Real Time with Bill Maher - Episode #415 (Originally aired 2/17/17)

Episode Date: February 18, 2017

Episode #415 (Originally aired 2/17/17) - Bill’s guests are Milo Yiannopoulos, Leah Remini, Jack Kingston, Malcolm Nance, and Larry Wilmore. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's something else here now. Something new. From. Exclusively on Paramount Plus. It's the series Stephen King calls scary as hell. Everything here is impossible, but it's also real. Sci-fi vision calls it the best show streaming right now. We're running out of time and we still don't know the rules.

Don't miss what the movie blog calls something you need to watch. Saving those children is how we all go home. From binge all episodes exclusively on Paramount Plus. Welcome to an HBO podcast from the HBO late-nought series, Real Time with Bill Maugh. I know, I know, I know. It's so exciting. Control yourselves, humans. I know why you're excited. It's President's Day weekend. And it's a good time to reflect how far we've come from our first president who said,

I cannot tell a lie. and you know, I know it's fun to watch the wheels come off the Trump car until we remember we're riding in the back that it's not so fucking fun anymore. And as usual, you know, there's the circus that happens every week, the distractions that take us away from knowing

what's really important, which is there is an unprecedented state of crisis in this country. There is. The National Security Advisor, Michael Flynn, resigned because of his illegal contacts with Russia. I know the president would like to say that's fake news. That's not fake news. This is the most serious political scandal we've ever had in the United States.

And now the question turns to how deep was the involvement of President Trump, or as Russia calls him, Agent Orange. What is going on in this country is the intelligence agent. are leaking like crazy because they are trying to send a desperate message that this is not just a different kind of president

as the Republican enabler's life. He's a different kind of president. He's sweet. No. He's fucking nuts and he's dangerous. And they know it. They know it. And they're trying to tell us that. You know what makes the intelligence agencies

go nuts? Seens like this from Mar-a-largo. This last weekend when he was with the Japanese Prime Minister and they got news at dinner that the North Koreans had launched a missile. So Trump thought he would, you know, just handle it at dinner in an open-air restaurant.

He's with the Japanese Prime Minister. They probably handle intelligence briefings like they do at their steakhouses right there at your table. This is crazy shit. And yet foreign heads of state keep coming to America as if it's normal.

As if things are... Netanyahu from Israel was here this week, and, you know, Trump doesn't know anything. That's the other little bad part about him. They asked him about the two-state solution. He said, it works for me and Melania. And then Justin Trudeau, where are my Canadians here? I know they're... They're small but enthusiastic.

But he came here and sat down with the president. You know, he had that same look on his face that all the leaders have like, oh, fuck. And I'm sure it came up that they have floated, seriously, in the White House. Sarah Palin as the first ambassador. Not the first, the last ambassador to Canada, which I'm sure Trudeau takes more as a threat. Sarah Palin ambassador. The first ambassador in history to require a security deposit.

No, that's what they do. They love these distractions. Look at crazy Sarah Palin over here. Meanwhile, they're doing this shit like the Senate confirmed just today, Scott Pruitt to be head of the environmental head of the environmental protection agency.

Scott Pruitt is a man who despises the environmental protection agency. So it's less like public service and more like community service. This is a guy who is completely in the tank for the extraction industry. That's how they roll.

The new head of the APA is completely in the tank with the oil and the That's how Republicans work with Donald Trump. While you're watching the clown screw the pony, they're breaking into your car. Just remember that. Now, in other cabinet news,

Andy Puzzner is out. That sounds like something somebody says to you when your fly is open. Andy Puzzner is out. No, he was the anti-labor guy. They put up to be Labor Secretary. And now they're putting up a guy

Alexander Acosta, I have no idea how this guy slipped through because he's qualified and Hispanic. So it's going to be a very tough confirmation process and an even tougher border patrol. And then there was the press conference. Did you see Donald Trump's press conference? Press conference, an impromptu 77-minute brain fart. It was...

I mean, you know your Facebook friend, who said he thought Trump was Hitler? He was optimistic. Actually, what we have here is a mental patient who thinks he's Hitler. The kid in the YouTube video who's high from the dentist made more sense. It was...

And of course it was this long, whiny, whiny little bitchy airing of grievances. against the press and the courts and the Democrats and Hillary, just this nonstop pissing and moaning and pissing and moaning. There's less pissing and moaning

when he's with his Russian hooker. And then in the middle of it, he says the White House is running like a fine-tuned machine. Yes, specifically a Samsung Galaxy. All right, we've got a great show. Larry Wilmore, Jack Kingston, and Malcolm Nance are here, and a little later we'll be speaking with Leah Remedy

is backstage, but first up, He is the controversial senior editor of Brightbart News and author of the upcoming book, Dangerous. Milo Yiannopoulos. Milo. How you doing? How are you? Nice to meet you. Yes.

Happy to have you here. You're very controversial. I don't know why. Well, we're going to... I don't know why I'm lovely. I know. Well, we'll find that out. I'm going to start with an open mind because, honestly, I only heard of you about a year ago.

You're all of, what, 31? 32, but thank you. Okay. 27, officially. Okay. You look like Bruno. But, you know, he said he was 19. You know, I told her to dial down the contouring.

She didn't listen. Your makeup lady was just crazy. All right. Anyway, so about a year ago, people started to tell me, are you going to get this guy, Milo, you know, on your show? And I started to look into, you know, what you're saying. And look, I think you're colossally wrong on a number of things. That's okay.

But if, exactly. If I banned everyone from my show, who I thought was colossally wrong, I would be talking to myself. Well, you wouldn't have Anne Coulter on, which is the only time I watch the show. I wouldn't have Jack Kingston on who's on tonight. Wonderful. So I have an open mind.

So let's start with the contradictions about you, which is pretty crazy, because you're gay and your... Spoiler alert. Oh, come on. You can do better than that. What tips you were? I've been reading about you. I mean, your mother's Jewish. You have a black Muslim boyfriend. No, but I haven't had one now. But still black, not Muslim. Not Muslim. But he was Muslim?

There was somebody once. Okay. But you've spoken out... We don't talk about it. You've spoken out against all these people. Like, you say you don't hire gay people. Oh, no, you can't trust him to show up to work on time. Too much drugs, too much sex. They never show up to work. Always making excuses. No, no, no. I mean, not as bad as women, but no, I don't know how I guess. But you know that's not, I mean... Oh, there we go.

But, you know, that's just... Just kidding. You're easy. You're very easy. Very easily triggered. It's pathetic. Well, let's get to that. There's so many things I could start an argument with you about, but... Because I know gay people who do show up to work. Okay, but... Yes, but that is the...

The reaction... You are so... let's say helped by the fact that liberals just always take debate. Of course. Now, you're a conservative. I'm a liberal. I mean, I don't know if I'm a conservative. I mean, I'm a libertarian.

You work for Breitbart and you're a Trump supporter. Well, it's interesting that, you're a conservative. It's interesting that the radical gay editorials, you know, saying interesting, provocative things about gays are now being published by Breitbart. And I don't think really that you can call Trump a traditional conservative. He's not that Republican. No, you're correct about that. So I don't know if that's right.

He's very dangerous. All I care about is free speech and free expression. I want people to be able to be, due, and say anything. These days, you're right. That's a conservative position. I care about the environment and living also. But free speech... But, I mean, you're right.

I mean, you know, we both... That's a conservative position now, free speech. We have both been disbarred at Berkeley. You know, I gave the commencement address. Much more dramatically, I'd just like to say. I mean, they just disinvited you. I had riots. People got beaten up, you know. Right.

No, you do... Horrendous. Okay, you win, babe. You beat me out there. There were no riots. It's not a competition. No, it's not a competition. But, like, when you make liberals crazy

for that part of liberalism that has gone off the deep end... Most of it. Yeah. You're the only good one. No, I... You're literally the only good one. No, I am so...

Your side has gone insane. The Democrats are the party of Lina Dunham. These people are mental. hideous people, the more that America sees of Lena Dunham, the fewer votes the Democrat Party is ever going to get. This is the people that she has voiced around. Let's not pick on fellow HBO stars. There are so many other people.

Was I not supposed to do that? No, of course. They didn't brief me about that. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but she is awful. Excuse me. Because we don't brief here, because it is free speech. Well, I like that. I know.

Should we go with Amy Schumer? But I'm not... See, another thing, I love A.B. Schumer. But that's okay. We disagree. No, but these people used to be funny before they contracted feminism. It's like Sarah Silverman. She was really, really funny when she was cracking. Another someone I'm a fan up. Let's get off this. Let's talk about your humor, because I think a lot of people do miss your humor.

And I'm a guy who always defends jokes. Yeah. Right up to the point where they pointlessly hurt people. Right. Do you think you've ever... No, I hurt people. I have my whole career. I hurt people for a reason.

But for sure. No, I like to think of myself. as a virtuous troll. But if somebody gets hurt because of truth needs to be said, like religion, I've always attacked religion. Well, you're sound on Islam, unlike most of the people on your side.

Yes, right. That's true. But all religion, I always say, is stupid and dangerous. That hurts me. Except Catholicism, which is awesome, but otherwise, yes. Okay, well, that shows you.

And I hope when you look in the mirror tonight. I'm very happy with what I see in the mirror. I don't see Bruno in the mirror. I'm not talking about what you. you see. I'm talking what's in your head. When you recognize that you are a Catholic, I hope you say to yourself, gee, I'm also capable of bullshit stupid thinking. Well, everyone's capable of bullshit stupid people, you know? And that's okay. You know, it's a, it's a, it's a characteristic of the modern left, I think, requiring, you know, this absolute consistency and forgetting that people are

messy and complicated. And forgetting also some obvious other human truths, I think, some realities of human psychology. Like, for instance, you know, the reason they want to pull. You know, police humor, which is very important to both of us, is that they can't control it, because the one thing that authoritarian's hate is the sound of laughter, because they can't control what people find funny. And also because when people laugh, they know it's true. Yeah, of course. Nothing annoys people or amuses people like the truth.

Laughter is involuntary. Exactly. When you laugh, even if you don't really agree in that part of your mind to go, oh shit. And so I go in my college talks, you've got the professors at the front who are there to kind of monitor me to say, make sure I don't go off the rails. And I make a joke about Ted Cruz or something, and they're like, you know, and you can see it. You can see it. And the other thing, the other thing that's really important is not just, not just that.

But the other thing is, you know, humor isn't how you drive people apart. You know, these sort of policing humor for racism and sexism is utterly wrongheaded, not just because normally it isn't there, but because that's how we build bridges, not how we break them. You know, when you make a joke about, when you make a joke, that's how you connect with somebody. You know, you make jokes at the bar, you make awkward, small talk. Humor is what brings people together, not what drives them apart. And these basic, you know, fundamental human psychological insights, the progressive left is just for go. The one area where I'm a little concerned

is when you go after people individually. Because like I said, if it's in the cause of a greater truth, if people are hurt as collateral damage, I'll go there. But like, I didn't understand, like, the Ghostbusters thing. First of all, who gives a fuck about Ghostbusters? I wrote a bad review of a movie. Am I not entitled to do that?

And I said she looked like a dude, she does. You know, I said that she was barely literate, she is. And I simply don't accept. I do not accept that a Hollywood, you know, that the star of a Hollywood, blockbuster that an A-list mega-celebrity is sitting in a Hollywood mansion crying over mean words on the internet. Get over it. And if you aren't over it, which I suggest you are, which I suspect you are, because it's not really the case that she's sitting there upset

about mean words on the internet. Actually, she's been deployed by the studio because the movie's tanking. You know, you've just got to accept, I'm sorry, you've just got to accept, mean words on the internet don't hurt anyone. Your Twitter feed, my Twitter feed, these are ugly, horrible things. Every Twitter feed is. No, they're not. They're one of the things. When I had a Twitter, it was the funniest thing in America. It was fabulous. But you know, what actually hurts people is things that happen in the real world.

I mean, I don't go on about it because I'm not a professional victim. But I do get syringes through my door, dead animals through my door. You say you get mean tweets. That's okay. It's not a competition. But what actually hurts people is like murder violence, you know, that kind of stuff. Mean words doesn't hurt you. Which some people would say you have incited.

What? How? I'm just saying some people would say... Well, they would be idiots. Well... They would be idiots. Yeah. Okay.

No, and I, you know, I agree with you about the Twitter thing. I mean, I stopped reading most of my Twitter feed a long time ago, because if I want to cry myself to sleep every night, I could just read my Twitter feed. No, I love it. I get off on it. I love it. You know, I give my trolls marks out of ten. But that's you, and you're a special kind of animal. I'm a little broken. I give the marks out of ten. A little broken.

You're a little broken, and you're very wrong about certain things. Like all comedians. Well, like Black Lives Matter is a hate group. and that there's no such thing as white privilege. I mean, you do know that that... We're happy to... You know, look, we can disagree on those things, and that's wonderful. The one thing that should unite us,

the one thing that I think that you and I can both agree on, and the one thing that was so remarkable when that... I mean, I've never heard of him before, that silly man who had a hissy fit this week who refused to come on the show. It doesn't understand. Is that... Yes.

If you don't show up to debate, you lose. Right. And if you don't... And also, stop taking debate liberals. The fact that they all freaked out... Wasn't it pathetic. I'm not this little impish British fag. You fucking schoolgirls.

You schoolgirls. It's so ridiculous, right? Look, if I am, if I'm any... Somebody sent me this, which is so funny, because I knew you were coming on. These are some things Joan Rivers, who, by the way, when she died, Obama, the liberal president that we all love, but comment it. They don't comment when someone dies. Unless they're a national treasure.

He said, not only did she make us laugh, made us think, here's what she said on Michelle Obama. Blackie-O, you know Michelle is a tranny. Robin Quivers, bitch, you look like a fucking mudslide. I hate Houston. It's crawling with bugs. Oh, wait, that's Whitney Houston. You know, my favorite, my favorite... Exactly, but that's the person we find to be a national treasure. I'm just saying the line is kind of blurred. And some of its context, you know, because somebody is perceived to have conservative politics, which I think I've said, it's at least questionable in my case. Because somebody is perceived to have conservative politics,

there are different rules. You can't make jokes. But you should get off the Trump train. Because for a guy who loves free speech. He's fabulous. For a guy who loves free speech, you've picked a weird voice. No, no, no, no.

He's not going to come out. No, no. No, no. Hives are coming on. We'll do it again. All right. Well, let's meet our panel. All right, here they are.

Our panel, what do you think? He's the former U.S. counterterrorism. Did you just come? Because that was a kind of a thing, man. It's the Russians. He's the former U.S. counterterrorism intelligence officer and author of The Plot to Hack America

How Putin, Cyber Spies, and WikiLeaks tried to steal the 2016 election. Tried. Malcolm Nance is over here. He is a producer, comedian, and writer. One of my favorites, Larry Wilmore, is back with us. Larry Wilmore. Oh, they haven't forgotten.

Yeah, they're right. Closer. And the Republican who served 10 terms as the U.S. Congressman representing Georgia's first districts. He's got balls to come here. Jack Kingston. Hey, Jack.

How you doing? Don't forget to send us your questions for tonight's overtime so we can answer them after the show on YouTube. Okay, let's talk about the Russians. No, really, you know, I want to repeat myself, but I do feel. feel an obligation to, as I never have in my long career, to put the facts ahead of the

entertainment. I always try to get both in, but I feel like our country's hanging by a thread right now. So I've got to repeat myself, I'm going to. Stop looking at the distractions and the clown show and look at what matters, which is, I would say this is the worst political scandal in American history, and it's not going away. Is that true? I agree. I agree. I think all of all of this talk about fake news, it distracts us from the real stories. Like, why is Harrison Ford allowed to fly a plane at 102? All right, Mr. Funny.

You're absolutely right. There you go, being part of the problem. But, yeah, I mean, I keep hearing on the news, you know, the cover-up is worse than the crime. No, the crime is worse. The crime is treason. The crime is colluding with wrong. to fix an American election.

How is this not... Bill, I got to say, it won't surprise you, but I disagree. I absolutely... There's two questions here. Where was Barack Obama when he knew that the Russians were trying to influence the election? In September, they were at a G20 meeting. He pulls Putin to the side and says,

you've got to cut that out. What is that for foreign policy? You've got to cut that out. I totally agree. He was late on that. He was very... late. Now, the second issue of Flynn having a conversation with Kislyak,

the ambassador, we don't know exactly what went on. It's illegal for us to know what went on, as you know. Bring it up sanctions or not bringing up sanctions. Jack, you know, Jack is always going to stand and say that there was nothing wrong with that. Let me put it into context.

No, what I'm saying, Malcolm, is we don't know. Well, Malcolm, first put you into contact. Okay. Now, you've been part of the intelligence community for a long time. Yeah, a few decades. So deeply, I don't even know what agency you were. What agency were you with? I started out in Naval Intelligence and worked for the National Security Agency. And from time to time, I was loaned to other people. Black guy that spoke Arabic. Loan to other people. All right. So you know where the bodies are buried. I know where some of them are. Well, what I was about to say was, the way that you characterize it at the beginning of your monologue, I think was rather mild.

I think what we are, and you say is the greatest scandal in American history. Well, we can put secession aside. This may possibly be the greatest scandal of presidential history, where for the first time in 240 years, we have a president

who may have actually had influence and had been elected with the direct assistance, not just of a foreign power, of a foreign intelligence agency. The four Pfizer-Warrant investigations that are going on right now. People hear the word FISA

and they hear FBI and they think, okay, that's great. That's just an investigation. This is this nation's spy hunters are investigating these people. Not just regular gumshoe FBI agents. These are people looking for foreign spies. When the intelligence agencies are leaking like this, it seems like they are crying

out. We don't want to do a coup. And Bill, let's be honest. He brings up Obama. No, let's keep it 100 in this. If Obama in 2008, it was thought he would colluding with the Russians? I mean, he was already called Akami at that point. Yeah.

Do you think he ever would have been elected? I mean, this was called a terrorist agency. Let me put that to you, Jack. What if it was the... What if it was Hillary Clinton, who was just what we absolutely know? What would you be saying about it? Well, number one, very, very important.

Barack Obama did absolutely know that the Russians were potentially interfering. Doesn't answer my question. And in terms of Republicans asking, and, you know, I think you're right. Shoes on the other foot. There's going to be hell-raised. And so I agree with you on that. But to say, I think it's way, way too early and way too dramatic to be saying this is the biggest scandal in American history.

What is the scandal? Everybody talks about the Logan hat. The scandal is that the Russians fixed the election for one party. No, no, you're right. We don't have the proof of that. But the dots are all there. No, the intelligence agencies, and Malcolm will back me up on this, I certainly hope. Maybe, maybe not.

Good luck with that. But the intelligence agency said, while they did seek to interfere with the elections, it cannot be shown that they affected the elections. No. Didn't affect? That's what the intelligence agency is. No, Jack. Malcolm back me up on this.

No, they're saying that the results were not affected by it. The results were not affected. That is such bullshit. They act like, here's what? What happens? That's what really gets me upset. No. Because these talking points always act like we don't have eyes and we can't hear things. That's what it acts like. No, no, no. I was there. I'm not a researcher.

I was a witness. I saw all the election. Did you tell Hillary Clinton not to go to West Congress? Hillary Clinton took her work home. That's what people were mad at. Yes, that's right. August off. She's now August at Hollywood Man-Tucket. Can I put this in perspective? When Kennedy was president,

he wasn't fucking around with the Russians, but he was fucking around. The intelligence agencies We don't know what happened to Jack Kennedy But that was one in theory Because they couldn't trust him Because he was fucking East German spies And mafia couriers And they were like, this guy has a pussy problem

And this cannot stand He is too much of a danger to America Now I feel like that's where the intelligence agencies are now Now they should not be violent Don't get me wrong But they are saying Through their leaks this man cannot be present.

And you know why they're saying that? Because what we have is a situation here where the person they would have to report to, the absolute pinnacle, the commander-in-chief, is a person who himself cannot be reported to. What they're doing is they're reporting and they're taking it above his head

to the ultimate commander-in-chief, which is the American people. This is an act of patriot. That is Jay Edgar Hoover. That's Jay Ever... Jay Edgar Hoover, and you know what? All of us are... Yeah.

Using intel information to blackmail politicians to affect American policy. And that's Russia. Malcolm, you should be outraged to think, number one, that they're spying on an American person. Now, they can say, okay, he was collateral damage that we were really spying on the Russian ambassador, but they do not have the right to disclose what a... Even if they find treason. Why do you think these things... It's in the first place.

spying going on on an American citizen. This was own force monitoring, and we have FBI with a warrant. You're not allowed to disclose the name of the American citizen, and you know that. Let's rewrack back here, too, again, let's not lose focus here. Well, we are now in the place. National Security Advisor, I think you're allowed to say. He was a private citizen at the time, but you're not allowed to say that. You still cannot do that.

I mean, that's a law. America is now in this place where we have watched other countries who we had our nose up about, Egypt and Turkey, places where we thought, oh, you know, the dictator is crazy. So the intelligence services, that's not really the best option. Oh, wait, it is the best option. They're like our last line of defense now.

And Trump floated the idea this week that he's going to put this guy Steven Feinberg, who's some hedge fund, a buddy of his. He wants him to oversee the intelligence. It looks like a purge in the making so that he can take over. can, my question to you, sir, can Trump put his people in charge of the intelligence agencies?

Because then we have no line of defense between the total coup. Well, every president puts people in charge of intelligence agencies, and they control that little seat that they're sitting in, and maybe a couple of seats around them. The people who come in every day, day in, day out, who walk past the statue of Nathan Hale over at CIA, who walk past the Wall of Honor over at the National Security Agency, They are not in this in order that, you know, the President of the United States goes out and disparages them day to day.

They are here to protect this nation. They do it well. And what we're right now is they are now in an act of self-defense for the nation. They are loyal to the Constitution, not the man. Are you saying that they all got together and they said, hey, we're so worried about this guy that we're going to start breaking the law ourselves? Yes. That's what you're saying. That's exactly what we're saying.

Why do you think people... I'll give him more credit than that. I think people who are in the Trump circle, the people that he trusted, are leaking. Why do you think that's happening? And by the way, let me point this out. Listen, let me say, what the fuck is going on?

Let me point it. I got to move on. But let me point this effort. The people in the intelligence agencies, by and large, are not liberals. No? They are not liberals. So when they're leaking, you know they're freaked out.

Okay, so, Kurt Vonnegut. There may be Obama holdovers. Yeah, right. That's what it is. Right. Like James Comey, the Republican who fucked Hillary. I'm not sure that's the right news. Kurt Vonnegut once said,

True Terror is to wake up one morning and discover that your high school class is running the country. Yes. On Q this week, we met this guy, Stephen Miller. He's 30 or 31 years old. He's the senior advisor there in the White House. This is a brown noser on a scale I have never seen. And this is what he said.

This is his debut on national TV. The powers of the president to protect our country are very substantial and will not be questioned. You're not scared by that? The powers of the president will not be questioned. It will not be questioned. We don't have checks and balances anymore. If he was referring to...

Checks and balances, Jack? If he was... No, listen, I'm with you on that. Great. But what I'm saying, if he is referring... Great news. If he is referring to Section Code 1182 that gives the president broad authority

to control who comes into the border, then he's correct in that context. Okay, well, anyway... I've had to defend... This is... It's not a one ever thing. It says U.S. Code. 1182.

Can I just say what's happening here, please? What's happening with Trump, and a lot of this stuff, is a complete assault in the truth, is what's going on. And they're doing it in several ways. Let me tell you, the first thing, like Trump does this casual lying that, and he puts the pressure on us to figure out what he's talking about. Like, we have to be his fucking Rosetta Stone, you know, to carry through his lives. And then there's this exhaustion of fact-checking that's going on because of the casual lying. We're all... America's going to be tired of smart people fact-checking him all the time.

And finally, no, the last thing is taking facts as facts and turning them into what I call ammunition for ideological points, right? So in other words, if you say it rained today, that's a fucking fact, right? But Trump will say, no, this is what Trump will say. Well, you're just saying that because you want us to fail. If Hillary's president, you wouldn't say it's raining. Yes, we would because it's fucking raining today. We would.

It's fake rain, Larry. Yes, it's great. I was outside and I felt it. That was fake rain. But you know, if I could just add baby gerbils there that you had on the TV screen. I've seen these guys. I was in Baghdad at the Republican Palace when they had 25 and 26-year-old kids interns. I remember walking into the office of the Iraqi banking sector,

and these kids were running $20 billion of cash and gold. And they were just interns because they were, you know, family members and friends of the Bush. administration. We're going to see a lot more of that. And then they worship orange Julius Caesar like he's the second coming. You know. Wait. That's the most bizarre

statement I've ever heard. And it's true. And I was at that palace. I went to Iraq and not wearing a uniform, but it went many times. I didn't see any 26-year-olds carrying around billions of dollars in cash. I saw stacks of it but that was under the they weren't touching them.

There was a lot of street cash there. There was a bunch of kids. Talking about it. No, the Iraqi government treasury was won by... We've gotten back to the great amount of America. Stacks of cash. We don't have street money in Baghdad. But, you know, I found out something very interesting this week.

The Ways and Means Committee in Congress has the power to look at Donald Trump's tax returns, which would be very helpful at this moment when we're trying to get to the bottom of the biggest scandal ever. But they won't do it. The Republicans in Congress are the cover. cover up. They are enablers. Where are the patriots? Wouldn't that? I mean, I know Donald Trump is not a patriot. It's a true patriot would say to Russia. Look, even though you're helping me, that's not the way we win elections here. But that's not him. That's not who he is. But where is, like John McCain. Please,

John McCain, I've seen John McCain be a guy I loved, a real patriot, and I've seen him be a party hack. John, a nation turns its lonely eyes to you. Seriously, we need those people to step forward and put country above party. You were always one of the same ones, Jack. We're going to make America great again, and you're going to be so happy when it happens. Get off the Trump train.

That's my, as a friend, it is not, do you really think it's going to turn out well? Did you see the press conference? I think it's going to turn out well. I thought it was great. If you love Donald Trump, you love the press conference, and if you hate Donald Trump, you didn't like it. That's just the way it goes.

But it was an attack on the media. And then today he tweeted the fake news media, failing New York Times, NBC News. I noticed he said NBC News, he leaves out the entertainment division because it's not getting a check. ABC, CBS, C, and it is not my enemy. it is the enemy of the American people. Okay, this is what they say in Zimbabwe about the media. The enemy of

the people. Do you think that is appropriate to say the media, which is in the Constitution, by the way. It's an authority. The press is in the Constitution is the enemy of the media. You dare to say Obama was divisive? It's an libertarian's first move.

Exactly. I think you're overthinking it. I really do. Overthinking it? I really do. If you look at that press conference yesterday. He was taunting the media. He was in his element. He was having fun with it. His element is president of the United States. And he won.

Not a right. And he won. Okay. This is okay. Lending himself used that phrase in 1917. Watch that? That he attacks the presses in enemy of the people. This comes straight from the Vladimir Putin playbook. Oh, good gosh. Masha Gessen. Every dictator. Yeah, of course. But Masha Gessen

recently just wrote an article called Autocracy a Survival Guide, where she said the first year of Putin's reign, he spent one year dismantling the press through legal precedents, through lawsuits, and he carved them back into the provda-like organization they are. That's what they're doing with Fox News.

And they're deliberately eroding all other presidents. He also called the people his enemies. You know what's also interesting? In another tweet. He said, you know, congratulations to my enemies. Remember that? It was New Year's or something. It's like he's going to Melbourne, Florida,

to get in his rally this weekend. He won the election. I think anybody told him that. But he's still having a campaign record. And those people who come to the rally, in his view, that's America. But that's 39% of America. 60% of America, we're the enemies. Can you govern when 60% of the country is considered the enemy?

I don't think you can. I didn't follow your math on how you got there. Well, he's got about a 40% approval rating. His fans. And then 60%... But an interesting poll that came out today showed that 45% of the people trust him more than the media.

42% trust the media. 42% trust of the media, 45% trust the Trump. Because the same poll... He says they're the enemy of the people... The numbers don't even make sense. Well, 45% versus 42%. But that doesn't mean their right, Jack.

That doesn't mean it's true. Who do you trust more? 42% of the people said the media, and 45% said trust. 60% believe the Noah's Ark story is real. And speaking of religion, I must break away here. We have a very special guest. I've wanted to have her on for a long time.

She's an actress and the creator and host of A&E Scientology in the aftermath. Please welcome. Leah Remini. Switching gears. How are you doing? Yes, thank you for having me. It is. You're going to be.

You're going to be. Yeah. Let me try to calm down from the panel. Yes. Take a moment. Do you need some water? No, I do. Screaming and arguing

to be with someone who I admire greatly because I've been watching your show and I am telling you I am such an admirer of what you are doing. Thank you. And, you know, I think when the history of Scientology

is finally written, it's going to show that, you know, you had a fate chose you. Thank you. To come in like in Act 5. Right. You're like Reagan with, you know, tear down that.

wall, Mr. Garbage-Man. Thank you. And, you know, we had Going Clear, that documentary on our network, which is awesome. And it started to break the wall down. Exactly. But I feel like what you are doing is putting a human face on the people who suffer from this awful cult.

Thank you. I really appreciate that. And you're right. It's about families, right? It's about families, but it's about the damage that it does to people as individuals. I mean, we're all still kind of managing who we are from being in a cult.

It's not an easy thing. But you were a child. I was a child, and most people are who get in. Because it really was a religion, I use it loosely, of its time. So I think they're going to be hard pressed to find new members. However, I felt a responsibility because as somebody who was a Scientologist for over 35 years, what they disseminate was that we were responsible for mankind. And so there was a huge...

And helping. Yes, we thought you were helping. We thought we were helping. And that's why it's hard to come out. I'm in a tough position because on one hand I'm attacking this cult. And at the same time, I know that the people who are still in are under this spell of doing good for the world because that's what the organization is disseminating. a great thing that came out in your show that really

explained a lot to me about how otherwise intelligent people who I knew some of them could be in this cult. I mean, I would say any religion, but especially this one. And you really put this out there that what it is is you're audited. They're always questioning

you. What did you do? What did you see? So it just doesn't pay to look on the internet. Because you know you're going to have to answer that question in an audit. So you just don't look. So you just don't know. Somebody told me the first time you found out some about Scientology was when you saw

my movie, Religious. Exactly. Well, first of all, I wasn't allowed, scientists are not allowed to look at things like this. We're not allowed to look or listen to people who are critics of Scientology. So, I watched it because I was a troublemaker

apparently, always. And I watched it. Now, I wasn't at the level that you were what you were revealing in your documentary. I wasn't even at that level yet. So you seemed a little crazy to me because I didn't know what you were saying was true. So I was like, that shit's crazy. Right? But then as you get to the upper levels, and now I want you to know that it's confidential, so a lot of people don't even reach this confidential level

in Scientology. And you were like, Bill Marge got the real shit. Right, right. Although, you weren't technically correct in the way you said it. And I should tell you, you know, and this is just a, I want to say this to the press and people who talk about Scientology, is you should always talk to somebody who was in. Because if you don't get the nomenclature 100% correct, we have a way of just kind of discrediting you if you're not

using it correctly. So you didn't say exactly, but you were on the right track, okay? But you don't know this until $300,000 later and then you're really immersed into it. That's another great thing I learned from your show. You said it always sticks with me. You said when you go to a Scientology event and you look in the parking lot,

every one of the cars is a cheap, shitty old car. Because Scientology sucks all the money out of all of us. Correct. My mother's laughing because she's in the audience and she's the only one who had a nice car because I bought it for her. But that is, I mean, it reminded me a lot of communism. Yes. Because, like, communism, first of all, you're poor. They take all your money. And also the snitching on each other. Correct. Everybody's watching each other.

I mean, again, this is the great thing about your show. It showed this disconnect. that people, that they ask you to disconnect from your own family. They don't ask you. It's families against each other. Yes, they don't ask you. It's a requirement. Right. And they, the church thinks they have outsmarted the press

because it is incorrect to say that across all boards, you have to disconnect from anyone who talks about Scientology. The truth of the matter is the policies, because everything is run by policy in Scientology. There's no room for a similar. there's no, what did you think? What did you get from that? You know, it's, what the fuck does it say?

And if you don't understand it, you know, do a clay demo of it. And you get checked out on policies, like, what does the word and mean? And you need to know 25 definitions of the word and, and its derivations. So, yes. So it's almost, it's a... They thought Milo was the crazy. Yeah, exactly, yeah. So, yeah.

That's... Well, you were... You weren't incorrect. You aren't correct about that. But the problem there is that we're self-brainwashing, which a cult expert actually told us that Steve Hassan in our last special, and I didn't realize that because we are required to study two and a half hours a day daily, like minimum. Minimum.

So we are looking up the words. We are being checked out on the policies of psychology. But even, like, I know they're big on celebrities. Of course. Do you know celebrities have to do this? Yes. You're telling me Tom Cruise does this? Yes, yes.

Not only does Tom Cruise do exactly that. Now, I don't want you to get the idea that he's not, that certain policies are not being bent for him because they are. And that is the truth. And that was part of the hypocrisy. He could end this. He could end this. Single-handedly, he is the one person who could end this.

And because they're saying that he single-handedly is clearing the planet, is changing the planet. So most Scientologists believe... Clearing the planet. He couldn't even make Jack Reacher a hit. Well, Scientologists believe that he did. Yeah. And Scientologists believe that if he didn't make it a hit,

it was because they were suppressive evil people working against him because he's winning in life and he's clearing the planet. So where is this going to be in 10 years? I mean, I think you really are playing a very key part and just... It's about to fall, and then I think we're, you know... I hope so.

I mean, I hope so, because it's not something... Listen, it's not something to make fun of. It's not something because actually people are being hurt. You can make fun of it, Bill. But I also want you to be... No, I mean, the people on your show who are the ex-Scientology. You see, it's like, wow, I didn't know there was a real world. I want to play the Louis Armstrong song for them.

What a wonderful world. You know, like, wow, I can breathe and be free and have... You know what, that is so true. It's so sad. know this world, you know. So you're absolutely right. And that's what I want to celebrate, is that these people are survivors.

So thank you for your whole. You're doing God's work. Thank you, my love. Thank you, my love. Thank you. All right. Thank you, thank you for you. All right, it's time for New Rule.

Okay. New Rule, blend your makeup. It's supposed to go all the way to the hairline. Jeez, that's something you learn in your first year at clown college. New Rule, if you're one of the people who waited 11 hours on this Brooklyn sidewalk

to buy a limited edition craft beer, congratulations. You make Star Wars fans look cool. At least they get to see a movie. You just get drunk and have to stand in another line. New Rule, just to mess with Republicans, every one of these old trucks filled with lawn equipment, must be adorned with this bumper sticker.

Don't blame me, I illegally voted for Hillary 27 times. New role since Harrison Ford nearly flew his private plane into an airliner this week. It's time for him to find another useless hobby. You're an actor. How about drugs? Or Scientology or colorful orphans. If I want to die in a fiery crash with a Ford, I'll buy a pinto. Or, look, maybe I'm wrong, and he's a great pilot,

and the fault is all with his co-pilot. New Rule, you can't call it the swimsuit edition when she isn't wearing a swimsuit. Call it what it is, the I'm wearing the thing that used to hold my spider plant edition. And finally, New Rule, someone has to tell me what's magic. about a capital R, the kind that goes after your name if you're a Republican. Because if you have one of those, you can get away with pretty much anything when it comes to selling out, cursing out, or compromising your own country.

You know, when it was Hillary Clinton with an unsecure email server, Republicans wanted to lock her up. But President Trump still uses the unsecure Android phone he had before he got elected. And he has been warned that with an old consumer-grade phone like that, someone could easily hack into his Twitter account and start posting crazy messages. And how would we be able to tell? So a couple of weeks before the Super Bowl,

Bill O'Reilly asked Trump why he always defended Putin, who O'Reilly said was a killer. A reasonable question, since the last two guys who were as cozy as Putin and Trump held their body. bilateral talks on Brokeback Mountain. But again, Trump took Putin's side over America, saying, we got killers here too. You think our country's so innocent?

If a Democrat said that before the Super Bowl, they would be in Guantanamo Bay by halftime. Same as they would if they did this. But if you have the magic R, no problem. Trump repeatedly said he was going to donate to military charities, then didn't, then lied about it. He compared our intelligence agencies to Nazis.

He said McCain, who spent five years in a Vietnamese prison, wasn't a war hero because I like people who weren't captured. I got to say to all you flag-waving right-wingers who always say, I'm not going to stand here and let you run down America. You're standing there and letting Trump run down America. Donald Trump could go to the tomb of the unknown soldier and say, well, maybe if he'd done something, he wouldn't be so unknown. And Republicans would be okay with that, too.

When Trump said I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose voters, he wasn't making a joke. He's never made a joke. Unless his entire life is some sort of Andy Kaufman-style performance. in which case, stop it. No, he was simply stating an actual fact for once, which is, if you have the magic R,

after your name, you can drive a hummer through a daycare center, and Fox News will say the babies were asking for it. Meanwhile, in the alternative universe where a Democrat is president, Obama once said, we have not been perfect, and for eight years, Republican's president. scream that he was on a non-stop apology tour. They lost their

shit whenever there was a picture of him committing high crimes like not having his hand over his heart during a song. Or saluting with coffee in his hand, even though this guy did it with a dog. Yeah, that guy, the one who sat

frozen for seven minutes after being told the words, the country is under attack. And Republicans defended that. And we all just accept this. America is the Republican Party's bitch, and they can criticize and betray her, but you can't.

Even though Obama spent two terms talking up the troops, talking up the country, how much he loved it, how in no other country is my story even possible. Didn't matter. Conservatives all nodded when Rudy Giuliani said, I do not believe that President Obama loves America, as opposed to Giuliani, who happened to be mayor on 9-11. and so that made him America's mayor,

a hero whose great act of heroism was, nothing fell on his head. To paraphrase Donald Trump, I like mayors who don't let towers collapse. A few weeks ago, an old but very smoking gun emerged from the Nixon era when it came out that in 1968, when President Lyndon Johnson was trying to end the war in Vietnam,

candidate Richard Nixon was actively personally personally. purposefully undermining the peace talks, because he wanted the war to go on so he could have it as an election issue. You would think that the America First crowd would find that a bridge too far. Fuck no. Dick Cheney once outed his CIA agent just to say, fuck you to her husband. Reagan sold weapons to Iran, the country they all want a bomb now, in brazen defiance of American law, and instead of being impeached, he was elevated to sainthood

and now rides horses in heaven with Jesus. Why do Republicans get away with this? Why do they have patriotic immunity? America is like a dysfunctional family where the Democrats are the older, mature son who works hard and does everything right, but somehow is never good enough. And the Republicans are the young,

asshole son who's a fuck-up, but no matter how many times he crashes the Camaro, daddy buys him a new one. I know it's not really important, like which department stores are selling Ivanka's panty-liners, but... You know,

all of America's intelligence agencies say a foreign power tampered with our election to favor the Republican, and they say also that they don't trust that Republican, our president, with our state secrets,

and yet the theme of Trump's inaugural was America first. Please. His ego was first. His hotels are second. Russia's third. I'd be surprised if America made the top ten. I want to thank Malcolm Nance, Larry Wilmore.

The very disturbed now, Jack Kingston, Leo Remedy, and Milo Yianopoulos. Join us now for overtime on YouTube. Thank you, folks. Catch all new episodes of Real Time with Bill Maher every Friday night at 10 or watch them anytime on HBO On Demand. For more information, log on to HBO.com.