RADIOJanuary 21, 2025

Are DC Prisons IGNORING Trump's J6 Pardons?!

Rumors have spread that prison officials in Washington DC are refusing to release many January 6th prisoners, despite President Trump’s pardons for 1500 of them. Sen. Mike Lee tells Glenn that this appears to be true. He explains how he has looked into the situation and argues, “from what we can tell, they haven’t complied with it yet. It’s yet another reason to revisit DC’s Home Rule, which I think should be repealed.” Sen. Lee also weighs in on why he believes Biden’s decision to pardon members of the Jan. 6 Committee will be GOOD for the Republic: since they can no longer plead the 5th, “we can finally get to the bottom of exactly what happened.” So, will Congress “subpoena the heck out of” them?

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: So I wanted to ask you, you tweeted something last night. Is DC ignoring Trump's pardons? If it is, then this is definitely a time to repeal DC home rule.

You had me at the word "repeal." DC's government has no right to exist constitutionally. Congress shouldn't have delegated its law-making authority over DC. It's time to take it back.

I love you. Okay. Tell me what this means.

MIKE: What this means is that Congress needs to do its job. We've had a problem for a long time with Congress delegating its lawmaking power to unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats.

We've got a corresponding problem, in that, we're supposed to be the lawmaker for the District of Columbia. Article one, section eight, clause 17, sometimes known as the enclave clause, gives us that power.

We've been delegating that to the DC government for about a half century. The results have been disastrous. The results have been a government that doesn't serve the interest of the people well. It's a radical leftist regime that runs it. Our schools are failing. Crime rates are soring.

And last night, from what we can tell, after Trump issued a pardon for a number of prisoners involved with January 6, there were only two released last night. And I spoke to someone last night. Who had gone down personally to the DC jail. Saw that only two of them had been released. And jail officials at the DC jail, announced that they would be releasing any more last night.

Now, this is not hard, Glenn. Did he have names? And they have pardons. They can identify those prisoners who have been pardoned.

Trump's direct influence is that they were to be released immediately, as one should, when one sees that somebody has been pardoned.

And they still weren't out. So we're still trying to get names, numbers. And verify it, how this is happening. But from what we can tell. They haven't complied with it, yet.

It's yet another reason to revisit DC's home rule. Which I think should be repealed.

GLENN: That's extraordinary.

That they would be that bold and say, because everybody was watching them. Last night.

I haven't heard this reported, I mean, CNN is the only thing I can get in this hotel. By the way, if anybody on my staff, books me at a hipster hotel one more time, heads will roll! I want actual furniture, not bean bags. Thank you.

STU: The hipster hotel feels exactly the same way, by the way.

GLENN: What did you say?

MIKE: They were very popular with the deputies. I will say.

GLENN: Oh, they're very popular. And who wouldn't love them. I'm not 18 years old anymore, please book me in an adult room.

Anyway, I was watching CNN last night, and they had, you know, people stationed out there. And they were just complaining that criminals that had killed police officers on January 6th were just being released. You're saying that there's only two that were released last night?

And nothing yet this morning, that you know of?

MIKE: That's right.

Former staffer Sean Peterson was down at the DC jail. And he said, that they released two of them through a back door, and then a jail official said, we're not releasing any more tonight. Even though, there were apparently many more to be released.

Now, again, Trump did -- Glenn, these are people, who have been pardoned. And this is a government that has done like -- things like this for a long time.

I've got story after story, of horrible things. You know, DC allows noncitizens voting in your local elections. You know how difficult that can be. To disentangle people who were casting votes in local elections. From those who were voting in true federal elections.

That is a problem in and of itself. You've also got the fact that they've just -- time after time.

They've taken positions that harm the people of DC. Make everything more expensive.

These guys have high tax rates. They spend like crazy. In education. Yet, they have one of those failing school systems in the entire country.

You want to know something interesting. Four years ago, an elite unit from the Utah National Guard was out here in DC. Protecting DC. Protecting the White House from the violence that was erupting in the summer of 2020, in the city.

In the middle of the night, after they had gone through a 36-hour shift. None of these guys had slept in 36 hours. They had worked all night and all day. And all day the next day.

They were evicted by the opposite of the mayor of the DC government. These are the kind of people these are. And they've been begging --

GLENN: Well.

MIKE: For a long time. We need it now. They've been begging for it, by the terrible things they do.

GLENN: I want to cut the mayor of DC some slack. Because they might have been high on crack. And -- and I think that -- because that is a tradition, isn't it, Stu?

For DC mayors to be high on crack.

STU: Yeah. I think it's part of the job subscription.

GLENN: Part of the deal.

You have to at least be high on crack occasionally, at least.

So, Mike, is this going to gain any traction?

What are you going to do?

MIKE: Well, the first thing we have to do is make sure that these prisoners who have been pardoned are, in fact, released.

But I think the word needs to spread. Obviously, this is a niche issue. It really is a local issue, and it's an issue that is very emotional for many of the people who live and around the area.

But I think more and more residents of DC are getting wise to the fact, that something is not working right.

GLENN: Well, hang on. What would this mean for the judicial system?

Because you can't get a fair trial here, in Washington, DC.

And, you know, anything goes wrong in Washington, DC. Anybody commits any crimes, in the Capitol, or in the White House. It's all tried here, in Washington, DC.

And it's so corrupt. It's got to stop. What would this mean, for that system?

MIKE: Well, look, at least for the system of deciding who will be prosecuted. Who will be running the city, would change.

And you would start to see people prosecuted for more things like property crimes.

Sort of the Soros-funded prosecutor of the county has infected this city. And it shows. I lost count of how many members of Congress.

And how many staff members, of members of Congress. People I interact with most when I'm in Washington, of course. Have been assaulted. Have been carjacked. Have been stabbed.

Have been robbed. Often in broad daylight. Often within a block or two, of the US Capitol. Which is one of the more heavily policed. Heavily secured locations anywhere in America.

And yet, this happens here. Because there is an environment of lawlessness. The more this happens, the more members of Congress are seeing that this isn't working. This is our Capitol city. It should be a shining city on a hill. We can't let it flip into this state of disrepair and other lawlessness.

GLENN: It would -- it would be helpful if people started tweeting. And started calling the senator or House member, and started some grassroot effort to repeal DC home rule. It might gather some attention. If people started doing that today.

Mike, let me ask you --

MIKE: I've been tweeting from my at base Mike Lee account. Repeal DC home rule.

So if people want to join in on this, you can retweet me. You can tweet on your own.

Send out a post on X, on any other social media platform. Contact your members of Congress, and tell them. Message is very simple: Repeal DC home rule.

GLENN: Mike, the idea that we can no longer go after Fauci or any of the people on January 6th.

What does that mean, to you?

MIKE: Well, what it means to me, first of all, is that these guys will have a hard time, perhaps an impossible time, invoking the Fifth Amendment.

Not if, but when. They're subpoenaed to testify with Congressional hearings.

Because if they've been pardoned, then one can rationally, logically conclude, that there's no risk of prosecution. And if that's the case, I don't think they can invoke their fifth amendment rights to remain silent.

And we can finally get to the bottom of exactly what happened.

It also means, that there was an understanding, that some things happened.

Some things happened, that would otherwise, likely be likely to lead to an investigation, if not criminal charges to be brought against some of these people.

GLENN: What are you -- because I watched enough CNN yesterday.

I watched CNN enough yesterday, to know that they're spinning this as, they're just doing this, as preemptive against Trump. Because he will go after these poor people.

MIKE: Yeah. So if you believe that, then you're likely somebody who believes Fauci in the first place. And you're quite possibly somebody who even after Anthony Fauci was caught repeatedly lying, in some cases under oath, to Rand Paul, and to -- and others who asked them questions.

But remember, Rand Paul was raising the question very early on. About gain-of-function research.

GLENN: Uh-huh.

MIKE: Tony Fauci repeatedly denied, that there was gain-of-function research happening. Of course, there was all the time.

They were covering it up.

They tried to use a different name to characterize it. It was still gain-of-function research.

Tony Fauci also spread the false rumor, that this was the result of, I don't know, haggling at a monkey, holding hands in a park somewhere, in Wuhan, and that produced the virus.
(laughter)

MIKE: And, you know, a lot of people were harmed as a result of this. The COVID deaths and illnesses, in and of themselves, were bad enough. And the predictable, foreseeable outcome of the US government funding gain of research activities, in places like Wuhan, a place that was known, to have a horrible hygiene record.

And that's how things like this happened.

People get hurt.

And then the country overreacts, and more bad things happen all over the place.

Yeah. This has got to be investigated.

And, yeah. President Biden to Tony Fauci placed real problems here. That's why Trump needed to act. And I'm glad that Trump is going to see to it, the truth comes out.

Biden may well be able to pardon. And he, in fact, did. But in some ways, that helps us get to the bottom of the truth. We've got to subpoena the heck out of these guys, and get the truth out of them.

GLENN: Because if they -- if they tell a lie on the witness stand.

If they know it what we now know, because of documents, to be the truth, they can be prosecuted for that lie, can they not?

MIKE: Yes. Yes.

Of course. Look, the whole point here, is we can't undo the damage these guys did.

And the point here is not to torment them for the sake of tormenting them. The bottom is that we've got to get to the bottom of the truth. Otherwise, this kind of pattern of abusive government continues to happen.

And I will flag here the fact, that if we understood the nature of the federal government. If we read the Constitution and understood the twin structural protections at the heart of it, the vertical protection that we call the federalism, the horizontal separation, we would call separation of powers.

This crap would end!

And so we've got to -- we've got to restore the movement in America.

Getting people to read and understand the Constitution.

Particularly, the structural Constitution, which has been badly neglected and bastardized over the last 80 years.

STU: Senator, somewhat related question, there was a Friday news dump from the New York Times, that outlined the six people who basically covered Joe Biden's decline, mentally over the past three years.

They identify them. They talk about them. And their motivations. And their tactics.

While -- you know, the way they describe it to the Times. It seems really, really bad. Maybe it's not illegal. But my if we say is there's a lot of texts and discovery that would lead us to a different conclusion on that. Is there a possibility that we look into that?

Is that the type of thing that we could do?

MIKE: It's certainly something that ought to be the topic of congressional investigations.

You know, whether or not people will testify, whether or not they will be able to invoke the Fifth Amendment. Privilege and self-incrimination.

Whether or not we'll find anything that is a game changer. Remains to be seen.

But we need to try. We need to ask questions. Because there's enough just on the face of things.

A lot of us saw the mental decline unfolding in real time, in slow motion. Only we saw just the small sliver of what was actually going on.

And then when you add to that, the fact that there was this sham debate, set up in June.

What was it?

Like the fourth week of June.

That was very curious.

That they were agreeing to a general election debate, before either candidate has gone through his national convention phase.

Before either candidate was officially the party nominee. And normally, you don't do that. Until the week before the general election.

And if they were doing this, I thought that was really curious, in and of itself.

But I think the fact that they scheduled it for June, without precedent in modern history. Is just as far as I can remember, indicates that there was some people, on the inside. Including on the inside of the White House.

Who knew there was a problem.

They needed a way to elbow Joe Biden out.

So if they knew that, at least by then, certainly they knew of more things that were happening.

And yet, nobody in the White House, nobody in the administration, was willing to support a 25th Amendment type of discussion. They just covered it up, and that's a real problem, especially when you look at all the problems that the Biden administration was creating. And the fact that we now have plenty of reasons to doubt, whether Biden was even conscious of all these decisions he was making. Somebody was doing that. Somebody was messing with America. But we need to know why, and how, and from whom?

GLENN: And who? And who?

You know, the revelation that came out from Mike Johnson about having -- Joe Biden having no idea what he was doing with natural gas is really very disturbing.

For a Night, We Were Human | The Christmas Truce Music Video

In the frozen trenches of World War I along the Lys River in 1914, amidst the relentless thunder of artillery, a miraculous unofficial truce unfolded on Christmas Day. British and German soldiers, weary enemies, emerged from the mud and wire to share gifts, songs, and stories of home together in the ruins. Produced by Glenn Beck in collaboration with AI, this poignant music video and original song recapture the true story of the Christmas Truce, reminding us that even in the darkest times, a single brave act or small light can awaken our shared humanity, allowing soldiers to lay down their weapons and remember they are human... just for a night.

Stay tuned at GlennBeck.com for more musical storytelling inspired by Glenn’s artifacts next year on Torch.

The HIDDEN history behind Trump’s controversial Rob Reiner comments

President Trump recently received heat from his own party over his comments about the allegedly murdered actor Rob Reiner. Glenn Beck explains why he believes Trump’s comments were not a good move, but also tells of a meeting he had with Trump that he believes explains why Trump hates TDS so much…

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: You know, I don't -- I don't -- I don't want to get into -- into the mix with everybody and personalities. I like -- my goal is to make things about right and wrong, and not about personalities.

But I do want to spend just a second on President Trump's post yesterday about Rob Reiner. It made me sad. It made me really sad. Because I like the president.

And -- and he doesn't help himself when he does things like this. But I think I understand this in a different way.

You know, the President has said, you know, all kinds of things about me at times when I disagree with him. He'll say, "Oh, he's just a failing fat blob," or whatever. And that's just him. That's just the way -- when he's in a fight, he is a -- he's a knife fighter. And I get it. I don't like it. But I get it. This was different. This was different.
And this was -- you know, you can say a lot of stuff politically about Rob Reiner. But politics didn't matter yesterday. We weren't -- I mean, that's not -- it just didn't matter. It didn't matter.

But I think to the President, it does. I saw a change in the President -- I've seen two changes in the President. I've seen a change in him when they started going after him and his family. After 2020. And they really started going after his family. And we know this because we showed you the documents. What they -- they had a plan. Take him down.

Take his family down to stop MAGA at all costs. Put them in jail. I mean, those are their words.

And it's -- it was frightening to read.

And I talked to the president, I don't know. Maybe six months after, you know, we were in 2021. Maybe six months. Eight months.

And I said, how are you holding up?

And he had talked a little about how he felt. He had really let people down because he had things going in the right direction. And now, look at it, and look how screwed up things are going to get. And how the economy is going to be damn near impossible to fix. It will take us time. But we can't fix it. Pragmatism, but they've just destroyed it. And I said, how are you personally.

How are you holding up?

And this is the first change I saw. He -- his body changed. And he said, they're going after my damn children!

And it was this Dad. All of a sudden, he wasn't the president or former president, he wasn't Donald Trump. He was a Dad. And it was every Dad response in him. And he said, "You don't go after our children."

And I saw him really, truly mad for the very first time, and it was righteous indignation.

Then after he was shot, I saw another change. I saw him recognize that God existed. I mean, I know he believed that in God. I don't know that he believed that God was actually part of, you know, the story. The everyday story. You know, I don't know how he views God in that way.

But I know that he recognized that God was in his -- in the story of America now.

Firsthand, he witnessed it. The reason why I said this made me sad yesterday, is because -- I don't agree with what he said. I feel -- it was -- it was sad.

Because he is -- he has been kicked in the head over and over and over again by some of these people, that he -- Christmas is about the baby Jesus coming again.

And what he can do in your life. And the biggest thing that he taught was, love your enemies. Don't hate them. But that's really, really hard to do. And the President isn't there yet. On this. And it -- it made me sad. How did you feel about it, Stu?

STU: I didn't like it at all. I think maybe the same as you. You know, one of the things that bothered me about it.

Because you hit many of the points that I had on it without the personal insight that is illustrative of -- of -- of what he's going through. I think there is something to understand there. You know, obviously I --

GLENN: Big time.

STU: One of the things that is difficult about life in your attempt to master it is to try to act the right way, even when you're faced with circumstances like that. And, you know, I get it. I get why he's angry and doesn't like the guy. The man -- you used a phrase, I think in there, where you said, he's a knife fighter. This guy was actually just in a legitimate knife fight and was murdered. It was a -- it was -- this actually really happened.

GLENN: Oh, yeah.

STU: And, look, my honest opinion is, it's indefensible. You know, I like President Trump. I think he does a lot of great things for the country. We've defended him on a lot of different things. A lot of times when he's being attacked, I think he deserves defense. In this case, you know, it is -- you know, it is what it is.

It is priced in to everyone's understanding of who Donald Trump is. And everything I heard about him in personal situations where he cares about the person. Is that he's very generous. He's very likable.

He's very -- he's one of those people that you like being around. You know, that is something that I've heard from tons of people. This part of him is really hard for me to square with what I've heard from -- from other -- from everybody that I've talked to, and has been on the inside with him.

And so I don't -- I don't have a defense for it. I think it's really bad. And I will say one more thing on this real quickly, Glenn.

I know a part of this that I think is difficult. In that, one of the things I took from the aftermath of that immediately was -- I don't know if pride is the right word. But like, I really liked the way conservatives responded to it.

We didn't do what they did, after Charlie Kirk.

We didn't do what they did after they shot the president. Right?

Like we -- they celebrated it. They -- they were horrible human beings, and I enjoyed the high ground, that we had there.

GLENN: Yeah. Me too.

STU: And it's difficult to make the argument that we have the high ground. When, you know, the President of the Republican Party. The Republican President of the United States, the most high profile person on, quote, unquote, our side, whatever that means these days, is a guy who, you know, kind of did some of the things that they did.

You know, so I don't -- I don't like that. I understand as part of Donald Trump. And I think if we're all adults here, we're able to kind of price that in and judge him on everything that he's doing. And when I mean pricing in. I think that's a negative part of him. Overall, you have to take everything into context.

GLENN: Right. And if we're all adults here, you know, we should be able to say, to those we love and respect, bad move. I didn't like that. Don't do that.

And I think, you know, I think because the left always says, well, you never take on your own.

Yes, we do. We take on our own, all the time. All the time. And I think it's important that we say, didn't like that. Thought that was a bad move. It didn't look good. It just wasn't right.

He's -- I wish -- and, again, though, I -- I'm not excusing it, but I am tempering it with none of us have gone through what he has gone through.

STU: So true.

GLENN: His family, somebody is shooting at him. He's being called fascist Hitler all the time. I mean, that wears on you and changes you.

And, you know, he's having a hard time forgiving that. And I kind of understand that. I wish he would take that on and take on the forgiveness, so he could be more a peacemaker in all of those things. But that is his own personal journey.

But --

STU: Yeah. And I think when we talk about like a terrible crime that's occurred.

GLENN: Sad.

STU: Like, I don't know. If there was -- think about some awful situation and at times you'll see -- he'll hear family members say the worst possible thing.

You know, if your kid is murdered. And by some -- somewhat of a particular area or group or whatever.

And they might react with just an awful thing about that group or area.

And you just. We all have a bit of understanding. Right?

A person going through a massively emotional thing.

And lashing out.

You want -- you know, the example you bring up all the time, Glenn.

Of the maybe -- the ultimate example of being able to have restraint was the Amish situation from years ago. Where, you know, you were talking about mass murder. And they were to the family's house that night, right?

And saying, we --

GLENN: Not that night. That afternoon.

I mean, within an hour. The kids were not even out of the schools yet. Their bodies were still laying in the school. And the Amish went, oh, my gosh. The killer is dead too.

He was a member of our community. His wife lives here.

What is she feeling? She's feeling completely alone. My gosh. What an example. I couldn't do that.

STU: Right. I don't even think I come close to that standard in that moment.

GLENN: No. But I would like to.

STU: That's the range. Some people act -- react really well. Some people react really poorly.

And I think we all understand the emotion and everything that takes over in a situation like that. And that has to be factored in, I think, to Trump. Of course, Rob Reiner wasn't responsible to the shooting. He was just a liberal who said bad things about Trump. And look, he's a very unique person. And a very unique situation, that I don't think anyone in the world has ever experienced.

You know, what happened with him over his life.

But may I just say, you still haven't forgiven RFK Jr for what he said about me.
(laughter)
Okay?

STU: As I said, I'm not Amish. You know, I like technology. I don't have any wagons. I didn't say I'm perfect.

GLENN: Right.

STU: No. I have -- I have -- I have absolutely forgiven RFK Jr for what he said. And if you didn't know, he accused Glenn of being a traitor. He said, he should be charged with treason. The penalty of which is death.

So, you know, I don't like that. And RFK Jr. I don't like for a lot of his policies. Some of them, by the way, I do really like. Some of them, I think are really positive. I could give you a list of some of the negative things he's done as well.

GLENN: I can too.

STU: That doesn't mean -- I certainly was find that to be an appropriate context, when the embrace of RFK Jr is occurring.

I think we need to understand what people are, and what they're doing. If he's apologetic about that, I do forgive him in that sense. Do I want him on the show and promoting all his books and his candidacy?

No. I did not -- I did not like that. But, you know, a lot of people do. I will say is, you're right, though.

We all have our hang-ups.

GLENN: I do. I certainly was.

STU: I will say this, though.

And, you know, again, all the context here. I know people are really defensive of Donald Trump, appropriately.

Because of the fact that he's targeted unfairly. I understand why people are defensive of him. I can tell you this. I really don't like RFK Jr.

He's one of my least favorite people in politics. I'm just not a fan. I could give you other names of people. Most of them revolve around Olivia Nuzzi, who whatever. I don't have feelings about her. But the story was packed with people.

GLENN: Yeah.

STU: Cuomos for sure.
GLENN: Yeah.

STU: God forbid, one of these people that I really don't like, was murdered and his family and his spouse.

I can promise you. I can promise you, I will not be tweeting anything like what Donald Trump tweeted.

That is just a -- is a -- is a situation where I understand -- I understand the context around it, that we just discussed.

I don't think there's a defense to it. I think there's something, I really hope he has an awakening to at some point.

GLENN: I think that is enough to be said on that.

Now maybe we should examine ourselves, and say, where do we have that hardness in our heart that we should learn from and remove this holiday season?

Why America's "Surveillance State" Has Proven to be a TOTAL Failure

America is facing a shocking security breakdown—from a mass shooting at one of the most heavily surveilled campuses in the United States to a deadly ISIS attack in Syria that exposes the cracks in U.S. intelligence and foreign-policy strategy. As surveillance systems fail, former extremists gain power abroad, and radical Islamist networks globalize their reach, the West is confronting a threat both inside and outside its borders. This episode uncovers the uncomfortable truth behind Brown University’s unanswered questions, Syria’s escalating instability, and why the West may be running out of time to get its own house in order.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: I wanted to bring Jason in -- I wanted to bring Jason in because the news that we talked about a minute ago in Australia, then Brown.

There's some weird stuff happening with the Brown shooting. And we -- we don't know much about that. And also, Syria. So let me start with Brown University, Jason. Why is this one weird, as our chief researcher, why is this one weird?

JASON: Well, there comes a point where, you know, as a society, we just end up getting used to the massive surveillance state we live in. And I think we're just like, okay. Fine.

We're never not going to be surveilled 24/7. Maybe there's some benefits to it.

Well, no!

It doesn't seem that way. Because the people were asking the people at Brown. Like, how is it that you have not fully identified the shooter yet? And that's a very good question. Because if you go back to around 2021, there were people writing about how Brown University was one of the most surveilled campuses of the United States.

GLENN: How is it we only have one picture of this guy from the back?

JASON: Right!

GLENN: Apparently the one thing that will help you get away with any crime is a hoodie.

JASON: Yeah. Wear something over your head and a coat.

Apparently, that foils the entire surveillance state. Also, we have nothing to worry about with surveillance. I don't know.

GLENN: Yeah. Right. Right.

JASON: And on top of that, Kash Patel, the FBI director said that they sprung into action. And they activated their cellular monitoring system to help identify the person that has now been let go. Again, that's another layer of this surveillance state that I think a lot of us have been worried about.

And that didn't do anything either. That helped give us the wrong suspect? What is all this stuff for?

It's not keeping us safe, that's for sure.

GLENN: Hmm. I don't want to jump to any conclusions on, you know, what we have, what we don't have. I'm assuming that they have more. They just haven't shown it.

I would like to -- you know, we could help. You show us some pictures.

I think it's odd.

What happened in Syria over the weekend with al-Qaeda.

JASON: Yeah. In Syria.

There's a ton of news, especially involving ISIS, who is very much active and still very much planning attacks.

GLENN: So wait. Wait. Wait. Was this ISIS, or was this al-Qaeda?

JASON: This is ISIS. That's what they're saying. They're saying it's a lone ISIS perpetrator. The location was symbolic as well. The location as in or around Palmyra. Which, I don't know if you remember, that was a scene of a gruesome ISIS video back at the height of their caliphate, where they behead a lot of people in that area.

GLENN: Right. Right. Yes. That's where they lined them up in the orange jumpsuits. Remember everybody was kneeling down in the sand. And they started beheading people. Yes, I remember.

JASON: It was one of those UNESCO sites with ruins all around. And it was very crazy. Brutal video. But another brutal attack. I believe it was three US service members that were killed in this attack. There's a lot of speculation about to go, on if this person was working. I think he was actually at a time working with the security services that are in Syria right now, under the new president. He -- he could have been, you know, a sleeper in that organization. Who knows? But for -- the one thing I do know. And I don't understand the direction we're moving in Syria. I don't understand how a former al-Qaeda guy suddenly is an all right guy because he puts a suit on. And now he's the president of Syria. And he's our ally.

I don't understand that. The Trump administration, maybe they have more information, that I don't know.

I would love to get more of an explanation on this.

As of now, I don't see this going any direction other than a whole lot worse.

You look around that entire area. You have a former al-Qaeda guy now the president of Syria.

You have the rest of Syria, an absolute Dumpster fire. You have Iraq. I hesitate to call these countries.

They're so far down the sectarian, you know, spiral that this is.

But I don't see how this is going to go anywhere, but south, from here on out.

We're in an absolute war with these radical Islamists. And it's not just in the Middle East. It's globalize the intifada has landed on shores all over the world. And while there are politicians that will not denounce that. That is exactly what's happening. Sorry!

GLENN: So I think that's where -- I think that's what -- that explains Trump's thinking. That Trump does not want these everlasting wars to go on.

He does not want to be fighting in the Middle East. He doesn't want to really be fighting anywhere. He will, if he has to. But he's focused more on the American homeland. And the American hemisphere.

And so I think he is -- I think he's letting the Middle East take care of itself.

And as long as they can all get along with each other and Israel.

And recognize that, you know, Iran and the -- the -- the al-Qaeda, the, you know, Muslim Brotherhood. Et cetera, et cetera.

Trying to coax them all into. Hey. These are kind of your enemies here.

You know, ISIS is a big enemy to us and to peace.

And I think he's hoping that they will start to take care of themselves. Whether they will or not, I don't know. You know, it's never happened were. But it's worth trying. We've been playing this other game of us getting involved in everything for 100 years. We know that doesn't work.

So I'm guessing what Trump is thinking is, we know that doesn't work. We're not going to do that. Let's try to give peace a chance, and help them stomp this out, because it will be prosperous for all of them and plant those seeds as deeply as you can to see what happens. But we're not getting involved in any of that. I have a feeling, but there will be a military response to this, I'm sure. Won't you agree?

JASON: Oh, one hundred percent, and to tack on to what you're saying, I would hope that the President would go with his gut on this.

Because the previous ways this has been handled with Islamists, especially in this area. They've screwed it up.

They don't know what they're doing. Although, they think they know what they're doing. I'll go back to history. The Iran and Iraq War. We supported both size on that. In a similar -- in a similar strategy. So we're like, okay. We don't like either one of these groups. Sectarian groups to get too large. Let's fund this country at the same time we fund this country. We'll arm them. They'll fight each other, and they'll be fine. We do that all the time.

So now, the only thing I can think of is that's what they're thinking with the Syria president, this former al-Qaeda guy. Okay. Well, fine. They'll be anti-Iran, so they can counter Iran.

It's literally the same exact strategy, that they're going for. And I get it. That means that we don't have to get involved. I guess in the initial point.

But we always end up having to get involved after the fire erupts and --

GLENN: We know -- look, I think he's trying to buy time, quite honestly. Get us out of that.

Let us recover, and hopefully not go back to it. Try to buy hopefully some real peace.

But we all know how this will end. It's never going to work in the long-term. Because we as the West have to concentrate on our own homelands. You're seeing that with what happened in Australia. We have let the barbarian into the gates. And we've got to focus on that. We've got to get this cancer, cut out of our own societies. Because it's not good.

'Life is FAR Bigger Than Politics' - Glenn Beck's Spot-On Reaction to Rob Reiner's Death

Hollywood is mourning after the shocking and heartbreaking deaths of Rob Reiner and his wife—an iconic creative force whose films shaped generations. Glenn Beck reflects on Reiner’s extraordinary legacy, the tragedy surrounding his final moments, and the humanity he showed even toward those he disagreed with politically. This emotional tribute explores Reiner’s impact, the devastating circumstances of his passing, and why his work—and his character—left a mark far beyond Hollywood.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: it's so sad that Rob Reiner thing is so sad.

I mean, I don't -- I think -- Stu, correct me if I'm wrong. If he hadn't have done This Is Spinal Tap -- A Mighty Wind, Best of Show, for your consideration, any of those would have been able to have even been made. Because this is Spinal Tap. Rob Reiner directed, but it was still Christopher Guest. I think it was Harry Shearer that wrote it.

STU: And Michael McKean, yeah. Yeah, so theoretically, those movies could have been made, but I don't think any of them get made without Spinal Tap. And I don't think Spinal Tap gets made without Rob Reiner. Because they needed somebody attached to it that would be able to bring that to life.

GLENN: I mean, what a legacy he and his father brought to television.

I mean, think, Carl Reiner did your show of shows, which was Mel Brooks and Woody Allen with Carl Reiner writing that. Imagine That. Then he bought the Dick Van Dyke show and a million -- a million other TV shows and movies he was responsible for. And then his son starts with All In the family, and brings us all these classic movies, and the way they died this weekend, is just horribly, horribly tragic. Horribly tragic.

STU: Yeah. And it's not just Spinal Tap, which is a big one. Princes Bride.

GLENN: Oh, I know.

STU: Some of the movies --

GLENN: Harry Met Sally. Gosh, so good. So good.
STU: So many things.
GLENN: Stand By Me. One of my favorite movies.
STU: Oh, yeah. Jeez.
GLENN: Just great moves. Just great movies.

GLENN: So Rob Reiner met his wife in 1989. They have been together ever since. They live in Brentwood, which is a suburb of Los Angeles. It's -- their house is 2 miles away from where Nicole Simpson Brown was -- was discovered and killed.

Officers were called to Brentwood, to their home. All they said at first was, a man and a woman found with stab wounds. That's what came out over the radio. They were dead. And then friends started to show up. Billy Crystal was there. He came into the house. Reporters say he left looking horribly shaken. Larry David, who is a neighbor, he came in. Same story. It was confirmed that Rob Reiner and his wife were killed and brutally murdered: stab wounds.

We knew early this morning that the guy who might have done it is their 32-year-old son. His name is Nick Reiner. He's a screenwriter and also -- he's a guy who has battled drugs and alcohol and homelessness. He said at one point, I was homeless in Maine. I was homeless in New Jersey. I was homeless in Texas. I spent nights on the street. I spent weeks on the street, and it wasn't fun. That's what he said to People magazine in 2016. I don't know the latest on him.

But he has been just arrested for the murder of his mother and father. Just horrible!

Just horrible. I mean, Rob Reiner was one of those guys that I was always sad that, you know, we disagreed. And -- I'll be kind to him here.

Neither of us could ever find our way to talk to one another.

Because I really admired him.

I really liked him.

I didn't like him politically.

That's such a small part of life. I mean, gosh. He did When Harry Met Sally. He did the Princess Bride. This is Spinal Tap. He did A Few Good Men.

Stu, look up -- look up his work. He's responsible for some of the best movies ever. His father was a genius. It is so sad that Carl Reiner, Rob Reiner, and then now that is broken by the third generation. The son!

And it ends this way. He brought so much joy -- to just me. I'll speak for me. His movies have brought me so much joy, just the Princess Bride alone. But so sad. So incredibly sad.

And to be killed by your -- it's one thing I guess to be killed by your stranger, and that's bad. But to be killed by your own son. Oh!

STU: Glenn, listen to this -- late '80s. Early '90s. Quickly.

1984, this is Spinal Tap. '85, The Sure Thing. '86, Stand By Me. '87, The Princess Bride. '89, When Harry Met Sally. 1990, Misery. 1992, A Few Good Men. I mean, that is -- that is a run!

GLENN: Wow! Wow! Just -- just brilliant, brilliant guy from a brilliant family.

I'm glad his father isn't here. I mean, his father just died, what?

A year ago. Two years ago.

Mel Brooks is still alive, which this has just got to kill Mel Brooks.

Gosh, poor Mel Brooks. The tragedy.
By the way, I want to show you how Rob Reiner for as politically different as we were, and we were extraordinarily politically different. I want you to listen to how he handled the death of Charlie Kirk.

VOICE: When you first heard about the murder of Charlie Kirk, what was your immediate gut reaction to it?

VOICE: Well, horror, absolute horror.

And I unfortunately saw the video of it. And it's -- it's -- it's beyond belief. The -- what happened to him, and that should never happen to anybody.

I don't care what your political beliefs are. That's not acceptable! That's not a solution to solving problems. And I felt like what his wife said at the service -- at the memorial they had. Was exactly right.

And totally, I believe, you know, I'm Jewish. But I believe in the teachings of Jesus, and I believe in do unto others. And I believe in forgiveness. And what she said was beautiful. And absolutely -- she -- she forgave his -- his assassin.
And I think that -- that is admirable.

GLENN: I mean, how many -- how many other people did that? Especially for as vehemently as he disagrees with the right.

He was a human being. And I think that's why his -- I think that's why his films lasted and connected with us. You know, I mean, in a lot of ways, his films were a little like John Hughes' movies.

John Hughes was -- I mean, he was lightning in a bottle.

And there was something. And I think that something in many ways, was John Candy.

But there was something about the John Hughes movie, that connected to us on a basic level.

You know. That -- that spoke to us, deeper than just a movie! Or a script.

You know, it -- it came from a place that was real.

And I -- I think of Peter fall. And

What's his name?

I can't remember. He used to be in the wonder years. It was the little kid on Princess Bride, that -- that just those scenes alone -- just those scenes alone were so real! So real. When Peter Falk turns around and says, as you wish. It -- by the end of the movie, you felt that deeply.