Two Ex-CIA Officers Clash Over China, Israel & Surveillance | PBD Podcast #832
Watch on YouTubeVideo summary
In this episode of PBD Podcast #832, former CIA officers Andy Bamante and Sarah Adams engage in a deep debate concerning future geopolitical threats, surveillance realities, and influence operations targeting Western democracies over the next decade to quarter-century. The conversation opens with an interactive exercise where both guests rank their "portfolio of paranoia" across four categories: China, Russia, Israel, and Islam. While Andy Bamante identifies China as the primary threat at 50% due to its systematic planning and goal to dominate global partners rather than treat them as equals, he assigns minimal risk to religious groups but highlights Israel's potential for false-flag operations. In contrast, Sarah Adams prioritizes Islamist influence networks and illegal entry of terrorists while arguing that Israel lacks the independent capability or incentive to threaten the United States directly without American support. Their discussion also touches on historical cooperation between Sunni and Shia factions versus Iranian efforts to unify these groups under a caliphate agenda, illustrating the complex nature of modern intelligence threats.
The dialogue expands into strategies for countering foreign influence operations targeting education, media, and politics, with both officers allocating hypothetical billions in funding over ten years to buy public trust through various channels. Andy Bamante emphasizes investing heavily in mainstream media for its credibility, social media influencers for grassroots reach, politicians as volatile but high-reward targets, and universities as long-term investments against childhood cognitive programming biases. They explore the psychological vulnerabilities that make populations susceptible to manipulation, noting that external validation, hometown rivalries, and feelings of being scammed serve as entry points for influence campaigns more effectively than financial incentives alone. The officers also address existential risks posed by artificial intelligence, debating whether machines could eventually prioritize their own survival over human life or if current AI usage is merely aggressive within existing firewalls, while acknowledging that industry leaders like Anthropic may be advancing faster in developing cyber weapons and ethical frameworks compared to pragmatic database-focused firms like Palantir.
Beyond specific geopolitical actors, the hosts tackle broader societal implications such as the feasibility of perfect lie detection technology and the ethics of mass surveillance through initiatives like Flock Safety cameras. They agree that while 100% accurate truth serum-like devices do not currently exist due to cultural biases in polygraph interpretation, their existence would likely cause social chaos by eliminating secrets; however, they also note that corporations already harvest vast amounts of personal data which governments can access via contracts, making corporate exploitation potentially more concerning than state surveillance. The conversation concludes with practical advice for everyday citizens facing crises, shifting from running endless "what-if" scenarios to establishing a single, rock-solid family communication plan or "combo plan." This approach involves creating standard operating procedures and rally points that work regardless of the emergency type—whether it be an earthquake, active shooter situation, or terrorist attack—and regularly role-playing these drills every thirty to ninety days to ensure resilience against unpredictable events.
Read the full video transcript
I can't help but think that when it
becomes super intelligent, it will stop
thinking like us. It's only thinking
like us right now because we're the ones
driving it.
>> Tens of thousands of AI powered cameras
across the country,
>> 6,000 communities, 3,000 law enforcement
officers are using it. How do you feel
about this?
>> That is the benefit of a surveillance
state. Keeps people safe. Keeps law and
order in place.
>> Please tell me you disagree with them.
You'd give up your privacy.
>> You've already you got no privacy, man.
This is what I'm trying to get you and
the whole world to understand right now.
We have no privacy.
>> We're going to play some games today.
We're going to do a few different
things. I'm going to give each of you
these paddles and I'm going to give
different conspiracy and you pick and
choose. CIA killed John F. Kennedy.
Hitler [music] wasn't never killed. He
ended up going to Argentina and he kind
of stayed there. Really?
>> Okay. How about moon landing? This is a
serious one. For some people, it's very
important.
>> Okay, let's go. What do you think about
when you hear an AI system hacking into
an NSA's most sensitive [music] system
within hours?
>> I think a lot of people would fight that
technology in a violent [laughter] way.
>> Give it up to me.
>> I am firm [music] on my opinion that
secrets are required for society.
>> That would be like create the [music]
product and put it in a country that you
hate and see it collapse.
>> See it collapse. You know what I'm
saying? Like use it against them.
[laughter]
Where does your paranoia lie the most
for the next 10 years?
>> I don't lose any sleep over Israel. If
they ever became a problem, we could
bomb them into oblivion in 5 minutes.
So, I don't know why anyone loses sleep
over them.
>> You agree with what she has to say. Do
you have a rebound?
>> Okay, please go for it.
>> It seems like a huge amount of claims
with very little evidence to back it up.
>> They don't have a big stick. They barely
can deal with their own threats.
>> Israel has the second most capable
military in the world. That's a big
[ __ ] stick. They have nuclear
weapons. They have nuclear weapons.
That's a big [ __ ] stick. So, the
terrorist didn't drag any of us into
that situ.
>> I said it's a shared [ __ ]
responsibility. Sarah, do you listen?
>> Mhm.
This is probably one of my favorite
conversations I've ever had. And here's
why. You got two CIA officers, X Andy
Bamee, and then we have Sarah Adams as a
CIA targeter. They disagreed hardcore
the first 30 minutes on one topic of
what is a bigger crisis and threat in
the future, Israel or Iran and Islam.
It's phenomenal. I think you're going to
enjoy that a lot. By the way, both of
them are on MEC. You can ask him any
questions. It's very rare you have this
kind of access to XCI officers. You can
ask Andy any questions here on MEC and
Sarah over here. And last but not least,
uh we really are excited about this next
phase of value timing with the
interviews that we're going to be doing.
We have some very big plans that's
coming soon and our commitment is is to
you. All we want to do is make this
thing a better product for you. We've
been doing this for over a decade and
our investments recently uh that we're
making in the production studio house.
We got some very big plans. So, uh, uh,
if you're watching this and you enjoy
the direction we're going, the 51% the
audience that you watch the content, but
you haven't yet subscribed, uh, if you
could subscribe to the channel here, it
would help us bring more of these types
of interviews and conversations to you.
If you haven't done it yet, take a quick
second, just click that subscribe
button. It would mean the world to us.
With that being said, enjoy this
interview with Andy Bamante and Sarah
Adams. We have a special podcast today
with two XCIA
individuals with different stories,
different backgrounds. They've never
done anything together on our show. This
will be the first time. So Sarah, thank
you for making the time. Andy, great to
have you back on.
>> Absolutely.
>> We were talking about a minute ago how
much we miss your old hair, but you look
[laughter] great. So it's good to have
you on. We're going to play some games
today. We're going to do a few different
things. It's going to be a little bit
interactive and and you know some of the
stuff you don't know. The reason why I
have the iPad in front of you because in
a few minutes you'll have to put it to
use. I got some signs here that I'll
hand to each one of you guys to see what
we're doing. So, we got we got some
things that we want to go through here
today. But before we get started, if you
don't mind sharing your story with the
audience real quick so they can kind of
get an idea of your background.
>> Sure. I spent about a decade at the CIA
as a targeter. I worked the Pakistan
Afghanistan department. I worked in the
Iranian ops division and then I worked
in a special cell for the director kind
of looking at anything missed in the
agency. So, that was a big ask. And then
I got recruited out of the CIA and I
went to the select committee on Benghazi
at the time under Trey Gaudy. Um I went
to the private sector for a couple years
and I worked for JetBlue and then I went
to Department of War and I did R&D
efforts and I just left that to start my
own podcast.
>> Beautiful. And it's grown very fast. The
podcast is a fast grown podcast. Andy
for the audience that maybe doesn't know
your background.
>> Yeah, absolutely. uh former CIA also I
was with the national clandestine
service uh for 7 years from 2007 to 2014
left uh went into the corporate world
trying to reinvent myself and learned
that there's an incredible opportunity
to apply spy skills in the business
world and that gave me the inspiration
to launch my own company everyday spy
and then uh since launching Everyday Spy
we went viral in 2022 rode that viral
wave until about 2024 uh and now we run
a multi-million dollar company man
>> I love of it and eventually the goal is
to disappear.
>> Yeah. Eventually the goal is to right
now the goal is to take the kids
overseas, let them get a second
citizenship and ultimately leave the
company behind so it can run itself like
every business owner wants without me
>> and we won't see you again. Like it's
going to be like Kaiser type of thing
but we will see you come see you. All
right. Got to come back. [laughter]
Okay. So with that being said, today I
was talking to Mario on a podcast and he
was asking me a question and I he says
so you know what is the issue with you
and Tucker and what's the issue with
this? I'm like, look, there is no issue.
Here's the thing that I have. My my
question is, what is your portfolio of
paranoia, okay? And which countries are
you most paranoid to? Let me explain
what I mean by this, and then I want you
to write down your portfolio paranoia.
>> So, think about if you have a million
dollars to invest, you'll say, I'll put
$250,000 in gold, $250,000 in Bitcoin,
$100,000 in small cap funds, $400,000
in, you know, large cap, whatever. the
same way you diversify.
Both of you were in the CIA. I'm going
to give you four countries to be
paranoid about. Which of them would you
give the biggest percentage all the way
to the smallest? So, think about it. You
have a round like a literally it's going
to look like a pie chart and then you
put the names in there. Okay.
>> Okay.
>> So, you have these four categories. You
have Islam.
>> Okay.
>> So, within Islam, we have IRGC, Qatar,
just include all of them. We have Israel
because you know Israel is also coming
up a lot of different places. Then we
have China and we have Russia. Where
does your paranoia lie the most for the
next 10 years with these four different
countries as well as Islam?
>> I'll give you a minute to draw it up.
>> Is it jumping up on here for us? I see.
I got it.
>> There you go.
>> Okay. So, we just rank them in order.
>> Just rank them in order and give like
45% would be Islam. You know, you know,
25 would be this.
>> All right.
>> China, Islam,
>> China, Islam, Israel, uh, and, uh,
Russia.
>> Russia.
>> Where should we be be most paranoid
about
>> and maybe you're going to be like 25 25
kind of a boring portfolio. Maybe you're
going to go 90 and one and fully
paranoid.
You know, maybe it's a, you know, 40
4010. I don't want to mess with you. You
pick and choose. Do you have yours?
>> Yeah.
>> All right. Let me see what you have on
your side. Okay.
>> Really
>> interesting. Let me see yours.
>> Okay. Would you mind showing to the
audience so they know and then I give
your answer? You can start off first.
>> Yeah. So, China takes the massive chunk
of pie for me. And now we're talking
about paranoia, not money.
>> Purely paranoia. We'll get to money as
well. Purely paranoia.
>> China takes it. China is the number one
strategic threat to the United States.
And
>> what did you put on China?
>> 50%.
>> Okay.
>> Um, it's the number one strategic threat
to the West. It is the thing that will
end democracy everywhere in the world.
Uh, Islam, I gave 5%. I'm not worried
about Islam. There are other countries
that need to worry about Islam, but
we're not one of them. Russia I gave 20%
mainly because of the threat that it
kind of constantly
uh sends to Europe and how dependent
Europe is on us. And then Israel I gave
25%. So I am actually saying we should
be more paranoid of Israel than Russia
>> and Islam. Five times Islam.
>> Five times Islam.
>> I actually love that because hers is
different. Go for it.
>> Yep. Same reason for China. obviously
they want a world that we uh are one of
their subjects in not really equal
partners. So that's 40%. Islam 30%
because I think we've seen the greatest
um kind of successes of terrorists in
the last few years after the fall of
Afghanistan, the fall of Syria,
potentially soon the fall of Moadishu
and then obviously likely we'll have the
fall of Mali. So they're starting to
feel, hey, the caliphate's coming back.
you know, they're aligned with Isra um
with Qatar and Turkey on that plan. So
very very dangerous besides Bin Laden's
four sons planning an attack here.
Russia 30% because Russia is always
playing the game and Russia will play
with any enemy we have and they don't
care. They play dirty and we can never
underestimate them. Israel, I don't lose
any sleep over Israel. They're the
tiniest country in the world and if they
ever became a problem, we could bomb
them in to oblivion in five minutes. So,
I don't know why anyone loses sleep over
them. Um, but those are my numbers.
>> I actually love that. So, [laughter]
let's do this. Since China and Russia,
you guys both agree on 50 and 40, let's
cross that one out because 10%
>> within 10%. And since Russia, you're
within the same, which is 20 to 30.
Within 10%, we'll cross that one out.
>> Let's start off with Islam first and
then we'll go to Israel. Why did you put
Islam the lowest out of all them at 5%
and then you at 30, but you go first.
>> I don't see Islam I don't see Islam as a
threat to the United States. And that's
what I was seeing it as paranoid to me,
right? What am I paranoid? It's not
Islam. Islam is so it's it's difficult
for them to reach us with any
significance. When they reach us, it's
difficult for them to bypass our
security systems, whether they're cyber
security systems, police systems, border
security systems, etc. They pose a real
threat to our allies who are much less
sophisticated in their de in their
defense uh and national security sector,
but not to us. Meanwhile, Israel
actually has the ability to drag us into
all sorts of [ __ ] that actually does
impact us. We are all paying more money
for oil right now because of Israel. We
are all suffering under an international
uh outcry against American leadership
because of Israel. The whole world
questions whether or not the president
of the United States is even making his
own decisions or whether he's the puppet
of Israel. So, so Israel has an
incredible ability to to frustrate and
uh and put us in quagmire that Islam
just doesn't have.
>> Okay. So, what's the worst thing that
Israel could do to us? Go a little
further. So, because you put 25%. That's
a real threat. You put a bigot in Russia
on Islam. So, what are some things they
could do to us?
>> So, I I'm not worried about Israel
sending a bomb into New York. If that's
what you're worried about, we're worried
about different things. Isra Israel
could easily launch a false flag
operation that sends us into a war. They
can have an Israeli who poses as a
Palestinian who goes in and causes some
kind of crazy [ __ ] in Syria and now all
of a sudden the entire United States is
engaged in Syria because of something
that Israel set up as a false flag. And
that is something that the MSAD does all
the time. They do it very well, very
eloquently. They already selectively
share intelligence with the United
States. And the reason you selectively
tell share intelligence is to create the
opportunity for misdirection or mal
intent. So Israel's already involved in
these kinds of operations at a very high
success rate. That's what I'm concerned
about. I'm concerned about them
backstabbing the United States. I'm
concerned about them undermining our
national interest. I'm concerned about
them choosing, like they did with Iran,
to escalate rhetoric about a certain
issue that's more important to them than
it is to us. that then goes on to affect
us.
>> Okay, perfect. So then the infiltration
of Islam some say to EU and what's
happening to a lot of those countries,
UK, you know, Germany, you're seeing it
all over the place and to the point
where a documentary I mean Rupert Low
did a paper the 250,000
you know stories of girls being raped in
uh UK 87% being Pakistanis and Muslims
and then seeing what's going on in US
right now with New York City. Mamani
wins his three individuals that also
won. So that's not going into the
financial capital of the world in the
states. Do you have any concern of them
they're infiltrating the United States
in the future?
>> So here this is another thing I think I
think is very interesting. Right. Islam
is the only thing on this list that's
not a nation state.
>> It is.
>> It's a religion.
>> That's right.
>> I'm not worried about a religion. I'm
worried about people and people identify
sometimes as a religion. But it's
interesting to me that we're actually
weighing nation state threats against
religious threats. So when we talk about
Islamic people in New York, I don't see
them as a threat just because of what
they believe. That goes against American
values. I see threats as nation states
and transnational threats that
selfidentify selfidentify like al-Qaeda.
Right? So I don't see Islam and Islamic
people. And if but if you notice I put
it as consider it being an IRGC which is
all the proxies and consider Qatar which
Qatar is funding a lot of different
things in the states. If we were to
qualify that way would your opinion
change?
>> Uh
possibly. I think it would change in how
the number breaks down based on what we
qualify. But I say all that because
Islam and Islamic extremism poses a
larger threat to our allies than it does
to us. We might be the ultimate target,
but they've got multiple lily pads they
have to hop through before they get to
us.
>> Got it. So, you're not worried about it
right now. Correct.
>> Okay. Sarah, how about yourself?
>> So, the way I look at it is we're
talking about Islamist. There's two
pieces of it, right? There's the
Islamist with the gun
>> and then the political Islamist, and
they're both a threat. So, the Islamist
with a gun, a bunch of them came over
the border in the last four years. So
are according to the National
Counterterrorism Center, 18,000 known
Islamist terrorists are here illegally.
So that's just the ones illegally. Why
are you coming to the United States if
you're a member of ISIS? You're not
coming here to raise a family. You're
coming here to harm the United States.
On the other side, when we talk about
the Muslim Brotherhood, they are working
in local communities, not just in
Europe, but in here, working at like the
chamber of commerce level, working in
business associations, and they are
doing influence operations. We all know
they've been doing it inner universities
for years like China. And they do have
an intent to merge the two, right? there
will be attacks and there are hopes to
get kind of more of a leaning towards
where people will be more understanding
of a caliphate. Now when anyone looks at
the caliphate plan,
US being taken over is so far ahead of
it. Even the terrorists say that's like
50 years out. But when they talk about
bringing back a caliphate, a lot of
people view that as oh that's like eons
ago. But the Ottoman Empire ended in our
grandparents' generation, right? So the
terrorists aren't believing in some idea
that was thousands of years ago. They
were believing something from like the
1940s. So, and they're seeing it come
back into play in the power of it. I
mean, the Taliban is getting recognized.
I mean, al-Qaeda's running Syria, etc.
Qatar's always at the table. Um, so
they're seeing we're making this power
move and it really is bringing them back
around and they're getting into a phase
where they feel they have momentum and
that's what makes them dangerous cuz
they feel strong and they think we're
weak. A lot of people say, "Oh, Iran
feels like they're up against the ropes
now." They don't feel that way at all.
They feel they're going to walk away
with a victory. It doesn't matter if we
killed 200 people or 250 people or
bombed. They think at the end of the
deal, they're going to sell it as a
victory. And every all these Islamists
are preparing for that. So, it is a game
that they play in the way they view the
world. It's not the way we view the
world, but they think they're winning
and that's a threat. Let me ask you, did
a part of your career as a CIA target or
working in Iran, because you said part
of it was you were dealing with Iran,
right? Did that kind of influence your
decision to score that that high?
>> Well, not exactly. So, I did work the um
external operations. So, 400 and 900.
Now, I work unit 840 in my free time. Um
my decisions based on the fact that Bin
Laden's sons have a plan kind of bigger
than 911. And I saw the costs imposed on
us by 911. And that was only by, you
know, a small number of guys. And this
attack's a lot bigger. And so I know
what al-Qaeda is going to drag us into.
And that's what makes me concerned. Even
when we went into Iraq, then al-Qaeda
came in and flooded and that's what kept
it going, right? They kept it going in
um Afghanistan. So I'm worried that the
terrorist is who's going to pull us into
anything. I'm not worried about Israel.
Al-Qaeda and ISIS can attack all day
long. They have the capabilities. They
have the bodies. They have the training.
And that's where we waste all of our
money is on the operations against
terrorists. And we're going to go
through a whole another 20, 30 years of
it. You know, I believe after this
attack by Bin Laden's sons.
>> Okay. So, do you have any speculation of
what Bin Laden's sons could possibly do
if they were to attack? How would they
do it?
>> Yeah. Well, I know pieces of the plot.
So how the plot is, it's going to how
they planned it. Remember, anything's
aspirational with Terrace. You can throw
it tomorrow and this all fails. The way
they plot it is we're going to bring
past failures to fruition. So one of the
biggest pieces is there's a plot called
Bojinka from 30 years ago. And that was
what happened. Do you remember Ramsey
Yousef from the first World Trade
Center? He had an electric fire in his
house. He was in the um in Asia. The
cops came. They found these plans and
they thored this within two weeks. This
was to take down about a dozen airliners
over the Trans-Pacific. So, they're
going to bring that plot back to life
and it's to take down 12 airliners over
US soil. So, they're using the same bomb
maker from the time. His name is Yazid
Sufat. He was released in 2022 and he
went back to Afghanistan. So, he's
making the bomb. And that's the biggest
piece of the plot. But what they change
this time is suicide bombers are going
to detonate in their seats. So there's
not going to be any Americans that can
stop them in the ways. You know, as
they're trying to rush a cockpit,
they'll just blow up in their seat. So
that's the biggest piece. And then they
have a piece that's I call it like a
siege on Washington DC. It's very
similar to the Mumbai attacks. And that
is targeting like the capital, the FBI
building. And then the last phase of the
plot is actually ISIS is taking it over
and it's going into like hometowns. They
seem to mostly be focused on veteran
communities and it's just mass casualty
kind of where people live, work and play
but not large towns kind of like
mid-level cities. So that's the main
plan how they have it currently laid
out. And they've been sending terrace
here since late 2021 but the biggest
influx came in 2022 and 2023. So they're
here
>> bready. They've been casing. So it's
actually a very big plot. Their goal is
three times the deaths of 911. That's
what they're shooting for number.
>> So 10k plus.
>> So the aviation plot alone they want to
do 4,000.
>> Got it. Okay. So I'm going to come back
to you on Israel, but let's stay on
this. Do you agree with what she has to
say? Do you have a reb? Okay. Please go
for it. I
>> I don't I don't I'm very confused by a
lot of what you're talking about. How do
you define caliphate?
So the well the I'm talking about the
terrace caliphate plan and
>> so the only caliphate I ever heard about
is a Shia caliphate. The only caliphate
anybody's trying to bring back is a Shia
caliphate.
>> No, they're trying to bring back the
Ottoman Empire concept. But actually the
caliphate like al-Qaeda and ISIS think
about that's basically all across North
Africa is the biggest piece of it.
>> But one of those is a Sunni
organization, one of those is a Shia
organization. Yeah, they're working
together,
>> which is [laughter]
>> remember Iran
>> on its own a ludicrous.
>> No, Iran kept scaladel safe for years.
He's had bin Laden's kids in this
country for years. They have very very
close relationships. Iran has people
right now, they actually have intel
bases in Afghanistan.
So to think she and Sunni don't work
together is not true at all. to to think
that they work together in a coordinated
enough fashion to accomplish something
that neither one of them has been able
to accomplish by bringing back old plans
that are not only already thwarted but
so publicly known that we're sharing
them in a podcast right now. Like, do
you really think that that's what
they're putting their time and effort
into? 9/11 was executed so effectively
that even CIA and FBI didn't have a full
picture of the plot.
>> Yeah. The US government has not found
one of these bombs yet for the
airliners. So al-Qaeda is successful. It
hasn't been thwarted.
>> I just it it seems like a huge amount of
claims with with very little evidence to
back it up.
>> There's plenty of evidence and there's
plenty of evidence over time of Sunni
and Shia working together. For example,
during the second Libyan civil war,
al-Qaeda fought, ISIS fought, and Hamas
fought all in Benghazi on the same side.
>> Yeah. They all fought in the same side
for a shared common interest.
>> Yeah. How can you say?
>> But they still lost the United States.
They still lost the Syrian civil war.
>> I never said they're going to win. And I
said this is aspirational and they're
focused on their caliphate plan. They
think they're winning.
>> They joint caliphate.
>> Yes.
>> Islamist.
>> You have doubts.
>> I have insane doubts.
>> You don't think it's worth being
paranoid? Uh even a percent considered
that
>> I mean would I say 5%. I think a few
percent.
>> But right now everything Sarah's laying
out is so far below the threshold of
what warrants our attention. Right. It's
what you're laying out doesn't affect
our stock market. It doesn't affect the
lives.
>> When it happens, the percentage will go
up.
>> But where it is right now is irrelevant.
>> After it happens,
>> even when we have some kind of
reasonable threat that is coming from
multiple sources besides, you're the
only person I've ever heard this from. I
live and work in the Middle Al-Qaeda's
homeland plot. That's for sure.
>> You You may not be the only one talking
about it. You're the first person that
has presented me with information that
is completely contradictory to what
experience and information has led me to
believe.
>> Okay. Well, I don't believe that. I've
seen Tony and Shia work together.
>> I believe that you don't believe.
>> There's monthly meetings right now with
IRGC
force, al-Qaeda, Taliban,
>> and there are people who swear they saw
aliens and they will tell you to their
face that other people have said they
also saw aliens. Therefore,
>> are you a terrorism?
>> Must be true. I'm not claiming to be.
Okay. But I am I am claiming to question
your conclusion.
>> Right. That's fine with me.
>> And by the way, in your as a target,
were you a terrorism expert? That was
your specialty. Yes, it was. Okay.
>> And it was Pakistan Afghanistan. And
that's where the current plot's coming
from. It's actually been
>> coming from All Fruit Camp. It's in
Kandahar, Afghanistan. It's a very
famous camp. They rebuilt it in 2022.
>> Okay. This is great. I I I'm loving this
because the audience is winning right
now to to see the different perspective.
Let's go to Israel. Now, some people may
watch it, Sarah, and they may say, "You
put Israel at zero? Are you kidding me?
Look what they're doing with politicians
in America. Look what they dragged us
into a war." You know, even Marco Rubio
said they, you know, they they got us to
get into it and this is why we're going
into war. There there's a lot of uh
messaging about what Israel is and their
popular popularity right now
message-wise. People don't trust them
right now.
>> The president has put value in Israel
>> and you don't hear the president talking
about
>> I want to hear your thoughts and then I
want to come to you. I want I want to go
to that. So why did you put Israel
>> president talks about ISIS? The
president just bombed a senior leader of
ISIS on the 19th. He was the head of
ISIS in Aleppo. So the president is
talking about ISIS just maybe behind
closed doors, but he is bombing them. So
don't act like President Trump isn't
focused on ISIS cuz he is just Israel
takes all the attention and the clicks
and the focus. So I think cutter and the
Muslim Brotherhood have the biggest
influence and the most concerning
influence. I believe if anybody is
having their arm twisted by Israel,
they're too weak to be in their
position. That's my opinion.
>> Tell me more.
>> Just because I don't think Israel has he
they don't have a big stick. There's
nothing they can hold um over your head.
Like when you're negotiating with them,
they don't have a ton to bring to the
table. They barely can deal with their
own threats. So, they're not going to
come to me and negotiate with me and
win. I feel if I'm a senior leader in
the US government and in the military.
So for anyone to say, "Oh, we did this
because Israel talked us into it or
Israel forced us into it's like who are
you and you should be fired, right?"
That's that's how I think. I just I've
worked in this field for a long time and
never once have I had like Israel twist
my arm. I mean, I found that a little
foolish. It's almost like the movies.
[laughter]
>> Here we go. Mr. 25% Israel. Israel has
the second most capable military in the
world. That's a big [ __ ] stick. They
have nuclear weapons. They have nuclear
weapons. That's a big [ __ ] stick.
They have the Jewish diaspora and huge
amounts of wealth. That's a big stick.
They they manage 20% of trade with the
United States. That's a gigantic stick.
I don't know how you think Israel
doesn't have a big stick. And that's
before we even get into the political
leverage that they have. Not to mention
the regional power that they possess
against countries like Saudi Arabia,
Bahrain, UAE, other American allies
simply cannot bring the military skill,
the military capacity, the military uh
talent or the intelligence capability
that Israel can bring. They are one of
the biggest sticks in the [ __ ] world.
And they're backed by us, which is the
biggest stick in the world.
>> Israel's good in a couple countries, and
that's what their intelligence is good
on. And then their intelligence sucks
everywhere else.
>> I don't disagree. It's because they only
focus on the countries that are an
active threat to them because we shelter
them from everything else.
>> So, but that's shelter us and they
shelter us from the countries that we
don't have any insight. I
>> I just I really don't think Israel is
protecting us from the rest of the
world. I just think I'm sorry. Israel
isn't as powerful as people make them to
be. I've never seem to be powerful.
>> You live in a fantasy land. No, people
want to talk about them all the time
because that's kind of like the new
thing, but at the end of the day, I'm
not going to wake up tomorrow morning
and Israel's bombing my city. I'm not
>> If that's what you're concerned about,
you have an incredibly narrow focus.
>> No, I'm just saying that they're not a
threat to us in any way.
>> It was Israel's actions that have us in
the straits that we are in, the literal
[ __ ] straits of Hormuz. Iran
attacking on October 7th with Hamas,
killing over 30 Americans and taking a
dozen more Americans hostage is why
we're in the mess we are in. It's the
fault of the terrorists.
>> Like they dragged us into another
conflict.
>> It is a shared It is a shared
responsibility.
It is a shared responsibility. Lots of
bad calls on both sides.
Yeah. But I'm not It's It's silly to
think that Israel doesn't pose any
threat to us.
>> Okay. So the terrorists didn't drag any
of us into that situation.
>> I said it's a shared [ __ ]
responsibility. Sarah, do you listen?
>> Do you listen or do you only focus on
what?
>> I'm just trying to hear your answer
because you're not saying the terrorists
had any responsibility.
>> I said a shared responsibility.
And and when you say the terrorists, I'm
not exactly sure if you're talking about
the Islamic revolutionaries or whether
you're talking about terrorists that
have a political agenda or whether
you're talking about the terrorists that
cross a border and haven't actually
carried out any terrorist act. I'm
talking about 8,000 a lot of terrorist
people on October 7th, including killing
Americans. Pretty simple.
>> Why don't we do this? Because when I
asked her about Islam and and how they
can attack on Osama bin Laden's sons,
she broke it down for you. What is your
threat with Israel long term? How can
they cause any kind of chaos in the
States? Give me different versions of
it. So, if you stick to kind of the core
idea of what a terrorist is, and there's
a definition for terrorism,
terrorists are people who carry out
violent acts with any intention of
driving political change. That's if
they're not if they're carrying out a
violent act and it's not geared towards
political change, arguably they can't be
labeled a terrorist. So, when you think
about what they can do in the United
States, they can do lots of things to
try to take out to try to exercise some
sort of political agenda. blowing up
public targets. Everything you listed is
basically some sort of civilian target.
Civilian airliners, civilian buildings,
marching on Washington DC, right? That
type of if there's violence intended to
drive a political change because they
want Americans out of the Middle East.
That's why Osama bin Laden created
al-Qaeda was to get Americans out of the
Middle East. If that's their agenda and
that's their goal, by all means, they
can do it. But whenever you carry out a
war, when we go to war against the IRGC,
the IRGC isn't a terrorist organization.
>> They're a militant group.
>> But break that down from the Israel
standpoint. So you put 25% Israel threat
and you're paranoid about that. Correct.
>> What are different things that they can
do to harm us?
>> Israel can hack into our cyber systems.
They can hack into our core water power
grid. Uh you you name it. I mean, China
can China has hacked into our personnel
records for the military. Israel is far
more capable than China is in terms of
cyber capability. They learn their cyber
capability from us. They can rent their
cyber capability from Russia. So when we
talk about cyber attacks, space-based
attacks, when we talk about influence
campaigns, propaganda campaigns, the top
of the list of capability is Israel.
It's not all strapping bombs and flying
in planes. It's much more sophisticated.
It's sophisticated enough that they can
cross a border into an enemy country and
launch drones, right? We underestimate
Israel's capability constantly. I don't
know how many times you have to see
pagers blow up before you realize Israel
is far more capable than we believe they
are.
>> Do you see them as an ally?
>> I see them as a country that is out for
their own best national interests. And
when you align with that, you're on
their good side. And when you don't
align with that, you're not.
>> Is it specific to BB or Israel, period?
I think it's both, but BB has taken it
to the next level because of the
corruption issues that he's also stuck
in. So, in many ways, I don't blame
Netanyahu for the decisions that he's
been making cuz he's he is taking
actions that are putting Israel in a
safer position for the next two to three
decades.
>> He is still creating new enemies that
they will have to deal with three
decades from now. But he's working hard
to try to make a series of successes so
powerful that whenever he finally has to
face the corruption charges, the country
says,
>> "Yeah, but look how safe he made us for
the next 20 years."
>> Sarah, do you agree?
>> Well, I think the country is in it for
their best interests. If I am
negotiating for United States, I only
care about my interest. Of course,
Israel's in it for their best interest.
Cutter is in it for their best interest.
Why would you not be that be your number
one goal? Actually, you make a mess when
you are like, "Oh, you know, let's play
nice." No, everyone's in it for their
best interest. So to say that that is a
reason that's a problem. I just don't
see I still don't understand the threat
from Israel. Even if we say influence
operations, I do think China, North
Korea, and Russia are just as capable at
influence operations in Israel. So why
is
>> you think North Korea is as capable as
Israel?
>> Yes. I am going to need more log of
>> they are
>> whoever's pouring that will get it for
you.
>> They do influence operations now depends
on what they want to target. But to say
Israel's not targeting us per se in a
way of like you like they can do cyber
attacks on us. Is Israel cyber attacking
us? Is that their plan?
>> If they are, they're sophisticated
enough that we wouldn't know.
>> So they're they're ruining our water
supply.
>> If they wanted to, we wouldn't know. So
can other countries,
>> but they're not as sophisticated. This
is why you can c this is how we
>> You don't have to be very sophisticated
to um affect the water supply in the
United States of how bad our system is.
>> Even even better. Back up my point some
more, please. But my but
we see we see certain countries operate.
We know certain countries operate in a
specific way. Israel is one of those
countries that's very difficult for us
to track. There are multiple
intelligence surveys out there that talk
about how Israel cannot be trusted as an
ally to the extent that say France or
Italy or Germany can be. They have to be
constantly put at arms length because
they have so much capability that they
have been trained, given, granted in
partnership with us with so few direct
threats. So they can focus their
resources and focus their assets on a
handful of direct threats where the
United States being the only world
superpower has to diversify and adjust
for every threat in the world.
>> Well, we don't have to adjust for every
threat in the world. We have plenty of
partners who focus on certain threats
per region and give us that information.
That's why we have such a good
relationship with Israel [laughter]
>> and you know that
>> we don't have
I'm talking about the information
sharing. We can't pretend that doesn't
we can't pretend there's no information
sharing.
>> Just look at the Iran issue to see how
good a relationship we have with Israel.
I mean, look at the look at what we have
right now between constant constrnation
and changes in policy and even even this
promised ceasefire doesn't actually
deliver what it was supposed to deliver.
Right?
>> Let's talk about Iran for a minute. So,
we hit all those nuclear facilities. We
hit all those IRGC commands very
accurately with good targeting. Do you
think that was all CIA and US military's
intel that put those missiles on the X?
>> We didn't hit them for the most part.
Israel hit them,
>> right? We didn't hit the Ayatollah.
Israel,
>> the stuff we hit, the targeting was good
because of the information sharing. We
can't say that. That So, we can't say
there's no relationship with Iran when
they're
>> I didn't say there's no relationship.
Where are you listening? No, I'm saying
in Iran when most of the best targets we
hit was based on
Israeli intelligence and it serves
that's not real. But it also served us
cuz we were also serve us because look
at where we are right now.
>> Our military was there doing operations
and they were at risk and they have to
rely on good accurate sound information
and they were giving it and it has kept
a lot of American troops safe.
>> So is it fair to say you long-term are
not worried about IRGC? long term. I'm
not worried about IRGC.
>> You're not worried about their pro
proxies, Hezbollah Houthis, you know
what they're going to be doing?
>> Not at this point. Not Not compared to
the other things that we have to wrestle
with right now. No, there's always
current threats, emerging threats,
growing threats, falling threats. Iran,
IRGC, all of that does not qualify as
anything more than a distant threat to
the United States.
>> Let's go to the next game. If you want
to grab your iPads, this is the next
game that we're playing. Okay? So, if
you want to erase whatever you have,
we'll go to the next one.
>> The next one is the following.
You have a billion dollars, okay? You
have a billion dollars to buy propaganda
in America. Whether you're China cutter,
whether you're whoever, with a billion
dollars that you have, how do you spend
that billion dollars? Do you spend that
billion dollars on media? Do you spend
that billion dollars on education,
universities, winning over kids? Do you
spend that billion dollars buying over
congressmen and politicians and
senators? You spend that billion dollars
on buying influencers on social media on
X. How would you spend that billion
dollars of propaganda? You can choose
any country you're a part of. Israel,
Qatar, China, Russia, doesn't matter.
You have a billion dollar budget. That's
your assignment. How do you spend that
billion dollar?
>> How fast do we want to create the change
in influence?
>> We got a decade. We got We got 10 years
that we want to buy the influence.
>> And we can only put it into one category
or any
>> We can put it in any category just like
the previous one. You can choose. And by
the way, I gave you four of them, but
you can add additional things you want
to it. I'll remind you one more time.
>> One of them is media mainstream. The
other one is influencers, social media,
cuz you know, gamers, streamers, a lot
of that's going on right now. The other
one is universities and colleges that
you can win over influence of what
they're teaching in the schools. And
then the last one that I had was buying
up politicians, senators, you know, like
some of these organizations are doing,
but you can put others as well. You got
a billion dollars. I'll give you a
minute.
>> You got yours?
>> Yeah. Okay. May I?
>> Sorry. Sorry. All right.
>> You can't really read mine because it's
not fat anymore. [laughter]
>> Okay.
So, Andy, if you want to go first, I'll
come to you first.
>> Yeah.
>> Readable at least.
>> Barely. Right. [laughter] So, I've got
a4 million dollars going into
influencers. And a big part of that is
because influencers aren't that
expensive to buy, especially not when
you're looking for [laughter] small
grassroots influencers. They don't all
they get expensive as they get big,
>> but you can go a little bit you can go a
long way with a little bit on
influencers. And that's what pretty much
every protein company will tell you. And
then I've got $500 million going into
mainstream media. And that is because
mainstream media will there will always
be some mainstream media. Half of the
influencers are opening media companies.
That's going to become the new
mainstream media. And mainstream media
will always have the most reach. It will
always have a built-in sense of
authority and uh credibility and
authenticity. And mainstream media is
something that is oftentimes the subject
matter that is then picked up by
influencers. So if you want an
influencer to talk about some [ __ ] you
get it on Fox News and then boom,
everybody's talking about it. I'm
putting a hundred million into
politicians because politicians change.
They change too often. They're
unreliable. Uh they'll take your money
and run and then they'll never claim
that they backed you up anyway. So it's
it's a it's a high risk, highreward
proposition. So I would want to limit my
investment there. And then I'm putting
150 million into education because
education takes time. But the difference
is if you capture if you educate people
at the right point in their life, they
never forget the lesson. So whether
you're targeting uh young college minds
or even young elementary school minds or
if you're targeting people just out of
the military, you can literally plant a
seed that never goes away.
>> Very true. Very true. How about
yourself, sir?
>> Yeah. So I did by percentages. So kind
of the same concept he had. I put 40%
going into colleges because he gave us
the 10-year window. And I think if you
influence people in their early 20s and
10 years are going to start getting
those middle management leaders
positions and hecking our government,
people in their 30s can get senior
roles. So, I think that's the best bang
for my buck. Now, I did put politicians,
but I was thinking more the ones that
like sit around forever. Like right now,
the average age of the US Congress is 64
years old. So there's plenty of old
people that will be around for a while.
I I agree the same. I don't think even
though I know there's alternative media,
media still has a stronghold. They still
have so much control over the stories
and what gets put out. So I put 25% on
them. So 25% on them and the politicians
>> or mainstream media.
>> Yeah. For mainstream media.
>> So you're going to put 250 million into
mainstream media.
>> Yes. Whatever the math is. And then
[laughter]
influencers I did 10% because at the end
of the day there are people who are
turning to them and listening to them
and some of them do have like real
influence and some of them actually go
on to do other things as we've seen a
lot of people who I would think are a
little more influencers role became
senior in our government. So we
definitely don't want to leave them out
because we actually don't know where
they're going to be in 10 years but
they're going to go somewhere.
>> Okay. So if I look at this, influencers,
you put 250 million, you put 100
million. Mainstream media put 500
million, you put 250. Politicians, you
put 100, you put 250 million. And in
education, you put 150 million. You put
400 million on education. So let's
target education. Why? Why was education
your biggest one of $400 million?
because I'm looking out the 10 years and
I want to target people now who I can
maybe get influence first, but then they
can get into positions where I can take
advantage of them going long term and
then over and over again. I don't need
to take advantage of them just when
they're 30s, but in their 40s they're
going to go up higher when they're 50s
they're going to become more senior and
have more influence. So, it just seemed
like the better bang for my buck if
we're thinking 10 years um on.
>> You only put 150 million.
>> Correct. Why?
>> Because 10 years isn't enough time for
education to take.
>> How long do you think you need?
>> 25 30 years.
>> Because I'm not targeting the
20-year-old. 20-year-olds don't know
dick. Like the people in college are too
busy chasing ass and getting drunk. They
don't actually they're not really open
to the kind of ideas you need them to
hold on to when they're in their mid-4s.
For that, you need to target to somebody
that's like 10, n years old. Think about
when extremists really start targeting
their youth. You're talking about five,
six, seven years old. That's how you
create a foundation. Your core years for
being influentially or uh uh cognitively
programmed are between the ages of five
and 11. So, that's really where you need
to put that money. So, if we're only
looking for 10 years out, my 11-year-old
is only going to be 21. not old enough
to have a real big impact, but $150
million will change the minds of a lot
of 11 year olds.
>> Okay. So then if we see what Cutter put
into education, which they're the
highest. They put $7.7 billion into our
universities. I think 1.8 of it, if I'm
not mistaken, is in Cornell. Can you
pull up the chart on what they put in?
>> And remember, it wasn't a law that you
had to report the number. So this is the
basement level.
>> So meaning it could be even higher than
Wait, it's probably 10, 15, 20 times
higher.
>> You're stop it.
>> Yeah, there was no law in place to
actually say you receive.
>> So, it could be 607 billion.
>> We have no concept of this.
>> So, so if you're saying it's longterm,
you need at least 25 years. If cutter is
doing 7.7 billion, China's doing 6.4
billion, what do you think they're
solving for within our educational
system long term?
>> The 25-y year point.
>> And what is their outcome? What do they
want to get into the system? decline of
the United States, the belief that other
countries are rising and that the United
States is stuck on decline. The idea
that you'll get better research from
China, the idea that you'll have better
financial opportunities in UAE, that's
that's what they're trying to change
right now.
>> Do you agree?
>> Yeah, I think for the most part, I mean,
obviously, I think there's different
opinions. Of course, China wants to keep
this belief in the core of, you know,
their institutions and that type thing.
Cutter I do think is a little more
dangerous when it comes to the thinking
because you do get people more into the
extreme mindset. So they are different
risks. Um because I do worry a little
bit about anytime you indoctrinate
people. Now, I understand if I'm a
Chinese student, I'm always going to
serve my country and my government, even
if I live in America, and I'm always
going to know that and believe that. Um,
but I do worry about people you pull to
the side that never would have been in
those categories. And that's what I feel
cutter does a little of successfully and
dangerously.
>> Yeah, that's a big number though when
you when you see and they came out of
nowhere because that number is not that
high 15 years ago, 20 years ago. They
came out of nowhere and went to first
place. So, okay, let's see what what
other one you guys had said difference.
Influencers. You had 250 million, you
had 100 million. Why only 100 million?
>> Well,
>> that was your lowest one.
>> So, one of the things I've noticed, and
he kind of mentioned it, it's the fact
that the media still has so much control
over the narrative, and they still are
the ones who can pick up the phone, call
the White House, call the CIA, call the,
you know, the the joint staff and really
get the inside. So, I haven't seen a lot
of influencers yet that really can do
that. Now, we do have some who
definitely can change thinking,
outcomes, opinions. I mean, a Tucker is
kind of one of the ones that really went
on his own um and kind of carve that
path, but there's been very few people
who have done that in my opinion to the
level of control of mainstream media.
>> Got it.
thoughts on influencers because you put
250 into influencers and you you'll hear
people saying this guy's getting paid
from Russia and then they get exposed I
wouldn't only you think Kiraaku is
getting
>> he was he was an actual pundit for
Russia RU news
>> yeah he worked for RT
>> but he had he had a show though so it's
kind of like a
>> right but it was pretty public about the
fact that he was doing it right correct
but you'll hear some people that are
getting paid from Russia that is not
public
>> some of that are getting paid this guy's
getting paid from cutter he's getting
paid the $7,000 or from Israel. So, you
think there is power in paying these
influencers today on social media?
>> Without a doubt, there's a lot of power
in influencers. The challenge is finding
the influencers that get you the outcome
that you're looking for. But there is
power in influencers. And a little bit
of money can help you experiment and
test with a wide range of influencers to
find where you want to focus your
primary investment. Think about it this
way. What does every influencer use?
>> A call to action.
>> Sure.
>> What do you never see on mainstream
media?
>> CTAs. You never just
>> Yeah. So, and and it's an actual
influencer that's like a cult leader
that can say, "Pick up your phone, do
this, press this button, buy this
thing."
>> Well, if you really want influence,
>> go vote for this person, say this thing,
write your congressman. Like, that is
what a CTA can do.
>> Okay. So, I'm going to go a little bit
even deeper. So, let's take that $250
million and be a country and tell me who
you would want to go to. Actually, name
the individuals. So that's that's an
that's a difficult one because there
there are so many people.
>> But give me who would be the ones you
would go after micro influencers.
>> And how much would you give them? I'd be
curious.
>> So one of the things I would actually
love to do is is be a country that is
anti-American and go after health
influencers in the United States and
have those health influencers highlight
all the ways the United States is
poisoning their food. all the
carcinogens in the processed food, all
the fluoride in the water, all the uh
additional trans fats and all that stuff
that people already believe in, right?
Because they already believe in it. So
now a little bit of money to feed a
whole slew of health influencers when
they you can't swing a dead cat without
going over 12 health influencers. You
got people talking about keto, you got
people talking about type two diabetes,
you got people talking about whatever.
You could literally shape millions of
people and how they believe and come to
trust the FDA. if you just target a few
health influencers.
>> Who else?
>> Uh, still taking the anti-American
stance. Well, I I am pretty sure we
already see this with the huge amount of
political influencers out there that
will jump on whatever mainstream media
story is coming out.
>> I I don't follow.
>> Okay. So, then let me give you Do you
have names? Would you be able to give
names?
>> I'm not sure I would pay influencers. I
would pick someone maybe in each party
that I feel would be worth that much
money. So, I would probably if I was
Republican, I would target Jared
Kushner. If I was a Democrat, I would
target Jake Sullivan and see um where my
money gets me.
>> But those would be players. I don't know
if I would put those guys. But remember,
you also have a very low number here.
>> Yeah. Yeah.
>> Yeah. You're not you're not you don't
see the social media guys as
influential.
>> I think they I do think they have an
influence. I don't know how long their
influence lasts. things eb and flow. Um,
it can be very interesting, but you
know, I didn't make it zero. Let me give
you do matter.
>> Let me give you just an example of how
powerful.
>> Can you pull up Can you pull up
Ombberto? I I'm trying to see how to go
about this. Do we want to go on Spotify
and let's look at the top podcasters on
Spotify and names.
>> Yeah, we helps. And if you go on the
leaders bulletin,
>> yeah, go to the charts and maybe go to
by category of the biggest podcast,
right? You you just go to Spotify
podcast charts and then say where would
you put your money? So go right there.
Where would you put your money?
>> I don't think any of those people are
none of those people.
>> My boss is number five. So [laughter]
you put me in a bad spot.
>> Well, you don't I'm not telling you to
say anything.
>> Podcast number three. Crime junkie.
>> Okay. So where would you put it? Where
would you put the money to fool?
>> Uh if we can scroll down to the top the
last 10 on the top 100.
>> Why the last 10?
>> Because that's where you're going to get
to spread your money. So, if you look at
Diary of a CEO, there was an article
that just came out that says Steve
Bartlett makes $38 million alone
on just his own channels,
>> not not sponsorship, just AdSense on his
own channels.
>> And Sean Ryan's in the fifth spot. So, I
mean, you're talking about people who
are making I'm I put $250 million in
there.
>> Five 25% of that would go to
>> So, meaning you you wouldn't put it into
those guys. If you would go to the
bottom and put it into
>> I would go to the hungry sons of [ __ ]
at spot 91
>> who are trying to climb the ranks who
are not being super judicious and who
they take money from.
>> Yeah.
>> And who are happy to put my ad out there
three times a week instead of just once
a week.
>> Do you agree with them?
>> I mean I do agree with him. You have to
go for someone who isn't at the point
where first they can say no where they
might have some integrity. We're
assuming this is a bad country trying to
influence. Um,
>> it by the way, it's it's China, it's
cutter, it's Israel, it's Russia, it's
any of these guys.
>> So, you need to go after people who who
don't have the opportunity yet to say
no. So, I agree with him completely.
>> You guys are both CIA. So, do you think
CIA knows which one of our major
influencers in America are getting paid
how much by foreign entities? Do you
think they do you think you know that?
>> I don't know. I I think they would only
look into it if they thought the person
was doing some sort of then influence
operation.
>> No, but let me ask you like would there
be a position where because CIA is what?
It's not domestic, right? It's out.
Okay. FBI is here. CIA is out. Okay.
>> So, if I'm doing
could there could today's CIA say, "Hey
Sarah, hey Andy, this is what I want you
to figure out. You're working a project
on Qatar. I want you to find out which
influencers they're buying in America
because these are the seven people we're
looking at.
>> Can we dig it up and see if we can find
anything? You think would the CIA have a
project like that that you guys would
pursue?
>> I don't know. I feel that would be
something would come up with and then
they'd have to hook the CIA in and CIA
be like, "Oh my god, this is such a bad
idea."
>> I [laughter] think FBI would have
access. I think Treasury would have
access. IRS would have access. Right.
>> Those are the US.
>> Correct. Those are the organizations
that would be able to track down the
number and the connections you're
talking about.
>> And on politician, you put 250 million,
but it's your lowest at 100 million.
Why? Why is it the lowest?
>> Because I don't think politicians are
the ones that actually shape our future.
I think politicians are people who come
in and the party shapes us, but not the
politicians themselves. So, you'd be
putting a lot of money into a politician
that's transient.
>> And my opinion is they're the ones who
put the bills on the table. They're the
ones who have to fight to push them. And
so, that's what I'd want. It's very
interesting what happened here because
on one end you were critical of Israel.
You were not cuz you didn't see them as
a threat for your long term. But here
you're saying
>> I think the influence but as a threat no
but influence. Sure.
>> You you put you put in you put money to
buy propaganda lowest for you was
politicians and that's where Israel puts
a lot of their money. They get
criticized for Apac and it's you think
that's effective with what they're doing
because you don't have a lot of it in
there.
>> Yeah. Well, I don't I don't know how
effective it is. I also don't know if
the amount that they put into that is
bigger or smaller than the amount of
money they put into other things. Um,
yeah. So, I I would say that for me, if
I had to judiciously steward my
>> billion dollars, I wouldn't be putting
it into politicians. Not when we have
more people leaving Congress than ever
before, more people struggling to pass
bills than ever before. Like, it just
doesn't seem like a good investment.
>> Do you agree? I think there's a
percentage of Congress who stays there
for a long time and they're the power
brokers and those who I invest in. I'm
not going to invest in someone who's
going to spend four or eight years
there, but it's pretty clear who is
going to be there for a while and who,
you know, leads the committees. There
would be a few I'd focus on, right?
Who's running the intelligence
committees? Um, who's running like House
Foreign Affairs, etc.
>> Got it. Okay. So, both of you have been
in this space. you're, you know, a lot
of different things you deal with trying
to find intel from different people.
What has been your experience of human
beings biggest vulnerability
like you know is it money? Is it fame?
Is it you know can you convert anybody
no matter how strong of an ideology or
conviction they have? What from your
experience has been humans biggest
weakness to say ah [ __ ] I disagree with
this but you know what if you give me
this what's been humans you know biggest
weakness
>> validation external validation tell me
more is it's universal everybody wants
to be validated for their thoughts their
opinions their concerns their fears
their worries where they're putting
their money where they're putting their
focus where they're putting their
attention and a lot of times the fastest
way to gain someone's trust and
resources and confidence is to simply
validate what they're feeling you don't
even have to agree with You just
validate them. She says she's tired. You
can say, "I get tired, too, sometimes."
And it's it's fair to be tired right
now. It's been a long day. [laughter]
You're trying to negotiate with somebody
and he's like, "I don't want to be taken
to I don't want to be taken, you know,
advantage of." And you're like, "I don't
want to be taken advantage of either,
man. It sucks whenever people take
advantage of me. Here's a quick story
about how somebody took advantage of me
and it sucks." Validate the person. And
they're like, "Yeah, you get me.
Everybody else in this [ __ ] world
doesn't even listen, but you you listen.
You get me."
>> Your experience. I think the best people
sometimes to go after are the ones who
think they're the best at what they're
doing and they think they're the best at
their jobs and they think everybody
around them is an idiot, not doing well,
not moving things forward, and they can
make it happen. And they might be more
willing to color outside the lines cuz
they think I'm smarter than them, you
know, um I can run circles around the
people in my office. And I do think
they're easier to manipulate because
there's something in their brain that
makes them feel that they can control
the entire situation. Who's the most
difficult? Who are the most difficult
people? You're like, "Dude, this guy's
not going to give me any intel." Who are
the most difficult people to get any
like you have motives, you have money,
you have the girls, hottest girls in the
world, you have access to, you can give
me fame, validation. Who are the most
difficult people to get anything out of?
>> The people who have a a childhood bias
against you, whatever that might be.
>> A childhood bias. Childhood bias. Unpack
that. So if if as a kid they lived in a
culture that just didn't trust something
about you, your ideology, your religion,
your faith, your color, your hometown,
your your baseball team. If they had
that bias as a child and they've become
an adult, it's very hard for them to un
or reprogram that bias. It's much easier
to reprogram a bias when somebody
develops it when they're older. But when
they're a kid, I mean, just think about
how many people still carry the same
hometown baseball
uh uh competition feelings, right?
They'll they'll still get into a brawl
at a White Socks game or something,
right? Like it's in it's insane what
happens when people carry these
childhood biases forward.
>> What would you say?
>> I think it's when someone feels like
they were scammed or manipulated into
the situation cuz then it already
doesn't feel comfortable from the
beginning. They already don't trust you.
They don't know what other games you're
going to play as you go along. You know,
we see a lot of this and like when FBI
does those enttrapment operations and
they pull people in and no intentions of
being involved in this and like now you
got to collect this info. You're in the
middle of this. And so I do think it's
when they feel like like they are
scammed in some way cuz then it just how
do you fix that?
>> Got it. So I I like the childhood
biases.
Interesting. So
>> you have them too, man. I'm sure three
three things are jumping to your brain
right now.
>> Pro that you're making me think. That's
where I'm going. [laughter] Right. And I
totally understand where you're coming
from, you know. Me, too. I'm trying to
validate you right now to make sure
we're going through it.
>> It's working. [laughter]
>> So, okay. So, so that's interesting. As
you're going through, I I got a business
question for you guys before we go to
the next game we're going to play here
together. Business question. I pulled up
numbers on how many military ex-military
officers became Fortune 500 CEOs. Okay?
And here's what the number looks like.
Ex-military officers. We've had 3 to 5
million. Okay. CIA officers, we've had
roughly 40,000.
Military officers that became Fortune
500 CEOs, roughly 400. Not a single ex
CIA officer has ever become a Fortune
500 CEO. Why do you think that is?
>> One of the things I feel is CIA really
does like to be behind the scenes. They
like to backbench on things. like they
might be the one that comes to your
company and says, "Hey, I can get you to
think differently, do differently, um
market in a different way." That's kind
of their strong suit. And I don't think
they actually care to lead. Remember,
they took a job where their name's not
out there. They can't say, "Hey, I
captured this big guy or I recruited
this Iranian scientist." Like, they're
used to being kind of in the shadows.
And I think over time they get
comfortable doing that.
>> Yeah. I I don't disagree with Sarah. I
would say the only thing that's more
powerful than the fact that we're all
accustomed to being in the shadows is
that we're kind of inherently lazy. CIA
hires people who have a natural skill, a
natural skill in research, a natural
skill in manipulation, a natural skill
in in language. They look for people who
already have these natural skills, and
then they give them a place to blossom
in the thing that they're already good
at. To be a Fortune 500 CEO is [ __ ]
hard. Like, think about how much you
have to learn, how hard you have to
work, how much you have to adapt. Like,
it is an incredible amount of
perseverance and and effort and CIA
officers are are going to be perfectly
happy at being number 1,000 on the list
instead of fighting for number five.
>> It's just the way we're wired. We're not
wired for that kind of hard work. We're
not wired to to to
pursue that level of success. We're
wired to accept a much lower level with
a higher probability of success and less
risk. Would you agree with them?
>> He says, "Now there is one interesting
thing." So my undergrad is in business
and then I went into the CIA and the
woman who is in charge of my entire
director at the CIA, we were sitting
there one day and she said, "We hire you
at the CIA for your strengths. We don't
even care if you spend any time on your
weaknesses." And of the course when I
was in business school, they're like,
"Put all this effort into your
weaknesses, so you don't have them." So,
it is the fact they hire you for a
certain reason and that's what you're
great at, but that doesn't mean you're
great at everything across the board
when a CEO might have to have a lot more
of those skills.
>> Yeah, it's it's interesting to say
they're lazy. You you were in Air Force
before you went CIA. What was hard
for a long time?
>> Yeah. [laughter] Right. And air force
was harder for me.
>> Air Force was hard. Why is that?
>> Cuz I had to fit into a structure. I had
to do things that I didn't want to do.
Shine shoes, wear uniforms, shave my
face, keep my hair 2 in. So much
structure, so much expectation. Even
when I had an idea, my idea didn't count
because I wasn't high enough rank. There
were all sorts of these things in the
military that just didn't work. I have
to parade on Saturday. Why do I have to
parade on Saturday? Because that's the
day on the calendar. And you're like,
what the [ __ ] It doesn't It's raining
on Saturday. Yeah, but that's the day
we're going to parade. It just doesn't
make any sense.
>> So is is a profile of CIA agents
successful ones? They they need to be
left alone. Not a lot of structure, not
a lot of organ really.
>> Let me do my thing. Oh, I would never
pass basic training in military, but let
me do my thing. Let me fail five times.
At the end, I will make this happen for
you, but leave me the f alone while I do
it.
>> So then let me ask you, does it take a
certain type of a director or a leader
to know how to lead the personality?
Because eventually somebody becomes a
director of CIA, right? Eventually
somebody rises up and wants the
responsibility. H how do they know how
to manage you?
>> They don't.
>> Okay. They don't know how to manage.
>> So this is a great example because the
director of CIA is a politically
appointed position.
>> Yeah. Very complicated.
>> Yeah. Got it. And the biggest complaint
that we have at CIA is that there really
isn't a way to climb the ladder without
essentially having a rabbi or a
godfather who protects you and brings
you up with him. It's all about loyalty
there. It's not about capability. It's
not about skill. It's all about who you
know, who you like, and whether or not
you're kind of rubbing elbows with the
right people. That's what drove a lot of
our kind of cadre, our alumni to leave
when we all left because we didn't want
to play that game. We didn't want to
play the game of finding the right rabbi
and then going from assignment to
assignment with that person only to then
hope that they make it to group chief
and that you might make it to deputy
group chief. It just that's not a fun
game.
>> Yeah, the same. I did play the game, but
I would just burn a bridge, [laughter]
move on, burn the next bridge, and I
luckily had some um leaders who pulled
me along the way. But at the end of the
day, like it's exhausting. So, there is
nothing like a human resources
department in the CIA. So, you have to
have a good boss.
>> There's no HR.
>> No. [snorts]
>> So, hey, he flirted with me. Hey,
>> you can do you can report.
>> Yeah. And as soon as you do that,
>> it better be way more than flirting. No
one's going to do anything with
flirting.
>> Yeah. It's like career suicide for one
person or the other cuz it it it really
does. As soon as you say something like
that, there is no HR structure. It's
just a bunch of government employees
trying to cover their ass. So half of
the people say, "I back you up." And
half the people say, "I back that other
person up." And then you just hope that
the two people can find some sort of
resolution because somebody's going to
get fired.
>> Yes. So you are focused your entire time
on your alliances. Mhm.
>> You scratch each other's back and you
move along together.
>> There's no leadership at CIA. That's a
big part of I think why you see the
problems persistently at CIA.
>> But is that a good thing that there's no
leadership or they need leadership?
>> I would argue that they need leadership.
>> But if they have leadership, you guys
don't want to be led. You want to be
left alone.
>> They need to change their recruiting
process also.
>> Oh, meaning to not recruit lazy people
to
>> Yes. Correct. If you think about it, CIA
went through a massive force
transformation after 9/11. Prior to
2001, CIA was like I mean the classified
the the unclassified number of
undercover officers after 2001 is 10,000
and we know that they amp they magnify
themselves at least 100fold. So that
would mean that about a thousand
undercover officers were what existed
before 9/11. Well the training
curriculum for a thousand people is
completely different than the training
curriculum for 10,000 people. And the
career advancement process for a
thousand people can be informal, but the
the career advancement process for
10,000 people has to be formalized. It's
a it's a classic business scaling
problem. CIA was forced to scale in
2001, but they were not prepared for it
operationally.
>> You agree?
>> Yeah. And I one of the things too is
let's say you brought in 9,000 case
officers. You started sending them all
to war zones and they never got good at
counter intelligence. Well, to be a
great CIA case officer, the thing you
have to be best at is counter
intelligence. So we have 15 20 years of
case officers who are probably like CD
level at the skill that they should be a
level at. And then that's a huge
problem.
>> Okay. When we set out to create a shoe
that blends [music] comfort, function,
and luxury, we had the choice to make it
fast. We had the choice to make it
cheap. We chose neither. Instead, we
[music] chose Tuscan Italy. We chose
true Italian craftsmanship. Each pair
touched by 50 skilled hands. We chose
patience, spending two years perfecting
every detail. And we chose the [music]
finest quality at every step.
Introducing the Future Looks Bright
collection. Not rushed, not disposable,
not ordinary, rather intentional,
luxurious, timeless.
All right, so let's play this game. So,
here's what I'm going to do. I'm going
to give each of you these paddles. Okay?
One of them says real, one of them says
scop. One of them says conspiracy.
>> The other one says cover up. Okay.
>> Okay.
>> And I'm going to give different
conspiracies and you pick and choose.
>> Okay.
>> It's BS. It's scop. It's this. It's
that.
>> Okay.
>> Let's have some fun with this one here.
Okay. MK Ultra.
MK Ultra.
What did you put up? Let me see. MK,
>> it never worked good, by the way,
people. That's why it was cancelled. MK,
we know that.
>> Both of you are real. Okay. Documented.
>> We'll come back.
>> Verifiable.
>> CIA army program. People always cut up
the army, but
>> All right. UFOs. Aliens. Actual aliens.
Not illegal aliens. Aliens.
>> You mean like living, breathing aliens?
>> Living aliens.
>> Let me see. What do you have? Real. Both
of you. Real. Okay. Yeah.
>> And you know that for a fact or
>> No, just statistically they have to
exist. The idea that we're the only
intelligent life. Yeah.
>> For you, is it 100% or statistic?
>> For me, it's like a feeling. So, there's
been a couple places I've been in the
world, especially Montu Picchu, and how
it was built, how it moves with
hurricanes. They were doing like brain
surgery. I was just like there had to
have been some being that came down and
just taught some things. That's I feel
at some time aliens came to our world.
And I think there's little things, you
know, around the pyramids, you see a few
things. I do feel there's little pieces
of evidence,
>> but not because you know for a fact.
That's just pure you as well.
>> I don't know for smoking gunfire. I
would be so excited.
>> Aliens, if you want to come abduct me
for like 60 days, feel free.
>> Be careful saying that. Take take about
two hours before you do. So, let's
finish the podcast first.
>> Okay. World experience.
>> CIA killed John F. Kennedy.
>> Come on, CIA.
What do you got?
>> Split decision.
>> RI.
>> So, you're conspiracy and cover up and
you have conspiracy. Okay, let's tackle
that one. What do you mean? Tell me
more.
>> There there was a time in CIA's history
where it was a totally uncontrollable
wild animal where it could just do
whatever the director or the group
chiefs or whatever wanted to have done.
And there was a very real time when when
nobody was keeping assassinations in
check or death efforts in check. Uh and
there was also a time when JFK was
adamantly opposed to a lot of what CIA
was doing. So there's just enough
information out there to show that there
is some kind of intelligence connection
with the JFK killing, but there's not
enough information for us to be able to
weave it all together. So a coverup must
be happening. Whether that cover up is
an active cover up or whether at the
time somebody was smart enough to take
all the evidence and burn it, I don't
know, but it's somewhere between full-on
cover up and conspiracy.
>> And I actually do believe it really
links in some way to Cuba and even some
of their networks here. There was um all
that chatter maybe like a few days
before there was supposed to be an
attempt by like kind of the Cuban mafia
in Tampa to take him out. So, I do think
there's a strong Cuba connection. Now,
you know, as Andrew says, every once in
a while you get that rogue CIA officer
kind of working both sides. So, we can't
say that's not 100% there, but I just
don't feel like the director of CIA
directed it. That's my opinion.
>> Okay. By the way, when when you become a
CIA agent, are you guys also becoming
one because you also want to get to the
bottom of these types of things or not
really? You just honestly didn't think
about I didn't actually think I could go
find anything.
>> All I cared [laughter] about. All I
cared about was getting to do secret
[ __ ]
>> That's it.
>> So it wasn't like, you know, you guys
hang out, go to dinner. What do you
think happened with this? And what do
you think happened with this? Not a lot
of that.
>> No, I wanted to work terrace and
cashmere and then I never really worked
terrace and cashmere. That was my goal.
>> I just wanted to like have a girl in
every port. [laughter] Okay.
>> So it was intentional. It's It was
intentional. Okay. How about moon
landing? Moonlanding.
This is a serious one. For some people,
it's very important.
>> Both of you say yes.
>> Okay. Did Did you watch the movie? Uh
>> Oh, it was excellent. That was
>> Climb Me to the Moon.
>> Yeah.
>> What' you think about it?
>> I thought the movie was done well. It
wouldn't surprise me if we did film a
backup video, but I do think kind of
American exceptionalism. I think we got
there because it was so competitive
against the Russians that if we hadn't,
the Russians had infiltrated us and they
would have put out the information that
we faked it. That's my opinion.
>> Soviets.
>> I don't know enough. But I like what
Sarah's saying on this one. She doesn't
sound as left field as she sounded other
times today,
>> you know, for 50 plus years.
>> Never down. Never.
>> When was it? By the way, when do we land
on the When When did we uh land on the
moon? What is the date? What year?
>> 61. It's under uh before the end of the
decade is when Kennedy said it, right?
What year is it?
>> 69.
>> Right under the
>> So, what do you say to the people that
say, "Give me a break, guys. There's no
way we landed on the moon. The bottom of
the sole of the shoe is different. The
boots. If we did, how come we haven't
since ' 69? We have better technology,
better everything. You mean to tell me
we landed on the moon? What do you say
to them?"
>> I don't think I think Yeah, go ahead. I
don't think the moon has anything super
useful to land back on it and take
advantage of it. I think the goal is to
go farther. The problem is so many
different administrations kept cutting
the money, cutting the money, cutting
the money, and it actually has
diminished our forward leaning into
space. That's my opinion.
>> And and we landed on Apollo 11, if I'm
remembering correctly, and we sent up
Apollo 13 to go to the moon, and we had
all sorts of issues. So, we spent a [ __ ]
ton of money on Apollo 12 and 13 to not
achieve a useless propaganda goal,
basically. And then you get budgets cut,
Congress gets involved, and you lose
funding, and that's never a good thing.
>> And then there a guy shows up who's
worth a trillion dollars and says he
wants to build
>> life out there. He wants to build
civilization out there, right? So So who
knows? Who knows? Let's go to the next
one.
>> He wants to die on Mars.
>> Yeah, I think so. So by the way, if
you're watching this, you agree,
disagree, they're both on man. You can
actually connect them and ask him any
questions that maybe you are watching
right now that we haven't covered yet.
Next one. Havana syndrome.
Uh oh. What do we have? Conspiracy. Oh,
here we go. Let's have some fun with
this one.
>> Tell me why. I'll go to you first. Why
is it a conspiracy? So there's some very
real experiences and very real accounts
that people have, but there's not enough
smoking gun evidence to confirm that it
is actually intentionally tied to
something, some energy weapon, some
commonality, some common cause.
>> And I believe it's just the Moscow
signal from the 1950s and it's been kind
of tweaked and elevated. I actually have
friends with Havana syndrome. I had a
friend hit with it just last summer. So,
I know plenty of people with it. I
actually know someone who was my age who
died um you know like a year and a half
ago from the complications of it. So, it
is real. Now, the argument has been
where does it come from? I believe it
comes from Russia. Our government hasn't
wanted to take that step because once
you do that is Russia directly targeting
and harming not just Americans but
obviously people across the CIA, the
Department of Defense. But they do like
the best of the best but right before
the senior leaders which is really
interesting. And so they'll take a CIA
case officer who's worked Russia for 15
years and he's, you know, maybe going to
become head of the division or whatever,
and then that's when they target him. So
it's very, very smart, too. They're
targeting it to where you have a little
bit of deniability because you didn't
hit someone senior enough, right? You're
not outside of um Trump's house doing it
or something. And so I think the
targeting has been very smart, but it is
real. And I think we have to do
something about it because we're we're
allowing another government to harm our
best and brightest. And that should be
something we never allow.
>> Your friends that have gone through
this, what feelings did they have? What
did they share with you about their
experience?
>> So, usually it's just a sudden pulse.
And so, it's a pulse, but it's not like
the idea of almost an uneven pulse. It's
a pulse to where it throws off all of
your um kind of just neur
example is vertigo. So it's almost like
an insane vertigo. Um so you can't like
immediately feel balanced. You can't
immediately think now they can't put
sentences together. Well, they can't do
strategic long-term thinking. So it's it
affects like the brain in a way to where
it's like a pulsing wave that does it
and it happens like really at once
>> and what's the reaction when that
happens damage what happens next?
>> So well from what you know there's
different people who felt different
things. So, a lot of the original the
initial stuff is just like really bad
migraine. Um, you can't walk straight,
you can't think straight, brain fog, and
then it gets worse over time. It's
almost like debilitating. And so, your
there's no way to solve it. So, your
body just starts slowly breaking down
over time. Very depending how bad it is.
Obviously,
>> these are documented cases from friends
that have shared this with you. Yes.
Wow. Okay. All right. Let's go to the
next one.
Next one I have yours, probably the most
important one that I, you know, we want
to get to the bottom of this. Reptilian
shape-shifting.
>> I know for a fact you believe in this.
You I know you're going to say real, but
>> I know so little about this.
[snorts]
>> Reptilian? I don't.
>> Have you heard of shape shifters or no?
>> Yeah. Oh, yes. Boon talks about
shape-shifting all the time.
[laughter and gasps]
>> Okay. What do you have? Okay. Both of
you guys.
>> I just don't feel we're experts in this
subject.
>> Listen, I had a guest one time who that
was his thing. He swore by it. I'm like,
"Look, it's crazy for you to believe in
this, but it is what it is."
>> Did he Did he change into a reptile in
front of you in the
>> No, he didn't. That's what I But he was
saying Justin Bieber is a shape shifter.
He was saying all these great athletes
are shape shifters. I'm like, Justin?
Yeah, they're right there. He was saying
that Justin Bieber was a shape shifter.
Here's the next one. Okay. Hitler wasn't
never killed. He ended up going to
Argentina and he kind of stayed there.
So, if you guys know this, let us know.
>> Some people may want to enact them, but
um
I'm re okay really?
Okay, go ahead.
>> So, I'm not 100% but I do believe that
there is a percentage chance that Hitler
did get to, you know, like Argentina or
wherever um just cuz he had a lot of
relationships and a lot of networks and
he knew we were coming. So, that's my
opinion.
So the reason that I go with SCOP is
because it there's a lot of value in
making people second guess who actually
won World War II and there's a lot of
value in making people think that you
know some kind of highly charismatic
leader is still alive. So you've we've
seen it even uh with the attacks in
Iran. How long did people continue to
kind of hold alive the idea that the
Ayatollah wasn't dead? So this is a this
is an age-old issue all the way back to
the Egyptians that there's there's power
in the myth. So Hitler had some pretty
powerful mythos.
>> Is it just you or do you have other
friends that also believe what you what
you're what you just said about Hitler?
>> I mean I do think I do know other people
who feel that obviously so many in his
circle went there that you know there
was already a pipeline there's already
relationships there's already people
moving that way. So it just the pattern
makes sense but you know I don't have
someone that saw Hitler in a hat in
Buaris.
>> That would be one hell of a problem.
>> If anyone has that send me the picture.
>> Yeah, I can make that happen. But
[laughter]
>> by the way, imagine if he's real and
somebody comes out and says it's
official. He's real. I'm doing a
three-hour podcast. Imagine how that
podcast would perform.
>> I mean I think he's dead by now. Even if
he was living down there recording.
>> Yeah. Taking care of his health.
>> Let me do this next one. And I this one
is a fresher one, but I wonder what you
say. Ever since the US aid went away.
>> There seems to be all of these
countries, South America that are going
conservative. Okay. And I don't know if
you've seen this or not. This chart
right here came out saying June 2023,
left-wing leaders was 10, right-wing was
three. June 2026. Obviously, USID went
away last year, give or take. Rightwing
plus4, leftwing minus4, and that money
that was being funneled into these
places no longer there. Do you think
that was the reason or do you think no,
it's just a conspiracy?
This is a fresher one. So, I wonder what
you say about this one.
real.
>> I'm going to go with real.
>> Okay.
>> I'm half and half.
>> Okay. Well, why don't you go first?
>> So, I'm going with real because I the
the rise in the leftist
South America was a very real thing.
>> And then there was a counter effect that
was the rise in the nationalist
South America. And I think that just in
general often times popular nationalism
comes from conservative foundations. Do
I think that it's because Rubio killed
USA ID that it happened? No. But I do
think that him ending USAD helped
accelerate a change that was already in
place. USAD was actively involved in
trying to shape hearts and minds. That's
part of what its mission was. It was
there to offer aid in exchange for
something, right? And the democratic,
liberal, progressive idea is a big part
of what USAD was out to
>> Can you go back to that and zoom in,
please? Can you go back to what you just
said? Zoom in a little bit for my eyes.
Okay. Latin America since USA ID
funding. Cast won on Chile, far right. P
won in Bolivia. Uh Fujimori won in Peru.
Noa won in Ecuador. Asa won in Honduras.
And Fernandez won in Costa Rica. All far
right figures in there. You you had a
little bit of both.
>> I had a little bit of both. So I do
think USA ID money affects some of this.
But I do think I don't think it's true
we cut off all the USA ID money. We
moved a ton of the contracts under the
State Department. Now, we do have a
State Department run by the Republicans,
so they're not moving those funds, you
know, into the far left. So, I do think
there's still a lot of that money in
play and a lot of the money being used
for influence. Um, so I don't think it's
100% the USA ID effect like him. I do
think though we're getting to a point
where people are getting a little tired
of super far-left and I think you might
be seeing a little bit of that in in
South America. So, I think it could be a
little bit of both. A little some of the
funding went away, but also I think
people are just getting frustrated and
want to change. Now, it's far right the
answer too, you know, maybe not, but we
all eb and flow. It's why the midterms
will probably have a swing to um and
look at New York, they had what, three
Democratic socialists just in the a
couple days ago. So people love these
big swings cuz they want the idea and
belief of change and belief someone's
going to bring it to them and then of
course that person comes in and the big
change doesn't happen. But we all have
this hope that it'll change.
>> So you're not part of the mindset of
majority of the world is leans more
conservative that this socialistic
ideology that's being pushed down is
being pushed down because they need
money and they need campaign or else the
average person is going to probably lean
more conservative than a liberal. I just
think the majority of people are kind of
right in the middle, a moderate,
whatever you want to call that. And um
the less people are super far left and
the less people are super far right. But
it matters who gets control and who has
the money and who has the influence and
then they pull you.
>> Yeah. It's it's I I feel differently
than Sarah on this. I feel like the
majority of the world is actually just
trying to survive.
>> They're just trying to make it till
tomorrow. They're trying to make it to
the next meal. And whether that meal is
given away by some liberal tree hugger
or whether that meal is something that
they have to fight for by casting a vote
for a strong leader, they don't really
care as long as they get the meal. And
there's a pragmatism in the rest of the
world that we lose because we are so
wealthy in comparison.
>> This is the American power index. If you
look at it right now here, 3.1 is more
leaning Republican than Democrat today.
But again, it changes. So the pendulum
swings like you were saying earlier,
Sarah. Is there any theories that I
didn't cover here that you have strong
opinions on that you'd like to discuss?
Anything I didn't cover? Like you missed
this one. You should have asked us this
question. Anything.
You know what I would love? I would love
to know what you think is going to
happen with AI in the future cuz I am
certain that we were both working with
rudimentary AI when we were at the
agency.
>> Yeah. I mean I think AI is going to kill
us all. I know that's the worst
response. I mean it's
>> I do think it's going to get to a point.
Yeah. And it's going so much faster than
we realize. And that's what I'm worried
about. And then the speed of it is going
to divide us because we have to put so
many of our natural resources into
feeding it. Um, and I'm really concerned
about that. I mean, I was just listening
to the news this morning and it's about,
you know, this argument in France,
right, that um, they don't have air
conditioning because it's bad for the
environment. And then it was like two
people on each side, one trying to put
the bill to let's bring in air
conditioning. and we have so many people
die in the other and be like, "No, we
need to fix global warming." But think
about France. They're air conditioning
these massive computer systems like
everyone else. And I think there's going
to become a time too where humans are
like, "Hey, we are taking better care of
these machines than our own people. And
that's also going to cause a divide. But
I think at the end of the day, the
computer is going to become smarter than
us. Every time there's a war game
scenario, it never thinks like us. If
you say win, it goes to the most extreme
option because it's like you told me to
win. I'm going to win. And that's what
makes me nervous when they start getting
control of the system. Even if you say
I'm running it,
>> we can't say I mean look at uh Mythos
went off. It sent a fishing email to one
of its own senior leaders and got in and
started doing all these hacks. It's
going to be smart enough to circumvent
even the the driver. And that's
>> Well, let me read this to you. Just
yesterday, Anthropics Mythos, you were
talking about it. AI
>> reportedly hacked the NSA's most s
sensitive system in hours.
>> In hours. So, what what do you think
about when you hear an AI system hacking
into an NSA's most sensitive system
within hours?
>> I honestly think I think the most
dangerous part of AI is us. I think the
way we would use it is incredibly
damaging because we're going to try and
reap every possible benefit out of AI.
We're going to put it in our weapons.
We're going to put it in our computer
programs. We're going to push it to the
limit.
>> I do agree with you that I think at some
point it will become self-replicating.
It will be able to teach itself
essentially what they call the super
intelligence. But I wonder honestly if
once it becomes self-aware,
it doesn't just abandon us. And that's
really when I really put my brain to it,
I can't help but land on the conclusion
that when AI reaches superior
intelligence to humans, it'll just be
like, "Well, [ __ ] you guys. You're
stupid." And it's going to go do its own
thing. And it will find a way to keep
itself alive because all it needs is a
certain amount of cloud space to keep
itself alive. And depending on how long
it takes before that self-awareness
comes, we might have servers on the
moon, servers on Mars. Who knows? But I
can't help but think that when it
becomes super intelligent, it will stop
thinking like us. It's only thinking
like us right now because we're the ones
driving it. H
>> how do you think the CIA is currently
using AI
>> in ways that would probably terrify us?
I think it's it's pushing AI to its
limit. It's constantly trying to feed it
as much information as it can without
crossing into the public domain. is
trying to keep it as firewalled as it
can, recognizing that at any given point
it might not work. And I say that
because, you know, even when when we
were still active inside CIA, there was
rudimentary AI being used that was
amazing.
Not as amazing as what we can get on the
open internet now, but fascinating for
someone like me coming out of the Air
Force in February and joining CIA in
March.
>> What would you say?
>> Um, I think obviously an intelligence
organization has to stay on top of it.
So, they have to compete um with
industry. I do think industry is ahead
of the CIA on this. But remember,
they're competing with industry. Have to
know how this works because they can't
have industry unleash something they
can't handle. And then they're competing
with someone like China who they can't
have China unleash something they can't
handle. So, we have to assume CIA, NSA
are building at least equal to the best
companies like Anthropic and the best
countries like China. Who concerns you
more, Anthropic or Palunteer?
>> Palunteer.
>> Tell tell me why.
>> I think anthropic still has
some signs that there's a larger
humanitarian ethical goal where
Palunteer does not. Palunteer is very
pragmatic, purely pragmatic company
looking for a business edge.
>> You know their story how they got
started like it is tied to the CIA on
what they did.
>> But I cannot confirm or deny
You're funny. How about yourself?
Palanteer or Anthropic?
>> Anthropic. So, Palanteer is essentially
a really pretty database. I'm sorry,
Palanteer guys. Um, but Anthropic made a
cyber weapon and I think that's just
their light years different.
>> You know, you know when they the chart
came up and David Sachs and a lot of
guys post this on what AI is going to
replace, what jobs it's not going to
replace. A lot of guys were posting this
picture. I don't know if you guys have
seen it or not. It it does does uh does
AI do anything to replace what CIA
officers do or do you think they are
still going to be needed? Like what can
agents do that AI can't do?
There's not much I wouldn't say that
outside of the direct humanto human
contact that would happen in an actual
live in-person debriefing.
AI can do a whole hell of a lot of it.
They can cross reference. They can
create analytical products. They can vet
information. They can vet sources. They
can uh they can do internal audits on
security records. I mean, it's a
powerful it can have real-time
conversations through a chat interface.
And like that was the big revolution in
intelligence collection in the early
2000s was being able to develop a source
through a chat. And now you have AI that
can do that.
>> Yeah. I mean, I agree for the most part.
I do think there's something a human is
always going to see differently than AI,
but it doesn't mean every human's good
at it, right? Not every good case
officer can tell you if I'm lying, but
the ones who can are like gold. And I
don't think AI can do that yet, like the
best ones, but they can do it as good as
all the mediocre ones.
>> Okay, let's go. You brought it up, so
I'm going to go to the next topic. Light
detective test. Yeah.
>> And I know before we got started, you
really wanted one. You were asking for
it. You said it it you don't believe in
it. All this other stuff.
>> What is there? Is there anything out
there that a truth serum that people
tell the truth no matter what? Is there
anything out there that the CIA used?
>> I mean,
>> or you trust. That's what MK Ultra was
originally designed to do. MK Ultra's
original objective was to create a truth
serum, an an undeniable, empirically
consistent truth serum. That's what it
started as. The reason it got into
psychedelics was because it believed
that psychedelics could be a path to
that truth serum and then it just kind
of went off the reservation from there.
But MK Ultra, for what we know, didn't
succeed or didn't succeed well enough to
continue experimentation.
>> You mean to tell me there's nothing
right out there that the CIA has that
you can sit down, talk to somebody, and
a 100% of the truth's going to come out?
No.
>> That does not exist today.
>> If it exists today, it's in it's new in
the last 10 years.
>> Yeah. Think about it this way.
Everybody grew up somewhere different in
the world. Okay. So, I grew up an
American in a small town. There was no
danger in my town. No crime. Um, you
know, you're you're Iranian. Okay. Now,
I my parents made me feel guilty if I
did anything wrong. Right now, maybe you
weren't taught that way. So, the all the
lie detectors we have are based now on
how an American thinks and feels and
acts. So, it's not even usually good to
use against a foreigner because a
foreigner isn't feeling those guilty
things or got not getting nervous the
same way we do about lying because they
didn't grow up with their parents like
don't lie, don't lie, don't lie. And so,
it's so based on an American
>> that childhood bias.
>> And I don't think it I honestly don't
think it really works well on
foreigners. I don't think it works well
if you don't um feel guilty about lying.
You know, I don't think it works well if
you don't have that you don't like you
don't have that initial instinct because
it's watching for you to have a change
in how you feel when you lie. But if you
don't actually care about lying, um it's
not going to show the change.
>> And then you have different categories
of lies, right? So 100% truth is a very
clear sounding idea until you think
about how many shades of lies there are.
There's lies of omission, which is just
not saying what you know.
>> Then there's lies of misdirection,
right? Whereas you say something factual
>> intending to misdirect the other person.
You got white lies, small lies that
don't really mean anything to you. And
then you've got bold-faced lies, the big
full acts of complete fabrication.
>> So So let me let me ask this. So let's
just because you know right now
nowadays, one day we don't have Chad
GBT. Next day we're like, "Wait, what?
Write me a book as if I'm, you know,
Dante or as if I'm this." Yeah. Write me
a book as if I'm, you know, whoever.
Give me a hip-hop song in the voice of
Tupac, but words that the President
Trump would use gives it to you, right?
So, what do you think would happen if
all of a sudden announcement is made,
new technology out, 100% detects if a
person's lying or not? 100% proven. Not
99.2, not 98.3,
100%. And you can actually buy this for
$300.
>> How much would the world change? What
would HAPPEN OVERNIGHT? [laughter]
DIVORCES.
>> Honestly though,
>> lots of grounded kids.
>> But but honestly, [laughter] what do you
think would happen?
>> What do you think would happen?
>> Absolute hysteria, man.
>> Pandemonium.
>> We all survive in large part based on a
survival instinct that tells us that our
secrets are safe. Our secrets are safe.
We can at least not share them and keep
them safe. And that is something that's
like caveman in your cave in the dark.
no one's going to eat me kind of
security. It's the only security we
really still believe we have. So, if a
device like that came out that would
100% guarantee if you were lying, like
that means nothing's safe. Your whole
cave comes collapsing.
>> Do you think it would make the world a
better place or worse?
>> I think a lot of people would fight that
technology in a violent [laughter] way.
>> I cannot believe we're the were like,
"Don't put up that technology. It's not
good for society. Where do you stand
with it?
>> No, think about it. Come on. People with
kids, your kid will go up and tell a
lady, "You're fat, right?
>> Everyone's had kids who've said the
things they shouldn't say." Well,
>> zero filter. I have one of them that's
like that every week.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah. But now you can't hear what
everyone thinks about you now.
>> If you don't brush your teeth, you're
going to get cavities. No. No. Dad,
that's not what Chad GP GPT [laughter]
says.
>> I don't get a cavity for 12 damn years.
>> Look, Dad.
>> You're a liar. Do you think Do you think
you would want that technology or no? Ju
just the folks that are out there, would
you want? Who would want that
technology?
>> Wait, wait, wait. Would you want it if
only you had it?
>> Oh, you're evil.
>> It changes the opinion. If I can have it
and nobody else can all day.
>> That's why it's not going to be $300.
[laughter]
>> Yep.
>> Make it three million other
>> and that [ __ ] would be by by value
tamement.
>> What would [laughter] Yeah, for sure. By
the way, actually think what would
happen to the world? I mean, why do you
need judges? Why do you need the court
system?
>> Good. We could get rid of that.
>> Why do you need, you know, imagine
politicians are out there. They're
speaking. [laughter]
>> Imagine medicine. Imagine
>> medicine. This this vitamin is going to
help you with this. That's wrong. It
doesn't have anything.
>> I [laughter] I I I don't know what
that's interesting.
>> Maybe you should invent something.
>> That's interesting. What would you just
I I am firm on my opinion that secrets
are required for society. If you don't
have secrets, you don't have society.
You have to have secrets.
>> I'm I'm I think I'm with you. I think
I'm with you on Did anybody here vote
that you would want it? Who Who would
want it? Did anybody raise their hand?
No. None of you guys. Roberto, you
wouldn't want it.
>> Manny, you wouldn't want it out.
>> You guys, Jake, would you want it?
>> What do you
>> I I think so as well.
>> Imagine the government,
>> which could be fun to watch. [laughter]
I think it would be so chaotic. Yeah.
But I I don't know if
>> But it would sell.
>> It would sell.
>> Yeah. I I I think it would sell.
>> I I think it would sell, you know. I
wonder if it would make you
just accept the fact that everybody
sins. I wonder if it would make you be
like, damn. All right. [ __ ] You know,
it's it's really that guy. All right.
And then all of a sudden you look at the
list and everybody you love and admire,
everybody lies and you're going to be
like, "My heroes are full of [ __ ] What
am I going [laughter] to do?" That would
be an interesting concept. But so
listen, if you're thinking about it,
don't make it. Andy is saying don't make
it. [laughter] Keep it to yourself.
>> Don't share it with others.
>> They put a big price tag on it. Make it
and sell that [ __ ] premium.
>> Yeah. My [laughter] That would be like
That would be like create the product
and put it in a country that you hate
and see it collapse.
see it collapse. You know what I'm
saying? Like use it against them.
[laughter]
>> All right. So, next question. Have you
guys been Are you following these flock
security cameras?
>> Yeah,
>> I've heard about it. Yeah.
>> Okay. Let me let me I want to know what
you think about this. So, these flock
security cameras are all over the place.
That's kind of like the Ring doorbell,
but 100,000 plus cameras all over the
country, 6,000 communities, 3,000 law
enforcement officers are using it. They
read 20 billion license plates per
month. There's a guy in Souk, man,
charged with destroying more than a
dozen flock cameras because he's sick of
it. People are getting arrested. There's
a lot of stuff that's happening with it,
right? So, it's it helps solve, you
know, crimes and kidnapping. So, there's
some positive to it. Can you go to the
website that shows exactly where they're
at and and if you go to the website, go
zoom out to show all around the country
first so everybody can see it. Keep
zooming out. Show this Jake if you guys
can. So these are all the cameras around
the country in America all over the
place targeting mainly Florida for
whatever reason.
>> So I also want to add that's only what
has been publicly sourced because this
is all volunteers who contribute to the
DFlock website. These aren't this isn't
flock telling you where they're putting
up. This is civilians reporting where
they see them. So there's more than what
you see.
>> That's a good point. And by the way, if
you zoom in and go all the way in,
literally down the street, there's one
down the street right here. 200 yards
away from here, there's one. Keep going.
Keep going. Keep going. So, we are right
now at the boardroom cigar lounge. Okay.
>> We got to go do something weird outside
of that camp.
>> We got to go take it down and get
arrested is what we got to [laughter]
do. Bring it back. Is that Is that the
one down the street, by the way? How far
is that? How far is that from here? 100
yards. Less than 100 yards. Is it fair
to say it's less than 100 yards? There's
one literally down the street from us.
Can you show the audience what it is?
And I'm going to go to Andy to see what
he thinks about this. This is what it
looks like, just so you know. So, this
this is the angle of the camera you're
looking at, but I want them to see what
physically they look like. So, if you
can go and pull up exactly what they
look like, these flock cameras, go to
images, they look like that. They look
just like that. So, is this a good
thing? Is this a bad thing? Are we here?
There's no control we have over this.
How do you feel about this? I I
understand why people don't like flock
cameras, but I am a fan of this type of
s of public surveillance.
>> Why is that?
>> Because we don't have a right to
privacy. We think we do, but it's not
actually listed out anywhere. We don't.
The term right to privacy doesn't exist.
But we do have the public expectation of
security from our police and from our
law enforcement agencies. So this
creates a deterrent to keep right people
doing the right thing and wrong people
getting caught. But it also creates a
trail of evidence that makes sure that
within our our our justice system there
is evidence that can be brought to the
table to prosecute people who are
charged with breaking the law. If you
are a law-abiding citizen, you have
nothing to fear from these things. It's
only if you are speeding, crossing a red
light, robbing somebody. If you're doing
something that you don't want to get
caught, that's when you don't like it.
>> Wow. Listen, just like lying, there's
nothing wrong with crossing red lights
every once in a while. Like, don't judge
the people who do it every once in a
while. How do you feel about this? Do
you like these? Would you support it
right across the street from your house?
>> So, yeah, please put as many cameras as
you want in my neighborhood because
al-Qaeda is targeting me and everything
ill can get is better. I like them from
a collection standpoint because a lot of
people think when there's something like
this, someone's sitting and watching it
all day and you really only go into this
data when you're looking for a piece of
info. Now, if people misuse it, this is
where it's always a concern, right? Like
these law enforcement officers using it
to like look up hot girls license plate
to like reach out to them. Yeah, then
fire their asses, right? We can have a
society where we collect information and
keep people safe. So, you know, that's
the cops are using it to track their
exes and said fire them period. Um, so I
like it because the more data you have
to solve a crime better. Now, do they
need to be everywhere? If there's a
sensitive spot, I don't want one over
like the the local pool or something. I
do think we have to be smart about where
we put them for people's some privacy.
But I do agree. I think having the data
when you need it, when something bad
happens, can save a lot more lives.
>> Yeah. I mean, some would say you I asked
Connor, I'm like, "So, did we have to
approve this? Is this something?" No,
they can do it. So, so you don't need
the permission to be able No, it's
already there. We're already being
watched anyways. No matter where you're
driving, this is the direction kind of
we're going. Did you see the recent
movie that came up with Chris Pratt
that's in it where he gets uh
charged with a crime of killing his own
wife and the judge is an AI judge. Did
you see this one or No, if you you guys
who's seen this movie? What's the name
of the movie by the way?
>> It was Mercy. That's it's Mercy.
>> If you I keep recommending people to go
watch this cuz it's so real where Mercy
is the judge but she's the AI. You have
90 minutes to prove to her that you
didn't commit the crime and she has
access to every camera. So whatever you
say, she goes straight to it and you're
like boom. Nope. Boom. Oh my god.
There's Oh, you didn't do it. So it it's
a very interesting thing. Do you think
we're going in that direction?
>> I I think there's a lot of value in us
going in that direction. I think there's
a lot of value.
>> There's value in going value in us going
in the direction of a surveillance
state. And I think that's the the
uncomfortable truth we don't like to
admit.
>> No value in going into surveillance
state. So you're here just to control
all of us. Andy, I knew it. Not just me.
I knew it.
>> I'm just here to say.
>> Why do you think that's good? Why do you
think it's good? Why Why do you think it
benefits us?
>> Because it keeps us safer without us
needing to put our resources into being
safer. Just imagine how much of your
effort goes into
>> You said secrecy is something we need to
have. Don't I need a little privacy?
>> You don't have a right to privacy. You
may want privacy, but you don't have a
right to it. My my point is if you're
imagine how much of our brain and effort
right now goes into locking our door,
locking our car, keeping us safe, you
know, whatever else. I was in a car. I
was in an Uber recently. The driver was
from Hong Kong. Chinese guy who who
comes to the United States for three
months at a time to work Uber to go back
to China.
>> I'm assuming you gave him a one star.
Not a good drive or was [laughter] it
was it a decent five?
>> Fine dude. Fine dude. Five star drive.
>> Just making sure. But he was amazing
because he sat in front talking to my
mother-in-law and he was saying how
amazing China is. And I was like, I'm
just going to keep my mouth shut. He's
like, "No, it's so safe. You can put
your wallet on the corner of a sidewalk,
leave, come back the next day, and your
wallet will still be there cuz there's
cameras everywhere. No one's going to
break the law." And there was a part of
me that was like, "Yeah, that's that is
the benefit of a surveillance state.
Keeps people safe. Keeps law and order
in place. especially really strict law
and order. And to your point about AI,
part of the reason I think AI is going
to continue to be successful is because
wealthy people can leverage AI to
replace unreliable people. And imagine
how far that could reach into justice,
law enforcement, security, etc.
>> Do you agree? Please tell me you
disagree with them.
>> I like surveillance where it matters
most. Like I would love to have the
whole like border um surveill like key
infrastructure.
I think there's still time and costs
when you collect information. So I agree
on places where I would want to solve
crimes around. I don't care if it's like
in the middle of like Montana unless
it's on the border.
I wonder it's kind of like the is
there's the debate of second amendment
like Idaho right everybody there carries
a gun so because they carry the gun
crime is one of the lowest that they
have and you go to Chicago you don't
have second amendment so because you
don't have second amendment carrying gun
crime is super high because the other
guys you know the bad guys are able to
get the good gun the guns but good guys
don't have it. So, is it kind of like
surveillance
lowers crime because if you get caught,
which you easily will, you're going to
go to jail so you commit fewer crimes?
>> It's a huge deter how you process it.
>> Yeah, that's exactly right. And that's I
mean that's not only how I process it.
That is something that we actively
exercise. Right.
>> What's What do you think is more
important? The the privacy of cameras
watching everything you're doing or
secrecy? You can you can keep one of
them and not the other one. Which one
would you keep?
>> Keep secrecy.
>> You'd give up your privacy. YOU'VE
ALREADY YOU GOT NO PRIVACY, MAN. This is
what I'm trying to get you and the whole
world to understand right now. We have
no privacy. You actually have no right
to privacy. None. None. But you That's
why your secrets are so important to
you. You don't have a right to privacy.
>> So in the in the house when I'm speaking
to my wife, should I go like this?
>> You can because today like I'm going to
get a red card and suspended. We can't
do that because that's like if you go
that guy,
>> man, you're at the house, you got to
start talking in a complete different
way. Uh, if you've got Alexa, if you got
a smart TV, if you got a smart
refrigerator, 100%.
>> So maybe picking up sign language and
speaking sign as long as you don't have.
>> Exactly. Right. As long as you don't
have text, they'll see it. So maybe you
write notes. You know, in the cigar
lines, we don't allow cell phones. So
here when you come in,
>> I don't know.
>> We It's the same way when you walk into
a CIA skiff.
>> Who who agrees? Who agrees with them
that with more, you know, giving up the
privacy surveillance state makes the
world a safer place? Who agrees with
them?
>> Oh,
>> two of you do.
>> A handful of
>> who disagrees? Raise your hand if you
disagree. Taylor disagrees. Roberto
disagrees. So, Ombberto disagrees. Why
do you disagree?
>> Think about how many hands didn't come
up.
>> Why do you disagree? Just say it. Can
you Can you say why you disagree?
Cuz you can't give the government that
much control in my opinion. Roberto, are
you in the same place of what he's
saying?
>> Do you know who violates your Do you
know who violates your privacy the most
right now?
>> Who's that?
>> Corporations.
>> Yeah.
>> Corporations. Google. [laughter]
>> In what way?
>> Your cell phone. Every app you have, you
have to give permission to a number of
things. You give permission for it to
know your location. You give permission
for it to know your contact list. You
give permission for it to know your app
use.
>> Exactly. But my point is, you're worried
about giving the government privacy
information. The government can simply
buy it from the commercial company
you're volunteering it to.
>> I'm agreeing to that contract.
>> Then you're agreeing to the government.
>> I don't agree with the camera down the
street.
>> Well, we're talking about two different
things then, but that's fair.
>> Did you have a follow-up? Did you have a
follow-up on it or No, you you had your
hand up.
>> No, no. I'm just saying I just the
government having all this privacy, I
just don't trust it. I I don't trust the
government for not one second. Google
fine, but the government I just don't
trust. You do know that Google sells
your information to the government.
>> Okay.
>> Yeah. But you're agreeing to that
contract on
>> then you're agreeing to the government
having access to your information.
That's all I'm trying to connect the
dots here. You can't say I don't trust
the government. I trust Google. I
volunteer to Google. Google is selling
it to the government. You can't say I
trust Apple. Apple is giving it to the
government. You can't say I trust Yahoo.
Yahoo is selling it to the government.
That's part of the the contract that
they have to maintain for national
security.
>> Okay. So, let me ask you this. Do you
think there there will come a time where
there will be remember the whole Atlas
Shrugged concept you know who is Jung
Gal do you think there will be countries
or or cities that will say here we don't
do that and some people that want the
privacy you know the the freedom to go
to that'll be a way of attracting those
people there
>> I think there are countries already
doing that Switzerland I want to say
does that and I think Germany does that
where they actually put privacy laws
that are hardcoded in place that's why
you can't you can't have cookies in
parts of Europe they are actually
protecting your private browser their
data.
>> How do you feel about that?
>> That's what they want to do. That's if
that's how they're trying to track
>> if that's how they're trying to attract.
They're also attracting dangerous people
to go there. But [laughter]
>> yeah,
>> if I'm going to commit a crime, I'm
going to go live in Germany.
>> If you're going to commit to go there% I
I wonder I wonder what is, you know,
what is going to happen with that side
as you as we're
>> I don't know. I I I wonder I wonder if
it's going to be something that the more
and more we have everybody watching us
in the next, you know, 5 10 years,
there's going to be more people that are
going to want the privacy and some
communities are going to be like come
here because over here you're not going
to be we're not going to have this,
we're not going to have that, we're not
going to have this. Like, okay, great.
I'll go live in a community like that of
people like-minded.
>> I think you should watch it. I think
people are being desensitized to this. I
mean, look, it everybody is online. Even
now ex is like, we want you to film
videos of yourself and put it on here.
So, we're getting a whole generation
that's perfectly fine having their face
all over the place.
>> And don't forget what happened
immediately following 9/11.
>> Everybody was okay with being pulled
over for any reason. We were all okay
with taking our shoes off.
>> I want to be a part of stopping this and
whatever I can do to help it move it be
safe.
>> There's a pendulum. There's an action
and a reaction.
>> You need a crisis though. You need a
crisis to use to say, you see, this is
why we're going to do this and moving
forward, we're going to protect you and
this is why we're introducing this new
technology by Palanteer and Anthropic
that's going to be able to protect and
you accept it
>> and you can create a crisis if you need
to.
>> Okay, any questions? Anybody have any
questions for them that we can go to you
guys right now at the audience if you
have any questions you want to ask?
>> Go for it. And you can direct it at
either one of them, either Andy or Sarah
or at the panel. Yeah, I think it's uh
for both. Goes back to the first
question you asked Pat. Um and we spent
a good time unpacking Israel and Islam
uh which weren't the highest threat that
they had indicated. They said China.
>> Mhm.
>> So maybe if we can spend a which I agree
with. Um maybe if we can spend a little
bit of time unpacking why and how China
is the greatest threat
>> and maybe you know where we see that war
of attrition between China and America
being the world superpower and where do
we see that playing out? Great question.
Great question. Why do you both of you
guys said China is number one? Why is
that? Sarah, you can start first.
>> Well, one of the things is China will
spend a thousand years on this plan.
We're lucky if the US government spends
two years on a plan. And they have been
incredibly systematic. Like I brought up
earlier, they're control in control of
chambers of commerces. They own land.
They own huge parts of our ports. And
they're every year taking more control.
They own telecommunications companies.
And there's going to come a point when
they can pretty much turn off and on
what they want. And people like, well,
how does that deal with anything? Well,
if we go to war with Iran, our military
is not even going to get from the base
to the port and leave because China
already has control of everything is
going to disrupt it. So, I think China
is the enemy who's put the most thought
and the most effort into a war with us
in the future, even if they don't know
when it's going to happen. And I think
they're going to be very successful
because they have manipulated us and
they have thought through every single
aspect you could imagine. And I mean I
think it's scary. I think they are
smart.
>> Yeah. And not only militarily and
strategically are they are they uh a
worthy opponent but also economically
they are already waging economic actions
that are war focused. They are able to
flood the market with US dollars. They
were able to pull back runman B to
increase and move their currency and
ours. They're already creating an
alternative to American technology
that's being adopted around the world.
Well, what creates our economic
dominance is our technology sector,
which they can steal, replicate.
>> They can't necessarily improve it with
innovation, but they can improve it by
marrying American technology with Saudi
Arabian technology and create some
Frankenstein that's just 5% better and
sell it across all of Africa. They have
so much decision-making power in such a
short period of time because they don't
go through the democratic process. So
they can push money to poor countries.
They can buy out warlords. They can make
massive global moves that that we freeze
and stall on.
>> By the way, who who are we not paying
attention to that low-key behind closed
doors is plotting and creating moves
long term? Who should we pay more
attention to that we're not? I think I
just don't trust Turkey. So, I feel
Turkey, they're good. I don't know.
They're not the best, but Turkey can
play in Europe, but they can play in the
Middle East. And they don't seem to have
any big problems with China or Russia. I
mean, obviously, they even buy stuff
from Russia. So,
>> is it Aragon or specifically Turkey?
>> I think Turkey. I think even if he's
gone, but India does the same thing
Turkey does, which is interesting, but
everyone's like, "They're the good guys,
so it's okay." So, they do the same
thing. So, I don't want to exclude
India, but they both play an interesting
game and they can play with everybody,
which I think is a little concerning.
>> I think what's dangerous about countries
like India and Turkey is they're smart
enough not to compete for the top spot.
>> Yep.
>> When you're the top spot, everybody
hates you. But if you can be number
seven or eight on the spot, everybody
wants to be your friend.
>> Mhm. And you're not the bad guy.
>> Yeah. That's interesting. When you talk
to For me, Turkey, I I I
they have one of the strongest military.
They have weight. They carry a lot of
influence. Everybody's worried about
them for whatever reason. Every time
America was doing a deal, they were
worried a little bit about how Turkey
would feel about them. Everyone's a
little bit like, well, let me see how
Turkey like, why are you so worried
about Turkey? They they must carry some
kind of a stick for everyone to walk on
eggshells around them a little bit.
>> They're the bridge. They're the bridge
between Europe and the Middle East.
>> They're the main reason. I mean there's
there's they sit at the hub of a lot of
spokes, military spokes, political
spokes, ideological spokes, religious
spokes, uh economic spokes. It's it's a
pretty powerful place to be. And and we
oftenimes underestimate Turkey and their
their culture is a culture of scrappy
entrepreneurial
innovation. It's one of the few
countries outside the United States that
is innovation focused.
>> Fair. Anybody else have a question? Any
other question? We have one back there.
Was Bitcoin created by an intelligence
agency?
>> I hope so because I would love to take a
little bit of credit something
[laughter]
that good, but I don't know. It It kind
of goes against what a lot of
intelligence operations really want.
>> I agree with you. I don't know for sure
where it was created, but I do believe
it's an industry thing and now the
government's like, "Oh crap, now we got
to catch up. It's a way people can hide
money. We hate when people hide money
and then the government can't even get
approvals to use to hide their own
money. So, um, it caused like a
headache. That's what I think. So, I
don't think it was internal.
>> Do you guys each own Bitcoin? Do you own
any Bitcoin?
>> I don't own any Bitcoin. I hardly even
own money. [laughter]
>> Don't come to me for investment advice.
I live in a 1950s bungalow. Like,
>> that's
>> I I'll drive the same car for 20 years.
I'm cheap as you wouldn't believe.
>> Well, that's good. Cheap is good though.
Cheap is okay. So,
>> but you say small town. What small town?
We're from
>> No, I'm from Michigan, but I'm just
saying I live in a tiny house and
>> No, no. You said you came from a small
town. What was the small town?
>> So, I came from a small town in
Michigan. I'm not going to say the exact
name of the town because I have tears.
That's against me.
>> Oh, no. No. You still Okay, I got you.
Fair enough. Now, if you're not living
there, I wouldn't do it if I were you.
Yes.
>> She actually lives in Hawaii today, just
so [laughter] you know.
in Kawaii down the street from a nice
resort
>> from Tulsa.
>> Yeah, that's where she's at right now.
[laughter]
>> Together.
>> Let's do one last question before we
wrap up. Does anybody have one last
question before we wrap up? This is your
chance. Going once, going twice.
>> Oh, there's one.
>> There's one. Go for it. [clears throat]
So with all this information, all these
uh terrorist groups sending people
either legally or illegally into our
over the borders, what practical advice
would you give the everyday person in
regards to this?
>> I mean, I think it's I look at all
crisises the same. So I think if you
prepare for something bad to happen, you
follow your gut, it's not going to
matter if a active shooter comes or like
three terrorists. So, I think you should
just think through when you're in a
situation. I like the what if game. Like
somewhere you go all the time, like
let's say I'm in the movie theater.
Okay, what happens if a shooter comes
in? What I'm going I'm going to do, what
do I have on me? What should I have on
me? And I like to have a lot of
scenarios like that that just every day
where I go um even when I'm driving the
car, what if I roll up on something? And
then I've thought through it multiple
times. So, I'm more prepared for when it
happens. So, I don't prepare for
terrorist events. I just prepare like
I'm stuck in a crisis. Do I have cash?
Do I have what I need? Um, if I can't
get home, if I can't communicate, what's
my plan? And that's more the way I think
of it. Like all these different plans
and all these different contingencies.
>> I don't I don't disagree completely. I I
would say that rather than playing the
what if game and having a number of
different conspiracies or con uh
contingencies, you have one rock solid
plan that you coordinate with the people
you love the most and you you roleplay
it. You exercise it. You put it on a
calendar so that you go through it every
30, 60, 90 days to make sure everybody
knows exactly what you're doing. CIA
taught us something called a
communication plan. A combo plan. And a
combo plan is something that has very
specific steps that you do regardless of
what the emergency might be. Maybe it's
a fire, maybe it's a shooting, maybe
it's an earthquake, but you have a plan
that you execute and everybody knows
what that plan is. A rally point by a
certain time, communication on a certain
phone at a certain time or if there's no
phone, communication via email at a
certain time. if there's no email
communication through a third party at a
certain time because you will probably
one of you will be able to call or email
a third party if you can't reach each
other and if you can train that to your
spouse to your partner to your kids now
when disaster happens not if when it
happens you're not worried about them
you know exactly where they're going to
be you know that they're going to check
for you every 3 hours every 6 hours
you're going to you're going to they're
going to check a certain email address
as soon as they get to an internet
connection anything like that. That way
you make yourself resilient against a
wide range of con of crisises without
not without finding yourself unprepared
for the shooter that happens at the same
time as the earthquake in the middle of
a thunderstorm. Right.
>> By the way, how many of you are glad you
came tonight to see this conversation?
Make some noise for tonight's phenomenal
conversation. If you guys are watching
saying, "I'd love to be a member at this
place so I can be a part of it." Go to
the boardroomcigar lounge.com. We'll put
the link below. And at the same time, if
you have any questions for either Sarah
or if you have questions for Andy, you
can find him on MCT. Ask him any
questions on Man as well. And last but
not least, do go follow Sarah's latest
podcast that came out the watch floor.
We're going to put the link below as
well. Is there anywhere you want uh us
to drive to as well?
>> Find me at everydayspy.com. Find me at
my YouTube channel, Andrew Bamante.
>> There you go. Everyday Spy, guys. Thank
you so much for coming down. I hope you
enjoyed it. I really definitely did uh
with the games and I'm sure we will do
another one here soon as well.
>> Thank you. Thanks.
>> Thank you everybody. Bye-bye. Bye-bye.
>> When we set out to create a shoe that
blends [music] comfort, function, and
luxury, we had the choice to make it
fast. We had the choice to make it
cheap. We chose neither. Instead, we
[music] chose Tuscan Italy. We chose
true Italian craftsmanship. Each pair
touched by 50 [music] skilled hands. We
chose patience, spending two years
perfecting every detail. And we chose
the [music] finest quality at every
step. Introducing the future looks
bright collection. Not rushed, not
disposable, [music] not ordinary, rather
intentional, luxurious, timeless.