GLENN: I saw a movie -- I saw a movie, what? Yesterday -- night before last. It's -- it's Vince Flynn's first Mitch Rapp movie. American Assassin. And I -- I just think Mitch Rapp is one of the best characters in fiction now. In case you don't know, Vince is -- was the Tom Clancy, I think, of our day. He was a fantastic writer and a very good friend. And I remember sitting in -- just outside of my apartment in New York City. He and his wife and his daughter came to have dinner with me.
And we sat there. And the whole dinner, he talked about how worried he was about me with George Soros. And this was at the beginning of George Soros putting up a million dollars to destroy me and my career and everything else. And he was -- he just kept focused on that.
Then he said, I want -- I want to go up to your apartment, Glenn. Because we were -- we were going to go and have dessert. And he said, "I want to come up to your apartment. I'd really like to see -- because you really have to secure yourself."
And I said, "Okay." So we go up. And he's -- we're looking out the windows. And he's like, "Possible surveillance point." And I'm like, "Vince, for the love of Pete, I'm not living in one of your books." He said, "I'm just telling you, you're messing with George Soros." We sit down, and we're having some dessert. And he says to me, "I just found out I have cancer."
"Vince, isn't this probably a more important thing to talk about than what we've been talking about for the last 100 minutes?"
I really -- I didn't know what to say to him, other than, "If anybody is going to beat it, you are." Because he was convinced he was going to beat it, every time I spoke to him.
And then he died. He left behind a wife and daughter, just fantastic people. But he also left behind a lot of friends and amazing work.
Now, when he died, a lot of us who were fans thought, "Oh, this character cannot stop." They just made the first Vince Flynn movie: American Assassin. And it opens this weekend. I saw it, and it's absolutely fantastic.
But the series has continued with the guy named Kyle Mills who was selected -- imagine, you know, you're -- you're the replacement in the Beatles for Paul McCartney or John Lennon. And Kyle Mills stepped to the plate. And there's a new Vince Flynn novel out: Enemy of the State.
Welcome to the program, Kyle, how are you?
KYLE: I'm good. Thank you.
GLENN: Some big shoes. And we've talked about this before. Some big shoes that you have to fill. And you've done a fantastic job on it. Tell me about the new book, Enemy of the State.
KYLE: Well, this one is about Saudi Arabia and kind of puts forth whether or not maybe they had more to do with 9/11 than the governments let on.
GLENN: No.
KYLE: And those redacted pages have a lot of information in them that's been kept from the American people.
And they're not living up to their agreements to back off of the financing and supporting of terrorism.
GLENN: Well, that sounds like total fiction.
KYLE: Yeah.
GLENN: We know none of that is true.
What are you basing this on, Kyle, other than those redacted pages? Because, I mean, I love -- I love fiction writers because they -- they have to be accurate. You just have to have more information than -- than you ever let on.
What do you have, or what have you seen that led you down this path?
KYLE: Well, those pages have always kind of fascinated me, and all the other things swirling around about it that it's never been clear. No one has ever said, "Well, this is exactly what happened through the investigations." And we've completely cleared these people.
And I think there's a lot of incentive for the United States, because of its strategic interests. And this has always been the case with Saudi Arabia. We -- it seems like we'll sort of turn a blind eye to just about anything they do.
And so that was kind of what I wanted to play with. And also, because if you read Vince's book, and obviously you've talked to him quite a bit, he and I sort of share a distaste for the Saudis. So I thought it would be fun to explore that a little bit.
GLENN: Yeah. Yeah. Your dad -- if I'm not mistaken, wasn't your dad one of the investigators on the Lockerbie bombing?
KYLE: On Pan Am 103? Yeah. That happened actually when I was graduating from college. And we found out about it at my college graduation dinner, that he disappeared to Lockerbie. And I didn't see him for a few months after that.
GLENN: How much did that affect your life, having your dad -- being surrounded by military guys and having your dad do that? How much of your life do you think is a continuation of your dad's? Have we lost -- it we lose him? I'm not -- we lost him.
STU: Sounds like we did.
You want to ask me that question, or you want to ask me something? Because I can answer some interesting stuff too. I'm a pretty interesting guy.
GLENN: No. Uh-uh. Have you ever thought about that though, how much of your life is a re-run of your dad's?
STU: I know you have. This is something you've dealt with for a long time. I don't think I have.
GLENN: Is it just me that does that? I mean, I know I overanalyze everything. But I've been thinking about it a lot lately. I've been thinking about it a lot lately, on how much -- how much am I like my dad? What is -- how much is a rerun of my dad's life and a continuation of his goals?
STU: That's an interesting question. I don't know how, in the middle of a really cool action thriller movie release interview, you got there. Exactly.
GLENN: Well, because I think it's interesting that he's writing this stuff now, and his dad was -- you know, his dad was on the investigation of the Lockerbie bombing.
So, Kyle, I didn't mean to offend you if I offended you with that question. But have you thought about that of how much of your life is a continuation of -- in some ways, your dad's work?
KYLE: A lot of it. I think that incident really affected me, hearing about the reality of what was going on on the ground there. You know, it's funny because Mitch Rapp, the character starts down his path in the CIA because his -- his girlfriend died on that --
GLENN: Right.
KYLE: And, I mean, hearing the stories of that, it was such a horrific event. You know, people would call my father and say, "There are two kids sitting in their seats in my backyard. They're sitting there holding hands. I really need you to come and get them now." And he had no manpower at that point. They were just flying people in. And he would have to say, "You know, you're going to have to wait. Just close your drapes, we're going to be there as soon as we can."
And in a way, it has kind of a similar effect on me as it did the character, understanding what that thread is and how great it is.
GLENN: Except Mitch went on to kill a whole bunch of people and you started writing books.
KYLE: You know, and that's a lot easier.
GLENN: You do that Saturday morning in your underpants, in your kitchen, where Mitch isn't -- isn't doing that.
When we talk about 9/11, which this book is based on, and Saudi Arabia and everything that's going on. It's the new Vince Flynn book, Enemy of the State. Kyle Mills is the author, and he's with us now.
When we look at that, do you think we will ever find out -- in our lifetime, will we find out what the real involvement was with Saudi Arabia?
KYLE: I don't think so. I think there's such a strong strategic interest and financial interest between us and Saudi Arabia that everything like that gets buried. But, I mean, it's clear -- it's obvious they're huge financiers of terrorism and really creating the schools that put forward that philosophy.
GLENN: The American Assassin talks about a nuclear weapon being used. And I just saw it, what? Two days ago. Great movie. Great story.
But you see nuclear weapons in play and in action. That's something that, really, we haven't really dealt with since I was a kid. Do you think this is something -- as you're playing this out with Kim Jong-un, is this something that we're going to have to start really dealing with? Do you think we'll see this play out?
KYLE: You know, it's such a terrifying situation because it's almost less about Korea than it is about China. They created this problem. They refused to do anything about the problem. And then they prevent other people from doing something about that problem.
And so it just gets worse. And it's on that trajectory. And, yes, I think at some point it will happen.
GLENN: So, Kyle, what -- so what happens? What should we be doing right now in North Korea?
KYLE: I think you have to convince China to rein them in. I just -- I don't see how there's any path to us acting unilaterally or with a Western coalition, like in Korea.
GLENN: Do you believe we go to war with North Korea? Do you believe that's in the cards?
KYLE: No. No. I just don't think it's possible. I think China would come down on us, and we've been there before.
GLENN: I am thrilled to hear that. The name of the book is Enemy of the State, by Kyle Mills. The new Vince Flynn book is out and the new Vince Flynn movie, American Assassin comes out. Have you seen it yet, Kyle?
KYLE: I have.
GLENN: What did you think?
KYLE: I thought it was terrific. I absolutely loved it. I thought Dylan and Michael Keaton did an amazing job. You know, those characters are in my head eight hours a day, and it's exactly what I pictured.
GLENN: I agree with you. And I think it's a new kind of character. I mean, it makes Jason Bourne seem like -- and it was written in the Cold War. This is a whole new kind of approach to a character, and I love it.
Thank you so much, Kyle.
KYLE: Thanks.
GLENN: It's Kyle Mills. Vince Flynn's new book, Enemy of the State. A Mitch Rapp novel. And the new Mitch Rapp movie opens this weekend everywhere.