Glenn and Bill O’Reilly don’t always see eye-to-eye on everything – this morning was no exception – but they had a great conversation about some of today’s most pressing issues. On radio this morning, Glenn spoke with O’Reilly about his latest children’s book, Kennedy’s Last Days, the NSA whistleblower, Senator Rand Paul, and much more.
O’Reilly’s new book, Kennedy’s Last Days, is a kid friendly adaptation of his bestselling Killing Kennedy. “I mean, Killing Lincoln, Killing Kennedy, Killing, you know, McKinley and Garfield and whatever else, I've read them. I've actually read them… And I think they're really, really good,” Glenn joked.
“The book that comes out today is the kids book of Killing Kennedy called Kennedy's Last Days,” O’Reilly explained. “Our goal on the children's history books is basically to introduce the kids to people that they may have heard of but, of course, know nothing about because the public school system doesn't teach history anymore.”
With all that is currently going on in the news right now, Glenn switched gears to get O’Reilly’s thoughts on what is happening with the NSA. While the reaction to the whistleblower’s actions continues to be mixes on both the right and left, O’Reilly explained that he believes the PRISM program is unconstitutional and he supports Edward Snowden’s actions if the government overreach proves to be true.
“The PRISM program is unconstitutional if it's actually happening,” O’Reilly said. “See, we haven't seen any evidence that emails are being bundled and sent out to Utah where they're stored. That is clearly unconstitutional. And the Supreme Court, it would take them 10 seconds to forbid that, and it's a violation of the law to do it. But we don't know yet because the whistleblower who is now apparently on the run hasn't really put out anything to back that up.”
“I have to tell you, Bill, I am proud to call you friend on that,” Glenn responded. “You're usually – I mean, you're never mealy mouth or wishy‑washy but you're usually not one to jump ahead of the game. And as you say, ‘Well, he hasn't, you know, he hasn't proven anything, he hasn't – yada, yada, yada.’ But for you to be this strong, I'm pleasantly, I'm just proud. I'm proud to call you my friend.”
O’Reilly reiterated that he is always consistent in his analysis, and the Constitution clearly states what is legal and what is illegal when it comes to government intrusion and privacy rights.
Glenn pressed O’Reilly on why so many on the right – including Speaker of the House John Boehner and Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham – have come out against the whistleblower. Speaker Boehner went so far as to call Snowden ‘a traitor.’
“There's a lot of denial, you know, in that area. But again, we haven't seen any evidence that the government is doing that, if they are bundling e‑mails, seizing e‑mails from Americans and putting them, storing them for use in their own way as we you is an over at the IRS, what they did with private information, then it's clearly unconstitutional,” O’Reilly said. “And I think Graham and McCain would admit that if the evidence was put forth. I think they're operating in a theoretical world now, the war on terror world. I think that's where they are. I could be wrong. I got Rand Paul on tonight. You know, I'm going to ask him that question: What about your colleagues McCain and Graham, why are they on the opposite side. Maybe he will have some insight on that.”
It is no secret that Glenn is a big fan of Senator Rand Paul, and while O’Reilly said he generally doesn’t like politicians, he applauded Sen. Paul as an independent thinker.
“I think he's an independent thinker. I mean, I wouldn't say he's part of the establishment, no,” O’Reilly said. “But he's got to be sane about Iran and things like that. You know, if he's going to follow his father down the yellow brick road to insanity he's not going to get anywhere, you know. You've got to recognize the danger when the danger is hitting you in the head.”
TheBlaze broke a story this morning about the State Department considering a formal request from the United Nations to take in Syrians as refugees and allow them to settle in California, Illinois, Florida, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia.
Glenn believes the refugees will be allowed to enter the U.S., but O’Reilly was not convinced. “How do you think the Boston bombers got here? That's how they got here. So, you know, is that a smart thing to do? Probably not,” he said. “There is a humanitarian situation going on over there. Turkey can't take them all. But I think, you know, with our problems with the jihadists that would be a very controversial thing. I do not think Kerry is going to do that.”
Ultimately, O’Reilly asked Glenn to bet him his Texas ranch that the Syrian refugees will not be allowed to enter the U.S.
“That's jealousy, ladies and gentlemen,” Glenn quipped.
But he did have one word of advice for O’Reilly. “I tell you what: you just consider one thing: Get the hell out of New York and the Northeast because the people are going crazy. And there's two kinds of people: There's half of them that don't mind if you spy on them, if you give, just give me free stuff and I'll live in any totalitarian state you want. It doesn't matter. And the other half of the country that says, I want some freedom, and you're in the wrong half. Just sayin'.”