Shockwaves in the Passover Program World – Bruce Backman Breaks Down the Scandal

Welcome back to the Clappy and Frank show. We have with us today a world famous hotelier. Somebody that has a big pesak hotel. >> The most successful Pesak hotel in the world. >> I don't think it's the most successful. >> Arguably, I don't know, but >> the most profitable. >> No, it's not the most profitable. >> We have with us Bruce Bman. We have with us Bruce Bman. Now, if you're wondering why we're having Bruce Bman on, two reasons. Number one is he was on a few months ago and everybody says have Bruce Bman back on. He's so entertaining. He's so informative. Number two, there's been major scandals in the hotel industry for Passover. One major hotel closed down before Passover, two weeks before Passover. >> Major influencer backed. >> Major influencer backed. But a bigger scandal is my friend wanted to get his 20 grand back. And when he called them, they said, "Do a charge back on the credit card. We don't know who you are." That sounds like a felony criminal defense offense. Number two, after Pesak, MY PHONE'S BLOWING UP. EVERYBODY'S LIKE, IZZY, there was a program with hundreds, if not thousands of people, and there wasn't enough food. There wasn't enough matzah. There wasn't enough wine, grape juice. People were bartering with each other. People were begging for what? >> And none of that. There was an influencer who was talking about it who said that I DIDN'T REALLY GET FREE. They only count my room. I didn't get free tickets. They gave me mileage tickets. And then she goes on to say, "People got to bond. PEOPLE BOND WHAT? LIKE IT WASN'T SO BAD. >> LISTEN, people bonded in a lot of places. >> This is not the first time people bonded. People bond in jail. You don't think so much made friends. >> So Bruce, how do you what leads what's the allure about peso programs that turns into disasters like these >> every single year? >> First of all, I run a program. I run a program that's considered a good program. That's a reliable program. It's not perfect. Obviously, we every year there's something, you know, you can't control everything. It's like controlling the weather. People said you control everything but the weather. I can't control the weather. So, when it rains, I don't know what to do with people. And that's one of the biggest challenges when you're running a program is what do you do with with weather? You know, every day you're praying for weather and people look, you know, I'm like, I check the weather like 10 times a day because when it rains and you're in a hot weather climate, what is everybody doing? Plus, you have to go between buildings. These these are regular things people deal with. I want to talk about these programs. First of all, I don't know much about Guatemala program. I will say I'll say it politely, no it's not about names. There was a program there. I picked up rooms off that program. People came to me because they didn't have where to go and they were looking for places that were suitable. But, you know, running a peso program is really difficult. I mean, I consider myself amongst the more skilled, seasoned people, and I still have trouble dealing with hotels. I still have trouble dealing with vendors. I still have trouble getting products. >> You're like 15 years in. How many years in? >> 16, 17. And I know my stuff. And I'm saying like no matter how well you think it through, it can always go wrong. And here's why. Trucks could flip over on the side of the highway. A hotel could have a power failure and you can't cook. You could get shut down by the fire marshal for something. Guests could be delayed because of flight accessibility. TSA this year made it really >> second. A guest being delayed is not your problem. >> It's my problem if they paid and they don't get there and there's no food and they're stuck. It is some suck. We're not getting people. You have to take out, you know, we tell everybody take out travel insurance. Some listen, some don't. Some do, some everybody don't wants to pay for it. It is the best money you could ever spend. If you're going to spend for a family of four to go to a program, 30, 40 grand to go away, and you're fighting over the last four, $500 just to have peace of mind, your flight's delayed, or somebody's sick and they can't travel, and you're like nickel and dimming on that. It's silly because it's not fair to the guys like me because we usually only find out about those cancellations like 5 hours or a day before check-in and we can't sell the rooms anymore and then you're stuck at home. You can't make it. You're mad at everybody. Like when we go away on vacation, we always take out travel insurance. I never know what's going to be. I could have family members could fall ill. We can't travel. Could have a problem at work. Like >> does travel insurance cover like a failed pre-ex program? >> It could. It could. >> Depends on the terms. It could. But if a program closes, it could. >> If there's not enough wine, the travel insurance will cover that. >> No. >> Okay. >> There's But >> so what will it cover that will avoid? >> What do you mean? If a pass up program closes and you don't have to go bankrupt, if you book to go to the Rison Hotel on vacation in in Mexico and you show up there and the hotel's out of business and you prepaid the whole thing, travel insurance will cover that. >> Gotcha. Bruce, the elephant in the room, >> millions of dollars in deposits come to a program and they say they're not opening for whatever lame excuse they give and you call them and say, "Could you refund me my 23, my $42,000?" And they say, "Call your credit card company." That sounds like a convict convict. >> I I mean, I'm going to be honest. I don't take credit cards. So, if you >> How could it be that the company could say call your credit card company? Why don't they refund if they don't open up? >> They may not have the money. >> Where's the money? Sounds like a PI. hotel deposits, advertising, hiring staff, purchasing products, insuranceances, new equipment they had to buy. I know where the money goes. When COVID happened, I I mean, those were the worst days of my life in business. Phones were blowing up. People were threatening lawsuits. Everybody wanted to kill me. And, you know, I didn't have any money. I was picking up cereal on the floor in my house, like having panic attacks that I couldn't buy cereal because I owed so much money to everybody. The hotel wasn't taking my calls cuz they were shut. They had already had about 80% of my money on deposit for their bill. Okay. I had already paid for advertising. I'd already paid some staff. I'd already paid for product that I had to book. I'd already bought new equipment for Pesak, which had to get ordered from wherever. China, silver, glassware, hot boxes, you name it. >> That's when your beard went white. >> No, my beard went white for other things. But not that. But, you know, you made a decision and I my contract says the program doesn't open. gave money back which since then my lawyers changed the language but not not in a way that we're not giving money back just like to protect for cosmeour which is standard in every contract >> kaj majour >> what does that mean >> cosmeour which means which means if there's like a world war II everybody's free to their obligation >> which could happen with trust >> well because insurance companies have to protect themselves also um so that's where it comes from insurance companies and lawyers like that but I didn't have a cosmeour clause I had a clause said I was giving all the money back but I called my lawyer and I said but I didn't say when and then I was one of I wasn't the first but I may have been the first program to return all the money >> at the time. >> Where'd you get the money? >> We didn't we gave people what we had on deposits which I had about 65% I was able to pay out. >> Um I kept about 5% for myself to live because I didn't have any income. Um being honest >> you didn't have a 9 toive job. >> I no that was those years I didn't >> and everybody was laid off anyways of everything in Copa. There was nothing to do. I mean you if you don't remember wasn't a good time. Um, and I didn't have I need I kept I remember my lawyer said keep a little bit just to make it through the year, but I didn't keep a lot. I did just enough to pay my mortgage and buy groceries. And um and over the next three years, I said I would pay back the full 35% I owed everybody. So at the end of PES, we would send you a check. Um or you could use it as a credit. And people who let me keep all the money, we gave them 105 cents on the dollar >> just because I needed revenue. Just for being mentioned, they got paid 5% on the money. >> Just for being working with me, we gave 5% bonus for anybody to let me keep the money. But by I think about two years, >> what percent of people let you keep it? >> It was about three or four bookings who did. >> I mean, three or four bookings had been with me every year and they knew that they were going to come whenever come. >> Do the numbers. >> Three to I don't know. It wasn't a lot of rooms. Per eight to 10 rooms, but three, we were trying to conserve money. Remember, I had legal fees now. I had to pay for storage now of equipment. I had food that I bought that just went in the garbage or we donated. I mean, who was buying it? I mean, I had paid for my full bakery at that point. >> Where was the bakery going? Nobody wanted it. Um, and I was so we paid everybody back because and I remember I called my friend Simon Abbach Ram at the time and I said, "What do I do? I don't have any money." And he says, "If you can find a way to pay people back, you'll be golden in this business. People will always know you paid people back. You're never going to no one's ever going to question you. They're not going to question your not going to question whether you can be trusted." And that's what we did. And it was it was you know years later it was a very smart decision but it was hard. The one other thing I did was I paid all my staff who'd worked for me up until that point. So anybody who'd worked for me on the program but physically done work we paid a proportional rate based on their work for their jobs which which was above and beyond because I said I'm going to open next year. I don't want to lose my employees. So if I don't give them something first of all they needed the money also. And second of all, once I'm borrowing against myself, like what's another whatever just to have. So we paid some court people money. Not everybody. People who hadn't started their work yet did not get paid, but people who'd been planning and working with me for months were all paid. >> What are the leading causes of these pesak disasters? Would you say the top three or five? >> I think the ex issue in Morocco, which I mean I want to speak names. You don't want to I don't know the name of the program, but I think the issue was Israel. Israel's really thrown everybody off. >> There's no labor. A lot of the good pesak labor is serving an IDF. They can't come. A lot of containers come from Israel with everything from pastries to um from pastries to matzah to wine to meat. Dairy for sure. Like it's cheaper to get dairy from Israel than from other places. Some of those products they're coming from Israel. Containers because of the war aren't leaving as quickly. Stuff's not getting out. A lot of the skilled labor who works on those programs is stuck. So you don't always have the best staff. Some programs had to close because they just didn't have, forget guests. They didn't have workers. >> They couldn't get the people out of the country to go to a program. So, it was really difficult to get people out to work. And the programs, I mean, people don't understand how complex these programs are and how complicated they are. People always ask me, "Why do you charge so much? Why is it so expensive?" I said, "Sit on my desk for a day on a pay program and see what goes on." And then you think, "I'm going to charge not enough." >> What's the projected margin usually on a program? 10%. >> Depends. What's a good What's >> I spoke to some operators today who think they lost money >> who ran close to sold out programs. >> Why this year over other years? Why would >> Because there's always surprises. >> You don't know what's going to hit you. I was on the phone today with the hotel talking about my damage bill >> or my I said, "What's coming? I don't sleep." I said, "What's coming? Don't worry. We're preparing it for you." I said, "Please just tell me now. Give me a taste of what's coming because I'm not there now. So now it's my I don't have any I'm not your word against their words. >> Well, I mean, obviously if I think that they're not being airline, >> you do a video before you do a walk around. >> We did a walk through. My staff did a walk through. >> Yeah, but things show up. I'm doing this a long time. So, I always tell them the damage after I leave the building, I don't pay for it. If you can't show it to me while I'm present, I won't pay for it. >> So, why are they preparing it now? They're telling >> because they're getting invoices of third party invoices of replacement costs. It takes time. I mean, and then I got a replacement cost bill today and I was looking I'm like, "This is high." They're like, "Yeah, we changed something for you and this is what it cost." I said, "Listen, this particular plumbing supply you did for me was I know I can buy this for a quarter the price." Like, where are you buying things? >> I want to see the skew and I want the serial number of the product and I promise I will pay for it, but show me the skew. I'm not paying for a markup of somebody you bought. You didn't want to go and hire tell me to to buy. I was in my consciousness. can buy what I'll buy you all the products. I'll ship it to the hotel and you get it. And they're like, "Well, we don't have the, you know, we hired a company." Okay, so you hired a company. I'm not paying four times the price for stuff. Like, I'm happy to pay for something. I'm not asking you to eat to go into pocket, but I mean, don't make me overpay. Caterers get hit all the time. We we don't we we we plan and plan and plan and plan. And then we still have surprises. Bruce, >> Bruce, I have to ask you a question. >> Meat, you can have surprises. Food can turn. Things can get left out. ovens. You know, I employ a full just a cost on my peso program. I employ an engineer. I pay an engineer a lot of money to be there to fix equipment. Someone's like, "Why do you pay an engineer?" I said, "If the oven breaks, just call a company. Get the hotel." But the hotel's going to call a company to fix it. They don't fix it. I'm going to call a company to fix it. Pes tonight. So, who's fixing the oven for dinner? Cuz I need it now. So we have an engineer in the hotel to fix equipment. >> Sleeps there. >> Yes, >> he brings the guy. >> I bring an engineer. A real engineer. Electricians, engineers, handymen, carpenters. I'm not playing games. You come to me for pesak. We're equipped. >> I have bodies for everything. But I mean it costs money. So when you go to a program and it's like $35,000 a couple, I mean there's no engineer. There's no like you don't have you don't have the infrastructure. I mean, all the seasoned pes programs have been around for decades. They come with armies of people. We have Jason Greenfest who works for me who's really, really good at what he does, maybe the best. I mean, and I let him staff as he sees fit for these things. I mean, I think if you add in Mashkim, I have almost 250 employees, not including hotel staff. I mean, we we rent out two hotels for staff to sleep, plus local Airbnbs. We fly them. We bust them. We drive them. And that's on top of temp agencies I hire to fill small jobs. On any given day you could walk in the hotel, I can have over 300 employees working. >> Bruce, >> but you're pay when you come to Bruce Bman. You're paying for that. >> Bruce, the question is as follows. >> Yeah. >> There's so many. >> So guys go into the business and they try to do a lot. And >> if you get it's like anything in life. If you do it perfect and tight, you'll make a lot of money. You'll keep your cost down. Everybody's happy. But as in everything in life, it's so it's like hitting a hole in one in golf. It happens, just not very much. >> Here's the question. >> The customers open up the magazines >> and they see programs and there's tons of great reputable programs ran by guys you're going to sit next to in Shaw. >> I don't want to use names, but I'm going to use names. The place I go to every year, FFH, >> reputable, honorable, >> this KMR, they're doing it for 20, 30 years. This who is there? This gateway. Who's gateway? They're probably probably >> They're all those are established. You're pay what do you call yourself? >> But everyone knows me as Bruce. >> So why why do people take their wife, their mother-in-law more, their father, their loved ones, their their in-laws, their own >> the most unknown, >> their playing Russian roulette. >> They're first of all, when you call a lot of programs, they >> nobody goes I don't believe there's an operator who goes into this I don't want to say nobody >> maliciously >> maliciously to scam you. I just think people go into it sometimes not realizing what it entails. Why does the customer fall for it? >> A combination of price and then the big one, interesting hotel locations. If a guy gets a great hotel in a cool place, people are going to go for it. If a guy gets a program in a in an interesting venue, you're going to go to it. So, a guy who says, "I really want to go on um >> Safari, >> Safari, Africa, the jungle, the Amazon, Japan." And although the guy who does the program in Japan does a great job. I don't want to speak to him. There was a guy two years ago. So this guy's looking for interesting places. They don't want to go to Florida or Texas or Arizona or California or Mexico. They're like, "This is my vacation. I've seen all these places. I want to go other places." So it tends to be that the problems are not the pro programs that are hit trouble are places that in difficult places. >> One second. So let me ask the question in reverse. Why don't the 10 15 really good owner operators, why don't they choose cooler locations? >> Oh, I won't leave the United States for business. Ah, crazy. >> So, the top guys will not leave the United States. >> Never. I won't leave. >> I will never go. I don't care how cheap it is. I'm not leaving. I'm not going to these countries. I'm not equipped. Because to work in Mexico is really difficult >> because of the cartels. Because of the because of the corruption, because of the bribes that have to be given to get your food in space, because you I operate in a United States of America where I have US law and American attorneys. And if I need something from New York, it doesn't have to go through customs. There's no tariffs. There's no duties. I call New York. It goes on a plane. It goes in a truck. I call I have access to products. I'm not running I'm personally not running programs in these places. If people want to go there and listen, can you run a good program in Mexico today? Absolutely. Can you run a good program in the Caribbean today? Absolutely. Can you go a good program in Europe? Absolutely. But it's much safer to run a program, give example, the Morocco program. They were short matzah, right? And wine. It didn't come. Container didn't show up. allegedly, not allegedly. I don't know what the point is. It didn't show up. Right? If I'm in New York and I don't have matzah, I'm calling a guy in New York City in Gourmet Glad or Cole Save or or or Evergreen or Seasons or whatever you name it. I'm like, "Hey, you know, you know, I'll give a plug. I don't they don't you know, Cole save." I call Mendy Herds. Mendy who manages the store. I said, "Meny, I need matzah." >> I said, "How much you have?" He says, "For you? You tell me what you need." I said, "I need 500 pounds." I said, "When are you getting it?" I have a guy coming with a truck in an hour. Just load the truck. When will I get to me? A guy will tell me I don't I need it's not going to get to me by and then if I it's not close enough. I call the guy in Houston. I call the guy in Dallas. I call the guy in Miami. I'll call the guy anywhere. I'll get product. If I'm short product, I will source product. Sourcing product in Mexico if you're in America, right? >> Sure. Sourcing product in Mexico. Not for me. You know, you're try your container doesn't show up. You're done. >> But you know what's funny? I went as a mash in Mexico 20 years ago >> and everything ran flawless. >> It can, but there have been stories. There was a story many years ago with the program where the the guy who picked up the things he he stole all the meat, someone got shot. I mean, these things happen. >> No, what happened with happened with a very fancy program. >> I also won't work with >> He said he only had a ear tag. He said he put a ear tag in the in the trailer and because he had an ear tag when they stole the truck, they're able to track it down and they got in a lot. We put air tags in all of our deliveries these days, but that's only because we want to know where it is. We want to know how far it is away just to be safe. But >> you go in America, I'm short meat. I'm short fish. I'm short. I can get it. >> It's within reach. >> It's within everything's within a >> What's the target margin of a pesak hotel? 10% 15%. I mean, there's some guys going >> How much money? How much money you >> depends on what the total gross is? >> What's the target number? Some guys could, you know, there's guys who if you have a guy who can have a group who could be trying to make 10 or 15% or 20% and a guy who's making three makes more money. It depends on a lot of factors. What's the total volume? How many guests were there? What did you like? You could have a you can have a small percentage and a big profit and you can have a big percentage and a small profit. You depends how big your program is. >> Bruce, what are the indicators? What are the scary signals of a program if you're looking at an advertisement journal? What what should be the trigger alarm? First thing you need is to find out previous guests who've been to the program. You need a list. Don't just go online, get names of guests who've been there or do your own research. >> It's like a you need names and numbers. >> You need to check. We we give a we have guests that we'll give out if you call us. Say, "Hey, I want to come to you for PES. Uh who's been to you? Who's been to you from my neighborhood?" And then we'll ask the guest, you know, you work at my program. Can I give your name as a reference? Is it okay? Or if somebody asks me in passing, I'll say, "Hey, you know, I know you're friends with him. He was by me and I don't even call and ask. You say what you want to say. You don't like the program, be honest. I have nothing. Green Isaac Greenwell told me years ago, >> he's coming on the show soon. >> He is the best. >> So Isaac is the best. But Isaac told me years ago, he says, "Don't lie to the people. They're going to find out anyways. >> You're not going to be able to fool them for long because eventually they're going to show up and they're going to see whatever you're doing. >> Don't lie. Like what? Give me an example. What would you say?" >> Don't lie to the people. People ask me, "What's the crowd?" >> This is the crowd. What what kind of people are they? What do they do? Do they swim on chabas? They don't swim on chabas. How do they dress? We're very transparent. >> Mix swimming this swimming. What's the food? Where's the Who's this? Who's that? Just tell people the truth. >> If you're going to lie, you're going to get caught. What's If they don't come to you, a guy called me this year. He says, "I want to go to you. I'm in Houston. I'm in Texas in Dallas doing business. It' be good. I can come right to you right before Pesak. My wife will meet me. What's your situation with Sneas and this?" And I'm like, >> "Oh boy." >> He's like, "And what do you do when these people don't dress well and how do you handle them if they're not modest?" >> I'm like, "Here's the number to another program. It's not for you." I'm not >> saying you don't care about Smith. >> No, I'm saying I a person. >> We have blended families. I specialize in in my I have a client who was a repeat. He tells me this year, "Your program is made for young Israel parents with flip out children. You're perfect because you're not modern." And you're not liquid or you're just somewhere in the middle. >> Five downs. >> Yeah. Five to five fish they call it. I'm like right on the line. And we and you know on Shabas and Yamiff I don't have pool rules but nobody swims. Maybe three people out of a thousand because it's not the AI. We're running a we're running a from food. >> I landed a lot of people in the pool on >> I'm sure by us. I'm just And by the way, you have families that are blended where you have >> a pool with the mikvah all these >> who comes to me. Mom is young Israel, dad is young Israel, grandma's from the alaheim, she's just coming, she's there, and then you have one kid who's one daughter who's not from husband. I mean, it's blended. These are what do you mean of pes the four the four sons. You should make a pes program that the four sons can be welcome at. Even the Russia should have a seat at the table. And the one who can't ask a question and the Reb always says and the fifth one who's not there. Everybody should have a space. I've built a structure in my program which caters to that. If you're on a very program, I'm probably not for you. And if you're looking for a really modern program where you can wear swimsuits to the ballroom on Yamiff lunch, it's probably also not for you. >> Are you going to say anything? What's What would you do if someone >> No, it's just you won't feel comfortable. So people know instinctively know the program and they follow it. >> I tell everybody when they call and ask a question I tell them the same thing. >> Any there's a breakfast then there's a k there's ding for then there's a kdish then there's a break with a lecture a speech then there's lunch. By the time it's 3:30 who has time to go to the pool it's late. So if you're going to follow my schedule it's 3:30 in the afternoon by the time you get out of lunch. So nobody who's going to the pool >> out of your 1200 guests how many people >> of that 1080 >> 1080 how many people of the 1080 are paying the bill for everyone else would you say >> there's a lot of there's a lot of bubbies and zides a lot of wealthy kids and then there's a lot of families where it's potluck and everybody pays for their piece >> so out of the 1080 what would you say what percent of what percent of people are paying for the 1080 10% are paying for the 90 >> no >> 20 for the 80 >> probably 2530 >> 25 30% is paying for the 70%. Yeah, but a lot of families split. >> There's a myth out there that it's a few people. >> If you go with a large extended family, >> you know, sometimes everybody pays their way. It depends. >> You have any cool drama stories from these rich people in your hotel? >> No, not really. Rich drama stories. >> Yeah, we want some drama clickbait for our Instagram. >> No clickbait of drama. I've had drama stories over the years. I just don't like >> anything. You don't want to talk about it. >> There's always drama. Remember like >> was there any chargebacks there already >> by me? >> Yeah. >> Doesn't take credit card. >> Oh, they don't take credit cards. So, how do you pay? >> Check. Wire. >> You don't take a credit cards? >> Refuse. >> Most programs take a credit card. >> Most programs are very doing whatever they want to do. >> Again, check. Write a check. >> Mhm. >> Or a bank wire cash. >> I'm good for it. >> Do you take payment plans >> before pre or post or just never? >> Never. >> Every time I do that, I never get paid. The second the program's over, good luck collecting. >> Bruce, what was the most you ever got stuffed from a gas not paying >> 15 20,000? >> You you still try to collect it or you know >> I mean it depends. You get stiff sometimes. >> Actually, we're going to read a little bit. >> Yeah. After much requests for our show should have a Vara. We want to thank Kahus Publication Society. Good to do this now because Pyavas is now >> Pavas. Perfect. We the Jewish custom around the entire world the foot is that you learn Perky. Perky is the uh and Mishna at six perkim and people learn it between Pes and Shv and Kabad does it all the way till Russash Shana and the days are very long and people you know stay out of trouble. They learn Rishna Shabas afternoon. So our favorite Kahas publication society kahuskahhat because >> kahhat kahhat.com they printed a gorgeous huge hagada. If you put in clappy cl a p y you get 15% off. >> Wow. >> But on top of that it's only like 40 bucks or 45 bucks. >> I own it. It's very nice. >> Which are we doing? >> Does it feel like leather? >> It feels like a leather pleather. It feels really It's a good material. >> No, I I own it. It's great. >> It's a beautiful auda. >> It's very perky. >> It's perky. We we advertised the for many weeks. It was selling. It was flying off the shelf. >> So we're talking about not judging anybody. >> They just judge all these pieces defense. The first editor of the Babylonian Tamil of Ashi once asked the idolatrous king Manasha in a dream, "How was it possible to serve idols despite his greatness in Tory?" Manasha replied, "If you had lived in that generation when the inclination towards idolatry was incredibly intense, you would have lifted the hem of your cloak so as not to be hindered from pursuing to serve idols. You would have ran shalom." So this is a garan sanhedrin cited by Kesel, etc. You you cannot judge people. It's so important never to judge people. Kahhat Publication Society. We have beautiful beautiful swarm and um you go on their website. You get 15% off mentioned in Clappy >> and the plan is to read a little section of it. >> Yeah. For our terra every week. We also have the Asia Kyle book. We're going to honor the code. We have tidbits of Bites. Correct. >> Beautiful, beautiful stuff. We really really appreciate Gas Publication Society for sponsoring our beautiful Dartera. >> Bruce, >> can you ask me a question about disasters? My second year when I did my program, I got a call from my chef then the big celebrity Suriri Subar. He was in a hotel in >> one of our favorites >> from many things. A big celebrity today. Surely called me. I was about to leave to go to the hotel. He told me the hotel didn't have workers. We had we had contracted staff to cook. I mean, you don't have workers. I said, "Bruce, I I'm not going to get the food out." I remember sitting in the car. I just picked up a safe potato in Manhattan that I was borrowing. I was sitting in the car. I was doing this. That was my second year. And this is when you have no workers. I said, "I'm trying not to I'm trying to make it. I can't make it. I me and five porters. I'm not going to be able to push this out." I said, "What do you mean they don't have?" I called the hotel. I said, "Where's the work?" We Oh, it was excuses. I think that night I called the called Greenwald. So, what do we do? We found chefs in the middle of the night. We ran a van in the middle of the night. Literally picked them up at their house in Cape Cod. We found guys. We sent them My point is is that the riskiest parts of this business is when you depend on anybody other than your inner circle to do things. And so many programs depend heavily on hotels. And I try not to. I bring all my waiters from New York. I bring all my chefs and cooks from New York. I I a tremendous tremendous cost. I don't trust anyone to knock out my program. I want people that I know, that I have experience with, and that I trust. A lot of guys go into this business and I meet them and they show me their contracts and they always say the same thing. Hotel to provide culinary labor and weight staff and bartenders and beautiful linens and everything. And the hotels don't have a clue what's coming. And the guy thinks, "What do you mean? I have a contract." I said, "A contract's not going to help you when the guests show up at the hotel if there's no workers. So either you make a decision right now you're going to run so when you run a program now program guys who work with hotels year-over-year they come with a team they have captains to supervise the waiters they have chefs in addition to their chefs they supplement me I'm not skilled enough I don't I don't want their people >> in the non-Jewish world >> I don't I'll only hire them to do three jobs >> cleanend clean the rooms >> clean rooms move chairs bartenders bartenders because they have to handle the liquor in most states, clean rooms and then move around chairs and to get me stuff and then basic hotel engineering after that. >> No, you you bring your own engineer. You don't even trust >> that hotel engineering. Mike, if your toilet gets backed up in your guest room, I'm not I'm not bringing that guy, right? Like that's not my guy. So when you I walk into my program, so long as the hotel doesn't get in my way too much, >> I'm good. Doesn't mean that this year I had a problem. There's a problem with the kitchen. The kitchen didn't work. Couldn't get this. Couldn't get that. I went down nine times. There was panic mode. >> You went down to the hotel nine times before >> pay. The kitchen was dysfunctional. The kitchen we had contracted to work was not fixable. >> That's taken over your whole life. You have another job besides this. >> I built I built a a a tent kitchen with every piece of equipment with flooring and fans. I spent six I mean I did what I had to do. So when people are always like, "Yeah, you so they don't understand once you take someone's money, you have to execute this program. you're on the hook. It's not enough to tell somebody the hotel screwed me or oh, the workers didn't come. You're the you're the contact. It's on you. Now, there are jobs the hotel supposed to do. Like, if someone says, you know, uh, I don't like the soap in the bathrooms. I mean, there's nothing I can do about it. >> They can order on Amazon. Get it. >> Order on Amazon. You don't like it? I'll get you soft soap. Whatever you want. I I'm saying you want, you know, finesse or something fancy. I don't know. But I'm saying, >> by the way, >> once you walk into my ballroom, I'm in charge. I run everything. I have all my people, all my porters, all my waiters, all my cooks, all my chefs, all my front of house. >> But you didn't have the sushi guy this year, did you? >> He couldn't come for reasons. But we got a nuke sushi guy who's also very good. I miss Matthew. >> Okay. >> No, but we speak every day. I speak to him all the time. >> I saw him some. I'm like, what's going on here? >> Yeah, but I'm saying you when you go to a program right there, >> you know, like your program, you go to Ley. He brings his whole army from New York. >> Hundreds of people. >> He brings his people. I introduced the waiters the last day of Pesak. I took a cup with a glass cup with a spoon. Banging. Get the thousand people in dining to be quiet. David >> and they did a we did a walk around of all the staff and everybody stood up and gave them a standing ovation. That's nice. >> It lasted like four minutes. It was like Trying People just walking and walking and walking. There's by me there's there's hundreds of people. >> But you don't do the the celebration there at Ambrose. >> No. >> You maybe you should. >> David Travis, you do >> I hate to tell you I don't think I have five minutes to bring them through. Let me ask you something. You're >> busy. Everybody has what? >> Based on everything you said in the last 45 minutes. Here's my question. >> Yeah. >> When you want to go to medical school, if you want to become a doctor, there's medical school. A lawyer, they have to go to law school. Anything you need, even aesthetician to give, I don't know, anything you need a major licensing today to serve alcohol. Why do people think they could take a thousand people's lives and yiddish kite because you're going from matzah wine, whatever, and open up a whole program. They should have to go get shimosh from you. They should have to get training. >> Shimosh, they don't have to get from me. There's a lot of guys in this business who are doing it 20, 30 years double. Guys who are reliable and there's a lot of young guys who go into it. >> Who gives them the rule? Who gives them the right to do it? They obviously don't know what they're doing. >> It's a free country. They did it. >> What is a free country? They're stealing people's money and ruining their go into it to steal it. >> Okay. But they don't know what they're doing. >> It's alert. It's alert. It's very alluring. >> It's what do you mean? It's prestigious cuz oh wow, you run a pes program. I mean I don't think it's prestigious but I mean it's prestigious to some people. People think it's fast money, like you're going to get rich. I mean, the number of It's like restaurant business. Everybody thinks their restaurant's going to have three Michelin stars. I mean, it just doesn't work like that. Even my program, I we're constantly out of pocket and overbudget constantly. So, we charge what we charge to pad that. I need a padding. If I'm running on a t I I have a tremendous respect for what FFH does because he's he's a more affordable program and he puts out a quality product and he's still he's able to give a good product and he still has a bit of a padding to protect himself. amazing pes. I had an amazing amazing >> lady's food is good. >> Join me and Alison and Ley and his rabbits in everybody. >> I mean, I know Ley, but Ley is a real caterer who knows how to execute really good work and he's not going to play games with this stuff. But I'm saying a guy's like the guy who tells you I'm using the hotel chefs for everything. That's my first >> red flag. >> None of the reputable guys who've been around a long time do that. Nobody does it like Spika in in Mexico is a great program, right? World one of them, but I mean he runs he runs an awesome program. >> Who makes Who's the most expensive today? >> There's a couple. I'm not going to say who. I have There's a couple. >> I think the ski program is really expensive >> cuz it's very elite. >> It's called the ski program. >> No names. >> No names. I'm saying there's a very high-end ski program that's super exclusive because the hotel's really luxurious. They only have so many guests they take. >> Do they tell people not to ski until after Mika or something? How does it work? No, I'm saying if you want to go to a ski program, I mean there's not a lot. They don't they don't have to get tempted by the pool. >> I don't mind saying their names. They run good programs. >> No, no, no. Before you said that people don't have to swim because they're busy on Yam. I'm saying how do they stop them from skiing? >> On Yamiff. They relax by the fireplace. They eat. They listen to lectures. And then on they ski. >> Very. Yeah. >> I was saying but that's then there's like a Syrian program that's really expensive. That's super exclusive. >> Cabo. >> No, the Cabo one. The one that the Macadavid program that's very very exclusive. >> Who that guy told us he's going? No. The Nash. But I'm saying you have to build in the buffers. When the truck breaks, the fridge stops working. >> How much money could you make? Could you make half a million? >> Yeah. There's guys. If you get a Someone told me once when there was the Zika virus >> and nobody could go to Florida >> and if you could get a program in Arizona or California in those days, >> you were killing it. >> Oh my god. The money you people were paying crazy. >> So what can you make if you do well, Bruce? A million. There are programs I think who are making much more than that. >> More two million. >> Not myself. Two million. >> But there are guys who could. >> Two million. >> I don't know. I I I think that would be really tough. >> One and a half. >> I don't know. You're asking other programs. My margins are tight. >> Guestimate. I'm just guessing. >> My margins are tighter because I don't want to charge as much as the top guys and I want to give a lot. Like my program was built on food. I'm a food program. You come to me, it's premium everything. Premium wine, premium meat, pre even premium matzah. I buy the super thin one. I buy the super thin matzah for the saters. I'm saying everything we're buying is premium. Even the salmon. I was talking today to one of your clients, Roskins Fish, and I buy a lot of products from Roskins. And I'm very happy with his herring. And this year, I bought kafila fish from him, and I buy tuna from him. Um, and I bought um other specialty items I get from him, too. And I love dealing with them. You know, I'm happy to plug them because I see their herrings on the table. So we're we're a good customer of his but like he was talking to me but fish I don't buy from him and fish I buy local under Ashkah >> I get fish daily I like to get fish as much fresh as I can no underka we work with a certain company that works with the OB >> he's saying the frozen the the filter fish you get in the herrings I'm asking but the other stuff right but the like salmon you get fresh daily okay >> not just salmon sea bass stripe bass bronzino you name it we get that more fresh not daily daily because you can't get on yam >> but much before yam after yam kalamoid we're getting stuff. >> Cool. >> And we were talking about it. He was talking about salmon. So he's like, "What kind of salmon do you buy?" >> He says, "So this year I bought Pharaoh Island across the board." >> Pharaoh Island. What? >> Very fancy. >> Oh yeah. >> He says, "Across the board? Most people just buy for sushi." I said, "Everything was Pharaoh." >> He says, "Why?" I said, "I determined that I didn't want to have two types of salmon. Something cheaper, something more expensive. This way I could use it as needed." And Gandic, I wanted better fish. But I know that Pharaoh Island is a much better product. Like it's way better. >> How much more is it than regular salmon? Oh, at least 30% 40%. >> Wow. >> So, I go to the fisher and ask them for Pharaoh Island better salmon. >> I even buy French butter. >> I like the way I like the way it cooks. I like it doesn't have water. There's no water in the butter when you're cooking. It's pure. I like I like mil butter. I'm stupid. All the caterers think I'm an idiot. They thought he's mug. What's he buying all this crazy? >> What about wild salmon? Do you buy wild salmon? >> No, wild salmon we don't buy. That That's already That's like I mean I'm giving you a BMW. I mean a Mayback you're not getting for me. I mean it's too much. I mean, it's within reason. I'm not going to start buying wild salmon at $30 a pound. >> It's wild salmon tastes better or just healthier? >> It's healthier. It's better for you. Some people I like the Pharaoh Island taste. I like Scottish. I like Scottish Pharaoh Norwegian, but Pharaoh's just a not like a quarter notch above. Like if you go to a if if you're a restaurant in New York and you have Pharaoh, you'll write it on the menu. Like Srilli when they used to have on aa they would write Pharaoh Island salmon on the menu. Like they'll say Pharaoh Island. >> So you go to a regular store. Oh, so how many different salmons are there levels? He's like five. >> There's tons. >> 10. >> There's tons. >> We're talking about s farm raised and and and an ocean raised. >> So Paul Roskins, he has everything. He can do everything far more. So far there's more mercury than >> better than far. The best taste is king salmon. But that's >> but everything you're discussing is still farm raised. >> Yeah, everything's farm. >> It's a certain degree. Depends from where. Some farms are better than others. But yeah, I've never been to these. >> What's the story with the mercury and the farm raised versus the >> I don't know. Speak to Roskins fish. >> Yeah. >> I don't know these things. Yi Roskin. Eight months ago, seven, eight months ago when you came on, we were discussing the election then. Yeah. >> And we there were a guy running for mayors or in Mammdani and one of the things he made a campaign promise was is that there's going to be free transportation. He always say free buses not free sub buses were never only bus was always the buses. Free buses. >> So what are we in January, February, March? We're now in the beginning beginning middle of April. >> Pass his honeymoon. >> I told you >> and he wait I got to finish. He said no I didn't know. He promised. He now said you could forget about free buses in 2026, which is like the whole year is still available. It's not going to happen. Basically, it's probably never going to happen. My question is, why am I the only one on social media talking about it? Where why aren't the riots in the street saying, "Where's our free bus?" >> I told you the reason. Nobody's been paying for the buses. The Wall Street Journal had a story 40 50% of people don't pay for the bus. I never understood the whole thing. People who don't want to pay for the bus don't pay for the bus. >> Have you been on a bus recently? No, but we went by to B43 yesterday and >> you saw somebody get in trouble. >> Fear required. You must pay. >> Yeah. It's like a suggestion. >> It's a suggestion. >> It's a suggested donation. >> People in that corner. They're waiting online. They put their thing. They stick. >> Some people do. Many people don't. If you go in the back doors in Manhattan, you don't I I see people. >> Why did he quit? He said that he's going to do it. Now >> he's running out of money. >> Running out of money from where? >> The problem with socialists is is that they they don't know what to do when they run out of other people's money. The whole socialist agenda is premised on taking other people's money to do things for other people. I'm not saying you shouldn't have cheaper buses for people who can't afford it and food should be discounted for the poor and the and the people who really need help, but I mean at some point it's not sustainable. New York City is way too expensive to live. They keep on blaming all the wrong people. Taxes are too high, regulations are too high. Everything is too expensive. And then everybody complains about why it's so much. And they always keep on blaming like Bill Aman and hedge fund guys. They're to blame for stuff, but they're not to blame for everything. And they're not to blame for this. Give you an example. You build a house in New York. In New York City, it's it's true. It's better. You have to have brass piping. >> Brass piping. >> Brass piping. When you do renovations on a home, on a building >> instead of PVC, >> correct? You cannot have PVC. >> PVC is not good. >> It's not legal in New York. >> Is it Is it bad? Is it Why would they ban it? Is it not? I don't know anything about construction. Brass is better, water's cleaner. It there's there's perks to it. >> So then maybe it should be that way, >> but it brings up the cost of everything. New York City is a very expensive place to build. It's a very expensive Look at the maintenance on apartments in New York City. What the cost to maintain an apartment between salaries and unions and the number of labor and and and we've made New York City very expensive. It is a very expensive place. And it's not about the $3 on the bus. And it's not about the we now you pay money. If you live on 33rd Street and you want to go visit your grandparents or your grandparents want to visit you, live on 92nd and you live downtown, you have to pay nine bucks every time you go drive to pick them up. >> It has a congestion toll. >> What What city in America has a congestion toll? Who made this up? >> Just London. >> What? >> London has it? >> Again, proof in point. In America, we're Americans. We're not Europeans. Who needs this to save traffic? And now they want to make the speed limit 20 miles an hour. I'm already crawling at 25. >> You're already crawling at 25. There's cameras on every corner giving you tickets. By the way, when I get a ticket, it's always a 36. I'm never getting a ticket at like 55. So, I'm not driving fast. And for many years in New York, you could drive at 30, 35. They say they're saving lives. It may be true, but if they really wanted to save lives, get rid of the the bike lanes. Who needs these bikes everywhere? I mean, honestly, they're taking up space. The bike riders do not follow any rules. They're probably running over more people than the cars. Definitely. >> They're everywhere. They're taking up parking spaces. They're making it more expensive to drive around the city. You sometimes there's no one in them. I mean, you you're making a city impossible to live in for regular people. You know, I had a meeting years ago with um about bags. It was at the Manhattan Institute and I was working for Paul Massie and I ran for mayor. So they invited us to talk about New York City issues relating to consumer issues. And the big issue at the meeting, and these were allegedly conservatives in New York, was plastic bags. >> Are they illegal now? >> They're illegal in New York. You cannot have plastic bags in New York except if you're buying clothes. Then all of a sudden, they're >> allowed pharmaceuticals. >> Okay. Pharmaceuticals are closed, but anything else you're not allowed plastic bags. Fine. So they said, >> "When the delivery comes and it's raining, you're bagging." So, I'm sitting around a table with a classic New York City group of people, all old, young, single, unmarried, couples, one kid, no kids, you name it. >> One guy's yelling at me that the plastic bags end up in the garbage. They're in the trees. >> No, they're in the water. They choke fish. >> In the water, they choke fish. The whole thing. I says to me, "Why don't you just get a canvas bag and carry your stuff?" >> Shows me his canvas bag. He goes every day to the market with He's like 50 years old. I'm like, "Are you married?" No. Do you have kids? No. I said, I have four children. My friends live in Crown Heights. They live in Ball Park. They live in the city. They have three, four, five kids. >> They have 10. >> You can't fit a day's worth of groceries in that bag. You And what? When it rains, that bag gets wet. The food gets wet. It gets spoiled. It gets rotted. Because I need if I'm not putting plastic on the food, I need to at least on the bag I need to see plastic on the bread, on the tomatoes, on the on the dairy products, on the cheese. Everything needs to be in plastic. >> Our bag falls apart when it's raining >> and then it falls apart. Like the straws, these stupid straws, paper. This is like stupid, stupid policies. And New York City is crawling with stupid policies. So then people wake up one day and they're like, "Hey, how come New York City is so expensive? Oh, we need free buses and subsidized grocery stores." No, just stop making this place so difficult to live and to function every day. It's just difficult. And it's the most amazing place in the world. There is nothing like New York City. It is the most awesome place ever created probably since the times of Rome. Okay? It's amazing. It's diverse. It's interesting. It's sophisticated. Has culture. It has architecture. Surrounded by water on all sides, the weather in the summer and the weather in the winter. But overall, it's an awesome place. It's the most vibrant, exciting place on the face of the earth. And you have crazy people making crazy policies and then you elect a crazy mayor who's going to do more crazy ideas. We don't need a 20-minut limit of New York. We just don't need this. >> The grocery store thing is happening I'm hearing. >> And it's dumb. >> What is the story with the grocery store? >> What's going to happen with Yemenite bodeas and the Korean delies and the small grocery stores? Like who are you trying to help? >> What is it? What is going on with the What is it? I'm not sure up to date. What's the story with the grocery store? >> It's just communism run a muk. These the people who come up with these ideas like the bag people don't live in the real world. The guy with the canvas bag who lives alone in a studio and 55th and 9th Avenue. Okay, he's a nice guy, but he's not living in a practical place where most people are who have families and have to buy more than groceries they can carry and they need it delivered in boxes and they need their car to go do grocery shopping at Costco cuz they can't take it all in a cab with four screaming or five screaming kids. They're just not practical. New York City is an awesome place, but it would be good if we had a mayor or people who running the place who tried to make a city that was in keeping what is what is needed for families because families cities that don't have children don't have a future. Okay? You if you want New York to have a future, it needs to have children and families with children and they should be your top priority. And the policies we make in New York, many of them today are not conducive to family life. They're just not. Why do people move to Pamy, Pomona, Lakewood, Space, Grass? True. Also, the ability to pull up your car to a grocery store, wheel a supermarket cart in, and then go to your house and not circle parking for 30 minutes looking for somewhere to park. With five screaming kids and cold weather and rain, the beauty and luxury of pulling up to your house and opening your trunk and taking all your food inside. Obviously, Manhattan's not suitable to that, but the outer burrows, they make it difficult also with the street cleaning and the this and they don't even clean the streets. Well, >> they never do anything with those trucks. They just move the garbage around. >> They move the garbage around and the snow like New Yorkers have a lot of problems with the way the cities run and it's a complex place to run after the United States. Probably the most difficult thing to run in the country after running like the US government. But it would be good if we had people who actually had an interest in running it properly and saying, "How can we streamline this city? How can we, you know, Michael Bloomberg, what I didn't agree with on everything, he thought like this. Giuliani in his infancy thought like this. Delasio, you know, I'm going to use this to learn not that he's an idiot. Okay? He was just an idiot. And now you have this guy coming in with all these ideas he read about in books, like the guy with the canvas bag, but they're not practical. And you're going to see that this store, New York, they're going to open up one grocery store for two million people in Brooklyn. It's two million. Two million people live in Queens. Okay? So two million people every day are going to go to the subsidized grocery store. Is that really practical? Is it really a practical solution? >> What does that mean subsidize? It's free. >> I don't know what it is. It's a stupid idea. It's just dumb. It's going to turn into like an over and what? We don't have food pantries in New York. Like, if you're poor in New York City, there aren't food pantries today. We don't have social services to help people. Like, who are we trying to hurt? The small business owner who has to be open 24 hours a day because it's a city that never shuts. >> You know, the Yemen guy, right? You go to his store, the Korean Delhi, he's open 24 hours a day. So, he can't compete with Costco. But Costco isn't open 24 hours a day and doesn't have the same turnover. And it's just he's charging more because he has to charge more to keep the lights on and pay his bills. These guys aren't coming to work in Mercedes and Bentleys. They don't have second homes in the Hamptons. Like, who are you trying to help or hurt? You're mad that he's expensive. Yeah. Well, he's open 24 hours a day. If you want to buy, you know, corn and get a sandwich at 3:00 a.m., you know, you're going to pay a premium for it, right? Like, you're going to pay more if you go to a supermarket, it's open late. >> Richie running for office. >> No, I'm not. But you should have people who who have a brain. >> Why don't you run for office? >> Does that ruin your life? Ruins your kids. >> They go after you. Look at this guy now. I mean, I don't have a sex scandal like this. Thank God. >> Two of them going on at the same time. >> Two big ones. >> But maybe they were really guilty. People who seek politics and seek the accolades, most of them have a yearning. It's like Hollywood for ugly people. Like they really want to be famous. So you go into it. I mean, it's just >> You want to be famous? >> No. You're saying these guys might be famous. >> Do you want People always ask me all the time, do you want to be famous? Do you want to be famous? >> I don't. I just go about my business. Whatever happens happens. >> You're not looking to be famous. >> No, never. >> I'm not looking to be famous. I love to talk about what I think and because I think I have good ideas sometimes and I think I have what to offer, but I'm not looking for fame or fortune. >> Hold on one second. The two guys that stepped down from politics with these big scandals, they're you think they're innocent? >> No, they're not innocent at all. But I'm saying this is the element of people that are usually attracted TO RUN FOR OFFICE. >> OH, YOU'RE SAYING THESE ARE THE TYPES OF AH, OKAY. >> A regular person who cares about his kids and his family and daytoday. He's not >> It's just not why Obama Obama never had these stories. >> Yes, he did. >> He did. >> Sure. >> I know. Clinton and Trump Obama I thought was like a nice family guy. >> Yeah. Speak to >> George Bush didn't have these problems. George Bush. >> Which one? >> Just the younger one. >> I mean, he was had a co he was on he had a problem with cocaine when HE WAS >> WITH ALCOHOL. If you DVD, he was a family. He was married 60 years. >> Politics doesn't bring up >> He wasn't running around with women. >> I hope not. >> I'm saying there's some moral good characters. I'm saying >> there are moral people, but it's very hard for moral people to go into politics because it's a dirty place. >> Because you're in the news industry and you know a lot about the world. This this war in Iran with America. I thought it was going to be 20 minutes, 30 minutes. It's going on for 6 weeks already. >> I I have major concerns about this war. I know everybody's >> The whole world is talking about it 24 hours a day. What do you know about this? >> What do I know? I haven't followed it as carefully as I was because I was working PES, but as I've been following it, >> but wasn't it supposed to be 24 hours? >> According to who? >> According to Trump, >> I'm going to say controversial things. I'm not enamored with this war. I'm I want the gone. I want Iran to have a new government. I want there to be >> Oh, the is gone. He's a new He's fixed six feet up. >> Yeah, they'll always get new Ayatollas. >> I I'm going to say something most people don't realize. There was 35,000 people that got killed when the protest started. >> Is that the real number? >> What >> is that real number? >> Allegedly, that's what we report in the Western media. I think our >> Could be higher, could be lower. >> Let's say let's say it's 30 or 35. >> Okay. >> Who do you think the Iranians killed? >> I'm asking you. You're smart. >> People in the streets. I don't know. Random people. >> No. >> No. They killed the people that were capable of taking over the government if the US came in. So who's going to run the country when you overthrow the ayatollah? Who's in charge? >> The bad guys. >> Nobody. Where's the leadership? I mean, I want no Ayatollah. I don't like Iran. I don't like the Ayatollas. I don't like the way they do things. I think they're funders of ter I know they're funders of terrorism all over the Middle East in Israel and other against Israel and other places. But I mean, who's going to lead the place? Iran is, you know, Trump went into Venezuela and he got rid of Maduro, put him in jail and then was a masterclass in diplomacy and statesmanship. Minimal casualties, minimal loss, minimal everything. Zero zero. I think somebody was >> an American was killed. >> Not an American, but people died. People died. >> Okay. >> I mean, it was minimal. >> Who took over? What's the status? >> He had an arrangement already in the works with the number two vice president. >> Correct. So, she realized he's out. They have to deal with the Americans. He goes out. She take it's not behaving. They It was a master class in a takeover. Now you have the US never took over Venezuela. No boots on the ground. Now they're an ally. We're buying oil from them. It's unbelievable. So everybody's like, you know, it's kind of like you you go play golf, you hit one good shot, you're like, I'm a home run guy. I could I'm going to shoot I'm going to shoot minus 10 on the back nine. I'm a superstar. Eagle this birdie that hole in one here. >> I have no idea what you just said. My point is is in golf, >> they're doing well on the course. >> They're doing well. They hit a home run with Venezuela. >> By the way, I don't know the golf. >> They hit they hit a grand slam. It was perfect. >> Let's go to Iran. It started off good and now everybody's like, now there are people who say it's still going to end well. The US accomplished their goals. The Israelis accomplished their goals. They weakened the nuclear arsenal. They got rid of a lot of the leadership. But Iran is a very complex country to take over. I want new leadership in Iran. I want them to be successful. I just think that it was oversold to a lot of people. And I think people expected that it was going to be done like Venezuela in a day. And I don't think that was ever really true. And I think people knew better. And I think that to sell the product like some PES programs to tie it all together, >> they made it sound like, you know, they did a good program three years ago for 200 people in their backyard. So now they're ready to take 1,200 in a foreign country where they don't know anybody. This Iran is a very very complex. >> Could it be? It's a big mistake. >> Yes. >> Is it might end well, might not end well. >> The Israelis don't think it's a big mistake because they accomplished a lot of their goals. There's a lot of American people in government don't think it's a big mistake because they did accomplish a lot of goals. But I think getting out is not that as easy as people think it is. >> Could this turn into another Iraq and Afghanistan? >> Sure. >> I mean, we start losing soldiers already. >> Trump doesn't want that. So right now he's looking for an offramp to get out. But the Israeli goals and the Iranian goals are not the same. The you know they they meet they're working together because they have the same enemy but their goals are different. >> In 20 years from now or in five years from now, are we going to be back where we started where they're going nuclear again and we have to go in again and start this whole mess and lose soldiers and >> Sure. And there may be other countries that go nuclear now because they think they're in danger. >> Mike, >> well I mean once you know why we don't do this to North Korea, they have nuclear weapons so we don't bother with them. Many countries will say the only protection they have is nuclear weapons. I mean, there's a lot more to this. >> Hold. I'm getting hungry. I'm getting hungry. We have a new corporate sponsor on board the Clappy and Frank show. Kaiser Foods flat cracks. Now, the problem we have now is is that a lot of the crackers that people have at Schul Kadoshim and throughout their home, you just can't get enough food on the cracker >> and they fall apart. >> And they fall apart. >> What are they made of? >> They're made here in Brooklyn. They're made in Brooklyn. >> In Brooklyn. They're baked in Brooklyn. I have to taste one. >> Yeah, you have to. You have to. That's so good. That's so good. That's so good. >> I mean, with Roskins herring, what could be better? >> It can't get better than that. >> You know what's really good from Rosin? >> We have two flavors here. We have the uh Kaiser flat cracks. I was in B park today. All the stores had it already. It's it's it's the NASA provisions. >> NASA Provisions is the distribution. >> So, the salt and pepper and the sea salt. Bruce, you want sea salt or uh salt and pepper? >> Sea salt. >> Sea salt. Salt pepper. Salt and pepper. I mean, there's no other company that makes salt and pepper, so he's excited. >> Really? >> Yeah. >> With the onion. >> Where are they making it? In America. >> In Brooklyn. He said they're making it in Brooklyn. And it was back. So, it's probably baked today. >> Do you know that satar people prefer made in America over Israel? >> These are good. >> This is a really good cracker. >> Yeah. >> Kaiser. I never tasted it before. Kaiser flat cracks. >> Excellent. My name is >> Let me see. >> Oh my god. >> No, they're really good. >> They're fantastic. Where do they sell them? >> Everywhere. >> Nassau. Distributed by National. >> No, but I mean, who's >> bread fresh in Brooklyn? Who else makes a cracker in Brooklyn? Nobody makes a cracker in >> like >> the founder, Yil Rottenberg. Let me take more. Give me more. I'm curious. >> Yeah. It says pes and two days after pes. So this is fresh. >> It was baked after pes. >> Yeah. >> Pick up the microphone. >> Huh? >> You want a cracker one? Oh. Oh yeah. The producer wants a cracker. >> Look at that. You like he's hearing all about it. >> He's a cracker. Yeah. >> Oh my god. It goes so well with the herring. Here they kind >> Yeah. Yeah. We were in a rush. We ran. >> I like the Danish one. >> Stuff is wild. These are excellent. >> Bruce, what I like about the cracker, I like the texture. >> You know what I'm worried about? I'm worried once you go to flat crack. >> It's very, very, very good. You don't think so? It's fantastic. It's a really I mean food. I know it's a really good. >> Maybe I can make a kosher pes one for both. >> Salt and pepper one. >> I ate both. >> What I discovered is that egg kle crackers on pizza are not bad. >> No, they're good. Basically, they're not bad. You don't want them during the year, >> huh? >> You don't want a eggle during the year for your herring, you know. >> They just fall apart. >> Flat cracks. Flat. What are they called? They want to call a Kaiser or Flat Cracks. >> Kaiser is the brand. >> Kaiser is the brand. Flat cracks. So good. It's addictive. And we have CH Butcher. Our favorite restaurant in the world. >> They're on Troy Avenue. >> CH been there. It's good. And me in in New Jersey. local Argentina >> locally farmed American >> his own meat for this restaurant. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. And a butcher. He has a butcher shop. >> He has a butcher shop in Albany. And he has the fancy restaurants on Troy Avenue. >> Restaurant. What's his name? >> It's a Wy. No. >> Who's the owner? Kbakov. No. >> Yeah. I heard the meat's very good. >> And they also have frozen takeouts. All the restaurants. You buy these in all the grocery stores and they just put it in the oven. They have Moroccan cigars. They have Lakman bahang. >> I think in honor of the Iranian conversation, we got the Iranian stuff. These look good. >> Delicious. >> Looks like they're made by hand. >> Absolutely delicious. Ch Butcher. If you want to have Manhattan experience, if you want to get >> No, they're halal friendly. >> Where does it say that? >> It says halal friendly. >> Haral friendly. >> Glad kosher ch but ch butcher, which was the chure. So, it doesn't get better with the in the world. And um officially a throw obviously >> they actually just came out with the wine. >> Who? >> The the same family >> who the they came out with the wine. Oh, what? Come let them come on and talk about the wine. >> About the wine. >> Yeah, for sure. We're going to bring out the wine >> and to get to all these locations. There's only one way to drive a car in New York. You know how to get a drive a car in New York? >> How? >> You get a car from wheels to lease. >> Oh, of course. >> Saul Hershkup. You call SA or my friend uh Izzy Herman from Wheels to East. The deals are getting better by the month. >> They have >> deals are good now. >> They have deals. They have cars for 200 bucks a month. You could get a car for 200 bucks a month. All one >> really. >> All in $200. Nissan Sentras. They had they were running. >> You could get a Pilot now in the Fors. You could get a Sienna in the Fors. Personal cell phone number. >> You give out a personal cell phone. >> Sure. >> 8452139508. When you call to get a car and tell it's in your driveway, how long do they say it usually? >> Speedy speed. They really have cars for $200 a month. >> 200 bucks a month. >> A least car for 200 bucks a month. I don't know how they do it. I don't know how they do it. They know the deal or they know. They know. They know. >> I remember that five, six years ago. >> The minivans are down to 400. The other seats in the 400s. >> It's crazy. >> Brand new. >> People are getting second and third cars just to keep in the driveway. It's crazy. >> Well, you can't keep in the driveway in New York. >> Wheels. >> You have to get out of the city to do that. Bruce, what what is makes a successful takeover when when some like you mean say you need to have leadership? >> I'm going to be very honest with you. I haven't followed the war because of the last two weeks as carefully as I wanted to. So I don't want to speak out of turn and things are changing all the time. I'm trying to catch up. I would just say that I think that this war is much more complex and difficult to achieve victory than I think it was portrayed in the first few days. >> What about Lebanon? What's going on in Lebanon is crazy. They seem to be Iran got weaker, but Lebanon seems to be shooting rockets at Israel all day. We were driving here today. I got a buzz on my phone. There was still rockets coming in from Lebanon. And the Lebanese government says that they're fighting the uh the the but >> you have to know a little about Lebanon. >> Yeah. Lebanon is a country >> made up of a bunch of groups. Lebanon is not a regular place. Well, I mean, it's like America. It's all different kinds of people, but we're America. It's different. We have a different ethos. Lebanon was a Christian country up until I don't know probably 70s and then it started >> similar to Iran used to be a modern country until 79. >> No no no religions for years and Lebanon was a Christian country >> and then it had a big Muslim population split between multiple groups and had a big Jews population. The country split into three groups and they fight with each other. The Israelis have always had allies amongst the Christian community and then the Hezbollah was the Shiite community and then you have the Drews who are mixed into it. It's a complex country where there it's always the ability to have a civil war where it's a very difficult place to maintain. When the Christians ran the country, it was the Paris of the Middle East. I mean, if you look at video of Beirut from the 60s, I mean, it was it was it was European. It was beautiful. The architecture along the Cornesh along the coast and Beirut was one of the most beautiful cities in the world. And then when the Muslim extremists and the jihadis and the Hzvala and the PLO planted themselves there, it's devolved into this. It hasn't been the same. >> Wasn't that Chiron thing? Shhata and >> Chhatilla and sovereign during the Lebanon war versus the PLO was a different thing. >> Lebanon's just a mess. It's a lot of these countries. >> So what we're losing boys, we're losing our boys there. The soldiers are getting killed. Last week I think four soldiers were killed. We go in. It's a hot mess. We're not doing it right. Obviously >> it's not not doing it. War is hell. Harry Truman used to say people think war. You just roll in and just take the place over. Bruce, what's your opinion about the Israeli situation and what do you think the path to to quietness and peace and everything? >> Mashia, >> I have no idea. >> No opinions >> on Israel. >> Yeah. If you were the prime minister, what would you do? >> I think you got a little cracker over here. You're loving that cracker. Maybe you're saving it for later. I don't know. >> I saw it. >> It is a good cracker, right? >> I can't see. I can't see my beard. Must it out? >> What's I'm asking a question. You're asking me about what's solution. >> Yeah. >> I don't >> I don't know what the solution is. I don't think there's a solution. I'm a labaturer. The rebba had certain views on and you know those those >> which were what >> were you know you have to protect the land of Israel at all costs. You have to protect the people was a real thing you know the the the completeness of the land. Um it's a very difficult you know listen Israel is the holy land. It's an intense place kind of like New York intense but on a spiritual way. And there's a lot of intensity there. I mean it's the headquarters of multiple religions you know you know the you know the old city of Jerusalem is broken up into four pieces obviously the Armenians >> four three Christians Arabs and Jews who's the fourthian Armenian their own >> Armenians have their own quarter but they're >> what are they considered what are they what are they >> Christian but they're so why are they not the regular Christian >> because they came there years ago they had their own subgroup within but >> they're like mashist and anti it's like >> no Armenia was a country they were chased out they were always persecuted they landed them in Israel they have a lot of very stores that make um carpets and fabrics in Jerusalem and and you can go to those stores. The Armenian quarter is very close to the Jewish quarter. I'm sure you've walked through the Armenian quarter and gone into their stores many times. They're known to be very honest in business when you buy stuff from them in the old city. They have a I believe I don't even know. I went into that's what the guy told me. So, who the hell knows he was selling carpets. Um we didn't buy one. What am I doing with >> He told you that he's honest? >> No, we saw beautiful. No, they have they they don't they they're they're they're fine people. They don't there no troublemakers over there. What I'm saying it's it's a very intense place with a lot of people who want to have a say in what the future of the region is going to be. >> Um it's I don't know I don't have a solution to the problem. I I have a friend I worked not a friend when I worked for Rick Lazi when I first got into politics over 25 years ago 26 seven years 26 years ago now um there was a lady who volunteered in the office at night. I was 22 years old and I would talk to her. She would like make calls because in the campaign office you make calls. They're like, "Hey, uh, call vote for Rick Lllio. You know, election day such and such." So her husbio the one that ran against Hillary Clinton. I remember I remember I must have been 15 years old or something. >> So I worked on that race and this lady and I were talking, I forget her name. And she said that her husband had worked at a political consultant firm in the 80s and now it was her ex-husband and we're talking about Israel because I was writing a position paper on Israel because I was working in research and I would just write position papers on all different kinds of stuff like one pages just quick reads if we wanted to brief the congressman or the congressman before a meeting or before an event. So I was doing the Israel position paper and I was talking to a colleague out loud and we started talking and she told a story that she remembers when she was younger and she was still married to her husband. She said that Henry Kissinger came to their house for a dinner party in Asia and Henry Kissinger was asked by some guests at the party um what he thought the solution to the ArabIsraeli problem is. So what's the solution to the problem? So he said when there is no solution there is no problem. It's very deep. Israel the Middle East this may be how it is always going to be. there may not really be a solution which is why the Rebba was very firm in his convictions on and the strong defense of the state and no concessions because concessions weren't going to breed safety and it's painful because people like me also grew up in the 90s during Oslo and I grew up in a background where we liked Oslo and we were very excited about the prospect of a piece of court at the kid I wasn't raised Levage and you know my day school made a big assembly and you know my we had Palestinians I mean I I interacted with people who were from different views and I went to college and it was a different era and I don't think our children are going to know about this era that there was this like brief lull where people thought that there was really a way out of it and I think it's painful because I'm not really sure there is and I think the Israelis realize there's not that way um and I think that the countries in the region realize it's not that way and obviously people are frustrated by the reality that there's no real way out but it doesn't make it any less painful I mean obviously we wish there was a I don't know if there is. I always say maybe there's going to be, you know, maybe it's with with with the coming of Msiah. I mean, I don't know if there's any other way to solve a lot of these disputes. I mean, you know, people like Kitakin and others get criticized a lot, but a lot of them were very well-meaning. They really were trying to solve a problem that, you know, that didn't really have a solution. So, in in doing so, they made the mess worse. >> So, again, it's like the people with the peso program when they open the program, they have good intents. No, they have good intentions. They want to do a great program, but you know, the the consequences of their actions aren't always thought through that well because if you're not going to like this this infamous >> Wait, wait, wait. But they're hiding behind influencers. I want we have to discuss the influencers. Very >> how much responsibility do the influencers have? Mia and Mishi are we, if we like it or not, we're influencers. >> More than more than an apology. They don't have I don't think >> unless if they were partners. >> No, the opposite. When they get involved, if if somebody comes over to me and says, "Do you want to start promoting my dangerous gun that we're going to sell to children?" NO, I DON'T WANT to promote a gun to children. It's dangerous. Do you want to promote this wine that's not approved and it doesn't have liquor licensing and it could also like kill you and it has bad ingredients? No, we want to promote >> Yeah. But >> we want to promote crackers. >> Yeah. But but a lot of the businesses that come to you and they promote like, you know, a guy will come to a food product, you'll eat it. Yeah. >> And then three months later he does a run and everybody gets Salmonella poisoning. Like you didn't do it with >> Salmonella. He has a factory. He goes, "No, my question is like this. You open a program, you hire two famous guys to make noise for you." >> I believe these owners if these owners sat down with this influencer before the planning eight months ago and they told them their visions and they meant well that they were going to be able to execute it. Okay? They were thought they would execute their plans, right? It didn't work out. Now, the influencer went in knowing that it was a disaster. >> That's one thing, but I don't know how many of the influencers went in knowing that much, and I don't think that they were told that. So, it's not really a fair >> Can I just give you an example? Mishi and I went, do not say the name. Mishi and I went to a future corporate sponsor of our show today. Yeah. To his main showroom. He has two big showrooms >> with tens and tens and tens of millions of dollars of products. Everybody knows his company. He's doing this since 1989. He has dozens of staff. He has millions of dollars in showrooms. He's an honest guy. He's a family guy. He's a Rav also together with his business. These are the companies I WANT TO PROMOTE. WHY? NO. WHY YOU GETTING AWAY WITH APOLOGY AFTER you ruined a thousand people's yiff? You >> know how much money NBC News and ABC News and the New York Times took from cigarette manufacturers and alcohol providers over the years? I mean, it's a business. They take. If you pay, they take. >> No, I'm not pointing fingers. I'm asking the question. I'm pointing fingers. I'm asking you question with the influencer would be with the real critique would be the failure to the would be the failure to acknowledge and to try to sugarcoat what happened. That's the real problem >> which is happening. >> Well, because because I don't know why it's a stupid move. Obviously, they're sympathetic to the owners and they want to show some difference to them as I would too because I don't know these people, but I have I find it hard to believe that they woke up in the morning decided they wanted to run a scam. I think that they they got in over their heads. You know, Shimmy Wernern told me a story once at KMR that the first year they opened their Kosher Mountain retreats many many years ago, they didn't know that much. >> So, they ordered food and they didn't realize they needed people to unload the trucks. >> So, they unload trucks themselves. Obviously now that's not going to happen. I'm saying you you learn from experience. The question is is if you're going to open that kind of business, you need to hire somebody who knows what they're doing. So if you think that you're going to wake up one day and say, "Hey, I'm going to open a peso program by myself and I'm not going to hire skilled people." You know, the first you my program is only as good as the people who work on it. >> If the I only have two hands and two feet. I delegate out almost everything. >> So either you saw where you had >> 100%. I except on different I'm saying if I'm going to delegate everything out I better make sure I have skilled people to delegate to and if I don't then we sometimes have to make decisions to replace them or to move them to other positions if we like them which are more suitable to their skill set but I have to hire skilled people. If you hire a guy who says don't worry I can cook for you and he's never done it before that's on you. You're you know if you hire >> you had the guy from the Yankee Stadium Jacob Goldberg. >> Jacob works for me. >> Yeah. Used to you used to be the chef at Yankee Stadium at the Legends. >> Jacob runs my dairy kitchen. >> Wow. >> Everyone in my kitchen has a different person. >> Legends. I went to a Legends game. >> Jacob used to be >> Nussy. My friend Nussy. He manages to get on to every single show. He gave me two legend tickets. I took my son to the game. Lamb chops, grilled chicken, potatoes. I felt Do you know what it feels like? >> I've never been. >> Do you know what it feels like to sit at a Yankees and eat lamb chops? >> Yankees. Um um Boston lamb chops. >> Baby lamb chops. And and all the food is free and all the drinks are free. >> It's not really free. It's >> No, I didn't pay. I didn't pay. >> Well, you didn't pay, but somebody paid >> because Nussy gave me two tickets. >> I'm saying you you you know, you're gonna hire these people who open this program or any program. You have to hire skilled people to do these jobs. >> And FDX, the Sam Bankman Freed, just to let you know, his celebrity endorsements came from Tom Brady, Jazelle, Steph, >> Super Bowl ads, everything. So, just in case you're always wondering, Kevin, >> the problem is is that after it happens, you can't sugarcoat it. Don't sugarcoat it. Like, you screwed up. I made a mistake. These people screwed up. >> So, you're saying I should take everybody's money and if there's a problem, I I shouldn't sugar coat it. Just take responsibility. >> I think the influencers should take responsibility. >> No. How much do I'm asking about myself. People are going to accuse me that I pointed fingers at anybody. >> I'm sure you're going to end up taking sponsors, but someone's going to screw up. >> Maybe I already did. Maybe I already did. I'm only as good as my next peso. I don't know what's going to happen. >> No, my question is is that how much due diligence does an influencer have to do >> as much as an advertiser? >> Hold on one second. We're an hour and 20 minutes in probably. You just said that there's millions of details that go into running a PES program. >> So if you're going to endorse somebody that never did it before, it's almost like you're setting up for failure. The guy doesn't know what he's doing. >> Do they interview these people and say >> from Culinary Depot, I once interviewed him in front of the Shen Bell Harbor. He said, "Do not go to any hotel pizza program where the the guy running it hasn't done it for five years. Stay away." >> There are listen now I'm going to tell you the simal. >> Yeah. >> The the example the opposite. >> When Joey Alahham from Prime Grill opened his program, >> doesn't he own a lot of restaurants? >> I don't know where Joey is. I think he's hiding. >> He used to own I'm saying he used to own a lot of >> Joey opened from Prime Grill when Prime Grill was the what reserve cut is by miles. Reserve when he was the king of the universe in those days. Okay. He was the king and he opened the peso program. I think it was 2015 in Lagouna Beach at the then St. Reges Hotel. I think it was at the St. Reges. >> That was his first year program. >> He brought in a superstar. He brought in a superstar. >> Oh, there wasn't enough food. There was a huge scam. >> That year was one of the best. >> Oh, I'm mixing up another program. >> Programs that's ever been done. >> I'm mixing it up with one of the >> And he hired skilled people everywhere. Everywhere he he did a program, he hired skilled people. >> We didn't pay any of them. >> I don't know that part. I'm saying the program was magnificent. >> Bruce, what am I mixing up? There was a program where they didn't have good food and enough food and then they owned a lot of restaurants. They told people they'll give them credits if they don't sue them. >> Do you know what goes on in my kitchen if if the food's not good? >> You have no idea what will happen if I'm not happy with it's not pretty. >> Give me my staff is petrified. >> Give me an example. >> Screaming, yelling, banging. I will go nuts >> because my view is I staffed properly. I bought properly. I bought premium product. I gave you enough time to cook it. I'm expecting it to be proper. I didn't ask anybody to take poor quality meat with rancid vegetables and three hands to cook the food. You said you need 12 guys, you have 18 guys, no problem. You want this? No problem. My goal is I want how do I get to this good product? How do I make Kaiser crackers? I want the good crackers. I want to get there, right? So, what do I need to do to get there? And then I have to figure out how much to charge to cover it. I'm I'm working backwards. I want premium product. >> Reverse logistics. >> It's reverse logistics. So to get to premium product, what do I have to do to get there? How much do I have to charge is the last question you ask at the end. Premium product. I only buy American meat. With exception this year, I had there were some things I had to get for certain barbecues, whatever I couldn't get. But 98% of my meat is USDA. 98% of what I buy. Which is why people should go to CH Butcher. >> Correct. It's all USDA stuff. If I serve a rib steak, it's USDA. If I serve uh short ribs, it's USDA. If I'm serving hanger steak, it's USDA. At least most of it. I think there was a couple on the edges. I got basiosa from Argentina because I need a bio for certain clients. >> USDA is also bigger meat, right? You can't do on the bone if it's it's >> you can get from Mexico on the bone, but the quality is poor. >> Okay. >> Anybody who tells you that all the meats are the same is that's already a scary move. You can't afford to pay for it. It's very expensive. But I'm I'm a premium food program. I'm buying premium product. We're serving premium. We're serving premium wine. You want a bottle of Herzog Napa Valley wine at my program whenever you want it. We have it. The Napa bottles. The Herzog special reserve. >> How much is that in the liquor store? >> 55. >> Wow. People are just taking to go. People taking to go Bruce to the rooms. >> My bookkeeper tells me, my CFO tells me, he says, "It's crazy. You put out so much wine that Napas are just sitting on the buffet. No one even took it. Like there's a lot of stuff but we're we're charging for it. That's >> what's the theme cover, but I'm charging for it. It's not like I'm a stupid person. I'm charging people for a premium product. I'm giving a premium product. You know, if you're charging, that's why I'm so in awe of what Lady Fagens does at FFH because he's charging a much more affordable price. And he's giving a pretty good product, like a solid, reliable year-over-year product at a fair price. I mean, I have a little bit more room to wiggle. Bruce, I don't expect any good food from caterers in general, but when I go to a restaurant, there's expectations. >> I have great food on Pesa. >> Do you have When you go to a wedding or bar mitzvah? >> Yeah. >> Do you have any expectations from catered food? >> Do you expect them to have 500 steaks in five and served in 20 minutes and it all tastes great? Like you go to a restaurant. >> We try hard. >> Is it? >> I built a We built a plating room. >> Oh, I heard that. I was at a wedding recently and the steak wasn't so good. I mean, I still ate it. Don't worry. And a guy told me, "What do you expect? They have to prepare 500 steaks. They can't." >> So, I'm putting out I'm putting out on a 1100 person dinner. I'm serving 1100 steaks and I'm hurting 1100 hanger steaks or whatever. And the food is good. >> How does it compare to I don't know Lamarie across the street on par >> or better? >> Wow. And they're doing >> I'm putting I'm buying a probably a better steak than >> Yeah, but they can make >> I'm probably buying better meat than here. >> Hold on. You can't do 1100 steaks, right? I'm sure you're making >> systems of putting the food out. What is the system for a steak if you need 1100 people? >> We only cook at medium. >> You cook at medium before >> every steak is cooked medium. >> Hold on. What time is my steak at 7:00 dinner being made? What time? >> Yeah. >> 11:00 a.m. 12:00 p.m. >> It's probably Well, no, we we mark the steaks and then we finish them and then we leave them in the hot box so they have a little more time. We we we prep it to get to a certain point. I can't say every steak comes out perfectly medium, but I'm aiming for medium. And then for those who want medium, well, we'll take the steak back and finish it. If you're eating medium rare, I may make two or three on the side just cuz I want to be nice, but I don't bother with it. I can't I can't do temperature. >> So, you're starting the cooking process 10:00 a.m. for a steak for dinner at 7:00, >> probably. >> So, it's already on the I don't know in the grill. >> No, you're marking it. You're >> a little bit on the fire. >> You're putting on the fire to get the color on both sides, but you're not cooking it all the way through because later on you're going to >> How many steaks you put on them at once? >> I mean, we have a team of people doing it. It's hours. >> Huh? >> We have grills. We It takes time. >> Huge grills. hundreds of people. >> So you're making the route today and then you put in a hot box. So it's basically unwarm. >> Once I get it at close to medium, then it goes into a hot box. It gets wrapped. >> It stays there until dinner is served. >> So your steak is being made 10:00 a.m. versus you go to a restaurant, it's made 10 minutes before from the beginning. >> But there's I'm buying premium quality meat. >> I understand. But that's why you I don't expect >> Listen, there are way I put out awfully good food on Pes. Okay. Okay. >> And you're saying on par? >> Yes. or or better >> or better in some cases. In some cases, >> even though it's sitting in the hot box for the whole day, >> it's not sitting in a hot box. It only goes into the hot box 20 minutes before hours of dinner service an hour before. >> We're not putting it in 4:00. >> Is that the processes that you're saying? >> Correct. We're we're building a process to get to the point that >> you said it starts at 10:00 a.m. >> We mark it. Has steak has to get marked. The most complex steak we make on pes is the filet. We take a ribeye steak, we cut it up, we shape it, we wrap it, we tie it, we mark it, then we put it in the oven. It's a process. And then it comes out and it looks like a real fillet even though it's from a from ribeye steak. >> It's like a thick high only comes from the back part of a cow. No, >> we don't serve real flaming eye. Not allowed. That's >> do allow. No, >> I think are more lenient in Israel. >> Yeah, they eat with the rice to eat the back of the cow. They do whatever they want. >> No, there's ways of >> And then they do for a month to do all the chuva for all the stuff. Everybody knows what goes on over there. >> Whatever the butkas are taking the back of the cow rum. Yeah, we don't do that in America. We would have Ashkanazi. >> So what are we missing? What's the best part of the back of the cow that we missing? >> The fillet. This the strip. >> So I go to restaurant. They'll have it all. >> You go to when you go to Israel, there are restaurants under that have the back of the cow. >> They do >> 100%. >> Interesting. >> 100%. >> Like what? I don't eat in them, so I don't know. But I know that there are restaurants. >> You grew up in Montreal. You're like half a Moroccan. >> No, I'm not a Moroccan. I'm from Montreal. From the other side of town, but >> what% what percent of Jews? Montreal. Moroccan. >> I don't know if the Moroccans eat the back of the cow. I think it's the I think it's the Syrians and the Yemenes. I don't know. And the Egyptians. I don't know if they >> What percent of Jews? >> Because they're descendants. >> Montreal. Half of the Moroccan. >> I don't know that. You'd have to ask someone. Uh, today it's mostly >> mostly Moroccan. >> Yeah. When I grew up, it was the other way around. It's evolved. When my father was a kid, there was none. I mean, up until the late 60s, it was only Ashkanazm after 67. >> Did you do anything besides a PES program? Maybe a Kaneka program until I lost a lot of money and then I stopped. >> What happened? >> Uh, it was after October 7th. People didn't want to was was the timing was bad. >> Would you try it again? >> Maybe if the schedule works. >> No, because I have such a good experience in the PES program. >> The Kaneka program is from I I I lean to the right more. >> I love the PES program so much. And one of the things I love the most is the sharim. Amazing Shirum. I literally go to Sherim all day. Like Chase Town gets Marowitz. >> Gets Maritz. >> Yeah. Dinner on everything. There's lectures and sharim and everything. Dinner from JLI is fantastic. >> Dinner's a nice guy >> and the food is amazing. So I was wondering imagine you could take that together with KT and go to like a week. >> I did Kaneka. It wasn't it wasn't a big money maker. >> Why? >> I think Bruce's crowd his >> Why you should make more money less wine. is not going >> Why? I don't >> They're not going for Kaneka. They're not going for my clientele if they're going away, they're going to sukus in Israel. >> They're not going to pay a program. They're going to Israel. My clientele is in Israel. >> They don't celebrate Kaneka that much. >> In Kaneka, no, they'll go to Florida or their home. Remember, a lot of if Kaneka doesn't come out the right time, it's kind of hard to take off. The only thing is kids are off school. Shabas Kaneka, I did I've done it three times. Um the last time I lost a lot of money and then I didn't do it again. I lost because it was after October 7th and people didn't feel comfortable. It's amazing now that wore off. People are going away and doing stuff and there's, you know, most Israelis spend most of pes in bomb shelters. >> What do you think of this? >> We don't even we don't even think about what's going on there dayto-day. The kids weren't in school. I mean, >> what do you think about this new phenomenon about this like this Tyler guy? They go from community to community or Jewish community. They pull out their camera and they start asking questions to get everybody all riled up and to become whatever these guys that there's more than one of them. >> Are we supposed to answer them? Ignore them? Like move on? >> Well, I think I think you can answer them. I just think the person who answers them should be skilled at answering them. >> No, but it's not fear. They stop every They stop every random guy in the street. It's just so they're so >> he makes good points on some things. He just comes to the wrong conclusions. You know, >> Tyler Alivera isn't going there with the intent of doing research. He's going with the intent of of of of >> stirring the past. >> Stirring No, a little more. He wants to shame a certain community. It's easy. They're they're an easy target. So, he goes after the and he goes after Lakewood. And he didn't come to the five towns. >> Why does he come there? >> You want to invite him? >> No, but I mean, what what would he come to the five towns? >> Upper class hardworking people. upper class hardworking Orthodox yeshiva families who who who are not really on food st >> Kylo Ara stop being a coward come check out the Jewish community in the five towns where they're all working hard >> think it was strategic that he went after Lakewood Monroe >> it's easy they're easy it's easy it's easy prey you have a lot of you have kyo families who get a lot of money and they they they live differently I mean you know you could say what you want about the orthodox Jewish community if you're from the outside there's no real crime that the schools are the neighbors are not dangerous. Nobody's scared to walk through a Jewish neighborhood anywhere in America. Okay? We don't we I mean, you're just not um they're safe. They don't stir up trouble with people when they come through. Um you know, nobody is ever worried their car is going to get carjacked in the parking lot outside of a supermarket with their keys in it. I mean, you know, you have to be fair with this stuff. You know, Tyler Oliver wants to look at the community. You know, you want to put all the bad things. Look at all the good things because our communities are wonderful. You know, I run a pes program. We serve wine. We have wine open bars all the time at every meal. I've never had a fight. I've never had a brawl. We've never had to call security to separate guests. We've never seen violence towards guests. Now, I'm not saying other people do, but when I booked weddings in the past, and I booked some weddings for people in certain hotels, there was a clause in the contract. You have to hire an outside security guard because of the fights that could turn up if people drink too much. >> You know, I didn't see anybody fight on Sat Night after you have no security. >> I have security, but I don't have to have security to to protect the guests from each other. Whereas, you know, I'm saying there's a lot of things about our community and our culture and our way of life that's very admirable. And, you know, we have big families. We we encourage our kids to go to school, to get good educations, to live moral lives. I'm not going to say everybody who's Jewish runs the most ethical business and is the most honest in what they do. There are people in Jewish people who do bad. There are Jewish people in Otisville, okay? And they're not there because they got lost. All right? There are people, but as a culture, we have a lot to be proud of. And if you're going to have somebody come into your community and point out all these things, you should also point out all the things where your community excels. We we excel in a lot of stuff. I mean, not just in finance and in business. We excel in phil I always talk about philanthropy. And I went around I haven't found this hospital in New York that doesn't have a name of a Jewish person on it. Ken Langon named NYU. It's very true. But I mean other than that, every facility in NYU is Pearl Mutter this or or Pearlman that and called Cornell, >> Goldstein, Goldberg, you name it. I mean, Jewish people have donated tremendously to the the grow the greater good of New York life. And we have a lot to be proud of. And and >> Minkoff and Tish and all these names I could think of. Yeah, >> there's tons of them. And what have they built? They've endowed museums and hospitals and and educational institutions and philanthropies and and and and poverty programs to help people. I mean, we have a lot to be proud of. So, when Tyler Vera comes and he wants to point out, hey, there's a lot of people on food stamps. There's a lot of people getting benefits. There's a lot of people on Medicaid. They are, but they're qualifying within the within the legal parameters of the law. >> There's no Minnesota uh situation happening. No one got arrested. I'm saying no one got arrested after >> I'm not going to say everybody's perfect, but I'm saying when you go after the young Kyle family and they get married and it's part of their culture for a year, they learn in coal. So yes, they're going to get benefits to help out while he's learning because that's their custom and it's available to them legally. They're not doing anything scandalous. He's earning a very modest salary in coal to learn for the year. His wife is working in a school at a modest salary and they need a little help until for that first year of marriage. Like why should the taxpayer subsidize it? It's a good question. If the taxpayers didn't subsidize it, somebody we unemployment but it's available. >> Unemployment is subsidized by the taxpayer. >> What? >> The unemployment unemployment is subsidized by the taxpayer. >> No, it comes from your unemployment taxes in your >> So you pay your own unemployment. >> Correct. >> So if you lose your job and you get paid unemployment for six months, you're paying your own really. >> It's a pool. It's a pool of money. It's not your >> It's a pool of money. And when you qualify, you get it. The sports stadium employees, they all claim unemployment when the season's over for six months >> continuously. >> It's like a whoohole. >> You know what I said? >> It's not so ethical. >> So, is that maybe Tyler? >> Everybody's claiming. What do you mean? You know how many hotels have all their employees in in luxury resort destinations, put everybody on employment after Labor Day. They don't bring them back until April. >> Right. So, Tyler should come there. Why are they all milking the government? >> That's a good question. >> To run their options, whether it's the hotels or the sports stadium. >> A lot of people milking the government. The question is why the government's allowing itself to be milked. >> No, I just I >> that's the real issue is who you makes life really expensive. You can by the way you can't milk anyone like you can milk the government in New York and California, Massachusetts. You can't milk in California and Texas like this. I mean in Florida and Texas and Alabama there's nothing to milk. And by the way, there's a detriment to that because in those places you have more poverty than you do here. >> Isn't I don't know what you have. It's not I don't know anything. I have no idea what he's talking about. He said he knows about Sam. >> Did you meet Tyler Oliver when he was there? >> No, maybe. But Clown was just recently offered to do a live stream with the guy Bazooka. >> I don't know. Somebody called me up. I want to do a live stream yesterday with a guy that's coming to check out Crown Heights. I said, "Who is he?" He's like, "He's very anti-Israel and maybe you'll put him in the right track." I said, "I'm not I'm not meeting with no anti-semite to make him. You could I could call up Bruce. I don't want to deal with anti-semites. >> What's going to happen? What's he going to say?" >> No, because then I'm going to get blamed. you should have said this and you should have said that then you could have very true okay so I'm not staying away >> you know the rebba didn't like the the debate of um in the old days it was always debate with >> interfaith dialogue was very against it was against it I'm staying away >> because it doesn't achieve the goal you want and it only opens it's like it's like negotiating with with the Palestinians it it sounds good on its merits but it ends up making things much worse after the If you thought that something positive would come from it, I think >> the may have been for it, but nothing positive ever comes from this because if you win, you lose. >> If the rabbi embarrasses the the gala, >> they're going to they're going to they're going to beat up the rabbi anyways. >> If he loses, then like you can't win. So why would you enter into that? Like it's you know Tyler Olivera, is it worth being with him? I think a lot of those people are well-meaning with a lot of built-in stereotypes and prejudices, but I also think that a lot of them could be pleasantly surprised in contrast to the guy with the 72 hours >> who >> who joined the Frank family and the freedoms. You know, that guy did the video. >> I wasn't there. >> Who's that? >> I don't I don't go to these things. >> I forgot what another YouTuber came to Sukus and Gran Heights. >> But he wasn't known to be a bad guy, he wasn't. No, he was a good guy. Okay. There's some good people in social media. >> Yeah, for sure. Great feedback and I keep people keep on sending me the video. >> You just you know what I'm talking about. >> Yeah. >> 72 hours with the Freedman and the Franks. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I heard about it and I I couldn't make it. I was busy that night. >> Which Freriedman's? >> My My brother-in-law and sister, they they had a famous YouTuber check out their house on Sukus. They have a big party going on there. >> My nephew asked me to come. I was busy. But whatever. I'm saying it's not it's a cultural it's a cultural thing. What do you think about A1 A1 Party Rentals? One of our corporate sponsors. They put up Where were we in Floyd? Where were we? Two weeks ago >> in Canari. >> In Canari, they put up, >> you know what they not only not only are they well priced, they put up like a a 50 by 180 tent dome >> in Canari near I don't know what >> for a politician made an event. They built an entire building >> holiday event. >> They built >> a dome. A dome. It was round. >> It was not round. It was like a like a huge tent with green carpet and chandeliers and it was gorgeous. One of the most beautiful beautiful events. >> Here's the YouTube channel. The discover connection. What kids are we interrupting? If you want to make a beautiful event, A1 party rentals will make the most beautiful events for you >> and they're well priced. >> And they're well priced. >> Bruce, what do you think the cause of anti-semitism is? >> I think some of it is instinctive. I mean, I think Dad Eban Tanya writes, you know, that people don't like you, they don't like you. >> But I do think that it's gotten progressively worse. I think when I was a kid, I always talk about the Seinfeld analogy. The once upon a time Jews were very popular in the 90s during Oslo's, ironically. Um, Seinfeld was the number one show on TV. Jewish culture was everywhere. A lot of the shows were Jewish in their theme and that that's over. I mean, we're not really wellliked. We're not very popular. Um, >> why so? >> I mean, a bunch of different factors. We're a minority population that does better than than most. You know, Asians have a lot of the same problems we do, just in different capacities. They struggle a lot because they work they do too well in school. We had this conversation with the school with Styverson. They were trying to get rid of them from test gradings and all that stuff. >> They're very tough. You know, other nationalities and groups don't get in and the Asian kids are working hard. Most of their parents are not of means, especially the ones that just came here and uh the system is rigged against them really. I mean, you know, anybody who's doing well, nobody likes anybody too successful. So, Jewish community in America is very successful financially and politics and academia and the arts. So, it's going to stir up jealousy and prejudice. >> I think we have some fire questions because we cover the uh the stereotypes with the minority communities that do well. What's with the midterms because you're like one of our you're like our >> Republicans are going to get slaughtered. >> They're going to get slaughtered >> unless if Trump does something masterful, they're going to get slaughtered. >> Mike, >> win the war overnight. There's a new regime there. Um gas is over $4. >> If it's $2, I mean, Republicans could win. >> Still not going to help. Listen, it's hard for an incumbent to win even when things are good. So, all the all the more so now, it's even worse. I mean, if Republicans win next year in the midterms, I think Republicans are going to lose some Senate seats. I think they're going to lose some governorships. >> Um, I don't think it looks very good for Trump right now. >> What about 2028 president? That's different because after the Democrats win back control of Congress, then you're going to have the flux of this kind >> kind of there's going to be the flux of them going, you know, JD Vance is going to run. Marco Rubio may change his mind and run and then there may be people you don't even know about today who run. You know, I always say the guy who's running, you don't always know who he is right now. May just pop out of nowhere. I don't think people saw Barack Obama in 20 or 20. >> Oh, you had a major fear eight months ago. You had a major fear. You said that JD Vance is not going in the right direction. Where is he today? >> He's the same. I mean, >> he's still catering to the anti-semites. >> I mean, everybody has to cater to the anti-semites. They have to win the midterms, right? They're 25% of the vote in the Republican party. 25% of Republicans at least like Tucker Carlson and like Candace Owens, >> even after Trump trashed them last week. >> I mean, now Trump is getting angry because they're attacking him personally. So, now it's getting vicious and JD Vance is going to choose sides. But I mean there's going to be politicians in the party down ballot who are going to be trying to walk the line with that and they're going to distance themselves. >> What does down ballot mean? They're competitive and they're >> congressman state senators, Senate races. You know, when the president's popular, everybody clings to his coattails. And when he's not, they run like mice. They fly. When the president has no coattails, people are gone. If the president's really not popular by the midterms, he gets attacked by people in his own party. And everybody's going to just say that they had nothing to do with him. They're going to pretend they have never saw him before. Like I told you, politics is not the for the faint-hearted. People are not going to attach themselves to this president if he's not popular. They're not going to. If his numbers, if his approvals are in the 30s and the war's not going, >> where's his approval rating today? >> I don't know. It fluctuates. Depends on do the polls, 30s, 40s. I haven't seen anything in the 50s in a while. >> Not good. >> I mean, he could turn it around. He could win the war tomorrow, get the Nobel Peace Prize. Everything can come home. They can potentially gas can go down to $2. Growth can fly. The dollar can get stronger. I mean, there's a lot of it's it's a lot there's a lot of baseball left to play. >> But I mean, if the election was tonight, it's not good. >> Bruce, what's the relation between Canada as a Canadian yourself? >> I'm not a Canadian anymore. I'm American, but yeah, I was born in Canada. >> What's the relation between Canada and America in general? Historically, Canada is a country who's defined themselves on all the all the greatness of not being American. They've never really figured out an identity of themselves. They don't even know what it is to be Canadian. And they struggle with it all. That's why they're so they're so self-conscious. >> What would you do to change? >> I grew up there. I mean, we there was no greater joy for a Canadian kid watching sports than when they would beat the Americans at anything because we had to beat them because we weren't we just had to beat them. Like when we lost that when the when the when the US Olympic hockey team won that game this year. I mean that's a gut punch for Canadians. Like I spoke to people it was they were like they couldn't they were like they were depressed couldn't sleep. Like that's what they have. I mean what is the difference between a Canadian American? They're besides the fact that Canadians are more polite maybe in some circles. I mean what do they have that's different? >> Are the 90% of the cities 90% of the Canadian population? I mean, Toronto doesn't look like downtown Toronto skyline doesn't look like the skyline of uh Chicago or Dallas. I mean, it's not like our Canada looks different than America. When you cross the border, other than the fact that the roads are crumbling because they they especially in Quebec, you know, the roads are bad the second you cross the border. I mean, these places are dysfunctional. I mean, Canada has a lot going for it. They're nice people, but they've struggled to figure out how to define themselves. And now that Trump has given them the cold shoulder, and the Canadian government, >> your wife is Canadian. What does she say about those? >> She doesn't care. >> She's She lives here. She's not involved. She doesn't have kids. >> What? >> She says it's too cold to move there. >> Yeah. But it was a wonderful place to grow up and there's a lot of wonderful people there. But I mean, what does it mean to be Canadian? >> No. Like what's the relationship? >> Canadians what it means to be Canadian? >> No. What's rel I asked the relation to Canadian American? You're saying they're just happy. They're better at hockey. They're good to go. >> It's a good relationship. I mean, they get along. They like to go to Florida and vacation. They like coming to New York to go shopping. Trump we like to go skiing damage that relationship now there's like hostility though >> oh no you damaged that relationship that relationship was already on the fritz for a long time Trump just brought to the surface it was like a it was like a blister below the surface that came up Canadians have always when they're when they're they love >> I was just there last week for a week >> they love to knock Americans they when I was a kid they loved to it's just they love to do it they really do it's a real thing it's it's like it's it's in the core they love to >> What do you think about bringing dollar to the US. It's my favorite store in the world. >> What's wrong with Dollar Tree? >> Disorganized. Things are flying. You go to Dollar, everything's so perfect. >> Dollar. >> That's the Rossy family. Larry Rossy owns it, I think. >> Perfect shelves. They have the best products. They curate like crazy. Looks like you're looking for No. When I was a kid, >> this squishy, hold on. This squishy in my hand. >> Mhm. >> Cost 175 a can, which is like$125 US. Any squishy in Dollar Tree does not last more than 24 hours. This already had for two weeks. When when I was in when I was in um >> Montreal, right, Montreal based >> when I was in Montreal as a kid and we would talk about America, it was always we love it, >> but we had to like find a reason to not love it too much. It's like part of the culture. It's like a real thing. Like it if you spend time there, you know what I'm talking about. It's a real thing. Like, oh, the Americans. Like I had some Canadians buy me for peso. like all the Americans, how much food they eat, how much this meantime, you're here. But I'm saying like it was it's a re like they're always looking for this opportunity to make themselves seem better and that's because there's a lot of anatomical I mean look when I was a kid we would brag what's the best part of Canada they would take polls as a child Canadian healthcare we have free healthcare we have free healthcare but it's terrible. Yeah, but now they have a problem. They can't even say that anymore because it's so bad Canadian healthcare. Like that was the thing. Like, oh, we have free healthare. >> My sister told me she did not have a doctor. Her doctor died. He got died. He retired. >> Didn't have a family doctor. That's due to some urgent care. >> My mother got wasn't feeling good once she was here. >> She needed to have a test, a cat scan or something. So, right away, we called it Sulla. TA took her to a very basic quasi ER emergency room on Long Island. They took her there. They examined her. They did all the testing on her. They sent her home with a clean bill of health within three hours. What she did in 3 hours in New York, including that solar ride, would have probably been in Canada like two weeks. I'm exaggerating, but not by a lot. The CAT scan was days. The testing was days. Getting a bed was days. Getting admitted was days. Leaving triage is days. It's it's not bad care. It's socialism run a muck. There need we have a lot of problems in healthcare in America, but because we still have the private insurance system with all its problems. There's still money flowing through to keep the things greased. In Canada, money is all rationed at the government level and it doesn't get there's no private funds going into it and there's no like why my monities hospital is not as good as city hospitals. Someone explained to me he says because my monities hospital most of the patients there are on Medicaid >> I had such I had such good experiences in my monities >> you did >> I had such good experiences their pediatrics emergency no not a penny in my life I don't even know who's in charge I'm going to tell you something >> when my father-in-law when I've needed an atala and I've had to take somebody I have literally called the head of hatsala that you'll help you go you take somebody to my man he's going to Manhattan >> I had pediatric emergencies >> so help you God >> there are pediatric emergencies there are pediatric emergency department. I've taken my children there over the last 12 and a half years. I asked all types of emergencies, stitches, there's that. >> So, they're amazing. >> The truth is their care for the elderly, if you're in the um geriatric ward, is very good also. And there certain departments they have are very good. >> I have a sister, she had six kids there. She was very happy. >> I never heard anybody had children that was happy. That would be the first. >> Brahi, you always say how amazing it is. I don't know. >> Cardio is very good there. >> All right. Whatever. I mean, if you ask local people, you only go there because you can walk to and from Burough Park to go to the hospital. >> I mean, there's no other reason to go there. If you call like RCCS or other places and like they're not going to send you there >> like you wouldn't go there like this is, you know, >> I got just taken over by the governor or the city and >> by the way, I'm saying this with like all my grandparents passing away there because they were old and not well and whatever. But I'm saying generally I thought the service there was good. I don't know. I've I I wish the hospital well, but I could tell you that they don't have the same money that the city hospitals do because of the fundraising because of the payouts from Etna and the fancy and Sigma and all the fancy insurance companies, they don't have the right ratio. >> They're they're too they're too Medicaid heavy and the Medicaid payouts are low. >> Interesting. >> Whereas the inter when the insurance payouts are high, right? So there's more money in the B city hospital. >> I personally had all my kids in WX Hill and I was super happy. >> Yes. which she should be because Lennox Hill is is where fancy people have their babies, >> right? >> So, yes, you should have been very happy because that's like going to the Four Seasons to have children >> and my mom is like going >> your B&H insurance and covered. >> I don't work there anymore actually. I was when I was Yeah. All of them were there when I worked there. Yeah. >> BN >> But can Why are you asking about Canadians? >> I just came from I was there for a week and you're from Montreal. So, I wanted to hear your opinion. >> Montreal when my father was a child in 1967 was the greatest place in the world. Nobody wanted to live in New York. You would never leave New York from Montreal in the 60s. >> You would never leave Montreal for New York. He missed. >> Never. >> Nah. My father learned in in New York in the early 70s in school for a year and he couldn't wait to go back. You would you would rarely hear that today. Maybe maybe now it's changed, but like in the golden years of New York when I was living when I first moved here in the late 90s. >> What's with the French there? The Could you give us a little background? >> It's only certain areas. >> This is the dumbest place in the world. They they are lovely dumb explain dumb >> the signs have to be in France French and >> only in Quebec right >> just a little history Canada was the parts that didn't want to join America they were the loyalist to the union f Que Quebec was taken over by the British it was originally a French colony when all the explorers came over from Europe to conquer the new world Christopher Columbus Jacqu Carte Samuel Champlain Verz you name it all these guys came Verzano whoever they were looking >> all the bridges >> all Well, all the Brit, >> correct? They're all looking to explore the new world. >> Quebec was founded by the French. There was a French colony. So, they all came over. They lived there. And then they lived, they built cities. Montreal, Quebec City, Torier to I speak French, for three rivers. Those are all French cities. Then during wars, the French lost control of it. And then the British acquired control of Quebec and it became upper Canada which was Ontario and lower Canada was Quebec. When the British took over they still had a very sizable French population who lived there. >> So geography wasn't. >> So they lived there and they stayed there and they were the families who built to stay there. The English because they took control were the elite. What does it mean they were the elite? It wasn't that there weren't French wealthy people. There were but they were the elite. They opened they built the banks. They took over Munch. Montreal was an English city because that's where all the banking was. Montreal was the most strategic city in Canada and was a powerhouse because of its location because of its location. I'll finish this quickly. >> Okay. >> Because of its location on the St. Lawrence River before the creation of the St. Lawrence Seaway, everything from Europe to enter into the middle of a country would have to come over from the Britain and then it would have to go down the St. Lawrence Seaway, St. Lawrence River through Montreal. When it got to Montreal, there was something called the Lashin rapids, which was these rocky waters. And when the rocky waters were there, they had trains there that would take all the goods from Europe. And then they would dis disperse it through Europe, North America, because the boats couldn't go on the Lucin Rapids. So Montreal became the center most power, one of the most powerful cities in North America for trading. So the English fought Montreal was an English city. There were still French people on one side of town, but all the money, all the power, all the banks, all the industry was English. English. McGill University was was an English university. All the streets had English names. All the fancy neighborhoods, etc. With the evolution of society there, the French had a revolt. When my father was a child, the English controlled Montreal. They controlled all the finance in Quebec. And the French the church collaborated with the English business people for decades if not a hundred years to keep the French people as church people who went to church worked in workingclass jobs and served at the behest of the masters because of money that was probably coming into the church. And then in the 1960s there was a revolution called the quiet revolution because there was no guns, there was no fighting in the street where Quebec elected a technocrat named Jean Lass and he revolutionized Quebec and he started this whole thing of Quebec nationalism. It never really existed before then because everybody was subservient to the church. And in that era within four years the whole pop province stopped going to church. They stopped being religious. So now the province was built on language, religion and culture. Now there was no more cult really church that was out. So the only thing they had left the culture they kind of lost because everything got subsumed with North America. What was left? >> Language. >> Language. And they built a gatka out of language that is literally like the tower of babble because they want to protect whatever they have left of being French kua. So they made it the everything >> like the >> everything is language. It was the o and because they were the majority they were able to use language as a cudgel to react to redact revenge on the English and for the better part of 60 70 years now it has been nothing short of a horror show for English people who lived in Montreal. Now why did Jews get caught up in it? Because the church when the Jews came over in the 19th century they had to put them in a school. And in Quebec, the schools are split between the English Protestant schools and the French Catholic schools. And the English did what >> it sounds like. >> Oh, let me take a cup of water. >> Yeah, >> sorry. I thought I was saying close it out. >> No, no, >> as long as you want. >> No, but I'm almost done with this. So, they they needed something they needed something to to to protect themselves with. So I think Brangan calls for a kick. >> So they protected everything with the language. So they used language as their way of redacting revenge on the English and all the institutions that put them down for all these years. >> And the Jews in Montreal who came over, they were given a choice. Where should they go to school? They could have the Jews in Montreal could easily have been French speakers. All that would have had to happen was the Catholic school board in Montreal would have said we'll take them when they came off the boats and they needed public schools to go to but they didn't want them. So the English went to the Protestant schools and the Protestant schools are run by the English. So all the Jewish immigrants and all the immigrants who came after went into the English school system. But they have used language as a weapon to penalize and punish everybody. And it's gotten to a point now that that weapon is hurting themselves because economically they are not on par with their neighbors. Their society is not that strong. They are poorer. They're less educated. There are people who've risen up. But they have done this to protect whatever they have left of their culture because they abdicated everything else. And the Jews and the English speakers who were left there are dealing with this every day. And then when the separatists got elected, they said they wanted to make their own country in 76. And that was when the exodus started. Within within three years, 40% of English. >> So they should just shut down this whole French nonsense. >> I've always said that Quebec is a crazy place. My I my father tells me about the politics there. And it's literally like a modern-day helm with French people. It is the dumbest, stupidest people in the world. And the people who stay there own businesses and real estate. And they like their homes. They like their neighborhoods. But if you want to see dumb people doing dumb things, go to Quebec. The politics is bizarre. You get fined for signs. You can't speak English in a store. You'll get called to the They have a language police. They just they they're just doing dumb things. And they're lovely people. But they they >> But the whole Canada has this bilingual rule, not just Quebec. And all these the whole Canada you have to have French on. >> Bilingual is a normal thing. It's a country with two big populations. I respect that. Right. But to penalize a guy when you walk into a store and you and you you answer you speak to the client first in English over French, you can get a fine from the government for that. Even if the person's wearing a sweater that says Yankee Doodle Dandy with a New York Yankees hat and he's smoking Marboro cigarettes from America, it doesn't matter. They're you have to this is our culture. We have to defend our culture and our language. And they built a gout. >> It's their religion. >> It's it's rel everybody has religions. It's like secularism. >> Bruce, it's always a pleasure. was a lot of fun. >> I hope this wasn't too boring. >> It was perfect. People need geography on hour. We're here to educate the masses. Thank you so much. >> Thanks for the kick. Thanks for the books. >> Thank you so much. >> You didn't promote this book which next week. >> Okay.