RADIOOctober 20, 2022

Is the FBI involved in this reporter's DISAPPEARANCE?

‘Emmy-winning producer James Gordon Meek had his home raided by the FBI. His colleagues says they haven’t seen him since,’ writes a recent Rolling Stone report about an American reporter’s mysterious disappearance. Though some details remain murky, in this clip, Glenn explains everything we know so far. This is something 'I've never seen before in America,' Glenn says, and it raises several PRESSING questions: Could the FBI possibly be involved in this? Where is Meek, and why have no friends or family publicly expressed concern? What was on his laptop, and why did one of his colleagues refuse to answer Rolling Stone’s questions…?

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Yeah, there's a couple of stories out that are quite disturbing. I think I'm going to start with this one and I want to read it verbatim. It's from Rolling Stone magazine, something I don't usually go to for all my facts and figures.

STU: Nor anything else.

GLENN: Or anything else. This is a really disturbing story and usually the Rolling Stone magazine is on the left. For them to bring this story to light is quite remarkable. A minute before 5:00 a.m. April 27, ABC news journalist James Gordon meek fired off a single tweet with a single word: Facts. The network's national security investigative producer was responding to a former CIA agent and they take that the Ukrainian military with assistant from the U.S. was thriving with Russian sources. This agent's tweet filled with acronyms indecipherable to the lay person like TTP, UW and EW, was itself a reply to a missive from Washington Post pentagon reporter who noted the wealth of information the U.S. military had gathered about Russian opts just by observing their combat strategy in real time. The interchange illustrated the interplay between the National Security community and those who cover it. And no one straddled both worlds quite like ABC news Meek. He was an Emmy winning deep dive journalist who was a former senior counter terrorism adviser and investigator for the house homeland security commission. His detractors within ABC, Meek was something of a military fan boy but his track record of exclusives was undeniable. Breaking the how tos of foiled terrorist plots in New York City and the army's cover up of the fratricidal death of private first class David Sherit in Iraq. A bomb shell that earned Meek a face to face meeting with President Obama. With nine years at ABC under his belt, a buzzy Hulu documentary poised for Emmy attention, and an upcoming book on the military's chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, the 52 year old journalist seemed to be at the height of his powers and the pinnacle of his profession. But outside his Arlington Virginia, apartment, a surreal scene was unfolding and his storied career was about to come crashing down. Meek's tweet marked the last time he posted on Twitter. The first thing Meek's neighbor, John Antonelli noticed that morning was a black utility vehicle with blacked out windows blocking traffic in both directions on Columbus Pike. It was just before dawn on that brisk April day and self described police vehicle historian Antonelli was about to grab a coffee at Starbucks before embarking on his daily three mile walk. He inched closer to get a better vantage and when he saw an olive green Lenco BearCat G2 an armored tactical vehicle often employed by the FBI among other law enforcement agencies, a few Arlington County cruisers surrounded the jaw dropping scene. But all of the other vehicles were unmarked, including the BearCat. Antonelli accounted at least ten heavily armed personnel in the group. None wore anything identifying which agency was conducting the raid. Just after ten minutes the operation inside the se in a Park apartment complex, a six story upscale building for D.C. professionals, was over. They didn't stick around. They took off pretty quickly and headed west toward Fairfax County. Most people seeing that green vehicle will think it's some sort of a tank, but I knew it was a Lenco BearCat. It's a vehicle design to jump out of so you do a raid in a quick amount of time and it can return fire if they're being fired upon. Multiple sources familiar with the matter say Meek was the target of an FBI raid at the sienna Park apartments where he had been living on the top floor for more than a decade. An FBI representative told Rolling Stone its agents were present at the morning of April 27 at that block, but they could not comment further due to an ongoing investigation. Meek has not been charged with a crime, but independent observers believe the raid was among the first and quite possibly the first to be carried out on a journalist by the Biden administration. A federal magistrate Judge in the Virginia eastern district court signed off on a search warrant that day before the raid. If the raid was for Meek's records U.S. deputy attorney general Lisa Monaco would have had to give her blessing, a new policy enacted last year prohibits federal a prosecutors from seizing journalist's documents. Any inception requires the deputy AG's approval. They said, to my knowledge, there hasn't been any case since January 2021. In the raid's aftermath, Meek has made himself scarce. Now that the first time, this story takes a turn now and I'm not sure what we're getting here. In the raid's after math Meek has made himself scarce. None of his Sienna Park neighbors with whom rolling stone spoke with, have seen him since. With his apartment now appearing to be vacant. Sienna Park management declined to confirm that their long time tenant was gone, citing privacy policies. Okay. Similarly, you know, several ABC news colleague whose are accustomed to unraveling mysteries and cracking investigative stories tell Rolling Stones they have no idea what happened to Meek. He just fell off the face of the earth. And when people are asked, no one knows the answer. ABC representatives tell Rolling Stone yeah, he resigned abruptly and he hasn't worked for us for month. Really? Sources familiar with the matter say federal agents allegedly found classified information on Meek's laptop during their raid. One investigative journalist who worked with Meet meek says it would be highly unusual for a reporter or a producer to keep any classified information on his computer. So now, what happened to him? He hasn't been seen since April. This story goes on to, I don't know, it just gets fuzzy at the end. Let me read you the last uh, last paragraph. It is unclear what story, if any, would have put Meek in the FBI crosshairs. Meek worked on extremely sensitive topics from high profile terrorists in America, and Americans held abroad and the exploits of Eric Prince, the founder of the military contractor Blackwater, in. In recent years some of Meek's highest profile reporting delved into an ambush by isos, left four American green berets dead. ABC adapted the story in a feature length documentary which debuted last year on Veterans Day on Hulu. Okay. Is anyone, A, do we live now in Russia? The FBI is completely and totally out of control. A Emmy award winning journalist tweets facts and then is whisked away into, we don't know if it's the FBI, into black vans where no one is wearing identification on their flack jacket. Now, this sticks out to me because last night I talked to one of the guys swept up by the FBI. Remember, the father of 11, he was on my show last night. And I said, you know, how did it happen? He said they were pounding on the doors, pounding on the windows. He said I opened the window to see what was going on. They had guns pointed at the front door. I went to the door and I said I'm opening the door now. I asked them for identification and the FBI guy pointed to his chest with a little velcro thing that said FBI and he said that's your identification. Now that's disturbing in the first place. But these guys didn't have any markings. Why? And where is this guy? And why isn't, why isn't the world of ABC on fire. Where are the journalists? If Donald Trump had anyone in a gray sedan, nut eve an black van, a gray sedan, an old one, from the 60s, and an old lady got out and said hey, I'm with the Trump administration and I just like to ask you about an article, they would have been screaming to high heaven. Now we have a FBI that is completely out of control. And they pick up a journalist in April. We're just hearing it about it now?

STU: That might be the most disturbing part of the story, the fact that a journalist could be taken out of their home in a raid by the government, and no one, no journalist reports it? No one's tweeting about it? There's no discussions for six months?

GLENN: Yeah. And by the way, his partner who worked with him on the documentary that they produced, he told Rolling Stone I'm a nut commenting on this story. And then hung up. This is not good, America. This is not good. The fear and the madness has got to stop. We must end it November 8 we must end it November 8. I don't think America, I don't know, I don't want mainstream media anymore so I don't know what everybody else is saying, I don't even listen to other talk radio shows, I don't listen to anything. I don't know what warnings you're getting elsewhere, but if you're not hearing an urgent warning on the loss of your country, our Bill of Rights, your freedom, and your economic freedom, you're listening to the wrong people. This is very disturbing and when we come back I'll try to tell you about the other story that I don't think even legally I can. It's a fun world, in a minute. Am I overreacting to these things? Am I looking at all of these pieces and at any time are you going Glenn, Glenn, Glenn relax.

STU: I don't think lot of people are feeling the same way you are.

GLENN: Okay.

STU: I do. Again, we don't know.

GLENN: Don't know the story.

STU: We might find out there's an explanation for this, there's an anecdote in there where one of his coworkers said he called me up and had all sorts of real problems in his life and had to pull out of the project.

GLENN: Which bothered me because it lead you to believe that he might be suicidal.

STU: Right. No, I know.

GLENN: That doesn't help that story.

STU: But it could be, that's true. But that's just one element of a million stories we've done over the past couple of months that make you think there are massive problems going on.

GLENN: Somebody disappears from April until October and you don't find a body and nobody is doing a man hunt? Nobody's even talking about this story. How is that possible.

STU: How is it possible? How is the media for forget the government actually doing it, which would be incredibly disturbing, but why, where are this guy's friends, this guy's associates, the people who he depended o who depended on him. Why weren't they out telling the story four or five months ago.

GLENN: Let me do the commercial here. It's American Financing. We are in, it's really weirds right now with an exception of inflation, when you look at the loan rate, we're about 5%. Historically, verify this, if you can, that's like a pretty low rate.

STU: Yeah.

GLENN: If you go back 40 years, 30 years, that's a low rate. So we are historically at a really pretty good rate. Average, maybe six percent, seven percent, but we're looking at 5% and going this is insane. No. The world went insane after the crash in 08. The world went insane. That wasn't normal. Now, the extra whammy is how much you have to pay for everything because of inflation. American Financial is there to help you. If you are trying to buy a new house, they can help you get the best loan. If you are struggling your credit cards they may be able to help you. Please call them for a financial review, it's free, it's no strings attached. It will take you about ten minutes. American Financing,800 906 2440 AmericanFinancing.net. Ten second station ID. >> This is the Blaze Radio Network. Listen at home, at work, and in the car. Find out how at the blaze.com/radio.

GLENN: Welcome to the this is amazing. Simon Schuster, I'm just reading this some more. He co authored Americans Who Undertook One Last Mission: An Honored Promise in Afghanistan, when he coauthored with lieutenant Scott Mann, a retired green beret. Meek even featured a picture of the soon published book in his bio on social media. Post April 27, the book jacket photo disappeared from his bio and Simon Schuster scrubbed his name from all of the press materials. The first sentence of the jacket previously read in April, ABC news correspondent James Gordon not got an urgent call from a special forces op rater serving overseas. Now it says in April an urgent call was made from a special forces operation serving overseas. Why is he being erased? Why is he being erased? Welcome to 1982, gang. Back in a minute. >> The Glenn Beck Program.

GLENN: Every day is different. Every day is like, every week is like a decade. It's moving so quickly and I just want you to know that we're going to be fine and there are things that you can do and we can do that are really important. One of the things you is to have people watching your back while you're busy doing things. On line, no one can prevent identity theft but it is a real problem especially if we're getting into a digital war with somebody like rush a. Life lick log protect what's yours save 25%, life lock dot com, Life Lock.com promo code Beck or 1 800 LifeLock 1 800 LifeLock, promo code Beck at LifeLock.com.

STU: All the best election coverage at blaze TV dot com/Glenn use the promo code Glenn to save yourself 10 bucks. >> This is the Blaze Radio Network, truth lives here.

GLENN: Welcome to the Glenn program. My staff is reaching out to the FCC to have a conversation about something that I will, I will delay a day and see what, see what my team I need to tell you this story, but I don't think legally I can and I want to, I want you to hear the story the gloves have to come off and I think our attorneys and the FCC need to be involved before I move forward. If not, well then we'll tell you the story in another way. But the gloves need to come off and I want some answers. So we'll get to the second story I was telling you that I'm not sure I can tell you on the air, we'll give you an update hopefully tomorrow maybe tomorrow we'll tell you the story.

STU: A weird time to do a radio show.

GLENN: I've never dealt with this.

STU: Yeah.

GLENN: You've been in it for 22 years, 24?

STU: 24.

GLENN: 24 years? I've been doing this for 45. Nothing like this ever. Ever. People need to understand that. When you listen to people like Joe Rogan or Dave ruin or any really good podcasters, that podcast. They haven't seen broadcast. So they don't know the standards that we've always had to live up to and they were without question. We never even got close to the those things. You never had when you have media experience and you're not one of the club or the cult, when you have that and you see how much things have changed and I mean, it's remarkable. And how fast it is changing. We are talking about this story from Rolling Stone and Stu and I were talking about it off the air and I think we should talk about it more. ABC news producer's home raided by FBI. This is from the Rolling Stone. Why is this only in the Rolling Stone. Emmy award winning producer James Gordon Meek had his home raided by the FBI, this is back in April. Colleagues say they haven't seen him since. The neighbors haven't seen him since. His home is now just vacant. It rooks like it's empty. What happened? Where is he? Is there a missing persons report out on him? Is there anybody in his life? Why doesn't the story quote anyone from his family? Now, maybe, maybe because you know, the one guy he was his director and producer on a film that they were working on that they won the Emmy for, when Rolling Stone contacted him about hey, where is he? What happened? Was I'm not commenting on this story and hung up the phone his colleagues, investigative journalists at ABC, have no idea what happened to him. He was just picked up at 5:00 in the morning after he tweeted Facts, that was his last tweet, and then gone. Now, in reading the story, and I can't explain this other than a feeling because the story kind of changes halfway through. It makes this incredible charge. Now, either Rolling Stone, which is possible, Rolling Stone has something and they're hyping it up, but why would they do that? So they're making it look like this is something cloak and dagger, you know, the FBI, that maybe because they don't like the FBI? Good. Stand in line. Maybe it's because that the way that doesn't make sense in today's world where journalists are supposed to love the FBI.

STU: Certainly Rolling Stone is left wing, but they also have, they have a strain of, I don't know, the intercept; right? A sort of anti

GLENN: Military.

STU: Military, anti law enforcement strain to their reporting that you could see them being critical even when a democrat is in office. We should also point out, to be fair, Rolling Stone does not have the best record when it comes to telling factual stories.

GLENN: True, true.

STU: They have had massive payouts they've had to make. If I remember right they were one of the ones, weren't they the Virginia case

GLENN: Yeah, they were.

STU: Where they basically a

GLENN: Accused this teen of rape.

STU: Accused of rape and it was a big scandal and then the whole thing fell apart.

GLENN: Correct.

STU: So they've had many, many issues over the years.

GLENN: Okay. But here's the thing. In the first part of the story they make it, they lead you to believe that he's gone. He's just gone. Nobody's seen him. I mean, they say that. Nobody has seen him. No one knows where he is. The last time anyone saw him way the morning of the FBI raid. This is in April. But then the next paragraph in the raid's aftermath, Meek has made himself scarce. Now that not making yourself scarce.

STU: Yeah.

GLENN: That means you've made yourself invisible. You've fallen off the map.

STU: I think the accusation is that he didn't make himself anything. The point is he was made by outside forces to be invisible.

GLENN: Correct. So but that bothers me. That sentence bothers me because that says the reporter is either reaching and doesn't really have everything but enough for the story to be printed, but the editor comes in and says wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. You can't say they took him and he disappeared because do you know that? Well, no. Okay. I need you to soften this up because then for a couple of paragraphs it kind of, kind of softens it up. Nowhere does it say they did anything to him the one colleague that co wrote a book and was the co writer of this book, the guy who's had that now handed to him and Meeks' name is completely off the book and he's been entirely taken out, for what? What ha reason? What reason? He's the one who says yeah, he called me and he was just distraught and said I can't work on the book anymore. I said I understand, okay.

STU: That would be the reason; right? In theory, if you believe the narrative of the story that he's saying that I mean, like the alternate theory here would be that this guy just has massive problems going on, maybe his people around him don't want to talk about it because again I'm just throwing this stuff out there, he's in rehab or he's having emotional problems, or some sort of physical ailment. That doesn't line up with the fact that this all seems to have happened after the FBI raid. That the part of it

GLENN: Yeah.

STU: If there was no FBI raid you might say why is this guy missing, we don't have any answers.

GLENN: If I were the editor, I would be asking is there a missing person's report out on him? Has anybody filed a missing persons? This guy can't be a guy that can just disappear and has no friend that says hey, you know, I'm really concerned with him. We haven't seen him since April. He hasn't tweeted, he hasn't done anything since April. You know, if you're a good friend of his or a family member, and you think that he's having some issues, you are even stronger on that.

STU: Yeah. And they don't have family members quoted in there.

GLENN: They have no family members.

STU: They're not saying hey, we're looking for him too, we don't know. It's co workers and co works, it's possible, certainly this day and age where everyone's working at home, may not see a co worker for a long period of time. You'd think they wouldn't write the story, though, if they did not have an indication. If they knew ten minutes after they write it that one of their family members is saying I just saw him at lunch yesterday, You've got to have some sort of confirmation.

GLENN: He's not in New York, have you looked at his home town?

STU: Right.

GLENN: You know what I mean?

STU: Yeah. He just took different job. He's been working at talk y bell for the past six months.

GLENN: That would be like you saying I was here one day, it was the summer, Glenn just disappeared for months. He's been gone since June and it's August. Yeah, I'm up in the mountains.

STU: He's at the ranch.

GLENN: He's at the ranch, right.

GLENN: You can't do that.

STU: Right. They don't, I assume they want to avoid looking that dumb today if a family member is like hey, here he is, we swam in the pool yesterday. You want to have some belief in the media, I guess. I think what's more shocking here, we're picking apart this report, but why weren't these people asking questions about their friend, about their co worker? Where were the reporters where they can write about every rumor about Donald Trump, they can accuse him of being a Russian asset for five years but they don't have any interest in their own friend and his whereabouts? That kind of weird, is tent?

GLENN: Mmhm. That's why I started this hour with never seen this in America before. I've never seen this in America. This is what you expect in a banana republic. This is what you expect government to do in Russia. And the idea again he had classified I don't think on his laptop. He's a journalist, he's protected by law and they recently reinforced that law by saying if it's a journalist laptop you have to have the assistant AG to sign off on that warrant. The AG didn't. So how, how is that even, how does that square with the story? Why did they conduct the raid with the roomers they were looking for some classified information. You can't conduct the raid for that on a journalist. You've broken the law. The good news is the FBI's looking into it. As soon as they get those pro life clinic bombers they'll be on this one.

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.