RADIOFebruary 28, 2024

How Leftist Immigration ‘Reform’ Made YOUR Streets DEADLIER

In the aftermath of the death of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, the media is insisting that the increase in crime across the country has nothing to do with illegal immigration. But Blaze News Senior Editor Daniel Horowitz joins Glenn with the real stats. Daniel warns that Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro is practically emptying out his prisons and sending the criminals — many part of the brutal gang Tren de Aragua — to America. He also uses the latest data to make the case that YES, crime has gone up because of our open border and progressive "criminal justice reform" policies.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: So the media is now doing their best to say that crime is not a problem.

Because of illegal immigration. We know that that's not true. That doesn't mean that everybody who comes across illegally is a law breaker, other than come here illegally.

You know, they're not all rapists and murderers.

But we seem to have our fair share now, from overseas. And I love the people, who are saying, you cannot violate the rights of people. Just because of this one murder. Review, yeah. Yet they're the same people, who say, we should take away everyone's guns. Because if it will just save up life, it's worth it.

Well, you know what, not letting the illegal immigration would have saved one life.

In fact, would have saved a lot of lives recently.

To talk about it is Daniel Horowitz. He did a podcast yesterday, on this.

He's compiling the stats of crime, from illegal aliens.

Daniel, what did you find?

DANIEL: Hey, well, it's great to be back with you, Glenn. And, look, if last decade criminality from foreign nationals was defined by MS-13, I think we should start to familiarize ourselves with Tren de Aragua. Because that's the Venezuelan prison gang, that was essentially sent up here by President Maduro in Venezuela. And why not him blame him? He knew that our door was open. He figured he would get rid of his problem.

We focus a lot on the quantitative act that -- of this border nation. That quantitatively, it's much greater than we've ever seen.

Probably about 10 million, between the apprehensions and gotaways, since Biden took office.

But qualitatively, when I speak to border agents, ICE agents, and then reporters down at the Darien Gap in Panama, they say they have never seen so many young male belligerents, with tattoos, that kind of look like they want a piece of you.

And now if you go to the New York Post, every day, you will find stories of those arrested, and then turned out loose, within 24 hours in New York City. We find it in Chicago.

So this alleged murderer of Lincoln Riley is not in a vacuum.

This is something that we're going to deal with, for years. You know, in the next number of years, if we don't get rid of them very soon.

STU: Daniel, when you talk about the border issue. You mention the issue between the qualitative and quantitative problem here.

And it is significant.

Obviously, the quantitative problem as has been well documented. When you talk about the people coming across the border, though.

You know, we hear about potential terrorists. We hear about drug dealers. What is the biggest issue the border agents are facing.

DANIEL: Sure. I mean, again, we've seen all these pictures, where we have young military-aged males, just marching through the border, that we've never seen before. And it turns out, I mean, at least from what I'm hearing. Is that the Venezuelan the highest concentration of criminal element. Simply because it's not by natural.

It's not natural selection.

That you will have a lot of ruffians come over our border.

That's what a lot of them do.

A lot of them are criminal elements.

This is a concerted effort on the part of Maduro. To send his prison gang up here.

And you're finding this a lot in spaces like Miami. Places like Chicago and New York. Even local media is reporting on it. Where they're having a number of gangbangers arrested. Chicago arrested.

Just a handful. You know, five, ten Venezuelan nationals. In 2022.

But then last year, in 2023, they arrested seven hundred of them.

And again, this is not looking like you're an illegal alien.

These are people, it's shoplifting. It's assault.

It's driving without a license. Drunk driving. You know, I've chronicled this for about 15 years. Now, you can't use the numbers now, because Biden doesn't enforce the law. But when Trump was president and they were trying to apprehend people, in just one given year, we would typically get -- and this is recurring every year. Enough people arrested in that kind of suite. That net of enforcement. To account for 2,000 homicide-related offensive -- meaning both conviction and arrests. Six hundred kidnappings. Thirty-eight hundred robberies. Thirty-seven thousand assaults. 10,000 sex crimes. And usually about 80,000 or so DUI's.

The numbers were pretty consistent every single additional year. Now, typically, especially back then, before the George Floyd crime rates. We typically had maybe 14,000 homicide arrests in a given year. To 2,000 accounted for, among the jurisdiction of ICE.

Illegal aliens, sometimes illegals. But criminal elements that are deportable. That is an astounding share.

That is one in seven. And, again, this is before the Biden wave.

So you can imagine now, they are having all these belligerents from Venezuela.

Just think about this. We had 335,000 Venezuelans come in, just in the first few months.

I'm sorry. Just in 2023.

Plus, Biden granted temporary status of 470,000 others. Just 834 have been removed.

Okay?

So that is how you think what that problem is.

GLENN: What is amazing to me is at the same time that is going on. By the way, that is exactly what -- what was his name in Iraq?

Saddam Hussein did, right before we went in.

To cause chaos in the streets. He emptied the prisons. That's what Maduro did except into the United States.

And his reward for that was the United States, allowing him to sell more oil, even to us.

So there -- this is -- this is a chaos operation.

But we're also all seeing stories almost every day. If you're paying attention to it.

Your key word there was belligerent.

They feel like, they are above the law. They know they're not going to be charged.

And so they'll beat police officers.

They'll -- they'll flip people off.

They are super citizens, almost. That's the way they act.

DANIEL: And what you're finding, especially in these blue areas is an amalgamation of the invasion and then jailbreak. What they call criminal justice reform in New York City. So they turn out all criminals. The next day.

But in this case. You have, you know, the people let out of Rikers Island.

Domestic criminals being let loose. And then now, you have all these Venezuelans coming in, committing crimes. Often three or four crimes. And they get released every time.

I want to throw out another number that's very important.

I've tracked for a number of years. There's something called ISIS undetained document.

So what that means by its very nature are these are the people that are on ISIS' radar to at least investigate, often target for removal.

But they remain undetained right now, there's only about 37,000 people in ISIS custody. That's the maximum of what they can handle.

The undetained docket is 6.2 million.

GLENN: Oh, my gosh.

DANIEL: 6.2 million. Now, I don't have the numbers. But in the old days, I don't think this has changed. About 80 percent were criminal aliens. So they had criminal charges and/or convictions, in addition to being here illegally. Think about that. There's only five, 6,000 ICE ERO officers. Deportation officers around. Limited resources.

We already know that under this administration, if you're caught drunk driving, you're not really a priority. That's not considered a high level crime.

So there are 6.2 million. In their undetained docket. Just think about the needless murder victims, rape victims that are seeing this now every day.

The media tries to cover it up. We saw, you know, a rape of a minor, allegedly committed by an illegal alien. South of Lynchburg, Virginia, yesterday.

There was a case in Montana.

I was just looking at.

If the American people would actually know, the extent of how many of these heinous crimes are committed by people that should never be here.

And there would have been multiple opportunities to get them out. They would be up in arms.

And this would be our George Floyd moment.

GLENN: Imagine if you are a citizen, and your governor is telling you, hey.

We need homes for people. Take them into your home. How stupid do you have to be.

DANIEL: I mean, it's unbelievable. Picture the worst of the Bloods and the Crips in your own downtown. That's what we're deporting from all over the world. Each country's problems. You know, you'll have some desperate, impoverished people that are kind of peaceful too. Certainly not in our best interest to let them in.

But this time, we're just seeing a total invasion.

And what's important, is legally, this definitely meets the definition of an invasion under the compact clause, that should trigger state authority for removal. I think this is where it's important.

When you look at that 6.2 million number. You look at what we're seeing, from that individual charged with murdering Lincoln Riley. Along with his brother.

They were caught in a red state, here illegally, and having committed other crimes prior to this alleged murder.

And yet, they remained. Some of them are because of sanctuary policies. But sometimes, even if you're not a sanctuary state, but now you're a sanctuary nation.

Here's the thing, let's say a state might want to deal with that individual. Maybe lock them up.

Maybe try to remove them. But ICE now grants them with a detainer. And now a detainer is a double-edged sword. Because they'll place a detainer, enough that the state cannot enforce the law against them. But it's not like the feds will actually remove them or even detain them.

They will be on their undetained docket.

Out free to commit more crimes.

This is where the red state governors need to get together and say, look, if we catch someone here, illegally. Committing an assault.

Of drunk driving.

They need to be out of here.

STU: Daniel, can you address one more thing before you go. Which is the media's response to this talk every time.

Is to say, actually, immigrants commit crimes at a lower rate that be US citizens.

They're not the problem here.

DANIEL: Sure. They're right in the sense immigrants. Okay. So legal immigrants on average commit fewer crimes. And the reason is, because on average, they come to the United States. At an older age. That sort of the criminal career age. Sixteen to 30. They're usually older when they believe.

They're more established. With that, I will say, there are certain pockets of the world, that we accept who didn't notice illegally, that still commit too many crimes. The crimes that we commit should be zero.

Because they're vetted. You know, it's kind of like your draft pick. You get your choice. You can pick your immigrants. You can't pick your natives.

Native born, that is.

But as it relates to the people coming from the border. Again, you look. As we -- I want to give you a statistic that is, again, astounding.

GLENN: You have about 45 seconds, before I have to break.

DANIEL: In 2020, Trump's ICE director, Matt Albence. He said that in one year in New York City, they issued 7500 ICE detainers.

And out of those 200 individuals, they included 200 homicides.

GLENN: Oh, my gosh.

DANIEL: I looked up that area of operation. There were fewer than 300 people arrested for all homicides in that area of ISIS operation, in that one year.

I'm not saying they necessarily commit two-thirds. You have to study that.

But it is surely greater than their share of the population.

GLENN: Daniel Horowitz. You can hear his podcast on TheBlaze.

Blaze TV.

He did a whole podcast about this, yesterday. And he's always, always really buttoned up.

And has a different view on a lot of things, that I think you should hear. Daniel, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

DANIEL: Thanks for having me. Take care.

The Book of Enoch: Did Extraterrestrial Beings DESCEND in the Days of Noah?!

The Book of Enoch tells a story the Bible only hints at: A story of heavenly beings who descended to Earth, took human wives, created hybrid giants, and unleashed forbidden knowledge that corrupted the world before the Flood. Glenn Beck and researcher Timothy Alberino break down how the ancient Hebrew worldview explains the Watchers, the Nephilim, the origins of demigod myths, and why Peter and Jude referenced Enoch directly in the New Testament. From extraterrestrial terms in Scripture to the cosmic “family of God” and the divine rebellion that reshaped human history, this discussion reveals a forgotten narrative that once defined early Jewish and Christian theology. What really happened in the days of Noah, and why does it matter now?

Watch the FULL Interview HERE

Cracker Barrel CEO breaks silence on logo controversy in exclusive interview

Glenn Beck recently spoke with Cracker Barrel CEO Julie Masino about the company’s infamous attempt to change its logo, and he asked the question everyone has been wondering: Why wasn’t she fired?! Glenn previews his interview, which debuts Thursday, Nov. 20 at 6PM ET!

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: I was in Tennessee this weekend, and Saturday morning, I go to -- I think store number two for Cracker Barrel. And I met with the senior vice president and the CEO of Cracker Barrel. And we sat down, and we had an interview. And Julie, who has not done an interview since Good Morning America, kind of said, okay. No more interviews, because that didn't go well.

This was her first interview since then.

And, you know, it was weird. Because I got off. I got off the plane.

And, oh. Somebody on the plane said, "What are you doing here?"

And I said, "I'm going to go interview the CEO of -- of Cracker Barrel."

And the immediate response was, "Get her!"

I was like, "Wow. Okay. All right. Thank you."

I get into the car, and the Uber driver says to me, "What are you doing here?" And I said, "I'm going to meet with the person at Cracker Barrel."

"Boy, she really screwed her up. You hold her feet to the fire."

I mean, I've never -- I've never seen anything like that. And, you know, I started the interview with her, you know, honestly. And I said, look, I -- I -- I'm not here to get you. I'm not here to do anything, but ask questions that I think everybody in America wants to know.

Like, what the hell were you thinking?

And I asked her some -- asked her all of the really pointed questions. Rikki, the TV executive producer said, "There's no way. I know you. You're going to soften. There's no way."

And when I got up afterwards, she was like, "Wow. Okay. You didn't -- you really -- you really didn't soften. You know, you asked all of those questions."

Because I thought they were fair. And I told her, "Look, I hate conflict. I'm not here for conflict. I'm not here. I don't need to make a name for myself by giving you a hard time. I don't care about any of that. I just want to do my job and ask you, 'What happened here?'"

And I said, "So I'm going to ask you really uncomfortable questions." And she was prepared. And I think I finally broke through, and got the real answer in the end. I think I got the real answer.

STU: Hmm.

GLENN: And it came from one of the questions I asked was, I mean, are you surprised, you haven't been fired yet?

And her response was, all telling. All telling. It's a fascinating interview you should watch. It's going to happen, I think Thursday on the podcast.

STU: Because I'm mildly surprised that hasn't happened. You know, like just because -- not because -- I don't know. There's a lot of things she's been accused of and everything else.

But just like, when you have a situation like this, where you're trying a major change and you roll it out a specific way and it does not go well, you know, it's usually -- it's like, when you're general manager of a football team, you go through the process. You evaluate all the quarterbacks. You pick the guy.

And that guy is a total bust, like you usually don't survive it. It doesn't necessarily mean you went through the process incorrectly. But when you miss, usually something happens like that. Does she feel like she missed like that?

GLENN: Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Yes, she does.

She's a very bright woman. I mean, she ran Coach, you know, the purse place or whatever.
STU: The purse company.
GLENN: The Coach brand. Godiva Chocolates. Taco Bell, the whole -- global. (I mean, she's a Fortune 500 CEO. She's very, very competent. Very competent.

So how could somebody very, very competent make this mistake?

STU: Hmm. Did she walk you through that? How that happened?

GLENN: Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Yeah. She see.

And what's interesting is, they brought the senior vice president was also sitting there.

And he has been brought in since.

I mean, he had been there for 30, 35 years.

And really good guy. And he was one of the voices that was like, while that was happening, like, you guys. Hey, everybody upstairs. You shouldn't be doing this.

It's a bad idea. And so after they were like, "Hey. You know who was saying this? Let's bring him upstairs." And it was interesting to talk to him, because he's been long before she got there. So he kind of gave the view of, here's what happened before she got here! And here's where she came in.

And here's what happened.

And it's -- it's really fascinating.

I mean, if you want to hear the real story behind it.

And -- and also see somebody -- I mean, just wait until you hear her answer on -- I mean, it was so powerful and so honest. When I said, are you surprised you haven't been fired yet?

It was a fascinating answer.

STU: How many pancakes did you --

GLENN: Podcast on Thursday, I didn't eat any.

STU: You went to Cracker Barrel headquarters, and you ate zero pancakes?

GLENN: I didn't. I didn't. It was very difficult to not order the pancakes.

STU: You're the type of guy who gets pancakes by mistake. What do you mean you've got none?

GLENN: I was looking at my wife. My wife was sitting off to the side of the camera. And I'm looking at her. I'm like, she's so beautiful. And I eat pancakes, too many times.

STU: Uh-huh.

GLENN: And she's just -- she has to live with this, the pancake-wearing shoes. I'm not going to order the pancakes. The pancakes.

Democrats' latest attempt to tie Trump to Epstein scandal falls flat

Democrats are trying yet again to tie President Trump to Jeffrey Epstein’s scandals. This time, they’ve highlighted that Epstein once referred to Trump as “the dog that hasn’t barked.” Is this proof that Trump is in the Epstein Files…or is it actually evidence that he was a whistleblower against Epstein? Glenn and Stu discuss…

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Now, Jeffrey Epstein is back in the news today. Could we just for the love of Pete release everything that we have, so we can move on! From the Jeffrey Epstein thing.

Here's the answer: No.

Even if we release everything that we still have, this is going to go on for the rest of our lives.

It will always -- and probably, into our children's lives.

Do you know, Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump were the reason we never went to the moon.

It's going to happen!

It's just one of these conspiracy theories, that will never, ever go away.

Why?

Because no one was honest about it in the first place. Once you start to lie, you lie once -- once! If you're a very honest person, you will lie once. And then people are like, what? What?

Why would he lie about that? What is going on?

He's not like that. But if you're the United States governor government. You already have no credibility whatsoever!

Stop lying to the American people.

Just stop it. You know, I said something a minute ago. One of the reasons why you're hearing lies is because it works to the advantage of a Colour Revolution.

You know, there are reasons why people are lying to you. Some of it, they're just dirtbags and they're liars. Some of it, they're politicians, and so they're liars.

Some of it, however, a good deal of it is, we lie, because we know it causes damage to the credibility of this entire system.

We know it does damage to the culture of America, and we are here trying to destroy the culture of America because we want to try something new. And the only -- you won't vote for it. So the only way we can get America to change and do something entirely different, that they will never vote for, is just to cause chaos and disbelief in everything!

So as I said a minute ago, you know, it's not the news. Many times, it's a reflection of a plan! And when it comes to the Epstein thing, this is absolutely a plan. The way this thing has been played out. Democrats are completely against bringing anything out against Epstein.

They don't want to do anything about it. The media. Do you remember the ABC anchor that went into a commercial break. And she was like, you know what, I've got to tell you, Epstein. You know, we had the goods on him. Dead to rights.

Clinton. All of it.

And we were told, pull it.

Remember that.

Remember that, gang?

They pulled it at ABC. I think they fired the person who tried to -- who released that video.

Or tried to fire that person. I think they were working either at CBS or whatever. That person was in trouble for releasing that behind the scenes tape.

They had no intention of it. Now, everybody wants the Epstein tapes. Wait a minute. You didn't want them when Biden went in. And you could have said something, Democrats. And you could have released it all.

And, you know, it's funny. It is just so full of stuff about Donald Trump. Then why wouldn't they release just that?

Why wouldn't have the Democrats released anything in the Epstein file?

You're telling me, we've got to find something on them. Hey. I've got the Epstein files. Yeah, yeah. We've got to find something on it.

I have got some information here about Epstein. Him and Epstein, they were fooling around. Yeah, shut up for a second. Is there anything at all, that we can construe and manufacture about his banks?

I know!

He's got a vet signal between his bank and the Russian bank. I've got stuff about the Epstein.

Come on! If they had stuff about the Epstein, they would have gone to the stuff about the Epstein files.

They don't have anything, they don't have anything.

Now, let me speak directly to conservatives. They're not going to release anything about the Democrats, because they had the Epstein files.

Do you think that -- let's just say, I'm not even going to name names. Let's just say the most powerful people on the earth. The most powerful people with powerful connections, to government.

They knew their names were, you know, there on little, you know, guest books at the island, or whatever.

You don't think they called in some favors and said, "Hey, I need that -- can you remove that?"

You don't think that there were people that were like, "Hey. You know what, we'll remove that."

"We need $100 million from you, to help out on this campaign."

I mean, whatever it is, those names are gone too! They're gone! How do I know this?

Because the government is completely dishonest! That's how I know that.

But, anyway, now, Donald Trump.

STU: You don't think anything of interest would be in these files?

I mean, I think we've already seen some stuff of interest in the emails, no?

GLENN: Yeah, I think there are stuff of interest. I don't think there's going to be anyone at a very high level that is going to get -- that's going to be like, holy cow. Look, here's pictures with him with a 14-year-old girl!

That's not going to happen.

STU: Right. Somewhere that stuff, at least at the upper levels, not there.

Now, here's what is interesting: The timing of the release of a few documents last week. The Democrats released some documents.

And they released them, and at the same time, that Johnson were saying, by the way, we are going to expedite the releasing of everything.

So there's no reason to leak anything. But the Democrats decide to leak some stuff. They like a memo. And in that, oh, my gosh.

Look at what was said. What was said in that memo. Well, it was said, you know, the only dog that hasn't barked is Trump!

Well, what -- what did he mean by that?

He's keeping it quiet. All of these things. All of these innuendos and everything. Well, now we know, from the guy who wrote the book, all the president's meeting. Donald Trump and the making of a predator, that guy came out this weekend and said, no, no. That's not what he meant.

What did he mean?

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(music)

GLENN: So Barry Levine comes on. And he's on MSNBC this wreaked.

And he's asked, so tell me, I mean, we've seen this email between you and Epstein. What did he mean that the to go that hasn't barked is Trump. What do you think he's referring to?

Okay. What was he referring to?

I think Epstein is referring to the fact that he believed that Donald Trump talked to Michael rider who was the Palm Beach police chief in 2004. And began the first investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.

So, in other words, he was the whistle-blower!

Yeah. But he's got all kinds of stuff in his -- in Jeffrey Epstein's books.

He's the whistle-blower!

The one thing you don't do is blow the whistle, when you know you got fingerprints all over the dead body. And the handgun that killed him!

You know what, I think you could find that hand gun, in this alleyway. Your fingerprints are on it. Man, why would you blow the whistle?

The suspect, he said, I suspected that Jeffrey Epstein was saying, he was 75 percent there.

Believing that Trump might have been the whistle-blower at the time. He believed it's 75 percent.

Now, how do you release something.

I mean, if you think things will be released. That will get Donald Trump. Why would you release that?

Where after two days of it being out, the guy who was part of that email, who hates Donald Trump, is like, yeah.

That's not what it means. It means he was whistle blower. Jeez.

STU: That is interesting. And I will say, you know, it is -- amazing that that's what they released. And chose to release.

That's the same email, by the way, that you're mentioning. That they blacked out the name of Virginia Giuffre, which they did intentionally. Because she has said that he was nothing, but respectful. And was never with any of the girls at all.

In not only her book, but also in testimony, under oath.

And the other one, that they released, which said, Trump -- he says, of course, he knew about the girls, was the other big one that they released. Which they left the -- well, they didn't leave it out. They just hoped you didn't focus on the next part of the sentence, which he says, that of course, he knew about the girls, as he asked Ghislaine to stop. Which would indicate, even if he was aware of this, which I don't think this had anything to do with the sex stuff. I think this was about him taking them.

GLENN: No. It was about poaching his girls from Mar-a-Lago.

STU: Right.

GLENN: The employees. He knows that we're poaching these girls. It doesn't mean he knows what they're doing with them. Stop taking my employees!

Okay. Now, if you suspect he's the whistle-blower and he knew you were taking employees from him, you know, in retrospect, you know, looking at it later, you go, oh, man, he's the whistle-blower?

But he also knows about the girls.

He knows we were taking them.

Does he know what we were doing with the girls?

I mean, this does not hurt Donald Trump. It helps Donald Trump.

STU: What about the one they released from Jeffrey Epstein. Where he said, I've met some very bad people, and none are as bad as Trump.

I mean, what if they come up with bad comments from Jeffrey Dahmer about Donald Trump? What will you say then? I mean, this is so dumb.

GLENN: I've eaten some bad eggs in my life, but I would not eat Donald Trump. I'll tell you that right now.

'House of David' Star REVEALS Story Behind TV’s #1 Biblical Series

Amazon’s House of David has become the #1 show on Prime Video, and today Glenn Beck talks with Michael Iskander, the actor bringing King David to life in one of the most powerful biblical series ever produced. Michael shares how fasting, prayer, and years of preparation shaped his performance, why David’s flaws and redemption resonate so deeply with viewers, and what really happened behind the scenes with Goliath, the sheep, and the shepherd who taught him lessons he’ll never forget.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: I've got somebody on, who is in just an amazing, amazing show from Amazon. House of David. If you haven't seen House of David yet, you have to. Do you remember when-like biblical movies. I mean, they were good in the '50s. And then they got really, really bad.

And then all through the '70s and '80s and 2000s. They were horrible.

And then all of a sudden, they got really, really good?

This someone amazing. This is as good as the Jesus. What is the Jesus one?

Chosen.

It's called House of David. It's on Amazon, and we have the guy who portrays David. Michael Iskander on with us.

Michael, how are you?

MICHAEL: I'm good. What an introduction. Thank you for that!

GLENN: I mean, it's really.

Come on. Was there any time, that you thought, oh, man. This might -- I hope they do it right!

And then you saw the finished product, and you were like, wow! This is good?

MICHAEL: Yeah. That was -- you know, I try to keep my head down, and, you know, it's -- it's not finished until it's finished.

And season two is coming out. You know, I'm just going to be hearing the response of how this show is really affecting people.

GLENN: So can I talk to you about Goliath?

Because Goliath is portrayed really as a giant. Not just a big guy. He's a giant.

MICHAEL: Yeah.

GLENN: Talk to me about that.

MICHAEL: Well, I'll tell you what, when I first met Martin.

He was -- I went to -- I went to the gym with him one time.

And I -- I knew, I'm going to get, you know, my stuff. So I was prepared for that.

And -- and he made me workout for two and a half hours. And I thought that the workout was done. And he was like, no. There's another half. And, man, he -- Martin is a really dedicated man. And he just -- he pushed me to the edge, when it came to working out.

And, you know, when it comes to his role with Goliath. He's someone that really just put all the effort, both physically and emotionally to really portray that part, as best as he can.

GLENN: How long did it take you to learn the slingshot?

MICHAEL: Three days. It wasn't too bad.

GLENN: Well, I heard you had problem with the sheep.

That the sheep were -- they were not helpful.

MICHAEL: The sheep -- well, the sheep were actually really interesting.

I remember when we first started filming, they -- they put me in sheep training classes.

Because when I get on tape. They have to make sure, that I'm not -- you know, I'm not going to get attacked by one of the sheep. And I'm comfortable around them.

The sheep. First day I show up to this training, and she painted me. And you would think that the guy who plays David, you know, would think of his sheep.

GLENN: No. I don't. I don't. I don't think that's natural. You're an actor. I don't know if that's -- yep, well, they picked me because I'm good with sheep.

MICHAEL: I should get classes from you.

GLENN: I don't know.

MICHAEL: But, no. I mean, it really -- spent a lot of time with the Shepherd.
And he was giving me some really amazing lessons.
He saw that I was having trouble.

And he said, you know, you should stick next to me. Because this sheep, when they see you with the shepherd, they'll know that you're with me.
So they'll never leave my side.

GLENN: It's amazing.

MICHAEL: I want you to spend a lot of time with me. And I he said, oh, okay. And he said, I want you to know another thing: A bad shepherd is a shepherd who is behind the flock. And so you, you're going to be a good shepherd. You're going to show them. You're not going to let them lead you.

You're going to lead them, and you're going to be in the front taking risks and showing them the path.

GLENN: Uh-huh.

MICHAEL: And he is saying this, I think -- I think I'm getting more than just a sheep lesson here. It really helped in terms of understanding who David was as a person. And then his relationship to Christ.

And why -- why David was chosen as king.

GLENN: Is it true that you fasted, before the audition? I mean, you're a Broadway guy.

MICHAEL: Yeah. Yeah. I sent in the first audition. I was really excited about it.

And it was a dream of mine for a long time. You know, one of these dreams, that you don't tell anyone. And you don't think it will ever happen.

GLENN: To play David specifically? Or to be --

MICHAEL: Yeah, to play David. To play David.

GLENN: Really?

MICHAEL: And because I was inspired by the Chosen.

And I wanted to maybe do flashback scenes with a young David, or something.

When I got the audition, and they originally said no. I thought, oh, that would have been a good opportunity.

GLENN: Hmm.

MICHAEL: And I got another audition. I called my mom. And I said, Mom, this doesn't happen often. Can you believe it? She said, Michael, calm down.

The one thing I need you to do. I need you to fast, and I need you to pray.

I said, yes, ma'am.

A week later, I was having lunch with Jon Erwin. And he -- it kind of took off from there.

But, yeah, fasting and prayer.

GLENN: You know, I'm friends with.
I went to school with Jim Caviezel. And I can't remember what grade he was in. Maybe fifth grade, I think. But he went into church, and all by himself.

And he prayed, and he made a pact with God. Let me -- all I want, Lord, is to play you in a movie some day, and I will live my life honorably to be able to be ready, but I want to play you.

And so he told me when Mel called, he was like, yeah, I've been waiting for the call. It's an amazing thing.

MICHAEL: Wow. I didn't know that story. That's beautiful.

GLENN: Yeah. What do you think it is about the story about -- this was the number one show -- number one series on -- on Amazon -- on Amazon Prime this year.

What is it about the series that you think is connecting?

MICHAEL: You know, I -- I think it's different for everybody.

But I'll tell you for me.

The reason why this show means a lot to me, is because, David points us to Christ.

And -- and David is -- is a person.

He to me, is the embodiment to what it means to be human.

And to make mistakes. And find forgiveness.

It's a complex, long story.

But he was a man that -- that -- he's known as the man after God's own heart.

So for people to see that example. To see, to see the man that God loved so much, that Jesus himself was -- son of David.

I think that's what -- they see the Holy Spirit in the show. I mean, that's what I see.
And that's who I do it for.

GLENN: It's -- it's -- it's amazing to me, how -- with the exception of one, the Bible -- every single hero is so deeply flawed.

And David is so good, so good, and then, you know, becomes really, really does one of the worst things I think I've ever read in the Bible. I mean, just really bad.

MICHAEL: Yeah.

GLENN: Are you going to play -- do you have any idea, assuming the ratings are there, how long of the story you're going to tell?

MICHAEL: I really don't know. I mean, we're just trying to get to season two right now in the release.

Hopefully, pray for us, that we can get to season three, and we can keep telling the story.

I don't know what Erwin and Gunn have. What they're picking up. But I pray that we tell as much of the story as possible. I think it's important to see both the good and the bad. Like you said, to see this flawed human being, to see someone make mistakes, and to see them get back up and repent.

And ask for forgiveness. And find grace in God. So we'll see!

Pray for us.

GLENN: You -- I read some place that you were a Broadway guy. And I thought, this career is not over yet.

I mean, are you prepared to always be David?

I mean, the guy who is playing Jesus now. Jim Caviezel said, it took years before he was allowed to play anything else.

And I can't remember the guy who was playing Jesus his whole life. He is Jesus to a lot of people. Are you prepared to this be you for the rest of your life now?

And not, you know, going -- going back and doing other things, if that's the way it is?

MICHAEL: You know what, God has taken me through so much in my life, that I'm sure he's going to get me through this.

And if I'm known as the guy who plays David, I think it's actually a blessing. And I don't know what God has in store, but I trust him.

GLENN: Yeah.

MICHAEL: When that time comes, I will worry about it then. But nor for now, I'm having a great time portraying one of my favorite people.

GLENN: I just have to ask you a personal question. One for me. My daughter wants to be on Broadway. Can you talk her out of it in 30 seconds, please?

MICHAEL: Oh, man, I don't know if I want to talk her out of it.

GLENN: Okay. Well, time for you to go now.
(laughter)
Michael, thank you so much, and we're looking forward -- when does it premiere? Is it this weekend? Is it out?

MICHAEL: Well, episode eight is out on Warner Project on Prime this Sunday. Yeah.

GLENN: Okay. Good. Good.

Well, we'll be watching. Thank you so much, Michael. I appreciate it.
MICHAEL: Thank you so much, Glenn. Have a good one. Take care.
GLENN: You bet. If you haven't seen the first season, you really should see it.

It's really, really good. It's one of those that I started watching, you know.

And I stopped because I was like, wait.

Tania, we should watch this together. And she came home. And so we started watching it, and I think we watched the whole season in one weekend.

It's one of those. It's really good. Season two premieres this Sunday.