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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.

RADIO

Canada’s Euthanasia CRISIS: Assisted Suicide and Organ Harvesting

Canada’s MAID (Medical Assistance in Dying) program has crossed a moral threshold, and Glenn Beck is sounding the alarm. What began as a so-called “compassionate” option for the terminally ill has expanded into a dystopian system where citizens are being encouraged to end their lives over depression, poverty, or homelessness. As healthcare collapses, the government’s answer is to reduce the “surplus population” while even harvesting organs in the process. Glenn exposes how the normalization of euthanasia devalues human life, opens a dark ethical path, and serves as a chilling warning for America.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: It's -- getting really bad up in Canada. I was with some Canadians yesterday. I saw them. I was up in the Capitol after meeting with senator Lee. And I come out, and these people say, "That's Glenn Beck. Glenn Beck."

And I turn around. And they're like, "Oh, my gosh." And they come up to me, and they're Canadians. I'm like, "Can you guys still cross the border from Canada? I didn't even know that was legal, still."

STU: They love this humor, by the way.

GLENN: They loved this humor. But they were great. They were big fans, and, you know, I asked them about how things are going in Canada. And they said, "Really not good."

I said, "I'm really concerned about your MAID program."

And they were like, "Yeah. You think so?"

Canada is in a euthanasia crisis. The cheapening of life. This started out about ten years ago, in Canada.

You know, if you have a chronic illness and you are close to death. You're going to die, anyway, and I don't mean like from old age. I mean, you are close to death. And you are in massive death. You can end life.

Now, if you remember right, Stu and I talked about this in the days of Fox. One of the problems we had was the complete live system with -- with Obamacare.

STU: Yeah.

GLENN: When you have -- when you have a government health care system, all it takes is a shortage of any kind. And then you start devaluing life on both ends of the spectrum. Up until 12 -- I think he's up to 12 years old, you get very little Medicare -- or medicine and care.

And over 50, they begin to cut your care. They keep the ones who are actually working hard. And making all the money. They keep all the care there.

Because that's what's with good for society. Okay?

This is exactly what is happening for Canada. And they're not saying it.

They can't keep up with the system of care that they have there. People are dying all the time. And so what they're trying to do is just reduce the surplus population. And so now you can go in and get euthanasia for -- I mean, pain. You can't conduct yourself with meaningful activities anymore.

You can't perform your daily activities.

You have depression. Autism. I mean, all kinds of stuff.

STU: Really, any reason.

GLENN: Any reason.

STU: It's at least expanding to that eventually.

GLENN: It just expanded. There were two people that were just cleared for euthanasia. Because they got kicked out of their home. Because their home was being given to illegals.

So these Canadian citizens. They get kicked out of the home. They can't find a place to live.

And they're getting depressed about it. They go to the doctor. And the doctor is like, we don't have any beds for you.

It will be months before we can see you.

You can't give me any kind of help on this?

No.

STU: My gosh, they should have illegally crossed into this country.

I would be happy to help them.

GLENN: Well, no. They're Canadians. If they're Canadian, they're probably white. And we can't help them.

STU: Hmm.

GLENN: I know me too.

So they -- they convinced two of these people, just kill themselves.

STU: How --

GLENN: Because --

STU: So awful.

GLENN: Awful. Awful.

STU: But this is -- this is a -- can a long-standing. You know, you want to make a slippery slope argument.

This is a really easy place to be.

GLENN: And it's happening over and over again.

STU: It's the same place that happens every time.

GLENN: Yeah. Every time.

STU: You look at that, what is the movie, Million Dollar Baby, I believe it was. If I'm remembering right. It was Clint Eastwood. And so that was a really fascinating movie to watch, as someone -- in our position. If you're a conservative.

GLENN: Uh-huh.

STU: Because she -- spoiler alerts, throughout, she was a female boxer.

This is a wrong time. A apologize if I get it wrong. She has a terrible why are in the ring. And is put on basically life support.

And kind of wants to die.

And he unplugs her at the end. If I remember right, basically.

And she dies. And it's the best possible case in a way, for euthanasia. You feel terrible for her. She had all this to live for. This awful thing happened to her. She was incredibly unhappy.

And, you know, you felt like, he was doing the right thing.

The movie presented it in a way that it felt like, this is a tough choice. But he did the right thing.

GLENN: I'm trying to remember the Rachel McAdams' movie about kind of the very same thing.

STU: Okay.

GLENN: It was very disturbing.

Life without you, or something. And she falls in love with this guy.

And, you know, she thinks he has a great life. But he's in a wheelchair. And they have a great time. But she doesn't know that she's just care-taking because his parents are trying to get him to find purpose in life again. He was in an accident. Find purpose in life again. But he just wants to kill himself. So they fall in love and everything else.

It in the end, he says, I want to kill myself. And he see. And you're made to feel like, that's an okay --

STU: Yeah. Hey. And I think those are valuable vehicles. They challenge you a little bit. You're like, okay. This is a tough situation. A tough call or whatever.

And I don't remember at the end of the movie, yeah. I'm pretty sure.

GLENN: Me too. Me too.

STU: You don't want to unplug people, when there's no reason to.

GLENN: Uh-huh.

STU: And that is always where it starts. You feel like, there's a tough call to be made here. This person is in pain, they're suffering.

But if you don't prioritize above all else in these situations, above quality of life.

Above whether -- whether they feel that they have nothing to live for.

If you don't prioritize life. At least from a legal standpoint. You know, you -- you put your society, on slippery slope that ends this way, every single time. And, you know, we all kind of understand the truth of the situation, which is, it's very difficult to prevent over someone's life. If they want to take their own life. They will probably be able to do it.

GLENN: Yeah. Yeah.

STU: But coming to a societal acceptance of something like this.

Put you on a road to darkness.

GLENN: Well, they -- they say that we're doing this scientifically we have three doctors that have to sign up on this. Well, that's exactly the number that the Nazis have to.

STU: And they trim that number.

GLENN: They did. They did. And I think they had one or two. They trimmed that number.

It may be back up to three. Here's the good thing. You get more doctors involved. Because now they are prepping the people for euthanasia with -- I think it's Heparin. Which you put a line in of Heparin. And that preserves your organs. And so as soon as the doctors off you. Other doctors take you. And take out your organs. And now Canada is becoming one of the biggest organ warehouses since Hammond.

RADIO

Did Ketanji Brown Jackson say black voters are DISABLED?!

MegynKelly‬ joins Glenn Beck to discuss Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s “unbelievable” comparison of black people’s ability to vote with disabled Americans, Justin Trudeau and Katy Perry’s alleged romance, and Megyn’s upcoming stadium tour stop with Glenn.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Hello, Megyn, how are you?

MEGYN: Hello, friend. I'm great. How are you doing?

GLENN: I'm good. I'm good. I'm glad to be with you. What is it? Next Saturday, we're going to be together here in Texas.

MEGYN: Fort Worth, baby! Let's do this thing.

GLENN: Could you get a bigger arena, have you been to the Dickie's arena?

MEGYN: No. I can't wait to see it.

GLENN: Yeah, well, there's a lot of it. There's a lot of it.

But we're going to be together, and tickets are still available. Grab your tickets now. I would like to know a couple of things. First of all, I'm going to making a pretty big announcement, breaking some news with you. Because you're a journalist, and everybody goes to you for these things. But I'm going to be breaking some big news.

And then -- what -- I'm only asking this, because I just got off, you know, one of the shows from Charlie Kirk. And the audience kind of threw me for a loop. I didn't even -- I've never even pondered before, Megyn.

MEGYN: Well, I think we're going to be doing some Q&A with the audience too. And I'm looking forward to that. I've been hearing a lot of folks commenting on our social media feed, that they would love to interact. And I thought, maybe we'll kick it off with Q&A, have people have their say, and then we can do our interview and all that. But my goal overall is to just make it a good time. I think people, if you're going to go out on a Saturday night, you want to have fun. You want to keep it upbeat. There's so much to make fun of.

GLENN: Well, I'm good at that. I'm with you on that. I can be with you all day long on that.

MEGYN: This administration, which has a very healthy sense of humor. And the bizarre attacks. Did you see the Bradley Whitford thing on The View just yesterday saying, there are internment camps going on right now in the United States. Are there?

Really?

GLENN: What!

MEGYN: He played a political hack on the West Wing.

And now, ever since, he's kind of like Yul Brynner in the King & I.

Remember when he had really started asking the king, he thought what he really was. That's what happened with Bradley Whitford. Martin Sheen too, who played the president in that same series. Now they've both gone so hard-core left. And saying all the worst rumors you hear from your great, great granddad on, you know, Facebook are true.

The internment camps across the United States, where?

Where specifically, Bradley? Walk me through it.

GLENN: Can you help me out on Ketanji Brown Jackson yesterday? I think she said that blacks are mentally handicapped or maybe physically handicapped. But she compared the Voting Rights Act with the ADA. What kind of -- how low can they go in insulting black Americans before black Americans are like, okay, come on!

MEGYN: No, it was unbelievable. If one of the white justices had said that, it would be on the cover of every magazine, the top of every newspaper. The fact that I guess she's black and a woman, they give her a pass.

She actually tried to say that we need ongoing scrutiny of all voting schemes in America, because blacks are like people with disabilities, with basically no rights. Because she was saying, when we passed the American with Disabilities Act, we had no requirements that building the handicap accessible. And that's basically the position of blacks in America in 2025. There must be a national mandate requiring them.

GLENN: How do you build a building so it's black accessible?

Because I think they already are. What -- what kind of special ramps are needed to be built here? I don't understand.

MEGYN: Yeah. Do our black friends know that they can't just walk right into the buildings. I'm not sure I'm aware of that. Or is it just Ketanji?

How did she walk into the US Supreme Court to make the point that blacks are not equal, and being permanently disabled, as she puts on her robe, to take one of nine seats.

GLENN: It's just crazy. Just crazy on that.

And then, you know, we have the shutdown which is completely bizarre, the way the Democrats are trying to do this. And I think they're holding it closed now, because of the no kings rally. They want the big no kings thing.

Is that violent, or how is that going to turn out this weekend?

MEGYN: Did you see the Trump tweet saying, I'm so relieved. Thank you so much to the no kings crowd. I thought somebody was trying to become king. But thanks to you, I remain the president.

I appreciate it. He's a master troller. You know, they did this in June, with all of the same numbers. And nothing happened. No one cared.

Didn't really get a lot of press. And that's exactly what will happen this time.

One thing I found interesting, about the no kings media promo they're doing. One of the groups that's helping is the human rights campaign. And of course this is like an LGBTQ anti-pride group. Used to be more about gay rights. And now it's gone completely trans. And this is the group, that gives everybody their score. You know, their DEI score.

GLENN: Oh, yeah. That's right.

MEGYN: The math is totally off. You're actively out there protesting against the president, and we're still going to have anyone in corporate America, pretend that you're just an impartial arbiter, that is worried about a civil rights issue? As you're out there marching against the sitting president, with -- with people like Bradley Whitford, who are in internment camps. I mean, the mask is completely off.

They've already been defanged, thanks to Trump. And his active pushes through executive or his. And de I agenda. That's what's going to be there. The move on crew.

GLENN: How long does this go on? How long do we need the government and control of the government before it's crushed, the spirit of this is crushed? I know people will always believe some of the craziness of this stuff. But this -- the whole delusion that we were all living under for a long time. It seems to be over. Or at least dying. How long before it's dead?

MEGYN: Yeah. We need two terms with J.D. Vance, post Trump.

GLENN: That's exactly what Trump said.

MEGYN: Yeah. We can't -- and as much a miracle worker as Trump is. He can't get it done in four years. And we've learned from him how to do it.

And that's working. Just yesterday, there was a headline about is yet another hospital. This one in Boston. Shutting down the puberty blockers and cross sex hormones for anyone under age 19. Because Trump is defunding these hospitals that continue to provide that.

It's amazing. He did that via executive order.

So going three years without those so-called services. Is great. But if you go an extra eight on top of that, without them doing this, and then we see the difference in our youth, we're growing out of their gender dysphoria, just one example.

The case will be so much stronger for never bringing this barbarism, back again. And same with DEI. That's dying a fast death. Every day, you open the paper. And you see more stories. Sob stories on the left. About another DEI program that's been eliminated. And now these people have nothing to do with their useless degree that they got from Brown University or NYU or Harvard. So if we have another, let's say, three plus eight, and we go 11 years without people getting hired for these roles. The programs get eliminated at the universities.

No one wants to major in something that is not salable, after the fact. So if that's the case, and Trump has gotten us a jump-start on it all.

Yeah, it could be done in '28.

STU: I think you're referring to the numbers that we were just discussing. That there does seem to be a falloff. A decrease since 2023 of people who are identifying as, you know, LGBTQQIA2+. Is this a sign that it was a social contagion?

And you think the dropoff is real, or just a temporary thing.

MEGYN: Well, first, I think we have to give a shout-out to Justin Trudeau for leading the way and dating Katy Perry, abandoning his earlier, obvious confusion.

GLENN: That lesbian love that he's got. I didn't know that he's lesbian.

MEGYN: Exactly. I mean, honestly, I can't think of a man on earth, I would rather sleep with less than Justin Trudeau. Sorry!

GLENN: I'm -- you know what, I'm with you on that, and Katy Perry too. I'm like, Katy Perry is not somebody -- no, thank you!

MEGYN: I mean, obviously she's the dominant one in that relationship.

GLENN: Yeah.

MEGYN: But, yeah, no, that was great news. But it's -- when I was in Portugal. I was so encouraged, of course. Because I love to see those numbers fall. Absolutely awful, what we've been doing to children.

GLENN: Yes.

MEGYN: But I also feel so sad for the ones who got sucked in. You know, I got sucked into trends where we wore V-neck sweaters and long pearls that we tied in a knot. These kids are getting sucked into trends where they're having double mastectomies or huge portions of their forearm cut out and try to be built into a fake phallic. And they will never have sexual enjoyment. Never have sexual function. They will live the rest of their lives deformed. And obviously manipulated hormonally, where you can tell what they've done with the voice and so on.

And, you know, I just can't imagine.

The vast majority of them are sterile. They can never have children. These girls can never breast-feed.

GLENN: It's crazy.

MEGYN: They're confused if they wind up ever having them. So it's like great. Well-done, Democrats and barbaric doctors and hospitals. You've got a bunch of money. You worked out your woke bona fide on a bunch of 16-year-olds who will now have to walk around with the scars of your practice. You decided to practice on them, for the rest of their lives.

The only solution here is massive lawsuits. Huge, devastating lawsuits against the people who did this.

GLENN: I have to tell you, I'm watching Canada, what's happening with MAID up in Canada. And it's become barbaric up there.

We are probably five more years of, you know, full, you know, just full sprint out, the way we were going. Maximum ten, before we were in really, really scary, you know, 1930s kind of territory.

I -- I think there will come a time, where people, hopefully, that history books will -- you know, we will see these shows, where all of these and their people, and everything else. And it was all this woke stuff. This time period, will be just this weird time capsule. That people will look back and be like, what the hell happened to society?

What the hell were people thinking?

MEGYN: You're so right, Glenn. Ten years ago, people would ask that question. What will we look back that we're doing now? In a way we look back at lobotomizing people and say, that's horrible?

The conventional wisdom, ten, 15 years ago. Was the way we treat animals, like the slaughter of animals for human consumption.

GLENN: Yeah.

MEGYN: Boy, has that changed. I mean, in just a short amount of time, it switched to the mutilation of healthy children. For what?

At the hands of their own parents, who are working out their mental issues, on their children!

It's like -- and maybe they don't know, because the left doesn't tell them. Read about this in the New York Times. That 90 plus percent of these children will grow out of any gender confusion.

GLENN: But you have every doctor.

You have every doctor, you can go to, saying, you will kill your child, if you don't -- and there's a lot of people that are just -- they don't what an to do. They don't know what to do.

MEGYN: I know. And on top of that. The same doctors are saying, the child will kill themselves, unless we let them do this.

And you seek out a doctor, just for your child to have individual consultations with. And they're being told by all the medical societies, the only proper standard is to affirm, you may not explore any other mental issue with the child claiming German Shepherd confusion. So these psychologists and psychiatrists have their hands tied now by their licensing organizations.

We just have to go up to the Supreme Court, out of Colorado, where we tried to actually pass a law.

They did, pass a law. Saying, you may not say anything other than affirm. I affirm. I affirm.

We're making it known, a violation of law, for I to try to explore, whether the kid really is gender confused.

You have to affirm his delusion, or you committed, quote, conversion therapy on him. That law is going to get struck down.

STU: It is.

GLENN: It actually could be a nine-zero ruling. But, I mean, that's how crazy we've gotten in our stories. I think you mentioned this, Glenn, in the past five years, we've lost our mind on race and gender.

I think the tide has turned more dramatically on race, and as on the gender mania. That's an example of that.

But it has -- I feel that it's happening.

GLENN: I do too. I do too.

Megyn, thank you so much.

Megyn and I will be together on the Dick ease arena, next Saturday on the 25th of October.

You can get tickets at MegynKelly.com.

TV

Glenn Beck’s EMOTIONAL & HEATED TPUSA Campus Speech | Glenn TV | Ep 462

A few weeks before Charlie Kirk’s assassination, he asked Glenn Beck to join him on one of his Turning Point USA campus tours. Glenn agreed, but with one caveat: “I do not want to debate college students.” The terms were set: Glenn would educate about the truth of America’s history, while Charlie would debate. Then, everything changed on September 10, 2025. Despite the loss of one of America’s greatest political and spiritual giants, the American Comeback Tour didn’t stop at Utah Valley University. Friends like Glenn, Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Michael Knowles, Allie Beth Stuckey, and Vice President JD Vance agreed to pick up Charlie’s torch to inspire the next generation of conservatives on college campuses. On October 9, Glenn delivered a powerful rallying cry to the students at North Dakota University. In this episode of Glenn TV, we bring you the best of his raw personal testimony. From his battles with addiction to discovering faith and purpose, Glenn shares transformative life principles drawn from his career journey. He also showcases priceless historical artifacts that challenge mainstream narratives about America’s complex legacy of good and evil. And he debuts a trailer for “George AI” — a groundbreaking AI tool he’s been quietly developing for a launch in 2026. Finally, Glenn takes heated questions from students about Israel, AIPAC, and October 7. All for Christ. For Country. For Charlie.

Watch Glenn's full TPUSA speech and Q&A HERE

RADIO

Glenn Beck's eye-opening experience at Charlie Kirk's Medal of Freedom ceremony

Glenn Beck attended the White House’s Medal of Freedom ceremony for Charlie Kirk and learned a lot. Glenn shares stories about President Trump, Erika Kirk, Marco Rubio, and others…

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: I have to tell you, I mean, listen to my voice. I'm tired from it.

The President went over on Sunday, conducted all of that business, got back on Air Force One, flew all the way back. He -- he said he flew back because he needed to do this on Charlie's birthday. He said he was going to delay it. And then he realized, "Oh. It's Charlie's birthday. Have to be down on his birthday." So flew all the way back. You know how much sheep he had in the 36 hours? Zero. Everybody else on the plane had about an hour and a half. Because if you're working for the President when he's up, you're up.

And they were zombies. Everybody was zombies. And he was -- I don't know how this guy does it. I mean, he doesn't take any drugs. He doesn't take -- you know, no -- nothing nonnatural goes into this guy's body.

STU: I mean, there's certain products at McDonald's, that do go down --

GLENN: Yes. You're right.

Okay. You're right. I can't say that. No stimulants go in his body.

STU: I don't know who RFK Jr is. Considering he see not drink.

He see not --

GLENN: Does not take drugs.

STU: He's very much against those stuff.

GLENN: Yeah, very much. Just good genetics, I think. The guy does not sleep. He just doesn't sleep.

STU: Is that concerning for long-term health? I mean, I guess --

GLENN: For everybody else. But he's been this way his whole life, I mean, this is the way he's operated his whole life. I don't think so. It's just the way he is. He doesn't need very much sleep.

The guy is changing the world. I mean, you remember we were watching -- we were watching when he arrived in Egypt. And I said, "I've never seen this before."

I'll have to narrow this down for you. Because I say this several times a day now.

When the world leaders get together, they stand on the stage and get one shot. Once in a while, they'll stand on stage, as they're assembling. And they'll talk amongst themselves. But I've never seen a photo line with world leaders, to take a picture one on one with the president. Okay?

Never seen that in my life. Okay?

That's what was happening on Monday. In Egypt!

He was two hours late. Okay?

And apparently, and I'm not going to divulge too. Apparently, one person was upset. And was like, I'm not waiting around for this.

Yet, they waited around for it.

And they lined up. Even the king of Saudi Arabia was in the line, waiting in the line for 30 minutes.

While he took photos with all of the leaders around the world.

They are treating him -- I mean, he's changed the world. The guy knows how to use power.

It's my understanding from conversations that I had piecing some things together. It's my understanding, Vladimir Putin has changed with him too.

Even Putin has known -- noticed, this is the guy who is kind of steering the world and is more deferential to Donald Trump.

And I hope that's true. I hope that begins to play out with Ukraine.

STU: It's quite key to understand who you're speaking with, right?

It's not always about what you want to say and what you want. It's about what the other person wants and what they understand.

Someone made the point that Donald Trump speaks Arabic better than any native speaker. And I thought that was an interesting comment.

It's like, you know, it is a -- he -- he seems to be able to communicate to the leaders in that part of the world.

GLENN: They understand strength.

STU: They understand it, yeah.

And they react to it.

GLENN: Uh-huh.

STU: And I think they don't see him as a -- a passing -- like, oh, he's here. But just wait him out.

They don't think he's going to change or fold on this stuff.

GLENN: And they think he's changing the world. And everybody who follows him, is going to follow in these footsteps.

They don't think, this is just, he has got three more years left, and then Kamala comes back. They don't think that --
STU: They think it's changed for good?
GLENN: They think it's changed for good. I believe they think J.D. Vance is going to be the next president. And I think so too.

I mean --

STU: Certainly, the favorite of the Republican Party, obviously.

GLENN: Yeah. He's -- he's killing it.

But then again, I saw Marco Rubio yesterday. He listens to the show. And his wife listens to every word of the show. And I said, "I hope you've noticed that we really like what Marco is doing."

I mean, the guy is -- and I said to him. I said, "Marco, what happened?"

And he's like, "What?" I said, "You know, we've always been a fan of yours. I mean, we interviewed him for the first time." You remember the first time we interviewed him for president, the very first time, and we all got into a car. You, me, and Pat, we did a video. We were like, "This guy is amazing. He's great."

STU: Really liked him.

GLENN: And then he got into the Senate and was kind of, I don't know, hard to pin down. I don't know what happened to him. And he immediately said, "It's the president."

I said, "Eh, the president is leading, yes. But there's a change in you. You are just killing it. Killing it."


STU: Should we join in here for one quick side bar of the current odds to win the presidential election at 2028.

Okay. So first -- first place, this is according to Kalshi. 32 percent chance, J.D. Vance. Second place, 21 percent chance, Gavin Newsom.

GLENN: Oh, my gosh.

STU: Third place -- I mean, again, this is prediction markets, what people believe will happen. This is not an official poll or anything.

Third place, 7 percent, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

GLENN: In third place.

STU: In third place. Comically, fourth place is also 7 percent actually is Donald J. Trump. You may have heard him. Currently president of the United States. And that would be -- that would be an interesting Constitutional amendment for that to occur for that to happen.

GLENN: It would be. It would be.

STU: Then you have Pete Buttigieg. Marco Rubio at 4 percent. Josh Shapiro. Kamala Harris. Wes Moore, Maryland. Gretchen Whitmer, Michigan. Andy Beshear, Kentucky.

GLENN: Okay, so it's way too early. It's way too early.

STU: Three percent. Glenn Youngkin, 2 percent.

GLENN: Oh, I'm sorry.

Glenn Youngkin. I thought you were saying Glenn Beck. Because then that would start to make sense. Everyone putting their money down is insane!

STU: Yeah, again, I would not be betting on that market now.

GLENN: No, I would not. But, I mean, he is -- he is on top of it.

And honestly, we're going need to somebody who operates like Donald Trump and can keep the republic. Keep the republic. Keep the Constitution.

Because we're going to head for some really, very difficult times. Very difficult times. But, anyway, back to the Charlie Kirk thing. It was very, very nice.

Erika is, you know, really gaining her voice. Only towards the end was she really kind of breaking down, but she was very good. The president was so gracious yesterday with everybody.

I mean, he is really an amazing man. But it is funny, because I have a picture of the two of us be by the Oval. Outside of the Oval. You open up the Oval Office door and you walk out, yeah, there it is.

Yeah. I have a picture of us. And he is right there, he's pointing to the Rose Garden. And I said, "You know, the worst thing that I think anybody has done to a First Lady was done to Melania."

I said, "They did so many bad things. But one of them is this Rose Garden." I said, "If I'm not mistaken, she just took Jackie O's exact plans and redid them."

And he said, "Yes. Yes!"

I said, "I can't believe how dishonest the press is. They just want to destroy you, and they'll go after your wife on that."

It's restoring the Jackie O plan!

And in their press coverage, they were like, "This is offensive. Jackie O would be..."

No, she would be happy that it was her plan.

Anyway, he said, "Yeah, I'm going to pave over this."

And I'm like, "Oh, my gosh, you're going to what?" And he said, "No, they're going to be nice pavers, but, you know, I'm going to pave over this." And he said, "Because it's useless." He said, "It's grass." So women come and they stand and they're on their heels, and they're sinking into the grass. It's usually wet." He said, "We need to be able to hold events out there." And he said, "And it would be beautiful, beyond anything like anybody has ever seen."


So he starts yesterday and he comes out. And he said, "This is the first time" -- he said, "I just put these pavers down."

And he said, "This is the first event in the Rose Garden with these pavers."

And it's absolutely beautiful. It's got flags on the corner. They have these special flags made. It's really, really -- it's beautiful. All the press was tanged in the back. And I haven't heard word one from the press on this. Not word one. Have you heard anything about what he's done with the Rose Garden?

STU: No. I did see some plans. Are these accurate plans where they will build another giant building on the property? Is that --

GLENN: Oh, that -- yeah. He's doing that.

STU: Is that going to happen?

GLENN: He's paying for it all, he's doing it all. It's a big ballroom.

He's like, "The country needs a ballroom." You know, "We have these state dinners." He said, "We put them on the grass." He said, "We need a ballroom."

And he said, "Tax payers don't want to pay for a ballroom, I'll pay for it."

So he's building it, and it will be done.

He said, by 2026. You know, some time early spring 2026. I'll believe it when I see it. But he tends to get things done quickly.

STU: Yeah. Sure.

GLENN: But the one thing I noticed was the security perimeter of the White House is astounding! It's at least doubled. Now you don't go into that park. You can go into the park. But you can only go in certain places in the park. But I think they're moving the perimeter, the security perimeter, at least a block around it. All the way around.

STU: Perfect sense, obviously with this environment.

GLENN: It was the first time I've seen the president in many months, outside without bulletproof glass between us.

I mean, he -- he stood outside, you know, trees in the area. Buildings in the area. And he was safe, outside. And it must be weird to live in that kind of bubble. But it was amazing. It was amazing.

They're really doing a good job. And the entire ceremony, the guy just knows, and he's just a showman. He just knows how to do things like this.

Except, somebody had hijacked. I mean, I think he had hijacked the music. Like ten minutes before he came out. It's like Abba, Dancing Queen, was playing. In the Rose Garden.

It was a little -- but then it stopped. And you could tell just -- you could tell when he actually picked. And I can guarantee you, he picked it.

And I was in -- remember I told you last time I was in the White House. I told you, he had selected all of these paintings of all of the presidents. And he put them strategically.


And when I was with him last, he said, I don't know what to do with this guy. And he had in the hallway kind of stuffed in the corner of the residence. The painting of Eisenhower.

And I said, "Eisenhower was the one who warned about everything you're dealing with right now."

I said, "Go back and read the industrial, you know, military-industrial complex speech. He talks about education and science and everything else."

I said, "He should be in your walk."

Because he said, "I put all of the paintings down strategically, so when I turn a corner, I see a face of somebody that reminds me, learn. Don't forget the lesson from him."

STU: Hmm.

GLENN: Now, you come down from out of the residence, and you turn that first corner, and he's moved the picture of Eisenhower. So the first president that he sees, as he comes down the stairs is Eisenhower. It's pretty cool.

STU: It's interesting. Do you think people see Donald Trump as a guy who thinks that way?

GLENN: No. But that's what they miss. That's what they miss.

He's -- he's really strategic in everything he does. I mean, he -- he -- he really knows, choose your thoughts. And so he's always -- you come down the stairs. And he's looking at Abraham Lincoln.

He turns that corner. And he's now looking at -- at -- at Eisenhower.

Every time he turns a corner, there is a Ronald Reagan, you know, there's George Washington.

He's always turning the corners, and looking at people to remind him. He -- he is a very thoughtful guy. Really thoughtful. Because he knows, choose your thoughts.

And that will -- and that will move your life forward in that direction.

STU: Seems to have a more complete understanding of history, now. Too. Would you say that the second term?

GLENN: Oh, my gosh.

STU: He went into that first term, obviously like -- you didn't even know at that point.

GLENN: No, his learning curve is almost straight up. The guy doesn't sleep.

So I was talking to I think Master Crowley. And she said that -- she walked in, in the middle of the night. Everybody is -- everybody is trying to get some shut eye. And she said, "He's in his office with stacks of books and papers. And he's just digesting all of this stuff." She said, "He's up all night just reading and getting stuff done."

It's remarkable.