I confronted my enemy on Piers Morgan

0:00 All right, Geraldo Rivera said I was being a dick to Scott Jennings.

0:03 So Piers Morgan had both Geraldo and I

0:05 on to talk this through and talk about the viral moment.

0:09 Make sure you drop a like.

0:10 Make sure you watch until the end.

0:11 I will be on CNN Newsnight tonight at 10:00 p.m.

0:14 Eastern.

0:14 So check it out and thank you.

0:16 Uh let me bring in Adam welcome to uncensored Adam.

0:19 You've obviously hit the headlines in the last few days.

0:23 For those who haven't seen it I think it's up there with my Russell

0:26 Brand clip as the two most mean and re published clips of the week.

0:31 So let's take a look at your one.

0:33 This is you with Scott Jennings at CNN.

0:36 [snorts] I mean honestly they have been at war with us for 4 to 6 weeks.

0:39 We all know that Scott Jennings is more than happy

0:40 to defend a war with a country that starts with the letters

0:42 IRA that we are [laughter] currently failing that is going

0:45 to put us trillions and trillions of dollars more in debt.

0:47 I was only a few years old while

0:48 you were in the administration defending prior endless wars.

0:51 Now this war is failing.

0:54 Okay you said it was going to be 4 to 6 weeks.

0:57 Is that what I debated you on TV 4 to 6

0:59 weeks ago and you said we were weeks away from it.

1:01 Now you're making condescending remarks because you can't defend

1:03 the fact that this war is not going your way.

1:04 Wait one more time.

1:05 Name one political concession.

1:08 Name one political concession.

1:10 Honestly I'm not I'm not going to have this guy everybody hang tight okay.

1:15 Now everybody calm down okay.

1:18 Now somebody who was repeatedly actually manhandled by Russell Brand I think

1:23 you you know your your manhandling was at least a little bit removed.

1:28 There was there was daylight between your arms and Scott Jennings.

1:31 But what was interesting about the exchange

1:33 to me was not that he was not entitled to get annoyed with the way you were

1:37 just tickling I probably would have done too.

1:39 But I've not seen him that rattled.

1:42 Scott Jennings is normally ice cool on that panel show.

1:46 I watch it a lot.

1:46 I think he's a really interesting commentator for the right on CNN.

1:50 It's an unusual beast.

1:51 They don't have many of them and he holds his own often against three

1:54 or four people and on this occasion Geraldo was also on the panel I noticed.

1:57 And we'll come to Geraldo for his view of it in a minute.

2:00 But I haven't seen Scott Jennings react like that to anybody

2:03 and that to me in the same way that I'm

2:06 seeing with Donald Trump's slightly erratic and you know quite angry

2:11 and testy uh social media activity in the last few weeks.

2:16 It just looks to me like people have gone all in on this war in Iran.

2:21 Now it's not playing out in any way that they

2:24 predicted or told everybody that it was going to play out.

2:27 They're they're getting testy.

2:29 They're getting quite angry about it which is a natural human reaction but it's

2:33 increasingly obvious and I thought your exchange

2:35 with Scott was indicative of that.

2:37 What did you think?

2:39 I don't want to take away from the point

2:40 that I was making in the question that I

2:42 was asking in that moment because I have sat

2:44 on panel after panel after panel with Scott Jennings

2:47 as he lies about this war not bound

2:49 by any facts whatsoever as he makes failed predictions not

2:52 bound by any timelines whatsoever and as he condescends

2:55 and trolls and provokes everyone else on the panel.

2:59 I mean even in the same panel he made fun of my bedtime like 5 minutes earlier.

3:02 So this is a man that's not bound by any facts or timelines or rules.

3:06 So I said I'm not going to be bound by rules that my opponent is

3:09 not playing and so you can say that I was gesticulating a bit too much.

3:12 That's a fair criticism but he could have politely asked me to tone it down.

3:15 That is not what he did.

3:16 He snapped because he realized he does not have an answer to the simple

3:19 question name one political concession we've gotten

3:22 from Iran 60 days into this war.

3:25 We've had moving shifting timelines shifting objectives for this war.

3:29 They've been lowering the threshold for what

3:31 victory is considered as and just because

3:33 I asked the question of hey what concessions have we gotten that pisses him off.

3:37 We've seen billions of dollars spent.

3:40 We saw dozens of people thousands of people in Iran have died

3:44 tens of thousands but we saw over a dozen US soldiers die.

3:47 So I'm going to continue to ask this very same question what

3:50 political concessions have we gotten from Iran 60 days into this war.

3:54 The answer is absolutely none and he knows the answer is none.

3:56 That's why he freaked out.

3:57 Yeah I think it's a perfectly reasonable

4:00 NO NO I DON'T THINK HE SHOULD be apologizing.

4:02 No I mean let me bring Geraldo in firstly because Geraldo you were on the panel.

4:06 I want to play your reaction on NewsNation to what you saw on that panel.

4:13 The kid was a dick.

4:14 I mean he really smart eloquent had his argument together

4:19 and obviously debated Scott before and he was really being a dick.

4:23 I mean it was like I shut up you

4:25 know go ahead go ahead and get some life experience.

4:29 I wasn't sure if you were talking

4:31 about Chris Chris Cuomo there actually Geraldo.

4:33 I don't know.

4:33 Clarify you were talking actually about Adam Mokhtar.

4:36 Um [laughter]

4:38 Now you still think so?

4:39 Well Adam I mean what do you want to say to Geraldo?

4:41 He called you a dick.

4:43 You have a response?

4:44 Yeah it's not a dick to try to force a critical question

4:48 and try to force the conversation to where the American people want it.

4:51 Geraldo you were there when Scott made a fun of my bedtime 5 minutes earlier.

4:54 Again this is somebody not bound by any rules whatsoever on this show.

4:58 He's able to lie over and over.

5:00 Why should I be bound by some decorum that my opponents aren't bound by.

5:04 Do you see what I'm saying?

5:05 It's not the 80s anymore.

5:06 It's not even 2010 anymore.

5:07 We are in a new era where we are playing in a reciprocal manner.

5:10 So I'm not playing the games where I have to be nice.

5:12 In regarding life experience really quickly.

5:15 You have a whole life of experience and you're on the same panels as me.

5:18 We're on the same shows.

5:19 We have a show last week.

5:20 We have a show today.

5:21 So life experience uh what has it gotten you?

5:23 I don't know.

5:24 All right Geraldo your life experience has got you nowhere says the [laughter]

5:28 says the young the young dick.

5:31 It's got me a career that's lasted 56 years

5:34 so far and and counting and aside from 10

5:37 Emmys and a few other trinkets and I guess

5:41 Uh Adam listen you don't be a wise ass okay.

5:45 I said to you in the commercial

5:46 break that immediately followed your your confrontation

5:50 with Scott that I thought that you made some some good points.

5:53 The problem is that you can be very obnoxious and you're in your presentation.

5:57 Now sometimes being obnoxious can lead to a whole

6:00 career but I advise you strongly because you're

6:03 a smart kid and you obviously prepared you know

6:07 for the debate that you know stick to that.

6:10 Stick to the substance because I think that you do have a future.

6:14 In terms of Scott Jennings I I like Scott very much.

6:18 I didn't know him before this CNN experience.

6:22 You know it's fun talking to him in the green room before the show

6:26 and then then see the confrontation this spontaneous

6:29 uh combustion I was I was surprised.

6:33 I was surprised by the fact that Scott reacted as he did but then you

6:37 know just listening to Adam he can be

6:41 very grating and you know sometimes that works.

6:45 You know I remember Morton Downey and a bunch

6:47 of others from the from daytime TV and and so forth.

6:51 But I I strongly advise you to stick to the substance

6:55 because you can as I indicated in the commercial break following

7:00 the confrontation you can be a voice for a generation

7:04 that has so far been unable to penetrate into the mainstream media.

7:08 That's that's my This is so indicative of the double

7:11 standards that we see all throughout the media.

7:14 I mean you went on that whole rant but you didn't

7:16 mention that Scott Jennings made fun of my bedtime or whatever.

7:19 Not that I care but he's the one who has an obnoxious attitude.

7:22 say about your bedtime?

7:23 I missed that.

7:24 So I asked him a question 5 minutes before I said hey what concession has

7:28 Iran gotten and he says aren't you a little bit past your bedtime or something.

7:31 He started with the condescending jabs.

7:32 So he said to be fair Adam you are you are

7:34 literally beaming into the show from your bedroom.

7:38 I it's a hotel room.

7:39 I'm currently at a hotel room in [laughter] New York.

7:41 But I mean either way It's not it's not the best

7:43 way to refute the suggestion that it's past your bedtime.

7:47 What what are you talking about?

7:48 I'm in a hotel room in New York because I have CNN again tonight.

7:51 Adam it's it's a it's a it's a joke.

7:54 You're reacting a bit you're reacting a bit you're

7:56 reacting a bit like Scott did the other day.

7:59 So take a chill pill.

8:00 You just you happen to have a bed behind you

8:02 as you're refuting the charge that it's past your bedtime.

8:04 I'm just making a joke.

8:05 It's a good joke.

8:06 One final thing I'm 23 maybe my youthful arrogance will

8:12 drop with time but there's no excuse for Scott Jennings

8:15 to be on air all the time making remarks at everybody

8:17 else and then the moment somebody gives it him back.

8:20 He can dish it but he can't take it.

8:22 The moment somebody tries to force the question what political

8:25 concession have have we gotten from Iran he gets worked up.

8:27 So maybe I I I don't know Scott Jennings at all.

8:28 I've never met him.

8:29 I think he's a very effective communicator on a network CNN that when

8:33 I was there was very very very cautious about revealing any kind

8:37 of partisan bias but now has a panel show where quite often

8:42 that on that show they have four on one side and Scott Jennings.

8:46 So I actually feel like he puts up

8:48 a pretty good fight given he's often heavily outnumbered.

8:51 But Anna on a sort of slightly wider point here it's very interesting to me.

8:55 I just interviewed Megan Kelly for 20 minutes at the start of this show.

9:00 And it I could have been talking to you about some of these issues right?

9:03 Same with Tucker Carlson.

9:05 A lot of you have blended now into a weird family

9:09 of people who have a lot of agreement about a lot of things.

9:12 Iran the influence of Israel Donald Trump

9:16 and his mistake as you see it and so on.

9:19 Did you think a time would come when you would

9:21 be siding rhetorically on these big big issues with so

9:25 many who are on the conservative right and what does

9:27 that tell you about the state of the conservative right?

9:30 When you got people like Mark Levin saying Tucker's mentally

9:33 ill and everyone trashing Candace Owens and her trashing everybody else.

9:37 There is a real split going on on the conservative right

9:40 and there's you firmly on the left as you've always been

9:43 but now siding rhetorically to me it seems on these big issues

9:48 with people that would historically have been the complete opposite to you.