Best of the Program | Guests: Brandon Darby & Lue Elizondo | 2/23/26

Summary

The Glenn Beck Program
Best of the Program | Guests: Brandon Darby & Lue Elizondo
Date: February 23, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Glenn Beck tackles three gripping stories at the crossroads of American culture, politics, and national security:

• The seismic takedown of Mexican cartel leader El Mencho and its implications for US-Mexico relations (with Brandon Darby, Breitbart Texas).
• The cultural and symbolic resonance of Team USA’s gold medal win in Olympic hockey.
• An in-depth look into the ongoing US government search for UFOs/UAPs and national security ramifications (with Lue Elizondo, former Pentagon UAP program lead).

Each segment reflects Beck’s trademark blend of candid, emotional storytelling and pointed political commentary, with contributions from expert guests.

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I. Cartel Takedown in Mexico: Interview with Brandon Darby (03:13–18:02)

Main Discussion Points

• Historic Arrest/Killing of El Mencho:
  • Announcement that the infamous cartel boss is gone.
  • Secrecy was key—operation was hidden from elements of the Mexican government known to be compromised by cartel connections.
• US Pressure and Mexico’s Response:
  • Beck raises the question: “What do you think the president [of the US] said to [the Mexican President]?” (04:36)
  • Darby credits sustained pressure, publicly and privately, from the Trump administration: “Trump began to hit narco boats, showing he was willing to do things that had not been done prior…Trump took out Maduro.” (09:07)
  • Mexico's government only acted when it realized unilateral US action could damage its sovereignty and global standing.
• Secrecy and Sudden Action:
  • The operation was so secret, “phones or any mechanism they had to communicate with the outside world was taken from them.” (04:54)
  • Darby doubts the official narrative about El Mencho’s death being accidental: “I question that narrative... He was probably killed.” (06:31)
• Ramifications in America:
  • “They have operatives all over the United States.” (11:05, Beck)
  • Darby predicts more violence in Mexico as cartel power fractures, but “I do not think we'll see a lot of acts of narco terrorism within the US because of this.” (12:46)
  • Long-term goal: “Reduce them to having power over their block, their street. That's the goal.” (12:46)
• Future of Mexico & US Policy:
  • The transformation of Mexico depends on the future US approach to immigration and cartel policy: “If we continue with the Trump policies…we have a very good shot at Mexico becoming a better place.” (14:42, Darby)
  • Cartels have thrived not just on drugs but on human smuggling and asylum loopholes.
  • Darby uses a WW2 analogy: “This isn't the end of the war... Yesterday was definitely D-Day...” (16:50)

Notable Quotes

• Brandon Darby:
  “If someone this powerful, the top of the top can be taken out, it tells everyone in Mexico who's involved in cartels that they can also be gotten and that they better keep it in check.” (07:33)
• Glenn Beck:
  “What is the fallout for us here in America? Because they have operatives all over the United States.” (10:57)
• Brandon Darby:
  “I would not allow my children to go to even the safe areas like Cancun... Those are economic engines for cartels, and as they fight each other, they're going to try to hurt each other's economic engines.” (17:29)

Memorable Moment

• Beck asks Darby for advice to spring breakers:
  “I would not do that right now. I would wait a bit on going to Mexico.” (17:29)

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II. Team USA’s Gold in Olympic Hockey: A Cultural Moment (19:00–30:47)

Main Discussion Points

• National Rejuvenation:
  • Beck revels in the Team USA win—first gold since the “Miracle on Ice” (20:13).
  • His message: “This should be something for all Americans to enjoy. I’m tired of people being ashamed of our country.” (21:31)
• Five Reasons the Win Resonated:
  • New Generation: Jack Hughes represents a homegrown, dominant US hockey force: “Hughes is different. He is speed. He's skill, he's flash, he's confidence.” (22:42)
  • American Style: The team's grit and creativity feel uniquely American.
  • Rarity/Significance: US hockey gold still feels earned and fresh, not routine: “When the US wins gold in hockey, it's earned the hard way.” (24:51)
  • Timing in a Divided Era: This victory brings a rare moment of unity.
  • Family & Values: Jack Hughes’ family embodies the American ideal: “Discipline, structure, parental investment, people who work hard. This family obviously works hard, trains hard, and is a unit." (29:22)
• Emotional High Points:
  • Playing the sound of the team singing the anthem (“They're not singers. They're hockey players. But they were proud to be an American.” (21:58))
  • Jack Hughes Post-Game:
    • “I'm lucky I'm from the best country in the world, and we got great dentists there, too. So I'm lucky I'm American, and they're gonna fix me right up.” (26:10, Hughes)
    • “Just so proud. I’m so proud to be American. I’m so proud of this group... USA Hockey brotherhood is so strong. We’re so proud that we could do it for them. We’re so proud we could do it for everyone back home.” (26:21)
• Remembrance on the Ice:
  • The team honors Johnny Gaudreau, killed by a drunk driver last year, by bringing his kids out for the gold medal ceremony (27:58). “How beautiful was that moment. Sports and... togetherness of a team. That’s why they won the gold and that’s what mattered to us.” (27:58)

Notable Quotes

• Glenn Beck:
  “This is the story of Jack. He's the face of it. But it's not the story of Jack. It is the truth team. It's the team. There was a time when America felt like a team. And I don't know about you, but I'm longing to feel like a team again.” (28:26)
• Jack Hughes:
  “Just so proud. I'm so proud to be American. I'm so proud of this group... USA Hockey brotherhood is so strong.” (26:21–27:19)

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III. Are UFOs Real? National Security & Disclosure: Interview with Lue Elizondo (30:47–43:47)

Main Discussion Points

• UAP (UFO) Programs and Strategic Risk:
  • The “clock is ticking”—US must not fall behind adversaries (China, Russia) exploring UFO phenomena.
  • “There are foreign adversaries out there that are very much involved in the research of UAP, like we are...and what you don't want to do is allow ourselves to get to a point of what we call strategic surprise.” (31:07, Elizondo)
• Decades of Mystery, Not a Foreign Power:
  • Elizondo dismisses the idea that these are advanced adversary tech: “If that was the case, this would be considered the worst intelligence failure in the history of our nation...for 80 years, some country in secret has been developing this technology… it simply doesn't make sense.” (33:43–35:00)
• The “2027” Question:
  • Beck: “Why is 2027 the year that everybody keeps throwing around?” (35:00)
  • Elizondo: “I've heard 2027 and also heard 2036...it seemed more anecdotal. Certainly something we need to pay attention to.” (35:19)
• Preparedness for Disclosure:
  • Reports that the President has a prepared speech in case of major UFO disclosure: “I think it’s probably something prepared for this time...A lot of presidents were kept in the dark on this topic for a very long time.” (36:16)
  • “This is a very risky topic...it's never really been good for one's career...because of the amount of stigma and taboo...purposefully, by the way, on this topic.” (36:20–36:53)
• The Military–Industry Angle:
  • Beck raises lawsuits/advantage from secret tech. Elizondo: “You can imagine in 10, 20 years, company A becomes a multibillion dollar aerospace company, where company B goes bankrupt...you could...rack up not just billions, but trillions... That is a very real issue.” (38:54)
• Spiritual Interpretations Inside Government:
  • Elizondo recounts meetings in the Pentagon where some senior officials believed UAPs were “demonic.”
    • "There were people in the Pentagon that believe that UFOs...are demons, they're demonic. And, again, some of these people are very, very senior in the intelligence community." (41:09)
  • He also references historical Vatican documents recounting “flaming shields in the sky,” and a papal statement endorsing the possibility of abundant life in the universe. (42:10–43:47)

Notable Quotes

• Lue Elizondo:
  • “The last place any government wants to be is on their back foot…after, for example, the drone incursions we had back in 2024 up in New Jersey.” (33:00)
  • “It simply doesn’t make sense that all of this…is Russian or Chinese. It doesn’t pass the smell test.” (35:00)
  • [On spiritual beliefs inside the Pentagon:] “I can't prove that they're wrong either…There is a lot of fear that this topic brings.” (41:05–41:47)
  • [On historical accounts:] “This is a discussion between a Roman soldier and a Roman general…these flaming Roman shields in the sky…this is a document that's in the possession of the Vatican itself.” (42:53)

Memorable Moment

• Beck to Elizondo: “You walked into a meeting and the scientists were talking about something spiritual…”
  Elizondo: “What was told to me point blank was, ‘Lou, have you read your Bible lately?... Because what we’re dealing with are demons and we shouldn’t be looking into them.’” (41:51)

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Highlighted Timestamps

Here are key timestamps for critical segments:

• 03:13 – Mexico’s El Mencho operation explained (start of Darby)
• 07:33 – Darby: “If someone this powerful...can be taken out, it tells everyone in Mexico...”
• 14:42 – Impact of US policy and immigration on cartels
• 17:29 – “I would not allow my children to go to Mexico right now.” (Darby’s warning to spring breakers)
• 21:31 – Beck on national pride versus shame
• 26:10 – Jack Hughes: “I’m lucky I’m from the best country in the world...”
• 28:26 – Beck: “There was a time when America felt like a team.”
• 31:07 – Elizondo: Why the clock is ticking on UAP secrecy
• 35:00 – “2027” and why it keeps coming up in disclosure discussions
• 41:09 – The Pentagon’s spiritual/demonic angle on UAPs

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Conclusion

This episode of The Glenn Beck Program delivers revealing, fast-paced analysis—mixing fresh news on cartel violence, US sporting triumph, and outer-space dangers.
Brandon Darby frames the cartel takedown as a D-Day moment for Mexico’s fight with organized crime, underlining how deeply US policy and politics shape southern border security.
Lue Elizondo takes listeners inside the labyrinth of UFO secrecy, warning of both earthly threats and existential mysteries—while Beck and both guests tie the week’s headline moments back to core questions of American identity, unity, and courage.

“This isn’t just a podcast. This is a movement. And you’re part of it.” (Beck, [03:08])

Transcript

[Glenn Beck]

5:00am I'm up with a crisp Celsius energy drink running 12 miles today. Grab a green juice, quick change and head to work. Meetings, workshops. One more Celsius. No slowing down. Working late, but obviously still meeting the girls for a little dancing. Celsius Live Fit. Go grab a cold refreshing Celsius at your local retailer or locate [e-mail] what the hell is happening with Mexico? Don't let your kids go for spring break. Brandon Darby talks about what's happening in Mexico and it's really, really good and a little bit frightening as well. Also, how is somebody who we did not even know their name 24 hours ago now the one guy that everyone wants to talk about how we can understand what happened with America, the gold and the hockey game and UFOs. Lou Elizondo joins us to talk about the latest on the search for UFOs. Are they real? Is something coming our way? All of that and more. Today's podcast. Let me tell you about Relief Factor. I know a thing or two about being in pain. For years I suffered from pain in my hands that are was so severe I thought I would never be able to write again. I like, I don't like typing as much as I like actually physically writing. Well, that changed. Thank God. Thank God for Relief Factor. When you hurt, it's not just an inconvenience. It is personal. It touches everything. Shaking a hand, holding a pen, even simple everyday things start to feel like climbing up a hill. I tried to push through it. Most people do, but it doesn't work all the time. Relief Factor is an absolute game changer. It was for me. It is a daily supplement designed to support your body's response to inflammation. And for me, it made a huge difference. Over a million people have tried relief factor and 2/3 of them have gone on to take more. If pain has started to crowd out the things that you love, whether that's writing, working or just using your hands without thinking about it, whatever hurts, you owe it to yourself. See what Relief Factor might do for you. Begin your three week quick start trial and see what Relief Factor can do for you at 800 for relief. 800 the number for relief or go to relieffactor.com hello America. You know we've been fighting every single day. We push back against the lies, the censorship, the nonsense of the mainstream media that they're trying to feed you. We work tirelessly to bring you the unfiltered truth because you deserve it. But to keep this fight going, we need you right now, would you take a moment and rate and review the Glenn Beck podcast? Give us five stars and leave a comment. Because every single review helps us break through Big Tech's algorithm to reach more Americans who need to hear the truth. This isn't a podcast. This is a movement. And you're part of it, a big part of it. So if you believe in what we're doing, you want more people to wake up, help us push this podcast to the top rate, review, share together, we'll make a difference. And thanks for standing with us. Now, let's get to work.

[Lou Elizondo]

You're listening to the best of the Glenn Beck Program.

[Glenn Beck]

Brandon Darby is joining us. He is the editor in chief for Breitbart Texas. He is also Breitbart Cartel Chronicle co founder and director. He was on with me in April and in April we talked about this particular cartel and the head and he said the United States isn't serious unless we get this guy. But this guy is protected by their, the Mexican Secretary of Defense. Well, apparently that has changed. So we wanted to bring Brandon on. First of all, Brandon, you've been reporting on this for years and years, if not decades. Did you ever think this day would come?

[Brandon Darby]

No. And Glenn, thank you for having me on. Good morning to you and your listeners. I am super excited. I did not expect this. I believed the Trump administration when they were warning Mexico, they said basically, hey, you're going to get this guy. You're going to take this seriously, or we're going to take it seriously without your, without your consent. And I thought that that's probably what would end up happening. I did not expect Mexico to, to play ball and actually help. No.

[Glenn Beck]

So why, what do you think the president said to. Because I don't think the president of Mexico is a fan of America and certainly not a fan of Donald Trump's. What, what did the, what did he say? Do you think that got them to act on this? Because this is a really big deal.

[Lou Elizondo]

Right.

[Brandon Darby]

So I think my best estimation at this point of what happened was that the Mexican president, Gloria Sheinbaum, knew about this, but that the rest of her cabinet did not. I know that roughly, Was it probably February 15th or so? Navy SEALs began to train a group within the Mexican army, Cadena, for a specific training that no one, it was obscure. No one knew what it was about. Well, it turns out this is what it was about. So I know that those Mexican military folks were sequestered. So their phones or any mechanism they had to communicate with the outside world was taken from Them, and they did this operation, the Mexican government, this operation. So I think that we, you know, it's very well documented, the current Secretary of Defense for Mexico being, you know, heavily connected with El Mincho. So obviously, you know, they didn't know, so it was kept very secret. There's a possibility that this was done, you know, without the approval of the Mexican president. But. But she is kind of running a victory lap so far. So I don't think that's the case. I think. I think it really is a situation, you know, if we. If we look at the history, every time the US has found El Mincho and tried to work with counterparts in Mexico to get him, El Mincho was tipped off and was told, hey, they're about to get you. So he would be missing or he would be gone. And this time that did not happen. This time it was kept close to the chest, and they were able to pull it off, and now he's gone. I question the narrative that El Mincho and two others were injured and then were being flown to Mexico City and they all happened to die on the helicopter ride to Mexico City. I question that narrative. I think that he was probably going to die. You know, he was probably killed. They probably decided, like, hey, if we let this guy, you know, in our system, he's. He is so connected that he's going to get out. He's going to be able to get out and kill our families. So I think they killed him. That's the most likely scenario. And. And now we are in a very different stage. As I've said before, if. If someone this powerful, the top of the top can be taken out. It tells everyone in Mexico who's involved in cartels that they can also be gotten and that they better keep it in check or they might be.

[Glenn Beck]

What does it mean for the president of Mexico? Because she could have done this herself long ago. This obviously is. She's kowtowing to Donald Trump or not.

[Brandon Darby]

Absolutely. Well, so if you look at. If you look at the social media statements of Mexico's leading politicians and Mexico's leading journalists, they're doing everything they can to take credit away from Trump and the Trump administration and the Trump administration's approach. They're saying that this was another person in the administration who pushed this. Trump had nothing to do with it, but that's not true. What happened is that let's let him.

[Lou Elizondo]

Donald Trump.

[Brandon Darby]

Yes. Whatever they want to say, and I don't understand. I'm going to be honest with you. It's very difficult for me to understand the liberal mind, even though once when I was younger, I was one of them, I sometimes I. They still just blow my mind with the way it blows my mind. Right. The logic sometimes blows my mind.

[Glenn Beck]

But the mental gymnastics.

[Brandon Darby]

The gymnastics blows my mind that we, you know, folks like you and I try to. And our movement holds us accountable to be intellectually consistent.

[Lou Elizondo]

Right?

[Brandon Darby]

That's okay. They do it differently. That's fine. That's their business. But, you know, what happened here is that Trump began to hit narco boats, showing that he was willing to do things that had not been done prior. Trump took out Maduro Trump. I mean, he went down the line. And, you know, Pete Hegseth and others in the administration openly warned Mexico that you will either help do this or we will do it unilaterally because it affects our country. What Mexico began to do was to hand us, you know, they started to crack down on cartels as a whole, and they started to hand us significant figures who we wanted. However, if you looked at it, the vast majority of them, up until about a month ago, maybe two months ago, were all of the. All of the opposition and all of the competition to Cartel Jalisco and El Mincho. So in an effort to appease us and look like they were taking it seriously, they were actually still helping El Mencho. They were protecting him, and they were taking out his adversaries as proof that they were serious about cartels. And a couple of months ago, we started to see them going after Cartel Jalisco. They took his number three guy and they gave him to the US Quickly, because the last time he was arrested, he was let go.

[Lou Elizondo]

Right?

[Brandon Darby]

Immediately, a judge let him go. And so what happened was that they realized that you're either going to do this and help us, or the US Is going to do it alone. And the political fallout will be horrible for you if the US Takes unilateral military action in their country and they decided to play ball and to actually roll the dice and go for it, and that's what they've done.

[Glenn Beck]

What is the fallout for us here in America? Because they have operatives all over the United States.

[Brandon Darby]

All over. Well, I think that what we have to look at is we have to go back historically to what's happened with other cartels. Right. Even though the other cartels did not have the level of power and influence that El Mincho had. But what happens is you have, like, the Gulf Cartel, who operates south of Texas along the, you know, the. The Gulf of America, I call it. Some people say Gulf of Mexico still, they're antiquated. But I say Gulf of America, you know, that, that cartel had had centralized power of Mexico's central government. They had state power, all types of power. We began to decapitate them and decapitate them every time a leader popped his head up. And what you, you're left with is 10 to 15, you know, glorified gang banger units who really have, no, they no longer have central power over the central government of Mexico. They no longer really even have power over the state that they live in, Tamaulipas in Mexico. They just have county power and little, they're glorified gangs. And they still call themselves the Gulf Cartel, but they're so weakened at this point that, that they really don't have the type of power they've had historically. And that's what's probably going to happen. There's going to be a lot of an uptick in violence which liberals will blame on Trump, even though they're not crediting him with taking out the guy. Right, that's what I meant by mental gymnastics. They'll blame the violence on Trump and on the United States, but there will be an uptick in violence as four or five different groups fight for power and fight for control. They'll become factionalized and then we'll take out the heads of those groups and then they'll become even, you know, even more fractionalized. Fractional and fractionalized. And ultimately they'll have, no, they'll no longer have central power over Mexico's government and they'll no longer have that. They'll have regional power and then we'll take them out and then the next thing you know, they'll, they'll be reduced to having power over their block, you know, their street. That's the goal. So the effects of this will be long. I do not think we'll see a lot of acts of narco terrorism within the US because of this. I don't know that, but I don't think so. I think that the statement made is that it doesn't matter how powerful you are. Like, if you put yourself in a position to become the focus of the United States government, we can and will get you. And I think that this results in a lot of folks trying to keep their heads down and not being as ostentatious as El Mincho was when he was alive.

[Glenn Beck]

Are we, are we going to see transformation of Mexico, do you think? Do they have the stomach to finish this job or somebody else Just going to step in?

[Brandon Darby]

Well, I think that's going to. It's a great question, Glenn. I think that's going to depend on what we do in this country. You know, if the next time we get a leader, if that leader is very left leaning and soft on, you know, soft on drugs and soft on crime, and if that leader is also soft on illegal migration.

[Lou Elizondo]

Right.

[Brandon Darby]

If that leader is soft on asylum claims and they allow tens of millions of people to show up at our border as they did in the last administration. Keeping in mind that several of these cartels have business models that are primarily based on asylum claimants, right. And on illegal immigration, they were making as much or more like various factions of the Gulf Cartel in Los Zetas was making as much or more from the people showing up at our border claiming asylum than they were making from drugs. So if we do things in this country that increase the pull factors and increase the economic engines for various Mexican cartels, then we're going to be in trouble. But if we continue to say in the best case scenario, right, say that we have JD Dance and he continues with the Trump policies and the Trump focus on Mexican cartels, I think that we have a very good shot at Mexico becoming a better place, which is very important for us because it affects us directly. Right. You got to keep in mind, you know, like, Americans didn't want fentanyl, and then El Mincho began to manufacture fentanyl. Right. El Mincho began to manufacture fentanyl and then the desire for more of it, Right. It was a push issue, not a demand issue. Obviously, that's a complicated issue, but it was more of a push and not so much a demand that caused the supply. It was the supply that pushed the demand. And when it came to that, so it really just depends on what we do. But I can tell you this. If Mexico were going to become a better place, if our southern neighbor was going to get healthier, this is exactly what was required for that to happen. So this isn't the armistice, this isn't the end of the war. This isn't, you know, Germany surrendering, but this is definitely. Yesterday was definitely D Day, right? And we definitely took land and we definitely established a beachhead. And so I am very hopeful. I think this shows that the current Mexican president is actually trying to work with the U.S. no, I don't think she would have if it weren't for Trump's pressure. But regardless of that, this shows a serious step in the right direction.

[Glenn Beck]

Brandon, 45 seconds left. Talk directly to anybody who's thinking spring break is going to be great? I'm going to Mexico no matter what.

[Brandon Darby]

I would not allow my, my, my children to go to Mexico right now. I would not allow my children to go to even the safe areas like Cancun or Puerto Vallarta because they're obviously not safe. But keep in mind those are economic engines for cartels. And as they fight each other, they're going to try to hurt each other's economic engines. And you just might find yourself or your child or your college student caught in crossfire. I would not do that right now. I would wait a bit on going to Mexico.

[Glenn Beck]

Thank you so much. Appreciate it. Brandon. We'll talk again. Great job on calling this one. You bet. Bye.

[Lou Elizondo]

Bye.

[Glenn Beck]

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[Brandon Darby]

across it comes. Jack Hughes wins it.

[Lou Elizondo]

The golden goal for the United.

[Glenn Beck]

For the first time since the 1980 miracle, the United States takes the ball. It's the greatest. It is the greatest. It is the greatest. It feels good. You know, Donald Trump said one at one point, you're gonna get sick of winning. I'm not sick of it. I am not sick of it. Now they sang the national anthem. And I want to play just a little bit of the hockey team singing the national anthem, Okay? They're not singers. They're hockey players. But they were proud to be an American. They were proud to be there representing us. That is what felt so good. We don't feel that very often anymore. And the left is saying, oh, it's a MAGA win. Maga's a. Shut up. Shut up. This should be something for all Americans to enjoy. I'm tired of being ashamed of my country. I'm not ashamed, I should say. I'm tired of people trying to make me ashamed of my country. I'm tired of people being ashamed of our country. Have we made mistakes? Yeah. Show me the country that has made fewer that are 230 years old or 250 years old. Show me the country. We all suck at some point, but we try and strive to get better. Look there. When he brought home or helped bring home the gold, it landed differently than, you know, than most gold medals land, okay? And it's partly because of him, but it's also partly because of us. Hockey is different. Now, you're going to have to excuse me, because I know nothing about hockey. I mean, I know nothing about sports, but from what little I have read, excuse me for the first two points, but I think they're accurate. Okay? There are five reasons why this hit differently for all of us. The first one, this is a new generation of American hockey. We lived, when I was growing up, we lived in the shadow of Canada and the old Soviet Union. And that was a machine. And the miracle of 1980, that was just blue collar grit. That was just, you know, that was Lake Placid. It was sacrifice. Hughes is different. He is speed. He's skill, he's flash, he's confidence. He's the face of the New Jersey Devils, former number one overall draft pick. He is the guy who represents the American hockey player development. Kids coming out of the, you know, US national team development program who don't just compete internationally, they're dominating. And that shift matters because we've always kind of been this borrowed Excellence. Or we were the. You know, we were not the. We didn't dominate. We borrowed. Now it's all homegrown. There's the first reason this is homegrown. It's a new generation. Two, he has a style that I think Americans recognize. He plays like a modern American athlete. He is creative, he is fast. He is fearless. He walks off with no teeth in the front. I mean, he's willing to take over, okay? Gold medals mean more to us when they're played or when they're won by players who feel distinctly American in their temperament. They're assertive, they're confident and a little defiant. That's who we are, okay? And he didn't just compete. He imposed himself on these games. Americans like that. The rest of the world may not like that, but that's who we are. We're the people who cross the Rocky Mountains, okay? Third reason. Gold still seems really rare in hockey. Okay? Basketball. I mean, when they were. We have the dream team in basketball. Oh, we won the gold. What a shock. Expected Baseball work. You know, everybody's competitive. Football, that's ours, of course. But hockey. Hockey still carries an old weight to. Feels like you're taking something back from the old powers of Canada and Sweden and Russia. When the U.S. wins golden hockey, it's earned the hard way. And when a young American star is at the center of that, I don't know, it just kind of feels like momentum, right? Feels good. Now, here's the fourth reason why this feels different. Timing. We are in the weirdest place of my lifetime. We are culturally divided. We are cynical. We're exhausted by politics and sports. At least this sports moment, it was clean. It was earned, it was unified. And it hits harder right now when somebody. Listen. Play the cut of him. Let me see where I can find it. Play the cut where he is talking about how lucky he is. Cut. 3.

[Jack Hughes]

I'm lucky I'm from the best country in the world, and we got great dentists there, too. So I'm lucky I'm American, and they're gonna fix me right up.

[Glenn Beck]

Standing there listening to the anthem. What's going through your head?

[Jack Hughes]

Just so proud. I'm so proud to be American. I'm so proud of this group. I'm so happy that we could win. You know, we have so many people here supporting us. We have so many people back home supporting us. And, you know, we're just. We're so thrilled with how this whole tournament played out. And, you know, just an unbelievable moment for USA Hockey. We've Been feeling that love for so many years. You know, so many of these guys have been like with USA Hockey for so long. We have so many ex players, ex Olympians. All the guys we looked up to reached out to us. We got their notes on the wall in the locker room and they sent some unbelievable messages. Stuff that, you know, puts tears in your eyes, honestly, because it means so much to them. It means so much to us. And the next batch of kids in the next 20 years, it's going to mean so much to them. So that's why we do this. USA Hockey brotherhood is so strong. We're so proud that we could do it for them. We're so proud we could do it for everyone back home.

[Glenn Beck]

I mean, how great is that? There's no scandal, there's no theatrics. There's just excellence and teamwork. Let me play the next cut. They brought the kids of Johnny Godreau out. He was killed by a drunk driver last year alongside his brother. And they bring his two kids out on the. He would have been playing in, in the Olympics. And they bring his kids out, play a little bit of this. And as we look behind, Dylan Larkin and Zach Barentsky have gone into the stands to go get Johnny's kids. They're going to come out now

[Jack Hughes]

and

[Glenn Beck]

they're going to hold their dad's jersey and get a picture with the gold medal team. How beautiful was that moment. Sports and you talk about the togetherness of a team. That's why they won the gold and that's what mattered to us. I mean, this is the story of Jack. He's the face of it. But it's not the story of Jack. It is the truth team. It's the team. There was a time when America felt like a team. And I don't know about you, but I'm longing to feel like a team again. I don't know why we can't get on to the, you know, USA team, but we can't. There's too many people that hate America, that are Americans. I don't get it. I just don't get it. But, you know, to each his own. And the fifth reason, I think is because of the story of his family. Another thing that is important to America. Jack's not just a one off. He is a hockey family. His brother is a star for the Vancouver Canucks and I'm not going to hold that against him. His other brother also plays for the Devils. Three elite American players from one family. There is something to that that speaks to us about our family in a deeper way. Discipline, structure, parental investment, people who work hard. This family obviously works hard, trains hard, and is a unit. That's the American ideal. Build it at home, take it to the world stage. That's why this hit us all so hard, because it feels like a torch is being passed to the next generation and they're lighting an entirely new flame. American development is beating the old system. Excellence without shame or apology. Unity without politics and family. I mean, that was not a medal you saw. That was the symbol of something that Americans are hungry to feel again. That we're not fading away, that we can still produce the very best in the world. That our young men and women can walk into the hardest arenas on earth and come out champions, no matter what everyone else is telling them. And in hockey, of all things and all sports, it still feels like we're proving something. You're listening to the best of the Glenn Beck program. Lou, how are you, my man?

[Lou Elizondo]

Glenn, I'm doing better than I do deserve. You know, I tell people at my age, any day above ground is a good day.

[Glenn Beck]

Yeah, I'm with you on that one. So do you remember having that conversation where you said the clock is ticking?

[Lou Elizondo]

I do, I remember that, Glenn, I sure do.

[Glenn Beck]

So what did you mean by that?

[Lou Elizondo]

Well, look, in the world of national security, the clock is always ticking. What do I mean by that? Well, you know, there are, there are foreign adversaries out there that are very much involved in the research of uap. Like we are, just like our country. And what you don't want to do is allow ourselves to get to a point of what we call strategic surprise. Right. All of a sudden you have country X or country Y out there that may not necessarily be friendly to the US and all of a sudden they find they have a breakthrough, right? So China has already admitted they have their own UAP program, so does Russia. And what we don't want to do is allow ourselves to fall behind some of our adversaries capabilities. Now there's also another part of that conversation too. What you don't want to do is allow so much time to go by that by the time you are forced to make a decision, all your options you've exhausted. Meaning, let's say that there is an announcement, let's say later this year that life has been discovered somewhere else off of earth, right. You don't want to be in a situation as a government where you are caught flat footed and surprised, right, by that statement. You want to be as proactive as possible. You want to be able to have the conversation, socialize the idea with your citizens, because let's face it, governments writ large, the reason why they have the authority they do is because people have faith and confidence in those institutions, in those governments. And the last place any government wants to be is on their back foot, right? In a situation where they get surprised. And now, like we saw, for example, with the drone incursions that we had back in 2024 up in New Jersey. Right. First the White House says, there's nothing to see here, folks. And they said, well, actually there is something to see here. Well, actually they've all been, all of these drones have been coordinated through the faa. Well, no, they haven't. We don't even know if they're drones at this point or the Chinese spy balloon, right under the, under the Biden administration. That's another case in point where, where decisions were made on our behalf because we simply didn't want to face the uncomfortable truth that China was sending reconnaissance balloons over North America completely unchallenged.

[Glenn Beck]

So you started this out with imagine country X or Y. So are you saying that we're possibly facing something from another country?

[Lou Elizondo]

Well, I think all is possible. All cars have to remain on the table until they're not. I think there is enough information to suggest that other countries are heavily invested in this topic. But keep in mind, we've been dealing with this now for decades. And when I say decades, at least eight decades, that's 80 years we've been dealing with this phenomenon. And if you look 80 years ago, where was Russia? Well, you know, we had just. The United States had just entered the atomic age. We had barely broken the sound barrier. No one has been into space. And that means some countries secretly was developing this technology and was able to perfect it eight decades ago. So that. That doesn't make sense. Right. If that was the case, this would be considered the worst intelligence failure in the history of our nation, eclipsing that of even 9, 11. Because that means for 80 years, some country in secret has been developing this technology and oh, by the way, has been able to deploy it over controlled US Airspace over our sensitive military facilities. And there's not a darn thing we can do about it. So. So when you look back at this from a temporal aspect or a time aspect, it simply doesn't make sense that all of this, what we're seeing is Russian or Chinese. It doesn't pass the smell test.

[Glenn Beck]

And you're not the only one that said this. 2027 keeps coming up and you just said later this year or in 2027. Why is 2027 the word, the year that everybody keeps throwing around? Because it doesn't seem random to me. Everybody seems to be saying 2027.

[Lou Elizondo]

Yeah, I've heard 2027 and also heard 2036. The capacity in which I heard it, I'd rather not get into. I heard it when I was, when I was working with US Space Force, but it was, to me it seemed more anecdotal. So I'm probably not best suited to answer that time wise, simply because I didn't come up with that timeframe. But like you, I heard that as well. And, you know, certainly something we need to, we need to pay attention to.

[Glenn Beck]

So the Laura Trump just came out and said there's a speech for the President to give and he's prepared to give it at some point. Is that a speech? Do you think she's referring to a speech that every president has had? Or is this something that is prepared for this time, do you think?

[Lou Elizondo]

I think it's probably something prepared for this time simply because a lot of presidents were kept in the dark on

[Brandon Darby]

this topic for a very long time

[Lou Elizondo]

and I don't think they took it seriously. Certainly this president during his first term, initially, when he was asked, kind of laughed it off. And then later, from my understanding, he received some briefings and then took it quite, quite seriously afterwards. But look, it's a very risky topic. You know, any president that makes a public statement about this, about this topic runs a huge risk simply because there's a lot of unknowns and it's never really been good for one's career necessarily, or even the media up until recently to even cover this topic, because the amount of stigma and taboo that have been associated purposefully, by the way, on this topic on purpose. Our own government created this taboo unnecessarily to give it the flexibility to actually do research. A lot of people are surprised when they find out that AATIP was actually a program in the Pentagon that was studying UFOs. That's what my colleagues and I were told to do. And you said it absolutely correct. I was never a quote, unquote believer. I went to, through the medical program at University of Miami and my technically, I graduated in microbiology and immunology. So the scientific method for me is very important. Also, as an intelligence officer, you have to let the facts speak for themselves. However, with that said, there comes a point where you have so much overwhelming evidence and you have some of the most sophisticated capabilities, technologically speaking, in the intelligence community that normally can identify the difference between an F16 and, let's say, a MiG 25 from 25 miles away, these same sensor systems are being used to collect information on things that, frankly, we don't understand. Technologically speaking, these things can outperform anything we have in our inventory. And that is a national security issue. And I believe that our president has been made aware of that. And not just by the Department of War either. There's other elements, the FBI, the intelligence community, even the Department of Energy, that all have equity in this topic.

[Glenn Beck]

One of my researchers said the reason why the government is so afraid of all this coming out is because if there is technology that we got from someplace else and it was shared with certain companies, then other companies will start suing and saying, well, I didn't get any of that. That's an unfair advantage. Do you think there's anything to that?

[Lou Elizondo]

Yeah, absolutely. Correct. Yeah, absolutely. Look, there's, there's back. You know, with the military industrial complex, there's still rules and laws that have to be followed, and you have to have free and fair competition. That is, that is how this system works. And if it turns out that maybe some general somewhere in the halls of the Pentagon gave a company an unfair advantage, you can imagine in 10 years, 20 years, company A becomes a multibillion dollar aerospace company, where company b goes bankrupt, 200 jobs are lost, and investors lose their investment. Right. So there's securities exchange commissions violations. I mean, you could, in theory, rack up not just billions, but trillions of dollars worth of liability and damages. So that is a very real issue. That is absolutely correct.

[Glenn Beck]

One last thing. What is the. You were on the podcast with me and you talked about a spiritual element of all of this that I think you said. You walked into a meeting and the scientists were talking about something spiritual, and we didn't really get into it. Can you share that again?

[Lou Elizondo]

Sure. Well, let me just say this, Glenn, if I can. I think. I think ultimately the human experience is a spiritual experience. There's. There's no way around it. You know, a lot of people say that we're humans having a spiritual experience. I tend to think we are spiritual beings having a human experience. But that aside, agree, there were elements in the Pentagon that believe that what we were looking into were actually demonstrated. And there were some fundamentalists that believe that this was all the work of, Of. Of so, so to speak, the devil. Now, I, you know, I, I can't. Between you and me, and I guess now everybody else, I I can't necessarily fault them for, for thinking that, because if that is their, Their, Their. Their spiritual perspective, then then I can understand it. And there are elements certainly within this topic that may scare some people, but I don't like what to be true.

[Glenn Beck]

Like, can you tell me, like, you know.

[Lou Elizondo]

Sure, yeah. There were. There were people in the Pentagon that believe that UFOs. Not only did they say they were real, actually totally be to my face and my colleagues, but that we shouldn't be looking into them because they are demons, they're demonic. They are. We know exactly what they are. And again, some of these people are very, very senior in the intelligence community. Some of them were friends of mine. And although I don't necessarily don't agree with their perspective, look, at the end of the day, I can't prove that they're wrong either. So I respect it. I don't. I don't agree with it, but I can respect that, that, that fear that this topic brings. Because.

[Glenn Beck]

Do you have any idea why they would say something like that?

[Lou Elizondo]

Well, what was told to me point blank was, lou, have you read your Bible lately? And, you know, I thought I was, you know, pretty familiar with it. Why? And he said, well, then you would know, because what we're dealing with are demons and we shouldn't be looking into them. And that was the extent of that conversation I had with. With a senior leader in the US Government, but there were others as well who, who felt the same way. There's a lot of people that also can point to the Bible and they'll. They'll talk about Ezekiel's wheel, right, as being actually an interpretation of an encounter with the uap. So I spent some time at the Vatican, and I'll tell you, I'll share this. That was kind of interesting. And I'll make it quick. There. They opened a scroll. It was a very old parchment. It was in Latin. And one of the senior academics there at the Vatican said, look here, read this part. And it talked about Eklipus. Eclipus is the Latin word for, like, think of eclipse. And it was the word they were using for the Roman shields, because the Roman shields were round and lenticular and I guess like sons. And he said, here it is. And this was a discussion between a Roman soldier and a Roman general where they. Where they described these flaming Roman shields in the sky that would follow them from battle space to battle space. And so, you know, this is going way back. And this is a document that's in the possession of the Vatican itself. So The Vatican has also had a deep interest in this topic. The last Pope actually said, I believe, several years ago, that we should not be surprised that life exists and is abundant in the universe, that, that God has the ability to, to create as many species as he wants. And it doesn't necessarily mean that, that we are any less special.

[Glenn Beck]

Lou, it's always fascinating to talk to you. We'll, we'll, we'll keep watching. Thank you so much.

[Brandon Darby]

All right.

[Lou Elizondo]

My honor and privilege. Thank you so much.

[Glenn Beck]

And you bet. Former Pentagon UAP official guy who led the search here recently. A lot of the breaking news comes from him. Lou Elizondo,

[Lou Elizondo]

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[Glenn Beck]

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[Lou Elizondo]

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[Glenn Beck]

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[Lou Elizondo]

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[Glenn Beck]

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[Lou Elizondo]

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