Situational Awareness

you say no? We should do a co party with the scrubbing in Michael No. I was so excited to just even be like again nominated and with them. I love both those girls so much much fun. I think we have we have the party in Nashville because both those girls want to go. And I've been texting both

those girls like crazy to how much fun would that be? Seriously, because honestly with me, literally I've been talking to both for those girls this past week, like I'm like, oh my god, I love you, congrat some gonna love you congrat like and then we're like, let's do a Nashville trip, all right, an l a party in the Nashville party. Well then if you are, of course you are. We got time those shows not till November, that's true. We can do a party in September. Yeah, we could do that. Yeah,

all right, Daniel and I are on it. We can also do a party in October, November, where December or January that's after to everyone's in, keep on, keep them, keep them coming. So we can have another party in December January to celebrate then winning again. Getting older. Yeah, but here's the thing though, it's not I don't feel like Dak Shepherd's people vote. It's like it's the Bachelor nation that votes because it was you know what I mean, I really do. But who knows. We'll see you got

anything you want to talk to me about there? Let me answer this if you well, I don't think we've ever touched on this. If there's one thing that you'd want to do in your life that you've always kind of thought like answer in another life, and I'm gonna I'm gonna actually gonna make this more difficult for you because I know you're going to is gonna be I wanted to be an anchor women. Well, that's like my

third thing on my list. Okay, why do you say like that, I want a women because and then like the home videos that you show me when you're like twelve, that's how you're sitting. I'm Janna Freemer recording Lifeless News. Pretty much that. Um, so, what is it that you would like to do or would want to do in a different life. What do you think it's going to be besides um an in person? Well, then you kind of live in your dream because you're an younger person.

For extra, extra extra, you're gonna see Jana on your hotel room TVs. Hey, guys, I booted Mario Lopez out. I'm Janna Kramer, Janna Kramer this week on demand puppy pause. Um yeah, so what would you want to do? I just guess the anchor UM Eastern give me a good guess. This is I like to play the guests and game. I like to play games. I want to play more games on the show. Like, what what have you always

wanted to do? Like a pipe dream? Like, uh, let's see, I could see Jannah being like a secret agent, martial arts expert, that kind of thing, like a black widow type. I like that. Um okay, so my number one would be, well, what I've always wanted, because that's what I've always wanted to do, right, Yeah, just something that you you've always kind of been drawn to, but your life went in a different direction. But yeah, what would you want to do?

I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna change your question a little bit, and I'm gonna I'm gonna say what I would have, what I still would love to accomplish in this lifetime. Not the question. Yeah, it is not a question. Okay, fine, So I'll answer your question and I'll answer mine. So what I would want to do in another lifetime. I would want to go into politics, and I would want to be a political figure because I loved current events in um, you know how people get like like House

of Cards, people are like scared of you know. Characters like Robin would be my Janna would be the real life like Robin White, Robin Robin, Right, Yeah, that would be my dream. Like would you want to be a mayor of the city or would you want to be I would want to run. I would want to go because I loved politics when I was in high school, I loved it so much. So, I mean I I did extra credit homework, so that my UM homework us in my current events class, they still use my like

extra credit project. I did just because I even just wanted to come in and talk all about George Bush and so, Um, I was so excited because I got I won the trip to go to the capital, and I was living my best life, just like being in the capital, being in that room. It was just maybe we passed each other on a field trip back then. Maybe you were in the senior in high school. I was graduating sixth grade. Yeah, but in this lifetime, though, it would be Um, I've I would love to go

to college and get a degree in UM psychology. I would actually love to get a degree in psychology too. Well, you can't take mine. No, I took a couple of psychology classes in college, and I wish I would have focused on that. Yeah, but that's awesome, Michael, what's yours now? And then in another life, since I did too, since I added my question into this one, Um, in another life, actually applings there since he made fun of mine, Since

you made fun of mine, just called me Carl Winslow. Um, Yeah, I mean, after this numerous time, it's probably even on here. I'll probably even say it later today because we have an amazing guest who has a background in military and special ops. But I've always been drawn to law enforcement and not just being a cop. But fbi CI just something like that, you still can I'm thirty two? Does that matter? It's like you like are like sixty when you say it's like I can't take up piano, I'm

thirty two, Like that's no, that's not true. Just think about where you could be at a Dixie too. You know you're not sixty, You're not dying. You're thirty two years old. Okay, I'm gonna quit everything we're doing and I'm gonna go be a secret what you want to do? Okay, I I think I said this before too. That ship has sailed because all of our ship is out there.

That doesn't That's not gonna mean that you're not gonna be able to do sweat because the undercover agent though, well anyways, so that But then, honestly, when I was a kid, besides I've wanted to play in the felt since I was like four. But besides that, in law enforcement, I always thought I'd be a really good teacher, like I love to teach and I wanted to teach either late elementary school or late high school. Elementary school like fifth grade, like fifth sixth grade, or late high school.

Probably late high school. But I just I don't know. I just always thought I would enjoy teaching. I would be a good teacher. Not middle school, because all those kids are well sixth grades middle school in some in some places, that's why I was, well, where I come from, is it really one through six, seven eight middle interesting? That's the normal way. I don't know if you if I see you being so, you actually see you being

more of a middle than elementary and high. My patients could not handle middle schoolers, but yet you can handle fourth and fifth graders because because their fourth and fifth graders there, you're still partly cute. Seventh and eighth graders. We all went to middle school. That's the worst time ever. Everyone's a head. Everyone sucks and stinks. Middle school sucks and stinks, and everyone's stinky and they don't really know

it yet. So people aren't really putting on either they're not putting on perfume, cologn or deodorant, or to put on too much. I think you, because I don't, you're not good with the cockiness, and you're not good with the shyness cockiness like if a kid was being yeah grade yeah, but I have a way to break through that. And what would you want to teach? What subject? When? When I had this dream, I wouldn't be a history teacher? History? Interesting?

So who won the Battle of Gettysburg? Your mom, Michael, No, I'm gonna quiz your history nous in school history and social sides? Was like my favorite? Who won the Battle of Gatlinburg? Gatlinburg? I don't know, do you you're the history teacher? Let me get some O. When did when did um Columbus sail around the world? And what did he realize that he's not alone and that all made

up answers, foes and the right answer? I see? I mean I could have said, kay, I would have known that the bat with him Um finally keeping check at him. I see. Actually it wasn't too far off. I did say when was the pilgrimage? Looks sick brush and is relevant? Because he said you wanted to be a history teacher? What history are you talking about? Anyway? I'm just this wasn't my dream. Now, this was a different lifetime, but you still have to have some knowledge like I have

knowledge in mine were yours? Again, I don't know it's give any more. Okay, Well, I'm really excited because I just heard that our special litterally literally our special guest is here. So um, let's take a quick break and

then we're going to intro our guests. I know Michael and I both can say that this is probably going to be one of the coolest interviews as we've had one like this yet, and no offense to our other guests was we love all of our guests, but this is just something that's I'm so excited because it's very um how do I say, very relevant topic that we've been discussing the house and um, you know, our guest has been through a lot, so I'm excited talk about

the journey. But then also the things that we want to know more about be safe too. Okay, Michael, I'll give you the let's welcome before I give the elevator pitch. Mr Aaron Cohen, alright, elevator pitch here, elevator pitch. I'm gonna go to my nets just so I don't mess anything up. Aaron is a former Spec Ops commando of

turned bodyguard turned actor Little Mr. Everything. The age eighteen, you're volunteered and selected to serve in the dubbed an the Secret Israeli Commander Unit operating undercover and in disguise inside Palestinian territory, which was designated to infiltrate terrorist cells. So you've done everything, So you're just a you're a you're a badass. Yeah, I love it? Where it? I mean, this is something, Mike, I mean, this is what um so.

I was in the unit that dresses up as Arabs to go undercover to kidnap terrorists to bring them back to Israel. Wait say that you dressed show. There's a show on Netflix called Felda. Felda is blowing up. It's in its third season, I think, right, and it's the unit that specializes in dressing up as Arabs for the purpose of infiltrating terrorists neighborhoods to kidnap terrorists to bring them back to Israel for trial and interrogation. So in

the first American to ever serve in the unit. And there's a show on Netflix called Falada, which is like with Leo Roz. Yeah, totally blowing up right now you get a picture of it. There and uh, it's the the number one show on Netflix right now and the reason why is because it's in Hebrew and Arabic and all the Arabs that hate Israel love the show because finally like getting to see behind the curb a little bit. So um, yeah, I did that for seven years. That's fast.

That was like your dream, wasn't it, Mike, Well, just I've always been I'm have a sports background, played professionally and stuff like that. But my biggest thing, like, once I retired, I even thought about doing law enforcement, because that's just been That's one of those pipe dreams for me. I've always wanted to serve in some kind of law enforcement. So yeah, but the but here's so I was all for it. I was like, babe, go. He even went to the to the what's that called you're you're a

former football player? The fantastic so but he was like, well, babies, like the kind of law enforcement I would want to do is like I would want to be the ones like breaking down the doors and like yeah, like I like I told her there's this unit in Nashville where we're living at the time, and now we're back there and I don't remember the name of it, but it was basically the squad that kind of does all the you know, the down and dirty stuff. That was my

next job. I spent the last fifteen years training SWAN teams in the Israeli methodology of Active Shooter Response and uh c QB or Forced Entry for High Risk Warrant Service and hostage Rescue. Do you have a family? I do? Was your wife terrified? My fiance I met after the military in my career. She still is kind of terrified with the stuff I do. But she likes all the acting stuff now. But I think she likes the more

badass stuff, do you know what I mean. She's like, she's like, Hollywood's cool, Like she loves the Hollywood stuff. I hate the Hollywood stuff. I like working in films because it's so much more fun. Like I'm like blanks versus bullets. It's like the blanks, um. But she likes me because of the real stuff, because she knows the Hollywood stuff is nonsense. And do you know what I mean? I feel safer with me because of the fact that

I'm a reserve deputy. I carry a firearm. If I'm in a movie theater, I can respond to an active shot which leads us to this thing. So I have terrible anxiety because well I've had anxiety for a while, but I recently had anxiety attack because I went to a target and I was with our nine month old son, and I had just read a story about a baby that passed away and the you know, the arms of a mom who was at the Walmart um in El Paso.

And the second I was in that target, I was just like, okay, how am I going to protect my son when a shooter comes in? And so I told my about my panic attack and how I had immediately left target, and and he was like, you know what, babies like I've been thinking too, and I want to talk to you about this is like, would you be okay if I got to carry a carry carrying license?

And I was just like a million percent, you know, to to protect, you know, just to know that we can at least protect ourselves and people around us if something like that were to happen. It's just it's a scary reality though too, to have you know, what's how do you how do I guess? Like is that is that safe? Address it? Let me address it. That's a fair question because my fiance gets gets anxiety allso she

hates going out. I've got Amazon boxes at my door every night because she doesn't want to go to the grocery store. And that's all I do. And listen, I don't carry this knife, don't get too far from the mic for self defense. I carry this to cut them, to put them into boxes so I can get them into garbage. I literally bought and just like that for that reason. So let me address that. So my primary job, like I said, for the last seventeen years as a body are and then after not eleven, a tiny SWAAN

team in the middle of nowhere called me. They're like, do you do the Israeli thing? Can you train us in? That turn into like three thousand police officers and military units all over the world. We traveled and Tom, here's my training coordinator, and I'm all for it, but you gotta get to training. The average law enforcement officer has to qualify once a year, once a year, and they shoot maybe five thousand rounds in the academy. In my unit,

it was five thousand rounds a week. That Special operations great. Same thing with Seal Team, same thing with rangers, same thing with Delta Delta is even more it's at at a more extreme level. So my unit, which is a Tier one unit like Delta Force or like dev Grew or Seal Team six um, which these units have come to to come to the movies more with With with Mark Wahlberg and Marcus Lattreelle and you're you know, we're seeing more of the Special Operations community. You gotta get

to training. What I mean is in Israel, anyone who's issued a firearm has to go through a minimum of forty hours of training, which involves everything from point shooting, which is behavioral based. So if you're stressed, what's that going to feel like? One? Two firing in and around the crowd? What does that look like? When I bring in to the Americans, they look at me, They're like, dude, you're out of your mind. We could never get away

with that. And my answer is that's because the liability of not firing into a crowd is still greater than the liability of firing into a crowd. So until that becomes congruent and there's more active shooters and terror attacks, there cautious about the types of things. They look at with me, But then at the end they go, You know what, that's really smart. Carry the pistol, get the permit.

But to get one is easy, you know, as long as you don't have a felony and fire a few bullets at the range of whatever it is you're find. But you have to train like an animal so that while you're carrying with your wife, with your kids, you have some blocking capabilities like a bodyguard and how to cover them, and how to work into a crowd and how to find a single threat with a crowd of people running around? Where was it a Walmart? The way that was episode? Where were you when you so targets

like the Jewish Walmart? That's like the jappy Walmart. I'm a jew, I can say, okay. So so it's the same vibe though, right, Like there's gonna be people running everywhere, and they're all gonna be running towards the exit, and your instinct is gonna be running also. But law enforcement has to run to the threat. So if you're gonna do it, just get law enforcement great active shooter training and there's more of it now than everyone. If you want to be be in touch with me and I can

connect you with an agency in Nashville. You said, you guys are so everyone's training is getting better. Just make sure you get a lot of training. And it's like you know, in football, everything is like designed to make it so it's real when you're in the place. He's the football animal exactly, and we call it dry fire. The same thing you have to be doing drills under stress, your heart rate is were what happens to your vision tunnel vision, what happens to you're hearing auditorious sclusion in

normal reaction? Right, the same stuff that you do in football, we do with a gun. So just take that and put that on the range and if you want, I'll make you guys a menu of some of the stuff to start looking at training and after you get the department and then you feel a little bit better. Yeah, because at the end of the day, it's not making her happy because she's not happy, you're not happy. That's

going to go. I just would love to be able to go shopping and or go to the mall, or go to the freaking church and not feel like, okay, because this is it gonna happen today here, you know everything, because it's like you can't go any church, malls, schools. It's like not theater anyway. So I just I want I'm gonna I want to get off the topic. I want to talk about your new movie. But I just not even know if we can talk about it. I don't want to get political, I really don't. But I'm

just curious. You know, they say, because I don't want our guns to be taken away. I love the right to bear arms. I think that's, you know, great, But when people say, when they talk about like Australia and there's been they don't they can't have guns. But then there's no But people say, well, you can find the guns. Even if you take away the guns, people are always going to find the guns. Well, then why haven't they found him in Australia. Why haven't there been any shootings. Listen,

you're never taking guns away from Americans. We don't have a we don't have a second Amendment. In Israel, everybody serves in the Israel Defense Forces. So between the ages of eighteen twenty one, every man and woman picks up a rifle and does some type of national service in the Israel Defense Forces. Um and nobody has a gun out of the army unless your law enforcement so I again, I don't think you're ever gonna take guns away from Americans.

And I think the Second Amendment is so we even into the culture in the fabric of this country because let's just cowboy, it's a cowboy country. We've founded this whole kind I'm Americans, So this whole country was founded on the ability to be able to defend yourselves. And so anyways, you're not getting the guns away from Americans. But what you can't legislate and get tighter on is the mental health restrictions and making sure that people who

have mental health problems can never get a gun. I don't have a problem with making sure that people who own a gun should be checked and make sure that they're checked and maintain that checking so that there aren't mental health is just because everybody knows it's a giant mental health problem. Here kind of being muddled with a gun problem when it's sort of a combination of the two. Um A RS or no a RS. I don't want

to get into that. Uh, you can do just as much damage which with a pistol as you can with an a R. Can you do more than you know what I mean? That doesn't have most of the shootings we see here with the a AR because they're higher cap mags and the bullets firedcon is supposed to supposed to nine ft per second. The a R is more lethal. It's just it's a fact. Do you need an a R in your house where I use it for home defense? Probably not, because I would want frangible rounds that don't

go through walls and stuff. Um, but um, I want to be careful with that because again I'm all four weapons, but the training has to be there. So if you're not getting the guns away from the Americans, then you can regulate the training and then regulate the mental health checks. In Israel, if you want a pistol, or you can't

even get a rifle. If you want to pistol, you have to live either like right near the border of Lebanon where there's terror attacks coming, or near the southern border in Gaza, and it's to protect your family from a terror infiltration. What's been the scariest thing that you've ever witnessed during all of your lines of work? Um, Right when I finished my pipeline in the Israeli Special Forces, in the counter terror unit, I was sleeping for like

three days straight. I couldn't move. I was so tired. And there was a monster terror attack and this was in nineties seven at a mall in Tel Aviv, and it felt like an earthquake because I'd grown up with earthquakes and I'm like in my underwear running with my m sixteen down the street with an officer of mine who I was living with on my team, and we were we responded to a deadly terror attack where twenty seven people were killed and it was like right outside

of the mall. And then at that moment I realized just how ugly the face of terror was because it has no name. It has you know what I mean, redbuddies, open target and yeah, and there were not eleven hit. After I was out of the army and I saw the planes hit the towers, I went, well, guess what, it's here. It's here. Unfortunately I'll have a career, but

it's here. So I would say that decent golf mall attack was was terrible because it was on the day of Israel's Halloween and there was like kids and costumes you know who were who were uh in pain and suffering and there's like nothing you can do. And then all of a sudden, all of our pages went off in the entire unit got called back, and then for the next three months we didn't sleep, just hunting down the architects of that, this terrible wave of attacks in

the nineties. I mean, this is the guy that you play on your video games, Like this is their real life version, the Jewish version. I mean yeah, I mean it's speechless in some sense just because all this, Like I could sit with you someone like you for hours, because I just don't even know what kind of questions

I would have. They just keep coming and coming. But to get back for our topic ab out you know, carrying everything, And I agree with you for sure, Like I wouldn't even feel comfortable carrying until I get enough training where I feel confident comfortable, Like you're not gonna get on the field, un listen, right right, I'm not

gonna go see if I don't know what I'm going right. Um, But for people that maybe either live in a state that has tighter gun laws or don't believe in in necessarily you know, weapons or guns to protect themselves, what would you advise people who want to still feel secure in some way without using Um, good preventative good question smart good preventative measures. Like everything has behavior before it actualizes.

So like, you know, my girlfriend is trained to look at the cars when she's walking to her car, because if someone's gonna follow you, they're gonna be sitting in a car. Look at the vehicles. When you pull out, you'll see a car. You'll hear a car engine turn on, So get ahead of it, open your eyes and look.

Situational awareness is like a real thing, Like you can Michael all the time because women are buried here and we're in such an Instagram culture, which is great for advertising because you can force feed them what you want infiltrate their cell phones with c I A level capabilities, you know, because everyone's on their phone now and we can advertise and make millions of dollars selling whatever we

want today. But you gotta get your head out of your phone and when you're walking and you're moving, have a look at where you're going. Another thing is download Find My Friends, Like there's all kinds of great trackings, now download it. You know, Like not only will you be able to find her if her phone dies, yeah then, but also if you lose your phone, you can find it for her without having the log on, you know what I mean. So, Um, it's just about getting in

front of the threats. So looking at cars when you're walking to your cars, stay away from the night stuff like don't be out at night. There's no reason anywhere in the world, you know what I mean. Crime thrives at night. That's where it breathes. It's like a fungus. Um. And um, I'm not a big fan of like self defense training to protect yourself because I don't think it's gonna work under stress unless you're like m M A

grade Jennifer for that moment. But if you put a gun in her hands and she's trained, it's the total tactical equalizer, you know what I mean. I don't care how big you are or if you're teo or tease. You come at her and she fires and put three shots in you, you're gonna go down. So there's a reason why you know, weapons exist for self defense, but you've got to be trained to be able to use them under stress. So but I've trained tons of women. You gotta see Heywire with Gina Krano. I trained Gina

for that movie. She's an m M A fighter. So when she picked up the gun. She was a natural because she could already, you know, do all this stuff. And that's why I started in movies. And we can get to that whenever. But um, you can learn how to shoot weapons. Everybody can and it changes. There's no difference between you two with a gun. Period. So great. So my first day with my fiance was she had no idea what I did? Do you want to go shooting? And I'm sick of this business. I'm like what she

must have stocked my Facebook page. I've got my stuff on there. I post him here and there and we went and then I and then I said, I sent the target like fifty yards down the range and I go, if I hit it, you have to kiss me in our house. I sent it back and I folded the target up like this big. But it's like, that's our story. That's fantastic. That So into the movies, right, you you worked on do you work on the earlier MBO to Rambour? Last Blood is the one? Yes. I was in john

Wick and I trained Keanu Reeves for john Wick. I did a portion of his firearms training, so he had about five different instructors he had. He can Machado. He had a whole diet of like really top guys and I was lucky enough to get in there for all of his uh concealed carry work and his room clearing work and um, so that was for John Wick two kana when I are still pretty tight and um he trains all the time, but it's a very perishable thing.

So that's another thing to remember with training, Like you gotta keep shooting absolutely it goes down. It's like, so sorry for you. What position did you play? Was a tight end? So what is tight end? Here's the football master? Catch, block, do everything. So you're like I used to be, like you have to be able to do everything everything, run past guys faster than you, block guys bigger and stronger than you, and catch balls. Yes, so that's the real deals.

He's a football like nerd um. So that's awesome. So John, I actually just watched John with three Parabellum, which was watched it. I told you I was going to, but I didn't care anyways. Anyways, So how how is that working with these do you find yourself where when you work with these actors more of them are are interested and locked in? Or do you think it's hard to kind of get their attention and be like, hey, no, this is It depends on who it was. So I

started off tech advising. Uh. In two thousand and eleven, that was my first movie. That was Haywire Um Trained, Gina Chrono and Channing Tatum before he blew up, like before magic might hit my kid. I was there in the room and he pitched it to Soderberg, and Soderberg was like, I would do that movie. It was like I got the stripper movie idea in Florida. It was like, I would do that movie. And I was like, dude, I just saw a hundred fifty million dollar payout happened

right like, and that was the real deal. Um. So uh. Most of the actors are into it because the action today has the bar has been set so much higher, Like throughout the eighties and the nineties was about like a single physique with Schwarzenegger Rambo, but then all of a sudden, after the Matrix changed everything, all of a sudden was about the action. So once John wu came in, and the child Skis came in, and and and the martial arts became the star that the level has just

continued to grow. So it opened up a market for guys like me to come in and bring great tactical training. So I did a couple of movies and then Soderberg put me in my first movie, which was Hayward and had a tiny of the role with like three lines. Did you love it or you just like oh my god? Like I was done. I'm like, wait a second, you're gonna pay me to do what I'm just like I can hustle this. I'm like I And so I did,

and so we're five movies later. Um the producers of Rambo called me up um asked me to join the law enforcement side of the cast, and Rambo's got a very contentious relationship with law enforcement, going back to First Blood with Brian Denny and he's like, listen, it's not a huge part, but it's important and we think you can carry this. Would you come and play the police

State Captain? And I did, And that was coming off another movie I've done with the same company called to eleven with Nick Cage, which is on Netflix, and I had a monster scene with Nick Cage and not like as that it's called to eleven because I just watched the Nicholas cage of the gun running one Lords of Lords we just saw. So they're turning that into a TV show. I can't I can't see anymore. But that's turning into a TV show and I'm going to be

working on that as well. Yes, be a Netflix series. Oh, I mean it was. I just I just find that fascinating. Just I'm like, I want to just go along with you. I kind of do you know. I'm like, I just I want to just for a day, I really truly good for a day. I would just love to just get in the inner workings of that and just see the messed upness of everything and how these people are getting those guns, and it's very interesting. I actually wouldn't want to sell the guns in the largest supplier of

arms all over the world. So yeah, just hanging out with like you know, cult American, Like America sells more guns than anybody. What are you the most scared of? Are you scared of anything? I don't think about fear. I don't you know what I mean. I'm just aggressive, you know, my my my fears. I don't know. It's a good questions. What is there to be afraid of? I could be dead already, I'm grateful and beyond scared. I'm happy. There's nothing that you just because like what's

gonna happen? But someone's gonna light me up in a movie theater on arms, I could bring it. You walked into the wrong theater. Oh I want you on every plane every like I want you. I want you to and then in and here's the exactly what I was just gonna say, is the same thing. Right in football, I wasn't scared because I was prepared. I knew what I was doing, I was trained. I have that mentality.

But the difference clearly between me and Scott is that you are trained and so in those scenarios like I wouldn't know necessarily what to do if I'm carrying that, but I had the mentality. Right. But that's the thing. It's like, those those kind of scenarios that are going on in the world in our country today, are I still have fear around them because at this current moment I am not. You need to catch up and right exactly, But it's that mentality that I just love. Well, you

were taught, as I was, how to turn fear into aggression. Yeah, and that's a and that's and that's a really important life skill. So I'm not afraid. I'm just like Antsie, like let's get more going. You know. I have to move at the pace of like the next thing and the next thing, like you know what I mean my fears that I don't get to do it all? What do you want to do next? I just want to keep supporting actors. I want to be like the next Tom size more without can I swear on the show? Yeah?

Without in all the nonsense that he's done. I just want to take his job because he's no longer welcoming that job. But I'm in that forties right there, which is like the sweet spot. I just want to support these guys because we don't have to carry the weight of the film, but we can be in like every one of them. We'll take it well. I I just I You're fascinating, So thank you for coming on and sharing your wisdom and love and guns and Rambo September theaters.

Have you seen it in its entirety yet? I have not, Uh when the premiere, I don't know if they're gonna do in l a premier. Um slides pretty smart. He

might do like some social media. Yeah, he's cool. He like yeah, he was like, so I got my sides and then it was like I shut up on set and and I was like, you know, like you know everyone's you know, they they're careful round slide because he's such a legend, and I wanted to run it because I've got a scene with John j He's coming down this hill and I'm like, I gotta talk to him and so many a couple of lines, but I'm like, I'm gonna go out to slides, so if he wants

to run lines. And I walked over and I go, hey, slowly, you want to run this? And he goes yeah, and and and then like I can't believe you the nerve to ask him, because I wouldn't. I could never do that, Like, but dude, it's so good to run this, Like gets make it good because he, you know, half wrote the script and he's you know, half directing the movie. He's like,

you know, a real filmmaker. And it's in Rambo. He's coming down on his horse and it's raining and it's like a ten dollars set up, and I'm like and I walked over to Slim, like yo, you want to run and he goes and I threw the lines and he goes and he goes, yeah, just like that, and I'm like cool, and then I went back to my mark and then it was like and then we shot it and then it was awesome. So and everyone needs to see it September. Everyone needs to see in September

twenty Um. I think this will be the final Rambo. But he's an incredible shape. He looks amazing. The knife that they picked for him is awesome. He goes up against the Mexican cartel, which isn't a new storyline, but it's new for John J. And this is Rambo like in the seventies. So you're gonna see some like you're gonna like. But we everyone they played it close to how it would really be, so it's a much Yeah, it's a much Rambo nine at the v A Right,

where's my money? Thank you guys so much. Okay, so this is what happens when you're in California because we're obviously um, we did our last podcast in California, last episode, and so now we know we're um recording again and we just had a visitor coming Pop on the show and I'm so intrigued because I just got a very snipped, small snippet of what this is and I just cannot wait to hear. So, Michael, would you like to announce our podcast? We have and I haven't known much about it.

I did a little bit of reading about it when I found out that you were going to be on. And I've heard of Dirty John, which is apparently like the most popular podcast ever. But we have Tara Newell from Dirty John, the original, the one that went through it all that everything was based off of. Here with us today, So just start. Okay, So my story is my mom married a con artists. This guy ended up

being a really bad guy. My mom left him a couple of times, and the last time that she left him, he ended up coming after me and trying to kill me. I was twenty five at the time. Yeah, so he tried to kill me and try to stob me. Well he did stob me, but I was actually able to get the knife and defend myself and kill me attacker. Wow. Have you done a lot of therapy? Yes, so much therapy. We're big therapy advocates, and I can't even imagine going

through something like that. Yeah. No, I've done actually um E M d R therapy. Yeah, and that's helped so much. But I'm still targeting all my triggers, so I'm still going through it. Did you do visual or audio e M b R um So I did it with the tappers and then you go through the event and then you kind of bounces a brown from image to image when you do it, but they're all correlated together. Wow, that's fascinating. Can I just add in one thing that

I love? Not love, that's a terrible word to use, but that's very fascinating to me about Tara is how you knew how to attack John because it's it's kind of badass. Oh the walking zad I watched a lot of Walking Za, so it's kind of like Monkey Sea Monkey You. And then you learn how to hold the knife correctly and to basically kill a zombie but kill a person basically the same thing. You know, Just what did you run away after that? Or what did you Okay?

So at first, when someone grabs you, you need to try to flee the scene. You need to try to run away from them because just to fight them your chances kind of go down. Um, So you try to run away and then if you're unable to run away, then you need to start doing anything you can to try to like defend yourself. Where I put my arm up, I blocked my heart, so he stabbed me on my arm, my forearm instead of my heart, and then I was able to kind of disconnect. I would scream. I bit

him as hard as I could. I ended up on the floor and just I used my feet and my legs, my thighs. You know, your legs are your biggest muscles in your body, your largest muscles in your body. So you've got to use what um basically you were born to do, because we have instincts as a human to survive. So in this case, I used everything I could to survive in that instance. I'm sure you've talked about all of this so much. How many years ago did this?

This happened three years ago. I just celebrated my three year anniversary, so it actually is still recent. It's pretty recent, but I feel like a good amount of time has gone by to heal. How did this story become dirty John? Okay, so it was at l a Times story and then it ended up into being a podcast. And what I mean,

like they just they nicknamed him Dirty John. Why I'm so his ex wife Tanya had that nickname for him, and when the show was coming to play, they were kind of thinking of like what should we name it in the podcast and stuff, and then she was just like, okay, dirty John. And that's kind of how they got the name. But how did it get picked up to be that? Like did she write it? Did she like, who got

this story to turn it into? Because I mean this is I mean, you know there's there's a lot of stories, not a lot of stories, but you know there's con artists and so it's like how to become that? Though, like how did it start to even start that to be a story? Okay, so I believe it was Hannah Fry from the Daily Mail. Not the Daily Mail. Um,

it was like a local newspaper. They told Christopher Gofford about it, and also, um, the prosecuting attorney who was supposed to and prosecute me if I were to be on the wrong side of things kind of Um. He told Christopher Gofford also about it, and then he became kind of intrigued by the story and contacted my mom.

And at this time it was like do we want to talk about this because it's such a traumatic, yeah, a traumatic experience, and I didn't want my name to be out there for something like this, but I honestly prayed about it and I gave it to God and I just had the answer that this was gonna help people, and it's actually helped so many people. So that's why I put my story out there and how it kind

of came out there. That's has it with As much as you talked about this, does it get easier every time you do or is it still something that just every time it's still just kind of hits that chord of triggers a little bit. Um there's a sense of me being disconnected to it. Now. I talk about certain things that I want to talk about. I don't talk about things that necessarily bother me, that triggered me, Like I'll talk about like the hospital that triggers me because

I'm scared to death of hospitals. And then it was like my personal space after being attacked and then going into intensive care, not intensive care, but the trauma unit. They touch you everywhere. And when I say like everywhere, it's everywhere and they're poking you with it was so that was kind of like re traumatizing to me. So that's the part that's triggering to me. And then just if I smell blood, then that's triggering. Why why did he come after you? I didn't not go after your mom,

like you know. He went after my mom the night before, but he was in unable to get into her apartment complex. So I don't know if he came after me the next day because I was an easier target or if I was just so when he was going after it from the beginning, because he had my Facebook page printed out, like where I worked. He called my work the day before,

so it was premeditated. We're during the whole like prosecute the process after the fact, right, we'd like to think that the justice system is going to do the right thing. But did any part of you have any fear of, well, what if they mess this up somehow? Like what if someone tries to manipulate the situation and they try to put something on me? So John has done that with so many other people, but I killed him, so I didn't have that fear of him turning that around on me.

But I did after a few months when I heard that the case wasn't closed. Then I was like, am I going to get arrested for this? But I was like I shouldn't because it was strictly self defense. I tried to flee away from him, I tried to run, I defended myself. There was nothing that I wanted to harm this person. What hurts you the worst with saying what you just said, um that I honestly had to take another person's life. But I remember that they're evil

and that helps. Yeah, I mean you shouldn't. Hopefully you always remember that because you know, I come from an abuse, abusive relationship who he tried to kill me, and I remember, like you know, but they make you think that it's your your fault. So I just want you to not twist that that's my only And I'm sure, I'm sure you've done so much work, but well, thank you for

sharing that with me. Also, I respect that it's just you know, there's such evil people out there and people need to be aware to look out for red flags and um the signs because there's so many cases that women are abused in you know, their person that supposedly loves them tries to harm and kill them. Do you work with any shelters like Safe Horizon. So right now I work with Safe Passion, Safe Passage heels Um. I am doing a five k run for them on September amazing. Well,

thank you. Is any of this, Janna, Is any of this triggering for you? Yeah, I'm but in a way where I'm like, because she got out, we got out, and it was like it could have been so much worse. We're survivors, but but I just I can't imagine, like because I tried to fight back, you know, I ended up getting like choked where I lost breath, but you know I couldn't. Yeah, I just to know what you

had to do the extra level. I mean that just you were you were surviving and you you know, you saved your life, and I just the trauma with all of that is just very overwhelming, I'm sure. And yeah, I mean and just thinking. I mean, my guy, my abuser was he was a complete conartist, and he had million different last names, and it was in jail for things I had no idea about, took out credit cards and you know my mom's names, and you know, we had no idea about any of it. So it's just

the list adds up. You know. He was targeting my mom before we even knew. He took out so much money, and he took out like three hundred thousand dollars of hers And it's just so scary because people are out there and they will do this to you. Yeah, and it's just but the women, that's it's just the staying in it is like the hard thing because it's like when you're hearing like, oh yeah, I got back right after he said I was gonna you know, right back to his bed right after he said he was gonna

kill me. But that's so the cycle, I know. And that's what if anyone any women and men listening, because it is both ways, you know, um that you that's hardest thing. I don't even know what to say because I'm like, when you're in that moment, you don't know, like you don't, you can't you can't see until you're out of it. Yes, No, it's really hard to walk away. Yeah, he's part of the trauma, to say, prize, And that's where I wouldn't wish I would have. He was part

of the trauma. Maybe also playing the scenario like what if, like what if you didn't you weren't able to do what you had to do. Yeah, she would have died, right, I feel like make up. I don't know. I haven't experienced something that traumatic, but is that part of your trauma is going through and like, what if something the negative consequence would have happened? I mean, now you're going

to make me cry. I'm it was just like my nieces and nephews, like heaven forbid if anything happened to them, Like I would have tried to kill this guy like a hundred times. So for like, it's just like my family. He was coming after my family and families everything to me. So it's just it's just so emotional thinking that what if it could have been one of them? So I'm so thankful it was me. That actually makes sense, totally

makes sense. Another thing too, is I think, Mike, maybe you can get from the anxiety standpoint, Like why I have such bad anxiety when I feel trapped is because I am He's on top of me in that moment and I can't escape. So that's why I like, I have a hard time I expressed because it's like you like, that's my PTSD and as the moment I got it,

and that's why I have such a bad anxiety. Now, it's like when I feel trapped anywhere I go, all I envision is him on me and I can't escape because what would have I thought I was dying in that moment, right, So that's the like anxiety there, which I'm sure I feel that. Like there's sometimes when I go to country festivals and it's like I have to feel every exit. Yeah, I know, every exit. I have to have space. And people touched me then I kind of freak out on them and it's not because they're

like a bad person or anything. It's just because my boundaries are being breached. How is this, let's take a turn a little bit. How is this maybe affected or not affected your personal life as put in an aspect of dating or like are you dating? Are you married? Or you say, like, what's your relationship and how much has this affected it. I'm I'm definitely not married. How I'm tony a love things, um, but I am dating

people here and there, and I'm trying too well. This is honestly like a reoccurring problem with or without the trauma. I'm trying not to self sabotage relationships because welcome to wind down. Yeah, because it's so easy. Yeah, but it's like, you know, if you find a great guy and then he does not do like one thing that makes you happy, then you're like, okay, I'm gonna just turn it all around on him. And then you're like, I'm going to sell sabotage myself. So I'm learning right now not to

do that. And how's your mom? She's doing all right. She has a new boyfriend and we like him. I really do a nice, nice guy. Yeah. No. So he's from Newport and that's like kind of where I grew up. So I've asked a round about him. My sister has, and you can find any dirt on anyone in Newport. So it's like he was just like a guy that went to the bars and now he's like kind of find the love of his life. So it's like it's really cute. And he takes such good care of my mom.

That's amazing. Yeah, he gets her massages twice a week. Yeah, he probably even, Um, do you get any do they have to come to talk to you when they do the dirty john stuff? I am? So I'm actually officially out of that contract, so not anymore. Okay, So you're okay out of it. Were you in in the beginning with the show with the Connie Britton and all that. I am so I was kind of involved with that, but I didn't really have a say in anything. It was more so they kind of took it and did

what they wanted. It was more so Alexandra Alexandra hunting Hand's version of Dirty John. Okay, I've never talked to somebody that's had a story based on them or based around fact in their life. How was that to see or I don't know, if you've listened, if you've listened to podcast, if you watch the show or movie, whatever it is, how is that to see something that happened in your life and it not be exact in the factual element. It was interesting, Like it was so triggering

actually because so many of that did hats your life. Yeah, and but there was like some things that didn't happen exactly the way it happened, and I'm just like, Okay, that's a little off. And I honestly needed those parts because then it brings you back to reality. I'm watching something not real. I can get that. So it's really cool, but it's also triggering. Yeah, Well, Tara, thank you for popping in and chatting with us on Wine Down, and I just yeah, I have a lot of love for you,

my heart, and thank you for on our podcast. We're all about being very open, very honest, and our whole goal is to help people in their relationships because we put all of our out there. So the fact that you're able to do that with your story and help people not feel so alone and what they have to do with is very commendable and we respect the hell I do you for doing that. Yeah, well, thank you.

I thought's honestly my life goal now. And and uh, the big man upstairs knew that knows that you're strong enough to help other people. So that's why there's the greater purpose for all that, alright, thank you. Furniture shopping is honestly the worst um overreak your salespeople, poor quality pieces and the shipping periods. It's insane, you know, just the works. Well, that's what Article decides to change the

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where my son glasses? That is no, but see, I just can't. I mean, can you imagine self defense or not taking someone's life. You and I have kind of talked about this if we would be able to, and we both agreed the only way would be if for you, the only way would be family self defense, self defending, defending my defending me and my family. I mean I would I would truly hurt someone very badly if they

ever hurt my kids, you know. And this is especially with the theme of today's show with like Aaron on earlier, who's I didn't even ask him, but he's definitely killed people. Okay, he was in special Ops. Is really special Ops? Like, yeah, he's killed people. So I don't mean to be disrespectful to anyone who has either serve this country down whatever

and had to take a life. I feel like, um, I wouldn't have a problem with it in the right circumstance, Like if someone hurt Jolie or j Yes, like I feel like, yeah, oh absolutely, Like without hesitation would not have an issue. So again I say that just purely out of my own emotion and how I feel as a human being. But but here's playing god. You're taking someone's life. Do you think you could be on a jury with a death penalty case because I could not do it. I could not do it. Yeah, I think

I could depending on the circumstance in that situation. But again, like by you taking someone's life, and again I'm saying I probably could too if it's my children, or if I'm defending, like if if if I if I could have gouged, you know, and and hurt Mike, I mean I want I want to live in that moment, but and not Mike is sorry my views are Mike, but um so yes, But at the same time, if it's a situation where we go out, so in that situation, see if someone but if someone hurts our kid, which

again I could see red and I can see doing it. But then again, you are playing God in that sense where you're coming and you're saying, all right, but it's not it's not necessarily it is a choice. But at the same time, it's not. It's it is when you're not there though in that moment for the right reasons, it's protecting. But what if I'm saying, I'm saying, if it's like a Julia Roberts that one movie where if she they had already you go back for revenge to

kill the person. That's what I'm saying, of course protection, but I'm saying it to go back to revenge. So like say someone harmed one of you three, Yeah, like they killed one of us and I didn't get them in the act, I would still be able to do it,

I believe. Again, I don't mean that to any disrespect to anyone who has had to do that, but I just feel, knowing who I am as a person, I feel like I would be So then here's my question, would you still do that even let's say let's say let's say they hurt God forbid, one of our children. Would you then go kill someone? But then now you're in jail and you're away from one of our kids. No, I'm not saying no, I'm not at all saying that.

I'm saying I would be able to. But that is definitely different situation because then then, yeah, then whoever's remaining, who's still living, you're screwing over twice there he lost somebody. Now they're gonna lose you for murder charges. Now. One of my absolutely there is where that's a judicial system. But a movie that I've always loved enough, such a good movie. Q Jackman love that movie, Jake, Jake, Jolan

hall Uh, Terence Howard. That is a movie that impacts me so lately because what Hugh Jackman does is something that I could see. Didn't didn't they imprison him? They like that was the Yeah, they're like trapped, Yeah, imprison them. That's just I feel so much emotion when I watched that movie because I just feel like that's something that I would just it would be hard for me just to give it up to somebody else to take care of. I would want to see justice, for sure, and sometimes

justice I don't think it is served properly. I mean in in situations for sure, especially when you know jails are overcrowding too. I mean remember when Mike got sentence my abuser and it was like, you supposed to serve what nine years? And he got out in like four or five? Mike, wait what you know? But anyways, it's crazy, it's crazy. I'm glad she Yeah, it seems like she's, you know, handling it the best that anyone could handle a situation like this. Yeah, you know, mm hmm crazy.

What an episode though, It's the whole theme of the episode has been very powerful. I know. I'm excited to wind down again next week