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Glenn Beck

Two Terror Plots Foiled, But What Danger Remains?; Scandals Plague Both Parties; Study: Men, Women Differ in Choosing Partners

Aired September 05, 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 massive terrorist attack aimed at U.S. targets foiled.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The main motive is hatred against American citizens.

BECK: Is this yet another sign of an imminent attack on American soil?

Plus, Senator Larry Craig is now reconsidering resigning.

SEN. LARRY CRAIG (R), IDAHO: We`ve reshaped my statement a little bit to stay it is my intent to resign.

BECK: And it`s my intent to tell you why the Republican Party needs to shape up.

And, the sick story of a registered sex offender charged with a gruesome murder in a Manhattan hotel.

All this and more, tonight.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BECK: Well, hello, America.

This Tuesday will be the sixth anniversary of 9/11. What`s coming in the future? I don`t know. But it does seem to an awful lot of people that there is something looming on the horizon.

This morning, authorities made arrests in connection with a wide- ranging terror plot in Germany. Yesterday, police in Denmark arrested another eight men who were also planning terrorist attacks. And while those cells may have been based in Europe, make no mistake about it. Their targets were American.

So, here`s the point, tonight.

Islamic extremists want to kill us, and they will stop at nothing until they do. Our choice is clears: it is either kill or be killed. And here`s how I got there.

Germany and Denmark are in the spotlight right now. But while you`re thinking about those terrorist plots, also think about these stories that have been floating out there for the last couple of days.

First one comes from Houston, Texas. Police and the FBI are concerned about a large number of school buses that have been stolen in the area over the last several months. Seventeen have gone missing. Significance? I`ll tell you about it next week.

In Minnesota, federal officials have indicted a Lebanese man who hired a stripper to marry him so he could get a green card. Seems he`s just doing one of those jobs Americans just won`t do, like making connections to high ranking al Qaeda members.

Over in Rochester, Minnesota, officials have discovered a U.S.-based al Qaeda web site calling for suicide bombings in Denmark.

In Florida, last Friday, two FSU students from Egypt have been indicted by a grand jury for transporting illegal explosives and teaching others how to build bombs.

And, this morning, you woke up to news of Pakistan-trained Muslim extremists targeting both America in Germany and Denmark.

Are all of these stories related? Yes and no. This is critical that you understand this. I`m not suggesting that these suspects from all of these cases secretly got together in some smoke back room, you know, to discuss their elaborate master plan to control the world.

But you need to understand that all of these cases are related through Islamic extremism and a shared hatred for America and the west. While they may not share methods or plans, they are all striving for a common result.

For a long while, I have been telling you about something that people think I`m crazy about. The perfect storm theory, as I call it. Well, next week, I`m going to give you more on my perfect storm theory and show you how it is an exact copy of a newly discovered Muslim extremist plan called "The Perfect Day."

Remember, just because we can`t immediately connect the dots doesn`t mean we shouldn`t be very aware that those dots do exist.

Here is a reminder of what Bush had to say about a similar confluence of events back in August of last year.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Maybe these are kind of isolated incidents. These aren`t isolated incidents. They`re tied together. There is a global war going on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: OK, the evidence is overwhelming. Tonight, here is what you need to know.

While the command structure of al Qaeda and other terrorist networks may be fractured, they are all connected through their hatred of freedom and their shared desire to establish a Muslim domination of the world. They may not be working together, but they are still working against us.

Maybe you have to be a little brave or, quite frankly, honestly, a little crazy to see the relationships between these events. Kind of like Russell Crow`s character in "A Beautiful Mind". But what makes it different from the movie is this. These connections are real.

For an update now on the German terror plot, let`s go to Matthias Gebaur. He is a reporter for the German newspaper "Der Spiegel".

Matthias, authorities over in Europe have been watching this group since December. Why did they spring into action today?

MATTHIAS GEBAUR, REPORTER, "DER SPIEGEL": Well, basically, they were watching this group, as you said, for a very long time. They were watching movements. They were watching the actions when they brought chemicals.

And in the last couple of days, they were starting to concentrate the chemicals to a liquid, which was -- which was able to be used for -- for the actual bomb.

So, at this point, they said, OK, we`ve seen enough. We watched you for a very long time. We were looking for other people who might have a connection to your group. But we didn`t find them. So, at this point, when you start to build the explosives, we have to -- we have to stop the development.

BECK: OK. How bad was this explosive?

GEBAUR: Well, basically, you could easily imagine, like how -- how powerful this explosive would be if you imagine that the London bombers had four or five kilos of quite the same kind of explosive in their rucksacks, and they blew up a whole wagon of a train.

So you could imagine these guys would have about five to 600 kilos of that. So they would be able to plan several car bombs if they like. And I mean, it would have been a disaster. That`s quite clear.

BECK: Any connection with what happened in Denmark that you can see? Completely isolated. I know they`re not actually connection. But was there any kind of date coordination or anything that you can see?

GEBAUR: As far as we know, not. I mean, we did many interviews today with officials and investigators, and what they see is that there is no actual connection.

But on the other hand, of course, there is a slight connection if you see, like, the similarities in the groups. You have two groups, which were in Pakistan before for training, and then went to Europe, starting to plan an attack. So, this is certainly a similarity, but the two groups itself were not connected.

BECK: Matthias, real quick. What is the attitude of the Germans? Are they, "Oh, these Americans, they`ve stirred up a hornet`s nest`? Or do you believe the people say, "Wow, we are all in this together"?

GEBAUR: I guess that`s pretty much the case, even if it sounds a little surprising, after all this political disagreement when the Iraq war happened. But I guess in this case, you know -- I mean, this explosions, or these attacks, would have been against Americans, but also against Germans. I mean, this is pretty mixed up here. So if they blew up a bomb at Frankfurt airport, I mean, of course, many Germans would have died.

And also, what Germans see is that this case was solved through very strong cooperations between the U.S. and German authorities, so I guess there`s no reason for the Germans to say this would change anything in the relations to America.

BECK: Matthias, thank you very much.

Now, let`s look at the wide-ranging implication of today`s terrorist arrests. Brad Thor is a best-selling author. He has done work with the Department of Homeland Security and war gaming.

Brad, what is the one thing, when you saw this story that you think, why is everyone missing this?

BRAD THOR, AUTHOR: Well, first of all, Glenn, I want to give you a quick update on the story that I got from one of my contacts involved with the takedown of this terrorist cell in Germany just before I came on here.

What we found out -- what I found out from my sources in Germany is that the way that this happened, they had this safe house that these guys were using under very, very high tech surveillance.

What happened is, is these guys were coming back to the safe house and were pulled over in a routine German traffic stop for a vehicle inspection. These guys processed through the vehicle inspection, no problem, went back to the safe house, but were panicked that the police were onto them.

They decided to get rid of the chemicals, get rid of all the evidence, actually to move the chemicals and get rid of evidence, as far as their plotting was concerned, and to split up and regroup later at an undisclosed location.

That`s what triggered the German elite unit, the GSGN-9 to go in and grab these guys and put this thing down right now.

BECK: You know, I`m intrigued that it is -- Frankfurt, we had people in 9/11 involved in Frankfurt. Denmark, that`s where Van Gogh killed. London, Minnesota on the radar. Arizona. Why are these cities bases? What is it about these cities, or is it just me just seeing connections where there are none?

THOR: Well, you know, there`s places like Hamburg, where the 9/11 plot was hatched and everything, and you`re looking at Denmark. What we`re seeing is cities that are appeasement centers. They`re very liberal as far as how they`re treating certain groups, where this radical ideology is fomenting.

I mean, two of the guys in this thing in Germany were German citizens who were reverts to Islam. These guys converted, although the Islamics use the term revert.

BECK: Brad, I have to tell you. A lot of people think that I`m a fear monger, and I want war and everything else. And nothing could be further from the truth. I just think I`m a realist and I see what`s coming. And we`re talking next week about something called the perfect day.

Tell me why -- tell me why this is not fear mongering. This is information that is -- a lot of people know about, a lot of people in the government want out, but some don`t want it out. Why should we know everything the government knows?

THOR: Because this issue has become a political football, political hot potato. There are elements -- it`s gotten too much about right and left and not enough about right and wrong. As far as I`m concerned, as an American, these are national security issues that trump all political ideology.

What we`ve got here is Al Qaeda has become a franchise, where you can have little operations here, little operations there. And these guys are planning attacks and carrying them out, or attempting to carry them out.

We saw the Ft. Dix case that was foiled, thank goodness, to somebody who reported on their DVD transference.

BECK: Yes.

THOR: We saw these two Egyptians in South Carolina get arrested with pipe bombs. These things are starting to kind of multiply. And we need to clamp down on them, because the perfect storm is coming, where it`s going to be tons of these all at once, just little attacks here and there that are going to be devastating.

BECK: OK. Brad will be here all next week, as we kick off our special series, "Exposed: The Perfect Day".

For Islamic terrorists the perfect day is a series of coordinated attacks that kill as many Americans, Creates as much chaos as possible. In next week`s series, we will look closely as one of the areas where we are the most vulnerable to this kind of attack: your children`s school. Don`t miss it, all next week.

Now, coming up in just a second, it looks like Senator Craig is having second thoughts about resigning. Either way the story is just another black eye for the GOP. But I`m going to tell you what the GOP is avoiding that`s really going to kill them.

And it`s not just Republicans fending off controversy. Hillary Clinton is facing questions about the origin of some campaign funds. This is new, huh? Legit contributions or funny money? Don`t miss tonight`s "Real Story".

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Coming up, Clarence Dean got only three years for sexually abusing a minor under 12. He`s now been charged with murdering a woman in New York City. It`s time we start keeping these guys behind bars for good. More on this in just a second.

But first, you know, I really honestly never thought I`d be saying the words "United States senator" and "icky airport men`s room sex" in the same story. But thanks to Republican Larry Craig, I`ve been doing it now for a week, and I`d like it to stop, please.

It was back in June that Senator Craig was arrested for lewd conduct in a Minneapolis airport restroom, which I hear is beautiful this time of year. He pleaded guilty, tried to keep the whole incident a secret. But a story like that really not going to stay under wraps for very long.

Now Craig says he didn`t do anything. He regrets his guilty plea and wants a legal do-over. I don`t know if that`s possible.

Whether he gets one or not, Craig was compelled to step down from his committee post, and it looked like he was going to resign as a senator. Today, he says he may not give his two weeks` notice. During a recent phone call, Craig explained why.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CRAIG: Billy, this is Larry Craig calling. You can reach me on my cell. Arlen Specter is now willing to come out in my defense, arguing that it appears, by all that he knows, I`ve been railroaded and all of that. Having all of that, I`ve reshaped my statement a little bit to say it is my intent to resign on September 30.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: I`ve got to tell you. The Republicans are facing a crisis of values. You have Mark Foley and his congressional page, David Vitter and his hookers. Now Larry Craig trolling for gay sex in public bathrooms.

Understandably, the Republican Party distanced itself from these guys. But what the Republicans refuse to understand is they are not destined to lose over embarrassing sex scandals.

The Republicans, I believe, are destined to lose because they`ve abandoned the core values of their party. Small government, low taxes, strong national security.

Sexual scum bags, I got news for you, in both parties. Yep. Values, however, seem to be in neither.

Peter Fenn is a former Gore advisor and Democratic strategist. Cheri Jacobus is a GOP strategist.

Cheri, I know you`re going to disagree with me, so I`m going to start with you. I think we can both agree. Let`s get the dirt bags out of the GOP and the Democratic Party. Let`s get the dirt bags out. Yes or no.

CHERI JACOBUS, GOP STRATEGIST: I think it would be great if we could get the dirt bags out, you know, from both parties and focus on the issues in the matter of the American people. Yes.

BECK: But -- why -- why the rush to get these guys out? I mean, it`s a clamor to say, he has nothing to do with us, and yet, there`s not a rush to go and stand in front of the American people and say, "Gosh, we`re sorry for giving you universal health care and prescription drugs. Gosh we`re story that we didn`t secure the border. Gosh, we`re sorry that we`re for bigger government, not smaller government. We get it. We`re sorry, we won`t do it again."

JACOBUS: Well, there`s no question that this has sort of gotten us off message. We should be talking about those things and trying to fix the thing that are broken, and rectify the mistakes.

But I think the fact that we have these, you know, these scandals out there, and the media is focusing mostly on the Republican scandals, because on our side, those are the sex scandals, and sex scandals, and people love a soap opera.

And by the way, we are ignoring the fact that Democratic California Senator Dianne Feinstein funneled billions of dollars into her husband`s company and she just stepped down from her subcommittee chairmanship in the military, appropriations subcommittee. And we`ve got Harry Reid and his sweet little (UNINTELLIGIBLE). We`ve got all of this going on, and no one`s talking about it.

BECK: Peter? You know, I mean, I don`t vote for a Democrat. I think I voted for one Democrat in my life.

PETER FENN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: We still have hope for you, Glenn.

BECK: I know, I know. That one Democrat keeping holds that out, too. But I`ve got to tell you. Listen to what just happened here. We`re not talking about anybody else`s scandals.

Cheri, just so you know, I`m getting to the Democratic money scandals here in just a second.

JACOBUS: Good. We have to focus on those, too.

BECK: What I want -- what I want to talk to you about is, why is it no one will admit that there are no values? I mean, Peter, let me be honest with you. The Democrats, you don`t stand for jack, either. You guys sucked up to the left so hard, and now the left is scratching their head, going, "Wait a minute. I thought you were on our side."

FENN: Listen, I think we stand for a lot. But I will tell you that when you are a party that stands for, supposedly, being the great moral icons of our time when the Christian Coalition is headed by Ralph Reed, and then Ralph Reed gets caught into the Jack Abramoff scandal, when you have, at least on my count, 19 members, or former members who are either in jail or under investigation in the Republican Party, when you take power and abuse power, then I think you`re in some trouble. Now, it is not a Republican or Democratic issue.

JACOBUS: Peter, that`s because we don`t tolerate it, and you guys do.

FENN: Look -- no, no, no.

BECK: Hang on just a second.

FENN: That`s not true at all.

BECK: Cheri, let me tell you something. It is not about tolerating. The Democrats did the same damn thing when they had power for a while. You get in. You get power, and you think you own it all. And you`re going to make any decision you want. And you forget you answer to me and you answer to the guy who`s watching this show right now at their home.

JACOBUS: But I do think -- I do think that Republicans are held to a higher standard. That`s why we`re hit harder.

FENN: That`s not true.

JACOBUS: It is, Peter. Come on. You look the other way all the time.

FENN: How is that true?

JACOBUS: Why aren`t you as angry -- you know what happened to Norman Hsu. What happened to your Hillary Clinton fund-raiser? He skipped out today. No one can find him.

FENN: Cheri, again, they have given the money to charity, they have given it. But look. Let me just make this one point. I don`t understand why the Republican leadership of this Congress is so fast with Larry Craig, and they give David Vitter a standing ovation?

JACOBUS: The standing ovation was wrong, but...

FENN: Let me ask you a question. You said get rid of him. Would you call for David Vitter to be out?

JACOBUS: If he was arrested and pled guilty to a crime, and then hid it from his leadership, yes, I would.

Here`s the thing. Last fall, Republicans learned our lesson. And that`s why we don`t want -- we want to learn from the mistakes. The voters did. Polling shows that the voters did reject us because of these various ethic scandals.

BECK: Cheri, I`ve got to tell you, that`s -- that`s bull crap. I`ve got to tell you, I want to vote for the Republicans. I`m a conservative. I would just like the Republican Party to join me in conservative land.

JACOBUS: Our exit polling did show that.

BECK: We`ll be back in a second.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: All right. I`m about to break some news here so put the Cheetos down for just a second and listen. Here goes.

According to scientists, men like hot women. No, I know. I know it`s a shock. Take a deep breath. Let it just wash over you for a second.

See? Like, I like that. That`s OK with me.

New study on speed daters show that men pick their dates pretty much on looks alone, while women actually consider other things: personality, wealth, family. Whatever.

I`m not actually sure I buy into this. I -- I don`t think men are really that discriminating, a lot of them. I think it`s more like, you know, whatever`s available. Larry Craig. Bathroom, you know what I`m saying? More often, a mammal will do for a lot of guys.

Steve Sanigoty, he is the "New York Times" best selling author of "The Manual" and a relationship expert.

Come as shock to you that men like hot women?

STEVE SANIGOTY, AUTHOR, "THE MANUAL": I was appalled.

BECK: Yes, me too.

SANIGOTY: How shallow. You know, the funny thing is women are no different than us. It`s just that they`re more forgiving.

BECK: No, that`s not true. I get as many women as you get and look at me.

SANIGOTY: No...

BECK: No, not true.

SANIGOTY: My point is that women are just as shallow. Women are always saying, I want someone to love me for my inside. And I go, "Well, I`ll introduce you to a guy. He`s hairy and fat and weighs 360 pounds, you know, and he`ll be committed and romantic." And they don`t want to date him. So they`re just as bad.

BECK: They are -- look. I mean, here`s the thing. How come there`s not an epidemic of women in the bathroom stalls of airports?

SANIGOTY: Because -- because guys are so visual, I don`t know. That`s - I wish there were. I wish there were more women...

BECK: Can`t be visual in the bathroom. I don`t want to have any senses while I`m in the bathroom.

SANIGOTY: All those -- all those -- all those delayed flights would take on a whole new meaning if women were in the bathroom stalls. But -- let`s -- I digress. Let`s stick to the point here. Which is, OK. Why are women -- guys are always going to like attractive women. It`s genetically programmed into us.

Women have genetically things genetically programmed to them, as well. They want a dominant, masculine man. That`s the end of the day. And so, that comes in a lot more packages than a girl with curves.

BECK: Just speaking generally, because, I believe that a good relationship isn`t based on any of this stuff, quite honestly, it`s what gets you to a good relationship. What, you disagree with that?

SANIGOTY: Yes, well, the bottom line is...

BECK: It will attract you, right.

SANIGOTY: But if a woman doesn`t take care of herself, it`s going to reflect in a lot of other aspects of the relationship. That`s just how it goes.

BECK: She`s out. Oh, she`s out. Yes. But generally speaking, a woman could be poor, stupid as a box of rocks, but hot, and she`ll find herself a rich man.

SANIGOTY: True.

BECK: A guy, rich, and, like, disfigured by battery acid, and he`ll be with that stupid hot blond.

SANIGOTY: Absolutely.

BECK: They`re a match made in heaven.

SANIGOTY: Absolutely. And you know what? They deserve each other. Technically, gold diggers and the guys that will date them, they`re a perfect match.

BECK: So, have you ever noticed that guys, I mean, if a guy looks like you. I mean, you know, when you get up, and you`re like, "Oh, gee, I wonder who will be attracted to me." Me, a guy looking like me, it`s a different story.

But have you ever noticed that really ugly men still, they don`t -- they`ll just go and they`ll just walk right up to a hot woman and be like, "Hey, I mean, hey, how about a little piece of this?"

SANIGOTY: Let me get -- I want to answer. I want to go back once again. Because you keep saying things about yourself, self-deprecating, as you will. First of all...

BECK: It works. Chicks dig it.

SANIGOTY: It does work, because you`re funny. And women are going to find you a turn on...

BECK: Yes.

SANIGOTY: ... much faster than any good looking guy out here, because you`re funny and charismatic.

BECK: He`s right. He`s right.

SANIGOTY: That`s fact. That`s fact.

BECK: I know.

SANIGOTY: "Maxim" magazine did a report about it.

BECK: See. I didn`t know they did a story about me being funny. But he`s right, ladies.

SANIGOTY: there you go.

BECK: Steve, thanks.

Up next, why God`s love for Iowa may lead to changes in our primary process. Don`t miss tonight`s explanation in the "Real Story". It`s next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: A 30-something-year-old guy has sex with a 12-year-old minor. He serves his three years. Now, he`s out of prison, and he`s just been charged with murdering a woman in New York. One strike and you`re out. More on that story in just a minute.

But first, welcome to the "Real Story." Yesterday, I told you about the alleged hijacker of a secure Pentagon computer network that was none other than the People`s Liberation Army of China. Of course, you know, they deny having anything to do with it. But now circumstantial evidence is starting to pile up, as the "Guardian" newspaper reports today that Chinese hackers may also have been responsible for a little attack against the networks of the British Parliament and Foreign Office. China, what`s up?

Tomorrow, I`m going to tie it all together for you, and I`m going to tell you about another attack I bet you you`ve never heard of, in where someone remotely gained access, almost full control, of a nuclear power plant here in the U.S. Unfortunately for us, the software that attacker exploited still used to control critical infrastructure all across our country, and we may still be vulnerable to attack. That is tomorrow.

But today, let`s just pretend that foreign governments aren`t hacking into our networks and distract ourselves with politics instead.

The Republicans are debating, again, tonight. I believe the most important issue of this entire campaign, however, isn`t even going to be discussed on the stage. The "Real Story" is that the key to the entire `08 nomination just might rest with whoever wins a cutthroat game of primary leapfrog that is being played out right now. In the game, the players are the state delegations. The object is apparently to be the first one with the earliest possible primary election date.

Florida made an earlier bid for the title, moving their primaries to January 29th. Then Wyoming responded, moving theirs to January 5th. I mean, I don`t even know -- I don`t have my tree down by the 5th of January. Michigan then retaliated by moving their primary up to January 15th. A dozen other states have already scheduled their primaries to be earlier than February 5th.

Aside from the novelty factor of, "Look at me, I`m first," there doesn`t really seem to be a whole lot of solid rationale behind any of this. For example, here`s New Mexico`s governor, Bill Richardson, trying to make the case for the first primary to actually be in Iowa.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. BILL RICHARDSON (D), NEW MEXICO: Iowa, for good reason, for constitutional reasons, for reasons related to the Lord, should be the first caucus and primary!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: Related to the Lord? I mean, really? Can you imagine Mitt Romney if he would have say that? I`m a pretty big Christian kind of guy, but I don`t think God actually cares whether Iowa holds their primaries first or not, especially, you know, how busy he is considering the whole return of his son thing, but that`s a different story.

However, there are actually a few good reasons why you should care about any of this. First, early primaries probably hurt lesser-known candidates the most because it doesn`t give them as much time to raise money or get their names out there. In fact, people like Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton probably would have never become the nominee if this schedule were in place.

Second, the whole debacle -- hello, Democrats? It may actually end up helping Republicans when it comes to the general election, and here`s why. Democrats made a pledge over the weekend to avoid campaigning in states like Florida that violated party rules for moving their primaries up. I mean, good thing for Florida. They`re politicians, so they`re not going to keep their word, most likely, but Republicans have gone the other way, deciding in some cases that they`re going to campaign even harder in those states, because it may end up being winner-take-all.

It doesn`t take an election consultant to figure out that the extra face time may actually help the Republicans win next November, but no one seems to be talking about who`s losing in all of this: us, the voters.

John Fund is an editorial writer for "The Wall Street Journal." John, worst-case scenario, we could have primaries before Christmas.

JOHN FUND, "WALL STREET JOURNAL": Trick-or-treating this year might feature candidates rather than hobgoblins.

BECK: How did all of this start? When did we start running -- have you noticed most of these people, I don`t think they even have jobs anymore. They`re full-time campaigners. When did this start?

FUND: I don`t know how you serve as a U.S. senator, which is a full- time job, and also campaign full-time for president. It`s beyond me.

BECK: Of course, that might be a good thing to keep them out on the road and away from doing business.

FUND: I agree. You know, the less money they spend, the less time in Washington. But seriously, I think it started with primary envy. Iowa and New Hampshire have got a cozy little business going where, every four years, journalists and candidates keep pouring in, and they bring lots of money, lots of attention, more attention than the states normally get. In New Hampshire, there`s one television station, Glenn. Every four years, they open up a new wing, and they call that wing the 1996 wing, that wing the 2000 wing. I mean, all of the ad money that comes in.

BECK: I have to tell you, what frightens me about this whole election season is we keep moving it closer and closer to the last election. It becomes longer and longer. Nothing becomes about really doing anything or real, new ideas. It becomes about constant positioning.

FUND: Constant campaigning. We don`t govern anymore. In fact, it used to be that a president would have a year or two before they`d have to worry about running for re-election. Now, literally, with the constant campaign, the permanent campaign, you`re always in campaign mode. That means things like Social Security reform were immediately dumped because they couldn`t get momentum within two or three months after they were announced. It makes you wonder how in the world we`re ever going to solve our problems if all we do is campaign.

BECK: Be cynical for a second. Who is this going to -- is there any candidate -- Clinton comes to mind, because this would be something that would really help Hillary Clinton -- is there any candidate that was really behind moving these primaries up?

FUND: No.

BECK: So it was just really the states just saying, "I want to be first"? Oh, just as bad, it`s all about money?

FUND: Look, I favor a decentralized federalist system, but I also think that, after this election, the two parties are going to get together. They`re going to have separate commissions formed and they`re going to create some order out of this chaos, because we cannot have this go on. Imagine, we`re going to have our nominees effectively decided in early February. That`s nine or ten months before the rest of the electorate votes on who`s going to be president.

BECK: How is that possible for Fred Thompson? I mean, Fred Thompson announces tomorrow. How is that possible that he can make up this much ground?

FUND: Because most people don`t pay any attention to this. You and I do. We`re interested in politics.

BECK: Not really.

FUND: But, remember, over 50 percent of people in the key primary states make up their mind in the last week. In some cases, it`s two- thirds. In some states, 19 percent, 25 percent make it up on Election Day. So a candidate, if they can get their message out, the key for them is the last few days, not now. Now they have to build up an organization. Now they have to raise money. So there`s time for anyone to still win, but it does help the frontrunners in these early primary states.

BECK: I got to tell you, you know, you don`t make it -- I go stand in the voting booth, and I swear to you, to me it`s like playing Russian roulette. John, thanks a lot.

Now, two things that get politics into more trouble than anything else: sex and money. Media prefers a story where they`re combined, but quite honestly we`ll take either one of them on this program. Now, things will get a little tricky, a little dicey when two stories happen simultaneously, if one is about sex and the other is just about money, sex wins every single time. And that is exactly the scenario that occurred last week. But should it have?

While the media was feasting on the bones of Larry Craig`s little "Penthouse" forum moment, another scandal, this one involving some Democrats and their campaign donations, was almost completely ignored by the mainstream media. What a surprise there, huh?

Emmett Tyrrell, Jr., is the founder and editor-in-chief of the "American Spectator" and the author of "The Clinton Crackup." You`ve been following this scandal. Why is this a huge scandal?

R. EMMETT TYRRELL, "AMERICAN SPECTATOR": Well, you know, this is what the Clintons would call "old news," but it`s old news because campaign finance violations with shadowy, Asian figures have been going back with the Clintons all the way back to 1986. I mean, this is chapter five of my book. There`s been one figure after another.

In `96, you had half a dozen shadowy Asian figures, and now you, of course, have Norman Hsu reported to have been dispersing as much as a million dollars to Clinton people, to other Democrats. And it turns out we`ve now discovered he doesn`t even have an address. His home address was a New York public library, and he`s on the lam again.

BECK: OK, where does he -- where does he get his money? Where is this money coming from?

TYRRELL: Well, we don`t know. He was supposed to appear -- he put up $2 million -- at the end of last week, the week in which the story wasn`t reported, as you quite incisively point out, at the end of the week, it was discovered even worse. Not only is he dispersing money that apparent is increate, but the money -- he`s been on the lam since 1992. So he appears up at a San Francisco courthouse, and the San Francisco courthouse, he posts $2 million bail, and today, this very day, was supposed to appear in the courthouse once again, and he skipped bail. He`s out on the lam once again.

BECK: All right. Tell me about the -- do you have anything on this Pakistani -- I read something last week about a guy who is a Pakistani national, he also gave money to the Clinton campaign, and then he disappeared. Do you know anything about that? Or is that true at all?

TYRRELL: No, I only know about the Indian that disappeared. There was an Indian that gave money. I don`t know if he`s disappeared. But the Clintons have been tied up in the last six weeks with at least two people fighting felony charges, one a convicted felon.

BECK: OK. This is kind of -- the reason why this is bad, let`s just say all of this is innocent, which I find that hard to believe, this just brings back -- I mean, I immediately thought of the monks. I immediately thought of, what was the other guy back in the `90s that was funneling money from the Chinese army?

TYRRELL: Chinese military, Johnny Chung. And he was dealing with Chinese military intelligence. Again, it`s chapter five of "The Clinton Crackup." It`s all over the book.

BECK: OK. I don`t know, I don`t know if anybody else feels this way, this is why I`d like to stop the Clinton-Bush-Clinton-Bush thing, maybe next time around. Bundling, is this illegal? Bundling is just when they take -- they`ve got one guy who was a postal worker making $46,000 a year, and he gave I think $200,000 in donations. That`s just people just gathering a bunch of money and spreading it out, right?

TYRRELL: Yes, and Hsu was the man that worked with him on this, Hsu the man without a home.

BECK: Is it illegal?

TYRRELL: It`s very much illegal now, as of the 2002 campaign finance law, it`s very much illegal. And the Paw family, another Chinese-American family, in this case Chinese-born, they are facing serious investigations.

BECK: OK, Emmett, thank you very much.

Coming up a little later on the program, the Air Force sends a B-52 on an atomic road trip across the Midwest. Too bad no one knew the plane was actually carrying live nukes. Yes.

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BECK: You know, like the old -- my bakery, my dad`s bakery, when you`d open up the door, it had a little bell. Sometimes you`ll open up a door and it will -- it will, you know, make some sound. So they know, when you come into an Apple store, it should just say, "Buy a new one. Buy a new one. Hey, dummy, buy a new one." You know what? I think they think that we don`t have any memory. They don`t realize that we`re screwing them every time they walk through the door. "Buy a new one. Buy a new one."

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BECK: I am a parent of four children, and you don`t have to be a parent to be sick and tired of these sex offenders and scratch your head and say, "What the heck are we doing?" Time and time again, we see these guys showing up as repeat offenders. And every time we say the same thing. The latest tragedy happened in a Times Square hotel in New York City. A maid went in to clean the room. She found a woman stuffed underneath a bed. She had been beaten and strangled to death and then jammed into black garbage bags.

Thirty-five-year-old Clarence Dean now charged with second-degree murder. He was first arrested in the mid-1990s for raping a 12-year-old girl. He is listed as a sex offender for crimes, plural, involving minors, plural, in Florida and Alabama. He had a warrant out for his arrest in Alabama for failing to register as a sex offender. His defense? Oh, well, in this case, he told the detectives he was a scapegoat. You know, this killing thing, he didn`t do it. He was just a scapegoat because of his past arrests for sex crimes.

Wendy Murphy is back for a further conversation of this. This guy they think now is responsible for raping a girl in Alabama at a college university this year. At what point do we say we`re in the definition of insanity, doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results?

WENDY MURPHY, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Look, I guarantee you, the guy has got a longer list of victims than just the ones you mentioned, because that`s what predators do. They keep going. They keep hunting. And the saddest thing is, they pick on the social undesirables, the people who`ve had tough luck in their lives, the prostituted women, the kids whose parents aren`t paying attention or are drug addicts. And that`s one of the secrets, dirty, little secrets, that predators prey on the vulnerable people, and they hope they get away with it. And this guy did.

And you know what, Glenn? I don`t have the answer, except what I can tell you is it`s enough now. We have had how many stories where we look back and go, "All the red flags were there"? Now, with hindsight, we can tell we should have grabbed him. When does hindsight become foresight?

BECK: But, you know, Wendy, I have to tell you something. This kills me, because we`re doing the same thing with Islamic terror. Another hit is coming. And when it does, everybody will say, "What did you know and when did you know?" We`ve known it the whole time! Where is the disconnect from the people that we talk to on television every night, who I know feel as passionately as I do about the border, about child molesters, about terror, about our budget being out of control, all of these things, and yet nothing happens? Where is the disconnect?

MURPHY: You know, look, it`s cheaper and easier, and it sure feels a lot better to cover our eyes and stick our fingers in our ears, Glenn. That`s the sad truth. We hope against hope that these predators will go away or drop dead or overdose. And you know what? They don`t go away. They go hunting.

And as they`re hunting for their next victim, the next child, the next vulnerable woman, we should be hunting for them. But we don`t spend the resources because we don`t have the leadership or the political will, because people don`t care enough. And what are those leaders going to say when another child gets raped by yet another guy like this? What are we going to say to the parents of that child? "Oh, sorry, we didn`t think your child`s life was worth the money"? I don`t know.

BECK: I have to tell you, I have John Walsh on the program tomorrow, I want to talk to him about this very thing. I just don`t know what it`s going to take. You know, we have Jack McClellan, the guy with the hat, the creepy guy in California, and he`s out, and he`s saying, "Hey, I love little girls. Look at me. I love little girls." And the argument becomes, "Well, can he say this? It`s like screaming fire in a theater. Can he do it or not?" This guy, the guy who just brutally murdered this 20-year-old girl, he had already done stuff. We just didn`t hang onto him.

MURPHY: And you know what? We could have grabbed this guy for the probation violations, for not registering. And we don`t think those kinds of crimes are serious enough. Just like the loser prosecutor in California with McClellan didn`t stick with the trespassing charge. OK, trespassing isn`t the most serious crime. But for guys like this, you get them on anything, like Al Capone. You couldn`t get him on murder; you get him on taxes. Anything at all is better than nothing.

BECK: Were you -- when I saw this story, the one thing that I saw was, the way he brutally murdered this girl, and then he put her in a garbage bag, and then jammed her body underneath a bed. You know what jumped out at me? And maybe I`m wrong. I`m not a psychiatrist, but, you know, I am a thinker. What jumped out at me is, it was almost -- I don`t know, the act of hiding it and jamming it under the bed and putting it into garbage bags, the guy knew he wasn`t going to get away with it. It was almost like he hated her because she brings something out in him. Is that at all possible that this is how they`ve just twisted this in their heads?

MURPHY: There`s no question that there`s a sickness there, but there`s evil, too. And I don`t care if it`s sick or evil; I still think he should be off the street.

BECK: Oh, yes. No, no.

MURPHY: But you know what, Glenn? You point out something important. We do know how to identify the most dangerous people by asking the right questions, by the psychologist with the right degrees and the right expertise. They could have found out this guy was likely to do this, and he shouldn`t have been able to get away with it.

BECK: Thanks, Wendy. We`ll talk to you again.

Now, I personally believe sentences for sex offenders a little too weak. As far as I`m concerned, one strike and you`re out. Where am I wrong? Go to CNN.com/Glenn and cast your vote. Let me know whether you agree or disagree. By the way, if you disagree, please leave your address. We`ll send the cars right over.

Up next, did you hear the one about the B-52 that flew three hours over the Midwest with a bunch of nukes strapped to its wings? Yes, yes, they didn`t know they were there. Details on the Pentagon`s lost flight, back in a minute.

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BECK: Well, earlier today, military officials confirmed that six 150- kiloton nuclear warheads attached to cruise missiles mistakenly carried aboard a flight last week between North Dakota and Louisiana. Oops. Flight crew completely unaware that they were carrying live nuclear weapons, and the mistake wasn`t discovered until after the plane landed. Officials admitted that the incident was a colossal breach of the security rules surrounding nuclear weapons -- you think so? -- but wanted to reassure us that at no point was the public in any real danger. Oh, thank goodness. I feel a whole lot better now.

The Air Force has promised a full investigation and has already reprimanded several people involved. I personally think that everybody`s overreacting, you know? I mean, it`s not like the plane exploded and hundreds of thousands of innocent people were just vaporized. Plus, these nukes just don`t blow themselves up on their own. There`s like a three- step process to detonating one of these babies. I, for one, think the whole thing is getting blown out of proportion, which is probably a bad choice of words in this story, but the nukes weren`t actually missing. We just didn`t know where they were.

That`s it. I mean, look. Take a look. Here it is, Minot, North Dakota, there are the nukes, OK? When the Air Force base and the planes take off, the nukes were right there on the plane, right here. Let me repeat. Nukes, not missing. They were on the plane. Now, here`s the path. The plane took first to South Dakota. And even if something did no wrong, I mean, what is it, North and South Dakota, what, 10 people live there?

Then they crossed into Nebraska, would have been a shame there. A lot of good people in Nebraska, but good news? Meal and beverage service would have ended, and the in-flight movie would have begun right about this area. There are unconfirmed reports that the film that was offered was "Music and Lyrics," which, frankly, I enjoyed when I saw it in the theater, while I don`t think there was a lot of on-screen chemistry between Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore, I do think they both gave excellent performances. But I digress.

OK, so the plane then proceeded over Kansas. This is where I admit things get a little rocky. Over these populated regions right here, you know, it could get dicey. Here`s Tulsa, where I can be heard on 1170 KFAQ. Now, if the nukes would have blown here, I would have lost a lot of loyal fans, and I would have felt bad about that. But the nukes safety touched down right here in Louisiana.

See? We knew where they were the whole time, right on the plane. There it is.

Don`t forget, if you want to know what`s on tomorrow`s show or if you`d like to hear a little bit more in-depth commentary on the news of the day, you can sign up for my absolutely free daily e-mail newsletter at glennbeck.com. From New York, good night.

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