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Straight Shooting From Rep. Mark Sanford: We're Not Repealing Obamacare

Rep. Mark Sanford (R-SC) joined Glenn on radio today with a refreshing and much-needed approach: telling the truth, even if it's bad news. Sanford explained the reason behind the Freedom Caucus endorsing the latest version of Obamacare.

Enjoy the complimentary clip or read the transcript for details.

GLENN: So there was a disturbing news out of the White House yesterday. Yesterday, the Senate came and was briefed at the White House on North Korea. Some of the senators walked out and rolled their eyes. And they were quoted as saying, well, that was interesting. And not in a positive way.

No real word on -- on what happened, what the plan is. And couple that with another story that's coming out from the White House on how the president is briefed. And this is coming from an ally of Donald Trump inside the White House. And I have to tell you, Pat, your blood runs cold when you hear how he's briefed?

PAT: Yeah. Oh, yeah.

GLENN: I mean, this is one of the most disturbing things I've read. We'll get into that.

Also, a guy who is turning out to be somebody that we can really seemingly count on to tell the truth and to stand up to the weasels in Washington is congressman Mark Sanford of South Carolina. I don't believe he's ever been on the show before. We welcome him, beginning right now.

(music)

GLENN: Congressman Mark Sanford from South Carolina. How are you, sir?

MARK: I'm good. Good to hear your voice.

GLENN: It's good to have you on. Let me just get this uncomfortable moment out from me. Out into the open.

I saw you quickly in the hallway a few years back. And at the time, I was still kind of mad at you for the stuff that, you know, we all went through and you went through. But I have to tell you, you have -- you have taken a situation that could have just destroyed anybody, and you have -- you have a real success and redemption story. And it's really nice to have you on.

MARK: Well, you're very, very kind.

Without going into it, I have been on a journey that involves both the grace of man and the grace of God.

GLENN: Yeah.

MARK: And it's a pretty good journey.

GLENN: Well, we're glad to have you on.

I want to talk about a couple of things. Because you're a free market Libertarian-minded congressman, which are getting harder and harder to find, at least it seems out here in the wild as we're looking in. You saw the tax plan. And you've heard more now, I'm sure, you know, on the Trumpcare plan. How are you feeling about things?

MARK: You know, I think from a conservative or Libertarian standpoint, a lot of us are concerned about where things go next.

A number of us have sort of stuck our finger in the dike trying to hold back the health care bill based on a belief from a process standpoint. Not being ready for prime time. There's a value to the back and forth that -- that may not be comfortable or fun. But there's a real value to that.

And, frankly, some of the consequent results that would have come with that bill in its original form. And on the tax bill, I think a number of us are concerned about its ramifications with regard to the deficit. I think we need to -- I mean, this is a huge opportunity, the idea of reforming taxes, but we need to do it within the context of not simultaneously blowing up the debt and the deficit, which is no longer talked about in Washington, DC.

GLENN: I think this is so frightening. We don't even have a budget. And in the period we haven't had a budget, we've increased the debt by $10 trillion.

You're right. Nobody is talking about it. And I'm sorry to say that the -- the whole economic principle of cutting taxes only really works when you put it in the context of Calvin Coolidge. You must cut spending first. That's the only thing that's going to give all of us confidence that we can relax and spend a little bit and create jobs.

MARK: You're absolutely right. Because what's really interesting, as we both know, a deficit is simply a delayed tax. You're just stacking the bill. But the idea of saying, we'll cut taxes on one hand. But we'll run bigger deficits on the other. The two wash each other out from an economic standpoint. And so the only-fashioned notion of saying, "Wait a minute. Let's begin with the beginning." It was actually Milton Friedman who once said, "The ultimate measure of government is what it spends." Now, it's not the only measure, but it's a pretty important measure because it's from there that we raise taxes to pay for -- deficits may come as a result between the two.

But what it spends is something that's not looked at in Washington, but I think it's still looked at very closely by folks across this country.

GLENN: Well, I will tell you this, as a small business man, we were talking about this yesterday. And everybody on the team said, "Well, you know, that will increase job creation, et cetera, et cetera." And as the guy who actually pays the bills and runs the business, I said, "Not as much, quite honestly, as you might think because I'm still going to hold an awful lot back from for a rainy day because I know the center won't hold. This is a game." The only ones that are really going to spend it are the ones that I think will take those taxes and pour it into the stock market or whatever they can pour it into, that will have short-term paper guns to make more money, but not to necessarily create more jobs, because they know at some point the music will stop.

MARK: Uh-huh.

We're in the fourth longest economic recovery in the history of our nation right now. And if you believe in, I guess what the statisticians call regression to the mean or what everyday folks call the law of averages, to your point, it won't go on forever. I think, again, it could be very helpful in terms of competitiveness of this country.

GLENN: Yeah.

MARK: I think it's an incredible opportunity. These opportunities don't roll around often.

And this is the fourth time in the history of our republic that Republicans have held the House, Senate, and White House. But I think we need to do it within the context of making sure we're watching on the spending front. And our budgets become more and more unrealistic as each year goes by. And they get harder and harder to -- to, in essence, bring to ballot over a 10-year time frame.

And it's important that, again, we do talk at some level about this old-fashioned notion of accumulating debt and deficit.

It is amazing right now -- it's almost like the three monkeys about hear no evil, I speak no evil, I think no evil, with regard to debt and deficit. It is something that is just not focused on in DC right now, but I think has real implications in terms of value of the dollar, in terms of future inflation, and ultimately our way of life.

GLENN: So let me ask you a couple of things on, the Freedom Caucus stood against -- and you stood against Obamacare. I'm sorry. Obamacare and Trumpcare.

MARK: Yeah.

GLENN: When Trumpcare was being pushed, you were actually threatened by Team Trump. They said that, if you didn't sign up, they would challenge you in the primary of 2018. And from what I understand, you said, "Go ahead." Now they're saying that the Freedom Caucus is starting to come on board. Is there something that we can actually look at, that is possibly decent?

MARK: Yeah. It's represented in this MacArthur Amendment whether or not that will ultimately get us up and over the top, I'm not sure. But I think that the Freedom Caucus -- well, I know the Freedom Caucus has come on board based on the belief of, one, let's tell the truth to the American public. The truth is we're not repealing the Affordable Care Act. Even though there had been a lot of fanfare when we had a Democratic president and it couldn't go into effect, you know, 60 votes to that effect in the House of Representatives, the bill that made its way all the way to the president, a lot of chest-beating saying, "We've got to repeal. We've got to repeal. We've got to repeal." When push comes to shove, now that we have the chance, they were not willing -- the conference was not willing to bring that bill forward.

And I think that the allies that I deal with in the Freedom Caucus pushed awfully hard on that, saying, wait. This is something that is clear consensus in the House, the Senate. We've done it multiple times. But for whatever reason, that isn't where we were. This other bill moved forward. It wasn't, as I say, ready for prime time. It had a number of different deficiencies that I think would have hurt people who rely on the individual marketplace for their insurance.

And in essence, this MacArthur Amendment was an experiment in federalism. Getting it was called title one. And title one is really the central nervous system of what drives up cost in the individual marketplace and what, frankly, drives the Affordable Care Act. And our fight in --

GLENN: What is title one?

MARK: Title one basically deals with insurance being insurance. So if I said to you, we're going to -- you know, I'm going to give you great insurance. You know, great insurance. You have a 200,000-dollar house. But you've got to buy a million and a half dollar policy. You would say, that ain't great insurance for me. It might be great insurance, but it's not great insurance for me. Great insurance is the insurance that fits for me and for my family and those that I love.

And so what title one gets at is, all the different provisions that prevented insurance from being insurance. Insurance is not being able to buy your homeowner's policy when the house is on fire. You have to buy your homeowner's policy ahead of time to be covered.

And what the Affordable Care Act did is it said, you could wait until your house was on fire to buy a homeowner's policy. So title one was, again, letting -- preventing insurance from being insurance. And it was our belief that if you were ever going to, again, affect the cost of insurance for that small business person out there struggling to make it and struggling with fewer choices and rising premiums, you had to let insurance be insurance.

And so that's what the fight has been about. And what this MacArthur Amendment did was it said, okay. We'll split the baby. And we'll do a federalism experiment. States that want to let insurance be insurance, they can do that. States that don't, won't. If Vermont wants to go to a single-payer system, they may. If South Carolina wants to go to a more market-based system, they may. And that I think is the most you'll be able to get out of the conference. And at that point, the Freedom Caucus folded the cards and said, I guess, as of yesterday to be exact, we'll sign off on that particular measure. And that's where things are right now.

GLENN: Mark -- we're talking to Congressman Mark Sanford from South Carolina who is showing some real spine and some backbone and standing up for some real true conservative principles. I'd love to talk to you about the future of the party and where you think this is going and the -- and where Trump is going. But one of the pressing issues that I think we need to talk about is North Korea.

What is the temperature in Washington for North Korea? We, for the life of us, cannot come up with a way that this ends without at least a million dead.

MARK: Yeah. You can draw some really bad doomsday scenarios. There was actually a closed door Intel briefing yesterday afternoon on the Hill for members of Congress on this particular topic. And without going into that, I would just say that -- I -- I think we want to be careful about rattling this particular saber --

GLENN: No, I know.

MARK: At this point, North Korea does not have the capacity to bring harm to domestic US. And I think we need to put things within that particular framework as we look at and access threat.

GLENN: Do you believe this administration is looking at it like that?

MARK: I -- I think that they are most worried about what might happen there. And I think that they're thinking about preemptive -- preemptive steps to prevent something from happening.

GLENN: That doesn't sound good.

What is -- with everything, Mark, that is going on, the economy -- I have a woman on who was inside the Dallas fed. She wrote a great book. I don't know if you've seen it, called Fed Up. She was in Wall Street. And then she was one of the chief researchers for the head of the Dallas fed here in -- and saw, you know, 2008 coming a mile away. And she was laughed at until it happened. And then she was promoted.

And what she sees coming now is an absolute disaster financially. With that -- with the world on the edge, with -- with Russia and with a press that is no longer trusted, a government that is no longer trusted, what -- what keeps you up at night? And what keeps you optimistic?

MARK: What keeps me up at night is exactly -- I will make it a point to find this book Fed Up. It's fascinating.

But, you know, I would just presuppose that her philosophical alignment is to the right.

GLENN: Yes.

MARK: But whether you're right or left on this issue -- I mean, it was interesting that Erskine Bowles, who was, you know, Clinton's former chief of staff at the time of the Bowles/Simpson commission, remarked that, you know, look, we're looking at the most predictable financial crisis in the history of man.

If you think about Admiral Mike Mullen, former chairman and joint of chief, his observation was -- when asked, what's the biggest threat to the United States? Not the Chinese. Excuse me -- not the Chinese, not the Taliban. But his answer was the American debt.

And so whether it's somebody who is a firsthand participant in the way that the fed works, with the right position, somebody from a military position, somebody from the left, the thing that we're not talking about right now is indeed the build-up of the debt. There's an interesting book if you have insomnia called At This Time, It's Different.

GLENN: Oh, yeah.

MARK: And it was written by a professor from Harvard and a professor from Maryland, writer, and wrote often. Some of their methodologies have been questioned. But their largest premise is accurate. And they look at the last 800 years of financial history, as it relates to governments, and what they found is that in every instance, civilization has got to a tipping point where -- and they had to decide, do we go back to what made us competitive and perhaps a world power in the first place, or do we stay on this happy, but ultimately unsustainable cycle of upward government spending and consumption? And nine times out of ten, they chose the easy path. They said, well, this time it's different. Of course, it never was. Gravity always works. And it was the seeds of that civilization's undoing.

And so the thing that keeps me up at night is the way in which there's not a focus on the implications of the debt and the deficit for every working American.

GLENN: So I will tell you, I am working on a book based on history, on that very thing.

MARK: Hmm.

GLENN: And I will tell you that -- I found it very hard to stay optimistic once you know history. But I have found what keeps me -- helps me back to sleep at night, what have you found that puts you back to sleep at night?

MARK: Engagement. You know, I think that people aren't dumb. At times in politics, we can fuse -- and I think even the president -- I say this most respectfully confuses -- they think it's about us. It's not about us. We're simply receptacles for people's ideas and ideals and the advancement of those ideas. And I would say that this election back in November was less about Donald Trump than it was about people's absolute mind-numbing frustration with the way that Washington was working for them.

GLENN: Yes.

MARK: And so if we just simply separate ourselves just a touch -- it's not about me. It's about these ideas that people are ginned up on.

GLENN: Yeah.

MARK: What I will say is that we all ought -- right now, you walk into a restaurant, many times it used to be the sports channel that was up.

GLENN: Yeah.

MARK: Nowadays it's a news channel because people are focused on politics. And I think to that degree, engagement is exciting.

GLENN: Yeah. Congressman Mark Sanford from South Carolina. Thank you very much. And, by the way, thank you for holding out for Nikki Haley. If we wouldn't have had you, we wouldn't have had her. She's doing a great job in the UN. But thank you for everything. We'll talk again soon.

MARK: Looking forward to it.

GLENN: Congressman Mark Sanford.

REVEALED: What Biden Said That Made Special Counsel Hur Question His Mental Agility
RADIO

REVEALED: What Biden Said That Made Special Counsel Hur Question His Mental Agility

Special counsel Robert Hur is testifying before Congress about his investigation into President Biden’s classified documents scandal. Democrats have claimed that Hur stepped out of line when he included his concerns over Biden’s mental agility in his report. But before he testified, the full transcript of Hur’s Biden interview was released to media outlets. Glenn and Stu read from the transcript so you can decide for yourself whether Biden is losing it …

How Biden is HARMING ALASKA More Than Iran
RADIO

How Biden is HARMING ALASKA More Than Iran

Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy has accused the Biden administration of waging “sanctioning his state more than Iran. He joins Glenn with the evidence of this “economic war.” Gov. Dunleavy lays out how Biden has taken at least 55 actions to limit Alaskans’ oil production, mining, logging, and recreational abilities. He breaks down how this is harming the Alaskan people and businesses and the “cruel irony” that Biden’s policies have caused: “Our viability as a state is in question.”

Former Trump Official: Liz Cheney & the J6 Committee “BURIED EVIDENCE”
RADIO

Former Trump Official: Liz Cheney & the J6 Committee “BURIED EVIDENCE”

The Federalist has reported that the January 6th Select Committee suppressed evidence that former president Donald Trump requested 10,000 National Guard troops to be stationed at the Capitol during the day’s events. But former Rep. Liz Cheney has denounced the report. So, what’s the truth? Glenn speaks with former Trump intelligence official Kash Patel, who says he was in the Oval Office when Trump authorized the troops. He also accuses former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the Capitol Police, and Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser of denying the request, knowing exactly what might happen: “[They] WANTED that political narrative [of] insurrection.”

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Kash Patel, who is wildly accomplished. Chief of staff to the Department of Defense, where his responsibilities included implementing the Secretary of Defense mission involving, you know, 3 million-plus employees. Blah, blah. He went from the Pentagon to serving with Donald Trump.

He became the DNI. The Director of National Intelligence. You were the -- what are -- you were the acting DNI, I believe, for a very long time. And, of course, you know, they tried to destroy his life. Kash Patel joins us now. Hello, Kash. How are you?

KASH: Great to be with you, Glenn.

GLENN: All right. I want to talk about what just came out with Mollie Hemingway this weekend. Where we now know that the January 6th committee, had testimony from you and several others, on what, actually, happened on the White House.

On the takes leading up to January 6th. Where Trump was calling for 10,000 troops, to be on the street. Because he felt that the left was going to act up. And, actually, hurt the people that were coming for these rallies.

But they wouldn't do anything about it. They would not take him up on it, at all.

And that's now proven, and they knew that, but they kept that away, from the official report.

KASH: Yes, Glenn. Just like when the FBI went to a FISA court and lied to them and went to exculpatory evidence, just to target a political opponent and unlawfully surveil him, the January 6th committee took one page out of their book, and repeated that same instance of conduct for a propaganda political end point.

I was in the Oval Office, chief of staff. For the DOD, takes before January 6th. President Trump, unequivocally authorized ten to 20 National Guardsmen women.

And why is that important, Glenn?

Because only the president can make that authorization. But he's not allowed under the Constitution to deploy the order.

Order of deployment, excuse me, of the National Guard. So what do we do?

We dispatch senior DOD officials to Mayor Bowser, who is in charge of DC and the Capitol Police, who are in charge of the Capitol. And reported to Nancy Pelosi at that time.

And they in writing, rejected the use of additional National Guard. Not Donald Trump.

They did that.

And now we find out, two years after I testified to the January 6 committee, demanding a public hearing. Is they failed to release my transcript for almost two years. A year and a half after that, they released the transcript of Tony Ornato, a career apolitical speaker service officer, assigned to the White House for presidential protection. And what does his transcript say?

It confirms that President Trump, days before, authorized the use of ten to 20,000 national guardsmen and women, and the chief of staff by itself, Secretary of Defense and the chairman, were all in the Oval Office when it happened.

This is the exculpatory evidence, that Liz Cheney and company have buried for two years to achieve a political gain.

GLENN: So, Kash, we are so corrupt.

Now, you know, people are saying, if they could do this to the president of the United States, they'll do it to anybody. Well, they are doing it to many nobodies, and anybody. And this has got to stop. It doesn't seem like the mainstream media cares. But at some point, it will reach enough ears where people will say, I am afraid of this government, quite honestly. They are everything that they say Donald Trump is. They're already doing it.

What do you --

VOICE: Their hypocrisy. No. Sorry. Go ahead. Their hypocrisy, as I think you were alluding to, their projection is what they do. And they own the Main State media. So back when we did Russiagate. And if you tied the threats together, to similar concepts, between Russiagate, between FISA, between January 6, between Hunter Biden's laptop, the 51 Intel letters, just to name a few things. They used the same playbook.

Lie at government gangsters, destroy the American faith in the institutions, but utilize their partners in the media, to make themselves look like a hero. And I think the breakthrough we're now having, is we have proven right, each and everyone one of these instances, the truth.

GLENN: So, Kash, at some point, the tables turn. And the countries are already turning against a lot of this stuff.

And you're running a guy who just doesn't -- he's not going to win.

If it's fair. There's no way he will win. It will be Trump in a landslide, I believe.

However, that's if it's fair.

However, they don't seem worried about it at all. What is their end game?

How do you keep your borders open?

Have murders happening on our streets, crime on the streets. We're going to have a terrorist attack. It's only a matter of time.

What's your exit plan? Because Bubba is going to look at this and go, well, you were the ones who caused it.

KASH: Uh-huh. I think the exit plan for the radical left-wing and mainstream media, is Trump Derangement Syndrome. Get him at all costs.

What I think we've done over time, through your brave reporting and your network, some amazing reporting of the truth, is Americans are saying, wait a second. Those things are not right-wing conspiracy.

That's the truth! The mainstream media lied to me. And I think what President Trump is brilliantly doing is taking that on the campaign trail every day.

And saying, yes, there's corruption in DC.

Yes. They're rigging presidential elections, but yes. We can defeat them. Because we are going to win so big, that the rig is not going to matter.

And every time we put out one of these blockbuster truths -- I mean, this is like a Russiagate-style reporting, blockbuster news day, that I'm reporting to you, directly with an op-ed to follow. The American people wake up in droves.

And I think, maybe I'm naive. But I think that is going to educator day. To solve the corruption in DC.

GLENN: I hope so.

Because it's really -- you know, it's disturbing to see how -- how methodical they are.

Do you think they knew that January 6 was going to happen?

KASH: Yes. I think they not only new, but the political monsters like Pelosi, Cheney, et al, wanted that political narrative. Why else would you shut down an authorization for National Guardsmen and Women?

I mean, all you have to do is ask -- they keep calling us liars.

Just ask yourself this: If President Trump didn't authorize it, then how did being the Secretary of Defense -- senior officials to Pelosi and Bowser's office, speaking their request for National Guard? It would have been factually and legally impossible.

And they shut that down because they wanted to hang that narrative, and have that painting of no client says, that a malicious style, downtown -- in downtown Washington, DC, to achieve their political narrative, which was? Insurrection. It failed in court, and now it's failing in the court of public opinion. Because the truth has finally come out. That the January 6th committee buried evidence, which corroborates what we've been saying for three years.

GLENN: How deep does the corruption in the military and Intel go?

When you -- did we have incognito Special Forces on the ground on January 6th?

KASH: No. No. That's not to say, a civilian who was a Special Forces operator, he didn't himself go. But me and the Secretary of Defense would never have allowed that. That would have broken the chain of command.

It's just not what would have happened. And we didn't that have there, on that day. Go ahead.

GLENN: And you know the Intel.

I mean, you were DNI. The Intel industry, is doing stuff, that you wouldn't have liked or wanted to happen either. Do you agree with that?

KASH: Absolutely. Absolutely.

Chris ray has the intelligence. Just ask yourself this: How is it that Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts knew to board up the windows in and around the Capitol, but the intelligence community and the FBI didn't?

Well, as it turns out, Christopher Wray had an Intel report, saying that there could be violence in and around January 6th. And what did he do?

He withheld it. He suppressed it. The calling card of the Deep State. As long as your political narrative is advanced, suppress the truth.

And that is what they did. And the Intel community -- the bottom is corrupt. It's corrupt at the top, with a couple of minor players in between. And we can reform that by removing them, and putting them in the right personnel package.

GLENN: Did you see the story that came out today, in 2022. When Putin was threatening with nuke.

And how President Biden, you know, went to the Murdoch's house. And was talking to all these people about a briefing he just had. About how this is going to become true.
And the government went on -- on high alert.

Does the government have a responsibility, when its Cuban Missile Crisis, kind of crisis, to come on television like Kennedy did? And explain what's happening.

KASH: They do. And a commander-in-chief, with all its faculties should do that.

But Joe Biden is not that commander-in-chief. I don't want him anywhere near a television set.

Because every time he does, he exposes the United States to another national security attack, via cyber or otherwise.

Because they put on blast, the ineffectiveness and ineptitude of our commander-in-chief.

And right now, we don't need any more of that.

GLENN: As somebody who has been around the military and an Intel, for -- for a very long time. What did you make of the opening of his speech on Thursday, where his number one priority, right out -- I mean, didn't even say the State of the Union was strong or anything.

He just went right into, we're at war. Inside and outside of our country.

And we must fight it.

What do you think he was signaling?

KASH: He was speaking to the defense industrial complex. That owns the slum.

The state of our union, from our commander-in-chief, was the state of Ukraine.

That's what he led out with. And that should never happen.

It is a world war of his making, and he is hustling DC, along with the corrupt politicians, who are owned by defense industrial complex, to do one thing: Print money, and send our men and women overseas to fight yet another war for another person and another political target, to achieve victory at home on the political battlefield. Damn the cost. Get blood and treasure. That's what Joe Biden was doing, putting America last.

GLENN: And when you -- when he talked about Israel. I don't know if you saw the report again, that came out today. About Joe Biden saying, I am -- I am going to have a come to Jesus meeting with Bibi Netanyahu. Which is kind of an awkward sentence to say. But said that, which, you know, Bibi has responded with, I have my own red lines.

And then we're putting. We're building a dock for Gaza.

And we're going to be delivering food. Does that sound like a good idea.

KASH: It is an overaggressive, act of aggression. He is building a dock, and saying, we're not going to put boots on the ground. So we're going to put boots on planks and wooden boards, in territorial waters of a sovereign nation. Would the United States of America, ever stand for anyone building a dock on the eastern seaboard, to provide aid for any inner city folks?

Absolutely not. It is a violation of domestic federal statute, and international law. It's an act of overt aggression. And Israelis, and the people in Gaza, are going to be offended and probably take action against it, which is going to harm American men and women in uniform.

GLENN: And what would we do in response with this commander-in-chief?

KASH: We would unfortunately, double down on the fight.

And we would be looking at another 20-year Afghan campaign. Because Iran is flush with cash, thanks to Joe Biden. They launched the war in Israel through Hamas, a proxy. And they are buying Republicans at a rate that has never been seen before. And Joe Biden is weak on the global stage.

All he can do is send men and women to die. So far, five American service members killed in that region, under his watch.

And now he's building a flotilla, off the coastline of a world war. Only bad thing can happen when Joe Biden is --

GLENN: I know people have said this since I was a kid. This is the most important election of our time. Blah, blah, blah.

But, lately, it has gotten to be more and more important. And I, honestly, feel we are in a place that this may be the last election in America, if -- if things don't go right. And people don't stay calm. And everything else.

Do you think that's hyperbole?

KASH: No. We are at an inflection point. Because for the first time in forever, it's national security. National security. National security, and Americans have seen the cost at our border. The cost that we're seeing in the Ukraine and Israel wars.

The cost in terms of Russia and al-Qaeda on the rise.

They have seen Joe Biden politicize intelligence, the Department of Defense and law enforcement, creating a two-tier system of justice, to prosecute political targets.

And they have seen a total weaponization of our government. And that's what we are at an inflection point, come this election. America is seeing that Donald Trump, in my opinion, must be commander-in-chief. The guy who went through all of what we just talked about successfully.

GLENN: Kash, thank you so much.

Kash Patel.

What EVERY American Should Learn From ‘Cabrini’
RADIO

What EVERY American Should Learn From ‘Cabrini’

Glenn Beck is stunned by the new film, “Cabrini.” It’s “one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen,” he says. But it also tells a story that all Americans should learn from, one of true “feminism,” and not the toxic leftist version that Hollywood pushes. Glenn discusses this with the film’s director, Alejandro Monteverde, whose previous film, “Sound of Freedom,” became a surprise box office sensation. Monteverde also gives a behind-the-scenes look at how the film was made and describes how he took influence from “The Godfather” and “Batman” to tell the story of a Catholic nun.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: If we were anywhere south of the border, this next to the best, I mean, I think I would probably have girls screaming outside of the windows going, oh, my gosh.

You talk to him!

Big, big star in South America and Mexico.

I will introduce him as only a white man can, as Alejandro Monteverde, which is not the way he would say it. But better than the way George Bush would say it. It would be like Alejandro.

Anyway, Alejandro, how are you, sir?

ALEJANDRO: How are you? Thank you for having me on your show. It's a great honor. And, by the way, I met George Bush, after -- you know, when he gave the State of the Union speech.

He picked two immigrants to get into this country, and I was one of them.

GLENN: Wow.

ALEJANDRO: He spoke. He did spoke like what you said.

GLENN: Alejandro was here.

Anyway, so, Alejandro, you are one of the great reasons we love immigrants. You are a guy, big, big star, all over South America, and Mexico.

And as an actor, but you have become, I believe, one of the best filmmakers, in the world.

I saw your movie Cabrini, when it was. I don't even know if it was locked down yet.

And halfway through, I said to one of the producers. I feel like I'm in the screening room with -- with the group that made the godfather.

You know, sitting next to --

ALEJANDRO: Wow. That is one of the most amazing compliments. Because when I worked with my cinematographer, that was one of the inspirations, the Godfather.

GLENN: I'm telling you, you guys nailed that. It is one of the most beautiful films I have seen. But not for an artsy reason.

It just captures a mood, like I've only seen in the godfather.

So you hit that.

The movie Cabrini. You're welcome. The movie Cabrini. Tell the story of St. Cabrini. Because a lot of people don't know her.

ALEJANDRO: Well, you know, just to short, to summarize, she was a warrior. She came here to America, in the late 1800s as an immigrant, a woman with nothing.

With a dream. With a big mission, to build hospitals, and -- and help those in need.

And the ultimate -- Amy Rockefeller, or Vanderbilt. Even though, at that time, when she arrived, she faced a lot of racism against the Italians, and discrimination.

But that's the beautiful (sic) of this country. That did not stop her from building one of the greatest hospitals that New York has ever seen.

GLENN: No.

And, actually, by the end of her life, I believe it was the largest hospital network in the world. I mean, it -- what she accomplished was amazing.

And she became an American shortly after she got here. A few years after she got here. But it shows a woman.

ALEJANDRO: She was an American. Then the first American saint. Which was also very powerful.

GLENN: Yeah. The way you have predicted her. Tell me about the lady who plays her. This movie, Cabrini, by the way. My highest, highest recommendation. This is an incredible movie. So inspirational.

So well-done.

This -- this will show you, how far independent films have come, from conservative media. This is -- you know, put out by Angel Films.

You remember how bad Christian movies were?

This is -- I wouldn't categorize it as a Christian movie.

It's just a movie about this wonderful Christian.

But it is brilliant.

So please, go see it. It's out tomorrow.

Anyway, tell me --

ALEJANDRO: Thank you. Thank you, first of all. It's truly an honor to -- coming from you.

It means a lot.

The reason we -- we -- you know, this is a woman that also divide death itself. Morality, every single day.

She was able to steal, literally decades of life.

They told her, she had two to three years to live.

She kept fighting and fighting.

Look at the amount of faith.

If somebody tells you, you have three years to live, but you have a dream that it will take you 20 years to make. That will put a lot of faith in yourself, to begin with. I needed an actress, that was able to have the power of her eyes from going from a loving eyes, love a child. That is abandoned to the streets, to -- to rapidly change, to have this defiant eyes, to defy all these challenges that were put in front of her.

You know, she fought all the way from the most dangerous criminal. The pain that was prosecuting little girls. To facing, you know, very powerful politicians.

GLENN: Right. And the pope.

I mean, the scene with the pope, where she's like, I'm going to seat pope. And everybody is keep her away from the pope. And he's finally like, I'm not going to mess with this woman. Go ahead. Send her in.

ALEJANDRO: Yeah. She fires me all the time. We take noes too easy nowadays. Somebody takes no, and walks away. She was able to convert a no to a yes. She was able to build bridges. To even be able to work with people that disagree with her.

That's what I think is the problem now, that so relevant to America. Because right now, we're such a divided country.

We should be able to work together, even though we're divided. And she understood that. That we don't have to agree.

But there's people dying outside.

You know, there's -- let's go and help.

And she lives her life for others.

GLENN: Can I go down, just an odd road, perhaps with you?

There was one point, where I leaned over to the producer.

And I said, that's Batman, looking over Gotham. Right?

ALEJANDRO: Yeah! She was wearing a cape. She was wearing a cape.

GLENN: Yes. Did I do these things?

Because there were several places, where I was like, that's a hero shot. That's a hero shot that I've seen. Did you intentionally do that?

ALEJANDRO: Yes. Everything was designed, very intentionally in this film because of COVID.

You know, this, we had to use COVID to our advantage. You know, the movie kept being pushed and pushed and pushed. So we used all that time to keep designing and designing, designing the subtext.

There's a lot of subtext in this film. She lives a very heroic life. She was wearing a cape. So we wanted to present her visually as a hero. As a hero that you see in Marvel movies. But she was a real hero.

GLENN: So well done.

And is it true that -- because I think this is what makes the movie so visually appealing, is it was meant to be shot in black and white, right.

And what happened?

ALEJANDRO: Yes. The whole time the movie was black and white. And when you shoot black and white, it allows you to become operatic. You know, Orson Wells. Citizen Kane. You know, all those films. It's a wonderful life. All those films. It allows you -- Orson Wells used to say, it is impossible, to have bad acting in black and white.

Black and white, allows you to do everything. But most importantly, the reason why I wanted to shoot it on black and white.

Was because she was wearing black. And I didn't want it getting in the way of her story.

Then I thought, well, everybody will be dressed like her.

Black and white. For the entire year and a half, I designed the movie black and white, which is very operatic. Very cinematic. Very orchestrated. Almost like if you're looking in a movie, on Broadway.

So -- and then a week before we started to shoot, Eustace Wolfington, who was the -- person behind -- behind all of this. I called it the Cabrini movement.

He flew in. And I said, well, he came in for two reasons. Either, he's firing me.

Or he's telling me, it's not going to be black and white. That is the only two reasons. Everything else, you can tell me on the phone. Why is he flying in to see me.

And it is the second one.

It's not going to be black and white.

But this point, I already designed the movie.

When you designed the movie for black and white. Like Citizen Kane.

You take a lot of creative licenses. And it was too late to go back.

And if -- you know, I didn't know if it would work. So when I finished the film.

I went into a deep, deep depression for two weeks.

Because I didn't know if this movie would work. Because I had shot it. Designed it from black and white. Would have shot it in color. Though, it was the most dark -- I went into a dark place for two weeks.

GLENN: Jeez.

ALEJANDRO: And then I saw the first cut, and I was like, oh, it worked!

GLENN: Oh, my gosh.

ALEJANDRO: So it was a risk.

GLENN: It is the most visually stunning movie, that does not detract -- you know, sometimes people do it for art's sake. And blah, blah.

This is just visually stunning and helps tell the story.

I mean, Alejandro, you don't need this from me. But I truly believe, you are one of the -- if not the best director around today, you are going to be legendary. I believe. And it's just a matter of -- it's just a matter of time.

You are just -- it's brilliant.

ALEJANDRO: Truly. Because we've been in a fight.

And I want -- you know, I've never heard that. And more coming from you, it's shaking my heart.

But I want to say something. You know this very well.

You know, if we don't -- if we don't have the big billboards. You know, we're competing against Dune.

So the only way a movie like this can survive, is if enough weekend people will see it, otherwise we'll be kicked out of theaters. So I cannot tell you how important it is, that people come out on opening weekend. Because they are our billboards. The billboards is the word-of-mouth. People coming out of the theaters and sharing their experience, their cinematic experience with audiences. You know, our audiences are the billboards.

GLENN: Well, I will tell you, I saw it in a studio projection room, and I went home. And I've been telling my family about this movie ever since. And we will all be in the movie theater, tomorrow.

I can't wait to see it again.

It is so good.

ALEJANDRO: Thank you so much.

I can wait for you. There are two or three -- I wonder if you'll be able to spot them. I think you will, by the way.

GLENN: Yeah. Alejandro, thank you so much.

And keep up the good work.

You are fantastic. Really, and Cabrini is a piece of -- really, a piece of art. It really is.

ALEJANDRO: And I'm so grateful. So grateful for your support. But thank you so much.

GLENN: You bet. Alejandro Monteverde.

Filmmaker, and I really mean this.

I think he is -- he's going to be remembered with all of the greats. I have been a fan of his, when he started making smaller movies.

And he made Little Boy, which I thought was just fantastic, captured the spirit of America in World War II like very few people can do. And he also is responsible for the -- the Sound of Freedom. And now Cabrini. And this is amazing, and a great, uplifting story. You will just love it.

Find it at a theater. Like he said, this weekend, is really important. Because they -- the reason why Sound of Freedom Know did well is because more movie theaters open up. On the opening weekend, if they have a big opening weekend, then more theaters will go, you know what, I'll give that a try. And if you don't support these things, on the opening weekend, and you will -- just go to support filmmakers. We have come from really bad movies, to brilliant, brilliant pieces of work.

And this is the best I've seen from a conservative. And it's one of the best I've seen from anyone.

It's called Cabrini. See it this weekend.