0:01 1 second What's going on everybody? I'm Scott. 0:03 3 seconds I'm the face behind Mysterious Planet and this is our first episode of my new project called the UAP Sessions. I'm 0:10 10 seconds super excited about it. It's kind of like a podcast, but not really. It's meant to feel more relaxed. It's uh it's live, so whatever set is said and uh 0:19 19 seconds going to take some audience questions at the end. So, I'm very excited about doing this. I have a guest today, awesome guest, uh the great Matt Lazlo. 0:29 29 seconds Matt Lazlo works on um a page called Ask a Pole UAPs. He does fantastic work, 0:36 36 seconds always badgering Congress for answers about UFP, UAP, and what's going on politically uh in regards to that. So, 0:44 44 seconds what I'm going to be doing is I'm going to bring Matt in. We're going to talk. 0:46 46 seconds We're going to answer some questions for you. Um so, let me invite Mr. Llo in. Let's see. 0:54 54 seconds and it's literally my go-to when I'm looking for news in regards to anything related to what's going on is Congress 1:02 1 minute, 2 seconds has regards to UAP. That's my go-to place. That's the first place I check when I log into X. He has a really big following on X and that's where I go. 1:12 1 minute, 12 seconds Hey Matt, how are you? [ __ ] it all. Um, I'm a swamp creature, so I'm miserable, but that's on me. 1:22 1 minute, 22 seconds Well, man, it's awesome to have you on here, man. I I got to tell you, I've been following your work, you you are my go-to person. Like, if I'm looking for 1:31 1 minute, 31 seconds news on what's going on with Congress and UAPs, you're the first place I go, especially when I get What does that say 1:38 1 minute, 38 seconds about today's media? If I'm the go-to, then the whole damn institution has failed. 1:45 1 minute, 45 seconds Hey, turn down the media. 1:48 1 minute, 48 seconds You're not wrong about that, man. you were not wrong about it. I mean, that's the thing. Mainstream media, I don't know. They won't they won't touch the 1:55 1 minute, 55 seconds subject. They're afraid to touch the subject. And you, on the other hand, are the complete opposite. And that's what I 2:02 2 minutes, 2 seconds love about going to your page. I mean, how did you even get into UAP journalism? That's what I was just going to say. Like my colleagues, shame on 2:11 2 minutes, 11 seconds them. Cuz if you remember about this time, actually, you know, I don't even it's summer now. So no, 2:20 2 minutes, 20 seconds this has been a busy year for the press court. You know, at the start of the year, like what it was start of 2023 2:27 2 minutes, 27 seconds when US airspace was invaded by a balloon. And then like right after that, what did we have? We had the Air Force 2:34 2 minutes, 34 seconds shoot down three different random objects or crafts. Why did the Air Force stop shooting things down in above US 2:43 2 minutes, 43 seconds airspace? Not because the object stopped being there or the craft stopped being there, but they stopped shooting them down because the public got freaked out. 2:52 2 minutes, 52 seconds And so like then what does the media do? 2:54 2 minutes, 54 seconds Oh, just runs on to the next tweet or whatever they're covering. But it's like guys, this is America's airspace and we 3:02 3 minutes, 2 seconds drop about a trillion bucks of our taxpayer dollars annually and we get invaded by a freaking balloon. Like 3:10 3 minutes, 10 seconds shame on us. It's terrible. It's really terrible. It really is. And you know, UAPs is a very niche subject when it 3:18 3 minutes, 18 seconds comes to being a journalist. And how did you what made you start looking at that and saying, "Hey, I got to report on 3:25 3 minutes, 25 seconds this. I got to do this." Well, so I was reporting on it during that like balloon invasion of 2023. And then if you 3:33 3 minutes, 33 seconds remember around then there was a debate about declassification that was bipartisan initially. And you add like what? Senator Warner and Senator Cornin. 3:44 3 minutes, 44 seconds Warner a Democrat from uh Virginia. You know, at that point he was chair of the Intel Committee and then Cornin senior 3:51 3 minutes, 51 seconds Republican from Texas. And they were saying, "Hey, there's a huge bipartisan problem here in around DC, like in the 3:59 3 minutes, 59 seconds BBS, I guess. There's just warehouses of classified documents because of the records act. they have to like maintain 4:07 4 minutes, 7 seconds physical uh records for you know every administration blah blah blah. And so there's so much stuff in there that's 4:16 4 minutes, 16 seconds classified that shouldn't be you know just bipartisan like everyone agrees it shouldn't be classified and it should probably be digitized. 4:25 4 minutes, 25 seconds So that debate was happening and then boom, you know, air force shooting down stuff, people freaked out and the 4:33 4 minutes, 33 seconds Senate, I think at that time they had two all Senate classified briefings. 4:37 4 minutes, 37 seconds Like they have like two of those a year usually. Um like they just had one the other day for um what's happening in Israel and Iran. Like it's it's rare. 4:49 4 minutes, 49 seconds And so like everyone was kind of like amped up. Like I was I'm a nerd. So I'm like got really into the classified 4:57 4 minutes, 57 seconds debate. I'm like, "Oh, this is interesting." Well, then David Grud boom drops his uh allegations, you know, like 5:05 5 minutes, 5 seconds a hammer on uh Congress. And that was that May. And so cuz I'm a magazine 5:13 5 minutes, 13 seconds writer and like contributor at Wired and stuff like magazines are always going to be slow. Um, so like everyone and their 5:22 5 minutes, 22 seconds mother and brother had written a story on, you know, this UAP whistleblower, David Grush. And so the only angle I 5:30 5 minutes, 30 seconds really saw left was a beautiful angle uh according to me, not according to the 5:37 5 minutes, 37 seconds UAP community cuz we kind of explored Crush through the lens of this conspiratorial Congress. You know, like 5:45 5 minutes, 45 seconds everyone's looking at fluoride and water, which hey, I'm game for that debate, but like, yeah, I don't know if Uncle Sam's like really trying to do 5:53 5 minutes, 53 seconds mind control from the water, guys. You know, and then like, oh, January 6 deniers, blah, blah, blah. Like, hey 6:01 6 minutes, 1 second guys, this is my uh doors stop from the Senate Radio TV Gallery from January 6. 6:07 6 minutes, 7 seconds Like, this became my shank that day cuz yeah, I was going to take someone out of that. It's like stuff happened, y'all. 6:15 6 minutes, 15 seconds And so, like, it put Grush in the context of this conspiratorial congress. 6:20 6 minutes, 20 seconds And initially, everyone in the UAP community, like hundreds of people were just like railing on me, like, what is this? Like, 6:29 6 minutes, 29 seconds blah blah, are you rolling your eyes at this subject? And I'm pretty sure I need to go back and look, but I'm pretty sure it was Dean Johnson who literally just 6:37 6 minutes, 37 seconds like took my voice out of my own piece and he was like, "Hey, I I don't know who the heck this reporter is, but he's 6:46 6 minutes, 46 seconds got like nine different senators and Congress people talking about our issues." And he's like, "This has never 6:53 6 minutes, 53 seconds happened." And like, you know, in the past I've been retweeted by like AOC to her millions of followers, been 7:01 7 minutes, 1 second retweeted by Matt Gates to his like four million followers. You never really see a bump in followership. You know, this 7:09 7 minutes, 9 seconds time I literally got like 2 3,000 new followers. Like once I'm pretty sure it was Dean Johnson once my voice was 7:17 7 minutes, 17 seconds stripped out and it was just my access to lawmakers when like literally two three thousand people followed me and I 7:25 7 minutes, 25 seconds had for years I owned the URL Ask a Pole and I was like all right I'm going to deploy it for this community and let's 7:33 7 minutes, 33 seconds see if you know and I call it the unused which is why Ask a Pole we also do you know UAPs but then crypto drug policy 7:42 7 minutes, 42 seconds uh AI, but like crypto, UAPs, drug policy. Congress doesn't care 7:50 7 minutes, 50 seconds about those issues. And like I look back at the 2024 election, you know, a lot of my Democratic peers or uh you know, 7:58 7 minutes, 58 seconds Democratic lawmakers look at 2024 and they're crying blah blah blah. They're whailing. You know, my conservative families like mega. 8:07 8 minutes, 7 seconds I look at 2024 and I think about the 90 million some odd Americans of voting age, legal status who looked at their 8:17 8 minutes, 17 seconds options and said, "Nope, Washington doesn't talk about anything that matters to me in mine." Um, and that like came 8:26 8 minutes, 26 seconds right after the FTX collapse where you had billions of dollars in savings taken from the economy and Congress still 8:34 8 minutes, 34 seconds hasn't done anything. I guess they finally passed the stable coin bill, but like this is real world uh issues, you 8:41 8 minutes, 41 seconds know, and like seeing all of Jersey and the East Coast flip out. Yeah. 8:46 8 minutes, 46 seconds Rightfully so. Cuz your airspace was invaded and your government has no freaking idea what it is. And so the 8:54 8 minutes, 54 seconds unused, come to Askapole. We're here for you. We want the rejects cuz 9:02 9 minutes, 2 seconds I live in a town of rejects. They're just on TV a lot. I mean, it's it's really I mean, the thing is like 9:10 9 minutes, 10 seconds mainstream media won't touch it. And for people who want to know what's going on like as far as like you know, Congress 9:17 9 minutes, 17 seconds and the movement towards disclosure or whatever is going on, there's nowhere to go. But you have 9:25 9 minutes, 25 seconds like and then uh News Nation a little bit Joe uh I think his name's Khalil. Uh 9:32 9 minutes, 32 seconds he's great and actually because we have no real competition, right? Him and I like share information and like when he 9:41 9 minutes, 41 seconds couldn't make it to the last classified skiff briefing, I was like here, you know, I send him what I got. So like we 9:49 9 minutes, 49 seconds I literally wish there was competition in this space and like every once in a while like when Crush testified May 2023 9:58 9 minutes, 58 seconds or pardon me I think July 2023 know maybe June 16th I don't know I 10:05 10 minutes, 5 seconds should stop trying to be precise cuz I'm exhausted. Um, but when Crush testified, like literally that line wrapped around 10:14 10 minutes, 14 seconds like two, three different hallways and like I've been covering Congress 19 years. I was there for like the MLB steroid scandal where you had Maguire, 10:23 10 minutes, 23 seconds Sosa, like all these big uh jacked up and juiced arms and all the paparazzi 10:31 10 minutes, 31 seconds that comes with them. like there was more coverage for the UFO UAP um testimony from Grush than there was for 10:39 10 minutes, 39 seconds anything else. And like that really kind of woke lawmakers up. But then when it comes to the media, even though Congress 10:48 10 minutes, 48 seconds got woken up by that, like leaving it, Congresswoman AOC, Alexandria Quesio Cortez, progressive uh Jamie Rasin, um 10:58 10 minutes, 58 seconds you know, Democrat who led some of the uh one of the Trump impeachment hearings, those and then all these 11:05 11 minutes, 5 seconds Freedom Caucus folks from like the far right and then even moderate Republicans like Nancy Mace, like everyone who left that hearing from crush 11:14 11 minutes, 14 seconds left with a million questions and they're like, "All right, he seems uh trustworthy." What's the word they use? 11:22 11 minutes, 22 seconds He seems credible. That's the word. 11:24 11 minutes, 24 seconds Credible. And we want to hear from him in the skip. Like it took them and like 11:32 11 minutes, 32 seconds so much feet dragging and all that. It took them like months and months to even get him in a skip. And so like the attention went away and then like Matt 11:40 11 minutes, 40 seconds Gates farted. So the media like went and covered that for a minute and I just forgot about it. But I'm like the issues 11:47 11 minutes, 47 seconds haven't gone away. And David Gush threw in Congress's lab a really big FU cuz he 11:54 11 minutes, 54 seconds was like hey you know two claims. One was hey there's crafts and biologics that the government has recovered. I'm 12:02 12 minutes, 2 seconds like cool that's either provable or it's not. You know it's either there or it's not. someone else, you know, Wall Street 12:09 12 minutes, 9 seconds Journal, they can have that one. But his Gush's second claim was the one that really woke up this constitutional 12:18 12 minutes, 18 seconds uh buff. Oh, you can't see it. That's my little pocket constitution. But literally, Gush is like, "Hey, Congress, 12:25 12 minutes, 25 seconds there are these SAPs or special access programs in the executive branch, so like funded by you, Congress, but hidden 12:34 12 minutes, 34 seconds from you." And I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa, stop the presses. He's literally And like to this day, Congress hasn't 12:43 12 minutes, 43 seconds disproven Grush. No. Grush, who's now a congressional staffer. And it's like, guys, if you think this is BS, just 12:50 12 minutes, 50 seconds disprove Grush. Like, literally disprove him. And then I won't have to keep asking you these annoying questions, Senator Warner, and you won't have to 12:59 12 minutes, 59 seconds keep rolling your eyes and trying to avoid me. Just disprove him. 13:04 13 minutes, 4 seconds Let's talk about why you can't disprove them. Right. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. 13:10 13 minutes, 10 seconds They they haven't disprove them and I don't think they can. I don't think can um you've talked to a lot of, you know, folks in Congress on the record and 13:18 13 minutes, 18 seconds maybe off the record. Um you feel, do you get the vibe that they do know more than they're letting the public know? 13:28 13 minutes, 28 seconds This is the thing. And you can still hear me. Yeah. 13:33 13 minutes, 33 seconds You're sideways though on my screen. Oh, I I was trying to get Okay, good. 13:39 13 minutes, 39 seconds Um, yeah, I'm having to do it from my phone instead of my uh screen, but um 13:47 13 minutes, 47 seconds no, here's the thing about Congress and like Congress is many things as I learned from one of my uh professors 13:55 13 minutes, 55 seconds where I teach it, Johns Hopkins, our MA program, one of my professors, uh Doug Harris, what he always taught us is 14:04 14 minutes, 4 seconds Congress is both an it and a they right you know and so Congress is kind of can 14:11 14 minutes, 11 seconds be everything can be nothing and so I think what oh that's what I meant to say earlier so after crush's claims then I 14:20 14 minutes, 20 seconds was like all right and so I went and asked each 100 US senators about his claims to their face and like in going 14:28 14 minutes, 28 seconds through that process you kind of learned like Okay. Like what? Senator Rich from 14:35 14 minutes, 35 seconds um Rich from Idaho, who I believe is or was chair of Senate Foreign Relations 14:42 14 minutes, 42 seconds Committee. What did he tell us for Ask a Pole? He said, "I don't read UFO stories." Okay, sir. So, did you not 14:52 14 minutes, 52 seconds read anything about the invasion of US airspace over New Jersey? Cuz December 15:00 15 minutes 2024, we had testimony in the House, or maybe it was November, we had testimony in the House from the FBI, Border 15:07 15 minutes, 7 seconds Patrol, and Department of Justice that they had no idea what was over US Airspace. Secretary Mayorus, then the 15:15 15 minutes, 15 seconds head of DHS, had a classified call with the Jersey delegation, so Senator Booker, uh, now Senator Andy Kim, 15:24 15 minutes, 24 seconds Republican Congressman, and Chris Har or Chris Smith. and he said, "We have no idea what's above US airspace." And so 15:32 15 minutes, 32 seconds it's like, "Okay, um something is happening here that is 15:40 15 minutes, 40 seconds just like beyond uh this Congress." And so that's where you have these little pockets of information. And like the 15:48 15 minutes, 48 seconds weird thing about this Congress, the 119th Congress, is that it almost feels like UAPs 15:56 15 minutes, 56 seconds have now been like put back on the shelf, you know, like they came out. 16:02 16 minutes, 2 seconds There's like I guess three public hearings in the 118th Congress because we had two in the House and then Senator 16:10 16 minutes, 10 seconds Gillibrand had that one in the uh Senate, right? And so like that's a lot. 16:15 16 minutes, 15 seconds And then this Congress, like a couple weeks ago, I just asked uh Senate Intel member from a south uh western state 16:25 16 minutes, 25 seconds where there was like sightings all the time and I asked him about it and he just didn't want to say any words cuz now he knows Ask a pole and he knows, 16:33 16 minutes, 33 seconds you know, like I'm always recording, bro. And so he's just like looking at me like I cover serious topics. I don't 16:41 16 minutes, 41 seconds cover this issue. And so that's where I'm like, "No, no, no, sir. Like, let's have a conversation about UAS. Let's 16:50 16 minutes, 50 seconds have a conversation about drones cuz like we know what the government does." Um, and like I studied philosophical 16:57 16 minutes, 57 seconds hermeneutics in my undergrad. I'm like, "You guys are just playing with language." And like it was pretty obvious when you went from like UFO to 17:05 17 minutes, 5 seconds UAP. And like last I checked there's two different definitions of UAP in the federal government. This one that DNI 17:14 17 minutes, 14 seconds office uses and then there's a separate one that NASA has. And I'm like okay maybe they're trying to confuse us and 17:22 17 minutes, 22 seconds so like but they're not good at it. And so with all the pressure and like so 17:29 17 minutes, 29 seconds yeah, anytime this Congress I ask about UAPs, UFOs, I get eye rolls unless it's 17:37 17 minutes, 37 seconds maybe talking to Luna or Burles, but there's just been a mood change. And so that's where I've just been like 17:43 17 minutes, 43 seconds changing my uh terminology cuz like nothing has changed here in the real world. things have just changed within 17:52 17 minutes, 52 seconds the Marvel confines of this other universe which is your Congress. And so 18:00 18 minutes I'm curious why that happened. I don't think I'm totally to blame, but maybe I'm a little bit to blame because I 18:08 18 minutes, 8 seconds think lawmakers don't like being asked about their own dereliction of duty, but that's why I [ __ ] love asking them 18:16 18 minutes, 16 seconds about said dereliction of duty. Um, and so yeah, there's been this terminology change. And so 18:25 18 minutes, 25 seconds it seems like also with the changing of the guard and now with Trump back in the White House because you have a handful 18:35 18 minutes, 35 seconds of these Freedom Caucus, more far-right members, you know, more MAGA, you know, probably pr probably MAGA. Not saying that it's a uh curse word like them try 18:44 18 minutes, 44 seconds to say it but like those MAGA elements like Luna she's like hey I've got a direct line to Tulsi Gabbard who's uh 18:53 18 minutes, 53 seconds you know director of national intelligence so they've been a little quiet and it seems like in their mind 19:02 19 minutes, 2 seconds they're hoping for a big buildup which they actually kind of got last uh month I believe when They finally, you know, 19:10 19 minutes, 10 seconds after getting grush on staff, like, oh, two weeks later, they uh after two years of their investigation going nowhere, 19:19 19 minutes, 19 seconds like them not even being able to h to interview Grush, who's now been hired by 19:25 19 minutes, 25 seconds them. But um they go to the uh FBI and get this private briefing from the FBI's 19:34 19 minutes, 34 seconds UFO unit which they after two years of investigating they didn't even know that 19:41 19 minutes, 41 seconds existed which blows my mind. And that is not because they weren't trying. It's 19:49 19 minutes, 49 seconds just the system is geared for like in Washington we call it silos. But what do you put in silos? Secrets. And so like 19:58 19 minutes, 58 seconds there's just all these secretive different enclaves or whatever you want to call it that the issue has been just 20:07 20 minutes, 7 seconds hiding in plain sight. And so seems like the caucus which kind of transformed and 20:14 20 minutes, 14 seconds evolved into the secrets task force. It seems like they're still engaged on it. 20:21 20 minutes, 21 seconds But I think be because they became the secrets task force investigating JFK, 20:29 20 minutes, 29 seconds Epstein, MLK, RFK Jr., uh, CO origins, 20:35 20 minutes, 35 seconds freaking uh, 9/11. Like, oh, Dick Cheney implode the towers himself. Guys, your 20:42 20 minutes, 42 seconds government is so inept. I don't think they could bring down a house unless they had a big bomb cuz we're good with 20:50 20 minutes, 50 seconds bombs. But like I don't think that was an inside job. I think we're just 20:55 20 minutes, 55 seconds [ __ ] which is why we allowed [ __ ] 20:58 20 minutes, 58 seconds planes to hit our goddamn buildings. 21:00 21 minutes Sorry, I digress. But so with that, I think we are seeing this Congress kind of like learn as they go. And on the 21:10 21 minutes, 10 seconds Senate side, they've learned don't engage where senators don't engage. 21:17 21 minutes, 17 seconds Couple rules. But on the House side, I think they almost got duped by Republican leadership cuz like we're 21:26 21 minutes, 26 seconds seeing this reporting here in the past couple days, which I need to like, you know, the House uh is out this week. 21:33 21 minutes, 33 seconds They gave themselves all week off for Junth like they [ __ ] care about Junth. No, they just wanted a vacation. 21:41 21 minutes, 41 seconds Um, and so I didn't have access to House members this week, but I forget who was 21:47 21 minutes, 47 seconds making the um, allegation that um, 21:53 21 minutes, 53 seconds or someone who's reporting out now that it wasn't uh, the Pentagon or CIA or FBI 22:04 22 minutes, 4 seconds who restricted the UAP caucus from certain access and learning about different classified SAPs, those special 22:14 22 minutes, 14 seconds access programs. The new reporting is that it was actually Republican leadership, which means Speaker Johnson 22:20 22 minutes, 20 seconds and then potentially oversight chair James Comr, is that they are the ones who was blocking or who were blocking 22:29 22 minutes, 29 seconds the UAP caucus. I've got to feel that out. But you kind of had that feeling from UAP caucus members. But I'm like, 22:38 22 minutes, 38 seconds okay, if that proves true, which like if you remember the night before David Brush's testimony in 2023, 22:47 22 minutes, 47 seconds the co-chairs of the UAP caucus, uh, Bett and Luna, they were pissed to 22:54 22 minutes, 54 seconds heartbroken because that's when they learned that they weren't going to be chairing their own hearing that they 23:00 23 minutes spearheaded. And so like you had Republican leadership kind of working and pulling strings in the background. 23:08 23 minutes, 8 seconds Well, so if the same Republican leaders who were set up a lot of hurdles and 23:15 23 minutes, 15 seconds roadblocks to the grush testimony and then to giving UAP caucus and just oversight members access to uh skiffs 23:24 23 minutes, 24 seconds and you know smart brains from the executive branch inside the skiffs because access to a skiff is 23:33 23 minutes, 33 seconds one thing, getting something out of it is another. And so if those same Republican leaders 23:40 23 minutes, 40 seconds just turn a switch overnight and now take you from investigating one thing that they don't care about and that 23:48 23 minutes, 48 seconds they've tried to sty then putting you in charge of every [ __ ] secret that's 23:56 23 minutes, 56 seconds ever been known like any conspiracy that's ever been known to Americans. 24:01 24 minutes, 1 second Like I think maybe that's because they want to make you a joke. And so I think 24:08 24 minutes, 8 seconds that's like the few senators who even know there's a secrets task force when they learn about it, they just roll their eyes. I'm like what Senator Mike 24:17 24 minutes, 17 seconds rounds from South Dakota told me is he's like you can listen to the interview yourself at ask a poleaps.com. But 24:25 24 minutes, 25 seconds Rounds, he's like no no it's good to keep them busy. uh we want them busy so they're not causing trouble. And I'm 24:32 24 minutes, 32 seconds like, well, I don't think you were supposed to say that out loud. But he literally just me describing it, he heard the playbook that it seems like 24:41 24 minutes, 41 seconds Speaker Johnson and uh oversight chair comr have successfully deployed to 24:48 24 minutes, 48 seconds totally neuter what was a strong UAP caucus in the 118th Congress is now a laughing stock here in the 119th 24:57 24 minutes, 57 seconds Congress. Yeah. And that's terrible. I have noticed that that decline. It's just it doesn't seem like the emphasis is there as it was in the previous Cong 25:06 25 minutes, 6 seconds Congress. And the reason why I asked if you feel like they know more than they're letting on to is because I I 25:14 25 minutes, 14 seconds think they do get they obviously get briefed by like whistleblowers and stuff that doesn't, you know, that stuff doesn't necessarily make it out to the 25:22 25 minutes, 22 seconds public on skiffs and whatnot. But the after I was at the last hearing that they had in December or November, 25:30 25 minutes, 30 seconds November 13th, I think it was. Um that was the next one, right? Yeah. So I I was at that hearing and then I was at 25:39 25 minutes, 39 seconds afterward the UAPDF had like an after event and uh I was helping them out. I was volunteering at their event and I 25:46 25 minutes, 46 seconds was helping them at their and then this to y'all always invite me and I'm like guys if you're in town because there's 25:53 25 minutes, 53 seconds news Just like my ex-wife, you're not going to see me, right? 26:00 26 minutes I work a lot. 26:02 26 minutes, 2 seconds I'm sure you do. Um, so I was at the APS event and then after the event, I was packing up my bag to leave and Berles, 26:10 26 minutes, 10 seconds Rep. Berles, was in the hallway outside of the room and he was talking to someone. I don't know who it was that he was talking to. And I was just packing 26:19 26 minutes, 19 seconds on my backpack and as I was packing up my bag, I just can overhear their conversation and I hear Berles explain 26:26 26 minutes, 26 seconds to her what an alien hybridization program and I wait one more time. Like he was he was explaining to this lady what an alien hybridization program was. 26:39 26 minutes, 39 seconds Huh? And I was like, "Hold up." Like, "I'm I'm actually hearing this from I'm hearing alien hybridization program from 26:47 26 minutes, 47 seconds Berles right now." So, and it he he didn't seem like it wasn't like he was telling her like this is what's 26:55 26 minutes, 55 seconds happening. Like it was just kind of like he was explaining to her the concept of that. And I was like, "What is like what is making him talk about 27:03 27 minutes, 3 seconds this?" like what did he hear that he feels like he's talking like he needs to talk about this with somebody? See, and 27:10 27 minutes, 10 seconds this this is the funny thing specifically about Berles. Um, and I love it cuz like I'm a political 27:19 27 minutes, 19 seconds communications professor and so like I've trained Trump press secretaries in the same room where I've trained, you 27:28 27 minutes, 28 seconds know, raging progressive uh like executive leadership. 27:33 27 minutes, 33 seconds big organizations that you know first day of class I always let them get confused on why this quasi hipster 27:43 27 minutes, 43 seconds weird dude with arm tats is like at the front of the classroom and then once they're all like kind of settled then I 27:50 27 minutes, 50 seconds go slam the door shut and I say you're [ __ ] politics stay out there to talk about history and practice and all that. 27:58 27 minutes, 58 seconds Um, and so Berless, God bless him, he literally does what I train uh his team, 28:08 28 minutes, 8 seconds his comm's team to like keep him from doing cuz like I say, my job as a political reporter is to get lawmakers to [ __ ] up and tell me what they're 28:16 28 minutes, 16 seconds actually thinking cuz they're trained to not say their actual thoughts. And I'm like, no, no, no. I don't there's 28:25 28 minutes, 25 seconds nothing gotcha. I just want to know what you think. And so like with Berles, 28:32 28 minutes, 32 seconds um, and like in a past life, I studied to be a pastor. And so like when we had Berles on one of our live listening 28:39 28 minutes, 39 seconds sessions at Askapole, he was starting to get into like potential like biblical passages that like may or may not deal with like 28:48 28 minutes, 48 seconds extraterrestrial things above above. and like he's just thought about this and other stuff from like so many different 28:58 28 minutes, 58 seconds interesting angles and I'm like I'm pretty sure he doesn't smoke weed but I'm like man and I think I even invited 29:05 29 minutes, 5 seconds him on the live listening session. I was like bro come over anytime let's [ __ ] get high and let's just hear all your 29:12 29 minutes, 12 seconds thoughts on all this stuff. where that's where he's talked about like propulsion, 29:18 29 minutes, 18 seconds right? Um, and so he talked about that and after leaving one of the skip briefings and you know he just said it 29:26 29 minutes, 26 seconds and then like I just reported like Askipo is just our raw interviews and then uh uh transcript of him and so like 29:36 29 minutes, 36 seconds then when I followed up he's like no no no they didn't talk about it in there. 29:39 29 minutes, 39 seconds He's just like that just feels like the natural the progression of stuff and it's like like are you confirming like 29:49 29 minutes, 49 seconds what you're asking and so with him oh and then in another one 29:55 29 minutes, 55 seconds he's just on a podcast last month I believe where he was talking about um 30:04 30 minutes, 4 seconds yeah some of this stuff adds up to maybe we're in a simulation And it's like I've never again covering 30:13 30 minutes, 13 seconds Congress 20 years and tech focus for Wired magazine. I teach on new media. 30:19 30 minutes, 19 seconds Like I've never heard a Congress person like literally contemplate that yeah there's a possibility this is all 30:27 30 minutes, 27 seconds simulation which is insane and also kind of like makes me 30:33 30 minutes, 33 seconds ecstatic on one level on like the same level where his com staff is opposite 30:40 30 minutes, 40 seconds like freaking out saying shut up shut up do not say what comes to your mind but I'm like keep telling us bro keep 30:48 30 minutes, 48 seconds telling on this. Um, but yeah, you say I mean it's crazy because I never we live in an 30:56 30 minutes, 56 seconds interesting time where this stuff is being talked about in political circles like there's no time in history maybe 31:05 31 minutes, 5 seconds back like right after Roswell it was kind of talked about a bit but there's no other time in history where this was such a big thing and politically and the 31:14 31 minutes, 14 seconds crazy thing is as much as they talk about it now in like Congress especially the previous Congress, the general public still is not paying attention, 31:23 31 minutes, 23 seconds which is which to me like what it takes to get the general population to just like wake up and like look even your 31:31 31 minutes, 31 seconds government is talking about this. So that's where I'll be critical of me and my industry first. Like I think the 31:40 31 minutes, 40 seconds failure of us in the media to sustain attention on this and then to frame it 31:48 31 minutes, 48 seconds properly and like I know with this latest Wall Street Journal report, everyone's kind of like flipping out on them. Guys, I got to say Wall Street 31:57 31 minutes, 57 seconds Journal like one of their A1 feature writers was one of my mentors. Uh this guy Paul Glater now teaches up in some 32:05 32 minutes, 5 seconds school in New York, but he like literally would be given two three months like his beat was the mineral and 32:12 32 minutes, 12 seconds mining uh beat. So he was based out of Pittsburgh, but he'd be flown to like China and he would just like spend 32:20 32 minutes, 20 seconds months just like doing deep dives on all the minerals that enable us to have our smartphones, blah blah blah. And so like 32:29 32 minutes, 29 seconds Wall Street Journal um oh and actually so like my first week on the hill two decades ago I was being 32:37 32 minutes, 37 seconds trained by a current Fox News producer but then it was NPR this guy Chad Perram and he's from Ohio and we're walking 32:46 32 minutes, 46 seconds into uh this what's called a pen and pad where there's no cameras allowed but you just like uh talk with leadership not 32:54 32 minutes, 54 seconds off the record just without cameras you know more casual and more cursing and you know just more of us being us. And uh on 33:04 33 minutes, 4 seconds the way in I'm like hey Chad who's this guy Boner and he goes that's John Ber 33:11 33 minutes, 11 seconds and in that in that meeting you know at the end like there was this one guy I'm like we're leaving I go Chad does that 33:20 33 minutes, 20 seconds guy work for like MSNBC? Like who was that? And it was Dave Rogers who was at the time Wall Street Journal. And like I 33:30 33 minutes, 30 seconds thought he was the most liberal uh reporter ever because he was just a hard-nosed political reporter. So like 33:38 33 minutes, 38 seconds yeah, it's owned by um Murdoch and Company blah blah blah. So yeah, there's been transitions and their op-ed page is 33:46 33 minutes, 46 seconds different, but who the [ __ ] reads opeds anyway? even though I'm also an op-ed writer on under my professor cap. And so that's 33:55 33 minutes, 55 seconds where like Wall Street Journal's been getting knocked for this. But Wall Street Journal in that piece they say 34:03 34 minutes, 3 seconds they talked to two dozen or more than two dozen people. 34:09 34 minutes, 9 seconds I have no doubt in my mind that they did. And to me that raises questions 34:16 34 minutes, 16 seconds like there are a sizable. And I think even like what I wonder is all right 34:23 34 minutes, 23 seconds what are these silos within the executive branch because like what arrow 34:32 34 minutes, 32 seconds arrow their mind like their collective mind as a unit is only ever going to be 34:39 34 minutes, 39 seconds as powerful and as informed as the top brass of the Pentagon allows them to be. 34:45 34 minutes, 45 seconds So, like they're neutered and they're like I don't know if we're allowed to say this these days, but like they're gimps from like day one. Like they're 34:52 34 minutes, 52 seconds just they're powerless. Kind of the same as the Secrets Task Force in the House cuz literally Secrets Task Force doesn't 35:00 35 minutes have subpoena power. They don't have their own budget. So, anything Secrets Task Force does has to be approved by 35:07 35 minutes, 7 seconds Daddy James Commer. And so, kind of the same thing with the Pentagon or with Arrow. Anything Arrow does has to be 35:14 35 minutes, 14 seconds approved by the top brass. So they're only ever going to see what they're allowed to see. And so when it comes to 35:23 35 minutes, 23 seconds this stuff, it just I wonder how much these folks know or don't know 35:33 35 minutes, 33 seconds and how much they're allowed to know or not know in all these competing silos. 35:40 35 minutes, 40 seconds And that's where I think we just need like persistent uh spotlighting of these issues because 35:48 35 minutes, 48 seconds like this isn't just uh theoretical in the distance like blah blah blah now 35:56 35 minutes, 56 seconds because we all got phones and all that and because we're I believe according to 36:02 36 minutes, 2 seconds reports like we're seeing a large uptick at least according to US senators who 36:09 36 minutes, 9 seconds hate talking about this issue but who readily complain like say when Langley 36:16 36 minutes, 16 seconds Air Force Base is shut down for 17 days and last December what Senators Kaine 36:23 36 minutes, 23 seconds and Warner both were so pissed coming out of a uh Pentagon briefing classified briefing and they're like we know kind 36:33 36 minutes, 33 seconds of like when we're getting runaround like we're not getting lied to but we know when we're getting the runaround. 36:39 36 minutes, 39 seconds around. They're like a year out of the Langley intrusion that caused our fifth generation fighter fleet, the Raptors, 36:47 36 minutes, 47 seconds to be moved for 17 days. And I did the math. Uh Langley Air Force Base is 200 miles from DC. So usually takes like 2 36:56 36 minutes, 56 seconds three hours via car, but if you're in a raptor, it's 30 minutes. So like those rap that Raptor fleet is a part of the 37:04 37 minutes, 4 seconds protection of the president of the United States and the US government. And so like we had one of our key military 37:12 37 minutes, 12 seconds units for the protection of our capital rendered useless for 17 days. Like and what did uh the Pentagon do after that? 37:23 37 minutes, 23 seconds According to one Kane, they still have no idea what those uh craft were, where they came from, 37:31 37 minutes, 31 seconds blah blah blah. What did the Pentagon do? Our trillion dollar a year Pentagon? They bought nets. 37:38 37 minutes, 38 seconds So now our billion dollar raptor fleet is covered with nets because that's 37:45 37 minutes, 45 seconds gonna hide you. Like guys, talk to the widows of um Ukraine soldiers. Like 37:54 37 minutes, 54 seconds hiding from drones or hiding from flying craft underneath whatever does not work. 38:02 38 minutes, 2 seconds And so whatever these things are, um they are steadily intruding US airspace 38:10 38 minutes, 10 seconds over very interesting spots like nuclear facilities, like key military bases, 38:18 38 minutes, 18 seconds like in Jersey where uh the incursions were. two of those spots, the main spots 38:25 38 minutes, 25 seconds of the incursions uh from this past uh fallen uh winter, they were munitions depots where we're literally building 38:34 38 minutes, 34 seconds missiles to either give to Ukraine or give to Israel or, you know, maybe pop off ourselves. But like those are active 38:42 38 minutes, 42 seconds military munitions factories. And then there was one other spot in Jersey where they had a lot of activity of crap that 38:50 38 minutes, 50 seconds they didn't know. It was over the current president's golf course. Y he was running for president at the time, 38:58 38 minutes, 58 seconds but like over Bedminster and then over two munition zippos is where we had the most incursions that at the time DHS had 39:07 39 minutes, 7 seconds no idea what they were. FAA had no idea what they were. Like if they suddenly got all this new information like hey 39:15 39 minutes, 15 seconds and I've actually been pressing Luna and Berles and them. I'm like, "Guys, there was a classified call, which I said, Ask 39:22 39 minutes, 22 seconds a Polaroid to report on this, but like you guys all tried to impeach Secretary Morcus." He had a classified call with 39:31 39 minutes, 31 seconds Jerseys congressional delegation. That call, he was at direct odds with what President Trump and his White House is 39:39 39 minutes, 39 seconds saying. So, I'm like, "Hey, y'all should bring my Orcas in." And hey, let's just 39:45 39 minutes, 45 seconds hash it out because someone's lying. And yeah, I don't necessarily want to uh 39:54 39 minutes, 54 seconds force Morris or anyone else to be in that hot seat, but I'm like, "No, no, no. Someone here is lying." And what we 40:00 40 minutes know is we have this sick of fans or whatever hyper tribalistic 40:07 40 minutes, 7 seconds political environment. People are just getting passes just like Democrats gave Biden a pass. Um throughout his 40:16 40 minutes, 16 seconds administration, Republicans are now giving Trump a pass. And it's like, okay, use access you have to uh Tulsi Gather. 40:28 40 minutes, 28 seconds Yeah, use the access you have to Marco Rubio, Secretary of State now, who when 40:35 40 minutes, 35 seconds he was last in Congress just few weeks ago or maybe months ago, he was chair of 40:42 40 minutes, 42 seconds the uh Senate Intel Committee, last Congress, he was vice chair. Well, 40:49 40 minutes, 49 seconds knows about these issues and so like I get it when they say like no, like the administration is working with us. So, 40:57 40 minutes, 57 seconds I'm like, "Okay, there might be stuff happening back channel, but I'm like, "No, stop having these JFK hearings. 41:05 41 minutes, 5 seconds Stop having these Epstein hearings. 41:07 41 minutes, 7 seconds Whatever. Have a real Epstein hearing cuz I want to talk about the Bill Clinton pick with Epstein as much as I 41:15 41 minutes, 15 seconds want to talk about the Trump pick with Epstein." Like, I live in a world, as a political reporter, I live in a world 41:22 41 minutes, 22 seconds where both uh Hillary Clinton and Trump could be in jails. like jail cells next to each other. Like I they're 41:30 41 minutes, 30 seconds politicians. I lock them all up. Like come on, wake up America. Lock all these corrupt [ __ ] up. Um and so that's 41:38 41 minutes, 38 seconds where we're seeing that partisanship kind of creep into this issue, but it's 41:45 41 minutes, 45 seconds also maintained its independence as still kind of like the most nonpartisan issue on the hill. um and potentially 41:54 41 minutes, 54 seconds kind of the only well maybe cannabis a little bit. Um but yeah, that's where 42:02 42 minutes, 2 seconds all the focus right now is on Trump's one big beautiful bill and all that. So that has sucked a lot of the air out of 42:09 42 minutes, 9 seconds this town. Um but I'm curious if we're gonna see because remember the UAP 42:17 42 minutes, 17 seconds caucus, they were asking for a select committee, right? And so like they wanted to have a committee purely devoted to UAPs and what we're 6 months 42:26 42 minutes, 26 seconds in and we haven't even seen a hearing, you know, and like some of those members were a little frustrated by that, but 42:33 42 minutes, 33 seconds I'm like no, if you're frustrated, you're empowered. [ __ ] change that. 42:38 42 minutes, 38 seconds Like you're you're the only person with power to change it. Yeah. It's I don't know what's going on. 42:46 42 minutes, 46 seconds Why they're dragging their feet on it so I don't know if they're getting some type of outside pressure to not move forward with some of this 42:54 42 minutes, 54 seconds stuff, but it's kind of ridiculous. Um, I don't think they I think and this is a 43:00 43 minutes theory of mine, right? But like UAP community like ain't no wealth there, 43:08 43 minutes, 8 seconds you know? It's not like uh financial services where like your audience can 43:15 43 minutes, 15 seconds like write you big checks. And so like I'm curious. Well, because here's one thing. Um chair of the secrets task 43:24 43 minutes, 24 seconds force Anna Paulina Luna in the last congress we had liveing sessions with 43:32 43 minutes, 32 seconds Bettison and then Bette again. then reached out to Luna like just into 2024, like 43:40 43 minutes, 40 seconds January 2024, and her staff, their response was so telling cuz it it 43:47 43 minutes, 47 seconds wasn't, "No, she'll never talk about this issue. No, she won't talk about this issue till the next Congress." And 43:55 43 minutes, 55 seconds so it was literally like, "Wait, why? Like, you think this issue is 44:03 44 minutes, 3 seconds painted?" I'm like, yeah, from a political comm's perspective, I could see different candidates using this as a 44:12 44 minutes, 12 seconds bludgeon or blah blah blah, like painting someone as like conspiratorial idiot. Or I could see that comm's person 44:21 44 minutes, 21 seconds making this a brilliant [ __ ] mountain to stand on because literally American 44:28 44 minutes, 28 seconds airspace is being invaded daily according to the most senior intel members of the US Senate. Like they just 44:37 44 minutes, 37 seconds recognize that as a fact. Same with our Secretary of State because what did Secretary of State Rubio tell me about 44:45 44 minutes, 45 seconds Crush? He said David Grush was the first. He's like we get whistle there were complaints all the time at the 44:52 44 minutes, 52 seconds intel committee. He said Grush is the first one that the IG reviewed said this 44:59 44 minutes, 59 seconds looks this plausible like what you guys should investigate this and then sent it to them also marked urgent. He said 45:07 45 minutes, 7 seconds those two things never happen. He's like yeah there's hundreds hundreds of complaints. They never like whistleblower complaints, they never 45:16 45 minutes, 16 seconds rise to that level. And so that's our Secretary of State. And so I think that's where us, not in the media, but 45:26 45 minutes, 26 seconds like us and me in the media, you guys keep that pressure up because it's easy for them to forget about these issues. 45:36 45 minutes, 36 seconds But like Americans are freaked out, but more so and like yeah, God bless you everyday Americans, but like when base 45:44 45 minutes, 44 seconds commanders or captains of ships like off the Jersey coast, this Congressman Chris Smith, a Republican, he always brings 45:54 45 minutes, 54 seconds this up. We just actually talked about this last week. Uh there's a 47 ft uh 46:01 46 minutes, 1 second Coast Guard ship off uh Jerseys coast just patrolling. What he says and what that Coast Guard captain says is that 46:10 46 minutes, 10 seconds between 12 and 30 different craft, they might use the word drone, 46:17 46 minutes, 17 seconds but between 12 and 30 different craft follow this ship. 46:24 46 minutes, 24 seconds There's a huge discrepancy between 12 and 30. Like why? Yeah. Like why are 46:31 46 minutes, 31 seconds these Coast Guard, you know, soldiers on this 47 foot? Like that's a large vessel. Why are these soldiers cuz it's 46:40 46 minutes, 40 seconds numerous of them on the deck witnessing this and below deck looking at uh sonar and blah blah blah and video footage. 46:47 46 minutes, 47 seconds like what was wrong with that unit or that entire shift that they don't know 46:54 46 minutes, 54 seconds the difference between 12 and 30? Or maybe those experts, those like key essential 47:02 47 minutes, 2 seconds parts of our military, right? Maybe they were seeing and were inundated with something that they don't have the 47:10 47 minutes, 10 seconds knowledge or words to express and or and pardon me and they don't have the 47:16 47 minutes, 16 seconds technology cuz like how can you not like think about it wait that ship has to have video cameras everywhere like how 47:24 47 minutes, 24 seconds can you not go back and look at those videos and be like oh it was 24 it was 47:31 47 minutes, 31 seconds we have an exact number I'm Yeah, I know they say video tells the truth. No, no, no. All video lies, all pictures lie. 47:43 47 minutes, 43 seconds But with that, you think they would be able to get it a lot more exact than 12 to 30. I think like what that just 47:52 47 minutes, 52 seconds screams to me is like we are dealing with technology that is going way over 48:00 48 minutes the heads of our best and brightest in their various fields whether it's law enforcement or whether it's base 48:08 48 minutes, 8 seconds commanders in Nevada, California, Montana or Virginia or whether it's you 48:15 48 minutes, 15 seconds know coast guard captains off our shores like let alone what we're hearing from all these pilots. Um, yeah. So, yeah, 48:24 48 minutes, 24 seconds that's where like it seems like this could become a winnable issue. And like 48:30 48 minutes, 30 seconds I get why lawmakers don't want to be attached to like the little green man trope, but I'm like, you guys have the 48:40 48 minutes, 40 seconds power to change that narrative. Like, [ __ ] the little green man [ __ ] Like, that was 70s, that was 80s, you know, 48:47 48 minutes, 47 seconds that was X Files. Like no, you all need to think smarter and use your words better because we are dealing with 48:54 48 minutes, 54 seconds something new and like even for all those lawmakers like Senator Rounds, 49:01 49 minutes, 1 second he's 100% convinced, pardon me. So yeah, rounds is convinced in this, but Senator Mark Kelly, former 49:10 49 minutes, 10 seconds astronaut, he is 100% convinced that these, you know, there's nothing UFO UAP 49:18 49 minutes, 18 seconds to worry about. That makes him a,000% convinced that daily American airspace 49:26 49 minutes, 26 seconds is being invaded by what he views as our foes. So he's 100% convinced that China, 49:34 49 minutes, 34 seconds Iran, North Korea are the ones flying, you know, like shutting down uh Langley 49:42 49 minutes, 42 seconds for 17 days. Like sir, if that's what you believe, what the hell are you talking about anything else except for 49:51 49 minutes, 51 seconds the fact that we lost control of US airspace to our souls? 49:56 49 minutes, 56 seconds Right. And what do we see in like this one big beautiful bill? They're fighting for a hundred billion dollars more for 50:03 50 minutes, 3 seconds the military. Cool. But not for right drones or new tech. They're 50:11 50 minutes, 11 seconds fighting for more ships. And I'm like, guys, if you do think this is just drones, then hey, and this now comes up 50:19 50 minutes, 19 seconds often uh with lawmakers. They're bringing up uh Chinese New Year with the thousands of drones that they're flying. 50:28 50 minutes, 28 seconds Like guys, literally, if you just arm 50 of those drones and have them go to 50 50:35 50 minutes, 35 seconds different or actually 25 different spots on a ship, our billion dollar nuclear ships are 50:43 50 minutes, 43 seconds just done. Like, we are sitting here naked and right, media has moved on. Congress doesn't 50:52 50 minutes, 52 seconds want to talk about it and it's like shame on you all. Uh because whether this is extraterrestrial or whether it's 51:00 51 minutes our [ __ ] like bloodr written uh foes where they like 51:08 51 minutes, 8 seconds hate us that like we they're squandering a lot of our taxpayer dollars. Um, 51:18 51 minutes, 18 seconds I don't think we should let them ever forget about that. No, I don't think we should either. I mean, this actually, 51:26 51 minutes, 26 seconds this is a good segue because let me ask you this and pulling you away from your you you as a reporter, you're being very 51:35 51 minutes, 35 seconds objective. Let me pull you into your I want to hear your personal thoughts, your personal beliefs. What do I stopped 51:43 51 minutes, 43 seconds being a human long ago? What do you think the UFO phenomena is? What do you think is going on, 51:52 51 minutes, 52 seconds dude? So, like I and it's hard for folks to understand this, but like as political reporters, 52:01 52 minutes, 1 second we get so desensitized and I think like a good way. It's like 52:08 52 minutes, 8 seconds bad on one level, but like what my first hat is tabularasa blank slate. Like I don't believe in objectivity anymore. 52:20 52 minutes, 20 seconds Back studying to be a pastor. I surely did. Sorry if I preached at you and told you you were going to hell cuz 52:28 52 minutes, 28 seconds actually that was me. I'm [ __ ] who's going to hell. 52:34 52 minutes, 34 seconds Um well so like I don't believe in objectivity but I think like my best attempt uh at being an objective 52:42 52 minutes, 42 seconds reporter is to listen and to not really allow myself to get fully formed 52:49 52 minutes, 49 seconds thoughts um on certain issues and like so I'm on the board of the regional 52:56 52 minutes, 56 seconds reporters association and this guy Joe Morton who used to be our president right he's now Dallas Morning News But 53:03 53 minutes, 3 seconds he used to be Omaha World Herald and like Omaha that's like conservative country and so like he had covered this 53:12 53 minutes, 12 seconds like five or so years ago pre Roie Wade being overturned but he's like he's like I've covered abortion from like every 53:21 53 minutes, 21 seconds angle like five times a month for a decade. He's like, I'm so dis like just 53:31 53 minutes, 31 seconds naturally and like not and I understand like if you're an evangelical and you think that aborted tissue is a human 53:40 53 minutes, 40 seconds life, then this can like oh sound very uh cold, but 53:47 53 minutes, 47 seconds no, like the other side of the debate says that's just tissue and blah blah blah. And so like he's covered it so 53:55 53 minutes, 55 seconds much that he's just like I don't he's like nothing in my being 54:02 54 minutes, 2 seconds reacts one way or another. I just report what my delegation is saying, right? You 54:09 54 minutes, 9 seconds know, and like that's where we just kind of naturally keep ourselves outside of um at least 54:16 54 minutes, 16 seconds for me, like I don't even let myself like I didn't even vote until 2016 and like I do opeds under my professor cap, right? 54:28 54 minutes, 28 seconds And so like I was vocal about opposing Trump 1.0, I know. First vote I ever cast was a vote against uh Trump, which was public about blah blah blah blah. 54:40 54 minutes, 40 seconds Trump 2.0, that's different. Um and so like and I don't even think I voted this time 54:48 54 minutes, 48 seconds around. Um I just people are like, "But wait." And I've like had dates here in 54:55 54 minutes, 55 seconds DC where like the girl walked out cuz she's like, "You don't vote. I want that." Like literally that's happened. I 55:02 55 minutes, 2 seconds picked a couple times, but like the big argument is like, "Oh, but you're losing your voice. This is 55:10 55 minutes, 10 seconds democracy." Guys, I got a pretty big voice in a pretty big [ __ ] platform. And like, 55:17 55 minutes, 17 seconds if anything, I have an outsized role uh in all this. And so that's where 55:24 55 minutes, 24 seconds again like I think of my job as a political reporter is to get lawmakers on both sides to [ __ ] up and tell me 55:32 55 minutes, 32 seconds what they're actually thinking. Like I'm so curious about like what's actually going on and like my passion whether 55:41 55 minutes, 41 seconds right, left or center is to inform the public and so like that you guys are empowered and like people read my 55:49 55 minutes, 49 seconds stories and even like ask a poll and actually like what after Trump won in 55:55 55 minutes, 55 seconds 2016 what did I do? I got my own bureau uh the llo congressional bureau. What did I do? I took my name out of it. 56:05 56 minutes, 5 seconds We're now we're now the LCB, right? 56:07 56 minutes, 7 seconds Because I'm like, like, what did CNN do after they lost 25% of their viewership after the 2022 midterms? You know what CNN did? They changed nothing. 56:20 56 minutes, 20 seconds I'm like, the arrogance. And so like these days, and this is what I'm trying to do with Ask a Pole, like my job as a 56:30 56 minutes, 30 seconds reporter is really to shut the [ __ ] up and listen. And to me, that's not just listening to lawmakers left, right, and 56:39 56 minutes, 39 seconds center. That's listening to the American people, especially those 90 million who saw their options and said, "Nope. 56:48 56 minutes, 48 seconds Neither of these parties means anything to my daily life." And so that's where 56:56 56 minutes, 56 seconds I'm curious as huck, right? See, I got a nuts where every once in a while uh like I'm curious 57:05 57 minutes, 5 seconds about these issues and like the more I get into it, the more derelict of duty I see lawmakers as. So like I'm passionate 57:14 57 minutes, 14 seconds about holding up a mirror to like their Yeah. utter dereliction of duty. Um 57:23 57 minutes, 23 seconds I and I know like so many folks who follow us and like this kind of the beautiful thing about the Ask a Pole uh 57:30 57 minutes, 30 seconds UAP community like in our subscriber chat there's a ton of skeptics and you 57:37 57 minutes, 37 seconds know and there's a ton of true believers and then there's a handful of people just in the middle just like watching and trying to learn and so like 57:46 57 minutes, 46 seconds I love all those perspectives cuz what's the government good doing confusing the 57:53 57 minutes, 53 seconds [ __ ] out of all of us. And so like the more I get into it, the more I just 58:00 58 minutes see, yeah, my takeways from covering this issue now for like twoish years is that the media sucks. Like we're fired. 58:11 58 minutes, 11 seconds like the Air Force shot down three objects in three different spots and we don't even 58:19 58 minutes, 19 seconds know what they were. Like come on, New York Times, Splash Post, AP. Like you 58:26 58 minutes, 26 seconds guys have huge units. Like if that was just cellophane or if that was just like 58:32 58 minutes, 32 seconds another balloon. Come on, show us that so I can stop doing these damn interviews on Friday nights. Yeah, you 58:41 58 minutes, 41 seconds know, like but no, like they have so much disrespect for the entire Northeast 58:48 58 minutes, 48 seconds when the entire Northeast is freaking out about all these sightings and then like progressive Democrats like I'm 58:55 58 minutes, 55 seconds thinking um Palone who is the chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee, New Jersey Democrat, 59:03 59 minutes, 3 seconds you know what he's the first time he's ever agreed 100% with Trump was when Trump and his administration like first 59:13 59 minutes, 13 seconds week and a half or whatever they just dismissively are like the drone issue everything approved by the FAA 59:21 59 minutes, 21 seconds Palone raging progressive who hates all things Trump he's like yeah that answers it and I'm like wait 59:29 59 minutes, 29 seconds sir you need to go talk to your senators Booker and Andy Kim because they were actually no and he was on the call with 59:37 59 minutes, 37 seconds Mayorus He just got no answers from that call, right? So once an answer, illogical and 59:45 59 minutes, 45 seconds idiotic as it was, cuz Paloon, if you think about that, then that means Secretary Mayorcus lied to your face, 59:55 59 minutes, 55 seconds which means you should get a on that uh impeachment train that Republicans were pushing. Like if a secretary lied to 1:00:04 1 hour, 4 seconds your face, whether you're a progressive Democrat or a far right-winger, that person needs to go cuz you cannot lie to 1:00:12 1 hour, 12 seconds Congress. And so that's where Palone like twists himself into this idiotic 1:00:20 1 hour, 20 seconds unrepresentative like his entire brand is different from how he treats this issue, you know? 1:00:28 1 hour, 28 seconds And so there's just a laziness and I kind of rack it up to just like an utter 1:00:36 1 hour, 36 seconds lack of curiosity and like even curiosity at like what the administration's telling them, you know, 1:00:43 1 hour, 43 seconds competing administrations like so it might be a fear of the issue, but I'm like guys 70% of the American public is 1:00:53 1 hour, 53 seconds like over this issue, you know? I did the polls kind of show that they're like, "Yeah, of course there's stuff up there. 1:01:02 1 hour, 1 minute, 2 seconds Of course there's like humans aren't the only Earth is the only uh spot with living species in the universe." I'm like, if 1:01:11 1 hour, 1 minute, 11 seconds you look at the James Web Space Telescope, like if you think like my parents do, you know, 6,000 year creationists, God bless them. 1:01:22 1 hour, 1 minute, 22 seconds If you think the only intelligent life, right, came from me's arc. Uh, my dad's got a lot of fossils to back up his 1:01:31 1 hour, 1 minute, 31 seconds theory, like really dope dinosaur eggs and skulls and [ __ ] that he uses to prove creationism. But I'm like, we can all become so blinded. 1:01:44 1 hour, 1 minute, 44 seconds Go look at the James Webb Space Telescope and like any any little like conception we had of our universe a year 1:01:53 1 hour, 1 minute, 53 seconds or two ago James Space Telescope just obliterated and like it's humbling as it really is. 1:02:04 1 hour, 2 minutes, 4 seconds It really is. To say there was only life out there is just statistically even really I mean there has to be more out there. So, what do you think the UAP 1:02:13 1 hour, 2 minutes, 13 seconds phenomena is? Do you think it's extraterrestrial or do you think it's our own craft or foreign adversaries? 1:02:21 1 hour, 2 minutes, 21 seconds See, I like again my thoughts don't matter, but I'm pretty sure with this 1:02:29 1 hour, 2 minutes, 29 seconds Congress, they're investigating numerous different theories. And so 1:02:37 1 hour, 2 minutes, 37 seconds it's interesting to me like when I'm interviewing someone like Mark Warner 1:02:42 1 hour, 2 minutes, 42 seconds who I respect uh and who half the times he'll just flash me with his eyes and 1:02:50 1 hour, 2 minutes, 50 seconds this is why I'm pissed that there's restrictions on um recording video like throughout the capital. You could do it 1:02:58 1 hour, 2 minutes, 58 seconds in some spots and then outside you can do it, but you know, former Vice News Tonight correspondent like I just see a 1:03:06 1 hour, 3 minutes, 6 seconds drastic change. Like when a producer, a director, and five lights and three cameras come in, I 1:03:15 1 hour, 3 minutes, 15 seconds get a different Mark Warner than I do when it's like just me and him. And so sometimes 1:03:23 1 hour, 3 minutes, 23 seconds him and even like Hinrich like they'll just flash me their eyes and they'll they're just telling me like no and like 1:03:31 1 hour, 3 minutes, 31 seconds especially one he's just like no what you're asking me like that's [ __ ] and I can't say it 1:03:40 1 hour, 3 minutes, 40 seconds because I go to jail if I say it out loud and so like half of what I do is try to navigate that space and like But 1:03:49 1 hour, 3 minutes, 49 seconds someone like AOC AOC like what one of those photogenic you know like uh social media blah blah 1:03:58 1 hour, 3 minutes, 58 seconds blah members of Congress when she comes out of a skiff she's got a brilliant 1:04:04 1 hour, 4 minutes, 4 seconds hard fast rule. No talking cuz literally every time they're in one of these classified skiffs they 1:04:13 1 hour, 4 minutes, 13 seconds sign away their life. If I disclose this information you can toss me in jail. 1:04:18 1 hour, 4 minutes, 18 seconds like not even a question. This is classified information. And like that's also why we get complaints from someone 1:04:25 1 hour, 4 minutes, 25 seconds like Burchette and others being like I can read a story in the New York Times in the morning then go into a skip and 1:04:33 1 hour, 4 minutes, 33 seconds get a briefing on it and then I can no longer talk about the New York Times story because I got the briefing in the 1:04:40 1 hour, 4 minutes, 40 seconds skiff and I signed away my life. And so like what I do is I wait like a week or two. I'll still like walk where AOC and 1:04:48 1 hour, 4 minutes, 48 seconds others down the hall uh trying to get as much as I can out of them when they're leaving the skip. But what I always do 1:04:56 1 hour, 4 minutes, 56 seconds is I circle back in a week, two weeks and ask them questions based off the information I 1:05:04 1 hour, 5 minutes, 4 seconds got from others, but I don't ask about it in the context of the skiff and I just ask it like right y'all listen to ask interviews. 1:05:18 1 hour, 5 minutes, 18 seconds That's when the classified information comes out. It comes out of my mouth casually, casually, calmly, and I'm just 1:05:25 1 hour, 5 minutes, 25 seconds like, "Hey, Senator Rounds, like, have you uh ever seen this like predictive 1:05:33 1 hour, 5 minutes, 33 seconds generative AI that the US government has like Matthew Brown's talking about?" Like that's our latest uh on the um 1:05:42 1 hour, 5 minutes, 42 seconds wait, what was it? Um it's a fun one. Um, oh, nonhuman 1:05:51 1 hour, 5 minutes, 51 seconds intelligence. Oh. Uhhuh. Yes. But so that's our latest at Ask a Poll right now. And it that's why like I'm slowly 1:06:00 1 hour, 6 minutes playing like five-dimensional chess with these lawmakers cuz like they know so much more than they're legally able to 1:06:07 1 hour, 6 minutes, 7 seconds tell me. But like this is the power of Ask aole. Everyone like praises your my 1:06:14 1 hour, 6 minutes, 14 seconds questions like oh blah blah blah. I come ac across as brilliant because of our subscribers and like you all send me 1:06:23 1 hour, 6 minutes, 23 seconds awesome questions and you keep the pressure up and like there's a power to ask a poll in like our collective memory 1:06:31 1 hour, 6 minutes, 31 seconds and I think that's what's utterly lacking in the media like so like I have 1:06:37 1 hour, 6 minutes, 37 seconds no idea what if anything I'll uncover. I just know Congress is gonna stop looking 1:06:45 1 hour, 6 minutes, 45 seconds if we stop asking. Right. And so I've got a million questions. 1:06:51 1 hour, 6 minutes, 51 seconds Um and they've got fiveish pat answers 1:07:00 1 hour, 7 minutes for now. We're working on them. Man, dude, I I I really appreciate what you do. like what you do is so good for the 1:07:08 1 hour, 7 minutes, 8 seconds it's good for the UAP community so much because no one's going to ask these questions. Uh and you have that you you 1:07:16 1 hour, 7 minutes, 16 seconds use your platform to be able to speak for people and ask these questions. So I appreciate what you do. Um, so I do it 1:07:24 1 hour, 7 minutes, 24 seconds like there's this selfishness in the beauty of basketball asapole which is like I'm the media like I'm the enemy 1:07:33 1 hour, 7 minutes, 33 seconds like blah blah blah like yeah after 19 years I've been covering Congress longer than like 70 80% of lawmakers have 1:07:42 1 hour, 7 minutes, 42 seconds actually been in Washington. But um I am written off a lot when I come to 1:07:49 1 hour, 7 minutes, 49 seconds lawmakers with your questions and I say like to Luna if I'm like hey one of your conituents from Florida has this 1:07:57 1 hour, 7 minutes, 57 seconds question like I cease to exist and they're literally talking to a voter and like there's just a beauty in that where 1:08:06 1 hour, 8 minutes, 6 seconds as cynical as I am about how [ __ ] up this like non-democracy republic is like 1:08:13 1 hour, 8 minutes, 13 seconds there's power with you all and Congress feels it. Um, yeah, that should make all 1:08:21 1 hour, 8 minutes, 21 seconds y'all happy on one level or another. It does, man. You're doing awesome work. 1:08:26 1 hour, 8 minutes, 26 seconds You're really, really doing awesome work. Um, before we wrap this up, I just wanted to Well, I was going to say you're you're doing awesome work, too, 1:08:33 1 hour, 8 minutes, 33 seconds because you unlike most hosts. I like how you've asked three, four different ways like very smoothly trying to get my like actual opinion and I'm I'm sorry. 1:08:43 1 hour, 8 minutes, 43 seconds I'm just like maybe but you're you're a master. All right. So, let's just This is We'll move on to the next thing. 1:08:53 1 hour, 8 minutes, 53 seconds Yeah, man. No, I I definitely appreciate that. Um, where 1:09:00 1 hour, 9 minutes can tell us where uh all you know, everyone watching who watches in the replay, where can they find you? 1:09:07 1 hour, 9 minutes, 7 seconds Askapole UAPs um for Askapole like we have crypto asapole drugs blah blah blah but if 1:09:16 1 hour, 9 minutes, 16 seconds you're listening to me here you probably uh are into the Askapole UAPs. So I 1:09:22 1 hour, 9 minutes, 22 seconds guess we're now one of my former um master students uh is now doing videos 1:09:30 1 hour, 9 minutes, 30 seconds for us. So, I guess as a pulls down on Tik Tok, Reels, and YouTube. Um, but my main hangout is still X for better and 1:09:39 1 hour, 9 minutes, 39 seconds for worse, but like we're also on Blue Sky if you want to do a JD Vance and like go dabble in that. Uh, but no, like 1:09:48 1 hour, 9 minutes, 48 seconds we're Substack based, so all those sites live at uh Substack. Just ask a poll, like ask a politician. 1:09:58 1 hour, 9 minutes, 58 seconds So, now My real nice begin. 1:10:04 1 hour, 10 minutes, 4 seconds This is my This is my niece. She's a uh Vice News puppy. Mayhem. A my baby. Oh, 1:10:12 1 hour, 10 minutes, 12 seconds the dog's name is Mayhem. That's awesome. Mayhem. Oh, yeah. And it's Yeah. You guys want to go out? Want to 1:10:21 1 hour, 10 minutes, 21 seconds go party? That's awesome. Now my Friday night's really going to begin. Yeah. 1:10:27 1 hour, 10 minutes, 27 seconds Yeah. Here you go. Yeah. Hi baby. 1:10:32 1 hour, 10 minutes, 32 seconds A that's awesome. This is the only way to survive in DC puppies cuz Okay, man. 1:10:39 1 hour, 10 minutes, 39 seconds politicians. Hey, so are you are you going when is the next hearing? Do you know? I know last time I heard it was like going to be in July. I heard. So 1:10:48 1 hour, 10 minutes, 48 seconds what Luna told us last is that and this is interesting. So we don't have last year baby. We don't have dates 1:10:57 1 hour, 10 minutes, 57 seconds yet on the uh skip briefings, but if you remember and I kind of forgot about this, there was like a skiff briefing or 1:11:05 1 hour, 11 minutes, 5 seconds or there was that main skip briefing that was cancelled in May was like Alzando like a handful of them got sick 1:11:13 1 hour, 11 minutes, 13 seconds sick like it happened right after that uh fake or whatever the dupe was out there. 1:11:20 1 hour, 11 minutes, 20 seconds So like it makes better sense to like political comms llo for them to like all 1:11:27 1 hour, 11 minutes, 27 seconds get sick. And I'm like y'all should get better at coordinating that. Like don't get sick all at once. Like think of a 1:11:34 1 hour, 11 minutes, 34 seconds better freaking excuse. Um, so I think we're still going to have one maybe two 1:11:41 1 hour, 11 minutes, 41 seconds classified skit briefings. We're like us at Asapole. We'll be out in the uh me and my three summer interns. We'll be 1:11:49 1 hour, 11 minutes, 49 seconds out in the uh marble halls sticking it out when they leave. But what Luna said 1:11:57 1 hour, 11 minutes, 57 seconds is that between July 4th, cuz Congress, just like the House got this week off for Junth, they give themselves the 1:12:05 1 hour, 12 minutes, 5 seconds entire week off for uh July 4th and then they take the traditional congressional 1:12:13 1 hour, 12 minutes, 13 seconds recess, the summer recess in August off cuz like Washington was technically never a 1:12:20 1 hour, 12 minutes, 20 seconds swamp. It gets really sticky and nasty here in August. So, Congress historically takes that whole month off 1:12:28 1 hour, 12 minutes, 28 seconds and so it seems like Luna wants in between July 4th and August to have that public hearing. Stay tuned to ask UAPs 1:12:38 1 hour, 12 minutes, 38 seconds for latest. Like we'll break that once we uh know it. Um, unless Joe Ko at News 1:12:47 1 hour, 12 minutes, 47 seconds Nation beats us, but he rarely does. 1:12:55 1 hour, 12 minutes, 55 seconds That's awesome. So, they have the hearing. Did you go to the last one? 1:13:01 1 hour, 13 minutes, 1 second Yeah. Yeah. Okay, cool. So, you'll go to the next one, I'm assuming. Hopefully, I'll be there again. What I 1:13:09 1 hour, 13 minutes, 9 seconds what I always do is I listen to it on uh C-SPAN radio in my uh earbuds and I'm out in the hall. So then after lawmakers 1:13:18 1 hour, 13 minutes, 18 seconds ask their questions, I'm the first one to get them when they come out. That's awesome. Method to my madness. Smart. 1:13:26 1 hour, 13 minutes, 26 seconds Smart. That's smart move. I was at the last hearing and you know the lines like massive and somehow I got lucky enough to get the very last seat in the room. 1:13:36 1 hour, 13 minutes, 36 seconds So I was awesome very uh you know lucky and grateful that I got that. So I'm hoping to go to the next one. I don't know if I'll get so lucky next time but 1:13:45 1 hour, 13 minutes, 45 seconds make sure and say what's up. Um sure definitely will definitely will. All right Matt uh thank you for joining me 1:13:54 1 hour, 13 minutes, 54 seconds today. Really appreciate it. I will put your contact information to your ex in the description. So, anybody who watches the playback will be able to find you 1:14:03 1 hour, 14 minutes, 3 seconds easily. And I do highly recommend that you do check out Matt's page because like I said, all my UAP news in regard 1:14:10 1 hour, 14 minutes, 10 seconds to Congress comes from him. So, greatly appreciate what you're doing, Matt. 1:14:16 1 hour, 14 minutes, 16 seconds Thank you for joining me today. Come from me and Mayhem. Mayhem. Yes. Thank you, Mayhem. 1:14:22 1 hour, 14 minutes, 22 seconds All right, Matt. the face, dude.