All language subtitles for 1 1 Real.Time.with.Bill.Maher.S24E07.480p

Start the clock.

People, how you doing down there?

The whole crowd is here. Thank you.

Thank you.

Great to see you.

Thank you so much, people.

Look at that.

Thank you so much. I appreciate that.

Look at that. Look at all these people.

We sold the place out again. Every week
we sell out here.

So listen, I'm glad you're in a good
mood because a little scary stuff here,

know, with the war going on. They say
Iran may be sending war drones to attack

California. Why California? Well, they
say maybe because there's so many

dissidents here, or it may be a last
-ditch effort to get on Trump's good

We don't know, but we're looking into
it.

But, you know, here we are, week three
of the war, and Americans want to know

two things. One, what is the strategic
objective?

And two, the shit I get from Amazon,
does that go through the Strait of

Yes, it does.

If you haven't been following this
closely, you know Iran, one of the

oil producers in the world.

A lot of the oil comes from Iran. And it
all goes through this bottleneck.

called the Strait of Hormuz, and the
administration seems to be caught off

that if you attack a country, they might
use their best asset for leverage.

This way is all in the sequel to The Art
of War called The No Shit of Sherlock.

So, it's kind of fucked there in the
Strait of Hormuz.

And of course, this has driven up the
price of oil a lot, but Trump...

Yesterday he said, you know, the United
States is the biggest oil producer in

the world still. He said, when oil
prices go up, we make a lot of money.

Who's we?

That was my question.

I think Exxon Mobil makes a lot of
money. We dig for change in the cup

don't... But...

Trump said that the Iranians have no
Navy, no communications, and no Air

and they shot back and they said, and
you have no affordable housing, no

function in Congress, and no attention
span. Game on.

But... Don't take that the wrong way.
I'm on

our side.

Okay, I'm for us winning, all right? I'm
not on that page if Trump did it, so

I'm with the Ayatollah now.

But I got to say, they are looking a
little nervous in our war room.

The Pentagon banned photographers this
week for the briefing because Pete

Hegstaff said some of the pictures of
him looked unflattering.

Pete wants you to know two things about
our military. This is the new alpha

male, very masculine, non -woke
military.

Also, don't get my bad side.

This is the most macho administration
we've ever had. Also the gayest.

I've got to say.

I don't mean literally. I'm just a lot
of redecorating.

I'm just saying. Also, Trump has a new
thing. I'm not making this up.

He's guessing other men's shoe size.

Am I making this shit up? I'm not. He
has been...

He looks at other men and guesses their

shoe size and then they send them a
pair. The entire cabinet is wearing

got them, including Marco Rubio, where
they didn't fit, so he's in clown shoes.

I'm just saying...

It's a little weird for a man to look at
other men and go, what you got down

there, a nine and a half?

But I don't know.

Of course, it's also today, Friday the
13th.

We're applauding that.

I'm not superstitious, but if you're in
Tehran, I wouldn't walk under a leader.

Have a new supreme leader over there.

Oh, good. We didn't applaud that.

Yes, it's the late Ayatollah Khomeini's
son. He goes by the name Nepo Kablooey.

And he's a very holy man, like his
father. Holy man.

Very holy man.

But it's a big tidbit. Four times he has
traveled to a clinic in England.

to treat impotence.

Yes, I love the Ayatollahs. They hate
the infidel West until their dick

work.

And then it's... Get me on the 2 p .m.
to Heathrow, okay?

Yeah, four trips. Four trips to this
clinic. This guy's got a real problem.

I mean, when he gets to paradise, he's
going to say to the 72 virgins, can we

just talk?

And we're not even sure if he's still
alive.

Trump said yesterday he's alive in some
form.

Like Mitch McConnell, I assume he means.

But, yeah, it's a tough, tough

time for the new Ayatollah.

He is trying to stay positive. He said,
if I live, I'm the leader of Iran. And

if I die, I'll finally be hard.

All right, we've got a great show. We've
got Anthony Scaramucci, Lloyd

Blankfein. But first up, he is the
Democratic governor of Pennsylvania,

new book is called Where We Keep the
Light, Stories of a Life in Service.

Governor Josh Shapiro, back with us.

There he is.

Hey.

Governor.

All right,

you're back with us. You must have done
good the first time. I guess. You had me

back. Thank you. That's what we do here,
by popular demand.

And you have a book. I do. What is the
title? Where We Keep the Light.

What is the story with always writing a
book when you're running for president?

I wrote a book.

I wrote a book to try and...

highlight the people that bring light in
my state, the people I see every day

doing good things, because our politics
don't match the goodness of what I see

on the ground every day, the goodness of
the people. And I think hopefully this

book will inspire our politicians to
start taking the cues from the people

are doing good every day. But don't the
politicians, if they're elected by the

people, aren't they the representative
of the people, doesn't it have to go

on the people? If we were in some
country, would they just top down like

We're the people, the leaders on the
people, but they are a reflection of us,

are they not? I think for a long time it
was a righteous cycle, right, where the

people would elevate folks who reflected
the goodness of community.

That has changed, particularly over the
last decade.

And I think what we need to do is figure
out a way to get back to that. We've

got all kinds of incentive structures in
our media, in campaign fundraising, in

the way we conduct our politics to go to
the extremes and to go to the lowest

common denominator.

I think people are frustrated with that,
rightfully so.

We've got to figure out a way to turn
that around.

Yeah.

What is that way?

I think that way is to be a GSD
Democrat, which is what I am, a get

Democrat. I think one of the reasons...
Can I say that here? You can say it

anywhere now. A get -shit -done
Democrat.

There are nobody in politics if you
don't use bad words.

No, but look, I think it speaks to part
of the frustration people have is they

don't see many of their elected leaders
putting points on the board for them.

solving a problem. And when you don't
solve a problem, when you don't fix a

system, when you don't deliver the thing
they need for their kid or for their

household or a job in their community or
a safe community, they get more

frustrated, more cynical, and our
politics gets more broken.

I think there's a number of people doing
a great job of that across the country.

Unfortunately, the people who tend to
make the headlines, the people who tend

dominate on social media, are not the
ones who are delivering real results.

for the people, in my case, the people
of Pennsylvania, but I think the people

of this country deserve it. I think in
cities, people would say it's dominated

by one party. Certainly that's the
problem, I think, here in California.

Now, you had a bridge collapse, and you
got it back up in 12 days. That's right.

Unfortunately, that is not the story we
usually hear. What we usually hear is

nothing can get built, and nothing can.

We see it all the time. We couldn't
build a railroad here in California. We

tried to connect the two ends of the
state. It just didn't happen. Too many

environmental reviews, too many
consultants, too much lawyering, too

bureaucracy, too much red tape. It just
doesn't get done.

I feel like this is something your party
really needs to take on. Maybe you're

the guy to do that.

Well, we've tried to do that in
Pennsylvania, and I -95 is a great

that. The experts said it was going to
take four to six months to get that road

reopened. We did it in 12 days by
getting rid of the sort of bureaucratic

tape, the dominate thing, by putting the
Philadelphia building trades in charge

and empowering them to be innovative,
and by getting out of their way,

away all the things that hold people
down and slow things down, and instead

it work. We didn't stop there, though.

We reformed our permitting system in
Pennsylvania. Went from the bottom of

pack to the top of the heap. A business
license that used to take eight weeks in

Pennsylvania, the day I got sworn in,
you get that the same day.

Buildings that would take three years to
get their permits, they're now getting

it in three to six months. Can you move
here?

That is not our experience here. That is
not our experience. I know it sounds

nerdy and wonky, but if you want to give
people... No, it sounds wonderful.

If you want to give people hope and less
cynicism in the process, you've got to

show them government can work. We can
still protect public health, public

safety, and the environment.

And move quickly. I mean, it was a rough
winter back east. And I read, I can't

remember what the number now is, but it
was approaching like 30 people, homeless

people who died in New York, freezing on
the sidewalk.

And it just made me think, why can't the
Democrats just have the balls to say,

well, one, the sidewalk is not for you,
for anybody. It's public.

It's public.

And just for compassion's sake, we're
going to make you get off the street and

into a shelter.

Why can't we even build shelters?

And that's what I think people look at.
They say Democratic -run cities, they

can't even do that. And people died for
it. I know you're giving me an example

from another state. I'm less familiar
with that. I can just tell you in our

cities in Philly and Pittsburgh, run, by
the way, by Democratic mayors, we've

addressed... homelessness. We built a
shelter in Pittsburgh. We're treating

people humanely and getting them the
help they need, but also making it so

businesses can thrive in those
communities, so that there are clean

safe communities.

Look, to me, foundational to everything
is a safe community. You don't want to

live in that area. You don't want to
work in that area if it's not safe.

So,

sir.

Sounds like you're well on your way to
the nomination.

I refuse to take any of your bait here.

Good for you.

I don't know if you're clapping for me
or you. It doesn't matter. We're both on

the same show.

I get the credit either way.

But here's the question I have to ask
you, which is something I would have

guessed I would be asking a Democrat in
this year, which is that you're a

Democrat running possibly for the
nomination. For re -election as governor

Pennsylvania. And you're Jewish.

Yeah. And this is somehow.

may be a complete deal breaker in the
Democratic Party.

I mean, the speed at which anti
-Semitism has gone to a place where I

imagined it would go. I mean, just this
past week, bombings at synagogues in

Toronto, Belgium, Michigan. The guy
drove a truck with explosives into the

largest synagogue in West Bloomfield.

Norway, they arrested someone.

Suspicious behavior outside a synagogue.

Rotterdam.

In the Netherlands synagogue, I see a
pattern here.

And somehow it got to, among the young
people, anti -Semitism got to be kind of

cool.

You think you could, if you did run for
president, you could fight this and

convince the Democratic Party that being
Jewish isn't like the worst thing a

person could be now?

Let me address both pieces, the anti
-Semitism and sort of the politics.

of being Jewish, as you ask. When I ran
for governor, the first ad that I put on

TV was something to show who I am, what
motivates me to serve, which is family

and faith.

And the first ad was my family and I
doing what we do nearly every Friday

which was sitting around the Sabbath
dinner table having a meal together.

We ran that ad despite a whole bunch of
political consultants saying, hey, don't

run that. They're going to know you're
Jewish. I'm like, I think they know I'm

Jewish.

But Bill, I share that with you because
after we ran that, I'd show up in North

Philly, and folks would tell me about
their iftar after Ramadan. They were

excited to share that with me. I'd show
up in rural communities where I might

increase the Jewish population by 100 %
when I get there, and they'd tell me

about what lunch is like after church on
Sundays.

The point I'm making is that I believe
people are good, and they are decent,

they want to know who you are at a deep
level, and when you are open with them,

They're more apt to be open with you. I
won that election, got more votes than

anybody in the history of Pennsylvania
running for governor.

Because I'm proud of who I am.

I'm proud of what motivates me to serve
and I'm proud of my faith.

I will tell you at the same time, anti
-Semitism is a real problem in this

country. And unfortunately, one of the
things that has seemingly united the

extremes of both parties is a pervasive
sense of anti -Semitism.

and bigotry and hatred toward Jews.

And I think all leaders, Democrat and
Republican, have a responsibility to

it out, to speak and act with moral
clarity. I'll give you an example of

moral clarity. Governor Gretchen Whitmer
in Michigan today spoke out with moral

clarity about what happened in Michigan,
pardon me, yesterday.

But I think it is also important that it
not only be words after a violent

incident. Thank God no one was killed in
Michigan.

There are seeds of anti -Semitism being
planted all over this country. People

are being platformed. Folks are looking
the other way and nodding toward it and

allowing it to happen in their
businesses, on their screens, and in

politics. And we have to speak up about
it. And I don't care if it's coming from

people in your own party, people you
agree with, people you need to vote for

you. You've got to call it out. We
cannot let this...

In our country, continue the way it is.

Okay.

So, final question.

Your fellow Pennsylvanian, John
Fetterman, he's one of the few people in

party who has come out and said, look, I
don't understand that everybody in my

party said we can't allow Iran to have
nuclear weapons, and yet when we do

something about it, they're against it.

Now, our chief negotiator said they were
talking to Iran up until the war

started. He said...

Their opening salvo was at the
negotiations.

We're a couple of weeks away from having
11 bombs.

They were bragging about it.

If you were the president and you got
that information, you'd still do

I never said. I'm asking.

No, what I would do and what the
president of the United States failed to

be clear with the American people about
what the hell we were doing here. With

the plan to go after the nuclear weapon,
the weapons, by the way, he said were

destroyed. seven years ago, or seven
months ago, pardon me, was the plan to

and do regime change, in which case, who
the hell is going to take over? I don't

think the son is any better than the
father. Was the plan to go in there

but then you got forced because
Netanyahu forced your hand? Remember

that? So it's a matter of clarity. I
think if you don't have clarity on why

you're going in, you have no way of
knowing how the hell to get out.

And so we are in a situation now.

Well, we have a commander -in -chief and
his sidekick, Pete Hegseth, who are

acting like a bunch of eight -year -olds
playing with toy soldiers.

We've lost 13 American soldiers in a war
that the American people, and by the

way, most of the global community, has
no idea why the hell we went there in

first place.

And the President of the United States,
our commander -in -chief, owes us an

answer. I think people have an idea.
What was the reason we went in? Well,

everything you said.

The nukes.

regime change, and just to reshuffle the
deck in the Middle East, that nothing

was ever really going to get better
there until that regime went away.

But we'll see what happens.

No, but by the way, understand, I want
to be clear, because I've heard your

commentary on this. I'm not saying the
Ayatollah is a good person.

They chanted for five decades, death to
America.

These are people who blew up and killed
Americans. These are not good people,

and I am not shedding a tear.

for them being killed. What I am saying
to you, though, is if you're the

commander -in -chief, you have a
responsibility to the people you send in

way. You have a responsibility to the
American people to explain why it is

you're doing what you're doing and how
the hell you get out of it once the

mission is accomplished.

The president has yet to look the
American people in the eye and explain

and that is a failure of leadership.
Thank you, Governor. I appreciate you

coming by. Good to see you later, right?
Okay.

Governor, Josh Shapiro, everybody.

All right, let's read our panel.

Okay. Hey, guys.

All right, here's the former White House
communications director under Donald

Trump, whose new book, All the Wrong
Moves, How Three Catastrophic Decisions

to the Rise of Trump, comes out this
fall. Anthony Scaramucci.

And he is the...

Former CEO of Goldman Sachs and author
of the new book Streetwise, getting to

and through Goldman Sachs, Lloyd
Blankfein. Lloyd, welcome to the show.

All right. So we are going to talk about
the war. But first, because I've never

had two Wall Street guys on the show at
the same time. So let's talk about money

because you both have a lot of it and
you like it.

Who doesn't like money?

Because I think this is much more
actually on people's minds. I mean,

came out this week with their richest
list.

I guess you guys have been on it. I
don't know. We're close to it.

Musk,

$840 billion.

We are approaching the first
trillionaire.

I looked it up. You know, John D.

Rockefeller at the early part of the
last century was worth 2 .5 % of GDP.

But they did something about it. They
broke up Standard Oil.

There was antitrust laws that were
passed.

I mean, they were just saying, you can't
one person have 2 .5 % of our gross

net. It's just not.

Musk has now 2 .7%. There's a lot of
talk about a wealth tax, what we should

when people have this much money. But
when they want it, they proposed it here

in California and also in Washington
State. They leave.

Zuckerberg has left.

DeCamp to Miami.

Schultz, the Starbucks dude, he's out of
town.

Musk did it. Sergey Brin, Steven
Spielberg moving.

I'm the farthest from a socialist or a
communist because unlike the kids today,

I don't get my intuition from TikTok. I
know the history. I know communism

doesn't work and neither does advanced
socialism.

But what we have now.

I can't make the case that's working
either. What is the answer to this

inequality problem that we do have?

Next question.

All right.

I was being deferential to my old boss,
but I'm happy to chime in first. Go

ahead. Well, listen, there's a lot to
unpack there. I think you're right, but

think going through our history,

Teddy Roosevelt, who was actually a
Republican and the founder of

he went and broke up the trust.

But there's something called Citizens
United where since January of 2010,

you're allowed to give unlimited money
to the politicians. It's up eight times

the campaign donations. And 36 percent
of the donations are coming from the top

0 .1 percent of the people. And guess
what they're doing? They're talking the

politicians into not breaking them up.

giving them corporate tax cuts and et
cetera.

And so there's a lot of things we have
to do to reform it. But you are right.

But monopoly busting is something that
was done in the beginning in the

Renaissance era. And we're not doing it
anymore because of the undue influence

of these people.

So what's again, I hear no answer.

By the way, busting up and Citizens
United got to break up some of these big

businesses and you got to have some type
of tax to equalize the situation.

So taxing more.

Say we tax Mr.

Musk. He's got $840 billion.

Say we took away $500 billion and left
him with a mere $340 billion.

Do you have confidence that that would
solve the problem? What would we do with

that $500 billion? Like actually just
pass it out to poorer people?

I'm not mad at Elon Musk. Elon Musk
makes those, he put in all those

that are going to make everybody's
telephones work better. He has those

ships landing in tandem.

Unlike the people of Rockefeller's era,
like the Carnegie's, these guys who

generated all that wealth today are
still in the game, still competitive,

I think, creating wealth in the country
and advancing our economic interests.

They have a lot of money.

That money gets reinvested. I think the
answer to solve the problem has to be

for a more progressive tax system than
we have today and to give

more people for free the necessities of
life like child care, health care,

other things that rich people can afford
that poor people have to scrimp to.

to give those things, have the higher
minimum, and to pay for it with a

progressive system, and hopefully, and I
know this is, everybody always says

this, knock out some of the waste, and
maybe you don't have to raise too much,

the absolute level of tax, but we
certainly have to have a much more

tax system, and that's the way to do it.
The economic system that we have has

done a great job creating wealth.

Now, it's created wealth by increasing
the value of assets.

And so people with assets have gotten a
lot richer.

But the people without assets haven't
participated.

They don't have assets, so their assets
aren't going up in value. And I don't

know what the billionaires don't get
about it. Those people are going to get

mad. I mean, the CEO of Davidia and the
CEO of Anthropic, they both said,

tax me more. Okay. Because they're going
to come after us with pitchforks. Read

the room.

Luigi is a hero.

The guy who shot the health care
executive. It's a tragedy.

Yeah, tragedy for that guy.

It's going to be a tragedy for
everybody.

You had James Tallarico on earlier. He
said something people should really

about. He said, you know, we have
policies that can help and satisfy the

but we have no policies that can satisfy
the rich, implying that when you make

suggestions like Lloyd is making, you
get tremendous amount of resistance,

and you get unlimited money of
politicians that will stop that type

progressive tax movement or would stop
those changes that need to be made to

make the system fairer. I don't know. If
I had that kind of money, I sure

wouldn't act like the way these guys do
and flaunt it. Well, you're right. You

know, I wouldn't buy a yacht.

You know, peace of mind, much more
valuable, I think. I think all the guys

you're naming.

are working like dogs. They're
competitive.

Again, the people that you named earlier
from a different century, they retired

at 40, and they did the world tour, and
they bought pieces, and they donated to

museums. They didn't stay active in
their businesses.

These guys are killing themselves.

They're going crazy because one guy's
model.

One guy's model is working better than
his, and they were doubling their

efforts. This is why they have this. I'm
glad they're working and incentivized.

I mean, I think a lot of these people
are national assets.

Now, if you want to put on, I think it's
really the political sector that's

failing here. I'm not mad at these
people that are creating wealth and are

creating jobs and advancing the
interests of America. We're not mad at

We're just saying.

But they're not doing it.

The political sector has to... But
you're not going to voluntarily give it

No, but the politicians, I think the
political sector has to deal... Again,

we're doing a very good job at creating
wealth. We have to distribute it

according to our values. But the
distribution part is not the burden of

generators. It's the political sector. I
think Bill's saying something

differently. Lloyd, I read your book. It
was phenomenal.

You grew up in...

public housing more or less in Brooklyn,
and you had this aspirational life, as

did I.

And when you have a funnel at the top
like this that's so concentrated, people

that grew up the way you and I grew up,
they feel economically desperational as

opposed to aspirational. So there's a
sense of unfairness going on.

No problem with Elon Musk. Have at it.
I'm all for unlimited upside.

But we really do need a platform of
equal opportunity to get people to the

starting gate, to make them feel that
they, too, can make it. And I'm telling

you right now, the reason why we have so
much populism, Bill, is people don't

feel they can make it. anymore. And
people that grow up like you and me,

they feel left out of the system and
they're angry.

And I don't feel they're hearing this
and thinking, that's helping.

Maybe it is. I don't know. I'm not quite
sure what we're saying here.

All I know is, like, these people who
think that you can be – you said they

working. They keep working. They also
need a lot of security now because –

Is it worth it to have to have
bodyguards around you all the time? When

out knowing that people hate you so much
because you're so rich and because you

live so ostentatiously that you can't
just freely walk about. To me, there's

greater freedom than that. There's no
greater asset than that. I don't think

ostentatious... What?

Were you at Bezos' wedding?

No.

That's not a...

I hang out in a different crowd.

Yeah, I do too, but you know, come on,
there's a lot of... I think living in a

bob -wired McMansion in a security
compound while your fellow neighbors are

suffering is really bad for the economic
health of society. We've got to fix it.

Okay, so, interesting story in the news
this week.

Donald Trump put out an executive order.
You worked for him for a while,

remember?

954 ,000 seconds, actually.

When I say it that way, it makes me feel
better.

Oh, dear.

Yeah, I told a dude it lasted longer
than you.

He put an executive order. It is the
policy of the administration to

federal sites dedicated to history,
including parks and museums, to solemn

uplifting policy, to remind Americans of
our extraordinary heritage. Okay, this

is my issue with so many things. The
pendulum never stops in the middle. Have

watched history somewhat? Yes, we have.

But Trump comes in. He wants to, you
know, because the left very often, let's

honest, they don't appreciate America
enough. They don't have it in

It's all we did terrible things.

Well, we didn't just do terrible things.
But Trump wants to whitewash all that.

So he has said that the move to scrub
national park sites of signs that

cast America in a negative light and
leaked an Interior Department, a leaked

Interior Department database reveals the
U .S. plans to revise historical

information. So this must already be
happening. We went to the Smithsonian

got some pictures.

Would you like to see what's going on?
Oh, my God.

For example, George Washington famously
said, I can tell a lie.

And every future president should be
able to as well.

When George Wallace stood in the doorway
of an Alabama schoolhouse, he did it

because he thought he felt an
earthquake.

These are definitely not...

On December 7th, 1941, Greenland
attacked Pearl Harbor. I don't remember

way, but... The first thing Neil
Armstrong did after he was put on the

dance like he was jerking off two guys
at once.

That does not sound... Most of the U .S.
soldiers who

landed on Normandy Beach during D -Day
were killed by windmills. That...

Ronald Reagan said to Gorbachev, Mr.

Gorbachev, build this big, beautiful
wall.

Thomas Jefferson had sex with his slaves
because when you're a star, they let

you do it.

The man who assassinated Kennedy was
really named Lee Harvey Ortega.

And in the 1850s, over a million Irish
immigrants came to America, escaping

starvation because Rosie O'Donnell had
eaten all the food. All right. That's

true. So let's talk about the

war for a minute. Okay.

Good segue.

Trump says no Air Force.

Iran has no air force, no missiles, and
no navy.

He says there's nothing left to bomb.

Yeah, we have nothing left to bomb.
Apparently they have something left to

which is the Strait of Hormuz. I don't
understand this. We have complete

military superiority.

We're bragging about that.

Except for the one place where we
apparently need complete military

Do you understand this, why we can't
control the Strait of Hormuz, the one

we need to control in Iran?

I don't think it takes much effort to
create an obstacle on a very narrow

bottleneck there. So I think they don't
have to have much firepower.

If they're going to accomplish
something, it's going to be by bringing

regime down and getting some sort of
compromise on that. It doesn't take much

fire cheap drones and menace ships so
that they don't go through.

But we took four of our minesweepers in
September and we redeployed them to

other parts of the world.

And so that was bad war planning because
if we were going to make that attack

and anticipated that they were going to
close the Strait, Bill, we would have

had those minesweepers in place.

That's been one of the things that's
preventing us from getting our Navy in

there to take on the convoy. Do you
worry that the oil was headed to China?

That's 90 % of Iranian oil went to
China.

Venezuela, which we took over.

A lot of that oil went to China.

Remember what caused Japan to attack
Pearl Harbor?

It was that we cut off the oil.

That's why they said they had to
preemptively attack Pearl Harbor.

Do you think China's going to see this
as that kind of a threat?

If things go on a long time, you know,
the way it's going to happen is that the

Iranians will let the Chinese ships go
through, that ships going through China

go through. Which they have been, by the
way. The Iranian ships have been going

through, heading for China. So they know
where the mines are.

The Iranian ships are getting through?
The Iranian tankers have been getting

through. And we're letting them through.

And we are letting them through because
we don't want to escalate the situation

with China.

So what is your estimation as how this
ends? How quickly and what's the upshot?

Because everyone seems to be taking a
bet on this.

Well, I'm pretty sure that nobody knows
at this point. That, I would say, is a

safe bet. Yeah.

We know that.

I just want you to know, I'm not running
for governor and for president,

and I didn't fire the first shot.

I'd say I don't know how long this will
last, but I know I think the strategies,

and I think the question that you posed
to the governor more sharply, is they

are a big burden on the safety and
health of the world, and we decided to

something about it.

I wish that we had done something
similar to North Korea when we still had

opportunity to do that, because they'll
probably be...

they'll probably be the source of a lot
of mischief to come, and there's nothing

we can do about it because they have
nuclear warrants. Nothing we can do

it. And here, there's something we could
do about it, and they don't call you up

and tell you when the last minute is.
And also, in my algorithm, whether to

decide to do it or not, is how close are
we to them getting it? And also, is

this an opportunity that's fleeting? And
we had a moment of time.

where there's practically a civil war
inside Iran.

Their capacity to deflect missiles has
been removed.

And generally, it may be, and we have
all these machines in the area, this was

an opportunity that we could do
something that needed to be done, and

know when the last minute is.

I think the outcomes, Bill, are, you
know, I think what the president wanted

like a Delcy Rodriguez to a secularist
to take over that he could negotiate

and make a friendly.

I think that's less likely now based on
what has gone on over the last couple of

weeks. And so I think the next move
would be to completely degrade the

and the infrastructure.

And then it'll either end up as a failed
state.

or it'll end up as a different form of
Iran. And then the question is, will the

North Koreans come in and give them
nuclear weapons, which he has...

said publicly he's interested in doing.
The North Koreans are going to give the

Iranians a... Kim Il -Jung said that
yesterday. He made a statement. Well,

that's not going to happen because we're
going to make sure that there's not

that kind of a reunion. I understand
that. So it's either a failed state or a

very severely degraded Islamic
Republican state. You mentioned civil

show you two pictures.

There's the picture of people dancing,
and this is right after the attack.

I mean, this is...

what I think of as Iran, because I talk
to the Iranians who live here in Los

Angeles. They love this.

Do we have that picture of people
dancing?

Okay,

that's one Iran.

Then there's this picture.

This was a few days ago. Look at that
crowd.

That's for the regime.

So it's not one way. To me, I look at
these two pictures, and I see...

That is a civil war. And maybe it needs
a civil war. Maybe this doesn't happen

any other way. I just don't want us to
be involved in their civil war. That

might be good for the Israelis, though.

We weren't in such a great position. I
know people are worried that because of

what we're doing, the Iranians are going
to get mad at us now. But I think they

were pretty mad at us before, and I
think they were trying to accomplish as

mischief as they can.

We have not convinced them to lose that
motivation.

What we have done is we've certainly
weakened their capacity to do as much

mischief as they were doing in the past.
So I think we're better off now.

Now, is it a risky proposition?

Do we know how it's going to be
resolved? No.

It could work out, and it could get
worse from here. But I would say, from a

to make, given where we were and where
we were headed with them, being

and having the capacity, I'd rather have
them slightly more motivated but

infinitely with less of a capacity.

I mean, I'm looking at the big picture.
I think Islam needs a reform.

A lot of people have been saying that
since 9 -11 and even... What? Is that

funny? No, I'm thinking that we would
probably not be appointed to the

to reform it.

That is true.

Although I think you could do a pretty
good job.

Somebody needs to do a pretty good job.

And maybe this is the place where it
starts. I mean, this is not an

unsophisticated society.

And a lot of the people there do want to
live there. I mean, obviously, we're

not asking you not to be Muslim. We're
just asking you not to be a theocratic

state.

I mean, my question is, if we did take,
if the best part of it happened, and

Iran is now a democratic state, and they
can have free and fair elections, what

if the wrong people win?

Because that has happened before.

Egypt. Remember the Arab Spring?

And then Egypt had free and fair
elections. And they elected the Muslim

Brotherhood. That's that second picture
of that crowd who likes the regime.

Algeria in the 90s. Same thing happened.
Free and fair elections. They elected

the wrong people.

And by the wrong people, I mean the
religious fanatics. You know, it's very

to pretend, like the ruling class likes
to do in the West, that it's just a few

bad apples.

But actually, a lot of people in those
societies want a theocracy.

Then what do you do?

I think that's the biggest issue, Bill,
because you've degraded the place and

maybe you've pushed more people towards
the regime as a result of all the things

that are going on economically inside
the country.

I'm not pro -democratic. I don't think
they have any history going back

thousands of years of being democratic.

I just want them not to have the
capacity to blow us up. So whatever

they end up with, I hope a George
Washington figure on a white horse

there, but I put a low likelihood at
that.

I just don't want them to wreck havoc in
the world, and I don't want them to

have the capacity to reach the United
States with its ballistic missiles.

You guys bet on our market for a living?

What is the long -term prognosis? What
are you telling people who say, oh,

you're a financial master?

What do I do now with this war that's
going on? What should I do with my

Well, first of all, I think we have to
support the president in the action

because we're all Americans and we want
to wish our troops safely.

And I think the ultimate outcome will be
that straight gets opened no later than

mid -April. But my money, what do I do
with my money? So stay, sit tight.

Sit tight because...

There's going to be a lot of volatility
between now and April, but I do think

that the mission is ultimately going to
be successful.

The straight's going to get open. Are
you still into crypto?

Yeah, I do. I own some Bitcoin. I know
you don't like it.

I know you said that very quietly. I
mean, I watch your show. I mean, I watch

your show. I listen to your podcast. I
know you don't like it, but I put a lot

of money into it.

I hate it.

I hate it, too. I hate it.

I mean, I don't have a position in it.

It's like I'm shorted, because every
time it goes down, it makes me happy,

though I don't have anything involved in
it. Tell me that before we get on the

panel.

It hurt my feelings.

But you don't see it as a big slush fund
for every criminal in the world. You

know, I'll tell you what. If you gave me
two hours with you alone and I laid it

out for you, his buddies like Stan
Druckenmiller, Ray Dalio, you pick the

that have done the homework, Paul Tudor
Jones, Mike Novogratz. If you do the

homework, I would just say nine out of
ten people end up owning some of it.

And, you know, but if you've made the
money in fiat currency and you're of a

certain age, you don't.

People aren't necessarily inclined to do
that homework. I guess I'm too old to

like it.

I can't figure out

what it does.

It's a medium of exchange.

You can't buy anything with it. It's a
store of value that's very volatile.

I think, and it's not a hedge of
anything because when the bullets start

gold went up and crypto went down. I
think its highest purpose is to pay

and to extortion it.

And I don't know why the U .S.
government or

any official sector would support
something where you couldn't tell

not somebody was paying the North
Koreans.

Right. Okay. Well, we had a former CIA
director write a white paper

on that saying how easy it is to track
these things because of the blockchain.

So that is an early statement about
crypto that's no longer the case. But I

you. You don't like it. But your team at
Goldman Sachs never really did 100 %

research on it, and they still don't
like it, and they've missed the $2 -plus

trillion market.

And our friend Larry...

bank who didn't like it now has the
largest bitcoin etf in the world so all

saying is there's a lot of smart people
that like it and somebody like you bill

if you really sat down and learned about
it i think you'd be less skeptical

you're saying you wouldn't be i believe
you would be look i i learned about it i

have to be a chicken to know what an egg
is all right well

thank you guys for enlightening us on
the economy it's time for new rules

Okay, now that a new study reveals that
young people want male characters in

movies to move away from masculine
stereotypes and toward vulnerability and

connection, the next James Bond must be
Ed Sheeran.

Say hello to the next Gen 007. He likes
his soy milk shaken, not stirred.

He has a license to kill, but prefers to
listen.

And Pussy Galore isn't his girlfriend,
it's his nickname.

Now that Michael Jackson's brother
Marlon claims that Michael was taught

backward dance move we call moonwalking
by an eight -year -old boy, someone must

ask him, are you sure the kid wasn't
just trying to get away?

The San Diego bishop who resigned this
week for allegedly embezzling hundreds

thousands of dollars has to try and get
Trump to give him a pardon.

Here's what you do. Change your twiddle
handle to Maga Bishop Dude with lots of

American flags.

Post daily that you've been treated
unfairly by the radical anti -Trump

And then, well, you'll need to move 50
million into untraceable Trump family

crypto via a bank in Qatar.

So, maybe try embezzling more money?

New World Stock Photo companies have to
come up with a different way to depict

male impotence than the guy sitting on
the edge of the bed in shame.

Maybe it's not even his fault. Not to
point fingers, but isn't it the same

in every picture?

Maybe he should be the one shooting
daggers of disappointment at her while

sits on the side of the bed asking, why
can't I get a dick heart?

The new call -a -boomer payphone that
connects students at Boston University

to a senior living complex in Reno,
Nevada might not wind up getting the

-generational communication they were
looking for.

You think we want to listen to a bunch
of TikTok -educated nudics talk our ears

off about Palestine and your gender
identity?

You want to hear something from my
generation?

And finally, Neural, as this Sunday's
Academy Awards show is the 10th

anniversary of the Oscars So White
campaign, someone must wear a ribbon

says, we won.

Just as a way to remind progressives,
hey, you're progressives. Progress is

you're selling.

Take the win.

The Oscars are no longer a long, boring
show full of white people. It's a long,

boring show full of all people.

In the last decade, best picture has
gone to everything, everywhere, all at

once. Green Book, Parasite, Coda, Shape
of Water, Moonlight, not to mention

Nomadland, which might be about Somalia,
but no one has seen it, so it's

impossible to know.

Acting Oscars have gone to Will Smith,
Michelle Yeoh, Zoe Saldana, Davine Joy

Randolph, Yoo Young Yoon, I apologize
already for some of

these names, Regina King, Viola Davis,
Kee Kee Wan, Daniel Kaluuya, and Mary

Shelley Ali, twice.

Eight of the last ten Best Director
prizes have been won by underrepresented

groups, not to mention 60 % of the
honorary awards. You can't argue with a

straight face, or even a gay face.

That the Academy in 2026 still overlooks
minority achievement, or that Hollywood

is biased in favor of all white people,
just Australians.

Look, come on, man. When we live in the
present, no academy member this year

filled out their ballot thinking, well,
I didn't think Chalamet was very good,

but I'll vote for him because he's
white.

Hollywood isn't a secret cabal of
racists. It's a secret cabal of people

terrified of looking like racists.

And I'm just tired of, no matter how
much progress is made, social justice

warriors feeling the need to gaslight us
as if none of it had happened.

A couple of years ago, the Academy
established a very complex rulebook that

you couldn't even be considered for best
picture unless you met certain criteria

like 30 % of the crew or two department
heads had to be from underrepresented

groups and a main storyline had to be as
well.

Well, there goes my idea about a polka
band in a ski town.

I mean, please don't get us wrong. We're
not saying you can't hire who you want

or make a movie about whatever you want.

Okay, that's exactly what we're saying.

I'm surprised Trump hasn't sued them
over it.

But seriously,

by this standard, you couldn't make
Titanic today and hope to get nominated,

Braveheart, or Amadeus, Apollo 13.

It was about a bunch of white people,
because white people have done some

But somehow, without a production code,
hidden figures got made and completed

the historical record about how we got
to the moon.

Sinners this year is up for more Oscars
than any movie ever.

Sinners is good. It doesn't need
affirmative action.

Neither did Parasite or Shape of Water,
where she fucks a fish.

How much more diverse can you get?

A few years ago, Denzel Washington said,
we ought to be at a place where

diversity shouldn't even be mentioned
like it's something special.

Exactly. Sometimes I'm the equalizer.
Sometimes it's an old English dude.

Sometimes it's Queen Latifah.

I mean, the whole thing... The whole
thing is so

Hollywood, a room full of know -nothings
who call themselves the Academy, making

everyone tremble before their judgment,
even though their judgment is often

terrible and fails the test of time.
Maybe the hashtag should be, Oscar's so

wrong.

Citizen Kane, It's a Wonderful Life, 12
Angry Men, Stingin' in the Rain, Dr.

Strangelove, Raging Bull, Pulp Fiction,
goes on and on. Not a single best

picture among them. Brilliant, brave,
groundbreaking, intellectually honest

films constantly lose to much more
forgettable, trifling, sentimental

Saving Private Ryan lost to Shakespeare
in Love.

Sunset Boulevard lost to All About Eve.

Glory to Driving Miss Daisy, Gangs in
New York to Chicago, Munich lost to

Citizen Kane lost to How Green Was My
Valley, whatever the fuck that was.

Yeah. Yeah.

Just put Kanye in the audience every
year to jump up and say, I'm going to

you finish, but Shawshank is one of the
greatest movies of all time.

And the acting awards? No better.

They're constantly giving out the Makeup
for a Snub Oscar when an actor gets one

because the Academy stepped on its dick
the first ten times the guy should have

won.

Al Pacino in The Godfather, Godfather
II, Serpico, Scarface, Dog Day

I could go on, Cricket.

Then he plays a blind guy who screams
hoo -ha and welcome to the winter

It's like honoring Michael Jordan for
when he played baseball.

But you know why he won that one.

Blind guy.

I mean, afflictions win. Oscar has been
given to so many people with diseases,

it should wear a hospital gown.

Blind, deaf, ALS, terrible palsy,
Alzheimer's, amputee, there's nothing

automatic. Well, except if you're
mentally challenged in some way.

In

Hollywood,

never say the R word, but if you play it
in a movie, they will give you a

trophy.

The Academy is also constantly giving it
to an actor when they're really giving

it to the character the actor played.

Not that these weren't all fine
performances, but if you, as a nominee,

against someone who played Gandhi, or
Lincoln, or Aaron Brockovich, or Norma

Rae, or Ray Charles, or Harvey Milk, or
the guy in Philadelphia, or the dude at

the Dallas Buyers Club, just stay home.

It was never gonna happen.

Also stay home if you're up against
someone who, you know, we suspect might

be up for an award again, or just up
again.

Art Carney in Harry and Tonto beat Jack
Nicholson in Chinatown. John Wayne in

True Grit, Henry Fonda, Jack Palance. I
call this the Grandpa's Last Christmas

Award.

And it's always a lot.

The only thing the Academy prizes more
than this is if an actor makes the

ultimate sacrifice.

Gaining weight.

Or losing weight.

Or even, dare I say it, making
themselves unbeautiful.

Fake ugly nose? Please, do you even have
to ask?

Oscar should have another new category
this year. Best glue.

That's our show. I want to thank my
guests, Anthony Scaramucci, Lloyd

and Governor Josh Shapiro. Club Random
drops every Monday on YouTube, or listen

wherever you get your podcasts.

Now go watch Overtime on YouTube.

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.

Thank you, gentlemen.