Taliban Hostage 835 Days: Left by Biden, Freed by Trump | George Glezmann & George Taylor

[00:00:00] My guest today has a remarkable story about freedom and also about if it could be taken away and whether it will ever be restored. His name is George Glezmann. He was held captive by the Taliban for 835 days. Most of that time was during the Biden administration.

[00:00:20] President Trump and his administration was able to liberate George. He loves to travel. He's an airline mechanic for Delta Airlines, loves photography, has a degree in anthropology, and loves learning more about cultures and other countries around the world.

[00:00:39] Today you're going to hear from him and about his remarkable captivity, and you're also going to hear from one of the people who helped support him while he was being held captive here in America and who advocated for him and ultimately helped with his release. That man's name is George as well. His name is George Taylor. This is a really different kind of episode than what I normally do.

[00:01:03] The topic is very heavy, but it is one that will give us hope and just make us proud to be an American. And it's one that has a good ending, thanks to President Trump, Secretary Marco Rubio, and the rest of the Trump administration. And also thanks to you, the voters. Our vote made a difference, and our vote helped elect a president who made a difference in Georgia's life. And you're going to hear how. I'm Jenny Beth Martin, and this is The Jenny Beth Show.

[00:01:48] Welcome to the Jenny Beth Show. George Glezmann, thank you so much for joining me today. And what an honor and a privilege it is to have you here in America. I'm so thankful that you are here, not just on my show, but here. So welcome to the show. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. The honor is all mine.

[00:02:11] So you wound up being held hostage in Afghanistan, and I'm sure people want to know how did that happen and how did it how did you wind up being held hostage and what was that like? But before we get into that, just tell people about you and your background. You've traveled to, I think, 135 countries. Just let people know a little bit more about you.

[00:02:34] Yeah, well, I'm an aviator. I work in aviation for more than 40 years, and I'm an aircraft mechanic with a major company, Delta Airlines. And I have always loved aviation, photography, and traveling. So as a traveler, I go to places, or I used to go to places that not too many people go to, like Timbuktu, like Tibet, like Libya, like Syria.

[00:03:06] And then Afghanistan came up. I always wanted to go to Afghanistan, and I went in the winter of 2022 with a valid visa, having been before to Pakistan. And the interest on traveling is because I study anthropology also. I'm an aircraft mechanic with an engineering degree and also with an anthropology degree.

[00:03:35] So that is basically the basis of my travels. To go and see the cultures, experience the food, experience the people, et cetera, the views. So I went to Afghanistan on 2022, shortly after taking—the Taliban took over the power in the country.

[00:04:01] If I remember well on the 16th or the 26th of August 2021, shortly after they announced that the country was open for tourism or for travelers to visit and see the beauties of the country. Some of the travelers I'm friends with, and I have traveled with in the world, invited me to go in May 2021.

[00:04:29] It was not possible for me to go at that time, so I delayed it until November, December of 2022. And I went by myself. I traveled solo most times. I flew into Islamabad and made my way to Peshawar on the border, got my visa. As soon as I got to Peshawar, I got my visa for Afghanistan legally on one of my passports.

[00:04:55] And then I went by land to Afghanistan, crossed the border by land, and then made my way to Kabul. It's a different world. It's like going to North Korea. It's something that you don't see anywhere else in the world. It's a city fortress full of concrete walls and razor wire. And it is just something different to see.

[00:05:25] On the afternoon of my first day, after seeing the palace, after seeing other places, walking in downtown, out of a sudden I felt some pain. And when I blinked a couple times, I was in the floor and I was being beaten by the Taliban. I look up and I see the half uniform soldiers, half traditional clothing soldiers beating me up.

[00:05:52] I noticed one thing that they use like makeup on their eyes, eyeliner. And so I didn't know what was happening. They handcuffed me and moved me to the side of the road. And then they wanted to see my, they handcuffed me because they wanted to, they could not open my phone and they could not open my camera. So I unlocked those two things.

[00:06:17] And I show them my phone and I show them in my phone. I had the map, Maps Me, the app. And I was walking to my hotel. Well, in my, in my camera, they saw the pictures I have taken. They, they went through about four or five pictures and they got to one picture that had a wall. And in this wall, there were some Pashtun writing.

[00:06:43] And, and at the end of the picture, there were two women in Burkas walking away. And then these guys scream out hijabs. And they came in and gave me another beating. And then they put a hood on me and they put the handcuffs on me. And I sat there for, for a long time, hours. I, they would take the hood off me and I would see them making phone calls. And I would see that people would come and see me like a exotic animal.

[00:07:12] And then out of the sun, they, they brought me into the building in which entrance I was sitting. And they brought me in, in a rush. They brought me in front of a Taliban, um, minister of, of something. And the man interrogated me peacefully. No calves, no hood, no nothing. He asked me, what was I doing there? How did I enter the country? Why I was taking pictures?

[00:07:42] The price of my Leica camera. And some other questions. Why are you taking photos? I said, Art, you see they're black and white. Some of my pictures are black and white. And, uh, no understanding whatsoever. Uh, following that, it was prayer times. And they put me into this room. And then they brought me back into that office. And the interrogatory continued.

[00:08:09] Um, after a week, they put me in a room that looked like a hookah lounge with other Taliban warriors. They were drinking tea and talking. They gave me, they showed me their guns. I handled their guns, even though I didn't want to. And then after that, they took me off and downstairs and out to the street. By now it's dark. Maybe 10 p.m. There's no, no people in the street.

[00:08:37] They rushed me one block down to the right of that building, which was basically going around that wall at the GDI, General Director of Intelligence. Now, I don't know who's having me. I don't know if it's the police or if it's the, uh, the GDI. I didn't know the GDI was. They took me in from another entrance on the same wall around the corner. And they hold me there for a little bit.

[00:09:04] And then they brought me into, no hood and no, no handcuffs. They brought me into the building and out of a sudden they put me on handcuffs and they put a hood on me. And they brought me in, took off my shoes and brought me in, sat me against my will on a, on the, on the floor on that office. It was dark with only one light, kind of like in the movies. The light was on me. The cops are on me.

[00:09:30] They took off the hood and I'm surrounded by Taliban people standing, sitting. I got a gun in, in my right temple and handgun. And I got two, I feel two guns in my back, in, in my ribs, long guns. And they're kicking me with their boots and with their feet. And there's a man in front of me behind a computer. This man is completely wrapped in, in shells and clothes.

[00:09:59] And he's got a COVID mask on. So I would not identify the guy. And he's got dark glasses. His name, nickname is the, the engineer. Now I know. He interrogates me and he accuses me of being CIA. But he wants to hear more about me. He asked me my background, my, my job history, all the way to my first job back in 1978.

[00:10:27] And I give him my, my, my, my background. He's taking notes. He gets up and he says, if, if all this information is truth, you're going home tomorrow. And goes away. And, and I say, am I staying? And, uh, cynically he responds. Yes, you're staying. And we have the best hospitality here in, in Afghanistan.

[00:10:57] And we're famous for having good sleeping quarters and best, and the best food in town, Kabul. So they put, they took me downstairs. They, they hoot me again, took me downstairs to a cell. In this cell, I remained for the next two and a half years as a solitary confinement. They added, afterwards, they added Afghans.

[00:11:21] But before that, they, I had a second interrogation with the engineer in which he pointed out that the noise I could hear outside my cell. He accused me this time. He told me I was going to be prosecuted and executed. And he told me that the hammering I could hear outside my cell was the, the building of my gallows.

[00:11:43] So I knew that where I was, Afghanistan, a country, excuse me, which country is not recognizing the world. And, yeah, I was in panic. I was horrorized. You know, I cannot describe the fear I had on me. I spent two years in a cell underground.

[00:12:06] And, uh, apparently the, the, the, the government, the U.S. government did not contact me until about a year, exactly a year after I was detained. Um, and it was, uh, the, from the Doha Embassy of the United States. I believe the name of that lady was, uh, Audrey. I cannot confirm that. I, I just think it's, it was Audrey.

[00:12:37] When they, the Taliban passed me the cell phone, she thought I was a Dr. Jamil, one of the Taliban people. And she was melting down, talking to this individual. Excuse me. And I said, no, I'm not Dr. Jamil. I'm George Klesman. And she says, oh, I'm sorry. I thought you were Dr. Jamil. No, this is George Klesman, an American citizen. And her, her demeanor changed immediately.

[00:13:04] She became, uh, serious with me. All the sweetness went away. And then she asked me questions. How are you doing? I'm like, I'm alive. I'm, my heart is beating. I'm breathing. Uh, when are you guys gonna come and get me? And there was no response. I said, is there a light at the end of the tunnel? Any hope? No, no news.

[00:13:29] I said, can you please deliver, uh, uh, a message for my wife and a message for my job at Delta Airlines? My two main interests in life. She says, no, for that you're gonna have to talk to Mr. Something. And I asked her if she, if she was gonna transfer me to that Mr. Something, because I needed to, to delegate that message.

[00:13:57] And she just hang up on me. And she just hang up on me. So that was my first contact from, um, the Biden administration and the government, the U.S. government with me. Um, my first phone call to my wife was five some months after my capture. Up until that moment, my wife didn't know if I was dead or alive because the, the, uh, the Taliban was denying having me.

[00:14:24] Um, uh, uh, after two years in captivity in a, in a cell, underground cell with no windows to the outside with light 24 seven and CCTV watching every movement by every watch, every movement. Um, apparently the, the, the, the, the dealings with the government permitted the Taliban to put us on a safe house.

[00:14:49] And up until that moment, I lived on an underground cell suffering, you know, significant, uh, forms of torture. I'm not going to say they hang me from chains and they shock me with electricity. None of that, but, uh, mental torture and beatings, they did happen. Uh, buckets of cold water in the middle of the night, those happen.

[00:15:17] Um, uh, and also the, the, the, the, uh, laser sights of their guns with, when they got, when the guards wanted to have fun with me, they would open my door, call my name. I was, I would be sleeping and, and they would point their guns at me with their sights. I would see the laser beams around me and then they would start shooting me with no ammo. So those and more things, I mean, they would, they would play like they're liberating me.

[00:15:44] And I would step outside my cell and then we would make a big 360 and they, they would bring me in with kicks in my back and everything and laugh and, and throw me back in the cell. So, so they, they would do that. A couple of times they told me they were going to take me out for execution. And, uh, so those things were really, really horrible experiences.

[00:16:09] After the, the, after that period, I, I, I ended up in a, with, I mean, at this point I was in company with another American. That was liberated before me by the Biden administration. And, uh, with two British, one old man, 84 year old doctor in law, uh, Herbert Fritz from Austria and an Argentinian kid that went there to find himself or something.

[00:16:38] So after some period of time, the British were liberated. The Austrian doctor got liberated. The Argentinian was liberated. Everybody got liberated except for the Americans. And we ended up being transferred to this safe house in a neighborhood somewhere in, in Kabul. One of the nice neighborhoods in one of those requisition houses. And, uh, and they put us in a room.

[00:17:05] Um, we had a bed and we had a toilet finally. That lasted less than a month. And then they brought us back to the GDI jail. And, um, we didn't know if what happened. And they, the guards didn't know either what happened. And then the following day, they took us to another safe house where we spent a couple months.

[00:17:28] Then, then after that, my, um, the government of Biden was on their way out. Um, they, this is where George comes in. I mean, I, I, I knew about the existence of George Taylor, that he was working along my wife, but he will tell, tell you, he's part of the story. But he's one of my liberators. One of the people that fought for my liberation.

[00:17:57] But at some point, the, um, the government of the states is dealing with the Taliban. And apparently they don't, they don't reach an agreement. They want Rahim Mohammed, I believe is his name, his name. And he's in Gitmo for being, if I'm not mistaken, the driver of, of Osama bin Laden, among other things.

[00:18:21] And he's still there, 50 some year old, 60 some year old guy that promises that as soon as he gets liberated, he goes back to what he knows what to do, which is terrorism. So the, the, the, the, the Biden administration doesn't want to give up this guy. And we don't know anything. Our wives don't know anything. And we're still sitting there waiting, hoping. We know that the elections are happening. The elections come and go.

[00:18:51] Uh, the guards bring us news that are not real, false hopes, hopes come and go. And we're still there. We see people come in, get detained and go. And we're still there. And then one, uh, at some point we hear that the, uh, the government of president, of president Biden is going to liberate us.

[00:19:17] And, um, and, uh, on the 19th of January, 2025, um, I see that the, the guards come in. Everybody comes into the, uh, cage that they built in the second floor of the safe house for us to leave. And they come in and they go to the room of the, the other two Americans.

[00:19:46] And they call one of them and they say, William, are you happy? You're going home tomorrow. And William cannot talk, but he's happy. Yeah. He suffered a stroke. And even that, even then they still have him. They're not releasing him. This is people that fills up stadiums to, uh, with people to execute people in public.

[00:20:11] So I am aware of this and I come out of my room and I, I, I try to see, but they see me that I'm aware. And they, they shoved me back in my room and closed my door. But I heard that I'm hearing that they're going to be liberated tomorrow on the 20th, the last day of the Biden administration. So they're going home. I'm not going anywhere.

[00:20:36] When they go, one of the Americans comes to me and he says, I owe you this much. I want to give you the news. I said, you don't owe me anything. Just tell me. He says, we're going to go home. I said, I heard. I know. He asked me not to say anything. I said, who am I going to tell? The Taliban. Don't worry about it. So the next day they're going, they're supposed to go. Actually on that day they were supposed to go, but there was a heavy snowstorm hitting Kabul. So he snowed all the 19th.

[00:21:07] He snowed all the 20th of January, 2025. And he snowed, the storm stopped on the 21st. And that's when they left early morning. I did not feel them. When I got up on the 21st of January, I came out of my room and there's trash and there's things spread everywhere in the general area of our living quarters. And they're gone. And I'm by myself.

[00:21:34] So they left me behind. Later on, I talked. After seeing my wife after liberation, my wife tells me that I'm not sure if Biden or Blinken call her and say, we're going to bring your husband home. We're not going to leave any American behind. And my wife is happy. She lives overseas in the Republic of Georgia. So she's happy. She starts making her bag.

[00:22:03] And then the very following night, Jake Sullivan calls her and tells her very laconic, in a laconic way, Alexandra, we were not able to liberate your husband. Good luck and hangs up. And that was it. So I thought, you know, basically they killed me again with that.

[00:22:31] I was dying at the beginning of my captivity with the terror and I was living. And now I had a different kind of terror, a terror that indicated me that I was going to die there in captivity. President Trump comes into power. I have a television available. And the only channel I could watch was CNN.

[00:22:56] And I saw in the news, I don't remember if I saw the person or if I saw below the news thing, that Secretary Marco Rubio was, President Trump found out that the Taliban did not liberate all the Americans they had.

[00:23:21] And he was upset and he threatened to put a price tag on every member of the Taliban if they were not to release me. And then they mentioned my name. And the threat was given by Secretary Marco Rubio. I saw that on television, sitting down numb, because by now I lost 20 pounds or so of weight.

[00:23:51] And yeah, I was dying. So when I saw that, it gave me a little bit of hope, but I was not. You know, I was tired of having hopes and just seeing them go away. Within two weeks, this must have been sometime in February, after an attempt I made of escaping, I tried to escape.

[00:24:19] And I could not go anywhere because it's a fortress, as I said before. I got to the street. I could not go anywhere. I had to climb back to my house through a tree that I came down. It took me five minutes to jump out of the tree, but it took me about two and a half hours to climb up that tree, to make it to the wall, to make it through the roof of the house behind my house, to make it to my balcony in the back of my house, to climb into my window and make it back to my cell.

[00:24:47] So it took me all night to do just that, down there and then come back. So it was sometime in February and within two weeks, the chief of the guards came to me and he says, George, the chief wants to talk to you. He took me in front of this guy, the engineer. And the engineer told me, if you give me half of your chocolate, I will give you good news.

[00:25:17] The guards bought me a chocolate that I've been bugging them to buy me for a very long time, which I still have here in my house. I did not eat it. And it was a Lind 70% cocoa chocolate. And so I told the man, I give you the whole chocolate. I don't care about it. And he says, you're going home tomorrow. And I said, I don't believe you. You told me many times before that. He says, no, no, no. You're going home tomorrow.

[00:25:45] I said, when I'm sitting in an airplane, flying out of the Afghan aerospace, I will believe you then, not before. And he got up and went away. And the next day, they liberated me. When they took me to the airport, I changed into my clothes that I had been saving for a very long time to go free.

[00:26:15] And I took my journals and I smuggled out all my journals. And they took me to the airport. They kept me in the guards' house. The guards were wearing, like, ninjas. Islamic ninjas, I would put them as. With a green bandana with some writing. And they had me in that room.

[00:26:44] I don't know if I'm going to go still. Because I've been trying to go many times. So I don't know if I'm going or not. The chief of the guards comes in and comes and goes. Amir Saib is his position. Quranic military position. The Amir Saib comes in and says, they're still dealing in downtown. They are still dealing in downtown. At some point, they come in. They bring me in my backpack. And they're in a rush. We walk out.

[00:27:11] I have one or two guys on each side of me grabbing me by my arm. And I have Kalashnikovs point at me. And they drag me in a hurry out to the street. This little street inside the airport. Across the street from a remote terminal. It's not the main terminal of the Kabul airport. And they walk me to a wall with a huge gate.

[00:27:37] And I can see behind that wall, I can see an Airbus A319 or A320 without markings, without airline markings. And as soon as we cross that gate, I am surrounded by people with beards and turbans and shells, you know, dragging me literally.

[00:28:00] And I see this man with a baseball cap and dark glasses with a big smile. And he's rushing to me. I didn't know who he was. But he runs, bugs me, pulls me out of the hands of the Taliban.

[00:28:23] And then I see a second one, also an American, run into me and do the same thing. They cover me with their body and they take me to the aircraft waiting. The first man, guardian angel of mine now, I call him that, is Adam Bowler. And the second one is Paul Ellis, beautiful man. And they took me to my freedom. I made it to the plane.

[00:28:53] There's cameras, there's flashes, and there's microphones in my face. And I'm completely, you know, overwhelmed by all this attention, all this noise, all these flashes and the rush of being free. I want to get on board the plane and go immediately. But I'm enjoying the view.

[00:29:18] I'm looking out to the city, looking at the overpopulated hills with the shanty towns and the antennas of Kabul. Everybody gets on board, and I'm the last one. I think I'm the last one to board to climb up those mobile air stairs. And I stood there for a time that felt eternal. I stood there looking at the view of Kabul.

[00:29:43] The wife of the ex-ambassador, Zal Khalisaid, Cheryl Bernard, came to me and she's like, what are you doing out here? You should be in the aircraft. What are you thinking? So I said, I'm thinking that I'm looking at what the Taliban didn't let me see, which is the city of Kabul. And I want to see it because I know I will never come back. I'm blacklisted anyways, believe it or not.

[00:30:13] So I boarded the plane that took me to freedom. So President Trump liberated me. This man right here in the meeting is another person that did a lot for my liberation. And I owe him my freedom and my life because I was 65 years of age. I had cancer and I had a tumor right here.

[00:30:40] But since he's been operated and my cancer is operated, so I'm cancer free. And I have my view on living another 30 or 40 more years. Well, I'm very glad that you're going to be able to live another 30 to 40 years. And let's hear from George Taylor about what he was experiencing interacting with your wife and then on the mission to save you. Yeah. Jenny, thanks for having me here.

[00:31:10] Yeah, I got involved in this. I was a co-worker at George. I worked in a corporate security group. However, my background, I'm retired from the military as well as from federal law enforcement where my background is counterterrorism. One thing I know very well is the Taliban. And I know just how ruthless they are. I know, you know, they're a designated foreign terrorist organization to this day.

[00:31:37] You know, once I received some information that George was missing and that had gone into Afghanistan, the Taliban would not acknowledge that they had George. For over six, six and a half months, they would not acknowledge to the U.S. government that they had George.

[00:31:57] So, I mean, knowing that area and a couple of friends of mine, both former CIA analysts, we were able to gather information to give to the federal government so that they could challenge the Taliban and, you know, have them acknowledge that George was in custody. Ultimately, so that the U.S. government could declare George unlawfully detained. And, you know, that's a kind word for hostage in government speak.

[00:32:25] So we were able to get that. Ultimately, the Taliban, once they were challenged with that, then they acknowledged that they did have George in their custody. From that point on, it's, you know, working with Alexandra and just trying to get the Biden administration to move in order to get George released.

[00:32:47] It was a tough, hard path, multiple meetings at the White House with various high ranking government officials to include Jake Sullivan. And what I can tell you is that our government at that level was absolutely broken. There was no one in charge.

[00:33:08] And in my view, I'm very confident in saying that we was a headless state at that point because we had a president that was cognitively unable to make decisions. And you had individuals. And it became very obvious when I went in the White House to these meetings that no one was in charge and that people were, you know, they were guessing a lot of this stuff.

[00:33:38] From that point, you know, after a very contentious meeting with Jake Sullivan, you know, after he had really disrespected George's wife, Alexandra, we left the White House, we were working with numerous members of both the House and the Senate just to try getting some type of leverage just so that some progress could be made.

[00:34:06] Everyone from John Ossoff to Warnock on the Georgia delegation to Mike Collins, you know, you get into all of these congressmen, Rich McCormick, all of them who did everything that they could to get the White House to move in order to get George released.

[00:34:33] However, as extremely frustrating to George's wife, it was frustrating from my perspective when you would see certain elected officials that may have a D behind their, at that time behind their name, do very little to move the needle other than the things that they absolutely were easy things. they could do to check off the box.

[00:35:03] No one, you know, they'd say, well, we'll make a call to the White House. Those calls never occurred. We'll set up a meeting with the president. Well, maybe we can get a phone call out of it. But, you know, these, in my view, both senators representing the state of Georgia both failed. I would give them an F because their number one job, in my view, is you never leave an American behind.

[00:35:31] And it became very clear to me that the priority was the election. It was not George's freedom. And I'll stand by that. You know, I'm not a, you know, 47 years of doing this kind of work and dealing with high-ranking government officials and being inside a government. You know the kiss off when you see it. And it was definitely the kiss off.

[00:35:59] And they were more than willing to leave George behind. I prepped Alexandra, and I told her. I said, yeah, I hate to tell you this, and I know it's going to break your heart. Or they don't have the guts, nor do they have the will. And they're a bunch of cowards, and they will not do what they need to do in order to bring George home. And ultimately, I was right.

[00:36:27] The good thing about it, at the same time that we were working the Biden administration, we had open channels with President Trump's team. And I was very confident that George would be coming home within a matter of months, days or months, after President Trump was sworn in.

[00:36:52] George came home two months or 56 days after President Trump was sworn in. George came home. There wasn't any money paid to the Taliban. And that's when Special Presidential Envoy Adam Bowler and Paul Ellis, when they were able to fly to Kabul to retrieve George. But it was just really from this side of it.

[00:37:21] And to watch how George became a political pawn in the game of the election and the White House, I'd say definitely they were picking and choosing who they were going to bring out of Afghanistan. And mind you, they didn't want anything to do with Afghanistan, right, that could come out to be public

[00:37:44] because of the miserable failures and the loss of 15 Americans during the pullout out of Afghanistan. I was there during that period of time as well. So I know that, you know, that it was an absolute cluster and they did not know what they were doing. And thus that resulted in, you know, 15 Americans needlessly losing their lives.

[00:38:14] But, you know, I was glad to see George come home. I was glad to see the leadership that was in the White House. Some people may not always agree with the rhetoric that comes out of the White House, but I'm one of these people, you know, just, you know, don't listen to the noise and watch the action. If you'll see the action, you'll know exactly, you know, what you're dealing with.

[00:38:38] And, you know, for President Trump and his team to do what they did without paying one single dollar was, you know, it was amazing. And, you know, the Biden administration, they were comfortable when, you know, they didn't want the American people to know. Ultimately, we were able to find out that, you know, they were paying direct payments to the Taliban of $40 million every month. That was going to the Taliban, yet they're holding U.S. citizens hostage.

[00:39:07] And U.S. aid, over $2.1 billion of U.S. aid went in to assist the Taliban or to assist the Afghanis. But, of course, the Taliban, what do they do? They get their tax off of that $2.1 billion. So, basically, if you look at it, the United States was continuing to fund terrorists. And, you know, they are terrorists. And the United States is funding this terrorist group called the Taliban.

[00:39:36] And so, you know, the Biden administration, they didn't want to have any of that whatsoever. And these were tough, tough talks, tough discussions. You know, ultimately, I thank God that we have a new president, someone that's cognitively able to make a decision and do it in a way to be able to bring Americans home. And to this day, I believe 110 Americans have been returned with not $1 being paid.

[00:40:02] I don't even know that people understand that there were 110 Americans being held hostage around the world. Watching that at the RNC convention and seeing just a handful of people who were standing there and holding signs with the number of days they each had been held captive. I think back to the hostages from when I was a child in Iran.

[00:40:32] And we knew about that every single day. And we saw their images. And we knew the number of days. And then October 7th happened. And there were Americans who were being held hostage. And we didn't even know their names or the numbers, much less of the numbers of Israeli and other people from around the world who were being held hostage in Gaza. I don't think people understood your situation, George. It certainly wasn't like being flashed on the news every day. Yeah.

[00:41:01] So that's one thing I'd like to say real quick, George. You know, we even went to the media to try getting attention about George's plight. Wall Street Journal, local news here in Atlanta, WSB2. They took up doing stories on George.

[00:41:22] But even the White House in one particular article where I was highly critical of the White House and the lack of movement and engagement, they actually weighed in to the editor of the Wall Street Journal to shut that article down to prevent it from being published.

[00:41:43] Now, and what they didn't want was the email exchange between myself, Jake Sullivan, Jen Daskal, high-ranking government officials. They did not want those emails out, which is, I find ironic because, you know, they were the first ones to say that we have an open government. And, you know, we're here where, you know, anytime, you know, anyone tells you we're from the government, we're here to help.

[00:42:13] There's a problem. Right. It was just absolutely, there's just not a term. I've never seen so much dereliction of duty and responsibility of a government when it came to a subject like this than I'd ever seen in my entire life. And that was 47 years of dealing with bad guys. Wow.

[00:42:36] And then, George, you could see CNN at least part of the time while you were in captivity. How was CNN reporting what was happening in America? And as a person who was being held captive, how did what you were seeing being reported about America affect you? It was brief, to say the least, laconic.

[00:43:02] The least they could say about what was happening. When, where, where we saw, this is, this service was not available. The television was not available to us captives until we move into one of the safe houses. So this, this goes only back to the last four months of my captivity, which rounds up in 835 days or two years and four months.

[00:43:29] So the last less than four months is when I had television. To respond to your question, it was more reliable, the Afghan international news or TOLO news, than CNN. Since I was liberated, I have, I haven't watched that station because, I mean, I don't find it informative.

[00:43:58] At least. Most of the information we got was through the local radio stations in Kabul. And, and then apparently they would repeat whatever happened in America. But yeah, it was not very informative to, to, to, to see CNN. They would have a little caption here and there about us, our pictures. And that was it.

[00:44:28] And other, in the other hand, with TOLO news and Afghanistan international, those both stations are not with the Taliban. Their, TOLO is based in Kabul and, and they suffer their censorship, obviously. But they have a little bit of freedom. And the other one, I believe is, is based somewhere else. I don't know if it's in Qatar or somewhere, somewhere else, Afghanistan international.

[00:44:56] And, and they, those are the ones that were providing the most information about us. There's no, no way to describe that because we would sit for hours in front of the television, waiting to see what was going on with us, what the world knew about us. At some point, you mentioned October the 7th. Obviously we didn't know October 7th because in October 7th, 2023, we were in, at the jail in the GDI.

[00:45:26] But what I remember from, from the end of September, beginning of October of 2023, is that the, we are about to be released. And they came in and they told us, and even other ministers that came in from Kandahar, Taliban ministers came in and talked to us, the Americans, telling us, in about 10 days, you're going home.

[00:45:53] This is at the end of September, beginning of October. Then October 7th happened. And then they would not tell us, they were upset with us, they were upset with our government because we were killing, and I'm saying we because I'm American, we were killing babies and women and old men in Palestine. So later on, I found out about October the 7th. I don't know if they actually were going to go to release us,

[00:46:23] but we were told we were going to go beginning of October home. No idea. George Taylor, when George was talking about this lady who maybe her name was Audrey, who he spoke with from the CIA, that seems like such a bizarre conversation that she was very happy when she thought it was another person. And then when she heard it was him, it was very businesslike.

[00:46:50] And she said she could not even convey a message to his wife. And given your intelligence and your security knowledge, what did you make when you heard about that conversation? Well, you know, first off, for the CIA or anyone at that stage of the game to be cozying up to the Taliban, and in some cases, particularly in the intelligence world, there is sometimes where you have to do that, right? Right.

[00:47:20] But, you know, the moment that George was on the line and declared himself as a U.S. citizen and was needing help, that person's number one job and obligation is to George, the U.S. citizen, right? And, you know, whether that was reported up or whatever, to this date, it don't appear that anything was.

[00:47:43] But, you know, during the entire time, you know, we had to, because we did not have faith that the U.S. government was doing anything, we had to use other individuals. And fortunately, we had that experience. And to be able to use other individuals who had contacts inside of Afghanistan to see if there was something going on that, you know,

[00:48:09] was there a lever that hadn't been pulled that we could potentially pull to get George's release, right? But it was just really extremely, extremely hard and disappointing, the lack of performance of the U.S. government, particularly when you're giving them $40 million a month, right? Yeah. Because, you know, for me, it's like, oh, hold on a second there. Bill, I'm giving you $40 million a month to help you stay in power.

[00:48:39] I want George Glesman and every other American that you're holding. I want them out. I want them out in two days. And I expect them to be picked up here at this time. They just didn't have the courage to do that. And, you know, then you get into the USA deal. And, of course, you know, when you're sitting at the White House and you challenge the senior leadership at the White House, you challenge them on this. Why are you paying them $40 million? Well, people are not supposed to know about that. Yeah, but we know about it.

[00:49:09] So why are you paying them $40 million, right? You know, that's my money. You know, that's some of George's money prior to him being held captive. You know, those types of conversations, they just did not like. They were, as I've always said, my number one job was to try doing what I could to get George out and to put as much pressure as I could on them. And as I told Jake Sullivan, I said, your job, you know, is to get George out.

[00:49:39] My job is to make you so uncomfortable that you'll get tired of seeing me and you'll get George out and you'll bring it. But there again, that was a guy that probably should have never been a national security advisor to the president to begin with. And he definitely showed it in this case. And God knows the decisions that may impact this country for years to come because of the incompetence that was inside that White House. George, what? If I can make a correction.

[00:50:09] The lady was part of the staff at the American Embassy in Doha. She was not. I mean, I don't understand. I don't think she was CIA, but I don't know. She was just part of the diplomatic seat of in Doha, American.

[00:50:27] But even if she was diplomatic staff, the State Department, it seems to me, should once they know they're talking to someone who's being held hostage, they need to be running that flag up the flagpole and trying to get help for you and figuring out a way, whether it is them directly or somebody else, to notify your family and your wife that they had at least been in communication with you and that you were alive. Correct.

[00:50:53] And, you know, Jenny, one thing that I'll – once the president was sworn in, we had a meeting within a week after he was sworn in at the White House with Ambassador or then National Security Advisor Mike Walls.

[00:51:08] And that meeting, along with Sebastian Gorka, who's a counterterrorism advisor to the president and a host of other people inside that meeting, you know, the meeting went extremely well. They treated Alexander with respect, treated everyone that was in the meeting with respect. And that's what you expect from your government to begin with, right?

[00:51:36] After we left the White House, the following Sunday – this was on a Thursday – the following Sunday, I'm at my home in Canton, Georgia, and I get a phone call from Paul Ellis and some other people from the State Department. Can you meet us at the Starbucks? I'm thinking they're in Washington, D.C. No.

[00:51:57] They'd flown down to Canton, Georgia to go to the Starbucks so that we could have a meeting and sit there with them to strategize out what was going to be done and how it can be done in order to get George out and what we needed to do. So that shows a lot on how the administration prioritized the release of George as well as all the other hostages. And I'll say this, too.

[00:52:23] The, you know, 300 or 836 days that George was held, he came home in 56. So that should tell you everything that you want to know if you're honest with yourself on what was going on behind the scenes in order to get George released. And then the release of all these other hostages, 110 so far.

[00:52:47] You know, as I am listening to this, we all were frustrated because President Biden cognitively simply wasn't where he needed to be to be the commander in chief and the president of the country. And it was clear he was going to continue out the entirety of his term. So it was what it was.

[00:53:13] And there wasn't a lot we were going to be able to do about it unless the cabinet had had the nerve to step up and and to remove him from office. And I will say this, that would have been extraordinary for the cabinet to do. It has never been done before. And I understand why perhaps they were hesitant with that.

[00:53:34] I can't if I put myself in their shoes, I can at least say I can acknowledge that when it had never is never been done by a cabinet before and the cabinet itself is not elected. Why there would be hesitation on taking such a big step, especially if the if the Congress was not acting to remove him and the Congress is elected.

[00:53:57] So I'm I'm I'm I'm just acknowledging that I'm not it's very easy to look back in time and point point fingers. And there are some things we can't we can't go back and turn time back on. So I just sort of let that sit for a second.

[00:54:13] But it's easy to say, well, he couldn't handle the debate performance or he wasn't able to handle the the interview about the corruption that he was involved in or other people were making decisions.

[00:54:28] What I think when I hear your both of your stories, the story of what the captivity was like, the story of the frustration trying to find somebody in charge in that administration, it really drives home the point that you can't have a president auto pen that you truly do have to have a commander in chief. When we hear the buck stops here, that's very important. Someone has to be the person who says, I am responsible.

[00:54:56] I will make the decisions. And we didn't have that. You this country demands that we have that our constitution demands that we're not just a country where it's a group of people in a back room making the decision and no one is responsible for it.

[00:55:13] And we see in your example, George, of the horrendous captivity that you endured, the real life consequences of not not taking the responsibility we are supposed to take when when we have people who are in elected office, when they they're incompetent and unable to do their duly elected positions. What I don't know that Biden was actually duly elected, but he was duly sworn in. Right. Yeah.

[00:55:41] That's basically what I said on my speech in the RNC and that it matters who we elect in Washington. The decisions made in Washington affect us directly because they affected me directly. The Taliban knew that the government was weak and they could do anything because they were so newly in power.

[00:56:11] And whenever I had ministers coming to see me, they would put America in the floor in front of me telling me, look at you, you're here and they're not doing anything for you. So. That means your government is weak. So, yeah, it matters who we elect and who we have in Washington taking the decisions.

[00:56:33] And I'll never forget during one meeting where a high ranking government official said, because George was in really bad shape, both physically and mentally.

[00:56:46] We knew that when that that official who was deputy counsel to the president stated to myself and George's wife that if George dies in custody, we'll do everything we can to retrieve his body. Now, for me, I'm like, hold it, hold it. Time out. We want him back alive. Right. We don't want the body. We want him back alive. That should be the priority.

[00:57:14] But it just showed the just such a callous and sensitive and really over that. You know, they were in over their head when it came to a lot of these issues. And like we say in the Navy, if you're drowning, you have to be smart enough to raise your hand out of the water so you can grab a life ring. And they weren't smart enough to do that.

[00:57:37] And, you know, to hear for a government official at that level on the grounds of the White House to tell the spouse of a guy that's being held by by designated foreign terrorist organization overseas, we'll do everything we can to bring his body back. What does that tell you? You have a government that is broken, period. And they broke it. And did not complain anything that comes out of the White House today. From President Trump, you may not like some of the rhetoric that comes out.

[00:58:07] But let me tell you, action. That's what see what they're doing. You know, and, you know, it was just really sad that George had to endure 836 days and our government failed. It completely failed. And I'm just so thankful that President Trump and that Secretary Rubio got in there and got the job done that needed to be done. And it wasn't just them. You mentioned Sebastian and you mentioned others.

[00:58:36] So I know that it was the entirety of the administration plus the people who flew in and actually got you out. George, what was it like when you were with your wife and reunited with your wife? It was very emotional to begin with. When I'm asked questions, when people ask me questions about my captivity and when they ask about everything, I can talk freely about anything. Anything.

[00:59:06] It doesn't put a knot on my throat or anything. But when I talk specifically about that, it gets to me. It was beautiful. When I saw, when I got to Washington, D.C., I came in on the Gulfstream, a small jet ambulance. We landed in Andrews Base. And there were people, media, government officials waiting for me.

[00:59:33] But my wife was not there because she was being flown from Tbilisi to Qatar or no, not somewhere, Dubai and then Dubai to Atlanta. I mean, to Washington. I'm sorry. And then they pick her up and brought her in in a hurry to the base. So when I got there, she was not there. And I'm looking for her. And they say, she's coming. Don't worry.

[01:00:00] And then everybody's quiet. And everybody opens up. And they say, if you have no business being here, go over to that side. And they clear me up around the aircraft. And I look up. And they say, oh, here they come. And I look up. And there's the police cars with lights and the black suburban with black windows or whatever vehicle it was.

[01:00:29] And there comes my wife. And the most beautiful thing, the most beautiful experience, see her come out of the car and hugging her and being home. That was basically being home. I am so glad you got your experience that. I'm so glad that George Taylor helped her and didn't give up and that the Trump administration was able to make that a reality.

[01:00:57] I shudder to think what would have happened if the American people had not made common sense decisions last election. And if they don't, again, this election, because you're right, what happens in Washington, it really does affect all of us. And the terrorists are paying attention to how we vote. The terrorists can tell whether or not the American people are serious about our safety and our place in the world. And we have to consider that as well when we go to cast our ballots. Correct.

[01:01:27] Correct. They know it may not sound valid, but the people that were holding me, the Taliban, they knew specifically that my government was weak and were not doing anything for me.

[01:01:43] If President Trump had not been taking power and he was the other individual, Kamala, I probably would be dead by now because my cancer was spreading and the tumor in my face was really bad. So it was a matter of life and death.

[01:02:00] And in my gratitude towards George Taylor here, President Trump, Adam Bowler, Dr. Gorka, Marco Rubio, Mike Waltz, the whole of the State Department, all the people that made possible my liberation, Paul Ellis, is infinite. Dr. Young is the doctor you see in every liberation on, you know, beautiful people, amazing people.

[01:02:29] And they went beyond expected to liberate me. So I'm forever grateful to them here, George, also.

[01:02:41] I had a front row seat of dealing with the Georgia delegation, and I can tell you the ones that will give you the courtesy 15 minutes, the ones that will rather than, and I'm, you know, Christian by faith. But when you're dealing with these type of situations, yeah, there's a time for prayer.

[01:03:06] But you've got a spouse here whose heart is broken, don't know whether or not her husband's going to come back or not. We need you to pick up the phone. And if you have these connections at the White House, use those connections. Wouldn't do it. Would not do it. John Ossoff was a little bit better. Not much.

[01:03:32] You know, when you sit down and you're discussing a situation like this, like I say, I was in government for 47 years. You know, when the door, somebody knocks on the door right at 15 minutes, that's all the time that they gave. Excuse me, sir. You know, your appointment, right? Your next appointment, that type stuff. Okay, well, is that someone that's looking, you know, to influence you in regards to some legislation?

[01:04:02] You know, your number one priority at this stage, in my view, is to be sitting here listening to the needs of Alexandra and do what you can to get Georgia released. But every time we went in, particularly into John Ossoff's office, it was 15 minutes. And I time it. You know, I'm one of those guys. All right. Boom. He hit the door. Let's time it. That tells you everything you need to know. Everything you need to know about these guys. So. Yeah, it is. It is not a good situation.

[01:04:31] And I've been in those meetings, many of those meetings. And, of course, there are times when I probably deserve more like five or ten minutes because my issue isn't the most necessarily the most important issue they may need to be dealing with. And I understand if they can only give me a few minutes. It's. And then I've also been in meetings where they're talking about things. They are highly engaged and they'll just push your staffer off or say, I'm missing that meeting or whatever it is.

[01:05:01] I've been in a lot of those meetings with that doorknock. What you were talking about is one where they should have said, I'll be there in a minute. But that that one may need to wait because I'm dealing with a hostage for my state. Yeah, I you don't get very. Thankfully, there aren't very many of those kind of meetings. They should take the priority. And to Ossoff's credit now, you know, I don't want to sound like I'm just totally beating him.

[01:05:26] You know, he did sponsor a resolution on the floor, you know, for George, you know, for the president to act, you know, to get George released and do all of that. But by the time all that's done, the election's in full swing. Right. And, you know, the last thing that the White House wanted was to remind any of the voters about Afghanistan. And George was a part of that. Right.

[01:05:51] So now, you know, it's best that we'll just we'll just stream the family along and do just the bare minimum. And we will make sure that the media would catch wind or if we get an inquiry that we tell them due to national security and ongoing negotiations. We're asking y'all to kill the story. Right. Excuse me. And they did that numerous times. Wow.

[01:06:19] I would like to to close with a couple of of things. George, one thing that I felt you were an a mechanic and an engineer. And as you were describing your your story, you said that you got to the gate and you could see the plane and you knew it was an Airbus 319 or 320. I thought that that was a little bit endearing because, you know, your planes, don't you? Yeah. Yes. Yes.

[01:06:48] It's my favorite aircraft, A320. And and I work it all the time and and I know where it ticks, you know. So, yeah, I knew I knew it. I went to the cockpit on the during the flight back and I thank them personally. I came out of there since I they had me in in. In confinement, you come out like either like a wild animal or or or a or a full of love animal.

[01:07:17] And I came out with hugs and kisses for everybody, you know. Yeah. Yeah. I was so happy to be liberated. Oh, I'm just so glad. And then you talked about your photography. Are you still able to to enjoy that that hobby? And have you been to any other countries? Are you just sticking stateside right now? No, I have done some travel.

[01:07:45] I spent nine months before coming back to work at Delta. I spent some months of recovery and I went to Israel, to the Holy Land. And I went to a couple of the countries, Mexico and other places just around no more dangerous places. And yeah, I still do my photography, even though my wife confiscated my Leica camera. I got a minor Leica. You know, she says that belongs to me now. So, yeah, sure.

[01:08:15] Anything you want. Well, very good. I'm so glad. And I fly Delta often and probably on some of those planes that you're taking care of. So thanks for keeping them safe and in the sky. You're welcome. You're welcome. And thank you for flying Delta. I want to just thank both of you for your time today, for sharing your story. And George Taylor, thank you for everything that you did for George to get him out of the country,

[01:08:43] to advocate for his family, to get information to the family around, you know, outside of government channels when they needed, when they just needed information the most you were able to provide that and for not giving up. And George, I'm so thankful that you're alive and that you're here and that you're free and that you're liberated. So I just thank you very much for being on the show today, for telling your story.

[01:09:12] And I'm thankful to both of you. You're very welcome. It was a pleasure being with you and I'm available anytime you need me. I'm right here. Just reach me. And I'm happy to be alive. My prayers and exercise kept me alive. And the little bit of hope that went up and down.

[01:09:35] And then when I saw that President Trump took the presidency and I learned that the dealings had changed, the game had changed, I had hope again, a little bit of hope, and he liberated me. So I'm eternally grateful to everybody that made possible my liberation. And George, George Taylor, thank you as well. Lesson learned. Don't go to Afghanistan. Yeah, don't go to Afghanistan. That's right.

[01:10:04] I'm glad that you got to see those lights as you were leaving. And please don't ever go back. I'm sorry this happened, but I'm very glad, very thankful that you are alive. There's one last thing I want to say. I probably should close it out right there. But as I was at that convention, at the Republican convention, and the hostages came out on the stage, I was off to the side, but pretty close to the stage. People stood up.

[01:10:31] And I was on the front row or right next to maybe the second row. And I stood up. And a couple of the people on my team who were with me, we stood up. And we were clapping and applauding and giving a standing ovation. And then as you and others started talking, we couldn't sit down. And I looked around and I noticed that almost everyone was standing up. And it's not because we were giving a standing ovation.

[01:10:54] We just felt, I felt as I was standing there, that I wanted to stand in solidarity with you and show respect. And I am just so, so thankful to this administration and that we live in the greatest country in the world. And I'm going to do all that I can to protect it and to help save our country. Thank you so much. Beautiful words. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you for giving people a voice.

[01:11:22] Thank you very much.

[01:11:53] Thank you.