♪ ♪ >> thank you. ♪ ♪ >> tucker: good evening. welcome to "tucker carlson tonight." rush limbaugh passed away today as you have doubtless heard. he just turned 70 last month. there are people literally, millions of people to listened to rush limbaugh faithfully every day for 30 years. some of them cried when they heard the news. others on the internet gloated. but we're going to tell you about rush limbaugh and what he did and why he mattered. he was talented broadcaster but that is not why he reshaped the media business which he did. he believed things. he believed them with

sincerity. that was his secret. what he believes most of all was that america is a good and a decent place and worth preserving. here he is in 2009 explaining what he believes as america. >> as human beings we are no different than human beings anywhere else in the world. there have been families, clubs, countries, thousands on the years on the planet longer than we are. we are barely 250 years old. we have out-done everybody in almost everything that lives, raises a standard of living, in the history of the world. it's not because our d.n.a. is different. it's not because we are special human beings. it's because of our freedom and the founding documents and the rights we have. where they come from. >> tucker: the founding documents. he actually read them. he really believed them. he wasn't just saying that. that was obvious when he spoke. that was a threat to the speak who wanted to be more powerful than the constitution allows so they tried to silence him. we think of the corporate censorship as a new

phenomenon, but rush limbaugh was fighting it 30 years ago. and winning. here he is on "60 minutes" in 1991. >> i think i just happen to be saying what a whole lot of people think that don't have a chance to say it themselves. that is why they call me the most dangerous man in america. somebody is finally saying this stuff. >> tucker: the most dangerous man in america. that is what they called him. that is what they call you when you are brave enough to tell the truth. few people are better qualified to assess rush limbaugh life than ris friend and frequent guest host mark steyn. this is part of what he wrote on the perspective on his life. usually in this line of work if you are lucky you get a moment, a year or two when you are in the in thing and you hope to hold enough of the moment as it slowly fades until you retire. rush did something unprecedentedded in the history of tv and radio. broadcasting began in the united states in 1920.

rush limbaugh show came along two-third of a censure ray later, became number one quickly and stayed at the top all the way to today. for a third of entire history of the medium. that is remarkable. rush limbaugh was a remarkable man. he lived a life that mattered. and mark steyn joins us now to remember rush limbaugh. thank you for coming on and the piece you wrote for him today which was really a piece of writing. so you knew him. you knew him for a long time. you worked with him. he were his fill-in host. how would you assess him standing back? >> he was a brilliant broadcaster. i wrote today about the first time i ever heard him. you just driving through the north main woods when there are no radio stations available. suddenly this voice came in from out of nowhere. and started, it wasn't what he was talking about. it was how he talked about it. he made politics fun. he brought in all the

elements. he had 20 years as a non-terribly successful disk jockey where he had honed his craft. so he was able to use humor. he was able to use parody, songs. he was brilliant at it. he was better than anybody. that is apart from anything else that made him totally secure. he had no fear of any of the talents that came along after him would ever surpass him. he was simply the best. he invented this forum. 30-something years ago. he and kit carson, talking about this and kit was his chief of staff for decades. kit didn't start out that way. he was just a guy working in the straights. he handed -- working in the station. he handed rush unimportant stories at the day. he said do you have more stuff like is that? and that began the format of the show where he didn't just talk about what mitch

mcconnell or nancy pelosi was doing. he had all the other stories in which there was some aspect of it that reflected on the grand comedy alike. i guest hosted for him yesterday. and there was a story there about 30 taliban members had died during bomb-making class in an afghan mosque. they got a little ahead of themselves and actually blown themselves sky high. it's a taliban workplace accident. it's not a big story. it's not an important story. but rush understood that the great cavalcade of life, all these things factored in. everybody does that nowhere fort now. nobody did until he invented it. as you just said, he did it for a third of a century, which is incredible. >> tucker: you made a point in the piece today i didn't appreciate because i didn't work with him that the people who did work with him tended to work with him for decades. it seemed revealing of his

character. we have heard people assess who he was a man and people try to impugn his character. what does it tell you about him? >> well, i think he was a fantastic employer and a brilliant friend to many, many people. that is why people came and joined the e.i.b. network. we know there were big name celebrities who can't keep a secretary for six weeks. >> tucker: yeah, we know quite a few! >> everybody does. and instead, people came to teschi.b. network and -- e.i.w. network and they never left. i never realized how big the show was until i think it was i guest hosted it three times. then the following day i took my little girl to a horse riding event. point to point, somewhere over the river from me in new hampshire in vermont. we got there a little early. she said to me, can we go to the concession stand? a little truck in the middle

of the field. i said -- she turned vegetarian, you know, a couple weeks earlier. i said we'll have a hot dog and veggie burger, coffee and bottle of water. he said you sound just like that guy who guest hosts for rush. it was, i was amazed. i had said a dozen words to the guy. i only guest hosted the show three times and i was suddenly -- and i used to, before they were kind enough to build a studio for me, i used to go and guest host at it at local affiliate in new hampshire. it was interesting to me, because the owner when i would do the show, like a tiny cramp studio. they would bring in the owner of bud's chevrolet and the lady at darlene's diners and the big advertisers. not because i was there, but the rush limbaugh show was there. he was beloved in a way that i don't think -- radio is a very intimate medium. you are driving around in your

truck and it's like the guy is in your head for three hours. but rush had a connection beyond that. i had a couple of guys working at my house for months as is the new hampshire way. every day at 11:59, they would hang the transistor radio on the chimney and blast, sit up on the roof, listening to rush. nobody wanted to miss that. incredible. nothing like it. >> tucker: there is nothing like it. you have an amazing vignette in your remembrance of him today where you talk to the prime minister of australia, in australia. he says why are you going back to the u.s.? you said, "i'm guest hosting for rush limbaugh." he says, "well, that is a big." you give the audience numbers and he says that is more than there are australians. will there ever be anybody with the mass reach again in mass media? >> i can't imagine it. if rush's listeners were a

nation, they would be one of the biggest and the powerful nations on earth. some consolation. he told me a lot -- the last words he said on air an embarrassment to me because the last few weeks he has had to have the guest hosts standing by in case he falters in the second hour and can't complete the show. so he said at the end of his last show, he said, "thank you, mr. steyn. we'll see you next time." there was no next time. i was embarrassed about the "thank you, mr. steyn." i thought the coolest thing was to be -- he used to insult the guest host. if he knew i was coming in on wednesday. on tuesday he would put you down. coolest thing in the world to be put down by rush. when he told me about that and many other things was he was completely secure. and a decade ago he had heart problems on vacation in hawai'i. with all the evil stuff on the internet, on twitter, which was young then. die, rush.

just die! he didn't care. it washed off him. he was totally secure and he knew he was the best at what he did. and he taught a lot of us to be as secure as he was. i owe him everything in that respect. >> tucker: you ended your column today with talent return. that is wonderful. thank you, mark. >> thank you, tucker. >> tucker: one of the remarkable thing of rush limbaugh he enduredded in the face of the organized efforts to pull him off the air for 30 years. relentless attempts. as mark said they washed off of him and he kept going. how did he do that exactly? frank was at the center of a lot of that. almost all of it. tonight to explain how did rush limbaugh stay on the air? frank, thank you for coming on tonight. >> thank you. thank you. >> tucker: how did you pull that off? >> you know, it was all about

rush. he had a backbone made of iron. he was not willing to let himself be redefined by what his opponents thought about him. he gave us direction to stay the course. keep doing what we were doing. and nev give in to -- never give in to what the opposition says. he understood the nature of the business model better than anyone. which was basically to lie about the right. because the right was optimistic. the right had an idea. the left really didn't. so he told us to do that. no matter what the opposition did, we kept on. >> tucker: one of the lowest things i have ever seen ever in public conversation, rush limbaugh became dependent on prescription painkillers. a lot of people struggled with. a lot of us struggled with addiction and he overcame it which such me an inspiring and wonderful thing and it made him a deeper person.

he was attacked for that. i remember thinking at the time how does he keep that from warping him internally? it's so vicious. how did he stay steady and calm and secure in the face of that? >> he was grateful for the opportunity to recover from the addiction that he suffered from. i think he learned a lot in the process of doing that. you know, he privately reached out to all sorts of people with addictions over the balance of his careers. when there would be a news story about somebody suffering from an addiction, he would quietly and privately offer them support. he just understood he believed what he believed and that is what he brought forth on the air every day. >> tucker: so, in private, he helped people struggling with this thing he had been attacked for having. i didn't know that. i'm glad you brought it to light. amazing a model. >> he did it independent of the politics.

any number of them were people that politics were opposed to what he believes. he didn't care. he knew there were some unifying ideas that reach across politics to the nature of being human. >> tucker: yeah. like the common humanity above all. a tough man. in the best way. great to see you. thank you. >> thank you. >> tucker: our friend glenn beck joins us later. he knew rush limbaugh well and he has been in the business a long time. see him in a second. there is news that chris cuomo on cnn could face consequences tonight. that is interesting. we will bring it to you. we have a major announcement for you. that's coming too. be right back.

it's moving day. and while her friends are doing the heavy lifting, jess is busy moving her xfinity internet and tv services. it only takes about a minute. wait, a minute? but what have you been doing for the last two hours? delegating? oh, good one. move your xfinity services without breaking a sweat. now that's simple, easy, awesome. xfinity makes moving easy. go online to transfer your services in about a minute. get started today.

>> tucker: well, new york governor andrew cuomo finally caught on hiding deaths at the nursing home in his state that he made possible by his policies and now there are signs that governor cuomo may face serious consequences for what he did. trace gallagher is on the story for us. >> trace: this comes from the albany times union, the news source for the capital saying that the eastern district of new york launched

an investigation examining the action of governor andrew cuomo's coronavirus task force and the handling of the nursing homes in the pandemic. remember, three weeks after that task force was put together last year, the state mandated that nursing homes must accept residents being discharged from the hospitals even if they were still positive for covid-19. the new york attorney general has now said that nursing homes were deaths were severely underreported by the state and governor cuomo's top aide admitted to withholding information from the lawmakers. but here are the unknown of the breaking news. why is this probe coming from the eastern district of new york in brooklyn instead of the northern district which is a two-minute walk from the state capitol building? and are the coronavirus task force members being interviewed or subpoenaed? the u.s. attorney's office won't comment. governor cuomo's office will only say they are fully cooperating. with what we don't know. finally breaking cnn now says

that chris cuomo is not allowed to cover his brother, period. and that the multiple interviews they did together last year, almost nightly, was just an exception. tucker? >> just an exception. amazing. trace, it's great to see you. thank you. >> trace: yep. >> tucker: speaking of cnn, joe biden was over there last night for the town hall. did you see it, if you didn't catch it, you might not be alone. not sure biden caught it. at one point he lost track of where he was and almost walked in the moderator. it's more than a social distancing violation, it's almost a collision. nervous laugher from the audience but cnn didn't care. because when he finally got the whereabouts under control, he delivered the message they wanted him to deliver. white supremacy is the problem. it's wide ranging threat and the main problem. you heard so it offer it probably doesn't register anymore. every day, a k.k.k. terrorist is lying in wait. where is the plot?

they don't tell you where it is. but every moment the terrorists don't strike is proof they are planning something bigger and more sinister. there is no evidence this is true. they are creating extreme schism by saying it -- extremism by saying it. pushing for it. crazier than the russia hoax. this is dangerous. this is not just taking down mike flynn or george papadopoulos. this is dividing the country against itself. it's impugning people with the worst slur they have. and now it's being used as a pretext to marshal the force of the state against its own people. nancy pelosi is leading that effort. she just announced someone called retired general russell honore of louisiana will lead security review of what happened on january 6, of the riot. and nancy pelosi says the general has been "assessing the security needs reviewing what happened on january 6 and how we must ensure it doesn't happen again."

but that is not right. general honore already come to conclusions on what happened on january 6. he has been public about that. you should know what the conclusions are and what kind of person he is. just because his title is "general" doesn't mean he is sane. or not a wild eyed partisan. on the day after the capitol riot, honore suggested it was an inside job and the sergeant of arms might be implicated in the plot. >> it's was complicit actions at the capitol police. police chief has been fired but now we need to look at special education. was he complicit? along with the sergeant of arms in the house and the senate. it gives appearance of complicity. he complied because he might have thought 45 was coming to the capitol. and they gave way to the protesters who easily breached the capitol.

this is a crying damn shame. >> tucker: what? speaking of misinformation and conspiracy theorists, there is no evidence for any of that. it's all made up. it's crazy. but he went on. in a radio interview that same day, general honore explained conservatives on the capitol police force was to blame when asked about what happened with the security. watch this. >> by percentage, 30-40% of the line officers are trumpsters. >> all right. >> that is a fact, jack. >> tucker: how would he know that? he doesn't know. that he doesn't have any idea. who you voted for is irrelevant. these are sworn peace officers. they are doing their job but general honore decided to attack them on the basis of speculation about their political beliefs. this is a problem that this

guy would be in charge of anything. that problem goes beyond general honore prejudging what happened on the capital on the base of no knowledge. like so many of the country's exgenerals, this guy is an authoritarian. unhinged one. he understands how to use force to achieve political objectives. and it seems like he is being set up to use his military training against anyone who sees the world differently than he does. they will be re-classified as domestic terrorists. who are the people and what threat do they pose? according to the general honore the threats include the constitution and the second amendment. for real. he believes your right to defend yourself is dangerous. he said that. we are quoting here. "we can't permit second amendment rights at first amendment protests." really? constitutional scholar are you? imagine a public figure with a general in front of his name making that statement. this is the guy nancy pelosi wants in charge of security. honore is not a fan of the

first amendment either by the way. on twitter he attacked this network and he told people to stop buying the -- we can't use it. the profanity. the crappy stocks of any company that advertises on fox news. talk about the stock prices of advertisers. he retweeted posts of parler -- we are quoting now -- 100% complicit in the january of riot. this is the guy. this is like putting joy reed in charge of security. this is insane. general honore believes that elected member of congress, people like u.s. representative lauren bogart shouldn't be allowed to fly on aircraft because of political views. "put her on a no fly list." hand he said something similar about josh hawley, from missouri. he said, "this little piece of crap with the yale law degree should be run out of d.c. and disbarred asap." run out of d.c.? really? what do you mean by that. run out of d.c. and disbarred.

this is crazy. this is the guy that nancy pelosi has leading the security response to the capitol riot. this should really worry you. is this really about what happened on the capitol on january of? no. this is about you and your rights. rights that people like general honore and nancy pelosi view as the greatest threat of all. josh hawley was singled out by this man and he joins us to respond. senator, i appreciate you coming on tonight. this make me nervous that someone like this could have any control of the so-called security of the capitol, washington or in america. >> senator: yeah. it's very disturbing. some of the statement thats the general has made are downright crazy. you cited some of them. saying stefanop should be put on the no fly list. and the statement about the law enforcement. this is somebody who last year, tucker, encouraged, condoned the violent rioting in the cities and said federal law enforcement who were sent to portland to protect the

federal courthouse. he said they were a mob themselves. said they were acting like they were serving a dictator. attacked them for not being real soldiers. those are his words. it's unbelievable. it's just unbelievable. it shows that nancy pelosi isn't interested in getting any facts. she is interested in power. in amassing power and an excuse to keep hold of power including the thousands of troopers who are still at the capitol who are still there treating it like an armed camp. why? no one will say. but this is what pelosi is interested in. >> tucker: so i saw an internal memo today from house republicans saying we are not going to question the presence of all the federal troops in washington. because there is some kind of threat. which they never explain. what a betrayal of the country. but this guy is running around calling himself "general." shouldn't we be concerned?

leadership should be nonpartisan and not involved in the debates. are we sure it still is? >> senator: this particular general has been retired arrest while. you don't question his service to the country at all. i applaud him for it. but he has been a partisan, a dedicated partisan. that is putting it mildly since he left the military. an extreme left wing democrat. you can see it in the comments he has made. i'm concerned about what they are laying the ground work for here and what nancy pelosi is doing. i'm concerned that they continue to treat the january 6 catastrophe that criminal riot as an excuse to seize power, to control more power and to step on people's second amendment rights, to take away the first amendment rights. now we are hearing about a domestic war on terror. what is that going to be? an excuse to rifle through e-mail and the bank statements and the personal messages of the law abiding americans? this is very, very frightening stuff. what pelosi and the democrats are doing here trying to consolidate power is dangerous.

>> tucker: please convince your fellow republicans on the hill to stand up for the country. please. i think what you said is right. i needed to be said. i hope others will say it. thank you very much, senator. >> senator: thank you. >> tucker: well, couple of months ago we made an announcement about our future here on fox. here is what we said. before we get to the next segment a quick note about this show. over the weekend we got a lot of calls asking if we are leaving fox news. ironically at that moment we were working on a project to expand the amount of the reporting and analysis we do in this hour across other parts of the company. this show is not going anywhere. it's getting bigger. >> tucker: so tonight we'll explain what we are doing and we'll do that right after the break.

(male announcer) to everyone in our great outdoor family, you may be feeling a little cooped up but don't forget-- there are still rocks to be skipped; trails to be trampled; fish to be caught. the great outdoors are wide open and they're calling us like never before. in these trying times, we need nature more than ever. we need nature to remind us that like a sunrise or the turning of the tides, these challenges will pass. we need nature to help us heal and reconnect with the ones we love the most. so when you can, get back to nature. get back to each other. we're here for you.

>> rachel: a quick announcement. >> tucker: we told you in november we were doubling down on fox news. tonight we will tell you what that means. in april, we are launching a regular podcast on fox nation. it will be produced by the same people who make this show. backed by the same company that keeps us on the air. whatever you may read about fox news on the internet, the truth is and we would know, they are principled defenders of the free speech. and they are tough as hell. we wouldn't be here if they weren't. trust us. every day there is intense pressure to pull the show off the air and every day they resist that. we're grateful for that. we are also grateful for fox nation. when the big tech companies decided to shut down all

inconvenient fact and opinions, fox nation is protected. it's subscription service. it can't be touched or censored. that is a blessing. we are not just starting a podcast. but we are starting a long form investigative series "tucker carlson originals" to look deeply in the stuff we talk about nightly on the show. here is a trailer. >> i cannot believe i'm shooting at the range. >> my concern is that my safety, my daughter's. >> we will pass that. they know that. >> this corridor is more than an energy product. it's attack for weak against the strong. >> we're delighted you are a gun guy.

>> tucker: that was a fun part. we are working on a lot of stories and we have been for months and we'll cover wide range of topics and commercial free on fox news. two episodes are already in production and they investigate the story behind the green deal. when the power went out on monday in texas we sent the originals team to find out what was happening because we knew it wouldn't long before the same idealogues who caused this would be on saying that the green new deal had nothing to do with it. we were right. they started to lie within hours but our team was there gathering evidence on the ground. this footage they took from the big spring, texas. you can see the wind turbines are not generating any power. they are not moving. it's not even that cold. it's 21 degrees but they are iced over. no electricity. big spring tells us the hotels nearby have no water. rolling blockouts are affecting the entire area and

much of the state of texas. why aren't you seeing more footage like this on other media? you know why. journalists and the politics they exist to protect are lying to you. they need you to believe that the windmills were a great investment. you paid for them. people know they are expensive. people who live near them know they destroy the environment and kill animals. huge number of animals but if people knew they crashed the power grid they wouldn't put up with it. so they told you the frozen wind turbines are not a big deal. not a big deal. the green new deal did not cause the texas power outages. ocasio-cortez went to share her perspective saying texas runs on 880% fossil fuels. that is just not true. that is the problem with the claim. energy officials in texas confirmed in public windmills provide 25% of the state's total electricity.

on tuesday, more than a third of texas power went offline. 16,000 megawatts from the renewable energy sources, mostly windmill. those are tough facts for politicians who want to turn the entire power grid over to the renewable energy sources. companies that the friends and the donors almost always own. they lie about it. infrastructure failure in texas is what happens if you don't pursue the green new deal, quite literally. according to her, we need more windmills. and we need a new focussen equity, we're quoting. of course. texas has no power because of racism. that is what they are saying. here is the point. putting low-i.q. liedogs in

charge of the power grid does in the end mean the end of civilization. no one who uses the word "equity" ironically should be allowed near a power plant. the cockpit of a commercial airline or anything else that requires the math that you say is racist. this is bad enough that they use your suffering to gain power but running the country with the infrastructure? no chance. can't have that. we shot the footage of the frozen windmills it's proof, cold hard proof they are lying to you. no matter how good they have got at lying they can't deny what everyone can see. that is the point of the series to show you the things they don't want you to see. in a place protected from their interference. we look forward to that and we hope you will watch. if you are parent you are probably wondering when are the schools going to open? kamala harris tried to answer that question. no one understood here.

it was like she was speaking in another language. we decoded it for you. and we'll show it to you. plus glenn beck is here. the life of rush limbaugh. straight ahead. renae is not an influencer, she's more of a groundbreaker. renae runs with us on a john deere 1 series tractor. because out here, you can't fake a job well done. hear renae's story at deere.com

to defend against dark forces attacking your organization, you need to see in the dark. to have the wisdom to understand multiple cyber threats. the precision focus to end attacks instantly. on computers, mobile devices, servers and the cloud. join the world's leading companies in our mission to defend. cybereason. end cyber attacks. from endpoints to everywhere.

>> tucker: here is what the science tells us abilities schools. it -- tells us about schools. safe to reopen classrooms. safe for students and teachers. we have known this for many months and c.d.c. now concedes this. this fact, a scientific pact puts the party of science in a tough spot. they spent months telling us to trust the experts but now they are ignoring the experts. why in you know why?

they want to make the teachers union happy. teachers up onion give almost anyone else in democratic party. but they can't say that because it would be at the cost of the kids so they have to a justification for it. kamala harris took a shot at explaining it. >> let's talk about schools. parents are watching, maybe with the kids next to them because they are not going to school. >> we all want schools to rep open, savannah. all of us with children in our lives. they want to go to school, we want them to go to school and teachers want to teach. >> what about the priorities, then? parents watching, what is the bottom line? what does it mean for the schools to be reopened and how soon can they be reopened? >> hour goal is as many as k-8 schools possible will reopen in the first 100 days. >> ty don't want to beat it to

death but i know there are teachers listening. the c.d.c. said they don't have to be vaccinated to go back to school. >> we think they should be a priority. we think they should be a priority. >> tucker: tough for nbc. we think one of the people on screen had kids in school and the other doesn't. hasn't. good for her for pressing. what does it mean? and dr. marc siegel joins us to assess. great to see you. when are the schools opening? did you figure it out? >> i did. this is what i figure out. you and i coined a term a year ago follow the science. we were among the first to say it. now everybody says it. you know what it means? the code word for the political expediency. follow the science if it's what you want it to say and you are not fighting the teachers union. then it's sacrosanct.

but if they push too hard say it's recommendation. only a guideline. but this is what it says. outbreaks do occur in school studies multiple studies have known transition in the school setting lower than or similar to the level of community transmission. the c.d.c. in the same guideline is clear. kids don't get sick often. they don't transmit it to teachers. they have mild cases. the schools need to be open. why is this political expediency occurring and why is the c.d.c. moving the medical goal posts and hyper focusing in on the so-called red zones? where there is more community spread when we just read it doesn't spread to school more than the community? i went to medical school. you keep it simple in medical school. i follow two "o"s. do no harm. the second look at the patient as a fellow creature in pain. when i see kids hunkered down in front of the computer

screens, eyes growing red unhappy i see a creature in pain. i see kids together in a school with the partners and with their pals playing a sport, maybe, exercising, smiling, seeing the teachers. tucker, that is the cure, tucker. >> see your patient as a fellow human being in pain. most of us are not doctors but worth remembering. see a fellow human as a person in pain because they are. that is a wise thing to say. thank you. >> thank you, tucker. >> tucker: so as we told you as you already knew, rush limbaugh passed away at the age of 70. one of the few people who understands, really understands the life that rush limbaugh led is glenn beck. we are happy to have him join us straight ahead.

i mean i know it's silly, but i have an image. ya know, 6 foot 5, 300 pounds. so the thought

of getting a hearing aid, i was.. i was scared. for the last couple years i've been having real hearing loss. all i knew from the past was seeing folks with big things on their ears, so i didn't want to be that guy. one of the joys of my life is riding my motorcycle with my wife. if you're not confident riding a motorcycle, you could get in trouble. i would always have to turn, so i could hear better, that was a... that was bad. and i just kept fightin' it. with lively, did a hearing test on the computer. when they sent them in the mail they were already set up for me. the whole process was so simple. right away lively started working. my confidence is 100% boosted, it's night and day. this little thing right here, has made me whole again. a test in minutes, hearing aids in days, better hearing in no time. get started today at listenlively.com this thing works, ya know. i can hear again. >> tucker: rush limbaugh passed away today as you know.

we talked about it earlier in the show. he had an extraordinary life and he had a very unusual life. it's hard to understand what it was like to be rush limbaugh and to work in that world unless you have done it. very few people have done that. very, very few. one who has is glen beck. he understands. that is why we are happy to have him on tonight to join us. thank you so much for coming on. >> well, thank you. you know, i was thinking, tucker, today i don't know man, any one person not a movement, not a collection of people, any one person that changed the culture as much as rush limbaugh did. that added to the culture. maybe carson, maybe johnny carson. >> tucker: yeah. >> but what one man has done this? i don't know of any. >> tucker: it's amazing. at the center of it, i mean you see him today described as a political activist. he was a creator. he made things that didn't exist before. creative force.

>> yeah. yeah. for as much bluster and i didn't know rush very well at all. he was a very, very private man. as you know, tucker, you have lived this lifestyle, too. you have very few friends that you can trust unless they are long-time friends. even those sometimes will go a little nuts. so he was a very private man that i knew. but he was humble. i remember the first time i tried out for talk radio. he allowed me to use his studio with his golden microphone. which was terrifying to me. then when they were going to syndicate me, he listened to my show for a week before they even told me they would make me an offer. when it came down to it, craig kitchen the president of premier met with him and craig told me he said he started the conversation and said, "craig

before you say anything, let's, we've been friends. let's just break it easy. it's been a very good run." he actually thought they were going to come down and say, "hey, we are moving on. things are not so great." he had no concept -- i shouldn't say that. he did not the ego he had on the air. it was balanced. he knew most people didn't last 30 years in broadcast. >> tucker: yes. >> but i don't know if he knew he wasn't most people. >> tucker: how do you know last 30 years in a business like this with the daily intensity with the relentless attacks not on the but on you, the character and the family? how do you not become warped crazy, bitter and lose your creative power? >> i think he had 15 years of that.

theless 15 years has changed. the way the left slits throats and let you bleed in the street and dirty things they do is different than 20, 25 years ago. hi had to know what he believes. the pushback on each of us, nobody can do three hours live unscripted every day around be faultless? and nobody can fake it that long. he had to believe it. he knew who he was. when you know who you are and people throw you up against the wall it makes you check yourself. which only makes you stronger in the end. they reaffirm or learn something new and you know exactly why you believe it's true. >> tucker: but not to become bitter. for sure, the opposition forces you to clarify your

belief. it toughens you. >> tucker, you are the same way. we don't become bitter because we don't do the show for those people. i heard rush say one time and it's so true. i just said it recently. i don't do my show for those people who don't listen. he wasn't doing the show for those people. >> tucker: good point. >> he was doing it for this amazing audience. say what you want, rush limbaugh's audience, my audience, talk radio audience, your audience are amazingly good and fair and decent people. if you get it wrong, they will correct you. you believe in the inherent goodness of people and the strength and the goodness of america. that lifts all of us. >> tucker: how do you think

he understood the audience as well as he did? he is living in some level of the seclusion because you have to. big house, he does a show from home. he doesn't have a lot of the contact but he seemed tuned in. this must be something you think about a lot. how do you stay in touch with the people who are listening to you? >> i don't know. but i guess he stayed in touch by the number of the phone calls that he took which you can get feel in talk radio. but he drew on what he believed and how he grew up. a lot of us, that is what is frightening about today. what are the kids taught. we grew up in a time period in america where you could accomplish anything and it didn't matter what color you were. it didn't matter if you were poor or rich or connected or not. anyone could make it. he believed that because he came from nothing. i believe that because i came

from nothing. that is something i think you can draw on in tough times, good times for the rest of your life. he feasted on that. >> tucker: how do you think he will be remembered? >> who is writing the history book? >> tucker: right. that is it. have you noticed that there is an immediate effort to describe him in ways that will per sust through the years -- persist through the years. >> here is how he should be remembered. the johnny carson of radio. he was the every man of radio. he saved -- in europe they don't have a.m. radios in cars anymore. the only reason why we have a.m. radios is bauds of rush limb -- is because of rush limbaugh. that medium was over. he completely reinvented it. he was the first voice since kennedy was in office that didn't have to answer and

have, you know, a liberal on the other side. he could actually speak things and speak them in a way that people understood. and could repeat it. >> tucker: amazing. >> he was a great teacher. >> tucker: glenn beck, appreciate it. >> a great teacher. >>sean: god, get faith, family , country, this is what rush limbaugh and body pretends of millions of americans listened very he was an innovator, a pioneer, he was a trailblazer, he was a great patriot. he fought every single day to make this country a more perfec union and a better place. neil boards used to call him an he will join him, he will join us later the babe ruth of talk radio, but i think you could ad babe ruth, lou gehrig, hank aaron, derek jeter, pretty much the entire team for all of us i talk radio. rush was as my friend