Evangelical leader Franklin Graham had a very personal encounter with Ebola

October 02, 2014

Writer

Glenn was with Franklin Graham, son of the renowned evangelical preacher Billy Graham, at the opening of the Green Foundation Bible Museum in Oklahoma City. While they were at dinner, Franklin Graham explained that it was once of his doctors, Dr. Kent Brantly from Samaritan's Purse, that was infected with Ebola and brought back to the United States. The doctor has now made a full recovery, but how was Graham involved in getting him back to the U.S. for treatment? It's an incredible story, one that Glenn told on radio today.

Below is an edited transcript of this segment

GLENN: A couple of other people and Franklin Graham was sitting next to Tania. And Franklin Graham is Billy Graham's son and he runs Samaritan's Purse. And so we're talking about world events. And the program hadn't started yet, so what's coming in the world. What's happening. And, you know, the idea that I was from Dallas, and here's Ebola in Dallas. We started talking about that.

And that's when Steve Green said: Well, you know that was Franklin's doctor, you know, from Samaritan's Purse that was brought in on that plane. And I had completely forgotten.

And I said, oh, my gosh, Franklin, what was that like?

He began to tell the story. And we'll try to bring him in hopefully next week. I want him to tell the story because it was -- coming firsthand it was electrifying.

I said: So what happened?

He said: We had -- I don't remember how many -- 35 people over working and trying to help these people over in West Africa. And he said: So we have our people over there, and the doctor gets it.

Now the first thing that I asked him was: How did he get it? Because there's speculation. He's all suited up. How did he possibly get it?

He said: The problem over in Africa is, everybody is running a fever. He said, and that's one of the early signs, you get a fever and have flu-like symptoms. But everybody --

PAT: Because of malaria too.

GLENN: Right. So he said everybody has malaria at some point so everybody has a fever. So it's not something that's a warning sign there. And he said these doctors they go over and help the Ebola victims, and then we suit them up, we spray them down with chlorine. We put these giant trays down on the ground. When you walk into these bays, you have these giant trays with an inch of chlorine. So your feet walk through the chlorine and then they spray you down with that. So that kills the Ebola.

He said the problem is he didn't get it from those guys, he got it from working over in the hospital. They would take their suits off and they would spend extra time helping the people in the hospital. Well, you don't know who has Ebola and who doesn't. Apparently that's where he contracted it. So he gets it and has it bad and he's dying, and they start calling, is there anything anybody can do? What resources are available? Anything.

They get a call from this company in San Diego. And they say, we have an experimental drug. Never been tried on a human before, and apparently it involves mouse blood and tobacco leaves. I mean, it sounds crazy.

So they start talking about it. And it's decided not to give him this vial. But the company ships it over. Now, it's kept at, you know, super low temperatures. I don't know 200 or 600 degrees below zero. Some crazy temperature. And so he comes and it's shipped there and it's got to be kept that cold the whole time. And so it's sitting over there, and the doctor gets sicker and sicker and sicker. And they realize. We're going to lose him. We're going to lose him tonight. He's going to die. It's just violent.

They get back on the phone with this pharmaceutical company in San Diego, they get back on the phone with attorneys. And all the attorneys are like, 'you can't give him this. You don't know what it will do. It's never had a human trial. You have no idea.'

PAT: But if a guy is going to die anyway.

GLENN: Finally, They said, 'look, he's going to die. He's going to die tonight. He'll die maybe an hour earlier? What? How bad being it be? We know his outcome he's going to die tonight.' All the attorneys again in France and America they're all saying, don't give it to him. You can't do it. You can't do it.

Well, they do.

Now, he's so bad he's within hours of dying. Vomiting. You just, you're done. You're bleeding from your eyes. You're bleeding from every orifice of your body. What they do is they open up this refrigeration tank, these three bags of this ZMapp is in, it has to be put in intravenously. So there's three bags of it and you take one bag, I guess day number one. Next bag and then the next bag.

PAT: It's frozen solid though?

GLENN: Frozen solid, 200 degrees below zero. Whatever it is. They have to that you it out quickly. They have to get it in a liquid state. You can't put it in the microwave. What do you do?

So they take turns actually sitting on these IV bags and they start to thaw it out from their body warmth. They get it into this guy's arm.

As this thing is going into his system, by the time that bag is finished, he gets up by himself and goes to the bathroom. He was so sick just a few hours before. He was going to die and couldn't do anything.

PAT: He was literally at death's door. And now, he's getting and up going to the bathroom.

GLENN: As soon as he gets this bag of this serum, he gets up and goes to the bathroom himself. It happens that fast. So they finish the three bags. They put him on a plane and bring him over here, and he's fine.

Now, here's where this story gets interesting. He said opening up that refrigeration tank was like a sci-fi movie. We opened that refrigeration tank and the smoke is coming out. It was a spooky sci-fi movie. While they're doing all of this, Franklin is on the phone, and he's trying to get a plane to bring the doctors to the United States and trying to get them help.

There's only one plane I guess that the United States has perhaps in the world, but there's one that the United States has. It's a G3, Gulf Stream 3. And it is specially equipped to contain, you know, I guess this is Level 5 or something disease. So, in other words, I got the impression this is a plane that can crash, and the compartment is sealed. So nothing is coming out of this. And there's only one plane. And I can't remember whose responsibility in the government it is. I want to say it was the State Department's plane, but I'm not sure.

And Franklin is calling and trying to get a plane, and he realizes nothing can fly this guy unless it's this Level 5 plane. So he finds out and he's calling John Kerry. He's calling the White House. Calling everybody trying to get this plane. Nobody will help. Nobody will help. He finally gets a hold of somebody at the I think it's the State Department, and he said, 'do you know about this plane?' And he said, 'yes, I do.' And he explained the situation. And he said, 'well, today is your lucky day because I'm in charge of that plane.' And Franklin said, 'who do I have to call above you to get this signed off.' He said, 'nobody. Me. I'm in charge of it.' He said 'I can't pay for it.' He said, 'you're going to have pay for it, but I'll okay the plane to fly over if you pay for it.' He said, 'fine we'll play for it.'

So it cost him a couple hundred thousand dollars to fly over to Africa, pick him up, fly back. Problem. That plane now has been taken by the CDC so now the CDC is the only one that has that plane. And they apparently don't like to share.

The CDC is also, I get the impression, way out of control and way over their head on this.

When Franklin got the doctor to the hospital, it was in [Atlanta]. Right? When he gets him over into the hospital, they come in and they quarantine this guy. Now, there are, I think, 35 others that have returned from Africa that were working in that hospital, the same as this doctor. They've been around this doctor. They've been around the hospital. They've been in the Ebola places. They bring him to the hospital. The CDC is there and everybody is there. And we all saw the caravan, but what we didn't see is this: Franklin says, 'okay, we've got 35 people. Where do we keep them for 21 days?'

The CDC says, 'oh, don't worry just send them home.'

Now, here's Franklin not a doctor. 'I don't think that's a good idea. I don't think sending them home is a good idea. What are we doing sending them home? What do you mean send them home? They should be in the quarantine for 21 days. We don't know if they have the Ebola.'

'Yeah, they're fine. Send them home.'

So Franklin decides to find a place right around this hospital and quarantines the people himself and says, everybody is staying here for 21 days and it's close to the hospital, so if we start to see symptoms, you just pop in and go over to the hospital.

Well, apparently, several days into this, the hospital finds out that they've done this. And the hospital is upset because of PR. How is this going to look? That we've got 21 people right around this hospital? PR. This goes to exactly to what Rand Paul was saying yesterday: Political correctness.

We've got -- we've got to stop the political correctness. We've got to stop this. Political correctness is stopping us from restricting air travel to West Africa. There is no reason why we have people traveling to and fro to West Africa. Now, I know that you can't stop all air travel. It's impossible, but if you have anything around West Africa on your passport, you should also be quarantined.

If you've been to West Africa in the last 21 days, you need to be quarantined. We used to do that -- what do you think Ellis Island was for? We would quarantine people. The president and the White House yesterday came out and said, 'well, we've got safety measures at the border now. We make sure that if all the border guys' -- really? You don't even have -- most people aren't even coming across the border. But our political correctness is stopping us from quarantining people. Our political correctness -- the president stopped all air travel to Israel on the threat of a missile almost possibly, maybe, might, shoot down a plane over Ben Gurion Airport in Israel. He shut it down for a week. And they did it that fast.

Why are we not shutting down the airspace? Why are we not saying, you cannot enter the United States of America. You cannot fly to West Africa. You cannot return unless you've been quarantined, period.

STU: Wouldn't you say thought that the impulse to isolate countries may make the Ebola epidemic worse?

GLENN: No, I wouldn't say that.

STU: That's what the CDC director said. "The impulse to isolate the country --

PAT: So the impulse itself -- like if I feel like isolating it, that will make it worse?

STU: Right. Ebola will get much worse.

PAT: Does Ebola know my intention?

GLENN: That's ridiculous. The CDC is out of control. Everything. Look at the woman who just resigned from the secret service yesterday. If this isn't political correctness, how did this woman get her job? And, by the way, she wasn't fired yesterday because the secret service is out of control.

PAT: Of rampant incompetence.

GLENN: She was fired because of optics. She didn't let the administration know that there was a problem.

STU: Yeah, the elevator incident, she did not inform them of until it got out to the press. They weren't able to fight the PR battle on that.

PAT: So it wasn't because they allowed an armed criminal with the president of the United States-

GLENN: It was because of political correctness. It was because of the press. It was because of the optics. This is literally going to kill all of us. This is why we're -- I'm telling you we're going to be humbled because we won't recognize reality anymore. And when you won't recognize reality, reality has a way of sneaking up behind you.

Front Page image courtesy of the AP

URGENT: Supreme Court case could redefine religious liberty

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The state is effectively silencing professionals who dare speak truths about gender and sexuality, redefining faith-guided speech as illegal.

This week, free speech is once again on the line before the U.S. Supreme Court. At stake is whether Americans still have the right to talk about faith, morality, and truth in their private practice without the government’s permission.

The case comes out of Colorado, where lawmakers in 2019 passed a ban on what they call “conversion therapy.” The law prohibits licensed counselors from trying to change a minor’s gender identity or sexual orientation, including their behaviors or gender expression. The law specifically targets Christian counselors who serve clients attempting to overcome gender dysphoria and not fall prey to the transgender ideology.

The root of this case isn’t about therapy. It’s about erasing a worldview.

The law does include one convenient exception. Counselors are free to “assist” a person who wants to transition genders but not someone who wants to affirm their biological sex. In other words, you can help a child move in one direction — one that is in line with the state’s progressive ideology — but not the other.

Think about that for a moment. The state is saying that a counselor can’t even discuss changing behavior with a client. Isn’t that the whole point of counseling?

One‑sided freedom

Kaley Chiles, a licensed professional counselor in Colorado Springs, has been one of the victims of this blatant attack on the First Amendment. Chiles has dedicated her practice to helping clients dealing with addiction, trauma, sexuality struggles, and gender dysphoria. She’s also a Christian who serves patients seeking guidance rooted in biblical teaching.

Before 2019, she could counsel minors according to her faith. She could talk about biblical morality, identity, and the path to wholeness. When the state outlawed that speech, she stopped. She followed the law — and then she sued.

Her case, Chiles v. Salazar, is now before the Supreme Court. Justices heard oral arguments on Tuesday. The question: Is counseling a form of speech or merely a government‑regulated service?

If the court rules the wrong way, it won’t just silence therapists. It could muzzle pastors, teachers, parents — anyone who believes in truth grounded in something higher than the state.

Censored belief

I believe marriage between a man and a woman is ordained by God. I believe that family — mother, father, child — is central to His design for humanity.

I believe that men and women are created in God’s image, with divine purpose and eternal worth. Gender isn’t an accessory; it’s part of who we are.

I believe the command to “be fruitful and multiply” still stands, that the power to create life is sacred, and that it belongs within marriage between a man and a woman.

And I believe that when we abandon these principles — when we treat sex as recreation, when we dissolve families, when we forget our vows — society fractures.

Are those statements controversial now? Maybe. But if this case goes against Chiles, those statements and others could soon be illegal to say aloud in public.

Faith on trial

In Colorado today, a counselor cannot sit down with a 15‑year‑old who’s struggling with gender identity and say, “You were made in God’s image, and He does not make mistakes.” That is now considered hate speech.

That’s the “freedom” the modern left is offering — freedom to affirm, but never to question. Freedom to comply, but never to dissent. The same movement that claims to champion tolerance now demands silence from anyone who disagrees. The root of this case isn’t about therapy. It’s about erasing a worldview.

The real test

No matter what happens at the Supreme Court, we cannot stop speaking the truth. These beliefs aren’t political slogans. For me, they are the product of years of wrestling, searching, and learning through pain and grace what actually leads to peace. For us, they are the fundamental principles that lead to a flourishing life. We cannot balk at standing for truth.

Maybe that’s why God allows these moments — moments when believers are pushed to the wall. They force us to ask hard questions: What is true? What is worth standing for? What is worth dying for — and living for?

If we answer those questions honestly, we’ll find not just truth, but freedom.

The state doesn’t grant real freedom — and it certainly isn’t defined by Colorado legislators. Real freedom comes from God. And the day we forget that, the First Amendment will mean nothing at all.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Glenn Beck joins Megyn Kelly LIVE — One night ONLY in Fort Worth!

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What our response to Israel reveals about us

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I have been honored to receive the Defender of Israel Award from Prime Minister Netanyahu.

The Jerusalem Post recently named me one of the strongest Christian voices in support of Israel.

And yet, my support is not blind loyalty. It’s not a rubber stamp for any government or policy. I support Israel because I believe it is my duty — first as a Christian, but even if I weren’t a believer, I would still support her as a man of reason, morality, and common sense.

Because faith isn’t required to understand this: Israel’s existence is not just about one nation’s survival — it is about the survival of Western civilization itself.

It is a lone beacon of shared values in the Middle East. It is a bulwark standing against radical Islam — the same evil that seeks to dismantle our own nation from within.

And my support is not rooted in politics. It is rooted in something simpler and older than politics: a people’s moral and historical right to their homeland, and their right to live in peace.

Israel has that right — and the right to defend herself against those who openly, repeatedly vow her destruction.

Let’s make it personal: if someone told me again and again that they wanted to kill me and my entire family — and then acted on that threat — would I not defend myself? Wouldn’t you? If Hamas were Canada, and we were Israel, and they did to us what Hamas has done to them, there wouldn’t be a single building left standing north of our border. That’s not a question of morality.

That’s just the truth. All people — every people — have a God-given right to protect themselves. And Israel is doing exactly that.

My support for Israel’s right to finish the fight against Hamas comes after eighty years of rejected peace offers and failed two-state solutions. Hamas has never hidden its mission — the eradication of Israel. That’s not a political disagreement.

That’s not a land dispute. That is an annihilationist ideology. And while I do not believe this is America’s war to fight, I do believe — with every fiber of my being — that it is Israel’s right, and moral duty, to defend her people.

Criticism of military tactics is fair. That’s not antisemitism. But denying Israel’s right to exist, or excusing — even celebrating — the barbarity of Hamas? That’s something far darker.

We saw it on October 7th — the face of evil itself. Women and children slaughtered. Babies burned alive. Innocent people raped and dragged through the streets. And now, to see our own fellow citizens march in defense of that evil… that is nothing short of a moral collapse.

If the chants in our streets were, “Hamas, return the hostages — Israel, stop the bombing,” we could have a conversation.

But that’s not what we hear.

What we hear is open sympathy for genocidal hatred. And that is a chasm — not just from decency, but from humanity itself. And here lies the danger: that same hatred is taking root here — in Dearborn, in London, in Paris — not as horror, but as heroism. If we are not vigilant, the enemy Israel faces today will be the enemy the free world faces tomorrow.

This isn’t about politics. It’s about truth. It’s about the courage to call evil by its name and to say “Never again” — and mean it.

And you don’t have to open a Bible to understand this. But if you do — if you are a believer — then this issue cuts even deeper. Because the question becomes: what did God promise, and does He keep His word?

He told Abraham, “I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you.” He promised to make Abraham the father of many nations and to give him “the whole land of Canaan.” And though Abraham had other sons, God reaffirmed that promise through Isaac. And then again through Isaac’s son, Jacob — Israel — saying: “The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I give to you and to your descendants after you.”

That’s an everlasting promise.

And from those descendants came a child — born in Bethlehem — who claimed to be the Savior of the world. Jesus never rejected His title as “son of David,” the great King of Israel.

He said plainly that He came “for the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” And when He returns, Scripture says He will return as “the Lion of the tribe of Judah.” And where do you think He will go? Back to His homeland — Israel.

Tamir Kalifa / Stringer | Getty Images

And what will He find when He gets there? His brothers — or his brothers’ enemies? Will the roads where He once walked be preserved? Or will they lie in rubble, as Gaza does today? If what He finds looks like the aftermath of October 7th, then tell me — what will be my defense as a Christian?

Some Christians argue that God’s promises to Israel have been transferred exclusively to the Church. I don’t believe that. But even if you do, then ask yourself this: if we’ve inherited the promises, do we not also inherit the land? Can we claim the birthright and then, like Esau, treat it as worthless when the world tries to steal it?

So, when terrorists come to slaughter Israelis simply for living in the land promised to Abraham, will we stand by? Or will we step forward — into the line of fire — and say,

“Take me instead”?

Because this is not just about Israel’s right to exist.

It’s about whether we still know the difference between good and evil.

It’s about whether we still have the courage to stand where God stands.

And if we cannot — if we will not — then maybe the question isn’t whether Israel will survive. Maybe the question is whether we will.

When did Americans start cheering for chaos?

MATHIEU LEWIS-ROLLAND / Contributor | Getty Images

Every time we look away from lawlessness, we tell the next mob it can go a little further.

Chicago, Portland, and other American cities are showing us what happens when the rule of law breaks down. These cities have become openly lawless — and that’s not hyperbole.

When a governor declares she doesn’t believe federal agents about a credible threat to their lives, when Chicago orders its police not to assist federal officers, and when cartels print wanted posters offering bounties for the deaths of U.S. immigration agents, you’re looking at a country flirting with anarchy.

Two dangers face us now: the intimidation of federal officers and the normalization of soldiers as street police. Accept either, and we lose the republic.

This isn’t a matter of partisan politics. The struggle we’re watching now is not between Democrats and Republicans. It’s between good and evil, right and wrong, self‑government and chaos.

Moral erosion

For generations, Americans have inherited a republic based on law, liberty, and moral responsibility. That legacy is now under assault by extremists who openly seek to collapse the system and replace it with something darker.

Antifa, well‑financed by the left, isn’t an isolated fringe any more than Occupy Wall Street was. As with Occupy, big money and global interests are quietly aligned with “anti‑establishment” radicals. The goal is disruption, not reform.

And they’ve learned how to condition us. Twenty‑five years ago, few Americans would have supported drag shows in elementary schools, biological males in women’s sports, forced vaccinations, or government partnerships with mega‑corporations to decide which businesses live or die. Few would have tolerated cartels threatening federal agents or tolerated mobs doxxing political opponents. Yet today, many shrug — or cheer.

How did we get here? What evidence convinced so many people to reverse themselves on fundamental questions of morality, liberty, and law? Those long laboring to disrupt our republic have sought to condition people to believe that the ends justify the means.

Promoting “tolerance” justifies women losing to biological men in sports. “Compassion” justifies harboring illegal immigrants, even violent criminals. Whatever deluded ideals Antifa espouses is supposed to somehow justify targeting federal agents and overturning the rule of law. Our culture has been conditioned for this moment.

The buck stops with us

That’s why the debate over using troops to restore order in American cities matters so much. I’ve never supported soldiers executing civilian law, and I still don’t. But we need to speak honestly about what the Constitution allows and why. The Posse Comitatus Act sharply limits the use of the military for domestic policing. The Insurrection Act, however, exists for rare emergencies — when federal law truly can’t be enforced by ordinary means and when mobs, cartels, or coordinated violence block the courts.

Even then, the Constitution demands limits: a public proclamation ordering offenders to disperse, transparency about the mission, a narrow scope, temporary duration, and judicial oversight.

Soldiers fight wars. Cops enforce laws. We blur that line at our peril.

But we also cannot allow intimidation of federal officers or tolerate local officials who openly obstruct federal enforcement. Both extremes — lawlessness on one side and militarization on the other — endanger the republic.

The only way out is the Constitution itself. Protect civil liberty. Enforce the rule of law. Demand transparency. Reject the temptation to justify any tactic because “our side” is winning. We’ve already seen how fear after 9/11 led to the Patriot Act and years of surveillance.

KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI / Contributor | Getty Images

Two dangers face us now: the intimidation of federal officers and the normalization of soldiers as street police. Accept either, and we lose the republic. The left cannot be allowed to shut down enforcement, and the right cannot be allowed to abandon constitutional restraint.

The real threat to the republic isn’t just the mobs or the cartels. It’s us — citizens who stop caring about truth and constitutional limits. Anything can be justified when fear takes over. Everything collapses when enough people decide “the ends justify the means.”

We must choose differently. Uphold the rule of law. Guard civil liberties. And remember that the only way to preserve a government of, by, and for the people is to act like the people still want it.