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CNN Live Event/Special

President Bush Commutes Jail Sentence of Scooter Libby; Interview With Kinky Friedman

Aired July 02, 2007 - 20:00   ET

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

GLENN BECK, HOST: Terror is out story tonight in Britain and fear of what could happen here at home.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BECK (voice-over): Tonight: putting aside partisan politics to focus on the issues that really matter, like terror.

As more arrests are made in the U.K. terror attacks, who are the suspects? And could more attacks be on the way?

Also, as tensions mount overseas, a growing alarm about the threat of terrorism here on American soil. We have the latest.

Anger at the border -- illegal immigration fueling fire along our nation's border towns. Can we, the people, stop the bickering and find real solutions to the illegal immigration crisis?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BECK: Hello, America. I'm Glenn Beck.

Now, when I see a commentator on TV, I want to know exactly where they're coming from. So, here's my story.

I'm not a journalist. And we're going to hear from plenty of credible journalists this week, and they will tell you exactly what the news is.

My job is to tell you what I think it means to our nation, to our world, and, most importantly, to our children. I am a proud conservative who is also a guy who senses a real change under way in this country. I think people are sick of political battles. It's the same old, same old from both parties.

This country is far too large to be defined by an everlasting battle between the donkeys and the elephants. I don't care about the parties. It's not about left and right. It is about right and wrong.

And you know what? At the height of my frustration, and, honestly, the loss of hope this year, I had an epiphany. Our founding fathers were amazing. They knew, at some point in our future, we would loss faith in our government, because they would be so paralyzed by politics.

And, so, our founding fathers told us how to fix it. They addressed it with three words, written in gigantic letters, that lead our Constitution: "We, the people." I believe those three words serve as the first step on the path to figuring out all of our problems.

We will figure them out. But, first, we have to unite as we, the people.

We are going to start tonight with news that just broke a couple hours ago. President Bush has announced that he is commuting the sentence of Lewis Scooter Libby. This is the former chief of staff to Vice President Cheney. He faced 30 months in prison for committing perjury in the CIA leak case. The president's decision means Libby is not going to go to jail, but he will still have to pay a quarter-of-a- million-dollar fine and stay clean for two years.

Oh, what will he do without perjuring himself for two years?

It's not a pardon, so the conviction remains on Libby's record, but it keeps him out of prison. Now, this is where it gets tough in today's world for people who just want to play politics, because I just told you I'm a conservative, so I must be for this.

Well, here's where it kind of breaks down. I happened to be against perjury when Bill Clinton did it a decade ago. I still happen to be against perjury when a Republican does it. It's not about left and right. It's about right and wrong.

CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin joins me now on the phone.

Jeffrey, where are the people that were so against, like me, perjury in the '90s? Why aren't they outraged at the "Let's pardon perjury" this time around?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, let's see, Glenn, because I don't think this is going to be very popular with anyone, except the hard-core base of the Republican Party, who sees this whole case as kind of a proxy for the Iraq war.

But, you know, when you once start talking about right and wrong, it's very easy to understand that it's wrong to lie. It's also very easy to understand that Scooter Libby is getting extraordinarily special treatment from the president of the United States.

I don't think this is going to be terribly controversial, because I think nearly everyone is going to be against it.

BECK: Oh, I have got to tell you, I hear from conservatives. I do my talk show. I am a conservative. A lot of people listen to me. And I get calls from people who are climbing the walls on this, saying, Glenn, this is only about the Iraq war. They were only trying to go out.

And I -- my response to them was, really? Isn't that what Clinton said when they all defended him in saying, it was just about sex?

Perjury matters, no matter what happened along the way.

TOOBIN: I mean, Glenn, that is an ideologically and ethically consistent position. But politics is not about being consistent. It's about supporting your team. And a lot of people support their team, no matter what.

But, on this issue -- you know, CNN did a poll about a pardon, which is slightly different from a commutation. It's -- but the poll said 72 percent against this. And I anticipate that the reaction will be something like that, 72 percent against. That's not 100 percent, but that's pretty overwhelming.

BECK: Jeffrey, tell me what the difference is in people's minds between a commutation and a pardon. I mean, I get it technically.

But, really, do you think people -- people don't look into that kind of stuff. He's not going to jail. If I did it, I would go to jail.

(CROSSTALK)

TOOBIN: I don't think it's a meaningful difference, as far as the politics goes.

I think, as a legal matter, it is different. I mean, as you have gone through, his fine is intact. The conviction is intact. The probation is intact. But the main point, the moral point is that he got special treatment, and he's not going to jail, when many, many Americans are in jail for obstruction of justice. That's the point.

(CROSSTALK)

BECK: Do you think, Jeffrey -- I mean, this is the kind of stuff that makes me so angry, and makes me disenfranchised, honestly, from voting for a Republican, as a conservative, because values matter. They do matter, even when your side loses.

Values only matter when it's tough to stand up for those values. I don't think this helps those in Washington on either side. This is the kind of corruption, I think, that people were talking about when they said, I'm sick of politics on both sides.

TOOBIN: I think the word that hit my mind when this happened was cynicism. People -- this is the kind of thing that makes people cynical about Washington, that the people in power operate by one set of rules, whether they're Democrats or Republicans, and everyone else operates -- has to operate by another.

BECK: Yes.

TOOBIN: Cynicism is what this will breed.

BECK: Well, I would like to thank the second president now in a row for helping me teach the difference between lying and right and wrong to my children.

Jeff Toobin, thanks.

We have much more on the Libby story tonight at 10:00 p.m. Eastern with Anderson Cooper, but now on to the other big news tonight. It's all about terrorism.

Today, in Yemen, a suicide bomber in a car killed at least six Spanish tourists and wounded seven others.

But we're focusing on Britain tonight, where officials now say that the two suspects in the car bomb attack on the Glasgow airport were behind, also, the failed London car bombs. And, tonight, British investigators say they have arrested yet another suspect.

Let's get right to Paula Newton in London.

Paula, tell me the latest. Who have they arrested? Do we know?

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, police have clarified that a little bit. They say that they have detained someone abroad. They won't say which country.

But suffice it to say here, Glenn, that what we're dealing with is some type of a global operation. What is new here today, Glenn, is, what they are piecing together is a network of what are most likely foreign-born, probably-al Qaeda inspired people who have come here, set up a sleeper cell, and now have activated it.

Glenn, the other big news about this is the fact that it seems to be a network of medical professionals, doctors, who are supposed to, basically, be saving lives, here plotting to try and kill people -- Glenn.

BECK: This is so bizarre that these guys are -- that it's a medical ring. And didn't they have a controlled explosion today at a hospital of what they thought were possibly more bombs at a hospital?

NEWTON: A couple of them, Glenn, a couple of controlled devices -- controlled explosions on devices.

The point is, they're being exceptionally careful. One of the doctors, we understand, worked at the hospital, lived in one of those residences that they keep for residents who are studying there. He was studying to be a neurosurgeon, as we understand it, in terms of his speciality.

It is incredibly different to piece together. But I will tell you one thing, that -- that, in -- in terms of all the research that has been done on this, in terms of the security agencies really looking at profiles of these people -- I don't mean these people specifically, in general -- they have always known that the typical person who might plot against Britain or Europe, or the United States, for that matter, is not necessarily unintelligent.

BECK: Oh, yeah.

NEWTON: A lot of them are well-educated. A lot of them are very, very sophisticated. This is the new type of spin, though.

BECK: OK. Thanks a lot, Paula.

Let's now go to the three suspects that are the doctors.

Glasgow, we go now to find out the latest on them.

CNN international Correspondent Nic Robertson joins me.

Nic, what can you tell me, the latest from Glasgow?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Glenn, everyone saw the spectacular pictures of the car slamming into Glasgow airport -- two men in that attack also responsible, as you say, for the London attempted bombings as well, one of the men in the police station behind me, the other, 90 percent burns over his body, in a local hospital,, under armed guard by the police, in critical condition.

But one of those people who attacked the airport has been named as an Iraqi doctor, Bilal Abdulla. It's not clear if he's in the one -- in the -- in the police station behind me or the one in critical condition in the hospital. But it was that that led the police back to the hospital today. They arrested another two men there.

We have also understood that one of the people arrested in England just two days ago also a doctor, Mohammed Asha, a young Palestinian-Jordanian doctor, came to England, a real high flyer in Jordan. And this is what makes it very surprising, a real academic achiever, won scholarships to junior school, third highest grades across the country in Jordan when he graduated, won scholarships to study medicine.

His father surprised at this situation. Not clear yet how -- or his involvement in these attacks, but one of them, definitely, that Iraqi doctor, one of those attackers that drove into Glasgow airport -- Glenn.

BECK: Thanks, Nic.

Joining me now from Chicago is a guy that I thought of immediately when I saw the events unfold this weekend, Mark Steyn. He is the author of a book called "America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It."

Mark, you and I have had several conversations. I think yours is one of the bravest books and a book that every American should read. This is the kind of stuff that you have been talking about now for a while.

And it kills me how many people have come up to me today and said, these guys were doctors, and, wow, I thought...

MARK STEYN, AUTHOR, "AMERICA ALONE: THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT": Yes.

BECK: ... they were supposed to be poverty-stricken.

And it's not that way at all. That's a common misperception of who we're dealing with.

STEYN: Yes. It's not Pashtun goat herds on the Afghan border. When they show up at JFK or Heathrow, they stand out. It's people who generally are Westernized Muslims who know a lot about life in the West, and who hate the West.

This one guy is a neurologist. This isn't brain surgeon, and, certainly, isn't for him. But he is typical of the level of Westernized, supposedly assimilated Muslim who is driven by a passionate hatred of the West and a determination to overthrow it.

BECK: But, Mark, there is a real effort to not assimilate into society. I learned something from you today that I had never heard before, that the hijab, the traditional garb that women wear, is not a Middle Eastern, Islamic tradition.

STEYN: No.

I mean, basically, when we -- we think it perfectly normal to see women covered from head to toe with a little slot for their eyes walking down the streets of New York or London or wherever. This is something that was explicitly promoted as a political project by the Islamists in the 1970s.

They have now persuaded Bangladeshi Muslims and Indonesian Muslims and Balkan Muslims to start wearing it. And it's nothing to do with their tradition. It's a form, in fact, of disassimilation. The longer the -- the Dutch foreign minister said to me a couple of years ago that what struck him and what unnerved him was the way second- and third-generation Muslims in his country were less assimilated than their parents and grandparents.

BECK: You -- you believe that one of the things that we must face all around the world and here in America, so we don't see what's happening in London, we must face the Saudi money that is coming into our country for these Islamic -- Saudi Islamic Wahabi schools. Can you named some of these schools? Where are they here in the United States?

STEYN: Well, for example, they fund institutions in almost every state. They're -- right here in Chicago, for example, they fund the Albanian mosque. Why is a Mosque for the Albanian community funded by the Saudis?

Because they have essentially annexed huge chunks of the Muslim world, including here in the West. And, you know, it doesn't go both ways. I can't open an Episcopal Church in the heart of Riyadh. If you go the Saudi tourism Web site, it says, you know, come to Saudi Arabia. It's the vacation fun playground of the Middle East. Whoops. No Jews allowed.

In other words, these things are not equal. And there is absolutely no reason why the United States or any other country interested in survival should allow agents of the enemy to subvert it from within.

BECK: This is just the beginning, especially in England. It is going to get very dicey. How long -- we were talking about earlier today my daughter just got back from that part of that world. Your daughter is going over to the U.K. today.

How long before it is really unsafe to travel in England or in Europe?

STEYN: Well, I think your -- they have a different situation from us. For them, it's, in effect, a civil war. They have huge problems with people living deep within their society in Britain, and in France, and other countries. And that, I think, is a real difference.

You know, Somalia, we look on that as a state that has been hollowed out by Islamists and by all kinds of dark forces. Britain is, in some ways, the same. Right down the spine of the country, English cities have huge comfort zones for Muslim terrorists to operate in. And, basically, the state thinks it's like the IRA. It's something that can be managed. It's not. It's something that is much bigger than that.

BECK: How long before you say don't go to Paris?

STEYN: Well, I think, if you want to see Paris and you want to see the great European capitals, you should plan to do it in the next five years, because it's not going to be getting any prettier there.

BECK: Mark Steyn, thanks.

Coming up, we're going to take you to Israel. This is where the world's best counterterrorism experts are showing American police how it's done, and maybe not a moment too soon.

Also, the people won the fight over the immigration reform. So, what happens now?

And what can a Texas cowboy-comedian-politician, Kinky Friedman, teach us about life on the border? -- coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Coming up a little later on in the program: more on the terror attacks in the U.K. And we will have an update on the British government's response to the threats.

But, first, this week, I don't know if you have noticed, but we're pretty much back where we started when it comes to fixing our national immigration crisis and securing our borders -- the immigration reform bill pronounced dead Thursday, when it came up 14 votes short on the Senate floor.

But millions of American people voted against it any way they could, on the Internet, and on the telephone, with cards, letters, petitions. Andrea Koppel reports on a popular revolt from the grassroots that won.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Immigration reform was going down in flames on the Senate floor last Thursday. A few miles away, in Rosslyn, Virginia...

ROY BECK, NUMBERS USA: Tremendous excitement.

KOPPEL: ... Roy Beck and his Colleagues at Numbers USA were celebrating what they called a historic moment. The Internet-based conservative group was created to oppose granting citizenship to illegal immigrants.

R. BECK: We're in a kind of new age, an new age of democracy, in which the Internet, and talk radio, bloggers have been able to combine in kind of a -- I guess like maybe the early days of the country with pamphleteering. And, as raw democracy, it's wonderful.

KOPPEL: Instead of pamphlets, Numbers USA claims to have mobilized 450,000 registered members, almost double what they had in January, to fire off a cyber-army's worth of e-mails and phone calls to help defeat the bill, so many calls, in fact, for a time last week, Senate phone lines crashed.

NATALIE PATTERSON, SENATE STAFFER: We have three main phone lines here. All of them were busy. We dropped one call. Another one came in. So, it was just constant, constant phone calls.

KOPPEL: Alabama Republican Jeff Sessions, a leading opponent of the bill, believes these callers helped turned the tide.

SEN. JEFF SESSIONS (R-AL), ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: At the end, the people had heard so much from their constituents, and I think they -- they realized, maybe I have misjudged this one. Maybe I don't -- maybe I'm not as correct as I thought I was a week ago. Maybe I better reevaluate this.

KOPPEL: Helping to stir up opposition, conservative radio talk show hosts, who savored the victory.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP, "THE RUSH LIMBAUGH SHOW")

RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Greetings, my friends. You did it; 53-46, cloture goes down. The amnesty bill is dead.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

KOPPEL (on camera): But even those celebrating last week's defeat admit an even bigger challenge lies ahead, fixing a broken immigration system by passing a bill a majority of Americans will support.

Andrea Koppel, CNN, Washington. (END VIDEOTAPE)

BECK: And, you know, it amazes me. I don't think the politicians still get it. Why do they continue to press ahead, despite the voice of the people?

The reform bill in Congress may be dead, but the issue of what to do about our borders is still very much alive, at least in my house. I'm sure it is with you.

Republican strategist Cheri Jacobus and Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf.

Cheri, let me start with you.

How did they miss the voice of the American people, of, can we just seal the borders first? Can we just stop the -- turn the water off?

CHERI JACOBUS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: You know, that's really an amazing thing to me, because what they are supposed to be doing on Capitol Hill and through their district offices is constantly listening to what their constituents are saying.

And, you know, Glenn, there was a lot of out there. And I know there was a lot out polling out there, where, at some point, somewhere between 70 and 80 percent of the American people were against this bill, or at least only 22 to 30 were for it. So, there was plenty of evidence out there. I don't know what it was.

I think the Democrats were just so anxious to try and get the Latino vote and bring in a permanent underclass that would then need public services, and that's what they wanted, rather than...

BECK: OK.

JACOBUS: ... trying to take the people we have and let them be a part the American dream.

BECK: Let me just say this. Cheri, I let you get one shot in on the Democrats.

Hank, I'm going to let you get one shot in on the Republicans, and then that's it, because my theory is, people are sick of it. It's not about left and right. It's about right and wrong. It's not about donkeys and elephants. Honestly, I think both the Republicans and the Democrats are from the same steamy pile of dog crap, quite frankly. I'm sick of listening to you guys argue and get nothing done.

People, this bill in particular was common sense. That's why it failed. Common sense says, guys, we're at condition yellow, and, yet, we have hundreds of thousands of people coming across our border. How come we are not sealing that first?

Hank? HANK SHEINKOPF, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I think that you are exactly right. I think this is a failure of both parties. And I think it's, frankly, a failure of leadership overall.

There is a villain in the plot, a man who tried to something. It was completely wrong, would not fly. George Bush. It's the Republican Party trying to hide, blaming the Democrats, when we should be blaming leadership overall.

The American public wants something done.

(CROSSTALK)

SHEINKOPF: The American public wants something done.

And this -- what they just saw is not what they wanted. And they still want something to happen. It's up to both parties to come together, come up with something that will work, and make the American public feel good about it.

BECK: OK.

SHEINKOPF: It's just that simple. No more shots. No more shots for either of you guys.

(LAUGHTER)

BECK: Let's just talk like Americans here for just a second, not Republicans, not Democrats. Let's just talk like Americans, because, quite honestly, Bush has an approval of, what, 25 or 30. Congress has a trust rate of 14 percent.

And you know who is in between those two? Television news people. So, I mean, we all suck to the American people. Let's just use some common sense and try to fix it.

How can you have condition yellow and open borders? And what happens when somebody does what they are doing in London, and we find out that these people came across either our northern border or our southern border? Who do the politicians think is going to get the blame when that happens?

(CROSSTALK)

SHEINKOPF: They believe that no one will get the blame, that, ultimately, they will be able to walk away, and, somehow, some well unknown item called immigration problems and un-secure borders will get the blame.

Americans want action. And it's about time we had leadership from the White House, from the Congress, from the Senate, from the House, and that we came up with a bill that worked. I mean, the American public, if there is anything to be said of what occurred last week, it's that democracy worked. Why? Because the politicians were finally forced to follow public opinion.

JACOBUS: Yes, I agree.

SHEINKOPF: It's not Republican. It's not Democrat.

JACOBUS: In that regard, the American people spoke loud and clear.

I'm still amazed that so many people in Washington missed it. They go back home. They start getting all the letters. And, finally, you know, finally, the American people did win on this.

I think what our politicians miscalculated on both sides was the passion with which the American people really hated this bill. We're a compassionate people. We want to welcome people in if they want to be Americans and do the hard work of freedom. But, you know, secure the borders first. And that's what -- it is such a simple concept.

BECK: Let me...

JACOBUS: Secure the borders first, and then let's talk about the other things. And it's still amazing to me. And I have been here a lot of years. And it's -- been up on the Hill. It still amazes me that they just didn't get it sooner.

BECK: Guys, honestly, I don't think it's just as much about this bill as it is, we, the people, don't trust our government right now.

We are looking for a Damascus moment. We're looking for the Republicans, who were just thrown out by the conservatives, saying, wait a minute. We're looking for them to say, you know, Jesus came to me in the road and threw me out of office. I guess I did it.

And the same with the Democrats. We are waiting for them to get it and listen to the American people. And I hope we see it soon.

Thank you very much for being on the program.

Coming up: He's a singer, a Texas cowboy, author, politician. His name is Kinky Friedman, tonight's independent thinker. Yes, we're down to Kinky Friedman. What will he tell us about dealing with illegal immigration and what can we learn?

And Hezbollah, the connection in Iraq, finally, what it tells us about Iran's interference in our war.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Well, this week, we celebrate America's independence. And we're bringing in some independent thinkers for you.

As the great debate on immigration continues in this country, Kinky Friedman -- he's a singer, activist, author, and politician -- may be one of the most independent people in the country.

He joins me now from Austin, Texas.

Hello, Kinky? How are you? KINKY FRIEDMAN, FORMER TEXAS GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: Hello, Glenn. How are you?

BECK: Well, I'm good.

This defeat last week of this immigration reform, who won?

FRIEDMAN: Well, I think the people won.

I think it's -- to paraphrase Will Rogers, the politicians are the greatest comedians of them all. Every time they make a joke, it turns into a law, and, every time they make a law, it turns into a joke.

BECK: Right.

FRIEDMAN: And that's what the immigration bill was.

BECK: I have got to tell you, it is so true, too. I don't know. It's in Texas, your home state. Have you heard that we have built a mile-and-a-half of border fence in Mexico, on the wrong side, and Mexico says, that's our land; tear the fence down?

(CROSSTALK)

FRIEDMAN: I did hear that.

And I think, last time, Glenn, we spoke of my five Mexican generals plan.

BECK: Love this.

FRIEDMAN: You know, that's looking pretty good right now.

BECK: Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

BECK: You actually -- tell America the plan, because, at first, I don't know if you meant it as a joke, but it sounded like a joke. And now it's starting to look like, well, maybe we should.

FRIEDMAN: Well, yes, it's a joke that should turn into a law.

The plan is to divide the border into five jurisdictions, to appoint a Mexican general -- we appoint a Mexican general in charge of each jurisdiction. We pay him $1 million, which we hold for him. And, then, every time we catch an illegal coming through his section, we withdraw $10,000.

That would shut off illegal immigration into Texas.

BECK: Right. Isn't this actually kind of what we with the Zetas? Didn't we actually help the Zetas, which is just a horrible, brutal gang or what's turned into one? We helped train them, the Israelis helped train them and now... FRIEDMAN: If I knew what the Zetas were, it would be helpful. I know the Crips and the Bloods.

BECK: Yeah, well they're worse than that. And what they're tying to do now is take control of many of our ports and they were trained by our Special Forces and trained by the Israelis as well, and now they've kind of turned against us. And the attorney general down in Mexico says they're in charge of several of the states down in Mexico. It is lawlessness down in -- south of the border.

FRIEDMAN: Well, sure. You know, Glenn, I want to -- not to put you on a pedestal here, but I do want to applaud you for what you did about Ramos and Compean, who should be pardoned before we pardon Scooter Libby.

BECK: Long before.

FRIEDMAN: No, no. These guys -- this is just sending a horrible demoralizing message to all law enforcement. Putting the good guy in solitary for 12 years and letting the bad guy escape. And you know, I've said during my campaign for governor that musicians can better run this state than the politicians and that we won't get a lot done in the mornings, but we'll work late and we'll be honest.

But, I'll tell you something, you've had a lot of musicians on your show and if you took Willie Nelson and Billy Joe Shaver and Little Joe Hernandez, Y La Familia and maybe the Dixie Chicks and Ted Nugent and Jimmy Buffett and put them together, you could work out this immigration deal, because these people have common sense, they've got decency and they've got creativity.

And they don't -- you know, politicians -- it's the worst business in the world and draws the worst kind of people to it, present company excluded, of course.

BECK: Kinky, thank you very much.

Coming up, where do American police go to learn counterterrorism tactics? How about to the world's best.

Also, if you think people who are against the immigration reform bill are just against immigrates, think again. I'm going to introduce you to one man who got here legally and then changed the face of American pop culture.

And what will immigration defeat mean to those people on the frontlines? I'll ask Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who fights a battle in Arizona every single day. Don't miss it, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Welcome back to WE THE PEOPLE. Car bomb attacks in Britain, stunning reminder of what we're truly facing around the globe. Two men rammed a car bomb into the entrance of Glasgow's airport on Saturday. British authorities believe that they also planted two car bombs in London on Friday. Those bombs didn't go off. All of these show us we need to remain on guard against terrorism here at home. And here's something the American police are doing about it. They're actually going to Israel, a place to learn about counterterrorism from the experts.

Ben Wedeman reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is a drill these policemen have done time and time again, preparing for the worst.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One can you imagine the hostages held by killers.

WEDEMAN: These drills are staged for senior police officers from across the United States. Among them, Lester Fultz from Cleveland, Ohio. He's seen a lot in the years on the force, but violence on a Middle Eastern scale hasn't been part of his beat.

LESTER FULTZ, DEP POLICE CHIEF, CLEVELAND, OH: Terrorism certainly is not high on our list of priorities, but you practice for individuality that something happens. If some would -- type of terror would visits our city, we want to be prepared, and there's no better way than learn from people who are really experts.

WEDEMAN: These police officers spent a week touring Israel. Visiting sites were previous terrorist attacks had occurred.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This was a huge terrorist attack a huge terrorist attack on Friday night with youngest...

WEDEMAN: The American cops also stopped by Ben Gurion Airport where long before the United States introduced intrusive and onerous security measures, Israel had them down to a tee.

(on camera): Tight security, like at this Jerusalem shopping mall, is normal. And while alert levels are at their highest in the United Kingdom following the failed attacks in London and Glasgow, here they're always high, simply a fact of life.

(voice-over): In Israel, security is also big business. And American police, potential big customers. But on this visit, the experience is freely shared.

AVI DICHTER, ISRAELI PUBLIC SECURITY MINISTER: I think that the way that we have learned (INAUDIBLE), I believe that the United States shouldn't pay with its own blood in order to learn the same lesson.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

WEDEMAN: These policemen, hoping by coming to Israel, they won't have to learn those lessons the hard way.

Ben Wedeman, CNN, Jerusalem. (END VIDEOTAPE)

BECK: Tonight, we have more proof of Iran's meddling in Iraq. U.S. officials say a top operative in Lebanon's Hezbollah militia, was been captured in Iraq. Hmm, wonder how that happened? Hezbollah is backed by Iran. Officials say the operative played a key role in an attack in last January that killed five Americans.

CNN's Hala Gorani is in Baghdad and she joins me with the latest.

Hala, this attack was really an amazing attack on U.S. soldiers. This is the one where they dressed up like U.S. soldiers and took, you know, SUVs into our compound, right?

HALA GORANI, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this was an attack and this is what the U.S. military is saying, linking, as you mentioned, a top Hezbollah operative, here in Iraq, what the capture and then subsequent killing of American soldiers.

The question is why is this significant. Well, Hezbollah is a Shiite militant group that is active in Lebanon. So, what this means is that you have to look at the situation here, once again, pan regionally. It isn't just in vitro in Iraq, it's the influence countries outside of Iraq are exercising on this country. If Iran, indeed, was aware at the highest levels of what the actions were of this top Hezbollah operative inside of Iraq, this means essentially that there is a proxy war going on between America and Iran inside of Iraq, Glenn, and that's what U.S. military is saying in a story that was -- that we first broke, here on CNN through our Michael Ware.

BECK: Hala, is there anybody with any kind of credibility that could say with a straight face that the ayatollah, who rules Iran with an iron fist didn't know that Hezbollah was coming in and training people just outside of Tehran and then sending them back into the war in Iraq? Is there anybody that believes that he didn't know?

GORANI: Well, there are some who will say they didn't know. Iran is denying it. Hezbollah and Lebanon was not responded, saying it would not dignify these accusations with a response. The U.S. military responded to that question by saying it would be hard to believe. So, eventually -- that's where we are right now. We're in a situation where, at some point, all these actors in the region, Glenn, are trying to position themselves for when the Americans leave.

You have Iranians, through either militia or political parties, don't forget the government of Nouri al Maliki is Shiite dominated. Many of the factions are either backed or supported by Iran. This is not necessarily something Saudi Arabia, a precious American ally, by the way, is happy very with. Saudi Arabia is a Sunni country. It is not seeing the revival of Shiite political power in the region very favorably.

BECK: Hala, thank you very much. Coming up, immigration can be done right. You just wait until you meet the guy who dressed Elvis. He dressed the Beatles, Frank Sinatra, generations of stars. This guy started as $1 an hour immigrant worker and he did it right. And later, what will immigration reform defeat mean for people on the frontlines, the people like Sheriff Joe Arpaio in Arizona? He'll be here and I'll ask him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: I don't know about you, but I am sick to death of partisan bickering and this week we're going to focus on WE THE PEOPLE, find solutions that bring us together instead of dividing us.

A few minutes ago we were talking about illegal immigration and it's a subject that, man, this country has -- we have divided on this and we're not that far apart; efforts to deal with the problem going nowhere. I want to introduce you to somebody who will make you realize how important it is to fix this immigration crisis. He came here legally, he worked hard, he made sacrifices, and he ended up changing American pop culture forever.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BECK (voice-over): Welcome to Nashville, Tennessee, Music Town, USA. It's a place where country music happens, sometime spontaneously. When you're hear, you get the feeling real quick this is a place of inspiration. Not just for musicians, but also for this man, Manuel Cuevas.

It's here in the heart of honky-tonk that Manuel has set up his legendary shop.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For everyone who wants to be in country music whatsoever, he wants to have a Manuel suit.

BECK: And that's because this guy is a legend. He's the man who put Johnny Cash in black, Elvis in the rhinestone studded jumpsuit and believe it or not, designed the Rolling Stones' logo.

MANUEL CUEVAS, FASHION DESIGNER: I have been able to do -- to create great friendships with most of the stars.

BECK: You may not know him, but you surly know his work, designing for John Travolta, Sylvester Stallone and even the suits the Beatles wore on the Sergeant Pepper album.

But Manuel's story goes much deeper than just the clothes. This king of cowboy couture is also a Mexican immigrant who came to the United States in the early `50s.

CUEVAS: I crossed the border, of course, well documented and all that. And the next day I was working for a dollar an hour.

BECK: He wound up in Los Angeles working for a local tailor. He says it wasn't so easy to adjust to so much change so quickly.

CUEVAS: It was quite a change as far as that was, but I didn't care. I was here to chase a dream that I had many years back.

BECK: Manuel knew the United States was the best place to realize that dream.

CUEVAS: I am going to do what I was called to, and this is -- I have a love the cloth and I have a passion for it.

BECK: He was so skilled at what he did it took no time before he was working for a top designer, fitting some of the biggest names of the time.

CUEVAS: Six, seven months, and I was already like on top of the game doing (INAUDIBLE) for Frank Sinatra, for Jerry Lewis.

BECK: It was also a time of inspiration. What he saw in those first years in the U.S. are reflected in his clothing.

CUEVAS: I discover embroidery, I discover real flamboyant things.

BECK: Manuel's signature, bold colors, and embroidered roses, designs you see on celebrities he's dressed from Elton John to Dolly Parton's were inspired, believe it or not, the first time he ever saw the Rose Bowl Parade.

CUEVAS: When I saw that, I said: this is the way I want to look.

BECK: His success over the last 50-some-odd years is evident. Top musicians roam in and out of his shop like casual friends.

KIX BROOKS, BROOKS AND DUNN: I really like the way those buttons work on that...

BECK: Even while we are there filming, Kix Brooks from the mega country band Brooks and Dunn stopped in for a chat.

BROOKS: Just one of a kind. I mean, all you have to do his say his name. And he didn't get that icon status by not having serious artwork here.

BECK: Serious artwork and serious craft. Look around his shop. It's like you're getting a peek back into time. Old tiny well-loved machine, irons that can't be from this century, and everything, everything done by hand. Manuel says he owes the success to luck and a lot of hard work.

CUEVAS: I think that this is really the land of opportunity.

BECK: And he's all too aware of the heated debate that's dividing our nation.

CUEVAS: Illegal is illegal, whatever. Anybody that jumps over my fence is illegal.

BECK: He thinks part of the problem is that Americans aren't willing to take low-paying jobs.

CUEVAS: Nobody wants to work for the minimum wage. And so these people create that need, and then that need creates the availability of illegals that come from so many countries.

BECK: And it's out of his own gratitude that Manuel decided to give something back to America, the best way he knew how.

MANUEL: I came up with the idea that I would make a jacket for each state of the country and just give it to the museum.

BECK: The jackets are a testament to Manuel's craftsmanship and to his love of this country.

MANUEL: I know about the greatness of this country and I know that we are all in together.

BECK: At 74 years old, Manuel has lived a rich and full life, built a business from the ground up and created some of the biggest icons in American culture.

Now, the establishment that is Manuel continues to evolve, with the fresh blood and ideas of his son, Manny, Jr.

MANNY CUEVAS, JR., SON OF MANUEL: We're taking his 50 years of his hard work and success and we're putting a big twist on it.

BECK: Together they'll continue to build their thriving business based on the ideals of a real American.

CUEVAS: I want to, you know, leave a good legacy for them. I want them to know that if you don't work at it, you don't get it. Anybody with a dream can turn realities.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BECK: Coming up we go to Arizona and the frontlines on the immigration battle and Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Will the defeat of the immigration bill mean even more illegals crossing the border or less?

And at the top of the hour on LARRY KING LIVE, the first TV interview with actor Isaiah Washington since he lost his job on "Grays Anatomy" because he was caught using anti-gay slurs.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: You know, our politicians in Washington screwed this thing up six ways to Sunday. They just didn't listen to the American people when it came to illegal immigration. It wasn't about illegal immigration at all, it was about security. And the events in London, this last weekend, make it very, very clear we cannot have a yellow alert and open borders.

Now, what does it mean that this immigration bill didn't go through yesterday? Does it make it better or worse? Sheriff Joe Arpaio is from Maricopa County in Arizona, and a plain-spoken guy and a frequent guest on my program.

Joe, welcome back. Tell me, what does this mean with what happened in Washington last week? Is it better or worse now on the border?

SHERIFF JOE ARPAIO, MARICOPA COUNTY, AZ: One thing it means, Glenn, is the greatest country in the world can't make a decision to solve a problem. That's not a good example, No. 2, I am against amnesty, at least something good came out of that, not passing that bill. But these illegals are going to continue -- continue to cross that border and come into the United States, nothing is going to change.

BECK: Why can't we -- wait, I just have to point out, you're wearing a gun tie clip. I mean, that's a little intense, but why can't we separate the two? I think this is what America wants. I'm not against immigrants. I'm not -- I just -- I'm for people coming in here in an orderly fashion, but more importantly, I'm for security. Why can't we just seal the borders first and then take a breather and say: OK, what are we going to do with the 12 million people that are here?

ARPAIO: Well, I always said, Glenn, on your show, arrest them as they cross the border, put them in jail, starting now. Nobody listens. They can't work behind bars and send money back to their loved ones. So, we talk about securing the border, but nobody talks about when they come across, what do they do? They kick them back so they keep coming back again. So, you have to put them in jail, it's a violation of the federal law.

BECK: Sheriff, have you seen an increase -- I mean, I've been reading about the Zetas and some of the things going on down in Mexico. Mexico is spiraling out of control with corruption and these groups are trying to control the border for making money on trafficking humans, all of the way to trafficking drugs. Are you seeing an increase of aggressiveness on the border or is it business as usual?

ARPAIO: Yes, I'm not going to get into details. They are trying to control this sheriff, this sheriff, the people you were talking about. But, I'm not going to back down. I was a director of the U.S. Drug Enforcement in Mexico, I know that border, including Texas and Arizona.

Yes, violence is increasing because of the illegal human trade, and of course, the drug traffic that continues to come across this border.

BECK: I'm not asking for specifics. I guess, I'm just asking your for clarification. Are you saying that you have been threatened by these groups, that they're trying to affect you?

ARPAIO: I'm not going to get into all of the details, right now, but stay tuned.

BECK: Well, I hope that you'll bring that story...

ARPAIO: That's why I'm carrying a gun on my tie.

(LAUGHTER) BECK: You'll be threatened by very small people.

Sheriff Arpaio, thank you very much.

Now, we're just a few minutes away from LARRY KING LIVE. Tonight, actor Isaiah Washington in his first TV interview since he was fired from "Grey's Anatomy" for using an anti-gay slur.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Don't forget, more issues WE THE PEOPLE can come together on all Independence holiday week, right here back here tomorrow night.

From New York, good night America. LARRY KING LIVE starts right now.

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