Major Garrett says the Air Force One switcheroo story proves our government still believes Iran poses a threat

How We Made Your Mother is a rewatch podcast that looks back episode by episode at the hit TV show, How I Met Your Mother. It's hosted by me, Josh Radner, along with series co-creator and my friend Craig Thomas. Follow How We Made Your Mother wherever you get your podcasts. That's from the finale, correct? Yes, it is. Yeah. And they play this, and it played for a long run, and it's just clip after clip after clip from both shows. When Letterman said goodbye with that be 2014, maybe. Because we had a lengthy Stephen Colbert run. Wasn't Stephen Colbert about 10 years? And Stephen Colbert, I think. appeared maybe like in the fall, Dave left in like the spring, summer? May 20th, 2015. Okay. It was the last late show with Dave. Got it. What is the major updates, sir? You just told me he was going to be on a plane. Well, he told me yesterday he had a flight. He didn't think it would be a problem, but normally he would let me know if things were running late. He hasn't, but he's also not picking up his phone. Why don't you call? Let's call him live on the air. Let's just call live on the air. I mean, if he works blue, He works blue. You know, we've been having these phone issues that you're aware of was this clicking. So we tried him on another way, the Google Voice. And I think he did pick up. So I think it's possible. This is Major Garrett's phone ringing. Or is it possible he's come to his senses. And he's tired of us. Hello. Major Garrett, this is Chad Hartman. We're live on WCC Radio. Can we put you on the air? You sure can. Sorry. Yes. Yeah. How are you? Good. We literally live on the radio, too. I'm not kidding you. That's fine. That's fine. I just got it from New York. Nice. Are your arms tired? Very. What's the last time you said? I just flew it from New York. Are your arms tired. Doctor, doctor, it hurts what I do it. Don't do it. What other old, simple jokes can we talk to Majorvon? Oh, my God. For 20 straight minutes. How long is that flight, by the way? It's about 40 minutes. 40 minutes. Yeah. But typically when there's a lot of traffic into LaGuardia or from LaGuardia out, DCA, there's usually... A ground stop of 10 to 15, 20 minutes there was this morning. There was last night when I flew up so I could do the morning show this morning and get back here to do the takeout tonight. But I still prefer flying to the train. The train is what? Maybe double? Three and a half hours. Well, it's Metroliner. It's three and a half hours. If it's a cell, it's three. Yeah. Let's guess, Dave. Major Garrett, is he a window? or aisle person, window or aisle person? What is your guest, Dave? Most definitely on a short flight, aisle. He's 100% on. I think he's an aisle guy the entire time. Are we correct? Chad, you are correct. Thank you. Now, why are you an aisle person? So I can get up and get out more rapidly. Yeah. Are you a guy who likes to get, do you like to get up?

and kind of feign like you're going to the bathroom, but you really walk, just get a little blood flow. No. No? No. Okay. It's just bathroom and right back. Yeah, exactly. Are you claustrophobic in any way? No, I am not. My ex-wife was, and I very much sympathize with people who suffer from that, but I'm not. I am a little bit myself. The bathrooms on... airplanes good luck i mean if you're six three two twenty i think they need to give you a catheter i don't know how you get in and out of the bathroom right Yes, yes. Okay. Are you... They're a little on the snug side, no doubt. Yes. Are you a first class guy? Do you care if you're first class, you're business class? Okay, like Dave's nodding. He's saying major is absolutely... He's told us so. Yeah, I have. I have. It's part of the contract, right? I've reached that stage of my career. I've worked long and hard. I have two indulgences in my life, just two. Yep. I have it in my contract that if it's available, I fly first class, and now I've become accustomed to it, and I pay for it myself when I fly personally. My other indulgence is I take Uber Black. Those are my two indulgences in life. That's it. That's really are. Come on. That's it. Everything else is all all over a rack. Everything else is all very normal. Nothing that would be considered indulgent or extravagant. Those are the two extravagances of my life. A little nicer food? You mean that I buy for myself? Yeah, I mean, like if you go out to dinner or you're going to the grocery store and you get a little nicer steak. I divide my shopping between Safeway and Whole Foods. So, yes, like whole foods, I get the nicer organic vegetables, but a lot of times I'm at Safeway. Yeah. And I'm not a big, especially because my wife lives on the West Coast now. Yep. I'm not a, I cook for myself, so it's pretty ordinary. Yeah. What did you cook last night? Well, I was in New York last night, so I had Kava at the airport. But typically what I will do is I will, on the weekends... get skirt steak and marinate it and cook up several slabs of that, cut it up and have a salad every night for dinner. And yes, if you're asking me, can I eat the same thing five nights in a row? The answer is 100% yes. Really? Now, Dave, I would not have guessed that. I would have guessed a little more diverse. Aren't you sick of that steak salad by now? Nope. No. Now I will sometimes alternate things and make something that's very Midwestern. Big casserole. Casserol lasts me a week. I can do that. Always a salad, but yes, I can eat the same entree for five straight nights. Easy.

651-461-9-2-26. Does this disappoint you to hear this from Major Garrett? Are you done with the segment now because he will have the same food item for a year straight? I mean, I like Dave, I like a steak salad also, but it's like, delicious. I mean, hey, what am I going to do for dinner? I know steak salad. I mean, it is. convenient it's predictable i can cook for myself on a sunday afternoon or a saturday afternoon and i'm done for the week and simplicity counts for a lot in my life right now it does during the obligations i have in and around my job simplicity does count for a lot is anything going on with the robert hanson project yes can you share no oh But let us just say outside inquiries of a development nature have been made. Oh, this is Major's phenomenal podcast. Was that maybe three years ago? Yeah, about three years ago. Okay. There's a two-year project, a total passion project, which I want to remind everyone, because I thank you for saying it's very good. I'm very proud of it, but I think some of the best work I've ever done. I was ordered three times not to do it. Really? Yep. Who were the people telling you don't do it? My bosses, because they thought it was a waste of time and a side hustle and, again, as the takeout was originally regarded, just a sandbox I was creating for myself, for my own amusement. So let's just say lots of people who made those decisions and made those calls no longer work at the company, but I still do. And I think that just goes to a constant in a successful life. If you believe in something yourself, even if people who are in charge of ordering your life through management tell you not to do it if you believe in and ignore them. If people want to know why Major and I get along as well as we do, his summation of that last answer, Dave Harrigan, I could say the same thing verbatim and have said that many times. Okay, company, man, you've never fought against management in your life. That's exactly right. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. I'll do whatever you say, sir. Yeah, that's me. There's no. Whatever you say, boss, 17 hours. I'm here. Doc my pay. All right, let's get to some political items with Major when we come back. On News Talk, 8.3. Oh, WCC. Hey, you want me to talk a little Pellow windows? Yeah, I do. So do that right now, Chad. Okay. Thank you, boss. Yes, sir. I will do that right now. Pella windows and doors. Come on. Look out right now that sun's popping in and out. The weather is... nice it's not oppressively hot it's not raining we're going to have a great weekend but at your house are you really up to speed do you know the age of your windows you know if they're working well do you know if you can have somebody come out yeah you can and i've got the company just the best in the business over 100 years of great success not just tepid not just hanging around leading the field on a regular basis

And you go to them online, Pellet, Northland.com, right? Go there and find out where that showroom is. I'll tell you right now, but I can tell you more specifically, when you go to Pellon, northland.com, you got one in Bloomington? Nope. You don't have one in Minneapolis? Nope, you don't. I'm going to tell you specifically where there. Brooklyn Park, Woodbury, and Plymouth. How about have them come out because they'll come up for absolutely free, have them look at your windows, look at your doors, maybe tweak, maybe change one, or maybe a dramatic redo like they did at my previous house with the kitchen and improved it greatly and helped me on the resale. Right now in the month of August, what a deal. 20% off your entire project or 0% APR for 72 months. Pendlandnorthland.com. Have you ever felt like you are living just a B or B plus life? It's so dangerous to live that more dangerous than a B minus or a C plus life because when you're living a B or B plus life, you don't change it. You think it's good enough. Is it? I'm Susie Welch. I host a podcast called Becoming You. People think, okay, an A plus life is not available to me, but there is a way. We are all in the process of becoming ourselves. Listen to becoming you wherever you get your podcasts. We've certainly talked about it multiple times, but I'm looking forward to our conversation with Major on this one. This is the political topic, excellent reporting by the Washington Post. The president, not on Air Force One. Remember, he traveled over to the summit on the brand new Qatari. $400 million gift that, let's be honest, he's going to keep it, he's going to use it. When he leaves the presidency, we all know this is going to happen. But then considering, oh, by the way, we're at war, what we were told is the president needs to switch over, and the president tried to tell us they were just showing off the Qatari jet to the troops. Okay, no one bought that. Let it turns out when he's on Air Force One, They snuck him out along with some people very close to him. Yes, the Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, but no, not the Secretary of State. Marco Rubio, not the Secretary of Treasury. uh, besent. And there's been a lot of conversation about this major on, okay, did Bill Clinton do something pretty identical? Uh, did Donald Trump just follow the intelligence? Is it okay to use the other folks who are on the plane as a decoy? You've flown on Air Force one a number of times. You know the gravity. You know secret services. Number one responsibility is to protect the president. What's your assessment of that story from this week? So look, the American public wants and expects the Secret Service to protect the president. That's not what this story is about. This story is about something the president and the Defense Department say over and over again, that Iran basically has no capabilities outside of its limited capacity to harass vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. Well, that's not true. If the president has to take such evasive maneuvers,

And so secretively, and so through such an elaborate misdirection, go from not just one plane to a second plane, and not notify members of his own cabinet, the Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, among them, plus the White House aides who traveled on the other older Air Force One and the press corps and all the other military personnel that's also aboard that aircraft, then they still have capabilities that are serious enough for the president to take such elaborate. spy novel worthy evasive action. Point one. Point two. Had the Washington Post not been so aggressive in its reporting on this, Chad, this White House would never have disclosed that. No, they pushed back and lied right away about it. In every circumstance. Not only that, when the New York Times did the original reporting about why that cover story, that ridiculous cover story about showing the new Qatari gifted jet to the troops in Mendenhall Air Force Base in England was fallacious because it did not have the countermeasures necessary to fully protect the president in a potentially hostile place like Ankara, Turkey. What did the White House and the Justice Department attempt to do? Subpoena the New York Times reporters. So they were in full battle stations to protect this story. The public would never have learned. People who were jeopardized unwittingly would never have learned. Scott Bessent would never have learned. The Secretary of State Marco Rubio was clued in on it, okay? But lots of people were not. But he stayed on the other planet. He did. He did. He did. And that may tell you something about how he personally, and maybe in the intelligence community writ large, internalized. how serious a threat there was. We understand why the Secret Service would default to maximum protection, maximum evasive. We're not taking any chances. I understand that. And no one, again, is criticizing those decisions or the President's willingness to go along. That's not, again, what this is about. What's about is Iran clearly retains capabilities that are dangerous throughout the region, which they are demonstrating not only in this instance, but plenty of other instances. through terrorist proxies in Lebanon and Yemen to name just two. And that the public would never have been the wiser. And let's just imagine a scenario, Chad, in which there is a shoulder-fired missile. launched at the old Air Force One in which everyone thinks the president is traveling. Yeah, right. And countermeasures are taken and it's repelled, but it's still a shoulder-fired missile launched at the Air Force One on which everyone reasonably believes the president is traveling. What is this scenario that would take over the psychology of this country? It would be enormous and justifiably so. Right. And I understand the evasive maneuvers. You mentioned Clinton a minute. I'll get there in five seconds. But just imagine that scenario if the worst had happened. And we didn't know the actual truth about where the president was or wasn't. Back to Bill Clinton. 2000. Pakistan. This is kind of an interesting reference point considering we're moving.

Very close to the 25th anniversary of 9-11. They were nervous about Osama bin Laden. So he was put in a secondary plane, a decoy plane, the non-dequy plane, rather. But when he landed at his destination, he got out and was visible to the press corps, not only that, the president of the White House Correspondents Association on behalf of everyone covering the White House, Susan Page at the time, was briefed off the record that this was going to happen. And then once he landed safely and the crisis was averted, whatever magnitude it was, the press was able to report on the story through the good offices of the president of the White House Correspondents Association. Very different. Very different circumstances. And one that is not riddled not only with contempt of the free press, but did not have any... subpoenas waved around about reporters who were doing their job, which is to report on the actual location of the president of the United States, not the fictitious one. Where were you on September 11, 2001? I was in Sarasota, Florida, covering the president of the United States, George W. Bush. Wow. We've never talked about that, have we? I don't think we have. Okay, so take me through that day.

I mean, to say for anyone who's close to that story at any level, New York, Shanksville, Pentagon, it's just a day that never leaves you at any level. It just never leaves you. Does it hover over your thoughts constantly? No, but it never, ever, ever leaves you. And I'll just say this. That day on the White House schedule, as we all understood it, it was the second of two days of education in Florida. It was to be a light day. One event. Flight back to DC, the president had no other public events. So for those of us traveling, it appeared on the agenda for the day comparatively light, comparatively light. And that's what we were expecting. And that's certainly what the president was expecting. And I remember being in the adjacent classroom. So I was not part of the pool that day in the classroom with President Bush and Andy Card and all the students. I was in the adjacent classroom. The moment that we all remember of Andy Card coming in and whispering in there. For CBS Sunday morning, I have a piece coming out the Sunday before 9-11 because I went back to the elementary school with Andy Card. He and I have not been there in 25 years. Wow. It's good timing for us to have this conversation. Yes, yes. That piece will be on, I believe it's September 6th, whatever the Sunday is, I forget the date before 9-11. I think it's September 6th. And we've shot that piece. Andy and I had a long, long conversation. But all of us were not only completely disbelieving about what was playing out with. jet one into the first tower, but we watched, as many Americans did, on live television jet two, and there was a room of about 30 trained journalists watching this live, and none of us believed what we saw, none of us. We all looked at each other and said, that didn't just happen, did it? You didn't just, what did we just see? No, we saw it. We still could not believe it. Here's the other thing I will say about it. Since the advent of the atomic age, the nuclear age, end of World War II. the enormous construction of an intelligence apparatus around any president of the United States, Republican or Democrat. Very high pyramid of information upon which the president sits every single day. The president can ask a question. I can get an answer in seconds because of this elaborate, mechanized, internalized, bureaucratized intelligence system. Huge pyramid of information on top of which the president sits, except mid-morning 9-11 because that whole pyramid collapsed. And the president and those senior advisors who we were traveling with, who we kept going up to and looking at their blank faces and saying, what is going on? What is this? What are you doing? They did not have a game plan or a set of answers, and I didn't expect them to. But we are trained as reporters who cover the White House to inquire of those closest to the president about what comes next. And that pyramid of information basically collapsed. And for a couple of hours, the President of the United States knew as much as you knew, as much as I knew, as much as anyone sitting in their living room knew, which wasn't much at all. While flying around the country, uncertain. When he took off from Sarasota, Florida, we were told.

Absolutely positively, he's going straight back to Washington. Yep. They weren't in the air for a few minutes before they made another decision to go to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. That's right. And then... They didn't go back to D.C. that, even though that was the intention. Yep. They went off at Air Force Base in Nebraska, strategic air command. Yep. I got to jump in, sir. The powerful stuff. We'll talk about it more when we get closer. Great as always. At least mix up the dressing, okay? Could you? I mean, just a different. I do do that. I'm with you on that, chat. I mix up the dress. All right, man. Have a great weekend. He's the best. Major. Garrett, and we can only imagine what's going to happen when it's 25 years after 9-11 in just weeks. Hi, I'm PJ Vote, and I want to tell you about my podcast search engine. We try to make sense of the world, one question at a time. No question too big, no question too small. We will even answer your questions if you send them in. Stuff like, what happens when a cemetery goes out of business? What should we do about teens using AI to do their homework? Who buys luggage at the airport luggage store? Follow and listen to Search Engine, in partnership with Odyssey, wherever you get your podcasts.