they come from old nationstate adversaries who had seemingly learned from the change brought at the end of 20 century and who understand that the only way to defeat us is by using irregular or indirect means of attack. did the assassination of general soleimani fit into that theory? >> guest: it did absolutely because of who he was, his unofficial title. thank you, fred me on this incredible show, was the shadow commanded why? because he wasn't a major general in the regular army that was commanding divisions in a normal battle where you face off in the theater combat, everything is above board and you know what everybody is. this isn't a battle of the bulge. this isn't the first gulf war. this is an individual who used forces and six cutlass occluding and u.s. comeud in that recent attempt against the saudi ambassador to wage irregular warfare using means that the weaker power has developed against a far more powerful apps are like united states. america still longer a superpower as a french analyst waited not too long ago. we are a hyperpower. nobody can come close a to us im not convinced us to get with 12 nuclear aircraft carriers. we have more special forces and most countries actually have soldiers. how do you take on and nations powerful as as? you use indirect means, , proxi, terrorism, irregular warfare. soleimani was the commander of that kind of warfare for the largest state-sponsored terrorism today, the islamic republic of iran. >> host: you alt-right in why we fight the we're not interventionist but not isolationist.. >> guest: when it comes to this president, yes. as president trump's former strategist, as his advisor when he was candidate trump it was not hard decision for me to agree to work for you because i realize this is a man who is proud of this country, proud of being an american but has had enough of what he called stupid wars, these ideas you can call the neoconservative, neoliberal but america can go to the middle east and central asia, can create democracies at the end of the gun barrel. he doesn't wish to change other peoples regimes but when there is a threat as there was this weekend to our nation, to our citizens, he takes decisive action to i was talking to members of the administration the day after the attack, theni strike against soleimani and they said the presidentth receit quote exquisite intelligence although not only where he was but that is intent in coming weeks to execute attacks not only an iraq that syria and libya which would have resulted in the deaths of hundreds of use americans. when president trump received intelligence like that he doesn't talk about red lines. he takes o action and when the most famous man in the world is now dead. >> susan rice, the former national security adviser in the obama administration in the new york times writes, the escalade tour recycle began in may 2018 when president trump recklessly ignored the advice of his national security team and saw that has the opposition of his allies in unilaterally withdrawing from the iran nuclear deal despite iran's full adherence to its terms. >> full adherence? has susan rice become a comedian? that is beyond the pale. the escalation began in 1979 when americans were taken hostage for over a year in the radiant embassy. the escalation began when general soleimani and there's a report that general soleimani was the man responsible for the deaths of at least 603 american servicemen and women in iraq. if one of your viewers sees a veteran with missing limbs today. if you're traveling through an airport and you see somebody was on prosthetic limbs, lost an arm because of an ied. it is in all likelihood, a result of aid that iran gave the militias in iraq that that person is now limitless and that's where in the escalation began to i'm so happy that when i was in the white house, the president asked me, what do we do about the iran deal? i said, kill it. this is a deal that when he was inked, the then secretary of state john kerry said openly, that we know some of these phones, more than $140 billion - - some of these funds will be used to sponsor terrorism. there was a cop in dc a few years ago who was sympathetic to ices. he wanted to send them $500. he was doing so through an fbi agent that he didn't know that the individual is now sitting in a federal super max prison because he is guilty of a federal crime of material support to terrorism. for $500. if you are i did that, we'd be in prison. the obama administration released more than $140 billion which we know in part was used to fund the operations and the terrorism commanded by major general soleimani.>> about 7000 troops. 5000 currently in iraq but the iraqi parliament has voted to get rid of foreign military. >> the middle east is not a problem we can solve. the president understands that the metric, measurement, the yardstick is what are the national interests? his first reaction, the president's first gut instinct is can we bring the boys home? the boys and girls home, from wherever they are. afghanistan, iraq, you name it. this is a businessman. a pragmatist who understands that it's not only not our job to change other countries to be reflections of ourselves, but not feasible in places like afghanistan or iraq. as far as i'm concerned and this is why i wrote my second book, why we fight. after i left the white house. for the same reasons we deployed in october 2001, to make sure these territories are never, ever again used to execute mass casualty attacks on the soil of the united states or against our citizens around the world. that's our reason for being there and that we don't with a much smaller footprint than under either the bush or for bomber administrations. >> let's go back to syria this past october. american troops had one purpose to destroy the caliphate of isis. >> one of the things i'm proud of, i don't know if you recall, in the second obama administration, america was told ices, it's a jv team. you don't have to take it seriously. then, once we had withdrawn from iraq under obama's white house and the caliphate was reestablished. it was reestablished for the first time since it had been dissolved by moustafa in 1924. then suddenly obama changed his tune and said isis, islamic state is a threat we have to come to terms with. it's a generational threat. our children, grandchildren will be dealing with ices. when we came into the white house, we had a very different vision. i credit steve bannon. he said, no, ices can be destroyed if we get out of the way of our military. these crippling rules of engagement. we had fighter pilots. we had people in the air over isis convoys with live video fees being told, you cannot take out that convoy. the lawyers got in the way. the tactical interference by the obama administration has to be dismantled. that's why steve said to the present, we have a simple target.we have to have a talking point that everyone can understand and it is the destruction of the physical caliphate. when we unleashed our military. when president trump says i have your back that you can do this. we destroyed the caliphate in five months. something we had been told it was a generational threat was gone. do you remember the front pages of the newspapers. the decapitation of stay with us journalists. that is all gone. why? because we have finally a decisive commander-in-chief in the white house. - - said elections have consequences. do they ever. >> your first book, defeating g hall. the first row about president obama, did the president keenness of - - represent a bigger threat to america and a greater commitment to winning the war against the jihadists them. strangely enough, it didn't. as one general shared with me, president obama and his team see the connecticut options such as drone strikes as the quote on quote, easy button. the thinking has become - - logo. then we will prevent the next 9/11. unfortunately, you write, this logic is not only simplistic, it is dangerous. isn't that how we took out general soleimani? >> right but what was missing under the obama administration is that the idea, not the idea, the other out policy platform that - - is irrelevant and terrorism is the result of poverty or disenfranchisement. in the beginning of the obama administration, john brennan had become the president cia director said, terrorism is the result of upstream factors. poverty and lack of education. if that were true, half of india would be terrorist paid half of china would be terrorists. as a result as that analysis, the obama administration defaulted to this policy of when we find the bad guys, we kill them and we will win. it was wackamole. - - he would decide which terrorist we should kill today. that is sheer insanity. when we arrived in the white house, we had 420 obama holdovers in the national security council. do you know how many worked under the security council under eisenhower? 25. no one can tell me eisenhower's globe was less complicated. and under ronald reagan was only 75 individuals. the made what should have been strategic, a tactical function. most important of all, they missed the ideology. engineering students don't become suicide bombers on 9/11 because they're poor or uneducated. these are people with mas. the head of i kinda - - al qaeda is a - -. this administration sees it very differently. if you want to understand where were going, read the president's speech from reality. read his incredible speech in wars --warsaw. it is an evil ideology just as fascism was an ideological threat. the soviet union was an ideological threat. >> when you look at the newspapers and hear the podcasts about what happened to general soleimani, there is a prediction that this could lead to world war iii. >> it's quite stunning how in the last 72 hours, world war iii, # world war iii was trending on social media. what world do these people live in? do they really - - once a but it comes up with a criticism of an action, the best place to start is to ãtake politics out of it. what is the individual critic ã they are saying we should have killed general soleimani? how is that better? a man whose hands are drenched in the blood of at least 603 u.s. servicemen and women who has been responsible for the maiming of thousands of others. who we knew was on the cusp of operating operations that would have killed hundreds of u.s. citizens. leaving that man along the microphone to do his business is better in what world? anybody who is not cheering for when obama killed osama bin laden. when we took out - - and isn't cheering when a murderous incarnate evil individual like general soleimani is killed, they need to examine their conscience. i don't care what your politics are, what god you pray to, i don't care if you're an atheist who you go to bed with point i don't care what your skin color is. you need to examine your conscience if you think that person didn't deserve to become a pile of ashes. >> sebastian gorka, how did you get to know president trump? next i thought i was at the pinnacle of my career. >> i have special regard for - - i was in my third year teaching at marine corps university. i get a phone call from corey lewandowski who i didn't know from a hole in the ground. he said i'm the campaign manager for candidate trump. he said, candidate trump is preparing for the gop debate on national security. would i consider meeting with candidate trump and perhaps help prepare him for that debate? i said sure. i flew to new york and went to trump tower up to then candidate trump's office. i sat down with him closer than we sure? are at his desk. we had this incredible new sky discussion on security issues while the civil war, right up to isis and nuclear weapons. halfway through he did a classic - - he stopped the can discussion dead. looked at - - he stopped the discussion dead. he said i like this guy, let's hire him. i prepared policy briefs for his debate and eventually became part of his transition team and became part of the - - once they were only two candidates (i became part of the official presidential transition team and was offered the job of - - of defense strategy. >> you lasted how long will. >> seven months. >> why just seven months? >> you have to ask steve bannon that but i was on vacation in new england. when a friend texted me and said, have you seen the news? i said, no. i'm cut off from the world. i like not to be plugged in. i went to an area where i could check the internet. i saw that steve bannon had resigned out of the blue. he was my immediate boss. i was deputy assistant of strategy. steve was the chief strategist bid without telling me, steve - - [indiscernible]. it had become clear to me in the months prior that the new security advisor h.r. mcmaster was not a fan of mine. i was not on the national security council but i was always present for key meetings regarding isis, china and russia. interestingly, i was being left off the invitation for the last five meetings. i knew i was being boxed out. then my - - resigns and i had a tough decision. my wife and i thought, do i stay in the white house picking up a pretty good federal salary paid for by the taxpayers to be consistently boxed out by somebody who has issues with me. what do i support the agenda from the outside. as i wrote my letter to the president which is available at www.breitbart.com. the anti- maga forces are in ascendance in the white house. i'd like to serve you on the outside. i think i can better do so. the president agreed and now i have a national radio show called america first. more than 1 million followers on social media. my decision was shaped by the belief that where i said is not important. it's the agenda. it's making america great again. back to that place that reagan called the shining city on the hill. and i could best do that on the outside. it's worked out in the last two years. >> in your most recent book, the war for america's soul, you have an interview with president trump as well.>> we went back as part of my new book. we went back to the oval office and i sat down for an interview on how the last three years have progressed. that is the bonus chapter in our book. >> sebastian gorka is our guest this month on "in depth". we invite one author on to discuss his or her body of four. 202 is the area code if you'd like to participate today. 748- 8200 if you live in the eastern or central time zone. 748-8201 if you live in mountain or pacific. so that's only for text messages, 748- 8003. we will put all those up and begin taking those in just a few minutes. you talked about how you met president trump and how he hired you basically on the spot. when you go to your wikipedia page. >> that's your first mistake. >> it says various national security scholars and academic and policymaking circles have characterized sebastian gorka as fringe. >> there's an individual called - - another successful wall street journal journalist. when he first labeled me as fringe. he called me up and laughed and said, if you're writing about the person in the white house as strategist of the president and you're calling him friends. perhaps you are the fringe individual. because who's in the white house? as soon as i became the face of the administration, the first executive order we dropped was the travel ban. it wasn't being well received. so i spoke to sean spicer and steve bannon as soon as the criticism - - i said i've done a bit of media. can i help explain this to the american people? why this makes america safe. so they threw me into the media. as soon as i became a public server get, the attacks began and the most - - i thought i was ready. i was cynical enough living in dc for a decade. but i wasn't ready for the - - launched against me. not only my credentials. i understand, i'm a surrogate for the president. as soon as i became the face of the administration, the next weeks and months, people who call themselves journalists didn't just attack me, peter. they attacked my wife. was a political appointee. they attacked my dead mother's reputation. and then they wrote a piece about my 18-year-old son. high school aged son. in which the title of the piece described my 18-year-old son as a traitor. something's happened in this city and it's not healthy. it's fundamentally un-american. you can have political differences but to call yourself a journalist and to go after somebody's family the way they've gone after barron trump. melania, eric, don junior. that's why wikipedia unfortunately, despite its influence is one of the worst sources out there. as soon as things were said about me about my nationalistic pretensions. my racism and so forth but none of which were true. i asked to change those entries with fact-based sources. what did wikipedia do? lock to the page so it couldn't be changed. that's just fundamentally wrong. >> is that a common practice by wikipedia? >> yes. and their line is if they see lots of back-and-forth between people were putting negative and someone is trying to correct them. if it gets to a certain fever pitch, they lock it and nothing can change. >> it says following the 9/11 attacks, general - - sebastian gorka became a public figure in hungary that failed to obtain security clearance to serve on a committee. >> i served on the committee. classic example. she's - - passed by the independent expert to investigate the biggest scandal in post-communist hungary. just weeks after the election, there was a front-page story in a conservative newspaper with a photo of a document from the cold war. which have the name and rank of a secret police officer who shared the same name as the newly elected prime minister. when hungary found out that the new prime minister was actually a former secret police undercover officer under the dark days of communism, a committee was impaneled to investigate that scandal. and i became one of two independent experts on that committee. >> it goes on to say as you were regarded as is by working for british counterintelligence. >> fake news is not a uniquely american thing. whether it's benjamin netanyahu or - - in the uk or myself. i served in the military intelligence reserves of the british army when i was in college but that hardly makes me james bond. >> sebastian gorka is our guest. his most recent book is america's fight for its - - the war for america's soul. >> had to ask my daughter's permission to write a chapter and she cleared it for me. my daughter graduated from trinity college last may. and it had been a tough four years for her. she was involved in the accident that made the national news just before the term began. the semester began. there were children in a college building and they were on the deck of the building. on the third floor. my daughter stepped out onto that deck and as soon as she stepped out, all three decks disconnected from the building and collapsed on each other with children on each deck. luckily, nobody was killed but very serious injuries. my daughter suffered nerve injuries in her legs. she was on crutches for weeks. despite that, she had four different jobs in college. and then she was invited to join the - - institute. created by a handful of conservative professors. they wanted to celebrate and propagate the values of judeo-christian civilization. western civilization as churchill did. that was the last straw i guess for the social justice warriors. two weeks before the graduation, they took my daughter's photograph and on social media and on posters around campus, they put her name, and underneath, this is the face of white supremacy. why? because she was part of the institute. because she was my daughter, despite the fact this girl had helped ethnic women, minority women when she was doing a research project from those who have been abused financially by their partners. their husbands. when it came to her grad