On today's show, Glenn and Nick talk about the Kyle Rittenhouse self-defense trial. They discuss the defense case, the prosecution's case, and the bizarre tactics used by both sides of the case. Also, celebrate Veterans Day!
00:00:00.000Great show today. Right out of the box, we talk about Rittenhouse and go over the trial from yesterday and all week.
00:00:07.920It's an incredible story that the rest of the media seems to be missing.
00:00:13.360Also, celebrate Veterans Day. A couple of really amazing stories to share with you all on today's podcast.
00:00:30.000Nick is with us now. Hi, Nick. How are you? Howdy, Glenn. I'm great. How are you? Very good. Great to have you on.
00:00:40.540Thank you so much for joining us. So my pleasure. Let's get your reaction.
00:00:45.820I've got several things to play for you, and I think you have the list so you can you can call these things out on the things you want to comment on.
00:00:53.720But also, I'd like to hear just your have you ever seen anything like this trial before? Ever?
00:01:02.940No, it's it's wild, Glenn. You know, I went into this trial expecting kind of a standard approach by the prosecutor and the defense.
00:01:13.360And we've seen just some weird plays by both of them, which is the prosecutor is blowing my mind here because he opened up kind of strong with a decent opening statement.
00:01:27.940But as the days went on, you could see his narrative crumble.
00:01:31.380And I think the the big problem for him is that he has to know that the facts on this are on the side of Kyle Rittenhouse.
00:01:38.380And they always have been. So, I mean, he is the guy who decides whether or not this moves forward.
00:01:46.280Was it all just political or mob pressure?
00:01:51.360I think the political environment plays a big part, a big part in why this this case was brought.
00:01:58.300But to give Binger a little bit, Binger being the lead prosecutor on the case, he is an assistant district attorney.
00:02:04.600So this is delegated down from the district attorney of the county.
00:02:08.860But he I mean, he can refuse it. He can make some recommendations.
00:02:12.300He can look at this and say, hey, boss, you know, I don't know if this is the best case to be bringing.
00:02:17.500We might just get raked over the coals here.
00:02:19.940So, Nick, do you believe he he knew going in?
00:02:24.000We've got a really weak. Do you think that he knew on cross examination?
00:02:28.860They would be like, no, I think he feared for his life because I was pointing a gun at him.
00:02:33.380I mean, did he know that his own witnesses would take his case apart?
00:02:46.020We've watched the we've watched the videos.
00:02:48.360And when these videos first came out, you know, I looked at them personally and I said, that looks that looks a lot like self-defense.
00:02:55.080That looks like a really good case of self-defense.
00:02:57.280And then when you read the complaint that they filed and you realize that they're there, the first part of the complaint was written based on the eyewitness account of Richie McGinnis, who works for Daily Caller.
00:03:11.020And you read it and it's like this looks like this was written by a defense attorney making a self-defense case.
00:03:17.000And then we're all just baffled at why.
00:04:21.200I don't know if this was Kyle's decision or or the attorney Mark Richards decision.
00:04:26.140But the the one mitigating circumstance really is in a case where you're affirming self.
00:04:33.480You're making affirmative defense of self-defense because you may have to testify to some facts about your state of mind or things that maybe only you saw.
00:04:42.840But in this case, we have so much from all of the other witnesses that basically just on just based on the prosecution's witnesses alone, you've made the elements of self-defense pretty clear through the evidence that's already there.
00:04:58.940So it was a it was a big gamble to put him on the stand.
00:06:31.840It's one thing to think about what the media has put him through and everything else.
00:06:35.660But for the first time, I really felt the fear that he felt and the the effect after the event that it still plays on him of being surrounded by a crowd.
00:06:50.760All of them saying, get him, kill him.
00:08:18.220But you understand how dangerous it is to point a gun at someone, don't you?
00:08:23.820I pointed at him because he kept running at me and I didn't want him to chase me.
00:08:29.300This is an amazing thing because, you know, if you've taken any classes on shooting, you
00:08:35.300never point a gun to some at somebody unless you intend on shooting and killing them.
00:08:39.580However, I've always found that to be counterintuitive because if you don't want to shoot somebody, you do want to show them that you might.
00:08:50.560You know, you want them to feel like he could shoot me.
00:09:11.380And, and they, you know, they, they train that way in, uh, carry classes and self-defense classes because you have to be prepared to pull the trigger.
00:09:20.600But most people don't want to ever pull the trigger.
00:09:23.780I mean, that one, even if you're a cold, uh, you know, just rationale based person, you're going to say, if I pull this trigger, I'm going to have to go through what Kyle's going through.
00:09:54.040We're talking, um, about the, um, uh, the Rittenhouse trial.
00:09:58.300And before we went to break, I said that I, at least I felt there was multiple, multiple times that Rittenhouse credibly said, well, no, I, I didn't shoot him.
00:10:12.540At that point, because he wasn't threatening me as hands up or he was, you know, they backed off, which I thought showed that he was not out just to kill people.
00:10:23.380He was only shooting at people who were a threat to him.
00:10:27.440Yeah, Glenn, that's, uh, I mean, it's a great point.
00:10:32.540It's, uh, ironically, a point the prosecution has made several times throughout the case, pointing out, pointing out all these times that this kid showed remarkable restraint.
00:10:44.560Um, and, and even with the, the very first encounter with Joseph Rosenbaum, uh, who has thrown a bag at him, um, and the, the prosecution is trying really hard to make sure, you know, there, there was definitely nothing deadly in the bag as if Kyle would know this at this point.
00:11:00.940And as if that actually matters, um, he's, he's thrown a bag at him.
00:11:06.360Kyle turns around, uh, with the gun and, and Rosenbaum kind of almost takes a little bit of a pause.
00:11:12.940He stutter steps, uh, but then he, he proceeds on Kyle, instead of just shooting, which he may have even been justified in doing at that point, he turns around and runs, uh, until he can run no further.
00:11:31.720And he said, even when he was surrounded by the crowd and some of them were advancing, he held up his gun.
00:11:37.320And if they put their hands up and stopped, he didn't shoot.
00:11:40.860I mean, it shows that he was thinking all the way through, which, you know, he talked about almost tunnel vision at the end.
00:11:48.520Uh, that guy was under incredible stress and yet he was still functioning, uh, you know, and, and, uh, doing the right thing.
00:11:58.220Uh, Nick, there was, there was a back and forth.
00:12:00.740I wanted to get your thoughts on because I didn't even understand a couple of times where the prosecution was even going with some of these lines of questioning.
00:12:06.580At one point they asked Rittenhouse, do you think the protesters were hostile to you?
00:12:11.900And he says, no, they generally weren't.
00:12:14.000Then he said, why did you bring your gun then?
00:12:16.440And he said, well, I mean, I wanted to protect myself in case someone was going to attack me.
00:12:21.720Well, why did you think they were going to attack you specifically?
00:12:24.800And he would say, I don't, I didn't think they were going to attack me specifically, but I wanted to be, uh, protected.
00:12:29.780Well, well then why did you bring your gun if you didn't think that they were going to protect you or attack you specifically?
00:12:34.800And it's like, you know, I, I don't think I'm going to get into a car accident every day, but I still get car insurance in case.
00:12:40.360I think, I think they were trying to get Rittenhouse, a 17, 18 year old kid to go, well, because I was white.
00:12:50.600I think they were trying to get him to say something that they could turn race into the, I could be wrong, Nick.
00:12:57.780Well, uh, I, I think there's a couple angles here and, and one of them, it goes back to the bad facts for the prosecution.
00:13:06.540I think you might be, uh, the, the race thing could be in there for sure.
00:13:11.420Just general politicizing, polarizing statements, uh, would, would maybe prejudice Kyle in the eyes of some of the jury members from a legal perspective of what they're trying.
00:13:23.740And, and, and you have to put yourself in the mind of a dishonest person, uh, thank God I'm a lawyer and can do this, but, um, you have to, you have to be able to, to do this under Wisconsin self-defense law.
00:13:37.600Uh, and, uh, generally speaking, this is kind of a rule in self-defense, but if you provoke the encounter, uh, and use that as an excuse to use self-defense, then it'll defeat your ability to, to invoke that.
00:13:50.980So what I think Binger is trying to do here is get Kyle to say, I knew the crowd was hostile and then paint the narrative that he wanted to go out there knowing they would attack him.
00:14:01.700So he's got the gun, he's walking around and that this somehow invokes the provocation that would defeat his self-defense claim.
00:14:11.020Typically provocation requires an act rather than just a presence with a gun, but Binger is trying to paint that.
00:14:17.500And I think we're going to see him try and use that in his closing argument, uh, to say, you know, he was out there provoking, he put out fires, he was providing medical aid and, and, and other people didn't want that.
00:14:28.720It's a ludicrous position. Uh, but I think that's where he's going with it.
00:14:34.020So how has the judge been? Cause I, I actually like him. I think he's been a very, no nonsense.
00:14:41.180The left hates him. If you're looking at political and not necessarily, if you're looking for social justice and not actual justice, you don't like this guy, which is, which is right.
00:14:53.800Is he a hard ass that just has a, you know, a point of view or is he really towing the line on the law?
00:15:02.080He's, uh, he's been pretty fair and consistent. Um, and, and for me, uh, when I think about a judge, what I want is someone who is fair and consistent, you know, even, even if they're consistently bad, um, in this case, I think this judge is phenomenal.
00:15:18.500Um, he's going to the actual, uh, statutes. He's, he's pulled out commentary books and read them to make sure he gets his rulings.
00:15:26.420Right. This guy is being very, very careful on his, on his rulings and how he manages his courtroom.
00:15:32.860And if anybody thinks he's being, uh, biased in a particular way, it's because, uh, the attorney on that side has been acting in a particularly egregious manner.
00:15:44.520Um, I think you played a clip right at the beginning of the show where the judge was dressing down Binger for flagrantly violating Kyle's constitutional right.
00:15:54.940Uh, the, his fifth amendment right to not speak. Uh, one of the first things Binger did when he got, uh, Kyle on cross examination is that he, he stood up and said, you know, you, you had the opportunity to speak before this.
00:16:09.980And that is a huge note. Every prosecutor knows you cannot go down this line because you cannot draw any inference from a person exercising their constitutional right to remain silent.
00:16:23.120And, and, and him trying to elicit that in front of the jury bordered on having the case thrown out immediately.
00:16:30.480And the, he also tried to introduce things that the judge said he couldn't introduce, right?
00:16:38.040Right. They had some pre-trial motions. They're called motions in limine.
00:16:41.980And, uh, they, they excluded the, um, these two incidents that Kyle was involved in prior to the event and one meeting at a bar that Kyle, um, was photographed at after the event.
00:16:55.840The, the latter one, because it has no relevance on what Kyle's state of mind was at the time, because it was four months later.
00:17:02.540Um, the other two on similar grounds. Um, but the judge didn't want those two acts, which are not directly related to prejudice, the jury's opinion of Kyle.
00:17:13.620And he ruled that they could not bring them in. Now, the prosecutor claims that he thought that they had opened the door to that with other testimony.
00:17:21.760And the judge said, I've ruled on this. If you wanted to bring it up, you needed to come to me and ask the court for permission before trying to prejudice him in front, in front of the jury.
00:17:34.720Um, well, there's, there's two ways, uh, you know, it can either go all the way to the, the jury decision, um, or, uh, the judge can make a ruling on the case.
00:17:45.680Uh, the defense is in the process of filing a motion to, uh, dismiss and, or a motion for a mistrial, uh, and asking for a dismissal with prejudice.
00:17:55.600I believe they will also file a motion to dismiss at the close of the case based on the fact that, uh, the prosecution simply hasn't made the case, um, for any of the, any of the major charges.
00:18:08.660Um, so if the judge rules on it and dismisses it with prejudice, it's gone, it's done.
00:18:14.560Kyle cannot be brought back into court for these charges.
00:18:17.380If the jury goes, they can either, uh, render one of basically one of three verdicts.
00:18:22.720You've either got not guilty, which is a unanimous decision, or you've got, uh, guilty, which is unanimous, or you have a mix of votes, which will result in a mistrial.
00:18:32.520And in that case, theoretically, the state could bring the charges back against them.
00:18:37.320So if he is, if the judge dismisses it, it's done, but can't they dismiss it with prejudice?
00:18:44.480Can't he call for a mistrial with prejudice?
00:19:20.520I would have dismissed this case already.
00:19:24.420Um, and certainly, uh, would have, would be the, the constitutional violations to me, if, if they don't merit dismissal, they merit sanctions for, uh, for Binger.
00:19:36.420I mean, this is something, again, every prosecutor knows this.
00:20:53.220Uh, he is a, uh, now a YouTube commentator, uh, and he gets, you know, fellow attorneys and other people on just to comment on these live trials.
00:22:23.800Now you would have to go on the air and say, crap, I'm I was wrong.
00:22:30.420In today's atmosphere, if you changed your mind, changed your opinion based on the facts and you're on that side and sometimes on the right.
00:22:43.240But you're in trouble because now everyone will reject you because they won't listen to the facts because the facts don't matter anymore.
00:23:42.520And it's not my truth because if it was a society based on my truth, then they would embrace me saying you're a bunch of idiots that believe that there's 99 different genders.
00:24:49.760You can't build your house on an economy that is centrally planned and the government is picking and winning, picking winners and losers, not based on anything other than what their agenda is.
00:25:15.300Because you don't know, I'm convinced Bitcoin would be at one hundred and fifty thousand dollars per coin right now if you trusted that the government wasn't going to try to put it out of business.
00:25:27.980More people would invest in Bitcoin right now because it's working.
00:25:34.580It's shown itself to be relatively stable.
00:25:39.060It's not going away unless the government shuts it down.
00:25:46.160You can't build anything truly lasting if you don't know that the laws and reason is stable.
00:27:41.060I mean, I hire very liberal people on my staff for very important positions, not editorial positions, but positions to where I can ask them, where do we have this wrong?
00:28:14.760But we have to stand up because we need power of numbers.
00:28:22.280And there's only one way to amass numbers.
00:28:26.040And it is by, one by one, enlightening millions of people who have blindly marched in lockstep.
00:28:34.060Or those, inform those who are afraid to step out of line to question what is really going on in our society.
00:28:43.020The truth will make you miserable at first because it is so powerful.
00:28:51.420That's why big tech platforms, anyone who dares question, last night I did the setup for next week's two hour live special commercial free on COVID.
00:29:04.620I have five pages of rules that social media says we cannot violate.
00:29:13.640And we're not violating them because I'm not going on and going, you know what?
00:29:25.160There's another horse medicine out there.
00:30:17.860Because every time you've seen a commercial, every time, they're like, you could be impotent, you might have a heart attack, your head might explode.
00:30:50.080While taking Xarelto, you may bruise more easily, and it may take longer for bleeding to stop.
00:30:55.180Xarelto may increase your risk of bleeding if you take certain medicines.
00:30:58.880Xarelto can cause serious bleeding, and in rare cases may be fatal.
00:31:02.440Get help right away if you develop unexpected bleeding, unusual bruising, or tingling.
00:31:06.780If you have had spinal anesthesia while on Xarelto, watch for back pain or any nerve or muscle-related signs or symptoms.
00:31:13.560Yeah, okay, all right, okay, I got it, I got it.
00:31:16.420And when you don't, when you're not this clear, and you're using a new drug,
00:31:22.100sometimes there's another commercial that comes a few years later, and it sounds like this.
00:31:28.000Attention, Xarelto and Pradaxa has been linked to internal bleeding.
00:31:31.800If you were hospitalized for internal bleeding, or you'll love...
00:31:34.400Why is it, why is it the government insists on telling us things, in that case, looks like there was probably more of a chance of internal bleeding than they expected,
00:31:45.540but they insist on telling us that if you take no-dose, you might go impotent, when probably not.
00:31:55.020But we have a few cases of people that are getting sick from the vaccine.
00:32:04.020I can't remember which one it is, but there's six people, six people that got sick from the...
00:32:09.620Well, that's about the kind of thing that they usually put a warning label on.
00:32:15.980But I can't even talk about that on social media without being labeled giving you misinformation.
00:32:23.140No. I'll tell you, there were six people that had this reaction.
00:32:29.300Take this drug and you could go impotent or you could bleed to death.
00:32:34.080Okay? Most likely you're not going to.
00:37:43.360I'm not sure if anything has ever been done like this before.
00:37:47.840And to my knowledge and to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation's knowledge, this is the first time it's been done for the war on terror, for sure.
00:38:07.400And I couldn't be more proud as a chairman of the Tunnel to Towers Foundation to take on this responsibility.
00:38:13.560I feel like it's an obligation and something that we're very proud to read all 7,070, 7,070 names that gave their lives for our country since the war on terror started in 2001.
00:38:28.140Where I lost my brother on September 11, 2001, where he ran through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, Glenn.
00:38:35.920He strapped 60 pounds of gear on his back and ran through that tunnel up West Street into the South Tower, up those stairs.
00:38:42.280And while saving other people's lives, he gave up his own.
00:38:45.360And we started a foundation in his honor and all those who perished that day.
00:38:49.080And to do this work here today, we couldn't be more proud.
00:38:52.420I tell you, Frank, you guys are remarkable.
00:38:54.620You're one of the best charities out there, I think, what you do for veterans and everybody else because of all of those who died in the World Trade Center.
00:39:04.240As you were talking, I am actually grateful that I was alive to see the way America was at least for about a month after the World Trade Center.
00:39:17.840I mean, it's remarkable where we are now, where our police get no respect.
00:39:41.260Well, I couldn't agree with you more, but I will say that being here and watching the reaction that we're getting from so many great Americans who love this country is really moving.
00:39:56.960I walked this year for the 20th anniversary to honor my brother.
00:40:01.120I walked from the Pentagon to Shanksville to Ground Zero, 537 miles.
00:40:05.520And while I was doing it, I walked through a lot of small towns, and it was beautiful to watch all the families coming out in different parades that we had and see young kids being taught in the stories of 9-11 and the stories of all these great heroes that died ever since.
00:40:21.200So I saw an America that gave me great hope, that most of the people in America still love America and are willing to die for it.
00:41:51.540That costs a lot of money, and thank God we have a lot of people who joined us on this mission, but they know their money is going to this.
00:41:59.800We do over 93 cents of every dollar goes to our programs, and people, you know, trust us.
00:42:05.460The foundation bears my brother's image and his name, and we'll always hold it to the highest standards.
00:42:11.960And today, you know, I know he's smiling down at heaven saying, Frank, thank you for remembering all these 7,000 men and women that joined.
00:42:19.720Many of them joined our military because of what happened on 9-11, and now we're paying tribute and honoring them here today.
00:42:27.920Frank, if you don't mind, I want to play a couple of people who you have changed their lives.
00:42:34.780Tunnel to Towers have changed their lives.
00:44:42.180September 1, 2006, my Bradley fighting vehicle that I was riding in was hit with an IED while we were driving down a road in Iraq.
00:44:52.500The IED went through the bottom of my vehicle and hit our fuel tank.
00:44:56.860And the fuel tank basically was inches away from where I was sitting and covered me and my buddies who were in the vehicle with me in fuel and instantly on fire.
00:45:06.400I lost my leg because when I escaped out of the top of the vehicle, I jumped off and couldn't see anything around me because my face was on fire.
00:45:15.100So when I landed, 10-foot jump, I couldn't brace myself for the landing.
00:46:43.520He goes all over the United States and helps us because he wants to help the next family and the next hero that, you know, has paid a big price for our freedom.
00:46:55.340And most of these widows and Gold Star families and these heroes that, you know, catastrophic collegiate service members, they all join us.
00:47:03.420And they want to pay it forward to the next family.
00:47:06.480So we are really blessed that we bring all these people together.
00:47:11.240And, you know, in a day like today on Veterans Day, I mean, thank God for all our veterans.
00:47:16.060They're willing to die for us every single day.
00:47:26.380I, as God is my judge, I, any, any family that serves our country and you die and you leave behind a young family, we're going to take care of your family that's left behind.
00:47:36.980And, and, and we do it because of the, the generosity of Americans.
00:47:40.780I know Americans are the most generous, just most generous people in the world.
00:47:45.260Greatest country in the world, but the most generous people in the world.
00:47:48.640And together we're going to take care of all these families.
00:47:52.100And we do it for fallen first responders.
00:47:54.580Cause you started the whole, one of the questions was the police officers are not, you know, spitting on them.
00:48:00.180We should kiss the freaking ground they walk on.
00:48:02.420And, and, but we're going to take care of every single police officer or first responder that die in the line of duty that leave young kids behind also.
00:48:10.460So that's our promise at the Tunnel to Towers Foundation.
00:48:13.180And we pray that people just join us and we can get this done together.
00:48:17.100Frank, will you do me a favor, please include me on a list of allies.