Welcome to an HBO podcast from the HBO late-night series Real Time with Bill.

Okay, what is the most significant national security threat to the United States?

Oh, we have many security experts here, so I guess that makes sense as a question from Hank H.

The most significant national security threat.

Pigeons, yeah, I would argue it's education, because we focus on stuff that doesn't affect an American family.

We spend a lot of money on ISIS, it's what I did for a living.

They're going to fight for Baghdad, there's a small sliver that might show up in New York City.

But when we call ourselves exceptional, we don't give ourselves a capability to say,

how does our educational system, the thing that will bring money to a kid's life,

joy to a kid's life, it'll keep them out of prison?

How does it compare to the Europeans and the Asians?

How do we give an inner city kid the chance I had?

And the answer is, we don't.

So, unexpected answer.

Well, I'll see your education's a prize answer and raise you the environment.

I think that's the biggest, and by the way, you know who backs me up on that?

The Pentagon. I'm not saying they say it's the biggest, but the Pentagon is very much on the page

that the environment and what we're doing to it causes the kind of instability that is a national security threat,

and they have said so, and Obama has quoted them.

So, I'd say long term.

I'd say long term China is the biggest threat because it's the only country with a global strategy

that's spending over a trillion dollars to try and align countries towards themselves.

...