The Megyn Kelly Show - September 07, 2021


Afghanistan, Abortion, and COVID, with Lara Logan, Charles C.W. Cooke, and Alan Dershowitz | Ep. 154


Episode Stats

Length

1 hour and 31 minutes

Words per Minute

180.17094

Word Count

16,463

Sentence Count

389

Misogynist Sentences

17

Hate Speech Sentences

89


Summary

Charles C.W. Cook of National Review, Laura Logan of Fox Nation, and Alan Dershowitz, Professor Emeritus of Harvard Law, join host Megyn Kelly to discuss the opioid crisis in Florida, and why we should all be vaccinated against it.


Transcript

00:00:00.500 Welcome to The Megyn Kelly Show, your home for open, honest, and provocative conversations.
00:00:12.120 Hey everyone, I'm Megyn Kelly, and welcome to the very first episode of The Megyn Kelly
00:00:16.980 Show, live on SiriusXM.
00:00:19.100 We are so happy to be with you and excited for this next iteration of our show, which
00:00:23.440 we actually just first launched as a podcast about, well, just under a year ago now.
00:00:27.860 Well, we're doing this program because we believe there's an urgent need for independent
00:00:32.840 voices in the media landscape, hosts who are not beholden to corporate agendas, partisan
00:00:38.320 jerseys, or simply just committed to stoking your outrage day in and day out.
00:00:42.980 Here on SiriusXM, we're going to continue our mission of bringing you coverage of the news,
00:00:47.460 politics, culture, law, entertainment, and all the rest of it in a truly fair and balanced
00:00:51.960 way.
00:00:52.320 We are not woke, and we're no one's sycophant, and we're entirely over the bullshit censorship
00:00:58.800 of free speech and debate that has seized hold of most media, education, Hollywood, sports,
00:01:04.040 and corporate America.
00:01:05.160 Nearly two-thirds of the American people right now are afraid to express their actual political
00:01:09.860 opinions.
00:01:10.640 Think about that.
00:01:11.600 In the United States of America, nearly two-thirds don't want to say how they feel.
00:01:15.900 It's insane, but it's our reality.
00:01:18.220 That's it.
00:01:47.580 It's a simple mission, really, and we are all hoping that you will not only enjoy the
00:01:52.520 show in its new format, but that you'll call in.
00:01:55.220 This is actually going to be fun because we can talk to one another, and you'll let us
00:01:58.180 know what you think when we take calls later in the program.
00:02:01.280 I've never done a show where I actually get to interact with the viewers or the listeners
00:02:05.000 real time, so that'll be fun.
00:02:08.240 So without further ado, let's get to our great guests.
00:02:10.520 We have an awesome lineup today.
00:02:11.720 We've got Charles C.W.
00:02:12.760 Cook of National Review.
00:02:14.580 Laura Logan will be here of Fox Nation, and later Alan Dershowitz, Professor Emeritus of
00:02:20.720 Harvard Law, who had this very funny, weird dust-up with Larry David.
00:02:24.340 He's going to come on to talk about the abortion stuff happening down in Texas, but you've got
00:02:28.620 to hear the Larry David story.
00:02:29.920 Okay.
00:02:30.140 We're going to start, though, with Charles Cook.
00:02:32.320 Charles, what a pleasure.
00:02:33.200 Very excited to have you as our very first guest as we're live on Sirius.
00:02:38.500 Thank you so much for having me.
00:02:39.940 Pleasure.
00:02:40.940 Okay.
00:02:41.240 So let's dig in with COVID.
00:02:43.240 You had a really interesting piece on National Review that basically said, here's the bitter
00:02:47.300 truth.
00:02:48.300 There's no rhyme or reason to this virus, and that the pandemic doesn't hinge on whether
00:02:54.020 the state has a Democrat or a Republican in the governor's mansion.
00:02:59.040 The New York Times had an article suggesting the same, and some in the media lost their
00:03:06.120 minds.
00:03:06.900 You pointed out in your piece, MSNBC's Kyle Griffin attacked the Times.
00:03:11.080 This isn't true.
00:03:12.480 Do better, because the Times had said, you know, exactly why Florida has been hit so hard
00:03:17.800 remains an elusive question.
00:03:20.200 Soledad O'Brien called it journalistic malpractice.
00:03:22.900 They really want to blame DeSantis and his aversion to mask mandates.
00:03:28.720 And the truth is, the science doesn't bear that up.
00:03:32.000 They really can't do that.
00:03:33.980 No.
00:03:34.480 I think there are two things going on here.
00:03:36.880 One is obvious.
00:03:38.140 There is a partisan imperative here to fold this into our politics.
00:03:44.120 There's also a desire to poison certain people ahead of 2024, Ron DeSantis being one of them.
00:03:54.960 But I think the broader problem and the reason that this works to an extent is people just
00:03:59.800 don't like it when they're told that there's not a great deal they can do.
00:04:04.680 Human beings don't enjoy that.
00:04:06.760 They much prefer a conspiracy theory, because a conspiracy theory gives you an easy answer.
00:04:11.040 It gives you an easy explanation, but it also gives you an easy answer.
00:04:14.140 If you can find the evil man up in the tower, put him in prison, then it'll stop.
00:04:20.140 COVID doesn't really work like that.
00:04:21.700 I mean, there are some things we know.
00:04:23.260 The vaccines work pretty well.
00:04:25.580 They're not foolproof.
00:04:27.360 They haven't prevented everyone from getting COVID.
00:04:29.820 But you are very unlikely to die if you get vaccinated, which is why you should get vaccinated.
00:04:35.580 I have a lot of friends around here in Florida who work in the medical profession,
00:04:39.220 and that's the one thing that they will say is the pattern.
00:04:42.260 If you're vaccinated, you're probably not going to die if you get it.
00:04:45.720 Other than that, it's tough.
00:04:49.340 There are some states that have a lockdown.
00:04:51.400 There are some states that have mask mandates.
00:04:54.400 There are some states that have school masking policies.
00:04:59.040 It doesn't seem to make too much of a difference.
00:05:01.820 Israel has tried everything.
00:05:04.300 Israel had pretty draconian lockdowns, enforced by drones, no less.
00:05:09.980 They vaccinated everyone before any other country.
00:05:12.400 They're doing booster shots now.
00:05:14.120 They have countrywide mask mandates in schools.
00:05:17.540 They still have mask mandates inside.
00:05:20.080 And they're getting absolutely slammed.
00:05:22.740 And it's not because they did nothing wrong.
00:05:24.400 It's not because they're bad people.
00:05:25.840 It's not because the witch doctors dislike them.
00:05:28.320 It's because this is a horrible and unpredictable disease,
00:05:31.780 and feedback loops are really hard to predict.
00:05:35.140 And the point I wanted to make is, look, with the exception of Andrew Cuomo,
00:05:39.140 who obviously made an active mistake and then tried to cover it up,
00:05:43.380 there's really not much good pointing at Phil Murphy of New Jersey
00:05:47.160 or Rhonda Santos of Florida or Governor Newsom in California
00:05:51.240 or Greg Abbott in Texas and saying, aha, it's because of them.
00:05:55.000 It's them personally.
00:05:56.080 It's their ideology.
00:05:57.100 It's the people who vote for them.
00:05:58.440 It's not.
00:05:59.220 It's not how it works, and we need to cut it out.
00:06:03.000 But to your point, people do want to do something.
00:06:05.580 And if you don't want to make people do something, you get villainized, right?
00:06:10.900 That's what's happening to DeSantis,
00:06:12.160 and it's happening to regular old American citizens
00:06:14.620 who oppose vaccine mandates or mask mandates.
00:06:19.020 You know, to your point, it's like I have no objection
00:06:20.820 if somebody wants to send their child to class with a mask on
00:06:24.180 or do anything with a mask on.
00:06:25.580 That's their business.
00:06:26.660 But we've gotten to this point now where if you don't want the government
00:06:30.300 to mandate that your eight-year-old have a piece of cloth over his face
00:06:34.320 eight or nine hours a day, even though there's no proof that children
00:06:39.020 are particularly good vectors of this virus,
00:06:42.560 and they remain, even though Delta has been problematic,
00:06:45.920 they remain at very, very low risk to the outcomes of COVID,
00:06:51.640 you're somehow part of the problem.
00:06:54.260 And we refuse.
00:06:56.300 We refuse to look at the data in Israel.
00:06:58.360 We refuse to look at the limited data that's come out showing
00:07:01.240 that masks have any effect one way or another in the school setting, right?
00:07:06.440 Like people just, they feel like something must be done,
00:07:09.540 and if you're against the mandating of doing it, you're on the wrong side.
00:07:14.300 Well, and I think the idea is that if you're on the anti-mandate side,
00:07:20.680 then you don't care enough.
00:07:22.440 And I think this is what this is ultimately about.
00:07:24.460 It's a superstition.
00:07:26.180 You know, I can't count the number of times I've now heard that
00:07:28.900 Governor DeSantis doesn't tweet enough about vaccines.
00:07:32.180 There's this new conventional wisdom that the reason that there are still people,
00:07:38.780 SRR in every state, in fact, Florida's numbers are quite good,
00:07:41.840 who are unvaccinated is because DeSantis hasn't been emphatic enough,
00:07:47.040 and it's just not true.
00:07:48.940 I mean, in the early days, he was emphatic indeed.
00:07:52.920 He ran around the state for months, started with the elderly,
00:07:57.280 and every publicity stunt he could imagine, he used.
00:08:02.180 World War II veterans, Holocaust survivors,
00:08:05.460 we saw them vaccinated first on television to send the message,
00:08:10.340 look, this is available, and it's worthwhile.
00:08:15.980 You know, there are now much higher hanging pieces of fruit.
00:08:23.320 And we're not talking about people lining up around the block,
00:08:25.980 as I did, to get the vaccine.
00:08:28.040 We're talking about the people who don't want it,
00:08:30.000 either because they're indifferent towards politics,
00:08:32.580 they don't follow politics,
00:08:33.940 or because they're actively ideologically opposed to getting a vaccine.
00:08:40.000 The idea that if the governor tweeted more,
00:08:42.280 those people would come around, I think, is silly.
00:08:44.860 And, you know, we need to understand that.
00:08:47.700 And so we have a choice to make.
00:08:50.740 We can either lambast them and condescend to them and target them,
00:08:54.580 or we can keep trying to convince them.
00:08:56.240 And those who won't be convinced, and those people will exist.
00:08:58.480 This is the United States.
00:09:00.740 Those people can be provided for.
00:09:04.180 And, you know, it's one reason why the Biden administration moved on to,
00:09:07.760 for example, Regneron,
00:09:09.240 which it bought the whole supply of, I believe,
00:09:11.600 and then has been helping states distribute it,
00:09:15.460 because, you know, you have a choice.
00:09:16.980 If someone says, I'm not going to get this vaccine,
00:09:18.680 and then they get COVID,
00:09:19.740 well, you can say, well, that's your lot.
00:09:21.460 Sorry, mate.
00:09:22.020 Or you can say, well, actually, we have a backup plan.
00:09:25.720 And I think the idea that having a backup plan
00:09:27.940 and acknowledging some people are going to remain unvaccinated
00:09:30.740 is somehow to indulge in sort of anti-vax ideas
00:09:35.380 or to diminish the effort to get people vaccinated
00:09:40.200 is really, really silly.
00:09:41.640 There has never been a time in American history
00:09:43.660 where the government has said,
00:09:44.660 you should go and do this,
00:09:45.520 and everyone has gone and done it.
00:09:48.380 That's not how we're built.
00:09:49.560 No, I was listening to a great,
00:09:52.100 it was a podcast on commentary,
00:09:53.860 you know, from Commentary Magazine,
00:09:55.440 John Pedoras and company.
00:09:57.040 And they were talking about how amazing the vaccines are.
00:09:59.540 They really are.
00:10:01.000 It's something we should be proud of.
00:10:02.420 You've been saying it all along.
00:10:03.580 It's a feat to American ingenuity.
00:10:06.460 But how we're just terrible at following directions
00:10:08.540 here in the United States.
00:10:09.440 We're just too free.
00:10:10.760 It's not in our makeup to take orders about how we live.
00:10:14.900 And that hasn't been baked into the COVID response at all.
00:10:18.060 And you know what?
00:10:19.680 The country's done a pretty damn good job
00:10:21.480 over the past 18 months of taking direction,
00:10:24.540 of living their lives in a dramatically different way.
00:10:28.040 And I do think we have to have some empathy
00:10:30.160 for the fact that for many people, we're done.
00:10:33.500 We are, it's, I know we still have a virus,
00:10:36.120 but we're just done being told by the government
00:10:38.340 how we have to live, how our kids have to live.
00:10:41.280 Given back to the first point, your piece,
00:10:43.560 which I agree with fully,
00:10:44.720 which is, there's no rhyme or reason.
00:10:47.140 The masks, they're not working
00:10:48.980 on these children inside the schools.
00:10:50.680 I don't believe they're working on us either.
00:10:52.340 I don't want to wear mine anymore.
00:10:54.200 I've been vaccinated.
00:10:55.520 If I get COVID, I have very little fear
00:10:58.600 of being hospitalized or dying
00:11:00.380 because I do trust in the vaccine.
00:11:02.560 And I'm just sick and tired of being told
00:11:04.420 at every turn they're coming back.
00:11:06.120 Because you know what?
00:11:06.700 There's going to be another variant after Delta.
00:11:09.320 There's already the Mu variant.
00:11:10.460 And there's going to be another one after that.
00:11:11.760 And Fauci is going to be giving us booster shots
00:11:14.060 from now till the cows come home,
00:11:17.740 already saying the norm's going to be the three boosters.
00:11:20.120 You can't even get all of Americans to get one,
00:11:22.040 nevermind three, Fauci.
00:11:23.380 Yeah, and you raise an interesting point,
00:11:24.880 which is that ultimately,
00:11:26.060 we're going to have to work out how to live with this.
00:11:28.820 And we're not going to be a country that says,
00:11:31.580 well, I guess we had a good run until 2019.
00:11:36.700 And then we stayed inside forever.
00:11:39.300 You know, this will become endemic.
00:11:42.660 And when it does, we will have some decisions to make
00:11:46.800 in the way that we do with, dreaded word here, the flu.
00:11:50.260 And COVID is not the flu.
00:11:52.220 But at some point, it will become more like the flu.
00:11:55.660 And I think it would be an enormous mistake
00:11:58.260 to become so obsessed with it that we lose sight
00:12:01.400 of how we evaluate risk in pretty much every other area.
00:12:04.580 In no circumstances do we say as a country,
00:12:08.480 we have to get to zero.
00:12:10.180 Until we get to zero road deaths, no one can drive.
00:12:14.460 Until we get to zero flu deaths,
00:12:17.020 no one can get on an airplane.
00:12:18.640 We don't do that.
00:12:19.560 We shouldn't do that.
00:12:21.440 Now, COVID has been far more deadly,
00:12:24.140 and it has warranted more intrusive regulation.
00:12:29.040 But there will be, and maybe we've reached it already,
00:12:31.660 a tipping point here.
00:12:33.840 And I'm just a little bit alarmed
00:12:36.200 by some of the attitudes that I see
00:12:39.140 in major newspapers and on some of the cable channels,
00:12:42.420 where people are essentially treating this
00:12:46.340 as if it's a war,
00:12:49.120 and until every last enemy soldier has surrendered,
00:12:53.020 then we need to be on an emergency footing.
00:12:56.440 Well, you just can't live like that and shouldn't.
00:12:59.220 Mm-hmm.
00:13:00.420 And meanwhile, you know, we've talked about this,
00:13:02.860 but people don't trust Dr. Fauci.
00:13:05.460 They don't trust our authority.
00:13:06.900 So when he says we need a booster shot,
00:13:09.620 people's instincts are up about,
00:13:11.420 oh, here he goes again.
00:13:13.020 This guy's constantly reversing himself.
00:13:14.880 Should I stick another needle in my arm?
00:13:16.840 There's disinformation, misinformation
00:13:18.220 coming from the Biden White House
00:13:19.860 about when you need it versus Fauci
00:13:21.600 versus when you need it, if you need it at all,
00:13:23.940 whether this is a money grab by Pfizer or Moderna
00:13:26.480 or whether we really need to go back.
00:13:28.100 And at the same time, the news broke late last week
00:13:30.900 that two FDA officials reportedly resigned from the FDA,
00:13:36.020 feeling that there was too much interference
00:13:37.880 from the CDC and the administration
00:13:40.180 when it came to approval of this booster shot
00:13:43.500 and potentially even children's vaccine access.
00:13:47.340 The director of the FDA's Office of Vaccines Research
00:13:49.660 and Review and the deputy director,
00:13:52.120 Marion Gruber and Phil Krause,
00:13:54.420 resigned, saying that they're at odds
00:13:56.380 with the FDA's top vaccine official
00:13:57.960 and they're discontent with the interference
00:14:00.040 the FDA is getting.
00:14:01.060 All of that undermines public faith
00:14:04.840 in the science officials, right?
00:14:07.340 Dr. Fauci, I am science,
00:14:09.400 in them telling us what we have to do.
00:14:12.260 This is a problem with treating science
00:14:15.020 as a set of facts or as an ideology
00:14:18.300 or a given approach rather than as a means
00:14:22.140 by which to arrive at answers.
00:14:25.760 I think Americans would have been quite forgiving
00:14:29.180 if at various points throughout this pandemic,
00:14:32.860 the CDC and other institutions had said,
00:14:36.260 you know what, we operated on the best information we had
00:14:39.980 and we were wrong
00:14:42.060 and we're updating our guidelines accordingly.
00:14:44.600 But science has been wielded as a cudgel
00:14:48.460 and the people who have dissented
00:14:50.360 have been told they were anti-science
00:14:52.980 and in some circumstances,
00:14:54.440 they've actually been right.
00:14:57.660 And people have noticed that.
00:15:00.320 And I would argue this is one of the problems
00:15:02.220 with progressivism.
00:15:03.580 There is and has been since the Wilson era,
00:15:07.400 this idea on the American left
00:15:09.620 that you can just find
00:15:12.420 and then present to the public
00:15:14.440 disinterested technocrats.
00:15:17.300 And they will,
00:15:19.260 absent the vicissitudes of politics,
00:15:22.040 arrive at the correct answer
00:15:23.920 and deliver their findings
00:15:27.340 to a grateful voting public.
00:15:30.060 But you can't abolish politics ever
00:15:33.720 in any circumstance.
00:15:36.640 And forget partisan politics for a moment.
00:15:39.320 One of the biggest mistakes
00:15:40.620 that those supposedly disinterested technocrats
00:15:43.300 have made from the beginning of this
00:15:44.680 is they have been trying to work out themselves,
00:15:48.340 well, what will the public bear?
00:15:50.440 Or how can I use this information
00:15:52.680 for what they conceive as the greater good?
00:15:57.100 And so you've had mixed messaging on masks
00:16:00.940 in the first instance.
00:16:02.340 Don't go and buy them.
00:16:03.120 They don't work.
00:16:04.400 Why?
00:16:05.140 Well, because the government
00:16:06.480 didn't want to run on masks
00:16:08.160 so that health professionals couldn't get them.
00:16:10.740 I mean, that's an understandable aim.
00:16:12.800 But the science didn't change
00:16:14.560 when that didn't happen.
00:16:17.340 And then the public
00:16:18.700 was supposed to be masked itself.
00:16:22.220 And I think this just underscores
00:16:24.900 that you cannot separate out
00:16:28.460 a branch of government from politics.
00:16:31.640 And the attempt to do so
00:16:34.520 has been absolutely deleterious,
00:16:36.080 not just for Anthony Fauci
00:16:38.020 and public health officials in general.
00:16:40.880 But I wonder,
00:16:42.240 maybe in the long run,
00:16:43.900 for progressivism.
00:16:45.140 I mean, something I wrote about
00:16:46.260 a few weeks ago
00:16:47.660 was that once people start to think
00:16:50.460 that experts are wrong
00:16:52.240 or are conning them
00:16:53.400 in the late 1960s
00:16:55.060 with Vietnam,
00:16:56.080 with McNamara,
00:16:57.680 and people said,
00:16:58.800 OK, well,
00:16:59.080 maybe the best and the brightest aren't.
00:17:01.880 And I would be very nervous
00:17:04.320 if I were the CDC right about now.
00:17:06.540 I would especially avoid
00:17:08.700 getting involved in hot button issues
00:17:10.560 that aren't its job.
00:17:11.800 I saw Rochelle Walensky,
00:17:13.060 the CDC director last week,
00:17:14.640 started to wade into the gun control debate.
00:17:16.660 I would not do that right now.
00:17:18.340 She's hysterical enough.
00:17:19.780 The last thing we need her
00:17:20.520 is to talk about guns.
00:17:22.360 All right, wait,
00:17:22.680 let me pause the conversation there
00:17:24.200 because I want to pick it up
00:17:25.740 about the Rolling Stone debacle.
00:17:27.500 They're citing this fake report
00:17:30.120 on the hospitals being overrun
00:17:32.260 with patients who have OD'd
00:17:33.660 on ivermectin.
00:17:34.940 Not true.
00:17:35.760 They refuse to retract it.
00:17:37.000 We'll get into sort of treatments.
00:17:38.620 But I also want to ask you about
00:17:39.740 a column you just wrote about.
00:17:41.380 It's titled Joe Biden
00:17:42.620 Needs to Stop Talking About Beau.
00:17:44.900 And it's about how President Biden
00:17:46.040 repeatedly brings up his late son
00:17:47.620 when talking about the service members
00:17:49.180 killed in Afghanistan.
00:17:50.260 We're going to get into that next.
00:17:52.060 Welcome back, everybody,
00:17:57.420 to The Megyn Kelly Show.
00:17:58.420 Still with me, Charles C.W. Cook,
00:18:00.260 senior writer at National Review.
00:18:02.220 So let's talk about treatments
00:18:03.920 and the ivermectin debate
00:18:05.900 because this is another thing
00:18:06.960 that has divided us politically.
00:18:09.320 You even mentioned ivermectin
00:18:10.860 and a certain segment of the population
00:18:13.060 will plug its ears and say,
00:18:15.000 you're a kook.
00:18:15.840 You're a lunatic.
00:18:17.780 You know, why would you take
00:18:18.540 your horse's dewormer?
00:18:19.620 And I get that,
00:18:20.440 but it's not just a horse dewormer.
00:18:21.980 It has actually been used in humans.
00:18:24.320 And now when somebody uses it,
00:18:26.820 like Joe Rogan,
00:18:28.080 they get publicly attacked.
00:18:29.940 And what's happened in the press
00:18:32.120 is it's equated with tinfoil hat wearing.
00:18:35.620 Rolling Stone just got caught.
00:18:38.720 It just got embarrassed
00:18:39.580 because it issued a report
00:18:41.260 about this viral hospital ivermectin story
00:18:45.580 that turned out to be totally false.
00:18:48.280 They were citing a man named
00:18:50.460 Dr. Jason McEllier
00:18:52.180 who made a claim about ERs
00:18:54.740 being totally overrun
00:18:56.200 with dumbass ivermectin patients
00:18:59.140 who had taken this medication.
00:19:01.720 And let me just,
00:19:02.420 I'll play the claim
00:19:03.820 by this Dr. Jason McEllier for you.
00:19:05.600 And then I'll tell you
00:19:06.040 what Rolling Stone did.
00:19:07.300 Listen.
00:19:07.800 The ERs are so backed up
00:19:09.500 that gunshot victims
00:19:11.680 were having hard times
00:19:12.980 getting to facilities
00:19:14.180 where they could get definitive care.
00:19:15.680 All of their ambulances
00:19:17.520 are stuck at the hospital
00:19:20.100 waiting for a bed to open
00:19:21.860 so that they can take the patient in.
00:19:24.900 Okay, so not true.
00:19:26.640 Joy Reid promoted it.
00:19:28.960 Rachel Maddow went with it.
00:19:30.560 And it turns out it's not true.
00:19:32.640 The hospital with which
00:19:33.940 that guy is affiliated,
00:19:35.200 they said he hasn't worked here in months
00:19:37.300 and he hasn't treated
00:19:38.700 any ivermectin overdoses
00:19:40.280 and neither have we.
00:19:41.900 Then Rolling Stone was forced to issue
00:19:44.560 what it's calling, Charles,
00:19:46.020 an update, an update.
00:19:47.840 We used to call it a correction
00:19:48.820 or a retraction.
00:19:50.520 Now it's just an update to the story,
00:19:52.800 which I guess they think
00:19:53.640 prevents embarrassment.
00:19:55.160 Wrong, wrong, Rolling Stone,
00:19:56.880 saying we actually haven't been able
00:19:59.380 to independently verify
00:20:01.360 that there have been any such cases
00:20:03.900 at any ERs at all.
00:20:06.100 And now Dr. McEllier,
00:20:08.280 well, he's gone silent.
00:20:09.880 He has not responded to any requests
00:20:12.700 for further comment
00:20:13.960 about his obvious lie.
00:20:17.000 So your thoughts on the ivermectin,
00:20:19.940 you know, narrative that's in the press
00:20:22.400 and then just what's happened
00:20:25.360 with Rolling Stone.
00:20:26.260 I mean, Glenn Greenwald made a point
00:20:27.660 the other day of the reason
00:20:29.240 that the Rolling Stone magazine
00:20:31.080 doesn't call this a retraction
00:20:33.340 is because they understand correctly
00:20:36.060 the rest of the media
00:20:37.260 will not hold them accountable
00:20:39.360 for their erroneous reporting
00:20:42.620 because they had the right motive,
00:20:44.360 which was to attack ivermectin.
00:20:47.440 I have been baffled
00:20:49.160 right from the beginning of COVID
00:20:51.240 by the existence of national debates
00:20:54.900 over medical procedures.
00:20:58.000 The efficacy or lack thereof
00:21:01.720 of ivermectin or hydroxychloroquine,
00:21:06.040 hydroxychloroquine,
00:21:07.180 hydroxychloroquine, thank you,
00:21:10.040 is contingent upon
00:21:12.740 external objective medical reality.
00:21:17.540 It is contingent upon
00:21:19.880 circumstances and biological
00:21:24.360 facts that can be examined
00:21:28.200 and evaluated by medical professionals.
00:21:33.000 It's not contingent upon
00:21:34.920 whether Donald Trump likes it or not.
00:21:37.020 It's not contingent upon
00:21:38.360 whether Republican voters
00:21:39.780 like it or not.
00:21:41.680 This is not the sort of thing
00:21:43.680 we should have a national debate
00:21:45.520 or a vote on.
00:21:48.100 You know, if it were the case
00:21:49.320 that people around the country
00:21:51.720 were drinking Roundup,
00:21:53.800 I mean, yeah, sure.
00:21:54.700 But it seems clear
00:21:56.760 that both of these drugs
00:21:59.140 do sometimes help.
00:22:00.940 I mean, actually, as it happens,
00:22:02.960 I haven't said or written a word
00:22:04.700 about this ivermectin drug,
00:22:06.640 but I actually do know somebody
00:22:07.900 who was prescribed it
00:22:10.840 when he got COVID a month ago
00:22:12.220 and said it helped marginally.
00:22:16.240 Okay, I'm sure that's true.
00:22:18.340 I'm sure that's true for others
00:22:19.600 that it won't.
00:22:20.640 But it's a great illustration
00:22:22.020 of how we have federalized
00:22:23.580 every question that people feel
00:22:25.940 a need to have a view on this
00:22:28.520 as good or bad.
00:22:30.660 And I think it probably intersects
00:22:32.060 slightly with what we were
00:22:32.860 talking about earlier,
00:22:34.340 which is the feeling
00:22:37.720 that if anything helps COVID,
00:22:40.360 then it's somehow competing
00:22:41.840 with the vaccine,
00:22:42.880 which just isn't true.
00:22:44.200 On the Rolling Stones story,
00:22:46.180 I mean, you can absolutely see
00:22:47.200 why this went viral.
00:22:48.260 This was almost built by a robot
00:22:51.060 to appeal to a certain
00:22:52.720 sort of American.
00:22:54.240 It's no surprise that Rachel Maddow
00:22:56.440 and Joy Reid picked this up.
00:22:58.640 This is what MSNBC viewers
00:23:01.300 think conservatives are.
00:23:03.560 It's what they think
00:23:04.240 Oklahomans are.
00:23:05.840 And it's probably not an accident
00:23:07.860 that the patients
00:23:09.400 that were supposedly being hurt
00:23:11.080 by this were gunshot victims.
00:23:12.800 Exactly.
00:23:13.940 Republicans in Oklahoma
00:23:15.060 must all be gun-wielding kooks.
00:23:19.000 But it does show you
00:23:21.340 something very interesting
00:23:22.300 about the press,
00:23:23.080 and that is almost
00:23:23.900 not its willingness to lie,
00:23:29.040 although it does,
00:23:30.620 but its feeling that
00:23:32.420 if it lies or exaggerates
00:23:34.740 or misleads
00:23:36.160 in pursuit of what it considers
00:23:39.000 to be a broader truth,
00:23:40.540 that that is fine.
00:23:42.200 No one, no one,
00:23:43.680 not Joy Reid,
00:23:44.340 not Rachel Maddow,
00:23:45.180 not The Hill,
00:23:45.880 not The Washington Post,
00:23:47.140 but no one seems
00:23:49.140 to have picked up
00:23:49.880 the phone here
00:23:50.700 and asked.
00:23:53.320 Because the moment
00:23:54.500 somebody did,
00:23:56.060 the story fell apart
00:23:57.220 and fell apart
00:23:58.620 in deeply embarrassing fashion.
00:24:00.440 Well, actually,
00:24:01.100 he doesn't work here anymore.
00:24:02.560 He hasn't worked here
00:24:03.220 for months,
00:24:03.660 and it's not true.
00:24:04.500 About as strong a repudiation
00:24:06.480 of the story
00:24:07.120 as you can get.
00:24:09.140 And I would just reiterate,
00:24:10.740 it is really, really sad
00:24:12.380 that this whole COVID debate
00:24:13.520 has become squashed
00:24:14.840 into our partisan fights.
00:24:16.520 There are lots of things
00:24:17.520 we should fight over.
00:24:18.480 Tons of things.
00:24:19.100 I hate the idea
00:24:19.800 that we shouldn't have politics,
00:24:21.580 that we shouldn't be partisan.
00:24:22.720 Yeah, politics, partisanship,
00:24:24.220 they're part of the American character.
00:24:25.500 They always have been.
00:24:26.100 Free countries have people
00:24:27.680 who argue strongly over politics.
00:24:29.620 But sensible countries
00:24:30.560 don't extend that
00:24:31.420 to viruses and treatments.
00:24:34.400 Yeah, no,
00:24:35.180 it's funny to see the media change
00:24:37.060 on what happened
00:24:37.760 to the complete aversion
00:24:39.920 to any disinformation
00:24:41.760 on COVID, right?
00:24:43.440 Like, that would be punished
00:24:44.600 by Twitter, by Facebook.
00:24:46.540 Meanwhile, Rachel Maddow's tweet
00:24:48.420 citing this doctor
00:24:50.460 and this alleged story
00:24:51.820 is still up.
00:24:52.940 She hasn't taken it down.
00:24:54.060 Where's the Twitter mob for her?
00:24:55.900 No one cares.
00:24:57.260 Suddenly the obsession
00:24:58.220 with disinformation
00:24:59.680 on this virus
00:25:00.780 on any social media
00:25:02.200 evaporates, right?
00:25:03.480 Because if it's in the one direction
00:25:04.920 against hydroxychloroquine,
00:25:07.720 against ivermectin,
00:25:08.860 you know,
00:25:09.240 anything that's pro-vaccine
00:25:11.060 and mandates,
00:25:12.300 that'll be allowed.
00:25:13.220 It's just if you go the other way,
00:25:14.540 you'll be punished.
00:25:15.740 Absolutely.
00:25:16.620 And I would say,
00:25:17.900 cynically,
00:25:18.400 I suspect a lot of the people
00:25:19.880 who shared this story
00:25:20.820 and now know it's false
00:25:21.840 will keep the stories up
00:25:23.160 because it's already gone viral.
00:25:25.480 It helps whatever it is
00:25:27.460 that they're trying to achieve here
00:25:29.280 to leave it there.
00:25:32.040 It is worth saying,
00:25:33.260 just as a matter of fact,
00:25:34.600 that irrespective
00:25:35.920 of its broad efficacy,
00:25:38.060 it's not true
00:25:39.620 that people are randomly
00:25:41.140 ingesting horse dewormer.
00:25:43.700 There aren't medical benefits
00:25:45.000 to this drug.
00:25:46.000 I mean,
00:25:46.200 it's been under the auspices
00:25:47.560 of the FDA
00:25:48.220 since the 1980s.
00:25:50.280 Whether it is
00:25:51.600 the best choice for COVID
00:25:53.620 is beyond my expertise.
00:25:57.240 But I've been equally irritated
00:25:59.740 by the way this has been talked about.
00:26:02.160 Oh, these idiots
00:26:02.820 taking horse dewormer.
00:26:04.320 People aren't actually
00:26:05.320 that irrational.
00:26:06.320 You know,
00:26:08.020 they don't just jump
00:26:09.340 all over nonsense
00:26:11.160 and damage themselves
00:26:12.700 with it en masse.
00:26:14.940 And that's just simply
00:26:16.660 not what has happened now.
00:26:18.340 It's funny because I was,
00:26:19.580 you know,
00:26:19.740 we have a new puppy
00:26:20.540 and we have a two-year-old dog
00:26:21.820 and we have a new puppy
00:26:22.580 and I've been sort of sorting out
00:26:24.420 the heartworm medication
00:26:25.520 and the flea medication,
00:26:26.860 the different one for each dog
00:26:28.060 and blah, blah, blah.
00:26:29.000 And one of them is ivermectin.
00:26:31.780 And I was like,
00:26:32.660 people would think
00:26:33.980 I am one of those people
00:26:34.900 who if I get COVID,
00:26:35.720 I'm just going to pop in
00:26:36.820 one of my dog's dewormer pills,
00:26:38.740 which I am not.
00:26:40.460 I can't actually remember
00:26:41.440 whether it was the dewormer
00:26:42.500 or the flea and tick prevention,
00:26:43.920 whatever.
00:26:44.260 The point is,
00:26:44.780 there was ivermectin
00:26:45.660 sitting there on my kitchen counter.
00:26:47.080 The point is,
00:26:47.580 if you want ivermectin
00:26:48.880 because you have COVID,
00:26:50.260 just call up your doctor.
00:26:51.620 Just go to the health clinic
00:26:52.840 down the road
00:26:53.480 and ask them about ivermectin.
00:26:55.820 And, you know,
00:26:56.620 if you try hard enough,
00:26:57.580 you'll find a doctor
00:26:58.220 who'd be open-minded
00:26:58.980 to that possibility.
00:27:00.680 There are plenty of them out there.
00:27:01.700 But you definitely should not
00:27:02.900 take your animal's medication
00:27:04.320 no matter what it is.
00:27:06.340 I think that's pretty clear.
00:27:08.120 But yeah, you're right.
00:27:08.960 That story is tailor-made
00:27:09.920 for a left-leaning press
00:27:11.320 and left-leaning pundits
00:27:12.800 who think Republicans are rubes.
00:27:14.800 They're stupid.
00:27:15.640 They're going to do things like this
00:27:17.040 with impunity
00:27:17.600 while they're shooting each other.
00:27:19.080 And really, frankly,
00:27:19.880 the end of that story
00:27:20.640 is they don't really care.
00:27:21.500 They don't actually care
00:27:22.180 what happens to Republicans
00:27:23.060 and ERs in Oklahoma.
00:27:24.720 They're just doing it
00:27:25.740 to make a point.
00:27:27.000 OK, let's shift gears
00:27:27.980 and talk about Afghanistan
00:27:29.280 and what's happening
00:27:31.300 with the president.
00:27:32.000 I listen to you
00:27:32.900 because, you know,
00:27:33.380 I love the podcast,
00:27:34.500 the editors that you're on
00:27:35.460 with Rich Lowry
00:27:36.120 and everybody, MBD.
00:27:38.720 And you, I think,
00:27:40.400 as far as I know,
00:27:41.300 you were one of the first,
00:27:42.580 if not the first,
00:27:43.320 to make the point
00:27:43.900 about Joe Biden
00:27:44.620 needs to stop talking about Beau.
00:27:46.640 And I thought
00:27:47.120 that's a brave thing to say.
00:27:48.720 He'll probably get hit for that
00:27:49.800 because you're supposed to,
00:27:51.820 that's supposed to be
00:27:52.560 an inviolate subject
00:27:53.560 when it comes to the president
00:27:54.780 and his son.
00:27:55.480 But soon thereafter,
00:27:57.120 others started to make
00:27:57.900 the same point.
00:27:58.640 There was some blowback.
00:27:59.740 The New York Times
00:28:00.280 already caved.
00:28:01.120 They came out with a headline
00:28:02.100 originally that read Biden
00:28:04.160 still grieving his son
00:28:05.940 finds that not everyone
00:28:07.500 wants to hear about it.
00:28:08.820 Then tons of backlash
00:28:10.020 on Twitter and so on.
00:28:11.120 And they changed their headline
00:28:12.020 to in invoking Beau,
00:28:14.800 Biden broaches a lost,
00:28:16.600 loss that has guided
00:28:17.600 his presidency.
00:28:18.940 But they had it right
00:28:20.260 the first time.
00:28:21.620 Not everyone does want
00:28:22.680 to hear about Beau
00:28:23.620 in this context.
00:28:25.480 And can you explain
00:28:26.320 for the audience
00:28:26.860 how he keeps bringing it up
00:28:29.220 and how I saw in your,
00:28:30.380 an article you recently dropped,
00:28:31.740 it's very clearly intentional
00:28:34.000 and strategic
00:28:35.560 by the administration.
00:28:38.480 Well, I think it is strategic.
00:28:40.920 I also think that even
00:28:42.160 if it's not,
00:28:43.160 it's inappropriate
00:28:43.940 and that that's the key point.
00:28:46.540 Beau Biden's death
00:28:48.000 was of course a tragedy.
00:28:49.960 And there is no one
00:28:52.700 in our politics
00:28:53.800 who would disagree with that.
00:28:55.480 No parent should have
00:28:57.520 to bury their child.
00:28:59.600 That is not a license
00:29:01.280 to use it every time
00:29:04.160 you are attacked.
00:29:07.980 And it's not an invitation
00:29:09.840 to share your grief
00:29:12.800 in all circumstances.
00:29:15.960 And Joe Biden
00:29:16.480 is not just a guy.
00:29:17.880 He's the president
00:29:18.760 of the United States.
00:29:19.900 And as such,
00:29:20.540 he's the commander-in-chief.
00:29:22.560 One of the criticisms
00:29:23.780 that has been made
00:29:25.060 has come from the parents
00:29:26.840 of the Marines
00:29:28.800 who were killed
00:29:29.560 in Afghanistan.
00:29:31.860 You could say
00:29:32.840 that's Joe Biden's fault
00:29:34.680 or you could say
00:29:35.380 that he was commander-in-chief
00:29:36.620 when it happened.
00:29:37.220 But you cannot dispute
00:29:38.480 that they were killed
00:29:39.440 under Joe Biden's command.
00:29:41.020 And as such,
00:29:43.980 for them to be,
00:29:45.380 you know,
00:29:45.600 people across
00:29:46.180 the political spectrum
00:29:47.180 to be complaining
00:29:48.360 that when they got
00:29:49.700 a few moments
00:29:50.420 with the president
00:29:51.100 and wanted to talk
00:29:51.960 about their children
00:29:52.860 that he instead
00:29:54.380 spoke about his own son
00:29:56.000 is a problem.
00:29:57.760 It's a problem
00:29:58.500 for a number of reasons.
00:29:59.900 Firstly,
00:30:00.600 that's not what
00:30:01.220 you're supposed to do
00:30:02.020 generally
00:30:02.520 when someone is
00:30:03.460 consumed by grief.
00:30:04.780 You're supposed to listen
00:30:05.560 and absorb as much
00:30:06.420 of their pain as possible.
00:30:07.440 You're not supposed to say,
00:30:08.620 hey, well,
00:30:08.860 actually what you're saying
00:30:09.580 reminds me of me.
00:30:11.480 You're especially
00:30:12.260 not supposed to do that
00:30:13.680 when you're the president
00:30:14.420 of the United States,
00:30:15.880 when you're the commander-in-chief
00:30:17.380 and when they might
00:30:18.260 well be angry with you.
00:30:19.960 It's a very difficult position
00:30:21.100 to be in.
00:30:21.660 It's not one I would want to be in.
00:30:22.820 I don't want to be president.
00:30:24.060 But if you are president,
00:30:25.040 that's part of the job.
00:30:26.900 It's also a problem
00:30:27.940 because although
00:30:28.860 Beau Biden's death
00:30:30.060 was a tragedy,
00:30:31.760 Beau Biden died of cancer
00:30:33.260 in a hospital in Virginia.
00:30:35.420 He did not die
00:30:37.300 in the field.
00:30:38.520 He did die
00:30:40.500 and he was a soldier,
00:30:41.620 but he didn't die
00:30:42.500 while a soldier.
00:30:43.880 He didn't die
00:30:44.720 of being a soldier.
00:30:45.980 He was not killed
00:30:46.920 in an instant
00:30:47.860 in a foreign land.
00:30:49.540 He died over
00:30:50.540 a matter of months
00:30:51.580 here in the United States
00:30:53.100 of a medical condition.
00:30:55.080 And for Joe Biden
00:30:56.620 to say every time
00:30:57.860 the topic comes up,
00:30:59.660 well, look,
00:31:00.560 I understand this
00:31:01.420 as well as anyone
00:31:02.240 because I too
00:31:03.760 have been through tragedy,
00:31:05.620 really is a non-sequitur.
00:31:06.880 I mean, there are
00:31:07.540 a lot of people
00:31:08.580 in the world
00:31:09.600 who have been through tragedy,
00:31:10.960 who've lost somebody
00:31:11.780 they loved a great deal.
00:31:13.580 Presumably Joe Biden
00:31:14.620 knows how they feel,
00:31:16.200 but that's not the same thing
00:31:17.460 as being a gold star parent
00:31:18.960 and it's not the same thing
00:31:20.360 as responding
00:31:22.320 to criticisms
00:31:23.080 of foreign policy.
00:31:24.860 And I thought the moment
00:31:26.080 when this tipped over
00:31:27.280 from inappropriate habit
00:31:29.680 into strategic choice
00:31:32.260 was when Jen Psaki
00:31:34.120 said at the same
00:31:35.580 press conference
00:31:36.380 a couple of weeks ago
00:31:37.880 that Joe Biden
00:31:39.480 knows how the parents feel
00:31:40.800 because he himself
00:31:41.740 had a son who died.
00:31:43.420 It is one thing
00:31:44.440 for the person affected
00:31:45.640 to say that.
00:31:46.960 It's another
00:31:47.460 for his press secretary
00:31:48.800 to begin throwing it
00:31:50.340 back at reporters.
00:31:52.040 And, you know,
00:31:52.760 I pointed out
00:31:53.480 in the piece
00:31:54.400 there are
00:31:56.100 many circumstances
00:31:57.400 in American history
00:31:58.400 in which presidents
00:31:59.480 have grieved deeply
00:32:00.380 over children
00:32:01.200 but knew that
00:32:02.260 it would have been
00:32:02.820 the wrong time
00:32:03.580 and place
00:32:04.000 for them to bring it up.
00:32:04.960 Abraham Lincoln
00:32:05.560 did not mention
00:32:07.700 his son Willie
00:32:08.740 at Gettysburg.
00:32:11.100 George Washington
00:32:11.920 did not mention
00:32:13.780 the premature death
00:32:15.600 of his adopted daughter
00:32:17.080 during the Revolutionary War.
00:32:19.540 Franklin Roosevelt
00:32:20.260 did not say
00:32:21.280 after D-Day
00:32:22.100 that he knew
00:32:22.880 how the families
00:32:23.880 who lost their sons felt
00:32:25.880 because his son
00:32:26.960 Franklin Jr.,
00:32:27.820 the first Franklin Jr.,
00:32:29.580 died
00:32:30.140 as a boy.
00:32:31.840 There are times
00:32:32.740 for that
00:32:33.260 and Biden
00:32:33.980 has misjudged them.
00:32:37.220 You're so right
00:32:38.400 and you make
00:32:38.900 such a good point
00:32:39.680 about how
00:32:40.380 the
00:32:41.260 it's almost
00:32:42.900 it feels like
00:32:44.200 an intentional
00:32:45.340 dodge or distraction
00:32:46.340 because
00:32:46.800 he's the commander
00:32:48.340 in chief.
00:32:49.600 It's one thing
00:32:50.340 to be standing there
00:32:51.420 with another
00:32:52.120 random person
00:32:53.620 who's lost a child
00:32:54.720 and for him to say
00:32:55.940 I lost my child
00:32:57.100 and two parents
00:32:58.300 randomly bonding
00:32:59.660 over that kind
00:33:00.460 of loss.
00:33:00.960 It's another
00:33:01.520 when you're
00:33:02.500 the commander
00:33:02.980 in chief
00:33:03.460 and the gold star
00:33:04.440 families are there
00:33:05.360 they're talking
00:33:06.520 to you
00:33:07.140 because their
00:33:08.300 children are now
00:33:09.440 within the past
00:33:10.360 few days
00:33:10.820 in a casket
00:33:11.700 after your orders
00:33:13.740 endangered them
00:33:14.900 and ultimately
00:33:15.480 led to the loss
00:33:16.900 of life.
00:33:17.360 that's a moment
00:33:18.540 for accountability
00:33:19.540 responsibility
00:33:20.960 it's not
00:33:22.000 right
00:33:22.440 it's not about
00:33:23.260 you at all
00:33:24.800 in your parental
00:33:26.260 role
00:33:26.720 or anything
00:33:27.880 that would make
00:33:28.500 the parents job
00:33:29.380 is not to feel
00:33:29.860 empathy
00:33:30.240 for you
00:33:31.060 in that moment.
00:33:32.500 I think that's
00:33:33.220 exactly right
00:33:34.160 and it's certainly
00:33:35.220 not a defense
00:33:36.200 of foreign policy.
00:33:38.640 I mean
00:33:38.820 we can obviously
00:33:40.240 disagree all day
00:33:41.420 about
00:33:41.860 Afghanistan
00:33:43.340 Iraq
00:33:44.820 any other
00:33:45.640 foreign policy
00:33:46.320 decision
00:33:46.840 but if you
00:33:48.060 look back
00:33:48.860 to the
00:33:50.420 2000s
00:33:52.040 George W. Bush
00:33:53.300 was pretty good
00:33:54.080 at standing there
00:33:54.880 and taking it
00:33:55.520 on the chin
00:33:56.140 when parents
00:33:58.020 said to him
00:33:58.780 you're a murderer
00:33:59.600 and you killed
00:34:00.120 my child
00:34:00.720 and that actually
00:34:02.040 is the right course.
00:34:03.800 I mean
00:34:03.900 I don't envy
00:34:04.960 the man
00:34:05.760 and that's also
00:34:06.780 not a defense
00:34:07.400 of his foreign
00:34:08.020 policy
00:34:08.460 that can be
00:34:09.040 evaluated
00:34:09.580 outside of
00:34:10.720 his empathy
00:34:12.460 or lack thereof
00:34:13.900 but the job
00:34:15.320 is to take
00:34:16.560 it.
00:34:18.460 The buck
00:34:19.260 does stop
00:34:20.000 there too
00:34:21.180 and I was
00:34:22.260 struck
00:34:22.760 by
00:34:23.620 the
00:34:25.020 more soft
00:34:26.600 spoken
00:34:27.220 among
00:34:28.020 the parents
00:34:29.520 and members
00:34:30.120 of
00:34:30.800 the families
00:34:32.020 of the slain
00:34:32.780 who said
00:34:34.520 it really
00:34:35.520 caught us
00:34:36.180 off guard
00:34:36.700 it really
00:34:37.680 struck us
00:34:39.040 as being
00:34:39.520 inappropriate.
00:34:40.440 There are of course
00:34:41.140 people who are
00:34:41.820 very angry
00:34:42.320 with the president
00:34:42.980 you have to temper
00:34:44.000 that a little bit
00:34:44.800 it's understandable
00:34:45.740 grieving people
00:34:46.620 often behave in
00:34:48.360 ways that
00:34:48.860 once they've come
00:34:50.040 out the other
00:34:50.420 side
00:34:50.720 they wouldn't
00:34:51.380 and there are
00:34:52.060 people who
00:34:52.460 really loathe
00:34:53.120 Joe Biden
00:34:53.620 we live in a
00:34:54.500 politically charged
00:34:55.280 age
00:34:55.680 but not everyone
00:34:56.960 who criticized
00:34:57.540 him for this
00:34:58.340 was in those
00:35:00.800 categories
00:35:01.320 and I
00:35:03.280 hope
00:35:04.140 that he
00:35:04.880 realizes
00:35:05.560 now
00:35:06.240 that that's
00:35:07.040 not an
00:35:07.780 appropriate
00:35:08.240 way to
00:35:09.240 respond
00:35:09.760 to grief
00:35:10.760 that
00:35:11.060 occurred
00:35:11.840 under
00:35:12.200 his
00:35:12.620 control
00:35:13.900 well it's
00:35:14.740 between that
00:35:15.300 and looking
00:35:15.960 at his
00:35:16.280 watch
00:35:16.560 several times
00:35:17.240 during the
00:35:17.660 Dover
00:35:17.980 ceremony
00:35:18.820 which he
00:35:19.220 clearly
00:35:19.480 did
00:35:19.780 and I
00:35:20.120 understand
00:35:20.600 he wears
00:35:21.080 rosary beads
00:35:21.740 there sometimes
00:35:22.420 but if you
00:35:22.880 look at that
00:35:23.280 tape
00:35:23.600 even his
00:35:24.700 normal
00:35:25.020 liberal
00:35:25.340 defenders
00:35:25.800 like Snopes
00:35:26.440 is saying
00:35:26.840 the guy
00:35:27.260 was looking
00:35:27.520 at his
00:35:27.740 watch
00:35:28.000 he looked
00:35:28.320 at his
00:35:28.520 watch
00:35:28.720 repeatedly
00:35:29.180 as dead
00:35:30.040 bodies
00:35:30.320 were going
00:35:30.660 by
00:35:30.880 I mean
00:35:31.120 it was
00:35:31.280 just
00:35:31.400 there's
00:35:31.700 an
00:35:31.820 insensitivity
00:35:32.540 there
00:35:32.880 that the
00:35:33.820 media
00:35:34.060 would have
00:35:34.440 been
00:35:34.700 obsessed
00:35:35.500 with
00:35:36.020 had it
00:35:36.760 been
00:35:36.940 Donald
00:35:37.260 Trump
00:35:39.760 excuse
00:35:40.200 given that
00:35:41.240 it's a
00:35:41.660 president
00:35:42.160 with a
00:35:42.600 D
00:35:43.020 after his
00:35:43.860 name
00:35:44.120 Charles
00:35:44.820 it's
00:35:45.180 always
00:35:45.460 a
00:35:45.640 pleasure
00:35:45.900 thank
00:35:46.220 you
00:35:46.340 so
00:35:46.500 much
00:35:46.800 thank
00:35:47.300 you
00:35:47.380 so
00:35:47.560 much
00:35:47.720 for
00:35:47.820 having
00:35:48.000 me
00:35:48.200 good luck
00:35:48.700 all right
00:35:49.040 thank you
00:35:49.600 up next
00:35:50.120 we're going
00:35:50.320 to be
00:35:50.460 joined by
00:35:51.000 Fox
00:35:51.520 Nation
00:35:51.860 journalist
00:35:52.380 Laura
00:35:52.960 Logan
00:35:53.280 she's
00:35:53.700 with Fox
00:35:54.040 News
00:35:54.260 now
00:35:54.440 she does
00:35:54.720 reports
00:35:55.020 for Fox
00:35:55.380 Nation
00:35:55.660 and she
00:35:56.100 lived
00:35:56.420 and reported
00:35:56.960 from
00:35:58.000 Afghanistan
00:35:58.500 for years
00:35:59.220 she's been
00:35:59.600 following the
00:36:00.020 outbreak
00:36:00.320 of protests
00:36:01.040 across the
00:36:02.060 country
00:36:02.440 which are
00:36:03.260 painting a
00:36:03.960 very different
00:36:04.560 narrative
00:36:04.960 about the
00:36:05.760 Taliban
00:36:06.100 our new
00:36:06.560 buddy
00:36:06.860 then we've
00:36:07.800 been told
00:36:08.200 she's fired
00:36:08.860 up and she's
00:36:09.340 here next
00:36:09.760 don't go
00:36:10.600 away
00:36:10.880 and welcome
00:36:19.360 back everybody
00:36:19.880 to the
00:36:20.200 Megan Kelly
00:36:20.640 show
00:36:21.040 joining me
00:36:21.440 now
00:36:21.780 Laura
00:36:22.420 Logan
00:36:22.760 she's a
00:36:23.360 journalist
00:36:23.640 and host
00:36:24.260 of Fox
00:36:24.880 Nations
00:36:25.340 Laura
00:36:26.240 Logan
00:36:26.640 has
00:36:27.060 no
00:36:27.540 agenda
00:36:27.940 I love
00:36:28.440 that
00:36:28.700 that's
00:36:29.060 like
00:36:29.240 the
00:36:29.700 greatest
00:36:29.940 I
00:36:30.260 should
00:36:30.420 have
00:36:30.520 chosen
00:36:30.820 that
00:36:31.020 title
00:36:31.260 I
00:36:31.400 wish
00:36:31.540 I
00:36:31.640 had
00:36:31.780 that
00:36:31.900 for
00:36:32.040 my
00:36:32.180 show
00:36:32.360 too
00:36:32.560 Laura
00:36:33.560 are you
00:36:33.740 with
00:36:33.920 me
00:36:34.420 I'm
00:36:34.840 with
00:36:35.020 you
00:36:35.160 Megan
00:36:35.380 thank
00:36:35.720 you
00:36:36.020 hi
00:36:36.620 it's
00:36:36.800 wonderful
00:36:37.060 to see
00:36:37.480 you
00:36:37.640 okay
00:36:37.920 let's
00:36:38.500 dive
00:36:38.740 right
00:36:38.920 in
00:36:39.060 and
00:36:39.180 talk
00:36:39.340 about
00:36:39.500 what's
00:36:39.700 happening
00:36:40.020 in
00:36:40.500 Afghanistan
00:36:41.200 now
00:36:41.720 I saw
00:36:43.100 you
00:36:43.340 tweeting
00:36:43.740 about
00:36:44.340 the
00:36:44.620 secretary
00:36:44.940 general
00:36:45.280 of
00:36:45.460 the
00:36:45.600 UN
00:36:45.860 talking
00:36:46.500 about
00:36:46.860 engaging
00:36:47.520 with
00:36:47.980 the
00:36:48.200 Taliban
00:36:48.600 on
00:36:49.040 a
00:36:49.220 humanitarian
00:36:50.000 basis
00:36:51.680 dovetails
00:36:52.560 nicely
00:36:52.880 with a
00:36:53.220 Wall Street
00:36:53.560 Journal
00:36:54.000 editorial
00:36:54.700 yesterday
00:36:55.240 that
00:36:55.680 that is
00:36:56.100 entitled
00:36:56.460 Our
00:36:56.960 Friends
00:36:57.560 the
00:36:57.860 Taliban
00:36:58.260 and
00:36:59.280 you
00:36:59.660 and
00:37:00.020 the
00:37:00.360 journal
00:37:00.640 and
00:37:00.920 others
00:37:01.280 are
00:37:01.440 trying
00:37:01.820 to put
00:37:02.320 the
00:37:02.700 lie
00:37:03.720 to
00:37:04.640 this
00:37:05.040 notion
00:37:05.500 that
00:37:06.000 somehow
00:37:06.780 just because
00:37:07.360 Biden
00:37:07.800 pulled the
00:37:08.220 troops out
00:37:08.720 we now
00:37:09.360 need to
00:37:09.660 pretend
00:37:10.040 that this
00:37:10.840 is a
00:37:11.140 reasonable
00:37:11.520 group
00:37:11.940 that's
00:37:12.200 going to
00:37:12.380 treat
00:37:12.580 women
00:37:12.880 well
00:37:13.280 that we
00:37:13.700 can
00:37:13.840 engage
00:37:14.180 with
00:37:14.360 on a
00:37:14.620 humanitarian
00:37:15.240 basis
00:37:16.000 and that
00:37:16.740 somehow
00:37:17.120 is willing
00:37:17.640 to turn
00:37:18.060 over
00:37:18.380 a new
00:37:19.280 leaf
00:37:19.640 your
00:37:19.920 thoughts
00:37:20.180 on it
00:37:20.420 well
00:37:20.780 my
00:37:20.940 first
00:37:21.260 thought
00:37:21.560 is that
00:37:21.940 there
00:37:22.120 is a
00:37:22.420 democratically
00:37:23.080 elected
00:37:23.720 government
00:37:24.700 of
00:37:25.160 Afghanistan
00:37:25.660 that is
00:37:26.160 still
00:37:26.420 in the
00:37:26.780 country
00:37:27.140 and
00:37:27.960 the
00:37:28.280 United
00:37:28.560 States
00:37:28.980 has been
00:37:29.420 complicit
00:37:30.060 in telling
00:37:30.980 one of
00:37:31.380 the most
00:37:31.700 egregious
00:37:32.200 lies of
00:37:32.820 all
00:37:33.120 about
00:37:33.440 this
00:37:33.660 whole
00:37:33.880 situation
00:37:34.500 which is
00:37:35.320 to write
00:37:35.760 these
00:37:36.020 people
00:37:36.320 off the
00:37:36.640 face
00:37:36.880 of the
00:37:37.160 earth
00:37:37.440 to try
00:37:38.080 and write
00:37:38.440 them out
00:37:38.780 of history
00:37:39.220 as if
00:37:39.500 they don't
00:37:39.820 exist
00:37:40.300 I mean
00:37:40.960 Amrl Al-Sar
00:37:41.660 was the
00:37:42.040 vice
00:37:42.300 president
00:37:42.740 of
00:37:43.360 Afghanistan
00:37:43.880 he is
00:37:44.640 now the
00:37:44.980 acting
00:37:45.360 president
00:37:45.800 under the
00:37:46.280 Afghan
00:37:46.560 constitution
00:37:47.120 and instead
00:37:48.300 of recognizing
00:37:49.140 that
00:37:49.640 which by
00:37:50.080 the way
00:37:50.420 we've
00:37:51.020 recognized
00:37:51.380 for the
00:37:51.780 past
00:37:51.980 20
00:37:52.400 years
00:37:52.900 we are
00:37:53.820 now
00:37:54.180 rushing
00:37:54.900 and falling
00:37:55.560 over
00:37:55.860 ourselves
00:37:56.300 to
00:37:56.820 legitimize
00:37:57.700 and
00:37:57.940 recognize
00:37:58.760 a
00:37:59.020 government
00:37:59.340 of
00:37:59.720 terrorists
00:38:00.260 who are
00:38:01.000 creating
00:38:01.440 a terrorist
00:38:01.960 super state
00:38:02.800 in Afghanistan
00:38:03.800 right on the
00:38:04.460 borders with
00:38:04.860 Iran and
00:38:05.400 Pakistan
00:38:05.800 who are
00:38:06.500 the two
00:38:06.760 greatest
00:38:07.160 sponsors
00:38:07.760 state
00:38:08.180 sponsors
00:38:08.660 of terror
00:38:09.620 in the
00:38:10.300 world
00:38:10.740 let me
00:38:12.320 pause you
00:38:12.680 for one
00:38:14.340 second
00:38:14.520 because I
00:38:14.780 think your
00:38:15.060 mic fell
00:38:15.500 because you
00:38:16.060 sounded
00:38:16.720 like
00:38:16.960 slightly
00:38:17.420 scratchy
00:38:18.200 just
00:38:18.440 reiterate
00:38:18.740 the
00:38:18.940 point
00:38:19.080 you
00:38:19.180 were
00:38:19.260 just
00:38:19.400 making
00:38:19.620 just
00:38:19.820 in case
00:38:20.020 people
00:38:20.280 weren't
00:38:20.480 following
00:38:20.760 well
00:38:21.320 so the
00:38:22.420 point is
00:38:22.840 that there
00:38:23.280 is actually
00:38:23.860 a democratically
00:38:24.500 elected
00:38:24.880 government
00:38:25.880 of Afghanistan
00:38:26.640 that is still
00:38:27.700 functioning and
00:38:28.400 that is still
00:38:28.920 there and
00:38:29.740 it is
00:38:30.180 it's in the
00:38:31.160 Panjia Valley
00:38:31.820 and in other
00:38:32.460 places and
00:38:33.480 they're fighting
00:38:34.060 for freedom
00:38:34.860 so the
00:38:35.720 Biden
00:38:35.980 administration
00:38:36.380 is complicit
00:38:37.240 in telling
00:38:37.660 one of the
00:38:38.100 greatest lies
00:38:38.980 of this
00:38:39.640 entire
00:38:40.000 situation
00:38:40.600 which is to
00:38:41.460 try and
00:38:41.860 write these
00:38:42.400 people out
00:38:43.040 of existence
00:38:43.540 to erase
00:38:44.300 them from
00:38:45.060 history and
00:38:45.820 erase them
00:38:46.320 from reality
00:38:47.040 you know
00:38:47.680 this country
00:38:48.300 has a choice
00:38:48.960 to make
00:38:49.480 you would
00:38:50.040 have thought
00:38:50.600 that this
00:38:51.300 wasn't even
00:38:51.940 a choice
00:38:52.520 but to
00:38:53.140 every American
00:38:53.960 and to
00:38:54.380 every person
00:38:55.040 in the
00:38:55.680 free world
00:38:56.260 who believes
00:38:57.160 in you know
00:38:58.060 ruling by
00:38:58.740 consensus
00:38:59.360 the choice
00:39:00.340 that we have
00:39:00.800 to make
00:39:01.280 is do we
00:39:02.180 stand with
00:39:03.020 terrorists
00:39:03.600 who use
00:39:04.460 fear as
00:39:05.500 their only
00:39:06.000 form of
00:39:06.540 governing
00:39:06.840 the way the
00:39:07.480 UN has
00:39:08.000 now done
00:39:08.560 right
00:39:08.880 they have
00:39:09.440 stood with
00:39:09.980 the Taliban
00:39:10.460 with the
00:39:11.240 terrorists
00:39:11.640 of the
00:39:12.560 Taliban
00:39:12.940 and Al-Qaeda
00:39:13.780 and the
00:39:14.440 Haqqani
00:39:14.760 network
00:39:15.080 and all
00:39:15.460 of the
00:39:15.700 others
00:39:16.060 who are
00:39:16.600 part of
00:39:16.980 this
00:39:17.160 government
00:39:17.540 and we
00:39:18.440 have said
00:39:18.920 that we
00:39:19.440 are giving
00:39:19.880 them humanitarian
00:39:20.520 assistance
00:39:21.120 which is
00:39:21.560 we are
00:39:22.200 legitimizing
00:39:22.940 them and
00:39:23.460 recognizing
00:39:24.200 them as
00:39:24.980 a legitimate
00:39:25.400 power
00:39:25.920 so what
00:39:26.600 we're doing
00:39:27.060 in that
00:39:27.480 moment
00:39:27.880 is we're
00:39:28.660 saying that
00:39:29.100 fear
00:39:29.660 ruling by
00:39:30.660 fear
00:39:31.160 and terror
00:39:31.840 is a
00:39:32.480 legitimate
00:39:32.880 form of
00:39:33.740 governing
00:39:34.120 and that
00:39:35.000 is fundamental
00:39:35.860 to who
00:39:36.420 we are
00:39:36.980 so the
00:39:37.520 fight in
00:39:37.880 Afghanistan
00:39:38.260 has never
00:39:38.880 been just
00:39:39.480 about
00:39:39.780 Afghanistan
00:39:40.280 it has
00:39:41.040 been a
00:39:41.320 war of
00:39:41.600 ideas
00:39:41.940 from the
00:39:42.320 very
00:39:42.560 beginning
00:39:42.980 and
00:39:43.540 Amr al-Sala
00:39:44.360 is the
00:39:45.340 democratically
00:39:46.020 elected
00:39:46.540 leader of
00:39:47.160 the country
00:39:47.580 he was
00:39:48.260 vice president
00:39:49.040 at the
00:39:50.080 time
00:39:50.480 of the
00:39:52.000 Taliban
00:39:52.260 entering
00:39:52.700 Kabul
00:39:53.080 he has
00:39:53.800 never
00:39:54.040 left
00:39:54.320 the
00:39:54.480 country
00:39:54.800 he
00:39:55.320 declared
00:39:56.400 himself
00:39:56.800 acting
00:39:57.120 president
00:39:57.480 under
00:39:57.860 the
00:39:58.020 Afghan
00:39:58.320 constitution
00:39:58.980 these
00:40:00.080 are the
00:40:00.520 people
00:40:00.720 that we
00:40:01.240 have
00:40:01.480 stood
00:40:01.760 by
00:40:02.000 and
00:40:02.240 accepted
00:40:02.720 and
00:40:03.120 legitimized
00:40:03.820 and
00:40:04.360 recognized
00:40:04.940 for the
00:40:05.280 past
00:40:05.520 20
00:40:05.900 years
00:40:06.340 so why
00:40:07.160 suddenly
00:40:07.740 are we
00:40:08.460 acting as
00:40:08.900 if they're
00:40:09.180 not
00:40:09.500 fighting for
00:40:10.100 freedom
00:40:10.420 why are
00:40:11.080 we
00:40:11.220 pretending
00:40:11.680 that all
00:40:12.120 Afghans
00:40:12.620 surrendered
00:40:13.020 and that
00:40:13.800 all
00:40:14.040 Afghans
00:40:14.560 gave up
00:40:15.080 and that
00:40:15.680 the Afghan
00:40:16.360 military
00:40:16.780 isn't
00:40:17.320 fighting for
00:40:17.900 its life
00:40:18.420 and fighting
00:40:19.160 for the
00:40:19.480 right to
00:40:19.880 live
00:40:20.040 freely
00:40:20.360 and why
00:40:21.160 are we
00:40:21.500 pretending
00:40:22.000 that
00:40:22.680 Afghans
00:40:23.240 all
00:40:23.540 surrendered
00:40:24.020 and want
00:40:24.520 the
00:40:24.700 Taliban
00:40:25.040 because
00:40:25.640 there are
00:40:26.020 protests
00:40:26.520 in Kabul
00:40:27.080 there were
00:40:27.860 protests
00:40:28.380 in Herat
00:40:28.960 I mean
00:40:29.520 Megan
00:40:29.820 can you
00:40:30.520 imagine
00:40:31.000 anything
00:40:31.800 more
00:40:32.140 terrifying
00:40:32.800 as a
00:40:33.560 woman
00:40:33.780 in
00:40:34.020 Afghanistan
00:40:34.580 than
00:40:35.300 the
00:40:35.460 return
00:40:35.840 of the
00:40:36.180 Taliban
00:40:36.500 could you
00:40:37.220 imagine
00:40:37.540 the courage
00:40:38.120 that it
00:40:38.500 takes
00:40:38.880 to go
00:40:39.440 onto the
00:40:39.860 streets
00:40:40.400 of Afghanistan
00:40:41.100 today
00:40:41.720 and to
00:40:42.400 protest
00:40:42.860 whether you're
00:40:43.260 a man
00:40:43.660 or a woman
00:40:44.300 that is
00:40:45.180 truly
00:40:45.640 the embodiment
00:40:46.900 of everything
00:40:47.600 this country
00:40:48.200 stands for
00:40:48.940 these are
00:40:49.720 people who
00:40:50.140 are standing
00:40:50.620 up for
00:40:50.980 principle
00:40:51.520 and for
00:40:52.280 their freedom
00:40:52.900 and the
00:40:53.380 right to
00:40:53.780 not live
00:40:54.560 under a
00:40:55.280 regime
00:40:55.760 of tyranny
00:40:56.440 and terrorism
00:40:57.160 and you
00:40:58.060 would think
00:40:58.600 that those
00:40:59.060 are our
00:40:59.400 natural
00:40:59.760 allies
00:41:00.240 and that
00:41:01.180 is what
00:41:01.580 this country
00:41:02.100 was founded
00:41:02.760 on
00:41:03.060 they are
00:41:03.640 the living
00:41:04.160 embodiment
00:41:04.880 of everything
00:41:05.620 we are
00:41:06.080 supposed to
00:41:06.580 believe in
00:41:06.980 and stand
00:41:07.500 for
00:41:07.840 and yet
00:41:08.560 we are
00:41:08.920 ignoring
00:41:09.380 them
00:41:09.680 we're not
00:41:10.280 asking our
00:41:10.880 leaders to
00:41:11.360 acknowledge
00:41:11.800 them
00:41:12.120 we're not
00:41:12.960 sanctioning
00:41:13.600 any of our
00:41:14.220 so-called
00:41:14.700 allies
00:41:15.100 like Pakistan
00:41:15.840 who have
00:41:16.720 invaded
00:41:17.160 Afghanistan
00:41:17.740 through a
00:41:18.240 proxy force
00:41:19.040 and are
00:41:19.780 slaughtering
00:41:20.480 these people
00:41:21.060 and where
00:41:21.960 are all the
00:41:22.460 women's groups
00:41:23.200 and all the
00:41:23.920 leaders on
00:41:24.540 both sides
00:41:25.100 of the aisle
00:41:25.600 do you know
00:41:26.180 that an
00:41:26.540 Afghan woman
00:41:27.480 a police
00:41:28.340 woman
00:41:28.660 was murdered
00:41:29.720 this weekend
00:41:30.780 in front of
00:41:31.440 her children
00:41:31.960 according to
00:41:32.860 her young son
00:41:33.580 who was a
00:41:34.100 witness
00:41:34.400 that he's about
00:41:34.940 12 or 13
00:41:35.800 or 14
00:41:36.300 years old
00:41:36.900 from the
00:41:37.740 video of
00:41:38.420 him
00:41:38.640 describing
00:41:39.500 what happened
00:41:40.160 and she
00:41:41.120 was murdered
00:41:41.640 in front
00:41:42.140 of her
00:41:42.440 children
00:41:42.780 she was
00:41:43.440 six months
00:41:43.980 pregnant
00:41:44.400 and he
00:41:45.240 said
00:41:45.780 that the
00:41:46.460 Taliban
00:41:46.800 fighters
00:41:47.280 the terrorists
00:41:47.880 who killed
00:41:48.320 her
00:41:48.600 carved her
00:41:49.540 brains out
00:41:50.420 with knives
00:41:51.420 and screwdrivers
00:41:52.460 so I want
00:41:53.740 you know
00:41:54.120 everyone to
00:41:54.760 think about
00:41:55.300 that
00:41:55.740 when you
00:41:56.320 hear the
00:41:56.760 UN
00:41:57.020 talking about
00:41:57.960 humanitarian
00:41:58.500 assistance
00:41:59.280 or you
00:42:00.020 hear the
00:42:00.420 Secretary of
00:42:00.960 State
00:42:01.200 Tony Blinken
00:42:01.840 saying we
00:42:02.680 don't
00:42:02.860 worry about
00:42:03.300 the terrorists
00:42:04.200 who are
00:42:04.500 in this
00:42:04.980 government
00:42:05.360 some of
00:42:06.160 whom
00:42:06.440 are declared
00:42:07.640 foreign terrorists
00:42:08.620 by the United
00:42:09.600 States
00:42:10.060 Siraj Haqqani
00:42:11.060 the new
00:42:11.440 interior minister
00:42:12.260 who was just
00:42:13.160 announced
00:42:13.580 has a five
00:42:14.460 million dollar
00:42:14.980 bounty on his
00:42:16.000 head
00:42:16.360 right
00:42:16.960 we don't
00:42:17.300 worry about
00:42:17.800 them
00:42:18.180 we're interested
00:42:18.900 in the
00:42:19.260 actions of
00:42:20.200 the Taliban
00:42:20.920 in this
00:42:21.360 government
00:42:21.640 and we
00:42:21.940 think we
00:42:22.260 can work
00:42:22.680 with them
00:42:23.060 how can
00:42:23.640 you work
00:42:24.060 with people
00:42:24.580 who carve
00:42:25.540 a pregnant
00:42:26.040 woman's
00:42:26.600 brains
00:42:27.280 out of her
00:42:28.420 head
00:42:28.720 with
00:42:28.960 screwdrivers
00:42:29.620 can you
00:42:30.020 tell me
00:42:30.380 goodness
00:42:30.820 no
00:42:31.340 it's
00:42:32.080 it's a
00:42:32.880 point we've
00:42:33.240 been trying
00:42:33.500 to make
00:42:33.780 here
00:42:34.020 this is a
00:42:35.320 group that
00:42:35.760 has engaged
00:42:36.440 in serial
00:42:36.960 child rape
00:42:37.640 and torture
00:42:38.160 how are we
00:42:38.960 negotiating
00:42:39.480 with them
00:42:39.960 and you've
00:42:40.300 got our
00:42:40.600 Secretary of
00:42:41.160 State
00:42:41.300 coming out
00:42:41.760 and saying
00:42:42.160 a new
00:42:43.240 chapter
00:42:43.760 in America's
00:42:45.000 relationship
00:42:45.660 with the
00:42:46.000 Taliban
00:42:46.340 has begun
00:42:47.420 it's
00:42:47.760 it's one
00:42:48.200 in which
00:42:48.500 we are
00:42:48.800 going to
00:42:49.140 lead
00:42:49.580 with our
00:42:50.080 diplomacy
00:42:50.820 how do
00:42:51.780 you have
00:42:52.120 diplomacy
00:42:52.660 with child
00:42:53.700 rapists
00:42:54.240 with serial
00:42:55.180 murderers
00:42:55.720 how I mean
00:42:56.300 and you
00:42:56.960 make a
00:42:57.240 good point
00:42:57.580 which is
00:42:58.040 the
00:42:58.640 legitimately
00:42:59.000 elected
00:42:59.480 government
00:42:59.880 the
00:43:00.620 president
00:43:00.920 fled
00:43:01.240 but it's
00:43:02.040 still in
00:43:02.400 place
00:43:02.780 they're
00:43:03.180 still
00:43:03.380 fighting
00:43:03.820 they're
00:43:04.120 out in
00:43:04.340 the
00:43:04.440 streets
00:43:04.660 right now
00:43:05.000 protesting
00:43:05.520 as the
00:43:05.940 Taliban
00:43:06.240 shoots
00:43:06.700 into the
00:43:07.000 air
00:43:07.140 try to
00:43:07.540 send them
00:43:08.140 back
00:43:08.420 into their
00:43:09.560 into their
00:43:10.020 homes
00:43:10.360 and we're
00:43:11.020 still trying
00:43:11.400 to pretend
00:43:11.760 that that
00:43:12.100 group at
00:43:12.400 the top
00:43:12.720 is one
00:43:12.980 we can
00:43:13.220 deal
00:43:13.420 with
00:43:13.620 and that
00:43:13.880 we're
00:43:14.040 going
00:43:14.240 to make
00:43:14.600 some
00:43:14.760 progress
00:43:15.320 with our
00:43:16.120 diplomacy
00:43:16.820 though we've
00:43:18.900 pulled every
00:43:19.280 single one of
00:43:19.660 our diplomats
00:43:20.160 out of
00:43:20.400 Afghanistan
00:43:20.800 those
00:43:21.520 diplomats
00:43:22.020 many
00:43:26.300 so what
00:43:27.120 people don't
00:43:27.660 really know
00:43:28.280 is that
00:43:28.940 Zomal Khalilzad
00:43:29.840 the US
00:43:30.220 presidential
00:43:30.820 envoy
00:43:31.220 was appointed
00:43:31.740 by Trump
00:43:32.200 and kept
00:43:32.620 by Biden
00:43:33.200 and you
00:43:34.220 know
00:43:34.340 Biden
00:43:34.660 fired almost
00:43:35.300 everyone
00:43:36.000 that was
00:43:36.880 associated
00:43:37.360 with Trump
00:43:37.920 and rescinded
00:43:38.980 every executive
00:43:39.680 order just
00:43:40.320 about that
00:43:40.760 he'd ever
00:43:41.080 made
00:43:41.440 so there
00:43:42.300 is no
00:43:42.720 justification
00:43:43.340 for keeping
00:43:44.140 Khalilzad
00:43:44.660 except that
00:43:45.140 you wanted
00:43:45.640 him
00:43:45.920 right
00:43:46.340 and they
00:43:46.900 can lie
00:43:47.280 about that
00:43:47.740 all day
00:43:48.180 long
00:43:48.400 but they
00:43:48.860 wanted
00:43:49.240 him
00:43:49.520 and
00:43:50.200 Khalilzad
00:43:51.100 opened an
00:43:51.600 office
00:43:51.920 there
00:43:52.220 they call
00:43:53.260 it a
00:43:53.540 coordination
00:43:54.060 office
00:43:54.760 right
00:43:55.020 to make
00:43:55.520 the
00:43:55.900 coordination
00:43:56.300 in the
00:43:56.760 wake
00:43:56.920 of the
00:43:57.180 Doha
00:43:57.480 agreement
00:43:57.940 well
00:43:58.540 that
00:43:58.820 the
00:43:59.100 plan
00:43:59.500 is
00:43:59.720 to
00:43:59.880 turn
00:44:00.140 that
00:44:00.600 into
00:44:01.060 a
00:44:01.240 liaison
00:44:01.660 office
00:44:02.260 with
00:44:02.840 the
00:44:03.000 Taliban
00:44:03.300 and
00:44:03.840 that
00:44:04.020 is
00:44:04.200 a
00:44:04.400 significant
00:44:05.180 step
00:44:05.740 towards
00:44:06.360 recognizing
00:44:07.120 terrorists
00:44:07.960 and legitimizing
00:44:09.120 fear as a
00:44:09.840 form of
00:44:10.400 governing
00:44:10.760 and at
00:44:11.520 the same
00:44:11.940 time
00:44:12.400 they're
00:44:12.860 going to
00:44:13.120 pass
00:44:13.520 off
00:44:13.980 the money
00:44:14.400 they want
00:44:14.720 to send
00:44:15.120 to the
00:44:15.560 Taliban
00:44:15.840 as
00:44:16.300 humanitarian
00:44:16.800 aid
00:44:17.580 so
00:44:18.140 Megan
00:44:18.620 you know
00:44:19.080 what
00:44:19.720 people don't
00:44:20.500 know
00:44:20.800 is that
00:44:21.140 the Afghan
00:44:21.760 government
00:44:22.520 was kept
00:44:23.100 afloat
00:44:23.600 by the
00:44:24.180 US
00:44:24.420 we were
00:44:24.860 sending
00:44:25.200 over
00:44:25.680 150
00:44:26.260 million
00:44:26.580 dollars
00:44:27.000 in
00:44:27.240 cash
00:44:27.640 every
00:44:28.160 week
00:44:28.500 to
00:44:28.720 Afghanistan
00:44:29.280 well hold
00:44:30.120 hold right
00:44:30.800 there
00:44:31.040 because I
00:44:31.420 actually do
00:44:31.760 want to
00:44:31.980 pick it up
00:44:32.320 with you
00:44:32.640 on the
00:44:33.360 money
00:44:33.640 and whether
00:44:34.640 we might
00:44:35.160 be on
00:44:35.420 the hook
00:44:35.700 for funding
00:44:36.360 some of
00:44:36.840 the Taliban's
00:44:37.580 new
00:44:37.860 agenda
00:44:38.260 Laura's
00:44:39.200 going to
00:44:39.320 stay with
00:44:39.580 us
00:44:39.700 we'll pick
00:44:40.000 it up
00:44:40.440 with her
00:44:40.780 right after
00:44:41.220 we take
00:44:41.480 a quick
00:44:41.780 break
00:44:42.320 plus
00:44:43.140 Professor
00:44:43.740 Alan
00:44:44.120 Dershowitz
00:44:44.540 is here
00:44:44.980 and fired
00:44:45.580 up to talk
00:44:46.100 about his
00:44:46.420 recent fight
00:44:47.060 with Larry
00:44:48.040 David
00:44:48.520 we'll be
00:44:49.420 right back
00:44:49.920 all right
00:44:53.800 let's pick
00:44:54.100 back up
00:44:54.480 with the
00:44:54.980 money
00:44:55.320 because the
00:44:55.820 money to
00:44:56.140 me is very
00:44:56.540 interesting
00:44:56.880 what we
00:44:57.260 funded to
00:44:57.720 them
00:44:58.040 what it
00:44:58.820 says about
00:44:59.280 us
00:44:59.620 and now
00:45:00.200 you put
00:45:00.600 you touched
00:45:00.960 on it a
00:45:01.360 minute ago
00:45:01.860 whether we're
00:45:03.300 prepared to
00:45:04.060 in the form
00:45:04.940 of quote
00:45:05.340 aid or
00:45:06.240 some other
00:45:06.920 way start
00:45:07.860 funding the
00:45:08.680 Taliban
00:45:09.120 which is
00:45:10.060 close with
00:45:10.540 Al Qaeda
00:45:11.080 no matter
00:45:11.580 what the
00:45:12.020 press tells
00:45:12.560 you and
00:45:13.720 its resurgence
00:45:14.820 I mean we
00:45:15.280 could be in a
00:45:15.800 position where
00:45:16.300 the American
00:45:16.760 taxpayer is
00:45:17.700 funding the
00:45:18.900 very terrorist
00:45:19.500 group that
00:45:20.700 we went to
00:45:22.260 Afghanistan to
00:45:22.940 fight 20
00:45:23.540 plus years
00:45:24.040 ago
00:45:24.320 well it's
00:45:25.000 much worse
00:45:25.500 than that
00:45:25.920 Megan because
00:45:26.420 we already
00:45:26.940 are funding
00:45:27.800 the Taliban
00:45:28.240 we've let
00:45:29.140 them hold
00:45:30.000 on to 80
00:45:30.560 billion dollars
00:45:31.540 worth of
00:45:32.500 military equipment
00:45:33.260 and what most
00:45:34.320 Americans don't
00:45:35.080 know is that
00:45:35.960 it literally is
00:45:36.860 as quick as
00:45:37.500 the flick of
00:45:38.020 a switch
00:45:38.460 for us to
00:45:39.720 destroy every
00:45:41.020 attack helicopter
00:45:42.100 and airplane
00:45:43.200 and armored
00:45:44.160 vehicle that
00:45:45.260 is now in
00:45:46.320 the hands
00:45:46.780 of the Taliban
00:45:47.700 and Al Qaeda
00:45:48.520 and it is
00:45:49.360 important to
00:45:49.900 address this
00:45:50.500 point of
00:45:51.040 Taliban versus
00:45:52.060 Al Qaeda
00:45:52.500 versus the
00:45:53.020 Haqqani network
00:45:53.800 and ISIS
00:45:54.360 what people
00:45:55.340 are constantly
00:45:56.960 deceived about
00:45:57.940 is that all
00:45:58.580 of these groups
00:45:59.180 have the same
00:45:59.860 goal
00:46:00.200 they may fight
00:46:01.320 with each other
00:46:01.940 for power
00:46:02.620 and vie for
00:46:03.340 position and
00:46:04.080 so on
00:46:04.560 but essentially
00:46:05.500 they all adhere
00:46:06.760 to the ideology
00:46:07.800 of Al Qaeda
00:46:08.980 which is the
00:46:10.380 ideological base
00:46:11.580 of the global
00:46:12.500 jihad for every
00:46:13.880 Islamic terrorist
00:46:14.620 group fighting
00:46:15.280 anywhere in the
00:46:16.360 world and what
00:46:17.500 you're actually
00:46:17.900 looking at with
00:46:18.600 the Islamic
00:46:19.080 Emirate of
00:46:19.760 the Taliban
00:46:20.200 this government
00:46:21.180 that they have
00:46:21.820 announced this
00:46:22.940 is the foundation
00:46:23.820 of Osama bin
00:46:24.640 Laden's
00:46:25.100 caliphate
00:46:25.720 there if you
00:46:26.640 look now at
00:46:27.480 Lebanon and
00:46:28.400 Syria and
00:46:29.400 Yemen and
00:46:30.400 Libya these
00:46:31.340 are the other
00:46:31.980 caliphates right
00:46:33.020 these are the
00:46:33.600 other Islamic
00:46:34.640 emirates and
00:46:35.860 they will form
00:46:36.940 and join to
00:46:38.320 form the entire
00:46:39.440 caliphate in the
00:46:40.420 end they're
00:46:41.060 working on one
00:46:41.800 in Nigeria as
00:46:42.860 we speak that's
00:46:43.540 why you know so
00:46:44.420 many people Muslims
00:46:45.340 and Christian but
00:46:46.220 they're mostly
00:46:46.860 Christians are
00:46:47.860 being slaughtered
00:46:48.660 every day this is
00:46:49.740 part of Osama bin
00:46:50.780 Laden's plan and
00:46:52.100 what is really hard
00:46:53.140 to understand is
00:46:54.620 why why would the
00:46:56.360 Biden administration
00:46:57.380 or any administration
00:46:59.080 do this to the
00:47:01.060 United States of
00:47:01.780 America why would
00:47:02.960 we give victory to
00:47:04.540 Al Qaeda on the
00:47:05.680 20th anniversary of
00:47:06.940 9-11 and not just
00:47:08.320 Al Qaeda Hezbollah
00:47:09.700 Hamas every Islamic
00:47:11.540 terrorist group and
00:47:13.120 every terrorist group
00:47:14.020 in the world now
00:47:15.220 sees that the
00:47:16.360 United States the
00:47:17.380 leader of the free
00:47:18.320 world the nation
00:47:19.460 that is supposed to
00:47:20.400 stand for democracy
00:47:21.440 and supposed to
00:47:22.600 stand for liberty and
00:47:23.900 freedom as a way of
00:47:24.800 life is now saying
00:47:26.220 well we're okay with
00:47:28.080 the fact that you
00:47:29.140 don't believe in
00:47:30.280 freedom and that you
00:47:31.120 rule by fear and
00:47:32.480 in fact not only are
00:47:34.080 we okay with it we're
00:47:35.340 going to endorse it
00:47:36.260 we're going to
00:47:36.720 legitimize it we're
00:47:37.680 going to lie about it
00:47:38.560 to our people because
00:47:39.280 they know the US is
00:47:40.800 lying and we're going
00:47:42.260 to fund it for you
00:47:44.020 so it's like we I
00:47:45.880 feel like we've gone
00:47:46.620 into insanity land and
00:47:48.520 people say to me well
00:47:49.480 that makes no sense
00:47:50.380 why would they do
00:47:51.100 that I cannot answer
00:47:52.860 that question that is
00:47:54.380 a question for those
00:47:55.240 leaders to answer it's
00:47:56.860 a question for
00:47:57.400 Americans to ask of
00:47:59.160 their leaders it
00:48:00.140 doesn't matter whether
00:48:00.880 you're Democrat or
00:48:01.840 Republican it's way
00:48:03.380 too late for partisan
00:48:04.920 politics to have any
00:48:06.280 relevance here
00:48:07.080 whatsoever we're
00:48:08.660 fighting for our
00:48:09.520 survival and we're
00:48:10.800 fighting for the
00:48:11.500 survival of the
00:48:12.320 American dream and
00:48:14.460 the American idea
00:48:15.620 that is what is being
00:48:17.020 obliterated right now
00:48:18.440 and with every person
00:48:19.860 who is killed in the
00:48:21.080 Panjshir Valley where
00:48:22.320 the Afghan government
00:48:23.340 forces the special
00:48:24.420 operations troops who
00:48:26.000 are fighting against
00:48:27.040 all the odds Megan
00:48:28.580 can you imagine I
00:48:29.820 mean the US was
00:48:30.760 mocked and you know
00:48:32.120 and sort of ridiculed
00:48:33.620 for 20 years of
00:48:35.000 building Afghan forces
00:48:35.980 and look what you did
00:48:36.880 they just collapsed
00:48:37.600 why would we
00:48:38.560 participate in that
00:48:39.640 false narrative the
00:48:41.020 Afghan special
00:48:41.720 operations forces and
00:48:42.960 commandos that are in
00:48:44.200 the Panjshir Valley now
00:48:45.420 I mean they are in a
00:48:47.080 desperate humanitarian
00:48:47.960 situation because there's
00:48:49.680 a quarter of a million
00:48:50.480 people there with them
00:48:51.500 who need food and who
00:48:52.900 need medical supplies
00:48:53.920 but they have inflicted
00:48:55.420 massive losses on
00:48:57.380 Taliban forces they're
00:48:58.780 holding out against
00:48:59.700 Pakistan China Russia
00:49:01.840 US armor US assets
00:49:04.380 air power and they are
00:49:05.900 still fighting they're
00:49:07.640 still holding their
00:49:08.500 ground and they're
00:49:09.140 willing to fight to
00:49:09.980 the death for their
00:49:11.260 freedom so to every
00:49:12.600 person who calls
00:49:13.460 Afghanistan a failed
00:49:14.880 American experiment you
00:49:16.540 are dishonoring some of
00:49:18.200 the bravest people on the
00:49:19.880 face of the earth who
00:49:21.300 truly believe in freedom
00:49:23.000 because they're willing to
00:49:24.140 give their lives for it so
00:49:25.760 don't demean them and
00:49:27.260 patronize them and
00:49:28.680 dismiss them and ignore
00:49:30.240 them because in so doing
00:49:32.100 you are sowing the seeds for
00:49:34.040 the end of everything that
00:49:35.160 you value in this
00:49:36.600 country the end of
00:49:38.100 American authority and
00:49:39.480 moral authority on the
00:49:40.640 world stage and American
00:49:42.220 power and what's clear
00:49:44.060 is we don't seem to care
00:49:46.020 our our president doesn't
00:49:47.480 seem much to care about
00:49:48.560 that our the chairman of
00:49:50.000 the Joint Chiefs Milley
00:49:51.100 was out there just this
00:49:52.900 weekend sounding very
00:49:54.360 cavalier about what's
00:49:56.360 about to happen there and
00:49:57.880 then back stateside as a
00:49:59.340 result to us listen to him
00:50:00.720 is the US safer today
00:50:02.780 since the US has withdrawn
00:50:04.600 from Afghanistan well you
00:50:06.820 know this is something
00:50:07.660 that I've thought a lot
00:50:09.480 about and and I
00:50:11.780 personally think that my
00:50:13.360 military estimate is is
00:50:14.520 that the conditions are
00:50:15.980 likely to develop of a
00:50:20.720 civil war I don't know if
00:50:23.180 the Taliban is going to be
00:50:23.940 able to consolidate power
00:50:24.880 and establish governance
00:50:25.940 they may be maybe not but
00:50:28.100 I think there's at least a
00:50:29.780 very good probability of a
00:50:31.580 broader civil war and that
00:50:33.480 will then in turn lead to
00:50:34.800 conditions that could in
00:50:36.120 fact lead to a
00:50:37.240 reconstitution of Al Qaeda or
00:50:39.380 a growth of ISIS or other
00:50:41.340 myriad of terrorist groups
00:50:42.520 so I think the the short
00:50:44.400 answer to your question is
00:50:45.360 we don't know yet but the
00:50:47.860 conditions are very likely
00:50:48.960 in my opinion that and I've
00:50:50.920 testified this and I've said
00:50:51.940 it in public that you could
00:50:53.840 see a resurgence of
00:50:54.760 terrorism coming out of that
00:50:55.680 general region within 12
00:50:57.280 24 36 months omg oh um what
00:51:01.920 right like that seems like
00:51:04.040 something we should have
00:51:04.720 factored in oh Megan there's
00:51:06.800 just not a single thing in
00:51:08.360 there and there's nothing
00:51:09.640 left of general Milley that
00:51:11.700 speaks to integrity and
00:51:13.800 honesty and good standing he
00:51:15.740 has failed this country in
00:51:17.220 every possible respect and the
00:51:19.220 soldiers under his command and
00:51:21.060 the American people and the
00:51:22.300 Afghan people because he knows
00:51:24.120 he's lying I mean you know this
00:51:26.060 is what people really need to
00:51:27.500 factor in when they try to
00:51:28.600 make up their minds about
00:51:30.020 what you know what is true and
00:51:31.360 what isn't general Milley
00:51:32.880 knows more than you he knows
00:51:34.400 more than me he knows more
00:51:35.740 than every American out there
00:51:37.040 right he knows that there's
00:51:38.840 already a civil war in
00:51:39.920 Afghanistan he knows that
00:51:41.620 Al Qaeda never left he knows
00:51:43.780 that some of the most senior
00:51:44.920 figures in Al Qaeda returned
00:51:46.820 already from Pakistan and are
00:51:48.920 working with the Afghan Al Qaeda
00:51:51.180 Siraj Haqqani that's the
00:51:52.840 Haqqani network and who is a
00:51:54.680 designated terrorist General
00:51:56.120 Milley and General Austin all
00:51:57.600 of these people they had
00:51:59.100 soldiers on the ground in the
00:52:00.920 fight right I mean they have
00:52:02.780 seen the remains of U.S.
00:52:04.880 servicemen coming back do you
00:52:06.780 know what they did Megan
00:52:07.720 Siraj Haqqani who was
00:52:09.780 designated as a foreign
00:52:10.800 terrorist in 2012 who the
00:52:12.900 Taliban has named as their you
00:52:14.540 know interior minister in their
00:52:15.980 new government he has been in
00:52:17.760 charge of security in Kabul from
00:52:20.020 the moment the Taliban entered
00:52:21.680 you know why because the
00:52:23.060 Haqqani network has always
00:52:24.200 owned Kabul they are
00:52:25.600 responsible for most of the
00:52:26.780 terrorist attacks in that
00:52:28.340 city it's their natural
00:52:29.700 terrain they are the same
00:52:31.200 people who are most likely
00:52:32.740 responsible for the bombing
00:52:34.380 of U.S. forces that killed
00:52:36.820 13 Americans and over 100
00:52:38.660 Afghans more than 80 percent
00:52:40.440 of the bombs used in Kabul
00:52:42.780 have been traced to two
00:52:43.980 fertilizer factories in
00:52:45.460 Pakistan by the head of the
00:52:46.980 joint special operations task
00:52:48.400 force Jai Edo that was set up
00:52:50.160 to counter IEDs so all of
00:52:52.600 these generals they know
00:52:53.640 exactly what's going on on the
00:52:55.580 ground they know that the
00:52:56.980 soldiers they trained are
00:52:58.900 fighting in the mountains in
00:53:00.780 the Panjshir Valley they know
00:53:02.640 that they have been killing the
00:53:04.080 Taliban fighters in
00:53:05.920 extraordinary numbers they know
00:53:08.340 that there's a stench of death
00:53:10.000 rising from the floor of the
00:53:11.660 valley from all of the
00:53:12.880 unclaimed bodies and this is not
00:53:14.940 by any means you know a great
00:53:17.540 situation for any of the people
00:53:19.220 involved they're under an
00:53:20.640 extraordinary amount of
00:53:22.140 pressure they are at risk of
00:53:23.880 running out of ammo they're
00:53:25.260 low on food and so on but you
00:53:27.220 know what they have in their
00:53:28.720 side the truth because they're
00:53:31.600 fighting for something noble and
00:53:33.300 they're fighting with dignity and
00:53:35.240 also they know the terrain it is
00:53:37.520 it is there's snow in the
00:53:39.480 mountains Megan and winter is
00:53:40.980 coming and they the U.S.
00:53:43.620 chose General Milley General
00:53:45.000 Austin all of them they chose to
00:53:47.040 do this withdrawal in the
00:53:48.660 summer months the fighting
00:53:49.980 season when the Taliban and its
00:53:52.080 fighters are most engaged and
00:53:54.200 most active if they had chosen
00:53:55.940 to do this in the winter months
00:53:57.560 the Pakistan that the Taliban
00:53:59.560 fighters and al-Qaeda and all of
00:54:01.260 them they're in Pakistan during
00:54:02.880 the winter months they don't like
00:54:04.480 the snow and they don't like the
00:54:05.640 cold they come from the south of
00:54:07.680 the country from Kandahar and
00:54:09.260 Helmand and places like this where
00:54:10.940 they're used to the heat and so
00:54:12.820 this is a factor that is going to
00:54:14.360 play very much into the hands of
00:54:16.200 the government forces and
00:54:17.880 President Saleh and his people
00:54:20.620 around him in the mountains of
00:54:22.240 Panjshir but it also speaks to the
00:54:24.380 fact that the U.S. had a very
00:54:26.340 simple choice they could have done
00:54:28.280 this much more easily in the winter
00:54:30.320 months or they could have picked a
00:54:32.000 fight they could have let the
00:54:33.380 Taliban do this on their terms when
00:54:35.320 they could inflict the most damage on
00:54:37.240 the Afghan forces and the Afghan
00:54:38.620 government and that was the choice
00:54:40.280 that they made they have chosen to
00:54:42.140 leave the U.S.'s military
00:54:43.760 equipment in the hands of terrorists
00:54:45.440 they have chosen not to use their
00:54:47.260 air power they've chosen not to put
00:54:49.080 sanctions on Pakistan they've chosen
00:54:51.060 not to sanction Qatar or to use any
00:54:53.900 of their diplomatic or economic power
00:54:56.240 to change the effects on the
00:54:57.880 battlefield they've chosen to ignore
00:54:59.900 President Saleh and the Afghan
00:55:01.440 government forces in the mountains
00:55:02.900 they've chosen not to supply them or
00:55:05.020 to support them in any way they've
00:55:06.660 chosen to pressure neighboring
00:55:07.900 governments not to let Afghan
00:55:09.780 refugees come out not to assist
00:55:11.840 Americans doing private evacuation
00:55:13.460 flights they've made all these
00:55:15.160 decisions these are not mistakes
00:55:16.760 these are not failures in policy that
00:55:18.720 they're rushing to rectify these are
00:55:20.780 the chosen courses of action that
00:55:22.920 they're sticking by and that they're
00:55:25.100 defending and that they're pushing
00:55:27.200 forward so that tells me as a
00:55:30.400 journalist everything that I need to
00:55:31.960 know about the outcome here it tells
00:55:34.400 me that if the Biden administration had
00:55:36.700 a problem with the outcome in the
00:55:38.560 situation that we're in now if they
00:55:40.320 had a problem legitimizing terrorists
00:55:42.680 as a regime they wouldn't be doing
00:55:44.580 it because nobody's got a gun to their
00:55:46.220 head saying that you have to do it
00:55:47.960 in fact the Taliban is holding
00:55:49.500 American citizens as hostages the
00:55:52.100 State Department is you know has rules
00:55:54.060 about this right if you hold an
00:55:55.920 American against their will prevent
00:55:57.260 them from leaving the country for a
00:55:59.000 certain period of time they are
00:56:00.480 they are considered a hostage by the
00:56:02.840 U.S. government well there are
00:56:04.500 American citizens who can't leave
00:56:06.020 Mazar-i-Sharif right now because the
00:56:08.020 Taliban is using them as leverage and
00:56:10.440 one other thing there is a man by the
00:56:12.500 name of Nurzai who is serving life in
00:56:14.900 prison right now because he is a
00:56:17.020 significant person in setting up the
00:56:19.840 Taliban's narco terror network that has
00:56:22.160 been trafficking in heroin and financing
00:56:24.720 the Taliban and al-Qaeda and other
00:56:26.540 terrorist groups for some time now the
00:56:28.880 Taliban want Nurzai back and they have
00:56:31.660 an American hostage we never hear that
00:56:33.980 Biden administration or anybody talking
00:56:36.620 about the fact that we gave up all of
00:56:38.900 what we've given up to the Taliban and
00:56:40.860 we never talk about getting this
00:56:43.440 American back we never talk about the
00:56:45.440 deal that we're considering releasing
00:56:47.300 Nurzai from prison and what I understand
00:56:49.960 from very senior sources in the DEA you
00:56:52.760 know they wanted to indict the top eight
00:56:55.320 tier leaders of the Taliban back in 2013
00:56:59.060 on narcotics trafficking charges and they
00:57:01.760 were prevented from doing so by the Obama
00:57:04.040 administration that said oh we couldn't
00:57:05.460 possibly do that we don't have an
00:57:06.980 extradition treaty with the Afghan
00:57:08.760 government well these are pathetic
00:57:10.660 excuses they're made up reasons to
00:57:13.940 justify policy decisions that hurt the
00:57:16.960 United States and it's time for leaders
00:57:19.540 on both sides to realize that Americans
00:57:21.920 are united in their disgust and shame at
00:57:26.740 the betrayal and what's going on in
00:57:28.280 Afghanistan and if we don't do
00:57:30.560 something about it the consequences for
00:57:32.680 this country are very very grave because
00:57:35.740 we are empowering a terrorist super
00:57:37.520 state whose main goal is the
00:57:39.820 annihilation of every free person on the
00:57:43.680 face of the earth and and you heard
00:57:46.600 General Milley say it explicitly there
00:57:48.820 that it wouldn't be surprised at all if
00:57:50.820 we see terrorism brought from there to
00:57:53.120 here within the next 12 to 36 months well
00:57:56.620 that's not a shock to any of us we all we
00:57:59.120 all saw that coming it's one of the
00:58:00.800 questions why many of us asked why do
00:58:02.800 all the troops have to come out why
00:58:04.260 well there was no massive movement back
00:58:06.560 here at home to have every last troop
00:58:08.540 removed from Afghanistan this wasn't a
00:58:10.480 Vietnam situation where Americans were
00:58:12.440 in the street saying pull them all it's
00:58:14.360 not like when Trump first said I want to I
00:58:16.060 want the troops to go home we had 15,000
00:58:18.100 and he started to withdraw or withdraw them
00:58:19.900 down we only had 4,000 left and and we were
00:58:22.860 holding the peace okay and we were
00:58:24.620 preventing the surrender of Afghanistan to
00:58:27.200 this terrorist group that that foments
00:58:29.480 more terrorism with Al Qaeda and now we're
00:58:31.440 in a very different situation you heard it
00:58:32.880 from Milley himself I want to ask you
00:58:35.040 though this about the press because while
00:58:36.680 the press was tough on Biden unusually
00:58:39.120 tough for them on Biden at the beginning
00:58:41.600 this I feel like they're starting to turn
00:58:43.280 and if you look at sort of the latest you've
00:58:46.920 got the New York Times coming out and
00:58:48.440 writing about how the administration
00:58:50.860 quickly adjusted to the chaos in Afghanistan
00:58:53.780 and by the time the last American soldiers
00:58:56.260 left on Monday the U.S. military and its
00:58:58.560 allies had evacuated around 124,000 people
00:59:01.120 moment of victory for them as far as they
00:59:03.240 see Ezra Klein of the New York Times a
00:59:05.380 better withdrawal was possible but so was
00:59:07.700 a worse one and then there was John
00:59:09.260 Carl over over an ABC Biden accomplished
00:59:12.040 exactly what Trump had tried to do but
00:59:14.980 perhaps not as quickly and with more
00:59:17.220 regard for the Afghan citizens who worked
00:59:19.460 with the United States so already they're
00:59:21.240 trying to run cover for him and of course
00:59:23.460 shift the narrative to more domestic
00:59:25.920 stories because everyone in the press
00:59:27.640 realizes this has been disastrous for
00:59:29.240 Biden and his poll numbers give you the
00:59:30.920 last word you know I was talking this
00:59:34.600 weekend to someone who used to go to an
00:59:36.740 underground church in Afghanistan and he
00:59:39.100 was telling me that while another member
00:59:41.460 of the church was on the line with the
00:59:43.600 Christians who were gathered together from
00:59:46.100 that church and they were praying
00:59:47.700 together they could hear the Taliban come
00:59:49.580 to their door they could hear the door
00:59:51.620 open and they could hear the gunfire and
00:59:53.760 they believe that everyone in that
00:59:55.400 underground church was executed this
00:59:58.980 weekend so I would say to the New York
01:00:01.300 Times and to ABC and to all of the other
01:00:03.620 reporters that anybody who is defending
01:00:06.260 this and trying to portray this as if it
01:00:08.480 was Biden was more humane and did better for
01:00:11.020 the Afghan people it is an absolute the scale
01:00:15.020 and depth of that lie and that dishonesty is
01:00:18.620 so overwhelming I don't even know how to
01:00:21.800 address it I have an Afghan friend my
01:00:24.340 colleague from 60 Minutes who has been
01:00:26.220 here the last few days we have volunteers
01:00:29.400 that have come from all over the country
01:00:31.260 that are trying to help get humanitarian
01:00:33.220 assistance into Afghanistan and get people
01:00:36.480 rescued and one after another after another I
01:00:40.020 mean people are just absolutely shocked and
01:00:43.520 stunned at the news that's coming out the
01:00:46.140 phone every time it rings on Saturday night
01:00:48.400 it was another relative of his who had been
01:00:50.920 killed in the fighting in the Panjia Valley and
01:00:53.400 then it was his uncle who had been shot and
01:00:56.120 then it was his uncle's brother who had been
01:00:57.940 killed and then it was his village that had
01:00:59.620 been overrun and you know it's it's never
01:01:02.040 ending and what you see happening here with
01:01:04.520 the press is what Biden what the Biden
01:01:06.680 administration did very effectively remember
01:01:08.760 the pic the images of all those people running
01:01:11.320 under the tarmac those people clinging to
01:01:13.500 that last flight that's the image of
01:01:15.680 Afghanistan that they did not want anyone
01:01:17.800 to see because we were supposed to believe
01:01:19.920 that none of the Afghan people were
01:01:22.160 resisting that everyone supports the Taliban
01:01:24.600 they really wanted the Taliban democracy
01:01:26.360 was a failed experiment and so on right and
01:01:29.100 none of them had the will what a general
01:01:30.680 Austin say you can't buy willpower that
01:01:33.560 was the narrative and they didn't want
01:01:34.860 anything to interfere well as long as you
01:01:36.820 had journalists on the ground witnessing
01:01:39.340 the desperation and and the truth that
01:01:43.820 was an uncomfortable position for the
01:01:45.640 administration to be in so they quickly
01:01:47.500 evacuated all of those journalists you
01:01:49.760 know the New York Times Wall Street
01:01:51.520 Journal they got them all out problem
01:01:53.540 number one solved number two they went to
01:01:55.840 Siraj Akhani the man responsible for
01:01:58.060 killing more people in Kabul than anybody
01:01:59.820 else the one man right and they asked him
01:02:02.780 to help them secure the airport and they put
01:02:05.780 a perimeter around it by the Taliban and
01:02:07.700 what happened immediately after that the
01:02:09.780 Taliban put up a gazillion checkpoints and
01:02:12.400 people were beaten people were stopped at
01:02:14.200 those checkpoints people were unable to
01:02:16.220 reach the airport so the Biden administration
01:02:18.340 working with terrorists made sure that they
01:02:20.860 had full control over the narrative and in
01:02:23.280 that space they then went about lying to the
01:02:26.120 American people every time they opened their
01:02:27.920 mouths now it comes back to a compliant press
01:02:30.480 that sees his falling approval numbers he's
01:02:33.340 he's down to forty five point eight percent
01:02:36.800 approval that was from a high of fifty four
01:02:38.680 percent approval at the end of his first
01:02:40.420 hundred days he's had a drop in seven key
01:02:42.500 congressional districts that Democrats are
01:02:44.440 defending in the next year according to a
01:02:46.800 GOP poll that just came out so they can
01:02:49.400 feel the political consequences of these
01:02:52.160 decisions Laura Logan always a pleasure thank
01:02:54.860 you so much for bringing your expertise and
01:02:57.040 just a pleasure to talk to you again lots of
01:02:59.140 love I want to pretend Megan that I'm the
01:03:01.460 rational cool-headed journalist but I got
01:03:04.520 to tell you when I hear that and I know the
01:03:06.640 reality I I can only say there's a special
01:03:09.580 place in hell for all of those people
01:03:11.260 listen it's personal for you unlike most of
01:03:13.860 us you've been there you know these people
01:03:15.780 that's one of the reasons why your insights
01:03:18.120 are invaluable and I I feel like your
01:03:20.480 your passion makes us listen to you more so
01:03:22.820 don't apologize it's wonderful to thank you
01:03:25.120 for caring lots of love lady okay up next
01:03:29.320 Alan Dershowitz is here he's gonna talk
01:03:31.700 about this major abortion rights case
01:03:33.320 that's well we've had the dust up down in
01:03:35.940 Texas and we've also had another we have
01:03:37.540 another case it's going up to the Supreme
01:03:38.860 Court and he just got into a weird fight
01:03:40.760 with Larry David you got to hear this story
01:03:44.140 and by the way we'd love to know your
01:03:45.240 thoughts on anything we've discussed today
01:03:46.700 or recently on the show you know before we
01:03:48.640 launched a series we had a show and
01:03:50.540 continue to on podcasting it's free and if
01:03:53.320 you have any personal questions well
01:03:55.300 screw you no just kidding I may I may
01:03:58.040 answer them it depends how are they how
01:04:01.420 personal are they give us a call 8 3 3 4 4
01:04:05.820 Megan 8 3 3 4 4 6 3 4 9 6 8 3 3 4 4 6 3 4 9 6
01:04:15.020 I'm gonna get it straight I don't have it
01:04:17.120 but listen it's 8 3 3 4 4 Megan M-E-G-Y-N
01:04:20.000 boom joining me now one of my favorite
01:04:26.360 people Alan Dershowitz professor emeritus
01:04:29.300 at Harvard Law School and scourge of Larry
01:04:32.360 David we'll get to that in one second
01:04:33.920 great to see you Alan let's let's start
01:04:37.620 with yeah go ahead I'm a little tired I've
01:04:40.580 been up all night trying to help rescue
01:04:43.260 200 or so women judges from Afghanistan
01:04:47.180 trying to put together a team to do that so
01:04:49.540 it's been an exhausting exhausting couple
01:04:51.540 of days and I hope some progress are you
01:04:54.400 we hope so you know the Talmud says and
01:04:57.200 the Quran says he who saves or she who
01:04:59.380 saves even a single human life it's as if
01:05:01.400 they've saved the world and you know I see
01:05:03.500 images of the Holocaust as I see these
01:05:05.800 judges and their families running to
01:05:08.100 safety with Taliban men threatening to
01:05:10.740 kill them and their families because they
01:05:12.360 served as female judges imagine the
01:05:14.620 arrogance of a female judge sentencing a
01:05:17.400 male member of the Taliban to prison so
01:05:19.300 they're after them and we everybody who
01:05:21.740 believes in justice has to fight back so
01:05:23.560 that's been my cause for the last few
01:05:25.160 days oh I love that I want to help you
01:05:27.780 do that let me know if there's anything I
01:05:29.040 can do to help you with that that it's
01:05:31.140 horrifying to me how how quickly and how
01:05:33.420 cavalierly we've discarded people like
01:05:35.920 that and just sort of said oh you know
01:05:37.180 we're running a diplomatic mission now but
01:05:38.860 let's be honest what's Blinken doing to
01:05:40.560 help those women what's anyone in the
01:05:42.200 administration doing to help the
01:05:43.460 little girls who are now being forced
01:05:45.220 into child marriage after child rape
01:05:47.300 nothing nothing we don't even have
01:05:48.660 diplomats in Afghanistan now no and
01:05:50.520 they're being trafficked you know some
01:05:51.900 of them are going to the border to
01:05:53.240 Pakistan and they're being picked up in
01:05:54.900 Pakistan by traffickers and being sold
01:05:57.100 for sex so we have to do something about
01:05:59.820 this you know most of the world stood by
01:06:02.200 as six million Jews and many millions of
01:06:04.220 people died in the early 1940s we've
01:06:06.960 learned that lesson you cannot stand
01:06:08.880 idly by whether you're a Christian a Jew
01:06:11.180 or a Muslim or an atheist you have to do
01:06:13.620 something all right well let's talk about
01:06:15.880 the supposed fight for women's rights
01:06:17.680 over here in the states it's it's bizarre
01:06:20.700 we're very very focused on abortion as a
01:06:23.280 country I mean it's been probably the most
01:06:24.860 consequential cultural issue that we've
01:06:26.480 been dealing with for the past 50 years
01:06:28.140 since Roe v Wade in 73 and it's had
01:06:31.900 massive positive effects on the conservative
01:06:34.380 movement in a way you know galvanizing them
01:06:36.460 and so on though obviously conservatives
01:06:39.300 would say massive negative effects on the
01:06:41.180 country's morality on the on the well-being
01:06:43.640 obviously of our future generations and so
01:06:45.360 on we've get that we get this law out of
01:06:48.700 Texas the Texas Heartbeat Act which for
01:06:50.660 those who haven't been paying attention
01:06:51.860 nearly all Republican lawmakers signed on
01:06:54.480 to it as authors or sponsors and only one
01:06:57.380 Democrat sponsor and it was signed in a law
01:06:59.040 by Governor Abbott who has we believe
01:07:01.140 presidential ambitions in 24 it makes
01:07:03.860 Texas the most restrictive in the nation
01:07:05.400 for access to abortion it bans most abortions
01:07:07.440 after about six weeks of pregnancy when you
01:07:09.140 see a heartbeat fetal heartbeat no exception
01:07:11.360 for rape or incest permits later abortion if
01:07:14.620 the mother's life is endangered and it
01:07:16.640 deputizes private citizens to sue anyone who
01:07:18.840 performs or aids and abets an abortion
01:07:20.500 but cleverly bars state officials in Texas from
01:07:25.540 actually enforcing the law that's how they're
01:07:27.360 avoiding federal jurisdiction over this they're
01:07:31.140 trying to ban the Supreme Court prevent the
01:07:33.040 Supreme Court from getting involved in so far
01:07:34.680 they've been cleverly successful the
01:07:37.080 plaintiffs need to have a connection to the
01:07:39.160 patient or the clinic if they want to sue and
01:07:42.640 and you can sue you incentivize those lawsuits
01:07:45.400 against those performing or helping with an
01:07:47.400 abortion at ten thousand dollars in reward
01:07:49.700 money okay so this is just a the latest but
01:07:53.320 again the most clever and controversial attempt
01:07:55.820 to get around Roe versus Wade which will come up
01:07:58.500 for review this term in the normal way in the
01:08:01.640 way where you know the both parties are going to
01:08:03.280 argue that it should be overturned it was bad
01:08:04.720 law and so on this is a different way to to crack
01:08:07.960 away at it and the Supreme Court did not
01:08:10.300 decline to hear the hear the case all of the
01:08:12.840 reports I read Alan are basically Supreme Court
01:08:15.500 is basically backing the law they're backing
01:08:17.300 the law they allow it well I don't see it that
01:08:19.880 way I don't I don't see them backing the law in
01:08:22.020 fact they expressed skepticism about its
01:08:23.940 constitutionality so you tell me what the
01:08:26.360 Supreme Court actually did and then we'll get
01:08:27.980 into what you think of the law the Supreme Court
01:08:30.840 did not have the courage to do what it should
01:08:33.080 have done it shouldn't even have breached the
01:08:35.040 abortion issue this is the most dangerously
01:08:37.640 unconstitutional process for challenging a law
01:08:42.020 that I've seen in the 55 years I've practiced
01:08:44.500 imagine if it was turned now next against gay
01:08:47.300 marriage so the state outlaws gay marriage
01:08:50.320 it's unconstitutional but the state says anybody
01:08:53.020 who wants to challenge a gay marriage just has
01:08:57.480 to go to court and collect ten thousand
01:08:58.920 dollars what the state has done is deputize
01:09:01.280 ordinary buddinskis who are money hungry to do
01:09:04.960 the job for them or let's turn it on its on its
01:09:08.280 side and say let's say the progressives who
01:09:11.080 don't care about the law and don't care about
01:09:12.880 due process decide to turn this against the
01:09:15.520 second amendment so they can pass a law in New
01:09:18.260 York or in California saying nobody has the
01:09:21.460 right to have any guns we know we're violating
01:09:23.100 the second amendment nobody has any right to
01:09:24.740 have any guns but the state's not going to
01:09:26.520 enforce it any uh anti-gun person can sue any
01:09:30.400 store any company that sells guns and can get
01:09:33.680 ten thousand dollars for that the process is
01:09:36.960 what's so dangerous imagine if that were used
01:09:40.080 to stop desegregation in the south it could be
01:09:43.100 used to stop anything constitutional and that's
01:09:46.440 what was so disappointing about five justices of
01:09:49.480 the supreme court not stepping in and i think
01:09:52.240 justice sotomayor got it exactly right when
01:09:55.260 she focused on the process not even getting to
01:09:58.620 the abortion issue just the process by which
01:10:01.600 the state is trying to circumvent um mulberry
01:10:05.200 versus madison the supreme court the article
01:10:08.200 three of the constitution it's just undercutting
01:10:11.120 everything that the process of law stands for and
01:10:14.040 i hope that a wiser supreme court will
01:10:16.960 ultimately strike down this statute and tell texas and
01:10:20.620 tell the rest of the states you cannot circumvent the law
01:10:24.200 and the constitution in this way you can call it clever i
01:10:27.900 call it devious there's no question that that's what
01:10:30.400 they're trying to do they're trying to circumvent roe
01:10:32.520 versus wade i mean there's no no question about that but i
01:10:34.960 would say you know the the people who i've heard defending
01:10:37.720 this and i and to be honest there haven't been that
01:10:39.540 many i mean to be perfectly honest even legal scholars who
01:10:42.140 are from the federalist society i've heard quietly saying
01:10:44.420 even donald even donald trump even donald trump has not
01:10:48.100 really done what one might have expected him to do
01:10:51.720 he's remained relatively quiet on this because it's indefensible
01:10:55.760 it's indefensible and and just as a political matter it's a slippery slope as
01:10:59.600 you point out there are a lot of trusted
01:11:01.020 valued rights on the right half of the country like gun rights as you point out
01:11:05.220 that they don't want states like new york or california messing with
01:11:08.480 and the fact that gun rights are enshrined specifically in the constitution
01:11:13.120 may not be of much comfort to people if this is a precedent one can follow
01:11:17.960 what do you make of i've heard some say well it's a little different with gun
01:11:21.360 rights because unlike abortion and this so-called privacy right on which it's
01:11:25.020 based gun rights are specifically spelled out in the constitution you know
01:11:29.000 they're right there in the second amendment whereas the privacy right from
01:11:31.920 the second amendment well i'm just saying but the second amendment talks about
01:11:35.540 the right to bear arms um i agree whereas privacy and abortion is
01:11:40.240 judge made law it is but so is heller uh so is the decision to undo 200 years of
01:11:48.300 precedent that said the second amendment doesn't
01:11:50.720 convey a personal right to own guns i'm not quarreling with that but the
01:11:55.180 constitution is very rarely clear it's clear you can't run for president unless
01:11:59.600 you're 35 years old but the second amendment isn't so clear uh and the
01:12:04.560 right many of our most fundamental rights
01:12:06.840 derive from other amendments the fourth amendment right to privacy
01:12:10.800 so i don't see the distinction between gun rights
01:12:14.360 and uh abortion rights uh both are controversial
01:12:17.700 brown versus board of education there's nothing in the constitution that says
01:12:22.460 that separate but equal is not permissible that's judge made law
01:12:26.840 and do you do you see roe v wade what's your opinion on roe v wade
01:12:31.160 because i mean i know a lot of even democrat scholars will say that's a bs
01:12:34.820 opinion when it first came out i said it was not necessarily justified by the
01:12:41.020 text of the constitution that it would have been better
01:12:42.940 for women i'm a strong supporter of women's right to choose abortion
01:12:46.420 if it had been left to state legislatures and we hadn't politicized the issue
01:12:50.480 and turned it into something that strengthened the conservative movement remember
01:12:54.220 we're the only country in the western world that is focused on abortion
01:12:58.160 ireland has permitted it uh italy the most catholic countries in the world
01:13:03.320 now permit uh abortion only the united states uh it still remains uh an issue so
01:13:10.440 whatever you think of roe v wade there were scholars also who criticized the
01:13:14.220 the rationale of brown versus board of education herbert wexler the great
01:13:18.280 constitutional scholar many many others did nobody would dream
01:13:21.860 now of reversing a 1954 decision and nobody should think about reversing a
01:13:26.980 1973 decision whatever you may think of it originally
01:13:30.720 marbury versus madison was very very very very controversial at the time it was
01:13:36.800 rendered but precedent has its role in constitutional
01:13:40.460 adjudication stand by what you have said okay so on that front
01:13:44.240 given that given that the court and i i will say i disagree with you that the
01:13:48.080 court did the wrong thing in punting on this because i do think
01:13:50.360 it was a weird circumstance they were being asked to enjoin something where
01:13:54.080 enjoin a judge basically but no one had actually sued if somebody had sued under
01:13:59.140 the law and said i'm you owe me ten thousand dollars for driving somebody to an
01:14:02.580 abortion clinic bingo you're on it's there's a there's a judiciable
01:14:06.220 judiciable whatever issue and uh justiciable and uh they would have taken that
01:14:11.540 case i believe it was just that they were like there's no one here
01:14:14.260 real who's been sued and we don't really have a live case in front of i think
01:14:17.760 if it if and when it gets back up to them i do think they're going to decide
01:14:20.880 it against texas but let me just ask you i hope so yeah because i want to get to
01:14:24.440 larry david but i want to ask you about the the bigger row case coming up to the
01:14:27.900 supreme court this term and ask you if you think there because
01:14:31.440 there is an adherence to precedent even amongst conservatives as a general rule
01:14:35.060 but now we've got a 6-3 split uh roberts voted with the liberals on this
01:14:39.600 this local texas uh case that we just talked about
01:14:42.400 but uh so let's say it's even 5-4 if roberts you can assume he's with the
01:14:46.580 democrats are the more liberal justices do you think that there are the votes on
01:14:50.160 the supreme court right now to overturn roe
01:14:52.040 well nobody knows for sure but justice kavanaugh has generally followed on the
01:14:57.540 issue of precedent uh roberts they were colleagues of course on the
01:15:01.220 dc circuit together and and gorsuch may i i think the other side has two
01:15:06.920 definite votes alito and thomas but i think the others are up for
01:15:11.560 grab so i i can imagine a decision that says look
01:15:15.140 we many of us have doubts about roe versus wade but precedent has its call
01:15:19.740 and so we're not going to allow texas unilaterally
01:15:23.100 to undo a constitutional precedent um now remember the case is mississippi
01:15:27.800 and it uh doesn't involve six weeks it involves
01:15:31.100 more than that so there's some way of actually uh coming to a decision which
01:15:36.820 gives both sides a little bit they may compromise we may see a process begin
01:15:41.900 which will ultimately result in what texas wants but i don't think it's going
01:15:46.640 to do it this year and just to remind folks if
01:15:49.280 the supreme court were to find roe versus wade
01:15:51.600 unconstitutional that doesn't automatically outlaw abortion it would be it
01:15:55.680 would revert to the states and it would be a state-by-state matter which is
01:15:58.600 still controversial but just to be clear and there could be a federal statute
01:16:01.880 remember that the biden administration is thinking of introducing a federal
01:16:04.960 statute saying that abortion is an interstate matter because people travel
01:16:08.900 from state to state to get it so we hereby declare as a matter of
01:16:12.620 legislative not constitutional that abortion is permitted that's what
01:16:16.780 scalia was saying all along he was saying if you if you want abortion to be
01:16:19.740 legal he's like don't come to the nine judges in robes and ask them to find
01:16:22.700 something a constitution that wasn't there you go to the legislature you go to
01:16:25.560 the lawmakers make them pass a law or constitutional amendment okay that's
01:16:28.780 let's table that because i don't have that much time and i've got to hear
01:16:31.340 about larry david you're getting harassed on martha's vineyard again why well it's
01:16:37.160 more than harassed they canceled me at the library every year i speak there they
01:16:41.340 canceled me at the book fair i'm i've written more books than anybody in
01:16:45.240 chilmark history they canceled me at the jewish center oh come on because they made
01:16:51.280 this terrible i made this terrible mistake of doing what john adams did uh and
01:16:56.260 that is defending somebody uh for an unconstitutional act even though i voted
01:17:01.140 against them yes i defended the constitution on behalf of donald trump i'm very proud that
01:17:06.840 i did that i helped defeat an unconstitutional impeachment and now larry david comes up to
01:17:12.200 me on the porch of the chilmark store and starts screaming at me i'm disgusting he saw
01:17:16.500 me put my hand around the secretary of state mike pompeo of course he was my former
01:17:23.000 student i'm very proud of what mike pompeo helped to do with the abraham accords with
01:17:27.980 the peace rollout in the middle east with recognition of jerusalem in the golon heights
01:17:32.740 i played a role in all those and i worked in tandem with pompeo but the small-minded zealots
01:17:39.060 of chilmark who think they know everything led by larry david cannot tolerate dissent and it's
01:17:46.380 the larry davids of the world that may cause the democrats the next two elections how could
01:17:51.760 larry david cause the democrats the elections i think people are sick and tired of canceled
01:17:56.740 culture they're sick and tired of larry david and others like them on the extreme left telling
01:18:02.360 people what they can think what they can say and what they can do these are people with totalitarian
01:18:07.660 minds they think they know the truth with a capital t and a capital t therefore there's no need for
01:18:13.760 dissent there's no need for due process and there's no need for liberty of those who disagree with
01:18:19.640 either agree with us or goodbye that's the attitude of larry david that's the attitude of
01:18:24.540 the small-minded people of chilmark and that's the attitude i have been fighting against all my life
01:18:29.200 i started fighting against in college against mccarthyism and now i'm going to continue to
01:18:33.840 fight against the mccarthyism of the hard left you have i mean you you if people don't doubt you they
01:18:38.620 should listen to our very first interview together on this podcast where we went through a lot of your
01:18:41.780 cases it's not like you were a huge believer in oj simpson or necessarily klaus von beulow you're you're a
01:18:47.620 lawyer lawyers represent causes they defend the constitution they represent the law there's a
01:18:53.060 place for them in our country and donald trump won that case um but you know the only the only the
01:18:58.540 only other two cases i've ever done politically like this i represented alan krantz the democratic
01:19:03.100 senator on the floor of the senate i helped to represent bill clinton a democrat i i've had six or
01:19:08.660 seven other cases in courts representing politicians all of them democrats yes finally the principles that i
01:19:16.120 believe in happened to come down on the side of a republican i voted against and one of the small
01:19:21.760 minded people on the vineyard a doctor once said to me i can never talk to a republican i mean that's
01:19:27.600 the kind of intolerance that's like ben affleck you won't you won't act across from a republican
01:19:32.200 debate yeah wait wait you gotta tell you so but i gotta ask you this can you tell us what you did
01:19:37.240 with larry david because this is the best part of the story what'd you do with your shirt
01:19:40.080 well i was wearing a shirt that i was going to give my friend whose kid just got it to harvard
01:19:45.460 and he never got it to harvard and it said harvard law just kidding but under that shirt i had a shirt
01:19:50.400 my wife had made for me saying it's the constitution stupid so i took off my top shirt and i showed larry
01:19:57.040 david it's the constitution stupid i didn't say a word but he walked away screaming and yelling his face
01:20:03.240 turned red i thought he was gonna have a stroke he said you're disgusting i could never talk to you
01:20:07.920 because i saw your arm around uh mike pompeo you and all those people you're disgusting i mean that's
01:20:14.140 the attitude that those folks have small-minded intolerant people americans won't stand for that
01:20:22.500 they're not going to stand for that unless the democratic party disassociates itself from the
01:20:27.720 extreme left the intolerant extreme left they're going to start losing yeah that's right i mean
01:20:33.920 donald trump he was impeached but he was not uh convicted and you know you stood up for your
01:20:39.000 principles irrespective of whether you voted for that candidate which you've been very open about
01:20:44.060 the fact you haven't now and always a pleasure we'll continue to talk good luck on your new show
01:20:48.140 thank you thank you sir up next i'm going to do something alan dershowitz has done on his podcast
01:20:52.100 many times which is take listener calls for the very first time ever in my case what could possibly go
01:20:57.940 wrong if you have a question call us now this is it 833-44-MEGYN that's 833-446-3496 that's next
01:21:09.180 welcome back everyone to the megan kelly show we're taking your calls today at 833-44-MEGYN
01:21:19.700 that's 833-446-3496 and we're also going to be answering some of our our listener mail our viewer
01:21:29.140 mail um in a segment we call asked and answered that is where our listeners submit questions
01:21:34.140 via email to questions at devilmaycaremedia.com or sometimes they submit the questions on any of
01:21:41.400 our social media accounts instagram twitter facebook etc and for this portion of the program
01:21:46.300 my executive producer steve krakauer joins me steve what's happening how do you feel like we're
01:21:50.640 doing so far hey i think it was i think it was great i'm feeling i'm feeling great and i mean and
01:21:55.180 because of our launch day here we we made a full call out on on questions at devilmaycaremedia.com
01:22:01.060 all of our social media accounts today's first question comes to us from lily cooper from instagram
01:22:06.260 and she has an interesting question she wants to know what tips do you have for dating in a world of
01:22:11.720 online dating kind of a new area here okay well lily i confess i'm such an old hag i've never done
01:22:18.160 online dating i met my husband before and my first husband if that matter before that was really a
01:22:23.220 thing uh but i would say in general when it comes to online dating keep it short keep keep the first
01:22:29.600 date short lest you need to pull the rip card and get the hell out of there because you know it's not
01:22:34.260 like being set up with somebody who a friend is vouching for and so on so if it's just you and
01:22:39.240 somebody you met briefly online you don't know if the picture is real you don't know if this is
01:22:43.060 actually a good person or someone who just knows how to market an online profile keep it short keep
01:22:48.140 it in a public space and do what i did when i uh first met my husband which is have a friend nearby
01:22:54.920 just in case right just in case things go south little did i know i was meeting you know the love
01:22:59.760 of my life um the other thing i would say just in terms of dating in general is um i think too many
01:23:06.200 women spend the first couple of weeks couple of months what have you just trying to figure out
01:23:11.180 maybe men do this too just trying to figure out what the other person wants and then trying to be
01:23:15.020 that or at least lead the person to believe that they are that and then they decide then the person
01:23:20.040 doing the pretending will decide whether they're into the relationship or not and that's totally
01:23:24.960 bass backwards right it's that's not the way to go after it you you should completely be honest
01:23:29.880 about who you are i mean you don't have to show all your sort of warts and all as they say but
01:23:33.640 i think you really need to be as true to who you are as possible because they're going to discover
01:23:40.180 the real you eventually and it's better that they come in eyes open and i also think that every time
01:23:46.660 you find yourself obsessing over your new relationship or the person you're dating you've
01:23:52.140 got to remind yourself just like just like you tell your dog no when he gets up on the counter
01:23:56.340 you know with his paws that's what my puppy's doing every time um you've got to remind yourself
01:24:01.740 you're focused on the wrong person you every bit of energy you spend obsessing about a relationship
01:24:06.560 needs to be re-channeled into obsessing about how to improve your own life how to make yourself
01:24:11.560 interesting how to make yourself interested how to learn how to play an instrument how to spend
01:24:17.500 your time better as opposed to sitting on the couch vegging right take every single one of those
01:24:21.820 moments and reinvest it from how do i tantalize the other person into how do i tantalize
01:24:28.900 myself how do i make my own life better and it has the wonderful added benefit of then making you
01:24:33.820 more attractive so everything everything works all right so keep it short and uh tantalize yourself
01:24:39.660 which will make uh tantalizing him or her a self-fulfilling prophecy what do you think steve
01:24:45.480 wait before we go on to the viewer questions can i just ask you so i feel like you kind of blew me off
01:24:49.960 on how it's going i feel like everything's been smooth except laura's laura logan's mic fell off but
01:24:54.960 we fixed that kind of fucked up that one soundbite that played out of nowhere um other than that i
01:25:00.340 feel like we're doing okay i think so you know this is day one of a very different way of doing
01:25:04.660 the megan kelly show um at the same time i think people that have been listening for almost a year
01:25:09.160 now on all their podcast platforms will find it uh very similar which i think is the goal yeah well
01:25:14.020 we have more guests in this podcast and this radio show because it's our first and we had a lot we
01:25:18.860 wanted to cover normally we only have like one big guest or two two guests so it's been
01:25:23.040 chock full it's been uh 20 pounds of potatoes in a 10 pound bag as our old pal jay sirocco used to
01:25:28.200 say at fox news all right so um i guess our first caller i'm told is paul in new york this is exciting
01:25:36.060 paul you're my very first caller here on the megan kelly show are you with me i am honored megan yes
01:25:40.620 oh i'm so happy to talk to you this is so fun oh i miss i miss you on tv but we'll take any any way
01:25:45.860 we can get you thank you i'm honored that you're still with me yeah congratulations on your show i'll be
01:25:52.140 a loyal listener thank you very much so what's on your mind so i just wanted to talk about i i heard
01:25:59.360 you curse i won't do it but uh you know but biden's ratings biden's ratings i don't understand how they're
01:26:06.120 going up i mean it almost seems like this nation is self-destructing on autopilot you know and and
01:26:12.080 and it's allowed to be being done it's really effed up i mean i just don't understand what's it going to
01:26:17.040 take another 9 11 event for for them to take any accountability i mean from the very top of uh to
01:26:24.100 president biden all the way down to these jackass generals you know that it was a state department
01:26:29.880 they're taking credit for something they didn't even do i mean is this an alternate reality i don't i
01:26:34.660 don't get it well i think it's a combination of things right it's like he soared into office and had
01:26:39.660 big numbers because he was not named donald trump and that's really all you needed to do not be
01:26:44.540 donald trump as we saw during the campaign you can stay in your basement and win a presidential
01:26:48.480 election just as long as you're not donald trump and he continued that for a while and then and then
01:26:53.360 came the drunken spending you know the drunken sailor spending and just one thing after the other
01:26:58.720 that the american people didn't ask for you know the the radical agenda when it came to social issues
01:27:03.700 when it came to um the reversal of men's rights on college campuses and when it came to all of the
01:27:09.700 critical race theory and so on and people i think we're sitting back saying we didn't elect that
01:27:14.120 what that we didn't elect any of that and i think that's why it's so everything fell away so quickly
01:27:20.600 after afghanistan not to mention you tell me paul but i feel like he promised us that uh he was going
01:27:27.020 to get covid under control and it's not to blame him for covid but he is the one who said he was going
01:27:31.460 to get under control and it's far from under control so here i i completely get everything you're
01:27:36.640 saying so like what what is wrong with the republicans i know that we're not we're not activists we're not
01:27:41.140 you know not the democrats i don't want to label the parties but i mean you have to go into the
01:27:45.320 parties but you know i i just feel that the right-minded people you know if you want to call
01:27:52.460 them republicans whatever uh we're not activists you know we're not out there with signs you know
01:27:58.480 black lives matter come on give me a give me a break um and i feel like our country is just
01:28:04.220 self-destructing and we don't have enough you know willpower in the republican party or you know
01:28:11.260 uh independence whatever and i think you can't don't focus on the republican party i know i mean
01:28:17.120 as you know from listening to me at all i i don't like partisan jerseys that's all bs they don't deserve
01:28:22.640 your loyalty they don't um they they don't fight they're so afraid they're so weak-kneed not all of
01:28:28.620 them but many maybe most it's it and this isn't about dems versus republicans it's about reason
01:28:34.940 versus unreason and i do think that most people are just living their lives having a good time and
01:28:39.340 trying to take care of their kids and put money on or make money and put food on the table so they're
01:28:44.480 starting now to pay attention and i do think they're ready to fight this battle that they're
01:28:48.620 going to get more involved in these culture wars because they're becoming more consequential and
01:28:53.060 they're being thrust in your face in a way they never have before so i think that this is a
01:28:57.560 winnable battle and those woke loud annoying 10 of the public of the population are going to be
01:29:04.000 forced to stand down or they're just going to lose because the rational not even middle 90 is starting
01:29:10.240 to pay more attention okay let's get to our next caller which is timothy timothy is on the line with
01:29:15.040 us timothy how you doing i'm fine megan it's cardinal dolan here and do i appreciate the invitation
01:29:20.300 and welcome welcome welcome to to the catholic channel it's good you know i was getting so i was
01:29:27.440 getting so tired of having a uh being the only irishman on the channel so it is really good to
01:29:34.120 have you so cardinal dolan i am so excited this is a surprise and a thrill i love you so much and
01:29:41.340 i'm such an admirer with the fact that you would call me on my first date you know can i just tell
01:29:45.900 people a nice story about you this is who cardinal dolan is he doesn't know me that well he came on my
01:29:51.620 show a couple times at nbc um and then i had an unfortunate ending in nbc and i was home licking
01:29:57.200 my wounds feeling sorry for myself and guess who sent me the most beautiful handwritten kind supportive
01:30:04.160 note just reaching out to me to offer love and support you cardinal dolan i was so it was amazing i was
01:30:11.620 so touched that you could that you would remember that means a lot to me and thanks for not mentioning
01:30:16.760 that i also asked you to borrow some money that i we don't have to bring that up but i'm just glad
01:30:22.240 you're you're a fellow here on on the on the satellite radio it's good to have you i admired you so
01:30:28.760 much i think i think i was with you you were kind enough to invite me on a show on good friday of all
01:30:34.640 times but it turned into a very beautiful you remember that you had an audience there and it turned
01:30:39.920 into a real kind of thoughtful reflective discussion of the cross and suffering in the world and what
01:30:47.200 good friday meant and boy i thought heck this was better than being at saint patrick's i probably had
01:30:52.480 more listeners and more viewers and with with nice people here so we go back and i hope we stay together
01:30:59.300 lots of love and thank you so much and thanks for joining us today tomorrow larry elder and caitlin
01:31:04.340 jenner that'll be fun uh in advance of this california recall effort and don't forget today's
01:31:09.460 show will be available this afternoon on any podcast platform for free just search the megan kelly show and
01:31:15.820 we will also be posting a video version to youtube.com slash megan kelly thanks for listening we'll see you
01:31:22.260 tomorrow