RADIOJuly 12, 2022

Kellyanne Conway SHARES ALL about life in Trump’s White House

Kellyanne Conway, former Senior Counselor to President Trump and author of 'Here's The Deal,' joins Glenn to dish out all the details about her life working in the White House. From her marriage and her husband’s differing opinion of Trump, to the media’s attempts to rip apart ANYONE close to the former president, Conway shares the TRUTH about her job. Plus, she shares how Donald Trump was a 'good’ boss respecting of not only women, but of working moms as well…

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Well, it is a pleasure to welcome on the program, the author of here's the deal. And former Trump campaign manager, former senior counselor to President Trump, Kellyanne Conway. Hello, Kellyanne, how are you?

KELLYANNE: I'm wonderful, Glenn Beck, and thank you for having me today. It's good to hear your voice in person.

GLENN: Yeah. Thank you.

So I have to start, because this is the -- I'm sorry. But this is the thing that I've always wondered. You and your husband, are you like James Carville and Mary Matalin?

KELLYANNE: No, we're not. And I'm glad you asked that question, because other people just write it, and they presume it. That's not what this is.

He was never a Democrat, working against my Republican presidential candidate. That would be James Carville, who helped make Bill Clinton's career. Mary Matalin, very smart Republican strategist who worked for the Bushes and others. In this case, George and I both were of a single mind, that Donald Trump had to beat Hillary Clinton and become president of the United States. George was incredibly supportive, even helpful. Coming to the campaign, many nights, after leaving his own job, a few blocks away from Trump Tower. And I write in the book, this new book, Here's the Deal. Glenn, great beach read, Great Father's Day gift. Get on it, folks.

I write in there very explicitly. People say, without Kellyanne Conway, Donald Trump would not have been elected in 2016. That's debatable. But what will never be in doubt, is that without George Conway, Kellyanne Conway could not have been the campaign manager in this closing months of 2016 to the extent I was. He encouraged, if not insisted me to take my shot. He was -- George was the only person I told in the hours after president -- Mr. Trump offered me the campaign management job. And he said, Kellyanne, you're doing this. He can actually win with you, and I'll help out more at home. And he did.

And so people didn't even know the facts. And George and I had something else in common, and not just parents of these four wonderful children, Glenn Beck.

But we had in common that we both accepted big jobs in the Trump administration. Everyone knows my job. They saw me out there again and again. But George had accepted a position, a nomination as the head of the civil division of the U.S. Department of Justice. That's a big job. And he -- you know, did that. Now, he changed his mind about Donald Trump. This is America. We can all do that, Glenn Beck. You can change your mind about Donald Trump, about politics, about what you're having for dinner. Whatever it is.

But to do it in such a public way, was so not George, and was so not helpful to his wife and to our family.

GLENN: And so did he feel it was necessary? You say, it wasn't like him. What -- can you get into that? Why did he feel it was so necessary?

KELLYANNE: Oh, I think people who change their mind about Donald Trump, and people who are already congenitally afflicted with Trump derangement syndrome, for which there are no therapeutics and no vaccines for.

Look around. There certainly isn't. They feel duty-bound to express that publicly, because they find an immediate and equally vociferous hungry audience in so doing. But as I put in my book, you know, I miss the privately brilliant John Conway, not the publicly bombastic one that he had become.

And, listen, George is a very smart person. He graduated Harvard at 20. Graduated Yale Law School at 23. Made partner at a premier law firm in New York City, at 30. Unheard of in these days after five years only. Unheard of. And he's -- we've been married for many decades. We have four children together. What this all comes down to. I don't understand what was happening. The reason why I call it cheating by tweeting, is because of how he was spending his time. So if you have a side piece, the Italians in my family, the Italian men in my family did, growing up. If you have a mistress, you're spending with that person. Thinking about her. And meeting with her. And eating with her. And planning -- and pretending you weren't with her.

So this was very similar, in that this consumed an awful lot of his time and his attention. And you saw what happened. George Conway became a folk hero. But actually Kellyanne Conway's husband did. I put in the book quantitatively, that he was referred to as Kellyanne Conway's husband, routinely, which tells you all you need to know about what their real motive was, particularly in those beginning parts of the year, which was to try to stick it to me. To try to put division between Donald Trump and me. To try to get me to quit my job. I was good at my job. And I loved my job. I loved my public service job. And I was darn good at it. And I was very focused on it. And I think the media who never knew. You know, the job that media, Glenn is in my view, to get the story. But they took it upon themselves, to get the president. And those around him. His family members. His sister staffers. And their family. And they couldn't get enough of Kellyanne Conway's husband.

GLENN: I have to ask just one quick follow-up question. Because you write in the book, Ivanka came to you. And gave you two names of marriage counselors. And you guys went. You guys are married, and are things better now?

KELLYANNE: We did not go.

GLENN: Oh, you did not go? I thought -- I thought she gave you two names and he said yes to one.

KELLYANNE: That's right. He said no to one, and then he sort of shrugged at the other. And we never went. And the way I look at it -- and I wouldn't be so public about something so private, except it's important to know, that I take my marriage vows very seriously. I've always been faithful to them. And when I said, forever, I meant it. And it was very nice of Ivanka Trump, who -- and I put in the book, you know, I was talking to her about something else. Our offices were right next to each other in the West Wing. On the second floor. I call the cool kids wing. White House (inaudible) office, me, Dena Powell (phonetic), Ivanka, and then Larry Cuvlo (phonetic) across from us. And she was -- Ivanka is a very nice person. She's very gracious. Very kind. And she gave it to me, because she knew I was open to receiving it.

She said, listen, I've got lots of Democrats in my family. I know how this goes. And these -- they're making things harder for all of us. And it was very nice of her. But we never went. And I -- the reason I talk about it is because I think if George would have wanted to do it, he would have done it. Because that's the way he spends his time. He did exactly what he wanted to do. So I want to make very clear, right now, make it clear in the book, because I know it gets manipulated. Is that George does not loyalty and fealty to Donald Trump. Or to the president of the United States. Or to a political party. Or to this or that. The vows were to me. So if he wants to change his mind, he can do that. This is America.

But changing his mind about me and that job, after we moved our family there, together. With the kids in new schools, accepted jobs. And even when he took his name out of contention. Yes. Out of contention for the civil division chief of the U.S. Department of Justice, Glenn. He put out a statement not on Twitter. Because he wasn't going to tweet then. Put out a statement saying, Mr. President, thank you for this wonderful opportunity. And, of course, I still support your administration. And the work of my wonderful wife.

A couple days later, he sent out his first tweet. I put in the book, Sean Spicer, then the press secretary is coming toward me in the East Room. And he said, did you know about this? And he's showing me a tweet that apparently came from George Conway. We have an entire chapter in my new book, Here's the Deal, Glenn, that says, but George doesn't tweet. And that's exactly what I said. I said that can't be true. He doesn't tweet. It's a fake account. It was hacked. And we all know the rest it history.

GLENN: Yeah. So you mentioned that Ivanka was very gracious to you. And that's the one thing that I don't think -- that never comes out about the president, as well. His children are very, very gracious.

But he is incredibly gracious and warm in person. It's like, he's like a different person when he's not on -- you know, when he's not on stage. Do I have that read right of him?

KELLYANNE: You have it absolutely right. And I know that you've had contact with him. So you know this to be true. You've had conversations with him in person. More than a few. Glenn, it is absolute true. And if Donald Trump was not a good boss, let alone a good boss to women, or a good boss to working mothers, of which there were many in the White House. I wouldn't have worked there. Why would I do that?

He was a great boss. And he's very warm. And I think Donald Trump will never get full credit for something he has credit for. Which is how many times he positively transformed people's lives by picking up the phone by making a call. By making his private jet available back in the day. By just connecting people -- needs with opportunity.

GLENN: Yeah.

KELLYANNE: And, you know, he doesn't brag about that, any more than the people running around in the coms department, saying, I think you should go do an off-the-record ice cream stop with your nine grandchildren. And he would say, why would I do that? I enjoy them in private.

In other words, he's very authentic that way. And he's very warm and gracious. Even Hillary Clinton, I write in the book. Hillary Clinton acknowledged as much in a debate. In one of the debates, in 2016, Glenn, each of them, Trump and Hillary were asked about the other. Say something nice about the other. Compliment the other.

And her compliment of him, was I don't agree with Donald on those things. We disagree on everything, but he has raised really great kids. Adult kids.

GLENN: Yeah. That's true.

KELLYANNE: Then look what happened. They went after him, and still do. But it absolutely is still true.

And we can all be remembered for our kids. I think that's wonderful.

I said, you know, when my daughter Claudia was only 12. Didn't want to move to Washington. I said, if you want to get 75 percent agreement on something, you're really winning. But as a mom, you basically need to get close to 100 percent agreement. So I needed all four kids on board. And she was really the holdout. And I really feel for her.

And she's a great kid. Now almost a woman. Claudia, you know, someone in the Washington Post was doing a profile. And they said, well, when you saw (inaudible) with a change.org petition. Stop the Conway kids from moving to DC. What's that about? I said, well, at least she's honest. I said, the rest of the country often pretends I'm a revolutionary, I'm a change maker, I'm going to do this. And they go to McDonald's every night and order number three. I said, at least she admits that. At least she admits that. At least she admits she wants things to stay the same and not move. I said, well, what do you say to her?

I said -- she said, mom, I don't want to go DC and be known as Kellyanne Conway. I said, guess what. You cure cancer.

And I'll be known as Claudia Conway's mother. Deal. And that's very true. For Donald Trump. He raised great kids. We're all trying to raise great kids. The most wonderful contribution you can make in society.

GLENN: It is.

And I know -- that's the one thing I knew the whole time, was that his kids loved him. And at the end, I'm not sure my kids would have walked through that wall of fire.

I mean, they -- they never abandoned him. At least publicly. And I -- I doubt that they agree on everything. But maybe that's just me, and I'm not asking for inside information. We're talking to Kellyanne Conway. She has a brand-new book that's out now. We're going to spend some time with her in just a second.

If you want to pick up the book, it's called here's the deal by Kellyanne Conway. It is out now. Wherever -- wherever you order your books or get your books from.

The ONE “forever war” Glenn Beck supports

This Fourth of July, Glenn Beck reveals the only “forever war” he supports. It’s the war Americans have been fighting since our nation’s founding, and we must continue the fight…

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Two hundred forty-nine years ago, I think it is tomorrow. Right? Is tomorrow the second, or is it the first?

What day is it today?

So it was 200 -- 249 years ago, tomorrow, that somebody sat alone, in a -- in a one-room hotel room.

And scratched out the words, when in the course of human events. Those are the first six words of a document that is so dangerous!

Still today, so revolutionary.

It was whispered in those candle lit rooms by men who knew. Knew. That if I signed this document, that's a death warrant.

I'm dead!

I'm dead.

But in the course of human events, shh.

Jefferson wrote them!

33 years old. Adams would later say, you do well to revere Jefferson. But he didn't write alone. Basically, I was there too.

And so was Ben Franklin. The ideas were forged in the minds of men like Franklin, who is old enough to know better. And Adams, who was stubborn enough, not to care. And they weren't perfect men. But I love this about the left. They try to make you think.

That you think are perfect. I don't think they were perfect! I mean, Ben Franklin used to walk around naked in his house a lot. That shows, I mean, for as smart as that guy was. It shows, maybe he had a lack of mirrors. But they weren't perfect!

They owned slaves. They argued. They compromised.

How does that make them different than us?
I mean, we should be able to relate to them!

What is it that we tolerate right now?
What is it that we compromise on?

What is it -- what are our failures that future generations are going to go, these people just didn't get it? Perhaps what we should notice is that they, unlike most of us. They were willing to gamble their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

For something that had never, ever been done before. Something entirely new!

The idea that rights don't come from a government, or from a king, or from a parliament.

They don't come from the majority voting. Everyone has certain rights.

You know, for all these people who are, you know -- going in Macy's, and burning down towns. And then stealing clothing. And they're like, because I've been oppressed!

And you can't -- I've got rights, you know.
Yeah. Yeah.

You know who the first people were, to articulate those rights?

You know the only country that actually has stood for those rights?

And we're imperfect!

That idea came from the Founders, that you say you hate.

But the actual rights come from God, which you dismiss!

Think of this. Just ponder this for a second.

That all men are created equal! That their rights are given to them, by a creator.

It's not a political assertion. It's a genius. That's eternal truth!

That's theological dynamite, lobbed straight in to the thrones of Europe.

All over the world, it's still dynamite.

They knew what they were doing.

And I don't mean like, they knew what they were doing.

They had it. No. They knew that the British crown had the largest military force in the world. And these guys, they were farmers. They were printers. They were lawyers. They were a ragtag collection of intellectual and idealists, facing down an empire, where they said, the sun never set on the British empire. Meaning, the colonialism was everywhere!

You could not escape England. And yet, they declared it. We're leaving, without apology!

And they said that when a government becomes destructive of the ends of liberty, life, and the pursuit of happiness, it's not only the right of the people, it's their duty to throw it off!

Wow. And you know what is amazing? That's not rebellion.

That's -- that's not revolution. That's -- that's responsibility.

That -- that kind of language today, that would have you flagged, shadow banned. Labeled an extremist. In most countries, disappeared!

But that is the foundation of what we call America. The American experiment. And it's that. The American experiment.

And it's just that, an experiment. We didn't know if we could get it right. And we haven't gotten it right. But isn't it worth experimenting?

Isn't it worth trying to get that concept right?

When you fail on that concept, you're like, eh. That's a stupid idea.

That's not a stupid idea. That's the greatest idea of all time.

Why are so many people willing to just quit?

The experiment is self-rule. It's not perfect.

Never has been. Slavery. Jim Crow. Internment camps. Assassinations.

My God! Forgive us, for what we have done.

But at the same time, what nation has done more to correct its own errors?

What people have shed more blood, not for conquest, but for freedom.

Twice in the last century, we crossed oceans. Not to claim territory. But to liberate that territory!

Our sons and daughters fought and bled on foreign soil to push the darkness back, to fight against Naziism and fascism and Communism. And here we are. Here we are today.

After 249 years tomorrow of that experiment, standing at the lip of the very abyss, those men feared.

A godless chaos, rising in the east and a cold atheistic utopia, clawing at the foundations of the Western world. Islamism and Communism, two ideologies that have killed tens of millions of people. Now dressed all in new robes, selling old lies.

And we can't even teach a child where their rights come from. We have replaced Jefferson and Adams with TikTok influencers and bureaucratic groupthink.

We're raising generations to not even know the truth about their own identity.

But to question their identity. And they could be, oh, you're a funny, funny colored unicorn today. What do you want to be tomorrow?

We don't teach them anything about truth, or their inheritance, most importantly. Their inheritance. What good are hot dogs and fireworks, if the soul of the nation is up for auction? What is the meaning in Fourth of July, if we have forgotten the why? If we don't even call it Independence Day anymore. Most people don't even know who we fought against for independence.

They think we fought for its independence! Most people think we fought the South!

And yet, we'll light the sparklers, or blow our fingers off, because we're just that stupid.

This Independence Day weekend, would you do me and yourself and your country a favor, and read the words out loud. Speak the words out loud.

When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands, which have connected them with one another.

And to assume among the powers of earth, the separate, but equal station, to which the laws of nature.

And nature's God entitle them.

A decent respect to the opinions of mankind, requires that they should declare the causes, which impair them to the separation.

What are they saying?

Look, we want to be decent people.

We want to be decent people.

And we have to separate them.

But we believe it's only right that we tell you why we have to separate. And it's not because of all the bad things you've done. We'll get to those later. It's because we're different. And you don't understand. You have been telling us all of these things, we no longer believe in. We hold these truths to be self-evident. That all men are created equal, and they're endowed by their creator with certain inalienable. Unchangeable rights.

And just among these, are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

That to secure these rights, government are his instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

My gosh. Read those words. And let your children hear what thinking and courage sounds like.

That to secure these rights, I'm telling you, the king, who thinks that your government was given to you, by God.

And you are the ruler.

And you will tell everybody what to think, what to do. What to buy. What to sell. What to tax. What not to tax. Who gets land. Who doesn't get land.

No, no, no. Government are his instituted among men, deriving their powers, their just powers, from the people. And that government is only there, established by those men to protect the rights that God has given each of those men.

Let them feel the chill, that runs down the spine, when Jefferson writes, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the government, or from the governed. Let them hear the words, of -- of responsibility. What responsibility sounds like, with courage and freedom. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these rights, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it.

And to institute a new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to affect their a lot of and happiness.

In other words, you have the right, you have the responsibility to stop tyrants. And if the government has gone bad, to throw that government off.

But reconstitute a government, that will do a better job at protecting those rights. Not to form a communist government.

Not to do anything else. But you want a new government?

Fine! Let's find the way to make men more free. This is not a metaphor. This is a declaration of war on tyranny in all of its forms.

I mean, I said, yesterday, freedom isn't free.

It was paid for by somebody's blood. But you have to remember, they paid for their freedom, not for our freedom, necessarily.

We -- there comes a time, we have to pay for our freedom. And God forbid, that it comes down to blood.

But at least shake off the apathy. We -- we must renew this promise of this experiment of America.

We need to fight for it as well. An out-of-control government that seeks to rope us into forever wars, over and over again. We're all against forever wars. I'm against it.

I hate them.

But there is one forever war, that is required in a free society. A different kind of forever war.

A war against ourselves, a war against human nature in each of us. Because of human nature, we get fat. We get lazy.

We get tolerant of abuses. Let your children hear you speak these words. And when you speak them, ponder them yourself.

Prudence, indeed, will dictate, that governments long established, should not be changed for light and transient causes.

And accordingly, all experience has shown, that mankind is more disposed to suffer while the evils are sufferable than to right themselves, by abolishing the forms in which they're accustomed.

But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a sign to reduce them under absolute despotism.

It's their right. It's their duty. To throw off such government. And provide new guards for such future security.

In one paragraph, we make the point twice. And they tell us, look, we've studied people.

We know you're going to get fat and lazy and apathetic. And you won't want to do stuff for transient causes. Because this is really not good.

But when push comes to shove. And everything is moving towards absolute despotism. Absolute tyranny. Then you must stand up.

I ask you to ponder this. This particular part, when a long train of abuses and usurpations. Prudence will indeed dictate that governments long established should not be exchanged for light and transient causes.

And accordingly, all experience has shown, that mankind is more disposed to suffer while the evils suffer, than to right themselves.

Aren't we exactly the same people, that their experience was talking about?

Aren't we the people that are more disposed to suffer, than to right ourselves? Because we're too comfortable. Or we're too afraid, just to stand up and simply say no to lies.

No!

There is a difference between men and women.

No! Communism is to be feared. It's killed over 100 million people, in the last 100 years.

No!

Muslims aren't bad. Islamism is!

It's evil. No!

You can peacefully protest, any time, any place. And I will fight to the death for your right to do that.

But when you start burn cities down to the ground, no!

We're just a few days away. And we have marked our 249th birthday. Maybe. Just maybe, this year, can we stop asking what America was, and start deciding what America will be?

Where it just slips quietly into history. In the dark of apathy and ignorance.

Because the only thing more dangerous than tyranny is the people who have forgotten what it took to break its chains.

THE GLENN BECK PODCAST

We need REAL jobs in America — Trump should do THIS now!

It is clear we need to create more productive, high-paying jobs for American citizens. But that doesn't mean bringing back the same exact jobs of the past in massive numbers. It means creating and supporting jobs of the present and future that will better the lives of Americans. Glenn Beck and Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts break down exactly what this entails and how President Trump can make it a reality.

Watch Glenn Beck's FULL Interview with Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts HERE

The most INCREDIBLE World War II story you’ve NEVER HEARD

One of the biggest American World War II cemeteries in Europe is in a small town in the Netherlands, where thousands of Dutch people continue the tradition to this day of “adopting” a fallen US soldier and checking in on his family. “The Monuments Man” author Robert Edsel joins Glenn Beck to tell this incredible story, which he documents in his new book, “Remember Us.”

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Robert, welcome back to the program. How are you, sir?

ROBERT: Great to talk to you!

GLENN: It's great to talk to you.

Can you remind me? You were on with us, after Monuments Men. And you talked about this great service that is still going on, where people that -- they were still looking for paintings and pieces of art, that had been taken by the Nazis.

And if I remember right, didn't somebody in our -- our own audience reach out to you, and say, I think we found one of those paintings?

ROBERT: Yes, sir. Absolutely.

The Glenn Beck audience. And Glenn Beck, you yourself deserve a lot of credit.

Because I hadn't walked out of your studio last time. You know, in Dallas at Las Colinas.

Headed back to our office at Monuments Men and Women Foundation office, before someone in my office contacted me and said, we've already had a lead, as a result of your interview with Glenn. And it turned out someone whose aunt had been given two paintings during World War II.

She had worked for the government overseeing Germany, and these two paintings were missing.

We were able to identify who the rightful owner was, and get them back.

So it's a great thing that you performed. And, you know, it's a magnificent conclusion, though obviously a very difficult part of history.

GLENN: What was it like to give that back to the family?

ROBERT: It was a deeply moving experience. We -- the foundation found and returned more than 30 works of art, from paintings to documents, ancient books. Tapestries, to museums. Individual collectors, and so on.

And, you know, when we see, oftentimes, the people just stand there, and they cry.

They don't even know what to say. Because they may have worked 50 or 60 years, trying to find some work of art that's been missing. And they haven't had leads. And to -- to see us standing there, with something that belongs to them.

Not asking for anything in return. Don't charge anybody for doing it. Because we feel like everybody who went through World War II already paid enough.

Words -- words just fail. It's just pure gratitude.

GLENN: I can't wait for you to tell this new story.

Tell me the story of the care takers. The care takers of --

ROBERT: Well, it's a story that found me, just as Monuments did.

I have written about -- in the Monuments Men, I told the story of two Monuments Officers who were killed in combat, one British soldier and one American, Walter Huchthausen. And Huchthausen was killed. He once did a last casualty at war. He was killed in the last month of World War II, and is buried in the American benevolence, American cemetery, in Margraten in the Netherlands. I knew that story, and I had made mention of a young girl who was harbored in September '45, asking for the address of his mother, wanting to write her and tell her, that she walked 5 miles, several times a week, from her house to the American military cemetery. It was called then. To put flowers on his grave. Because her family knew them. And they were grief-stricken to know that they were killed.

And I knew that story too. I mentioned that. And then in 2015, the nephew of Huchthausen wrote me and included a photograph of this elderly lady with this crown of white hair. And he said, here's a photo with Frida, and I couldn't place who this was.

I had no idea who it was. And I realized, my God, this is that 19-year-old girl that is still alive. So I flew to England. She married a British soldier after the war. And I went to meet with her. She started showing me photographs of when the American -- Americans liberated her area of the Netherlands.

And all these American soldiers that they knew.

And she said, you know about the American military cemetery.

She said, have you been there?

And I said yes. And she said, so you know about the great adoption program?

And I said, what? She said, the great adoption program.

I said, I have no idea what you're talking about. So I started doing some research on this. And learned, at the end of World War II, our largest World War II cemetery in Europe, was not Normandy. It was the Netherlands American cemetery, where 17,800 boys and a few women buried at this cemetery by May 1946.

And by that time, every single grave had a Dutch person, a local person, who volunteered to be an adaptor of that brave.

Go out there on the first death date of the soldier, Veterans Day, Memorial Day.

And if they had the contact information for the next of kin, send them a photograph of the grave.
And a letter.

Because they realized, it was okay to adopt the bodies of dead boys.

But where the real need was, was to reach across the ocean, into the American homes and try to assuage the grief of the families.

And they knew some of these boys. And I found it the most heartwarming, uplifting, and certainly unique conclusion to a World War II story that I think has been written.

GLENN: So are they still some of them still doing this?

ROBERT: Not some. In fact, there were about -- in 1940, 748.

American families were given the choice to have their loved ones sent home, or to be left overseas in a military cemetery.

The Army had no idea, how many -- how many families would want their boys sent home, and as a consequence, they couldn't tell how many cemeteries they would need.

We thought almost everybody would want to have the families sent home. But it turned out not to be the case. So about 61 percent came home. About 39 percent stayed in Europe, which was about the numbers from World War I.

Although, the numbers in this area, in the Netherlands were higher.

The -- the graves that are there now.

There are 10,000 boys there. And four women.

8300 graves. 1700 names on the walls of the missing.

Every one of them has an adaptor for 80 years.

All those graves have been adopted, without interruption.

There's a waiting list of almost a thousand people in the Netherlands, to become a doctor. This is a -- not just a --

GLENN: This is --

JASON: A privilege. Because they take their kids out to the cemetery. They turn the cemetery into a classroom. And you go out there. And, yes, there's a somber element. They're instilling in their kids, you're able to think, and say what you want to. Because of the freedom that was given to you, by this American girl or boy. And we don't do that in our country anymore.

GLENN: So this is one of the most incredible stories that I've -- I've ever heard.

And I'm shocked that the world doesn't know this!

Is -- have you -- is there anything like this, anywhere else in the world?

JASON: No. We couldn't even find a comp of any nature.

There are -- that is not to say, the people in Normandy area, don't care about Normandy and other cemeteries. They do, of course. As do the Belgians in other cemeteries.

But there's no place that created an organic great adoption program, during the war, in January 1945!

These people in this area of the Netherlands were so grateful, having been neutral in World War I.

And having not lost their freedom for 100 years!

And they didn't like it!

And when the Americans liberated them in September 44. I'll never forget this woman Freda. This elderly woman I met, looked at me, the first time I interviewed her. I knew her for eight years. The last eight years of her life.

I delivered a eulogy two summers ago. She looked at me, there were the eyes of the 19-year-old. And she said, when I saw that first tank over the hill and I realized, we were saved.

I looked at my dad, and I said, Papi, these American boys come all the way across the ocean to say this. And there were tears in her eyes.

Because they didn't -- they couldn't imagine how we could have moved that equipment across -- across the ocean.

And why we would have cared so much.

So there isn't anything like it.

But January 45, these people in this little town of Margraten.

A mile from the cemetery, organized a meeting of the town leaders. The town who got 1200 people.

And they were trying to find an answer to the question: How do you thank your liberators, when they're no longer alive to thank? And they came up with this idea of this great adoption program, and it's a story that I tell, following the lives of about 12 different American combat soldiers.

Bomber recipients.

Tankers.

Because we don't know that story.

We don't what knows to an American story, when they're killed on the field of battle.

Because it's depressing.

We move on to the next scene in a movie.

Well, I want people to know, you started your program with freedom is not free.

It's ugly.

Let's talk about that. Let's talk about what the cost is.

Let's talk about the stripping line that the body goes through, and the removal of dog tags, one being put in the mouth, if there's still a head. And the other being nailed to the cross, because they don't have time to stencil the names on yet.

Let's talk about that, and let people know, it's not just a Marvel movie. Or a gang war.

This is real. This is painful. And, of course, at the end of the war, when we Americans declare victory, and move on with our lives, there's millions of family members in the United States, whose lives will never be the same.

So it is -- it's still happening today. It's still happening today.

GLENN: The name -- the name of the book is Remember Us.

And take us -- I mean, because that's really kind of the -- the -- the beauty of it.

Take us through the rest of the book, just briefly.

It starts with what?

ROBERT: Well, I follow -- I began what a nice life was in the Netherlands. Until May 10, 1940.

And the Netherlands does not get much attention from World War II, and yet everybody has heard of Battle of the Bulge. And Battle -- those are all within 50 miles of what we're talking about.

They happened around there. Of course, World War II, in western Europe, begins right here in this area. Because the German tanks roll across the border.

So I cover the life of these 12 different Americans. I interviewed all their family members. Some make it through the war. Some don't.

You read the book, you realize who makes it, who doesn't. But their lives converge around this area of the Netherlands. And when post-world War II stories end, with the war being over, remember us kicks into a transcendent moment when the Dutch come up with this idea of this great adoption program. The Americans refuse to provide the names and addresses of the next of kin.

So they're foiled with trying to achieve their ultimate objective. Which is to try to contact all the American families.

And frustrated, there was -- one of the key figures of the book.

A woman who is the mother of 12 children.

Who takes it upon herself. She's a woman of action.

She writes president Truman. And pleads for him to get involved.

When that doesn't work. She gets on the first airplane, she's ever flown on. She leaves her kids behind.

She flies to New York. Lands in LaGuardia Field.

She goes to Washington, and meets the members of Congress. Including a young guy from Texas, named Lyndon Johnson.

Who says, young lady, you need to go to Texas. Because there are so many military bases there.

She flies to our hometown. And lands in Lovefield.

In June of 1946. And is met by two family members. And for five weeks, she lives with American families, that lost somebody during a war.

And to each of them she says, leave your boys with us. When the election comes.

We will watch over them, like our own forever.

And they have done that. Now, today, these 10,000 Dutch doctors only have contact information for 20 percent of the American families.

They couldn't ever get the others.

GLENN: You're kidding me. Where is the list? Do you have a list?

ROBERT: Yeah. The Monuments Men and Women Foundation entered into a joint venture with the Dutch Foundation for Adopting Graves.

Not charging anybody for this. And we have created a website called foreverpromise.org.

And on that website is a list of all 10,000 men and women, more women that are buried at the cemetery, or whose names are on the walls missing.

And it's a searchable database. We're asking people to go and see. Do you have someone you know, or a relative, who is buried there.

And if so, we have a short questionnaire. What's your relationship? Are you aware of this great adoption program? Are you in contact with your adopter? Would you like to be? Would you allow us to share your contact information?

I connected a lady from Richmond, Texas. Saturday night. To her -- to this young Tammy, that's the adopter of her brother.

She's 93 years old.

She was in tears. At the thought when she leaves this world, there will be someone there to watch over her brother.

And that's what we're all about is this connecting.

GLENN: Rob, I have to tell you.

You've really done something with your life. I mean, I know you don't need me to say it.
But what a great job you have. And what a great service you have done for so many years.

Thank you so much.

Please, look this up.

The forever promise project.

You can find it at foreverpromise.org. Foreverpromise.org. Robert Edsel is the author's name. The book is Remember Us. It's a perfect read for this week.