>> Stephen: HEY!
WELCOME BACK TO A "LATE SHOW," EVERYBODY.
MY NEXT GUEST HAS SPENT HIS CAREER IN NATIONAL SECURITY AND
SERVED AS THE DIRECTOR OF THE C.I.A. FROM 2013-2017.
HE HAS JUST WRITTEN A NEW MEMOIR: "UNDAUNTED: MY FIGHT
AGAINST AMERICA'S ENEMIES, AT HOME AND ABROAD."
PLEASE WELCOME TO "A LATE SHOW," DIRECTOR JOHN BRENNAN.
DIRECTOR, THANKS FOR BEING HERE.
>> THANKS TO THE INVITATION.
LOOKING FORWARD TO THE DISCUSSION.
>> Stephen: AS AM I.
I WANT TO ASK YOU ABOUT SOMETHING THAT WAS REVEALED
TODAY.
YOU SPENT YOUR CAREER TRYING TO HELP MAKE THIS COUNTRY AND ITS
CITIZENS SAFE.
TODAY 13 MEN WERE CHARGED WITH PLANNING TO KIDNAP MICHIGAN
GOVERNOR GRETCHEN WHITMER AND PUT HER ON TRIAL FOR TREASON AND
ATTACK THE STATE CAPITOL TO OVERTHROW THE MICHIGAN
GOVERNMENT.
HOW DO YOU ACCOUNT FOR THE EMERGENCE OF ANTI-GOVERNMENT
MILITIA?
WHEN YOU WERE THE C.I.A.
DIRECTOR, DID YOU HAVE ANY SENSE FROM THE INTELLIGENCE YOU SAW
THAT THIS WAS A GROWING PROBLEM IN THE UNITED STATES?
>> WELL, ABSOLUTELY.
EVEN THOUGH IT WASN'T THE AREA OF C.I.A. FOLKS, -- FOCUS, I KNO
THE F.B.I. WAS CONCERNED ABOUT THE WHITE SUPREMACIST GROUPS,
THE ONE WHO TRY TO BLAME FOREIGN INFLUENCES AS WELL AS GOVERNMENT
OVERSIGHT FOR THEIR PROBLEMS.
THEY ARE HYPER NATIVISTS THAT ARE REACT TO WHAT THEY PERCEIVE
AS GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION IN THEIR LIVES ANDETH QUITE
DISTURBING AND I THINK THE F.B.I. HAS THEIR HANDS FULL IN
TERMS OF DEALING WITH THEM.
>> Stephen: THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES WILL SOMETIMES
RE-TWEET THESE NATIVIST ORGANIZATIONS OR PRAISE THEM.
IS THAT ITSELF A THREAT TO OUR SECURITY IS THIS.
>> ABSOLUTELY.
WHAT A PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES SAYS MATTERS AND IT
RESONATES FAR AND WIDE, AND DONALD TRUMP'S FAILURE TO
DENOUNCE THESE GROUPS IN NO UNCERTAIN TERMS HAS JUST FUELED
THEIR RISE.
OF COURSE, YOU SEE SIMILARITIES BETWEEN WHAT'S HAPPENING HERE IN
THIS COUNTRY AND WHAT HAPPENED IN TERMS OF THE RISE OF NAZIISM
IN GERMANY IN WORLD WAR II, THE STRENGTHENING OF THE ARYAN
NATION AND TRYING TO AGAIN RID SOCIETY OF THESE INFLUENCES.
SO THESE ARE GROUPS THAT HAVE NO SENSE OF SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
OR NO SENSE OF ALLEGIANCE TO ANYBODY OTHER THAN THEMSELVES,
AND THE ONE WHO ARE ALIGNED WITH THEIR VIEWS, INCLUDING DONALD
TRUMP.
>> Stephen: WHAT WOULD YOU SAY - FAIRLY BROAD QUESTION -- BUT
WHAT WOULD YOU SAY ARE THE THREATS TO OUR NATIONAL SECURITY
ON THE NEAR TERM, MIDDLE TERM AND FAR TERM?
>> I THINK THE NEAR TERM IS NO QUESTION THAT THE NEXT 100 DAYS
IS VERY UNSETTLED PERIOD AND A FRAUGHT PERIOD FOR THE UNITED
STATES.
WHAT DONALD TRUMP MIGHT DO IN TRYING TO STEAL THE ELECTION AND
HOW HE EXERCISES THE POWERS OF THE PRESIDENCY BEFORE AND AFTER
THE ELECTION, WHEN HE'S A LAME DUCK.
I'M QUITE CONCERNED ABOUT WHAT HE MIGHT RESORT TO AND DO DURING
THAT PERIOD OF TIME.
>> Stephen: LIKE WHEN HE'S SAYING IN THE DEBATES, STAND
BACK AND STAND BY.
>> ABSOLUTELY.
AND HIS REFUSAL TO ACKNOWLEDGET THAT HE'S GOING TO ACCEPT THE
RESULTS OF THE ELECTION.
I THINK THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS TIME AND IT'S CLEAR THAT DONALD
TRUMP WILL RESORT TO ANY TACTIC.
I THINK HE HAS DEMONSTRATED TIME AND TIME AGAIN HE HAS NO RESPECT
FOR THE RULE OF LAW AND PRINCIPLES IN THIS COUNTRY AND
THE FACT THAT THE REPUBLICANS ARE BOWING TO HIS EVERY WHIM
MAKES ME VERY CONCERNED.
IN THE MEANTIME, JOE BIDEN WILL HAVE HIS HANDS FULL WHEN HE'S
TAKING OVER IN JANUARY IN TERMS OF ADDRESSING THE CHALLENGES WE
FACE, COVID, THE ECONOMIC DOWNTURN, SOCIAL JUSTICE, THE
TENSIONS IN THIS COUNTRY, THE POLARIZATION TAKEN PLACE UNDER
DONALD TRUMP.
SO I THINK 2021 WILL BE A CHALLENGE FOR JOE BIDEN ON THE
DOMESTIC AS WELL AS THE INTERNATIONAL FRONT.
HE'S GOING TO HAVE TO REPAIR ALLIANCES AND PARTNERSHIPS THAT
HELPED TO STRENGTHEN OUR NATIONAL SECURITY OVER THE LAST
75 YEARS.
HE'S ALSO GOING TO HAVE TO SEND AN UNMISTAKABLE SIGNAL TO
ADVERSARIES THAT TRUMP IS GONE SO VLADIMIR PUTIN AND KIM JONG
UN AND OTHERS REALLY HAVE TO TAKE NOTE THAT JOE BIDEN IS A
DIFFERENT PRESIDENT THAN DONALD TRUMP.
OVER THE LONGER TERM, CLIMATE CHANGE.
YOU KNOW, THE IMPACT ON OUR WEATHER AND HOW THAT'S GOING TO,
YOU KNOW, LEAD TO THE RISE OF THE OCEANS AND THE ENCROACHMENT
ON COASTAL COMMUNITIES AND MIGRATION FLOWS AND HOW URBAN
CENTERS WILL BE OVERWHELMED, THE CYBER REALM, DIGITAL DOMAIN,
GENETIC ENGINEERING.
THERE WERE SO MANY LONGER-TERM ISSUES THAT WHILE WE WERE SO
OBSESSED WITH THESE POLITICAL PROBLEMS AT HOME, WE'RE NOT
TAKING THE TIME AND WE'RE NOT DEDICATING THE EFFORT AND THE
RESOURCES TO ADDRESS WHAT I THINK IS GOING TO BE THE
CHALLENGES FOR THE NEXT GENERATIONS OF AMERICANS.
>> Stephen: BECAUSE WHILE WE'RE ALL FIGHTING EACH OTHER
HERE, WE'RE NOT BEING AWARE OF THE WAVE THAT'S COMING OVER THE
HORIZON OF THESE OTHER CHALLENGES.
>> YEAH, WE'RE IGNORING IT AND WE'RE NOT DOING WHAT'S NECESSARY
BECAUSE WE'RE NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO REVERSE CLIMATE CHANGE
OVERNIGHT.
THIS IS A CONCERTED EFFORT OVER THE LONG TERM THAT THE UNITED
STATES HAS TO BE THE LEADER WE ONCE WERE AND I THINK WE SOON BE
AFTER JOE BIDEN BECOMES PRESENT.
>> Stephen: BACK WITH MORE OF THE AUTHOR OF "UNDAUNTED,"
C.I.A. DIRECTOR JOHN BRENNAN.