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Glenn Beck

Can Barack Obama Win?; Is Media Treating Candidates Equally?

Aired April 04, 2008 - 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, Hillary Clinton says Obama can`t win. But is she right? Or is this just more Clinton spin? What, am I Dr. Seuss all of a sudden?

Plus Hillary Clinton says the media favors Obama. Guess what? She`s right as well. We have Bernie Goldberg here to talk about how they`re helping elect Barack Obama.

And a follow-up on last night`s "Real Story." Wal-Mart threw in the towel. The retail giant Wal-Mart will not try to collect medical reimbursement from a former employee. My thoughts on this one, coming up tonight.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BECK: Well, hello, America.

For better or for worse, the Republicans have their presumptive candidate. With John McCain in place, the party can rally around him and start to plan their national campaign. The Democrats, however, are not having so much luck, with Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama still duking it out. And the primaries and the press and the nomination, their campaign plan is going to have to wait for a while. So here`s "The Point" tonight.

Well, while most of America is wondering who will win, Hillary Clinton has stated that Barack Obama cannot win, and I think I know why. And here`s how I got there.

Political analysts just love to talk about likeability and electability. It doesn`t always have to do with, you know, a candidate`s qualifications or his experience. Sometimes it`s much more about personality than policies. Back in 2004, there was a poll that showed more people wanted to have a beer with George Bush than John Kerry. Of course, W. would have been drinking O`Doul`s, I think, but that didn`t seem to matter to people. They at least in part voted with their gut feeling.

So here we are in 2008. And there`s Hillary Clinton. ABC News, George Stephanopoulos has reported that Senator Clinton has insisted to former candidate Bill Richardson, and I quote, "Obama cannot win, Bill. He cannot win." You see, Bill Richardson has come out in support of Barack Obama, and Hillary had been counting on his support.

What I find interesting about this is why Hillary Clinton feels Obama cannot win? Is it because he`s too skinny, too black, too white? Too big of ears? Too small of ears? Too inexperienced? Is it his church? Is it his wife? Is it his middle name? I don`t know. What is it? Is it anything more than Obama can`t win because he`s not Hillary, and she`s too old, waited too long, you know? Now she can`t be beaten by the new kid on the block? What is it?

Of course she didn`t say why Obama cannot win. But I mean, really, what fun would that be?

So tonight, America, here`s what you need to know. As much as the Clintons would like to think otherwise, they don`t control who wins elections in this country. You do. Yes, believe it or not, you`ve still got a voice. Yes, you still have a voice.

I think Barack Obama has a bunch of strikes against him, and I hope he doesn`t win. And he may not. But of course he can win. He leads in delegates. The media loves him. There are far too many dopes out in the fruited plain that are going, "Yes, I don`t know what it is about him. I just love him." Yes, yes, yes. That`s what scares me so much.

So Bill Richardson, try not to let Hillary scare you. Remember, hell hath no fury like a Clinton scorned.

Ann Coulter is a syndicated columnist and author of "If Democrats Had Any Brains, They`d Be Republicans." And Ken Blackwell is a senior fellow at the Family Research Council.

Ken, let me start with you. Why can`t Barack Obama win?

KEN BLACKWELL, SENIOR FELLOW, FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL: Well, I agree with you. He can win, but the stars have to align perfectly. First, he can win the primary against Hillary Clinton.

BECK: Do you think he will?

BLACKWELL: I think he possibly will.

BECK: OK.

BLACKWELL: It really depends on how the super delegates break.

Now, when you get to the general, this guy`s going to have to win Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania. And I`ll tell you, if -- if McCain wins two of those three states, it`s over. If McCain just wins Ohio and then Barack can go out and win Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico, he wins, with a different configuration than the Democrats have put together heretofore.

But I`ll tell you right now, he is outside of the mainstream of the average American`s political framework. This guy, his race is not an issue, although he has moved from a candidate that transcended race to one now that is deeply entrenched in race.

BECK: I have to tell you...

BLACKWELL: But it`s his radicalism, his liberalism, that is outside of the mainstream.

BECK: You have -- you have quite an interesting piece out right now on Obama`s "Mein Kampf."

ANN COULTER, AUTHOR, "IF DEMOCRATS HAD ANY BRAINS, THEY`D BE REPUBLICANS": Yes, shockingly...

BECK: It wasn`t inflammatory at all.

COULTER: Shockingly, I think I`m the only person who`s read his book. I mean, for -- among other reasons, he viciously attacks me in the book. I think someone else would have mentioned it to me if anyone else in America had read it.

I mean, it is shocking. It`s shocking, every page. He`s obsessed with race, and takes -- he has a racial hair trigger going back to when he was a child, when, you know, white kids in high school are greeting him. And he`s actually quoting in the book.

This is his own recollection, what the statement is. And it`s just, "You know, it`s, `Hey, man`." Or, you know, they go to a black party with him: "Well, I see what it`s like being the only two blacks in the high school now." And he wanted to punch the guy for it.

BECK: But wouldn`t that be part of your experience? I mean, wouldn`t that be part of your experience?"

COULTER: If you want to go around taking insult to everything everyone has said, I mean, he sort of presented himself as if he`s not, you know, the radical, black power, as he says in the book, angry black. He even describes in the book how -- talking about his own mother, by the way, how if you just pat their hands and say, "Don`t worry" and speak calmly you can calm white people down. You`re talking about your mother.

BECK: I will tell you that I -- I was surprised when he was talking about his -- like his grandmother saying that she`s just the typical white person, et cetera, et cetera, and that, you know, the typical white person walks down the street and they see a black man and they freak out. I don`t. I mean I don`t.

If I happen to be in a place -- I mean I think, like, you know, African-Americans might freak out if they happened to be, I don`t know, at some snooty, you know, place in Connecticut where it`s just nothing but white people who are walking around, going -- you might think, "OK, I`m out of place here."

I might feel out of -- you know, feel out of place walking, you know, down the street someplace in New York in the middle of the night and I`m the only white guy. But other than that -- I mean, does that make me a racist?

BLACKWELL: No, it doesn`t make you a racist. And I`ll tell you right now, Barack, on his own admission, has struggled -- has struggled with race. He`s been put on this pedestal as being the candidate that transcends race, but I`ll tell you right now, it`s not going to be race that trips him up. It`s going to be the fact that he is outside of the political mainstream of most Americans this.

BECK: He is...

BLACKWELL: This guy -- this guy is for doubling the capital gains tax at a time when we need capital flow into America to create jobs.

BECK: But you know, most people don`t understand that. Most people don`t even understand what capital gains are. They`re not doing that.

BLACKWELL: That`s why, look, McCain -- McCain just can`t coast into this. If you go back and look at what Bob Dole got, in terms of evangelical votes, in 1996, he got about -- he got about 17 -- he got about 17 percent. George Bush you know, moved that up to 25 percent of the -- 25 percent turnout. And that was a difference.

BECK: Here`s a...

BLACKWELL: I can tell you right now, he can`t write off -- McCain can`t write off the non-vote.

BECK: He`s not appealing to people like me, I`ll tell you that.

COULTER: That`s why the great Ken Blackwell raises an important point, comparing him to Bob Dole. That`s the funny thing about this race. I can`t see McCain winning, because he`s a liberal Republican, and liberal Republicans lose. That`s what they do.

BECK: Let me...

COULTER: But I can`t see Obama winning because he`s so -- he`s so left wing. I can`t see Hillary winning because she`s Hillary.

BECK: Tell me -- tell me his left wing stance. Tell me the things that make you frightened -- Ann.

COULTER: The big one right now...

BECK: Of course, the broken border (ph).

COULTER: OK, right there, yes. But the big one, the big issue overhanging everything, I think, is terrorism, which is why I suppose I think Obama`s going to win, because everyone has forgotten about terrorism.

BECK: Let me tell you, the only reason why I think race plays a role in this is because of his theology. It`s not about black and white. It`s about making everything equal. And that goes into the Marxist philosophy...

COULTER: Right.

BECK: ... of taking from one group and giving to another.

BLACKWELL: It`s a collectivist ideology. And it`s, you know, pretty straightforward. This guy, whether it`s a tax policy, or medical savings accounts, which he opposes. And that actually empowers individuals to make choices in the marketplace.

What he`s for is a single payer system, a central government-run system that empowers the government, limits choice and doesn`t trust the market or people in the marketplace.

COULTER: Right, though at least on his domestic policies, it`s you know, sort of a good thing that he`s young and inexperienced. He probably wouldn`t get as much done as Hillary Clinton. I think he`s very frightening when it -- youth and inexperience is not good when dealing with the nation`s enemies.

The other thing I just want to say, since we`re talking about whether Hillary was saying he can`t win because -- because he`s black.

BECK: I don`t think that`s...

COULTER: Neither do I. But I do want to point out, to the extent this Bradley effect has operated in America, and it`s right before our eyes and nobody`s pointing it out. The only people who claim they`re going to vote for the black candidate and then don`t are Democratic primary voters.

Your polls weren`t off, Ken Blackwell. When a Republican says, "We`re going to vote for a black Republican," we`re voting for a black Republican.

BECK: The issue with -- let me switch gears here. Bringing McCain in, you actually say, Ann, that you think McCain is the worst. I honestly -- I`m not sure yet. I think Obama, his...

COULTER: Not compared to Obama.

BECK: OK, OK.

COULTER: I never made a promise to vote against McCain if Obama`s the candidate.

BECK: OK. Because I think he is the new New Deal guy.

COULTER: Yes. Yes.

BECK: I think -- but you say...

COULTER: I think he`s Jimmy Carter. And we cannot handle a Jimmy Carter right now, not in a world of international terrorism.

BECK: I think his Jimmy Carter with FDR`s skill or JFK`s skill.

BLACKWELL: I`ll tell you. I`ll tell you what. Ann would appreciate this. There`s something that you can watch in Pennsylvania. And that`s the way the city of Philadelphia is trying to penalize the boycott of the Boy Scouts for having a viewpoint that says that expressed homosexuals cannot be scout masters.

They are jacking up their rent from a dollar a year...

COULTER: Right.

BLACKWELL: ... which it`s been since 1928 to $200,000. And I`ll tell you right now, if Barack or Hillary doesn`t take a position on this and McCain does, it will be -- it will make a difference in the fall. If, in fact, McCain goes in, in mid-April, and doesn`t take a position on this issue, he`s going to lose some precious political ground.

BECK: All right.

COULTER: Good point.

BECK: Guys, thank you very much.

So where am I wrong? When it comes to Barack Obama, I don`t think we know the man behind the hype. I really don`t. I think, because of that, he will either be the miracle candidate and president when he gets in or the biggest disappointment in presidential history, because you`ll all go, "Holy cow. Really?"

You agree or disagree? Go to CNN.com/Glenn right now and cast your vote.

Coming up, you`d think that issues matter, you know -- would matter in selecting a president. But it`s not anything other than a popularity contest. How much does the media play in deciding a winner? Find out next.

And the latest on that tragic story involving a Wal-Mart and former employee. The retailer has decided to lead with its heart. What this may actually cost you in your health plan. That story, tonight in "The Real Story."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: During that little streak of Hillary, you know, losing primary after primary after primary after primary, the media seemed to get a little bit bored. Did you notice? Coverage became -- I don`t know -- less about what the voters thought, what you thought about the candidates, and more about what the media thought of the candidates. And I don`t know about you, but that`s what I really wanted to know.

They quite obviously took sides in newspapers across the country, from the "New York Times" to "The Los Angeles Times." There were stories about Barack Obama that I swear to you read more like love letters than hard news.

To put it mildly, the liberal media has been fawning over Obama like a teenaged girl at a rock concert. And it hasn`t even changed after Texas and Ohio. It`s still going on.

Bill Clinton, the media`s darling in the 1990s, has taken issue with the way his wife has been treated in the press. Not only has he blamed the press for ignoring his wife, something he might know something about. But this past weekend he had one of his trademark meltdowns at a meeting of California super delegates, ranting about bias until he was red in the face.

Then said that Governor Richardson had lied to his face five times. And I went, "Hmm, where have I heard that before?"

Bernard Goldberg is the author of "Crazies to the Left of Me, Wimps to the Right: How One Side Lost Its Mind and the Other Lost Its Nerve." It`s a fantastic book, and it`s got some new chapters in it. We`ll talk about it in a second.

I want to -- I want to start where I just left off with the Clintons. I can`t believe these guys. Do you think they -- do you think they noticed that this is karma coming back at them? That they see, wait a minute, hold on, you guys loved me a little while ago and now you hate me, and I`m doing the same thing.

BERNIE GOLDBERG, AUTHOR, "CRAZIES TO THE LEFT OF ME, WIMPS TO THE RIGHT": No, the Clintons don`t get that kind of stuff.

BECK: Does the media see it at all?

GOLDBERG: No, the media has chosen sides in this matter and as far...

BECK: Do they -- see, and this is the thing I can`t decide, if they actually get it, if they know -- they swear to me they don`t -- they don`t see it. And I kind of believe them.

GOLDBERG: You could hook reporters and their editors up to a lie detector machine and ask them if they have a bias in favor of this person or that person. They would say no, and the needle wouldn`t move.

BECK: Right. Here`s the thing. We have had quite a few discussions about Barack Obama in this building. On the coverage of Barack Obama, specifically Reverend Wright. I think Reverend Wright and Barack Obama going to that church and paying $27,500 to that church says a lot about him.

GOLDBERG: Oh, absolutely.

BECK: And you understand his views on victimization and everything else if you listen to his preacher, but nobody in the media sees it that way.

GOLDBERG: Yes. But there`s a reason for that. And we tend to think of the media as some separate entity. They`re just one more element of the liberal coalition. I mean, they have the same positions on civil rights, on women`s rights, on abortion, on global warming, on a million other things.

And liberals in general speak to black people in a very interesting way. It`s a liberal paternalism type of way. So they hear the Reverend Wright say racist things. America -- white people created AIDS in order to kill black people. That`s not only racist; that`s stupid.

BECK: Right.

GOLDBERG: The government is giving drugs -- giving drugs away to black people so we can lock them up. That`s stupid. If a white person said this, the media and other liberals would say, this is both -- this is stupid, this is dumb.

But the way liberals speak to black people, it`s -- they say, "Well, let`s minimize this, because you`re not black and you don`t quite understand it." And what they`re really saying is, "Look at me. I`m one of the good white people. You see, I`m not a bigot."

BECK: But there is a case to be made that a lot of white people will do the same thing, where they`ll vote for Barack Obama without -- it`s -- it`s -- it is -- it is a distortion and a slap across the face to Martin Luther King to vote for somebody on the color of his skin, not the content of his character. And a lot of white people will say, "But I want to -- look, I`m not racist. I voted for Barack Obama."

GOLDBERG: And there`s been talk, and there will be more talk about whether America is ready to elect a black person. In a country -- it`s ridiculous. They would have voted for Colin Powell in a second.

BECK: Yes.

GOLDBERG: In a country of 300 million people, are there some white people who won`t vote for a black person? Yes, but there are more, I believe, there are more who will vote for a black person precisely because he`s black and liberal, to try to get this whole thing behind us. So if race is a factor, arguably it`s a factor that will help, not hurt Barack Obama.

BECK: Doesn`t this, though, actually hurt Barack Obama that, for instance, the media -- I mean the media, PBS did like 1,400 days on the Mormons. And, you know, he had to answer everything from 1881. They won`t address black liberation theology, but I can tell you, the 527s will.

GOLDBERG: Yes, they will, sure.

BECK: So doesn`t that sanitize him and hurt him...

GOLDBERG: It might not toughen him up enough. But that`s -- that`s his problem and the media`s problem.

My point is that liberals speak to black people in a certain way, and the way they do it is to show how good they as white people are. It`s to cleanse themselves of America`s racial history. It`s to show their racial virtue, it`s to say, if you`re a black person and I`m patronizing you and letting your racism go by and letting your stupid remarks go by.

BECK: Will you stick around for a second? We`ll be back with more with Bernard Goldberg here in just a second.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: All right. We`re back with Bernie Goldberg. He is the author -- it`s now on paperback -- of "Crazies to the Left of Me, and Wimps to the Right." Let me -- let me just finish talking about the crazies to the left of you here for just a second.

One of the things that I think is going to be the death of the Democratic Party -- and I said this to the Republicans, you know, when they were just, you know, signing up for prescription drugs and everything else, you`re going to lose the soul of your party.

GOLDBERG: Right.

BECK: The same thing is happening to the Democrats. They`ve lost it, however, to significant left. I mean, hard core Marxist. When are they going to ever wake up to this?

GOLDBERG: Well, first of all you`re right, but there`s a reason that you`re right. And that is, they`re terrified of the hard left.

MoveOn.org, there`s a brand new chapter in the book which I call "MoveOn.jerk." They take a full-page ad in "The New York Times," you know, the infamous ad, General Betray Us. When you talk -- when you use the word "betrayed" with a man in a uniform, that`s different than using it, if I say it about you or you say it about me.

Most decent people watching us, whether they`re on the right or on the left, condemn that kind of stuff. You know who didn`t condemn it? And she had every chance to. Hillary Clinton refused to condemn it, and so did Barack Obama.

BECK: Right.

GOLDBERG: Why is that? Because they`re deathly afraid that the ATM machine of MoveOn.org will shut down, that the sugar daddy will stop being the sugar daddy.

BECK: They are being enslaved. They`re being hijacked. All the power, really, is going to the left.

GOLDBERG: Hijacked is the exact right word. American liberalism. You see, I started out on the left.

BECK: I know you did. I know you worked for Jimmy Carter, and I lost a lot of respect for you.

GOLDBERG: I know. I don`t blame you, looking back.

American liberalism has been hijacked by the crazies on the left. Because it`s not just MoveOn.org that does crazy things. It`s Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, two mainstream liberals who are running for president, who are afraid to condemn it.

BECK: OK. So where are the people like my grandparents? My grandfather was a blue dog Democrat. I mean, he was an FDR kind of guy. But he had common sense. And that`s still who I believe most Democrats are.

When you -- when you go out into America, you`ll find these Democrats, and they`re normal people. They`re not the crazies that are living here in New York. They`re not MoveOn.org. That`s not who they are.

When do they say, "You know what? You guys, really, I don`t agree with you on everything." When do they separate themselves? When do they figure that out?

GOLDBERG: I`m not sure they do. And I`ll tell you why. And this is -- this is a discouraging statistic.

After the last election, presidential election, Rasmussen, very reputable guy, did a poll, asked just two questions. Do you think America is a good and decent place? And do you think the world would be better with more countries like the United States of America?

Over 80 percent of the people who voted for George Bush said yes. Under 50 percent of the people who voted for John Kerry said yes. Now, those aren`t the crazies. These are the people you`re talking about. These are regular, run-of-the-mill liberals.

But under 50 percent could say that America was a good and decent place and that the world would be a better place with more Americas. That`s discouraging.

BECK: Yes.

GOLDBERG: That`s very discouraging.

BECK: Real quick. How long? We have, like, 30 seconds, real quick. Wimps to the right.

GOLDBERG: We totally agree on this. The wimps to the right are not conservatives but Republicans who don`t have the guts to stand up to their conservative values.

BECK: Where is John McCain in that? Because I don`t know how I`m going to vote for John McCain.

GOLDBERG: I am so on the fence with this guy.

BECK: Yes, I don`t think I can do it. I don`t think I can do it. All right.

GOLDBERG: If you don`t, you understand -- well, you know the argument.

BECK: I know. But I don`t know if I buy into that argument anymore. Thank you, sir.

GOLDBERG: Thanks a lot.

BECK: Appreciate it.

We`ll be back with "The Real Story" in a second.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: In my special commentary last night on the latest children`s video from Hamas TV, I made a public plea to all sensible Muslims and specifically mothers to stand up and stop this brainwashing of Islamic youth. Well, tonight we`ll continue that conversation with the author of "Infidel," Ayaan Hirsi Ali, in just a bit. If you haven`t met this woman, please stick around, she`s amazing.

But first, welcome to the "Real Story." Put your hands together. Give a big round of applause to Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, who, after months of denial is finally starting to move into the acceptance phase of his recovery process.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN BERNANKE, CHAIRMAN, FEDERAL RESERVE: It now appears likely that real gross domestic product will not grow much, if at all, over the first half of 2008 and could even contract slightly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: Look at who`s finally joining the recession club, you are, yes, you are. Keep working the program, Ben, it will be OK. While Bernanke was trying to harsh Wall Street`s mellow just a little bit. It was still too high for yesterday`s nearly 400-point gain to really care about his testimony at all, which brings me to the trillion dollar question, why?

If you look what has happened since the bad news started pouring out late last year, almost every market in America has suffered. The market for credit virtually shut down. Labor market expected to have lost another 50,000 jobs in March. Housing market is making historic lows almost every month. The list goes on and on and on.

But the "Real Story" is that through it all, one market has remained virtually unscathed, the stock market. Hmm. For March 1st, a day when most Americans still believed that the collapse of a major U.S. institution like Bear Stearns was impossible, through yesterday, a day when we all now realized that`s not really the case, the Dow is actually, wait for it, up 3.2 percent.

Now obviously, if I knew why that was, why the stock market does anything it ever does, I wouldn`t be here on TV talking about it, I would be on my mega-yacht, oh yes. I would probably own the New Orleans Saints too.

But I do have a few questions and a few guesses for you. Well, here`s one guess at what`s really going on. First, there`s a psychological side to investing, nobody wants to bet against the U.S., that includes me. But you know, sometimes you do it. It runs counter to everything you believe and love about our country.

The second thing is, the practical side. Average investors like us don`t have access to things like hedge funds or international currencies, so we do what we`ve always been taught to do, we buy mutual funds, we cross our fingers, you know, we put it in the 401(k), just hope for the best.

Finally there`s a profit side. When you strip all the emotion and psychology away, the stock market goes up or down based on earnings, corporate earnings, they`re pretty good, right? Those earnings really are nothing more than prediction by analysts, some of whom are the same analysts that have been telling us that pets.com is the next Microsoft, and that didn`t work out so well.

So what does the consensus of analysts -- and remember, a consensus can never be wrong, say about earnings for later this year? You are not going to believe this. Bob O`Brien, stocks editor at Barron`s Online is here.

Bob, tell me about -- tell me what the analysts are saying now about corporate earnings.

BOB O`BRIEN, STOCKS EDITOR, BARRON`S ONLINE: Glenn, they`re looking for a huge recovery in corporate earnings in the second half of this year.

BECK: Right.

O`BRIEN: The forecasts at this point are that we`re going to see something on the order of -- and I`m not exaggerating, something on the order of a 300 percent improvement in corporate earnings in the fourth quarter of this year.

BECK: How is -- how is that going to happen?

O`BRIEN: Well, now some of it is based on comparisons. Because obviously the fourth quarter of 2007 was a disastrous period for earnings, so you got some easy comparisons. Look, if every actor looked like Paul Giamatti, I would get cast in action movies.

BECK: Yes, OK, all right. But hang on just a second. If you look at the last recession that we had, which was 2001, we went down -- I believe the S&P went down like 30 or 31 percent. They`re actually expect -- it went down 31 percent. And that was, you know, just a regular recession. This one we`re expecting the S&P -- analysts are saying will be up 74 percent.

O`BRIEN: Again, this is two things. Number one, the easy comparisons with a year ago, but more importantly, Glenn, these analysts just really have to get a clue. I mean, you usually -- as you project out two or three quarters, you expect to see a little bit of inflation in the numbers. And as you get closer to them, they`ll naturally come down, come back to earth.

BECK: But when they start to -- when you adjust them, that`s when the stock market will react and go, what? We were supposed to be up 74 percent. What are you mean we`re going to be down? And then that causes stupid panic from stupid people.

O`BRIEN: Well, and that`s because the analysts thus far don`t really -- I mean, part of it is the blame of corporate America itself. Because the analysts are not being given very good information, particularly if you`re covering financial services. Those financial services companies just are not being very transparent about the amount of write-downs and losses that they are going to be taking.

BECK: Yes. But do some of them know? I mean, I talked to one of the big, big guys at one of the big financial houses recently. And he said, I`ve got to be honest with you, we`re not really sure what`s happening. People have pieces here and pieces there and we`re not really sure. Who owns what and what the real value is at this point.

O`BRIEN: Absolutely. There is no -- there is no mechanism in the market right now that`s setting the actual price for things. If you are, for example, Goldman Sachs, with a big holding in mortgage-backed securities, the market is simply saying, we don`t know what the price of these things is, so we can`t tell you what they`re worth to you, ergo, you can`t tell how much you`re going to have to write them down.

BECK: Bob, I want to go to Lehman Brothers here for a second, because this is one of the things where the people who are just following it at home, and they are like, oh well, no wait, the stock market was up, Lehman Brothers, that was the one that was supposed to be so shaky and it`s fine.

Actually, once again the big guy makes it but they screw the little guy. If you actually had stock in Lehman Brothers yesterday, you were screwed to the wall, weren`t you?

O`BRIEN: You absolutely were, you were immediately worth 10 percent - - your stock holdings were immediately worth 10 percent less than they were when the stock closed on Monday simply because the company announced this plan to sell these preferred shares to institutional investors, that`s effectively bondholders, and that meant that there is going to be dilution to your equity stake probably to the tune of about 10 percent. So you basically took a dime off every dollar you`ve got in Lehman.

BECK: I mean, I`m looking at this whole situation, and it is a case of the rich getting richer, at least right now, and the poor getting poorer because most people don`t have any clue as to what`s going on.

Bob, thanks.

O`BRIEN: Thank you.

BECK: Now there`s a development in a story I told you about last night with a Wal-Mart employee who was left permanently brain-damaged after a horrible car accident with a truck eight years ago.

After the accident, the woman was paid $470,000 by Wal-Mart`s health plan. The family then sued the trucking company and settled for what amounted to $417,000 after the attorneys took their share.

Well, Wal-Mart, enforcing a clause that is in almost every corporate health plan in America, check yours, it`s probably there, asked the woman`s family to return the money that she had paid her for the care since she had now been paid twice for the same medical treatment.

Well, the family refused. Wal-Mart sued them and won. Family appealed. Family lost. They took them all the way to the Supreme Court. Lost again. Then they took them to the court that trumps all of them, the court of public opinion.

And last night after weeks of people like -- well, you know really smart people like Keith Olbermann who just knows better than you, after weeks of people like that of painting Wal-Mart as nothing but a black- hearted, evil corporation, the verdict of the people`s court finally came in, the family gets to keep all the money.

Finally a victory for common sense, right? I`m sorry to say, and it kills me to say this because I know it`s unpopular, but it`s true, as tragic as this family`s ordeal has been, the real story is this is a victory for extortion by the media.

Let me give you a quick parallel. Last week a group called Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America, that sounds nice and happy, they stormed the lobby of Bear Stearns here in New York City to demand that their low-income members get as much financial help as Bear did.

Well, don`t miss tomorrow`s "Real Story," because in tomorrow night`s program, I`m going to explain who this group is, they`re not a bunch of distressed homeowners, it`s a group that gets the media to attend all their protests with the goal of publicly embarrassing the companies and their children into meeting their demands.

It`s trial by the media and unfortunately right now it works. Now the family in the Wal-Mart case is nowhere near this malicious or evil, that`s not what they are. They`re just grieving victims who have endured horrible, unthinkable tragedies.

But sometimes it`s the grieving who also are the most vulnerable. And I believe that`s what has happened here. This family didn`t use the media. They were used by them. Hal Coxson is an attorney from management employment law firm Ogletree Deakins.

First of all, Hal, this is in -- this exact clause is in almost every health care agreement that almost every American has at work, right?

HAL COXSON, ATTORNEY, OGLETREE DEAKINS: That`s correct, Glenn. It`s a pretty standard third-party recovery subrogation provision that exists in most health plans.

BECK: OK. And I -- personally I think it`s totally fair. I mean, if one insurance paid for it and they just covered it so you could get your health care, then you had to sue -- you sue the company and let that insurance company of the person at fault pay for the health care.

I think it`s perfectly reasonable to ask. Tell me why this isn`t basically extortion through the media?

COXSON: Well, it`s -- no question that there was media pressure. I think the company did what it had to do, and that is defend the policy. I mean, that is why it is called a group health plan because it`s designed to protect the group.

And if you start making exceptions for what clearly were extraordinary, unbelievably sad circumstances, then where do you draw the line? Who else, what types of extraordinary circumstances would justify the waiver of this recovery?

BECK: Yes, but what they`re going to do is they`re going to rewrite that and say that they`re going to look at it from a case-by-case basis. So you tell me, how do you stop people who are now purple and footless from saying, oh, wait a minute, you gave it to the white woman and she at least has feet.

What, do you just hate people that are different than you? I mean, how are they going to stop it? It`s going to cost this company a fortune.

COXSON: Yes. The company, as I said, did what it had to do. But once it defended the principle, and I don`t think it sets a legal precedent because Wal-Mart won throughout the process.

But then they compassionately waived the requirement and they are, you`re right, from my understanding now considering modification of the policy. And now as to whether or not that would set a precedent, it depends on the extent of the -- it depends on the extent of the modifications.

But you know as well as I do, and I agree with you, that the press has attacked Wal-Mart, there are interest groups that have attacked Wal-Mart, it`s in their interest to do so. And this, I think, will subject other companies to the types of media pressure that Wal-Mart has experienced. But it doesn`t set a legal precedent.

BECK: All right. Hal, thanks a lot.

I`ve got to tell you, America, you know who`s paying for this? It ain`t Wal-Mart that`s paying for it, you`re going to pay for it in higher premiums. This thing starts spiraling out of control, you`re going to pay for it in higher premiums. What is the insurance company supposed to do? Just keep handing out cash?

Now coming up, is there a reason to be worried about the lack of violence from that anti-radical Islam film "Fitna"? Find out next.

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BECK: Well, it has been a pretty big week for anybody who cares about censorship in the name of political correctness. First there were the Dutch television stations that refused to show the anti-Islamicist movie "Fitna."

Then Internet host network, Network Solutions took the movie`s Web site off the servers. Then "Fitna" was posted and then removed from liveleak.com after that company and its staff were threatened.

Now we have also gotten word that another movie critical of Islam, this one called "The Life of Muhammad," is going to be abandoned after its ex-Muslim creator also received death threats. So where does it lead us? Where are we? Will all the discussion about Islam be banned? Will any discussion about any religion be banned? And most importantly, how do good people stand up for free speech and expression given that the threats they face are obviously real?

Ayaan Hirsi Ali is the author of "Infidel." She has seen firsthand how the violence can trump free speech. We were just talking before we went on the air in the commercial break that I have so many friends that have come up to me and idolize you and just think you are one of the most brave people on the planet. I agree with that.

You`re the one who had your name stabbed into Theo van Gogh, into his chest for basically the same kind of stuff that we`re seeing here, the movies that, you know, people don`t want other people to see.

AYAAN HIRSI ALI, AUTHOR, "INFIDEL": Yes.

BECK: When you saw the lack of riots from this movie last weekend, what did you think? Is that a good sign or is this the quiet before a storm?

ALI: I thought two things. First, I thought criticism and confronting Islam`s flaws, it pays. If you, on the one hand, shout "Islam is peace" and on the other hand you threaten and you kill and you bomb and you behead people, you`re not really very credible.

The second thing I thought was "Fitna," the film itself is not blasphemous. So the arguments to say Geert Wilders has blasphemed against the Koran was not there. He quotes literally from the text and then he shows what people, believing serious Muslims do with the message in the Koran. And all the footage he used pre-existed. So he didn`t make up anything.

BECK: Talk a little bit, I don`t know if you have seen the latest video that came out of the Middle East where they have the puppets of the - - the little puppet of the kid stabbing the George Bush puppet and saying that the White House has been taken over for Islam. What kind of -- because you grew up with this kind of craziness. What does that do to a kid?

ALI: Well, you believe. The people you trust in, your parents, your teachers, your neighbors, the adults, that`s the message that they give you. They tell you Jews are our enemies, they are pigs, they are monkeys, Americans control the world, that`s what you start to believe.

And what`s ironic in all of the outcry from the Muslim world is they can do that. They can make puppets of the president of the United States being killed. But any time you say anything about their religion or anything critical about their regimes, then you`re blaspheming.

BECK: What was your turning point? Where did you shake this off? Because I know that you were going off to be basically a mail-order bride and you were told, you know, the family will come down and hunt you down and kill you and you were in hiding and everything else. What was it that made you say no?

ALI: Well, the tragedy is I became free -- mentally free, sexually free, physically free in the Netherlands. It`s this country that has always preserved liberty and the liberty of its individuals and really allowed its great extent that it`s now being faced with the backwardness and with measures -- really very serious measures to silence people, like the member of parliament Geert Wilders, like Ehsan Jami, who wanted to make "The Life of Muhammad."

BECK: These politicians over in the Netherlands are remarkable in their bravery. I don`t know how they survive. I don`t know how the Netherlands survives with what they have tolerated for so long without massive war, am I wrong?

ALI: Well, I think you could be right. You`re not right yet, but you could be right. Because what the politicians and some of the elite in the Netherlands are doing is they`re accommodating all the violence and the threats on the misconception that if you give them what they want, there will be no terrorist actions against the Netherlands, which is...

BECK: Real quick, because we have to go into a break, and I would love to spend an hour with you some time. But you have to actually now pay for your own security. Is there a way if anybody wants to help you pay for your own security they can? Is there a Web site or anything?

ALI: Yes, there`s a Web site. There is ayaanhirsiali.org, and it is self-explanatory, it tells you how you can donate.

BECK: America, I have to tell, this is one of the most brave women you have ever met in your entire life. And now because of all kinds of stuff, she has to pay for her own security. And it is absolutely remarkable what this woman has gone through and what she continues to go through. Please, check out the Web site.

Ayaan, always a pleasure.

ALI: Thank you very much, Glenn, thank you.

BECK: Thank you. We`ll be back in just a minute.

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BECK: If I may, I would like to take the next couple of minutes just to express the ornery old man that lives somewhere deep inside of me, the side that really doesn`t like all these new-fangled trends, you know, the side that believes the good old days didn`t suck as much as they actually did. The side that routinely yells out "you crazy kids" as I roll down my window and wave my fist at them.

The NAACP is upset at a new bill that they call clearly discriminatory, making its way through the state of Florida. Basically, it`s meant to curb those crazy teenagers wearing saggy pants. By the way, dagnabit, look at the way these kids are dressing these days.

This is basically the new fat guy video, you know, whenever you have a story on TV about obesity, you see the same video of fat people walking down the streets with their heads cut off. For some reason, it`s -- there it is, for some reason it`s totally OK to show fat people, you know, without their head, you know.

But showing their faces, well, that would be wrong. Can you imagine being at home and going, holy crap, that`s me, that`s my shirt? If we can just get the really fat guy together with the really saggy pants guy, we could save a lot of space on our servers. I`m just saying.

Anyway, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People -- nice title, by the way, says in essence, it will criminalize the wearing of saggy pants and therefore provide a new avenue of interaction between young people and the criminal justice system.

Well, I hate to be a truth-sayer, but actually no. I mean, there are no criminal sanctions here involved whatsoever. I mean, you get a warning the first time, then you face suspension if you continue to ignore the school rule.

But here`s the great thing with laws as I see it. If you don`t break them, you don`t get punished. It`s amazing how it works. The author of the bill, Gary Siplin, says it`s pro-family, pro-education, and pro- employment. What kind of racist hate-monger would utter such hate-mongery racism like that, you know what I mean?

Yes, this kind, yes, he must just hate black people. That`s my guess. Look at him, oh, my goodness, he`s black. Look, here`s the deal, pants serve a purpose. As I see it, they`re designed to make my eyes not to have to look at your junk. I don`t want to see it, I don`t care what color you are.

When somebody tells you, pull your pants up, don`t cry racism, don`t cry discrimination, just pull your damn pants up. Maybe it`s just me and the angry man that lives inside of me.

(WHISPERING)

BECK: Well, if you missed anything, sign up for my free e-mail newsletter at the all-new completely redesigned glennbeck.com. You can get updates, transcripts, maybe a belt. Who knows? All at glennbeck.com. From New York, good night, America. Pull your damn pants up!

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