Return to Transcripts main page

Glenn Beck

Pollution Pass; Mexican Trucks in America; Anna Nicole Buried in Lavish Ceremony; Kerik Weighs in on NYC Terror Threats; Could Scientology Have Saved Anna Nicole?

Aired March 02, 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: Even in death, Anna Nicole Smith manages to be pretty in pink. I`ll have the details from today`s surreal funeral.
Also, is Iran targeting New York City for terrorist attacks? Stand by.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Tonight`s episode of "Glenn Beck" is brought to you by PinkCasket.com. I mean, death doesn`t have to be a downer. When you`re choosing your final resting place, be like Anna Nicole Smith and think pink.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: You know, I have to tell you, I don`t think I`ve ever seen a life and death as bizarre as Anna Nicole Smith. I don`t think I`ve ever made fun of somebody`s funeral before. It`s weird.

Anna Nicole Smith`s body began thawing last night, and a team of undertakers worked around the clock to ensure that she looked like a star for her close-up, Mr. De Mille, at her funeral. She has a tiara and a designer dress, and all the gory details are everywhere.

It`s been more than three weeks since she died. We still don`t know the cause of her death, but we know more than we could have ever imagined about this troubled starlet`s life.

Here is the point tonight. Anna Nicole Smith lived a life of dramatic excess, and her death was exactly the same. Here`s how I got there.

The event planner designed Anna Nicole Smith`s funeral to be something, quoting, "very beautiful, very private, and very over the top." Oh, and very pink.

I`ve got to tell you, I said it yesterday. Again, I don`t know why anybody -- I don`t know why Jay Leno or anybody else is paying comedy writers when lines like that are being said for free.

We all watched last week as Judge Crybaby ruled that Smith should be buried in the Bahamas next to her son, Daniel. Since that ruling, Anna Nicole`s funeral has turned into a VIP event that makes the Oscars look like a barn dance.

Access to Anna Nicole`s decomposing body has been sold like it was a pay per view semi-professional wrestling match, which kind of makes sense, since Hulk Hogan actually attended the funeral. Not kidding.

"Entertainment Tonight" bought the exclusive video rights to the church memorial service. A British news agency bought the exclusive photo rights to the burial. And even the owners of the church property are cashing in, charging $5,000 for every satellite dish in their parking lot and $2,000 for every still photographer.

Yes, nothing really says reverence for the dead like a funeral with a cover charge.

As for the guest list, all of the parties involved, Anna Nicole`s pimp lawyer, Howard K. Stern, her estranged mother, Virgie Arthur, Larry Birkhead, the Kato Kaelin of the production, were each given nine tickets to the private graveside ceremony.

You know, I don`t mean to come off as holier than thou. I`ve been talking about this story just like everybody else has. You know, I haven`t been setting my TiVo to catch all the coverage. But I am strangely fascinated by this circus.

But when does our curiosity turn from the normal to the morbid? Have we crossed that line yet? How can we make sure we never lose sight of our priorities?

It`s been something we`ve been struggling in the news business for a while. I mean, you know, there is that little thing about the war in Iraq going on, the terrorist threat from Iran, illegal immigration. You know, stuff that actually impacts our life long after Anna Nicole is finally, hopefully resting in peace.

So here`s what I know tonight. As I sat and watched Anna Nicole`s funeral procession being broadcast live on every channel, I couldn`t help but get a little angry. We`re almost a month into the celebration of a dead drug-addled centerfield, yet young men and women go off to fight in the Middle East each and every day, and they`re still alive and there`s no real coverage on that.

Say what you will, but I believe that Anna Nicole Smith wasted her life and her time here. She`s being treated like a -- like a head of state. Instead let`s try giving praise and respect and attention to those who truly deserve it, brave young -- young men and women who risk their life for something, not some white trash junkie who threw her life away for nothing.

Here`s what I don`t know. When will this spectacle actually end? It ain`t over now. There are so many answers that need to be answered -- so many questions that need to be answered. There`s Anna Nicole`s cause of death. The paternity. Is anybody paying attention to that? And whether the father and child will receive the half billion dollars from Smith`s second ex-husband, who`s also dead and now, I believe, is in her hands in an urn in her coffin.

Wendy Murphy, a former prosecutor, now at New England School of Law, and Ashleigh Banfield of Court TV join me now.

Wendy, let me start with you. I got up this morning, and I actually was feeling good that she`s finally being put in the ground. Let`s show some respect.

And then I heard that the father of her dead son is now trying to get the body of her son exhumed and moved to Texas?

WENDY MURPHY, FORMER PROSECUTOR: You know, I didn`t watch any of this at all today, because I intentionally didn`t want to be in that class of scoundrels you described in your monologue.

But in terms of this exhumation, all it makes me think of, Glenn, is that who ever touched this woman is going to file an action someplace. For what purpose? So they can get a little bit of the cash. They`re all looking for a payoff. Oh, dismiss your claim and we`ll give you a little bit of money.

That is, in fact, some of what we`ve heard has already been going on. Virgie Arthur, drop your appeal and we`ll let you visit the baby.

And what you said really sums up the essence of the problem from one end of this case to the other. It is all about the commodification of this human being and greed, greed, greed.

I don`t want to talk about it anymore, unless and until it becomes a homicide investigation. Then I want to talk about it a lot, because that is something we should care about.

BECK: OK. So Ashleigh, let me go back to do you believe this with the father, that he`s using his dead son`s body to cash in?

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, COURT TV: I don`t know if that`s the case. He may have teamed up with Virgie Arthur, because apparently she had some intentions of trying to finagle the system in the Bahamas to try to get guardianship of the baby, establish next of kinship to Daniel, exhume Daniel and thereby have the right to one day exhume Anna Nicole.

I think the issue here, though, is it could be a homicide investigation. We`re still waiting on an inquest on Daniel`s death. It`s scheduled for three weeks.

And they`ve actually said in the Bahamas, if you can believe it, sorry to be the bearer of this news, that they may consider exhuming Daniel for that.

BECK: Oh, my gosh. This story just -- I mean, it can`t get any worse.

BANFIELD: But you know, Glenn? Legally speaking, I hate to say this, it has been a wonderful lesson for a lot of people. We don`t wedge ourselves into probate courts to find out what`s been going on and how they actually operate and how they work and how certain judges behave.

So in a way, you know, I`m sorry to say, but it was Anna Nicole that brought it to us. We did get an unfortunate lesson across this country in how a lot of these legal proceedings work.

BECK: So Wendy, the judge, Judge Crybaby, or what was his name?

MURPHY: Judge Seidlin.

BECK: Seidlin. He actually said, well, she wanted to be buried next to the son. So if they exhume the body does that turn that over? If they move the son to Texas?

MURPHY: Yes. You know what? I actually -- if I could find an objective person who actually cared about this woman, I would probably, if I could be Judge Solomon instead of Judge Crybaby...

BECK: Yes.

MURPHY: ... and we really need one like that. I would probably allow an exhumation, even if, you know -- even if it really isn`t technically legal. I would want an exhumation, because Daniel died in the Bahamas completely by accident.

Everyone who loved him can`t go and see his body or visit his grave site or do whatever it is that they do in the Bahamas. So I would want him to be exhumed.

And then if we talk about Anna Nicole`s intentions to be buried next to her son, she can be buried next to him in the correct place, where they both deserve to be buried.

What I`m worried about, Glenn, is I don`t think anybody has the political will, the gumption, or the wherewithal to put, you know, the sort of concerns about these people as human beings above the money interests, which are now in the hands of the Bahamian law enforcement and judicial officials. And I really don`t think they give one hoot about anything you said.

BECK: OK. Well, let me ask you this. Has anybody, have either of you heard this speculation, that there is a money deal being made with Birkhead?

MURPHY: Yes. Have you heard that? I don`t know if Ashleigh has heard that. But go ahead, Ashleigh, if you`ve heard that.

BANFIELD: The only money deal, if we want to term it that way, would be some kind of a settlement. And actually it comes of making Larry Birkhead look a bit more favorable.

Because the discussions so far -- they`ve been rumored, not confirmed -- is that the settlement discussion between Stern and Birkhead is that "You take the baby, Birkhead; I keep control of the estate."

MURPHY: That doesn`t make Larry Birkhead look better. It makes them both look like scoundrels.

BECK: I`ve got to tell you. I...

BANFIELD: The baby without the money?

BECK: Oh, no.

MURPHY: Access to the child and the child`s inheritance makes them better?

BECK: You know what? You can have all the money in the world and you can be -- look at Anna Nicole. I would rather have that child with somebody who says, "I don`t want any of your money. I want nothing to do with it. I just want the child." I agree with you, Ashleigh. Thank you very much.

Wendy, thanks. Ashleigh.

Quick programming note here. On Monday we`re doing our show from the secular Islam summit in Florida. Please, do not miss this show.

I have told you that I`ve been looking for the Muslims who are trying to take back their religion from the radicals. Monday I will introduce you to some of these good people, and their lives are in danger. Please watch Monday`s show.

Coming up, the NYPD says Iranian operatives were scouting potential targets across New York City as far back as 2003. Why is it coming out now? We`ll get some answers from a top cop.

Plus, plans for the NAFTA superhighway may be back in high gear. I`ll tell you why this puts our security in serious danger in tonight`s "Real Story".

And Al Gore loves to preach about environmentalism. Too bad he`s doing it currently from a 22-room mansion that uses ten times the electricity of the average American home. I`ll have the inconvenient truth behind Al Gore`s giant carbon footprint. Coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BECK: Yesterday I told you "Newsweek" magazine reported that in November 2003 two high-level officials of the Iranian mission to the U.N., described as security personnel -- sounds like fancy code names for terrorists if you ask me -- were detained by transit cops when they were seen videotaping subway tracks from Queens to Manhattan at 1:10 in the morning. That`s when I like to videotape stuff.

The men later left New York City, but New York City police commissioner Ray Kelly put the fear of God in everybody by saying, "I think we should be concerned that Iranian agents were engaged in reconnaissance that might be used in an attack against New York City at some future date."

Now considering this happened four years ago, why are we just finding out about this now? What does it mean for the future security of New York City?

Bernard Kerik, he is the former New York City police commissioner.

Bernard, pleasure to meet you, sir.

BERNARD KERIK, FORMER NYPD COMMISSIONER: Thank you.

BECK: Nice to have you on.

KERIK: Thanks.

BECK: Why are we hearing about this now? Timing seems interesting to me.

KERIK: Well, I think it may have come up recently. The New York City Police Department has a program called NYPD Shield, and that program is a communications network between the New York City Police Department, the intelligence and counterterrorism units, and the private sector security establishments throughout the city and around the city.

So basically on a quarterly basis or a need-to-know basis, the NYPD will brief these private sector security managers, managers in charge, you know, that look at the security for the economic development areas, for buildings like this. They`ll be briefed on recent things that may have happened in and around the area with regard to terroristic threat, security threats, so forth and so on.

BECK: So is it possible, because I know our security in this building are briefed by New York City police...

KERIK: Right.

BECK: Is it possible that this is being regurgitated or brought back up again because now people are prepared to hear this or it`s more on the radar?

KERIK: I think if you have -- you have a circumstance right now where you have the president of Iran, you know, threatening this country, threatening the region; 40,000 suicide bombers he wants to put in the region of the Arab region. He wants to wipe Israel from the face of the earth, you know.

He`s basically a terrorist running a nation. You know, he`s extremely loud and vocal. He wants nuclear capability. It`s the front page of all the media and the papers today. You know, and people are concerned.

And I think, you know, looking back at these people that were probably in New York City in 2003, it`s something that came up at one of these meetings, went public, and somebody let it out to the "Newsweek".

BECK: This is something that, I mean, I`ve been called a kook now for almost a year talking about Iran. I`ve been talking about Iran for three years, that this is -- these are scary dudes.

And last summer on this program we talked about the No. 2 advisor, kind of the Karl Rove, if you will, over in Iran, who is on the record, who has been saying, "We have been scouting places in America. We know where we will hit them if the time or when the time comes."

KERIK: It is a -- it is definitely one of the predominant threats against this country and the western civilization today.

Radical Islam, you know, you look at the movement against the west. Where does a lot of it come from? It comes out of Iran. You look what they`re doing in Iraq today, the Iranian influence from Basra up into the north of Baghdad, coming out of Iran. You look at the arms found in Iraq, coming out of Iran.

These are government-sanctioned operations that`s having a major negative impact on our troops in Iraq. They do not want Iraq to be stabilized.

BECK: OK.

KERIK: They want to run the region.

BECK: Every time -- I travel around the country an awful lot, and I see cops from coast to coast, and every time I run into a cop, if they watch this show they`ll say to me the same thing, every time: "Please continue to get this message out. People don`t see what we see. It is coming."

Why can`t this message connect with the American people?

KERIK: You know why, Glenn? Because you can`t see the threat. This isn`t like World War I and World War II, where you had a defined enemy, where you had a government enemy, where you had uniforms, where you had foreign military.

The enemy of today, and I am in the region every month. I`m in Jordan or Kuwait or Dubai, at least once a month, sometimes twice. I know and understand the threat probably better than most.

You can`t see it. They`re like ghosts. These people blend into society, and the problem with our country is they -- we don`t want to believe that we`re at war, because they don`t see it like they did in World War I and World War II.

These people are at war with us, without a doubt. They`re at war with us. We, in turn, are not at war with them, because we can`t feel it. We don`t see it. We don`t understand them. We still don`t understand the mindset and the ideology and the culture of people that want to die.

It`s not like they`re taking a risk. They`re going to go to war and take a risk at dying. They want to die for their cause. We don`t get that. The people in this country don`t get it. They don`t understand it, and because they don`t, you know, they`re sort of in this deniability stage about it being realistic.

BECK: You`ve seen so much. You were here on 9/11 and everything else. You know what`s coming. What keeps you awake at night? What do you -- what`s your worst nightmare that you think is plausible?

KERIK: Suicidals. We have yet to see in this country suicidal operations like we`ve seen now in Jordan, in London, in Madrid and in other areas around the world. We have yet to have the internals here.

BECK: Why? Why?

KERIK: Well, one of the main reasons is because from September 11 on, you know, we have changed the way we gather intelligence. You know, there`s the Patriot Act, the mandate by the president for the CIA and the FBI to communicate.

BECK: You know this as well as I do: that`s not nearly as strong as what they have in England. I mean, what they have in England makes the Patriot Act look like child`s play.

KERIK: It does, but I think we`re better in collecting intelligence and communicating. You know, the NYPD Shield program, you know, how are we dealing with the private sector and communications and coordination between the private sector and the -- and the intelligence agencies? We`re doing 100 percent more than we were doing on September 10 of `01.

BECK: Yes.

KERIK: So I think a lot of that has had a lot to do with preventing, preparing, planning, being preemptive, proactive, and that`s going to be the key to the success of fighting this war on these -- in this country.

BECK: OK. Thank you, sir.

KERIK: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BECK: Up next, a fast look forward into Anna Nicole`s -- her baby daughter. We have some pictures that it might hold a clue on who the father really is. Don`t miss it. It`s coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BECK: You know, I`m not stupid. I get it. All the talk about the end of the world, it wears you down, you know. That`s why from time to time I like to do a little spoon full of sugar for the brain, tackle the really important questions like could Scientology really have saved Anna Nicole Smith? Will Lindsay Lohan ever wear underpants again? You know, stuff that really matters.

Joining me now for his take is Danny Bonaduce from 97.1 Free FM.

Danny, Scientology saving Anna Nicole Smith?

DANNY BONADUCE, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Yes, well, actually I heard that as a direct quote from John Travolta.

BECK: Right.

BONADUCE: And, you know, even though he`s a big Scientologist, his career is still dead. So if it couldn`t save that, how could it save Anna?

BECK: No. It did actually save his career. You know, I met John Travolta years ago when he -- what was he, like in "Amerika" with a "K", horrible movie. And -- and he was the nicest, kindest guy. And then his career took off again.

BONADUCE: He did "Pulp Fiction" and made a comeback, but I don`t think he`s had a hit since.

BECK: Well, let`s not -- your last hit, I believe, was in 1970...

BONADUCE: Your last hit`s coming in about 15 minutes, tough guy.

BECK: All right. OK. So they say -- what he said was Anna Nicole Smith could have been saved, even though, strangely enough, we found out today -- I never would have believed this -- that she died of pneumonia, but she could have been saved by Scientology.

What is the deal in Hollywood with Scientologists? Why does it take off in Hollywood? Why are they attracted to this religion?

BONADUCE: Well, I`ll tell you my belief on this, my opinion on this. L. Ron Hubbard before he passed away and Scientology today own most of Hollywood Boulevard for several miles. And when you come out to L.A. to be an actor, you come out to Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood and Vine. And there`s all these Scientology places that say testing room, reading room, free I.Q. test.

And you end up in there, and pretty soon you`re involved with Scientology, and then your career takes off. And now there`s a breed of Scientologists that make other young actors believe going to Scientology will make their careers take off.

It`s much like when I go to certain A.A. meetings in Hollywood. I think half the people there don`t really drink. They just come to see the movie stars.

BECK: Wow, that`s wild.

There was a statement from the A.P. In fact, I have it here. This is on Paris Hilton, to change the subject. This is from the A.P., February 13. "Next week, the print team is planning an unconventional experiment: we are NOT going to cover Paris Hilton. Barring any major, major news, we are not going to put a single word out about Paris on the wire."

Well, now there`s this story that`s coming out from the A.P. that Paris Hilton had her Bentley impounded. And I`m wondering, Danny, why this is news.

BONADUCE: Well, first of all, for me it`s news because the Bentley was $190,000. But I think it`s very funny, because they`re saying we`re not printing anything about Paris Hilton unless it`s important. And as far as I`m concerned, the words "Paris Hilton" and "important" are oxymorons.

You know, what does that mean, she actually wore underwear today? Is that news? Paris Hilton would not be interesting to me unless she spontaneously burst into flames. I would go, now that was an interesting trick.

BECK: You know, you say that -- you say that the Bentley was $190,000, and that`s what was news to you. What`s news to me is the reason why they impounded it is apparently, she forgot to turn on her lights. And she was coming out of, she said, a very lit parking garage, yada yada, didn`t have her lights on.

I think you can get a Kia with automatic lights. Maybe it`s just me. Danny.

BONADUCE: Well, also, the fact that she had no driver`s license. Her driver`s license was suspended for a drunk driving arrest no more than 90 days ago.

BECK: Technicality. We`ll be right back with "The Real Story" next.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Yesterday, I told you about James Cameron and how he doesn`t believe in miracles, especially the religious ones. Well, yesterday, Jim better steer clear of Houston, Texas, now that Miss Guadalupe Rodriguez is in town, because the Virgin Mary appeared to her on a pizza pan.

Now, I`m not saying that the holy mother definitely appeared on a giant cookie sheet, but I`m not not saying that either. So, James Cameron, who feels stupid now?

Moving on, you know that fence that the government is supposed to be building between the United States and Mexico? Personally, I don`t think that thing is ever going to be built for all kinds of reasons, most of them revolving around politicians in Washington who have sold us out, like a bunch of jellyfish. Today, some Democrats and environmental groups are now doing their extra-special part to make sure that I`m right.

Their latest problem with a fence along the border is that they feel it will interfere with the native habitat of the ocelot, a blood-thirsty mountain cat. The real story is: Boo frickin` hoo!

If every ocelot on planet Earth has to go paws-up in the name of protecting our border, I`m pretty comfortable with that, how about you?

First of all, the Secure Fence Act of 2006 authorized the building of a 700-mile fence along the border with Mexico. So far, 83 miles have been built. Contractor must be getting paid by the mile or the hour.

Ocelots: You`ve been warned. See all that construction going on, the guys with the hard hats, drinking coffee, listening to .38 Special on the radio? At their current rate of progress, they`ll be done with that 700- mile fence by 2015, so make your relocation plans now while you still have a chance.

Secondly, this is what an ocelot looks like. Not exactly "Hello Kitty," now, is he? Everybody knows that, given a chance, these feline monsters would rip your throat out and then play with your lifeless corpse like a rubber mouse. So save your tears, you Sierra Club-PETA-Greenpeace crybabies. Man up. Like it or not, as life on Earth evolves, some species just don`t make it.

Ocelot, I know you`re on the endangered species list, an argument that quite frankly bores me to tears. But as far as I`m concerned, all "endangered" means is that you`ve gotten some good press from a bunch of bleeding hearts in Birkenstocks, former Jerry Brown supporters, with a taste for tofu.

You`ve had a good run, ocelot, but illegal immigration threatens my survival. And if it`s going to be me or you, guess who`s used up the last of their nine lives? Yes, you have!

Truthfully, I don`t mind wasting, you know, good fence money installing one of those swinging little kitty doors, but I haven`t heard a lot of support for that one, so it looks like you`re out of luck. However, I am open to enslaving the ocelots and turning them into a pack of roaming mercenary death cats, serving the United States as a deterrent to illegal border crossings, but I don`t see non-nut jobs signing up for that one, either.

Look, ocelots, maybe someday in a "Planet of the Apes"-like scenario you`ll end up taking over the world, and I`ll be crying, looking at the half-buried Statue of Liberty. And if that`s the way it goes down, congratulations. Then you can call the shots, fence me out, and eat me first.

Until then, either adapt or get your affairs in order. Because given the choice between saving Pepe the Panther or our national security, I say, "Adios."

Speaking of the border -- you know, by the way, I was just thinking, do I need to remind you here that I`m a conservative? Yes, redundant after that story, isn`t it?

Anyway, last week, the Bush administration announced a plan to allow 100 Mexican trucking companies to haul freight deeper into the United States than ever before. Right now, trucks from America and Mexico are allowed only 20 miles in to each other`s country to deliver cargo.

This "pilot project" that will never go away will let Mexican truck companies travel throughout the entire United States without any restriction. The real story is, this is one more unacceptable step towards this great country becoming something more like MexAmeriCanada, and we`ve got to stop the insanity.

This is an unofficial offshoot of the NAFTA superhighway plan, a proposal that would build a highway that is four football fields wide and will stretch all the way from Mexico, cutting right through the heartland of America, to Canada.

See, the advocates of this kind of "progress" are always yammering on about free trade, but the facts don`t back them up. Just like the original NAFTA sent over 600,000 U.S. jobs south of the border and Mexico is now even starting to feel the NAFTA sting, this plan to allow Mexican trucks throughout the U.S. will only hurt American trucking, the industry that helped build this country into the economic giant that it is.

Allowing lower-waged, lower-standard Mexican drivers to compete in the U.S. market with regulated American truck drivers is the very definition of unfair trade. International corporations win, while the working man here in America loses.

As I said a minute ago, I`m a conservative, but I think I found a way to even convince Al Gore and Leonardo DiCaprio that this is a bad idea. Al and Leo, hear me out here. While you`re carpooling in your Prius and stuck in all the new traffic that this moronic plan would create, roll down your window, and take a deep breath, and think about this.

One study predicts that Mexican trucks would add 50 tons per day of smog-forming emissions into the air, more than all the pollution generated by the 350 biggest industrial sources combined.

I don`t know about you, but I`m sick and tired of diluting our sovereignty. I am sick of politicians telling us half-truths, untruths, and everything but the truth. North America is not one country, but three of them, and I like it that way. I love Mexican food, and Canada usually shuts the yap and minds their own business.

You make good neighbors, really, you do, Canada.

Maybe the European Union is comfortable with giving up their individual identities in favor of cultural and economic homogenization, but not here, not in America. The economic, environmental, and national security impact of this idiotic proposal is far too great to ignore, but that`s what we`ll do.

We certainly don`t need to give more people more ways in and out of our country. We can`t even patrol the ones we have now. Like it or not, in the post-9/11 world, our protection must take precedent over big business and, dare I say, big cats.

Here now is James P. Hoffa, president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Jim, you said that this plan is playing a game of Russian roulette on America highways. What do you mean by that?

JAMES P. HOFFA, GENERAL PRESIDENT, TEAMSTERS UNION: Well, absolutely. We`re turning unsafe trucks, unsafe truck drivers from Mexico, opening up our borders when there`s no showing that they are safe or that these drivers have the necessary training.

Congress said a while back, just a couple of years ago, that there shall be no cross-border trucking until they meet our standards. They haven`t met our standards. And does anybody believe what the Bush administration is saying about that they`re going to inspect thousands of trucks?

BECK: No.

HOFFA: Well, I`ve been to the border. No one is inspecting anything, and they`re basically going to turn these people loose. I`ve got another one. The American driving public is really the guinea pig for this very dangerous experiment.

BECK: OK. So, please, I continue to ask this question, and it always is answered the same way. It`s one of two ways, either money or I don`t know, but as I`m looking at this, I just started jotting down on the side of this story just reasons why it`s a bad idea: bad for our air quality; bad for the safety on our roads; bad for homeland security; bad for border security; bad for drugs; bad for American jobs.

So why the hell are our politicians doing it?

HOFFA: Well, there`s a groupthink here in Washington about the border and about NAFTA, which I`m fighting and you`re fighting, and we`re saying, you know, we are sovereign countries. We should protect our highways.

And what`s happening is, there`s this groupthink that we`ve got to open these borders. And they`re along with the other people, which are really the money people, the big corporations, that have moved across the Rio Grande, the GMs, the Sonys, and General Electrics, you know, hundreds and hundreds of major corporations that want cheap trucking.

They don`t give a damn about the safety of our highways, and they want to unleash these trucks coming across the border so they can save a few bucks, and they can put it in their pocket for their CEOs. That`s what it`s all about. You know, it`s the old story, Glenn: When you can`t figure it out, it`s about money.

BECK: OK. Tell me if this is true, because it sure rings true to me: $25 is what a Mexican truck driver is paid currently to take a load across the border. Why do we think that some drug lord wouldn`t say to somebody who`s making $25 per delivery, why wouldn`t we believe that somebody would come to them and say, "Hey, $10,000, just get this across the border"?

HOFFA: Well, I think this happened already. I know of incidents like that. I`ve got one better for you. You just think about, you know, the fact that these -- we don`t know who these people are. You know, the Mexican government -- you know, NAFTA has been law since, what, 1992, 1993. They have had all this time to modernize their system to make it like the United States.

To this day, they still don`t have a computer system that basically tracks truck drivers, just like they track you and me and our cars. You know, I have a record. You have a record. If I get a speeding ticket, it`s somewhere in a computer. They don`t even have that.

So when these people come across the border, you`re right. We don`t know who they are. We don`t know if they`re really the people they say they are. We all know that you can buy fake I.D. anywhere in Mexico or San Diego or...

BECK: New York.

HOFFA: Or New York, and so who are these people? They`re not in a computer, so how do we know who they are?

BECK: OK, so, Jim, quick. I`ve got about 20 seconds. What is it that the guy who`s currently screaming, you know, at their television, sitting on their couch, what is it we can do? We`re tired of hearing this with nothing to do.

HOFFA: Well, you know, the Teamsters are leading the fight. A number of politicians, Patty Murray, a number of people are going to have hearings. We`re going to speak out about the emissions. We`re going to speak about highway safety. And we`re going to call attention to this.

The answer is, you know, it`s the old story. If we don`t stand up and speak out, write your congressman. Let`s do something to try and turn this around.

BECK: All right, Jim, thanks.

HOFFA: Thank you.

BECK: That`s "The Real Story" tonight. We`ll be back in just a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: Al Gore, what a fraud. I may have a bigger carbon footprint than Al Gore. I`m not sure. I want to see my carbon footprint. And if it`s not big enough, I`m going to expand it.

I`m going to go out and smoke coal cigarettes today, just to piss Al Gore off. But I`ll show you his carbon footprint, and it will astound you, how a guy who`s telling me to use a fluorescent light bulb has a huge carbon footprint.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: Now, it turns out that Al Gore is a big hypocrite on this, according to at least the Tennessee Center for Policy Research. His 20- room house, pool house devoured nearly 221,000 kilowatt hours in 2006. I don`t know how many I really spent until this morning. I looked it up. That`s more than 20 times the national average. Gore`s average monthly electric bill was about $1,300. That means that the Gores paid almost $30,000 in gas and electric in 2006.

Well, lucky for Al Gore, his Oscar goody bag included 100,000 free pounds of greenhouse gas reductions from TerraPass. The press release says that this is enough to balance out the average year in the life of an Academy Award presenter. For example, 100,000 pounds is the total amount of carbon dioxide created by 20,000 miles of driving, 40,000 miles on a commercial airline, and 20 hours in a private jet, and a large house in Los Angeles.

Tom Arnold is the chief environmental officer for TerraPass. Tom, you are quite possibly the smartest capitalist I have ever met. This is brilliant stuff.

TOM ARNOLD, CHIEF ENVIRONMENTAL OFFICER, TERRAPASS.COM: Well, I`ll take that as a compliment. Thank you.

BECK: I actually mean it as a compliment, because what you`re doing is you`re selling, basically, special dispensation, aren`t you?

ARNOLD: Well, we hope that it`s kind of a little mind-opening. Maybe you this morning, when you calculated your own personal carbon footprint, were taken aback by the sheer quantity of that number. And our goal is to translate that into positive action.

BECK: You know, I mean, let`s have it -- honestly, I think what you`re doing with the money, because you are -- I mean, you can sell it here a little bit. You`re building wind power, and solar power, et cetera, et cetera, right?

ARNOLD: Yes. The idea behind TerraPass is a simple service that helps you balance out carbon emissions, so it`s very difficult to take that number down to zero. What we help you do is support clean American energy that can help balance out the rest.

BECK: And I will tell you that I have said from the get-go, the way to solve this problem is through capitalism, and you are a smart capitalist on this. However, let`s be honest with each other. This is what Americans always do. We say, "Oh, we`re too fat," and then we look for the fat pill, and we don`t change our habits.

This is not changing habits. This is really lifestyles of the rich and famous. I can be -- I can reduce or erase my carbon footprint by sending you a check.

ARNOLD: Well, you can do that. It`s not a substitute for conservation, and it`s not the right long-term solution. But as a short- term solution, as a pathway to get people thinking about this, to get people to think, "Hmm, maybe I should fly commercial instead of in a private plane, maybe I should switch to green electricity," if we can get those people thinking about those issues, then we can make the right long- term decisions.

BECK: OK, so help me out on this. Tom, I`m going to show you my carbon footprint, and I was surprised by how large my footprint is.

Look at some of the things that we did. I do have a pool, recycle 30 percent of waste. That`s an awful lot. Solar water heater, no. Solar electricity, green electricity with renewables, no. Personal travel, I only drive about 5,000 miles a year. Airplane for personal, five to ten. I`m on the subway about 100 miles a year, 500 miles a year in taxi. This is what kills me. Business travel, 30,000 miles a year. My carbon footprint is 401 tons. The average person is 18 tons.

How much makes me sleep at night? How much do I have to pay you?

ARNOLD: So, Glenn, that`s about 20 times the average American. We sell carbon at about $10 a ton, so you`re looking for about $4,000.

BECK: So for $4,000 -- so for $4,000, give it to you, then when all the blogs hammer me and say, "Look at this mean, evil conservative," I can say, "I already paid the bill."

ARNOLD: Yes, and your money will go to support really important projects. There`s cow power projects in the Midwest, where we make electricity from cow manure. There`s three or four wind farms in the Midwest where we`re trying to displace all this coal-based energy with cleaner, again, domestic energy, so you`ll be supporting some pretty important projects with that money.

BECK: Tom, thank you. I do mean it as a compliment, that you are a very bright capitalist. Thank you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Well, yesterday I was complaining about the ocelot. It`s a killer animal that is apparently on the endangered species list. Environmentalists don`t want to disturb their natural habitat to build that Mexican border fence. Of course, if human beings would stay in their natural habitat, except when they`re legally allowed to leave, I guess we wouldn`t need that little border fence in the first place, but I digress.

Here`s the sort of thing that made people so angry last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: This is what an ocelot looks like. Not exactly "Hello Kitty," now, is he? Everybody knows that, given a chance, these feline monsters would rip your throat out and then play with your lifeless corpse like a rubber mouse. So save your tears, you Sierra Club-PETA-Greenpeace crybabies. Man up. Like it or not, as life on Earth evolves, some species just don`t make it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: Yes, and that kind of went on for about six minutes.

Gordon from Houston wrote in, "What`s with the ocelot hate, Beck? I have to say you have disappointed and alienated this gun-toting, middle-of- the-road, semi-affluent, young person. Good day to you, sir."

And that wasn`t, you know, all from the apologists for this vicious creature that I believe is planning human genocide. "Are you that much of a girly? Sure, an ocelot is an animal that would rip you to shreds, if you were a mouse. You talk tough, but you`re afraid of an animal no bigger than a house cat. What a weenie."

A housecat, are you kidding? Look at these vicious beasts. I mean, tell me that this thing wouldn`t tear you limb from limb. I think, if we do build a border fence, we need to extend it to encircle the murderous ocelot and isolate it from all humanity, in fact, maybe, just maybe, we consider a preemptive strike, air strikes strafing the ocelots. Yes, I`m just saying.

George writes in, "Are you aware that you have a rug on your step that has a very strong resemblance to the United Nations flag? I`d get rid of that or somebody might get the wrong impression of your show and its views."

Wow, interesting observation there, George. Here`s the U.N. flag, and here`s the rug. I mean, not an exact match, but I guess I can see the resemblance. It`s just a subtle signal to the audience that you shouldn`t expect this host to be any more effective than the United Nations, just trying to keep your expectations down, keep them very, very low. And besides, I like to keep my feet on it. It reminds me of the U.N. flag.

You can e-mail your decorating ideas to me at GlennBeck@CNN.com. See you tomorrow.

END