BLOG

Jake Tapper Doesn’t Back Down From Asking FL Sheriff the Tough Questions

What’s going on?

Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel seemed certain when he debated NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch in a CNN town hall last week and advocated for police officers to get more control and power to take away guns from people. But in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday, Israel revealed how little he knew about the school shooting in Parkland, Florida before he appeared in the town hall.

Remind me:

Seventeen people died when a shooter opened fire in Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14. As teenage survivors advocate for gun control, investigators and journalists are pointing out more and more red flags that show the shooting suspect should not have been able to keep his gun.

The Broward County Sheriff’s Office is being investigated for not acting on a tip that the teenage gunman could be a “school shooter in the making.” Israel’s office reportedly received 18 calls about the shooter before the tragic incident.

Glenn’s take:

The office heard about the “school shooter in the making” in advance and did nothing. As we learn about the sheriff’s department’s incompetence, we should be even more leery of handing over more control.

“He wanted more law enforcement power. That should always scare people,” Glenn said. “What are you doing with the power that you do have?”

This article provided courtesy of TheBlaze.

GLENN: All right. So I want to talk to you about the school shooting and where we go from here, but I want to do it with this in mind: If it meant -- if it meant that we could stop all shootings, would you consider an infringement on your Second Amendment right? If it meant?

To me, the answer is yes. But I know the evidence shows that it doesn't work. So no.

If you could show me real evidence that this was an outdated mode of thinking and that, you know, we had somehow or another solved the reason why you should have guns in the first place, and that is against tyranny, and you need it for self-protection, well, then you could talk me into it.

But I've never seen that evidence. I've looked for that evidence. But I'm open to hearing new evidence. Share away.

If you are on the other side and I could show you evidence that we could do a few things beside not taking away guns and it was effective, would you change your mind? Would you say, well, let's start there.

And for both sides. If we could get to a place to where I could just say, look, you know, we want to have this gun debate, that's fine. But this is one of the oldest debates in American history. What is a militia? So we're not going to solve this in the next couple of weeks.

Do we all believe that more -- that more shooting is coming?

I think it's safe to say that, yes, we all know that. Okay. So what are we going to do to solve it? Well, the first thing is, what can we learn from this shooting? What can we learn from the last shooting?

We learned in the last shooting, in the church, that, A, somebody who is just a civilian with a firearm can stop the shooting. But we also learned that the Air Force was not reporting people with mental health issues or issues with guns and domestic abuse, to put them in the system.

That had to be changed. Now, what have we learned on this one? Well, I think one thing that we've learned is there's something wrong with this sheriff. There's something wrong -- deeply wrong in Broward County. It's one thing to have one guy that stays out of the building and waits while the shooting was going on. But there were four sheriff deputies.

STU: He denies that. Although, his denial has lots of -- you know, qualifications to it. Which maybe we'll hear some of that here in this interview.

GLENN: Yes.

STU: But I think, you know, there's also the thing of, what do you learn from this mass shooting. And one of the things, I think, when you're leading up to the mass shooting, is if every citizen in America has told you that one specific person is going to do a school shooting, that might be a time to understand that perhaps, that person is in danger of doing a school shooting.

GLENN: Yeah.

STU: Maybe you should do something about that.

GLENN: When you have the number of reports and the number of altercations with this student that they did, and the sheriff's department did nothing, that's a problem. That's a real problem. And that's easy to fix. Let's make sure that's not happening anyplace else. Let's discuss this. And get to the bottom of it.

Jake Tapper started unraveling this hero sheriff's story over the weekend. And let's start with, why was there no report when they called and said, he's going to be a school shooter. He's a school shooter in the making. And he has access to guns.

Why was there no report? Listen.

JAKE: Fewer than three months ago, your office received a call from a tipster explicitly saying that crews could be a, quote, school shooter in the making. According to notes released on that call, no report was even initiated.

At this point, sir, do you understand how the public, seeing red flag after red flag after red flag, warning after warning after warning, they hear that your office didn't even initiate a report when they got a call saying that this guy could be a school shooter in the making? How could there not even be a report on this one?

VOICE: Well, if that's accurate, Jake, there needed to be a report. And that's what we're looking into, that a report needed to be completed. It needed to be reported to either our Homeland Security or violent crimes unit. And they would have followed up on it.

JAKE: That's from your notes. That's from notes released by your office. I'm not making this up. This is from Broward.

VOICE: No, and that's -- and that's what -- the officer who handled that is on restrictive duty. And we are -- that's an active internal investigation. And we're looking into it.

GLENN: Okay. So there's another person under his command that has failed to do the job.

Yet, he wanted more law enforcement power. That should always scare people.

What are you doing with the power that you do have? But he's been asking for more power.

Listen.

VOICE: The whole crux of this is giving law enforcement, giving deputies, giving police officers, not only in Broward County, but in Florida and around the nation, expanded power, to be able to do something more than just write a report. That's the whole reason I went on CNN and town hall --

VOICE: Sir, isn't making a threat against the school a crime?

VOICE: Not if the person doesn't have the ability to carry it out. You could say a nonspecific threat, I'm going to go to a school. It's not a crime. If the person doesn't have the apparent ability to carry it out, it's not a crime.

JAKE: Well, in September 2016, the shooter indicated that he wanted to buy a gun. Deputy Peterson knew about that. He initiated the report. The school launched a threat assessment.

At this point, you have somebody saying that they're going to shoot up a school and somebody with a gun. That's not enough?

VOICE: That's not enough.

GLENN: That's not enough. Huh.

STU: And that's just one of the incidents. Of course, there's dozens.

GLENN: Is that true?

STU: His first answer is, do they have the ability to carry it out?

GLENN: Yes. Wait. You're using reason.

STU: Okay. Should I calm down?

GLENN: You should calm down. Stop using reason. Let's just jump on his side or against him, depending on what our religion tells us to do.

STU: That's true.

GLENN: This is the problem. This is the problem.

So reason would tell you, well, let's stop here. Let's stop here. Is that true?

Now, we know that's not true. We know that's not true. There was a paper trail, very long against this kid.

So you obviously have enough power to make sure that he is not around guns, to make sure that he gets some sort of medical treatment, et cetera, et cetera. Whatever it is.

You may not be able to throw him in prison, but you certainly can restrict him, with all of the stuff that we had. So we know that's not true.

If it was true, that should be the first thing the sheriff is asking for. Right there. Here's specifics. I had 31, you know, complaints against this guy. Nineteen of them, we did exactly right.

Okay. We'll get back to the others that you didn't get right. But on those 19, I couldn't do anything. And we knew he had a gun. We knew that he was holding it to people's heads who he knew. That he was threatening to shoot up the school. And, "We couldn't do anything." We know that's not true.

But if it is true or if it were true, that should be the first thing we work on. Don't you think? Because there has to be other schools and other sheriffs that are facing the same thing.

I know this kid is going to go and do something, because of the 19 reports that we have. But I can't do anything.

We should hear from those sheriffs. We should know. Let us help you protect the children.

All right. Next cut.

When did he know about Peterson? I love this one.

JAKE: When did you find out that Deputy Peterson had not gone into the building? How soon after the shooting did you know that?

VOICE: Not for days. We --

JAKE: How many days?

VOICE: Our investigators looked -- I'm not sure.

JAKE: Because you spent much of the Wednesday night town hall on CNN with the entire Stoneman Douglas community, students and teachers and parents attacking the NRA, saying the police needed more powers, more money, to prevent future tragedies.

You didn't disclose any of this to the crowd then, the stone man Douglas High School community. Did you know it then? Did you know it Wednesday night?

VOICE: It was spoken about during that -- earlier, during that day. I'm not a time line for TV or any news show. We need to get it right. We need to get it accurate. We're talking about people's lives. We're talking about a community. We need to corroborate. We need to verify. And once we did, the next day -- and I looked at the tape, and I was 100 percent certain that it happened the way I was told about the investigators initially told about. I didn't even release it that second.

JAKE: You didn't look at the video -- one week after the shooting, you hadn't looked at the video yet?

VOICE: I looked at the video as soon as the investigators -- it wasn't my job to look at the video. It was investigators' job to look at the video. I'm still sheriffing this -- this -- this -- this county. There were many things to do. We have investigators -- homicide investigators, internal affairs investigators dissecting it. And when they felt there was a video ready for my view, that I might take action on one of our deputies, I looked at the video.

STU: I mean, if you believe this guy hadn't seen that video before that town hall in a week's time --

GLENN: Then he needs to be dismissed as incompetent just for that.

STU: I mean, there's tons of things that I would love to sell you.

But the other thing is, can you imagine -- forget even if he saw the video. He tells you there that he knew about it going on stage.

Can you imagine the balls to go on stage on national television, and yell at Dana Loesch and say that she's not standing up for these kids, when you know that your deputy was actually not standing up, he was crouching behind a wall, while people were being executed inside the school. Can you imagine the balls to go on television and not bring that up?

GLENN: Now, listen to this. Listen to this idea.

STU: That's incredible.

GLENN: Let's just fix reason firmly in her seat. And let's use his logic. He doesn't want to go on television. Because there's a crowd there. It's a community. It's a community that's grieving.

And he wants to make sure, you just don't go in front of that community, in front of that crowd, unless he can verify everything and he's 100 percent sure, that that's what happened.

So he was 100 percent sure that the NRA caused this shooting? He's 100 percent sure that it was the gun and not the kid?

He was 1 percent sure, even though, he had evidence presented to him, that things could have been different if -- not one. But four of his deputies would have moved in. He was 100 percent sure that it was the NRA's fault. But he wouldn't bring anything -- he wouldn't bring anything about his group, unless he was 100 percent sure. And he just wasn't -- he wasn't there. But he was so sure that the people who weren't there, were at fault.

I don't -- I don't understand that. That doesn't seem like you're really doing an investigation. That seems like a witch hunt.

STU: Well, and he did want to let that fact out in front of the families, in a public forum. He wanted to do it one-on-one. He wanted to make sure that was one-on-one.

GLENN: I know. I know. Well, he did the very next morning in a press conference. So he didn't do it one-on-one.

STU: Hmm. He just put it out on a press release, talked to reporters about it.

GLENN: Yeah. Talked to reporters. But in this interview with Jake Tapper, one of the reasons why he didn't do it was because -- you just didn't tell people like that in a crowd or just an impersonal forum, like the town hall. You needed to -- you know, there was one parent that wasn't there. And he wanted to make sure everybody was there so he could personally tell them.

STU: So all of the parents were there at a press release? That's interesting.

GLENN: Press conference. No. No. It's strange, isn't it?

STU: You let that crowd attack Dana Loesch, calling her a murderer and all these other terrible things. It was mob -- it was Christians and lions, as you've been talking about it. I mean, absolute mob.

And you knew, as you were sitting on that stage and -- and making it worse by putting more blame on her and the NRA, you knew your own deputy -- you were going to fire him the next day for dereliction of duty because he didn't go in there. You, your judgment of it, his actions are so bad, and you don't even bring that up. In fact, you make it worse. You make people go after her. You make her life be threatened. That is an incomprehensible -- this guy makes it through this thing with his job, that is -- I don't even -- there is absolutely no justice.

GLENN: I will tell you that during -- during the town hall, during the town hall, CNN people wondered if Dana and others had security to be able to get them out. They've started to worry about the guest security.

Wow. Wow. Huh. I know I felt that way. But it's strange to hear CNN might have felt that way. And yet, they continued to go.

Biden’s Crackdown on the Internet Is WORSE Than You Think | Glenn TV | Ep 343
TV

Biden’s Crackdown on the Internet Is WORSE Than You Think | Glenn TV | Ep 343

We’re being played: The Left isn’t “saving democracy,” and the internet is NOT free. The Murthy v. Missouri Supreme Court case is just the tip of the iceberg. The pro-speech plaintiffs argue the Biden White House colluded with social media platforms to censor speech they don’t like. Speech on topics like COVID origins, masks, vaccines, lockdowns, the Hunter Biden laptop, climate change, mail-in voting, and election integrity. There is much more of this censorship in our future. Thanks to a FOIA request and eventual lawsuit brought by America First Legal, AFL was able to uncover a report by U.S. Agency for International Development that was intended for internal use only. Glenn digs into this report called the “Dis-information Primer,” which provides a disturbing insider’s view of our government’s strategies for dealing with rampant so-called “information disorder.” And instead of debunking speech it doesn’t like, the government employs a strategy called “pre-bunking.” Wait, what?! We are up against a SPRAWLING network of government agencies, think tanks, and the largest companies in the world, all collaborating in multiple ways with the same end-goal: to censor unapproved speech in media and especially online. And you can bet voices at Blaze Media will be first on the chopping block …

Megyn Kelly: The ONLY 2 Ways Trump Can Beat a Corrupt Legal System
RADIO

Megyn Kelly: The ONLY 2 Ways Trump Can Beat a Corrupt Legal System

Former president Donald Trump is facing a handful of massive trials, including two that are being prosecuted by extremely partisan attorneys. Megyn Kelly joins Glenn to explain just how unprecedented this is. In New York, Trump is facing a hush-money case where if he doesn’t pay a $175 million bond, Attorney General Letitia James (who ran on a promise to prosecute Trump) has threatened to take his properties. And in Georgia, he’s facing an election interference case run by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who has apparently declared herself the “face of the feminist movement.” Megyn gives quite the response to that news and also explains the only 2 ways she believes Trump can survive these blatantly partisan attacks.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Oh, Megyn, Megyn, Megyn. How do you feel about Fani Willis? I want to quote. Because, I mean, she finally came out. She recognized it. She described herself yesterday, as the face of the feminist movement, and the face of women. She said, I feel more love.actually I have a lot of support from women. And that kind of surprised me. I'll tell you this, especially well African-American women who will just come up to me and say, we're so proud. You're such a great representative of us. But I would be lying to say, it was only African-American women. I've had Caucasian women, Asian women, Indian women. I didn't think I was the face of the feminist movement. But somehow, I've become it. Wow. That's --

MEGYN: Oh, my God. I just threw up a little in my mouth. I feel about Fani Willis the way I feel about Kamala Harris. These people cannot be feminist leaders or the face of female success, because they're too dumb. It's too bad for womankind. We can't allow it. Kamala Harris cannot be the first female vice president or president, God forbid. And Fani Willis is not the face of womanhood. What does that mean?

The face of woman hood is do a piss-poor job of managing your money. Wind up flat broke, despite the fact that you have a law degree. Decide to see the world anyway, by getting some guy, who you are -- who is married to another woman, and letting him take you all over the world on his dime. And then lie about it under oath? That's not -- no. She's not my representative, nor most women's.

GLENN: So do you believe her, that she's hearing that? I guess in small numbers, maybe. But there's no groundswell support for her, is there? Am I missing --

MEGYN: You know what, you're only saying that. Because you don't hang out in hard left circles.

I'm sure she's an icon to people who absolutely hate Trump. And think that Jack Smith is a hero. And Letitia James is one. And Alvin brag.

That's why they love fanny. They don't know anything about fanny. They just know that she's trying to get Trump.

They think the future the republic, hangs on this woman. And she needs to be elevated the way we need to ruin Ronna McDaniel. It's opposite side of the same coin.

GLENN: So I was talking to Andy McCarthy yesterday, and he said, Fani Willis and Latisha James. Both the way they have just gone after Donald Trump -- and Latisha James,actually campaigning saying, I'm going to get him. Hire me, and I will get him. He said, 15, 20 years ago. You -- you wouldn't have had a chance. Nobody in, you know, the law industry, if you will, would have respected you at all.

You wouldn't have gotten elected. We've changed.

MEGYN: It's so dangerous. All I have to say, I go to bed at night, sleeping comfortably for now because we have six conservatives on the U.S. Supreme Court for the first time that I can remember, in my lifetime. And they're the last guard, against this nonsense. They're there. And under the most egregious overreaches, they will correct things. They won't get involved in everything. But thank God we have them. Because the justice system as we know right now, is being perverted by hard partisans, who unlike, you know, as we've seen 10 years ago, to no need to hide it.

He's right, 20 years ago, prosecutors didn't even understand their job to have anything to do with politics. They understood, they would get fired if they looked at justice through that lens. Ten years ago, I think they started doing it, but doing enough to try to hide it.

That it would be considered bad form. And now they're running for office on it. So I've never seen such hard partisans in the prosecutorial decision since Mike Nifong in the Duke case. Right? Somebody who is just completely subverting justice to advance their own interests. In his case, he wanted a higher pension. And if he would get it, if he remained on as DA, in a minority/majority district. And, therefore, he sided with the back fake accuser, against the white innocent defense -- defendants on the lacrosse team. Well, that's Fani Willis. She loves being DA. She's running around telling people she's the greatest DA Fulton County has ever seen. As far as I can tell, she's not particularly talented, definitely not a very smart person. And yet, she's paying somebody ten thousand dollars a year to monitor her media references, that taxpayers are footing that bill, by the way. Because she wants to be a star. That's what Fani Willis wants. She wants you to see her as an icon. Feminism. The one who got Trump. Not the one who got justice.

But let me tell you something, Glenn, her problems are just beginning. There's a very high likelihood that Fani Willis will be disciplined including up to disbarment. That some enterprising committee, whether it's the State Senate Committee in Georgia or potentially The Bar, or someone beyond, will get their hands on the actual substantive texts between Fani and Nathan wade, putting the lie to their on-stand testimony about when their affair began. And that's to say nothing of the case she has against Trump completely falling apart, because there is no Rico violation here.

GLENN: Well, we found out from another icon of women. Another genius woman, AOC, that Rico isn't against the law. It's not a crime.
(laughter)
It's an act.

MEGYN: That's amazing. How do you grow up -- doesn't she -- she grew up in the Bronx, but she didn't. Totally. Okay.

I used to date a guy from New York town heights. It's a lovely superb. His dad is a New York City cop. He lives there. It's not the Bronx. It's in Westchester. It's very different.

So in any event, how do you grow up in any of the Five Burroughs of New York is, and not understand what racketeering is? It's kind of like our favorite crime to bring against the mobsters. It's how we no longer have as active a mob as we used to. She knows very well that it is a crime, and it is something that we use traditionally to get the mob. We have multiple players working together, to advance a criminal enterprise, which as Andy McCarthy mentioned. Said about the Trump defendants and the Rico case. Seems like the only thing they've done together is get indicted.
(laughter)

GLENN: Let me -- let me switch to another court case. The Latisha James case. Seizing of Trump's assets. The bond was reduced from 464 million to 170 million. Which everybody kind of celebrated. Oh, wow.

It's good for -- it's still 170 million dollars. Which is -- in a victimless crime, I don't understand.

MEGYN: It's completely outrageous.

There's no arguing that it's better than 54. I guess that's your silver linings. You pick the ladder. You pick 170 whatever. But, no. You're right. And, look, I think Trump should be able to come up with this, as opposed to the 450, which was scary. And might have cost him a building or two. Which is just so unjust. But it doesn't change much in a case. The injustice against him is patent to anyone who is not a hard left partisan. And what it means, yesterday.

I couldn't believe it. I mean, sometimes the media still surprises me. Was the outrage on the left, about the, quote, special treatment Donald Trump was getting.

GLENN: I know. I read that. I read that this morning. I thought, are you kidding me?

You're saying, there's a double standard for Donald Trump, and it's in his favor. That's crazy be sure.

MEGYN: Yes. Yes. Okay. Laurence Tribe is a Harvard law school professor. He's been there forever, and he's a committed leftist.

He's come on my show. When I first launched my show. He came on. And we discussed, I think it was something around January 6th. I can't remember.

But my point is, he wasn't such a lunatic, that I said, oh, I really don't want to talk to this person. It's too far around the bend. I don't want to deal with them.

He was leading the charge yesterday. About the two-tier justice system, in favor of Donald Trump. Like, they're too far gone.

And unfortunately, their prosecutors and their judges, and some of them are involved in these Trump cases. Which is why I think we understand, the fix is in.

He probably is going to lose potentially across-the-board. On all four of these criminal cases. And the two civil cases, we've already seen. The E. Jean Carroll one going against him, and now this Engoron one has gone against him. It's going up on appeal. And it's all been baked in.

I think at this point, the only thing that will save Trump, is the Supreme Court and us, in November.

Those are the two ways out of this for him. Which is pretty ironic, if you think about it, Glenn. What the Democrats want more than anything, is for him to not be president again. To not run for president again. To skulk off into the darkness. And you think made it such that he must win in order to save his life, his company, his freedom.

He has no choice, but to win. So he will fight harder than ever. I mean, it's kind of perfect.

GLENN: What do you think of Jonathan Turley?

I was thinking earlier today, there's a couple of voices I really trust, when it comes to law. One of them is yours. Alan Dershowitz and Anthony Turley. What do you think of him?

MEGYN: I love Turley. He's great. I used to put him on my show in the middle of the afternoon, when nobody was watching. And he was George Washington professor, and went to visit him a couple of times. And he's brilliant. What I love about Jonathan is he has a way with them word things, that not all real lawyers have. Some lawyers can do it in the courtroom or the brief, but they can't do it on live TV. And he's great at it. I played a sound bite from him two weeks ago, when the Fani Willis judge said, you've got to choose. One of you is going. Fani or Nathan. You guys choose. And he said, it's as if you found two crooks in the bank vault, and you only prosecute one. You know, so, anyway, I love him. He's trustworthy, and he's fair. And I don't even think that Jonathan Turley is conservative. He's just extremely fair.

GLENN: No. I don't think so. Yeah. I think he's a constitutional guy.

MEGYN: Yeah.

GLENN: Which you know constitutional people. Because if they're really based in the Constitution, it doesn't always fall in your favor. You know.

MEGYN: That's right. That's right.

GLENN: Because -- yeah. It's neutral. And sometimes we lose our way.

Can I ask you, the -- all of the stories that have come out today. There's one, I think in Rolling Stone. That talks about the structure, that the left is building, to make sure that Donald Trump doesn't cheat.

I've always felt that whatever they say, that we're doing, they're doing. And there's this amazing article about how they've got lawyers, everywhere. They're lawyering up for any crazy thing. Because he's not going to steal this election.

And their premise on why they're doing this, is because they say, he's lawyering up, and he's going to try to steal the election.

What are we facing? In -- in November? What are we facing?

MEGYN: You know, my mom said a year -- I mean, her lifetime, as a psychiatric nurse at the Albany veterans hospital.

I believe they call this transference. I'll get my psychiatric platform here. What they're doing to him.

I do think this is their best chance of winning. I think they've got more money than the Republicans do. And most of Trump's money has to go to his legal fees. Which I have to be honest, I do also think that helps him.

I also think it increases his chance of winning. People are so angry. I don't think it's a complete waste of flushing money down on legal expenses. Anyway, they have more money. They are better organized. And I think they're dirtier, and they're more afraid. They're definitely more afraid.

You know, I watched 27 minutes of Rachel Maddow last night. Twenty-seven.

I don't think I've ever done that. I said to my teens, is she always this dramatic? She reminded me of Katie Brit. Okay.

Anyway, she is telegraphing 100 percent as she has been for a while. That Donald Trump will get in office, Glenn, and is never going to leave.

That the references by Trump and others to an unfair 2020 election. Forget whether or not you think it was stolen. I think most Republicans would agree, unfair. And not entirely legit.

GLENN: Yes.

MEGYN: That that is all trying to dull the senses for the argument Trump will make when he's reelected. That we can't have any more elections. That the system is crooked. And therefore, we just have to keep him in there forevermore like a king. And that, you know, the country would just go along with that, because we're morons, and we've had the senses dulled. Those are the stakes that the left sees on Trump being elected now. So who would put anything past that group? You know, we listen to Sam Harris, explicitly.

I applaud him for his honesty. At least he's being clear about the way he feels. The left, most of these people are, you know, reluctant to actually say that. But behind the scenes, what are they doing?

I think whatever it takes.

GLENN: God help us all. Megyn, thank you so much.

We'll listen to you, again. Right after my program on XM.

Glenn is SICK of Hearing THIS About America
RADIO

Glenn is SICK of Hearing THIS About America

Glenn has heard a lot of talk lately about how Americans should hunker down and beg the government for help because the destruction of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key may affect our supply chain for a long time. But Glenn is "SICK" of hearing what America CANNOT do. Instead, Glenn asks us to remember who we are, what we've done, and who we came from. We invented skyscrapers, built the Hoover Dam, and answered the Great Depression with some of the biggest marvels of engineering ever accomplished!“Stop tearing everything down," Glenn says, "and let’s start BUILDING.”

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: All right. I want to give you this -- I want to give you this story today. The immediate upshot for Americans on this bridge collapse. If you're waiting for a new car to come in from overseas, prepare to wait longer. The port of Baltimore stands as the nation's leading import/export site for cars and light trucks. It's also the leading nexus for sugar. And gypsum. Which is used in fertilizer, drywall, and plaster. A record 52.3 million tons of foreign cargo was transported through Baltimore just last year.

The bustling port is cut off now after the 1.6-mile bridge crumbled and fell into the river early Tuesday, blocking the only shipping lane into the port. The port is one of the busiest in the US, and saw a record of 52-point-million tons of foreign cargo transported in 2023.

The officials have said the time line for rebuilding the bridge is, quote, years. We will do everything we can to protect those jobs and help those workers, the president said yesterday. The port of Baltimore creates more than 15,300 jobs, with 140,000 jobs linked to the activity at the port. This is a major disaster, and will continue -- and will create significant problems on the east coast, for US importers and exporters. The bridge collapse will mean for the time being, it will not be possible to get to the container terminals, or a range of the other port terminals in Baltimore. The Maryland Secretary of Transportation told the reporters Tuesday, that vessel traffic in the Port of Baltimore would be suspended until further notice, but noted the port is still open to trucks. So we still have trucks going in.

As soon as we clear the bridge, we can get vessels in.

But it's going to be a major hassle for -- over time, for cars, et cetera, et cetera.

An expert on property damage cases in the shipping industry, told the New York Post, that the collapse will have a major impact, on shipping and traffic routes in the east coast, for the foreseeable future. It's not -- quote, it's not going to get fixed any time soon.

It's going to take a lot longer than anyone expects. This is going to be a major problem for the northeast. I'm sick of this. I am absolutely sick to death of all of these stories, that say things like that.

Have we forgotten who we are? Have we forgotten what we've done?

Let me just take you on a little journey here for the American spirit. A spirit so potent and so vibrant, that it has scaled towering mountains. Mountains nobody thought that they could cross. Constructed marvels of engineering. Have you ever been to the Hoover dam? The skyscraper was invented here. Here we are on the threshold of tomorrow, none of us know what is happening tomorrow. None of us. But I'm getting the impression that we've been so beaten down, that we believe we're not going to make it tomorrow. Can I just remind you of who we come from? Our ancestors what they did. Our history, if you just look through it briefly, you will see a group of people, that never take no for an answer. And can do anything. I want to stop just briefly in 1930. The great depression had its icy grip on us. It was a time like the -- where everybody felt the flickering candle. In the vast darkness. It was just barely there.

Yet, it was in this crucible of adversity, that Americans did great things. The Empire State Building rose. It wasn't just a structure of steel and stone. But it was a beacon. A beacon of hope and American resilience and ingenuity. The way that thing was built, no one has ever seen anything like it before and since. In a record-shattering one year and 45 days, an army of workers, as many as 3400 men on certain days, they transformed this audacious vision, into a cowering reality.

The guy who was funding it knew, this thing better come in under budget. And we have to get it here fast. Or this will just destroy all of us.

The Empire State Building wasn't constructed. It was conjured into existence, with a symphony of clanging metal and roaring machines. And, quite honestly, the inexhaustible spirit of its builders.

Their stories. The men who were perched on the steel girders. That were being felony in by giant cranes, and they sat there. They whispered tales about how they could still feel the warmth of the freshly poured metal beneath them. That beam was still warm, even though it was poured in Pittsburgh.

And then pit on a train, then put on a boat. Then put on a truck. Then hauled up into the air. They could fill the warmth. It was moving that fast.

It was a feverish pace of construction. It seemed to defy the laws of time and physics.

For a long time, it was the tallest building in the world. An architectural achievement. It was also a declaration to the world, that America was a land where the impossible became possible. Determination. Innovation. A relentless will to succeed.

Yeah. That's all old, dusty history. Why even look at that? Pause they're not merely historical footnotes. They are blazing torches, illuminating our path forward. They remind us or are supposed to remind that you say when we're faced with adversity, we don't just endure it. We overcome it. We don't wait for history to chart our course. We write it with the sweat of our brow and the strength of our backs. That's who we are.

Have we forgotten that?

It's going to be years. We find ourselves at another crossroads, America. Faced with the challenges that threaten to dim the bright future that we all dream for, for our nation, for our children.

The spirit that build the Empire State Building, that laid down miles of railroads. That cut through the Rocky Mountains.

That sent astronauts to the moon.

It's still inside of every heart of every American, somewhere. Awaken that spirit.

Scale new mountains. It's not just rock and earth. Scale the mountains of innovation and stainability.

Build. Not just physical structures. But a future that upholds the spirit of adventure and hard work and ingenuity.

Stop tearing everything down, and let's start building.

Well, we might have another president. You know, who is out there? Who could we?

Why are we waiting? If this isn't a national emergency, I don't know what it is. And I don't mean the bridge. I mean all of it.

Well, our government has to lead. Really? Really?

Does it?

Maybe that's our problem. America is led by its values and its principles, that are found in the soul of those who still remember who we are, and who we serve.

Americans led the way. The government always follows.

Yeah. Well, we can't act without them.

Bullcrap. Where are the bridge builders who will stand up today, and say, I'll get it done?

As soon as that happens, you'll see who is leading, and who is stalling. The government is the one that stalls the engine out. To expect more from our leaders is rational. But to expect the most from ourselves, is essential.

We are the architects of our destiny. We are the builders of our dreams. There's a huge task that's right in front of us. I still believe we can tackle that. We can overcome anything.

The history of America is a tapestry, woven with the threads of bold endeavors. Monumental achievements. Blood, the blood spilled at the Empire State Building, and every other path to greatness. Let's harness the potential, not for glory. Not look at us. Oh, we're the best. We're the best. But because we understood -- we understand that in the pursuit of a better world, action is not just an option. It's our duty.

I often wonder, as I look into the horizon now, in today's America. Is that a sunset or a sunrise?

It depends on you. If Americans rise with the determination that carried our forbearers through the trials and tribulations. If we build with love and compassion and an unbreakable commitment to the spirit of daring adventure and hard work and ingenuity, we restore ourselves and our country.

In the words of our ancestors that are etched in every American heart, somewhere, you can do it. You can become anything. You can do anything.

That doesn't make it easy. It doesn't mean you deserve. You deserve it. You can do it. Because it's hard. And it's in doing the hard things, that we find the best of ourselves. That's why everything that's going on is not necessarily a curse.

It's an honor to serve at this time. Because we can find the best of ourself.

We can step forward into the dawn of a new day with our eyes wide open to all of the problems of the past and the possibilities that are right in front of us.

But we have to resolve to make those possibilities our reality. We are Americans. There is nothing we can't achieve, when we all stand together. United by our dreams, and driven by the will to see them fulfilled.

Don't listen to anybody else that tells you the differently.

The CRAZIEST Baltimore Key Bridge Collapse Theory Yet???
RADIO

The CRAZIEST Baltimore Key Bridge Collapse Theory Yet???

It didn’t take long for people to cry foul when a cargo ship crashed into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge and knocked it down. But while there’s still no hard evidence of a cyberattack or terrorism, Glenn, Pat, and Stu have another … weirder … theory: Has anyone seen Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg lately? Because there have been A LOT of transportation-related tragedies under his watch …

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: So the bridge, Stu has a theory on this -- this Baltimore bridge collapse.

STU: I do not. I would not say I have a theory at all. I'm just saying, look, it wouldn't make any sense for this to be a terrorist attack the way it happened. 1:30 in the morning. Like, why would you do it that way?

Maybe you would argue, it was some sort of a test run.

PAT: Or just to disrupt our infrastructure.

STU: I don't know. But it doesn't seem like it will be that serious, in that. These places are able to -- it doesn't seem like. Like all the reporting is, they're able to reroute to other ports.

I mean, it has to affect Baltimore pretty seriously. Obviously, traffic will be affected. If you're going for a major terrorist attack. First of all, 1:30 in the morning is a weird time for it. And, of course, the warnings from the ships and all these other things.

Beyond that, I'm looking at a broader picture here. And I'm -- again, I'm not saying this. What I want you to know, I'm not saying this.

PAT: Okay. What are you not saying?

STU: I'm not saying that Pete Buttigieg individually, is going to each one of these things and -- like unscrewing Boeing doors before the plane takes off. I'm not saying he's doing that.

I'm not saying he's loosening tires off of planes. I'm not saying that. That would be incredibly impossible. What I am saying, should we check his house, to see if he has scuba gears. Let's check it out. Why not go into his garage and see, Pat. Maybe he has a couple of -- you know, a couple of -- I don't know.

Rubber suits. That might be for other use. I'm just saying, can we at least check? We should at least know that.

PAT: Maybe he has a Phillips screwdriver or something.

STU: Right. Does he have -- it would just be interesting to know, what type of --

PAT: It would. Yeah.

STU: Underwater diving gear, the man owns. Like, does he happen to have a mini submarine in his garage? That would be something we should know.

PAT: That would be weird.

GLENN: First of all. First of all.

As I said, they always return to the crazy -- the scene of the crime.

So he never shows up after one of these.

He disappears after this.

STU: Yes.

GLENN: Have I noticed that?

We never hear him talking about anything transportation. Have you heard him actually, you know, standing in front of a United airliner going, we're going to shut this thing down, until we figure out why the United Airlines keeps losing doors and wheels. And I heard the steering wheel or something, the other day.

STU: Right.

GLENN: Why? Where is he on that?

So he never shows up at the scene of the crime. So that immediately goes. It's also way too much work for him.

PAT: It's true.

GLENN: He would have to learn things, like how to put the mask on. Which I think is beyond his capability. You know, how do I -- the scuba gear goes where exactly. And you don't want to use it after him. After he tries it. I'm just saying, I don't know.

STU: I think, look, there are a lot of reasons to believe that Pete Buttigieg isn't responsible for each one of these things. It would be insane. It would be a crazy development, by all accounts.

GLENN: Yes, it would. Right.

STU: However, how else do we explain this?

PAT: It would be unprecedented, if it were our transportation secretary.

STU: I would agree, you be precedented.

PAT: Never in history, has a transportation secretary sabotaged so much transportation.

STU: Right.

GLENN: Can we look at the bright side, however?

That would be more than any transportation secretary has done probably in the history of transportation. I never know what they do.

STU: This is a good point.

Who knows the name of any other transportation secretary.

Yet, we all --

GLENN: You have chow.

STU: Yeah, Chow was one. And the other one that popped into my head was LaHood. Because back in the day. But not for, hey, he's screwing up all of our infrastructure.

It was like, oh, well, he's sort of a notable figure that occasionally comes up in policy conversations. This guy has overseen disaster movie sequel, after disaster movie sequels since he has this job.

We have American institutions. Boeing is just like, eh, we can't keep planes in the air anymore.

Like, what?

Why? Why has all of this happened under his watch. It's like he's trying. It's like he's Michelman. He's tied to -- we now have more footage to show in disaster movies, because of this guy. Allegedly. I mean, I don't think he is intentionally derailing trains across the country.

It does seem weird, that ever since -- we should look to see if he has a wedge or tools that would allow him to do it.

GLENN: You know, I would say the fact that everything is being derailed, would lead me to believe, that it's not one man.

STU: It's probably not. It's probably not.

GLENN: This is not bad -- the entire -- the entire country is going into a bridge abutment.

STU: That's true. That's true.

PAT: It would explain why we never see him though. Because he's always off skulking into one of these places, loosening some bolt.

STU: It's probably not him loosening bolts. It's probably not. Probably not.

PAT: Probably not.

STU: But wouldn't it be easy to rule it out. Let's toss that -- let's toss the individual possibility, that Pete Buttigieg is flying around the country, disabling our infrastructure.

Let's just rule that one out. It has to be easy to rule out.

PAT: I would feel a lot better. You know, I would. Even though, I understand, it's a --

GLENN: Call his husband. And find out, was he in bed with you, last night, or the night before, when this thing hit the bridge abutment. Just find out.

STU: Just find out. It's an easy one to rule out.

PAT: It did.

STU: Until we rule it out. He should go back on maternity leave.

That's all I'm saying. He shouldn't be employed on this job, as if it's a possibility.

GLENN: Oh, I see what this is. You just want him out as the transportation secretary. You are such a bad man.

PAT: Could that be it?

GLENN: Is it homophobia? Is that what's happening?

STU: It's definitely not homophobia. He can be as gay as he would like to be, while on paternity leave. In fact, I would encourage it. It would be almost odd if he wasn't, right?

But like, what I'm saying is, ever since this guy took this job, we have done show after show after show, out of --

PAT: About disasters.

STU: About transportation infrastructure collapse. What is happening -- like, why not just, either he's individually doing it himself.

Or maybe another possibility, is everything this man touches, gets destroyed like he's Ivan Drago. Maybe that's the thing.

GLENN: I have to tell you. I don't even know if he -- I think this is just -- this is just now four years of absolute incompetence.

The companies are all being distracted. From what they have to do. So they can meet new governmental mandates on bullcrap that mean nothing to any of us.

And this guy. This guy, I don't think he knows what his job is. I really don't.

STU: He seems to be terrible at it.

GLENN: Do you? This has and whenever he's involved in something, tragedies ensue. Again, we talk about these problems. With the border.

I don't know. What do you do? You have to make sure you're closing the border to illegal immigration. Before you're worrying about the immigrants that already cross.

You have to stop the flow. There's a leak. You have to stop the leak. Turn the water off. Then fix. With this. Shouldn't we turn the water off here?

Get this guy away from this thing first.

And then we'll figure out some of the other tails.

Whatever he's bringing to the table, is weighing down the table, and the table is collapsing. Can we do something about it?

GLENN: This is the best entertaining conspiracy theory, that I've heard in the last 24 hours. This is good. This is good.

STU: I don't think -- it would be absurd to picture Pete bite judge in a scuba outfit.

I mean, like, if somebody were to Photoshop that, and give it to us, and put it on Twitter.

That would be silly.

PAT: Irresponsible. Irresponsible.

STU: Irresponsible. He can't possibly do it. Let's confirm he doesn't have the equipment to make it possible.

Let's rule it out now!

GLENN: Have we seen close-up pictures of the American Airlines flight. When it was taking off, losing the tire. Was there a parachute after? Was he up in the wheel of -- as they took off?

Just, you know, like one of those poor Afghans, that were just like, I'm going to go to America. And he's like, wait. I'm not done.

I'll unloose the bolts here. I would like to see a close-up. Was he driving a tanker up Dr. Truck, last June 11th, and left it on I-95, in Philadelphia.

That bridge. When that caught fire.

PAT: Let's see who the driver was.

STU: Let's look. If you have the CCTV footage. You see a little guy scampering from the bridge right after. I would like to know, who is that?

Is that a leprechaun, or is that Pete Buttigieg? I want to know who that is. These are basic questions, we can ask, honestly.

And my goal here is to exonerate Pete Buttigieg.

PAT: Clear! Clear the air.

STU: That's my goal.

GLENN: Well, I don't think -- before you said this, I don't think Pete Buttigieg came up as a suspect.

STU: Hell. It would be so outlandish, right?

PAT: People were afraid to say it. Thank you.

STU: It was.

GLENN: Is that what it was?

PAT: We're saying what everybody was thinking, stupidly.

STU: But other people would say --

GLENN: As Jon Stewart said, saying the things that nobody is thinking. That's what he's doing now.

STU: Right. It could be. It could be. But then other people might say, it's the most logical explanation, that he's just going around and doing it himself. Why else would all of this happen. And that's why I just want to exonerate him. And let him get back to his wonderful family.

PAT: Real considerate of you.

STU: Yeah. And I think too, we should consider. For this particular role, whether paternity leave should only happen after the birth of a child. Maybe it should be like a constant thing.

Like a, whenever you need it, you take it.
Just go ahead. Go on leave. Right now. And maybe take eight to 12 years off.

GLENN: That would be good. Okay.

STU: Just in case, you know.

GLENN: Okay.

STU: These are just possibilities.

GLENN: Pat, thanks for standing and watching the whole thing burn with me. It's been fun.