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Glenn Beck
Democratic Congress Falling Apart?; Rosie Feuds with Conservative Co-Host; Muslim Group Stands up for Airline Passengers Sued by Imams
Aired March 22, 2007 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GLENN BECK, HOST (voice-over): Tonight, a subpoena for Karl Rove? It has the Democrats smelling blood.
SEN. PATRICK LEAHY (D-VT), CHAIRMAN, SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: What we`re told we can get is nothing, nothing, nothing.
BECK: Just how ugly will it get, and when will President Bush finally fight back?
Plus, that`s it like to go one-on-one with the king of global warming?
SEN. JAMES INHOFE (R), OKLAHOMA: Senator Gore, you have had so much more time.
AL GORE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Can I make one other point?
BECK: I`ll talk to Senator Inhofe just back from the front line.
And a view to the feud.
ROSIE O`DONNELL, CO-HOST, ABC`S "THE VIEW": Elisabeth, you have to stop. You can ask a question, but you can`t just blather on your opinion.
BECK: They called a cease fire, but can it last?
This and more tonight.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BECK: They call it the Alberto Gonzales controversy, but it`s more of a non-controversy. It is headed for a show-down: the Democrats versus George W. Bush. What`s new?
The Republicans have disenfranchised their base. They did it last election. And congratulations: Democrats are about to do the same thing. The circle is almost complete.
Here`s the point tonight: the Democrats, they`re about to be swept into the trash can of history. And here`s how I got there.
Just like the New Coke or the Macarena, the 110th Democratic Congress is about to join them in the attic of your brain, a place where only really horrible ideas live, ideas that make you say to yourself, "What the hell was I thinking?"
A few things that have been going on in recent weeks are perfect examples, and here they are.
First of all, yesterday`s global warming hearing on Capitol Hill. Come on. I don`t care where you stand on this issue. Did anything get accomplished other than eight hours of kissing Al Gore`s butt? Wherever you stand on the issue you can`t deny that this was a complete, total waste of time.
The war bill: first the Democrats were for it. Then they were against it. Then I think they were for the troops and then against them for a little while. But now they want to fund them but not so much. I can`t keep track.
The minimum wage hike. You remember that? This is what the Democrats said was their first order of business after they were re-elected. Now they can only get it passed by putting it into the war bill. How does that work?
The two things they can agree on: one we saw it yesterday. Oh, they all love planet earth. And, two, what I`ve been saying since 2002. Their hatred for George W. Bush. That`s it. This is the glue that is holding the DNC together. It`s got to be mighty powerful glue, man.
This whole Gonzales fiasco is a perfect illustration of their misguided anger and, boy, are they angry. Here`s what Senator Patrick Leahy had to say today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEAHY: What we`re told we can get is nothing, nothing, nothing. We`re told that we can have a closed-door meeting with no transcript, not under oath, limited number of people, and the White House will determine what the agenda is. That to me is nothing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: He scares me.
There is nobody, nobody, nobody on either side that is claiming that a crime was committed. Yet the Senate has authorized subpoenas today. This is the first step towards having Karl Rove and Harriet Miers testify under oath in the U.S. attorney scandal.
The Democrats don`t care about Alex Gonzales or the fired U.S. attorneys. Let`s be frank. They are using them, because they got to get to Karl Rove and then ultimately to the president of the United States.
They didn`t care about Scooter Libby. They didn`t. They used him as a pawn to get to Rove and to Dick Cheney. The Democrats` entire agenda since 2002 has been to tear down the George Bush, you know, administration and everything it stands for.
You know what? Enough with the show trials. Enough with the circuses. Do you stand for something or not? What about actually leading in a time of crisis? I don`t know a soul, left or right, that pulled a lever to see more hearings on Capitol Hill or to see Al Gore get more camera time.
You want something to get done? Congress, good. Then do it face to face without the cameras when you`re not all performing.
You know, I`d like to think that the average American slightly more concerned with health care, education, taxes, terrorism, crime, even "American Idol" at this point than with the fate of eight rich lawyers.
President Bush, you know what? I`ve got to tell you. I know your poll numbers stink. They stink on ice, but you know why? It`s because you haven`t found that little crazy, antiquated thing in your back called a spine in quite a while. Fight the Democrats.
If I`m -- if I`m George Bush, I think I`d go to Capitol Hill and quote Al Pacino in "Scarface." "You want to play a little rough? OK, why don`t you say hello to my little friend here."
Instead of pulling out a giant machine gun, use the bully pulpit of the presidency. If the Democrats want to wage a verbal and political war instead of governing, good, fine, fight it with what you`ve got and get it over with, because there`s an actual war that kind of needs some attention.
So here`s what I know tonight. It has been said that the Democrats have in the past employed the politics of personal destruction. Well, they will succeed in destroying something. Only it will be themselves.
They haven`t had a clear vision or an original thought since 2002, and you need one to lead. When you combine blind hatred with the luxury of time and then subtract vision and ideas, you get the self-destruction of the DNC. It`s coming.
Here`s what I don`t know. Will the president stand up to this nonsense? Will he stand up against the war bill? We`re in the middle of a pretty large war.
George Bush, can you take the Democrats on? This is your Ronald Reagan firing the air traffic controllers moment. Or are you going to continue to be pushed around by a divided Congress?
Joining me now, Karen Hanretty. She`s a Republican strategist. Jonathan Allen from "Congressional Quarterly".
Let me start with you, Karen. The signs that the Democratic congressional class of 2007 is fractured from within are everywhere, are they not?
KAREN HANRETTY, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Yes, absolutely. Look, we are just shy 90 calendar days into this new Congress. And what are we seeing? We`re seeing street protestors, war protesters, Code Pink, the most vile obnoxious protesters of them all. And they`re not protesting just Republicans. They`re protesting Democrats.
They`re going into San Francisco of all places and protesting Nancy Pelosi. This is a very divided Democratic Congress right now.
BECK: Are these -- are these the people that burned a U.S. soldier in effigy the other day?
HANRETTY: These are the exact same people. These are the same gadflies that stand on street corners decrying Bush lied, soldiers are dying, that this is blood for oil. And now they`ve turned on the Democratic Party.
And I think that what you are seeing right now are some very fearful moderate Democrats, these blue dog Democrats, who were elected in red states just a few months ago, who I think are probably very concerned about re-election if, in fact, Nancy Pelosi, and I think more to the point. John Murtha grab control of this party and just really steer it far left.
BECK: I have to tell you, my grandparents both died proud Democrats. They wouldn`t have ever thought of anything.
HANRETTY: Right.
BECK: I`m telling you, if they would see what`s going on right now inside of the Democratic Party, they would run like schoolgirls from the Democratic Party.
The anti-Bush vision, Jonathan, do they have any more than that? I mean, that really is the glue here, isn`t it?
JONATHAN ALLEN, "CONGRESSIONAL QUARTERLY": Well, I think one of the problems the Democrats have been having is they try to put together their caucus and pass this supplemental war spending bill is that a lot of what they ran on in 2006 was against the Bush course in Iraq.
But they didn`t necessarily define exactly how they would change course, and that`s what they`ve been trying to do, is come to some sort of consensus where the Democrats as a party, at least 218 of them in the House, can move forward and say this is what our plan is.
And trying to negotiate between those who want to end the war now and those who don`t want to tie the president`s hands, seemingly irreconcilable differences. It`s been very difficult. We`ve seen the Democrats struggling to get the votes this week. We`ll see what happens tomorrow when they`re supposed to have the vote on it.
BECK: Karen, I want to be real honest with you. I -- I had a conversation with my producers when I found out that you were going to be on with us. I said a Republican strategist? I don`t carry the water for the Republicans. And...
HANRETTY: Yes.
BECK: ... honestly, why do I care if a Republican is going to dog pile on the Democrats? I mean, the Republicans did exactly the same thing.
HANRETTY: The reason the Republicans lost control of Congress in November was not simply because of the Iraq war. It`s because they didn`t accomplish anything. They didn`t accomplish what Republicans wanted them to do. Even the cross-over swing voters just decided, you know, tossed them out. Let`s get something new, let`s get something fresh.
Democrats have that opportunity. They`re not seizing upon it, or at least the leadership of the party is not seizing upon it, because I think they`re so fearful of that fringe group of the demonstrators who make it on the nightly news. Look, moderate Democrats don`t make it on the nightly news.
BECK: Right.
HANRETTY: Because they`re not sensational, but the Democrats have the opportunity -- I might not agree with their agenda, but they do have the opportunity, they have the goodwill of the people -- to move forward with a significant legislation.
And it seems to me that they`re getting mired down in their hatred for George Bush, and I think even greater, their hatred for Karl Rove and vengeance, which is a lot of this is happening.
BECK: OK, so Jonathan, I don`t agree with Joe Lieberman on an awful lot, but when it comes to war, I think he`s -- he`s right on the money. And I know he`s a man of character. He`s in a unique position he`s found himself in yet again. He was there in the Monica Lewinsky scandal, too, and he failed to play the really heavy card that he could have played.
He has the opportunity to play the card now, and unite and be a leader. Why isn`t he doing it?
ALLEN: I don`t think Joe Lieberman really represents at this point the mainstream of the Democratic Party or the middle course of the Democratic Party. It would very difficult for him to -- to lead them and pull them together.
BECK: So who does?
ALLEN: I`m not sure, but it`s certainly not Senator Lieberman. I mean, at this point he`s an independent Democrat. I mean, he doesn`t even necessarily identify with the party anymore, and he lost a primary there.
I think some of the presidential candidates you`ve seen for the Democrats are more to that middle mainstream of the party.
BECK: OK. Karen, Jon, thank you.
Coming up, the bully pulpit. This is Rosie`s smack-down of co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck. Makes you kind of wonder if there`s a double standard on TV: one for liberals and one for us conservatives.
Plus, the hypocrisy of Al Gore. I`m going to show you what everybody else in the media has missed on that little trip to Washington. That`s in tonight`s "Real Story".
We also have an "American Idol" update with Kim Caldwell.
But in case you happened to miss Al Gore`s global warming testimony yesterday, I had my staff work all through the night so we could put together this package. Sit back and enjoy the highlights.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: And now highlights from the Al Gore global warming testimony.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome back.
GORE: Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman. It is an emotional occasion for me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We thank you for your testimony.
GORE: Peggy, happy birthday.
ANNOUNCER: And those were highlights from the Al Gore global warming testimony.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: Well, first he picked a fight with Donald Trump. Now it`s the CIA. I shouldn`t say now it`s the CIA. At the same time the CIA was also with one of her co-stars.
"The View`s" Rosie O`Donnell, a little bit of a liberal I hear, has a problem with a conservative on the program, Elisabeth Hasselbeck.
Now, for days Rosie has been railing against the CIA and the torture tactics she says she used against Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, you know, that innocent victim who confessed to masterminding the 9/11 attacks plus 30 other terrorist plots.
Elisabeth Hasselbeck stood her ground and defended her country and our troops. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELISABETH HASSELBECK, CO-HOST, ABC`S "THE VIEW": Guantanamo Bay, just so you know, these were extreme methods that were horrific. But I think to paint the entire Army`s way of getting information, really for our benefit to be safe, is not accurate. I think if Guantanamo Bay they`ve allowed to have their prayer time five times a day. They`re served meals...
O`DONNELL: Elisabeth, you have to stop. You have to stop. You can ask a question, but you can`t blather on your opinion.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: What? Rosie, are you drinking? You can`t just blather on, and don`t give me your opinion. Isn`t the show called "The View"? Or is it now only -- only one point of view?
Seems cooler heads now have prevailed, because they`ve made up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
O`DONNELL: Wasn`t yesterday`s show fun? OK. We`re OK, though. We`re all right.
HASSELBECK: We`re OK.
O`DONNELL: A lot of people were worried that we wouldn`t be OK.
HASSELBECK; We`re fine.
O`DONNELL: We`re all right.
We talk about it. We e-mail afterwards.
JOY BEHAR, CO-HOST, ABC`S "CO-HOST": What about all the hair I found on the floor?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: What liars. Did you see Elisabeth? No, we`re -- Joel Mowbray, he is a syndicated columnist.
Maybe it`s just me, Joel. I don`t think they`re OK.
JOEL MOWBRAY, SYNDICATED COLUMNIST: I think it`s a girl fight.
BECK: Yes.
MOWBRAY: Yes.
BECK: You know what really bothers me is this is -- this is the way of the left. Many times, and some on the right use it, but you`re hearing it with Al Gore right now. You`re hearing it with Rosie O`Donnell. Just shut up. You are not allowed to have an opinion on an opinion show. You can`t have an opinion.
MOWBRAY: Well, it`s the Bush hatred. It`s the rage. It really has extended to the entire -- you know, across a broad spectrum of the left and really applies not just to Bush but to anyone who seems to echo his policies or support his policies.
And I don`t understand. There`s a lot of anger on the left right now. I argue even more so than on the right towards Clinton than during the Lewinsky scandal.
BECK: You know, the -- the anger hasn`t changed. What has changed is, you know...
MOWBRAY: The hostility, man, the hostility.
BECK: But we`ve lost -- we`ve lost touch, I think. Many of these people on the left, with what it means to be an American, what it means to stand up for your own country.
I mean, you have Barbara Walters on "The View", after she comes back from this meeting with Chavez, saying he`s really not that bad of a guy and he doesn`t hate America. He just hates George W. Bush, and everybody claps and laughs. Excuse me?
MOWBRAY: That`s like Mike Wallace with Ahmadinejad in Iran. I mean, look, these guys are cults of personality. Remember that, Glenn. So of course they`re charming. Of course they`re charismatic.
And if you go in with them one-on-one and you only see what they present to you. They are going to come across as charming and sophisticated and suave. "And he just hates" -- like Mike Wallace and Ahmadinejad: "He`s not anti-Jewish. He`s just anti-Israel." Really? Is that why he holds a Holocaust denial conference?
BECK: Here`s the -- here`s the thing. I don`t have a problem if you want to have a different point of view, and I`ve said this about what`s his name, fathead on MSNBC, Keith Olbermann. You know what? You have a different point of view. That`s fine. I`m totally cool with that. You have a right to it, and you should have a show.
But where`s the balance? You`ve got Rosie O`Donnell on an opinion show, shutting down other points of view. You have Rosie O`Donnell coming out this week on her blog, saying that the United States government took down World Trade Center No. 7 to cover, I think it was for Halliburton or Enron, one of those companies. She`s making that charge.
How is that a mainstream point of view in America that shouldn`t have a very strong balance to it on that program or another program?
MOWBRAY: Well, frankly, I don`t care what happens on "The View", because I only seem to see clips of it when Danny DeVito comes on drunk or when Rosie does something outrageous. What I have a problem is what this represents for the broader left.
And I think you`re right. This conspiratorial mindset is very problematic. Because how can you engage in a debate with someone when you are going from facts and they are going from their own facts, right?
They have this world view that`s made up out of whole cloth, this fictional mythology. You can`t have a debate where you`re -- where you`re taking fact, and they`re taking storybook time. It doesn`t work.
And then when you can`t have a debate, you end up getting in fights. And the civility and discourse is gone, and I think it`s tragic that we`re seeing that.
BECK: We`ve only got 30 seconds.
MOWBRAY: OK.
BECK: Rosie O`Donnell, Michael Moore being discredited by the left. Al Gore, I think, is going to become the next Cindy Sheehan. Cindy Sheehan was discredited.
Do you think -- how long does Rosie O`Donnell keep her credibility when she`s saying conspiracy theories about 9/11 and everything else?
MOWBRAY: You lost me, Glenn, when you said Rosie O`Donnell has credibility.
BECK: She has. I`m telling you, mainstream people watch "The View", and they think she`s funny.
MOWBRAY: Yes, I guess they think she`s funny, but do you think many of these people who are watching daytime television are taking their political cues from her?
BECK: That`s the -- that`s the scary thing about it. God help us (ph).
MOWBRAY: Serious comment. Maybe a few but, I don`t know. I think Cindy Sheehan, the war mom. They were really excited about her and then, of course, it turns out that, yes, she`s a little nuts.
BECK: All right. Joel, thanks.
Coming up, the six imams who were kicked off a U.S. Airlines flight are suing the airline and the passengers. OK, got that. We`re going to talk to a Muslim group that is actually defending the passengers. Good news.
And what happened when things went horribly, horribly wrong during a rescue mission? Find out with our weeklong series continuing tonight, "Special Ops: Combat Search and Rescue".
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: By now we`ve all heard the story of the six Muslim imams who were removed from a U.S. Airways flight when they erratically changed seats, they made unusual requests, they prayed loudly. The flight crew made at the time what they felt was the best decision for all of the passengers.
But the imams have decided to sue, not just the airline, but the unnamed passengers, as well, that expressed concern.
This story is quickly becoming less about airline discrimination and, it seems to me, more of a fight inside the Muslim world here in America. The Islamic organization CAIR is representing the imams.
The passengers who pointed out the imams? Their defense now is being funded by the American Islamic Forum for Democracy.
I`m pleased to be joined by their president, Zuhdi Jasser.
Zuhdi, what made you decide to come in and side against the imams?
ZUHDI JASSER, AMERICAN ISLAMIC FORUM FOR DEMOCRACY: Well, you know, as I`m here in Phoenix, and when I heard this story come out I just couldn`t believe that they thought it wise to sue the airlines. And then once you read the case that they filed this week, I heard that they want to sue the passengers.
Imagine how they think that this is appropriate to build bridges with the American community, the non-Muslim community, and think that somehow we`re going to get better civil rights protection, not only by guarantees of the Constitution, but by making everything be afraid that if they report suspicious behavior, either those of Arab or Muslim descent are going to sue them.
That is just wrong. That is not what I believe is Islamic as a spiritual Muslim, and I don`t believe that that is the right approach. I mean, the gates of the front lines are the war on terror. And that is not right for us when we`re afraid of where -- of what`s going to happen from terrorism to start to make passengers fear anything they may report.
BECK: OK. I would imagine that CAIR would come out and say to you that it`s not right, that anybody should be profiled. They were just praying in the airport.
So they had -- they had to upgrade somebody else. I mean, that would be the -- that would be the other side.
And then -- nobody is targeting -- I`m playing devil`s advocate. Nobody is targeting me if I change seats and I say a prayer out loud in the airport.
JASSER: That response, Glenn, is completely out of touch. This is not about prayer. Nobody told them anything when they were in the gate praying. It was about their behavior after they got on the flight, speaking Arabic, transferring seats, acting and distributed their seats in a way in the airplane. Maybe it was random.
But the bottom line is you had innocent people on an airplane. It may have been Aunt Nelly on her way to see her grandchildren who wrote a note. Who knows? But for her not to be -- or him not to be able to express some fear and for the captain, who has to make a decision about the airplane`s security right before the gate and the door closes, for us to take that instrument of protection away is wrong for America, and it`s wrong for Muslims. That`s not how we`re going to build bridges.
BECK: Zuhdi, you do your faith a great service by speaking out, and just talking common sense. Thank you very much and stay safe, my friend.
Last week, we did a segment on the Iranian government`s very angry reaction to the movie "300". The government said the story was fabricated and flat-out propaganda.
Well, we managed to get our hands on a chilling TV report from Iran. We`re going to show it to you right now. It`s a segment that we call "Missed by the Media".
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Warner Brothers, which belongs to the famous and rich American Jew, is the company that has made the movie.
From the cultural point of view, the Zionists and the elements affiliated to the U.S. have tried to launch a propaganda front against ancient and historical roots of Iranians. And the hasty production of this film is an indication of its propaganda aspect.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: Well, welcome to "The Real Story". There is not much the media loves than a public spectacle. Why do you think they want Karl Rove in front of the cameras so bad?
But, even by Washington and media standards, Al Gore`s visit to Capitol Hill yesterday was a complete circus.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. JAMES INHOFE (R), OKLAHOMA: During this time.
SEN. BARBARA BOXER (D), CALIFORNIA: No, I`m not going to stop the clock.
INHOFE: It seems that everybody...
GORE: May I respond?
INHOFE: Everybody in the media joined the chorus last summer.
BOXER: Senator Inhofe, we`ll freeze the time for a minute.
We don`t do this anymore. Elections have consequences.
INHOFE: My time is almost expired completely. Are you aware of that? I have 15 minutes. You had 30 minutes. I have 15. Let me have my 15 minutes, Senator Gore.
With all respect, Senator, we can`t do that, you know.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BECK: Well, that`s the stuff everybody in the media is talking about today. Fun, isn`t it?
"The Real Story" is the exchange they`re not talking about. The exchange with Senator Inhofe, I believe, was the most important moment of the day. This exchange.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
INHOFE: This pledge merely says, as you can read it up there, that you`re agreeing to consume no more energy in your residence than the average American household by one year from today. Not right now. You`ve got a whole year to look -- to try to do this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: The dictionary defines a "hypocrite" -- I looked it up -- quote, "a person who professes beliefs, feelings, or virtues that they do not hold or possess."
I have today a simpler version: "Al Gore." That`s the definition.
The pledge that the senator asked him to agree to was very straightforward. It said this. Given that you believe that global warming affects our very survival, given that personal energy affects greenhouse gas emissions and, given that leaders should lead by example, will you pledge to consume no more energy in your residence than the average American household within one year?
Al Gore`s answer not quite as straightforward.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORE: You know, one of the other recommendations that I would have is that we -- is that you also set standards for green energy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: I don`t know. At least you haven`t lost touch with how to dodge in Washington? What`s green energy?
When you cut through all of the stuff, all of the stats, all of the pictures of the melting ice and the dying polar bear, it really comes down to one thing. Having faith in the convictions of your leader.
Do you remember that -- what -- they were Heaven`s Gate, that cult from the 1990s? They believed their souls would be transported to a spaceship hiding behind the Hale-Bopp comet. If they just killed themselves in a mass suicide while wearing Nikes they could go on the spaceship.
Well, how do you think you would feel the day before the suicide, if you found out your cult leader really didn`t plan on participating in it? That was something for you to do. Kind of takes away his credibility just a little bit, doesn`t it?
You might want to rethink everything he`s been telling you about Jesus hiding in the spaceship and take off the sneakers.
So what does it say to the disciples of Al Gore when their cult leader refuses to even reduce his residential energy use? Not his travel or anything else; the guy has to travel a lot. I get it. Just the energy in his home to the national average?
If you really truly believe, like Al Gore says he does, that this is the single greatest problem facing mankind today, is it too much to ask you to commit to a pledge? Is it too much to ask that you become a vegetarian, given the U.N.`s report concludes that the meat industry harms the environment more than all of the world`s transportation combined?
The great thing about people who lead causes is there always comes a time when they either have to put up or shut up, a time when they have to start -- stop talking and start doing, a time when a true believer is turned into a hero and everybody else is exposed as a hypocrite.
Al Gore`s time was yesterday. At least to those who are honestly seeking the truth, because they actually care about the planet.
Senator James Inhofe now joins us from Washington.
Senator, how are you, sir?
INHOFE: Hey, Glenn, I`m great, how are you?
BECK: Very good. You know, I have to tell you, it was a circus yesterday. And you and I will both agree on that. But I will tell you that there was an exchange that really caught my eye and my ear, and I want to play it here for you.
INHOFE: OK.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
INHOFE: It seems that...
GORE: Well, I would like to respond.
May I respond?
INHOFE: ... everybody in the media joined the chorus last summer.
BOXER: Senator Inhofe, we`ll freeze the time for a minute.
INHOFE: Take your time. We`re freezing the time.
BOXER: We`re freezing the time just for a minute. I want to talk to you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: OK. It was really quite contentious, and you didn`t really let Al Gore answer questions. Why did you choose that path?
INHOFE: Well, it`s because he never answers questions, Glenn. I mean, that was painful. I`ve never -- he says nothing, but he says nothing so well, and he`d go on and on and on, never addressing the questions.
Now, there`s good news to that, too. That is I made several assertions, and he either did not know the answer or did not want to answer it, so he didn`t refute them. We have a list of seven things now that we can say this is a victory.
BECK: OK. The pledge that you asked him to sign...
INHOFE: Yes.
BECK: ... that he wouldn`t. He didn`t even answer the question on that.
INHOFE: He uses 20 times the amount of energy as the average American, and yet, if you will look at the -- this movie, this thing that he has on, the last slide says, "Are you ready to change your -- the way you live?"
Now so I said, "Are you ready to change the way you live, because you`re consuming 20 times the amount of energy?" And he would not respond to it. I asked him three times. You can go back and review the tape.
BECK: Right.
INHOFE: So I think that -- here`s what we need to do. We had a pledge for him to sign, just to do what he`s asking the rest of America to do. And I think every week or two: all right, it`s been two weeks now. Have you signed the pledge yet?
BECK: It is really -- one of the things in it that I heard yesterday in his testimony that I thought was disturbing was this -- what did he call it -- a massive persuasion campaign. This sounded a little bit like Goebbels or Gorbles (ph).
INHOFE: Well, yes, also we had a chance, and this plays into this. In New York, there was a bunch of his people. This is the "New York Times". They all love him. And yet they said in the "New York Times" that he is getting so extreme in some of these examples that he`s hurting his own cause.
BECK: Right.
INHOFE: And I told him that, and that is happening. I`m recognizing. We`re seeing a major shift, Glenn, of the people who are his top supporters are coming over now and saying, "Hey, wait a minute. Let`s look at the science again, because this thing isn`t working."
BECK: Hey, you know, Senator, I -- I tend to agree with you on the fact that he`s going to hang himself. I mean, he`s -- to me it almost seems like he is going to be the next Cindy Sheehan, where the Democrats ran out to embrace Cindy Sheehan and get their photo taken and be there when it was hot.
But then, once the Cindy Sheehan thing started to be exposed on who she really was, I mean, you can`t -- you won`t find those pictures of those -- those people anywhere.
INHOFE: I think that -- I think that`s a great analogy, because right now if you watch very carefully, he`ll -- he prides himself in trying to intimidate people or being condescending, and that just doesn`t play. You know, people -- there`s nothing wrong with humility. He ought to try it sometime.
BECK: Senator, when he was talking about some of the programs, I cannot help but think that what a lot of people don`t -- you know, the freshmen in college that are, you know, gung-ho on the earth, what they don`t understand, because they haven`t been around long enough, is that this really is nothing but a tax program.
There are millions, billions and, globally, trillions of dollars at stake here. And that`s what really this is all about, isn`t it, a tax program?
INHOFE: It is. Now what I tried to do, is I said -- I went down to the floor in 1993 when we had the Clinton/Gore tax increase. It was a $32 billion tax increase.
This is a $300 billion tax increase, ten times greater than the other one. That means every man, woman and child, or every family of four who`s watching you right now will have to pay an additional $2,700 a year in taxes. That`s huge.
And he doesn`t like to talk about that. And if you notice, he would never respond to that. Well, he knows it`s true. In fact, I`ll tell you this: the figures that he had when he was in the White House as vice president were $338 billion.
BECK: Senator, keep up the good work.
INHOFE: Thank you. Thank you, Glenn.
BECK: On the radio program yesterday, I spoke to the wife of former U.S. border agent Jose Compean. She has been struggling to hold things together with her children as her husband begins serving over a decade in prison for shooting an illegal alien drug smuggler in the butt during pursuit.
Two other law enforcement agents are also behind bars today, all the victims of U.S. attorney Johnny Sutton`s campaign against those who are just trying to enforce the laws that our government won`t.
As we go to break, can we take a moment just to remember our border agents, who I believe are now political prisoners?
(MUSIC)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: The guy that you met, that you were the most creeped out by, tell me about him.
CHRIS HANSEN, CORRESPONDENT, "DATELINE NBC": Well, this is a three or four-way tie for that. We`ve had a couple of guys who actually walked into the house naked, and that`s creepy at best.
You know, they never tell you in journalism class that you have to keep a towel or a blanket nearby to have somebody cover up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: All right. Continuing now with our exclusive series, "Special Ops: Combat Search and Rescue."
Tonight, CNN correspondent Alex Quade takes an inside look at how our brave soldiers do their incredibly dangerous jobs, jobs which are more dangerous when things go wrong.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALEX QUADE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A simulated covert operation is underway.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Zero-nine-zero.
QUADE: Air rescuemen or P.J.`s get ready to jump HALO, high altitude, low open. Using the darkness and stealth P.J. Mark sets up a drop zone for his unit to jump into.
(on camera) In a war zone, they may not have anybody who`s doing this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In real life, it wouldn`t -- it wouldn`t be that luxurious if someone on the ground received them.
QUADE: The pilots, A-10, they`re up there trying to find a good drop zone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The same as they come down and take look at the threat here in the area, and then jumpmaster will come out here on the side and call it good.
QUADE (voice-over): P.J. Nate is jumpmaster.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Combine darkness with a lot of noise. You would have to be jumping with oxygen. You`ve got a mask over so you can`t talk to each other. So you have to rely on those hand and arm signals.
QUADE (on camera): P.J.s are coming out of the plane. What are they looking for?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They`re looking to maintain team integrity. Keeping the team together. That`s most important.
QUADE (voice-over): Behind enemy lines...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Move in.
QUADE: ... the P.J.s` mission, extract injured special operatives after an IED attack. But then...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go back, go back.
QUADE: ... contact.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s game on. Real life scenario we would be laying lead down range.
QUADE: Smoke means enemy fire.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you`re not nervous there`s something wrong. You know, that`s when Murphy comes and gets you.
QUADE: Things change.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One-three, two-two, fire mission, over.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You guys are with us. You guys saw how we moved. We moved as stealthily as possible.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three hundred meters, troops in the tree line. Over.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that another new heading over there to the left? They`re shifting left.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Murphy`s Law takes over and things can go bad really fast.
QUADE: Matt is a CRO, combat rescue officer. He didn`t want to show his face, since he provides command on tactical missions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We immediately made contact.
QUADE (on camera): Which is a nice way of saying that...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got ambushed, correct.
QUADE (voice-over): So they call in Jolly, helicopter support.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jolly, one-three-two. Anybody watching on six?
QUADE: The P.J.s are the eyes on the ground for the guns in the sky.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hear them.
QUADE: Using hand-held lasers they mark or lace targets for Jolly to destroy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You`re telling the helicopter where you are and where you want him to shoot. You`re the eyes for his trigger.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jolly, three-one-two, be advised we are moving.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fall back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kill the enemy and press on to our objective to take care of the IED victims.
We`re going to sanitize the area, and we`re going to press on with the scenario.
QUADE: In training Murphy`s Law focuses the P.J.s.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, you have to really have your head screwed on.
QUADE: In war zones Murphy`s Law means danger or death.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Move!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Twelve men of the parachute regiment went on patrol, the ground underneath them sewn with anti-personnel mines.
QUADE: P.J. Kyle led this rescue in Afghanistan.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We had 12 -- 12 patients down in the minefield, some missing limbs. You could actually see the mines within inches of the survivors.
We hoisted right down on top of the survivors, literally we were almost landing on top of them. They were all very critical patients.
QUADE: The P.J.s` medical expertise, what they are known for, kicked in.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It can get really hectic in the back of the helicopter. You know, you`re trying to do the correct thing, the best thing for the patients. If need be, you know, we might take a hit ourselves, and that`s just part of the job.
QUADE: P.J. Matt also told me that in Iraq at the start of the war.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At any minute, something can go wrong and the bad day that somebody else is having that you`re there to pick up, you know, that can turn around and be your bad day.
QUADE: P.J. Chuck learned that in Iraq.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was the first guy off the helicopter. I lost my way and hit the ground from about 50, 60 feet up and broke four vertebrae in my back, and both my feet were pretty well shattered.
QUADE: Chuck is recovering and wants to rejoin his team.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m itching to get back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They`re putting their lives on the line.
QUADE: Their boss, Brigadier General Doug Rayburn of air combat command.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A very, very tough situations. Obviously, in combat situations they don`t worry about that. They worry about getting the individual saved and returned back home.
QUADE: P.J. Kyle`s team in that Afghan minefield.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our actions out there that day saved a lot of lives.
QUADE: They also recovered the body of a British paratrooper.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: During the whole operation, you know, you never once doubted your training. You knew that everything was going to turn out all right and successful.
QUADE: Which is why the P.J.s train like they fight, hard.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Those coordinates take us back to the east.
QUADE: To overcome current war zone situations, P.J. Mark tells me...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have to be, the term I like to use, is rigidly flexible.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They`ve cleared this road all the way down for about a mile.
QUADE (on camera): With the training that you all have, being ready for every contingency.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s difficult, but that`s our goal. We try to be ready for anything to pop up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re moving out. We`re going to parallel this road for about a click.
QUADE (voice-over): The P.J.s, who dealt with pop-ups tonight, mark a landing zone for helicopter extraction.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You three out on the first aircraft, all right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sure.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thirty seconds.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Roger.
QUADE: Combat rescue officer Matt, just back from Iraq.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You`re forced to operate under stressful conditions. You need to find the clarity to get yourself out of that situation. My biggest thought is just taking care of the guys and get back out there.
QUADE: Alex Quade for Glenn Beck, Avon Park Air Force Base, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BECK: Up next, a blubbering kid, the key to success for "American Idol"? We`ll find out when we come back.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: Yes, once again it`s time for Glenn`s first annual guide to spring break.
BECK: I do have an idea for spring break that I think you`ll really enjoy. Newark, New Jersey.
ANNOUNCER: No one said spring break had to be fun.
For more go to CNN.com/podcasts or iTunes. Then download Glenn`s podcast, "Sick Twisted Freak".
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: So if you`re one of the three people in America who missed "American Idol" last night -- join the club -- here`s a quick recap. Stephanie Edwards was voted off in what was considered a shocking elimination. Mm-hmm.
Here to tell us why this was such a shock, as if I don`t know, and why should -- we should care, is former "Idol" contestant, host of "Idol Chat" on the TV Guide Channel, my personal favorite. I love her. She likes me.
KIMBERLY CALDWELL, HOST, TV GUIDE CHANNEL`S "IDOL CHAT": I love you. I love you.
BECK: You look so nice.
CALDWELL: Oh, my gosh. I thought you were going to make fun of my hair.
BECK: Well, OK, now that you`ve opened the door, it is a little -- my mother used to have, like, fake hair things back in the `60s.
CALDWELL: Right here.
BECK: Mm-hmm.
CALDWELL: See that? Fake hair. Sexy.
BECK: You`ve taken all of the -- not really, not when we`re talking about my mom. Thanks for that. That`s going to screw me up for the rest of the week.
CALDWELL: Sorry about that. All righty.
BECK: Kim.
CALDWELL: Yes.
BECK: The one guy, the -- Sanjaya.
CALDWELL: Sanjaya.
BECK: Yes, whatever.
CALDWELL: Sanjaya.
BECK: I love him. He`s -- fantastic.
CALDWELL: No, you don`t.
BECK: What`s the deal with this -- what`s the deal with this guy? Because I mean, I`ve heard actually -- I`ve heard adults have arguments in the hallway, and I`m not kidding you, saying that guy should have been voted off. He`s the guy who should have -- and I walk by and I go loser, loser.
CALDWELL: Well, you know, it`s kind of like, you know, I mean, for the last few weeks I`ve really been prepared for him to go. And I think everybody has been ready for him to go.
BECK: I`ve been preparing myself for the moment.
CALDWELL: I know you have, I know.
BECK: Yes.
CALDWELL: I know you`re real serious about it.
BECK: I am.
CALDWELL: Anyways, but this week, I thought, you know, he`s just going to stay because he`s been meant to go these last few weeks.
BECK: Yes.
CALDWELL: And now Howard Stern is on the show, saying vote for Sanjaya, you know, and there`s...
BECK: Howard K. Stern or -- Howard K. Stern or Howard Stern?
CALDWELL: No, not Anna Nicole Smith`s baby`s daddy.
BECK: I don`t know.
CALDWELL: Or Anna Nicole Smith`s maybe -- maybe baby daddy. NO, not him.
BECK: OK. So you`re saying the one -- the one with credibility?
CALDWELL: Curly hair, yes, radio show Howard Stern.
BECK: OK, got it. He`s trying to get...
CALDWELL: He`s saying vote for Sanjaya. And then there`s this web site called VoteForTheWorst.com. And they`re saying vote for Sanjaya.
But also the little girls really, really, really like Sanjaya.
BECK: OK.
CALDWELL: Because he`s a little boy.
BECK: I can see why you had the little girls, you know, they`re all excited. And then you throw Peter Noone on, which I`m trying for the life of me to remember what he did in the `60s. But it`s good to see that -- you know what this is?
CALDWELL: You probably don`t remember anything from the `60s Glenn, I`m sure.
BECK: This is -- no, I don`t, actually. This is, I believe, some sort of, you know, socialist system, where we keep these people working. And I think that`s good.
Kim, thanks. We`ll talk to you next week. On the radio tomorrow morning.
CALDWELL: All right. See you, Glenn.
BECK: Bye-bye, baby.
See you here tomorrow night.
END
