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Glenn Beck

Is Israel Losing World Support?; What`s the Future of Hezbollah?; America`s Toughest Sheriff Talks Immigration

Aired July 31, 2006 - 19:00   ET

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

ANNOUNCER: Today`s GLENN BECK is brought to you by Mel Gibson`s "Mad Max 6: Escape from Jerusalem." The Jews may control the media, but Mel`s driving under somebody else`s influence!
BILL HANDEL, HOST: Hey everybody, I`m Bill Handel, sitting in for Glenn Beck, who`s on vacation, and he`s definitely not at a spa getting hair plugs.

Now after Sunday`s air-strike that killed 54 Lebanese -- 37 of them children -- Israel agreed to suspend the bombing in Southern Lebanon for 48 hours, and then the bombing resumed this afternoon.

Now we can`t deny the public opinion is shifting against Israel. That`s obvious. And is it possible that people are actually beginning to view Hezbollah in a positive light? Sure looks that way.

I have to tell you, I`m Jewish and I`m pro-Israel, so you know where I`m coming from. And I often disagree with the president. As a matter of fact, in a lot of cases I think he`s way out there. But on this issue I completely agree with what the president has said.

Israel is our front line against terrorism, and Israel deserves U.S. support. As a matter of fact, deserves support from everybody in the western world. The U.N., useless, beyond useless.

Let me take you back 40 years. Some of you remember the John Birch Society, considered this whacked out right-wing organization that kept on saying, "You know what? The U.N. is crazy. We can`t be part of the U.N. They`re our enemies. Let`s get out of the U.N." They were 40 years ahead of their time.

The U.N. supports the countries that, No. 1, are anti-Israel and, No. 2, hate us, and it`s now the same. And as far as the terrorism and the targets and the rockets, Hezbollah uses civilian locations to launch those Katyusha rockets. Then Israel attacks those locations, and that`s called terrorism. Now that doesn`t make a lot of sense.

Can diplomacy work or should we just call it a day and accept the fact that we`re on the verge of World War III?

Joining me, Steven Cook from the Council on Foreign Relations. And he`s an expert on U.S.-Middle East policy.

Steven, thanks for joining us.

STEVEN COOK, COUNCIL On FOREIGN RELATIONS: Pleasure to be here.

HANDEL: The question: has Israel, by its bombing of Qana and killing those civilians, completely destroyed any positive view that the world has towards this country?

COOK: Well, I think that whatever positive goodwill there was towards Israel at the beginning of this conflict dissipated shortly thereafter. Certainly, the Qana bombings have not helped Israel in the court of public opinion, either in the Arab world, Europe, or the United States.

The Israelis have, to some extent, overreached here, and their systematic destruction of Lebanese infrastructure has shifted the anger away from Hezbollah, particularly in Lebanon, because in Lebanon there are quite a number of people who do not support Hezbollah and would like to see it dismantled, but as the Israelis have undertaken this offensive, their anger has shifted from Hezbollah and directed it towards Israel and the United States.

HANDEL: But Steven, let me ask you, you know, when we talk about there`s a number of people in Lebanon who have not supported Hezbollah, I haven`t heard of it. We haven`t seen polls. We haven`t seen television coming from Lebanon, saying we think that Hezbollah was wrong.

It`s either been silence or now a unified support for Hezbollah to the point where other Arab dictators are all screaming, yes, we love Hezbollah. It`s never been an issue where Hezbollah was denounced, except by maybe Jordan and Egypt for a few days.

COOK: I think you need to separate between public opinion and what governments are saying in the region. Certainly the case in Jordan, in Egypt, in Saudi Arabia and the wider Arab world, there`s been a reservoir of support for Hezbollah, for the very reason that Hezbollah was seen from the perspective of the Arab world as being able to bloody and beat the vaunted Israeli defenses and force Israel to withdraw from Lebanon in May of 2000.

Now, that`s quite different from the way many Lebanese saw it. Many Lebanese saw Hezbollah as an armed autonomous faction that they would like to see disarmed so that Hezbollah -- excuse me, Lebanon could develop as a democratic country. It wasn`t until this Israeli military action that it shifted public opinion. There are many Christian, Sunni Muslims, numbers of other sects, who did not support Hezbollah.

You need to go back to the spring of 2005 and the outpouring of a million Lebanese after the assassination of the former Lebanese prime minister, Rafik Hariri. Those people were calling for Lebanese independence. They were anti-Syrian, and we know that Syria supports Hezbollah. Those people do not necessarily support Hezbollah, but after this episode, unfortunately, there`s been a shift in public opinion.

HANDEL: Let`s take a lesson from history. You talk about overreaching and Israel has accused of going way beyond what is necessary.

During World War II, when the United States viewed Japan and Germany as enemies who would destroy us if we didn`t win this war completely, is it fair to argue that Israel sees Hezbollah, sees its enemies in the same light: if we do not win this war, we are done as a nation, we are done as a people?

Hezbollah talks about the utter destruction of Israel. Tehran talks about throwing every Jew in the sea. I know for a fact that friends of ours in Israel that they know if the Arabs, the Arab countries or enemies could destroy Israel it would be done tomorrow.

What is overreaching under those circumstances?

COOK: Well, this is not to dismiss the significant security concerns that Israelis have about Iranian nuclear development and the intentions of Hezbollah and Hamas, the stated intentions. That`s not to diminish that at all.

But what does the Lebanese people have really to do with this? Many Lebanese, as I said before, do not support Hezbollah or did not support Hezbollah up until this operation.

HANDEL: Right.

COOK: What does bombing the famous light house in Beirut have to do with a threat to Israel`s existence?

HANDEL: Nothing is...

COOK: This is shifting public opinion. The Lebanese government -- the Lebanese government is not responsible for Hezbollah.

HANDEL: Right. Except Hezbollah is in civilian locations. They`re in the villages. They`re launching from civilian targets. What does Israel do?

COOK: That`s certainly right. Hezbollah lost in all of this debate is that Hezbollah, in violation of international law, is using civilians as shields. You`re absolutely right there.

But if the Israelis want to maintain what they consider their purity of arms, perhaps using air power to get at these targets is not perhaps the best way to go. Perhaps they need to commit larger numbers of ground forces if they don`t want to put civilians at risk.

HANDEL: All right.

COOK: That being said, it`s important to emphasize that Hezbollah is using civilian areas to hide themselves in order to create a moral dilemma for Israel.

HANDEL: And I think that is a moral issue right in and of itself that`s not being talked about enough. Steven, thank you so much for joining us.

COOK: My pleasure.

HANDEL: Now, what does all this mean for the future of Hezbollah? Let`s check in with Mark Perry. He`s the American director for the British-based Conflicts Forum, a group that`s dedicated to opening up a diplomatic dialogue between the west and, quote, "political Islam."

Mark, thank you for joining us.

MARK PERRY, AMERICAN DIRECTOR, CONFLICTS FORUM: Certainly, my pleasure.

HANDEL: Let`s talk about Hezbollah and Nasrallah, the new heroes of the Arab world. Tell me how that happened.

PERRY: Well, it happened because they`re an organization that is rooted in their community, providing social services, not just the militia. They`re very politically organized in their community, and they`re viewed in their communities as protectors of the Shia religion and protectors of Lebanon. That`s how it happened. And they`re viewed as not being a terrorist organization but as a legitimate political organization inside the Lebanese political framework.

HANDEL: Hey, let me ask you then. A legitimate political organization that a basic tenet of which says we must destroy Israel; we must eliminate that country, the Zionist entity. They won`t even call it Israel. Is that legitimate to call an organization like that a political organization, notwithstanding all the social good that it does in Lebanon? I agree with that.

PERRY: Legitimacy is derived from the support of the people. You`d have to ask the people in Lebanon whether they consider them legitimate, not whether I consider them legitimate.

And let`s take a look at the Israeli declaration of independence. It calls for the foundation of a greater Israel. Everyone ignores it, because everyone knows it`s not real and they don`t mean it.

Sure, Hezbollah says they can destroy Israel. But when you talk to them, they`re very realistic. They`re not idiots. They`re very sophisticated political thinkers, and they know that`s not possible. What they want is a political accommodation.

HANDEL: Well, what kind of political accommodation? They have 12,000 Katyusha rockets aimed directly at Israel. They`re the ones that created the incursion. They`re the ones that started this attack. Does that sound like a political accommodation?

PERRY: It doesn`t sound like a political accommodation if that`s how you look at it. It doesn`t sound like there was a political accommodation with a nation that has F-16 rockets and is being supplied precision bombs by the United States either.

HANDEL: No, and I`ll grant that. But they`re not being used against Lebanon. They weren`t being used against Lebanon for the last six years after Israel pulled out and Lebanon was the friendly neighbor.

The economy was coming back, tourism was coming back. The government of Lebanon, a democratically elected government, was put in place. Israel was happy that Lebanon was there.

PERRY: I think you should...

HANDEL: And now all of a sudden it all blows up.

PERRY: I think you should check your facts. In the first three days of this conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Prime Minister Olmert said very specifically he was holding the government of Lebanon responsible for this action and that they would have to pay a price for it.

Their infrastructure has been totally destroyed over an act of war, not terrorism, act of war when you target soldiers. An act of war, not terrorism, by Hezbollah, and he`s brought down an entire economy, an entire country. It`s disproportionate, and it won`t work. He`s not going to defeat Hezbollah. He`s not going to disarm them. We`re going to have to engage in diplomacy.

HANDEL: Can Hezbollah -- will Hezbollah accept the fact that Israel has a right to exist? Do you start at that point?

PERRY: I think that they will, but I think that to find that out, we`re going to have to engage in diplomacy.

If they can`t be defeated, if we can`t ignore them, we can`t bomb them out of existence, we don`t really have any choice. We`re going to have to go have a cup of coffee with them, distasteful as some people might find that, to determine whether they really mean what they say and, if not, what kind of accommodation can be made.

And if so, if they say, "I`m sorry. We`re not interested in talking to you. We`re only interested in war. We hate your freedoms," as George Bush would say, then we`re not going to be able to talk.

But we haven`t talked to Hezbollah, Syria, Iran, the Muslim Brotherhood or Hamas, the five major political units outside of Israel for the last 10 or 15 years. It`s a ludicrous foreign policy.

HANDEL: Now, do you really believe that talking to these governments when you have a huge majority of the Arab population believing, No. 1, in the destruction of Israel. That`s a given.

No. 2, Hezbollah, as a fundamentalist Islamic entity, wants to effectively eliminate the infidel, certainly from that part of the world and eventually the entire world. And that`s tough talking to people like that, isn`t it?

PERRY: It`s tough talk. We do tough talk, too. We never thought peace was possible with the state of Egypt or Jordan and that Jordan and Egypt have a peace treaty with Israel. We never thought that peace was possible with Yasser Arafat. We went through a very difficult period.

Itzhak Rabin talked to him. Unfortunately, Mr. Rabin`s life was cut short.

What other alternative is there to talking? Is this a good alternative? Is Qana a good alternative? Is Haifa a good alternative? Is targeting individuals and civilians a good alternative? I don`t think so. There`s got to be another way.

HANDEL: Mark Perry, thank you for joining us.

PERRY: My pleasure.

HANDEL: Up next, I`ll talk immigration policy with America`s toughest sheriff, Joe Arpaio.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANDEL: Now, do you remember the good old days when herpes was the problem and not AIDS? And we were all terrified about World War III, and all we had to worry about was illegal immigration?

Well, just because you haven`t been hearing as much about it, doesn`t mean the problem has gone away. These people aren`t deported, and that is so frustrating.

Last week my wife and I were shopping at a Target store in Los Angeles where we live. Every sign in every Target store in Southern California is in Spanish and English. Every clerk speaks Spanish. Every customer, except us, was speaking Spanish.

This is the Latinization of Southern California. We`re 10 years ahead of where you`re going to be. This is, I believe, where America is headed.

So what are the solutions? Joining me for his take on what`s still wrong, and what we can do about it, is America`s toughest sheriff. From Maricopa County, Arizona, Joe Arpaio.

Joe, we`ve talked before. Welcome to the GLENN BECK SHOW.

Hello, Joe.

JOE ARPAIO, MARICOPA COUNTY SHERIFF: OK, Bill, my pleasure.

HANDEL: All right. This is where you and I disagree. You want to literally arrest 11 million people. How do you do that?

ARPAIO: I didn`t say that. We have a new law, a felony where you can arrest smugglers along with the smugglees, very controversial. County attorney Andy Thomas, pursuant to my request, came up with that decision. So we are arresting smugglers, coyotes, and the people that are being smuggled in. I`m not going on the streets locking up people working in restaurants.

HANDEL: So let me ask you. If we have several hundred thousand going across the border in Arizona, which we know there are, how do you deal with that many people? The smugglers, no issue. The coyotes, you can do whatever you want with them. But you have hundreds of thousands coming over the border. How do you handle that?

ARPAIO: Well, they`re not coming through Maricopa County, since they know they`re going to jail, and we`ll keep locking them up. I`m the only law enforcement agency in the state enforcing this new law. I wonder why.

You know, I have opposition from demonstrators in front of my building. Judges let these guys without placing a bond, and I have the United States government against me because ICE, immigration and customs, would not deport these guys if they`re convicted on felonies. So I have my officers transporting these illegals to the border.

HANDEL: That`s a given. I know ICE won`t touch it. My mother has an illegal alien working for her. I`ve been calling ICE twice a week to have my mom arrested. They won`t get near that story, and that`s the truth.

But let me ask you. You simply said that they`re not coming across the border in Maricopa County. If every sheriff did that across the border, we`re talking a couple of million people a year coming through. How do you deal with that if everybody did what you did?

ARPAIO: Well, first of all, it`s not just the sheriffs and chiefs of police not enforcing the law, it`s the federal government. There is a law: six months in jail if you come here illegally. So I am saying beginning today, you get the National Guard down there changing oil in vehicles. Starting today enforce the law, and I guarantee you when they go to jail at the border, they won`t becoming in because you can`t cut palm trees when you`re behind bars or send money back to your loved ones. It`s an economics situation.

HANDEL: Joe -- but Joe, if it is an economic solution, isn`t the easiest solution enforcing the laws that tells every power it`s a $10,000 fine per infraction for hiring an illegal alien. And if every employer, I mean, every employer, got tagged, there`d be no more jobs. And if there are no more jobs, no one`s coming; everybody`s going home, Joe.

ARPAIO: Well, you`ve got to build up the economy in Mexico. I lived there as head of the DEA, the Drug Enforcement. If we can build up the economy there, they`re not going to come across the border to begin with, so it`s an international diplomatic problem, not just a law enforcement problem.

HANDEL: Do you ever think Mexico is ever going to deal with the United States on an honest basis regarding this illegal alien issue?

ARPAIO: Bill, I don`t know. Let`s not have a defeatist attitude. I live there. I worked with the president and the attorney general. I got along OK with them. Let`s work together. You can`t do it with a big stick, maybe you can have a few drinks out there and you get things done.

HANDEL: You`re talking about President Vicente Fox, the same president who said there`s no such thing as an illegal alien, there is no such thing as a border, that Mexico and the United States are one big happy country and we should all work together, that president?

ARPAIO: Well, I don`t. I`m only the law enforcement guy. When you violate the law, you should enforce it or take it off the books. If you don`t like the federal law, take it off the books, if you`re not going to enforce it. If you don`t like the new Arizona law, take it off the books. Don`t have laws that are not enforced.

HANDEL: All right. On that point you and I both agree. I couldn`t agree more. Thank you, Joe Arpaio.

ARPAIO: Thank you.

HANDEL: Straight ahead the buzz from Brian Whitman.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANDEL: And now it`s time to check the buzz from Los Angeles, my home town. My friend Brian Whitman is the host on KLXS-LA, as well as WABC right here in New York.

Brian, how are you doing?

BRIAN WHITMAN, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Good, Bill. Great to be with you.

HANDEL: Always a pleasure.

Now only in California a radio station just went from a Christian radio station to a sex station. Now, explain that one, would you?

WHITMAN: Well, Bill, sex sells. God, not so much. Ultimately, in the radio business -- you know this, Bill -- you`ve got to get those ratings, you`ve got to get the numbers. Even Jesus is not above the hammer falling on him if he doesn`t get ratings, and obviously, this radio station saw a greater profit potential with a sex format, and religion out, sex in. It`s the wave of the future, Bill.

HANDEL: I get that. Although -- although religious radio is doing very, very well, Brian. It just so happens that this radio station just wasn`t doing very well selling religion, I imagine.

WHITMAN: And you know, there`s a chance, Bill, from one radio guy to another, might this be a whacky radio stunt? Is it at all...

HANDEL: Oh, God forbid. I`ve never been involved in a wacky radio stunt. And certainly on your station, you`ve never done that.

WHITMAN: No. No stunting. No stunting, Bill, but it`s very possible that maybe they`ll stick with the sex format for a couple of weeks, maybe a month, and then shift to a more viable long-term radio format. I don`t know.

HANDEL: We`re thinking on my radio station they`re about to do farcy folk songs from Fresno with Muqtada Akbar (ph), your morning host. Then I`m out of a job.

WHITMAN: That would be a hot format. Lebanese radio.

HANDEL: Let`s talk for a moment about sex radio, because, you know, from what I`ve understood it really isn`t sex radio. I mean isn`t sex like pictures? Don`t you really need to see what`s going on to make this happen?

WHITMAN: Well, I think that there is -- there are a myriad of senses associated with sex, Bill. I think the challenge for this radio station, Bill, is the FCC regulations. I mean, we live in an age -- you and I know this very well -- where the federal government is coming down on broadcasters like never before in history.

I don`t know how you get away with this sex format. They`re putting on, honestly moans in the songs and all sorts of sound effects. I don`t know how this plays in Fresno, ultimately.

HANDEL: OK. So they`re not using the expletives. They`re not using the words the FCC doesn`t let us use. They`re playing Marvin Gaye songs. They`re playing "Let`s Do it in the Road" by the Beatles, and then just putting in the appropriate moans and groans that you and I remember at one time in our lives, long, long time ago. Yes, I understand that. Do you think it`s going to sell?

WHITMAN: I don`t think so. I think that radio listeners want a little bit more than Marvin Gaye with audio clips of moaning and groaning in the background. I should certainly hope the people of Fresno, where this radio station is going to broadcast, will turn away from this and demand a little bit more from their local broadcasters.

HANDEL: And by the way, it`s important to point out, as you said, Fresno. Fresno has more sheep than people, and more sheep herders that almost any other kind of profession, and that`s where they chose to do this.

WHITMAN: Well, yes, perhaps they -- perhaps they selected the wrong format. I don`t know. I don`t know if Fresno is ready for this, Bill, certainly. Maybe in Los Angeles this would work, but I don`t know about Fresno.

HANDEL: Yes, I`m telling you, sex radio in Fresno is a lot of baaing. I know that. I`ve been there. Thank you, Brian.

WHITMAN: Thanks Bill.

HANDEL: Take care.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANDEL: Mel Gibson arrested for DUI, drunk driving, in Malibu early Friday morning. A police report leaked on the entertainment Web site, according to TMZ.com, he allegedly said, "The f`ing Jews are responsible for all of the wars in the world." And then he turned to the arrested deputy and said, "By the way, are you a Jew?"

Now, Gibson did respond, and I want to get this exactly correct. Quote, "I did a number of things that were very wrong. I acted like a person completely out of control when I was arrested and said things that I do not believe to be true and which are despicable. I apologize to anyone who I have offended. I disgraced myself and my family with my behavior, and for that I am truly sorry."

But in his statement Gibson did not address any of the statements he made when he was arrested. We tried to get Mel Gibson here today; unfortunately, his spokesperson said he was busy at a Klan rally.

Harvey Levin, managing editor of TMZ.com, who happened to be my ethics professor more years ago than I want to remember, Harvey, you broke this story. This is yours. Tell us what happened and how you got hold of it.

HARVEY LEVIN, MANAGING EDITOR, TMZ.COM: Well, Bill, I mean, we found out -- we got a tip that he was arrested, and we broke that story at around noon on Friday. And then I got a phone call from somebody who said, "This is not the way the sheriff`s department is making it seem. It wasn`t just a simple arrest."

And I was told a little bit about what happened. I called the lieutenant at the Malibu station and told her, "I was told that Mel Gibson said f`ing Jews," and she just kind of like nervously laughed and said, "No, I`ve been involved in this, and I never heard anything like that." It turns out she is one of the people who ordered the officer to take that out of the report that he had to rewrite.

So this turned into a scandal. And I mean, Mel Gibson behaved incredibly badly at the scene, you know, tried to evade arrest, tried to flee the scene. The officer had to throw him in the car. Gibson was pounding his head on the seat, threatening the officer, telling him, "I own Malibu. I`m going to `f` you."

He was just out of control, to the point where the deputy was so nervous that he called the station and said, "I want somebody videotaping this guy when he gets out of the car."

HANDEL: Now, it`s not illegal to say all of those epithets. This is America. You`re allowed to be a racist. I mean, it`s a little crazy to do that in show business, you know, calling everybody an f`ing Jew, when in fact you work in show business, but there`s two issues.

Number one, covering up. If the sheriff`s department did cover this up, the sheriff`s department is in a world of hurt. And then the other issue, and you as an entertainment expert, does this hurt this guy at all in the world of show biz or is so successful, is he so big, is he such a monumental icon he can say whatever he wants and it doesn`t matter?

LEVIN: OK, which one do you want answered first?

HANDEL: Start with the first one, the legal issue.

LEVIN: Here`s the deal...

HANDEL: Is the sheriff`s department in a world of hurt because of what happened?

LEVIN: It was a cover-up. I mean, they said this was without incident. And the fact is Mel Gibson tried to escape. He had to be physically apprehended by this deputy. And none of this they were willing to talk about; they just lied. And it was a cover-up. That`s number one.

As for Mel Gibson, Hollywood is a very forgiving town. And if Mel Gibson comes up with another big movie where people can make a lot of money, he`s going to get Dixie Chicked for sure. There will be people who will boycott. But if there`s enough money to be made, Hollywood will forgive and forget. It`s happened before; it will happen again.

HANDEL: Now, do you believe he`s an anti-Semite? You`re in tune with all of this. Do you think that`s who he really is?

LEVIN: Look, I mean, Bill, on this one, I`m not trying to play Dr. Phil. I`m chasing a story, and I`m not going to psychoanalyze him.

The only thing I will say is there was something that he was deeply troubled by going into this whole thing, because when this started to brew at the scene, he kept saying, "I`m f`ed, I`m f`ed," and mentioned something about his wife, as if she might leave him. So there was something that was just deeply troubling to him. I don`t know what that was, but I think there`s something deep going on.

HANDEL: How about the accusations of preferential treatment, the fact that he had been twice before not arrested but stopped for what appeared to be drunk driving, let off the hook? And as someone pointed out, if we were involved in something like that, we would be in a lot more problems than Mel Gibson ever would have been.

LEVIN: Well, let me tell you what happened. Three years ago, on the same stretch of highway, he was pulled over, and the deputy thought he might have been under the influence and just said, "You know what? Let him go." He said it`s going to be too much of a hassle to arrest Mel Gibson.

And then the second time happened a year ago when he was speeding on PCH. And he was pulled other, and he was so cocky that, when the deputy walked over to his car, Mel was on cell phone and he never put the cell phone down during the entire traffic stop. And finally, the deputy just said, "Just go," and didn`t ticket him.

HANDEL: Can you imagine if you did that to a cop? You`d be arrested in a heartbeat.

LEVIN: Oh, my god, for a felony, felony cell phone.

HANDEL: Yes, exactly. Exactly. Harvey Levin, thank you, Professor Harvey Levin. It`s been a long time since anybody`s called you that.

LEVIN: I taught you well, Bill.

HANDEL: Take care.

LEVIN: See you.

HANDEL: All right, Harvey.

Time now to go "Straight to the Hill," Erica Hill, the anchor of "PRIME NEWS" on Headline News. Hi, Erica. What`s going on in the news today?

ERICA HILL, CNN HEADLINE NEWS ANCHOR: Hey, Bill. Welcome to Headline News for the day. Good to have you.

The FDA is considering over-the-counter sales of the so-called morning-after pill. This story getting a lot of attention. Basically, it would make the Plan B contraceptive available without a prescription to women 18 and older.

This is a big surprise to a lot of folks. That`s because last year you may recall the FDA chief nixed any plans to distribute the pill, saying that it needed to better enforce age restrictions. If you`re not familiar with the pill, if it`s taken within 72 hours after unprotected sex, it can lower the risk of pregnancy by 89 percent.

HANDEL: Now, what`s important about this -- and let me just come in on this before you go to the next story -- is, from what I understand, this pill actually stops pregnancy from occurring, yet it still didn`t stop the Bush administration from coming down very, very hard against this pill.

As the president said, any semblance that appears to be life is sacrosanct. And my guess is that at some point Bush is going to come in and even make masturbation illegal in the United States. That`s my take on it. But we`ll see what -- I can`t wait to see what the government says about this particular incident in the next couple of days.

HILL: All right. We`ll just leave that alone then for now.

Moving on, this one, follow me on this one. Boy George, you remember him, `80s icon, singer of the hit pop group Culture Club, right? Turns out he`s got a new gig. He`s hitting in the streets in a couple of weeks for community service. Yes, community service.

He`s going to be picking up trash on New York City streets for five days. This all stems from an incident back in October. He called in a bogus report of a burglary in his Manhattan apartment. The responding police came. What they found inside, cocaine. Boy George pleaded guilty in court last March. A sanitation spokesman says he`ll be issued his gloves, suit, and gear on August 14th. Hopefully, for his sake, you know, maybe the heat will die down by then.

HANDEL: Will he be allowed to wear makeup?

HILL: That`s an excellent question.

HANDEL: Will they let him? And I understand...

HILL: I don`t know that there are makeup restrictions, I mean -- but, you know, in that kind of heat, it will just be coming down your face. It won`t look very good.

HANDEL: You know what? But considering it`s Boy George, he`ll look terrific, an androgynous outfit and just shoveling the streets. You know what? It astounds me how these stars, these people who are in show biz, somehow can assume they can call the police, they can drive drunk, in the case of Mel Gibson, and almost insist on being treated differently than the rest of us.

And I`ll bet you Boy George was utterly shocked and amazed that he got hit with five days of community service, picking up trash like everybody else.

HILL: It probably could have been a lot worse, too. You never know.

Stick with entertainment -- because I know you like entertainment...

HANDEL: I do.

HILL: Get this: MTV, 25 tomorrow. Can you believe it`s been 25 years? Amazing. But here`s the thing: No big blowouts planned, according to the A.P., because basically most of the network`s viewers weren`t alive when it launched. So forget the specials, any mention of the on-air milestone. It will just be business as usual.

HANDEL: Does anybody who`s watching MTV today even believe that they used to actually do videos?

HILL: You know, it`s funny. The "M" might get lost on some of the viewers...

HANDEL: Right, they don`t know what it is. All 20-year-olds that watch, and it`s been that long since they were doing music videos.

HILL: It`s reality TV now. But it will still suck you in. Trust me.

HANDEL: No, that`s modern television. You change with the times. Erica, thank you...

HILL: Thanks, Bill.

HANDEL: ... for being here on the GLENN BECK show as you always are.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANDEL: It`s been nearly five years since 9/11, a day that literally changed not only America but the world, and those of us who remember 9/11, it`s like the day that FDR died or the day that JFK was assassinated. Until the day we die, we`re going to remember exactly where we were, exactly what we were doing when we heard the news.

It`s been almost one year since Hurricane Katrina. And for the people of Louisiana, and Alabama, and Mississippi, New Orleans, are they ever going to trust the government again? That may be decades before that happens. So what do they have in common?

Well, we found the answer in Louisiana, where a group of men are building a legacy to the past, a legacy that`s going to survive well into the future. Here`s Glenn with tonight`s "Real America."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GLENN BECK, HOST (voice-over): On the banks of the Mississippi, just outside New Orleans, building Navy combat ships has been a way of life for generations.

TONY QUAGLINO, CRANE SUPERINTENDENT: Oh, yes, yes. I`ve been here a long time. I`d say 41 years, probably worked on a 100 or more ships.

BECK: But there`s one ship rising to life here that holds a special place in the hearts of these shipbuilders, ship that will carry more than just Marines and machinery, a ship that will never be forgotten.

QUAGLINO: At 66 years old, I didn`t know what else I could do except work on this ship.

BECK: The ship is the USS New York, a new class of amphibious warship, she bears in her bow stem a piece of American history forged from the wreckage of an American tragedy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have at the One World Trade a report of 50 people trapped on the 104th floor in the northwest corner. The floor is burning out from underneath them.

RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY: The situation is that there`s two airplanes that attacked apparently.

BECK: We as a nation looked on, helpless and afraid, as a world we had once known changed forever.

GLENN CLEMENT, PAINT SUPERINTENDENT: I just never thought in my lifetime I`d see that happen. I never thought it would come on our land and do that to us.

QUAGLINO: They targeted a bunch of innocent people that were just trying to get a job done.

BECK: But amidst the horror, we saw acts of selflessness, acts of bravery.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Regardless of their own personal safety, they went into that building.

BECK: We bore witness to the unquenchable American spirit and the birth of heroes, and we as a nation started pulling together because we refused to let hate tear us apart.

QUAGLINO: The future of our country was going to change forever from that day on.

BECK: In the months after September 11th, the governor of New York petitioned the Navy to bring back the retired name "New York" and to give it to a ship that would play a vital role in the war on terror.

CMDR. CHRIS MERCER, U.S. NAVY: It is named the USS New York specifically to honor the victims, the responders, the family members of the tragic attacks of 9/11.

BECK: And the USS New York was soon to receive an even greater testament to the heroes of 9/11.

MERCER: We salvaged about ten tons of steel from the World Trade Center towers and used that in forging what really is one of the strongest parts of the ship, which is the bow stem.

BECK: The salvaged steel included a girder recovered from the south tower and mangled debris from the Fresh Kills landfill that was then melted and cast as the bow of the USS New York.

QUAGLINO: It was brought to the shipyard. It was set up on a pedestal right here behind us, and it was like a monument while it was there. You can feel a sense that it was -- you were looking in the towers.

BECK: A monumental reminder that, in building the future, we often embrace the past.

TOMMY DUFRENE, SHIP SUPERINTENDENT: When we laid the keel on the ship, there was a ceremony, dignitaries and workers alike. So, yes, I was here. It was a big event. People could feel it.

GORDON ENGLAND, FORMER SECRETARY OF THE NAVY: The USS New York will ensure that all New Yorkers in the world will never forget the evil attacks of September 11th and the courage and compassion of what New Yorkers showed in response to terror.

BECK: Painted white, the bow stem inspired reference from the Avondale workers.

QUAGLINO: Folks knew that this was no ordinary piece of steel. A few people cried about it. I may have, too, a little bit. I`m a pretty emotional guy.

MICHAEL NORMAN, CRANE SUPERINTENDENT: People wanted to touch it. It was just like it was spirit of the people that lost -- the heroes that lost their lives.

BECK: And as the spirit of 9/11 stirred deep emotions among the builders of the USS New York, another tragedy loomed that would challenge their faith and their future.

LOU HOSE, DIRECTOR OF FACILITIES: About 12 hours before the storm landfall, we had a forecast from my weather service that said we were going to see 160-mile-an-hour winds.

BECK: Katrina cut a devastating path across three states, ravaging New Orleans and destroying lives.

NORMAN: My house had 6 1/2 foot of water in it. Everything we worked for all our lives had been destroyed.

HOSE: There were huge areas of New Orleans where there was nothing there, and I think you see something like the New York as a reason that people wanted to come back. We need to go build that ship.

BECK: And for some, the USS New York is the only thing that makes sense in a shattered world.

NORMAN: This is the only normal thing that`s right now normal in our lives. Everything outside, some of the work is not normal.

DUFRENE: The ship does motivate you. It helps the workforce. It motivates a path that came built in.

BECK: The USS New York is scheduled to launch in 2007 with a ceremony in New York Harbor. It`s sure to resonate with the people of both of these cities and the rest of the world.

HOSE: This is really more than a warship; it`s really a projection of power, a projection of hope to people around the world.

BECK: And though the USS New York will leave New Orleans, it will live forever in the hearts of these workers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When it leaves, it will be gone, but I`ll never forget it.

NORMAN: The ship`s motto is never forget, never forget. It`s a remembrance to the folks who lost their lives on 9/11, and right now I don`t see anything else out there that is marking that day the way that this ship will mark that day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANDEL: Two events that are indelible in our memories, and we have to do everything we can to make sure that we never, ever forget.

Now it`s time for a preview of tonight`s NANCY GRACE on "Headline Prime" -- Nancy?

NANCY GRACE, HOST: Tonight, a 16-year-old honor student found less than a mile from her own home, strangled and thrown away like garbage in an alley. Weeks have passed. Still no clues. We want answers.

HANDEL: Thanks, Nancy. NANCY GRACE, right after this show at 8:00 and 10:00 p.m. Eastern.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANDEL: Now, you`ve heard the phrase, "A picture is worth a thousand words," but sometimes one photo doesn`t tell the whole story. And here`s a case in point: Condoleezza Rice and the picture seen round the world.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the smiling Condi Rice we`re used to, which made this seem all the more striking.

(on camera): This was the other day when the talks were not going well over...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She has a headache, doesn`t she?

MOOS (voice-over): The photo matched the grim headlines. Condi seemed worn-down by a roomful of diplomats pushing for an immediate cease- fire that the U.S. resisted. "The New York Times" front paged the photo. It ran in conservative newspapers, as well, and on CNN`s Web site. It ran everywhere, a picture worth a thousand jokes.

JON STEWART, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW": Let`s see how it went. Oh.

(LAUGHTER)

STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, "THE COLBERT REPORT": I think probably what`s happening here is that she just lost a spelling bee.

MOOS: There was only one way to interpret it...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Frustration.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Discouraged.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Exasperated and exhausted.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think she`s saying, "Oh, no."

MOOS: Oh, yes? Well, look at this. Seconds after answering a reporter`s question, Condi, she brushed her hand across her forehead. A minute later, assuming attention has turned to the Lebanese prime minister who`s speaking, she seems to brush her hair from her face. We`ll see the flash bulbs go off. When we showed the video to folks, it changed their mind about the photo.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now, I feel very manipulated.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Deceived.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A hundred percent unfair.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s not, "Oh, my god." It`s, "I`m getting the hair out of my face."

MOOS: The flashbulbs pop even when Condi scratches. Any slight motion will be a trigger for a barrage of photographers firing their cameras, says the Associated Press, one of many agencies to send out this picture. It`s up to the subscriber how they choose to use the image.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The press being sneaky? Wow, that`s unusual.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There`s a lot of things the press does that are sneaky. This is not one of them.

MOOS: The "New York Times" said photographers always look for a moment of drama. CNN.com said it`s representative of the event, and we chose that one and others.

The last time there was a Condi photo kerfuffle, it was when "USA Today" brightened a photo that was too dark, especially around the eyes. Critics said it demonized her.

(on camera): The moral of the story: If you`re secretary of state, don`t scratch, don`t primp, and don`t you dare run your fingers through your hair...

(voice-over): ... or you`ll end up looking like this and raising eyebrows.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HANDEL: That was CNN`s Jeanne Moos. Nice hair.

That`s it for tonight. Get the hair out of my eyes there. I`m Bill Handel. I`ll see you tomorrow.

END