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Glenn Beck

How Should We Deal with Child Molesters?; Self-Proclaimed Pedophile Defends Lifestyle; Hillary Campaign Has "GQ" Story Pulled

Aired September 27, 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, children under siege. A federal prosecutor travels cross country, allegedly to have sex with a 5- year-old, while a mysterious tape is found in the desert, showing a toddler being sexually abused. I`ll tell you what must be done to protect our most vulnerable citizens.

Plus, more Hillary hijinx. "GQ" reportedly pulled the plug on an unflattering profile of Clinton, after some old-school pressure from Knuckles Clinton.

And we`ll sit down with Latin music legend Gloria Estefan to talk about Cuba, Castro and her new album. This could get muy caliente, amigo.

All this and more, tonight.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BECK: Well, hello, America.

I know we`re getting farther and farther away from it. But let me remind you. We`re a nation of laws. Laws to design and protect all of the people. We, the people.

Some of us need a little extra help once in a while. Too often, those who are least able to protect themselves are preyed upon the most: kids.

There is a new, seemingly, out of control, national epidemic of pedophilia and sexual abuse. Yet another Florida man was just caught this week, trying to pay a mother $100 an hour to have sex with her two children.

So, here is "The Point" tonight.

We need tougher laws. We need tougher sentences and zero tolerance. Saving our kids from sexual predators has got to become job No. 1 to the pinheads in Washington. And here`s how I got there.

Honestly, I look at our country sometimes and I don`t even know how we got here. I don`t. It seems like every time I open the paper or turn on the TV, another scumbag has gotten busted for sexually preying on another innocent child. Here`s just a couple of the low-lives in the last couple of weeks.

First, you have John Atchison, the Florida attorney, U.S. attorney who flew from Florida all the way to Michigan to have sex with a 5-year-old. Unlucky for him, turned out to be a sting operation and, sadly, unlucky for us, he failed at hanging himself in jail after reports surfaced that he had an Internet profile that described his profession as a daddy with a diaper fetish.

What a waste of skin this guy is. I`ve got to tell you, if we can reduce our carbon footprint by snuffing this guy out, I`m all for Al Gore.

Remember when Florida was known for oranges, and not pedophiles? Just this week, authorities in Florida arrested 37-year-old John Thompson for spending three weeks corresponding with a woman who was allegedly, you know, a mom, negotiating a fee to have sex with what he thought were two teenage daughters. Young daughters.

Mom -- she was a cop actually -- said $100 an hour, huh? Guess Thompson found out that $100 an hour is cheaper than an attorney. Yes. Unfortunately, you`re going to be paying for that one for the rest of your life.

Tonight, here`s what you need to know. Are these guys sick? I don`t care. Lock them up. Were they abused as children? Doesn`t matter. Lock them up. How could people do such unthinkable things? I don`t care. Lock them in a cave underneath the prison, as far as I`m concerned. Let`s be done with it. You know, let`s make them wish for a place like Guantanamo.

At the end of the day, nothing matters but the safety of our children and the extreme punishment for those who try to hurt them. As a society, we can never sacrifice the rights of a victim as we try to rehabilitate or understand the deranged mind of a child molester.

To hell with social engineering. We need to empower law enforcement to find and arrest these monsters and support the laws that allow prosecutors to get them off the street and keep them there, away from our kids. If we don`t, these poor, abused children have been brutalized two times: once by a psycho and then once again by our system.

Let`s turn now to Wendy Murphy. She`s a former prosecutor and author of the new book "And Justice for Some", with an introduction not penned by me.

Wendy, first of all, Diaper Daddy, shame that he was unsuccessful at suicide. I -- I`ve got to believe his family is just going through a torturous time.

WENDY MURPHY, AUTHOR, "AND JUSTICE FOR SOME": Well, you know, look, suicide is never good. I disagree with you. Even though...

BECK: Hang on. Hang on. I can say this.

MURPHY: You could.

BECK: No, I can say this. I have two suicides in my family. So I know bad suicides.

MURPHY: Well, I`m sorry.

BECK: This one would be a good suicide.

MURPHY: OK. Fair enough that you want this guy never to walk free again. I don`t either. Suicide is tragic.

But you know what? What I care about is that we understand attempted suicide and actual suicide as proof of guilt, instead of a reason to feel bad.

And you know, there was another prosecutor in Texas who did kill himself when he got caught doing roughly the same kind of thing. And what happens? "To Catch a Predator" was there, filming this. They got sued.

We said, "Oh, you know, the poor guy." No. Actually, when people kill themselves because they get caught trying to have sex with kids, it`s because, No. 1, they feel shame, which is good. No. 2, they don`t want to go to prison, because there aren`t any kiddies behind bars.

BECK: Everybody is surprised in this guy`s community. The odds that he was leading a separate life in another town and that nobody in his town was affected by him, what are the odds?

MURPHY: You know, I wish I could say the odds are rare that a guy like that is doing something like this. But if you listen to Alberto Gonzales, when he testified before Congress a couple of years ago about the nature of child sex offenders, child pornography, they are lawyers and doctors and the upstanding community members. And we`ve got to get our heads around that.

And by the way, what they`re doing is grotesque. That we don`t like talking about it is no excuse not to sit up and pay attention.

BECK: Yes. OK. So tell me the story in the desert. The guy comes in and says, "Hey, I just found this videotape in the desert." What is this story?

MURPHY: OK. Creepy as it may sound, some guy claims he found a videotape in a desert that showed images of a little child being sexually assaulted, abused and, apparently, tortured in a sadistic way.

I think there`s more to the story, because he claims he found it in the desert, but it wasn`t a melted mess.

BECK: Wait a second. Hold on just a second. Conway, our executive producer, let`s take -- thank you. I don`t think we -- I don`t think we need to see the child being exploited.

All right. Go ahead.

MURPHY: No, of course. But you know what, Glenn? And I write about this in my book. I have a whole chapter on calling child pornography harmless. And what I say is it is incredibly difficult to tell the public how horrific this stuff is, because you can`t show it. We can`t talk about it. It`s actually against the law for you and I to explain how grotesque it is.

BECK: Right. So what -- but what are the odds that somebody -- I mean, who`s going to be responsible -- you know, involved in the child molestation unless they just are, you know, feeling so guilty, and then bring it in? I mean, it had to take a lot of courage -- does it lead you to believe that the guy wasn`t involved, that he was courageous and said, "I just found this and you`ve got to find this guy."

MURPHY: Well, let me say this. I hope that everyone watching tonight, if they do happen -- accidentally happen upon child porn that they do go to police. They`re not going to get in trouble. If you`re innocent and you find it, you should go to police. That`s important.

But this guy claiming to have found it in the desert, it wasn`t a melted mess. That doesn`t really make sense. Here`s what might be true. Perhaps he knows more about what really happened, who did this, who the child is. And he wants to help, but he can`t out whoever those people are.

I still give him a couple of points, but if he doesn`t tell the truth, they`re going to squeeze him bad. And they can, because he`s possessing child pornography, which in itself is a crime. And if he doesn`t tell the whole truth, he may end up behind bars.

BECK: OK. Let`s switch gears here to Madeleine McCann. I know you think that the parents did it. And you have some pretty -- I mean, they rented a car a month after she disappeared and then fibers, hair fiber, right, and also blood was found in the trunk that belonged to the little girl.

MURPHY: Hairs from her head and DNA from body fluids, which could be decomposition material. Apparently wasn`t blood. But you know, you`ve made the point.

BECK: OK. So there`s -- there`s this big thing about these pictures. We`re seeing them on the screen. These pictures. I mean, I don`t know how you look at this picture and go, oh, my gosh, that`s Madeleine. I mean, OK, she`s got -- she`s blonde. And she looks to be about the same size, but everybody around the world is saying, "Oh, my gosh, there`s proof. She`s alive. She`s in Morocco."

MURPHY: And let`s be careful, OK. First of all, we know that the family just hired a P.R. team. I`m just going to go out on a limb here and say we`re going to hear lots of Maddy sightings over the next several months as they try to distract us from the powerful evidence in this case that points the finger at the parents.

Look, we should always be open-minded. But let`s not be dumb. These red herring strategies are a tried and true way that suspects and defendants get us to look over there when we should be looking over here.

Eyes wide open. There`s a good reason they`re focused on the parents. How about this? The mother has refused to answer any more questions. Hello!

BECK: Wendy, thanks a lot. We`ll talk to you again.

Quick programming note. Michael Buble is going to be on this show tomorrow. Yes. I`m actually -- I`m actually one of the biggest fans. He`s one of the biggest stars in show business now. This guy is amazing. Multi-platinum recording artist. He will be here for the full hour of honest questioning, and nothing is off the table. Nothing, Buble, nothing. Don`t miss it.

Also, coming up, an encore presentation with my interview with self- proclaimed pedophile Jack McClellan. It kills me to put this guy on my program. Oh, but did we do an interview. You`ve never seen anything like it before on television. Yes, we have that coming up next.

And more presidential news from candidate Hillary Clinton. This time, reportedly taking an interest in freedom of the press, by taking it away.

And Gloria Estefan joins me here. She`ll talk about Cuba, Castro and her new CD, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BECK: Now, when you do a talk show, there are some guests that you want to talk to, some guests that you have to talk to. And then there are the others that you hope you never have to talk to, like a scum bag, Jack McClellan.

In my opinion, McClellan has been nothing but an attention-seeking time bomb, a disaster waiting to happen. In Washington and California, he has maintained web sites where he confesses his sexual attraction to children as young as 4 and then rates the best places to leer at little girls, or "LGs", as he calls them.

Even worse, he flaunts his perversion by taunting police and hanging around daycare centers, giving all the gratuitous interviews he can.

You know what? I didn`t want to play into his hands, but the thing is, as disgusting and evil as I find this guy and as conflicted as I am on putting him on the air, I finally decided it`s more important for you to see this man for yourself. You listen to him. Let his image burn into your forehead forever. You know exactly what he looks like, what he sounds like.

Remember, just because he may not be in tomorrow`s headlines doesn`t mean he won`t be a danger to our children.

Bottom line: this is not going to be one of those little neutral interviews you find on news shows. I ain`t a journalist. We need to take a look at -- a long, hard, harsh look at Jack McClellan, the way you used to look at bugs under a magnifying glass in the hot sun. Remember that when you were a kid?

This show is the magnifying glass. I hope my questions will provide the heat, and now let`s see what happens to the little bug.

Here he is, confessed pedophile, Jack McClellan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BECK: Jack, I want you to know this isn`t "The Today Show". I think you`re a despicable human being.

I`ve got some yes or no questions for you. Remember, they`re yes or no questions. Are you an imminent threat to young girls?

JACK MCCLELLAN, SELF-PROCLAIMED PEDOPHILE: No.

BECK: If not, why?

MCCLELLAN: I have no history of doing that. I have no criminal record. I`m not a...

BECK: Do you consider your attraction to young girls as normal?

MCCLELLAN: No. I don`t think any psychologist would consider...

BECK: Do you want to be cured?

MCCLELLAN: I really don`t -- well, the straight answer would be no. I really don`t see the problem of what I`m doing.

BECK: Of a 4-year-old?

MCCLELLAN: Pardon?

BECK: With a 4-year-old? You being attracted to a 4-year-old,

MCCLELLAN: Yes.

BECK: You don`t want to be cured of that?

MCCLELLAN: No. The short answer would be no. I could elaborate. I -- again, I really don`t see any problem with what I`m doing. Just legally enjoying children.

BECK: Uh-huh. Should parents keep their kids away from you?

MCCLELLAN: Again, no. I`ve been around probably thousands of kids in the last...

BECK: I bet you have. Would you trust yourself with a child in your home overnight?

MCCLELLAN: Yes.

BECK: If you had a child of your own, would you trust yourself with your child?

MCCLELLAN: Yes.

BECK: Do you think somebody who`s actually raped a child should be in prison?

MCCLELLAN: Yes, if it`s forcible, yes. Like, it`s...

BECK: If it`s a 4-year-old, no matter how she was dressed or if she wanted it real, real bad?

MCCLELLAN: Say that again. What was the...

BECK: Should they be in prison if they`re 4 and they wanted it real bad? The child.

MCCLELLAN: I don`t really know how to answer that.

BECK: You don`t know how to answer that? That`s amazing.

Let me ask you this, Santa Monica, the police department, you`re upset at them. You`re angry because they posted your photo on their web site as a predator.

MCCLELLAN: Yes. I...

BECK: Does that make you a hypocrite or just an idiot?

MCCLELLAN: That`s kind of a...

BECK: It`s a choice. Hypocrite or an idiot?

MCCLELLAN: All I can say at this point is I don`t live in California, obviously, anymore.

BECK: Yes. If you -- if there`s somebody put a web site together that said that they just really fantasized about killing you, and they decided to track you, where you are all the time and put the best place to fantasize about killing you, would they have a right to do that? Would that be OK? Would you cherish their freedom of speech?

MCCLELLAN: Well, I don`t know. You`d have to talk to...

BECK: Yes. That would be probably -- that would be crazy, wouldn`t it?

MCCLELLAN: Yes.

BECK: Let me tell you something, sir. I think you`re a bug. And I hope our system crushes you. Thanks for the interview.

Did you get the stats? Remember his face.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BECK: Coming up, "GQ" reportedly pulls the plug on an unflattering profile of Hillary after some old school pressure from Knuckles Clinton. You know what I`m saying?

And how is the rest of the world reacting to Ahmadinejad`s speech at Columbia University? The "Real Story" behind whether or not they`re seeing and hearing the same things we did in the United States.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

BECK: Sometimes a fashion magazine can just go too far, like when they feature those male capris or oversized sunglasses that make you look like you`re from another planet. And sometimes it`s the subject of the feature that causes the controversy like, let`s just say, I don`t know, an overzealous socialist, sorry, progressive candidate.

That`s exactly what happened when the Clinton camp found out "GQ" was planning to publish a story about infighting in Hillary Clinton`s campaign. Hill made a move that was probably more -- a little more reminiscent of Stalin`s communist Russia than anything we have here in America, when her campaign told "GQ" to pull the article or lose access to her husband for a piece set to air in December`s "Man of the Year" issue.

Gosh darn it. Did I lose that again?

Here to tell us the whole story is Jonathan Martin.

Jonathan, first of all, what was in the -- what was in the story that she wanted pulled?

JONATHAN MARTIN, THE POLITICO: Well, thanks for having me, Glenn.

This was going to be a fairly tough story, we think, about the very inside nature of Senator Clinton`s campaign. They very much guard the intricacies of how that campaign is run over in what`s called Hillary Land here in Washington, and the prospect of having their dirty laundry possibly aired in a magazine like this was -- they could not tolerate that.

BECK: I mean, what is it -- what are they possibly exposing?

MARTIN: Well, they are just very tight-lipped and guarded about exactly how that campaign is run. And they desperately don`t want to have leaks about the inside nature of who`s in charge of that campaign and what exactly is going on over there.

BECK: I mean, unless it`s Satan, who really cares? And there`s a chance it is Satan. I`m just saying.

MARTIN: Well, the Clinton campaign, like the Bush/Cheney model, very much prizes discipline and a leak-free operation.

BECK: OK. And it`s funny, because when Bush doesn`t like leaks, he`s called, you know, all kinds of stuff.

MARTIN: Right.

BECK: This actually -- has this ever happened before? I mean, I know Bush begged the "New York Times", please don`t reveal national security secrets here, but has this happened before, where you`re bullied into losing an article?

MARTIN: I think this is a little bit unique, just given the Clintons, and you know, exactly what went down here. The fact that this was, you know, a magazine, not really a news magazine but a magazine where it`s important to have, you know, quality cover figures.

And, look, there`s nobody like Bill Clinton. He can flat out sell magazines. And the prospect of not having that cover piece at the end of the year was, for them, a cost-benefit analysis, Glenn.

BECK: Do you think that this kind of stuff would continue if she were president? I mean, you know, I don`t care who the president is, left or right. I don`t want them to be able to, except for national security...

MARTIN: Right.

BECK: ... call up the press and say, "Get off this story" or threaten and have the media cave. Is this the kind of stuff that could continue in the -- in the presidency if she would win?

MARTIN: Look, she and her aides and advisers play a tough brand of politics, so it certainly wouldn`t surprise me if that exact same approach, you know, went down in the White House as it has in the campaign.

BECK: Perfect. OK. Thank you very much.

Coming up, Arnold Schwarzenegger spoke at the U.N. He said the world is now ready for Kyoto, part deux. I`m not sure if Arnold drove, you know, in his little hybrid or he flew that evil private jet. But we`ll find out. The "Real Story" is next. Back in a second.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Well, Columbia University saw plenty of protests at Ahmadinejad`s forum yesterday, but a few people were conspicuously absent, particularly in light of President Tom`s more controversial comments. Which groups were there? Which groups weren`t there? Which groups should have been there? All that and more, coming up.

But first, the "Real Story." Now, maybe I`m just getting cynical -- no, it`s a possibility -- but I`m starting to think that, when the government says that they want us to pay attention to something over here, what that really means is they don`t want us to pay attention to something else over here. It`s an old magician`s trick of misdirection. Keep them busy looking at your left hand so they don`t see what the right hand is actually doing.

Case in point: While everybody has been screaming about Iran`s President Ahmadinejad speaking at the U.N., the "Real Story" is, guess who shows up? Al Gore and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. They`re at the U.N. yesterday. What are they talking about? Global warming and new rules and regulations. If they get their way, the old Kyoto accord may actually seem rational by comparison, and that`s not an easy feat.

For those of you who missed my groundbreaking special on climate change called "Exposed: Climate of Fear," a, you`re not alone, but one of the things that we really dispelled and debunked was the Kyoto treaty. This is where all of the nations of the world are supposed to join hands, put flowers in their hair, and, you know, place ridiculous limitations on emissions standards.

Fortunately, the United States decided not going to really play along with that one, and it`s been a good decision. Kyoto has been a grand, dismal and indisputable failure. But now some opportunistic politicians have seized the Ahmadine-drama as a chance to get the bus to Crazy Town rolling again. They`re hoping nobody sees them, you know, trying to jump start the bus in the parking lot because we`re all looking at the front door.

Well, we saw you, Arnold and Al Gore and the U.N. secretary. They want the United States to take more responsibility for the global warming doomsday scenario. I say, no, not really. The U.S. didn`t let you shove Kyoto down our throats last time; we`re not swallowing the new and improved version either, at least until the next election.

Sorry, boys. Iran`s head kook may distract us for a while, but he doesn`t distract us for very long.

Stephen Moore is a senior economic writer with the "Wall Street Journal." Stephen, Kyoto, am I wrong saying "disaster"?

STEPHEN MOORE, "WALL STREET JOURNAL": Well, it was a disaster both because so many countries didn`t sign the treaty -- but thank God we didn`t, Glenn, because what we`re finding is even the countries that signed this treaty and have been so sanctimonious about, why won`t terrible United States sign this treaty, guess what, Glenn? None of those countries are in compliance with the treaty themselves! Why should we sign a treaty when, in fact, we`re more in compliance with the law than they are and we didn`t sign it.

BECK: Yeah, we did better than some of those guys, right?

MOORE: Exactly.

BECK: OK. So what do you suppose is coming besides, I mean, shoot- blood-out-of-your-eyes taxes, I mean, what`s coming?

MOORE: What Arnold Schwarzenegger and Al Gore want to put in effect is what I call Kyoto Treaty Lite. And basically, in California, Arnold is trying to basically pass -- I call it MoveOutofCalifornia.com, because he`s going to put all these regulatory structures on the industries, on the factories, on the businesses in California. And, Glenn, this is a state that already has people leaving, so it`s not going to reduce greenhouse gases. What it`s going to do is move the jobs and move the businesses out of the state.

BECK: OK, but if we sign on as a country -- I mean, Stephen, correct me if I`m wrong. I`m not an economist, but I am a thinker. And, I mean, I read the paper from time to time. We have the highest corporate tax rate in the world. How do you do that plus have all these new regulations on us and expect to compete?

MOORE: Yeah, my point about global warming is I do think this is a scam, and I think what`s going on here is it`s an opportunity for the radical environmentalists to put a new regulatory structure on America that will slow down our economy. And the real victims of this, Glenn, are going to be American workers, because we`re not going to have a reduction in global warming. What we`re going to have is all of the jobs move out of the United States to countries like India and China that haven`t signed the treaty.

BECK: Stephen, real quick. You know, you say that global warming is a scam. I`m not willing to say that the globe is not warming, because it is warming. I believe it may be natural, but even if man caused it, I think what the scam is, is us having the audacity to say that we can fix it.

MOORE: Right.

BECK: And especially everything that they`re talking about, they refuse to talk about things like nuclear energy.

MOORE: Right.

BECK: I mean, it really seems...

MOORE: Yes, nuclear energy is the one form of energy that emits no greenhouse gases. You would think the environmentalists would be jumping up and down for joy for nuclear power, but they`re still against it.

BECK: What about clean coal?

MOORE: Well-put. And, you know, the reason I think that there`s a bit of a scam element to this though is, Glenn, if you look at what happened 25, 30 years ago, virtually all of the climatologists were saying that we were headed to another ice age.

BECK: I know.

MOORE: It`s true.

BECK: I know, I know. All right, Stephen.

Now, let me switch gears and go back to Ahmadinejad for a second. He gave a speech, you know, obviously yesterday at Columbia University, but the real story from yesterday`s speech: Americans. You weren`t the target audience. You`re the target. The real audience was overseas and across the Middle East. This is what I told you yesterday.

Well, today, I checked the papers and the news media all around the world. It is a mistake to believe that the way our media interprets a story is the same way that same story will be perceived and treated around the world. Yes, the media overseas can actually make us look worse than our own media.

The Iranian media has reported that Ahmadinejad received a standing ovation and that the audience applauded as he discussed international crisis. Columbia played right into this evil genius` hands, but what else would you expect from a bunch of useless idiots who, you know, claim to be Ivy League scholars? They gave Ahmadinejad a stage, and they legitimized him in the process.

It is not just the Arab world that is getting spoon-fed Iran`s version of the truth. It`s Europe and the entire globe. Mahmoud and his henchmen may be pure evil, but when it comes to rewriting history, whether it is the tragedy of the Holocaust or a speech from yesterday or today, they`ve got the Midas touch. We know Ahmadinejad isn`t telling the truth, but, remember, if you repeat a lie often enough, some people will start to believe it.

William Samii, he is the regional analyst for the Center for Naval Studies. William, tell me exactly what you saw today in the world media. How was it received around the world? How was it reported?

WILLIAM SAMII, CENTER FOR NAVAL ANALYSES: Well, the thing I looked at most closely, Glenn, was the Iranian media. And curiously enough, he seems to have garnered a bit of support or quite a bit of support in his own country. I think Iranians feel a sense of entitlement and they`re a very proud people, and when they see their own president being confronted in that way -- and obviously, the thing -- the complaints made against him in that introduction by Lee Bollinger were quite accurate, but it came across as being somewhat petty, and the way it was reported in Tehran was very negative.

Now you`ve got Iranian parliamentarians saying that the president was mistreated and Iranian scholars writing letters, saying that their American counterparts should react in kind.

BECK: It`s really truly amazing, because when are we going to get it that the entire Middle East is about humiliation? Not only do we give them a propaganda tool, we help bolster his image around the world, but we then also humiliated him in his eyes.

Now, I want to play this audio. I got this from the BBC early this morning. I turned into the BBC to see how they were reporting. Listen to these students who were there yesterday and what they say worldwide on the BBC.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel like President Bollinger`s initial remarks were mainly reflecting the media pressure that was placed on him. I think he was put in a position where he felt like he needed to come out and say those remarks against the president of Iran, because there was such a pressure on him to be hostile.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think that the whole forum was compromised by the way that President Bollinger came out and was very accusatory towards President Ahmadinejad before he had anything to say. I think that that cheapened the integrity of the event and, unfortunately, put the Iranian president on the back heel."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: I mean, you know, here in America, the spin is, "Oh, what Bollinger did, at least he came out and slapped him around and said" -- that`s not the way the world is perceiving this, is this?

SAMII: No, definitely not. I mean, people think that he was mistreated, and as the president of any country should be treated with much greater deference and respect.

BECK: You know, it amazes me. It seems that we always look at the battle. And, you know, today we look at the press here in America and say, "Oh, look, we won." We may have won a battle, and we won the battle here in the United States with Lee Bollinger, but we lost the war, the media war, that was being waged against us by this guy. He is a very, very crafty man.

SAMII: I agree with you that a media war is being waged, Glenn, but to think that we`ve lost it or even losing it, I`ve got to disagree with you on that.

BECK: On today, on what his goal was, on the little war that he tried to wage here in the last couple of days, you`ve got -- I mean, you can`t tell me you disagree with that, William. He`s the clear victor here.

SAMII: He came out ahead on this one, especially with his domestic audience.

BECK: OK. William, thanks a lot. Appreciate it. We`ll be right back in just a second.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Well, if you`re a regular viewer of this show, you`ve probably figured out by now that my soul pulses to the beat of the Latin rhythms. It`s just -- I mean, what can I say? Either that or Johnny Cash, I`m not sure.

My next guest was with the Miami Sound Machine for years and years. As a Top 40 deejay, I used to play her music all the time, solo artist. She helped to lead the Latin invasion of popular music. Her new CD pays tribute to her Cuban heritage, and it is titled -- I don`t know. I`m not even going to try. I`ll butcher it -- "90 Miles," Gloria Estefan.

GLORIA ESTEFAN, MUSICIAN: Beautiful.

BECK: How are you?

ESTEFAN: "Noventa Millas." And I`m glad I wore black, if you`re a Cash fan.

BECK: I know. Just say, "Hello, I`m Gloria Estefan."

ESTEFAN: "I`m Gloria Estefan."

BECK: So the CD is called "90 Miles," which plays into Cuba. It`s 90 miles off the coast of Florida.

ESTEFAN: Exactly. The distance between Cuba and the southernmost point of Key West, and being a Florida resident it`s what`s divided me from my homeland for a long time. I`ve been here since I`m 2 years old. But I think the Cubans, we cling even more to our traditions, because we don`t have a homeland to go back to. And being a musician, while the music is important for us to keep it alive and to keep experimenting with it.

BECK: So how do you -- do you consider yourself Cuban or American?

ESTEFAN: Cuban-American.

BECK: OK. But so how -- let`s say Fidel, God rest his soul...

ESTEFAN: Yeah.

BECK: ... you know, dies, and somehow or another freedom takes hold. Do you go back there?

ESTEFAN: For me to leave Miami would be same thing as it was for my mother to leave Cuba. I mean, Miami is where all my memories are, where my family is, where my kids go to school. I feel very much a part of that city. Although, every time they write about me, I`m still "Cuban exile." It`s not like Miami. And sometimes they`ll call me home girl.

But wherever I go, I`m from somewhere else. And that is still, you know, in our hearts, as something missing. And I would love -- the one professional dream I have left and personal, of course, would be to perform in a free Cuba, because I`ve performed for any culture you can imagine, except my own.

BECK: They say that Fidel will live until he`s 120. That`s what the Cuban doctors say.

ESTEFAN: I think they`ve got him on ice somewhere, quite honestly.

BECK: Yeah, do you, like Disney?

ESTEFAN: I think they`re worried, because every time there`s a blackout, which is very often, they`re like having to ice the commandante.

BECK: Well, I don`t know. Michael Moore says they have quite a health care package down there.

ESTEFAN: If you`re a tourist or him, I guess. We haven`t seen hide or beard of him for like six months.

BECK: How do you feel about so many people, especially in Hollywood, that glorify people like Fidel Castro?

ESTEFAN: They just don`t know. They haven`t a clue. You go over there to shoot a movie, or you listen to the P.R., or you believe, you know, the hype that he puts out about the health care system and the educational system, yes, I must admit, he does educate the population, but it`s also an indoctrination tool. You can`t choose what you want to be.

If you want to be a doctor and they have too many, they go, "Oh, no, you`re going to be architect or you`re going to be this." And there`s nuclear physicists driving cabs because they cannot survive in the system being, you know, a part of the government regime. So it all has its twists, and these people don`t know anything about it. You know, they`ve created a myth that there`s no racism in Cuba. But try to see anyone on television or anyone in the upper echelon of the Communist Party, if they`re African descent, it`s not the truth at all.

BECK: I tell you, the Cuban community -- and, please, because I haven`t spent much time down in -- you know me, I`m the whitest white guy you`ve ever met. But the Cuban community strikes me in two ways, one, very patriotic on Cuba and America, loves America, loves the freedoms, you know, loves -- really, self-made. And yet the other side is just hanging onto that culture instead of coming here and blending. And we are a melting pot.

ESTEFAN: We are. But just because you`re a stew doesn`t mean everything has to be pureed. I mean, you can have some nice chunks of your culture left. I think the image that we have of Cuban-Americans or Cubans generally in the country is the generation of our parents and our grandparents who came over, and they were so, you know, adamant about going back. I mean, I was raised here. As I say, I feel very much a Cuban- American. And the reason that we love this country so much is because we don`t take for granted the freedoms that most Americans do take for granted. We know exactly how great we have it in this country.

BECK: What do you think you`d be if you hadn`t have left, your parents hadn`t have left Cuba?

ESTEFAN: Well, I would have studied for sure. My mother had a PhD in education. And here, I studied. I had a double major, psych and communications, a French minor. The only reason I got into this is because it was my hobby. I met my husband. He had a band. And it was for fun.

I think the fact that we got together is how I ended up making this hobby into a huge career, but I wouldn`t have chosen it. I was very shy. I didn`t like being the center of attention. It took me a long time to get used to that.

BECK: OK, it is an honor to meet you. You`re truly a miracle, to be able to -- you know, they didn`t say that you would ever walk again. And you`d never know.

ESTEFAN: I don`t listen to the things they tell me. I do what I want.

BECK: Good for you.

ESTEFAN: And what I believe that I can do.

BECK: Best of luck on your new CD.

ESTEFAN: Thank you so much.

BECK: The new album is called "90 Millas."

ESTEFAN: "Noventa Millas."

BECK: What she said.

ESTEFAN: Ninety miles, same thing, ninety. That`s all you got to see.

BECK: Gloria Estefan, thank you very much. Back in a flash.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Well, if you`ve ever watched this show, you probably ask yourself a couple of questions: One, what the hell is wrong with me? And, two, gee, it doesn`t sound like he likes the United Nations. Well, let me tell you. Absolutely right. I don`t like the United Nations, and I apologize to my radio producer, Stu, for sending him out to the U.N. today.

How are you holding out? It was Columbia yesterday and the U.N. today. I apologize.

STU BURGUIERE, "GLENN BECK" CORRESPONDENT: I am really earning my money lately.

BECK: Yes.

BURGUIERE: Basically now I`m down at the U.N., and we`re learning about what we should do, because, I mean, I don`t know, a lot of people are protesting this site down here. Maybe we should just do something different with it. I mean, it`s a prime piece of real estate, and there`s some real money-making opportunities down here. You know, right off the bat, you pull out of the U.N., we save the taxpayers $800 million, which, if I can advocate a policy here, Glenn, a rebate of three dollars per person.

BECK: Wow.

BURGUIERE: Nationwide blanket rebate. Now, you can use that on whatever you want, ATM fee or two. We`re going to get more use of that than we get out of this thing.

BECK: A big frosty with the M&Ms in it?

BURGUIERE: Mmm, Fix `n Mix? Are you saying do a Fix `n Mix?

BECK: That`s what I`m saying. That`s what I`m saying.

BURGUIERE: Right.

BECK: OK, so we pull out, and we save -- what do we do with the building?

BURGUIERE: Well, actually, if you see here behind me, this is the building here. And one of the main suggestions we`re looking at now is bulldozing it, just flatten the thing out. You know, we want to get all the people out, first, of course, but then just make it maybe into a dog park. It`s a really nice area.

BECK: Now, when you say dog park, are you saying like a Michael Vick dog park or...

BURGUIERE: No, no, not that -- there`s no force. There`s never any force being used out of this building, Glenn.

BECK: OK, good.

BURGUIERE: Also, you could potentially just keep the people in it and just turn it into a jail just like that.

BECK: OK, all right.

BURGUIERE: I mean...

BECK: And is there any -- is there any thought of maybe just kind of scooting it onto a barge and shipping it to some other country? Because I`m willing to share the United Nations.

BURGUIERE: We`ve rented a jigsaw. Yes, we`ve rented a jigsaw. We`re going to cut through around the building and just kind of push it out into sea and see what happens.

BECK: OK.

BURGUIERE: But so far it hasn`t worked.

BECK: Not going well. All right, thanks a lot, Stu.

It is Frosty Wednesday on the radio show for all I`ve put him through, go sending him to the U.N. and Columbia. And, by the way, if you want to hear some of the updates that he had this morning on the radio show, you can sign up for my free Internet newsletter. You can find it at glennbeck.com, and you`ll also see a link there for a video on my speech on American values that I gave to the NRA over the weekend. All you have to do to find it is go to glennbeck.com and sign up for our free daily e-mail newsletter.

From New York, good night, America.

END