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Glenn Beck

What Should Bush Say in His Immigration Speech?; Three Seriously Girls Are Models for a Day

Aired May 15, 2006 - 19:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

GLENN BECK, HOST: Hey, we`re talking politics just for a few minutes tonight, because Bush is giving that speech in a few minutes. And if you can`t handle it, hang on. I mean, there are other choices. On TV Land, good episode of "Good Times". It`s the one Willona adopts Penny. Love that one. Over on Bravo, season finale of "Top Chef".
Or, you know, if you`re really December separate, I mean, you can always watch this.

All right. Just a quick note. We did tape this before the speech actually happened tonight. So if you`re watching at 7, I`m going to tell you what`s coming up, and there`s a chance that I will look like a genius. But if you`re seeing this at 9 after the speech and it turns out that I was totally wrong, well, I mean, you`re an idiot for watching me. What am I, Nostradamus?

The president has a big speech tonight. We`re all excited, aren`t we? Yes.

I want you to know, in case you don`t know who I am, I am actually a big supporter of Bush, or I was, you know, until he started spending money like R. Kelly at Kids `R` Us. That`s when he really started to lose me. And now on the immigration thing, you know what? I actually think that tonight`s address is going to be less of a bull horn at the side of a fire truck speech and maybe a little more of a holy crap, my approval ratings suck speech.

I am hoping, and please, George, give me a bullhorn moment. But instead, I might get a politician moment.

Here`s what I think he is going to say. I think he`s going to start off on immigrants are great. They built this country. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

I get it. I like immigrants. What I don`t get it is how come he praises those who come across the border illegally to do jobs that Americans won`t do, but then Americans who are legally here doing jobs that the government won`t do, i.e., the Minutemen, oh, they`re vigilantes.

Here`s what the president should say.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love immigrants, but I also love rules. So don`t break them, the rules, not the immigrants.

BECK: Is this a cheesy show or what?

The president is also expected to talk about bringing in the National Guard to protect our borders. Let me get this straight. We have the National Guard in Iraq, Afghanistan and, not yet but soon in Iran. Now we want to send them to Arizona as well?

George, this is what you should say.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Instead of sending in the National Guard to patrol our borders, I`d like to recruit retired police officers. You know, the guys with those big dogs. The one that will rip your face off for a Snickers bar.

BECK: I never thought I would pine for Fred Travalena.

Now, of course, he`s also going to talk about building a fence. He`ll probably say something like, "I`m going to build a virtual fence, a fence that`s 100 miles long in some places and then totally nonexistent in other places."

May I ask what the point is? If the fence is 100 miles long, why wouldn`t the illegals just drive around the fence?

Here`s what the president should say.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m going to build a super fence with lasers because lasers are cool.

BECK: I swear to God that worked in rehearsal.

We`ll check in with you again later, Mr. President. Much, much later.

ANNOUNCER: This is Glenn Beck.

BECK: You know, immigration is an issue, I swear to you, makes my head explode. A little earlier I had a chance to spend a couple of minutes with a guy who says 11 million criminals should be given a free pass on citizenship. What a surprise. Armando Navarro is a professor at the University of California. He`s also one of the organizers of that swell May 1 boycott.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARMANDO NAVARRO, PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA: This country -- this country`s economy is totally dependent on having a source of cheap labor, access to a source of cheap labor.

BECK: So now the cheap labor, sir, if I`m going to make illegals legal, you`re not -- the cheap labor is going to go away. My problem is the companies are criminal because you`re right, they are addicted to cheap labor. And how exactly is that helping the poor Mexicans? We`re screwing them, are we not?

NAVARRO: Essentially when you have a piece of legislation like Sensenbrenner that calls about the reality of creating a police state mentality, where 12 million -- it`s not 11 million. And they`re not illegal aliens; they undocumented workers.

BECK: They`re illegal aliens here. Sir, they came across the border. Sir -- let me ask you...

NAVARRO: No, no, no, no, no. We have undocumented workers. You use your terminology; I`ll use mine. You`re entitled...

BECK: Right. No, that`s great. That`s exactly what the people like him in University of California would treat...

NAVARRO: No, no, no, no.

BECK: ... would teach is this nonsense where any language is fine. You just pick what you want.

These illegal aliens, who are here illegally and are working -- are working without proper papers...

NAVARRO: Get your terminology straight.

BECK: Yes, sir.

NAVARRO: They`re 12 million people that are sustaining the economic growth and prosperity...

BECK: I got it. Hold on. Could you just hold on for just a second?

NAVARRO: Wake up. Wake up.

BECK: Just a second. Hold on just for a second. Just a second.

NAVARRO: All right.

BECK: I just want to say something. I promised that I wasn`t going to do one of these left, right shows where everybody yells at each other, and I have failed miserably, and I apologize. Excuse me, sir. Excuse me.

NAVARRO: I`m just trying to...

BECK: Please. Please, sir. Sir, I`m going to lose my mind in a second. Please, I`m trying to be very, very kind...

NAVARRO: Don`t lose your mind. CNN needs you.

BECK: You want to -- I`m doing very, very -- I`m working very hard to stay rational, and it`s very difficult. But I`m going to go back, and we`re going to play happy music in my head and we`re going to go back to the professor and ask you this, sir. You were born here, right?

NAVARRO: Yes, sir.

BECK: You were born in America?

NAVARRO: I was born in the United States.

BECK: That`s great.

NAVARRO: I was born in California.

BECK: Please, short answers here.

NAVARRO: I was born in California.

BECK: You served in the U.S. Army?

NAVARRO: Yes, I was an officer of the United States Army.

BECK: That is great. I appreciate that, sir. Thank you for your service to the country. Have you -- do you have a driver`s license?

NAVARRO: Yes, I do.

BECK: Have you been to the DMV?

NAVARRO: Not recently.

BECK: Yes, but you have been there.

NAVARRO: Yes.

BECK: If you were there and you were standing in line and a whole group of people came into the line and cut in front of you, would you be a little angry or would you say, hey, no big deal?

NAVARRO: Can I ask you to focus in on the significance...

BECK: No, sir. You can answer the question. Here`s the deal. Illegal immigrant -- illegal immigrants.

NAVARRO: You`re asking -- you`re asking superfluous questions.

BECK: No, I`m not. Illegal immigrants are cutting in front of you when they`re in line.

NAVARRO: You`re not asking questions of intelligence (ph). You`re not asking questions of relevancy.

BECK: I mean, this is like our second show, and I`ve already broken every rule that I asked to have.

I appreciate it, professor.

NAVARRO: Well, we`re...

BECK: I appreciate it. Thank you very much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: I`ve got to get this of my chest. We all have choices to make. Our parents made choices. Many of our parents made really bad choices. But you know what? No matter what they did to you, you also have a choice.

You know, we don`t blame the sins of the son on the father or the sins of the father on the son. We don`t do that. You know what I mean? Everybody has an individual choice.

Why can`t we start looking at people as people and not the collection of their weird families? You know, I know you grew up in a bad relationship and you`re stepfather beat and you and yada, yada, yada. But you had a choice, and you chose wrong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: It really is all about choices. And you know, one of the things -- it`s so easy for us to take the good things we have in life we have for granted, simple things like a roof over our head, food on the table, our health.

Kevin here, he gets to work with me every day. Cherish it, brother. Cherish it.

Sure, we complain when life doesn`t go the way we envisioned it. I mean, there`s lot of stuff. There`s stress at work. There`s not enough money to buy some little thing that we may or may not have that would make our life better or not. It`s easy to forget how good we actually have it. It`s kind of an American thing, isn`t it?

Like to give you a little reality check in a segment we call "The Real America". It`s a story of three vibrant young women who have lived most of their lives battling serious illnesses. It is a story of their families, dealing with that potentially devastating life event with grace and strength that inspires hope and maybe some perspective in our own lives.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The name of the game today is just have a lot of fun, enjoy ourselves.

BECK (voice-over): They look like your average teenage girls: pretty, funny, nuts with excitement. But these young faces have already overcome more in their short lives than many of us will ever have to deal with in a lifetime.

MEGAN MURRAY, DIAGNOSED WITH HODGKIN`S DISEASE: I was 13 when I first got diagnosed, and I went through four months of chemo and three months of radiation.

CARLY SHEFFIELD, DIAGNOSED WITH JUVENILE DERMATOMYOSITIS: They diagnosed me and started me on a lot of steroids.

AMANDA ALCALA, DIAGNOSED WITH LEUKEMIA: When I was, like, just turned 2 years old, I was diagnosed with leukemia.

BECK: Today, these three girls, each dealing with a life-threatening disease, will have a dream come true, granted by the Make-A-Wish Foundation: to be a supermodel for the day.

CATHY ATRIA, MAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION: We know we medically can`t cure these kids, but we hope to heal spirit.

BECK: It`s a day of happiness and a time when their parents can look on as their daughters experience the fun most kids take for granted.

Carly Sheffield was diagnosed with a rare disease called juvenile dermatomyositis when she was just 8 years old.

C. SHEFFIELD: The disease first presents itself as a skin rash on your knuckles and on your joints. And we just thought it was an exercise rash, because I was really active.

BECK: Carly was a rough and tumble kid, in gymnastics and sports.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You just thought about her and you thought about her being strong.

BECK: But she had to give it up when she was diagnosed. The disease was eating away at her muscle tissue. Even worse, it grew stronger in the sunlight, so Carly had to limit her time playing outside.

Eventually, Carly`s mom made her a promise.

DIANA SHEFFIELD, CARLY`S MOTHER: I kind of went out on a limb. I said if you can just hang there, we`ll take -- Sara (ph) and I will take you anywhere you want to go, if you can just hang in there and not -- you know.

BECK: And that`s just what Carly did. For the last five years, she`s undergone aggressive treatment, taking steroids with horrible side effects that would make her bloat and have dramatic mood swings.

C. SHEFFIELD: My family was always there to encourage me. And we would always just sit down and pray together, because we knew that it was going to be OK and that God had a plan.

BECK: Through faith, family and a ferocious will to live, Carly is beating the odds.

C. SHEFFIELD: When you`re on steroids, you don`t really take good pictures. And from fourth to seventh grade, I didn`t take very good pictures.

BECK: And today she`s getting the chance to celebrate and recapture a part of her childhood that so many children just take for granted.

C. SHEFFIELD: This is just a chance now that I`m done with my medicine to have good pictures of me.

BECK: But instead of a school photographer, she`s getting her shot with one of the best photographers in the world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let`s get this party started, people!

BECK: This is the stuff dreams are made of for most teams and for these girls in particular, it`s overwhelming. Makeup done by artists who usually spend their days pampering celebrities like J. Lo and Madonna. Suitcases full of clothes, and probably more free stuff than one kid would probably know what to do with.

MARY ALICE STEPHENSON, STYLIST: The moment I started doing these wishes, I`ve really rallied and been helping making these girls feel beautiful, and it just gives them hope.

BECK: Stylist Mary Alice Stephenson put this whole thing together.

STEPHENSON: It takes the focus off their disease or what they`ve gone through and allows them to have fun and feel great about themselves.

BECK: And it gives parents a chance to experience something amazing, something completely unique with their children.

ELVIRA ALCALA, AMANDA`S MOM: It`s been -- it`s just been a long road, and I`m so glad I did it with her.

ATRIA: You talk to the parents, and while they`re so happy to be here for this day, they`ll kind of give you a little bit of background of what it took to get here. And then that`s when -- you know, that`s when the eyes well with tears and that`s when you realize what a journey a whole family goes on when a child is sick.

BECK: It`s a journey that they won`t soon forget. For these families it was an arduous road that has ended, for today, in sharing, sharing real joy.

C. SHEFFIELD: My illness was a big part in my family and everything, but everything always turns out perfect and this is, like, the perfect ending of my dream.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BECK: What a great story on a day I`m sure the girls are not going to soon forget.

Cathy Atria is from the Make-A-Wish Foundation. She joins me now.

Cathy, I`ve got to tell you, my daughter was born about a month ago. And I looked at the nurse in the hospital and I said, "You have probably the best job and simultaneously one of worst jobs, because when things are great, it`s just a miracle. But when at things go wrong, it`s got to be tough."

Are you in that same kind of situation where you have the best job and the worst job?

ATRIA: Very often. Yes, we grant wishes and that is a wonderful thing and such a unique profession to be in that profession. But unfortunately, we do see the sad side of things sometimes.

The interesting thing that I`ve always found is that all of the people who work on the side of wishes, when people ask us, what illness does that child have, we honestly can answer, I don`t know. The magic of Make-A-Wish is not to focus on the illness.

BECK: Right.

ATRIA: It`s to focus on the positive.

BECK: These girls didn`t even look sick. I mean, is that -- is that usually the case?

ATRIA: That`s very common. We hear from a lot of people that we work with that these children, they don`t look sick. And a lot of times, again, their wish is granted sometimes a long time after they`ve dealt with the chemo and the radiation, especially in the instance of these girls who want to be models. We`ve very often heard we want to wait until our hair grows back, and we want to wait until we`re feeling better.

BECK: I have to tell you that when this story was first brought to me and they said, "Glenn, we want to do a story with this," I said -- I was a little bothered by it at the beginning because I thought, well, it`s kind of shallow and it`s about clothes and models.

But then as we starred talking about it in our story meeting, what these girls have gone through, especially in our society, where so much is based on looking and everything else, for a child going through a serious illness and not being able to have a photograph of themselves as a teenager that even -- that was anything other than, you know, no hair or whatever, that`s pretty -- that`s harsh stuff.

ATRIA: Absolutely. And that`s the thing. You spend five minutes with these children, and you realize how much this wish is everything beyond just the simple what it seems like from the outset.

To be a model is so much more than hair and makeup, and as it said in the piece, they`re having their hair and makeup done by the best in the world. They`re getting clothes and jewelry and shoes from the designers themselves. It`s just an amazing, amazing opportunity for these kids.

BECK: Let me go the other direction. I remember, it must have been about 1990, I was broke. I remember the Christmas that I couldn`t afford to buy the presents that I wanted to buy my kids for Christmas. And it tore me up inside. I mean, it still tears me up just even remembering it.

This must do amazing things for the parents, as well, to be able to see their kids happy and living a dream and not thinking about illness just for a short period of time.

ATRIA: Absolutely. And that`s one of the things that Make-A-Wish says is that we provide that respite from the illness and from the needles and the hospitals and the doctors to just a magical get away. Whether it be a one-day experience like these children who want to be models or kids to travel to someplace that they`ve really only dreamed off.

And the best part is that we can say we`re going to do this, grant this wish without any financial impact on the family. That`s what Make-A- Wish`s job is. It`s to make a carefree experience for everybody who`s involved.

BECK: Cathy, I -- this kind of hits home close to me. I have daughter who has cerebral palsy. And I remember when she was little, she had a seizure. And she came down to the breakfast table and her hands were shaking hard and the Cheerios fell out of the spoon, and I asked her, I said, "Are you OK, honey?"

And she said -- she said, "Yes, dad. I just want to be normal. I just want to stop feeling this way."

Thank you, Cathy, for giving these three kids a chance to just feel normal for the day.

ATRIA: And thank you so much for having us and letting us tell our story about what Make-A-Wish really can make these things happen for children and their families.

BECK: You bet. Thank you.

ATRIA: Thank you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: All right.

Continuing or promise to bring you 20 minutes of quality entertainment jam-packed into a one-hour show. We bring you now today`s "Quality of Life" market update.

The senior citizen sector is taking a big tumble on the news that old people may be even more dispensable than first thought. According to a new essay in the journal "Science," during the first outbreak of bird flu, young, healthier people should be moved to the front of the line, ahead of senior citizens.

They wrote, "Death seems more tragic when a child or young adult dies than an elderly person. Not because the lives of older people are less valuable, but because the younger person has not had the opportunity to live and develop through all stages of life." Zeig heil.

The authors of the essay, a pair of bioethicists from the National Institutes of Health, surprisingly, not senior citizens. Not surprisingly, also reportedly really big fans of the movie "Logan`s Run".

Now to Bill Cosby, whose stock made a dramatic leap this past Sunday after his commencement speech to graduates of Spelman College in Atlanta, a historic black college for women. During the speech, Cosby, who for years has been taking his message of self-help to black kids, challenged the women to take control of their own lives.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL COSBY, ENTERTAINER: And here you sit, graduating from college. The men, as young boys, are dropping out of high school. But they`ve memorize the lyrics of very difficult rap songs. And they know how to braid each other`s hair. And they know how to send their sperm cells out and then walk away from the responsibility of something called fathering.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: Wow. You know why those words sound so shocking? I think it`s because you never ever hear them. You never hear a black leader, especially someone with credibility, stand up and encourage kids to take control of their own lives.

Usually, the only time you usually see these so-called leaders surface is when somebody`s been wronged. And what kind of message does that send?

Honestly, I don`t know if Bill Cosby would like me much. He probably wouldn`t. I wouldn`t know. But I really like him. I used to watch "The Cosby Show" back in the `80s. I`ve read a lot about Bill Cosby since then. And this guy has helped me become a better dad at home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COSBY: You hear people talk about it takes a village. I want to warn you, there`s prostitutes in the village. There are drug dealers in the village. There`s crooked politicians in the village. And there`s men with plenty sperm cells but no guts to take on responsibility of fatherhood in the village.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: God bless you. Bill Cosby, when you are done speaking to black colleges and black kids, please come to the white community. White families need to hear this message, too. And I`m out of JELL-O pudding. I`m just saying.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: I don`t care if it`s a donkey or an elephant. The elephant usually stomps the donkey. But if the donkey ever got a clue -- that I don`t see happening -- but if the donkey ever got a clue, man, I`d be riding that donkey all the way to the finish line. I just don`t think the donkey has a clue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: Elephants, donkeys, how about chicks without a clue? The Dixie Chicks, they were on "60 Minutes" last night. Do you remember the Dixie Chicks? They were -- I don`t remember where they were, London or some place, and the lead singer got up and said, "Oh, my gosh. I`m so embarrassed that President Bush is from our state," and I think it`s because of that they haven`t sold anything since.

However, their new song may turn that thing around.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DIXIE CHICKS (singing): I`m not ready to make nice. I`m not ready to back down. I`m still mad as hell, and I don`t...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: Then again, maybe not. They`re not ready to back down, and they`re not ready to make nice. Last night, "60 Minutes," Tania and I are watching this thing. That`s my wife. Dixie Chicks interviewed by Steve Kroft. Natalie Maines, she`s the one that trashed the president. She insists this song isn`t about him or all the other fans that burned their CDs. No, no, of course not. This is just about narrow-minded intolerance that they encountered just for expressing an opinion. Here it is. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NATALIE MAINES, THE DIXIE CHICKS: Hmm, our fans are in the red states, so I`m going to play a red, white and blue guitar, and put on my "I Love Bush" t-shirt, and we`re not like that, but we`re not politicians. We`re...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: I`m sorry? What did you -- you`re not politicians?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE KROFT, "60 MINUTES": Did anybody ever tell you one of the big rules of the music business or business in general is never try to antagonize your customers?

MAINES: Well, that`s what music is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: No, no it`s not. When did music become about antagonizing me? Just let me hum along, let me sing along. Can you let me enjoy my time in the car please? When did it become about antagonizing and poking fingers at people? All right. Let me go to the next clip here. There she is. This is great.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAINES: I never pretended to be country to the core. I`ve always been very honest about my influences.

KROFT: Isn`t kind of biting the hand that feeds you?

MAINES: I don`t think so. I think it`s honest, which I...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: She goes on. She goes on here and say that she`s -- you know, just honest about it, and it`s not a big deal at all for her to be, you know, not really country to the core. Do you think country music fans are going to dig that, Natalie?

Let me go to the next cue here. How do we work -- first day with the machine, guys. Here we go.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KROFT: Are you saying that the country music audience is mostly rednecks?

MAINES: No. But over the years, and especially since country music has turned into this redneck thing, it`s become kind of a negative. I think for a while a lot of artists were doing great...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: You know, let me just tell you something: It ain`t about rednecks. In fact, let me bring in Pat Gray. He joins me from Houston, from KPRC in Houston, my best friend.

Hi, Pat.

PAT GRAY, TALK RADIO 950 KPRC: Hi, Glenn.

BECK: Country music about rednecks?

GRAY: You`ve seen my wife, right?

BECK: Yes.

GRAY: How red is her neck? She loves country music.

BECK: You seen my wife? Same thing.

GRAY: Yes, same thing.

BECK: You know what it is? You know what I think country music is? It`s not about redneck; it`s about family values.

GRAY: That`s exactly what it`s about. It`s about real Americans talking about real American issues.

BECK: Right.

GRAY: It`s not about rednecks.

BECK: You and I, both of us, are not country music fans. I`m more so than you are. But I`ve got to tell you, I`d love to love country music more than I do. I like a few artists. I saw Martina McBride here recently in concert. She`s off the charts.

But you know what? As I`m watching it and I`m listening to her sing, I`m thinking, "Listen to the values of these songs." That`s what makes us listen to country music, isn`t it?

GRAY: It is. It is the values. And, you know, they`re musicians, and that`s kind of rare in today`s music.

BECK: Let me ask you this: How much do you want these musicians to shut the pie hole?

GRAY: Oh, I don`t at all. On guidance on any important issue, whether it`s terrorism, or the war in Iraq, or immigration, I`m always looking to musicians.

BECK: Sure, no, no...

GRAY: To me, they`re the Aristotle. They`re the Socrates of our day.

BECK: Why do you think it is that they don`t understand that, when we don`t listen -- and Tom Cruise is like this on "Mission: Impossible 3." I`m not boycotting Tom Cruise.

GRAY: Right.

BECK: I just can`t go and see anything but, you know, the placenta guy jumping up and down the couch. It`s just it`s a total turn-off.

GRAY: It is. And they think they`re exercising their freedom of speech, which they are, and then we simply exercise our right not to...

BECK: But they don`t really understand that. You know what? I bet you Bruce Springsteen doesn`t listen to my radio show, even though he can. If he ever has stumbled across it, he wouldn`t listen to it. I don`t think he would be boycotting it; I just think he wouldn`t agree with what I had to say.

GRAY: That`s right. He would probably be put off by your radio show, and the same with Neil Young. But Neil Young, I think -- you know, when was the last time we talked about Neil Young, 1979? I think it`s a cry for help. I think it`s a cry for attention with Neil Young.

BECK: Let me ask you this: Do you think that these guys are actually -- all of these artists are trying to be Bob Dylan? Do you think they`ve always looked up to those `60s guys and went, "Oh, someday I`ll be like that"? And they`re thinking, "This is my chance to be Bob Dylan"?

GRAY: Yes, it`s a social consciousness thing. "I want to be relevant." You know, it`s like when George Michael was babbling about the war. I mean, here`s the guy who wrote the lyrics, "Wake me up before you go-go; don`t leave me hanging on like a yo-yo."

BECK: Right.

GRAY: I mean, yes, we`re taking you seriously.

BECK: Oh, that`s good stuff. No, that`s good stuff. Of course, Neil Young has his new CD out which I, of course...

GRAY: You got a couple of copies? One for home, one for the car?

(LAUGHTER)

GRAY: "Let`s Impeach the President"?

BECK: Does anybody out there actually want to listen to this stuff? Even if you disagree with the war, do you want to listen to that?

GRAY: That`s the thing: I don`t think so. I don`t really think there`s much of a marketplace for it at all.

BECK: Right. Right. OK, Pat, thank you very much. I appreciate it. Pat Gray from KPRC.

GRAY: Thanks, Glenn.

BECK: So the Dixie Chicks think that all of their music should be, you know, political, depressing, agonizing. Thank goodness that it`s not. If every musician subscribed to this theory, we might have seen some of these albums.

Here`s one by the Beatles. "Eleanor Rigby, Her Son Died in Iraq." Or Eric Clapton`s "I Shot the Sheriff and Several of my Classmates." From James Brown, of course the godfather of soul, he recorded "Papa`s Got a Brand New Bag of Crystal Meth."

But maybe it`s just me.

All right, let`s go "Straight to the Hill" now. We have Erica Hill. She is the anchor of "PRIME NEWS" on Headline News. When did I turn into "Weird" Al Yankovic, Erica? When did it happen?

How was your weekend?

ERICA HILL, CNN HEADLINE NEWS ANCHOR: My weekend was very nice. Thanks, how about yours?

BECK: Good. Very good. Did you get a chance to spend it with your mom?

HILL: You know, I did, which was great, and my mothers in law, so how about that?

BECK: Really? Good, you have -- do you have brothers and sisters?

HILL: I have one sister. She wasn`t here. She was working.

BECK: OK. So what`s happening in the world?

HILL: This is a big one. For the first time since 1980, the U.S. is restoring normal diplomatic relations with Libya...

BECK: Oh.

HILL: ... and taking the country off the government`s list of state sponsors of terrorism.

BECK: Good. I`m sure it`s all fixed over there now.

HILL: I had a feeling this one would get you riled up.

BECK: Yes.

HILL: And that`s probably because most people remember Libya being blamed for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988; 270 people were killed. Officials though are saying, hey, this is not a decision that we came by at the State Department lightly...

BECK: Sure.

HILL: ... and they say, now that the nation led by Moammar Gadhafi has made a decisive move away from terrorism in recent years, including abolishing its program to develop weapons of mass destruction.

BECK: Like I said, it`s all fixed now. Thanks. Next story.

HILL: Well, that was easy. I didn`t you know you could fix the world`s problem so easily.

BECK: Yes, well, let me tell you, you throw a few blue helmets in there and then it`s permanently fixed.

HILL: OK. We`re moving on.

(LAUGHTER)

In Missouri, a high school teacher apologizing for what he calls a horrible mistake. Michael Maxwell teaches industrial technology. He asked his students to write about who they would kill and how they`d do it. It was in a drafting class, a beginning drafting class. He says the request was merely a writing exercise to get them to open up a little.

BECK: In a drafting class? Drafting, like the drafting table and...

HILL: That`s the way I understand it.

BECK: Nice. What exactly the application for killing people in drafting?

HILL: Not sure. He said it was really just a writing exercise to sort of open their minds. But he apologizes, saying now probably not the best idea. And we hear he`s going to keep his job.

BECK: You know, -- what? He`s keeping his job?

HILL: That`s what school officials say.

BECK: Oh, well, throw in a blue helmet and that one`s fixed, as well. All right. Anything else?

HILL: Is blue your favorite color?

BECK: No, not really.

HILL: Just kidding.

BECK: Not really.

HILL: You`re a red guy, aren`t you?

BECK: Yes, I just -- I absolutely love the U.N.

And finally...

HILL: And finally? Well, I thought that`s all we had, but apparently I don`t think we have time for the next one.

BECK: Oh, I`m sorry. Erica...

HILL: So how about have a great show and I`ll see you tomorrow?

BECK: Thank you. See you then.

HILL: OK.

BECK: Bye-bye.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Well, this is an exciting week in television. Not only because it`s my second week -- I mean, can you believe I`m still on the air? -- but also because it`s something called upfront week, when each of the networks announces the fall lineup. If you`re an actor and you`re on a series that`s on life support, this is the week that you find out if you can still lounge around by your Hollywood pool or you should drown yourself in it.

Matt LeBlanc, "Joey," unfortunately, meet your fellow passengers on the Poseidon. But NBC threw a life saver to the cast of "Scrubs," which is kind of a fast-paced, sort of strange medical sitcom without a laugh track.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One, two, three, first do no harm!

There it is. All right. Kick some ass today, guys. Except for Mr. Woodson in 302. He`s got that rectal tear.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You seem to be developing quite the rapport with your interns.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We even spent this weekend building a house for the homeless.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How did that go?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: All right. Tomorrow night`s final episode is now just the season finale announced today. Twenty two more episodes for all the people who work at Sacred Heart. It`s a fictional hospital in an unspecified city that sure seems to look a lot like it`s in California.

Joining me now is one of guys who -- he plays Dr. Perry Cox. His name is John C. McGinley.

John, welcome to the program.

JOHN MCGINLEY, "SCRUBS": Thanks for having me. It`s a pleasure to be here.

BECK: Absolutely. You know, one of things that`s so appropriate that you are on the show today, because when we were putting this show together -- and I don`t mean to blame you for anything on the show -- but when we were putting this together, I actually talked to the staff about an article that I read. Oh, I don`t even know. It was maybe out a month ago or so, where you guys knew that you were going to be cancelled. It was the final season, and the producers got together and said, "You know what? We`re going to be cancelled anyway. Let`s just make the show we`ve always wanted to make and forget the network," and look at how it turned around.

MCGINLEY: We were visited by way too many guest stars last year and the year before, and "Scrubs" is such a stylized piece where you show up, you hit your mark, you talk as fast as you can, and you get out of frame. And so when guest stars come in, it`s very hard to fit into that narrow context, that style.

But for advertising incentive, you have a lot of guest stars on, because then they can promote the show. This year, there were very -- we had fewer and fewer guest stars and more of the ensemble. And the ensemble get to really elevate into this collection of such a damaged eccentricities that it was really exciting to just kind of explore the seven or eight principals, and so that`s what the writers did.

BECK: How long were you doing this before you knew, "Wow, we should have been doing this the whole time"?

MCGINLEY: Well, it was fun to have on the Michael J. Foxes, and the Brendan Frasers, and the Heather Grahams, and the Heather Locklears. They did a terrific job. But quietly, this ensemble has become just bulletproof. And so it`s really fun for them to get as many plate appearances or, to borrow another lame sports analogy, so everybody get as many minutes or touches as they can.

BECK: So did you learn anything that you can apply to -- I mean, because when I read that article, I thought, man, these are the guys -- Bill Cosby, this is what he said when he put on "The Cosby Show." He said, "I`ve been doing shows that have failed over and over because other people told me how to do it."

And he said, before he launched "The Cosby Show," this one, I`m going to -- if I fail, fail on a machine that I built, and it was a huge success. Here you guys are doing it again. Is there a life lesson to learn from this?

MCGINLEY: Well, I don`t know. I don`t know about life lesson, but I know, in the context of television, which you either do know or you`ll find out, there are a lot of chefs in the kitchen. So whatever you think your mission is, the mandate you`re given may be entirely different. And so if you can somehow balance those two, maybe you`ll be blessed with longevity, which is what the show is somehow now kind of grooved in with us being invited to come back next year.

BECK: How much were you guys fighting the laugh track thing?

MCGINLEY: It was a deal-breaker from the beginning for the executive producer. He had already done "Spin City" and had kind of explored, you know, a four-camera live audience thing, and he wanted this to be single- camera. And it was -- I was led to believe it was just -- that that was the deal going in.

BECK: Right. A lot of people have a hard time adjusting to it because you don`t -- I guess stupid people don`t know when to laugh. It`s like "Arrested Development." They said that was one of the problems. That`s a brilliant show, no laugh track, and I guess people don`t know when to laugh?

MCGINLEY: Well, I think one of ways Bill Lawrence, who is the executive producer of the show -- and it`s his baby -- one of the ways he compensated for that was he created these dream sequences. And so there`s something that happens in the frame, and we cut to kind of a hyper -- an altered reality, and then we cut back from that dream sequence. And it`s almost -- it`s tantamount to a light going off for, "It`s OK to laugh now."

BECK: I think I know the answer to this question, but let me ask you: What`s the toughest thing you ever went through? What`s your biggest inspiration in life?

MCGINLEY: Well, I think when my son, Max, was born. I don`t think anyone goes to the hospital intending to have a child with special needs come out the other side. I think most of us sign up for more of a Norman Rockwell-version of that experience.

But Max was born with Down`s syndrome, and it turns out that that was the biggest blessing in my life.

BECK: I know that -- well, I have a daughter we talked about just a little while ago that was born with cerebral palsy. And I`ve got to tell you, you know, everybody looks at special needs children and say, "Oh, the poor," you know, whatever. And I`ve got to tell you, I think we`re going to get to the other side and realize that we were the handicapped, not the other way around. I`ve learned more from my daughter than I could ever teach her.

MCGINLEY: Oh, no question. And I think the learning lesson is just getting under way. Look, it`s a chance for a parent to flourish when you`ve received this challenge, this package. I mean, there`s no manual for this stuff, so you`ve got to swing for the fences and just give love 24-7.

BECK: All right. Thank you so much, and best of luck to you next season, 22 episodes, "Scrubs."

MCGINLEY: Thank you. Thank you.

BECK: Bye-bye.

MCGINLEY: All the best.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Well, welcome to "Ask Glenn," where usually you can ask me anything about anything. This week, though, it seems like you`re really only asking about one thing. On Thursday, we told you a story about wounded vets in Washington, D.C., that get together for a steak dinner.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: For 2 1/2 years, Fran O`Brien`s Stadium Steakhouse provided a weekly respite for some of the most seriously injured veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fran`s was a community of volunteers and businessmen that wanted to show today`s soldiers and marines that they really appreciate the job they`re doing for this country.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This restaurant means the world to me. I can actually tell you, they didn`t just save my life; they`re saving all of these soldiers` lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: Fran O`Brien`s lease was not renewed by the Capital Hilton, leaving the wounded vets dinner searching for a new home. They have found a temporary one, but the future of these dinners is still in question.

Now, ever since we aired that piece, we have been hammered with e-mail like this one. "Glenn, each show gets better and better. Thursday`s show, with the piece about the vet`s cafe, was so very moving. How can we help with this project? God bless. Carol in California."

BECK: I`ll tell you exactly, Carol, how you can help. But quickly, a lot of mail has come in talking about boycotting Hilton Hotels.

Here`s the thing: Hilton is claiming that the steakhouse wasn`t paying rent, and Fran O`Brien`s says the hotel wasn`t reimbursing them for the room service charges. It`s the typical landlord-and-renter squabble.

But in the middle of this are the wounded heroes. They`re just trying to relax, have a good meal, and put their lives back together. Honestly, I am not interested in bashing or boycotting; I just want to find the guys a new home.

If you can help with that, please contact the Aleethia Foundation. Go to their Web site at Aleethia.org. I`m told they`re setting the site up so they can accept online donations, and they`re looking for volunteers to help, as well.

We will keep you updated on this as we learn more. We`ll see you tomorrow on the radio. Also, don`t forget we`ve got Bush tomorrow. Oh, I`m all a-tingle. People, people, we`ve got a speech to give! He`s going to talk about immigration. We`ll talk about it on the radio, and we`ll cover it, unlike you`ll see any place else, right here at Headline News. We`ll see you then. Bye-bye.

END