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BLOGFebruary 02, 2018

Real-Life Heroes Turned Movie Stars Share the Story That Became ‘The 15:17 to Paris’

Three young Americans were at the right place at the right time to thwart a terrorist and save a train full of people. Now, their story of real-life heroism is a movie directed by Clint Eastwood.

Spencer Stone, Anthony Sadler and Alek Skarlatos are playing themselves in the movie version of their trip on Aug. 21, 2015 on a train headed from Amsterdam to Paris.

The three 25-year-old friends recently chatted with Glenn about that fateful train trip and how Eastwood talked them into starring in the film.

“It was quick thinking, everyone else was running the other way, and they ran toward the problem and saved hundreds of lives,” Glenn said on today’s show.

Listen to their full interview here:

This article provided courtesy of TheBlaze.

GLENN: Do you know why you were born? Do you know why you're here?

You ever -- have you ever thought your whole life is leading toward one moment, and you never know when that moment is coming?

August 21st, 2015, three American friends, really average guys. They boarded a train from Amsterdam to Paris. They had no way of knowing that their lives were building to that moment. And they would be worldwide heroes, later in the day.

The three friends, Anthony Saddler, Alek Skarlatos, and Spencer Stone, they were on a train, going to Paris. They took a lone gunman down who had 300 rounds of ammunition on board.

It was quick thinking. Everyone else was running the other way. And they ran toward the problem and saved hundreds of lives.

I spoke with them about that fateful day and how their story eventually caught the attention of Clint Eastwood. Alek, Anthony, Spencer, welcome to the program. How are you?

VOICE: I'm great. How about you?

GLENN: Very good.

All right. So I want to talk to you about one thing that, you know, I -- I had a problem with, with the story. And I just want to hear it from, quite honestly, Experience, I want to hear it from you, and then I want to hear the excuses from Alek and Anthony. At some point, you're on this train with this terrorist. And Alek says, go!

And then you go. He's got a gun. And I noticed, at least in the movie, Alek and Anthony, I'll give it to you, Anthony, you were asleep. But where the hell were you, Alek?

VOICE: I've been asking him the same thing for a few years now.

GLENN: Right.

VOICE: He asked me to go. And then he waits for me to make it to him.

GLENN: Look -- no, no, no. Just didn't wait to make it to -- then you're wrestling. And you're trying to hold on to the guy. And, I mean -- I mean, I know that you took the butt of the gun to his head after a while, Alek. But it was a little sloppy and slow.

(laughter)

VOICE: Thank you! America speaks, finally.

STU: Yes. Let's hear the rebuttal, please.

VOICE: All right. Yeah, let's do this.

VOICE: So, first of all, Spencer was on the aisle seat. So he had to go first. I wasn't going to, like, climb over him and then trip in the aisle and just get shot.

GLENN: Right. Right. Usually, that is -- then that phrase should have been, go. I'll meet you in about five minutes.

(laughter)

VOICE: Well, obviously, I was using him as a human shield.

GLENN: Right.

VOICE: I wasn't trying to get shot. And if he was dumb enough to go first, I mean, it's his own fault for getting shot, right?

VOICE: Natural selection.

(laughter)

GLENN: It's -- you know, it's -- it's an incredible story from -- from start to finish, with the three of you. Your friendship. But also the -- what happened on that day.

I was struck by the fact of how many people didn't do anything. I mean, really didn't do anything.

Some people were just paralyzed by fear. But -- but everybody else just ran. And there was no one that stepped to the plate.

VOICE: Kind of hard to ask people to do that, we know. We're all unarmed. And so nobody was really expecting that. So it's kind of a crazy situation to find yourselves in, that's for sure.

VOICE: Yeah, but, I mean, truthfully, we cannot even say that we would have done the same thing, if we hadn't had the confidence in ourselves, just based on the experiences that we had in life. And the skills that we had.

You know, the only thing that really gave me, you know, the confidence to run up at the guy and get up in his face was because I had been practicing Jiu-Jitsu for the last year. And all I said pretty much to myself was, man, if I could just get up in his face, I know I could do something.

You know, getting too close to him. He won't be able to be as effective. So I just -- that's what really gave me the boost.

VOICE: And also too, that I think our friendship -- I mean, we had been friends for so long. I think we knew we would kind of have each other backs. And we all kind of talked about similar situations before.

And we all knew we were kind of, of the same mindset.

GLENN: Do we -- what do we know about the terrorist that was the guy that you took down?

VOICE: Actually, he was later found out to be connected to the Brussels airport bombing and the Bataclan Theater Attack. He was from the same village in Morocco as those guys. And one of the first to come out of that terrorist cell. And so, I mean, he's being held in French custody right now. And he's become a much larger investigation. And hopefully we'll be able to get some more information and be able to relay that soon.

STU: One of the things I remember of when this happened -- because obviously a terrorist attack starts. You start hearing about how bad it could have been. And there's such a moment of pride as an American, to hear that it was three Americans who stopped this.

GLENN: And can I tell you something, when I first heard it, thought it was, okay. Three Americans. And because two of you have background in the service, you just assumed, okay. They're probably Navy SEALs. And I know a lot of Navy SEALs. And they're just going to snap your neck if you get out of line.

VOICE: You're a wannabe Navy SEAL.

GLENN: Right. You guys are not that. I mean, no offense, but you're --

VOICE: Oh, thanks. I'm still infantry.

GLENN: Right. I mean, you're not me. But you're -- but you were -- you were not drilled over and over and over and over again to kill.

I mean, Spencer, you were drilled to heal.

VOICE: Yeah. I mean, but it was -- it was truly a life or death situation. I mean, we had no options. You're on a moving train going 200 miles an hour. This guy has an automatic weapon. I mean, Option A, you sit there, wait till he shoots you. Or you get up and try to do something. And, I mean, that was -- the fight was a fight for survival. It was either he was going to kill us, or we were going to kill him. But luckily, we were just able to subdue him and choke him unconscious.

VOICE: I think that's the best thing about the movie. Because like you said, of course, people remember the headline. And they're like, of course, two off-duty servicemen, of course they would.

But the movie does a good job at showing that we're three ordinary guys that none of us have ever seen anything traumatic like that before.

And I think that that's wild to speak to more of the masses of people, because they'll be able to identify with one of us or all three of us and see just how ordinary we are. And that we were really faced with an extraordinary situation.

GLENN: So, Anthony, if you were -- if -- you know, when they ask -- when Spencer said, hey, come to Europe. And you guys thought that there was a chance something like this would happen. Would you have thought that you were the three guys that would have stood up and done what you did?

VOICE: No.

That would have -- that would have definitely been hard to pay. I would have never thought nothing like that would have happened. But I guess hindsight being 20/20, I guess me being the civilian that I didn't have formal training.

I couldn't have picked two better guys to go on the trip with. So I couldn't have imagined being in that situation with any other two people. That's for sure.

VOICE: That's one thing our families kind of joke about, is that, oh, it would be -- it would be us that did something like that. Not just because of like our training or, you know, anything like that. But just because we're always getting in trouble together and always --

VOICE: And something always happens when we hang out.

GLENN: Yeah. You should stop hanging out.

STU: And stop getting on trains. Please, planes.

GLENN: The other interesting thing is, off of that is in the -- you know, in the movie, it shows that you are troublemakers.

I mean, none of you excelled in school. You were always in trouble. And been most likely -- not your moms. Your moms come off as wonderful mothers.

VOICE: They are.

GLENN: But, you know, besides your moms, doesn't seem like anyone with any authority in your childhood expected anything like this from you guys.

VOICE: That's for sure.

(laughter)

VOICE: There's one thing in life, we never being, like, told what to do. So, I mean, we were difficult kids to raise. But we all are super thankful for the parents that we had, feel like they really shaped us.

VOICE: That's a good theme to draw from the movie too. It's just that, you know, even our success, our failures, they were all part of the bigger plan.

And I think people would be able to identify like that. Like, if they feel like they're on the wrong path, that could be something pushing you in a direction that, for all, you know, could be working in your favor in the future. So it's all part of the bigger plan.

STU: What was it like when you were approached with the idea of actually acting?

GLENN: No. Go before that.

First, what was it like, when Clint Eastwood said, hey, I want to make your story?

VOICE: Well, honestly, we were just extremely excited. Because we've all been -- I mean, we were raised on Clint Eastwood movies. So it was kind of a no-brainer for us. And even when we were talking to him about, how they're going to do the movie. Sully had just come out. So I watched sully. And once I saw how good of a job he did on that, especially, it was just kind of like, let's just let the man work. And let's do it. We were just -- we were just so excited. Because, I mean, you couldn't have picked anybody better to do it.

STU: Definitely. Clint Eastwood, he's legendary first as an actor. And now as a director.

But he made this choice. And in case people don't know, the movie stars -- the three guys you're hearing, the real people who are in the incident are the actors portraying themselves in a movie.

GLENN: Clint Eastwood, you know, didn't get Sully. He got Tom Hanks. So when he said to you, hey, guys, why don't you do it? What were your thoughts?

VOICE: I mean, we were just totally blown away and shocked. We never considered it a possibility because that's not the normal thing. And we also just really didn't want to risk the success of our story. Because we knew it was going to be forever, so we wanted it to be good.

And so, I mean, it's just something that totally came out of nowhere.

But how are you going to tell Clint Eastwood no playing yourself in your own film? It's just something we couldn't turn down. We just jumped at it.

VOICE: Nobody wanted to get that death stare from Clint Eastwood.

GLENN: No, I know. I understand that.

Spencer, you were -- you were wounded, seemingly in the movie pretty badly. I mean, at least painfully

VOICE: Just a flesh wound.

GLENN: Just a flesh wound. And then you went on and stuck your hands in a wounded man's throat to save his life. How long did that actually happen?

VOICE: On the fight took place probably tops two minutes. And then from the point when the attack started until when we got to the next train station, it was about 25 to 30 minutes.

GLENN: Holy cow.

VOICE: And so -- I was over with Mark. I would say it was, yeah, a solid 20 minutes, I had my hand in his neck.

GLENN: And he is -- and he is okay?

VOICE: He is good. And actually, that is another thing about this film. Is, you know, it's not only us playing ourselves. But Mark plays himself. His wife plays herself. We have Chris Norman, the British man who tied up the terrorist playing himself.

One of the same train employees. We had a lot of the same police. Had the same exact medical team that brought us up to train two years ago.

GLENN: Wow.

VOICE: And oftentimes, people, you know, think that we were the only ones that really did anything. But, I mean, without all those people contributing and doing what they did that day, we would have never been in the position to do anything ourselves and be successful at it.

So it's really awesome that they're going to be able to finally get the credit they deserve in such a big way.

GLENN: He did a good job of taking the television footage at the end with the president of France awarding you the legion of honor. Because he was, you know, mixing new footage with real footage. And I couldn't help, but wonder, are your parents the ones in that crowd in the new footage?

VOICE: No. They are -- they were actors portrayed. They were actors.

GLENN: No, no, no. I know that those -- I know the actors. But I mean the other people in the crowd. Did they include your parents at all in this, your moms?

VOICE: No. They weren't able to. But also, on the day of the actual ceremony, there's no footage of the crowd. It was just us.

GLENN: Right.

VOICE: And we have, you know, Judy Greer and Jen Fisher playing our moms throughout the movie. So it would probably throw off the audience at the end if they would have put our real parents in.

GLENN: What was it -- what was it like when, you know, this happened and then you're called to receive the -- you know, the legion of honor award and you're standing how many days, three days later, a week later?

VOICE: Three days after.

GLENN: Three days later.

VOICE: It happened on Friday. And we're receiving the medal on Monday.

So we're going from hostels and doing the cheap way all through Europe, to terrorist attack on Friday, until all of a sudden, in the Élysée with the French president on Monday. So it's -- it's a quick turnaround, that's for sure.

VOICE: Yeah. Staying in the ambassador's personal residence, like, we were sleeping in the same bed like Charles Lindbergh slept in when he crossed the Atlantic. And it was honestly just, like, the coolest experience.

VOICE: My room was called the Benjamin Franklin room, okay? That's where the president stays, when he comes to France.

We really got an upgrade.

GLENN: Wow. And more importantly, the French people were nice to you.

VOICE: We love the French people.

VOICE: Yeah, we love them.

I mean, I feel like that's a common misconception these days, actually. It's very cliche to say. But they're very nice people.

VOICE: But our experience is a little different.

VOICE: Yeah.

STU: You're saving their lives, of course, they're be nice to you.

GLENN: They're going to be nice to you. Trust me, they're not going to be nice to me.

VOICE: We'll be the ambassadors for you, don't worry.

GLENN: Yeah, my wife and I are taking our kids over to Europe this summer for the very first time.

And just last week, we planned a trip from Paris to Amsterdam and back, on that same train. I'm not sure I want to take it now.

VOICE: Same thing.

VOICE: It's a popular thing.

VOICE: Well, now you know what to do.

GLENN: Yes. And here's the role I'll play, go!

(laughter)

GLENN: God bless you guys, thank you so much. And it was -- it was -- it's really stirring -- your story is really stirring. And it was really a great moment, I think for all Americans to -- to watch the French say the truth about Americans. And sometimes, you know, the rest of the world doesn't -- doesn't see us like this. But I think that's -- we all at least want to be in that -- in situations like that. And you guys actually did it. So thank you so much, God bless.

VOICE: Thanks for having us. God bless you too, man.

(music)

GLENN: The new Clint Eastwood movie, 1517 to paris, opens up a week from today.

Unveiling the DARK side of artificial intelligenceplay icon
RADIO

Unveiling the DARK side of artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence is being sold as the ultimate tool for progress and convenience, but at what cost? Glenn Beck sits down with investigative journalist Whitney Webb to uncover how Big Tech and government powers are quietly constructing a “digital prison” that feeds on human data, erodes individual freedom, and conditions society into passive dependence. Webb exposes how the seductive promise of comfort and automation masks a deeper agenda: cognitive manipulation, emotional engineering, and a move toward a post-human future.

Watch Glenn Beck's FULL Interview with Whitney Webb HERE

Glenn Beck's eye-opening findings on AIPAC and US lawsplay icon
RADIO

Glenn Beck's eye-opening findings on AIPAC and US laws

Glenn Beck was recently asked a question during his TPUSA speech at the University of North Dakota: Is the fact that AIPAC doesn’t have to register as a foreign agent under FARA evidence that Israel has unprecedented control over the United States? Glenn did his homework and presents his findings: It looks like the real issue is our own laws…

Watch Glenn's TPUSA speech HERE

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: There is a -- a phrase that is carved into the marble at the Supreme Court, and it says "equal justice under the law." Equal justice under the law.

That is the one thing that we've really forgotten about here in America it seems. You want special justice. You want justice for this group or that group. But, no, I want equal justice. It's why justice is blindfolded. Justice should never see who is at the bench.

They should see, what are the facts of the case? And who is at the bench should not make a difference. I don't care if you're rich or you're poor, you're homeless, or you're Bill Gates. I don't really care. I want to know the facts. And then we judge that, not looking at the person.

That's the closest we can come to perfect justice. And the farther -- the more we take that blindfold off of justice, the more corrupt justice becomes, and we know this. Because that's why if you were black back in the day, you couldn't get a fair hearing. A fair trial. Because justice wasn't blindfolded, okay? That's why it's up on the Supreme Court.

Equal justice under the law. And it's not a suggestion. It's not a slogan. It is the beating heart of the American experiment. You know, no man. No movement. No institution. No creed stands above the law!

Now, the reason why I bring this up, is because last week I was in a turning point event in North Dakota, and I said all the way through, "I hate these question and answer things."

Because I don't believe -- hate conflict. And I also don't believe anybody is doing anything other than trying to win. When you're in a crowd, somebody is trying to win. I don't play that game. I don't like that game.

I like honest questioning. And you also have to have a debate, where you can talk about -- you can talk about subtle things. You know, you can -- you have to be able to look at things, not everything is black and white.

There is right and wrong, yes. But now, how do we get there?

For instance, last week -- yesterday, I talked to you about AI. Earlier, this seems like last week already. Earlier in hour number one, in the podcast. I was talking to you about AI.

And I don't know the right answer on that yet. We have to have that debate.

But an honest debate on things. So last week, I started taking questions, and, boy, did they take these and selectively edit. Interesting.

But I was asked, you know, Glenn, how come AIPAC -- that's the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee -- how come they don't register as a foreign agent under FARA, the Foreign Agents Registration Act? Well, I know that Hunter Biden was supposed to register under that. Or was he?

Now, I said at the time, I don't know anything about it. I haven't looked into that. But I will do my homework on it. Because I want to know. And my guess is: If they don't, then there's something wrong with our law! Okay?

Either they're giving special favors that they shouldn't, or many people are getting special favors, and they shouldn't. Everyone should have to obey the law. And equal treatment.

Justice is blind. Okay. So let me tell you now.

I went home. I did my homework. Let me tell you what I found on AIPAC. First of all, it is bigger than AIPAC. Much bigger. It is a mirror held up to an uneven application of American law. Let me tell you what FARA is supposed to do. It was passed in 1948, to stop the Nazi propaganda. People were -- there were lots of Nazis here in America. And it requires anyone that is working on behalf of a foreign government, to register as a foreign agent.

Seems simple.

But is it?

It requires transparency and accountability. But here's where it gets murky in the law: AIPAC is an American lobbying organization, registered under the lobbying disclosure act, not FARA.

Because it's funded and run by American citizens, not a foreign government. Now, that's the legal line. Now, I don't agree with this. But that's the legal line.

But AIPAC is not the only one running this. So why are we only hearing about the Jews controlling the government, when -- and AIPAC doing it, when they're not the only one.

Did you know the National Iranian-American Council, the Armenian Assembly of America, the Turkish Heritage Organization, even Saudi Arabia's ARAMCO, their subsidiary, Motiva operate under exactly the same -- you want Saudi Arabia and ARAMCO?

Why are they not paying it? Why are they not registered under FARA? Now, some people will defend this. Because they say, these are groups of diaspora. They are US-based subsidiaries. They have domestic roots, et cetera. I don't buy any of that bullcrap. I mean, that's me. I mean, we can argue it, but I don't agree with that. Because I think it's a really dangerous loophole that allows quiet foreign money to come in and influence and hide behind a US address.

But here's where it gets serious. This is not just a legal issue. This is about truth.

When you and I or anyone else, begin selecting only the facts that make our point, while ignoring those that don't, we stop doing research, and we start doing propaganda.

If you've listened to voices that pick and choose data, to inflame your anger, you have to start asking yourself this question. Is my source being honest.

I ask you all the time, do your own homework.

I'm the guy who I think popularized that with the youth now.

Do your own homework.

Don't take my word for it. Do your own homework.

But that requires that you do homework on all fronts. You ask honest questions. Am I wrong?

Is this wrong?

I want to read the opposite side. And I want to see what's credible on both sides and bring it together.

Example, once you learn that the Iranians, Cubans, Saudis, Armenians, and Turks all have the same objection, yet it's only the Jewish organization that is accused of secretly controlling Washington, do you see -- a disturbing pattern here.

Because the -- the argument starts to sound less like a legal concern, and more like something far older and darker. And that was my point. I said, look, you don't to have agree with Israel.

I don't want to fight their wars. I don't want to do anything. I support them in their right to defend themselves as they see fit.

I don't support anything like genocide. I don't believe they're doing genocide.

I do believe Hamas is. And I do believe you can make a very, very clear case, that Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran are evil.

And I said, look, you don't have to accept Israel. And you don't -- you don't have to accept Hamas. You can say nobody is a good guy in this. But when you look at things like AIPAC. If there's more, and this is what I said, if it's about something legal, then we have to correct that. And the argument would be over.

I could say what I'm saying today, and say, look, we should have listened to Tom Cotton. He introduced legislation on this. All of this has to stop.

So let's do that. Why are we dividing ourself on an ancient Jews control the world thing, when that's not even true about AIPAC, okay?

Because everybody else is doing that too. The problem isn't Judaism. It's not Islam. It's not any one nation. Quite honestly, if you want to be honest, the problem is our laws and our politicians.

Equal justice under the law. It must be our demand every day. Jew, Muslim. Gentile.

Hunter Biden. Everyone -- everyone should be the same under the law. What's happened instead, is that this loophole has become a weapon.

And people twist it, to their own, you know. Their own the light.

To suggest that AIPAC, you know, runs the US government and the Pentagon and the president, which is laughable, especially this week. That is laughable.

Just look at the events of the last few days. Do you really think that Donald Trump is being controlled by Israel?

Have you heard what he has said to Benjamin Netanyahu?

Have you seen all of the Egyptians and the Saudis and everybody else and the Arab world, all now lining up for this peace?

When he bombed -- when he bombed Iran, he's not fighting Israel's war.

When he bombed Iran, it wasn't for Israel. Any more than it was for I didn't want and Saudi Arabia. You found out yesterday, that the one thing they all unite on, is that Iran is the real problem there.

And what he did was a -- a show of peace through strength. The same principle, that ended the decades of stalemate between Arab nations, and Israel.

And here's another thing. When you stop sending pallets of cash, to your enemies, and you start saying, don't do that anymore!

And I'm serious. They tend to listen.

And what was the result?

You could speculate, and I worried at the time.

I said it, on the air. I'm worried that this could slate things.

But it didn't. So what is the result?

The result was not an endless war where we're over fighting in the Middle East. I don't want that. And neither do you.

The result was true Arab Israeli peace. The first chance of true peace in -- in a millennia.

And now, he's taken that credibility of saying, look, I'll be tough on the Arabs. I'll be tough on the Iranians. I'll be tough on the Jews. I'll be tough on Hamas.

However, I will say, Hamas, you do these things.

And I'm with you. He yesterday invited Iran into the League of Nations.

Look, just because we bombed you, it doesn't mean we hate you. We want you to have peace.

So come on in. Now he's taken that same credibility, and now he's turning it towards Russia and Ukraine. And he's doing that.

He's meeting with the leadership of Ukraine, on Friday.

And he's going to apply the same exact principle.

And here's what's going to happen.

The same people who said he was once a Russian puppet, will now accuse him of getting us into a war with Russia, and do Ukraine's bidding.

Which one is it?

Which one is it?

May I suggest a third reason? Maybe, just maybe, for the first time I believe in my lifetime, we are seeing America -- an American president doing America's bidding.

Trying to broker peace. Trying to keep us out of these endless wars.

Because honestly, isn't that what all of us want. I don't care who you voted for. Do you want more foreign wars?

Because I don't.

I'm tired of it.

Do you want to see more blood and treasure spilled in some unknown country?

Wants that -- isn't that what we all want is an end to these wars. No more young Americans spilling their blood in distant deserts or frozen tundras, for somebody else's freedom, who I don't even know if they really want freedom?

I want freedom here.

I want to -- I want to able to show the world, what people who actually understand what freedom is.

Know what the high price is, that we have to pay for our own freedom. Not your freedom.

Our freedom. What we can do in that freedom.

We want to be a shining city on the hill.

That everyone can look at, and go, look at those guys. I want to be more like them.
Not going over to other countries and jamming it down their throat. I want peace, but peace grounded in strength and honesty.

And the unbreakable, carved in stone, promise of equal justice under the law.

That's what we have to do, to restore faith in the republic.

We have to stop taking little bits and pieces. Look at the whole thing and say, what's corrupt? Well, what's corrupt here might have started as a good thing. But it's no longer a good thing.

We have to change the law. Equal justice under the law.

I'm sorry. If you are doing the bidding, Hunter Biden or AIPAC. Or the Iranian Council or Armenian Council, or whatever. I'm sorry.

We have to tighten this down. Because money has changed. It's changed!

Things that were happening in 1945, 1955. '85. '95. So that I have.

It's changed, and I don't want any foreign influence coming into this country, unless we know exactly you're -- you're influencing for a foreign country.

Because this is what makes us different than every other country that has come before. And that's not ideology. That's not party. That's not tribe.

That's how we have to define America again. If we're going to survive.

So you may not like it. I'm sorry.

But you asked me to do my own homework on AIPAC. There it is!

China vs. US: The battle for rare earth minerals and AI dominanceplay icon
RADIO

China vs. US: The battle for rare earth minerals and AI dominance

There is a quiet war brewing between China and the US over rare earth minerals and AI. We CANNOT lose this war, Glenn Beck warns. But can we win it without destroying ourselves in the process? Glenn Beck explains why we must have this conversation and connects 4 stories from around the world that reveal what’s coming…

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: All right. I told you about gold here. Record highs.

And it is telling us something. Usually, it would tell us if the dollar is in real, real trouble. I think, and I am guessing at this now.

But I think what this is telling us, is that the whole world, the system is in trouble. And let me give you an example. I'm going to talk to you about something to try to make sense of it here. But I do have a good answer. Because we're not having these conversations. I have told you for almost 20 years, when it comes to AI. We must have these conversations now, because the world is going to change overnight. And we are at that point! We are at the point of singularity. Where there is no turning back. And we haven't had these conversations. Do you want to win the AI war?

I will tell you, we cannot lose it. But to win it, we may have to sacrifice so much on the altar of liberty, that I don't want to fight it!

So what do we do?

Let me explain. Something has shifted in the world. And most people cannot feel it yet.

But if you're paying attention, you understand, there is something on the horizon. One day soon, we're going to wake up, and we're going to realize, uh-oh. I think we crossed the line here. Quietly, silently. While no one was paying attention, everything changed.

Over the past few days, while the world was paying attention on what's going on in Israel and the Middle East. There's a couple of other really important headlines that caught my attention.

And at first, they all seemed unrelated. Just random stories from around the world. But when you look closer. And this is what I think I do best.

I take things that are seemingly unrelated. And say, wait a minute. Wait a minute.

I think they all fit into this category.

So let me give you some threads here.

First thread is China. Beijing just tightened its grip on rare earth elements. These are the minerals that make absolutely everything possible. Your smartphone. Your electric car. Your missile defense system. Your refrigerator. Everything depends on these rare earth minerals. China, because of our inaction and stupid policies over the last couple of decades, control now, 80 percent of the world's supply chain. That cannot stand. Now, what they're doing, is they're choking it off! They're now closing it up, and they are threatening the West. No more rare earth -- rare earth minerals. If that happens, we cannot defend ourself.

Do we have rare earth minerals? Yeah. We have lots of them. But we're not mining them.

It will take a decade to start mining them, up in Alaska. Where they mainly are.

That's why Donald Trump was saying, we need Greenland!

That's what he was saying. Rare earth minerals. Because they're already mining them there. And we cannot lose them!

Now, they're choking it off, and rare earth stocks exploded overnight.

Because whoever controls those minerals, controls the future. Now, here's the second threat, the Pentagon.

Out of nowhere, they made a billion dollar emergency order for those same rare earth minerals. That's not normal. That's not paperwork. That is the sound of the military quietly preparing for something, a shortage. Possibly in a storm. Like I said, we are -- because of what Biden did in Ukraine, we are -- are wholly unprepared for any kind of military action. We don't have the materials.

And at the same time, everything is changing to high-tech. We don't have the rare earth minerals, and the chips now, to make our guided missile systems.

The third threat, JP Morgan Chase. One of the most powerful institutions on the planet, just announced this week, a $1.5 trillion investment plan. In what they call security and resilience.

That's not going to mom and pop shops. That's not going to community loans. That money is being funneled straight into AI, defense manufacturing, and critical minerals.

It's as if the Pentagon and Wall Street just linked arms and decided to build a fortress economy together.

Then came the fourth threat. Nobody paid attention to this one. In Europe, the Dutch government just seized control of the Chinese-owned chip maker on their own soil.

They invoked emergency powers and nationalized the company to stop the Chinese influence over the semiconductor industry. That's not good. Four stories, four continents, four quiet tremors in the ground. When you weave them all together, that's when you begin to understand what all of this means. So let me try to do that.

The old world, as we know it is dying! Pragmatism the world of free markets. The world of open trade. Individual enterprise.

The world that lifted billions out of poverty, is being replaced now, slowly, but surely by something new.

And this one is being done in the name of security.

And I don't have an answer for this. This is why we must pay attention, and talk about it now!

Corporations now are aligning with state power. Before, we had the tech industry, aligning itself with the government to control speech.

This is the government aligning themselves with tech rare earth minerals, et cetera, et cetera. To be able to win the AI war.

This -- this -- all of this is a single unspoken motive. And that is, the race to dominate artificial intelligence. This is the new arms race. This is the nigh Manhattan Project. The new nuclear weapon. Except, this is a million the times more enslaving than nuclear weapons could ever hope to be.

Whoever masters this first, whoever gets to AI and AGI first will control the economies, the information, even your thought itself.

Every rare earth mineral, every chip, every line of code, they're all ingredients in that same contest. And the nations are moving fast. They're hoarding materials now.

They're beginning to seize companies.

They're building walled off supply chains. This is happening on their side. And on our side.

And the free market in this particular place, is no longer free. It's being drafted into a digital Cold War. Now, that sounds bad, but now let me tell you the danger that nobody seems to get.

When nations go to war, even an economic war, freedom always becomes a casualty. We tell -- we tell ourselves, we're fighting for liberty. And we are!

Because we don't want to live if had a society like China, right?

I don't!

But when survival is on the line, governments tighten control for our own good. They regulate. They ration. They censor. And one day, you look up, and you realize, the line between democracy and technocracy is gone. If the -- if the West wants to win this AI war and we must, then we have to have a conversation.

Why are we even fighting this war?

Because if in winning it, we become China. Why not let China just win?

If we adopt the same top-down control. The same surveillance. The same emergence of government and corporate power. Then what did we actually win?

Didn't we just trade one master for another?

The old global system, free enterprise, open markets, individual liberty.

It is being rewritten in real time.

And the threads are now all coming together. And they are -- they are weaving a new tapestry.

I don't know what the tapestry looks like. I can guess what that tapestry looks like.

And I don't like it.

Will it be woven, from freedom, or will it be woven from fear?

If we lose sight of who we are -- look, our global leadership, it's already lost sight for who we are. They don't care. They don't care.

None of them care. They'll get to this global dominance over the individual, one way or another, in their book. You must care. You must stand for freedom. You must be at the head of having this conversation. Because if we lose sight of who we are, it -- this tapestry is going to be strong, efficient, and unbreakable.

But it will not be free. Some take can, historians will look back at this moment, and they will go, what happened?

They're going to see these quiet headlines. These invisible decisions that are being made right now. And they will realize, this is when the new world began. They will be able to look at this point and say, this was it!

Why didn't people see it?

Hmm.

The answer to that is office.

We have -- we're overwhelmed with everything that we have to do. Everything we're looking at.

This has been a very well-planned takeover of freedom.

You have to ask yourself: When the weaving is done, whose pattern will we be living in? Because that is what is coming.

There's a story in the show prep today, that I really want I to live. I will talk to you about it in a second. Western executives who visit China are coming back terrified. You don't have any idea how far China is ahead of us.

And you can say, well, I don't want to be China. Well, you will be China, and China will be controlling you, if we don't push back.

But how do we push back, without becoming China.

Listen to this next story.

You can find it in our headlines. If you just go get the free email newsletter, at GlennBeck.com.

Western executives are visit China are coming back terrified.

I will explain it to you, coming up in a second. First, our sponsor this half-hour, it's JASE Medical. Headlines, this week. Have been a mix of relief and reality. Good news, in some places, in chaos and uncertainty, still just one turn away.

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Ten-second station ID.
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I am in Washington, DC. I'm actually at the Rush Limbaugh studios at the Heritage Foundation. I can't help them enough for the short notice, I was invited at the White House, over the weekend, to join the president and -- in honoring Charlie Kirk on his 32nd birthday today.

My receiving the freedom medal, and I'll be there along with a lot of other people. And I really can't wait to experience that. And hope to have some time with the president later today, and talk about some other things.

There's a lot of things going on. By the way, you can watch this ceremony, at TP USA. Turning Point USA YouTube. And the channels at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time.

And I hope to see you there. And I'll be back in the studios in Dallas tomorrow, to give you more about that, as we -- as we continue.

Okay. So let me give you this story. Western executive visit China, who are coming back. Quote, it's the most humbling thing I've ever seen, said Ford's chief executive about his recent trip to China. After visiting a string of factories, Jim Farley was left astonished by technical innovations being packed into Chinese cars from self-driving software to facial recognition.

The cost and quality of their vehicles is far superior to that on which I see in the West. We are in a global competition with China, and it's not just EVs. If we lose this, listen carefully, there is no future at Ford! If we lose this, there is no future at Ford.

Another executive: This one from the EU says, I can take you to factories in China now, where you'll basically be alongside a big conveyor belt, and the machines come out on the floor and begin to assemble parts. You're walking alongside this conveyor, and after about 800 meters, a truck drives out, and there are no people involved.

Other executives describe a vast dark factory, where robots do so much of the work alone, that there's no need to even turn on lights for humans.

We visited a dark factory, producing some astronomical numbers of cell phones.

The process is so heavily automated, that there were no workers on the manufacturing side, just a small number who are there to make sure a plant was working.

You get this sense of change, where China's competitive has gone from government subsidies and low wages, to a tremendous number of highly skilled, educated engineers, who are innovating like mad. Between 2014 and 2024, the number of industrial robots deployed in the country, rocketed from 189,000 to more than 2 million. It is -- just give you -- just let me give you this. Last year, China added 295,000 robots. Germany added 27,000.

The US 34,000. The UK, 2500.

The UK is over. I mean, it's just absolutely over. It boasts 567 robots for every 10,000 manufacturing workers. 449 in Germany for every 10,000. And 307 for the US.

So this is not -- this is -- I'm not preaching this because this is, you know, good for the country. It's bad for workers. It's bad for workers.

But China is doing it for a couple of -- a couple of things. First of all, their policy is known. I can't pronounce it in Chinese. But it translates to replacing humans with machines.

In China, they don't need to have a Patriot Act.

A really, super great thing for auto workers. No.

Replacing humans with machines, is the name of the policy.

Okay.

And it is -- it's happening everywhere. Everywhere. They can develop and execute models in probably half the time, that most European car makers can make.

And they're doing it, partially because they're seeing the decline in their birthrates. And they know, we're not going to have the workers to be able to do this.

But what's disturbing is. All of these robotics, are needing power.

They also need AI.

So they are building these gigantic server farms, which we are still breaking ground on. They're building them. They're building new power plants. One power plant, coal-fired power plant every week. And I think 40 -- can you look this up, Stu?

I think it's 40 nuclear power plants a year.

We're not building anything!

We're not building anything.

We're breaking ground on it.

Trump has already said, he's cutting all of the regulations.

But we're still far, far behind.

And we are getting close to the point where they win, we lose.

Again, I don't know what to do about it. Except, have a conversation about it. Because I've read the conversations from the left. I've read the conversations from World Economic Forum. And they don't care. They will take you and literally put you in a drug -- a drugged state, and put you online, and you're just going to play video games, your whole life. That is honestly their plan for a large number of people in the West, that will be just no longer usable. Undesirables. Well, I don't like those labels.

The FBI knocked on my door to talk about Antifa...play icon
RADIO

The FBI knocked on my door to talk about Antifa...

The FBI showed up to Glenn's house to discuss his TV show exposing Antifa's network. Glenn shares what he learned from his "surreal" meeting and warns any member or funder of Antifa: you should be a little concerned because the FBI is SERIOUS about investigating you.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Let me tell you something else that's changed.

Let me start with this. Cut five here.

Here are the new talking points for the media on Antifa.

Listen to this.

VOICE: This is an entirely imaginary organization. There's not an Antifa.

VOICE: Look, I don't even know what Antifa is.
VOICE: There is no growth.

VOICE: It's not even like far right groups, like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, compared to right-wing extremists, Antifa-linked violence is rare and limited.

VOICE: It is an organization.
It is -- it is in many ways mythology.

VOICE: It's not like the Proud Boys or the Oath Keepers. You know, they're defined terrorist organizations, the leadership that led -- that, you know, leads violence.

VOICE: It's not a highly organized movement. It's a moniker. It's not even a group like the Proud Boys are.

Things like Antifa are things that are thought up.

VOICE: These guys are going after Antifa, which is nothing. There's no organization called Antifa.

VOICE: Nobody is a member of Antifa because it doesn't exist! They are just claiming existence to something that doesn't exist.

VOICE: There is no Antifa organization, so maybe that's good for social media.

But it really has -- is nonexistent.

VOICE: They exist on the internet and chat rooms.

And in 4chan.

GLENN: Okay.

VOICE: And places like that. Where they run discussion boards. Trade tactics.

Documents. Things like that.

But none of them are called Antifa.

STU: What!

GLENN: I don't even know what they're talking about.

You want to talk about living in a different world.

But that's what's going around.

Now, let me just tell you this: Last week, I did a TV show that apparently got the FBI's attention.

STU: Hmm.

GLENN: The topic was -- was initial investigation. A jumping off point, shattering the myth that Antifa just -- oh, it's -- it's just leaderless. And decentralized. Uh-huh. Uh-huh.

We thought, no. It's really not. So we dove in. Head first.

And we analyzed the Antifa network. And we went from the street thugs, to the support groups, eventually, to the funding.

Okay?

To say the FBI was interested in this might be an understatement.

Let's just say, the FBI is turning over every single stone.

It is so clear to me, that they are exploring all angles of this. And they are talking to anyone and everyone that can give them think kind of information.

How do I know?

Saturday, I get a phone call.

The director would like to send over some agents to speak to you, Glenn.

And I'm like, the director?

The FBI agents?

Yes, you said, some things that they need to talk to you about.

Well, good things or bad things? "They'll be over."

Three agents sat in my living room on Saturday afternoon for almost two hours. And I immediately called Jason. I'm like, Jason, you're the researcher. It's your fault. I'm going to throw you under the bus. You better get your butt over here.

So Jason was there. My wife and I sat there, and it was surreal at one point. I talked to them for about 15 minutes just going over the Tides Foundation. And saying, if you understand Tides, you'll understand how difficult your job is going to be. And this is information that I first gave on Fox years ago.

Let me just say this: Finally, we have an administration and an FBI director, that is willing to go in deep. Not surface. But deep!

I could only imagine what we could have avoided, if anyone in an administration, would have done this, in 2011.

But if I were in that, imaginary group, of Antifa, which, by the way, has imaginary leaders. Leaving the country to go maybe to imaginary countries outside of the US right now. I would be very concerned. If I were a part of anything that was sending money their way or assistance their way.

I don't know!

I might be a little concerned, because the FBI is deadass serious.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Donald Trump, Kash Patel, and all of the agents at the FBI.

GLENN: We're covering from Allie Beth Stucky's big event, six or 7,000 women showed up this weekend for a weekend conference. It was -- it was unbelievable.

STU: Really, I saw the crowds. It was incredible.

GLENN: Yeah. She did a great, great job. I'm so proud of her. She's just killing it. But we will try to get to some of those clips because they're really, really good. We'll get to those later on in the program. You know, Stu and I were talking about how Antifa doesn't exist. And, you know, that's like saying -- it's like saying Al-Qaeda doesn't exist. Well, you're right.

There is no way, you know, 501 Broadway, you know, where you go to al-Qaeda's office. That doesn't happen, but it does exist, and it's an ideology.

And while they may not -- they may not take their direction from the same person at the office, I don't know. There's no HR. So they don't exist. They exist!

They exist. And they're loosely affiliated. And sometimes, they are getting money. You know.

STU: Uh-huh.

GLENN: And for the press and everybody else to say -- when you're watching them all over the country, and they're doing exactly the same thing, same tactics. Every -- everywhere.

You know, to say, they don't exist is just infantile.

STU: Yeah. It's like a -- it's -- I don't know what the word -- there should be a word for this, if there isn't.

But there's a real point used in an intentionally dumb way to mislead.

Is that malinformation? Is that what that is?

GLENN: Yes. Yes.

STU: It really is. There's a real point to it. They're disengaged from a centralized thing. This makes them more dangerous. This is how you had to deal with terrorist cells back in the day. However, they're using it in a way that makes it seem like it's not a threat, which is not accurate. And they know it's not accurate. And they're trying to mislead people with a piece of --

GLENN: Why would you -- why would you support -- why would you try to brush Antifa under the rug? I mean, it's just perplexing.