RADIOMarch 05, 2024

REALLY? Biden Creates Shrinkflation Task Force to Blame COMPANIES for HIS Failures

President Biden is launching a new shrinkflation task force to crack down on the “unfair and illegal pricing” of goods. But is Biden right to blame companies when it’s his economic policies that has caused inflation? “You Will Own Nothing” author Carol Roth joins Glenn to break down why this FTC and DOJ-led task force is actually push for price controls. Plus, Carol weighs in on New York Attorney General Letitia James’ recent attack on the beef industry and how the White House is spreading propaganda through Cookie Monster.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: All right. We have Carol Roth with us. Carol Roth is a good friend of the program. And also the author of, you will own nothing.

Former investment banker now cares about Main Street.

Carol, how are you?

CAROL: Well, Glenn, you seem a little feisty today, and I always enjoy feisty Glenn. This should be good.

GLENN: Well, I tell you, the Cookie Monster really pissed me off today, because there's no way, that that's a coincidence. That's coordinated propaganda from the White House.

CAROL: Well, I feel like Cookie Monster is the one who got it right. Cookie Monster is not the one who blamed the corporations. I believe it was Joe Biden, right. He just said that his cookies were getting smaller because of shrinkflation.

GLENN: Right.

CAROL: And I think that makes him a better economist than anyone in the Biden administration or in the New York Times. You know, for that matter.

But the reality is that this is a Biden talking point, so they picked up on this, and they said, no, no, no. Cookie Monster, shrinkflation is happening because of the green corporations.

GLENN: So today, they're launching something. And, Carol, I want to get your read on this.

This seems a little terrifying. Joe Biden today is launching a new task force to take on unfair and illegal corporate pricing, which Biden sees as a major reason why consumers are not yet feeling the impact of a cooling inflation rate.

The task force will jointly be led by the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice, two agencies at the forefront of the Biden administration's aggressive regulatory agenda over the past three years.

Wow!

What are these illegal -- what did they say?

Illegal --

CAROL: Illegal and unfair. Illegal and unfair pricing. Unfair -- unfair is anything that Biden says doesn't go along with his narrative. And he's really talking out of both sides of his mouth. Or perhaps mumbling outside of both side of his mouth.

On the one hand, he's touting how much the economy is growing.

That things are going well.

That wages are increasing. If that was the case. Corporations should be doing better.

And there is no corporation, that is making any sort of outsized profits. Things like shrinkflation. And what's happening. Our downstream issues from the inflation.

That the Biden administration caused. And certainly the fed caused.

So to now say, we're going to have a task force. That is going to look up unfair and legal pricing practices.

You know, legal is one thing.

There's a certain definition at least today.

Who knows what that could be expanded to. Unfair is obviously anything that they don't happen to believe in or agree with. Or is against their policy.

One of the things we know in economics, across-the-board, price controls don't work.

That's something that creates rationing, and goods shortages.

GLENN: And a black market.

CAROL: Even Paul Krugman, who gets everything wrong. The one thing he's ever gotten right. He's against rent control. Which is one of many of price controls, even he kind of gets the fact that price controls don't work.

Everyone pretty much across-the-board agrees with that. But now they want to come in with the government, and step in. And say, oh, you're earning too much of a profit.

We don't like what you're doing.

You need to lower your prices.

Even though we're imposing this world upon you. That is a recipe of disaster. And obviously, completely the opposite of free market capitalism.

GLENN: Right. It is a fascistic move. When the government tells companies what to do, it's a move that fascists make.

I'm concerned about this, because, you know, with all the public/private partnerships. The ones that are going to get into trouble. Are not the ones doing the bidding of the American government now.

Let me give you an example. New York State attorney, Latisha James, has now filed suit, against JBS, USA food company.

This is the world's largest beef producer.

Accusing him of fraudulent and illegal business activities.

And disgorgement of all profits and ill-gotten gains.

She's using the state's apparatus, to go after beef procures.

But not for any other reason, other than they say, they are shooting for zero e- missions by 2040.

And she says that's fraud.

CAROL: Yes. She's accusing them of what's, quote, unquote, brainwashing. The state has put these different apparatus around these the different companies.

The companies as we know, leaned into those and wanted to sound like they were complying.

And so they said, oh, we're going to do all these things to help the environment. So now she's saying no, it's fraudulent. You haven't done the things that we said, or at least in the way that we said.

And, you know, with JBS. It's a little bit tough obviously. Because they're this huge corporate conglomerate. In some cases, they may have created some issues with the independent farmers. Either way, you're not rooting for the state here to come in.

And this discouragement of profits sounds, by the way, a lot what happened to Donald Trump. So this is anything that people made, we're going to confiscate it.

GLENN: First New York came for the National Rifle Association. I didn't say anything, because I didn't own a rifle. I wasn't a hunter, and I disagree with guns.

Then they came for Donald Trump, but I didn't vote for him. So it didn't matter. Now they're coming for beef.

And, you know, you could go after JBS for unfair business practices in my opinion. Because I'm a rancher.

CAROL: Sure.

GLENN: And I see these -- I believe there's absolute collusion with the three companies that are producing all of the beef in the country.

They're getting rich. The farmers are getting poorer. The ranchers are getting poorer.

So I think you can go after that. But it would have to be legitimate. I don't have the facts.

You could go after them for that. And break that monopoly up. Which I think is -- is fair. But he's not.

She's talking about the rain forest. What the hell does the rain forest have to do with New York?

CAROL: And not only that. This is very war on small business-like, right?

Because these bigger companies will have the Capitol base and the power to withstand at least the first time around, some of these tests from the state. But if you are an independent farmer. Or you are a small business, in some other arena. And they come after you. That's it. You are wiped off the map.

Which just further consolidates, those are exactly the opposite of what you just talked about. It doesn't create this more fair playing field.

It creates these tighter monopolies and do you duopolies. So this is almost like a warning sign to say, hey, maybe you want to get out of this business. Because we're coming after you.

And that seems like the plan. They want to capture and control more and more of our resources. And bring it more along with the state.

And they're finding all of these, frankly, unconstitutional ways, and banana republic sort of ways to do it, and we have to stand up.

GLENN: I have to tell you, you got to get out of New York because they're just going the wrong way. Carol -- and, Stu, I think you know a little bit about this too.

This is the future. Litigation is the way the left is moving. They're going to overwhelm the system, with lawsuits, on anything they disagree.

They're just going to take this.

Look what they're doing to Donald Trump.

That's going to happen everywhere.

STU: Yeah. Law fair is definitely the strangle, right?

They keep coming out. They push these things down the throats of everybody.

And then, what's the response?

Like the good outcome, is you spend years and years and years litigating, and spend tons and tons of money defending yourself.

You're not furthering the economy, you're not furthering your business, you're not helping anybody. You're not making products benefiting anyone. You're just in constant defense mode. And how do you advance yourself that way?

CAROL: And you have to have the capital base to be able to do that.

This is not something for the faint of heart, or if you don't have enough dollars in the bank, this is a very expensive endeavor, to be able to fight this.

So you come out the other end. And it's not guaranteed that you will get restitution for your legal fees or anything else for that matter. It's like, oh. Sorry. I guess we didn't win this particular one.

Or you send up in a corrupt area. And they do end up winning. On something that is baseless, as we saw happening in New York.

So it's very frightening. For anybody that has this.

GLENN: So let me ask you. Hochul came out last time under Trump.

Don't worry. This is Donald Trump-specific.

No. No. No. This is exactly. They are targeting a business they don't like. And theory trying to take it down, with everything the state has in its power.

When -- when does New York cross the Rubicon, and businesses just say, I am out of here?

When does New York collapse economically?

CAROL: It's a really good question. Certainly as a test run, I do think that people, particularly New York has a lot of liberal people, who believe that they -- will not happen to them.

We did see mass movement during COVID.

People who said, I've had enough of these policies.

Certainly, the cost. The crime. All those other issues.

Seen a mass exodus in the state, for places like Florida.

For people who remain, that say, no. This is my home. This is the heartbeat of my soul or whatever it is. They just aren't going to believe that it is going to happen to them, until it happens to one of them.

And then, of course, they make another set of excuses, saying, well, you know, this was different.

And I just think, that's one of the big issues with this country.

We have a lot of people, who are in conditional. And decoupled with reality.

And don't understand. And don't want to frankly understand. The reality of what is happening here, Glenn.

GLENN: Right.

So let me go back to this tribunal.

That the -- that the president is starting today. With the Department of Justice.

And the FDC.

This again, I -- I -- you know, I hate to be such a cynic.

But I -- I have no reason, not to be in this case.

They're going to target the companies that are not falling in line with them.

And how are you -- how are we going to fight this one?

What should these companies do?

And what should the average person do, to prepare? Because this is -- this is really going to go right to the heart of capitalism.

CAROL: Yeah. To think, the one piece of good news, the courts are also working. In some cases, the other way.

And there are groups like Pacific legal foundation. And others, who are these nonprofits, that will stand up, for businesses, and individual rights.

We just saw a -- at least interim win, that Corporate Transparency Act that we had talked about.
The financial crimes network, that was mass-targeting small businesses over the weekend. The Alabama courts had ruled or came out over the weekend, had ruled that it was unconstitutional.

Certainly, we imagined that the Treasury will fight that. If that holds, that shows, that there will be a win.

So there will be these marquee opportunities to push back.

Unfortunately, it's just exhausting.

Because it's like, you go and you kill the ants, and you think that you got everything done. And then the rain comes

And then you have a whole group of them coming back out.

I think we have to stay vigilant. And we have to use our voices.

Because the places where people have spoken up, and said, this is an issue, across-the-board. Whether it's to politicians.

Whether it's to Wall Street.

Wherever it is. Those are the places they backed off. And certainly, they've gone somewhere else.

But things like messing with our food supply, that is an absolute no. And something that everybody should be using their voices.

GLENN: So BlackRock says ESG advocacy say risk-factory for its bottom line.

I told you, don't believe them.

They will repackage.

Carol, I just want to hit this briefly.

Because I've got other things on the economy, I want to talk about.

BlackRock has now said, we're not doing ESG. Too many lawsuits. But we're doing transition investing.

Hmm. What's transition investing?

CAROL: They're transitioning, Glenn.

They want to transition, and they're transitioning, away from ESG.

And they're doing it in infrastructure.

And when they say infrastructure. They mean things like transportation.

Like water. Like sewage. And the like.

So instead of using their client's money to bully companies to make the changes they want. They're like, let's just use our client's money to invest directly into things that are sort of lynch pins, in making a change in their sort of energy cultism, so to speak.

So one of the things they did, they bought a private equity firm. That, actually, specialized in this. Not even just public money. But private money.

This company has about 100 billion in assets, under management. Which is -- not to say is a small amount of money. It's a huge amount of money.

But in terms of BlackRock, it's about 1 percent of their assets under management. Because remember they have about 10 trillion in assets under management.

But it gives them the vehicle to make these direct investments. And the firm they bought, owned things like big pieces of airports around the world. And water and sewage treatment and the like. And so BlackRock is going to be offering more of these investment opportunities, as well as having funds that do that in the public sector.

But the reason, they're doing it. You know, this is not just about control.

This is about following the money, Glenn.

And that is sort of the -- one of the ten polls of ESG. This is a quote from Larry Fink.

Policymakers are only just beginning to implement once in a generation financial incentives, for new infrastructure, technologies, and projects.

So this is not only about control. But this is another cash grab.

They are going to say, well, if we have our friends that we can influence in the government. And we can get them to give more incentives to the projects that we're investing in, then we are going to make more money. And we can achieve our goal. What a great win.

And another way to just completely consolidate money. Take taxpayer money. And find ways to enrich themselves while destroying our lives.

GLENN: That's fantastic.

CAROL: Yep.

GLENN: By the way, one quick thing. We have 90 seconds. We are adding 1 trillion dollars' worth of debt now, every three to four months.

CAROL: Correct. Every 100 days, $1 trillion. I said that you have that one family member in every family, who is the irresponsible one. The one who spends all their money, and then comes begging to you, and saying, they're going to be different this time.

GLENN: Right.

CAROL: The government is that drunk uncle. That is your family member. And unfortunately, there is no -- there is no stopping. But everybody knows the problem.

Like everybody has said this is a problem now. And nobody has the fortitude to do anything about it. We're talking from rating agencies. The Treasury, the Fed, the IMF. You know, major players from Jamie Dimon.

Every single person has come out now and said, this is a massive issue, and nobody is doing anything about this.

GLENN: And when you do this, and you add a trillion dollars every 100 days, to the debt.

Of course, inflation is going to go up.

And that's why you need price controls. And price controls lead to all kinds of bad things.

Don't believe what the mainstream media is telling you.

This is simple mathematics. Period.

Carol, thank you so much.

We'll talk again. God bless.

Carol Roth, the author of the book, you will own nothing.

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.