Mayim Bialik's Breakdown - 18,000 Terrorists Are Already Living On US Soil. Former CIA Targeting Officer Sarah Adams Explains The Deception Campaigns They Use To Hide And How Al-Qaeda Grew To 200,000 Members

Episode Date: July 17, 2026

Former CIA Targeting Officer Sarah Adams reveals what she believes are some of the biggest national security threats facing the United States today, and why many Americans may have a false sense of security about the future.In this episode of Mayim Bialik's Breakdown, Sarah explains why the U.S. could be more vulnerable to terrorist attacks than many realize, whether the U.S. is currently facing an active terrorist threat, and how the same types of intelligence disconnects that contributed to 9/11 could still exist today. She breaks down why we need to rethink what a future homeland attack might actually look like, how terrorist organizations are evolving, and why groups like Al Qaeda may be more widespread than ever.Sarah shares shocking insights into sleeper cells operating within the U.S., foreign actors intentionally fueling political division to increase influence, the strategic relationship between Al Qaeda, Iran, and Syria, and why many terrorist groups are now organized around waves of coordinated attacks.She also discusses emerging security concerns, including airport vulnerabilities, the return of threats similar to the Shoe Bomb and the rise of "invisible" bombs, and what she believes went wrong from a security standpoint during the White House Correspondents' Dinner shooting incident.Drawing from years spent targeting some of the world's most dangerous terrorists, Sarah recounts how she helped capture the Taliban's number two leader, the intelligence work that made it possible, and what qualities allowed her to gather critical information in some of the most hostile environments on Earth.We also explore intelligence deception campaigns, how disinformation operations work, and the warning signs people should recognize when evaluating information online.Sarah reveals what it was like to interrogate Middle Eastern male detainees as a Western woman, how individuals become radicalized, and the indoctrination systems inside terrorist camps that determine whether recruits become fighters, suicide bombers, propagandists, or support personnel.She explains how corruption within humanitarian systems can allow resources to be diverted toward terrorist organizations and how ordinary people may unknowingly contribute to funding foreign terrorist camps.We also break downHavana Syndrome, alleged energy weapon incidents, reports involving an investigator connected to the Epstein case, and what is currently known (and still unknown) about these controversial claims.Sarah also discusses the role of social media algorithms in radicalization, whether platforms like TikTok are shaping the opinions of younger generations, and the broader information war being fought online.She opens up about living under a bounty, receiving threats from terrorist organizations, dealing with alleged surveillance around her home, and how she manages the psychological stress that comes with being a target. She shares practical advice on disaster preparedness, what average citizens can do to become more resilient during crises, and why the culture of terrorism has far more to do with ideology, power, and human behavior than religion itself.This conversation will challenge the way you think about terrorism, national security, online influence, and the risks that could define the next decade!Every self-made person started somewhere. Yours starts free at https://www.shopify.com/breakdown.Get 15% off OneSkin with the code BREAK at https://www.oneskin.co/BREAK  #oneskinpodGo to https://helixsleep.com/breakdown to receive 20% off sitewide, 25% of Luxe Mattresses and 30% off Elite Mattresses.Get the Discounted Early Bird registration to the IANDS Annual conference before the sale ends July 15. Visit https://conference.iands.orgMake your summer wardrobe feel easier. Go to https://www.quince.com/breakdown for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns.Sarah Adam’s Podcast, The Watch Floor: https://www.youtube.com/@thewatchfloorSarah Adams' Book, Benghazi, Know Thy Enemy: A Cold Case Investigation: https://a.co/d/09aeb3tGFollow us on Substack for Exclusive Bonus Content: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bialikbreakdown.substack.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BialikBreakdown.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube.com/mayimbialik⁠⁠⁠See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Terrorism today is much bigger than terrorism on 9-11. We have over 18,000 known foreign terrorists on the U.S. soil. They're collecting money. They're doing influence, media operations. They're doing surveillance. People need to know the truth. Sarah Adams, former CIA targeting officer and global threat advisor, explains how the U.S. may be more vulnerable to a terrorist threat than ever before.

9-11 al-Qaeda was 5,000 members. Now, worldwide, they have over 200,000. There are sleeper cells in the United States. The public things, terrorists haven't tried to attack us. Yes, they have. We stop them every single time. Okay, I'm officially afraid. It makes me really nervous that awareness is going away.

More lax on security, more lax in counterintelligence. Are we becoming more vulnerable? You can't live based on a fear, but knowing the threats out there, you can prepare around them. You want to come to my country. You want to be in my neighborhood. Bring it on. You can be a bad day for you.

for you. Miami-B-Alex breakdown is supported by Helix Sleep. We were so excited to hear that Helix wanted to partner with us. I've had my Helix mattress for I think it's close to six years now, and it helps me sleep really, really great. Jonathan and my kids also have Helix mattresses. Everybody loves them, and all of those issues,

night sweats, back pain, motion transfer, all of those things are completely gone. Helix Sleep makes premium mattresses and bedding that are customized to fit your personal needs, and they're conveniently shipped to your door. I was so happy with their shipping process. I even ordered my son a new mattress when he needed one. It shipped right to his apartment.

It's amazing. Helix combines innovative tech with high-quality materials to deliver comfort and support. They offer soft, medium, and firm mattresses. There are different options. Are you a side sleeper? A stomach sleeper? A back sleeper. Helix sleep mattresses have a supportive hybrid design.

You can choose to elevate your mattress with premium cooling options. The Helix lineup offers 20 plus unique mattresses to choose from any variety of mattress topers. Helix has a sleep solution for just about everyone. Go to Helixleep.com slash breakdown for 20% off sitewide, 25% off luxe mattresses and 30% off elite mattresses. That's helixleep.com slash breakdown for 20% off sitewide, 25% off luxe mattresses and 30% off elite mattresses. Hillicksleep.com slash breakdown.

An inspirational portrait of a farmer's son who rises from humble beginnings to build a luxury fashion empire. Brunello, the gracious visionary. faces Brunello Cucinelli's life journey. His commitment to craftsmanship, ethical values, and humanistic philosophy. Directed by Academy Award winner Giuseppe Tonatore, the film blends documentary and fiction, an intimate look at the Italian entrepreneur known as the King of Kashmir. See Brunello, the gracious visionary, in Select Theater's July 24th.

Hi, I am I. M. Bealeck. And I'm Jonathan Cohen. And welcome to our breakdown. Today we're going to take a deep dive into National Intelligence Gathering, terrorism, Iran's role in global politics, and the future of global conflict. We're also exploring the forces shaping the world that many of us never see. Our guest today is Sarah Adams. She's the host of the watch floor, and she's a former CIA targeting officer and global

threat advisor. She served in the CIA's Counterterrorism Center, the Near East Division, and the Iran operations division and she advised the U.S. House of Representatives on national security matters and later led the Department of Defense research and development efforts focused on intelligence, modernization, and operational capability development. She lived in Libya for many years and wrote Benghazi, know thy enemy, a cold case investigation. Sarah's going to talk about the current threats that the United States is facing what we've done wrong, how we are vulnerable and how we can turn that around. We're going to talk about how the shoe bomb is making a comeback, how terrorists have

developed an invisible bomb, and that the next 9-11 is already being planned. This isn't a conversation just about terrorism, though. It's about how we can be manipulated. The role of propaganda, psychological conditioning, intelligence operations. What are the narratives in the media that influence the way we see our role in the world? And whether global chaos is being engineered by forces that most of us don't even know are there. It's a pleasure to welcome to the breakdown, Sarah Adams. Break it down. Thanks, thanks for having me.

Let's just start here. Sarah, how much fun are you at cocktail parties? I'm assuming everyone wants to ask you about the things that you're an expert in. Yes, I get a lot of questions, but they're always like crazy ones, and you're like, this is something that should just stay in your head. Go on. I'd like to hear those.

What do people ask you, like, generally speaking, what do people kind of bring up when they learn that you are Sarah Adams? They'll do these weird things. Like, in my town, there was like a CIA abduction in the 1960s. Do you know about it? And it's like, or they'll be like, we had a secret CIA base in our town. And so it's always these strange, I guess, town lores or something. So I think it's really funny. Can you explain for people what it is that you are an expert in? You know, obviously you're an analyst, you're an advisor, you held a very high and very, very significant position in our government at an incredibly important time in our history. Who are you and what do you do? I feel like I'm not an expert in anything. I'm just really good at common sense. But so for years, I worked, of course, terrorism.

I worked against Iran. So I've done a mix of like geopolitics. I've done a lot of humanitarian work. But I'm just kind of one of those people. I grew up in the Midwest. I'll talk to anyone. I'm really good at going out and getting information from any human on earth because I just think we're all human to human.

So I'm mostly known for like going, out and collecting information and then sharing it with the public because I feel like we don't do a lot where we pass down to the public what's going on. I mean, I'm just struck by like, if I were to see you in the supermarket, I'd be like, that's a lady. I would not necessarily think this is someone who's operating at the highest levels, you know, of government, of terrorism, of intelligence. Is that part of the way you get information? Is there just sort of a familiar. that you're able to achieve? Because with all due respect, if I saw you working at, you know, at the local store, I'd be like,

that's a nice lady, that's Sarah, right? I wouldn't say like, this seems like a CIA intelligence analyst is working at my local store. Who's defending America against threats and finding information about adversaries who may want to harm us. That's the interesting thing. People assume you're going to look a certain way, I guess, because they've seen the movies, even though there aren't tons of women in the spy movies. But they don't get that you're just like everybody else. And usually most agency people I met, especially women, are actually

from small towns. They grew up just like me. They were friends with everyone. They grew up in neighborhoods where they didn't lock their doors. It's a very, very interesting thing. We didn't grow up in environments where we are fearful in any way. So I think we also approach things differently. We're more comfortable reaching out to people. Even when we did our investigation into Libya, I put a list together of, I'm going to reach out to these Libyans and just ask them some questions. I'm going to be straightforward, right? I'm Sarah Adams, former CIA. My friends died here. Every single person I reached out to were at least helpful, even if they didn't know my answer. They said, oh, I can find someone that can for you. And so it's a really

interesting thing. People are good. People want to be helpful. And I think that's anywhere in the world. I think we just sometimes forget that because we see only the press version of the world. We don't see real life. What were the skills that you had as a young person that you now see made you a good candidate for the kind of work that you do in terms of gathering information? Also, you know, I think you're being humble. It's not just common sense. It's being able to connect a variety of different pieces of information that in many cases are indicated. threat. What was it about Sarah, right, that made you a good candidate for the kind of position

you ended up having? Yeah, I mean, I think the best trait, and I think CIA looks for this a lot, is if you're scrappy. Because the thing is, when you're in the CIA, you fail all the time. First off, you're overseas and it's chaos. No one shows up on time. People tell you yes when it's no because they don't want to give you or no, nothing goes right. So you can't get frustrated when it all falls apart because you got to start over and do it again and keep moving through so you get to where you need to be. So that's a really big thing. Another thing like you said is the ability to connect things and understand how they connect, but also don't just connect things because, oh, you know, there's a lot of people like everyone called this phone number. Yes, everyone calls that phone number

in my town because it's the one pizza joint, right? The pizza guy, isn't going to link us to the whole network. So it is a little bit of, you have to have common sense, but there are people who always want to find an answer quickly, and you have to be patient, you have to make those mistakes, you have to know people are lying to you, and just be understanding of that,

and then go with the flow as it happens. I'm just making a list of the qualities that I'm supposed to have. Patience, that's not for me. No, he's shaking his head. Also, when things go wrong, she does not like that. I've burned it all to the ground. Patience, scrappy, ability to kind of like roll with the punches. These are good qualities.

And being friendly, which I am not from the Midwest, my people are from New York. You're not friendly to anyone. Right. You just failed your CIA entrance exam. I think I'm more likely to be a person that Sarah's investigating than the person doing the investigating. Oh, yes. New Yorkers? No way.

Talk to us a little. little bit about the bullshit detector that you have to have because I would assume while people are friendly, there are also people who are lying to you all the time. And you know, you say common sense, but I think there's a sixth sense that's happening where you see something or you send something that others don't, which makes you want to get to that truth. Yeah, the easiest if you spend a lot of time with someone, because then you can set a baseline and you'll notice when things go off the baseline. That's the easiest. Of course, you don't always have that luxury. So if you don't spend a lot of time with a person, in my opinion, you can't just determine it on your own. You have to collect other

information. So for example, I know a lot of different al-Qaeda deception campaigns. So there are certain things when people say something to me. I'm like, oh, you know, I know this is the language they teach the recruits. I know this is how they say things. I know this is how they try to sell them. So you kind of have to have a little bit of both. As much time on target as possible. And then as much information of how the enemy wants to deceive you. So you have a little bit of a light bulb go off when it happens. Talk to us about some of those deception campaigns.

What do you look out for? Yeah. I mean, one of the simplest ones is just downplaying of if someone's important or not. And this was actually very famously done in a zero dark 30 movie. So, you know, we're in Hollywood world. But I don't know if you remember when Meyer was looking for Osama bin Laden. And she was questioning detainees. I fast forward through that beginning, but she's questioning detainees.

I don't like it either. And she notices multiple detainees call this courier very important and saying he's always with bin Laden. And then one guy says, oh, he's nobody. Why do you even ask him? about that guy. And she said, that's weird because three people said he's important and one people said he's a nobody, right? So that's really interesting when they downplay someone. Another thing they like to do is they like to just tell you people are dead. I know this is crazy, but they'll report people dead all the time. So the US government has all these Terry's dead that never died.

Wait, wait, wait. They say people are dead, but they're not or they think that they're dead, but they're not. They say they're dead. And then they tell you, oh, he was killed in the U.S. strike. So then the Americans are like, whoa, wow, we got that guy. Who knew? And then they pat themselves on the back. People get promoted and they move on and he's perfectly alive. That's another huge problem. And then just one of the simplest things, as you can imagine, is you get paid to give information. So there's a lot of information peddlers. They might be working for multiple governments. They just tell you what you want to hear. It's really funny. I used to work the number two of the Taliban. And there is a guy in Afghanistan that said he met with him.

I said, this guy does nothing about him. So I capture this number two, and I send the photo over, and he can't ID the photo of a guy he meets monthly. And so I said, I told you he's never had any info. It's crap info. And they're like, well, we get such good ratings on all his reports. We're keeping him. So they didn't even fire him. So it's just tons of crap info. So you have to also be able to go through all this noise, you know, and really determine what's quality information. Did you just say you captured him? Yeah, the number two. I wish I could capture the asset, though, because he's worse, because if you have someone

lying to for years, that destroys your collection. Sarah, you're talking so casually. It's kind of like, like, I baked a cheesecake. I captured the number two. How did you capture him? So this is really funny, and this is why just mistakes. happen in life. We all make a mistake. So he was the best. He was like the movies. You know, in the movies, do like stay on the phone for like nine seconds and then hang up. He literally did that

all the time. So you could never find him. Well, he went to another city for a trip and his son stole his cell phone and turned it on. No. A teenager. A teenager. So the teenager takes the phone and rides with it for two days and then they come back home with it. And we captured it. So it was really, really funny, right? Luckily, we had done all the work, so we were ready for it to happen, but that was pure luck that a kid did that to his father. And that actually happened to a very senior leader in Hezbollah. His kid put on, I think it was Facebook, hey, we're going to this location. And then they had looked for his father for like 15 or 20 years. So it is sometimes the family that messes it up for these senior terrorists. That kid's getting grounded hard.

Yeah. Well, the funny thing is, I met the terrace, and then we brought up and he laughed about it. So he actually wasn't mad at his son. So I guess that's a good thing. They're like us in some ways. How are you not mad at your kid for getting you caught by the U.S. government after you've been a fading capture for years? I don't think you kids think of that. So. Mine B. Alex's breakdown is supported by One Skin. Whether you try every new skin care products or you've been using the same things for years, at some point, your skin. is not just going to be able to keep up the way that it used to. And that's what OneSkin changed for me. It didn't just make my existing routine better. It actually works differently than anything else that I've tried.

As we age, skin cells stop functioning the way they should, causing fine lines and dullness that creeps in over time. And OneSkin's OS1 peptide was specifically engineered to address those visible signs of aging. With summer here, that matters even more. Up to 80% of visible skin aging starts with sun exposure. But One Skin's new limited edition summer bundles have you covered. It's their skin can and SPF essentials paired together. So the OS1 peptide helps to reverse the visible effects of UV aging and uses SPF protection to prevent new damage. It's a complete system to summerproof your skin.

So make sure to check these out before they're gone. My favorite thing is that they're rooted in rigorous science and research. With one skin's face SPF, it's got the same science-backed skin care benefits from the OS1 peptide while also giving you mineral SPF protection from UV exposure, reverse aging while having lots of summer fun. You really don't need a complicated routine to get healthier, younger looking skin. Born from over a decade of longevity research, OneSkin is helping you unlock your healthiest skin now and as you age. For a limited time, try OneSkin with 15% off using code

break at OneSkin.co slash break. That's 15% off OneSkin.com with the code break. After you purchased, I'll ask where you heard about them. Please support our show. Tell them we sent you. The casualness, you know, with which you speak about your job, right? I'm trying to picture you, you know, meeting with these high-level terrorists. And, you know, I've seen a lot of these movies kind of depicting that and now I'm only going to picture you, you know, when I see those movies. But I wonder if you could talk a little bit, you know, we come from a very different culture, right, than a lot of the, you know, countries that you're dealing with, meaning, you know, the West is different and the Middle East has its own, you know, culture and then each country

has its own kind of, you know, culture as well. What is it like for you, you know, as, a Western, you know, liberated, secular, right? You know, woman, what is that interface like? You know, what is what does kind of confidence building look like? What does trust building look like? And are there cases where people do not take you seriously? Yeah, so it's a really good question. First off, they tell you it's going to happen one way. And then sometimes it doesn't, sometimes it doesn't. So I was first told when you're going to find a detainee because they're so extreme, you know, they're not going to look at you. They're not going to answer your questions. They're going to treat you like you're invisible. And that happened the first

time and never again. So every other one engaged with me. They were curious. They were interested. And a lot of it is, as you can imagine, they have never met a Western woman. They have never looked one in the eye. They've never like seen one laugh at them. It's a very interesting thing to watch. Another thing is when you're in this situation, it's already an uncomfortable situation because you're in a position of power, right? They're on the other side. They're in detention. So you always have to be careful in these discussions. Even if you say, oh, I'm building report. Are you? I have a person who's influenced his entire life in front of me. He's convinced people to blow themselves up. Like, I'm not sitting across from you.

you doing some mind magic. So you have to be honest, too, about your capabilities and who's in front of you. And then it depends on who it is. So if you have someone like in this case, he was very intelligent. So he wanted to know you knew about him. He wanted to know you're paying attention. He wanted respect. Not everybody is that way, but it depends on who's in front of you, how you interact with them. It's kind of like the know-your audience. You know, I've been in front of tears who weren't smart at all. They couldn't even identify their own photographs. So it is this huge spread, you know, when you're talking to them.

I'd like to talk for a second about the bounty because you've described your role, but I don't think people may understand that, you know, you're really putting your self in danger. You're known in this world. Can you talk a little bit about that bounty and describe it to people? Yeah. So the good thing is when I was in the CIA and I met with terrorists, I just used a fake name. So they knew me as this American.

I literally went by the name Becky. I just picked it out of the sky. I mean, Becky with the good hair now, but she didn't exist then. So it didn't matter to me, right? I was never going to run into these people again or interact with them again. And then now I'm out of the CIA. All the terrorists I captured were released. And now I'm a public figure when I was always a private figure.

So they all know me. The number two I talked about, he actually has my book. So it's really funny now because they know who I am and some have beasts with me and some don't. But yeah, I have this strange bounty on my head. I have a couple of things. I have assassination plot. I'm way more concerned about. But there is this funny bounty in Iraq by like Hezbollah in Iraq.

It's the group the guy was just picked up from. You know, they picked up that terrorist and Turkey in the Brom of the United States and he was plotting against Ivanka. So it's the same terrorist group. So it started as something dinky. It was like $15,000, but you can come live in Iraq and then it's been going up. So the last time, like a few months ago, it was like $350,000. So it's like this, it's like a lot of pot or something. So it's very funny.

It's not funny, Sarah. It's not funny at all. I just don't think it's a great deal. You get $350,000. You gotta live in Iraq. Like, I don't know. Who's jumping on that? So, but I have a lot more senior people who are focused on me and they're my concern.

Let's cover those for a minute. You mentioned while describing the bounty that there's an assassination plot. We're taking this very seriously. Myam would never sleep again, knowing that someone tweeted something mean about her, let alone has a bounty. To say a terrorist has a beef with you. Like, that feels like a little bit of an understatement. Again, we're joking, but these are people who have made their life mission, the destruction of the West, encouraging people to blow themselves up.

Can you describe a little bit about what this assassination plot is? How did it come to be? And what do you know about it? Yeah, I mean, it's very simple. So the terrorists are concerned people are going to get in their way. That's just the best way to put it, right? They're putting out misinformation. They have all these future plots.

And some people are finding about the plots and talking about them. And I'm just one of those. So in Al-Qaeda, long story short, they have a military commission. And all this group does is they plan all the operations for the group, okay, in the whole world. So that's where my plot is coming out of. And so it's to assassinate me, you know, here at my home. So we have seen terrorist surveillance here and that type of stuff. So it's pretty far along.

But again, it's just to take someone out of the equation who they think could get in the way of their operational plans. Because that's what they do. They try to threaten and harm people. So way back in the day when I was in Libya, every day there was an assassination. And it always became where you stopped paying attention. But if you sat down and looked at who was assassinated, it was a police officer, a judge, a woman activist. They started at that time getting kind of like these peace activists, and they started being what was now would be influencers,

and they're taking them out. So if you watch systematically who they're taking out, it was anybody who could get in the way of them kind of taking control, you know, in that region. And unfortunately, that's the way they do it. They take out, you know, their enemy as well. You don't have to be the president of the United States. What type of surveillance did you witness on your home

that, you know, tipped you off to the fact that this was happening. Yeah, well, it was really funny. I mean, not funny. I know you don't think it's funny. It was a cold day. We're never cold here. So I was all bundled up. And then I felt this truck coming very, very slow.

The funny part is when I looked at them and they looked at me, I was like, holy crap, you know, those are Libyans. And they were like, holy crap, that's Sarah Adams. She looks crazy. So the funny part is they were surveilling my home, but they wrapped. the corner and so I wasn't actually at my home and we each saw each other and we were both shocked that we saw each other because we didn't expect to see each other. So it was one of those things that it was just this they weren't ready. So that was good for me. But yeah, I didn't look. I was all,

I had a hoodie on, big glasses. I had like three tops on. So yeah, it was just this weird situation. So it was kind of good. I guess I was in like a costume or just. guys in some way, but it was like, oh my God, this is real. Because I had been told it was happening and I had been given updates of things they knew about my house and my dog. So I knew they were doing it. But this was the first day I saw one of them and looked them in the eye. I think we can add to the list of characteristics that are necessary to be someone like Sarah Adams. You know, that would, I would pee myself in the street. You know, like that would send me into a nervous system overdrive.

She gets scared sometimes when she sees me in the hallway. And I know you're in the house, right. Hey, I'm that way. Are there skills that you have been taught to regulate surrounding threat and danger? Because like, I get scared if a truck passes by and no one's trying to kill me. You know, like what goes on when you contemplate

the threat that you direct? are living under. Yeah. So I have a high tolerance. So it wasn't actually exactly taught. It was learned because, you know, I lived in Pakistan, Libya. I've lived in environments where this was happening all the time. Like when I was in Pakistan, like, anytime I was in a checkpoint and I was like, oh, this could be today.

It blows up. So I got used to kind of like being in that environment to where it's like you have a different perception of the threat or fear. And then you learn different ways to mitigate it, you know, because at the end of the day, they're after us, but, you know, I'm also after them. I mean, this is a cat and mouse game. I'm not here fearful as like the victim, like, in a defensive posture. It's like, bring it on. You want to come to my country. You want to come to my town. You want to be in my neighborhood. Good luck. You step on my grass. It's going to be a bad day for you. That's the way I look at it.

Okay. I'm officially afraid of Sarah. A lot of people are. You should channel that energy when you see me in the hallway. You're like, this is my hallway. That's a really interesting perspective because, you know, another characteristic,

you know, I do. I often go into kind of victim mode, right? This is being done to me. Or I'm in a weaker position. Or I'm not as smart as them. Or I'm not as good as them. And I need to get smaller. You know, I just need to disappear.

That's not. a helpful skill. You know, you have this ability, which, you know, some of it has learned, but also some of it, you know, we've spoken to Andrew Bustamante several times, you know, there's something about the personality of the kind of people who can work in these situations that does select for that. But I really like that notion, especially hearing that, you know, from a woman that like, I don't have to just be afraid, you know? Yeah. And I'll be honest. I do want to tell you something. So the person planning my assassination is, is 1,000 times smarter than me. And it's really funny. So I reached out, you know, to people in Libya

and I said, hey, this terrorist, you know, he's in Afghanistan, but Libyans know him, is targeting me. I want to tell, you know, the FBI something important about him. So they take it serious. And so they said, oh, tell them he successfully assassinated 400 people in the city of Benghazi. I was like, perfect. So I go to tell the FBI and they're like, we get threatened. all the time against like the commander of Sencom. It's like they didn't even hear it. So it's really, really funny too, because we have people who just don't listen and want to even understand some of these threat actors.

And they are in a lot of cases smarter than us. You know, they've run military operations all over the world. They've influenced thousands of people to join this crazy life where they literally harm people for a living. So it's a very interesting kind of dichotomy between the way. You know, you grow up in the, in the Midwest, and then the way they kind of get grown, grow up, and their family's almost like push them into this because those are a family affair. It's not like you usually have one terrorist in your family.

There are multiple. Let's explore the geopolitical landscape of what we're facing right now. I think if you can start to break apart, you know, the different actors, organizations, because when you describe the FBI's reaction to your threat, I have to also imagine that they may be mismanaging or not actively pursuing leads. It sounds like there's a lot of misinformation. Can you describe for people sort of what the landscape is right now?

Sure. I'll answer the last part first. One of the problems with the government is if they didn't collect something or if someone didn't directly come and give it to them on a silver platter and tell them, they want nothing to do with it, right? Because they're like, our resources don't have any of this info, so it's not good and they move on. So it's a very, very frustrating thing.

And we've seen this happen a lot with these strange threats against Trump, right? They're just behind on all of them. Can you explain that? Well, we have all these wackardoodles taking shots at a president. You shouldn't get to the point where someone lets off a gun, right? You should stop someone way before they even get, to the vicinity. So we're behind on every one of those. You know, for years, I wish the government was more honest with the American public because we stopped so many terrorist spots. Like,

I mean, I can't even tell you, maybe 40, 50, 60, probably 100. And so we know how to do it well. So when you see things not stopped, you know it's not being done well, unfortunately. And it's just a frustrating thing. It doesn't have to be the president. But when you just see it in his case, You're like, whoa, if you're dropping the ball there, you know, then you're dropping the ball on these other threat issues we have, which is concerning. That's what everything everybody's worried about. How I'm just going to make an example, you know, how did a mentally ill individual enter, right, the White House within firing range of the president with no, like, that shouldn't happen. Like, I've been to the White House, right? I've been there more than once. Like, it's a thing. There's a way you can check people.

It's like literally gated four times. Like this shouldn't happen. Is that general incompetence or is it specific incompetence? Yeah. I don't know what's happening. I think there is some incompetence. There people get lack of daysical. You know, like you just start going through the motions.

I think we saw that the White House correspondence dinner. We saw people like walking through the magnetrometers and setting them off and then nobody was patting them down. It was a very strange thing to see these videos come out. First off, I was also like, why are you just allowing someone to video the magnetrometers and then put it on Twitter? So it's become very strange. I don't know if we're just becoming less, more lax on security, more lax than counterintelligence. I don't know if that's a cultural shift or what is. remember there are a lot of people who thought security was too much after 9-11 and the government

over step too so it's always kind of like this delicate balance and in a case of at least that dinner these are high-profile people a lot of them were in the press so there's probably some things made too we don't want to inconvenience them you know we don't want to cause issues but you've got people trying to actively take out the president. You know, this used to be something once in several generations, a very unusual, you know, mentally ill individual would have some elaborate, you know, intricate way that they gained access to an event where, right? They could pull out a gun. I'm just like my mind is sort of on fire right now, thinking that with a president who also is inspiring a lot of extra attention with the things that he says in the way that he says them

that, I mean, it's it's on par with accidentally leaking, you know, a signal chat. Raising questions. Feels like a Saturday Night Live skit, you know, like if you saw this in a skit, you'd be like, that would never happen. Yeah, we have a president who people are actively trying to assassinate and people are getting close enough to try again. That's crazy to me. The crazy one too is like that Ryan Routh, remember he was fighting in the bushes. Well, before he did that, he built a deer blind in the tree. Like, no one saw a guy hammering a deer blind into the tree by the Palm Beach International Airport.

He wasn't in a hunting zone. When do we stop paying attention or be observance to things going on around us? That makes me really nervous that awareness is going. going away just for normal people. People walk. They have the phone. I'm almost hitting people all the time. They're like walking and looking at your phone. I was like, you know you're in the middle of a street. But it's just this crazy thing. It's like our heads are in the sand or something. And then that's in a lot of different ways because you have to remember a lot of things get stopped or thwarted because a citizen saw something and said, wow, that's strange. That's odd.

Why is that here? And they report it. So that is super important to keeping, and if everybody's safe. That terrifies me because we're in our phones now, we're less socially connected than ever before. It used to be you would know your neighbor. So all of a sudden, if six guys moved into the apartment above you, you'd be like, that's different than the family that used to live there. Why are they going in and out? Why are all these people around? And now people may be like, okay, that's just the way it is. I'm going to just focus on my Netflix and I'm not going to pay attention.

Are we becoming more vulnerable because our social connections are fraying? Yeah, I think we're definitely becoming more vulnerable. I think there's going to be a shift. I mean, bad things happen and then people realize I missed it. I don't know if you remember, like, a few months back there was like that shooting in Austin.

Well, the crazy part is the guy was in a pickup. he came by the front of the building three times and on the third time did the shot. If you're out there, this guy even comes around a second time, it looks a little like a nut job. Like, wouldn't you get out of there or tell people? And so we have to start saying, hey, I missed that. I was standing there as these three things happen like in some la-la land. At least those people now are smarter for the next time. I mean, it's sad we have to learn that way.

But I do think we will get back to a sense of awareness at some point. because you have to, at the end of the day, keep yourself safe for your children or your family in some way. And we have to get away from this reliance in connection to social media and get back to real life. It feels like we have a false sense of security, you know, like the U.S. hasn't been attacked on our soil since 9-11. And we assume that there aren't active threats

because most of war happens on the other side of the world. but that feels like it's a very, you know, delusional sense of safety and that we may not have all the intelligence or the people working on our behalf to prevent something else from happening soon. Yeah, I mean, it's a scary thing. You know, after New Orleans, we found out that Harris went encased, obviously New Orleans, but he came here in case Tampa. So he's got his glasses on and he's walking around the river walk in Tampa where I go all the time. and we didn't learn until after he committed an attack, well, that's a very scary thing, right?

That's not when you want to find out that ISIS is cased your city. So I do feel we're behind, and a lot of it is we left Afghanistan. According to the commander of sentcom, we gave up 98% of our intelligence collection there, including human. So if you don't have networks collecting on the threat overseas, you then have to collect on them here, and it's so much harder. because now they're in a kid and roll, right? They're not hearing their true name. They're not going around saying, I'm going to commit a terrorist attack.

So it's just so much more difficult if you wait till the threat's already here to work it. And I feel like we really drop the ball on this. When 9-11 happened and, you know, depends on your age and where you were in life. You know, I was in college when 9-11 happened. And it was terrifying. It was really terrifying.

And without freaking my kids out, I try and explain to them the immensity of that moment because in many ways it has been forgotten, right? And one of the things that we want to believe, right, is that our country is constantly on guard for us, right? They're constantly patrolling, monitoring. But in practicality, you actually can't do that all the time everywhere. right? And I think October 7th, right, was this microcosm of showing what happens in such a, such a tiny country, right? When things go unnoticed. And not unnoticed when people's reports, right,

are not trusted. And the thing about 9-11, I remember learning that there was a group of guys taking flight lessons who ended up being the terrorists who flew the planes into the World Trade Center, and they very curiously had no interest in learning how to land the plane. And it's like if you saw that in a script, you would laugh. Can you imagine, right, a group of individuals asking to learn how to have a plane take off, but don't worry, we don't need to know how it lands, right? Like, it's crazy. Can you talk about some of that disconnect and how that does reflect on, for those of us who wanted to believe that we had a certain amount of security, what does that mean about our country? Yeah, I mean, that was the complaint that came out of the 9-11 commission

is we completely lacked imagination, right? We heard these things, but we thought, oh, they're sensationalized. Like, we couldn't put the dots together, which is crazy because Al-Qaeda already had their bojinka plot, which was like 11 or 12 airlines that was thwarted. So it's very strange. We had a previous plot and nobody could put that together. But I do think it's like we're always preparing for the last event and we're not good at thinking future or thinking how things evolve or change to where it's hard to picture it. And then to say, oh, I have enough evidence that what I'm picturing and hearing and seeing is fact. So that's very, very difficult because until it happens,

you know, you're not right or correct or true at all. You know, even in the current new plotting, there's all these suicide bombers in it, okay? Now, in the United States, we've never had a suicide bombing. There's this strange incident in Nashville where the gentleman kind of blew himself up in a car. So that would technically be one, and that's it. So think of it. We have an entire country that no law enforcement except maybe LAPD and NYPD have any, like, standard operating procedure at all, for suicide bombers. So that is a strategic surprise, even though it's not some genius out-of-the-box

thought. It is now something that can cause shock and awe in a way. And then you poo-poo it because you're like, oh, it's just suicide bombers. They should do some big extravagant thing with drones and all this thing. So we also have the other side of the coin, too, where threats get downplay because it's like, well, why aren't the tears doing something bigger? It's like, well, that is bigger. It is a constant struggle to get out of the group think, to get out of only thinking of 9-11, and that's exactly what an attack looks like. And then to really get the public aware, because the public thinks terrorists haven't tried to attack us. So yes, they have.

We stopped them every single time. You know, we took out, gosh, eight or nine of Al-Qaeda's external operation leaders, one after one after one after one, to stop the tax here. And now we're not. we have not taken one strike on the leader of external operations for al-Qaeda in a decade. So it is different than it was, you know, in the 2000, in the mid-2000s, you know, 2005, 2010, when we were so aggressive. We stepped back and said, hey, we're moving on to other threats,

China being a great example. Counterterrorisms in the past, we're done with it. And unfortunately, the enemy gets a vote. And so it's not done. and we are behind. I'm glad to hear you articulate it that way. You know, I'm that jerk when I fly and go through TSA who cannot believe that one guy put a bomb in his shoe

and now we all have to take up. Like, I'm that person because I feel like there's this, like, laser focus that makes us feel like we're protecting ourselves and it makes us feel like we're doing something. And, like, I will not show you my Ziploc of my toilet. I will not. I've never done it. Like I've never, I'm just like, I cannot handle this. And I know I don't need to blame, you know, the hardworking TSA people.

You know, they're following the orders. But it also feels a little bit like, like literally Joseph Heller's Catch 22. Like, it's Slaughterhouse Five. Like, I feel like we are living in a science fiction, kind of near apocalyptic, you know, perception of threat, of danger. of the limitations that we have against actually understanding what's happening. And it's interesting because when 9-11 happened, anyone that I knew who had ever flown an Israeli airline knew exactly what was happening. And like, it was like, oh, okay, now that here, right? I mean, I spent my teen years,

you know, it was the first intifada and then second intifada. So, you know, that's what it feels like is that it's getting easier for these things to kind of infiltrate, but we need to get smarter, right? No, it's a really great example because, as you said, history's falling by the wayside. And so we ended up getting, you know, a new head of DHS. She's gone now.

Kristi, no, but it's like she doesn't seem to have understood the shoe bomber at all. And she's like, yeah, why are we inconveniencing people to take off their shoes and they reverse that? Well, the week after they reversed it, you know, Al-Qaeda put the shoe bomb back on the table and right now they're testing a number of prototypes. So the shoe bomb's coming back because we said, yeah, we're not going to scan for it anymore. If you tell the terrorists that, they should think you have the best scanning in the world and nothing's getting through because that's how it stays shelved. So unfortunately, the shoe bomb's coming back, but it's crazy because we solve that issue

and then we just welcome it back. That's the title of this episode. The shoe bomb is coming back. So I shouldn't be annoyed. I should take off my shoes and put everything in my little Ziploc. but they're going to come up with something else. Yeah, and they have, there is, there is this invisible bomb. It's very famous. It's been around for years. It's the same bomb that was used on Christmas in the underwear.

Remember that, like 15 years ago? Same bomb. So they've now made that smaller. You can kind of like wrap it around your body. Christmas in the underwear? It sounds like a holiday drink that you get at Cheesecake Factory. What is Christmas in the underwear? Luckily, he's still.

Soiled himself. The good part is, remember, this is a very stressful situation for the terrace. So they're stress, they're nervous, things happen. He soiled himself. And that harmed the bomb. Even the shoe bomb, he got moisture in a shoe. That's where the bomb didn't work. So we sometimes get lucky. And so lucky is a good thing. But that's why I always say, you know, you work hard, you work hard, you work hard. But luck happens because you spent so much time trying to stop it and throw it and protect. people. Okay, so what's the invisible bomb? It's called invisible or hidden because it has no metal components. And it's, so it's a bomb you can walk through a magnetrometer. Okay. So you can't walk through a millimeter wave scanner, the weird one you put your arms on, but you can walk through like,

which you go into a sporting event or which you go into the White House force bondings dinner. You can walk straight through that. Or my synagogue, right? I mean, you know, like that's the kind of detector. Well, maybe not. Synagogues aren't pretty well protected, which is a good thing. But then when you go to detonate it, it's a binary reaction. So there's a chemical in the vest. And then you have a chemical in like a syringe or you can use a pen and you inject it. And then that starts it. So it's really a smart invention. It's now then, okay, this is how it is. This is how it's built. How do we counter it? Why do you think we haven't seen more of these deployed? There are some rumors that they tested this bomb a couple times in Somalia,

maybe when they went after their intelligence building, but I've not actually got someone to show me a picture to prove it. But there are people saying they tested it in Somalia, and people in Somalia saying that. Now, the point is they don't want this bomb found prior to doing their next bomb. big 9-11. So that's what Al-Qaeda is waiting for. So again, this is they're going to be their strategic surprise when they use these. And what they want to do is about 10% of their attackers in their upcoming clotting. They want to be suicide bombers in some form. Sarah, I just don't feel

good when we talk. Well, I think that's the point, right? Like, if we don't ever think about these things, if we don't ever realize that there are people on the other side of the world who have not just forgotten about us, who their objective in life is to cause harm in the next wave in some way, then we won't be ready. We won't have the intelligence. Can you go back a little bit in our conversation where you said in the 90s we were actively removing heads of the planning operations of Al-Qaeda? What is being planned now? What do we know is in the works? Can you give us a bit of a framework of how their organization has developed in the absence of us continuing to remove parts of their planning organizations?

Yeah. So our last major strike on Al-Qaeda Central was in 2022 and we took up ahead of Al-Qaeda, then Dr. Ayman Al-Zarahiri. But prior to that, Al-Qaeda planned a number of use of the word perfectly waves of attacks. So they helped in the October 7th plotting. They worked on the Syrian Blitzkrieg. there is a similar Iraq Blitzkrieg. There's a bunch of attacks against, planned against U.S. embassies,

and then different Jewish sites overseas being synagogues or different kind of like cultural centers. And then they do have a big European plot and then the big U.S. homeland plot. Now, the problem like we saw in Israel, Israel got like little, little pieces, right? They knew something was coming, but they never knew it was. at the scale. I had friends that passed some things to Israel saying, hey, it's very strange. Hamas is here in Afghanistan, training in the camps who are collecting it. Like, this is really, really weird. And so it was like they didn't put things together quick enough or did not think the scale. And I think we're having the same problem. We're having difficulty viewing the scale. And I do

think Israel should put out more because nobody really knows that there are like 8,000 terrorists in that attack. and they weren't all Hamas. So there were members of Al-Qaeda. There were members of ISIS. There were even members of the Taliban. They got flown back in their dead bodies to Kandahar. I had people at the airport watching it happen. So I think this kind of keeping information tightly controlled is really making it.

So people lose the idea of thinking, hey, these can be connected. Hey, this is bigger than we think, hey, these tariffs have regrouped. They can plan again. They are strong again and we're a target. They've only have two real targets. The United States and Israel. Every meeting only talks about the United States and Israel. We just have to be honest about that because we're in the crosshairs. Let's spend a little bit of time connecting these organizations. You said something that I think most people have no idea about that it wasn't just Hamas attacking on October 7th, that they were training in al-Qaeda camps. Can you explain more about this interconnection? Because it doesn't sound like it's one organization. Most people think, oh, Hamas has their agenda and they're just, you know,

upset with Israel, but you're painting a totally different picture. I think this is also a good opening to the common denominator for basically every organization that you've mentioned is Iran. That's like the elephant in the room. Yes. And that's where I was going to start. So there is like a structure is the best way to put it, okay, in terrorism. So you have Iran and then everybody who kind of falls under them. You have Al-Qaeda and who falls under them. You have ISIS and then who falls under them. And then you have the Muslim Brotherhood all kind of interlinked.

Okay. So there has been a strategic alignment first between al-Qaeda and Iran. And it happened very simply. When the U.S. went into Afghanistan, the senior terrorists had to go somewhere. They could go to Pakistan or they could go to Iran. So they first started going to Pakistan and then we started picking them up, right? We got Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. We got Farage al-Libu, and they were like, whoa, whoa, whoa.

Pakistan is not going to be safe. Their government is all in with the U.S. government. So where do we go? Iran. So al-Qaeda had to start making close relationships with the Iranian, certain units, most of the Quds Force. So Qasem Soleimani was a big one. And he's dead now.

but Mohammed Kazemi, the last head of the intelligence organization, IRGC, super, super close to al-Q. And so they made these historic relationships and then Osama Bin Laden trusted these two men to protect his children and his grandchildren and Saifalada stayed with them and he protected them. And then even the terrorist running my plot, he lived with Soleimani. So that has happened now over 20 years. So that's a very, very close-tight relationship. So, of course, when they started planning the attacks, you know, in Israel, they needed the leverage of where are we going to train these people and where are we going to hold them? These are thousands of terrorists. So they chose six camps in Afghanistan and trained them there, and a lot of people aren't honest, but a lot of them lied in weight in Syria.

That's why so many of them were hooked on captogen because they're waiting to go do the terrorist attack and they're taking drugs because they're not doing anything. locked up in a building. And so that's all this convergence of Iran, link to Al-Qaeda, with Taliban support. And so they kind of just gave Hamas this boost. But they have other plots going. So it wasn't their top priority, but it's like, let's make this successful for Hamas because they're attacking Israel, but we're still staying focused on the U.S. and Europe and Syria and our other plots. We're going to pause here. There's so much more in part two of our conversation with Sarah Adams. Is modern terrorism proof that we're living in a simulation? Did the war on terror actually accelerate global extremism instead of stop it?

Sarah's also going to explain why sleeper cells is a misnomer. And what are the influences that are infiltrating our universities and what role do they play in shaping how we view terrorism? Sarah is also going to describe how there are thousands of al-Qaeda members. currently in the U.S. who are undocumented and outside of our radar. How are foreign actors exploiting and polarizing U.S. politics and what role does TikTok play? This and so much more in part two of our conversation with Sarah Adams. From our breakdown to the one we hope you never have. We'll see you next time.

It's my and be all X breakdown. She's going to break it down for you. She's got a neuroscience PhD or two. One fiction. And now she's going to break down. It's a breakdown. She's going to break it down. MindBialx breakdown is supported by Elastique, where science meets style in wearable wellness. Elastique athletics is designed for daily life, travel ready, workout optional, and beauty enhancing. Elastique fits into your routine with zero extra effort. Their chic sculpting designs provide therapeutic compression while still keeping you looking stylish.

Elastique athletics creates fashion forward compression wear engineered to enhance circulation, reduce swelling, and support lymphatic flow effortlessly. rooted in science and trusted by wellness professionals, their patented micropearl technology blends proven results with premium design, making Elastique the go-to brand for wellness that works while you wear it. Endorsed by physical therapists, lymphatic specialists, and featured in Vogue, Oprah Daily and Goop. Elastique athletics are perfect for post-workout recovery, post-surgery recovery, travel, swelling, swelling, and sluggish circulation. Their micropearl technology is clinically tested to support lymphatic flow, reduce inflammation, and visibly improve skin texture. It's fashion forward compression that doesn't look like compression. Feel the difference in circulation, recovery, and skin smoothness in just one wear. Go to the link in the show notes and use the code MyM-50 for $50 off your elastic order.

That's M-A-Y-I-M-5-0 for $50 off your elastic order.