GLENNFebruary 24, 2017

Want to Help Stop Sex Trafficking in Thailand? Here's Your Chance

Bangkok remains a lightning rod for sex trafficking with one of the most active networks for selling and buying children. Tim Ballard with Operation Underground Railroad (OUR) likened the ease of buying a child for sex with ordering Chinese food from a menu.

"You walk down the street, you're going to see window displays of half nude women and minors dancing. If you go into the places . . . you're going to see a stage with minors and adults mixed," Ballard explained about an upcoming trip he'll be taking to that very spot with Glenn.

"You're going to see westerners everywhere. You're going to see people, they're going to come up to you with a laminated menu like they're selling Chinese food. Would you like number one, two or four, and you're going to see on the laminated menu sex acts."

Glenn's response was visceral.

"Oh, my god. Why do they not shut this down?" he asked.

Ballard is trying to do just that in partnership with the government of Thailand --- but he needs help.

"We're looking for somebody that we desperately need," Ballard appealed.

OUR is currently looking to hire someone with experience in undercover work, child exploitation and digital forensic, preferably a former undercover operator from the government who is perhaps retired. The cherry on top would be someone who speaks Thai.

"It's kind of a long list, but we need someone over there . . . the Thai government wants it. They want us to provide someone who can provide guidance. They would work as an informant, signed up and certified by the Thai police."

Interested parties may contact OUR online.

GLENN: Welcome to the program. Tim Ballard is with us. Tim is an author, multibooks. One of them is the Covenant, which was the first book that I was introduced to you with, which talks about the covenant that this -- that George Washington made at the time of our founding. Cover this real quick.

TIM: Yeah, he believed that there was a power. He tapped into the power of ancient Israel. I mean, he believed that the ancient Israelites have created something, a society with god, and it brought miracles and created a foundation of liberty. He utilized that, got the office to make those same covenants, got the army to make those same covenants, and the theory goes that that's how we won, earned independence.

GLENN: Right.

So we were in Haiti a couple of months ago, Pat was with us. And it is evil. I mean, there is something very dark in Haiti that you just -- your heartbreaks for the people that are there. I mean, look at Haiti. It's always destroyed over and over and over again. I understand weather patterns and everything else. But they have been from the beginning, they were a slave station, and then they had a revolution. And I found out this time when I was there -- and this is kind of hearsay -- they teach this in Haiti, don't they?

TIM: Oh, they teach it. It's part of their culture. Part of the society.

GLENN: So at the time, we were making the American covenant, Haiti made the Haitian covenant, but it's the exact opposite.

TIM: Yeah.

GLENN: Do you know the story?

TIM: They teach the political leaders got together and made a pact with the dark side. I mean, they teach -- this is not me talking. It's what they're telling me. They believe it. It's taught. It's believed and so many good people there are trying to get out from under this.

GLENN: And this is really where voodoo and everything else comes from; right?

PAT: That's creepy.

TIM: Totally. There's voodooism in there and there's a lot of darkness around that.

GLENN: Right. And the slaves, they killed -- wasn't Haiti French?

TIM: Right the -- it's a great story. I mean, it's the only country that gained its independence through a slave revolution. They rose up. The same year I believe our bill of rights.

GLENN: Yeah, 1791.

TIM: 1791. They rose up and pushed the French up. The French then moved over to New Orleans. That's how we got all of that voodoo in New Orleans from that revolution because that's where they ran away. And then they never fully got all of the slave mentality.

GLENN: Yeah, they just started enslaving each other.

TIM: Until today, it's still going on.

GLENN: It's absolutely crazy. And I don't know. I mean, Tim and I were just talking about this while we were over there, and I would love to find a scholar on Haiti that really knows to find out if there's truth to that. You know, a lot of people will dismiss that, but people dismiss that the American covenant.

TIM: Of course.

GLENN: I absolutely believe in the American covenant. What's the rabbi's name that wrote the book on the covenant the harbinger. Have you ever read that?

TIM: Yeah. I actually introduced it to Jonathan, our books came out at the same time.

PAT: So have you heard of it?

GLENN: Tim, let me tell you something about the harbinger.

STU: Let me tell you about something called operation rescue. It's incredible.

GLENN: Okay. Smart guy. So we're getting ready in just a couple of hours to get onto a plane and spend 20 hours on a plane to get to Bangkok.

TIM: Yes.

GLENN: But you're not taking me to the nice places in Bangkok.

TIM: Oh, no.

PAT: Are there nice places in Bangkok?

GLENN: It's supposedly beautiful.

TIM: The city's beautiful. Yeah.

GLENN: You're taking me to a place in Bangkok -- can you say the name?

TIM: I'm not going to say the name we're taking you.

GLENN: So we're going some place that has been described -- not only by you, but several other people not with the organization who say there is no place on earth or in hell that is quite as bad as this.

TIM: True. This is true.

GLENN: Explain.

TIM: We're going to take you to a place, that I think I described earlier today. It's a small world ride add Disneyland but imagine as all those kids are -- this is horrible. But they're being sold for sex. You walk down the street, you're going to see window displays of half nude women and minors dancing. If you go into the places, and I don't know -- guide me how far you want to go.

GLENN: I want to see it. I want to see it all.

TIM: You're going to see a stage with minors and adults mixed.

GLENN: And they're selling them.

TIM: They're selling them. It's like an auction block. There's a Russian sector, a Japanese sector, an Arab sector.

GLENN: That is for who is being bought or who is buying?

TIM: It's for who is being sold.

GLENN: So the Russian. This is a Russian boy.

TIM: Right.

GLENN: This is an Arab boy.

TIM: What do you want? A Russian boy on Friday? And we'll show you the Arab boy you can take. And it's mostly westerners. You're going to see westerners everywhere. You're going to see people, they're going to come up to you with a laminated menu like they're selling Chinese food. Would you like number one, two, or four, and you're going to see on the laminated menu sex acts, and they're going to try to entice you --

GLENN: Oh, my god. Why do they not shut this down?

PAT: Yeah.

TIM: Thailand thrives -- its economy thrives on this tourist industry. But they are serious about getting into the underbelly of this, which is the child part of it. And we have met -- we worked very hard to vet out who we can work with and the government. We have found some amazing people. We just built a digital forensic lab.

GLENN: We're cutting the ribbon on that, are we not?

TIM: Yes, absolutely.

GLENN: So explain what this is. We have a job for somebody. Everybody says, oh, I wish I could help. I'm going to give you two ways that you can help. And one is really getting into it. But you have to have special qualifications.

TIM: Yes.

GLENN: So explain that.

TIM: So we just built together with some U.S. agencies a state-of-the-art digital forensic lab, which you can't -- see, all of these kids are being sold online. They're being sold on escort sites, sold on places the only way you can preserve and identify and grab the evidence is through forensic tools. And it's this beautiful lab that they can now go in and find these guys. What happens is westerners come over, Americans come over, they get online, they know where to go, and they get introduced into these networks. So if they don't have a lab to be able to intercept these dark deals going on on the dark net and other places.

GLENN: This is on dark net?

TIM: A lot of it is on dark net. Absolutely. But we've given them the tools so that they can intervene in the deals.

GLENN: So to keep it clean to make sure it's good and to oversee it, you're looking for who?

TIM: We're looking for somebody that we desperately need. Somebody who has -- preferably former undercover operator from the government who is perhaps retired, has a lot of experience in -- not only undercover work but child exploitation, digital forensic if possible. And preferably speaks Thai. So it's kind of a long list, but we need someone over there that the Thai government wants it. They want us to provide someone who can provide guidance. They could work as -- they would work as an informant signed up and certified by the Thai police.

GLENN: Now, here's the challenge, audience. When he said this, he said to me we so desperately need it, and I said come on our show. We'll talk about it. You'll have somebody by the end of the week.

He didn't tell me he had to also speak Thai. I mean, I can't --

TIM: That's a cherry on top. That's not a requirement.

GLENN: We are looking for somebody who really has not only the experience but the soul of steel because honestly, you know, I don't know how you do it. I don't know how -- how many times before you had the perspective of anything I'm going through is nothing compared to the kids? How many times a week or a day did you think I can't do this another second?

TIM: All the time. There's -- I was thinking about that as you were talking earlier. I remember times -- especially in the beginning where I would see an image -- I see my kids faces in all the kids that we see. I can't see it. I used to hate it. I now appreciate it because it keeps my heart fully in the game. But there were times when I would literally get in my car, leave work, drive to my kids school, check my kids out, take them home, and just put my arms around them and hug them and not let them leave me. I mean, that's -- that was a lot in the beginning times and the beginning part of my career. But I appreciate that. I appreciate that I see my kids faces. We all should. Because there are kids that they don't have -- if any child that has no parent --

GLENN: What is suicide rate among your colleagues in the world? I mean, what is the drinking rate? There has got to be a number of people who do not have faith like you do that just can't take the daily beating.

TIM: They don't usually allow someone to stay in that work for more than a couple years before they rotate them out. There's a required psychological evaluation that we have to go through and my guys go through -- we have a psychologist who's volunteer but resident psychologist who regularly checks up on us. It's devastating. You're in hell. I mean, you have to go in hell to pull these kids out.

GLENN: So if you really want to make a difference, you would have to relocate to Thailand.

TIM: Yes.

GLENN: But you would be working at this state-of-the-art digital lab. I've heard a lot of people say Glenn, you can't work with the Thai government. And they've said that about the Haiti government and everything else. You are very careful on who you're working with. You know this game because you've seen it from the governmental side.

TIM: Absolutely. We've taken months and months to make sure we're working with the right people in the government and that we are working with the --

GLENN: And, Pat, when we were in Haiti, talk about the guy that we saw at dinner that came in and the -- that guy, I don't know how that guy doesn't get killed at some point in his life. Do you remember him, Pat?

PAT: Which one.

GLENN: The guy who came in, and he had just arrested the president's bodyguard for abuse of children and put him in prison and then the president, the old president said, no, I pardon him. Let him out. And this guy went back and rearrested him.

PAT: Yeah.

TIM: Yeah.

PAT: The courage of that guy.

GLENN: Oh, my gosh.

PAT: Just really amazing.

GLENN: I mean, there are some of these guys that are really dedicated.

TIM: What happened with that guy, he was the detective on the first rescue we did. You know, how they -- a lot of Haitian traffickers set up these fake orphanages where people bring in the kids, and they sell them. And he helped us liberate 28 children. The very first operation, we got 28 kids out, and you met a lot of them. That -- he was a detective at the time. He just became a chief of the child crimes unit for Haiti and one of his first calls was to us and said, guys, I'm in charge now. Get down here. Let's operate. That's what led to the Super Bowl rescue.

GLENN: We're going to talk about that here in a second. And I want to tell you something really, really -- and I think really exciting and something you want to get involved with. Operation underground railroad. It's OurRescue.org. You can get involved a million different ways from giving $5 a month to being on a prayer team. Go to OurRescue.org. Back in just a second.

[break]

GLENN: I said to Tim, I don't remember where we were, and I think he thought I was joking or would like it if I was joking, but I wasn't. I think the time will come that you there -- somewhere in the world, there will be a statute built of Tim Ballard.

TIM: You promised with me you would never share that thought.

JEFFY: I believe it.

STU: That is Glenn Beck. He will tell you that off the air and then on the air, it doesn't count.

GLENN: Because I have a bad memory, and I don't remember things like that.

PAT: And because he wants to say it.

STU: He wants to say it. That's a good reason not to make the promise; right? If you can't remember not to say it later.

GLENN: So I want to say this blanket for anybody in my life that doesn't already know this, I mean, there's a reason I have very few friends.

STU: Right.

PAT: Yes.

STU: I'm kind of interested in this trip. Because you've got Glenn Beck going to Bangkok while you're doing slums.

GLENN: The slums of bang cock.

STU: You're doing this amazing work to try to rescue these children, and you're saying that this area is loaded with westerners. I mean, Glenn, people -- wouldn't you think that someone might recognize him. This is not the time to come up for an autograph, by the way.

TIM: Yeah, we were talking to Glenn's security earlier. How do we prevent -- before we get the message out with the headlines and tabloids Glenn Beck caught in brothel. Pictures. And I thought, oh, my gosh what if that happens?

GLENN: Jeez. I never thought of it that way.

TIM: You can use it to your advantage later, though. Because once you come up with the truth --

GLENN: The press would never report the truth. They would never report the truth. Glenn Beck caught buying 6-year-old boys. I never even thought of that.

PAT: Yeah, that could be bad.

GLENN: I just thought of the westerners. I heard Glenn, you need to do some things. And I thought somebody might recognize me, and it could queer what we were trying to do.

JEFFY: Are you taking three or four planes? I don't know if you've ever traveled with Glenn before, but he doesn't necessarily travel light.

GLENN: So here's the thing. So --

STU: You want to go there. Look, he's doing actual work there.

GLENN: I'm doing actual work too.

STU: You want to tell these stories and see -- I mean, because it's one thing to talk about this in the abstract. It's another thing to actually be there and --

JEFFY: No kidding.

GLENN: See your life going to Haiti? Yeah, changes your life to see this. And this something I really want to -- I really want to talk about. Let me ask you this question, and I ask this of everybody of the floor crew.

If we went back in time, and it was, you know, 1860, and we were fighting against slavery, it is 1840, and you find out about slavery, how many of us say we would definitely be an abolitionist, and we would stand against it?

STU: Absolutely.

GLENN: Absolutely. Raise your hand if that's right. Everybody in the room would say I'm an abolitionist. I think that's bull crap.

STU: Yeah, because of the pressures of the time.

GLENN: Pressures of the time. It's easy to overlook it. It's easy to say oh, you know. And people --

JEFFY: They're fine.

GLENN: I met somebody yesterday that was on the television show with me who sat in the front row, didn't know what the show was about, it was about this, and he said I can't thank you enough for doing this show today. I'm here. And every time you guys talk about this, I turned the TV channel because I don't want to see any of the pictures. I don't want to see any of it. And I'm forced now to sit here and watch it. I couldn't walk out from the studio. And couldn't ask you guys to talk about something else, so I've looked at it, and he said life changing. What am I doing? What am I doing?

And I think most of us wouldn't be doing anything because there are more slaves today than all of the slave trade from the beginning of the western slave trade to the end, all of those combined. It's only a fraction of those who are actually enslaved today.

STU: That's one of those stats that you hear and don't believe.

GLENN: Do you have the numbers? Do you have the actual numbers? Or anywhere close to the numbers?

TIM: Yeah, the estimates are around 30 million -- that's conservative.

STU: Yep.

TIM: 30 million people.

GLENN: Today.

TIM: Alive right now. Are in slavery.

STU: And there was something like 15 million in the -- slave trade from the 1500s to the 1880s.

GLENN: Right.

STU: That's incredible.

GLENN: That's spread out over hundreds of years, and we're double the number today.

PAT: Yeah.

GLENN: So what is it we're doing about it? OurRescue.org.

[break]

GLENN: I'm leaving the studio and heading to Bangkok, and I will be back Monday afternoon, so I'll be back on the air Tuesday. 40 hours in the air, less than 30 hours on the ground and hope to bring back some stories, not of the vice but of the virtue. The things that are really happening, that are a bright light, and we are concentrating on this over the world because we're all connected to this. And in Bangkok, we are one of the main sources of the buyers. I mean, we are --

PAT: We as Americans; right?

GLENN: As Americans.

PAT: Uh-huh.

GLENN: It is -- I've only seen the stats. I have not experienced it myself. But looking at the stats, America and the west, we ship all of our dirtbags over there. They're all taking dirt bag vacations, and I don't know how you stop that. I mean, other than drying up the source. But we -- I can't even imagine what people in Bangkok think of American men because it's so grotesque what happens over there.

TIM: Well, you arrest enough of them, and you start creating a deterrent.

GLENN: Well, what was it? Columbia?

TIM: Yeah, in Columbia we did about three or four operations, big ones. Got the media, and we went back a month later after that and no one would sell kids. They wouldn't even talk about it, referencing all of these Americans keep getting arrested. And I was an undercover operator in Columbia, and we walked around the corner, and he was crying. He said Tim, this is worked. We shut it down, at least for a time. We have to keep hitting it. Keep hitting it. And empowering law enforcement until a deterrent is laid.

GLENN: I'm telling you, this changes lives, and this is something that all of us can agree on. I'm taking Samantha, she was supposed to come to Bangkok with me, Samantha B. She couldn't because of scheduling at the last minute. But she has said definitely I'm coming to Uganda, where we're going to find these devil worshipers and free these children from being human sacrifices. But this is something that we considering on and come together. This -- being an abolitionist will heal our wounds. It will heal our wounds and heal our country. I'm convinced of it. We just have to get the word out. And every time anybody gets involved at the smallest level, all of a sudden they want -- for instance, the guy who -- and I don't want to say anything about him. I don't want to say what agency he came from or anything else. But he gave up a gigantic gig.

TIM: Huge gig.

GLENN: Huge gig. And walked away from it and said "I think I have a skill to be able to help find the bad guys."

And he is -- he's one of the nicest, most prayerful guys you can imagine, and we were just in Haiti. Your team could not find the big kahuna, if you will. He said let me go, he took a plane, flew over, within what? Two hours?

TIM: Yep within two hours, he found the...

GLENN: Kingpin.

TIM: The kingpin of the whole thing. How he operates, he sent the police of the nightclub, we sent three teams in. We couldn't find it. This guy says let me try. He goes outside, says a prayer with his small team. And he walks in. And he's like it's like Finding Dory. Just keep swimming. And the lord literally guides him to the right person who then introduces him to the other person. He might have to go a mile down the street to the house with the red door and boom.

GLENN: He's most unlikely. You would meet this guy.

PAT: I didn't realize he completely walked away from his business?

TIM: Pretty much the whole thing.

GLENN: Okay. Enough.

PAT: Amazing.

GLENN: Yeah, he's an amazing man. He's going with us.

TIM: He'll be there.

GLENN: Yeah. One thing because we're getting ready to go on a plane, you've got to go as well. But I want to leave with this. I look at my life differently than I have. I believe we're living in a time in history where scholars like Tim who wrote about George Washington and the covenant, those scholars are going to be looking back at these times. And we're going to be studied either because we made it or because we failed. This is the moment of truth for the United States. We're either going to make it, or we're not. This is the pivot point. And scholars will study for generations what did the people do?

We're going to be remembered horribly on things like abortion. Horribly. It's only a matter of time before science just proves all of these lies that it's not really a baby. Completely untrue.

Slavery. To be so entertained with the things that were entertained and to argue about the things we're arguing about now, think of that and then think of 35 million slaves and children as young -- literally. You've pulled them out at 2 years old.

TIM: Absolutely.

GLENN: People having sex with a 2-year-old. What are we doing? People say every time they're involved a little bit, I want to go. I want to help. I want to do.

I don't. I really don't want to see the bad stuff. I don't want to go on a bus. I don't want to be a part of any of that. I want to be part of the good stuff, of the healing afterwards. But I really don't even have the skill to do anything there, but I have my resources that I can apply to this, my talent. There are people who have no talent to help in this regard. They may not have any money to help in this regard. But there are different ways and Tim has just posted them on the website. They're up now?

TIM: Yeah, they are.

GLENN: At our rescue. Different ways for you to get involved. As simple as I want to be on the prayer team. I want to pray when things will going down, I want to be on my knees and just praying for the teams.

So simple things like that all the way to working in Bangkok. We're looking -- is that job going to be posted up on the website? Or how do they find out?

TIM: We're going to start with this.

GLENN: Okay.

TIM: And see what happens.

GLENN: Okay. And, again, you need to be somebody who has worked in this industry for an agency.

TIM: Yes.

GLENN: Have some experience, hopefully computer experience.

TIM: And undercover operations.

GLENN: Undercover operations.

TIM: And then they would go to OurRescue.org and send an e-mail and say I heard it on Glenn Beck, here's what I want. Here's my rÈsumÈ. We'll be waiting.

GLENN: They do use retired Special Forces, but that's not -- you can't just call up and say, hey, I want to go on a mission. Here's what they really need. $5. Literally $5. Almost everyone that they have freed and are -- we not only take them and free them, the most important part is they're put into a safe house and sometimes they're kept until they're 18, until they are out of trouble, and they have schooling, they have a family, if you will, and they are deprogrammed from all of this stuff. $5 a month. You can go to OurRescue.org and just sign up and say I want to do $5. You can do more. But $5 has Abraham Lincoln's face on it.

It's one thing to say I want to give $500. Okay. Great. But why not give $10 a month for the next year? Give $5. Give 25. Give 100. Almost everyone has been rescued from donations less than $40; is that right.

TIM: Yeah, that's right.

GLENN: Most of everybody in this audience. I would imagine that this audience is the main funder for our rescue?

TIM: Oh, yeah. Yes.

GLENN: And I know this -- he won't say this, but I know this because I've talked to people around him that are trying to get this story out. This is such a hard thing to talk about that, you know, CNN, fox, while they'll cover things, they do not want to cover it because they know it's impossible. I'm not talking about their heart. I'm talking about ratings. They know this is a kiss of death to, hey, let's come on the morning show, and let's talk about sex slavery. Nobody wants to talk about it.

This is the moment of abolition. This is the moment where we can actually change the world and come together. I'm asking if you will go to OurRescue.org and donate and become a monthly supporter of rescue -- of our rescue and operation underground railroad. OurRescue.org. Tim, I will see you in a little while at the airplane.

TIM: Yes, we will.

GLENN: As we go to Bangkok.

TIM: Excellent.

GLENN: Thank you, sir.

TIM: Thank you.

RADIO

“He was one of ours, and he was taken”: Megyn Kelly remembers Charlie Kirk

Glenn Beck and Megyn Kelly remember their friend, TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk, a day after he was assassinated at Utah Valley University. They also discuss the manhunt for the killer.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Yesterday was such a surreal day. I was getting to record my special last night. It was in the afternoon. And I'm sitting here in my studio, and I look at the stairs through this glass door that I have here. And my wife is on the phone, and she's standing in the stairway.

And she has her, her hand gripping the stair rail. And I could see it in her eyes, she was on the phone. And I could see confusion, and I could see trouble.

And in my ear, I'm hearing, five, four, three -- and I said, "Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. I need 30 seconds. I need to talk to my wife."

And I motioned for her to come in. And in a confused and dazed sort of way, she kind of stumbles into the room.

And I said, "What's happening, honey?"

And she said, "It's Cheyenne."

I didn't know what that meant. As a dad, you can imagine. I said, "Is she okay? What -- what's happening?"

She meant, it's Cheyenne on the phone.

Cheyenne had just gotten past the crush of the crowd. She called her mom. She said, "Charlie Kirk's just been shot."

"What?"

She sent me some video, and I knew it was true, but hoped for the best until a few minutes later somebody else sent me video that I hope you did not see, of the bullet striking him.

It must have been like what it was when you first saw the Zapruder film, or if you were standing in the Grassy Knoll. You just knew.

I was on with Megyn Kelly, and we were holding on to the hope that he was somehow or another going to survive that. And Megyn said at one point, I don't know why I'm not announcing what everybody else is announcing. But I just can't.

Megyn joins us now. Hi, Megyn.

MEGYN: Hi, Glenn.

GLENN: What a weird 24 hours it has been. Where are you this morning, in unraveling this knot in your head?

MEGYN: I still don't have my arms around it. I -- I don't feel like I've totally digested the fact that he's gone and the way in which he was taken. You know, Charlie truly was such a larger than life figure. We say that term. But it -- it was true about him. At six-five, he truly seemed larger than most of us. And he was, in his gifts, in his tirelessness. And just knowing exactly where the scene. Every story was.

And his raw courage. So many times. We like to think we're courageous in our commentary. You look at Charlie, and you think, now that's try courage. He -- he would just say it like it was.

The things you might be thinking in your head, but you might not want to say explicitly, he said. And he took a lot of slings and arrows for it and was demonized for being all the terrible things, as opposed to people taking him on and saying, "Does he have a point?"

GLENN: You know, I said earlier today, you don't kill the weak. People don't want to try to heal. They just want to speak in anger at times. And anger is part of the grieving process. And I know I'm angry.

But Charlie would face that anger. And what people think is weakness, by showing love and compassion and listening and just having a decent conversation, that's one of the reasons why he was killed. He wasn't -- he wasn't killed because he was weak. Just like Gandhi wasn't weak. He -- he -- he was killed because he was effective.

Megyn, where do we go from here?

She dropped. Can we get her back on the phone. I got an email from somebody today. This morning.

And I want to share the email. I won't share the name. It's short. But I -- I also think I should share the -- my response. Because I think it's how most of us feel.

It -- it comes from a very well-known conservative leader. Glenn, I am devastated this morning.

I am in deep mourning for Charlie. I am in mourning for his family and our country.

And I don't know how to surface from this. I don't know if I do either.

But I would like to share my thoughts with you, a little later on. Megyn is with me.

Megyn, how do we process this? How do we surface from this?

MEGYN: You know, I think as many lost -- we -- we all have to go through the denial and the bargaining. You know, I'm still refreshing my X account, like hoping somehow there's a reversal. You know, like somehow it was all wrong. Somehow we got it all wrong. You know, sometimes the media gets it wrong. It -- it's absurd. We know what the answer is.

But that's a natural reaction when you had a sudden loss in particular. And anger is completely appropriate now too. It's completely appropriate.

You know, we are going to catch this guy. You know, that FBI presser they just held which is very encouraging.

They -- and two things that happened this morning that are of note, Glenn. First, Steven Crowder who is very solid on his law enforcement leak reporting. He has -- he has a proven track history. He's the one that got the manifesto from the trans shooter in Nashville before anyone else. And that's not all.

He's had other leaks, posting a document saying he received from an ATF source on the investigation.

And that says that they retrieved the gun in the would see, behind the campus. Wrapped in a towel. And that there were three unspent cartridges in the gun. That had transgender and antifascist ideology. Something written on them.

Now, that piece of -- that last piece of it was not confirmed by the FBI at the presser they just held, but every other thing was.

The Crowder report was confirmed in every detail, including naming the kind of gun. He had that right. He had the location right. He had the trail and the tracking of the suspect right.

They did not volunteer the business about what was written on the cartridges, nor did anyone there ask. Because those reporters almost certainly don't follow Steven Crowder because those reporters will probably tell you, he's not to be trusted.

Now, this is an early report. And it could turn out to be wrong. But that's the update as far as we know it.

And the FBI revealing that they have a picture of him, that they did, of course, track him on his way to the shooting spot with surveillance cameras, of course, on these college campuses. We would expect that in dorms or class buildings.

And they appear confident. At least to me. That they've got the guy. And if they've got the weapon, Glenn. Well, they may or may not have fingerprints.

But they almost certainly have DNA. They almost certainly DNA, which I'm sure they're uploading right now, into every database, they can.

You know, within we saw -- they're not supposed to use the public databases. Sorry, private like 23andme or Ancestry.com. Though, in Culverter (phonetic), they did. And that is how they found Culverter. Sometimes they do.

And even just a public database of DNA. Can lead you at least to a family member somewhere near a shooter or suspect. And then it's just a matter of charts and a few hours in getting to that person's relative. So I believe they will find the shooter.

And then we'll know the ideology. And then we'll have a place to put some of the anger. Like, an explanation or something that will help us understand what deranged person. And I don't mean that in a clinical sense. Did this yesterday.

I just feel like, I don't know where to go, until I figure out who did this and why.

GLENN: It was about midnight last night, when I talked to the president.

And he was very clear, that we will find whoever is responsible for this. And justice will be served.

He was extraordinarily confident in that. Which gave me an awful lot of hope.

I don't know if you saw his speech last night, that he gave from the oval.

But I thought -- very powerful. Hit exactly the right tone.

Hit exactly the right tone.

But I think the days of us fooling around and nibbling at the edges. I think those days are over.

MEGYN: I agree. And one of the things that Trump said last night that was so good was, he used the word "terrorism." That's exactly right. You know, that's -- that is how a lot of us are feeling.

And I know you've had the same experience I've had in the last 24 hours, Glenn, where virtually everybody I know in the media business has reached out. I think there are a lot of folks who are in Arlene, in particular, in conservative media, who are very rattled by this because he was one of ours.

And he was taken. You know, he -- obviously, we all have concerns about personal security now with the shooter at loose. You know, at large as well. But I just mean that -- like the betrayal and the need to rise up and protect ours. And the people we value and love.

You know, this is like -- I don't want to say a call to arms. Because I'm not encouraging violence. But, I mean, a unifying call for us to stand shoulder to shoulder and stand up.

GLENN: Yeah. It is absolutely a wake-up call. To anybody who thought, you know, "Oh, it's just going to pass us by," it's not. This is -- this is the call of our age. And how we respond, is going to determine the future of freedom in this country. But I have great confidence that we will respond just as we did after 9/11.

We responded with conviction. We responded with an intelligence sort of way. We overreacted in some ways, that I would like to avoid this time.

But we came together as a nation, and did what had to be done.

For the preservation of our nation.

Now, if we can have the moderation lesson learned this time. Perhaps we will be good. But I think the days of Antifa not feeling any ramifications for their work and others, those days are over! As of yesterday.

Megyn -- I just -- go ahead.

MEGYN: Go ahead, Glenn. I was just going to say. One of the things we did after 9/11 was when the stock market opened two days later. We -- we all bought stocks. We just -- it could have been a 5-dollar to being. But everyone did it to send a message that the financial center would stand. And I think we are going to see a reaction on college campuses when it comes to free speech by conservatives unlike we've ever seen before. In a similar vein.

GLENN: I agree. I'm proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with you, Megyn. And be in the trenches with you all the time. You are a light in a lot of darkness. And I appreciate our years of friendship. And everything that you've done for the country. Thank you!

MEGYN: Likewise, my friend. Thanks for having me.

RADIO

“Our country has changed forever”: Charlie Kirk's BlazeTV friends reflect on his death

BlazeTV hosts Liz Wheeler, Steve Deace, and Allie Beth Stuckey join Glenn Beck to reflect on the assassination of their friend, Charlie Kirk. They also discuss where the conservative movement goes from here and what they believe the impact of his death will be.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: I spoke to you yesterday. And we were both pretty raw at the time. How are you doing this morning?

LIZ: I -- I am in a fog of grief, Glenn. I think that a lot of us are -- it still feels very unbelievable what happened to our very dear friend, Charlie Kirk. I feel like I'm floating up outside of my body in a sense, watching all of this unfold.

It's quite something to see the reaction, from the American people over this assassination. I think you're correct when you say that our country has changed forever. I think this is one of the most significant -- not just political assassinations, but political events that we've experienced since the inception of our country.

And I think I've been praying about this, since you and I spoke for so long yesterday.

I've been thinking about this endlessly.

Obviously, on my knees, praying for sweet Erica and Charlie and Erica's two babies. But I think one of the things that's happened in the last 24 hours is people in our country, and I don't even want to say conservatives.

I don't want to say right-wingers because it's not just that, have realized that Charlie is so normal. He's not radical. He's not extreme.

He's not bombastic. He's not edgy. He's just a regular guy. And he's kind. And they killed him because of those beliefs and opinions, those principles and values, Glenn, that we share with him.

And you and I work in this industry, and you've written a lot of books about this political enemy that we face, and we talk about it a lot.

But for the majority of the American people, this is the first time, Glenn, that they're realizing, exactly who this political enemy that we face is.

And it's jarring, and it's gut-wrenching. Because they realize, that just as easily as they assassinated Charlie Kirk and are now dancing on his grave, they want to do that to us, too. (crying)

GLENN: Liz, I -- and I know you do. I have such faith in the Lord. And I know -- I don't know how our lives end.

I don't know how things work out. But I know everything that happens is used for his good. There is no way to thwart God's plan. You can make it -- you can make getting there harder. You can make getting there more painful.

But if we trust in him, great and glorious things are going to happen. Because of this.

LIZ: Charlie once said --

GLENN: Go ahead.

LIZ: Charlie once said, when someone asked him what he wanted to be known for the most -- and he wore a lot of hats, so he could have picked a lot of different accomplishments and identities. And he said he wanted to be known for his faith.

And that's -- it's so powerful. You and I are clinging to God right now. Everyone sitting here with us is clinging to God. I'm literally sitting here, gripping a rosary as we talk. Evil happens in our world, and we all ask that question, "Why? Why does God allow bad things to happen to good and innocent people?"

And, you know, as Father Mike Schmitz reminded us yesterday, "When evil happens, that is not God's perfect will. It is God's permissive will, which is very different."

God allowed Charlie's death to happen, but he did not want it to happen. God values human freedom and can bring about a greater good through these allowed events. But God does not allow evil. He uses it to achieve his higher purpose. When sometimes we don't know what that is, and I -- I'm human. I find it very difficult not to have an immediate answer to, "Okay. What is that higher good?"

But it could be testing faith or demonstrating compassion, teaching people how to uphold his perfect will of good.

And if God were to remove evil from the human existence, he would also be removing our free will to love him and to love others. And he knows that despite the evil that he allows to exist in the world, this greater good can be achieved for eternity, which is where Charlie is now.

And, Glenn, there are a lot of bad people online right now. You know, celebrating Charlie's death and saying how ironic it was, that Charlie was killed by a gun when he was a champion of gun rights. But you want to know what the real irony is? The real irony is that Charlie, at this moment in eternity, I guarantee you, Glenn, is praying for those who did this to him.

GLENN: You know, yesterday I said, "I think I might have done the hardest things I've done. I walked to the front gate, and I lowered my flag to half-mast for a dear friend."

And I think that is going to be easy compared to the forgiveness and the compassion and the restraint that is going to be required from all of us in the coming days. I think that's going to be very difficult. And I don't know how you do it, if you don't have God.

LIZ: I don't. I can't imagine moving forward without God. The Bible says, "He is my rock. He is my refuge."

And I can tell you, that that's the only thing that's helping me swim through this fog.

Charlie was such a good man, Glenn. Such a good man. You know, he once actually hired me -- this was a decade and a half ago. He hired me to work for Turning Point USA, but I wasn't going to -- my start date for starting that job wasn't going to be for, like, three months down the road because that's a new financial cycle. And in the interim after we had signed that contract, but before I had started, I got offered my first television job on OIN. And so I preemptively quit on Charlie.

And I remembered talking to him. And saying, "I know this is such a sucky move for me to preemptively quit on you after we had agreed. But, Charlie, what would you do?"

And he was so gracious, Glenn. He was so generous. He said, "You are -- you're going to kill it. You're going to -- you will use this platform to glorify God and save this country."

And he was always so encouraging. Yesterday, I was looking back at our text thread, because for as busy as this man was, he never neglected talking to his friends.

And during some of the most challenging moments in my public life, who was texting me encouragement, but Charlie Kirk? This -- it is hard to think about how to move forward, but one of the things -- and I know that it's hard to articulate clearly in this moment. But one of the things that I know with crystal clarity at this moment. Is we are not going to be silenced by an enemy who harms us.

We are not going to back down. We are not going to be quiet. We are going to honor Charlie's legacy. We are going to care for and love Charlie's families.

We are going to understand in a clearer sense exactly what we are up against. And it's going to -- with God on our side, it is going to lead us to victory, in a way that our country has not yet experienced. Because we do have this binary choice.

The left wants violence. The left wants Civil War.

The left wants to hurt us and kill us.

But what's going to happen instead, is these people in our country. People who are politically apathetic. Or lukewarm liberal. Or maybe right-wing, but not that active in politics, the same thing is going to happen as a result of Charlie's assassination. That happened after the Black Lives Matter riots.

Or after the COVID vaccine mandates. Where people realized that the other side does not want the best for us.

That the other side, during the Black Lives Matter riots, was willing to falsely accuse us of being racists when that wasn't true. Or during COVID, to tell us that we couldn't go to church and worship God. And we had to take their medical products because they said so, and they didn't care about the harm. Glenn, this is that, times one thousand!

People are now looking out across our country, realizing, that there are subversive forces. And not just a radical lunatic madman incident.

There are radical forces who want to kill us. And the awakening that is going to happen, the eye-opening, you are going to see churches filled with people turning to God. You are going to see politics, a swell of good people, who want to stand for normalcy, and common sense. Two million, 5 million, 10 million Charlie Kirks are going to be minted because of this!

And that's hard to picture in this moment, and there will be hard choices to make because we're angry right now and the left is taunting us, but I have so much faith. I have so much faith in what Charlie did and in the prayers that he is going to be bathing our country in now from eternity.

GLENN: I want to spend a few minutes with another friend of Charlie Kirk's and a good friend of our program and -- and mine. Steve Deace, who follows me on Blaze TV. Steve, I know it has been a hard 24 hours. How are you holding up?

STEVE: I'm pretty devastated. I think I have sobbed more, Glenn, in the last 18 hours than I probably did since the night of my own conversion.

GLENN: Hmm.

STEVE: I'm angry, as I know a lot of people are. And there will be a time, after we -- we need to mourn, first, Glenn. Because otherwise the anger will come out destructively. And it needs to come out, but constructively. And I think we have to mourn first. I think Charlie's legacy as a father, husband, friend, patriot merits that. And I think TP USA and his family need that.

In the not too distant future, we're going to have to get the message that was sent here. He was the best of us. We saw him behind the scenes or in public, genuinely kind, generous.

I -- I -- too many pastors and ministry leaders thought they were too good for Charlie and TP USA. Didn't want to get their hands dirty, and claimed they were being super friendly. And yet, he was the one that sought out the seekers. He went to the places that those nicer than God pastors didn't go to. And he took the bullet that, frankly, that's part of their calling. That they're supposed to take. And I hope in a good way, it shames some of them this morning. That they wake up and they realize, that they have slept on the job. And that's judge somebody like Charlie had to do their job for them.

And as Charlie, you know, named his own organization.

This is a turning point. We're never going back to the way things were before. What we do, next, will decide whether or not they are better. And as one of Charlie's biggest -- biggest supporters and donors texted me this morning, we can only pray that out of one, many will rise up.

GLENN: That's a guarantee. That is an absolute guarantee, that that is going to happen.
You know, when the tyrant is killed, his reign is over. When the martyr is killed, his reign has just begun. And make no mistake, for liberty, Charlie Kirk was a martyr. He was assassinated and martyred yesterday.

And -- and, you know, I -- I -- I -- I think -- I hope, that America -- I wish America could know him the way we knew him.

Because he was a -- he was such a generous man.

STEVE: Uh-huh.

GLENN: It didn't matter who you were, or what rank in life you were, if you needed help, he was there. And --

STEVE: Yep.

GLENN: No matter how busy he was, everything stopped.

And he would help you.

And I saw it in him over and over and over again. And I wish people could see that, because it -- you know, this cartoon character, where they're making him into this bomb thrower, he was anything, but.

I mean, he would have the greatest conversations with people. I mean, I could have done it. I couldn't do it. I couldn't sit through that nonsense. But he could!

And he could logically and peacefully have a great conversation, with people who despised him. And that was so important for the healing of our nation. And I really think that that's one of the reasons that he was killed, not just because he was effective at what he did, but because he was healing us. Something that is really vital to happen. He was healing all of those divides.

STEVE: I couldn't have said it better myself. And if you just look on social media and see so many people in our movement, who have such incredible -- people I don't know, people that don't know me, such incredible testimonies of everything you just said in their interactions with Charlie.

You know, we had a very divisive presidential primary. And to be honest, I didn't always handle it well. One of the first people I heard from when it was over was Charlie. And he texted me, and he said, "Don't give up. We need you."

He didn't have to do that, he won. And he's got the bigger platform. He's got the bigger show. He didn't have to do that. But that's the -- those are the kinds of things that leaders do.

And the void that is left here is massive. And at my lowest point I've ever had in my faith, the Lord said something to me, that will stay with me the rest of my life. And he said, "Steven" -- I'm sorry.

"Steven, I need apostles, not assassins."

And I want to share that with your audience because to win the fight that will come after this, that is what will be required. If you know me, this isn't about being a pansy. The apostles rebuke. But they don't seek revenge. The apostles confront. But they don't condemn. The apostles did something that Hannibal couldn't do.

No other civilization in the fertile crescent could do, they conquered the Roman empire. They set the stage for Western civilization. And they did not do it because they were passive, and they sit on the sidelines, and they were nicer than God. And they wear pleated khakis and Hawaiian shirts year around with sweater vests.

They did it because they got their hands dirty. They did it because they did the kinds of things we saw Charlie do: Build infrastructure.
Direct, lead, guide.

I mean, we would have to have a literal conclave, Glenn. And literally, everyone in our business and movement. And come up with divisions to do all the various things Charlie himself was leading and doing in that organization.

I told Charlie at dinner recently, "It's like, you were like, if Rush Limbaugh and the Heritage Foundation had a baby. This is what you and TP USA are."

And that's what it's going to take to fill that void. But I can't -- I'm sure with the size of your audience, my inbox -- my wife is going through it, as we speak, it is full of people. You were right. I have to get off the sidelines. I have to do something. My buddy Sloan over at TP USA texted me yesterday, he goes, "You know, I can't tell you how many pastors we're hearing from. They thought they were too pious for us. Too good for us.
And now the stakes have been raised. They're getting it."

And I'm just so sorry, that it took two little children and their -- and their mom's family away from them for two -- for more people to get the message. And I want to -- I want to specifically challenge my generation, Gen X, no more grunge. No more, we're too cool for school. No more, "Well, everything sucks. Nothing we can do." No more.

That was a 31-year-old man doing the work as a young father and husband, frankly it wasn't his time to do yet. He has other primary duties that he should have been given the benefit of devoting to as a husband father, but our generation has set on the sidelines for too long. We must lead. It is our children now that are grown, that are leaving the nest. We are the ones with the free time.

We are the ones with the discretionary income. It is our time now to leave, to stop bitching and complaining about boomers. And I say that to me more than anybody else.

And to stop looking around like we're still listening to Pearl Jam and Stone Temple Pilots and Sound Garden, and nothing is going to get better. It is time now to lead. This is our moment.

And we are the ones that are in a place to do this with the positions of our families and with our productivity and prosperity. We have to step to the forefront now.

GLENN: Such great good will come out of this, Allie.

I know this is a tough day for you, and thank you for joining me.

ALLIE: Yeah. God is in the business of redemption. He's in the business of thwarting Satan's schemes. He's in the business of bringing beauty out of the ashes. He's in the business of bringing glory to himself, and bringing people to himself.

And if Charlie had had the choice, if someone had been able to come to him and say, okay. This is what your death will accomplish, it will accomplish more people hearing the gospel, it will accomplish more people waking up, I know if Charlie had had that choice, he would have said yes. He would have said, "Yes, Lord, send me." And not only would he have, but he did.

He went into the lion's den, and now he is with the lion of Judah. Now he is with Jesus. And everyone is going to know who he was and why he lived and the gospel that motivated him. And that is the only thing right now that is giving me any hope or any peace or any comfort.

GLENN: I know that all I could think of yesterday was how glorious the greeting must have been on the other side. You know, good -- "Well, done, good and faithful servant."

ALLIE: Yes, absolutely.

And before any of us heard the news, before his sweet wife Erica got the phone call, he was already hearing those words. And I am so happy for him.

I'm so happy that he is with the saints and the martyrs and the persecuted through which the Church of Christ has been advanced for millennia. I'm so happy for him. I'm so sad for us. I'm so sad for us, having gained an incredible person. But we -- we lost a huge presence.

GLENN: That's how I know when people have faith. They don't weep for the dead.

They weep for the lost to themselves and to the world and to the families that are hurting.

They -- they mourn that loss on themselves. But they -- they -- when they think of the person who has died, they know exactly where they are.

ALLIE: Yeah.

GLENN: And with Charlie, I -- I -- I -- I mean, I knew him when he was 17, and he was a good kid, but what a change happened to him.

He -- he was on fire for Christ, on fire for that.

ALLIE: Yes. Absolutely. He grew into over the past five to ten years, such a theologically deep and apologetically astute man of God, as he became a husband, as he became a father, as he became even more of a warrior for truth, and that is really what -- that's what inspired me.

And when I heard the news yesterday, I thought, my thought was, that's it. I'm done. I'm throwing in the towel.

That is it for me. I'm not -- I'm not willing to do this anymore.

And then later after he died, I went through some of the texts that he had sent me over the years. He was always sending everyone. All of these friends. These very encouraging texts.

And he sent me this article from a liberal outlet, that of course, had taken some jabs at me. That had made me anxious. And he said, "Well done. Keep slugging."

And I just know that if he were here, that's exactly what he would say, not just to me, but to all of us.

He would say, "No. You can't get out now. You got to keep going. You got to keep going." That's exactly how he would feel, and that's exactly what he would tell all of us.

GLENN: I've received so many emails from people who have said, "I don't know how to get back up again."

ALLIE: Yeah.

GLENN: And I don't know what to tell them other than, faith in God. Faith in God.

ALLIE: Uh-huh.

GLENN: I think if our side, if you will -- boy, I hate that in this context, but if -- if we didn't have God, we would be very much like the left right now.

We would be mired in anger and -- and screaming for vengeance and it would be a really ugly place today.

ALLIE: Yes.

GLENN: If -- if we didn't have God.

ALLIE: Yes. And if Jesus wasn't raised from the dead, like if he wasn't resurrected, then we don't have a hope of a resurrection. If he didn't defeat death, then we can't defeat death. If Jesus didn't live forever, then we can't live forever.

And that's exactly what Charlie always preached. What he always posted on X. What he always said, if you were to be able to text him right now. And say, "Look, Charlie. I've got this really tough thing to talk about today. And I don't know how to say it. I don't know what to say. What are your thoughts on it? What should I say?" I know exactly what he would say, the one word he would text back, and that would be, "Jesus. Just tell them that. Just tell them that Jesus is the only way to fulfillment." That is what he would say. People may not realize that. Every time he went on a college campus, he wasn't just talking about capitalism or Donald Trump, and all those things are important. He shared the gospel.

GLENN: No.

ALLIE: He knew that every single person that walked in front of him, was made in the image of God with a soul that was going to live forever, in one of two places. He desperately wanted the people who hated him to go to heaven. And I just pray that I can have that same boldness for the rest of my life.

RADIO

Charlie Kirk’s Legacy: Courage in the Face of Hatred

Glenn Beck pays tribute to his dear friend Charlie Kirk following his tragic passing. With raw emotion and deep conviction, Glenn reflects on Charlie’s courage, faith, and unwavering commitment to truth in a world that often rewards lies. Drawing parallels to America’s founders, soldiers, and first responders, Glenn reminds us that Charlie’s life and legacy demand an answer to the question: “If not me, then who?” This episode is both a remembrance of Charlie’s extraordinary life and a call to action for all of us to stand firm in faith, defend truth, and carry forward the torch of courage that he so boldly bore.

Watch Glenn Beck's Full 3-Hour Radio Show from September 11, 2025 HERE

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“He was one of ours, and he was taken”: Megyn Kelly remembers Charlie Kirk

Transcript

“Our country has changed forever”: Charlie Kirk's BlazeTV friends reflect on his death

Transcript

Charlie Kirk’s Legacy: Courage in the Face of Hatred