All language subtitles for Real Time With Bill Maher S24E04 HDTV x264-NGP[EZTVx.to]

Start the clock.

Thank you. How are you doing?

Thank you, everybody.

I appreciate it. How are you doing?

All right.

Thank you, people.

I appreciate it.

Thank you for coming out.

Oh, you're going to laugh tonight.

First of all, we're going to get to all
the hard news.

Talking about what we're really thinking
about.

Tomorrow's Valentine's Day. I said that
for all the men watching who just went,

oh, shit.

It is.

So, you excited about that, Valentine?
Okay.

It's a stupid holiday, but you know
what?

People get into it. You know, St.

Valentine was a Catholic priest. That's
why to this day we exchange candy for

sex. That's why.

And, you know, there's always that
Valentine's Day movie they put out. You

what the one this year is?

Wuthering Heights. Are you into it? I'm
so into it.

It's all about the forbidden love of
Catherine and Heathcliff.

Of course, it's very modernized. Now,
when their forbidden love gets busted,

it's because they see them on the
Jumbotron.

Oh, it's so romantic.

You've got to feel the romance in the
air. I mean, I know a guy who said his

girlfriend wanted to be swept off her
feet and carried off to the tropics. So

reported her to ICE.

Good

news

out of Minnesota, people. We've done it.
We've liberated St. Paul from Somalia.

All right.

ICE is leaving town, so that's why
you're feeling extra patriotic. Of

could also be because Monday is
President's Day. Uh,

yep.

No, no. This is the day we pay tribute
to all the past presidents, even those

the Epstein file.

All the presidents.

And, uh, oh, no, no.

Our president now, Donald Trump, he
takes very seriously his place in the

of presidents.

He's going to honor it, Munda, by
posting pictures of all the presidents,

of them not as apes.

But I tell you, this Epstein story,

that is not going away.

The Attorney General, Pam Bondi, she was
before the House Judiciary Committee.

This week, they were talking to her
about how she mishandled this, and she

calmly answered all their questions. I'm
kidding, of course. She broke out Jeff

Ross's big book of insults for roasters.

At one point, she said to a congressman,
you're a washed -up loser lawyer.

Begs the question, what is the opposite
of legally blonde?

Oh, I kid, Pam.

I kid, Pam. By the way, she's got a
great Valentine's Day card for her

says, kiss me, you fucking asshole.

Now, this is all fun, but we have to get
to the story that

really matters, which is the EPA.

Little history lesson, Richard Nixon, a
Republican.

Okay, he started the EPA, the
Environmental Protection Agency, in

Trump has always said it's a hoax, the
whole thing, but climate change, he

scientists, climate scientists, he says,
are stupid people.

He says the idea that greenhouse gases
cause climate change, there's no basis

fact. He thinks it's just some bullshit
that people made up out of nothing to

get rich. You know, like crypto.

And, yes,

his EPA director, Lee Seldon, said this
is the single, this is a quote, single

largest deregulatory action in American
history.

Probably true. Also the biggest dick
move in American history.

Guys, this is not made up. You know,
this is science. Doug Burnham, he's the

interior secretary.

Listen to this, the way they all line up
behind this nonsense. He said, CO2.

Carbon was never a pollutant. He said,
when we breathe, we emit CO2.

Okay, Doug, you know what? Let's try
this little experiment.

Tonight, when you get home, go in the
garage, close the door, turn the car on,

and let's see if carbon is a pollutant.
Okay.

But... But...

You have to be a little sympathetic.

A lot of the conservative America is
very butthurt these days. They're still

recovering from the halftime show that
Big Bunny

did. They hated it because it was in
Spanish, but now they're pretending they

hated it because it was smutty and it
was sexual, very overtly sexual with

lyrics. Well, what do you expect? He's
not called Good Bunny.

Trump said, nobody could understand a
word the guy said.

I never understood a word Mick Jagger
said either. I still enjoy the show.

No, I looked at you like Olympic
curling. I had no idea what the fuck was

happening, but I was like, everyone
looks like they're having fun. Fuck it,

in.

But first up, he is a professor and
social psychologist who wrote the best

-selling book, The Anxious Generation.

He recently co -authored another one on
the subject, The Amazing Generation,

Your Guide to Fun and Freedom in a
Screen -Filled World. Jonathan Haidt.

over here.

John?

How are you doing?

How are you doing?

I wanted to see you back here.

Okay, well...

Look, I'm not going to lie to you. They
stand for pretty much anybody who walks

out here.

But I'm going to say to you, you really
deserve it. I mean, this book that you

wrote, you started with a thesis that
the phone, the smartphone, and all

contained in it, and the social media,
not benign, and adults need to do

something about it.

And you weren't the only one. We've got
Tristan Harris on this show and other

people. But you were the main one out
there. And this book did a lot of the

heavy lifting. And now this is actually
happening. So a grateful nation says

thank you to you.

And when I say it's actually happening,
Australia, right? Am I right? The first

country now to ban phones for kids.

Social media accounts.

We just got through the world tour
pretty much. Where is this happening and

are they doing? So it's now happening.
It's going to happen everywhere this

year. Everywhere?

That's my prediction.

So here's what happened.

Australia, their law went into effect on
December 10th.

And there was news coverage all over the
world. And a lot of the news coverage

was people saying or journalists saying,
hey, why can't we do that here?

And once everybody saw that.

then everything changed in a really
interesting way. I was just in Europe,

wherever I would go, I was knocking on
open doors. People wanted to do this.

What I think happened is you had Steve
Pinker on here last year, and he has a

book out called When Everyone Knows That
Everyone Knows. It's about the

emperor's new clothes moment, when
suddenly the kid calls out the emperor

clothes, and private knowledge, because
everyone already knew that, but private

knowledge becomes public knowledge.

And so what I think happened was...

Once everybody saw that everybody was
praising Australia, then everybody knew

that everybody wanted to do this.

And suddenly, all the politicians
realized, wait, the people are way out

of me.

I want to get back out ahead.

And so I met with President Macron in
Davos. I met with leaders of labor and

conservative in the UK. I met with
people in the EU. Wherever I went, there

parents. And parents everywhere have
seen this. And parents who are

are very aware of public...

sentiment. So this past month has been
an extraordinary period of global

This is the tipping point, like this
month, especially given what's going on

LA with the trials. So it's a different
world now than it was two months ago.

And that's all true.

But your book, The Anxious Generation, I
mean, look, I had a book that hit

number one for one week.

Last year. Yours is on the charts for
how long has this been? 95 weeks. 95

weeks. I just wanted to say, it's a
victory for

the issue itself about social media.
It's also a victory for books.

That a public intellectual, that term is
sort of out of vogue, but you are one.

There are not many left.

And the idea of a book changing people's
minds.

still can happen. I just want to take
that victory for a second.

Because it was very influential. This
book caught people's attention.

You just mentioned the trials. What are
you talking about? Tell us what you... I

know what you mean, the one that's in LA
that's starting. Sure, sure.

So imagine that there was a consumer
product that had killed hundreds of kids

and that had harmed or damaged literally
millions of kids.

But this consumer product...

had what seemed to be special protection
where nobody could sue them.

That would be a really bad situation,
and that's where we've been with social

media. Hundreds of kids are dead, and a
lot of those parents came to L .A. today

because for the first time in history,
the companies are being held

or at least they're going to face a jury
for what they did to the kids.

Right.

And what is the young woman who is
bringing this case? What is she

She's claiming that she was on, I mean,
the people being sued. First of all, two

of them already settled, right? Snapchat
and TikTok.

Two out of the thousands already
settled.

But Snapchat and TikTok are already out.

That's right, on this one case, the
first bellwether case. Right, but this

Meta. These are the people who bring you
Instagram, and this is Google, the

people who bring you YouTube.

That's right. Okay, so they're on trial.

That's right.

What is she saying happened, that she
was hooked? They purposely hooked her,

because it does remind me a lot of the
tobacco trials of the 90s. Exactly,

that's right. Because it's the same
dynamic where the tobacco companies were

there saying, well, first of all...

We didn't know it was addictive. They
did know it was addictive, and they just

didn't care. They were giving you this
delivery system. So it's sort of the

kind of thing. You have to be
responsible for something that's

What is he saying? He's saying that she
got hooked on these things and it made

her depressed?

Yeah. When you start spending 8, 10, 15
hours a day just on social media, You

know, the average American teen spends
five hours a day on social media, about

quarter spending seven hours just on
social media, the ad and all the other

stuff. You're going to be losing out on
sleep. You're going to be losing out on

social relationships. You're going to be
losing out on all the things that kids

need. And I don't know the details of
that case, what exactly she's alleging

about the chain of damage.

Almost all these, so many of these kids,
the case is that they became addicted

and then that affects their mental
health. That pulls them into dark

That puts them in touch with sexual
predators.

And what a lot of these initial trials
are going to hinge on, and we saw Adam

Mosseri testify yesterday, the head of
Instagram.

He said, oh no, there's no evidence that
it's addictive.

He said, heavy users, they have
problematic use. 16 hours a day she was

sometimes. That's just, that's
problematic. That's not addiction.

But these things were designed.

by people who studied slot machines.

Slot machines are addictive.

These people, a lot of them took a
course at Stanford on persuasive design.

learned how to use intermittent rewards,
variable ratio reward schedules, to

hook people.

And they did it. They talked about it.
We have transcripts. We have internal

reports. They did 31 studies, my team
has found. If you go to

medisinternalresearch .org, we've
categorized their own studies.

showing that this is addictive.

They talk about it. They use the word
addiction.

And so now for these guys to say, oh,
it's not addictive, just like the

industry. And would they let their kids?
I don't think the tobacco industry, I

don't think the tobacco guys let their
kids smoke. A lot of these guys don't

their kids use their products. But
there's a big difference, I think.

And I think comparing it to the tobacco
industry is actually unfair to the

tobacco industry because the tobacco
executives never saw children suffer.

They knew that they were going to give
them cancer eventually, but they didn't

have to look at children suffering and
dying.

And these guys have to face the reality
of these parents coming to them with the

photos. It was so moving this morning.

About 40 parents came to L .A. There was
a memorial showing tombstones that are

like cell phones showing the block
screens with these beautiful kids on

From suicide.

All sorts of things. So a lot of them
are fentanyl deaths because...

As one young woman said to me, everybody
buys drugs on Snapchat.

And you had a piece on gambling a week
or two ago. When you make it

and free, anyone can get any drug this
afternoon.

Really?

No, I mean, that's terrible.

I didn't know that.

So a lot of the deaths are fentanyl. I
mean, a kid buys Percocet or Xanax, but

it has fentanyl, and they're dead.

And that's what a lot of them are. And
the others are suicide after

cyberbullying or sextortion.

In one case, one mother I was talking
to, her daughter was cyberbullied into

suicide. And this was during COVID.

And the kids broke into the funeral to
continue the bullying after the grave.

And what I take from this as a social
psychologist isn't, oh, those bastards,

oh, those cruel kids.

What kind of sick environment are we
raising our kids in that this sort of

is now normal? Kids were always
bastards, John.

They were.

They were sitting when I was a kid. You
have to teach your kid to be decent.

You never read Lord of the Flies when
you were a kid?

Kids are shit. They are. They're little
Nazis. They have to be taught to be

civilized.

But I take your point.

An important point you make when you're
writing about this lately, I see, is

that there should be no parental
exemptions because I think that's what

people want now. They want some
exemptions out of this. You say you'd

have no laws than parental exemptions.
Yeah. So the key thing, you know, we can

talk about, oh, we need to make this
safer. Oh, we need more education. We

talk about all that stuff, but none of
that works.

All over the world, parents are
fighting. They're having the same fight

their kids. Mom, everyone else has a
phone. I'm starting, you know, sixth

Everyone else has Instagram.

And so parents are in a trap, kids are
in a trap, and we all have to give in

because everyone else gave in. So that's
called a collective action trap.

And so lots of countries are in Europe
and Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, lots

of countries are going to raise the age
to 16.

But in some countries, they're saying,
you have to be 16 to open an account.

if your parents give permission, then
you can open an account at 13 or 14.

And my attitude is, What the hell? Why
bother doing it? That just puts us all

back in the trap. So we need a clean,
like a global norm. Like, really, it

should be 18. This is an adult activity.

But I'm saying, let's just, if we all
agree to do 16, we can get it. We can

it fast. And that takes the pressure off
of the kids to spend their, to give up

their childhood to scrolling.

And now you have a graphic novel that's
a book really for the kids themselves to

explain it. Just plug it one more time
before you leave. What's the title?

It's called The Amazing Generation.

And it's for kids 8 to 13 years old.
Right.

And it's got a graphic novel about what
happens to kids when they get a phone.

And our goal with my co -author,
Catherine Price, we weren't... We're

preach to the kids. We let older kids
talk to them. They hear from older kids,

members of Gen Z, who really regret
losing their childhood, spending so much

it doing this, rather than, like,
talking to their grandfather before he

When you're getting life advice from Gen
Z, you know what to talk about.

Thank you, John, for your service to
humanity.

Favorite public intellectual.

Jonathan Haidt. Okay, let's meet our
panel.

Hello. Okay, here's a former national
security advisor, host of the Hoover

Institute's podcast, Today's
Battlegrounds, an author about war with

former Lieutenant General, H .R.
McMaster, General.

Great to have you here.

And there's Stephanie Ruhl. She's host
of MS Now's The 11th Hour and co -host

YouTube Lives, It's Happening with
Vilshian Ruhl, airing every Wednesday.

Stephanie Ruhl.

Last of us.

Okay.

Well. I think I'm going to start tonight
by saying elections have consequences

because I want to talk about this EPA
thing that's going on. I always thought

when Trump first ran, the most damage he
possibly could do would be the

environment because he was always
talking about what a hoax.

global warming was. And look, I mean,
have sometimes they exaggerated, have

some, I don't think they did themselves
any favors sometimes by predicting like,

oh, well, you know, we're going to hit
past the tipping point if we don't do

something by 2012. And then we did. And
now, but it's still really happening,

guys. It's not a hoax. Okay.

So here's what's going on. We had
something called the engagement rule in

This said the feds get to regulate
fossil fuels because we believe they are

danger to public health.

Well, what happened this yesterday?

Trump ended government's legal authority
to regulate basically what causes

pollution. The Environmental Protection
Agency cannot now protect it against

pollution.

This is like the Navy can't use ships.

But why are you surprised?

I'm not surprised. I'm angry.

A year and a half ago, during the
campaign, the president invited a bunch

and gas executives to Mar -a -Lago, and
he said to them, if you deliver me a

billion dollars in campaign donations, I
will pay you back in spades. And that's

exactly what we're getting here, a huge
win for oil, gas, and big coal.

Promises kept, you could say.

Well, you know, Bill and Stephanie, you
don't need washed -up generals to talk

about climate science. But I'm a
believer that global warming is a real

right? Man -made carbon emissions are a
problem.

But what we were doing wasn't working
anyway, really.

I mean, what we do in the United States
actually doesn't matter if China is

building 40 coal -fired power plants a
year.

So what I think we should do is come
together and work together on a market

solution. that actually worked, just
like it happened with the fracking

revolution, right? The largest reduction
in man -made carbon emissions in

history didn't come from a government
regulation.

It came from cheap natural gas
displacing coal.

That, I think, plus nuclear fission,
that gets us off the path toward global

warming and gets us cheaper energy.

But are we working, do you actually
perceive, in the current environment,

working in concert with other countries
to do that?

Well, I mean no I think what we can do

But we were working in concert with
other countries, supposedly, and it

work. So what you need is a market
solution that will get adopted in

India, in China, because you're
providing energy security for people who

be lifted out of poverty.

China's already moving way ahead of us
on this, as well as many other things.

But I pulled this card from years ago
because I thought you were here. It's

Pentagon. The Pentagon had something
called assessment risk that they used to

do. I don't think they do it anymore.

I think, from 2014.

You know, I don't think things have
changed. The world's only gotten hotter.

They said climate change posed an
immediate threat to national security.

This is the Pentagon.

It's your group, okay?

Because of things like pandemic disease,
global poverty, food shortages,

humanitarian crisis. In other words,
methods that are going to be created

because of climate change that the army
might have to step in and help. And

today, one of the things Trump did, he
directed the Pentagon to buy more

electricity from coal.

I mean, you know what this is? I think
this is like every reaction has an

unequal and opposite reaction in the
Trump administration.

why the hell is the Pentagon involved in
climate change? They should be. They've

got, I think, a more narrow mission to
focus on, which is to deter war, defend

the nation.

Now what you get, though, to the
Pentagon embracing sort of climate

catastrophism, which they were doing, I
think, in 2014, which, by the way,

there's been a reversal in that
appraisal by Stephen Kuhn and others

said, hey, it's not as catastrophic as
people had said it was. And so if you

spend... 10 % of your GDP, these are
economists, to reduce the risk of like a

5 % risk a generation ahead, that
doesn't make sense. We need different

solutions. Okay, this sounds brilliant,
but I don't think there's a single

person in the administration reading one
word of that. We're not even employing

America First policies. This is a
continuation of Trump First policies.

And if you don't think there's a big
coal donor behind this, then I've got a

bridge to sell in Michigan.

Again,

it's not all happening right now. The
worry is that what happens in the

I mean, when the planet gets hotter, it
does melt the permafrost. When the

permafrost melts, it releases crazy
amounts of methane and carbon that were

trapped. That just makes the cycle even
worse, because then that makes the

planet hotter, melts more ice, more goes
up there. That's the kind of thing we

worry about in the future.

Dick Cheney once said about terrorism,
if there's even a 1 % chance, we've got

to act like it's 100%. Wouldn't this be
just as much? I mean, I don't have to

put it all on you.

I would say, I think this is what your
show is about, is that, hey, that we can

be rational human beings. Yes, I hope.
We can begin with what we can agree on.

So I think what happens is the people
who steal all the oxygen from this

are the people, you know, maybe climate
catastrophists.

on the one hand, and climate deniers on
the other. I think the vast majority of

Americans are somewhere in between.

And we can recognize that what we really
do need are these market -based

solutions because, really, it doesn't
matter what we do if China, India,

developing economies in Africa, Latin
America, don't adopt solutions that

provide energy security but also reduce
carbon emissions. I don't think China's

on the page that it's a hoax.

I don't think China's on this page that
it's just all made up and we should go

more toward coal. I mean, they may not
be there yet, but that is their goal.

I don't think... Well, I mean, they're
still building a hell of a lot more coal

-fired plants, you know. And they're
doing solar. They're doing kind of all

the above. What they really want is
energy security. And if you're worried

the environment, they've destroyed their
environment. So a lot of what we've

done is like re -washing ourselves by
offshoring stuff to Trump. If the Sierra

Club would consider...

I don't know, a monument to the
president, a few trophies with his face

think we're good.

I think we're good.

You're an economist, okay? I am.

All right, okay.

So Trump is going to say the cars are
going to be $2 ,000 less, and they may

You know, that may be, and that might
turn a lot of heads. Sure, if you want

drive in a 1980s gas guzzler while
you're smoking cigarettes with the

closed, throwing Burger King out the
window. But this is 2026.

I'm just saying what he's going to say.

Don't yell at me.

This is his argument, okay, and it may
be true.

Okay, but here's...

The interesting part about this, China,
talking about China, the guy from Ford,

the head of Ford, CEO, I think his name
is Jim Farley, went over there last

year. He said, It's the most humbling
thing I've ever seen. Their quality of

their vehicles is far superior to what I
see in the West. Their Ford just lost

$19 billion on EVs. Trump says that's
because they were forcing this on us.

were forcing the EVs. That's why we're
doing this. We're changing everything

back to what it used to be and throwing
gas guzzlers.

Okay, I think the reason why is because
not that we're forcing EVs on people,

because we made shittier EVs than China
does. Ford lost $19 billion, and then

this guy goes over there and says, he
said, we're in a global competition with

China, and it's not just EVs, and if we
lose this, we do not have a future at

Ford.

Well, you know, this is kind of a
situation of our own making. With so

industries, and you know this much
better than I do, what happened is China

draws you in. They co -opt you with the
promise of cheap manufacturing.

So guess where we started to manufacture
batteries?

In China. The highest -end batteries in
China. We're manufacturing a lot of our

EVs, Tesla and other companies,
manufacturing in China. They promise you

to their market, cheap manufacturing,
and then once they steal your IP, they

steal your technology, they pick a
Chinese winner, subsidize the hell out

shut you out of their market,
manufacture at artificially low prices,

losses on that hardware or an EV, and
then dump it on the international market

and drive you out of business.

How many times do we have to go? through
that cycle. Okay, you know what would

be brilliant?

If the United States got together with a
bunch of our allies and created

something like, I don't know, the Trans
-Pacific Partnership, and these

countries work together to battle China,
who employs unfair trade practices. We

did put together the Trans -Pacific
Partnership.

It was President Obama, and the first
thing Donald Trump did was tear it up.

And now here we are, he's launching a
trade war that is not bringing an ounce

manufacturing back, where the tariffs
are costing the American people, and it

actually costs more to manufacture here.

Yeah.

They say the tariffs apparently are

going to cost each American family like
$1 ,000.

Who would have thunk it?

I mean, also, they did something.

A group called the Democracy Perception
Index, they did a survey of 96

countries. Three -quarters of them
prefer Beijing to Mar -a -Lago.

Like, we're losing the popularity
contest to China, which is not a good

I mean, the people are very nice, but
the leadership and what China does on a

human rights level, on so many levels,
is really quite evil.

Absolutely. I mean, so here's where we
are missing opportunities,

right? First of all, if you care about
Chinese economic aggression, industrial

espionage, subsidies, overcapacity,
overproduction, dumping on the

market, getting grip, an artificial grip
on the most critical supply chains to

use that grip on those supply chains for
coercive purposes, then we need

collective action to work on that. But
if we're kicking everybody in the ass,

you know, who could help you, maybe
you're not going to get the cooperation.

One of the things I used to say to the
president, you know, is the reason why I

was only there for 13 months. I would
say, I would say, I would say, Mr.

President, if we shoot all of our allies
to get to China, China wins, you know.

And so we should be working more
cooperatively. Then just explain me the

thing.

Maybe you have some insight into the
thing, because you mentioned the bridge.

There's a bridge that Canada is building
between, there's one there now, but

they're building a better one, between,
I assume it's over the Detroit River.

Detroit and Ontario.

Yeah, of course.

Okay. Trump, this is Trump this week. As
everyone knows, the country of Canada,

also known as Canada, has treated the
United States very

unfairly for decades.

How?

Canada is building a massive bridge
between Ontario and Michigan.

Prime Minister Carney, well that's
inappropriate, he's called him Governor

Carney before, wants to make a deal with
China which will eat Canada alive.

We'll just get the leftovers.

I don't think so.

The first thing China will do is
terminate all ice hockey. What the fuck

talking about?

I can usually suss out something in
this. I don't know where...

Why will China take over...

destroy hockey?

First of all... Canada is not only

responsible for hockey.

It's also responsible for heated
rivalry.

So there is nothing greater in this
country. But this bridge was paid for by

Canada. The bridge was built with U .S.
steel.

But this bridge will take toll money
away from another bridge that connects

Michigan and Canada. And that bridge is
owned by a big Trump donor who on Monday

had a meeting with Howard Letnick, our
Commerce Secretary, and immediately

following that meeting, Howard Letton
had called up the president, and poof,

no longer want this new bridge.

Yeah, I think this is the kind of thing
that is causing him, his popularity to

go down.

I mean, a number of things, economic
things, but also this, even the common

person, I think, understands that
there's always this self -dealing

with everything that goes on.

And, you know, we're still a democracy.

You know, it's only early in the
weekend, but...

And the immutable laws of democracy are
when you get weaker politically, which

he is now, people do begin to stand up
to you. We do see more people standing

up. This Canada deal, there are some
Republicans who joined Democrats who

we are not going along with your
tariffs.

on Canada because they want to make a
deal with China, who's going to get rid

hockey.

And why is Carney going to China?

He's going to China because of the
gratuitous insults. Like, what good does

do? With the mean that goes, like, part
of the United States.

And then to embarrass their
contributions.

Okay, hey, they do need to spend more on
defense.

But if you want the Golden Dome, not a
bad idea in my view, you need Canada.

So say, hey, guys, how about spending
more on defense? I mean, we have

legitimate issues with Canada, but the
gratuitous insults, and I fought

alongside Canadian soldiers.

They were incredibly tough, brave.

They were in one of the toughest parts
of Afghanistan, and they took a hell of

lot of casualties in Kandahar province.

You know, fighting after the 9 -11
attacks against our nation.

We love Canada.

We love Canada.

He did shake the tree when it came to
our NATO allies and said, pony up your

money. And you have to give him credit
for that. I do, absolutely.

But listen, it's Valentine's Day. Let's
get to the really important news

out of the White House is that there is
a baby boom going on there.

Usha Vance.

Pregnant, Carolyn Leavitt pregnant, and
Stephen Miller's wife's where they're

all about to have children. You know,
they love babies over there at the

conservative side of America. I don't
understand it, but they think we need

babies. I always think we need less.

Definitely less around me ever.

So anyway, since there's such a baby
boom going on at the White House, we

thought we would show you what some of
the things that are being bought these

days for the baby shower that's
upcoming. Would you like to see these?

This is the MAGA baby shower.

These are some very interesting stuff.
For example, there's a onesie that

not an anchor baby.

Somebody's also getting a doll that
cries liberal tears.

There's a baby mobile with the faces of
the cast of Fox and Friends.

That's so great for the child.

A baby's first blanket pardon.

Exactly.

Oh, this is interesting. Stroller nuts.

You know, that's like the truck nuts.

Well,

they love those truck nuts. Oh, a baby
monitor that alerts you when your child

is woke.

Autism -free infant Tylenol, that's very
important.

Oh, the Venezuelan boat bath toys.

And my favorite, a diaper that reads,
don't blame Trump, this is Biden's mess.

I have to ask about the story that has
just absolutely transfixed this nation,

which is the kidnapping of Savannah
Guthrie's mother.

It's a sad story. I hope it will come
out better than the news we've had so

We still have our fingers crossed.

But we seem to be in phase two now of
the reporting.

Phase one was we're obsessed with this.
Now I see all these articles analyzing

why are we obsessed with this.

My view is I don't want to become the
kidnapped country.

I mean, obviously, it's a humanitarian
story and we care about people.

But, like, we've seen things come to
this country that we didn't think would

ever come, like pandemics and terrorism
on a grand scale.

You know, Mexico and some other
countries around the world, you have to

wonder what's going to happen when you
leave the house.

I don't want to be this country.

People are, I mean, this is what got
Trump elected. We're going to get the

out. And then, of course, he went too
far and he lost himself even on that

issue, which was his best issue with the
voters.

But we don't want to become the kidnap
country. Yeah. Right.

Absolutely. And, you know, who knows
really who this kidnapper is at the

But if you look south of our border,
there's a real problem. You know, first

all. An unsecured border is a really bad
idea, it turns out. And Trump, I think,

does deserve a hell of a lot of credit
for reestablishing border security.

And what's happening in Mexico is 30 %
of the territory in Mexico is under the

control of the cartels. They control the
police forces. Now, because of AMLO,

Lopez Obrador, having judges elected,
they control the judges.

And they're moving it to different
verticals, right?

Human trafficking has been shut down for
them, but the narcotics trafficking is

still going.

And now they're responsible for a large
percentage of the fuel sales, the

legitimate fuel sales in Mexico and are
profiting from that. They're becoming

all powerful.

I mean, we have a lot of issues to work
out with Mexico, but I think Mexico has

almost an existential crisis going on
now. And it's in our interest and

certainly in the interest of the Mexican
government to go after that problem.

Let me bring the economist in on this
one because kidnapping was waiting

one of the reasons why it was so hard to
pull off because you had to transfer

money and money was always traceable. I
mean, every movie is, you know, drop the

money in a bag off the bridge. And then
a guy in a motorcycle gets it. No cops,

you know.

And they always would front, not with
crypto.

This is the part of this story I think
we need to talk about more that I don't

hear very much in the media.

Crypto. Crypto, the criminal's best
friend. I never liked this shit. I

thought it was a big scam. It is a big
scam.

And, you know, the guy who, the bit
dance guy that got pardoned by Trump.

Finance, whatever it was. You know, it
was because, well, he facilitated money

laundering. It's all money laundering.
Crypto is money laundering. You take

money and you buy this fake money, which
is a pool of untraceable funds you can

do anything with. That's why criminals
use it for sex trafficking and drug

trafficking and kidnapping and other
criminal enterprise.

And then they do whatever you want, and
then you can buy back the profit with

your real money.

Eric Trump said it in broad daylight.
The reason the Trump family got involved

in crypto was following January 6th.
when banks said, we're taking a break

you. So when actually real regulated
financial institutions said, we're

break, that's when they turned to
crypto. And when they realized what a

grift and phenomenal hustle it was, they
went all in. And when you bring up

Binance, that's the founder CZ, right?
This guy was sentenced to prison, right?

He then buys a huge stake in the Trump
family crypto business, World Liberty

Financial, and poof, he's out of jail.
He now is still one of the largest

holders of Trump meme coins, as well as
the business. How do you think the Trump

family is going to afford a billion
dollars in a year?

What kind of crypto regulation is there
at this point? None.

Well, I'd love to hear what you think
about this, because there has to be a

to regulate it so you can get the
benefits of crypto, which is kind of

democratizing finance, cutting out the
middleman. Whatever you think of

decisions to debank people, some of
those decisions were politically

Do we want to be on the receiving end of
being debanked for something? I don't

think so.

And then when you go to authoritarian
regimes and the ability to move money in

and out of those authoritarian regimes,
maybe we might want to support some of

the people in Iran who so courageously
stood up before that horrible regime

gunned down.

So there's some benefits to it.

How can you address kind of the
anonymity issue so that you don't have

traffickers and you don't have organized
crime networks moving money and still

have the democratizing feature of it?

Smart regulation, right? The answer
isn't yes regulation, no regulation.

But what we have in this current
administration, they basically are no

there's almost no prosecution of any
white -collar criminals in the crypto

space. There's almost no regulation
whatsoever.

During this week's testimony, you
mentioned Pam Bondi's testimony this

was asked about any sort of prosecution
in the crypto space, and what did she

do? Punted. That may have been the
moment when she brought up the

the stock market, which I'm pretty sure
has no bearing on what our attorneys...

general is testifying about.

So.

You just mentioned Iran.

I see that they well, first of all, I
thought if he was going to attack, he

would have done it by now, because he
did say a while ago when they were

starting to kill people in the streets,
we're not going to let you get away with

this. And then he just let them hang out
to dry.

America is not a very reliable ally. I
thought he was going to be different on

that anyway.

Now, here we are. There's two carriers
now. This is just as of a couple of days

ago now in the region. He also says we
have a discombobulator. I don't know

that is.

I'm glad we have it, though. Aren't you
glad?

I'm glad it's on our side.

I don't know. It sounds like something
Benny Hill has.

I guess I am.

Yeah, I certainly don't want to be a
discombobulator gap.

But, okay, so this week they put out
this, that we have to talk to our allies

first before anything happens.

He said we have to check with
international law and that we need more

put things in place.

I read that as saying they're going to
attack this weekend.

Maybe. You know, I think the chances are
pretty high. You do?

Yeah, I do. And I think the reason why
they were kind of left out to dry there

after the president's pledge to support
them is we didn't have enough defensive

capabilities in the region. We had
plenty of...

assets there to conduct strikes against
what you might think, the tools of

repression of the regime, maybe the
Basij or IRGC facilities.

But we didn't have enough to go after
what they might do in response.

You know, the counter missile, the
counter drone defenses, going after the

Navy, which has been harassing our ships
in the Bab al -Mandeb area and then up

in the Persian Gulf. Okay, but if our
goal is to stop... killing the

in the streets. That's the Revolutionary
Guard. These are the thugs who have

taken over this country 50 years ago and
still have it.

It's a combination of a theocracy and
this mafia.

is entailed in this attack that is going
to topple the Revolutionary Guard.

Who are we firing guns at? Who are we
firing our missiles at? And how will it

affect the people in the street? I don't
get it. Well, I mean, you could go

after the leadership.

And what the Israelis did in that 12
-day campaign is they took out... two

leaders of the Islamic Revolutionary
Guards Corps. So if you're a leader of

these organizations, the Basij and the
IRGC, you might maybe think twice before

now you've gone down 30 ,000 people
again. So I think that there are some

capabilities that are relevant to
dissuading them from the kind of mass

and brutality that we saw. It's really
unprecedented since World War II.

30 ,000 people, these are reliable
numbers, killed in a 48 -hour period.

What I would like to see are a number of
other actions taken internationally.

Why the hell is there any Iranian
embassy open anywhere in the world?

Kick those guys the hell out.

And a lot more financial pressure, we're
doing that. I mean, there's more that

can be done outside of the military
instrument as well. Okay, so that's

diplomacy.

And if what we're doing this weekend
potentially is bombing Iran, then

is trumping diplomacy.

And isn't the big question we have to
ask, let's say you bomb the hell out of

them. Let's say it's a brilliant
execution, right? What next?

People in Venezuela may be thrilled that
Maduro isn't there, but they're

panicked saying, what's next?

And we've yet to hear this
administration articulate any of that.

were a true cynic, they might say, could
the exact timing of this bombing be...

the president who understands politics
and media better than maybe any other

modern politician.

So on Sunday, when most likely all the
Sunday shows will be covering Pam

disastrous hearing, Howard Lutnick's
disastrous hearing, the reports out

the board about the Epstein files, we're
not going to be talking about that

because Iran will be the only thing in
the news. The only people talking about

that are the people you and I know on
the coast who watch those shows. Nobody

gives a shit about the Sunday shows. You
don't think America... No. Hold on.

That's not America. How many people
watch the... They do the Epstein files,

do. They don't watch the Sunday shows
and make their decisions. But President

Trump does. Oh, yes, he definitely does.
And that's what I'm talking about. The

other factor is Ramadan begins next
week. So that may be another... But I

I was very supportive of bombing the
nuclear facility in Iran. I thought that

was great.

I don't... I understood the goal there,
and I understood how it could just be

ended with the bombing itself.

I don't get this one. But...

I have like half a minute to ask you
this last question because you're the

military guy.

The START treaty, we're familiar with
this. This is the treaty we've had for

years between the United States and
Russia.

Well, if you don't know what the START
treaty is, it stopped.

It's now expired. We have nothing that
says that Russia and the United States

can't now build any number of nuclear
weapons.

What is your take on that? I'm okay with
the Star Treaty going away. Really?

Because I think it's the first step to
now doing something more broadly.

You know, China is increasing its
nuclear forces by 400%.

400%. They're not a party to the treaty.
It's kind of the same as the

Intermediate Nuclear Force Treaty that
went away.

It was important that that went away
because we were constraining ourselves.

Russia was violating it, and China
wasn't even a signatory.

So we were taking off the table for us
the development of land -based long

-range strike capabilities.

So I'm hopeful.

that this might be the beginning of
maybe getting back on the path towards

kind of a dialogue about strategic
forces.

President Trump, this is a priority for
him. I got to tell you. I mean, he would

talk about it often. He hates nuclear
weapons.

Putin kind of plays that card a lot with
President Trump. Hey, Donald, you know,

wouldn't it be great if we could work
together? And it's all lies. But anyway,

he plays that. But the real key is to
bring China in.

and to do it to reduce the stockpiles,
control them more effectively, but then

also work on non -proliferation.

All right. Thank you.

I got to go. Happy New Year, everybody.

Thank you.

Okay.

Hello. Someone with a psychology degree
has to tell me why the ultimate act of

joyous abandon is dancing on a car.

Big Bunny at the Super Bowl dancing in a
car. La La Land dancing on a car.

Fame dancing on a car. Michael Jackson
dancing on a car. Tony Catan for

Whitesnake dancing on a car.

Whoever these guys are dancing on a car.

Choreographers have ruined more cars
than ice.

Why?

Jeez, there's got to be a fresher way to
show you're fun and full of life, like

singing into a hairbrush.

No, someone must tell the Norwegian
biathlete who won a bronze medal and

promptly confessed to cheating on his
girlfriend on live TV.

Sometimes just say, I'm happy I won.

But congratulations on the bronze.

And also for winning the gold for
biggest dumbass.

No, well, if India's intent is to
intimidate us with a show of military

they're going to have to release a
different picture.

This photo doesn't say lethal combat
unit. It says the guy behind me is

too close.

Well, you can call it skiing, you can
call it snowboarding, you can call it

bobsledding, the skeleton, the luge, but
what we must all admit is that most of

the Olympics is just one sport.

Different ways to fall down a hill.

Somebody had to say it.

It had to be said.

I know of a 21 -year -old woman who went
backpacking through Australia, thought

she got a stomach bug, and ended up
delivering a baby.

Let's admit that she wishes she had just
gotten a stomach bug.

Because at least with that, all of the
shitting, pissing, and crying only

lasts a few days.

And finally, new rule, this Valentine's
Day, men have to give women what they

really want, to grow up and start being
men again.

a new word recently, hub son.

Hub son, like husband, but it's the son.

It's grown men who freed themselves from
the shackles of wage slavery to live at

home, rent free with the parents or just
mom.

They're also called kept sons. They live
with mom and do all the jobs dad used

to do. You know, fix stuff around the
house, take out the trash, make sure

it's mom's turn to host book club, the
girls have enough Pinot Noir.

You know, I wondered why Pornhub had so
many stepson videos.

It's because sons are dating their moms
now. That's why.

And it just works, okay?

There's no awkward getting -to -know
-you phase.

And if someone asks, hey, how did you
two meet? You can say, funny story, she

pushed me out of her vagina.

Is it any wonder so many women these
days are asking, where have all the real

men gone?

I mean, look at their dating profiles.

Living with mom is not one of the turn
-ons.

Guys in jail do better with chicks.

Men are so consistently disappointing
these days that there's a new trend

women are in lieu of dating.

Going to the shelter and walking a dog
instead.

At least that way there's some chance of
ending up with a nose in your crotch.

Sociologists say we're going through a
sex recession, which is like a regular

recession, except in a regular recession
you get laid off, and here you don't

get laid at all.

24 % of men, 22 to 34, say they've had
zero sexual activity in the

past year, what we used to call being
married.

44 % of Gen Z men report having no
relationship experience at all

during their teen years, except with
Adderall.

This is not healthy.

Although it does explain the steep drop
in cooties.

Scariest of all, 45 % of men aged 18 to
25 have never approached a woman in

person. The only women Gen Z men talk to
these days are Siri and Alexa, and a

fat guy in the Philippines is pretending
to be the guy they think they're

sexting with on OnlyFans.

Women are feeling so sexually
unfulfilled lately that there's a new

literature that's propping up the entire
book -buying market. It's called

romantasy. Kind of like the old romance
novel epitomized by Fabio on the cover.

Except women are so horny now, even he's
not enough. They want to fuck an actual

animal. I'm not kidding.

In the drawer with the vibrator in it
now.

are books with titles like My Minotaur
Husband, Sleeping with Monsters, The

Dragon's Bride, Stalked by the Kraken,
and Radley's Home for Horny Monsters.

Tales of romance, but with minotaurs and
centaurs, werewolves, vampires,

anything but a human man.

Seven foot tall, winged, shadow demon,
absolutely.

Viking warrior who carries you off over
his shoulder, no problem.

That's the message of these books. If I
can't find a man to get me off, I'll get

Dracula to do it.

Morning Glory Milking Farm is the

story... of a millennial girl who takes
a job at a minotaur milking farm.

You know, a minotaur milking farm.

And well, one thing leads to another and
she winds up fucking a guy who's half

bull.

Which brings me to Taylor Swift.

Hear me out.

Hear me out.

I think Taylor Swift epitomizes the
journey that a lot of women have been

through. Yes, women wanted men to be
more sensitive.

Sensitive, but not some noodle -bodied
human turtleneck who wears the same

clothes they do.

Timothee Chalamet is very talented and
I'm sure very sexy to women, but on the

hunk scale, he feels like the leftover
pieces from after they made Burt

Reynolds.

Taylor Swift went from writing songs
about what a dick this guy was to her

what a dick this guy was to her to what
a dick this guy has.

He dated a procession of skinny, fey,
gay -adjacent meeks.

Porcelain doll, shy guy, twink -like,
tortured poet, metrosexuals in American

Europe. But the second she got some old
-school wood from the heartland, it was

game over.

So welcome home, Taylor, and happy
Valentine's Day, but... I mean...

Taylor is hardly the only one. You can
hear it in the lyrics from all of

female pop stars.

They're practically screaming that they
can't get no satisfaction.

Doja Cat rapped, I don't really got no
type. I just want to fuck all night.

Charlie XCX and Billie Eilish have a
song that goes, try it, bite it, lick

spit it. Hold it in the side, get up all
in it.

Geez, when they're not saying fuck ice,
they're saying fuck me.

Problem is, they're living in a world
full of guys who are afraid to even make

eye contact without an NDA.

Because in America, the pendulum never
stops in the middle. The younger

generation of men caught the backlash
from like, you know, five million years

human history. And I feel for you guys.
You were born in a society that said

just being male was toxic.

And in a world where everything you said
was mansplaining and everything you did

was an eye roll and merely approaching a
woman could get you canceled, it got

very easy for men to just give up.

And when they did, Pornhub and Tinder
and OnlyFans were right there to take up

the slack.

Thing is, the technology changed.

Women didn't.

They still want eye contact and face -to
-face conversation and also a pair of

balls would be nice.

Because in real life, I'm sorry, I mean
IRL, when a girl blows you off when you

ask her to dance, you can't just type
fuck you and log off. You have to take

that long walk of shame back to your
table to tell your friends, no, she's a

lesbian.

All right, that's our show. I want to
thank my guests, Global National

Advisor, HR McMaster, Stephanie Ruhle,
and Jonathan Haidt.

Random drops every Monday on YouTube for
listeners to get your podcast.

Now go watch Overtime on YouTube.

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Happy
Valentine's Day.