www.wvwtv.com/bookstore 

This is a transcript of the WVW-Hour with Brannon Howse. To watch this full program please visit this link:
http://www.worldviewweekend.com/tv/video/americas-greatest-threat-how-power-grid-being-targeted-our-enemies-bring-down-america-part

In 2007 I began reporting on my radio program on the threat of an electromagnetic pulse bomb being detonated over the United States of America by such countries as Russia or Iran or North Korea. It is said that Iran has been practicing launching a missile off a cargo ship in international waters since, well, many years back, and if they could put a nuclear weapon up over the United States of America 10 to 30 miles up above America and detonate it, the explosion would create what is known as an electromagnetic pulse and would grab the curvature of the earth and experts say it would put down almost all, guaranteed all three of the power grids in America, and it could take months if not years to fully restore power.

Part of the reason is much of the equipment, these large transmitters, these large substations, transmission substations, many of those large pieces of equipment are custom built and must be custom built for every place in which they reside. You can’t just grab one and put it anywhere. In addition, these are manufactured in many cases overseas in places I read such as in Germany and in South Korea, and you're talking about a year or more to have them manufactured and then transported to America and then transported to the site location and then assembled. 

Can you imagine what would happen if hundreds or even a few thousand of these were damaged at the same time? You're talking about again months and maybe years before you have full power back on from one end of the country to the other. But do not take my word for it; we are gonna go to the experts, people that are highly respected and trusted. One of those is Ted Koppel. I don't know about you, but I grew up under the program Nightline hosted by Ted Koppel. I was probably about 11 years old if I remember correctly when the program Nightline was launched by Ted Koppel. 

It was during the Iran hostage crisis if you remember, and some of you were not alive then so you don't remember, but we had an embassy in Iran and we had American workers in that embassy that were taken hostage by Iranians, and they were held for many, many months. Out of that crisis was birthed a program known as Nightline hosted by ABC news journalist Ted Koppel. So from the time I was about 11 years old all the way through high school and out of high school I regularly watched, religiously if you will, Nightline. 

I am sure however that I would not agree with Ted Koppel on some important and vital public policy issues. With that said, I do respect his professionalism and his deep research on many topics. One of them is the topic we're discussing in this broadcast. Ted Koppel is the author of a book entitled Lights Out. It was published in 2015 and again I would urge you to get a copy. It's published by Crown Publishing, Lights Out: A Cyber Attack, a Nation Unprepared, Surviving the Aftermath. It's an excellent book and I highly recommend you get a copy yourself. He spent nearly two years and interviewed nearly 65 people, many of them national security experts, on the topic of the attack on the American power system. 

We're gonna play some audio clips, video for television. I played these on my radio program. We'll play some video clips of Ted Koppel being interviewed on many different programs about his book and help us to understand the great national security threat to our national power grid. I believe this is a public service announcement what we're doing in this broadcast and the subsequent programs, because most Americans are not aware of this topic. If they are, they only have a cursory understanding of the topic, and yet some experts say within a year of such an attack on our power grid that would leave the country without electricity for many months, nine out of ten Americans would die. 

There would be the issue of heat, cooling, food distribution, and then sanitation, because water would be unable to be pumped to higher floors to flush toilets. And so the disease and the lack of sanitation and food and the ability to grow food and farmers to run their tractors and to get the seed and all the things that are needed in our just-in-time inventory system in America would collapse and the devastation would be quite incredible. But yet the experts seem to indicate that such catastrophe or such death or harm is not necessary if people are prepared. Simple preparedness.

Ted Koppel asked a very good question. Why are our government officials not preparing the American people now for what he believes is inevitable? Why are they not preparing now? Why is our government more interested in a social entitlement experiment known as national healthcare? Why is our government more interested in the ever expanding welfare state? 

Why are our news people more interested in what is going on with, well, families like the Kardashians and what's going on in social media and Dancing with the Stars? The American people have entertained themselves to death, to quote the title of one book from many years ago, and they're not aware of the great threat that our country faces that many could survive if prepared. Again, in this program and subsequent programs I hope to provide you with the information as well as what you can do to prepare.

Even if you're on a fixed income we will show you ways that you can prepare for such a crisis as an attack on America's power grid. Let's begin, clips by Ted Koppel being interviewed on his book, Lights Out. Here's our first clip.

Interviewee:    What I'm talking about is a cyber attack against infrastructure, a cyber attack that could affect tens of millions of people for a period of months if not longer.

Interviewer:    Based on your reporting it seems clear from your book that the national security officials believe that this is a matter of when and not if.

Interviewee:    Exactly. In fact, that's a line that a man I came to know when I was embedded with U.S. forces during the invasion of Iraq, he is now the commander of SENCOM, four star general Lloyd Austin who said exactly that. It's not a question of if, it's only a question of when.

Notice what he said. He's quoting the general in charge of SENCOM, one of our highest and most strategic military intelligence services. It's not a matter of if, but it's a matter of when. Watch this next clip.

Interviewee:    We know, I say because the former chief scientist of the NSA told me this as did Keith Alexander his boss who was the director of NSA, we know that the Russians are in the grid. We know that the Chinese are in the grid.

"We know the Russians are in our grid and we know the Chinese are in our grid." My friends, we're talking about Russia run by at this time we're filming in November of 2016, run by Putin, a former KGB officer. Folks, make no mistake about it, Putin is your old hard line communist and China, well that's red China, also communist. Ted Koppel says that national security experts know for a matter of fact that China and Russia are inside our grid. That again is very sobering information. Here is the next clip.

Interviewee:    It is frightening enough that my wife and I decided we were gonna buy enough freeze dried food for all of our kids and their kids.

Interviewer:    In his book Lights Out, veteran journalist Ted Koppel paints a grim picture of a paralyzing power outage in the form of an all out cyber attack on the nation's electrical grid.

Interviewer:    Who are the potential perpetrators here? Who do we have to fear the most? Is it Russia, China, Iran, terrorists, individual actors?

Interviewee:    All those. The interesting thing, Chip, is the ones who are most capable are the ones least likely to do it.

Interviewer:    There are some experts who say they're already in.

Interviewee:    Oh, they are in. There's no question about it.

Interviewer:    They're into our grid.

Interviewee:    They are already in the grid. I was told that by the former chief scientist of NSA. He stated categorically the Russians are in, the Chinese are in. The Iranians may be on the verge of getting in, and then at the bottom of the capability scale folks like ISIS, terrorist groups.

First of all, notice he said that he is taking this information that he has learned in nearly two years of research so seriously that he has purchased freeze dried food for his family, for his wife, himself, his children, and his children's children. By the way folks, something I've not mentioned until recently on radio, in April 2013 I personally bought enough freeze dried food for my family to last several months because I too having researched this since 2007 believe it is indeed a major threat. 

I also wanna be prepared for other disasters: power outages due to natural disasters, tornadoes, an ice storm. I live in Memphis on the New Madrid fault, or near enough it that local news stations have routinely run programs on what a massive earthquake might do to those of us living in Memphis this close to the New Madrid fault, and many have been told they should be prepared. So there's many reasons to I believe be able to sustain yourself and not count on the government.

Ted Koppel believes this is serious enough he purchased freeze dried food as you heard for his family including his children and grandchildren. Well I did the same thing as I said in April of 2013, but I've never mentioned this on radio until last week. After mentioning it on radio, many people wanted to know what I had purchased and why, and I've purchased Mountain House food freeze dried, why? Because I ate the Mountain House food for a week at a time on more than one camping trip, canoeing trip from northern Minnesota into the beautiful boundary waters of Canada, and I must say going all the way back to high school and I'm now 47, I still remember the fact that we loved the food we were eating. 

So again, please understand I was a customer of them in April of 2013 and was promoting the idea even during these series of programs. Since, we've decided and have been approved to be a distributor, and we're offering at this time information about it in our bookstore and we think this is a great way for your family to prepare accordingly in an area of balance, and I think the keyword here is balance, don't go nuts, balance. It's a great way for your family I believe to prepare and also at the same time you're supporting the continuation of our radio and television broadcast ministry when you purchase it through us. 

Now if you wanna purchase it through someone else, go right ahead. You're free to do that. Either way I think you should be prepared. Now if you want more information on what we're offering, you'll find it in our bookstore at www.wvwtv.com/bookstore . I've also begun to add some other things in the bookstore that I personally also have researched, some of them for the last couple of years, and I'm now telling you about them in radio programs and in this television program and if not this one the next one.

Again these are in our bookstore and we're adding more as we review them. Some of the items I already have. I know what to put into our bookstore for you. Some items I'm reviewing now and testing before we put them into our bookstore. You can see what we have now at wvwtv.com/bookstore . I also in 2009 built an outdoor bonfire pit, and again I never mentioned this until last week on the radio here in 2016. But I built the outdoor bonfire pit because I had since 2007 been researching the vulnerability of our power grid, and so I built an outdoor bonfire pit. so that I'm able to then take camping gear like a grate, have firewood, start a fire, put a grate over it, put pots and pans, boil water, dump in freeze dried food. 

Others have emailed after the regular show and said, "Well what about water?" Again you might wanna stock up on water, but do you realize how much water is coming off of your roof? And in the spring of 2012 I purchased some items that allowed me to put those into the down spouts of my gutters and then to run a hose into a barrel that collects water, and I will show you that product in our next broadcast as well as tell you about just how many gallons, hundreds of gallons of water, actually thousands of gallons of water can fall on your roof in a given year.

You see these are very inexpensive ways to have preparations and to be ready. I go back to the fact that if our American leaders would actually prepare the American people for what could be coming just as they did during World War I and World War II, Americans could be prepared and we could make it quite well, but unfortunately we seem to be a Romans 1 nation. What do I mean by that if you're a new listener? Romans 1 describes what happens to a nation that rejects God over and over again. One of the consequences is you end up with a people that are fools. Romans I I believe it's verse 21 says:

    You become a nation of fools, vain, useless, and futile in your thinking.

Indeed, you also end up with corrupt, immoral, debased leaders at all levels. In fact, one of the consequences is a violent debased country. Part of the problem is if this had occurred 25, 30, 40, 50 years ago you wouldn't have as many deaths partly because people would know how to survive and be prepared, we wouldn't have all of the Internet we do today, but take all the technology aspect out of it and just be with the human aspect. Many people would survive because they would know how to survive. In addition they were a much more moral people.

You don't see the killing and the violence in the Great Depression that you would see today if such an economic crisis happened because I believe we have as Romans I described become a debased nation, violent and debased, and that's one of the consequences. That's one of the judgments of God. But we're in this situation partly because I believe we are a nation of fools and many of those fools are in charge of our government. They're vain, they're useless, and they're futile in their thinking.

Thankfully however, we have some people in government and former high-ranking government officials that are not fools. They're very wise. They know the threat and they're doing their best to warn the American people.  By the way, some of these people I'm not sure they're Christians, but at least they have common sense and they care about their country. You see this goes back to what I've said in many programs. You can be a good judge, a good police officer, a good sheriff, a good politician, a good local official, state official, federal official, and not be a Christian but still be a good magistrate.

This is one reason why I can vote for someone who's not a Christian but has the skills and the knowledge base to carry out the purpose and function of government. Reward the righteous and punish the wicked. So indeed, we see people inside our government and former high-ranking government officials that indeed may not be Christians, but they are thinkers. They are making good decisions and judgments. Unfortunately they seem to be the minority.

Most of America is made up indeed of a violent debased culture and fools at every level: vain, useless, and futile in their thinking. Ted Koppel even shares how the preparations at our federal government are so bad that high ranking FEMA members can't even agree how to respond to such a crisis. Could this be again? Could it be because we become a Romans I nation with vain, useless, and futile people at all levels of government? Watch this clip.

Interviewer:    I spoke to the two top officials at FEMA. FEMA is the Federal Emergency management Agency. It would be their responsibility to deal with the consequences of an attack in the immediate aftermath. The deputy head of FEMA who is a retired coast guard vice admiral told me that in his opinion in the event that a city like New York or Manhattan was hit, his response would be to evacuate. I said, "Evacuate 8 million people?" "Well," he said, "you don't leave me with much of an option. If it happens you've got to take care of the people and the only way I can see you could do that would be to evacuate." The next day I spoke to his boss and said, "What would you do? Would you evacuate?" He said, "Evacuate? You can't evacuate 8 million people. Where would you put them?" So just to respond directly to your question, the two top people at the agency responsible for dealing with the consequences of an attack like this cannot agree on what they would do.

So even the leaders of FEMA can't seem to agree how to respond. Does that tell you the necessity to prepare on your own? In one of our last clips we heard Ted Koppel mention ISIS or terrorists seeking to impact our power grid. Here's an article from the Washington Examiner. The headline is "New ISIS Threat, America's Electrical Grid. Blackout could kill 9 of 10." Former top government officials who have been warning Washington about the vulnerability of the nation's largely unprotected electric grid are raising new fears that troops from the jihadist Islamic State are poised to attack the system leading to a power crisis that could kill millions. "Inadequate grid security, a porous U.S./Mexico border, and fragile transmission systems make the electrical grid a target for ISIS" said Peter Pry, one of the nation's leading experts on the grid. 

By the way, Peter will be a guest on my radio show tomorrow and I hope to have him on this television program soon as well. The article in the Washington Examiner goes on to say "Others joining Pry at a press conference later Wednesday to draw attention to the potential threat said that if just a handful of the nation's high voltage transformers were knocked out, blackouts would occur across the country. By one estimate, should the power go out and stay out for over a year, nine out of ten Americans would likely parish" said Frank Gaffney, founder and president of the Center for Security Policy in Washington. By the way, Frank Gaffney is also a former I believe under secretary of defense for the Reagan administration.

At the afternoon press conference, Gaffney dubbed the potential crisis the grid jihad. A lack of electricity would shut off water systems, impact city transportation services, and shut down hospitals and other big facilities. Fresh and frozen foods also would be impacted, as would banks, financial institutions, and utilities. Peter Pry provided details of recent attacks on electricity systems and said that ISIS could easily team with Mexican drug cartels to ravage America. 

He told secrets for example that Knights Templar drug gang blacked out the electric grid of the Mexican state of Michoacan in 2013 to provide cover for killing those fighting the drug trade. "The Knights Templar and other criminal gangs in Mexico will do anything for money, and ISIS, the richest terrorist organization in history, has hundreds of millions of dollars at its disposal," said Pry. By the way, since this report I've now read a new figure that says ISIS has at its disposable up to $2 billion. That would allow them to hire the needed experts if you will and the off-the-shelf equipment as experts are saying to attack America's power grid.

The article goes on to say, quoting Peter Pry, "ISIS could hire one of the Mexican cartels or one of their criminal gangs already in the U.S. or activate jihadist terrorist cells already in the U.S. and inflict a multi-state blackout immediately within days or weeks, perhaps even a nationwide blackout" Peter Pry explained. By the way, the article concludes by saying, "The Texas Department of Public Safety recently said they believe there is evidence that ISIS plans an attack."

I'm bringing this to you now because I increasingly feel that we are more vulnerable than ever before, because I have uncovered more and more information that shows our government has no intention of getting ready. I love the people that watch our TV show and radio show; many of you I know personally. Many of you I may not know your name, but I know you when I see you. You have attended our conferences many, many times, enough that I know you when I see you. Many of you I can tell you things personally about your family that you have told me and I remember them. 

Some of you in fact are shocked when I remembered details about your family, what your kids are up to that you've told me about, the school they went to, what they were majoring in, the job that you maybe the father hold. I've shot some of you because I remembered many of those details about many of the people that have regularly attended our conferences, and so I'm concerned. Yes, for many years I've said nothing about my own personal preparations because I feared that people would say, well, I was being extreme.

I must say when I see people like James Woolsey, former CIA director, the former assistant secretary of defense Frank Gaffney, and news journalist Ted Koppel along with former Speaker of the House of Representatives Newt Gingrich publicly speaking on these issues, it gave me I believe the freedom to say yes, it's time to do programs and tell people that this is serious. It's serious enough I believe I'm sharing with you my own preparations that I have done for the last few years. Please understand, my purpose is not to cause you fear. 

We as Christians are not to have a spirit of fear and of weakness but be of sound mind, yet the Bible has an awful lot to say as we will see in coming programs about being prepared for hard times, putting away, and yes, being able to share with others who have need. So let me stress once again, this program is not to scare you and to elicit any response from you other than being aware and making reasonable and common sense preparations. That's the purpose. I hope you appreciate the research and the spirit in which it's delivered. 

If you would like to see some of the item we have reviewed and put into our own personal emergency plan please visit our bookstore at wvwtv.com/bookstore 

We will be posting transcripts of the next program shortly so please check back soon at www.worldviewtimes.com 

This is a transcript of the WVW-Hour with Brannon Howse. To watch this full program please visit this link:
http://www.worldviewweekend.com/tv/video/americas-greatest-threat-how-power-grid-being-targeted-our-enemies-bring-down-america-part