Best of The Program | Guest: Tucker Carlson | 8/11/21

39m
Stu is back from vacation just in time to discuss Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigning as governor of New York. Stu goes through how he always saw this coming for Cuomo. Fox News host Tucker Carlson joins to discuss his new book, “The Long Slide,” and the latest on his claims that the NSA was spying on him. Glenn takes calls from immigrants who left their country to find success and prosperity in America.
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Transcript

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Hey, great program today.

It's the return of Stubragear.

Yay!

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So we've got a lot of AndrewCuomoisAwful.com talk

that you don't want to miss.

Also, Tucker Carlson on today's program and some really uplifting phone calls from people who made it in America.

I know it can't be done.

People who came here with nothing and learned English, played by the rules, and now one of them was a woman from the mountains of Colombia who made it here with $10 in her pocket and she just sold her multi-million dollar company.

Don't tell me you can't make it in America.

Proof is on today's podcast.

You're listening to

the best of the Glenbeck program.

Welcome to the Glenn Beck program and the triumphant return of the guy who has known this for years.

One of the first Cuomo monologues Stu did was, is it just me?

He has been saying that he is

Andrew Cuomo is just awful at AndrewCuomo is just awful.com.

AndrewCuomo is awful.com.

Important to get that right.

And you've been saying that not because of of you know his handling of the covid and killing you know all the people in the nursing home or uh sexually assaulting women uh you said it because

he's just awful yeah well it's interesting because it really my

obsession with how terrible and awful andrew cuomo was really didn't stem from the nursing home thing which came later uh

i couldn't understand why he was getting credit for this incredible handling of the the coronavirus when, I mean, objectively, he oversaw the worst coronavirus response in America.

And at that time, I think the world.

And you wonder, like, why is he getting praise for doing these amazing things?

And you kept hearing how great his press conferences were.

And I was like, am I watching the same ones?

Like, is he doing two a day and I'm catching the bad one?

What is happening?

And, you know, you look at it.

And I think fundamentally people look at it as this has advanced and said, okay, Andrew Cuomo is awful because he killed thousands of people in nursing homes.

That's a good argument.

Yeah.

That's a good argument.

Andrew Cuomo is awful because he sexually harassed a bunch of people at his office.

Good argument.

I think, though, it gets it reversed.

It's not that Andrew Cuomo is awful because of these things.

Andrew Cuomo is awful, and therefore these things occur.

He, at his core, is such a continually bad person

at his core that these scandals are the obvious side effect of this larger illness that is Andrew Cuomo and his character.

He's been a bad guy for a really long time.

He's been corrupt for a really long time.

And the fact, I think a lot of this behavior, like when you're out there saying you're an ally in the Me Too movement, well, like the next day,

these complaints, these harassment complaints, he was going and harassing these women days after making big speeches about me too.

That sort of hubris only comes from

a ridiculous amount of power that he shouldn't have had, a complete confidence that he would never get taken down, and an assistance by the media to a level that you can't possibly imagine.

Yeah, the Federalists

had a great take on this: that the one lesson that

we should learn from Andrew Cuomo is that he's not the problem.

The problem really is the press.

Because the press, I mean, think of Andrew Cuomo's life.

His father was governor.

So you know he had special privileges all throughout his life growing up.

Then he becomes governor.

Nobody's saying anything to him.

He's already a spoiled child, already expects to get his way because he's a Cuomo.

And he's also also a very, very vindictive guy.

The press decides just to get into bed with him.

The press knew about Harvey Weinstein.

The press knew about Jeffrey Epstein.

The press knew about Andrew Cuomo.

They don't actually care.

All of this cancel culture stuff is bullcrap.

When it comes to the press, it's bullcrap.

I wonder if he's going to lose his Emmy.

They gave him an Emmy.

Will he lose his Emmy?

No, because they don't care.

If he's doing this stuff and they like him, it's fine.

Yeah, it's interesting because that is the difference with Cuomo.

They don't like him.

He is such a terrible guy and has been so terrible to the people around him for so long,

like Harvey Weinstein,

that they were able to actually look at the facts of the story and not feel terrible trying to take him down.

Because I will say, while I agree with the Federalists there that the media is a huge issue in this, there were some people who actually did go after

Cuomo.

And I don't know that without the New York Times jumping on the

bandwagon, although very late, I don't know that this stuff would have actually happened.

I don't know that he actually

deserves a lot of the credit for this.

Probably the most important person in making sure that this occurred is Janice Dean.

I mean, because especially because, you know, you look at Janice, who people know from,

you know, she's been on TV for a very long time, but is not a hardcore partisan, is not known for going after people in a negative way at all.

I mean, her book is, is this, like, collection of sweet tales of parents, like, helping their sick children.

Like, it's like, she's like the nicest person in the universe.

Right.

And the fact that she was out there saying these things about Cuomo almost shocked the system, I think, for a lot of people.

Wait a minute, this guy really is doing these things.

This guy really is bad.

She wouldn't, she had no

incentive to become a person out there being

a lot of incentive to not

shut that person.

You know, and she didn't do that, which was vital.

So take me through, because yesterday it was about, I don't know,

10.56,

the last couple of minutes on air, he decides to come out.

And all the word is, is that he is not going to resign.

And he starts his resignation with, you know, look, I didn't do these things.

And I thought, and I said, because we ran out of time, I said, looks like this guy is just going to hold on.

10 minutes into it, he starts saying, so that's why I'm leaving.

Yeah, it was really, I think, shocking to a lot of people.

The first really big issue here was Melissa DeRosa resigning, and that happened on Sunday.

DeRosa was like lead henchman, you know, for Cuomo.

And, you know, we're going to find out.

I mean, I think there was illegal activity done by this administration, and they're going to have to go through all of this and sort it out.

So she's, what's her name?

Giselle

Maxwell.

Yeah.

Right.

I mean, you know, yeah, kind of.

Yeah.

Like that person who was, again, Maxwell is accused of even much more serious crimes.

Sure.

But

she was the enforcer.

She was the one who made it all go away.

And

she was the one who greased the skids.

Berating employees, changing the nursing home report so that it didn't tell the truth.

You know, all of these,

targeting Lindsay Boylan, the first accuser, and

helping to try to ruin her life after she made this accusation.

And she was super, super loyal, like the lead loyalist.

And,

you know, I don't know if she was

a really, is she a really terrible person?

Was she completely terrified too?

by Andrew Cuomo.

I don't know.

But she did all sorts of things that I think are illegal or borderline illegal.

And when she, she really was the biggest biggest loyalist, the fact that she stepped down was a huge signal that he was not going to be able to survive this.

But it was,

as far as I knew, yesterday morning, he was still telling people, I'm staying.

He was still going back and forth after that.

He was trying to

figure out a way.

How can I cut a deal here?

And trust me when I say this, Andrew Cuomo didn't leave.

He did not resign office.

He realized he had no chance in staying.

He realized that this impeachment was going to throw him out of office anyway.

And he's seeing this as the best path forward for him because that's all he ever thinks about.

So this was not him resigning.

Ah, you know what?

I think I'm doing the right thing for the state as he tried to pull off yesterday.

So he's going back and forth deciding whether he's going to step down or not.

Again, just a personal calculation.

Didn't they have an attorney?

Yes.

His attorney was going to defend him.

And she did.

She came out for about 40 minutes and made an extensive case as to why

this report was one-sided.

And, you know, I mean, I think you could make an argument that it was one-sided.

They didn't, I mean, they did include some of Cuomo's answers to these questions.

But, like, you know,

everything you expect from someone who's going to, you know, defend this to the end.

And he came out, she came out and did this big presentation and laid out, went through each individual accuser and all of that.

And at this point, reporters are getting word that Cuomo has flown from Albany to New York City where she's making this presentation.

And they're like, is he going to make an appearance of some sort?

Like, he's going to come out and address this?

But they had no sense for sure that he was going to resign.

And he came out, he started his defense.

He went through his defense.

He went through specific accusers and accusations and said, I didn't do these things.

They misinterpreted them.

These women, you know, that just absolutely didn't happen.

You know, he made kind of the,

look, I'm an old

times have changed.

These lines have been redrawn.

And I tell you, I swear it was just yesterday I could pat a woman on the behind from the steno rule.

And it's like this ridiculous madman defense.

He keeps trying.

It's like, you became, like, you became governor in the 2000s.

Right.

This is not, like, if you go back to 1870 when all this was okay.

And so he tried that thing.

He's trying to.

Miriam was at the mimeograph machine.

And

yes, I thought she was doing a good job.

I gave her a little tap on the ass.

A little goose for her good work.

And so he tried that again.

And so it looked like he was going through this whole process.

And then at the end, he just said, look.

I think it's best for the state that I step down.

Now, of course, he does not care at all about anyone in the state not named Cuomo, as evidenced by who got all the COVID tests when they were really scarce.

All of his family members and friends.

But he sees this as his only way forward.

Okay.

So

we're going to take a one-minute break, and then I want to ask you: he's staying in for 14 days, which is weird.

Yes.

Maybe because he has no place to live.

It makes one of the former prosecutors from

the New York district for the FBI makes him very, he's like,

that's not normal.

That's not necessary.

I just hope that nothing nefarious is going on in the next 14 days.

I got a couple promises on that one.

Yeah.

But I want to talk about where he goes next because I think he was positioning himself.

I don't know what for, but that was a position.

And maybe it was just positioning for a court hearing.

I don't think anything's going to go to court.

Maybe it does, but once he's out of the way, then people generally try to, oh, let's just forgive and forget.

This is the best of the Glenbeck program.

Mr.

Tucker Carlson, he has a new book out.

It has been released today through Simon ⁇ Schuster.

It is called The Long Slide, 30 Years in American Journalism.

Welcome to the program, Tucker.

Hey, Glenn, thanks for having me.

You bet.

You bet.

Let's start with first just the

NSA scandal that's going on.

How comfortable are you that we're going to find out what's really going on, that the watchdog

for the intelligence agencies are going to be fair and independent.

Well, I don't think it's a scandal.

I mean, it's totally, you should have the expectation when you live in America, if you criticize the regime, then they read your email.

I mean, I learned, so I thought that was illegal and un-American and an assault on civil liberties, but I learned from the Daily Beast that actually, if you complain about it, then you hate America.

So

shut up and accept it.

You have no privacy.

The war on terror has been turned against American citizens, but you deserve it because you're a white supremacist.

Correct.

That's what I've been told.

Correct.

It is,

it's pretty phenomenal what is going on in America, especially

with the intelligence agency.

I mean, you now have not only Americans being spied on, you're being spied on, but you also have the Capitol Police becoming an intelligence agency.

The post office?

It's so distressing.

I mean,

I moved to Washington when I was 15.

My dad worked for the federal government.

He worked with the CIA.

I applied to work at the CIA when I graduated college in operations.

I thought it was a totally honorable thing.

We understood, and

we're the same age about, so you remember, we understood the U.S.

government and our intel agencies and our military and our federal law enforcement.

Honorable.

Designed to protect us.

And honorable.

Exactly right.

The idea that your son would grow up to be an FBI agent, you're thinking, wow,

I would be really proud of him.

I wanted to work there.

I mean, that tells you how I felt about it.

And the difference, look, you can't turn the awesome law enforcement and intel gathering powers of the federal government against American citizens on a wholesale basis.

Like, that's the nightmare scenario.

We have a lot of laws in place designed to prevent it.

And now it's happening.

And it's just bewildering to me that like no one says anything about it.

Like, this is totally cool.

This is the way it works.

No, it's not cool.

It's not the way it works.

If you care about democracy, you're opposed to this with everything that you have.

If they can do this, what they did to Donald Trump and they can do this to you, what makes the average American think they won't turn it on them easily?

Because you'll have no chance.

That's exactly right.

And

I'm concluding things and saying things out loud that I just, three years ago, I never would have imagined I would say or think.

I would have thought, oh, that's paranoid.

That's crazy.

I think I'm the least paranoid, you know, sunniest, most optimistic, naive person I know.

I mean, I never assume bad motives on the part of any American.

You know, I don't want to anyway.

But,

yeah, I think if you're paying attention, you're deeply concerned about where we're going.

And that's not a partisan point.

You know, if you care about basic civil liberties, like the right to disagree, the right to

speak your mind, the right to follow your own conscience, the right to raise your family, you know, roughly the way you want to.

Nothing crazy.

This is not ideological stuff.

Let me talk about.

Let me, wait, wait, wait, wait.

Let me come back to that for a second on that.

That's not an ideological point.

And just to ask you one last question on this.

Do you know who unmasked you?

I don't know.

I was in Washington for a funeral.

I moved out of Washington after 35 years.

I didn't have much choice, so I did.

And I was back, and I ran into a very old, very close friend of mine who said, who said, let's get together.

I've got to talk to you about something.

Who said in person, you know, you are planning this trip to Russia.

And I said, well, I haven't told anybody that, so I don't know how you'd know.

Because, and then this person told me that the NSA had been reading my electronic communications, my texts and emails, and had unmasked me and was going to spread this to news organizations to suggest that I was somehow a disloyal American.

And it just, it actually scared me.

I'm not normally rattled by stuff, but that's so over the top that I immediately called like the only person in politics I would ever talk to is a U.S.

senator who's wise.

And I said, this kind of rattles kind of scares me, honestly.

What should I do?

And he said, you've got to go public with it because you don't have any other defense.

You don't have actual power.

You're just the only power you have is to talk, which is true.

And you need to do that right away as a, you know, prophylactically as a self-defense move.

Yep.

And so I did, and I felt like kind of a lunatic.

You don't want to go on TV.

I mean, would you want to go on the air and say they're spying on me?

No, you sound like a nutcase, but I didn't feel like I had a choice.

All right.

So let me go back to where you just said this is not a partisan issue, because I think it is.

And I think your book

is kind of evidence of that.

You talk about the 30 years in American journalism, the long slide.

And you yourself say you couldn't do the things.

You couldn't report the things

today that you were doing back then.

You couldn't,

the system is no longer what it was when we thought, at least, we all agreed with each other and we were all seeking the same outcome.

I don't think all Americans even agree on your right to privacy and your right of freedom of speech anymore.

Well, you're absolutely right.

And it's kind of, I mean, I'm sure you have this experience every day.

Things are changing so quickly.

You wake up in a brand new country, but it's hard to get perspective on how profound the change is because there are so few mile markers you know you don't it just seems like oh well i guess it's always been this way going back and reading 30 years of journalism mostly magazine journalism um was just kind of a shock i mean a lot of the pieces in the book i wrote for the new york times can you imagine esquire magazine i wrote for the washington post i you know i wrote for gq

there's no chance i would ever i wrote for the new republic i know i also had a lot of friends over the i mean a lot of friends not just a few like a lot who were were Democrats.

I went hunting with them.

I went on trips with them.

I hunted with them all my life.

And

now that's impossible.

I mean, they wouldn't have me.

I'm actually, I've never been very partisan.

I'm not super impressed by the Republican Party, that's for sure.

I don't like the Democratic Party, but I don't hate people because of their voter ID.

you know, because of who they vote for.

I just, that's not my temperament.

And so reading this, you really, I really got the sense that, boy, you know, it's a completely different world.

We are polarized to the point where you wonder how we reach agreement on anything.

And to your point, you know, what do we agree on?

You know, what do we have in common?

This has always been a multiracial country with no state religion.

You know, we've always been, in some sense, a diverse country.

And that's great.

I like that.

But you have to have something that unites you, something that we all agree on.

Like, why are we all living on this continent together, sharing a common federal federal government, if we don't agree on anything?

So, what do we agree on?

What is the American creed that unites us?

And increasingly, it's hard to answer that question.

It used to be the Bill of Rights.

Yes, it used to be the Bill of Rights.

And I contend you could get

maybe a majority, a slim majority, to disagree with maybe eight

of the first 10 in the Bill of Rights.

You have nothing left if you don't have the Bill of Rights.

Well, I mean, that's exactly right.

It's at this point, if you can't agree on that, I mean, let's just be totally blunt.

Countries don't hang together because they hang together naturally.

There's a centrifugal force as a physics principle.

And this is a huge country, and it's diverse on every level, not just ethnically, but geographically.

People, you know, the country won't hang together unless we work intentionally and ceaselessly to create a reason for it to hang together.

And it can't just be force.

It can't just be, you know, we control the Pentagon, obey.

That's not enough.

You need consent of the governed.

And the majority needs to agree that we're in this together for a reason because we shared this in common.

And if you set out to destroy those bonds, if you set out to increase tribalism, which is what they're doing.

No, you're first loyalties to your ethnic group.

Are you joking?

You're a Hutu, you're a Tutsi.

Like, how do you think that ends?

It's so insane.

And so I just think we need a national movement starting like this afternoon to figure out what it is we have in common and to emphasize that because otherwise, I mean, it's just very clear where this is going to go.

What

when you look at other countries, I mean, for a long time, we were, you know, we got to be more like Europe.

We got to be, I, in some ways, I'd love to be like some of the countries in Europe.

Some of the countries in Europe are preaching against us.

They're like, don't follow America.

Whatever poison is coming out of there, don't do it.

And I've heard you talk about Hungary and

the way that the government is now in Hungary, they are more free than we are.

Well, that's, I,

I mean, it's just funny to be in your 50s because you, you dimly remember a life before this.

And what you just said, it just makes me laugh because I was in Europe last week and I thought that the whole time.

We mocked Europe.

I mean, constantly mocked Europe.

And

how sad is it?

I take no joy in noting what's true, which is when if you're in Budapest and you disagree with the ruling party,

you don't need armed bodyguards.

You're not going to be silenced.

The majority of media in Hungary are opposed.

to the ruling party.

The ruling party may lose in the coming elections.

And

that's how how things work in a representative democracy.

You know, like you have peaceful transfers of power, and people are allowed to say what they think, and store windows aren't smashed because they disagree with the COVID policy or the Black Lives Matter or the trans policy.

It's like, it's all right.

How is that not freer?

It is freer.

It is.

And that just, that just crushes me.

I know.

Me too.

Let me ask you because I've finished my the last book I did.

I've been with Simon ⁇ Schuster for 20 years, and I want nothing to do with John Karp, the CEO.

They started firing conservatives at Simon ⁇ Schuster, started closing things down, and

it made no sense to me.

You have this publisher, Simon ⁇ Schuster, is your publisher for this book.

And

you go after them.

in the book.

I mean, that takes blocks.

Yeah, I mean, they, and I told them I was going to.

I mean, there's something, well, they published it, so they know

what's in it.

And in fact, I dedicated it to John Karp effectively.

So,

you know, they know.

But

look, it's really simple.

They're one of the most powerful book publishers in the world.

They should not be abetting censorship.

The whole point of publishing and of journalism is to keep open this free exchange of ideas.

You don't agree with at least half of them, but it's important for people to be able to voice them.

In fact, it's essential.

You can't have a democracy without that.

So you can't be for censorship.

And they are.

And I was shocked when they canceled Josh Hawley's book because they didn't like his vote.

You may not like his vote.

Okay, that's all right.

But Josh Hawley has a right to air his views.

They canceled his book.

They issued a press release calling him a terrorist.

And I watched this with my jaw open, knowing that I had a book due to them.

So I called John Carpenter and I said, what is this?

And I said, I feel a moral obligation to report this out because I'm getting paid by Simon ⁇ Schuster.

I'm participating in this.

I'm benefiting from your censorship.

and I feel bad about that.

So I'm going to write about it.

And if you don't want to publish the book, you don't have to.

And I think they really felt trapped because they knew that they canceled my book.

I was going to go after it,

which I certainly would.

So it was just one of these weird circumstances where I got to report out censorship in real time, and I thought that I should.

I felt it was my duty to do that.

Well, good for you.

I'm no longer with Simon and Schuster.

My contract expired, and I couldn't be happier.

Although

my next book is coming out self-published, and I don't know anybody of my size that has ever tried that before.

So we'll see how it works out.

When is that?

I mean, I would love to talk to you about that because that seems like the future.

I mean, why are we putting all, you know, our ideas into the hands of sensors?

I mean, why are we participating in the system?

It is the system.

I mean, it's the same.

I'm in the same place I was in 10 years ago when I started the Blaze TV,

where it didn't make any sense.

All the tools aren't really there.

Nobody's actually breaking the molds on this, but it has to be done because

I'm not going to sit and be held hostage by

a corrupt system.

It's ridiculous.

I look back and I realize how stupid I, when you started Blaze TV, I was like, well, you know, you were like the biggest guy in cable news.

Why don't you just, you know, just stay in cable news?

Why make the effort to do this?

And I'm just so grateful that you did.

I really, really am.

And I'm grateful just as an, I'm not saying this, by the way, as flattery.

I mean it totally sincerely.

The fact that you're self-publishing, that you built your own thing, those turned out to be incredibly prescient and important decisions because the current system is unsustainable.

It just, we don't have freedom of the press.

We have to build our own.

And so thank you for doing that.

Yeah.

Well,

as you know, because I write to you from time to time just to thank you for your monologues and your bravery.

Thank you for standing up.

I've been in your position.

I know what it's like.

I know what it's like for your wife and your children.

And

I truly pray for you and admire your courage, Tucker.

Thank you.

Well, I appreciate that, Clint.

Thank you.

You bet.

The name of the book that you can get, it's out today, The Long Slide, 30 Years in American Journalism with Tucker Carlson.

By the way, Tucker is going to be doing a podcast with me in the next couple of weeks, so we'll have a good hour or so to be able to further our conversation.

You're listening to the best of the Glenbeck program.

Oh, man.

We have Michael calling in from California.

Michael, welcome to the Glenbeck program.

How are you?

Yes, hi.

How are you?

Very good.

You came from where?

I actually came from Poland.

And you moved to California?

You should experience freedom.

I'm just right now today in California.

Oh, okay, good, good.

Okay, all right.

I was very smoky here.

So you moved from Poland, and why did you move away and come to America?

So my family experienced quite a hell during World War II.

So my grandfather was a POW, who was murdered by the Soviet

N Cavodin,

precursor of the KGB.

So he was only 31 years old.

And so the rest of the family was either deported to Kazakhstan and Siberia.

The other grandfather was with the British Eighth Army.

There was a Polish unit.

there, so he was stationed in Iraq,

then Egypt and Italy.

After the war, most of these soldiers were actually prosecuted, although he was staying in England until 1958,

fearing for his life.

And so the family somehow lived in the communist Poland.

And so I was growing up in that place, and I couldn't believe you could live in a cage as a human being.

So I immigrated.

I was 20 years old.

I basically took a tourist trip and just fled and ended up in West Berlin, applied for immigration visa

to the United States,

came as a refugee.

And when I landed, I had like $300 in my pocket.

And

a country that was really, really free.

It was a huge difference.

And you know, I'm calling, it's the first time ever I would ever call a station

because what is happening in the United States today is scary.

I find it terrifying, but only people like you generally agree with me.

I was stopped in the mall the other day by a woman from, I think, Poland, and she said, We came here for freedom.

And what's wrong with you, people?

It's all falling apart.

You're going, you're, you're doing what we escaped from.

Never know what freedom is until you lose it.

Yeah.

So you had $300,

and where are you now?

I'm in Midwest, so in

just in Indiana.

But when I came, I actually was working three jobs, all part-time, and going full-time to college on the East Coast, a very prominent school.

So I was the poorest kid in that school with friends driving

Porsche and Mercedes, and I I was driving a beat-up Chevy but hell, I excuse me for the HCR,

but I made it

college and then

went to graduate school.

Then I ended up working for big multinationals worldwide in the United States, overseas, in Japan, in Asia, in Europe, all over Russia and all the territories.

So, you know, I was very, very successful after being basically arriving with one suitcase, with one pair of shoes to America.

Michael, thank you very much for calling in.

God bless you.

Let me go to Blanca,

I think in Illinois.

Blanca, welcome.

Blanca, are you there?

Okay,

let's go to Poala in Pennsylvania.

Am I saying it right?

Paula.

Paula, okay.

Hi, Paula.

Yes.

Hi, Glenn.

How are you?

I'm good.

I'm just a little bit nervous.

I'm not a big, I don't talk a lot.

Yeah, no, that's all right.

Just me and millions of

go ahead.

Yeah, yeah, that's not scared at all.

I came from Dominican Republic as a child in the early 90s.

I was seven years old when I came here.

My dad actually came seven years.

before when my mom was pregnant of me, and it took seven years for him to bring his whole family over.

So we were separate, which made

it damaged their marriage.

But it basically, my mom wasn't going to leave us in Dominican Republic while she was here.

So we waited seven years.

And my dad was a cab driver in New York City.

He worked 16 hour days and finally made enough money to put my mom into college.

She was a doctor, well, a dentist already in my country.

Couldn't find a job, didn't have anything to show for it.

She came here, was accepted into NYU, and she graduated.

And actually, the first year that she worked as a dentist was the first year we ever had a Christmas.

We actually had toys.

It was amazing.

My brother and I always remember that because we had nothing.

And I always watched my parents pretty much bust in their hump working for us.

And

what a great story.

Seriously, you are really blessed to have that memory of your family and of your life.

life.

I mean,

I have kids that are older in their 30s, and they remember when dad was broke and we really had nothing.

My younger kids, they were born, you know, around the height of my success, and they don't have that.

And there is something to having

the memory of nothing.

Absolutely.

It wakes you up.

Paula, thank you.

Take nothing for granted.

Yep.

Thank you so much.

All right.

Let me go to,

is Blanca there now?

Hello, Blanca.

Yes, I am.

Hi, friends.

Thank you for taking my call.

You bet.

And

first of all, I want to thank God for his grace.

And I was, because I was born in Colombia, South America, up in the mountains, where we had no...

running water, no electricity, nothing, not even a radio to listen to the news.

And I came to this country at the age of 18 years old with $10 in my pocket, no English.

I taught myself English.

I work as

an annie and I learned English.

I took my GED and then I went to the university and I was, by the grace of God, I was able to get a a job selling insurance.

So I started from zero clients and I

ran the office

with grace and loving my clients and loving God.

And I was able to bring this company to be worth millions of dollars.

Do you run it?

Do you run it now?

No, I sold it.

I sold it.

I retired at the age of 59 years old.

Oh, my gosh.

And I retired, and now I've been retired for nine years.

So, Blanca, what do you say to people who are saying, you know, I'm so oppressed by a statue that I can't function or that America is such a racist place, you can never make it unless you vote for these people in Washington?

Glenn, it breaks my heart and I cry, literally cry when I hear this

because This is a land of opportunities.

This is where you can come and be something.

I don't say it's easy because I was working 14 hours a day when I started my company.

And

if you work hard and you believe in yourself and you don't give up,

a sky is the limit.

And

I thank God because

without him, you are nothing.

But if you trust in God and you work hard, because God is not going to put it right at your doorstep, but he gives you a mind, hands, and

an opportunity that nowhere in the world, there is no other country in the world like this country, where you can be free.

I would have never ever been able to succeed in any other country because I came with $10 in my pocket and I was able to succeed because I believe that there is

an opportunity

for everyone, for everyone who wants to work hard and not depend on the government.

Government is not the answer.

Government gets in the way of people getting to be successful in this country.

And I am so fearful these days for our country, because this is my country, and I would die for my country if I had to these days, because

there is

freedom, but it seems like we are being attacked.

Our freedoms are being attacked.

Well, I will tell you, Blanca, I am

more and more, I believe, that if somehow or another we could get all of the immigrants together and they could become a PAC and they could run commercials and they could make their voices and their stories heard, that things would change.

We're only hearing bad stories of immigrants.

We're only hearing, oh, they're living in poverty and everything else.

No, no, wait, wait.

There are a lot of immigrants to this country because every single person that is here, unless you're Native American, and then I'd argue the land bridge

is

from someplace else.

You're from someplace else.

So, how could we be a nation of immigrants that hates immigrants and doesn't provide opportunities?

No, no, no, no.