GLENNMarch 13, 2017

Mike Lee on Repealing Obamacare and His Wild Curiosity About Wiretapping

Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) joined The Glenn Beck Program on Monday to talk about why the GOP won't resurrect the Obamacare repeal bill passed in 2015, his wild curiosity about evidence the administration might have about wiretapping, and why Republicans are suddenly in love with infrastructure spending.

Enjoy the complimentary clip above or read the transcript below for details.

GLENN: Senator Mike Lee who is at an airport getting ready to board a plane. We're glad you would take the time to hop on the phone with us. How are you, sir?

MIKE: Doing great. Thanks so much, Glenn.

GLENN: Good. Let's get to Obamacare repeal and replace. This thing is nothing like what the Republicans were promising us they would do. Nowhere even close.

Do we have a chance of getting something good out of this?

MIKE: Sure. Something good can come out of it. What happens, whether something good comes out of it, the extent to which it might be good depends entirely on how members of Congress handle this in the next few days, on how they choose to cast their votes.

Now, look, you're right. What we promised was to repeal Obamacare, as much of Obamacare as we possibly could, and then to start trying to find new ways to put the American people back in charge of their own health care.

Well, what this bill does is it doesn't repeal nearly as much of Obamacare as we could. It leaves all kinds of things intact. It leaves most of the Obamacare regulations in place. Most of -- many of the Obamacare taxes remain in place, at least for a time. It leaves expanded Medicaid intact for a period of time. And then doesn't make as many adjustments to it long-term.

Meanwhile, it comes up with a new refundable tax credit, which we don't know the cost of yet. We don't know how many people are going to take it.

There are a lot of unanswered questions, which begs the question: Why are we not just repealing? Why are we not just passing the same repeal bill that Republicans in the House and in the Senate voted for in December of 2015? That's what I'd like to see.

STU: Mike, is it true that you can't just repeal it unless you have 60 votes? You can't do it through reconciliation with just a full repeal?

MIKE: There is some ambiguity as to how many of the insurance regulations of Obamacare could be repealed through reconciliation. So there's an open question on that. But we do that know we could repeal all the taxes and all of the subsidies and possibly some of the regs through reconciliation. We know that because the reconciliation bill we passed in 2015 repealed all of the taxes and all the subsidies.

GLENN: So why aren't we doing it?

MIKE: That's a very good question. That's what I believed we were going to do. That's what many of us were told -- otherwise led to believe.

GLENN: Why aren't we doing it?

STU: He said it was a good question.

MIKE: There are those in Congress who chose to take a different path. Now, I can't speak for them. I can't speak to what their intentions are. I think the easiest, simplest way of explaining it is, they had other priorities that they wanted to attach to this. Priorities that were perhaps higher than simply achieving repeal, at least to the degree that --

GLENN: Can you give me an example of what might be more important than what you promised the American people?

MIKE: Okay. So here's how I think they would explain it, and I want to be clear, I'm always careful not to try to speak for somebody else. But I think if they were here with us, they would probably say, look, we don't want people to be in a state of too much uncertainty and doubt. We don't want them to be afraid. We want them to have a degree of confidence about what comes next after Obamacare repeal. And so we want to provide a soft landing spot for them. And that is so important. It's important enough to them, apparently, that they're willing to go a little softer on some of the repeal and provide more programs through this bill right now.

The problem with that is, it's -- it's not going to pass. And it probably shouldn't pass until they can answer more of these questions, more of these questions about why we can't repeal more of Obamacare than this bill does.

PAT: And the other problem with that, Mike, is that that's not what they promised us. That's not what they said they were going to do. They didn't say, well, we're going to think about this and provide a safe landing spot for people. It's going to take a really long time. We're going to not repeal -- it was repeal and replace. That's what they ran on. That's what they were elected to do. And now, again, as so often happens with the Republican Party, they're not doing it. Frustrating.

MIKE: Yeah, that's right. By the way, I love the Kermit the Frog imitation that both you and Glenn do.

GLENN: Thank you so much. Thank you. That's what happens when your best friend since 1980 --

PAT: Yeah.

MIKE: Well, he has, in fact, been the spokesman for the AHCA, so it's appropriate that we use his voice when doing this. But, no, you're exactly right, this is what we ran on, this is what we promised. Now, to my great dismay, to my great surprise, on many instances over the last week or so, we've had legislators from the House and the Senate somehow saying that this bill, the AHCA is somehow what we campaigned on, what we ran on. Well, that's news to me. That's news to me because we've had this bill for only a few days.

PAT: Me too.

MIKE: That's news to me if we somehow ran on this specific bill, a bill the score of which we still don't know. We still don't know how much this thing is going to cost. We still don't have any idea how many people will take this refundable tax credit. And, therefore, how much it's going to cost. So that's news to me, that that's somehow what we ran on.

What I remember that we ran on was that we would repeal every scrap of Obamacare that we possibly could, the whole thing, if we could get away with it under our procedural rules in the Senate. And that's what we should be doing.

STU: We're talking to Senator Mike Lee. And every time you're on, Mike, I like to ask you the nerdiest, most boring, uninteresting question to see --

GLENN: So please keep this answer short. Please, for the love of Pete.

STU: So I apologize in advance for this.

But when the Bush tax cuts were passed, they were passed under reconciliation. And because of that, they expired after ten years. Would the same thing happen here? If we repeal all these Obamacare taxes, in ten years, are we going to be talking about the expiration of the Obamacare repeal, and then it's going to be back into effect again?

MIKE: No, not necessarily. In fact, almost certainly not.

GLENN: Good end to that.

MIKE: Because of the fact that we were dealing with taxes in that circumstance, rather than something else. So that wouldn't be it.

STU: I thought it was a tax, which is the only reason it was constitutional. Wasn't that -- tax versus fee. Wasn't that a big conversation with Roberts?

MIKE: I'm sorry. I didn't hear that question. Can you say that again?

GLENN: Good. No, no, let's move on.

STU: Let's move on.

GLENN: So, Senator, let me ask you about the intelligence committee has given the president until this afternoon, they say they can't find any evidence that Barack Obama was spying on Donald Trump. And to present some evidence -- and we'll go pursue that. Any indication that he's going to present that evidence? And is there any reason to believe that he couldn't present the evidence if he had it?

MIKE: Okay. That's a good question. I'll answer the first question, I have no idea. I would love to see what the evidence is. I'm wildly curious about it. As to whether he could present it, that depends on what the "it" is.

I will tell you, my first reaction to this, when I very first learned about the tweet, my first reaction was, he's probably not talking about a traditional wiretap, where somebody actually goes to a judge and the judge orders a phone line to be tapped. Perhaps he's talking about a foreign intelligence surveillance court order issued pursuant to Section 702 of the FISA amendments, which would say, you know, here is an identified agent of a foreign government. Let's monitor this person's communications. And that there might have been some incidental communications with some US citizens, perhaps including people who were involved in one way or another with the campaign. That incidentally got pulled into that. That was my first reaction is that seemed the most plausible possibility. If, in fact, it's that, there might be some reasons why we might be reluctant to share that. Or --

GLENN: No, but he could share it with the intelligence committee, could he not -- or committee?

MIKE: Yes, yes, they've got the clearance to do that. So there's no reason why he couldn't share something like that with them. They've got clearance to see pretty much all of that. But as far as his ability to share that publicly, that would seem less likely if my theory is correct.

GLENN: And there's nothing that the president can't get, right? If he said, I want to show it, but, you know, this agency won't let me, you know, have access to this. There's -- everybody in in the Senate, would be like, okay. We need to see this. Behind closed doors. But you will open these books or whatever it is that he's saying the evidence is -- there's nothing the president couldn't get to, is there?

MIKE: I assume so. Because -- and, look, he's the commander-in-chief. There's nothing that he doesn't have access to. And so if he can -- if he can back this up, if he knows what it is that he's referring to, there's no reason that I'm aware of why he couldn't come up with something that he could produce to these Intel Committees. Now, whether he will choose to do so or not is a different question. Perhaps there are those close to him advising him, hey, you don't have to do this if you don't want to. But that --

GLENN: Why wouldn't you?

MIKE: -- that requires rank speculation.

GLENN: Why wouldn't you?

MIKE: I don't know. If perhaps he didn't want to set a precedent that he could just be required to answer questions every time the Intel Committee wanted to hear something. But I would think in this instance, he would want to, particularly because these questions are going to be raised from time to time.

GLENN: Right. And we're talking about national security. I mean, we're talking about something that he's accused another president of doing. And if that president was doing that, that needs to be stopped.

MIKE: Yes. Yes. Exactly. And that's -- that's -- all the more reason why I suspect he'll provide them with what they want to know because you're right. Look, this is one of the things I've been worried about for years. And I've expressed this concern on your show previously. But if you remember the Church Committee, the Frank Church Committee back in the '70s --

GLENN: Yep.

MIKE: -- conducted a series of hearings to look into abuses by our intelligence-gathering agencies, and what they concluded was startling, which was that in every administration from Ford -- from FDR through Ford and Nixon, who was in power at about the time they concluded their research, that the US government's intelligence gathering apparatus had been used to engage in political espionage. Now, look at what's happened since then. Our technology has improved dramatically. Our technological means of gathering intelligence have grown by leaps and bounds. And our laws haven't always kept up with that.

And so to me, it would be almost surprising if some of this were not occurring. That's why we need to be watchful of this. That's why I was concerned, immediately, when I saw the president's tweet was because I considered it plausible, if not likely that this kind of thing would be going on.

GLENN: One last question, let's go to infrastructure. The G.O.P. went out of their gourd -- and I believe rightly so -- for a stimulus package for roads and bridges and tunnels and everything else for $787 billion. I remember that number. It's burned -- seared into my memory of $787 billion. Now the president is proposing a trillion dollar stimulus package, and the Republicans are very excited about it. Can you tell me what made the 787 billion-dollar stimulus package an affront on the Constitution and this one a dream come true?

MIKE: Well, I can't point to any distinguishing characteristic between the two, as to why this one would be good and that one bad.

In fact, look, when I look at the Constitution, I see the powers of Congress being limited. They're enumerated powers, most of them in Article I, Section 8. And they talk about things like the power to provide for our national defense, to declare war, to regulate trade between the states with foreign nations and with Indian tribes. I don't see anything in there that says that it's the prerogative of Congress to create all infrastructure.

Now, look, it's one thing if we're talking about an interstate corridor here or there. But it's another thing entirely if we're talking about wholesale, top to bottom, soup to nuts transportation infrastructure, even intrastate projects.

I think whether we're talking about under the Obama administration or any subsequent administration, headed by a Republican or a Democrat, I think we've got to look carefully at what we're doing there. Not every transportation infrastructure is necessarily outside of Congress' authority. Because some of them do involve a distinctly interstate function. But where they don't, we have constitutional problems.

GLENN: Mike Lee, always good to talk to you. Thank you so much, sir. Appreciate it.

MIKE: Thank you very much, sir. It's good to be with you.

STU: So positive.

GLENN: Yeah. He is. Boring as snot.

STU: Thank you very much.

Oh, I love him. He is saving my hope in the entire country right about now.

GLENN: He is so good and so smart. And, you know, he's just tickled pink by, you know -- I love -- I love because you know he's accurate. But when you're talking to him -- because he's like this all the time, well, I mean, in section 508, subsection B, paragraph four --

STU: Yeah.

GLENN: -- you'll see -- and he did that like four times during this. You just have to get used to, that's the way he is.

STU: He's that guy.

GLENN: And that's why he is so good and so needed in the Senate. Want to give you this from the New York Post today. Bank fees rise to an all-time high. The average customer now pays $666 a year in banking fees.

STU: Satan.

GLENN: Right. Right.

STU: This is how it happens.

GLENN: The overdraft revenue from the top three banks has surged from 5.1 billion to $5.4 billion. That's what they make if you overdraft.

$5.4 billion. Does anybody remember that we're providing them? It's a service that we're providing them as well. We're giving them our money.

JEFFY: No. No.

GLENN: So they can loan it out to other people. No, they don't care anymore.

JEFFY: No, they do not.

RADIO

REVEALED: The Terrifying Anti-American Plans of Pro-Hamas Groups

Are pro-Hamas groups planning an intifada in America? Capital Research Center investigative researcher Ryan Mauro tells Glenn that many of these groups that called for the destruction of Israel after the Oct. 7 attack are now talking about restoring “occupied Turtle Island.” Ryan explains how this term is the American equivalent of calling Israel “occupied Palestine” and why these groups could become much more mainstream soon. Plus, he reveals whether they’re receiving government funding.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Ryan Mauro is a counterterrorism expert, investigative researcher from the Capitol Research Center, where he monitors extremist groups in the US.

He is also an adjunct professor at Regent University. Ryan, welcome to the program. Good to have you back.

RYAN: Of course, Glenn.

GLENN: You bet. Man, I read your story today. And America faces pro-Hamas intifada on its own soil. It is terrifying, the facts.

Do you want to take us through this? Right sure. So over at Capitol research center, where I work, we've done a series of studies. Because we wanted to collect data, to see just how anti-American the so-called pro-Palestinian movement. I think so-called. Because it's really not pro-Palestinian in groups. Don't even talk about that issue all that much.

But we want to see a level of altruism within that movement.

As I talk about in your program before, the latest study that we did, we wanted to see, how he has changed from the 15 months before the October 7th attacks. And then also look at the 15 months after the October 7th attack. Seeing, if they have changed. Who they found, based on their online postings. And their engagement and everything.

Anti-Americanism which they've always existed. Has now basically taken it over.

It's absolutely exploded. To the point where, it calls for anti-American violence, particularly towards the police has increased by about 3,000 percent.

GLENN: Oh, my gosh.

RYAN: When you look at about 500 of the so-called pro-Palestinian activists and organizations, charities, and groups like that.

GLENN: Oh, my goodness.

RYAN: And the overall within anti-American vitriol has increased by 186 percent since the October 7th attack.

GLENN: Okay. So tell me about these organizations. You say, they're not even really pro-Hamas anymore. They're anti-American.

Is this -- have these just been shill organizations, kind of Marxist organizations, from the beginning?

Or is this just a natural morphing from -- you know, we've got to get rid of baby Satan. To get rid of the great Satan?

RYAN: So many of them were Marxists or anarchists to begin with.

And you can tell, they weren't really forward about it. They have since become more forward about it. Many groups that have suspected terrorism are more open about it. They have a comfortable environment, an environment where it was rewarded. So the mask was able to be dropped. And October 7th was kind of like that, that tempting moment, where to show to your own radical audience, whether you're authentic or not.

You have to say something.

You couldn't just be silent anymore. And so the result is, that the mask has dropped on a lot of these pro-Palestinian groups, as to what they were really about. And they have a lot of new groups for them. Some as nonprofits. And some just as online groups that are unregistered as anything.

And so the anti-Americanism that was always there, is now a central focus.

And in some cases, more than the focus, than it is on Israel, even.

GLENN: So when you say they're really anti-American, your article talked about Fourth of July.

And how many of these anti-Israel groups, how they reacted to Fourth of July?

RYAN: As cynical as I am, I was even shocked by this. So I looked at, as many groups as I possibly could.

With a limited time frame. How they reacted to the Fourth of July holiday, last year. And what I found was over 250 anti-Israel groups, condemning the holiday. They refused to celebrate it.

In most cases saying, America is an illegitimate colonial state, using the same terminology, to delegitimize Israel.

They should -- so blatantly endorsing violence.

I saw one that was ridiculing Martin Luther King for being non-violent.

And so I look at all of this, and you can really see the infrastructure, and we're talking about easily hundreds of registered nonprofits.

And thousands of unregistered groups.

GLENN: Any of them getting money from our government?

RYAN: Yes. That has been seen in the past, particularly as regards to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Various organizations. I've done research into that. So that is certainly an issue. They get money from the big donors. The predictable names. Like the George Soros network.

And so you have these sort of mainstream left-wing democratic money powerhouses.

That are just giving money out, whether they realize, what they have to do with it or not.

They might say, oh, social justice. Then they might say, oh, you're a good guy.

But this is a business!

Like, they condemn capitalism. Either -- like, they get bonuses and raises as they fundraise more off of this.

GLENN: So tell me about the Students for Justice in Palestine. I'm trying to remember, because I know I have done in-depth stories on them.

But they now are just a blur.

Who is -- who are students for justice in Palestine?

And who is funding them? And what are they doing?

BRANDON: So Students for Justice in Palestine is kind of the back bone of the protest against Israel and the United States.

That you've seen since the October 7th attacks.

They have a presence on -- they claim, over 200 college campuses. So they're all over the place.

They're sort of the main focal point.

Not much is known of their leadership and fundraising or anything like that, because there is a particular arrangement, through complicit non-profits that they have, to make it like, you can't see anything.

I mean, there is no transparency.

We know there is a link to American Muslims for Palestine, which is run by people who come from the Hamas network, as groups are shut down. They then gravitated over to this group, that formed American Muslims for Palestine. And Students for Justice in Palestine is kind of part of that, even though we don't know too many details.

We know that they're tied to them.

And Students for Justice in Palestine did get some negative attention for their protest after the October 7th attack, especially because they openly supported them.

They were one of the first groups to actually celebrate them. Many of these groups before the Israelis even retaliated in large measure for the attack, were already saying, Israel is a genocidal state.

Stop them from retaliating. And these attacks are wrong. So what really wasn't noticed, because everyone was so shocked by them supporting the October 7th attacks, was that that same statement.

Also, where they said, they don't just support the groups that did it. They were part of that. They were part of Hamas. They were part of the popular front for the Liberation of Palestine, which is like the Communist counterpart to Hamas. And they called for violence, to resist occupied places. And then referred to the United States as occupied turtle island. That's a call for violence on American soil.

GLENN: Explain turtle island.

BRANDON: So turtle island is a terminology that comes from a Native American myth, that when the world was created. Particularly north and Central America. It was created on the back of a turtle during a global flood.

And the Native American tribes referred to it as Turtle Island collectively. Until the white man -- the settlers showed up. And then genocided them all.

And so when these groups refer to the US as Turtle Island, it's the same thing as saying, well, Israel shouldn't be called Israel. It should be called Palestine. Because this is an illegitimate country, that everyone's moral fiber is obligated to fight and to destroy.

GLENN: And truly, they're just at the beginning. And so it seems ridiculous.

But it -- it's not ridiculous. And it is working in many ways, over in Israel.

It's the erasing of the entire history, of a country.

Its legacy.

Everything about us.

By taking and saying, this is -- let me give you the quote.

Liberating colonized land is a real process, that requires confrontation, by any means necessary!

In essence, de-colonization is a call to action, a commitment to the restoration of indigenous sovereignty.

It calls upon us to engage in meaningful action, that goes beyond symbolism and rhetoric.

Resistance comes in all forms.

Armed struggle. General strikes. And popular demonstrations. All of it is legitimate.

And all of it is necessary!

Wow.

RYAN: It's unbelievable.

And the people involved in this. The students involved in this. Those are your future employers. Your future politicians. Your future influencers. I mean, that's where everything is headed. And the trend lines are not good. I was looking at a poll from 2017. And obviously, everything has gotten much more radical since then.

And they polled American results and asked them about various things related to that. And that poll in 2017, found that 8 percent of American adults supported Antifa.

Another 8 percent said that they liked white nationalism.

That's a total of about 16 percent, in 2017.

Now, if you consider the fact that Trump won the election by about one and a half percent, what that means is that -- and these groups coalesce, and form a voting bloc. Or even if they don't vote, they are just able to influence minds.

They can determine elections. And you better believe the political, industrial complex, and politicians are going to increasingly realize that and be tempted to pander to them.

GLENN: Is this why the Democratic Party seems to have just completely lost their mind.
And are going with AOC, and everybody else is a massive radical?

RYAN: I think so. I mean, this is the grassroots now.

These are the activists. The people that -- they may not represent the majority of the opinion. But they certainly, formed the majority of the online opinion makers.

GLENN: I -- you see the numbers of support for Israel.

Compared to support for the Palestinians.

And it's the support for Israel is now at record lows.

On both sides.

That -- is that a result of these organizations?

RYAN: I believe so. I think it's also a result of foreign governments that promote seditionist type beliefs and behaviors.

They want to achieve what's called discourse collapse. Where basically you fill the American news ecosystem with so much BS. That people just kind of believe what they want, or believe what appears upon their eyes most often. And I think that's why you're seeing these crazy fringe beliefs becoming mainstream.

That's great. I think if you put it all together, I would say -- when we hear death to America, we think it's crazy. But I would say, death to America is crazy as a belief system.

But as a goal, it's actually achievable. And I hope people wake up and realize that.

GLENN: Right as always. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You're doing just God's work on this. Thank you. Ryan Mauro.

RYAN: Thank you.

GLENN: Capitol Research Center investigative researcher and counterterrorism expert. It is. It is truly something we need to be very, very aware of. We -- we have won a four-year period here. But that can change on a dime.

As we're seeing this week, you know.

Economy goes away.

And Donald Trump does not win. The Republicans don't win.

And you go back to crazy town USA.

That surrounds themselves with these kinds of people.

Do you want to live in a society, that is built on the backs of these kinds of people?

The answer should be a resounding no!

But because we have such a bad media, education system, and everything else, and we're so polarized in politics, that we can no longer see the truth, these people are going to -- they are going to be the -- well, they will make Thomas Jefferson's prediction of, if we don't fight the Muslims now, he was saying this. When he was president of the United States.

Our first foreign war was with the Muslims over -- with the Barbary pirates.

And he stopped it.

And he said, I want you to know, there -- they're never going to quit.

They're never going to end.

They believe all of these things in their Koran. And they have a right to enslave you. To kill you. To take over all lands.

They have a right to the entire earth!

And if we don't defeat them now, they are going to be our first foreign war, and maybe our last foreign war.

How Global Elites BETRAYED America on Trade and Immigration | Glenn TV | Ep 426

We have been lied to from the very beginning about globalization. From Europe’s Muslim no-go zones to America’s heartland, Glenn argues that unchecked immigration and deceptive NAFTA-era trade deals are dismantling Western society. To people and entities like Klaus Schwab, the World Economic Forum, and George Soros’ Open Society Foundation, nothing was worth protecting. They wanted to “redesign the world.” But how’s that working out for them? Populist uprisings are happening in Germany, France, and England. And yet, it seems Europe’s fate may be our future with an Islamic foothold in Texas. Governor Greg Abbott (R-Texas) opened an investigation into a controversial Muslim neighborhood development — EPIC City — proposed by the East Plano Islamic Center near Dallas. The developers say the community will follow the Constitution and local laws — NOT Sharia law. But an unearthed video from one of the Muslim leaders behind the project paints a different picture.

RADIO

How Trump Can Make the U.S. “Hugely Successful," According to Famed Economist

President Trump suspended his global tariffs for 90 days, except for China. But is this strategy enough to win the trade war and fix the economy? Glenn speaks with renowned economist Richard Werner, who makes the case that Trump’s next move should take place here at home. It’s not enough, he argues, to pressure the big banks. He must also cut the government red tape and help local banks flourish. Plus, Werner also argues that Trump is fighting a hidden enemy in Europe: the CIA.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Richard Werner. He is an economist. You can find him at ProfessorWerner.org.

ProfessorWerner.org. Richard Werner. Professor, how are you, sir?

RICHARD: Very well, thank you. Good to be on your program.

GLENN: Yeah. Good to have you on again. You are looking at the situation, and it is changing by the hour. What are you feeling, especially you're -- you're from Germany. Are you still in Germany today? Or are you here in the United States?

RICHARD: I'm actually in the US, in Florida as well.

GLENN: All right. What is happening in Germany and in Europe, and how is -- how this whole trade thing affecting everybody?

RICHARD: Well, it is affecting everyone.

Because actually, if you have the sort of lists of terrorists.

And where it was last week. Presently suspended.

If you look at the numbers. For some countries.

There were significant changes. And potentially, even now, that they're being suspended.

They're still in place with China. Very, very high numbers.

You mentioned, you know, in triple digit percentage. Tariff.

To China. And China retaliating. And as it's escalating. That's very dangerous.

Because China is part of the supply chains, across the globe. Even in other countries.

And, of course, the US.

Trump has a point. The US is the most attractive market. And exports being -- so it's true. That the US had some leverage there.

The question is, what do we want to achieve? And how do we go about it, in order to make sure we actually achieve it?

There is a risk, a situation which it will escalate, particularly if there's confrontation now.

Later coming from China, it's a bad guy. And, you know, it's -- it's in Asia. It's very important, not to lose faith.

And not to be publicly humiliated.

GLENN: Yes. Right.

RICHARD: And at the moment, you know, of course that's why they can easily give in. Want to shut the opportunity, the opening for compromise.

GLENN: So what would --

RICHARD: At the moment, the way it's done, it is very hard.

GLENN: President Trump said this yesterday. He said: Look, it's important in China, that they don't lose faith. That they're not humiliated. And he said, I feel like they're being humiliated right now.

So what should he be doing, while still staying tough?

What kind of opportunity, should be presented, to de-escalate this?

RICHARD: I think it's important to take it off the -- I mean, President Trump is very -- publicly. But maybe in this case, where we are at this point.

It's an important thing.

You know, the public focus.

And have some private conversations with China's leadership.

And maybe they even suggest a way in which they may be done. Essentially, someone needs to face a solution that makes both sides look good.

This can be done because the Chinese are as much interested in, you know -- as President Trump is, they are commoners, trading, sort of doing deals.

So it just has to be done, in such a way, that they're not forced into a corner.

And then they feel obliged to also, you know, stand up to all of these people. And to then -- they actually should be at this stage.

So I think it can be done.

I mean, I would be glad to help. You know.

Get me into the Trump team.

I had good relations. I was invited to be the professor of finance as well, the top university, Fudan in Shanghai met very senior people in China. And I've been in Japan for 12 years. And I know how to talk to Asia.

At the moment, it was perhaps -- yeah. This -- this lack of the right approach.

But it's about, as you mentioned, that President Trump is now acknowledging this.

And I think this -- this creates an opening.

And with the right advice. The other point I would like to make actually. Is that I think it is very smart of President Trump to raise fundamentally, you know, the tariff issue.

And how the US has not always been treated equally by other countries. Right?

When it comes to trade and tariffs. That is very valid.

And Paris in history, have been, well, actually mixed. They have been very successful and good for America and other countries. They use in combination with the right policies.

GLENN: Yes, uh-huh.

RICHARD: Domestic policies. That's where I think the Trump team needs some good advice. The Trump team knows the official mainstream neoclassical economics is not to be trusted.

And that's very true. But they're still acting with the right advice. I'm an expert of high brow economics, and I think the US can have 15 percent growth in 14 years like China had.

Which can be done. There is no real --

GLENN: What needs to happen? What needs to happen? What is he missing?

I think what is missing is the Congress doing their jobs. And putting other things in place. What are you saying, that is missing?

RICHARD: Yes. Well, a key thing is -- is to do with money.

And those who create money.

Now, the fed has created a lot of money.

Too much. And has caused inflation and everything.

But actually, normally central banks, only create 3 percent of the money.

97 percent of the money supply normally is created by the banks!

The banking system.

And the banks normally. And this is capitalism.

Where central planners are making decisions.

Private, commercially. Enterprises making decisions.

And so the more diverse banking system.

Particularly, the more small local banks you have, the stronger the economy. The stronger job creation.

GLENN: Yes.

RICHARD: And that's where in the past, the US has been extremely strong. But in recent years, you know, the -- have really reduced the number of small local banks.

And it's collapsed in the number of community banks. And local banks. Almost across the United States.

And that's very bad for job creation, and then competitiveness. And China is the best case in point.

You know, they used to have this centralized Soviet-style system, you know, in only one bank.

And then when they deleted -- you know, in 1978. He felt -- let's forget about all this ideology, under Mao. Chairman Mao. Let's deliver -- let's deliver performance and growth.

And how do we do it? Well, let's learn from those who did it.

And it went to Japan and ask China, what's your secret of success?

And they told them. You need -- you need banks. How many banks do you have?

One bank. Are you serious? For 600 million people at the time. Something like that.
You need more banks than that, how about 5,000. And that's what he did.

He went back to China to create this 5,000 small banks, local banks, billionaire banks. Credit unions. Regional banks. Rural savings banks. Conventional banks.

GLENN: So what does Trump need to do to do that here? What does he need to do to create that here? What should he be encouraging?

RICHARD: Well, first of all, one needs to take the pressure off the small banks to merge. Because the Federal Reserve and the FDIC have been closing banks. That's why thousands of banks have disappeared in the US. Job. Job creation. Job creation. But who is the main employer? It is small firms.

They've been employed between 65 and 75 percent of total employment. And there's a special thing about small firms, and they can't get money from Capitol markets.

GLENN: Correct.

RICHARD: Wall Street is not open to them. The only external source of funding is banks. Local banks that -- big banks don't lend to small firms. It doesn't make sense. So who lends to small firms?

It's only small banks. That's why American policy is very strong. They were going a few decades back. More than 20,000 banks.

And they need these thousands and thousands of small local banks. Community banks.

But the regulators. And the centralization. Have led to mergers. And the number of banks have been going down rapidly.

For some reason, they think it's a good idea. Same in Europe. You know, the European Central Bank says, we have too many banks. We have to close the small local bank. Well, that's how you kill the middle class.

That's really what happens to the middle class. That the small firms are not supported anymore. There's new technology coming out. The small firms. They're not necessarily, the innovators.

But they're ones that have to quickly adapt, adopt a new technology, but for that, you need money!

If you have a small local bank that knows you, you will get your funding. You can upgrade. You can maintain the market share and stay competitive. And expand jobs, basically.

But in countries, where the banking system gets too concentrated.

The US now is at risk of becoming one of those countries.

Looking at the UK.

Five big banks. The small firm gets nothing from these big banks.

They have to do big business.

They lend to the hedge funds. In billions.

And that works for the big banks.

Is it really good that the US is headed that way? No. We have to change that. So we have to change policies, at the FDIC. They have to be bank friendly.

And therefore small firm friendly. And therefore employment friendly.

If we combine tariffs with the right monitoring and banking policy, the US can be hugely successful.

You know, Glenn, just help me to get to the Trump team.

GLENN: I'll put a word in for you. But I'm lucky to talk to the janitor.

So, Richard, let me -- let me go to Europe here for a second.

Because I think what Trump is trying to do, on many of his things is to break this elite, almost world economic forum grip on dismantling the West. He doesn't believe in the -- you know, slow decline of the West.

He is looking to change directions, 180 degrees.

And I think that's part of what these tariffs on Europe and everything else. Is to say, look, we're going in a different direction. We have to go in a different direction.

Who is with me?

Die read it that way, or not?

RICHARD: Well, I think that is a similarly -- is one possibility. And it would be -- you know, that would be a good goal. Because Europe is really still under the World Economic Forum and Deep State.

GLENN: Yeah.

RICHARD: And including the US Deep State. You know, there's variations in Europe where you get that. Sometimes when President Trump ends up arguing with European leaders, he's still arguing with his old enemy, which is the CIA.

They're in Europe. They have all their assets in place.

In the CIA app. You know, the CIA funded his program, which brought Klaus Schwab to the floor.

GLENN: Jeez.

RICHARD: So it's something to realize.

He's still planting the old enemy. He won domestically. But the old enemy is strong in Europe and other places still.

Where they've had to have a foothold to -- to the traditional military foreign basis, where the US army is, and so on.

To kind of -- and that's -- that explains a lot of his friction. So, yes. In many ways. It's good that Europe sees, okay. There will be a change in policy.

But they're just going to now run this bill under instruction, from their minders at the CIA.
Just really engaged the United States, against Trump.

They're talking about, well, we have to decouple. We can't trust America anymore at all.

GLENN: I know.

STEPHEN: And when the reality is, they're now just totally still following their minders. The Deep State minders.

RADIO

Trump’s chilling vow: The secret moment that shaped Butler’s rally

Reporter Salena Zito was with President Trump at the Butler, Pennsylvania, rally when he was almost assassinated. Now, she joins Glenn to reveal some key moments from that day that the public doesn’t know about, which she details in her new book, “Butler: The Untold Story of the Near Assassination of Donald Trump and the Fight for America's Heartland.” Salena tells Glenn what Trump said right before his famous “Fight! Fight! Fight!” line and why he decided to stand up: “I did not want to be the symbol of America being weak.” She also describes conversations she’s had with the President and why she knows that Trump believes “God saved him.” And…did you know Trump was not the first president to be shot at in Butler?

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: We're talking to Salena Zito. She's the author of a coming book. We'll talk to her again, this summer, when it comes out.

A coming book, called Butler, the untold story of the near assassination of Donald Trump, and the fight for America's heartland.

I think that's chapter one. That's the longest title, Salena, I've ever heard.

And my books have long titles.

SALENA: I didn't come up with that.

GLENN: Yeah. Okay.

Anyway, you were talking about when he was shot. And you said, it was the next day, that was really telling.

Let me ask you first, before you go into the next day. You were close enough to see, when he was down on the ground.

I asked him recently, privately, what -- what was going through your head?

And he said, honestly, Glenn.

This is pathetic, it looks weak. Get up. You're not afraid. Get up. Get up.

That was amazing!

Has he talked to you about that?

SALENA: Yeah. It's in the book. I won't give too much away.

I want everyone to buy it.

GLENN: I'm ordering mine today.

Because Salena is a great writer. She's the one I would want to tell this story. But, anyway, go ahead.

SALENA: Yeah. Yeah. Preorder. You know how important that is, essentially if you don't live in New York or DC.

GLENN: Yeah.

SALENA: So -- so, you know, so we had that conversation. I'll tell you a little about it. Because I had the same -- the way he explained it was so powerful.

The first thing I think people should know is that he called me the first thing in the morning, the next day. And before I could even say hello, he said, Salena, are you okay? Is your daughter okay?

GLENN: Isn't that crazy?

SALENA: And I kind of swore at the president. My mom will be mad when she reads this part. I said, are you (bleep) kidding me? You're the one that was shot, right? But I was so stunned that that was the first thing that he would think of.

And it was o dark 30 in the morning. Like it was really early in the morning. We proceeded to have about seven more phone calls. I think maybe more. And, you know, one of the things he said to me was, I -- I -- one thing people don't know. Is before he said, fight, fight, fight. I could see him.

He says, USA, twice.

He's still on the ground.

And then I see him turn and get up. And say, fight, fight, fight.

And so we talk about that.

And I said, why?

And he said, well, Salena, with Donald Trump -- it was symbolic. Even though, I wasn't president yet, again, I had once been president.

I had an obligation to show that the country is strong, that we will not be defeated.
And that we are resolute.

I did not want to be the symbol of America being weak!

GLENN: Jeez. That does not happen.

SALENA: Chills, Glenn.

GLENN: You're bringing me to tears. That is not something that happens. That is either in you. That is either in you or not in you. And it's in very few people.

SALENA: Yes. Yes. And we talk a lot about faith, as well.

There is some very gripping emotional moments. That he and I have. Not only the next day. But also, I saw him probably a dozen times after that. At different rallies that I covered. And we had some very emotional conversations.

But -- but he believed, in that moment. And I think he believed that always.

You can tell by his swagger. You can tell by the way he talks.

He always believes that you have a responsibility. As the president of the United States, you are the -- you are a symbol of the country, and everything that it stands for.

You should project strength at all times.

And he had it in that moment.

GLENN: Isn't it weird?

SALENA: Yeah. Go ahead.

GLENN: Isn't it weird?

You know, there have been other world leaders that have had assassination attempts.

And it makes them egotistical.

This assassination attempt, actually humbled him. And yet, strengthened him.

It's -- it's the most bizarre thing I've seen.

You know, he could have easily gotten up and said, it was the most beautiful bullet of all time. But my superpowers, you know what I mean?

And he doesn't. He -- he was like, God saved me.

And doesn't use that as a -- that's why, you need to go stay at the Trump God Golf Course that I'm building. I mean, you know what I mean?

SALENA: No, no, no, no. You're exactly right, and people are wondering why he is so resolute on everything that he's doing and everything he's doing at such a warp speed. It's because he believes, and he told me, God was there. God saved him. Because he never uses a chart. He never turns away. He asks me several times, I don't know why -- like, I don't know why I did that, Salena. I don't know why I did that.

And the man you see today, and you see what he is projecting. And no matter who is sort of saying, this is terrible. You're going to break the country. Blah, blah, blah.

Whatever it is. He's like, no. I am supposed to do this.

I am supposed to save this country.

Ask I don't think you're going to see him, you know, waver. Now, will he change his mind on things?

Sure! He's not dumb!

GLENN: Yeah. He's pragmatic.

SALENA: Yes. He's incredibly pragmatic. There's also some -- by the way, people will find out, Trump, in his book, in Butler. That Trump is not the only president to be shot in Butler and almost die. George Washington did.

GLENN: Oh, you're kidding me!

Wait a minute. Wait. Wait. Wait.

He was shot. I didn't think George Washington was ever wounded.

SALENA: Oh, he did. They missed. Just like this guy did.

GLENN: Oh, my gosh. Wow.

SALENA: Yeah. That's -- that's the first chapter. George Washington, running through Butler.

GLENN: I think we need to make sure everybody knows. You're running for president. Don't go to butler, jeez. And the reason why Butler is also so important, is that Butler is a symbol of everyday America.

Right? This is -- this is a count, and a city that is a great big mix of -- of suburbs. But also, industrial, and farmer. And ranchers.

Right? This is -- this is -- if you wanted to feel like a melting pot of the country in one county, this is it. And he goes to places like that, and he lets people know that they are seen.

GLENN: Yeah. I know.

SALENA: Just like East Palestine. That was the moment that changed the trajectory of his election, was showing up in east Palestine in February of 2023.

People may not remember, he was down in the polls then.

This was before the primary process started.

And he was down in the polls.

One week after he went to east Palestine, he shot out above DeSantis and Haley and never looked back.

And that is -- that is that magic power that he has. In that, he makes places and people in those places, be seen. And so the book will also take you through what nobody saw during the election cycle.

GLENN: Hang on. Hang on. Let me go back to Butter for a second.

SALENA: Yeah.

GLENN: He also said to me, the one thing that cemented. Where he knew -- and I think this is part of where he got his swagger back. Where he knew the American people were with him. He said, I get back up. And I see the crowd is not a jumble of chaos, everybody stampeding toward an exit. I've never really seen the video of that moment, from the crowd perspective. Just I always seat video of him.

What was it like?

In the crowd. When that was going on. What was happening, to the crowd?

SALENA: It was like a miracle.

People were not freaking out.

People were cheering him on, as he left.

And after he was safely gone, they just quietly exited.

And what is really profound, Glenn. Is, you know, they kept me in the back, for a long time.

They were trying to make sure I wasn't hit. Because I never got down.

And, you know, because sometimes you don't know if you're hit, right?

GLENN: Right.

SALENA: And so I go out and walk with my daughter and son-in-law. We walk to our car.

And this is on a big farm, right?

And there's all the cars that are still there.

They hadn't let anybody still leave yet.

Instead of people blowing their horn.

This is an hour after it happened, right?

Instead of people freaking out. People were outside of their cars. They were hugging each other.

They were sharing waters and food.

And helping each other. And making sure everyone was okay.

It was -- it was incredibly moving. To be there.

And I talked to people, that were there, in the book. And it was absolutely -- I get chills even talking about it.

Because what you saw, in that moment, was -- was the way that people behaved, in -- in a crisis situation. To go one of two ways.

GLENN: Yeah.

SALENA: And many people said to me, that they felt the presence of something greater than self in that moment.

And they believed -- they weren't scared!

They weren't scared.

GLENN: That's amazing.

Salena, the name of the book is called Butler. It's coming out this summer.

You can preorder it now.

I am literally going to order my copy today.

SALENA: Thank you.

GLENN: Because Salena is fantastic.

She's one of my favorite writers in the world.

And just really, really good.

So this is going to be a great story. Do you get into the -- who the shooter was? And all of that?

SALENA: Yeah. The shooter actually grew up maybe 3 miles from -- from my -- my home of 30 years. There's not much to tell, in terms of motive.

But I really get into the family, the poor sportsman range. Where he went to.

You know, this is a kid, who, you know, I went and looked at the walls, of -- of when he went to the -- to the range.

He went on Thanksgiving.

He went on Christmas.

He went on Valentine's Day.

GLENN: You're with somebody.

SALENA: You're able to get more of a profile of this -- of this gentleman, but I also -- you know, this is -- like, this is a day, that had the windblown any other way.

You know, so many things could have been so wrong in that moment.

And that's the heart of Butler.

And you saw it elsewhere, throughout the election. With -- with the president.

And like I said, there's some funny spots.

He chases me with hair spray, all the time.

GLENN: All the time?

SALENA: Oh, yeah. Yeah.

He thinks -- he -- he thinks, that I have the greatest hair in America.

GLENN: Hmm.

SALENA: And he will tell you that. But he also is like, you need to wear hair spray.

I'm like, I don't want my hair any bigger.
(laughter)

SALENA: It's Italian. I can't help the way it looks.

And so, yeah. There's some very humorous moments in the book as well.

But also, just like really on the ground in Pennsylvania.

And really seeing what really was happening in that election. Not just with President Trump, but also with Harris and Walls. There are some stories there, that will blow people's minds, in terms of how inept and unprepared they were.

GLENN: We would love to have you back.

You know -- you know, when the book is out.

But thank you so much for sharing that. I know you didn't plan on sharing it today, but thank you so much. Appreciate it.

SALENA: Oh, my goodness. I really, deeply appreciate it.

GLENN: No, it's always good to talk to you. Good, good dear friend, and one of the best journalists out there, Salena Zito.

The name of the book is Butler. You can preorder it now. Get it now.

And be one of the first to have it. We will try to have her back on. When the book officially comes out.

It sounds like a great read.

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