Glenn Beck returns to Washington, D.C. President Obama heads back to the White House to make sure he secures his legacy. Glenn talks about the new year and the craziness going on inside the swamp in Washington.
00:03:12.180So, those of you who sent me nice notes over the New Year weekend, nice condolences to our family as we said goodbye to my dad this weekend.
00:03:28.000Thank you for being so gracious and lovely.
00:03:31.780Today, the show, of course, we have news to cover.
00:03:36.380President Obama is headed back to D.C.
00:03:39.240He wants to make sure he preserves his legacy.
00:03:42.660I don't know if you caught that, but he's a little worried.
00:03:45.880They gavel in the new Congress tomorrow.
00:03:48.260And that list of things to get done by this new Congress includes repealing Obamacare and just a whole bunch of those regulations that the president put in place.
00:04:04.020And I know Mr. Trump, President-elect Trump, with less than three weeks to go until he takes the oath, is getting ready with his pen to wipe out some of those things that President Obama put together that are putting their hands around the necks of the American capitalist system.
00:05:58.640You meet people who are who are out there doing incredible things.
00:06:02.280There's a there's a young man named Ernesto, who's a veteran of the United States Army, who's about to in in an hour in Dallas.
00:06:11.300He's about to continue his walk from Tennessee to Los Angeles in in hopes of getting attention and support of the veterans who are not getting the care and are oftentimes committing suicide.
00:06:25.620And Ernesto, who's been on this program, is leaving from Dallas this morning.
00:06:32.000And there are a huge group of people gathered to join him for the first two point two miles outside of the city as they draw attention to those 22 veterans per day who take their own lives.
00:06:44.160So when you hear about people like Ernesto, who's not doing it for the money, he's just doing it to raise awareness for the brothers and sisters he fought alongside of in the army.
00:06:54.900Then you say, OK, I got to be a little bit better this year.
00:06:59.460So I'm working on being a little bit better this year now, losing weight and exercising more.
00:07:04.700They're still in the top five and making more money still there in the top five.
00:07:10.420But so is saving and being a little smarter.
00:07:13.100So maybe we're working on a more balanced life in 2017.
00:07:30.700We're big fans of watching CNN on New Year's Eve because and this was the 10th year of the Anderson Cooper, Kathy Griffin adventure.
00:07:43.660And I think as much fun as it is, it's become predictable.
00:07:49.820We know Kathy's going to be kind of the crazy pecs bad boy bouncing off the walls and Anderson's going to giggle and say, no, don't do that.
00:07:57.860But CNN seems to have found an entirely new bit of craziness.
00:08:15.880It appeared that he was drinking shots poured from a tequila bottle.
00:08:20.000It appeared that he was drinking quite a few shots from a tequila bottle.
00:08:24.320And over the course of a couple hours, his speech suddenly became a tad more relaxed.
00:08:31.600And even even Miss Baldwin, Brooke Baldwin, who was the co-anchor with Lemon, said at one point, the tequila is like emitting from your pores.
00:08:43.860I'm going to go through a little bit of this from Lemon.
00:08:46.660Now, he first started drinking early in the night.
00:08:50.240They had almost three hours and 15 minutes before they were supposed to count down.
00:10:29.000He now, a little bit later, about an hour before the ball was to come down, he talked about getting either a pierced nipple or piercing his ear live on television.
00:10:47.340And he eventually did what many folks do when they get over served.
00:10:53.200He started talking about his personal life a little, perhaps a little bit too publicly on on television live with with Brooke Baldwin.
00:11:40.320I don't care what people think about me.
00:11:41.740I do what I want because it's my life.
00:11:43.980So, Don Lemon, apparently the tequila makes you forget you're on television.
00:11:50.360It's supposed to be covering the New Year's Eve event.
00:11:55.240And he's bleeding his heart out there talking about the fact that he's ready for a relationship and he just needs to be a little bit better of a person.
00:12:04.340And then it got weird about 20 minutes later when they came back and Brooke Baldwin and Don Lemon had brought a tattoo and piercing expert into the bar.
00:12:18.680In the bar, not in a sterilized tattoo parlor.
00:18:50.520So, once again, the junior varsity team doing a pretty good job, it seems.
00:18:56.400And the shooter, this is not a guy who was going in there with a suicide vest, as we've seen so often with ISIS.
00:19:04.340They're apparently not wanting to kill themselves these days.
00:19:08.120The guy in the Berlin attack managed to get out of Berlin and get all the way to Italy before engaging in a firefight with cops there who wanted to check his papers.
00:19:18.940But this gunman is on the loose, and ISIS has taken the credit for it.
00:19:24.900And now the concern is that he'll get out of Turkey and get to Syria and maybe wreak more havoc.
00:19:36.100They have had several attacks killing dozens and dozens of people.
00:19:42.080And I just can't imagine what this country would be like if we didn't have the kind of security we had.
00:19:50.540Look, New Year's Eve and Times Square, between a million and a half and two million people, completely secured.
00:19:57.720No problems from what we could see, other than the biggest threat to New Year's Eve was Don Lemon's tequila consumption and Mariah Carey's microphone failures.
00:20:08.180If that's the biggest problem, then yes, we're doing it right.
00:20:13.440So God bless the NYPD and all the intel that's keeping us safe.
00:20:18.240When we get back, a new year, new laws, plus a woman got in trouble for peeing on a Donald Trump golf course.
00:20:26.380But now she's been told she can sue him.
00:23:37.740I know the headline really is unusual.
00:23:40.080This is a woman that relieved herself behind a sand dune in April of 2016, okay, answering a call of nature.
00:23:47.680And when she did so, like anybody using a public restroom, did not expect that she was going to be filmed.
00:23:54.740Now, obviously, there is an enormous difference between using a public restroom and answering a call of nature in the midst of nature, we'll say.
00:24:01.860Nonetheless, the issue was not whether that was appropriate, but whether or not the footage of her relieving herself could be something that goes public.
00:24:11.540And in this case, of course, it was delivered to the police, ended up being a charge.
00:24:15.740But this is a case that, believe it or not, is going to go forward.
00:24:19.200Now, that doesn't necessarily mean it's ultimately going to be successful.
00:24:22.680But the first thing we'll look at is, can these causes of action get out of the gate?
00:24:30.380Well, it's also in another country, too, which there are different laws in different countries.
00:24:35.480But I wonder if in America, if you're running a business and you set up security cameras and someone does something like this lady did on this golf course,
00:24:45.980first of all, everybody should know the woman is an environmental activist, and this was kind of part of her protest.
00:24:53.100She wanted to I want to say mark her territory, but she was essentially protesting and letting letting the Trump course know that she wasn't happy with what would have been going on.
00:25:06.920But in America, if a security camera catches somebody doing something like this, are we able to if if it were like my business,
00:25:18.120would I be able to be sued because I brought the video to the police and didn't tell her she was being recorded?
00:25:24.560Well, that's you've accurately identified two of the most important issues.
00:25:28.760First is the reasonable expectation of privacy.
00:25:31.620If somebody in an area where they don't believe they're being recorded.
00:25:35.560Now, that can cut both ways in public, because we all know we live in a day and age where almost everything we do is observed by someone,
00:25:43.480but not so in the privacy of our own homes or in a public restroom.
00:25:47.840And then the second issue you accurately bring up is, is there any kind of limitation to what an individual or the police or somebody else is able to do with this kind of footage?
00:25:58.100Now, you say she was marking her territory and protesting.
00:26:00.960She may have just had to go to the bathroom.
00:26:02.620And that issue is coming up increasingly frequently.
00:26:06.320I mean, think about an airplane when the flight attendants try to make you stay in your seats and somebody can't hold it.
00:26:11.720There are so many occasions where this type of thing in America, which has these much different laws, might be actionable if it's a situation where, for example, you don't have control over it.
00:26:24.160And if somebody uses that footage in a way that is embarrassing or invades your privacy.
00:26:42.060There are lots of places where it's very hard to find signs that are informing the public that they're being recorded or they're being filmed or these or smile.
00:26:51.760OK, we've all seen those when we go into stores.
00:26:53.580Those are prominently displayed, no doubt, to circumvent claims that somebody believed unreasonably that those premises and whatever they did therein was private.
00:27:03.220Well, you know, out in your part of the world and we're talking to Dr.
00:27:11.200And Wendy's in California and in the over the weekend, there was a prank played on the people in Hollywood as someone changed the Hollywood sign to read Holly weed.
00:27:21.860But I believe security cameras were were rolling the whole time.
00:27:25.480And I think they've got some video of the of the perpetrators that they're looking into.
00:27:51.120We live in a day and age where the increased surveillance is just arises, really breathes a multitude of different kinds of invasion of privacy claims and lawsuits.
00:27:59.720So especially when people are committing a crime to thereby say, OK, I may or may not be guilty of a crime, but somehow I'm going to be able to sue you civilly.
00:28:09.040That's a hard pill to swallow for juries.
00:28:11.360And no doubt suits like this, should they ever get that far, are going to be viewed with suspicion.
00:28:17.060Well, this is it's always fun for me to watch the the legal limits and the boundaries being pushed because your profession and your brothers and sisters in the legal world seem to be very creative, more creative than you're given credit for.
00:28:34.660Now, speaking of creativity, new laws on the books for for 2017, anything, anything particular that now, again, going I'm going back to California.
00:28:46.280You guys have new, more restrictive Second Amendment laws that went into effect on the first.
00:28:52.140And I think you also have background checks for ammunition purchasing, which just makes me crazy.
00:28:58.020That's right. You know, Mike, it's a great question, because every year we look at all the most interesting new laws across the nation and most people focus on ones they don't think we need.
00:29:07.400But what we've seen in the last couple of years and as a reaction to the increase in gun violence, or at least the increase in the the news about gun violence in our social media world,
00:29:17.700we do have background checks now mandated to buy even ammunition in California.
00:29:23.180There's a couple other restrictions in terms of magazine size. And, you know, it's really one of the things that we'd like to say only in California.
00:29:31.640It could set a trend for the rest of the nation. Some states are continually very permissive in their gun rules and regulations and others, no doubt, will look at what Californians done with respect to the background check for even buying ammunition.
00:29:44.980And I wouldn't be surprised. And I wouldn't be surprised in 2018. We see more states do the same kinds of things, especially, Mike, if the trend of gun violence continues.
00:29:53.440And we have no reason I you know, I'm an eternal optimist, but there's no evidence to suggest there's going to be a dramatic decrease in gun violence in 2017.
00:30:01.780Well, Chicago is screwing up the curve. It's like that one kid in science class who always got an A on everything.
00:30:10.000And, you know, we couldn't we couldn't get graded on a curve because he always got 100.
00:30:14.540And it was you, Mike. No, no. I was the one making a fist at him.
00:30:19.680And is there are there any other laws that stick out?
00:30:23.980For example, I had heard there was one in Nebraska that said they had put out a notice that everybody driving in the mountains needs to be careful driving near the edge of the road in mountainous areas.
00:30:41.340You could roll a marble from the east side of Nebraska to the west side of the entire state and not have a problem.
00:30:48.060What others are out there that are driving you crazy?
00:30:52.560Well, you know, I hate to come back to California, but because you brought up the background check for ammunition, OK, that's that's becoming more restrictive.
00:31:00.940There are also what some have described as a loosening of restrictions, but not really.
00:31:05.060If you look at it more carefully, and I'll give you one example, beer at the barbershop, wine at the beauty salon.
00:31:10.640We are now in California able to able to serve alcohol in barbershops and beauty salons.
00:31:16.880But Mike, here is why it may not be as increasingly permissive as it sounds.
00:31:21.880First of all, that practice has already been done in many types of businesses, not just hair salons.
00:31:26.880But what this now does is regulate the practice, because unlike the comedy club where there's a three drink minimum, now there's a one drink maximum.
00:31:35.640And it even regulates the size of that drink, 12 ounces of beer or six ounces of wine.
00:31:42.820So California is instituting regulations in some circumstances like this to where it's not actually more permissive, but actually more regulating a practice that's already been in existence.
00:31:54.340We did the same thing last year with allowing pets on restaurants with patios, again, legalizing and regulating something that had already been done.
00:32:04.220It makes my head just start to explode.
00:32:08.900I'm also I'm looking at a list here that someone else sent me to as well.
00:32:12.440That's it. Now, thank God, Iowa has made it a felony if you steal more than a thousand dollars worth of grease.
00:32:19.580Well, you know, death laws have always criminalized as felonies, stealing anything over a certain amount of money.
00:32:30.800So I know some laws are making headlines by adding different substances and materials to that list.
00:32:35.800But again, it's simply a reframing of what has already been a law.
00:32:40.400But along those lines, let me give you something that is new, because a lot of people quote laws that they maybe didn't know is in existence.
00:32:47.040And, you know, the reason we need to know about new laws is ignorance of the law is no excuse.
00:32:53.040In other words, laws change so frequently, especially gun laws, as you mentioned.
00:32:57.040We can't just violate the law and say, oh, my gosh, I didn't realize it changed January 2017, particularly in a social media savvy world where it's too easy to keep up to date.
00:33:06.960So along those lines, let me give you one more that's going into effect.
00:33:10.500That's the driving hands free means exactly that.
00:33:14.220Now, California passed that. Obviously, there was no DWTs allowed, no driving while texting.
00:33:20.140But now all devices have to be mounted on the dash, and they cannot even be manipulated at all except to turn it on and off.
00:33:28.260So you've got to learn how to use your voice activation to avoid getting a ticket in California.
00:33:33.040I have no doubt, Mike, that this is the kind of law that will spread like wildfire to the other states.
00:33:37.920Well, now, Wendy, I'm going to have to ask you, can you hang on?
00:33:41.480Because I want to talk about that voice activation.
00:33:44.000And we talked about it briefly on Friday.
00:33:47.180But I want to see where we are in this, because now you've got a state mandating you basically have to use voice activated software if you're going to use your car, your phone in your car.
00:33:58.080And I wonder what the implications are to privacy.
00:34:02.500And for me, it comes down to just almost almost six of the first 10 amendments.
00:34:07.740The entire Bill of Rights is is up against this one.
00:35:42.300But, Mike, what's interesting about the case you mentioned, which deals with this Amazon virtual assistant, Alexa, kind of a Siri-like character that you invite into your home.
00:35:53.860There is a catch with some of these cases.
00:35:55.800There is no compulsion that states we have to go out and buy devices designed to record us and then, of course, provide back data.
00:36:07.140But the problem is when people buy these devices, now law enforcement or anybody else that has standing to claim that they need the information has a vehicle to get it.
00:36:17.420That's why we keep seeing these cases in the news, like the one you're talking about, where a virtual assistant may have witnessed a murder.
00:36:25.220It's very scary to me, especially if it is your own voice that has been recorded and could be turned against you.
00:36:33.520So, it just seems like it smacks right of the Fifth Amendment.
00:39:02.120I was calling in today because your story last week about a police officer in California arresting somebody for being under the influence of caffeine.
00:39:29.800I have suspicion that that gentleman had his own suspicions about the driver ingesting marijuana.
00:39:36.280And that is why he couldn't do a field sobriety test and tried to do a blood test.
00:39:41.460And once it failed negative on that, then he had to come up with some other reason, such as caffeine.
00:39:46.400Well, you, you, you, we can only speculate, Jeff, but what happened in this case, the agent witnessed this guy driving erratically, pulled him over, breathalyzed him.
00:39:57.840He, he had a 0.0 on the breathalyzer, still thought there was some impairment, brought him in, got the blood test.
00:40:04.500The person was arrested, spent the night in jail, and it turned up the only thing in the blood was caffeine.
00:40:09.720There were no illegal or legal substances that could have been being abused.
00:40:15.720And, but it's an interesting case that the guy was still charged with driving under the influence.
00:40:21.540So I take it you're a pro marijuana person.
00:40:33.4802017 is a breakthrough year for here in California.
00:40:35.720Well, you know, I'm, I'm a guy who is a proponent of the medical marijuana.
00:40:41.860I'm a guy who's seen it do wonderful things for people who need that help.
00:40:46.680I get nervous when we think about putting it everywhere where it can be used by people who might be driving and not be using it for medical purposes.
00:40:56.640But I'm open to talking about it, Jeff.
00:40:58.720You know, I think that's, that's, we have to be willing to have that discussion, especially when we look at some of the other chemicals that are being thrown about.
00:41:54.640So basically, a lot of the, a lot of the counties have essentially banned all the, the new Proposition 64 that just went through.
00:42:01.440So the people spoke and now it's pretty much banned everywhere.
00:42:04.680So there's going to be a two-year lengthy process of litigation that's going to go on and eventually it will become back to legal.
00:42:10.280But that's the case here in California.
00:42:11.860For those of us that don't know what Proposition 64 is, what are you referring to?
00:42:17.540Proposition 64 is a new law that just passed in California that allows the cannabis to be taxed and also allows personal use and up to six plants for personal use.
00:42:39.460And I think the local communities are scared to get sued.
00:42:42.280So they're, they're kind of going in, banning it, and then letting somebody lead the way, such as Humboldt County or some of the original folks that were in the scene.
00:42:49.880And once all that gets settled, you know, I think 2019 is the projected date for a lot of this stuff to be finalized.
00:43:31.040But Jefferson, however, they're much more conservative-based.
00:43:35.280You know, if California, you're in L.A., San Diego, or San Francisco, you're very liberal.
00:43:39.120And if you're in any of the outskirts, you don't get really a say in Sacramento anymore.
00:43:43.840So that's what the state of Jefferson is all about, is trying to give a voice back to the rural communities and still being part of the United States.
00:43:49.540Well, I don't know how some of my libertarian and conservatarian brothers and sisters do it out in California, but I salute you.
00:44:11.800I was talking earlier about the news out of North Korea.
00:44:16.020Now, let's – oh, boy, this guy, Kim Jong-un.
00:44:20.660We know that last year alone, North Korea conducted two nuclear tests, and they have been looking at creating rockets that are big enough to launch satellites.
00:44:32.480But at the same time, that technology will allow North Korea to create a rocket that can hold a nuclear warhead that can travel up to 5,000 kilometers or 3,000-plus miles.
00:45:02.540So, while our intelligence isn't showing us that they're moving a rocket towards a launch pad that the government in Pyongyang is not imminently preparing to launch,
00:45:19.400the leader, the latest dear leader, is saying that his country will continue to strengthen its ability based on a nuclear might to mount a preemptive attack.
00:45:33.460Now, very carefully worded, this was his New Year half-hour speech.
00:45:38.740By the way, same guy who last month made it illegal to worship Christmas.
00:45:46.880Yes, well, it's been illegal to worship Christmas, but you can worship his grandmother, who they claim was born on Christmas Day.
00:45:55.460So, North Korea, once again, preparing, telling us they're going to test an intercontinental ballistic missile,
00:46:04.400a missile capable of traveling from one continent to another and capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, and we know they've tested him.
00:46:58.800I don't know why President Obama would not take action or get John Kerry involved in this to say, look, bigger problem than getting mad at Israel.
00:47:09.460Bigger problem than what's going on with the with Netanyahu and how you've destroyed a relationship with a trusted ally.
00:47:17.940Why shouldn't you be instead of pushing through the agenda driven U.N.
00:47:59.380You have an imminent threat not only to the United States, but definitely to the region.
00:48:04.200A guy who says he's going to test an intercontinental ballistic missile who has tested nuclear warheads.
00:48:11.360And instead of dealing with that, you are worried about making sure your legacy is not destroyed because your socialist medical health insurance program is set to be taken apart.
00:48:25.020It's it's the most maddening thing in the news today for me that we are totally blind to North Korea.
00:48:31.300We have enabled this guy with what we did in Iran.
00:50:02.620So I do think it's fitting that President Obama is is absolutely doing nothing, apparently publicly about the North Korea announcement that they're going to test an intercontinental ballistic missile.
00:50:16.200And he's going to visit with Congress to try and save his legacy and then fly to Chicago to have a big farewell speech because he needs to be in the city, the third largest city in the country that had more murders by gunshot than the first and the second largest city in the country combined.
00:51:46.260New from Disney and Pixar, in association with the producers of Where's Waldo, comes a motion picture for our time, ripped from the headlines, especially if the only headlines you see are on HLN.
00:52:01.780She's lost and all alone in a great big world, flushed from the headlines, trying to make it back home.
00:53:24.120So I shouldn't say it's all that bizarre or all that different.
00:53:28.740But I mentioned earlier that Ernesto, my buddy, is leaving from Dallas right now.
00:53:39.000They're on their way walking from Dallas towards Arlington, 20 miles today, walking all the way from Tennessee to California to Los Angeles to draw attention to the plight of veterans.
00:53:53.080And so I'll send out a link to my Twitter account to follow Ernesto at Nerdnesto.
00:54:01.500But he's he's an amazing guy and he's doing things for the vets.
00:54:06.740And so I asked some of my my friends this weekend, if we're going to talk about doing things, things for the vets, what's out there?
00:54:15.080I'm looking for some new kind of helpful charity type things that we can do.
00:54:20.400And a really good friend of mine from my college life said Freedom Service Dogs.
00:54:28.540Freedom Service Dogs is a charity that takes unwanted shelter dogs.
00:54:33.440In other words, the ones that nobody wanted to adopt.
00:54:36.500And they train them to be service dogs to disabled vets and then also and hand them to other people.
00:54:44.340So once all the disabled vets have been helped out with a service dog, they pass them on to other people.
00:55:45.400But this little guy has a lot of problems.
00:55:49.700Now, I'm a I'm a dog lover, a dog rescuer, worked on a rescue.
00:55:55.220Our family, my wife and I worked on a rescue that brought hundreds of dogs a month from the south to the north because they were abandoned.
00:56:05.500We were part of the underhound railroad.
00:56:09.720So I have a very warm spot in my heart for our four footed friends.
00:58:27.620And if you go to theblaze.com, you can click on the button that says Channels.
00:58:31.760And you can follow my channel and little stories will pop up in your feed.
00:58:39.360Before we went away, I was telling you about the story of the Brooklyn couple that have a dog, a puppy who's not really well, a little Jonesy, the French bulldog, who has required $155,000 in vet bills just to keep alive.
01:01:41.380Because I also said I would rather see that money spent on taking dogs out of shelters and training them to be service dogs for our veterans.
01:01:49.740It's the toughest thing an adult has to do is and I became an adult and probably all of us did when you take your kids to the vet and you have to decide to end the life of your pet.
01:02:04.960May 11th, I had to say goodbye, but I also and I also understand that somewhere between that heart and your brain, there has to be a reasonable discussion.
01:03:32.960And I was noting, you know, even as we sort of say goodbye to the Clintons, we sort of said goodbye to a lot of the Republicans who might have come here, too.
01:03:40.660It's like anyone who is old news is basically out.
01:03:43.200You know, Gingrich not in and Giuliani not in and Chris Christie not in.
01:03:47.520You have all these guys who look like they're a bunch of sort of can do business people.
01:03:51.760And and it's the big question of the year.
01:04:00.300Will they have a new strategy for ISIS?
01:04:02.100I mean, all these possible things they could do.
01:04:05.020You know, we don't really know, but we have a sense that to me, it looks like it's shaping up to be very dramatic and very different and get ready for the press to howl about it.
01:04:12.220Well, it certainly looks like, judging from what Chuck Schumer has been saying, that the Democrats have embraced the term that they coined for the Republicans years ago.
01:04:23.220The party of no, that they are going to make these confirmation hearings as difficult as possible.
01:04:28.280And they're going to really try and put the squeeze on on the incoming administration.
01:04:35.280And maybe I think only one of Trump's announced cabinet nominees should get an easy pass.
01:05:25.960But I, you know, but let's see where it goes.
01:05:28.760It's too hard to see around that corner, I think, right now.
01:05:30.980I think most of these guys probably get through pretty easily.
01:05:36.480And the Dems are doing the best they can to pretend that the Senate is a place where the minority matters.
01:05:40.860And it just doesn't matter anymore, thanks to Harry Reid.
01:05:43.780I noticed when he started making his first cabinet picks, I sort of laughed at that because a lot of Democrats came out with press releases and said, I just can't support this nominee.
01:05:52.720And every time I saw that, I would laugh and say, remember when that mattered?
01:05:56.140You know, remember when you would need, you know, remember when you had to get eight Democrats, you know, to get a nominee on board or eight members of the minority?
01:06:05.800You know, like, go find the three Republicans saying no first, and then let's go, then we can talk about a difficult confirmation.
01:06:12.240But until then, I'm just sort of, I'm just kind of laughing at these press releases.
01:06:16.060We're talking to Pete Kasparowicz of the Washington Examiner.
01:06:18.880And, Pete, you're referring, of course, to the fact that Harry Reid took out the filibuster for appointments and that all this stuff goes through pretty much without any question.
01:06:29.840And I remember, Pete, in, I think it was 2009, I was in the Senate Progressive Press Conference that they had, and somebody asked the question, somebody from MoveOn or Air America asked the question, what happens when you're not in power?
01:06:49.460Aren't you worried this is going to turn on you?
01:06:51.540And I remember Harry Reid chuckling as if we're never leaving, and here we are, and it is coming, but he's gone.
01:07:01.480I guess that's, I guess that was the conventional wisdom.
01:07:04.460People used to write stories even six months ago, writing stuff like, can Republicans ever win again, and is this the end, and what, you know, and I think, I think, you know, what Trump did was he broke that storyline of, of, you know, the immigrant, the sort of immigrant vote, hopefully the legal immigrant vote is going to just keep sending Democrats up to Washington.
01:07:24.360And obviously that's not, at least not true this time, and so, yeah, I talk about seeing around corners, and I don't think Democrats saw this coming, I think they just saw this, you know, they, and at least for this past election, they thought the Senate was pretty much in their hands again.
01:07:39.260So, yeah, they, you know, it just goes to show you play nice with others, right, all the time, and because you never know how the worm's going to turn on you.
01:07:46.880Yeah, it's, it was an amazing twist for me, and now, looking, I'm looking at a story you wrote yesterday about Sean Spicer, and talking about the fact that he was asked by John Carl, you know, will Trump keep tweeting, and he said, absolutely, he'll keep tweeting, and Pete, I felt when I was watching that interview with John Carl, that Spicer, Spicer was telling the mainstream media, you can fight all you want for your, your jobs,
01:08:15.860but this is the new fireside chat, Twitter is the new way the president will bypass the press, and get out what he wants to get out, did you feel the same thing?
01:08:26.840Yeah, and, and I think, I think we can all see what's coming, right, this is, this is really the democratization of media now, like, we don't need you guys, and, you know, and Trump's team has also made another subtle point, which is, and in case, and anyone who's ever watched a White House press briefing knows it to be true, that a lot of the press availability is pretty boring anyway.
01:08:44.800You know, you know, you had, we've had Josh Earnest for the last few years, just not really answering questions, but just kind of, you know, repeating the line, the line you know already, it's not really newsy, it's, it's, it's another day, and maybe another slight variation of what they say, and you hope to make a news story, I have to edit this stuff, I know how hard it is, it's not all, it's not all needed, and it's, it's almost never new, so, um, here we have a guy who, I would have thought under Obama or Clinton, the press would be really celebrating it, a direct line to the president,
01:09:13.180but now the media's going to make it a problem, and I think this will be the story of the year, it'll be, it'll be Trump doing what he wants, it'll be him communicating how he wants, and the press sort of left on the sideline howling and screaming and saying, this isn't right, these issues are subtle, you're doing it wrong, and I don't know if anyone's going to care anymore, I just don't see, you know, and last night, a couple nights ago, did you watch that New Year's stuff?
01:09:34.280I don't watch this garbage, but Don Lemon got drunk or something?
01:09:39.060Oh, yeah, he got drunk, he got his ear pierced, and he actually proposed to Brooke Baldwin.
01:09:46.220Yeah, and then, no one's talking about that, Pete, I'm the only one who posted, I posted it on my Twitter, I pulled the video, he proposed to Brooke Baldwin, she stayed silent.
01:09:57.020Oh, so that's, that's a to-be-determined answer, I guess.
01:09:59.620But also, Kathy Griffin is yelling and screaming, and the media still thinks we're all entertained by this, I mean, I think most people these days are kind of going to bed and not caring about these, these, these uber celebrities that are up late, they're supposed to be shepherding us through every event, right, the New Year and a terrorist attack and inauguration day, they'll be doing it, I don't think people need to filter anymore, I think people can just run out and do what they want, and they can, if they want to know what the president's doing, they'll be able to read his tweets, and you can get this stuff direct.
01:10:29.600So I think this is going to be the massive story of the next few years of watching the media sort of cope with that reality.
01:10:35.300Wow, it'll be fun to watch, and as two guys that are also part of the media, I just think we got to keep pressing on and pointing out all those problems, because then people will come to us and say, well, what do you think's going to happen to the media next?
01:10:48.480Yeah, well, I guess we'll be just, we'll be reduced to covering ourselves and how we shrink and die, I suppose, but it's not that bad, but you know, but in terms of that messaging thing, the media still has a job to do, and there's plenty of open spaces for it, which is to cover what happens.
01:11:02.480I mean, right now, they're opining, you know, we're fact-checking every tweet from Trump and every little statement, and you can't make an off-the-cuff statement in public without getting fact-checked.
01:11:12.800I mean, I think those are the functions of the media that go away, but the functions that say, you know, that they report to you what's going on, those are still needed.
01:11:19.080I don't think we ditch those, and hopefully they sort of come back and become, you know, the main course as it used to be.
01:11:24.680Well, I appreciate your perspective on it, Pete.
01:11:27.960Pete Kasparowicz from the Washington Examiner, thank you, my friend.
01:11:31.820Give your mother my home phone number.
01:11:34.020She can call me and tell me I'm a despicable person as well.
01:11:36.820No, she's going to call the radio line.
01:11:39.000She'll be on in a few minutes, I'm sure.
01:12:51.240I want to talk about, I have to talk about Donald Trump and the briefing coming up.
01:12:58.920They're also, in terms of, we covered some of the new state laws and the law that warns people in Nebraska not to drive too close to the edge of the mountain roads.
01:13:08.740But I have to talk about the minimum wage.
01:13:12.70019 states added to their minimum wage, increased minimum wages.
01:13:17.280It looks like, it looks like a Tenth Amendment thing is taking place, doesn't it?
01:13:24.800That maybe states are realizing we don't need a national minimum wage.
01:13:30.140We need to let the Constitution do its job and let states decide what the minimum wage should be.
01:13:38.160Because, let's face it, it's a lot different to have a job and live and work in New York than it is to live and work in Nebraska, for example.
01:16:40.160And I have to tell you, I think we were talking earlier on the show with Pete Kasparowicz from the Washington Examiner.
01:16:49.480And we were, Pete and I were talking about Donald Trump and how he, Sean Spicer, has said that Mr. Trump does not intend to totally put down the Twitter.
01:17:00.440He's going to be tweeting a whole lot more.
01:17:03.780And I likened it to the fireside chats from FDR because I think it's Trump's way of getting around the press interpreting what he says.
01:17:16.920They'll eventually spin his tweets anyway.
01:17:19.560And so, as we saw with New Year's Eve, and he said his little greeting to his enemies, which I thought was pretty bizarre.
01:17:43.820I think you'll hear what I was talking about in terms of Trump and Spicer basically telling the mainstream media it's not going to be like it was.
01:17:52.460You know, with all due respect, I think it freaks the mainstream media out that he has this following of over 45-plus million people that follow him on social media that he can have a direct conversation.
01:18:00.520He doesn't have to have it funneled through the media.
01:18:02.520This is going to be a business as usual is over, as I've said before.
01:18:16.400The fact of the matter is that when he tweets, he gets results.
01:18:19.080So whether it's Twitter, holding a news conference, picking up the phone, having a meeting, he is going to make sure that he continues to fight for the American people every single day.
01:18:27.100Bottom line, are you going to have regular White House press briefings?
01:22:15.780We have to account for the money that we take.
01:22:18.840We have to report and show how the money is spent.
01:22:22.380As I'm sure you know that from your own experience.
01:22:27.420I can understand what you're saying about the fact that, well, you know, you could get a healthier animal and you could perhaps give a home to a dog or a cat, even, that wouldn't have a good home.
01:22:41.540But on the other hand, I agree with Rachel.
01:22:43.280I think if it's your money, I think people are getting really tired about how they should be spending their money.
01:22:49.260If they're not taking food out of the mouths of, I don't know if they have children.
01:22:56.020And if they're able to pay their rent and their bills and everything like that, then I definitely think they should be allowed to spend their money any way they choose, even if it seems frivolous to some people.
01:23:30.300I, you know, I don't think you were wrong and I don't think he was wrong.
01:23:33.280And I, like I said, Rachel has said the same thing about if it's their money.
01:23:36.920Now, if you're going to put yourself into debt, if you're going to have to start taking money from the government, which nobody wants to do if they can possibly avoid it, then yes.
01:23:46.820Then you're really going down the wrong track.
01:23:49.880If you, if you're well able to afford it and nobody else is going to be, you're not going to be able to, you know, look after your family or your children.
01:24:00.160It's, it's a little kooky, but, you know, we have a lot, we're all supposed to be about free choice now.
01:30:22.180We were talking about a few things, including the couple in Brooklyn with $155,000 in vet bills for a sick puppy.
01:30:31.840But I also mentioned that 19 states in America, 19 different states, raised their minimum wage effective yesterday.
01:30:42.360For example, fast food workers in New York will see a minimum wage go to $11 in New York City, $10 in the downstate suburbs, $970 elsewhere.
01:30:55.820Small businesses around the city will increase their minimum wage to $10.50 for city employees.
01:31:04.780But there are states all across the country who raise their minimum wage.
01:31:09.020I think this is a local, local deal, not a national deal.
01:31:15.280And I don't know where she stands on it or if it's something we agree on.
01:31:21.180But Gene in Pennsylvania has a thought on this.
01:31:24.760And, Gene, welcome to the Glenn Beck Program.
01:31:32.080The minimum wage was originally created because employers were abusing employees back in the 50s and 60s when it came around.
01:31:48.820And it was something that was designed for starter jobs.
01:31:53.080This is where we lose sight of things.
01:31:56.000And, of course, our government hasn't helped because they've put more people in a position where they have to take starter jobs to try to exist than should.
01:32:06.460It was meant to be the pay-for-the-first-time job hunter.
01:32:11.720And what you're going to find is you're going to find businesses such as McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, and the rest of them are going to automate their drive-thru by putting a touchscreen terminal, most likely, outside.
01:32:32.420When you get up to the window, they're going to put the pay machine such as you have as Home Depot and Lowe's and others that use the self-checkouts.
01:32:41.720And you'll drive up to the window, and then you may have a human being hand you your order.
01:35:59.920I don't know which side of the argument you're on, Marilyn, but welcome to the Glenn Beck Program.
01:36:03.540Hi, I totally agree with you, and I love dogs.
01:36:08.820I grew up with German Shepherds and Cocker Spaniels, and we had cats, and we've had to put dogs and cats down, and it's heartbreaking.
01:36:17.260And pets, though, you know, I believe they're God's gift.
01:36:21.320I mean, I call them God's jesters, and they are there for a reason, and we need to be good stewards and take care of them.
01:36:28.380It doesn't mean we leave them freezing out in the cold, which we see some things like that in South Dakota.
01:36:32.860But I guess my problem with all this is that money.
01:36:37.440And, yeah, the lady said people can spend their money how they like, but I'll guarantee you the same people who have that excuse will criticize, you know, the rich corporations or whatever.
01:36:49.400And the thing that really bothers me is that how many of these pet owners, any pet owner, I mean, even if we spend $50 a month on our pets,
01:36:58.080how many of us actually give to human needs the same amount of money, charities?
01:37:03.260There are a lot of people that I know who call their pets children, which I don't agree with their kids.
01:38:23.240And it's not a call I ever want to have to make again, but probably will.
01:38:28.100Because that's what life is about, and it was the right thing to do.
01:38:31.800But thank you so much, and I hope you have a great new year, my friend.
01:38:34.520Well, you know, I'm watching in the corner of the studio here in the free speech bunker, the constitutionally protected free speech bunker in Delaware.
01:38:48.400I'm watching President Obama arrive back from his vacation.
01:38:52.620And the final vacation, the hundred millionth dollar spent on President Obama's vacations.
01:39:03.100I know a president deserves vacations.
01:39:06.720I just want to know why all of them seem to avoid Camp David.
01:39:13.000And if we don't want Camp David, then let's get rid of it.
01:39:18.080Remember, Mar-a-Lago used to be the southern White House until Jimmy Carter gave it back.
01:39:39.980The president prides himself on the fact that his administration hasn't had a scandal and that he hasn't done anything to embarrass himself.
01:39:47.020But that's not because he's being someone other than who he is.
01:41:14.080Oh, and let's not forget Fast and Furious.
01:41:16.880Was that not a scandal of this administration?
01:41:19.640And as much as I love them, the Secret Service had a little bit of a scandal during this administration.
01:41:29.400So for Valerie Jarrett to say that this is this is a scandal free administration, eight years that the Obama administration was in office without a scandal is about as it's about as honest as if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor, which we all know was declared the lie of the year.
01:41:50.360So, Valerie Jarrett, no, you don't say that.
01:41:54.720And just because you say it and the mainstream media repeats it doesn't mean it's true.
01:42:01.520Now, tomorrow, as I mentioned earlier, tomorrow, tomorrow we have Congress gaveling into session and we expect to see a whole lot of pomp and circumstance tomorrow.
01:42:14.620But then the real work will get started after January 20th when the president is sworn in.
01:42:20.580Hopefully, I'll be there in the crowd.
01:42:21.920I think I got press credentials, but we'll find out.
01:42:24.600Maybe we'll do a live Puro Pelka from the inauguration.
01:42:28.940But Mr. Trump is also telling us Tuesday and Wednesday are going to be busy days for him.
01:42:34.720Yesterday, he was not yesterday, but New Year's Eve.
01:42:37.700He was out in front of Mar-a-Lago and held an impromptu press conference and talked a little bit about the hacking and about when he's going to be talking about the hacking and his briefing from the intelligence community.
01:42:53.660Well, I just want them to be sure because it's a pretty serious charge.
01:42:57.740And I want them to be sure that if you look at the weapons of mass destruction, that was a disaster.
01:43:14.780And I also know things that other people don't know.
01:43:18.620And so they cannot be sure of the situation.
01:43:23.320You know that other people don't know?
01:43:24.960You'll find out on Tuesday or Wednesday.
01:43:26.660So Mr. Trump was talking about the hacking, and I thought that was a pretty smart move to say, let's not forget the weapons of mass destruction and how everybody was damn sure that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.
01:43:43.420And then we all know what a disaster that turned out to be in terms of the cost of precious human lives, American lives, and as well as the cost to run that war.
01:43:57.180So I think that was a pretty smart move.
01:43:59.620But I always get nervous when Mr. Trump says stuff like, well, I know things people don't know.
01:44:33.220But apparently Tuesday and Wednesday we're going to hear from the president-elect, and I hope he talks more on this because this is the main thing that the snowflakes have been chanting about for the last two weeks is the hacking, the hacking, the hacking, the hacking.
01:44:49.640And I always say it's not a hack when somebody like Podesta responds to a phishing email and gives up his password and his ID.
01:45:02.160That's just called keeping grandpa away from the computer.
01:47:21.000And also the story about the guy that wrote the book about Trump 20 plus years ago that made Trump angry was playing golf at Mar-a-Lago this weekend.
01:47:29.920And there was an initial story saying Trump had him thrown off the course and had his entire foursome thrown off the course by his security detail.
01:47:38.500And the foursome included billionaire David Koch.
01:48:55.420Now, most of the lion's share of the $155,000 to keep this puppy alive came from an insurance policy.
01:49:02.800But tens of thousands came from their own pockets.
01:49:05.380They did have to dip into their savings.
01:49:08.260It's a horrible tragedy when you have to look at a suffering animal and try and make that decision whether or not you want to keep them or whether or not you want to have them put down.
01:49:18.760I know because we made that decision last May.