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Glenn Beck

Are We Ready for Another Attack?; 2008 Elections Gearing Up

Aired January 03, 2007 - 19:00   ET

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

GLENN BECK, HOST: All right. Good news. Pat Robertson thinks doomsday is upon us. Really? And are we ready if it is? Not so much is the answer.
Plus, UFOs, are they here? And if they are, what do they want from us? It`s nuts, and it`s coming up next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Tonight`s episode of Glenn Beck will be presented in Grainy Cellphone Videovision. Executions, racist comedians and now Glenn Beck, Grainy Cellphone Videovision, the way of the future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: All right, yesterday on the program I told you that, according to a recent poll, 61 percent of Americans believed that an attack on our soil was imminent in the next 12 months. Sixty-four percent of them believe the attack will be nuclear.

Also, a full quarter of Americans believe that Jesus Christ himself will be returning to earth in the next 12 months.

I got news for you; we all better make sure we`re wearing clean underpants, man. It`s a tip that my mom gave me. It, I think, involved going to the hospital, but you know, we could all be headed that direction. I`m just saying.

By the way, if you`re one of the people who believes this stuff, congratulations. Today you have company.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAT ROBERTSON, HOST, "700 CLUB": I don`t know whether it will be in the fall or September or later on, but it will be the second half somehow of 2007. There will be some very serious terrorist attacks. I`m not saying necessarily nuclear. The Lord didn`t say nuclear. But I do believe it will be something like that, that will be mass killing, possibly millions of people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: OK. Pat Robertson`s been talking to God again and apparently, the news not so good this time.

Here is the point tonight. I find myself in unfamiliar territory. I really do. Here I am, Mr. Apocalypse, I might be the most optimistic man in America tonight. While I think doomsday scenarios are possible, I don`t think they`re inevitable.

However, the one thing that I think we need to take into account is our collective gut. It`s got to be acknowledged. And what it`s telling us is to prepare for possibly the worst, and we`re not prepared.

Here`s how I got there. According to a new report that was released by the Department of Homeland Security, they announced with Secretary Chertoff today that 69 of 75 major cities in America lack the necessary equipment and skills to even communicate with each other during a crisis.

Communicate, talk to each other during a crisis. Can we maybe get some of these cities some walkie-talkies and a nine volt battery? How hard is that one to conquer?

Some of the six prepared cities include Columbus, Ohio, and Laramie, Wyoming. That`s great. My question is, why aren`t cities like L.A., Chicago or New York at the top of this list?

The answer might lie in another statistic. Wyoming receives about $15 per person from the Department of Homeland Security. New York, the site of major land marks and a little thing I like to call 9/11, receives only $9 per person. That is 50 percent less.

OK. To the people of Laramie, Wyoming, God bless you. I love you. I really do. But I just got this feeling that there are not a lot of al Qaeda members that are sitting in caves waiting for that perfect moment to launch a jihad in Laramie. Is it just me?

The government, seriously, needs to start looking at reality and reallocating its funds. New York, Chicago and L.A., they need the means to be prepared for a deadly chemical or nuclear attack.

But more importantly, I think you and me, the average American at home, we need to be prepared. Forget about the government. I don`t know what is going to happen. I don`t know if anything is going to happen. But it could happen in Laramie, Wyoming. It could happen in Phoenix. It could happen in New York.

How many of us have a 72-hour kit? Homeland security has been telling us to have one of these things for years. If a bomb drops in the middle of a major American city or they use a biological weapon in the middle of the heartland, what do you think happens to trucking companies and shipments of groceries? Do you have enough food at home to with stand something like that?

You know, I pray to God that Pat Robertson and all other doomsayers are wrong. But if the improbable, not the impossible happens, we all better be prepared at home, because the federal government isn`t going to be.

Here`s what I know tonight. I know it is time for us to recognize what our own instincts are saying to us and prepare ourselves, even if it seems mildly insane.

Now with that being said, if your gut`s telling you that you should spend all of your money building a bomb shelter or that you should go "Santa Clause 3" or that Nancy Pelosi is actually going to unite the country, ignore that gut. Prepare yourself, but do it in a reasonable way.

Here`s what I don`t know. Has Pat Robertson really been talking to God? Last year, you know, God told him apparently that we were going to be overrun with hurricanes and not so much.

Then again, maybe he misheard God. Maybe God says that the Carolina hurricanes would win the Stanley Cup, which they did, and then Pat would be right and so would God. It`s tough to say. I don`t know.

Congressman Peter King is from New York. He is on the program today, honestly, not because he`s just the chairman of the homeland security committee. But also more importantly, he`s a guy who`s not a mealy-mouth politician. He says it like it is.

So let me start with the real question for you, the hard one to answer: do you believe that an attack is imminent, and are we even ready?

REP. PETER KING (R), NEW YORK: An attack is not imminent, but we have to always assume that it is. There`s no doubt there was going to be another attempted attack. Are we ready? We`re much more ready than we were on September 11. But we`re not ready enough.

BECK: OK, you know, I saw the -- what we were just talking about with Pat Robertson, where he says the next attack is coming, he believes, you know, in the next 12 months, and millions will be dead. What -- do you believe that`s -- do you believe that`s possible, that our enemies could attack us where millions would be dead?

KING: That would be virtually impossible. You would have such a chemical and biological weapons attack in a major city. So somewhere in millions, that really goes beyond -- you know, that`s almost unimaginable.

BECK: Right.

KING: But again, it could be a catastrophic attack. But again, we are doing a lot, and the idea is try to intercept them before they get here, to penetrate groups they have here in this country and also to hope that the Muslim community in this country will give us more cooperation than what they`ve given us up to now.

BECK: What does that -- what does that mean?

KING: What it means, that you talk to local law enforcement privately, they will tell you they get very little -- very few tips, very little information from people within mosques, from people within the Muslim community. They -- it`s very close-knit community. And for whatever reason they`re not coming forward.

The only way that information we`ve obtained is by actually having informers and by having people, you know, penetrate those mosques and organizations.

BECK: So why do you think they`re not doing that?

KING: I don`t know whether it was cultural, or I don`t know. I find it very frustrating. And I -- I know the number of mosques on Long Island where I`m from are under surveillance. Sort of the leaders in these mosques say very inflammatory things.

I had a major mosque in my district after September 11. You had very prominent people in the mosques saying that the CIA could have been involved in September 11, the FBI could have been involved, the Jews could have been involved.

And these were very prominent people when, you know, members of the mosque hear that from very top level people, they are less likely inclined to trust law enforcement. If they have an imam saying the FBI could have planned September 11, you know, it`s very unlikely they go to the police to report something.

BECK: OK. One last question on this. And it`s not a direction I was intending on going, but I`m interested in this. Because I`ve read several accounts that we -- we have radiation detectors in mosques in Dearborn. Is that true?

KING: I really am not aware of that, and I couldn`t comment. But I`m not aware of that.

BECK: OK. Do you believe that there is a possibility that we could be hit, that we could have a situation where a nuke, a small nuke is smuggled into this country? Is that a possibility?

KING: Oh, yes, that certainly is a possibility. It`s not very likely, but it certainly could be done. And we have to constantly be on our guard. And I know of a -- you`re talking radiation devices.

I know for instance in large crowds and all of that, there are nuclear detection devices that being used by local police, by the FBI. So something that the -- that law enforcement, both the federal and local level, is very concerned about.

BECK: OK. So what is it that we are going to wake up the day after an attack and be pissed about that we didn`t look at? What is the thing that keeps you up at night and says, why aren`t we doing this?

KING: I would say the main threat we face is probably chemical plant security. We have to -- we passed legislation on that, but I`m concerned that we`re not moving quickly enough. And I would say, if a chemical plant were attacked, you know, that`s where you could see large-scale numbers of deaths.

BECK: New York -- you know, you`re obviously from New York. I work in New York every day. If this thing collapses and the government is not ready, people will be eating each other within 72 hours. I mean, it will make New Orleans look like a picnic. Am I wrong?

KING: You know, people will be angry. But let me tell you about New York. The NYPD is the best law enforcement agency in the world. The job that they are doing, that Commissioner Kelly are doing -- is doing is truly outstanding. There`s much better cooperation with the FBI in New York than there ever was before.

So if there`s any city which has really stepped forward, it has been the city of New York.

BECK: Right. Congressman, thank you very much.

KING: Glenn, thank you.

BECK: Coming up, didn`t we just have an election? Well, for some reason or other, the candidates for `08 are already trolling for your vote. And I`ll tell you who`s in, who`s out and who will actually be standing when it actually matters.

Plus, Whitney Houston, we`ve got a problem. The woman who brought us "crack is whack," is now auctioning off her underpants.

And do you believe in UFOs? Well, at least a dozen airline employees at O`Hare International Airport do believe. I`ll tell what you they claim they saw and now what the government says they saw. Don`t miss it, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: A full 25 percent of Americans believe that Jesus is going to return this year.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I`m him, I`m coming back as a guy who`s like a crazy homeless person with "the end is near" sign on me, because nobody would see that coming.

BECK: Jesus is supposed to split the mountains and appear in the skies, and everybody on earth is supposed to be able to see him. OK, that`s pretty amazing.

However, in the thousand-year reign of, you know, Jesus comes down and he reigns here on earth for 1,000 years, and it`s a 1,000 years to be -- not everybody is immediately Christian.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hate to bring it back to politics, Glenn. But I mean, that is what the liberals do. I mean, they`ll want communities to investigate all these things.

BECK: They`ll -- you know what? They`ll want a committee on the environmental damage of splitting that mountain.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: Let me ask you a question. Wasn`t it about six weeks ago that we finally made it through the midterm election season and the media blitz that went along with it?

Well, good news. About to start all over again. This time, we`re not just talking about Congress. Oh, no, come November -- actually, no a year from November, we`ll be choosing a new president, and the democratic process is already gearing up.

We`ve got the old favorites who have announced their candidacy, like John Edwards, the Andy Griffith of politics. The Gollum look-alike that is Dennis Kucinich, he`s announced. Then there is those like Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney, who set up an exploratory committee, which is kind of foreplay to get us in the mood before they announce their candidacy.

Finally, there are those like Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, who haven`t even set up an exploratory committee. Yet everybody in the media is talking about the odds of them winning the election almost on a daily basis. It`s enough to put a gun in your mouth.

The table of fun is, yes, kids, being set for the 2008 election. And I don`t know about you, but I`m already full.

Let`s see what Mike Allen has to say about it. He`s the White House correspondent for "TIME" magazine.

Mike, is it too soon for me to be really sick of this horserace?

MIKE ALLEN, "TIME" MAGAZINE: No, of course not, especially if you think of it as a horserace. But if you think of -- of the very mystical, magical, fascinating, expensive process by which people choose a president, it`s interesting indeed.

And you`re right. This is the month. It`s gearing up. People are opening offices. People who -- young people who worked in the `06 campaigns are going to work on the `08 campaigns. And you`re already seeing the campaigns going at it a bit on the phones and in the press.

BECK: OK. Let`s go through a few of the candidates really quick and just see who`s -- are any of these people even going to be standing in 12 months, let alone 18?

ALLEN: Are we going to be standing in 12 months?

BECK: I don`t think so. I know.

OK, you`ve got Mitt Romney. Exploratory committee today. The guy is LDS. He`s a Mormon. Is this going to hurt him, or will he -- will he survive?

ALLEN: Well, Glenn, that is one of the most fascinating questions in politics. But I can tell you, Republicans who are trying to pick a horse - - these are the big donors, the operatives -- are very interested in this question.

And they say that if it weren`t for that, he would be the obvious front runner, the person to jump on with. He looks like a president. He ran -- runs his company very well. He ran the `02 Olympics very well. And the question is, will this be a hurdle?

Glenn, I can tell you, I`ve talked to a number of evangelical leaders who do not think that this is going to be a problem. And if evangelical leaders can put the Mormonism aside, it is just possible that Mitt Romney will take off like Glenn Beck`s ratings.

BECK: Yes.

ALLEN: And I can tell you he`s getting a good share, more than his share, of the Bush/Cheney team.

BECK: OK, now Barack Obama. This one kills me. Because Barack Obama, there was a story in the Washington paper today about how...

ALLEN: A Washington paper? "The Washington Post". Just say it.

BECK: I couldn`t remember if it was the "Time" or the "Post". So he`s in the "Post". Eleven years ago he wrote this book, and he said that he had done drugs, he had done alcohol, pot and cocaine.

And people were saying, "Well, I don`t know. That might hurt his chances."

And I`m thinking, no, Mitt Romney being a Mormon will hurt his chances. Somebody doing drugs? That will help your chances in America. This is actually a good thing to many people, is it not, that he conquered something and did something with his life?

ALLEN: Well, Glenn, that`s an interesting way to look at it. I think it`s helpful, but for a different reason. And that is I think that people want someone who`s honest, candid. They`re tired of the pabulum.

Here`s somebody who said that he was a junky. I think that people will appreciate that it`s in the past.

BECK: Yes.

ALLEN: That`s why Senator John McCain. Authenticity. After `06, people are going to want somebody who seems real.

BECK: You`re exactly right. And that`s why when I was on the radio show today I said I think this is what makes him a front runner in front of Hillary Clinton, because Hillary Clinton is -- is this machine.

She`s still trying to identify herself, where her husband seemed real. He seemed like a guy that you could hang out with. Like his politics, hate his politics, take a lot of penicillin, be around him.

But you could hang around the guy and have a normal conversation. I don`t feel the same way about his wife. And Barack Obama seems to be that kind of guy, where he`s just like, like it or not, here`s who I am.

ALLEN: Well, Glenn, let me say I don`t think you are Senator Clinton`s market. Let`s just finish that fact.

BECK: Yes, I`m pretty sure of that one.

ALLEN: Senator Clinton is going to run on the idea of mission. That is in the Senate, she`s worked very hard. She`s done the work horse as opposed to show horse thing.

Her family name, just like the Bush family name, stands for something. Her name stands for something. And so there is no question a slice of America that will always be for her.

But I can tell you that Republicans we talked to say there`s nothing that will galvanize them faster.

BECK: Yes.

ALLEN: They may be unexcited about these candidates. They may be disappointed in the president, but boy, a Senator Clinton candidacy, they would be right back on the team.

BECK: OK, 30 seconds. I only have 30 seconds. Rudy Giuliani, same kind of story with, you know, a bad past as Barack Obama, but not so much. Here he leaves his playbook out. He talks about his three wives, and two of them are going to come after him, et cetera, et cetera.

Is this guy winnable in America with his past?

ALLEN: Well, of course, Glenn. And I look at Mayor Giuliani as a test of the proposition that 9/11 has changed everything. You go back a couple years, of course, someone with some of those issues probably wouldn`t do well in the Republican primary.

But you look at what Americans are concerned about now, you look at somebody who can lead, who can get things done, who has this record, who has someone you can point to, he can show a picture of Times Square, that may be exactly what people are looking for and that may be overcomeable.

BECK: Mike, thank you very much.

Coming up, celebrity Whitney Houston selling off her underwear. I`m not kidding. And Oprah teaching young girls not to be like Whitney Houston. Don`t miss "The Real Story", coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: All right, we could talk a little bit about more, you know, Jesus coming back and the destruction of the earth or we could talk politics and have everybody`s head explode, or we could spend a moment and just have what I like to call a cookie. Something that I just didn`t understand, but it doesn`t really matter if you understand. It`s just a bizarre story.

And that is Whitney Houston selling off her underwear and everything else. And I don`t -- I don`t even understand what this story is about.

Lloyd Grove is the guy who actually follows this celebrity nonsense.

Lloyd, explain this, please.

LLOYD GROVE, SOCIAL OBSERVER/JOURNALIST: Well, it`s actually not Whitney selling off her stuff. It`s the storage, the warehouse, which says she hasn`t paid the bills. So they`re going to auction off all the stuff and then, you know, get their -- I think it`s $175,000 she owes them.

BECK: She has $175,000 worth of underwear?

GROVE: No, no, no. That`s the rental fee on the underwear. It`s very good underwear, Glenn.

BECK: Wow, it`s got to be really good underwear. Wow. And people are expected to buy this stuff?

GROVE: Absolutely. I mean, there are collectors of this sort of paraphernalia.

BECK: I believe that would be John Mark Karr. I don`t know how much money he has left.

GROVE: Not all of them are perverts, Glenn. Some of them...

BECK: A lot of good, fine, upstanding people buy celebrity underwear.

GROVE: Well, it`s not only underwear. It`s you know, costumes, it`s sound equipment. It`s some of Bobby Brown`s music awards. It`s all kinds of great stuff.

BECK: I see.

GROVE: Come on, Glenn, you could do it.

BECK: I didn`t mean to laugh at Bobby Brown`s music awards. But that`s a different story.

Let me -- let me change gears on another story that has me confused. And that is Anna Nicole Smith. There was a -- there`s a web site that I saw -- and this is what -- I`m not -- I kind of lost the Anna Nicole Smith story when she was fat and then skinny and then doped up and then had a baby. I don`t know what`s going on and who the people are in her life.

But there was this web site that I saw that is actually showing a picture of the guy and, as a kid, and then the baby. And he`s saying, "Hey, looks like me as a kid. Anna Nicole Smith`s baby is mine."

And what is this story? Because there`s now a paternity test that she has to go through?

GROVE: Well, Larry Birkhead, a celebrity photographer who did have an romantic relationship with her...

BECK: Come on.

GROVE: Well, a sexual relationship with her.

BECK: Thank you. We are talking Anna Nicole Smith, please.

GROVE: Claims that he`s the father. Wants to see his daughter. A judge has ordered DNA tests, which has to be done by January 23. And Larry Birkhead`s lawyers says we`re going to make it easy for her. We`re just going to come to her door. All she has to do is answer the door in her bathrobe.

Now, that sounds like it could be pretty hard for her, but nonetheless, supposed to be done by January 23. And I guess we`ll find out who the DNA will say.

BECK: She says that it`s not his. She said it`s somebody else, right?

GROVE: She says it`s her lawyer/boyfriend Howard K. Stern. But those baby pictures on Larry Birkhead`s web site, LarryBirkhead.net, do suggest that there`s some similarity. Maybe a lot of babies look the same. I don`t know.

BECK: What would -- what would his motivation be to claim that it`s his child if it wasn`t? Is there money to be gained from her? Or...

GROVE: You know, I don`t think -- I think there`s money to be spent. Because if he is the father, he`s going to be paying child support. He`s going to be a father to the daughter. I think he wants to be this girl`s father.

BECK: OK. Great. Lloyd, thank you very much.

We`ll be back with "The Real Story" in just a second.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: All right, welcome to the "Real Story."

If you hadn`t heard yet, Oprah Winfrey has just cut the ribbon on a brand-new $40 million school for girls in South Africa, and she funded the entire project herself. To put that in perspective, that is close to five whole months of her annual salary.

Now, to get into the school, you`ve got to meet some very strict age and income criteria. But most importantly, you have to demonstrate both academic and leadership potential. But that didn`t stop people from applying. The tiny school has received over 3,500 applications; 4 percent were accepted. To put that into perspective, Yale University accepts 13 percent.

Now, the school itself sits on 22 acres of land, contains 28 buildings, each of them lavishly decorated. There is a beauty salon, a yoga studio, a movie theater -- actually, more than one -- huge bedrooms with giant closets and luxury beds. In fact, the school is so extravagant that the South African government, which had originally planned to partner with Oprah, pulled out because the criticism that it was just too nice for such a poor and simple country.

Unfortunately, that is not the only criticism that Oprah has had to endure. Many Americans now are openly questioning why she is spending so much money in Africa and not in the United States. Well, here`s the "Real Story."

All of the critics need to shut their pie-hole and stop complaining. Even though it`s against our very nature, sometimes good is just good! And in those cases, it needs to be admired and congratulated.

Oprah, I admire you, and I congratulate you on this.

We don`t need to insult and pick this thing apart. Here`s a woman who, in 2005 alone, reportedly gave over $50 million of her own money to charity, yet people still complain, "Oh, it`s just for tax write-offs. That`s not enough. I`d give more." Really? Would you?

A few years ago, Cornell University, they did a series of different psychology experiments to assess people`s perception of their own generosity. Every single study proved exactly the same thing: All of us think that we`re -- and this is the scientific term -- holier than thou.

We believe that, given a chance, we`d donate massive amounts of our own money or time, but when actually given that chance, the studies prove we`re all essentially the same. So instead of sitting there in your glass house throwing stones about how or where Oprah should spend her money, let`s just be happy and realize that she`s given far more than almost any of us would if we were put in her situation.

And if you really want to know why that school isn`t being built here in America, well, consider some of the rules. Let`s start with this: no drugs, no alcohol, no pregnancies. You think the ACLU is going to go for any of that? That school will be closed in 10 minutes.

Then there is the difference in expectations. This, to me, is -- this speaks volumes of why Oprah didn`t spend the money here in America. She recently said, and I quote, "I became so frustrated with visiting inner- city schools in America that I just stopped going. If you ask kids what they want or what they need, they`ll say an iPod or some sneakers. In South Africa, they ask for uniforms so they can go to school."

When one of the most optimistic and cheerful and hopeful people on the planet says something like that, oh, we should all be frightened, very frightened. American kids start with a premise that an education is guarantied and the school is going to be clean and free and beautiful.

African kids start with the premise that they may not even be able to eat today. And because of that, the opportunity for real change, real progress is so much greater there.

The other really interesting part of this story, to me, is the media frenzy that`s been covering it, and all because the person behind it is a celebrity. Angelina Jolie, she goes out and she adopts an African baby, front page news. Your neighbor does the same thing, nobody cares.

The "Real Story" is, there are millions of Americans who are helping others. People like Oprah just give them a spokesperson. When the tsunami hit Indonesia a few years back, the U.S. government donated $900 million to relief efforts. Great. Individual Americans gave over $2 billion. Per capita, we give seven times more than the Germans, 14 times more than the Italians.

Quite simply -- and it`s a fact -- we are the most generous people on the planet, and most of us are anonymous.

A few years ago, the founder of "Inc." magazine was dying of cancer. He began to think about his will. What is he going to do? How is he going to leave his money? The prospect of leaving this giant fortune to his son really didn`t appeal to him, because he believed that inherited wealth wouldn`t teach his son anything about life`s lessons about hard work or generosity.

So one day, without any warning, he decides to donate $20 million to his employees. And he calls his son in and says, "Hey, I want you to listen to something." And he makes his son stand there in the office and listen to every single voice mail, to hear each employee`s astonished reaction of them receiving some of his inheritance.

Now, three years after this guy`s death, his son is working hard to continue that father`s legacy of giving. He not only oversees a large portion of the family`s $130 million foundation, but he`s also started a magazine of his own called "Good," where 100 percent of the subscription revenue goes to charity.

His name is Ben Goldhirsh. Ben, what was it like to sit there and listen to voice mails from those employees with $20 million?

BEN GOLDHIRSH, FOUNDER, "GOOD" MAGAZINE: Glenn, it was pretty fantastic. You know, my father took much from his relationship from his employees. You know, for him, I think the greatest return on his work at "Inc.," you know, was the jobs that were created, the companies, you know, that read "Inc.", and the jobs that were created at "Inc."

And so, for him to be able to give back to those people that, you know, really were the ones that created the value at "Inc." and that gave such a large sale was -- it was wonderful for him. And for him to share it with me, I think he was just trying to pass down what it`s all about.

BECK: So talking about passing down -- have you ever seen the movie "Pay It Forward"?

GOLDHIRSH: I never have.

BECK: OK, it`s a great movie. But it`s about doing a good deed, and then that person does a good deed, and it just -- it`s a giant snowball. Have you seen a snowball effect with either that or any of the good works that you`re now currently doing with the foundation? Are you seeing people receive something good and then paying it forward and doing something else themselves to someone else?

GOLDHIRSH: Definitely. I think if you can help put people in circumstances where they have the opportunity to do something good, they`re going to take that opportunity. It`s a pretty exciting potential. And once someone sees it, it`s hard not to feel a responsibility to pursue it.

BECK: Can you relate to Oprah Winfrey in Africa? Can you see why she went over there? Because you`re involved in charities in Africa, as well. Do you see a difference between the mindset here in America and over in an impoverished country?

GOLDHIRSH: I mean, certainly, there`s a lot of differences. There`s a lot of similarities. I think, you know, as far as an investment opportunity -- and you can look at philanthropy like an investment opportunity -- you know, what a great opportunity.

You know, the money goes farther in a lot of the countries there. Perhaps there`s a greater appreciation for the kids because they have less. You know, I don`t want to say that it`s a better opportunity, just because, you know, there are so many great opportunities in America to get involved and get engaged.

But I think, you know, Oprah`s done a great thing where she`s gotten involved in America and she`s getting involved in Africa. I`m sure she`s getting involved in, you know, other areas of the world, as well. So, yes, I respect her very much, Glenn.

BECK: So, I mean, here you have -- I mean, you`ve got quite a nice, little tidy sum yourself. Do you ever get up in the morning and go, "I want a frickin` Ferrari, man"? Is there ever a point where you want that lifestyle of the rich and famous?

GOLDHIRSH: Glenn, it`s interesting: That sort of stuff has very little interest to me. You know, I think all of us are hustling after our happiness. I`m very, very grateful that my parents raised me in a way where that sort of stuff isn`t what`s going to give me happiness.

BECK: OK, so what do they do specifically to give that you perspective, besides -- you know, what was the little stuff that they did that gave you that perspective, that, you know, so many Americans are struggling with, "Gee, if I just had a flat-panel TV, my family would be happier," and they`re wrong. What did your dad do, your parents do?

GOLDHIRSH: You know, they certainly did a lot of stuff, and they did their best to pass on these values. But the reality is, we had a lot of problems growing up, also. And the fact that we had those problems while having money, you know, helped really articulate that, you know, money is not the solution.

So, you know, I think once you have it, it`s very easy to say, "This isn`t it." You know, maybe if you don`t have it, you can look at that as kind of the silver bullet. And I think to a certain degree, you know, to get to a certain level, it is so important.

But once you have your economic comfort, you have enough to eat, you have a warm house, you know, that sort of stuff, then the rest, you know, it`s up for the individual to decide of what really is adding value to their life.

You know, for me, it`s just -- I`m so excited I have the opportunity to work, to have the opportunity to push this magazine, to have the opportunity to give the kids who work at the magazine, you know, like you said, paying it forward. You know, everyone is so thrilled to dig in.

And, you know, we`re so excited to see what`s out there in the marketplace. Like, there`s just this emerging sensibility of giving a damn, you know. And I think it`s firing right now.

So for us, like, we have this young audience that isn`t being served by the media, that doesn`t want to read the "New Yorker" or the "Economist," and, you know, here comes "Good," which caters to their tastes and their aesthetic.

BECK: Ben, I have to tell you, I`m excited about the work that you`re doing. Congratulations. Congratulations.

GOLDHIRSH: Thanks a lot.

BECK: And thanks for being on the program tonight. That is the "Real Story" tonight.

If you`d like to read more about this or if you found a "Real Story" of your own that you`d like to tell us about, please visit glennbeck.com and click on that "Real Story" button.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: OK, illegal aliens may be a serious problem on our southern border and on the northern border, but what about the aliens who may be crossing another border? Oh, yes, the border above. That`s right.

We`re talking about outer space, aliens, extraterrestrials, Latoya Jackson, you know, you know, they`re here, they`re among us. More and more people believe that space aliens may be coming.

Now listen to this story, because this is an actual news story. This isn`t like out of the "Weekly World News." Chicago O`Hare`s airport recently -- the United Airlines employees claim they observed a flying saucer-like object hovering low over the terminal for several minutes before bolting through the thick clouds with such ferocity that it actually left like a creepy hole in the cloudy skies overhead.

So what was it? A hoax? An alien attack? Were they observing us? Is this a military operation? What was it?

Joining us now is UFO historian Richard Dolan and the guy who actually broke the story. His name is John Hilkevitch. He is from Chicago and the "Chicago Tribune."

John, let me start with you. The UFO witnesses in Chicago, they`re not nuts, are they? They are like really fine, upstanding people?

JON HILKEVITCH, "CHICAGO TRIBUNE": And they`re very serious about this. They`re all United Airlines employees, ranging from pilots to supervisors, who heard chatter about this on the radio and raced out and saw it in the sky, aircraft mechanics, veterans of O`Hare who have been there for a long time, know how lights can play tricks in the sky, and they say this wasn`t that. This was a real, metallic, gray object, low in the sky, and they want answers.

BECK: OK, do you believe them? Do you believe that they believe it or -- do you believe that they really saw what they think they saw?

HILKEVITCH: I believe that what they`re reporting -- and it is real, and they were concerned about safety. They`re not necessarily saying that this is a craft from another galaxy...

BECK: Sure.

HILKEVITCH: ... but they`re saying this is an unidentified flying object, low in the sky over the world`s second-busiest airport. It could pose a collision risk, who knows, a security risk, in this era of post- 9/11. And they...

BECK: Now, let me go to Richard here. I`m sorry to interrupt. But let me go to Richard for just a second and ask you, because isn`t this the same kind of thing that, when we had the new stealth fighters out, everybody was saying, "It`s an alien spacecraft." No, it`s just a secret military aircraft that we hadn`t announced for years in advance.

Is there a possibility that you think that this is just some sort of military aircraft that we haven`t released that we have?

RICHARD DOLAN, UFO HISTORIAN: Sure, anything is possible, Glenn. But if you want to go that route, then I think what you need to do, to be honest about it, is go back through the decades and, indeed, generations of reports that we`ve collected of these types of objects that people have been seeing.

And let me just add that this is a phenomenon that not simply civilian people have been dealing with, but U.S. military personnel had been encountering what appear to be UFOs -- I don`t know what else you would call them -- objects that military pilots have frequently said are disc- shaped, that look exotic, that behave in unusual ways, and that have violated sensitive airspace time and again for many, many years.

So if this is a secret, covert project, as many people have speculated, it seems to be going on in a rather confrontational, provocative way, and that really doesn`t have any explanation.

BECK: All right. So, John, you think that this is -- there was some sort of a cover-up. At least the FAA was not real honest with you when you first asked, right?

HILKEVITCH: Well, yes. I went to the FAA, and they said they have no reports of this at all. I put in a Freedom of Information Act request, and then they got back to me several days later, saying that, in reviewing the communication tapes at O`Hare, they did come across chatter involving this object, and that a United supervisor contacted the FAA manager in the tower and asked that they, the controllers, had seen anything unusual.

Also, United Airlines told me that they had no reports of this, even though the fact is that they were interviewing up to a dozen employees who reported observing this, asking them to write reports, draw pictures.

After my story broke on Monday, United said, "Well, yes, we have been talking to these employees."

BECK: OK, so, Richard, why would United, why would the FAA -- give me an explanation why these guys would be hiding this stuff?

DOLAN: Well, I mean, one reason just might be that they`re embarrassed to come out and say that, "Oh, yes, you know, we`ve got this UFO hanging out over O`Hare and we don`t know what to do about it."

Let`s face it. If you`re running a large corporation or a bureaucracy, the last thing you want to do is stick your neck out on an issue like this. And so it doesn`t surprise me at all. And, in fact, this is, again, part of a long history.

FAA, as well, has not always been forthcoming over many, many alleged cases. I mean, witnesses have seen these very bizarre things for years and years. And it`s very tough to get a straight answer out of a lot of government agencies or other corporate bodies.

BECK: All right. And then, John, let me go back to you and ask -- I mean, jeez, I saw Saddam Hussein hung with a cell phone camera. How come there`s no pictures? Are there pictures? Is there video? Is there anything? Here it is, over Chicago and O`Hare Airport, how come we don`t see any visuals?

HILKEVITCH: Well, pictures haven`t emerged yet, but I`m told that the flight crew that was being pushed back, one of the pilots did open the wind screen, look out, did identify this object, and he had a digital camera. He may have taken some pictures.

We`re also hearing other reports that there may have been photographs from camera phones and such that United Airlines may be aware of this. And I`m working -- believe me -- to find these witnesses...

BECK: OK, if anybody has information on those witnesses, how do they get a hold of you?

HILKEVITCH: Gosh, JHilkevitch@ChicagoTribune.com.

BECK: Yes, I mean, if you`ve got pictures, man, send them in, because I`d like to see them, too. Thank you so much, guys. Appreciate it.

Now, let`s check in with Nancy Grace, see what she`s got coming up on the show tonight. Nancy, what`s happening?

NANCY GRACE, CNN HOST: Glenn, twin babies snatched away. The kidnapped eluding cops in a game of cat and mouse. The twins then hidden outside the U.S. But now that kidnapper heads to court, facing life behind bars. P.S., Glenn, the perp: the twins` own mother.

And, tonight, a 3-month-old toddler in just a diaper and a teen shirt found wondering alone on a high-speed Indiana freeway. Where`s Mommy? At home asleep. Another kid found on the floor trying to feed itself old spaghetti.

Glenn, can you say "foster care"?

BECK: I`ve got to tell you, Nancy, last night we were watching your show, and my wife said, "Some people should just not be allowed to procreate."

Don`t forget. You can check out Nancy tonight at 8:00 and 10:00 p.m. Eastern.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: There are many things to look forward to in life, as I see it. There`s a great family, happy marriage, and, of course, watching K-Fed get the crap beat out of him. Now, there`s a really good chance that you will fail at the first two, but I can take care of number three for you in a minute.

First, Heather in Akron, "Generally, I find myself disagreeing with you, Mr. Beck. However, tonight I made special note to watch the program because I wanted to hear your thoughts on the Koran being used to swear in political figures. I greatly respect your reiterating our country`s right to freedom of religion and what it truly means. Unfortunately, there is a lot of ignorance in our population, and understandably so, based on recent history."

I don`t think it`s ignorance, necessarily. It is a constant beating up of traditions, more specifically, Christian traditions that make people get defensive. But in this case, the same freedom of religion that should allow the nativity on the town square allows the Koran to be used in a personal ceremony that amounts to a photo-op.

Natalie writes in, "I`m curious to know what your stance on the whole trans-fat issue. I know our nation has an obesity problem, but it seems like such a trivial matter these days to care about what people are eating. And it`s becoming a law to not allow this fat in foods. Seriously. We have cigarettes, and booze, and drugs running rampart, Iran threatening nuclear weapons, but trans-fat? Give me a break."

Natalie, I got to tell you, it`s only getting worse. Today there were two stories on this. The U.K. is banning the advertising of cheese to children. They say cheese is junk food. And the government thinks Kraft apparently is evil.

But the other story is an example of how this should be handled. Starbucks is getting rid of trans-fats in half of its restaurants by choice. They decided what was right for them, and their customers will choose whether they want to continue to buy their food or not. It`s called capitalism.

It is the same concept that crushed Kevin Federline`s rap career. And now it has caused him to do this: yes, wrestle in the WWE. Pretty good segue, huh? Britney Spears` soon-to-be ex is being thrown to the ground by a very large person.

And I`ve got to say, America is the greatest country on the planet. Now, some will say that wrestling is fake and K-Fed isn`t paralyzed for life, I`m not so sure that`s true. But it sounds like a future "Real Story." K-Fed, go to glennbeck.com, click on the "Real Story" button, and send that in.

If you want to e-mail me, ask me to replay the K-Fed video, that`s cool. Go to GlennBeck@CNN.com. We`ll see you tomorrow right here, you sick freak.

END