the two most important security agencies in all of Ukraine in a gun battle in the middle of the street while people are watching this. I'll be damned. Joining us now to talk about this is John Kiriakou. He uh he
[15:35] hosts Deep State right here on RT. He's a former CIA agent as I'm sure many of you know. He's a really smart guy. He's a good friend. And by the way, my barber is a huge fan of his. Now, I'm getting I'm getting a hair I swear I'm I'm getting a haircut the other day. I don't even know the guy cuz I'm he's my new barber. It was up in Davie. And and then we start talking and I told the guy I was in TV. He goes, "Oh, I got this new guy I watch. His name is John Kiriakou." I was [laughter] like, "You're kidding me, right?" So, you got
[16:05] a fan. My barber >> Thank you. Thank you for that. I was in Vietnam a couple of weeks ago and um my brother-in-law I was with my brother-in-law who was going to give me a dollar every time I was uh stopped for a selfie and he stopped paying me at $20. >> Fantastic. Isn't that amazing? You know, people watch the show. >> know the effect you have cuz you know, we get busy just telling stories. And at the end of the day, I go to my wife and I sit around and I hang out with my kids and my granddaughter and I don't think about this very often. And every once in
[16:37] a while you're reminded that this stuff is important and people care about it. Yes. Hey, let's talk about this thing first of all that's going on in in Ukraine cuz this is this craziest crap I've ever seen. Yeah, I mean, because you were CIA and you're the perfect guy to ask about this. And by the way, because I'm a former police office police beat reporter, I happen to know that the CIA and the FBI hate each other. But, it's one thing to hate each other. It's another thing to kill each other. >> That's it right there. Well, the CIA and the FBI have always hated each other and that's not unusual. In the UK, MI5 and MI6 don't like each other so
[17:09] much. You see this country to country. But, to go into a gun battle on the streets, when you first raised this, I was thinking to myself, there has to be a precedent for this kind of thing. And I couldn't come up with one. I've never heard of such a thing happen. It's chaos. >> What does that say for Ukraine when you >> It's the breakdown of the Ukrainian side. It really is. >> Because when the top security agencies in a country can't control or discipline themselves, how in the hell are they
[17:40] going to be able to discipline the people? That's the question that comes to my head. >> That's it. There's no rule of law. It's every man for himself. And it's not just an issue now, Rick, of let's say the Ukrainian sending assassins to kill a Russian military official, or the Ukrainians doing some kind of deep cover, whatever. They're engaged in actual gun battles with each other. >> Unprecedented. >> This is the canary in the coal mine. >> It really is. >> Yes, this is this is like all of a sudden we got a real problem here.
[18:12] >> that's what it is. >> And this thing is only going to expand. >> Yes. >> Is is there a possibility you think it could have been an isolated incident? I mean, to give them the benefit of the doubt? >> Sure. Sure. >> Between two guys, maybe. >> Between two guys, but not entire squads, entire units just opening fire on each other. What if people had been killed? How do you explain that to the presidency, for example? >> Well, there's already a as you probably know, cuz you follow this, there's already incredible tension within the citizenry because they have this forced mobilization thing.
[18:42] >> Yes. >> Where they basically come into towns, villages, little neighborhoods, and they'll say, "We're going to get John's son." >> Yes. >> Because John's son should have because and John's son may be disabled, and the family's protecting him. They don't want him to go to the front lines. They say, "No, no, no, no." And they come and they grab him, they throw him into the van, then you come out, you fight with them, and we've seen gun battles and fights and just and skirmishes and and and near riots because of this. And this is happening at least once a week already.
[19:12] >> Yes. >> So, add that to this and >> And I'll add another thing. What about the abduction of Orthodox priests? >> Oh, yeah. >> What about the murder of Orthodox priests at the hands of the Ukrainian government now? >> Yeah. >> It's gone too far. They have to be reined in. >> Do you think at this point um our government uh the Trump administration notwithstanding Trump himself Trump gets it. But, there are enough people in the Trump administration who are now
[19:43] realizing this and that's why the guy who would have been your boss right now if you were still in the CIA went to Moscow to talk? >> I think that's it. I think that the Trump administration realizes finally it's bogged down in a war of choice in Iran. >> Mhm. >> And the only way to prosecute a war of choice in Iran is to be able to to divert attention its own attention away from the conflict in Ukraine. >> Yeah. >> Donald Trump, I believe, really wants this thing to go away.
[20:14] >> I think he did from the very beginning. I think he meant it when he said he was going to end the war in the war in one day. >> believed he could do it. >> Yeah. >> Mhm. >> But but >> there were others yelling at him from the outside. Where's Marco Rubio on all of this? >> He's >> You know, Marco Rubio should be in in Europe practically all the time trying to convince American allies that it's not in the national interests of the United States or of Western European countries to perpetuate this war.
[20:48] >> Who do you think is responsible in our government for not allowing Trump to be able to accomplish his mission? >> Oh, I think that's an easy one. Don't don't accuse me of being a crazy person, but it's the deep state. >> Yeah. >> You and I have had this conversation a number of times. There really is a deep state. You don't have to call it the deep state, you can call it the federal bureaucracy. But these senior intelligence service officers, or senior
[21:18] foreign service officers, or senior DOD officials, who were in their positions for 25, 30, 35 years, and they see presidents come and go. They're the ones keeping this thing going, with support from Congress, by the way. >> Let's come down the ladder of abstractions and try and be a little more finite. So, and and I'm only saying that because you're right. People say, "Administrative state state, deep state." I always hear Rick and John talk about, "What the hell is that?" right? Um because there's a lot of elements that could go There's Israel. There's
[21:50] lobbyists. There's the There's the military contractors. There's the CIA itself, where you used to work. How involved are they in this? >> Up to their necks. To the point where they they from the very beginning, they were training Ukrainians in Ukraine, but they were also training Ukrainians here in the United States. >> Wow. >> Mhm. >> So, the CIA wants this war to continue, like they've often wanted all wars to continue. Why? >> Because in an abstract fashion, it serves to
[22:21] they believe to weaken the enemies of the United States. For example, during the Iran-Iraq War, the CIA provided actionable intelligence to both sides simultaneously. Why would they do that? Because they wanted that war to go on forever, so that the two sides destroy each other. Well, if >> And geopolitically, that kind of made sense. You had one that was a Sunni and one which was a Shia, and we want the Sunnis and the Shias fighting each other, cuz that makes Bibi Netanyahu happy. >> Exactly. >> [laughter] >> That's exactly right. Well, if the
[22:54] Russians are preoccupied with Ukraine, that means the Russians aren't going to challenge the Americans in Iran, as another example. And so the >> Or Syria or >> right. >> Or or be busy be >> But it's not working by the way. And I just have to say as a matter of fact what they're doing is they're pushing Russia toward China, making Russian alliances with Iran, making Russians better alliances with India for example. So it's it's it's serving to weaken the United States. I I I'm my partner happens to be Iranian.
[23:24] And she just returned from 6 weeks in Iran. And every night when we FaceTime each other, she'll walk around whatever neighborhood she happens to be in in Tehran and just show me video. And it is people filling the restaurants. You hear music playing, families going out together, walking arm in arm. There's no there's no collapse of Iranian society.
[23:56] Well, in fact if anything it's become probably more steadfast. It has. It's become more steadfast and one of the things that American harsh American sanctions have done is is they have forced Iran into the arms of Russia, China and India. The Russians, the Chinese and the Indians don't have sanctions on Iran. So the United States thinks that that it can bring the Iranian economy the Iranian government to its knees with sanctions. No, exactly the
[24:26] opposite is happening. It's weakening the United States and we're seeing that play out in Ukraine as well. The longer this thing goes on, the weaker the United States becomes. Well, we don't seem to learn from that lesson. We keep thinking that if we punish somebody and hate them enough, eventually they'll like us more. I don't know where the hell that convoluted thinking came from. Here's Besson. Here's Scott Besson just yesterday held a news conference at Treasury. He's the he's our Treasury Secretary. And here he is doing the very thing you were just talking about. Play that if you can, Charles.
[24:58] >> We have zero [clears throat] tolerance. We are going to economically asphyxiate this regime. We are tracking down the IRGC's assets. And I will say it on worldwide TV, just so you know, we know they were in the British Virgin Islands, your accounts are at these trust companies. We know the hundred million dollar houses you have around the world, and we are going to freeze those. We are going to our our partners we are going to close all of that down. So, we are
[25:30] going to go after the regime's illegitimate assets that they have stolen from the Iranian people. >> There's so much to say about this. First of all, it's so incredibly anti-market and anti-capitalist. We are not going to let you do business anywhere. Well, I thought you guys were the kings of what is market principles, right? >> Right. >> And the other thing is telling people that you're going to starve them doesn't make them your friends. >> You know, this is something That's a very important point. This is something that American governments and the American people just can't seem
[26:03] to understand. The United States is never seen as the liberator. It's seen as the attacker, the aggressor, the occupier. And what we've done as one example in Iran is we have forced all these disparate factions together >> Mhm. >> because we've attacked. And not only do we attack, but we specifically attack the Iranian people, the Iranian family. The word is asphyxiate that Secretary
[26:34] Becht used. >> Yeah, that's a >> It's a very harsh word. >> Interesting choice of words. >> We are going to smother the life out of you is what he's saying. That's not going to make them >> they Imagine if you lived in wherever you live. I happen to live in Broward County and near Fort Lauderdale or Miami, Florida here, and somebody said, "All of you people in Miami, we're going to asphyxiate you. I would be like, oh my god. >> Right. >> Yeah, this is this is not good, right? >> And I would be looking to friendly countries for help. >> Which is what's happening. And that's they're basically creating a coalition,
[27:06] a tighter coalition that that that has never existed before. Where Iran is now going to join these global south or BRICS nations or whatever the hell you want to call them that are gathered by the way with Mr. Putin right now at the Shanghai Summit. Uh where you have South Africa and Egypt and and Brazil and obviously India and Turkey and Russia and China all together saying, okay, how are we going to create a better world without the West cuz they hate us. >> And someday those countries are going to
[27:38] come up with a unified currency and that's when American domination ends. >> Well, they're already kind of doing that when it comes to banking, aren't they? They're they've already >> Yeah. They've already the petrodollar is going to be dead pretty soon because of what's happening in the Strait of Hormuz. And I'm not Do Do you think I mean this latest move yesterday by Mr. Trump where he decided that he was going to double down and start punishing Iran again. Some people are saying the war is back on. I'm not sure that's the case. I don't think that's the case. But what do you think of the idea that he continues
[28:09] to want to be the aggressor? Do you think he's just holding on till the midterms or what what's he doing? >> do. There's no strategy here. There's no military strategy, let alone an exit strategy. >> So he just doesn't want to be a loser and then have them use that against him in the ads in the midterms. >> that's right. And then the tough talk from Scott Bessent or Marco Rubio is really at the end of the of the day just that. It's just tough talk. There's no plan. >> Let's talk about the people who are the
[28:39] puppet masters. God, you you've become famous talking about these guys. I mean, because you experienced it yourself. You You saw, for example, the story you tell of the manipulation of President Obama is something I can't even get out of my head. And I always think if if these puppet masters, the guys in the CIA and other places in our government who are more powerful than the people we elect, can go in and literally play like a fool Barack Obama, then they could play anybody. They're
[29:10] playing Trump right now. >> I think they are. Sure. >> Who are these people and how do they do it? >> Well, like I said, this is something called the Senior Intelligence Service. >> Yeah. >> You can rise up through the ranks at the CIA on what's called the GS scale, the General Services scale, from grade 1 to grade 15. Above grade 15, you enter the Senior Intelligence Service, grades 1 through 6, where the director is a 6. Once you get into the Senior Intelligence Service, you belong to the entire intelligence community. So, you
[29:41] can move from the CIA to the Pentagon, to the State Department, to the White House, to NSA, anywhere you want to go. And you don't have to do a 2-year tour or a 3-year tour. You can stay forever. >> Wow. >> And so, you embed yourself at the National Security Council, or you are, let's say, an Assistant Secretary of Defense for National Security Affairs, and you're there for 15, 20 years. >> So, here's here's the question then. What is the level of interlocking between those people that you just described, who are very happy making two
[30:14] or 300,000 dollars and living in a beautiful home in Virginia with a great life, uh and keeping that job for the rest of their lives, and then retiring and continuing to be paid 80% of that, by the way, or whatever the hell it is. Incredible. >> 80%. >> Is it? Wow. That's That's good money. >> Mhm. >> Without having to even wake up in the morning. Um okay, so what is the level of interlocking between those people and the people who, let's say, work at Raytheon or have interests in Raytheon? >> That's a good question, Rick. They work hand in glove. In fact, we we used to
[30:46] joke >> Don't say that. >> it's terrible. We used to joke, and it's not really a joke, that when you finally decide to retire from the CIA >> Yeah. >> you leave on Friday afternoon, and you turn in your blue badge, your blue employee badge. But then you come back Monday morning, pick up your green contractor badge, sit in exactly the same desk, >> Oh my god. >> job, and make three times what you were making on Friday. >> That's interlocking. That's absolutely correct. So, what you're saying is,
[31:16] class, the very same people who advise the president are basically working for the people who make money from wars. Enough said? >> It's a strange situation because other countries don't do this. Other countries don't contract with with independent profit-making companies for their national defense. We do. >> So, how can we ever have no How How can we ever not be pushing for wars when we've created a system >> Exactly. >> where there's interlocking between the
[31:46] people who make money from wars and the people who execute the wars? >> And then couple that with the fact that after the 9/11 attacks, we entered into what economists call a permanent wartime economy. >> Mhm. >> So, we have to spend 1 to 1.5 trillion dollars on defense in order to keep the the country from uh backsliding into recession. >> don't really make any We don't manufacture anything anymore except we export more bombs and more weaponry than
[32:18] any country on the planet. >> Yes. >> And that's where we make our money. >> And we're out of them right now, so we need to make even more by doubling down. >> So, in in in many ways, what you're saying is, and and I don't want to put words in your mouth, but those people you just described, whether they whether they're at the Pentagon, whether they're at the Pentagon, or whether they're at the CIA or Langley, or whether they're working at Raytheon, General Dynamics, or any of those other companies, uh they're watching what's happening now in in in in Iran and going, "Yay! This is
[32:48] great." >> Rick, a week >> Cha-ching. Cha-ching. >> A week ago Saturday, the Wall Street Journal recommended that everybody buy Lockheed Martin stock. >> Good God. >> There it is right there. Everybody, buy Lockheed Martin because they make the bombs. >> Yeah, and because we've run out, so we need more, so they're going to be making a lot of more bombs, so you should invest in a company that's going to be making bombs. It's terrible, isn't it? It's terrible. I mean, from a human >> It's untenable over the long term. Untenable. >> Why untenable? >> Because as of last week,
[33:19] we have crossed a threshold of 40 trillion dollars in national debt. The interest that we pay on that 40 trillion-dollar national debt is now equal to the entire defense budget. >> Well, what about everything else that the government has to provide? >> There's no money for it. >> Yeah, you know, I was looking the other day at the countries that we often criticize, Russia, for example, China, India, all these others. You know, their jet Pardon me. Their debt to GDP ratio is
[33:50] minuscule compared to us. We're at 133%. Yeah. >> Untenable. >> Yeah. What What did What did you just say? I think Joe just told me it's 20 times more? 20 times? Yeah. That's I mean, if our if if our GDP is GDP to debt, in other words, we owe If YOU WERE IF LET'S SUPPOSE we're looking at somebody's household, right? My household or your household. And if And if I was spending $150,000 a year, but I was only making $100,000 a
[34:22] year, I would be upside down. And that's untenable. But that's exactly what we continue to do. >> Exactly what we're doing. And it's because of defense spending. >> Yes. Which Which I'm told is up to 2.3 trillion, really. The real number. >> Altogether? >> Yeah, altogether. >> believe that, yes. >> Yeah. How much of that is is commissioned by the guys in the CIA guys? How much is is >> It's it's more of the super high-tech >> Yeah. >> for the CIA people. You know, the CIA post-9/11 became a venture capital organization. They they asked for and
[34:52] receive received a congressional waiver to allow them to um make seed investments in high-tech company. So, Palantir, which is now a major multi-billion dollar defense software company. >> Evil. >> Yes, evil. >> It runs international surveillance, electronic surveillance. >> they're the ones who are picking targets for the Ukrainians, civilian targets in Russia. >> Correct. >> They're the ones who just bombed a beach and killed four kids making a sandcastle. >> That's a CIA-backed company. The CIA provided the initial
[35:24] $15 million investment to create Palantir. So, the CIA is the largest single shareholder in Palantir. >> The obvious question that comes to my mind, I mean, I'd be an idiot not to ask it. What the hell is an agency that that I pay my taxes to pay the salaries of and the upkeep and the overhead of having to do with an investment in a private company? >> When did this When did this become reality? October 2001. >> Really?
[35:54] >> It turned 225 years of precedent on its head. >> So, all of a sudden, the a US government agency is essentially in bed with uh a private company that spies on people. >> I'll give you another example. >> Spies on us. >> That's right, spies on us. There's a another company called Abraxas, Abraxas Corporation. It's been bought and bought again and bought and sold. It's also a multi-billion dollar company. It started off as a small one-man limited liability
[36:26] corporation >> Mhm. >> started by a CIA retiree, a senior intelligence service officer, who wanted to use it as a tax pass-through so that he could sit and drink coffee and smoke cigars with the other CIA retirees and maybe if they want a contract every once in a while they could make a couple of dollars. And then 9/11 hit. And it's become a multi-billion dollar company and everybody got rich. And all they do is what they used to do at the
[36:57] CIA for $150,000. >> Isn't it funny how we go around the world and I I hear a lot of politicians now cuz all the ads are on for the big election coming up pretty soon in November and I hear them always talking about uh totalitarian governments and communist governments and socialist governments. What the hell is more socialist than our government these days? >> I say that all the time. Uh we have a socialist >> Of course. What you just described is socialism. Why is the government in bed with these private companies making money off of us and using
[37:27] >> That's right. >> using essentially our our stuff to do this. >> Rick, I have to tell you a story very quickly that I've told a couple of times but I think it's apropos of this conversation. I happen to be at a Thanksgiving celebration a few years back. Whole bunch of people, family members, friends, neighbors, and I was sitting next to a woman in her 80s and she had Fox News on the TV. >> Mhm. >> And she turns to me, I had never met the woman, and she said, um I think we're turning into a socialist country. And I thought, I'm going to have some fun with her.
[37:57] >> Yeah. >> And I said, I agree. Like we need to get rid of this social security. Because what is social security? It's welfare for old people who were too stupid or too lazy to save money for their retirement. And she looked at me and she said, that's not at all what I'm talking [laughter] about. But the truth is, we have a socialist >> Right. >> system. We don't like to call it that because somehow that's become a dirty word over the years. >> But that's what we really learn from >> And and especially and and especially
[38:28] when it comes to big companies where we basically give them money. It's corporate socialism. And it happens all the time. You know, I said this the other day, you know, you can say a lot of things about Russia. People like don't like Russia. You're allowed to you know, complain about Russia. You're allowed to take a position on the side of Ukraine on this war and everything. But one of the things that I have always thought that Mr. Putin got right, which may be why he has much higher uh approval numbers than anybody in Europe including President Trump right now is because in the 1990s he took it upon
[39:00] himself to get rid of the people who are abusing the system. What we would call today our Palantir's. Our billionaire John Thune or whatever the hell his name is. Yeah. The our billionaires and trillion Thiel. Thiel. Thank you. Uh Peter Thiel. >> Peter Peter [laughter] Thiel. Thank you. >> If we stay here long enough we'll get the There's too many of them. Uh but basically these these guys who are in many ways crooks who are taking advantage of our system in the United States should not be having dinner with the president at the White House. They should be called on the carpet and said
[39:31] give back. It's the people of the United States who are suffering. You guys are not paying taxes. You're not treating your employees well. You're You're becoming I mean how many trillions do you need? Right? And I and I think when Mr. Putin did that in the 1990s and he kicked out a lot of bad people. By the way, most of them today are either here or in Israel or in jail. >> Yes. >> Uh and said you got to pay your taxes. This is crazy. >> Mhm. >> Um that was an important step. I I get I get a sense that those people have too much control in our government both at the state level and at the private
[40:03] level. And that if we don't at some point get a handle on this, we're going to lose our country. >> Jeff Bezos needed a friendlier media. He bought the Washington Post. >> The billionaire John Catsimatidis needed a friendlier media. He bought WABC radio in New York. That's what they do now. You just buy the whole media company. >> Dude, you're talking to a guy who works at CNN. >> [laughter] >> I mean, I worked at CNN, I worked at Fox, I worked at NBC. I knew what my marching orders were and I knew where they came from and I know what they wanted me to say and what they always
[40:34] wanted me to say was the position that was in line with whatever war we were trying to fight, whatever actions we were trying to take or whatever it was that you guys at the CIA wanted us to believe. >> Yes. >> No, they didn't come in there with a memo and hand it to me, but I knew damn well what it >> for bucking that and I was. >> And you were. >> So, I mean and and there's interlocking. Why the hell do does the board of of CNN or the New York Times or Fox or any of these companies
[41:06] have somebody who sits there who's also on the board of Raytheon? Why is >> And that happens every single day. And and the money that some of them have is unlimited. There was a piece in the Washington I'm sorry, in the Wall Street Journal last week saying that Jeff Bezos I whom I always refer to as American oligarch Jeff Bezos >> Yeah. >> I don't know why the US only calls Russians >> our guys are business guys, but the countries we don't like are oligarchs. Just like our the governments we like are governments, the governments we
[41:36] don't like are regimes. The people we like are patriots, the people we don't like are terrorists. I >> Exactly. >> Such bull crap. >> So Bezos sold 500 million dollars worth of Amazon stock. He probably needed a new boat or something. But the article said, don't worry, he still has 10 billion shares of Amazon stock. Nobody should have that kind of money. >> No. No, it's crazy. Especially when it was ill-gotten. Cuz when you think about it My dad always used to say this to me. I
[42:06] bet you your dad was probably like my dad. My dad was a simple guy, had a fourth grade education and he always say, son, show me a really really rich guy and I'll show you somebody who stepped on somebody to get there. And I know it's kind of a mean thing to say. It's It's certainly a hasty generalization. But he's probably not too far off the mark when it comes to some of these guys today. How in the hell can you become a freaking trillionaire? Come on. >> Trillionaire. >> [laughter] >> Right. >> It's like how many TVs can you watch at
[42:36] once? How many cars can you drive at once? And that's the problem. And I think that's kind of what we got to get to. How do you see uh How do you see the future? Let's Let's Let's try and wrap this up looking at kind of where we're going. Do Let's start Let's start with November. Midterms are coming. If the If If If what is looking like the trend that we're seeing now actually comes to fruition, the Democrats are going to take both houses. >> It kind of looks that way. There's a possibility that we could end up with a 50-50 split in the Senate again.
[43:07] >> Which would be good. >> Which would be good. Either way, everything's going to grind to a halt on Capitol Hill. >> I think we're seeing a situation where we as Americans are going to see for the next couple of years I was talking about Ukraine being stymied. I think our government's going to be stymied. Because if whether it's a 50-50 or the Democrats get back in, there's going to be nothing but infighting and I wouldn't be surprised if the Dems immediately try to impeach Donald Trump. >> Ah, but last week Hakeem Jeffries, who would become the Speaker of the House, met secretly with
[43:39] Jared Kushner. >> Mhm. >> And the word on Capitol Hill, and I got this from a member of Congress yesterday, the word on Capitol Hill is that he promised not to impeach Trump so long as there's some sort of a quid pro quo and the Democrats >> Why the hell is Jared Kushner negotiating for Israel, negotiating in Turkey, negotiating in Moscow, negotiating in What about Pakistan? >> And shaking the Arabs down at the same time [laughter] for money to build more hotels. I mean
[44:11] >> How who who is this guy? >> is this guy? >> How did this guy suddenly become the most powerful envoy in on the planet? >> Something's suspicious and shady about that. >> that again. >> I mean not because I'm anti anything, only because I'm anti common sense or pro common sense. >> And how do you move from you know, a couple of hundred million dollars and then five years later you're worth five billion dollars? How does that work? >> Yeah, there's a >> How come I can't get a piece of that action? >> For you. >> [laughter]
[44:41] >> No, I still drive a three-year-old car. Probably always will. Um Hey man, great conversation. I'll I'll tell I'll tell my barber that we had a chance to talk to You know that guy John Kiriakou? I saw him the other day. I told him about >> [laughter] >> So good to see you. >> Oh, that's great. Really. Hey, by the way, you've become a superstar in your own right. I'm hearing people watch you, talk about you. >> It's crazy. >> What is that? >> Uh it's the power of the algorithm, is what I'm told. To the point now where I'm represented by the largest talent
[45:12] agency on on Earth >> Yeah. >> and I'm traveling all around the world to give speeches and teach classes and podcasts and TV shows and >> That's fantastic. >> believe it. >> I am so happy for you. If >> Thank you. >> Because you so deserve it and >> long road. >> and I know what you've been through. >> Yeah, it's been tough. >> You were in prison. >> Oh, yeah. >> And now you're on top of the world. But tomorrow you could be back You know, this is a funny place. >> country we live in. >> Yeah, exactly. Yeah. We try to do the right thing and you never know what's going to happen next. But you fought the
[45:44] good fight. Congratulations. >> Thank you so much. >> Oh, uh my friend Jeffrey Warnock uh says hi to you. He I just talked to him I think the other night. >> a great dinner. >> Yeah, you had dinner with him in Washington. >> Capital Hill. >> Yeah, he's a good guy. >> Good guy. >> like what he's doing with BitChute. I think it's a good idea. >> it is so desperately needed in the United States. Freedom of speech. >> where you can't be disappeared, where they can't demonetize you, where they can't just all of a sudden shut you down. >> That's right. >> Cuz it's happened to me. >> We need him. It has happened to you. >> Thank you, my friend. >> Thank you.
[46:14] >> You're the best. And that's it from us. Uh by the way, you can this conversation that we just had, we're going to take like bunch of clips and it'll be all over X and I guarantee you by tomorrow they'll be about 3, 4 million people that have watched this stuff if not more. It's crazy how many people watch our stuff on X and we >> really thank you for that. >> Also, it'll be on Spotify, it'll be on BitChute uh where as we just talked about with Jeffrey Warner, it's important to have a place where stuff stays. Most of all though, let me just say this, thank you. Thank you for being a part of this conversation. Thank you
[46:45] for letting us into your homes. I'm Rick Sanchez [music] and thanks so much for being with us and we'll look for you again tomorrow, mañana, zaftra. Bye-bye.