RADIONovember 02, 2022

Reporter finds 'DISTURBING' trend while covering Paul Pelosi attack in San Francisco

Michael Shellenberger is doing what all reporters SHOULD DO when covering the attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul: He is on the ground in San Francisco, knocking on as many doors as possible, and interviewing as many people as possible to try and piece together all the details. But Shellenberger, author of ‘San Fransicko,’ tells Glenn he’s witnessed reporters from mainstream media outlets being ‘lazy’ with their coverage, which by default suggests either bad journalism or political motivation. He exposes the ‘DISTURBING’ way some news reporters have covered the attack, and he explains how some have essentially swapped this story with the one about Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s near attack just months ago…

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Michael, how are you, sir?

MICHAEL: Great. Good to be back, Glenn.

GLENN: Yeah. Thank you so much for all your hard work on this.

MICHAEL: Well, thank you for having me on. I'm excited to talk about it.

GLENN: Okay. So tell me what you've found. What's true? What's not true?

MICHAEL: Well, look, what we know, this is somebody who, according to multiple witnesses, including the mother of his children. Was struggling with mental illness for over a decade. We know he was homeless for a while. We know there was extensive drug use. You know, we -- mental illness. Serious mental illness, like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, are pretty rare. But we do see a lot of drug-induced mental illness, particularly from methamphetamine use, but certainly other drugs over time can cause psychosis, which is of course the classic, you know, insanity of not being able to tell the difference between reality and your imagination.

And so what's obvious here is the alleged suspect in the attack on Nancy Pelosi's husband was in the grip of psychosis. And to blame political ideology is just what you said, it's the equivalent of blaming Martin Scorsese for making the movie Taxi Driver, on John Hinckley Jr's attack on Ronald Reagan.

It's -- the crazy ideas expressed in the blog posts of the alleged attack of Pelosi, are themselves symptoms of the underlying psychosis. It's incorrect to point to them as the cause.

GLENN: So I heard this morning, that he was in the hospital, or was this weekend.

Was those for injuries, or was he in a psych word?

MICHAEL: I don't know. It could be both. It wouldn't -- he wouldn't be hospitalized long-term, if he was in the hospital. He'll be held. He'll be diagnosed by a psychiatrist. And we'll find out soon. I mean, I think that, the good news is that the truth gets out. It was obvious to me. Because, of course, I'm very close to this. I wrote a book about this. Came out last year. It was obvious to me, as soon as I heard about who it was, and I talked to his neighbors and family members.

That this was somebody who was unwell. And this was the result of a sickness.

I was disturbed by how quickly, even so-called mainstream journalists were to even blame conservatives. Blame Republicans. Blame Trump.

You know if somebody were to be, I read Michael Shellenberger's book, and that's why I committed this crime.

It would be inappropriate to blame me for that the crime. And I think everybody knows that. But in this toxic political environment, I think it's important to remind people of that.

GLENN: We never blamed Bernie Sanders, ever. In fact, we were clear on day one. That it wasn't Bernie Sanders's fault that one of his supporters went and tried to kill all the Republicans in Congress. That's ridiculous.

MICHAEL: Right. Of course. Of course. Yeah. I'm sorry to see. Basically, I had one episode in particular. There was a reporter, who supposedly focused on disinformation at NBC News. Who came out and he tweeted at my -- my reporting, and said, oh.

My reporting had been debunked because there are all these blog posts, showing that the suspect in the attack, had written crazy things. Including their right-wing things.

But also, things about fairies. And demons.

It was very disturbing.

I have a hard time believing that that journalist didn't know that -- what was driving the suspect was -- was mental illness or psychosis. It really appeared that he was deliberately misleading people, in order to engage in partisan political behavior, just ten days before the election. And just think, it's not just on Twitter. I mean, if you watch Meet The Press yesterday, the whole program was basically dedicated to this topic. And at no point, in any of the program, did they even discuss the fact that the suspect was clearly in a psychotic state, suffering from delusions, under long-term drug use.

Instead, Chuck Todd made the whole show, about political radicalization and ideas.

And I just think, that's terrible reporting. I think it's very partisan. I won't speculate as to the motives of the journalist, but it's either bad journalism, or it's motivated by politics.

GLENN: Is it worse that they did that, or that when Kavanaugh, the guy from California, came to kill Kavanaugh, they didn't even report it on any of the Sunday night shows.

MICHAEL: Well, that's the other thing. And I wrote a post about this yesterday, Glenn. And you're absolutely right. I mean, it's disturbing.

When the Kavanaugh assassination happened, of course, I paid attention to it. But I will say this, there are many progressive and liberal people in my life, who still do not know that there was a serious fascination plot against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Because it was not covered. In anything close to this. Just as you said, three days after that assassination plot was revealed. None of the Sunday talk shows wrote about it.

The New York Times varied the story on page A20. The Pelosi assassination. Alleged assassination attempts was on the front page of the New York Times two days in a row.

You know, I'll tell you the other thing about it, is that the suspect in the Kavanaugh killing was clearly motivated by his pro-choice and his pro-gun control views. And his own lawyers, last week, said he was mentally fit to stand trial.

In other words, it appears -- again, there's more information to come. And I don't want to get ahead of it.

It appears as though the suspect of the Kavanaugh plot, was genuinely motivated by political fanaticism, not by mental illness.

Whereas, in the Pelosi case, he clearly was driven by psychosis, mental illness, drug induced, or underlying. We don't know. The media basically reversed those two stories.

And did not -- and covered the Pelosi plot attempt, as though it was driven by political fanaticism, rather than by psychosis.

STU: It really is incredible. You are from the area, Michael. And you were down there. Some of these interviews you were -- you were there, right?

MICHAEL: I was. I was. I mean, I think it's -- you know I'm a journalist at heart. And you know it's not that far from my heart. And I went down there. And I interviewed all the neighbors. I'll tell you a couple of shocking things. I won't name names, but I was not impressed by the reporting of the other journalists. Good journalism is you go and knock on all the doors, and you interview as many people as you can. I was the only one doing that.

There was a lot of laziness here. And that's also, the partisanship and the laziness are related, because if you have the idea that this was a Trump supporter, who went after Pelosi, then you don't want to go to get to the bottom of this stuff. You don't want to go through these interviews. You want to stick to your story.

So that was part of it. You know it's just -- you know when you get into it, Glenn. As you might imagine. It's a tragic story.

It's drug use. It's pedophilia. The mother of his two kids is in prison for basically child molestation. She was a crazy person. She herself is something -- I think she probably has a personality disorder and long-term drug use. The kids were in that house. They apparently weren't going to school. I mean, this is a real -- it's basically a symptom of exactly the problems I describe in San Fransicko, which is that we stop enforcing basic laws. And when you stop enforcing laws against people that are suffering mental illness or are addicted to hard drugs, they don't get that help they need.

And I think that's part of the lesson here. Is that this tragedy could have been averted if we enforce basic laws and mandated drug treatment. And psychiatric care for the people who need it.

It's not that every time someone -- you arrest somebody for breaking a law, that they have to go to prison or be punished. Certainly, some people do. But other people are just sick. And I think what we'll discover, as time goes on. The suspect in the Pelosi attack was somebody who was very ill. And needed to get treatment mandated. Many, many years ago. But didn't get it. Because we're in the grip of frankly some radical left political ideas.

GLENN: Did you see the op-ed by -- gosh, who was it?

Shoot. Lost his name. The guy who -- who just wrote this weekend, about the you know op-ed about Tom Cotton at the New York Times.

And how -- yeah. He's an op-ed columnist. And he even didn't say anything about it. He said, because we were afraid to.

When you said a minute ago, that you know they don't want to find it. How many are afraid to do their job in -- in journalism?

MICHAEL: Well, I was afraid. You know, my story. I came from the radical left. I considered myself a moderate. I'm politically independent.

But, yeah. I was afraid on everything. And you know partly you worry about losing your friends.

You worry about upsetting your family. You worry about not making a living. What you're describing is a column from Washington Post reporter, Eric Wimple who writes a media column. And to his credit, there was an ambivalent reaction to it, interestingly enough. But basically to his credit, he came out and said it was wrong for the New York Times to fire its op-ed page editor, who ran, of course, this op-ed by Senator Cotton, arguing for the use of the National Guard and US troops to put down the riots.

Well, he was not only -- the New York Times, because of the outrage, by its woke journalist staff. They basically denounced the op-ed. Fired the op-ed editor.

Everybody watched it happen. Knew it was wrong. To his credit. Whatever it was, like two years new. This columnist, at the Washington Post, said that that was wrong.

You know I think it's good. You know it's better late than never.

And he's one of the first people to say it.

Yeah. It's kind of -- it's social fear. You worry about your friends and family. It's also a financial fear. Like, am I getting fired from my job?

This is really serious stuff.

And I think that the partisanship. And you always emphasize this.

I think it's so important. We need to allow disagreements in our society. We need to appreciate and reward it.

I'm always shocked by how many people -- instead of being like, oh. I disagree with you. They're like, you should stop saying that. They want people to stay quiet.

GLENN: Right. Right. We're with Michael Shellenberger. We'll get more facts on -- I have a few more facts on what's true, what's not true. Then, I want to also talk to him about this push from the Democrats, to nationalize our gas and oil.

Hello, Venezuela. We'll go there, in 60 seconds.
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GLENN: So I think, Michael, because you have experience in your family with schizophrenia. I think it was your aunt.

MICHAEL: Yes.

GLENN: So you've seen it firsthand.

MICHAEL: Yeah. So it's interesting. Of course, when you're a child, and you know she -- she would say crazy things. So your parents have to explain to you, what's going on. And it is a little scary. Of course, it helps to have your parents there to kind of talk you through it. But, yeah. She thought the president of the United States.

I think it was Ford. Yeah. I think it was Ford or Nixon. They were communicating with her.

So I think -- there's a reaction, that they'll have in this case. That okay. Maybe he was like psychotic. But there's all these terrible conspiracy theories out there. And those need to stop.

Well, no. First of all, we have freedom of speech. And that means we actually have people have conspiracy theories. We let people believe all sorts of things. That's the point of a free society. So the idea that we'll get rid of certain ideas, is a very bad road to go down. The other thing is just that psychotic people will always find some justification for their behaviors. That's different than suggesting that those are the motivations. I do think that this is something that people can get. But you have to think about it for a minute. Which is that -- and we know this is true for everybody. Is that you have a motivation to do something. But you might give a different reason for why you did it. Well, people who are psychotic, they give crazier reasons often. But in many cases, I look at this, and I suspect that what we'll discover is that this was somebody who was lost. You know he lost his wife and kids.

GLENN: Right.

MICHAEL: He wasn't able to hold down a good job. He was using heavy drugs. His motivation was probably to somehow make his life better. As crazy as that sounds. To be a hero, or something like that. He had some story in his head, about how he was going to become a hero. This is how often these guys think, by making this attack. And that's ultimately what was driving it.

Not some political radicalization.

GLENN: Yeah. But there are few things about the story, that I don't know if they're true or not.

You know I -- I look at these things. And the reason why we have a plethora of conspiracy theories, is because we no longer trust the media. We no longer trust the government, to tell us anything close to the truth.

And then there are arming things that just kind of hang out in the air. And nobody explains them. And it doesn't fit in with the -- with the story line, that the media is going for.

First of all, is it that make sense to you? You think that's right?

MICHAEL: Yeah. Sure. The media, they're partisan now. Maybe they've always been. Although, I think there's no doubt, that it's gotten worse. So when this happened, they rushed to make this a story about why you should not vote for Republicans.

I mean, it's just sort of tragic.

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.