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Glenn Beck
Are We Any Safer Six Years Later?; Bin Laden Puts Out Videotape; Hillary Runs Into Campaign Funding Problems; Texas Muslims Rally Against Terrorism
Aired September 11, 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, it`s been six years since the attack of September 11. But how safe are we? Part two of our week-long series "Exposed: The Perfect Day" explores the lessons we need to learn from a school massacre in Russia.
Plus, shocking new DNA evidence in the McCann case. It`s not really looking good for the missing 4-year-old Madeleine`s parents as the authorities build their case.
And Hillary in hot water over questionable campaign donations. We`ll look at the history and mystery of Clinton finances.
All this and more tonight.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BECK: OK. Hello, America.
Today is the sixth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. It was the deadliest foreign attack on American soil in our nation`s history. You know an old phrase: those who don`t learn in history are destined to repeat it? Well, here`s the point tonight. We are destined to repeat 9/11. And here is how I got there.
Every since President Bush declared a war on terror, we`ve been fighting, I think it, half-assed. Certainly not fighting the way -- come on. We`re the greatest nation in the world with the most powerful military in the history of the world. You mean to tell me that our strategy over these last six years is this? This is how a super power fights to win? I hope not.
We were fighting to win until that statue of Saddam Hussein fell. Then partisan politics took over, tied the military`s hands. Vietnam vets, does this sound familiar?
However, I am sensing, lately at least, that finally the military may be getting the war back under their control. And not a minute too soon, quite frankly.
Not only haven`t -- our leaders learned to let our soldiers plan wars and not them. But there`s a host of over lessons that we just can`t get through our thick skulls. And here`s just a few.
First of all, there`s airport security to the TSA. Most of the 7,500 tons of cargo that the airlines carry every day beneath your seat on the plane doesn`t get through a bomb detector. Yes. Containers apparently just too big.
Can the greatest country in the world not just make bigger x-ray machines? I mean, is it just me? I get strip-searched before I -- you know, before I can sit down on the plane. But there`s a ton of unchecked cargo in the belly of the plane?
How about visas? At least four of the 9/11 hijackers had expired visas at the time of the attacks. Six years later. Remember, oh, we`re going to fix this? Experts now say as many as four million of the 12 million illegal immigrants staying here may have overstayed their visas. But we`re not really sure.
Plus, the cases of the fugitive aliens who have ignored or evaded deportation orders have nearly doubled in numbers since 2001. Now, that number is over 600,000.
Of course, we do have people on those watch lists. You know, the people that people that intelligence agencies fell that we should keep an eye on, whether they`re here illegally or not. After busting up a terrorist cell in London last month, 200 additional people were put onto those watch lists, and they said, let`s go find them.
A hundred of them were here in the New York area. Have they been caught? Is anybody even looking for them?
I asked Michael Chertoff about this on my radio program today. Honestly, I didn`t even understand his answer. So far, we`ve heard absolutely nothing of substance. And this is the case where no news is bad news. So tonight, here, America, is what you need to know.
We need to get our act together. I mean, I`m not talking about you. I apologize. Let me speak right directly to those weasels in Washington. Get your act together! We`re getting distracted by political correctness. People are crying foul over using phrasing like "Islamic extremism." Oh, that`s hurtful. And now there seems to be a new political scandal every two weeks.
Is this the country we really want to leave to our children? Is this the best we can do? Of course not. We`re better than this. And we`re capable of great things when we set our minds to it.
Well, the heartland`s minds are set to it. Maybe, maybe we could build bigger x-ray machines for airplanes. I`m just saying. We need a nonpartisan effort to unite the country. Where is the leader?
And we got to take the terrorist threat seriously. Otherwise, the only future we can look forward to are the tragedies of the past.
Stephen Flynn is the senior fellow on national security for the Council on Foreign Relations.
Stephen, am I wrong? Have we done everything we`re supposed to do?
STEPHEN FLYNN, SENIOR FELLOW, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: Time and time again, we`ve heard -- the American people have heard that everything that can be done is being done to make you secure. And basically, we`ve been told, you just shop and travel and we`ll take care of you.
The reality is, just as you had at the top of the program, there`s a whole laundry list of things that need to be done and should have been done a long time ago.
BECK: So why aren`t they being done? Is this just -- I mean, it seems to me the people in Washington just don`t get it or they`re in bed with pretty special interests or it`s political correctness. But none of it because the American people don`t want it done.
FLYNN: That`s certainly what I have found is that, when I talked around the country to various audiences, and talked about the challenges and frankly what we can all do together as a nation, I find that people are pretty responsive. Here`s one problem.
One is everything didn`t change on 9/11. What we essentially have done is approached the war on terrorism as something that we have to treat as an away game. And even NATO (ph), as we`ve seen, has not been going all that well.
But time and time again, the mantra has been the only way to win this is on the offense. And we do it over there so we don`t have to do it here. Now, I`m all for, as a retired military officer, the use of the tools we have to try to chase as many of these guys down as we can. But we`re not going to be 100 percent successful, and we need to have plans here, as 9/11 demonstrated.
BECK: I -- I mean, how many times have you heard the president say, they`ve got to be right only once, we`ve got to be right every time? And yet, the people of America are pulling their hair out. We know the borders. We know about chemical plants.
What -- Houston is one of the biggest targets in the country. What`s been done to secure Houston and the chemical plants?
FLYNN: Well, it`s -- just simply has been a priority in Washington. Let me use one number to help illustrate this.
Every day since the spring of 2003, we`ve been spending $250 million a day on the war in Iraq. The total amount of money we have spent on the port of Las Vegas, to safeguard its security -- and this is a port that brings in more containers, more energy than any other port in this country, is about $30 million. That`s at the federal level. That`s like three hours in Iraq.
The fact is, it cost resources to invest in it. But we just haven`t engaged as a national priority to build our own resiliency here as a component for our war on terror. We put virtually all our eggs in the basket on the war overseas. And that`s -- unfortunately, that`s not going to solve the problem.
BECK: Stephen, I -- I had Chertoff on my radio program today. And I tried to get straight answers out of him, on the border. I mean, he basically lied to me three times in a row on the border.
But then, I asked him about the list of the 100 guys. We broke up this deal over in London. And then they said we`ve got to find these 100 guys that live in the New York City area and the couple of hundred that live all around the country. He pretended like he didn`t even know what I was talking about.
I know I read that report. I read it on the air. What happened to these guys? Are we finding guys on the list?
FLYNN: The biggest lesson -- one of the big lessons we should have pulled out from 9/11 is that the feds don`t even talk to the feds very well, never mind to the rest of the country.
That is, you know, the CIA wasn`t talking to the FBI. They`re -- they made a lot of progress on that front. But it turns out that it`s not federal agents at the end of the day that are largely going to make us safer. It`s going to be local state police. It`s going to be everyday citizens.
And the federal government doesn`t know how to share information well with the people most likely to be on the front lines and the front lines are all of us.
BECK: Well, I`ve got news for you. That`s why we`re sharing, in just about a half hour from now, we`re sharing our "perfect day" scenario.
Stephen, thanks a lot.
Now, like they have in years past, al Qaeda released a videotape today to mark the anniversary of 9/11. On it, Osama bin Laden urges sympathizers to join the caravan of martyrs, as he phrased as one of the September 11 suicide hijackers. I don`t know about you, but if you saw last night`s episode, and you saw "The Perfect Day", when we talked about -- you know, the school buses that are missing. I found it a little -- a little frightening when he said caravan of martyrs. More on that coming up in, like I said, in just about a half hour.
But let`s get the real rundown on the analysis on the new bin Laden tape with Lawrence Wright. He`s the author of the "Living Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11". Also, the play, "My Trip to al Qaeda".
Lawrence, we go for over a year. No word from Osama bin Laden, and then twice in a week.
LAWRENCE WRIGHT, AUTHOR, "LIVING TOWER": Glenn, I`ve read those speeches that, you know, that bin Laden has released. And I`ve come to a realization of why we hear from him so rarely. He`s got nothing to say.
Some of what we released today is almost cut and pasted from his declaration of war against the United States in 1996. He`s even referencing Clinton`s first secretary of state, as if that was still his problem.
He`s talking about expelling the American troops from Saudi Arabia, who`ve already gone. The whole thing is really a puzzling document.
BECK: So what do you think it means? Have you drawn any conclusions? Any speculation?
WRIGHT: Glenn, al Qaeda`s in a box. His videotape yesterday was called "The Solution". But he has no solution. He`s asking for Americans to convert to Islam.
But, you know, it`s no longer really a political organization. At one time, al Qaeda had political goals, and to some extent, they`ve been achieved. The Americans have withdrawn from Saudi Arabia. That was one of its major goals.
But it`s becoming increasingly nihilistic. And it`s stuck with an incomparably difficult problem: how do you top 9/11?
BECK: Tomorrow, I`m going to talk about something that I think everybody is missing on the Petraeus testimony and that is that we are -- I don`t think it`s in dispute that we are dismantling al Qaeda, at least temporarily in Iraq. That we have made great gains on them. That leads to humiliation.
Anybody who studies the Middle East knows almost everything in history with the Middle East is tied to a moment of humiliation. Doesn`t al Qaeda need to respond to redeem themselves from this great humiliation?
WRIGHT: Humiliation is one of the most common words in bin Laden`s vocabulary. And he, himself -- I mean, many Muslims have been humiliated physically. Like, Ayman al Zawahiri, No. 2 guy there, was tortured in prison. But Bin Laden, rich, young, charismatic, from one of the wealthiest families in Saudi Arabia, he was never humiliated.
But he uses that word, and it strikes such a resonant chord with Muslims, who remember that there was once one great superpower, and it was Islam.
BECK: Lawrence, thank you very much. I appreciate it.
And just a side note to Rosie O`Donnell. In it, in the tape today, Osama bin Laden highlighted one of the 9/11 hijackers. So apparently, it wasn`t Dick Cheney flying the plane. Maybe you should look into the tape.
Time now to find out where I`m wrong on this. I honestly don`t believe our leaders in Washington have done everything in their power to protect us against another attack. I think they`re playing political games many times. Do you agree or disagree? Go to CNN/Glenn right now and cast your vote. I`ve got to tell you, if 90 percent don`t agree with me, I`m going to be stunned.
Coming up, Clinton campaign controversy. No! The Democratic frontrunner returns nearly $1 million in contributions, all tied to a convicted criminal. Why wasn`t this guy checked out? Is the Secret Service maybe having a sandwich?
And just three years ago, 172 innocent children were tragically murdered by terrorists in Beslan, Russia. You have never heard the real story, unthinkable, of what could be coming our way. "The Real Story", coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: In just a few minutes, we continue our weeklong series "Exposed: The Perfect Day". For Islamic terrorists, at least, the perfect day is a term used to define a series of coordinated attacks resulting in death and destruction, on a massive scale and in unimaginable ways.
Tonight, we should learn from the tragedy of Beslan. That`s that school massacre that was in Russia. You don`t know the truth on this. If you`re a parent, you can`t miss this. And I got a lot of mail from people that said they watched the show last night with their kids. And I beg you please, do not let your kids see this episode tonight. It`s coming up in a few minutes.
But first, Hillary Clinton announced late last night, shockingly, after the news cycle had come and gone, that she will be returning an estimated $850 to 260 donors associated with former fugitive and Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu.
Well, first of all, congratulations, Hillary. I mean, it`s the largest amount ever returned by a single candidate. So you got that record going for you.
Having evaded authorities for nearly 15 years, Norman Hsu was, I guess, hiding out with the Clintons. He was finally found on an Amtrak train, lying bare-chested in the fetal position on the ground, asking Amtrak employees if he was in jail. He wasn`t then, but something tells me he`ll be there soon.
And now that old Norman is in custody, the Clinton campaign has, quote, vowed to take affirmative steps to verify the origins of its bundlers` income. Bundlers are -- by the way, are those who collect smaller amounts from a number of donors and then deliver that lump sum to candidates. You know?
And it`s a good thing that Bill and Hillary are doing this now. Because it`s not like they`ve ever had, you know, problems with taking money from unverified donors before.
Wait, no, I take that back. Except for that time in `96 when 22 people pleaded guilty to making illegal donations to Bill Clinton`s campaign and something about the Chinese or something. But I`m sure this is completely different.
Anyway, the Clintons were the authors of the don`t ask, don`t tell policy. Do you think they thought that up for the military? Now, come on. I think they come up with that little gem while they were receiving fistfuls of campaign money.
After all, if being an insane socialist -- sorry, a progressive, a modern-day progressive can`t get you elected, well, what the heck? Why not just buy your way into the White House?
Joining me now is John Fund, editorial writer from the "Wall Street Journal".
John, arrogance or desperation? What does this say to you, this story?
JOHN FUND, "WALL STREET JOURNAL": Glenn, the Clintons and campaign finance scandals go together like MoveOn.org and bad taste. They`re always present together.
BECK: It`s amazing to me. I mean, I saw this story when it first broke and I thought -- I mean, immediately, I brought back -- I was brought back to the `90s where, you know -- where the Chinese were trying to buy themselves into the election. And it`s the same story. They just blow it off.
FUND: We -- everything is old news. As soon as it happens, you say it`s old news, even if it was five minutes ago.
In 1996, 120 people either fled the country or took the Fifth Amendment to avoid questioning about that scandal which involved a lot of Chinese and foreign money. And we never got to the bottom of it.
But now we have this new scandal, and we don`t know how far it goes. But we do know that the same arrogance and the same lack of oversight that we saw in 1996 is being shown in 2008. And the same people are in charge.
Terry McAuliffe, Harry Ickes were in charge in `96, and now they`re in charge of the Hillary campaign.
BECK: Unbelievable.
FUND: And here`s the warning. They`ve got a warning, Glenn. This summer a Democratic Party official in California warned the Clinton campaign this guy, Mr. Hsu, was engaged in a Ponzi scheme. He was a crook.
The response from the Clinton financial director for the western states was he is completely legit, 100 percent guaranteed.
Well, we now see what happens, because they`ve had to return all these shoeboxes of cash.
BECK: I want to give -- bring this quote up. Because this is -- this is Samantha Wolf, who`s, by the way, no longer with the Clinton campaign. But not because she was fired. She left before the scandal broke.
This is what she said: "I can tell you with 100 percent certainty that Norman Hsu is not involved in a Ponzi scheme. He is completely legit."
Well, this makes you wonder here. What happened with the Secret Service? I mean, the Clintons met with him. They clearly had been warned about him. Did they -- is there a chance these guys didn`t know that he was wanted?
FUND: Well, let`s -- let`s put everything on the table. They`re returning $850,000 from 260 donors. That`s a massive giveback. But they are not revealing the names of those 260 donors, so we can`t go to them as reporters and ask about their connections: who might have reimbursed them for their contributions, whether they got the money legitimately.
And -- but Hillary Rodham Clinton, as a senator last month, voted in the senate that all bundlers, the people you mentioned, Glenn, should have their names disclosed. In that case, if they were lobbyists.
BECK: Lobbyists.
FUND: Well, guess what? She does -- she wants to do it in the future but not now.
BECK: I know. It`s incredible the arrogance here. And yet, nobody seems to really be paying attention to his. I mean, it`s going to be laughable when she talks the corruption in the Republican Party.
Thanks, John.
Coming up, we have always pledged to cover stories where good Muslims publicly stand up and speak out against extremists. Well, this weekend, 200 Muslims did that in a rally on the streets of Austin, Texas. The organizer of that event joins me next.
And the parents of Madeleine McCann. They claim they played absolutely no role in her disappearance. Unfortunately, the DNA says not so much. All the latest details coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: Even though no dot org will ever report it, I`ve said on this program time and time again, we need to hear the voices of peaceful Muslims who speak out against those Islamic extremists who are destroying their religion.
Today, on this sixth anniversary of the September 11 attacks, I am proud and happy to introduce you to a Muslim-American woman whose goal is to have a peaceful voice of Islam be heard louder than that of any terrorist. This past weekend, she organized a march in Austin, Texas to help educate people on what Islam is really all about.
Her name is Sharida McKenzie.
Sharida, how are you?
SHARIDA MCKENZIE, ACTIVIST: Fine. How are you doing, Glenn?
BECK: I`m very good. Congratulations. You had a fairly large, I would imagine, fairly large turnout of Muslims supporting you in Austin, Texas? What was it, about 200?
MCKENZIE: Yes, it was.
BECK: Over the weekend. Good for you.
Now, I have to ask you. Here`s a very frank question coming your way.
MCKENZIE: OK.
BECK: It was organized as a peace march. And quite honestly, I think most Americans are sick and tired of hearing that Islam is a religion of peace. We get it. What we don`t hear is people standing up and saying, "Not in my name. Don`t do this. These Muslim terrorists are destroying my religion."
MCKENZIE: That`s right. But that`s what this march was actually really about. It was a platform for Muslims to denounce terrorism. That`s what we were doing. That`s what our signs said, and that was the message.
BECK: God bless you. Now I understand your father was a military man. Your last name is Hussein, until you married a McKenzie.
MCKENZIE: That`s right.
BECK: How old are you, if you don`t mind me asking?
MCKENZIE: I`m 29.
BECK: During the Gulf War, did you have a hard time with the last name Hussein?
MCKENZIE: Oh, yes, definitely. The kids -- they really, really did believe that my uncle was Saddam Hussein, so yes.
BECK: So -- and you`re -- you decided to do this message, speaking out against extreme Islamists and at the same time preaching that Islam is peaceful because of your in-laws?
MCKENZIE: Well, actually, I think you had something to do with that, too.
BECK: OK.
MCKENZIE: I didn`t realize that, but I didn`t realize that -- today, I did realize that, at one point in your show, you had mentioned that you would love to see Muslims actually taking a stand against terrorism in public. So, yes, in addition to a couple of in-laws, I think you had -- you had something to do with that, too.
BECK: Well, that`s fantastic. I`m glad to hear that.
So, are you going to take this anyplace else? Was this just a one- time event? What was the sense that you got from the people that were there?
MCKENZIE: They -- they loved it. I got a lot of support. And this is not a one-time event. We are going to make this an annual event in Austin. And not only that, we plan on spreading the word across the country. So I`m going to be talking to Muslim leaders across the country and asking that they hold the marches and peace rallies and denounce terrorism publicly.
BECK: Sharida, I can`t tell you how happy I am to have you on here. Especially, a woman taking charge and speaking out carries a huge message in the Muslim extremist communities. And thank you for doing it.
MCKENZIE: Thank you very much.
BECK: All right.
Coming up next, terrorists will do anything to cause as much chaos as possible, including attacks against schools. They have done it before. Did we learn our lesson? And what is coming our way?
Parental advisory here. Please do not let your kids watch the next segment. It is "The Perfect Day". Don`t go anywhere.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: Welcome to day two of our weeklong series focusing on the threat of a terrorist attack on our nation`s schools. On yesterday`s program, we covered some of the evidence in the so-called "isolated incidents" that have led some experts to believe that our schools and school buses may be a target in this country.
Tonight, I want to shift gears a bit and tell you about a school that was already a target. It was three years ago this month, Chechen terrorists took control of a middle school in Beslan, Russia, held over 1,000 people hostage for nearly three days. When it was all over, 330 hostages were dead. At least 172 of them were small children.
If you are anything like me, that`s probably the extent of what you know about Beslan. Unfortunately, there is so much more that has been covered up and not told. If you have children in the room, this is not for them. I beg you. I warn you, this is not something they should see. Change the channel now.
You also may not want to hear what really happened. It is gruesome, brutal stuff. If that`s you, change the channel now, and come back in 10 minutes.
Brad Thor, the author of the new book, "First Commandment," and former member of the Homeland Security`s Analytic Red Cell program is back. And tonight we also welcome John Giduck. He is the author of "Terror at Beslan."
John, I want to start with you. And if you can bring me through what happened at Beslan, start with, they first rounded up the biggest guys, the biggest students and dads, right? And what did they do?
JOHN GIDUCK, AUTHOR, "TERROR AT BESLAN": Well, first, they had forced everybody into the gym. One of the very first things they did was take the 16 largest males, fathers, teachers, teenage boys, took them to a classroom on the second floor and lined them up against the wall. We did see the film that they had shot when they did this. Shot them all to death and dumped their bodies out the second-story window where they would lie there through the days of the siege. Even as they were doing that, the terrorists in the gym with the 1,200 hostages went off of an animalistic feral rage like nothing anyone had ever seen before.
BECK: One of the dads tried to calm the kids down after they killed the 16, right?
GIDUCK: Well, in the midst of beating children, they started raping some of the older teenage girls. The hostages were starting to panic. One father did attempt to calm everyone down, and he was shot in the head for his efforts.
BECK: I don`t want to be sensational here, but I feel it is important that America understands that this is really the only thing that I`ve heard that is even comparable that man has done to man is Holocaust kind of stuff. I don`t want to be sensationalistic here, but to say that some of the children were raped really doesn`t describe it. Without being graphic, can you give us some idea of what, for three days, some of these girls went through?
GIDUCK: Sir, I don`t know if I can do it without being graphic. Again, a number of the older teenage girls were raped. Some were raped with the barrels of AK-47s. For three days, these hostages were made to sit inside a sweltering gym with temperatures well over 100 degrees. They had no food; they had no water; they had to relieve where they sat. Mothers stripped kids naked. Adults were stripped down to barest underwear.
The mothers were capturing urine in their purses and shoes and anything else they had that would hold fluid. They`d pour it on the children to keep them cool. They`d make them drink it. And the situation got so dire to the point where one girl passed in unconsciousness, wet herself, and children were trying to suck the urine out of her dress.
BECK: Brad, who are these people? I mean, we were told these were Chechnyan separatists. I don`t think I`ve ever -- I mean, when I learned what really happened, I`ve got to tell you, I don`t think I`ve ever heard anything so bad.
BRAD THOR, AUTHOR: Glenn, since 1995, Al Qaeda has been organizing everything that`s been going on through Chechnya and in Russia. These are Al Qaeda operatives. They were Al Qaeda groups. There were men from Chechnya and then men from outside Russia who were part of this siege at Beslan.
And the big thing we need to remember here, Glenn, is that Osama bin Laden has told us, "What I have visited upon Russia, I will visit upon America 100-fold." This is a dress rehearsal. We`ve just heard from the expert on it. And if we don`t protect ourselves here, it`s coming to America.
BECK: When we think of what happens in American schools, even Columbine, we think of that as a horror. John, that doesn`t begin to describe what could possibly be coming our way here.
GIDUCK: No, absolutely not. And directors of the group I work with were involved in the Columbine investigation. I was at the Bailey school (ph). I was at the Virginia Tech Norris Hall to do an assessment. And as horrific as those events are -- and you can never diminish the horror involved with them -- none of these even begins to approach the level of degradation, of murder, of horror visited on hostages by committed terrorists who are targeting children in schools, not only in Russia, but around the world.
BECK: America, you need to understand this one thing. They`re doing this for a reason. They are going this extra mile for a reason. And I think it`s tomorrow, Brad, isn`t it, that we describe why...
THOR: Correct.
BECK: ... this is happening? But you`re not being told this in America. Nobody`s being told this in America because it is horrifying. And I can`t emphasize enough. We have bits and pieces.
We are exactly where we were on September 9, 2001, where everybody said, "OK, they`re taking flying lessons, but what are they going to do?" We know that there are people that are testing our schools, watching our schools, all kinds of things. But we don`t have any other information, do we? We don`t know where, when, what cities, what states?
THOR: It`s correct. Law enforcement is interrupting on a regular basis active surveillance of our schools. Tomorrow we`re going to talk about why the Islamic terrorists want to force our hand by creating a horrific attack here. And then Thursday, probably most importantly, we`re going to talk about what parents need to do to make sure their schools are not a target.
BECK: OK. John, the Russians knew -- just like exactly what I`m saying now -- we know this information. Quite honestly, the government doesn`t want it to come out, because it`s panic stuff. But that`s the reason why you should know it, because you don`t want to panic. That`s what they want people to do.
But they knew that something was -- up to 10 days before, they knew something was coming, but they didn`t know where, right?
GIDUCK: The FSB in Russia had developed some intel that a school somewhere might get hit. And, of course, Russia has suffered a long series of massive hostage sieges and other targeting of children in the past. But you`re absolutely correct in the similarity, the commonality between what Russia went through and what the U.S. is seeing today. Just with schools and law enforcement I`ve been involved in, we are seeing hardcore gathering, reconnaissance being done on schools in quite a number of states throughout the United States.
BECK: And, Brad, this is what your intelligence is telling you, that the people you have dealt with, all the way from homeland security and everything else, that they have the same kind of dots that they had in Russia, but nothing specific?
THOR: Exactly. My sources are terrified that it isn`t specific. What can we do? How can we prevent against this? They are worried that we are going to see the same sort of attack that the Russians saw at Beslan.
BECK: And this is, they believe, also part of what was supposed to be the perfect day in Russia?
THOR: This is exactly. As a matter of fact, John`s excellent book, "Terror at Beslan," talks about the fact that Beslan might not have been the only target that day, that school number one might not have been the only target, that it was part of a greater scheme to wreak even more havoc and help ignite a real holy war in the Caucasus.
BECK: Tomorrow, we talk about the perfect day. John, what gives you evidence that this was a perfect day attempt?
GIDUCK: Well, certainly, much like we`re getting from Al Qaeda and related groups here in the United States, they told the Russians. They told them over and over what they were going to do if the Russians did not make the concessions they wanted. The United States is in exactly the same circumstance.
BECK: And Tom Ridge, when you were flying back from Beslan, you e- mailed Tom Ridge and said, "I want to meet with you." But did you ever hear from him?
GIDUCK: Our organization had a direct pipeline to one of the top people under Secretary Ridge, and we did offer to fly out there at our expense and brief him, since he had reported to the news media that all the information homeland security was getting was through mass media sources.
BECK: All right, John, Brad, we`ll see you tomorrow night, Brad. Please don`t miss tomorrow`s episode. We`ll tie it all together on why they`re doing something like this possibly. Tomorrow`s program answer the question that is the most important question of the entire series: Why in God`s name would somebody do this to us? People say it to me all the time. "Glenn, they`d never do that, they`d never hurt our kids, we`d react like animals." You`re right, we would. And that`s why we`re doing this special tomorrow night, also.
If you have not signed up for our free perfect day special reports, please do it right now at glennbeck.com. Tonight, we have a must-read about Beslan from John Giduck, the guy you just met, along with some exclusive video that we were not able to show you on air tonight. I have read the article, and it is frightening. But it is extraordinarily important information that you must know. Again, the report is completely free. Go to glennbeck.com, sign up right now, and get the list before we send it out.
Back in a minute.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: I have to tell you, that was a difficult break for me here just a few minutes ago. We`re going to have both of those gentlemen on the radio program for a full hour to talk about Beslan and the things that you should know about it. And then don`t miss tomorrow`s program.
Now, prosecutors in Portugal gave their files to a judge today in the case of a missing 4-year-old, Madeleine McCann. It will take up to 10 days to make a ruling on whether or not to charge the little girl`s parents who have already been named suspects with her disappearance and perhaps even her death.
New details are coming out to light in just what kind of case authorities have against the McCanns. Family spokesperson says that, during a police interview with Madeleine`s mother, investigators suggested that they were in possession of blood evidence found in the family`s rental car. Portuguese police are downplaying reports that DNA evidence that they have is conclusive, but as the case unfolds and the world watches, it`s not looking real good for the parents.
Joining me now again tonight is Wendy Murphy. She`s been following the case since Madeleine went missing in May. Wendy, the signs seem to be pointing to the mom at this point, and they`re saying it`s an 88 percent to 90 percent chance that there is a DNA match. I mean...
WENDY MURPHY, FORMER PROSECUTOR: I mean, it`s so stunning, it really is. And it`s not just the DNA, really, Glenn. People are saying, oh, it`s only 80 percent or 90 percent, and it`s only DNA, so that doesn`t prove the case. They found a child`s hair in the trunk, as well. And what I think is even more damming, although this can`t be used against them in a court of law, I can use it against them in the court of public opinion, the mother refused to answer 40 questions. Now, she has a right to refuse to answer...
BECK: Hang on a second. Hang on. First, let`s go back to the DNA, 90 percent accurate on DNA. Does that mean anything? I mean, 2 percent, you know, we`re 2 percent, I guess, in DNA away from being monkeys. Maybe she had a hurt monkey in the trunk. What kind of conclusive -- where does it get conclusive on DNA?
MURPHY: I don`t think that`s quite the right comparison to the monkey. But I think what matters is that it could have been contaminated or a mixed sample. What we`re hearing is it may not have been blood; it might have been body fluid. And if it had been 25 days later when the body was put in the trunk, which is what some reports are suggesting, then we`re talking about decomposition material. I don`t know how that stacks up against really, you know, pure DNA and blood, but I don`t think it means there`s a likelihood of innocence. It`s just some evidence in the pile of evidence.
BECK: OK. So the 40 questions -- you`re an attorney. I mean, you`re a prosecutor, but you`re also an attorney. If this was your client and you thought, "Wait a minute, they`re starting to circle the wagons around you," wouldn`t you advise your client, "Don`t answer these questions"?
MURPHY: Yes, of course, but I`m also the mother of five children. And I`m telling you, the common sense angle matters here. If it`s your child, you lay down your soul. You camp out at the police station. You answer every question, even if they`re trying to blame you, because if you`re innocent, you don`t care what happens to you.
Now, mind you, I`m really angry, because they have been using the media to pull at our heartstrings. They even used God. They met with the pope. And if they`re responsible and they misused the media to create a different public perception, then you`re damn right I`m going to use her refusal to answer those questions against her.
BECK: I`ve got to tell you, I saw this footage right here with the mom coming down the stairs with the twins, and she`s shedding a tear and everything. I saw it this morning, and I immediately looked at her and went, "She couldn`t have killed her child." I mean, it was exactly what we were talking about yesterday.
MURPHY: Yes, it should be so easy, right, to figure out whether she did it by looking at her and seeing, well, if she`s cute, she couldn`t have done it. The fact is she knows that we would be saying to ourselves, "She`s wealthy, she`s a doctor, she`s cute. Her kid is adorable. How could she possibly kill her own child? She`s innocent." It works well so far for me and you. It worked well for the Ramseys for a while. It works for the beautiful people, Glenn, but that doesn`t make it right.
BECK: Are they going to file charges?
MURPHY: You know, I don`t know...
BECK: Can you do it without -- can you charge her with murder without a body?
MURPHY: Absolutely. Lots of cases on the books where you charge without a body, especially if you`ve got DNA, and technologically that`s a good thing. What I know is that we`ve heard reports of...
BECK: I stand by it could have been a monkey.
MURPHY: No, but we`ve got wire taps potentially, phone records. They`ve handed the case over to the prosecutor, which means the police feel confident they have enough. The prosecutor gets to make the final decision, but it`s not looking good for them.
BECK: Wendy, I think the real question that America really wants to know on this is, why Bill O`Reilly did the introduction to your book and not me? Is it that he has five times the size audience or...
MURPHY: I called you. You can`t take my call.
BECK: Yes. All right, Wendy, thanks a lot.
Now time for today`s "CNN Hero."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN SMEATON, CNN HERO: Well, I seen a four by four. Well, it crashed into the side of the door in the terminal building. And I`m thinking to myself, well, that`s a bad accident.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`ve got some breaking news. A car on fire has been driven into the Glasgow Airport in Scotland.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is being treated as a terrorist incident.
SMEATON: It was just, ah, that couldn`t be. It was unfathomable.
I was in this area here. And I seen a gentleman coming from the passenger side of the vehicle. And the police officer came from across the road and they guy just started punching the policeman. And all I could think of doing was going to help.
I ran up and I try to kick the guy, and a man, Michael, he had done the exact same thing as me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I couldn`t just stand there so I just went and punched and kicked him and I ended up breaking my leg in the ramming.
SMEATON: He was lying on the ground. I was really worried about an explosion from the vehicle. And I thought, We need to get Michael and myself away from the situation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I could see the flames in the car. And as I`m sitting here, the driver of the car, he throws out petrol, and that`s when John Smeaton starts pulling me back. John Smeaton saved my life.
SMEATON: My life has changed from one extreme to another. I enjoy my quiet mundane, happy life.
This is my uniform. This is my t-shirt, my trousers.
I`m a supervisor in the baggage sortation area. When you check your bag in, I`m on the other end of the conveyor belt. You know, it really does bewilder me why everybody thinks I`ve done such a big thing. But at that time I just thought it was my duty.
Democracy`s all about compromise and getting on with things. You should be brought up to treat people as they come. And if these people think they`re going to keep the British people down, then they`ve got another thing coming.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BECK: You know, if you watch this show only occasionally, you might think of me as a fearmonger or, quite frankly, maybe just plain crazy because I spend so much talking about this perfect storm, the catastrophic world events that could unfold unless we act.
Let me ask you an honest question: Do you really think I want to be that guy? Do you really -- run for your life, the man on TV constantly bringing this tough up? The answer is no.
September 11th changed me. It woke me up. I think it changed you, as well, but I think most Americans have changed back. I think they went back to sleep. I haven`t.
It`s not surprising. We`re a society built around distractions, especially when what`s staring us right in the face is so scary. Our politicians keep getting re-elected because they`re good at distracting us from the real problems. Instead of working towards uniting us and coming up with solutions, they take the easy way out and they divide us in two.
These are natural human traits, but they`re not historically American traits. We`re not a good nation because we`re great. We`re a great nation because we`re good. We`ve always been willing to do the hard work.
Do you know the greatest generation? You know what represented them, do you remember the icon, Rosie the Riveter? That was the greatest generation. They were willing to take the bull by the horns and do what they had to do.
If we had to illustrate the typical American today, what would he or she look like? Me in my underpants in front of the TV set or somebody holding up a sign, calling our lead general in the war a traitor? You know what? I believe it`d still be Rosie the Riveter. The problem is, we`re so dominated by the media that we tend to believe that these people we see on the TV are the mainstream and it`s you and me that are out of step.
Well, the opposite is true, America. The average American rarely is seen on television, because most of us are, quite frankly, I was going to say boring, but the right word is typical. Most of what you see on TV are solar flares of our society, because it`s what`s considered most interesting, outrageous, entertaining or newsworthy, not Rosie the Riveter. Nobody`s going to watch her, getting up every morning, getting the kids off to school, going to work, coming home, balancing the checkbook, helping the kids with the homework, actually caring about the country, and then falling dead tired into bed every night. That`s not newsworthy. That`s just real.
Tonight, I think it`s the perfect opportunity to remember who we really are as Americans, not the men and women standing divided, but the ones getting the job done, quietly, every night, together.
From New York, good night, America.
END