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Glenn Beck

GLENN BECK for August 3, 2006

Aired August 03, 2006 - 19:00   ET

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

ANNOUNCER: Tonight`s GLENN BECK is brought to you by Glenn Beck. Reminding you he`s only on vacation and yes, he misses you too.
ROE CONN, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST Hey everybody, I`m Roe Conn in for Glenn Beck who`s busy patrolling the border.

OK. Now let`s stop for a second. I think we`ve gotten a bit off track when it comes to our national priorities. Now, don`t get me wrong, I love the "Is it hot enough for ya?" jokes even more than the next guy. And I am not going to lie, finding out that Mad Max hates Jews is like being a kid on Christmas morning. It`s just the best.

Stories like that, well, you just can`t say no. However, we shouldn`t forget that ensuring our security both here and abroad should be at the top of our national "to do" list. So I say let`s take a little break from the heat wave and Mel Gibson and get back to the reason that we`re at war in Iraq, already in progress.

First, the bad news -- it`s been an especially deadly couple of weeks as U.S. troops continue to fall under attack by Iraqi insurgents. Plus, most of us still flinch when we hear or see a plane that seems just a little too low for our comfort level. The good news is that we`re hearing that Iraqi security forces are preparing to take complete responsibility for their nation`s security, possibly by the end of the year. And, secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld sat down with the Senate Armed Services Committee this morning to talk safety efforts here at home.

Now, while I desperately want to believe that our troops will be home and sleeping in their beds safe and sound by Christmas, I also want to believe that the Cubs will make it to the playoffs and that the generous cut of this suit obscures my stout, doughy physique. And I think we all know that`s wishful thinking.

Is it crazy to keep the faith, or should we resign ourselves to the fact that, no matter how many the distractions, things are not likely to change, at least any time soon?

Here to give us the straight dope is P.J. Crowley, a senior fellow and director of national defense and homeland security at the Center for American Progress. P.J., now let`s start with Rummy and his chat with his pals on the Senate. Let`s take a look at what he had to say. Maybe you can translate for us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: I do believe what we`re seeing is really the face of the 21st century. The wars we`re engaged in and we see are not wars between militaries, only, they`re clashes between -- oh, between systems, political, economic and military. And they`re being fought with asymmetric and irregular warfare which is very much to the advantage of the attackers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CONN: Now, P.J., I noticed he said something there that caught my ear. Which was he said -- He was talking about systems, but he never mentioned ideologies. Really that`s sort of at the heart of what`s going on in the Middle East, right?

P.J. CROWLEY, CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS: A little bit. I think it was nice that he showed up today. Yesterday he said he wasn`t going to testify. Somebody told him he should, but the real translation, Roe, is he was really wrong three years ago. Three years ago about this time, he said the insurgents are a bunch of dead-enders, freedom is untidy.

Now he recognizes and calls what`s happening in Iraq the face of the 21st century. Unfortunately what that means is we sent our troops to Iraq to fight a war that they weren`t prepared to fight, and unfortunately he was told this three years ago, he was among those who were blindsided by the insurgency and failed to react strong enough and fast enough to what we confronted in Iraq.

CONN: Let`s talk a little bit about our friends who went with us to Iraq, which is the British, and Tony Blair yesterday called for, I think his words were a complete renaissance in our strategy. Does this mean the British may be pulling away from us here?

CROWLEY: Well, I think, you know, Tony Blair has suffered politically for being perceived as being to close to the Bush administration and its strategy of preemption. Tony Blair is absolutely right. You know, President Bush calls Iraq the central front in the war on terror. I think hearts and minds, as we call it, is really the central front in the war on terror, and what`s happening in Iraq and even what`s happening in Lebanon, while these military tactics may make sense in the short term, when you look at this strategically, we really have to convince the people in the Middle East, the people in the Islamic world that we are part of the solution. Right now they perceive us as part of the problem.

CONN: OK. Now, General Abizaid said today that sectarian violence in Iraq, if not stopped, it`s possible Iraq could move to civil war and sooner than I think we had all anticipated here. Is that correct?

CROWLEY: It really is. I think John Abizaid is a great soldier. Three years ago he was the first to say despite protestations by the like4s of Secretary Rumsfeld, yes, we are in fact in a classic guerrilla-style campaign. Here I think John Abizaid is pointing to the obvious, which is at these levels of violence, it really is potentially, you know, serious, and if Iraq descends into civil war, it will not go well for them, it will not go well for us.

CONN: P.J., is it avoidable? Do you think civil war is avoidable?

CROWLEY: Yes, potentially, but what you really have to do when you look at Iraq and also you look at Lebanon, for example, what`s missing is a peace process to accompany, you know, the other things that we`re doing, and what really .

CONN: But, P.J., what`s the peace process? I mean, we have too many factions there, don`t we? Who are we dealing with?

CROWLEY: In Iraq, ultimately there has to be a serious conversation between the Shia and the Sunnis. Right now the Kurds are on the fringe, they want to get out of the Iraq, they want to form their own independent state, but ultimately there has to be some sort of reconciliation process, and we have to find out and test the proposition, are they at the end of the day Iraqis, or are they really at the end of the day Shias and Sunnis? When they answer that question, that will tell you whether there will be civil war or not.

CONN: but they were at one point they were Iraqis. That to me is something - obviously except for children who are under the age of three, they all have some understanding of Iraqi nationalism, at least my hope is. It`s a humble hope, but my hope is they`ll kind of remember that.

Now, is Hezbollah stealing the limelight from al Qaeda as the baddest jihadists on the block?

CROWLEY: When you think about the war on terrorists, unfortunately we kind of throw all terrorists in one basket. They`re all bad. They are all bad. However, there are lots of different groups and they have quite different motivations. Hezbollah is a Shia group, it`s supported by Iran. The insurgents in Iraq and al Qaeda, for example, they`re a Sunni group. They`re different. Now, you might say that the enemy of my enemy can sometimes be your friend, but really these are two rival groups, they have different visions for the Middle East. Both of them might look at Israel and the United States as adversaries but it`s a dangerous dilemma if we kind of throw them all together.

CONN: All right. P.J., thank you very much.

CROWLEY: Okay, Roe.

CONN: Now, you can`t talk about the Middle East situation without mentioning the newest sassiest player in the hating game. He comes to us all the way from his secret lair in Iran, where he works in his family`s business when he`s not planning suicide bombings all over the world.

His myspace.com listed guilty pleasures as shopping on eBay, setting up terror cells and pigging out on Ben & Jerry`s chunky monkey. He is certainly his father`s son. He`s Saad bin Laden.

Now, pappa Osama ha has sent his favorite son Saad over to Hezbollah as a terror consultant, helping them with some manpower issues and that mess over in accounts receivable. So when you see Hezbollah stepping it up in the weeks ahead, you know who to thank. Because when you need the very best in fundamentalist hate, accept no substitute. Bin Laden, ask for it by name.

Up next, Bush heads for the border. Stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CONN: President Bush is heading o his ranch in Crawford, Texas, for a little R&R and along the way he stopped in the border town of Mission, Texas for a tour. That`s a riveting seven minutes there. He also made a speech on his immigration plan. Now, immigration is obviously more complicated than I can understand, maybe more complicated than the president can understand but I say if somebody wants to live in America so badly that they`re willing to do almost anything to get here, we should find a way to help them stay.

Now thank God there`s someone here with a more informed opinion than mine. He`s Juan Hernandez, former advisor to Mexican president Vicente Fox. Now, Bush`s numbers are down in the polls, midterm elections are coming up. A trip to the border, is there real policy being made here do you think, Juan?

JUAN HERNANDEZ, FORMER ADVISOR TO VIVENTE FOX: Roe, first of all, thank you so much for thinking that I`m very informed. You`re informed on so many subjects, I`m honored to be in your presence. I think the Bush really did a very good job today in presenting comprehensive reform immigration. And I`m proud that he would continue, and I haven`t agreed with everything with Bush, but I`m really excited that he has continued pushing for immigration reform, though it doesn`t help him in the polls.

CONN: Right. I think that`s one of the most interesting things about this. There seems to be two strains of thought in American on this. There are people who don`t want to be particularly mean to those who are already here and send them all packing. There are some people obviously who want to do that, but I think most Americans probably don`t want to do that. But they also don`t want to give up their jobs either very, very easily.

HERNANDEZ: That`s right. And we do have a divided nation on this, and I think those of us who may pretend we`re all a one band are wrong. We have a group on the one hand who would like greater security and only security and walls, etc., then we have another group that is saying, wait a second, we have got 11 million, 12 million people, they`re all good, they are all working, and maybe there is a middle ground.

But I saw a wonderful sign, my friend, during the marches of the immigrants and the Hispanics in the United States. There was a lady with a huge sign, she was dressed in white, and the sign said "Marry Me, America." I thought it was just exactly the message that the immigrants are saying. They`re willing to go to war. There are immigrants in Iraq, there are immigrants fighting for this nation before they were citizens and they`re willing to do the jobs that most of us truly are not willing to do in this nation.

CONN: Yeah. I think that`s actually one of the best stories in this is the number of Mexican immigrants who are fighting for the United States overseas right now. In terms of legislation, though, it seems like we`re getting kind of tripped up here, it seems like we`re stalling the legislation. Is this one of those things that nobody really wants to commit before the election?

HERNANDEZ: Well, you`ve got -- you know, it seems to strange to me. On the one hand, we have a group of senators who I want to believe that these are intelligent people. They come up with a bill that says let`s legalize al the undocumented, let`s go ahead and create a new program, et cetera, which I think has 98 percent of what I would want.

Then you have got another group of what I would consider intelligent people, of the House and they come up with a totally different bill which is all enforcement. I say, what is the difference? Bingo, the difference is some of them are running for reelection in November, the ones in the House. So I think it`s mostly politics, and the House is dragging its feet. Maybe after November we`ll get a group that will work together, the entire Congress and come up with a bill that`s fair for the employees, this immigrants, and also the employers and fair for the United States of America.

CONN: Juan, I don`t know what your immigration status is, I don`t know if you can be president of the United States, but I`m going to make you president of the United States for a second.

HERNANDEZ: Would you be my secretary of the state?

CONN: Sure. No I problem.

HENANDEZ: Let`s do it.

CONN: I serve at the will of the president.

HERNANDEZ: You`re the smart one.

CONN: What would you do? If you had the choice, what would you do?

HERNANDEZ: OK. I would say, to start with, and I do believe the majority of U.S. Americans think this way, and it`s not because this is the way that I think, but most people in the United States, we come from immigrants, we`re willing and want to do the right thing. So what would we do? I think that first of all, we check everybody out. Bring everyone in, like we did in `86, `87, invite them to legalize, but check everyone out.

CONN: You invite them with a big-screen TV offer? How do you get everyone to comply with that?

HERNANDEZ: Well, they complied in `86, `87, because there was the possibility of being legalized, so everyone came in, had to present -- make sure there`s no criminal records, make sure they`re not taking jobs from U.S. citizens, and there are always winners and losers. But in general they`re not taking jobs from people.

Number three, that they work on their English. That`s what a lot of people would like in this country, and I think that`s fair. Everyone can speak two languages. No big deal. Immigrants can learn English.

CONN: Juan, I have to stop you right there. I can`t speak to languages. So I don`t know.

HERNANDEZ: But I think that immigrants are willing to work on their English to better communicate, and it`s good for them. Some Americans would like for them to pay a fine. OK, well, as friends of mine have told me, the coyote charges more money, so let`s pay $1,000, $2,000 fine and pay the back taxes. I wish none of us had to pay taxes, but since I have to, let`s let immigrants pay, too.

CONN: I`m with you on that. All right. Juan, thank you very much. Appreciate it.

HERNANDEZ: Thank you, my friend.

CONN: OK. Now, patrolling our border with Mexico is a big job, apparently so huge that the president feels the Border Patrol needs help from the National Guard, many of whom are fresh from duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. But are they really the best men and women for this job? Haven`t they kind of already done their part, you know, fought in a war? But that`s just me, actually. Let`s see what the smart set thinks. Here now is California Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez. Now, you`re not a fan of the president`s plan here, obviously congresswoman. What do you think we should do?

REP. LORETTA SANCHEZ, (D) CA: No, I`m not a fan, and I tell you why. I sit on the Armed Services Committee and I also sit on the homeland security committee. I understand the border situation and I understand what we`re dealing with with respect to our armed services. Right now almost 50 percent of the people we have in Iraq are reservists or national guardsmen.

For example, in California, that means since we`re the state that sends the most people into the military at all levels, that means a lot of our guys and gals have spent time now once, twice, three times in Iraq, we`ve just had a president who said I`m going to need to put more resources into Iraq, so this has put a real strain on our military families and on our military men and women.

CONN: OK. Well, I`m going to stop you right there, congresswoman. If not then the National Guard, who do we need down there? Who are we going to put down there? And how long will it take to get them trained?

SANCHEZ: Well, we actually as a Congress passed, actually under the September 11th commission -- remember the commission from 9/11 -- said that we needed to get more people, Border Patrol agents, et cetera. We actually passed a law in the Congress signed by the president that asked for thousands more positions and the problem was that when we went to fund in the budget, we only put in about 2 or 300 positions. We didn`t put what the law is that we already required. So we`re under-funding what we really need to do.

CONN: Now, there are -- pardon me for interrupting, but there are real issues here beyond border security. Twelve hundred illegals have been detained since the guard got down there. Large quantities of cocaine and marijuana have been seized, so there`s national security issues here as well.

SANCHEZ: Of course there are national security issues. I wrote an op ed just recently talking about what we need to do at the border.

CONN: Doesn`t that sort of make the argument that we do need trained military people down there? I`m playing devil`s advocate here, but isn`t that what that tells you?

SANCHEZ: Actually our border security is actually better when we train them specifically for that. First of all we`re sending our national guardspeople and putting them more in administrative positions so we can free up our Border Patrol agents to go out on the frontline, if you will.

So what that tells us is we need to train the right type of people, put them in the right category and go ahead them out there. What we need to do is train up. We also need to put in and use the technology we have available today to put in the spaces where we don`t have as many. You need both. New technology and more people to actually do that.

The National Guard are not trained specifically for that, so they`re coming in and really not doing the apprehension, et cetera. They`re just sitting at desks, and they`re doing it in rotations of two weeks or six months or what have you. They`re not the right people necessarily to be there. Sure, it helps, because we put more people there, but it`s not helped as effectively as if we had someone trained, someone whose job it really was, and someone who`s right there on the frontline.

CONN: All right, congresswoman. Appreciate your time. Thank you very much. It`s obviously a very, very complicated issue, so this one isn`t going away anytime soon, do you think?

SANCHEZ: It is very complicated, it`s also a very emotional issue, and we`ve got to get away from that and think about this.

CONN: Thank you very much.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CONN: Time now to get the buzz from David Glover, KFTK 97.1 FM, St. Louis, Missouri. Now, Dave, this is really, really interesting. They have just killed the smoking ban in St. Louis. If I`m not his taken and I`m certain I am mistaken, this is one of the few towns, actually that has voted this down, right?

DAVE GLOVER, HOST, "THE DAVE GLOVER SHOW": Yeah, they`ve been fighting this thing for years tooth and nail, and they finally came back to exactly where they started, which is the restaurateur has a right to put up a sign that says smoking or not smoking, and believe it or not, the citizen has a right to say I want my hot wings smokeless, so it really just comes down to personal choice. I think they made the right decision.

CONN: To what degree is the beer lobby, which is obviously pretty powerful in St. Louis, to what degree do you think is behind this because nothing really goes better with a cold bottle of Bud?

GLOVER: Very true. A smoke and a Bud, yeah, I say there`s no question, and just the restaurant lobby, I mean, so many businesses that would have been hurt by this, but on the flip side, I mean, it`s pure capitalism. If there`s so many people out there who want a smokeless environment, people will open up bars and restaurants and cater to them.

CONN: And in Chicago they did pass this, but they did it -- you know, in Chicago they do it always the same way, where they pass it, but they`ll enact is in like 2165, and there`s a bunch of rules before they get to it.

GLOVER: Right.

CONN: But in New York, and in L.A., they`ve done it, and you know what? I kind of enjoy it. As a nonsmoker, I think it`s kind of cool.

GLOVER: I`m a nonsmoker, to, never smoked in my life. I enjoy walking in a place and it`s smokeless, but I`m all about people`s rights. I mean, smoking is not a smart thing to do, but I want to go to a restaurant where if every time they refill my diet coke they punch me in the face, and I think it should be my right to say hit me again, and I don`t want someone coming in and saying, no more punches. Put me in the punches section.

CONN: They should put a sign up for that, by the way.

GLOVER: I`m going to stand in the punching section, thank you.

CONN: Here we are. We`re in August, kids are out we`re just about for the kids to go back to school, and we were talking about this off the air. Summer is different for kids today than it was when we were kids, right?

GLOVER: Childhood is different. First of all, on the way here, I see a billboard, swear to God, Kool-Aid. Remember Kool-Aid, the big punch guy that busts through your door and lets you drink out of his head, wears pants now, he now wears khaki pants.

When we were kids .

CONN: That`s bad, is it the light khaki? You get the Kool-Aid on there, that`s very hard to get out.

GLOVER: The inescapable conclusion is that he was butt naked when we were kids, I`ll have my punch without to tell you please and the whole thing screwed me up, but childhood, Roe, childhood is different. I don`t know about Chicago, in St. Louis, you`re up at 8:00 in the morning, you`re gone, you`re back at noon for lunch, you`re gone, you`re back for dinner, you`re gone, and you`re home and the street lights are on. I have an 11- year-old and 15-month-old, never out of my sight.

CONN: Really. And for fear of bad things happening to them? We have bad guys running in our neighborhoods when we were kid, there were child abductors and that weird uncle that would sometimes come by with candy. I mean, is it just because we know so much now because it`s in the media every day?

GLOVER: Yeah, I think it`s both. I think there`s always been uncle creepy Lester, but I think it`s two things. You know, with the Internet and pornography and all that, I think they have recruited a few new people for the team, and also the fact we now know -- I live in, my God, white bread America, Norman Rockwell neighborhood in the middle of the Midwest. I got a guy two doors down from me, registered sex offender, can`t get away from them.

CONN: Wow. Dave, thanks very much. See you next week.

GLOVER: See you, Roe.

(COMMERCILA BREAK)

CONN: Welcome back. I`m Roe Conn, filling in for Glenn Beck, who`s still home mourning the death of his Chia pet. Apparently it`s something about the heat.

Meanwhile, it`s day four for Mel-apalooza. Gibson finally charged yesterday with DUI after police said they stopped him tooling down Pacific Coast Highway, 85 miles an hour. Then he blows a .12 in the breathalyzer, whispers a few sweet nothings into a female sheriff, well, her ear, at least.

Now, we`re all still talking about it, but the Jewish leaders in the film industry, as Glenn would say, not so much. Today that prompted an ad in the "L.A. Times" protesting the lack of a protest, paid for by Marv Adelman (ph), former vice chairman of Time Warner, parent company of CNN.

He didn`t mince words. He said, "Bigots have so often accused our community of being run by Jews that I think it has entered our psyche. We become so defensive that, when faced with a degrading and disgusting incident starring a movie star, we as individuals remain relatively silent."

The ad goes on to wonder if Hollywood leaders would have reacted the same way had Mel drunkenly ranted about dirty Mexicans, or maybe drop the n-word, instead of saying Jews.

Harvey Levin, you broke the story for the entertainment Web site TMZ.com. Is this the silence of the Jews?

HARVEY LEVIN, MANAGING EDITOR, TMZ.COM: I don`t think it`s been particularly silent. I mean, there`s been a big debate, certainly in Los Angeles, over this, and a lot of people -- I think almost everybody, frankly, is talking about it.

You know, is there an organized boycott? No, but L.A. is one of these towns where it`s hard to organize the city, because the city is so amorphous. I mean, there are nine cities in L.A., and it`s really hard to organize that kind of a boycott. So it doesn`t surprise me.

CONN: All right. There actually are some billboard companies that are refusing to allow these ads on their billboards. Are people still afraid of Mel Gibson in L.A.?

LEVIN: No, I mean, listen, a lot of people are criticizing him. There`s no doubt about it. I mean, I don`t think anybody`s afraid to speak their mind on the subject. And what I`ve seen, especially looking at the comments on our Web site, is that people feel passionately on both sides.

I mean, I have been, you know, personally attacked like crazy. A lot of people think because I`m Jewish I did the story. They didn`t trust journalists, and then a lot of people think Mel Gibson is a bigot, an anti- Semite who should be boycotted. So people are not afraid on either side to speak their mind on this one.

CONN: Are you surprised by the legs that this story has so far?

LEVIN: No, I mean, I knew on Friday night when we published it that this was going to have a huge impact, because, you know, Mel Gibson is not just a celebrity. I mean, he`s really a religious figure, not only in the country, but in the world. He really is, when you think about it.

And you know a leader is a weird term, but he is. I mean, "Passion of the Christ" was a huge film. And he took a stand. And I think, you know, on a religious level, on a celebrity level, on a law enforcement level, you know, it kind of hits on all cylinders.

CONN: Actually, Harvey, I think that`s one of the reasons that this does have these legs. I think there`s a lot of people, actually, coming to his defense now thinking that a lot of this has to do a lot with "Passion of the Christ" and this is a backlash to it.

LEVIN: Absolutely. I mean, again, literally the moment we were ready to put this up on our Web site, there`s actually a button that you ultimately have to push. And I remember just staring at that button for a couple of minutes thinking, "Boy, this is going to be big."

CONN: OK. Legal ramifications now. I mean, he has to pay the piper. Charges have been filed. He`s got some lawyers, big, fancy defense lawyers that he`s just hired, right?

LEVIN: Yes, he`s got a -- well, in particular, Blair Berk, who`s a very respected, effective lawyer. I mean, there`s no doubt what`s going to happen here. He`s going to plea bargain this case. He`ll end up getting probation. He`ll get his license suspended. He`ll have to go to an alcohol education program, maybe some community service. He won`t do jail time.

And I think what they`re banking on is this tape, this videotape is never going to get out, because if it never becomes evidence in a real criminal case, they can basically stop it. But TMZ has actually filed a Public Records Act with the sheriff`s department, saying, you know, forget about Mel Gibson. We want this videotape because we want to look at what the sheriff`s department did here, why they were trying to hide all this from the public, and that videotape puts everything in context. So we`re going to actually fight to get it.

CONN: Now, he also said something to the arresting female officer that hasn`t gotten as much press, because of all the anti-Semitic stuff. He said something -- well, I don`t know quite how I`m going to say this, Harvey, here, you know. It`s CNN Headline News. We have standards...

LEVIN: Rhymes with "sugar zits."

CONN: Yes, rhymes with "sugar zits." That`s a nice way of putting it. How come that`s not getting as much traction or as much play?

LEVIN: Well, my information, based on, you know -- I have to be very circumspect about the way I said this -- is that it was said shortly after he arrived at the sheriff`s department. And there are some people who say that it was a slightly different version of what it was, but the bottom line is it was vulgar, and it was just really awful. And there are some really bad things on this tape.

CONN: Yes. I don`t know if that`s the best pickup line I`ve ever heard, though. "Hey, sugar"...

LEVIN: Yes, I`m not sure he was looking for a date at the time, frankly.

CONN: Yes. Harvey, thanks very much. Appreciate it.

LEVIN: My pleasure. See you, Roe.

CONN: Time to go "Straight to Hill," Erica Hill, anchor of "PRIME NEWS" on Headline News.

ERICA HILL, CNN HEADLINE NEWS ANCHOR: Hello there. You`re back for more today.

CONN: Yes, I am.

HILL: Couldn`t stay away, huh?

CONN: I couldn`t stay away from you, Erica, let me tell you that honestly.

HILL: Well, I appreciate your candor. How about the news?

CONN: Just creepy, isn`t it? It`s just creepy.

HILL: Just a little bit.

CONN: Yes. All right, what`s in the news?

HILL: Five days until Connecticut`s Democratic primary. And this is actually a race that`s getting a lot of attention across the country. That`s because three-term Senator Joe Lieberman is falling now further behind his challenger. Ned Lamont is now ahead by double digits, that`s according to a new poll from Quinnipiac University. This despite some high-profile support for Lieberman coming from Democratic heavyweights, former President Bill Clinton and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.

If he does lose the primary, though, the senator has said he will run as an independent in November.

CONN: How the mighty have fallen, man. I mean, Joe Lieberman, people thought he was going to be the next president or at least vice president of the United States. Stevie Wonder wrote a song about him, and now look at the guy. He can`t even get elected in his home state.

HILL: Oh, my, my, my. How about the head-butt heard around the world?

CONN: How about it?

HILL: Yes, yes? The other head-butt, though, not the French soccer star. The one that`s going to cost jockey Paul O`Neill a one-day ban from racing. Remember this? Just watch that video. That`s actually the same penalty you get, by the way, for striking a horse with a whip.

O`Neill, there we go, head-butted his horse before a race nearly two weeks ago. The Horse Racing Regulatory Authority said, if he`d actually hurt the horse, it would have been a bigger deal and he would have had a harsher sentence. I still feel bad for the horse, personally.

CONN: Well, you know, I think the part of this video that`s interesting is he`s got that little thing on the front of his helmet there, that -- I mean, if it were just like a flat helmet, I probably would have been OK with it.

HILL: Yes, but that looks like it hurts, you`re right.

CONN: Yes, it`s like sharp or something.

HILL: Again, I feel for the horse, but, you know, I`m a big animal lover, so there you go.

And speaking of, a dog -- I love dogs. If you know anything about me you know that I love my dog, but, boy, kind of glad that he doesn`t pull this behavior, because the dog you`re about to meet named Barney, he`s, I think, in a little bit of trouble.

He tore into a collection of rare teddy bears worth $900,000, including one owned by the king himself, Elvis Presley. The scene of the crime: the children`s museum in England. Elvis` old teddy bear was on loan to the museum, and the owner, as you can imagine, not too happy about it. The security guard at the exhibit says he spent several minutes chasing Barney around, eventually having to wrestle the dog to the ground.

CONN: Don`t you find it a little odd that a children`s museum would have a dog that had that kind of problem? Like, couldn`t he like be tearing the children apart, too? Wouldn`t that be a problem?

HILL: Well, from what I understand, the children were not really there at that point. He was helping to guard the...

CONN: Yes, but still, I don`t know. You know how they...

(CROSSTALK)

HILL: He`s not tearing the children apart. It`s just the teddy bears.

CONN: Well, I know, but I still -- you know, dog, you saw the aftermath of that dog, little kids. It`s going to be hard to attract the kids back to the museum after one of the kids gets mauled, I think. That`s always been my rule.

HILL: OK, you go with that.

CONN: Couldn`t love me more, I can tell. I feel this right now.

HILL: Have a good night.

CONN: Thanks.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CONN: You know, when I think about kicking back to watch sports on my 54-inch plasma, I`d put fishing right up there with curling. Apparently, I`m missing something. ESPN says 44 million people have gotten hooked on the sport of professional bass fishing. That`s more than tennis, or golf, or curling.

How do you make sticking a line in water and waiting for it to wiggle exciting? Well, as Glenn discovered, it`s all about the guy who`s reeling them in.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes!

GLENN BECK, HOST (voice-over): Mike Iaconelli is not what you`d call a traditional fisherman. He`s loud...

IACONELLI: Yes!

BECK: ... colorful. Some might even say that he`s obnoxious.

IACONELLI: OK!

BECK: But it`s all part of his plan. Mike Iaconelli, or Ike as his legions of fans like to call him, is hoping that America will finally take notice that the support of bass fishing has indeed arrived. In fact, the world of pro bass fishing is pitting its future to Iaconelli...

IACONELLI: Yes!

BECK: ... hoping that his unique style and high energy might somehow turn bass fishing into the next NASCAR, or as some are already calling it Bass-car. But how has this sport -- yes, they keep calling it a sport -- managed to crept out of the swamps and into the arenas packed with screaming fans?

ANNOUNCER: And welcome to a rowdy and noisy crowd here in Pittsburgh.

BECK: To find out, we tagged along with Mike and his pro fishing buddy, no kidding, named Ish (ph).

IACONELLI: If you compare it to other sports -- golf, tennis, whatever -- they all go through the same evolution or cycle. And what that is, you know, it comes in, it`s introduced, people get involved. It kind of plains out, but then all of a sudden it reaches a point where new personalities emerge.

BECK: That`s where Mike comes in, a new type of star in a sport that, well, really never had one.

IACONELLI: The stereotype of fishing is it`s my grandfather`s sport, you know, and they think of it`s slow, it`s low. You know, you go out there, you cast out a bobber, and you sit and wait. And when in reality it`s so different than that. You know, it`s exciting.

BECK: So what makes this so exciting?

IACONELLI: We`re in these high-tech bass boats. We`re doing 70, 80 mile an hour across the water, rough water, shallow water. For anyone that`s ever fished, when you beat that fish, when you win against that fish, that`s what it`s all about. And that`s the excitement. And once you see it, it`s addictive, big time.

BECK: And that`s what networks like ESPN are hoping to do: snag viewers.

IACONELLI: We`re really on the upswing in this sport. So what I think needs to happen is, you know, obviously ESPN, FOX Sport Net, they`re doing terrific jobs at figuring out ways to make this more fan-friendly and more media-friendly.

BECK: In other words, instead of looking like this on TV...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, dude. That`s smooth.

BECK: ... you get this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m stoked!

BECK: Mike`s been attracting a lot of attention to the sport. He`s been featured in everything from "Sports Illustrated," "FHM," and, you know, "Playboy," even a guest spot on "Jimmy Kimmel Live."

JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, "JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE": I know that you are the scourge of the fishing world, true?

BECK: Well, for one, "GQ" magazine rated him the sixth most hated athlete this year. His crime? Disgracing the predominantly southern, rural, Christian sport of angling, which is school-speak for fishing, by the way. And how has he disgraced it? Well, last year he was disqualified from an event for swearing and kicking in the lights of a boat. And then there was all this...

IACONELLI: Yes! Yes! Yes!

BECK: The purists hate that.

IACONELLI: I`m an emotional person. I`m a passionate person. And I like to let that out. You know, sometimes it`s good, sometimes it`s bad.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There`s a good one.

BECK: And sometimes the money is good, too. This year, Mike passed the million dollar earnings mark. That doesn`t even include the sponsorships.

IACONELLI: We`re able to get big companies in, and they see how viable this market is.

BECK: Oh, and don`t forget about his DVD, book, CD, clothing brand with his name -- not appropriate for TV...

IACONELLI: Called (beep).

BECK: Ad spots like this awkward one. Mike`s fishing style is unique, as well. Underarm casts instead of cast and release...

IACONELLI: Here it comes, daddy.

BECK: ... Mike`s all about catch.

IACONELLI: There you go.

BECK: Talk trash...

IACONELLI: Who`s your daddy? Who`s your daddy? I`m the man.

BECK: ... and release.

IACONELLI: Let them go and catch a bigger one.

BECK: Welcome to the nest generation of bass fishing, America. Now when the kids say they want to be like Mike, don`t assume it`s this Mike they`re talking about.

UNIDENTIFIED GROUP (singing): We`d like to be like Mike.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CONN: OK, as the triple-digit temperatures make it kind of obvious that the dog days of August are here, August is traditionally one of those months when Hollywood releases a few dogs of its own, you know, the ones they were afraid to put up against the big summer blockbusters in May, June and July. Well, this weekend, you can choose between a computer-animated cow or Will Ferrell in a NASCAR movie.

And Christy Lemire, entertainment reporter for the Associated Press, I think I`m going with Will Ferrell on this. I`m looking at these commercials for this, and I think this one is a winner.

CHRISTY LEMIRE, MOVIE CRITIC, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS: I see you have a theme going today, between the bass fishing story and the NASCAR movie, going for the middle of the country here, Texas.

CONN: I`ll let you say that.

LEMIRE: Yes, no, I went to school in Texas. I can do that. But yes, it`s funny, but it`s essentially like "Anchorman" behind the wheel of a car versus the anchor desk. So you`ve seen it before. I mean, he`s basically the same character. Ricky Bobby is Ron Burgundy. They even have the same initials. Coincidence? We think not.

He`s the same guy. I mean, he`s at the top of his game. He`s totally clueless and yet like completely convinced of his abilities. Some new rival comes and drags him down, and he has to get back to the top of his game again. And that`s the same exact thing as "Anchorman."

CONN: OK, but he`s big bank, though, right?

LEMIRE: Oh, absolutely, yes.

CONN: I think, you know, you`re putting him and NASCAR in the same movie. And I got to say, that`s a very funny bit where he`s running up and down the track, you know, with the Wonder Bread hat on and screaming that he`s on fire. Maybe I`m just a simpleton, but...

LEMIRE: No, there`s some very funny stuff in it. I just sort of think we`ve seen it before. And it`s hysterical off the top, and then it sort of -- I hate to use the pun, but it does run out of gas. I`m sorry, but it does. Anyway...

CONN: All right.

LEMIRE: It will do well. It will be fine.

CONN: I put all my money on him.

All right. Barnyard animals always a money-maker. Now, this is a PG- rated film. What is this?

LEMIRE: You`ve seen this before. This is talking farm animals. I mean, how many times have we had the talking animal movie out this year? You`ve got like "Doogle," (ph) and "The Ant Bully," and "Over the Hedge."

So here you have barnyard animals who, when the farmer`s not looking, they talk upright, and they talk, and they hang out, and they play pool, and they party. Kind of a clever idea. You know, the typical all-star vocal cast, Kevin James, and Courteney Cox, and Wanda Sykes. And I just think that parents and kids both must be so overwhelmed by now because there are so many of these movies. I mean, I don`t have a kid; I don`t know. But I`m just guessing.

If you were a kid, wouldn`t your little mind be boggled by all of this?

CONN: Well, I don`t know. There`s something about this CG animation that kind of creeps me out. I mean, I get the metrics of this whole thing, is that they get all these big stars, and they work for -- you know, they come in for 30 minutes, and they do their stuff, and then they get to put their names on the marquees. I get what they`re doing, but you know what? I didn`t like Disney, either, so what the hell do I know?

LEMIRE: Yes, but like when "Snow White" came out, do you know who did the voice of Snow White? No. Like, "Bambi," who did the voice of Bambi? No idea. Like, it`s all these big-name stars now. I`m cynical. I`m jaded.

CONN: OK, now I`m guessing this is going to be a very, very busy weekend at the movies because of the heat. Now, if you had to tell people to stay away from one movie, what would it be?

LEMIRE: You know, "Little Man" is still lurking out there, nibbling at your ankles. He`s still there, and it`s still horrible. It`s just painful, crass, stupid, lame toilet humor.

CONN: Robin Williams has this "Night Listener," about a radio talk show host, right? I`m personally offended by it already. I don`t even know anything about it.

LEMIRE: Why are you offended by this?

CONN: Well, I don`t know. It`s probably going to be bad. It`s going to make the talk shows look creepy, like, you know...

LEMIRE: It`s a mystery. Actually, it`s sort of a very relevant journalistic mystery, because this 14-year-old boy writes this book about all this horrible abuse. And then the more Robin Williams` character looks into it, you begin to wonder, "OK, who`s telling the truth?" It`s a mystery. It`s pretty good.

CONN: Yes. And he`s better when he`s serious. Christy, thanks very much.

LEMIRE: Thanks. See you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CONN: Last night, I asked you to e-mail me and tell me how I`m doing. You know that saying "Be careful what you wish for"? First, though, a preview of tonight`s NANCY GRACE on "Headline Prime" -- Nancy?

NANCY GRACE, HOST: Well, tonight a church-going Casanova romances congregations while preying on their young sons. He`s America`s most wanted, and tonight we want to stop 36-year-old Brandon James.

And he turned her down when she begged for help. Then her husband burned her alive. A Maryland judge, Judge Richard Palumbo, off the bench. But do I, you, we have to pay his lifetime pension?

CONN: Thanks, Nancy. NANCY GRACE every night after this show at 8:00 and 10:00 p.m. Eastern here on "Headline Prime."

You people know how to write letters. You write into this show quite often, it turns out, and some of you hate me almost as much as you hate Glenn, even in Canada.

Julie in Ontario writes, "Just when I think you can`t find someone worse than that guy who replaced Glenn Tuesday, you actually found someone worse than both of them put together."

Julie, I am guessing that you saw that picture of me with Bill Handel in "Teen People" spooning.

Several of you took me to task for this comment I made about Mad Mel.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONN: Drunks traditionally fall into some time-honored categories. There`s the happy drunk; there`s the angry drunk; there`s the sad drunk. What you don`t hear much about though is the anti-Semitic drunk, now that`s unless, of course, you`re in Wisconsin.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CONN: Let me guess where those letters came from.

Kathy in Onalaska, which of course I always thought was a state, "We were drunk when we elected both of our U.S. senators to multiple terms. Both are Jews. Or is this just a war of words between someone from Illinois and a state he wishes he were from?"

Well, you know, Kathy, I`ve been to the "Himmler Days Festival" in Eagle Rock, and I`ve got to say, the brats are the best.

Actually, I got some fan mail, as well. Julie from Georgia, "Glenn, Roe Conn is a great fill-in. Maybe he should be with all the time, `The Glenn and Roe Show`? Also, I think Erica likes him more."

I couldn`t agree with you more.

Finally, Martin in New Jersey likes me so much he waxed poetic, or at least tried to. "Roe, Roe, Roe`s the host since Glenn has gone away. Now let`s hope the pink shirts are gone and Roe is here to stay."

That`s horrifying.

Glenn is back Monday, wearing a pink shirt, I hope. Thanks for putting up with me, for a little bit at least. Have a great night.

END