RADIOApril 14, 2022

Biden’s Shanghai SILENCE shows he’s been BOUGHT by China

The world — along with the Biden administration — SHOULD be outraged about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the destruction caused by President Putin. But there’s another ongoing crisis that deserves just as much furor from around the world — yet President Biden remains silent. Glenn details what’s currently happening in Shanghai, China, where millions of residents have been forced into their homes — without food — due to strict COVID lockdown measures. Shanghai residents are suffering immeasurably, and many of them already have succumbed over the last week to the Chinese government’s brutality. We must DEMAND our President speak out against this tragedy because if he doesn't, it further proves his administration has been BOUGHT AND SOLD by the CCP.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: So yesterday, I have been so busy. I'm sorry to say. And following so many other stories. I have not really been following Shanghai, other than, you know, briefings. And I have neglected this story. Much to my shame. Yesterday, I spent the time to actually look at some of the videos. Tell me when you have videos ready. Are you ready?

Let me just start here. The U.S. has pulled all nonessential consulate employees from Shanghai while warning Americans not to travel to the major Chinese city because of a brutal lockdown, that could leave them separated from their kids. Didn't we see something like that here in America? I mean, I just heard the story yesterday. Where somebody -- where was it? In Chicago? Or maybe it was the Mayo Clinic. They were doing a kid any transplant. And it was the dad giving his kid any to his son. And his dad hadn't had the vaccine. And so they wouldn't take his kid any and give it to his son. May I ask the question, to all of the hospitals. You have a guy who is dying from a car wreck, or maybe already dead. But his kid any is still functioning, but he's brain dead. Do you you not use his organs, because he didn't have a vaccine? Do you even check on that?

This is insanity what is happening. And we still haven't lifted our emergency. Our kids literally, according to teachers in Fairfax County. Kids now entering the first grade can't even tie their shoes. They are so far behind. Our suicide rate is so high. And remember, China is the model on just about everything in America now.

The World Economic Forum, China is the model. The way to structure society. Our CDC. Our -- our -- our god, Dr. Fauci. China is the model. In Shanghai, they've locked everyone in their homes. So you know, Shanghai is -- Shanghai is a city. Shanghai has 26 million people. And they are starving them to death. They are locking them in. In fact, can we show the first video. I think the first video that we have of the -- it looks like Central Park in New York. It has all of the -- yeah. That one, please.

It has -- listen to this. These are the people screaming in hunger.

Now, this guy is saying that revolution is coming. Because people are starving to death, and this is just the beginning. Listen to that.

You also have -- let me start here. I don't think this is as disturbing as the one I'm going to show you. So let me start with this. Because this is disturbing. And if you happen to be watching TheBlaze, you will see these images. I want to show you the -- how they're rounding up animals. Your dogs. Your cats. They are either clubbing them to death in the streets. Or they just pick them up, and they're throwing them into bags, like trash bags. This is video of all of these cats, and dogs, in trash bags. They're alive. They just throw them in these trash bags. At first, I thought, because I lived in New York for a while. I thought they were bags of garbage, and there were rats in them. Because that's what happened in New York. You see a trash bag move. There aren't cats or dogs in them. There are rats. These are bags where the dogs and cats have been rounded up, thrown in trash bags. And left by the side of the road. People are being forced to give up their dogs. And they are being kicked and clubbed in the street.

And then, there are these extraordinarily disturbing image. If you're listening on radio, good. I'll describe what you're seeing. If you're watching on TheBlaze.

There is a -- there is a real problem in Shanghai now, as people are starving to death. And they are locked in to their apartments. Now, imagine Central Park. And imagine all those tall buildings. Except, these are taller. All those tall buildings that wrap around Central Park. What's happening now is people can't take it anymore. They're starving to death. There is no food. They're not allowed to leave. If they do leave, they're taken to a camp, where most likely, you're going to be beaten to death or die. And so they are experiencing now, suicides. Roll this, and I will describe it as

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People who are at the end of their road. Who are leaping to their death. People are reacting obviously. And it's over and over and over.

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This is like watching what happened on our World Trade Center on 9/11. Except, this isn't a fire. These people are just trying to escape from the government, the lockdown, and hunger.

It is a remarkable -- I have to tell you, we are now sending helicopters to Ukraine. We're sending -- we can stop playing it. These are just -- since I've been talking about this, it's just person jumping, person jumping, person jumping. It's not like one. It's over and over and over and over and over again, throughout the city. We are now selling helicopters -- or sending helicopters and heavy artillery, to Ukraine. This is something that three weeks ago, Joe Biden said, we can't do.

Remember, what was it? Poland. Was going to end some of their old MiGs. And they were going to send those MiGs to, what it was? Czechoslovakia. And they were going to move them with keys in them. And if people from Ukraine, pilots came in and found them, we would be really sad. And Biden stopped it. Because it would be an act of war. We're now selling and sending helicopters and heavy artillery, over to Ukraine.

Wait. Wait. Can somebody tell me what just happened. What's changed in the last three weeks? Is it genocide? Because that's what the president says. State Department says, they're not sure. Which is it? Are we stepping up to war?

And we are looking at a tragedy. An absolute tragedy. And maybe genocide. Maybe mass slaughter of people in Ukraine.

But this is one city in China. Of 26 million people. If 5 percent of them starve or die, that's 1.25 million people. 5 percent, gang.

And our president hasn't even addressed it. Hasn't even said -- no world leader has. Where is the UN. Where is NATO? Where is anyone -- is anyone saying anything at all about China?

No. No. No, they're not. You know why? Because everybody has been bought and sold. We've been sold, bound, and gagged.

By the way, the stuff coming out of Shanghai, that's just the stuff that's gotten through and gotten out. Remember, Facebook and everybody else, they're -- they're suppressing this in China. So this is just the stuff that's getting out, and getting through. What are we not seeing in China?

I saw a mother yesterday, who mom, dad, and the sister and the grandmother had been taken from their house, because they tested covid positive. Their new -- newborn that was still breast-feeding, was not covid-positive. And he was left at home.

The mother was crying out for help. What are you doing? I can't -- you can't leave my son. He's a newborn. He's still breast-feeding. You can't leave my son here. She had no choice.

We are living -- we are living what people in the 1930s lived. Where great evil was happening all over the earth. Except, back then, we weren't sure. We didn't have video. We couldn't see it with our own eyes. The New York Times hid what Russia was doing to people. Hid the slaughter of people there. They wouldn't verify anything about the Jews. They -- they pushed that way back in the paper. Page A26. Maybe two paragraphs. But the -- the world could be held, not really responsible, in many ways. Because the people didn't know.

We know, gang. We know.

We have got to demand, that our president, who has taken money from the Chinese. Millions of dollars, through his son -- and I would say this about Donald Trump, who didn't take any money from the Chinese. If he remains silent, shame on you. Do we not have any moral code left in this country?

When will the people who represent us actually represent us? And stop representing China.

What's happening in China is an ambassador. And remember, our elected officials and now, all of our corporations, all believe China is the model. I warn, what you're seeing happen in China, will happen here, and all over the world, unless someone has a back bone. And gang, it's only going to be the American people. It will. I mean, well, Canada. Look what the truckers did in Canada. Somebody has got to stand up and say, enough is enough. Back in a minute.

GLENN: So the Chinese government said that they are going to crack down hard, in the strictest of ways. For anybody who violates the covid lockdown in Shanghai. Shanghai is running out of food. And here's why: Shanghai is a lot like Naples, at least 30 years ago. I don't know what it's like now. But people used to go to the market. The fish market. They would get their vegetables, and their fish. And then they would do it every day. And then they would bring it back. That's the way Shanghai runs. Everybody goes to the market, pretty much every day. And they get their fresh food. Well, the problem is, all the grocery stores have been locked down. But they weren't getting any food delivered in. Because you can't deliver it. Because the truckers were shut down.

So all of this food is on the outskirts of the city. And it's all raw, not processed. If you're watching TheBlaze, you can see some of it. It's just so much food, and it's all rotted. So there is no food. It's not like they're not delivering it to the grocery stores anymore. That's not necessarily the problem. The problem is, there isn't any. This is -- this is what happens, when you put -- when you make everything about politics. And when you put experts in charge of everything. Common sense goes to hell. Look, covid. Yes. Some of us will die. Most of us will not.

Government has no right to lock us into our homes and tell us what to do. This is murder. This is -- this is nothing short of that. The government knows, these people will die. And if they leave their house to try to protect their family, they'll be shot.

GLENN: You know, you think that a leopard can change its spots, and it can't. It can't.

Marxism and, quite honestly, intellectualism, always ends the same way. When you put intellectuals in charge, and they think they're better than everyone else.

Most people -- most people really don't recall the five-year plan. In fact, in China, it's -- it's against the law to talk about the five-year plan. You're not allowed to talk about it or teach about it. Most people don't know about it in China. And it started with Mao saying, hey. We're better than this. We're capable of anything.

And we really need to -- we need to change the way we do industry. And the way we do agriculture. And so he had a plan that was supposed to last from 1958 to 1963. And it was called the great leap forward. It was The Great Reset. We don't work as well. So we have to change things. And he had a plan for everything. From the way your family worked, all the way up. And they were going -- they were going to change everything. Industry could prosper, if the work force was well-fed. And while the agricultural workers needed industry to produce the modern tools needed for modernization. What he said was, all we have to do is we have to make our own steel, so we can make our own trackers and trucks and everything else. And then if we make all this stuff, then we can give it to the farmers. And the farmers will be able to make so much money. In fact, we'll require them, to grow so much food. And everybody will be have a quota. And it was great. It was great. And the people gave up ownership. Mao had this idea, that you would own nothing, and you would be happy. And so they gave up ownership of everything. And it was owned by the state and by the communes. So everything in these communes was controlled. Every bit of your life. You know, school. Nurseries. Health care. They -- people moved into what was called the houses of happiness. So they could be looked after and cared for by the state. All they had to do was just go to work. 700 million people were placed in these communes by 1958. Here's the problem: Enthusiasm kind of stopped once they were in their house of happiness. Because life was not as they said it would be. People owned nothing. But they weren't quite so happy. But they produced. And they -- and they produced and produced and produced. And they hit their steel quota. Propaganda was everywhere, including the fields.

You could listen to political speeches, as you were working. It was great. Because politics, it was everything. Everybody in communes was urged not just to meet the set targets, but to beat them. And if you didn't have the machine, well, use your bare hands. Quality became a little dubious. The problem is: The steel that they were making wasn't holding up. The trackers that they were putting together, weren't working.

And then they had a weather turn. Well, here's what happened: Things started to go wrong in 1959. Listen to this. Political decisions and beliefs. Took precedence over common sense. I haven't heard that, have you? Have you heard any of this plan being discussed, recently, at all?

Communes faced the task of doing things, which they were incapable of achieving. Party officials would order the impossible, and commune leaders, who knew what their commune was capable of doing or not, could be charged with being a reactionary, if they complained. Such a charge would lead them to be an outcast or be sent to prison.

We're not having that problem, are we? You're seeing anybody that is becoming an outcast, because they disagree with where the political leaders are taking us? Saying that maybe this covid thing is not a good idea? Maybe we shouldn't be handling it this way?

Maybe your policies are leading to this inflation. Maybe we won't own nothing and be happy?

Nobody is being made an outcast for those points of view, right? So here's the problem: Because they were trying to make steel, a lot of the farmers, had to take work away from their fields. And so the fields weren't being harvested. And then they had problems with the steel that they were making to help the farmers. And then the weather went bad. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, here's what went wrong: The first year, 9 million people, in China starved to death. 9 million people.

Mao's attitude was, you have to break a few eggs to make an omelet. It will get better.

20 million people died, in China. Starved to death. Before 1962. 20 million. They say that is a very low number. It's more likely that it was around 40 million people died.

But we don't know, because, you know, it's China. These communist countries, these countries that are set up, where the elites have all of the power. And they do that, because they care so much about you. The little person. They care. And they know what's right for you. These countries that are set up like this, always end up like China and -- and what's happening in Shanghai right now. Because they don't know better than you. They can't make decisions for your family. Do you think people would stay in their home, after they know what they know about covid. This is not the first run with covid. Do you really think that they would stay at home, be locked inside, and do you think with what they know now, and what we know now about covid, do you think it would be worse than the possibility of one city, one. There are multiple cities locked down. This is just Shanghai. This is the financial capital now, of China. This is our New York City. Except, New York City has 7 million people. They have 25 or 26 million people. Hmm. Do you think if those people were allowed to leave and the truckers were allowed to deliver things, do you think there would be starvation? Do you think it would be a possible revolution? Because that's what they're headed for. And the only way to stop it. And this is why they're being so brutal, the only way to stop it is to kill people. And they have no problem killing them. Food would not have been rotting. Central planning never works. And we have so lost our -- our willingness to learn from the past. We're just trying to erase the past. Which is strange. Because that's exactly what happened in China. Scholars now say, in China, that, you know, this is when they could talk in China. People who lived through it, are now discovering the true history of the great famine. And they're now putting it together, saying, wait. The government knew about this. They were the ones responsible for this. Those people, who actually have seen the history in China, now know what the problem is. And they know what the problem is with this covid shutdown too. It's the same problem. And it will end most likely, the same way. And most likely, we will hear about some of the dead. And some of the devastation. But not all of it.

Here's a big difference, however. In 1962, China didn't affect us. China didn't affect the rest of the world. What they did with their citizens, I guess, was their business.

This shutdown is already causing problems here in America. Remember, this is like January. Remember, we didn't really start to feel the effects, until, when? July. This is like January, when we were first watching it. And they were shutting down the city. And it wasn't Shanghai. And they were shutting everything down.

We saw the effects, within a couple of months. We are going to see the effects of this, over here. On what you can buy, what you can't buy. What you have access 20. Repair parts, chips. Computers.

Everything. I mean, if that's what motivates you. You should look at it, in a financial way. This is going to cripple the global economy.

I just personally hope we get the message, that we are going to have problems, so we don't have to worry about food. When the time comes. Please, plant a garden. If you live near farmers, if you don't have a farmer's market, start one. If you do, start getting to know the farmers.

You're going need to the farmers. Please, be in a community, where you all kind of think alike. Because you don't want to be alone.

You don't want to be -- you don't want to be surrounded in a city, full of the people like Mao had. You want to be surrounded by God-fearing people, who know the Judeo-Christian ethic of do unto others. Love thy neighbor. Back in a minute.

AI military drone maker reveals the FUTURE of warfare

The next war will look VERY different, now that we have AI. Glenn speaks with Brandon Tseng, co-founder and president of Shield AI, a company making AI-powered drones and autonomous planes for the US Military. Brandon discusses his drone planes like the X-BAT, and also gives his take on new foreign weapons, like Putin’s new nuclear-powered cruise missile: "It sounds dumb."

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: The cofounder and president of Shield AI, Brandon Tseng is with us. He's a former Navy SEAL. How old are you? You look like you're 14. How old are you?

BRANDON: I'm 39.

GLENN: Thirty-nine. Anyway, you have -- you are making a huge the difference in the AI world, especially with defense. Especially well the expat. A new plane. Do you call them drones, or are they planes?

BRANDON: Expats are a vertical takeoff launch and land AI-piloted fighter jet. Sometimes when people think drones, they just think quad copters. Except, there's a whole world of drones.

GLENN: It's weird. You either think of the quad copters, or you just think of those gigantic gray drones.

BRANDON: Yeah. The Predators and Reapers, yeah.

GLENN: And we're not like that anymore, either. Right? Have we updated those?

BRANDON: No. So Shield AI builds a miniature version of said drone. That's also vertical takeoff launch and land. It's called the Vbat, weighs about 180 pounds. But it's meant to do the mission of these $40 million drones for a fraction of the cost. And so we've been using that with US forces, oh, man. Now, probably since 2019, but most recently, we've been working with the US Coast Guard. We've interdicted billions of drugs in the Caribbean. So you just set a record with the US Coast Guard, interdicting 20 tons --

GLENN: Are you blowing up the boats, or are you just --

BRANDON: Shield AI is not blowing up any boats. But, yeah, the Coast Guard is setting them on fire after the whole thing is said and done.

GLENN: Wow. So -- so let me -- let me go into the -- the future of warfare.

Because it -- it's a little freaky. And I don't even know. There's a story that just came out today. Because we're negotiating with Russia.

And Russia is always beating their chest. And they have something new.

This one, just sounds crazy. CNN, this morning. Putin claimed successful test of long range nuclear-powered cruise missile, amid diplomatic breakdown. And what this cruise missile is, you launch it. It's not just nuclear-tipped. It's nuclear-powered as well.

So the idea is, it would just stay up in space. And it will just stay up there until it's directed to hit something. Which I guess, you not only blow a city up.

But you also have the China syndrome happening at the same time. I don't even get it. What do you think of this weapon?

BRANDON: Yeah. It sounds crazy. It sounds dumb. It sounds overengineered. I mean, it actually reminds me of some of the things the US was doing in the '50s. I don't know if you know this. We had something called the Davey Crockett nuclear rocket. Which was a hand-held nuclear rocket launcher. They said, only a Navy rocket would be crazy enough to shoot this thing. Because you're firing a nuclear bomb over your shoulder. And you hope it goes far enough.

That's --

GLENN: 1950s were kind of scary.

BRANDON: Yeah. You can Wikipedia this stuff. It's in there. Kind of scary. Right with the nuclear-powered cruise missile. Fifteen hours. Like, okay. Now, why do you need it to be up in the air for 15 hours?

You're seeing where this thing is. It becomes an easier target for people to shoot down. And then to the point, now, what do you have if this thing actually blows up, at any point, whether we take it out, or they take it out. Now you have nuclear material over some area?

Like, again, something I could see. Some crazy scientist and engineers working on, something that I believe has near zero utility on the battlefield in any -- like, even -- even by the Russians.

GLENN: What about the hypersonic missiles now?

BRANDON: Yeah, no, the hypersonics are -- look, what I'm a big proponent of is first principles of warfare. So like mass, maneuver, speed is another principle of warfare. And so what the hypersonics are getting after is that first principle of the speed.

It's like, look, if you can hit your targets faster than they can react. There's something to do that. In that range, at that standoff, at that offset, that is something that is pretty interesting. Now, the challenge that the United States has had. Has been around to getting these to a feasible level.

And I know there's some efforts to bring down the cost of hypersonics. But it's also what makes it incredibly difficult, is when you start to go hypersonic. You know, multiple interdicts of Mach 1.0, to Mach 2, 3, 4. That is a hard, hard, hard, hard physics problem.

GLENN: Right.

You know, I've always felt like, whenever we saw something, you know, when you -- when you first saw the stealth bomber, we were probably on the second iteration. You know what I mean?

We were always -- we didn't always just show what we had.

Is that true anymore?

Do we have things that the world doesn't know, that --

BRANDON: I don't think we have too many things that the world doesn't know about.

Certainly, there are classified programs.

And I think the US does have a couple -- not technologies. You know, up its -- its sleeve. Just like, you know, concepts. Operating concepts.

Is what I would say. We still are like pretty good at.

And so what you're seeing today is in the military world.

You see a lot in the -- you know, just the consumer software world. Where industry is really leading, in this day and age.

So you see industry leading the customer, more than what I would say in the past, right?

In the '80s. '90s. Early 2000s. You would seat customer leading industry to what --

GLENN: We want to do this.

BRANDON: Yeah. Exactly.

GLENN: Are we -- are you concerned at all, with -- with AI and technology being so readily available, and cheap?

You know, everywhere.

That everybody can -- can do some really bad damage. You know, you don't have to be a -- you don't have to be the United States of America.

BRANDON: Yeah. Look, I think every new technology is a double-edged sword. It can produce a ton of value for the world. It can do a lot of value for the world. And at the same time, we put that technology into the wrong person's hands, it can do damage to the world. And so I think the same was true of the internet.

The same is true of now providing compute power into massive amount of compute power into someone's hand, just via an IPhone or an android phone. And so I don't look at AI -- like, I don't worry about AI and autonomy.

And I think it's wrong to prohibit the advancement of a technology, simply because, you know, some wrong can be done with it.

GLENN: Right.

BRANDON: There's a ton of things, where a lot of wrong, we've seen this.

A lot of things can be weaponized. Whether it's an airplane. Whether it's a car. Whether it's the internet. You name it.

But these technologies aren't bad for the sake of being a new technology.

GLENN: Yeah.

I've talked to the president about this several times. The one thing that freaks him out, keeps him up at night is nuclear world. He said, I rebuilt the nuclear arsenal. And he said, you don't even want to understand what we can do. He's like, it's -- it's always been bad. He said, it's -- it's colossally bad. And once it starts, it's over.

And he's really -- he does, I think -- what little sleep he does get, I think there are times where he has lost sleep over war on nuclear, with nuclear weapons.

Is there any of this new technology, is there anything about AI or any of this stuff that freaks you out, that you think, this is really scary, if it -- if it goes wrong or whatever?

BRANDON: Yeah. The way I think about it is, look, nuclear deterrence, has deterred nuclear war since we -- since 1945.

GLENN: Yes. Right. Yeah.

BRANDON: And that largely stopped world wars for the past 80-plus years.

GLENN: Right.

BRANDON: And so our conventional deterrence has been dominated by our aircraft carriers and our submarines in terms of how we deter large state-on-state conflicts in this day and age. It's with these -- along with the number of other, you know, levers that we pull. Economic levers. Diplomacy levers. But the military lever has been dominated by our aircraft carriers, our air power, and our submarines.

GLENN: Sure.

BRANDON: So where I see the world going. It's like AI and autonomy is enabling this next generation of deterrence. Because our legacy weapons systems, they're not as well-respected. Our aircraft carriers are not as respected as they once were. Right?

GLENN: I'm a sitting duck.

BRANDON: Yeah, when the enemy has antiship missiles that outrange what these carriers can launch with our jets.

And they have surface-to-air missile systems that can target any fuel tanker, like, that's when you see your conventional deterrence capabilities start to erode.

AI and autonomy is that massive unlock for the military, for our allies.

It enables, you know, the United States to feel millions of drones. You can't feel millions of drone pilots.

We don't have enough people.

Aren't enough people signing up.

What you can do is enable small groups of people to feel these drone swarms that I believe will be the most strategic conventional deterrence for the next 25 years. And again, that's why I started Shield AI. We have the tag line. The greatest victory requires no war.

It is about having such a dominant military that any adversary thinks twice before starting, either a straightforward conflict or an asymmetric one.

GLENN: Are you concerned about -- you know, Elon Musk says. And I don't know how true this is.

But Elon Musk says we are the new Grok.
I think it's five or six that is coming. Is 60 percent close to AGI. Are you concerned about AGI and ASI? And what that might mean?

BRANDON: I'm not concerned about AGI, but I'm an eternal optimist. And so I put that disclaimer out there. It's really hard to say what 60 percent of AGI means.

GLENN: Right.

BRANDON: What I do think is really interesting, really fascinating.

It's now what is possible in this day and age with AI and autonomy. And I'll share something cool that I looked up the other day, and why I'm an optimist around it.

I asked Grok 4, I said, "What was the economic impact of the internet from 2000 to 2025 on global GDP by a cumulative basis?" Its estimate was 134 trillion dollars' worth of economic value, attributed to that core underlying technology, being the internet.

A ton of value created for the world. I then asked it, what is the value of AI and autonomy going to be for the world from 2025 to 2050, estimated that. It's estimate -- maybe it's biased if it's AI estimating itself.

Was -- yeah. Yeah. Four and a half quadrillion dollars, forty times bigger than the internet. And so that world. Again, I'm a techno optimist. I get excited about that.

It's hard to really understand or fathom what that world looks like, but I think it's going to be a net positive for the world in a way that so many underlying core technologies of life have been.

Now, it doesn't mean that there's -- it's all sunshine and -- and rainbows. There's going to be some bad actors out there with it for sure.

GLENN: Yeah. Yeah. So last question, I hate to ask you this. But I have to ask you this: Being a guy who is in into drones, everything else. What we saw last year over New Jersey, what the hell was that?

BRANDON: I -- I don't understand know what it was in New Jersey.

But I don't like the idea that there was anybody able to fly drones at all.

GLENN: Yeah. Those were large too.

BRANDON: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't know if it was another state.

I don't know if people were pulling pranks. Like they've done in the past. I don't know what it was.

GLENN: But do you think it could have been us?

BRANDON: No. I think it was someone else. Is what I think it was.

GLENN: That's a little frightening.

BRANDON: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I don't know what it was though. So, yeah.

GLENN: Have you ruled out extraterrestrial.

BRANDON: I probably haven't paid enough attention to it. But, yeah. I don't know what it was.

GLENN: That's a little frightening. Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

We'll be watching.

You bet.

THE GLENN BECK PODCAST

He Hunted SATANIST Mexican Cartels and SURVIVED | Dave Franke | The Glenn Beck Podcast | Ep 272

Dave Franke stared down the cartel in Mexico’s blood-soaked Zacatecas — and lived. Now he tells Glenn the unfiltered truth: The cartels are “absolutely” operating inside the United States. Through raw, firsthand accounts, he rips the veil off the narco-satanic cult of Santa Muerte — the Saint of Death — and the savage brutality it fuels. Trump calls the cartels “the ISIS of the Western hemisphere,” and his Homeland Security Task Force has already seized thousands of terrorists and cartel operatives, two million fentanyl pills, and 70 tons of narcotics. But Dave warns: We’ve barely “scratched the surface.” Facing entrenched corruption, human trafficking, and a highly profitable drug trade, Glenn and Dave debate a radical fix — legalize drugs — and ask the explosive question: Does our government let the cartels thrive in exchange for intel, just like in "Ozark"? It’s the story that neither Fox nor CNN would let Glenn tell finally coming to the light, but is it already too late?

“He’s killing it”: The truth about Trump’s 2028 power team

Will Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio team up for a 2028 presidential run? Glenn Beck asked them both, separately, and shockingly, they gave him the SAME answer. Glenn reveals what they said, as well as what they said about President Trump...

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Blaze.com has a news story out: J.D. Vance responds to the possibility of a Vance/Rubio presidential ticket. Responds to a --
I -- I love his response. He was speaking on Pod Force One. It's a podcast from the New York Post. And they asked him about, you know, how do you feel about a Vance/Rubio ticket?

And he said, it -- well, you know, we get along really, really well. The reason why we're successful, is because all of us work together really well.

STU: Which is not necessarily the case of the first term. You cannot say that about the people working in the White House.

GLENN: No. And most. Most.

I mean, I was saying this to a friend of mine, we were talking. And he asked me about a Vance/Rubio ticket. And I said, I talked to J.D. Vance and Rubio in the hallways of the White House. Just recently.

And about that. And I said, and they both said exactly the same thing.

Let's get through the next three and a half years. Things could change quickly in the next three and a half years.

STU: It's true.

There is a feeling I think on the right. That there's a lot of exciting things happening. Many of them positive.

GLENN: Three and a half years say long way.

STU: We are a long ways away. We are a long way away from the midterm elections.

I mean, think about this. We are what know.

We are -- to this point, closer to Trump's inauguration, than we are to the midterms.

GLENN: To the midterms.

STU: That seems impossible!

GLENN: I know. Impossible.

STU: In my head. But that's true to this moment.

GLENN: It's true. So it's crazy how much could change in the next four years, let alone the next one year.

STU: Hmm.

GLENN: And things are going really, really well.

STU: That's for us. I know you're moving on to something else. The left hates this more than they've hated anything ever. Every person I've known on the left has been driven completely insane by this.

GLENN: Wait. Wait. By all of this, or by all of the leadership. Of the other side?

I mean, what -- what is really driving them insane

STU: They're totally driven by Trump. I'm not revealing anything new here. I think it's more extreme now, than it was in the first term.

GLENN: It is. But it's not -- they're not driven insane by Donald Trump.

I mean, Donald Trump does -- he does help them along, because he likes toying with them.

STU: Sure. Sure.

GLENN: So that doesn't help.

However, it is -- the response from the media. And the response from the Democrats that have made him into Hitler.

Not Donald Trump.

STU: No. I mean, their analysis of Donald Trump is that he's the worst human being of all time. I think that's helped along by leadership. Helped along by the media.

GLENN: They would elect Pol Pot over Donald Trump.

At this point.

STU: Pol Pot implemented a lot of policies that they liked.

GLENN: That's true. That's true. We should all be against the killing fields. But at this point, I'm not sure they would be against the killing fields.

STU: I don't know if the Hamas wing of the democratic party is against the killing fields.

I'm not sure about that. But I will say, if you look at overall. You look at approval ratings of Donald Trump. They're not at their highest point right now. That's not just Democrats.

That's the entire country.

GLENN: Yeah.

STU: So if that were to continue, if a couple things go wrong, if the economy turns down.

We talked a lot about the economy being at risk, especially outside of the AI bubble.

I was reading something yesterday about, you know, the AI situation. It's funny. It's basically giving us all of these gains. It's almost all AI-related. All these -- we talked to experts about this. It's almost all a bunch of money being passed in between like seven companies.

And at the end of the day, let's just say that were to collapse. It would hurt our economy. And who knows where we would be.

GLENN: Even if it doesn't collapse, think of all the jobs that are probably going to be lost in the next three years. We're starting to see jobs lost because of AI now. It's going to become very, very unpopular.

And AI I think is going to become very, very unpopular. And those who, you know, are using AI. This is getting very dicey for me. I'm starting to regret everything that I've done in the last two years.

But it's going to become very, very unpopular, because it will take jobs. If companies decide to use it as people, and not as a tool for people. But, anyway, let's -- let's move on.

STU: Yeah.

GLENN: The one thing. The one thing that they said, that is the point I wanted to make on this was, and they say it in TheBlaze article.

A lot of the good work we've done is because we do it as an administration, and we're all able to work together. What both of them said to me, on separate occasions, when I said this was, I said to Rubio and to Vance. You are killing it!

You're just killing it right now. And they both said, no, no, no. Both of them separately. No, no, no, no. He's killing it. Pointing to the Oval Office, "He's killing it. We're just following what he is directing us to do."

And I'm like, "Yeah. But you're also doing a very effective job at doing that. I've seen presidents give orders. I saw Donald Trump trying to give orders last time. And it didn't work out well."

And he's like, "No. We're a great, great team."

STU: That's good to hear.

GLENN: Yeah, but what I wanted to say was, I can't think of a time in my lifetime, I mean, I was not around the White House of the Reagan years. So I don't know. But I can't think of a time where I have seen honest credit, given by the top leadership in hallway conversations, to the president.

You know what I mean?

It was -- because it was honest. It was real. It wasn't like, you know. Oh, no.

It's not me. It's him. It was real.

No, no, no. You don't understand. His grand strategy amazing.

And we're just following it.

You know, that told me a lot.

A lot.

And told me a lot about the quality of people around him.

STU: And to be honest about it. It's also the right answer.

You didn't get the sense that they -- they are saying the thing they know is going to keep them in the good graces.

GLENN: No, I didn't. I didn't.

STU: That's good. That's really good.

GLENN: Yeah, I don't think either of those guys would have said -- they would have said thank you. It wasn't like that. It wasn't like that. It was no, no, no, no. You don't understand. He is running the show.

STU: I think the Venezuela boat situation is an interesting highlight of this.

Again, we've talked about all the questions about it. There's some stuff to discuss.

However, like, that is something that is super important, to Marco Rubio. Like, that is -- I would say, central to his -- that entire situation is very central to his belief system.

And his --

GLENN: Yes. Freeing the people of Venezuela.

STU: Really important to him. And the fact that Trump really takes that seriously. And is doing something about it, is really important to Rubio. I think it's --

GLENN: But I don't think -- see, that's the way I think most administrations would look at it, like I want to help Rubio out. I know you're really passionate about this. Let me do this. And I agree with you. But I really think, it's the other way around. I think Donald Trump is like, here's why this is important.

STU: Oh, I think --

GLENN: And it's a little bit with Rubio, what you're dealing with, what you're thinking. Let me show you the grand strategy of how it has to happen. And I think the big, big vision is coming from Donald Trump.

And it accomplishes everything that everybody else is looking to do. But it's much bigger vision.

The big vision is coming from him, I think.

STU: Yeah. I think, the other thing that is very central to Donald Trump belief system. Besides the idea that he doesn't want people coming across the border illegally. He's very against illegal subs. Not just a crime, that is associated with them.

But he's like, obviously, been really hard against that -- his entire life.

GLENN: No. I think -- I mean, I think -- I mean, you wouldn't do this, because of the Constitution.

But I think if he could, I think you would be like, yeah. Drug dealers. Execute.

STU: Well, he's kind of said that. What was the guy in the Philippines?

GLENN: Yeah, kind of like that. Look, he just kills them.

STU: And that's what some of the criticism is over the boats. Right?

Surprised to hear, there's not a lot of great trial attorneys involved in the process, when -- there's not defense being presented when -- when the drone is overhead. They believe these are threats. They believe they have this -- this -- that's going to go through the courts. It's going to be challenged.

GLENN: I know.

STU: And they will have to deal with that. But he is -- he is -- more importantly than stopping those drugs from coming in. Because you see the boats. You're like, well, what could that even do to our country? Swallowed up like -- that wouldn't even get through a Washington, DC, cocktail party, the amount of drugs they could carry on one of those boats.

GLENN: Well, if Hunter.

STU: If Hunter is there obviously.

GLENN: Or somebody else from the Biden administration.

STU: Right. Who knows who it could have been, with all the cocaine in the White House. But, I mean, the point there is, the message.

The message is quite clear what -- what they're sending to -- to Venezuela. Which is not just don't send boats. It is stop everything you're doing. By the way, did you notice that very large ship off your coast?

Like, we are sending all sorts of messages to them.

Much deeper than a please stop delivering some cocaine here.

GLENN: Do you think the fact that we sent one of our biggest bombers from North Dakota to just buzz the coastline. Just in the international waters.

STU: It's a beautiful coastline. Some sightseeing.

GLENN: Did you see this?

Two of our bombers from the air base in North Dakota ran what I would describe as -- and I think they want him to describe it in Venezuela, the same way. As a trial run!

Two times, now, we have sent two bombers. Big bombers. Right to the line of Venezuela. Right to international waters.

They flew all the way down from North Dakota. Down, made that run.

And then headed on home!

He is sending all -- the guy is brilliant.

He is sending all kinds of signals.

You guys should take care of him.

STU: What you know signal he's saying to me?

That he doesn't care about global warming. He see not care about the emissions from that plane.

GLENN: Hold on just a second.

Doesn't that feel good?

Why Trump’s “BAILOUT” of Argentina is actually AMERICA FIRST

Why did President Trump recently do a currency swap with Argentina and make a deal for Argentinian beef imports? Financial expert Carol Roth joins Glenn to explain why she believes these deals are actually America First and in our national security interests. Plus, Carol and Glenn discuss the effects of Trump's tariffs and the government shutdown.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Carol, welcome to the program.

CAROL: Hi, Glenn. How are you?

GLENN: Good. Can you tell me what's going on in Argentina?

First of all, the currency swap. We didn't make a loan to Argentina. We made a currency swap. Which I'm not really -- I'm not really fond of the -- what is it? The piece zero. What is their currency down in Argentina?

CAROL: The Argentinian peso. You don't have a bunch of those in your vault with all your gold and silver?

GLENN: No. No. I don't. I don't.

But we do now, because we currency swapped, right? What's it mean?

CAROL: Yes, so this is -- this is not -- you know, just giving known Argentina for its government to spend. This is a financial support, which, by the way, currency swaps are not something that is unusual.

GLENN: Right.

CAROL: You know, we do this all the time with our allies, with Japan and Canada and what not. What is unusual in this particular situation, is how it's affected.

So basically, what happened is that we gave the Argentinian Central Bank dollars. We took as collateral the peso, and that is meant to support the Argentinian peso and help to stabilize this currency.

GLENN: Right.

CAROL: And a couple of things of note, one is how it was done is interesting. Because normally when we do currency swaps, and we have these lines, it's done through the Federal Reserve, or central bank.

This time, it was not. It was done through the Treasury, through something called the ESF. The Exchange Stabilization Fund, which is sort of a black box fund that allows Treasury to move quickly. You don't need Jay Powell. You don't need the approval of Congress in order to do these things.

GLENN: And that's what it was built for, to stabilize currency in friendly countries?

CAROL: And in the US, by the way,
because I can talk about the history and how we've used it in the US before. But just to kind of get to the Argentinian point. We did this, you know, before the election to help, you know, stabilize things for Milei, so that his government could win.

But we didn't do this because we think Milei is a good guy, or he has fabulous hair, even though we do think that.

The reason we did that is to secure our interests. Because you know who has been making a play in Argentina and throughout Latin America? You know who has had a long-term currency swap with Argentina. It's another country, I'll give you all a hint, and it rhymes with China. China's influence all around the world with their Belt and Road Initiatives where they're trying to dominate traditional infrastructure, digital infrastructure, financial infrastructure, we are trying to kick out their influence. For national security reasons. Also, it just so happens, that Argentina has the second largest reserve of lithium, as well as a smaller set of reserves of other rare-earth elements, that we need access to, for our economic and national security.

So that is what is underpinning all of this. It's because we don't want to be speaking mandarin one day.

GLENN: It's amazing how Donald Trump. People just don't understand this.

Everything he's doing in south marker, he's realigning the globe.

CAROL: Yes.

GLENN: He's doing -- he's doing his own version of America first, Great Reset, and he's just doing it by himself.

I mean, it's pretty incredible, isn't it? Carol?

It really is.

This is why, remember, when we first had the discussion by Scott Bessent.

And I eased everyone ever seen concerns.

Scott Bessent made his fortune on foreign currency exchange. There is nobody who understands the machinations of how you use currency to support countries, and also, you know, the impact on political influence. Like Scott Bessent.

So he has been side by side with President Trump. Who has said, you know. China's influence in South America is a national security issue.

It's a priority.

And, you know, at the time, when we're seeing a reset of the global financial order, and you had China making this very big play. At the same time, when we really have a serious issue with our fiscal foundation. At a minimum, we need to make sure that we have our hemisphere, locked down, before we can do anything else.

And China has really been focused on making inroads in Latin America, and that is what this is all about. And it's not just about the currency swap.

You talked about the importation of Argentina beef. That's a piece of it as well.

And we have to support US ranchers. We have to make it easier for them to do business. We have to remove regulation. This extra piece from Argentina, this is a long-term play. And I know that it's hard for people who are ranchers and who are dealing with this day to day. But this is a long-term play for national security. Because otherwise, it's not going to be Argentinians. It's going to be China that owns everything.

GLENN: Yeah. So I'm looking at Venezuela. What's happening there.

And I don't think that's about drug running. I mean, you know, it is about drug running. But it's not.

It's about, again, taking control of this hemisphere. True or false?

CAROL: Absolutely. And, I mean, this a -- this isn't even you or I guessing about this. This has been a stated goal of the Trump administration.

One of the great things about the Trump administration is Trump, whether he intends to or not. Is incredibly traps parent

He will tell you, what -- he will tell you the things he will do, even if they're couched, you know, in a different record. You can look through that record, and see what that candy is on the inside. And he told us about that candy. So he's been very clear, in addition to the commodities, and the -- the words, the elements, and all these things that are very plentiful in South America. We need to make sure that we have within our allies control so we can have access to.

You do not want China to have military relationships, and other very strong relationships. Within South America.

Because we know what that means long-term for the United States.

GLENN: How is Trump doing overall?

CAROL: So I think overall, I think he's doing quite well. I think from a foreign policy perspective, and I said this during the last administration. Think of him as a business guy. But from a foreign policy perspective, he's an absolutely just killing it. Crushing it. He's been doing a great job in terms of securing the borders. Obviously, we would like to see more deportations. But they're certainly trying and have some roadblocks. And I think from an economic standpoint, the fact that he has this long-term lens, even though some of the machinations I don't agree with, these are the important things. This is finally an administration who says, wait. Our military stockpile is at risk. Because we don't have the components and the supply chain to be able to make products.

We're dependent upon other products in other countries. And assuming they're going to sell us those products, so that we can be able to defend ourselves against them. That doesn't make any sense.

So finally, we have people who are addressing the long-term problems.

And I think the most important thing for a country right now subsidy that we have the runway.

Because we cannot, in three years. Or three and a half years, turn over the reins to another set of people, who want to undo all of this, who hate the United States. Who want to walk that back.

We need people like President Trump. Like the people he's developing. Who understand the long-term issues, that we face that have been built up over many years.

From this broken fiscal foundation. From both parties. But that's where we are today. And he is doing the hard work to try to fix that.

And it's not necessarily apparent to everyone who doesn't understand at this level. But it is so critical, for this very important reset that we're going to have.

GLENN: So I know that you're not a fan of tariffs. I'm not a fan of tariffs.

CAROL: Correct.

GLENN: However, the things that have been happening, the tariffs are not doing what everybody thought they would do.

Why is that?

CAROL: Well, I don't necessarily agree that they're not doing what people thought they would do.

I think that they're -- there has been a bit of overhype on how things are presented.

So do tariffs make it more expensive for businesses and consumers to buy certain goods and services? Yes.

And that has happened. And I've seen it with my own eyes. With my own company. In joy venture partners and small businesses across the country.

There are small businesses that have major burdens. These are the things we thought would happen. And they are happening. In terms of creating runaway inflation, I don't think anybody said that at the levels they are.

They said that when he kicked them up to 100 percent. Which he walked back.

GLENN: Right.

CAROL: But we also know when you look at inflation data. That the way that calculated. There's a lot of picking and choosing and substitutions. So, of course, when you say, oh, well, this particular product is being hit too much.

Some of it is substituted to this. Of course, it's not going to show up in the same way, as it affects people in their day-to-day lives. So, again, I think it's that nuanced understanding.

It's the same thing, you know, when people said, hey, why am I at the grocery store? And everything is 30 percent higher. And they're telling us that inflation under Biden is 4 percent. We know that has to do with the calculation.

So I think that tariffs are causing some issues. And some pain.

And hopefully, that can be sorted out in time.

But, you know, absent that particular strategy, I think other things that he's doing, on the American front, to shore up our security from an economic and national security standpoint, make a lot of sense.

STU: And, Carol, I think a lot of people lose sight. Just because it was such a big issue.

Look, trade is important.

But it's also not a huge part of our economy. Imported good news are about ten percent of our economy.

Does that number sound about right?

CAROL: You know, it's a small percent.

I would want to go back and verify the neighbor.

I have so many things rolling around in my head today. That's not top of mind.

But it's not a meaningful percent of our direct -- where does impact, there's a component, where it flows through the economy. And it affects domestic goods and services.

So even, if, you know, on a headline basis, it doesn't seem like it's that important, it can flow through the rest of the economy and create a drag and create some issues there.

STU: Yes.

GLENN: I want to take a break. And, Carol, I want to come back.

Carol Roth is the economist I trust. She's a former investment banker. And really has a clear eye, on not Wall Street. But on Main Street.

I want to talk to you about the shut down. We're about to see possible delays at our airport. Our air traffic controllers. SNAP is about to expire. What happens here. When his the average person begin to really feel the shutdown. And is there a -- is there a line where it just has gone too far.

GLENN: So, Carol, tell me where we are on the shutdown.

CAROL: Well, it's tough. And I think I've said to you before, Glenn. As somebody who would love to see many parts of the government be shut down permanently. There's part of me that goes, this is fantastic. And I hope it goes on forever.

GLENN: Me too.

CAROL: Obviously, there are people who -- you know, we want to make sure that we get paid. We want to make sure the military get paid. We want to make sure that air traffic controllers get paid. So there's a little bit of give and take. Probably the most surprising thing that has come to light is how many people are on food assistance in this country.

GLENN: Yes.

CAROL: When we have something that's supposed to be a safety net, it's almost in my mind, supposed to be like under the tightrope. The trampoline under the tightrope. You fall, and then it pushes you back up. And it's a temporary solution. I feel like we've turned that net into a hammock, where people are just taking a nap. And sleeping in it long-term. And, you know, that is something that even though devastating for the families who truly need to be on it. The fact that this is getting some light on it, I think, you know, that could be a small silver lining here. And I think that will put pressure on the Democratic base. The Democrats are holding out for a bunch of insanity, for illegals over trying to feed the people who are actually in their base. So I'm hoping that puts enough pressure for everybody else though. I think when this really starts to flow through the economy and becomes a drag on numbers and becomes a drag on the stock market, is where you're going to -- to see a little bit more --

GLENN: Any idea when that happens?

CAROL: It's hard to say. Because as we know right now, with the government shutdown. We're not even getting numbers.

GLENN: Right. Right. Right.

CAROL: But, you know, we cannot afford for GDP to contract. We cannot afford for the consumer, which is 70 percent of the economy.

To feel like they cannot spend. Because that flows through tax receipts. And if we have lower tax receipts. It will blow up the deficit. If we blow up the deficit, we can end up in a debt spiral. So that's the big issue here.

GLENN: Well, the food stamps. If you look the at the SNAP program through ethnicity. 45.6 percent of Afghans who have been imported here in America, are on food stamps. Forty-two percent of the Somali community. Thirty-four percent of the Iraqi community, and 23 percent of the Haitian community. That just can't happen!

That just can't happen.

CAROL: Yeah. You know, in terms of those numbers. I think there's a common sense approach that we need to take here. In terms of immigration.

Which I've raised the question with AI. You know, how much immigration do we actually need?

But to the extent that we do invite great people into our country, who share our values. We need to means test that, and you should not be allowed to come here and then be a dependent on the government.

That should be a position of coming to this country.

And I think that's something that seems like it would maybe a 20 or 90/10 issue. So, again, shining light on these things at the point of people who are actually willing to do the hard work and address this problem, is a net benefit.

Is a silver lining, even though the backdrop. You know, we don't want people who actually need this, to go without food.

But, you know, it brings into question, the system. You can get people beans. You can get people rice. You can get people staples. And have them be well-fed in a fraction of the cost, that it's currently costing. And keep out the dodos and the candies and the people who just arrived here to take advantage of the system.

GLENN: Yeah. Carol, thank you. As always, God bless.

CAROL: Always a pleasure.

GLENN: You bet. Buh-bye. Carol Roth. She is just -- I just love Carol. I looked for somebody like Carol for a long time, that understood Wall Street, understood the banking, and then also understood Main Street. CarolRoth.com.

You can find her at the website. Carol Roth. Or follow her on X @CarolJSRoth.