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Glenn Beck

President of Georgia Weighs in on Strife

Aired August 13, 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, the man in the hot seat. I will talk to the president of Georgia as the crisis with Russia continues. Is the Evil Empire back in business? You bet.

Plus, we`ll take a details look at Vladimir Putin. I`ll tell you about the man who`s pulling the strings and what role he plays in the current conflict.

And reports that guns from the U.S. are fueling Mexican drug cartel violence. We`ll ask Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff what`s really going on at the border. And the latest on a working border fence.

All this and more, tonight.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BECK: Hello, America.

I hate to stack one more thing on your plate, but this one is important. The Russian foreign minister today said the United States must choose. Either support Georgia or Russia. Heavens, man. Most people don`t even know what this story is about.

We shouldn`t be surprised that Moscow is drawing the battle likes. They blew through the negotiated truce that I told you about just last night. They sent their tanks into strategic Georgian cities only after -- only hours after that little cease-fire talk happened. The story is far from over, and we are going to have to choose.

So here`s "The Point" tonight. I fear Vladimir Putin is just getting started. This is part of the perfect storm I`ve been telling you about for a while. The morgues are all full of his enemies. And now he is showing aggression towards a young democracy like Georgia, a country that has named streets after our president. Many are terrified to think who`s next and what`s next.

I`m proud now to be joined by the courageous president of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili.

Mr. President, the last time we spoke -- you know, I am a fan of yours -- it was a happier time. What is the status of your country today?

MIKHEIL SAAKASHVILI, PRESIDENT OF GEORGIA: Well, you know, last time we spoke, my country was a very fast-developing, prospering, small democracy. Well, what we are having here is a huge tragedy. We have the small-time democracy under attack from a giant neighbor, Russia, and a full-fledged attack, overwhelming force of almost entire Russian land force: more than 1,200 tanks, more than 300 planes, more than 100 helicopters have entered our small territory.

And they have been running around, burning cities, destroying the villages, killing people, rampaging for food, all kind of areas. Blowing up the buildings, blowing up schools and looting. I get reports of Russian army followed regularly as we speak. And they are going for...

BECK: Will you verify, sir, they have violated the truce, then? Is this...

SAAKASHVILI: Well, they were never really agreeing to the truce. They were running around. They closed the main line connecting eastern and western Georgia. They went into the town of Gori, which is close to the capital. They have been long-standing residential areas in Gori. They`ve been demolishing buildings, things like, you know, they demolished. You know, for instance, the residence of local priests and the whole area and things like that. T

You know, they have been targeting -- they hit a hospital with a tactile missile, which is, according to CNN, I know it qualifies as a weapon of mass destruction. So you are really dealing with 21st century barbarians.

BECK: Can you -- can you tell me this, sir? Russia is saying that they were just reacting to you last week. However, I have talked to military people who say moving two divisions which they moved over the mountains, plus organizing the naval blockade, choosing targets for the Air Force, it was -- it was reaction to you overnight. How is that even possible? They say this should have taken months to plan.

SAAKASHVILI: That only means -- absolutely. That only means that Russian tanks were already rolling. They were -- we fired. We only -- the whole thing started only after we fired back, since we got reports that 150 Russian tanks as a first stage moved deep into Georgian territory.

That was the moment when Georgia offered -- offered this defensive fire. But then thousands more or so tanks followed, and you know, they were rolling. The infrastructure was -- had been prepared for months and months and months. And all these hundreds of tanks and then more than 1,000 tanks were inside Georgia running around.

BECK: You said today that the United States is taking control of the ports and the airports. What does that even mean? What are you expecting from us? What does that mean to you that we`re going to do?

SAAKASHVILI: Well, it`s not about -- what has been happening here is it`s not -- what Russia has been doing. I mean, Russians, it was a typical, you know, old-style kind of war propaganda. Russia wanted to, you know, depose the Georgian government. They didn`t hide the fact. For several years, they have been harassing us for our pro-American and pro- Western orientation. They introduced full-blown economic embargo. We survived it. We still had double digit growth rate.

Then they started to bomb us from time to time. When we would complain to foreigners or to the world, they would say, "Oh, no." They said, "Georgia is paranoid. They`re paranoid." Or they painted their own place in bombing their own cities. We have not done that. We have nothing to do with that.

They have been doing also -- they have been supporting separatists in my country, arming them with heavy weaponry all the time. Now, what happens is that after we failed to -- they failed to replace us through all these means. Finally, they did something they`ve done to Finland in 1939, when Stalin invaded democratic Finland; what they`d done to democratic Hungary in 1956; what they`ve done to Prague Spring in 1968; and what they`ve done to Afghanistan in 1979. They started full-blown military intervention in Georgia with the purpose of deposing the government.

So what this -- what that really means is that they basically closed our bloodlines. They bombed pipelines there. They bombed our port. For instance, I just have to tell you, they went to the main civil port and they announced to the local mayor they had to blow up -- blow up three vessels in that port. So from the air -- and the mayor backed them. They knew how notoriously inaccurate their air force is. Please take them out to the sea if you really want to blow up the vessels and blow them up there. And then the final generous compromise of the Russians was bringing -- explosives and blow them in the port.

This was one instance, you know. They`ve been -- they told them all the terminals (ph) that they had to bomb them. They bombed factories. They bombed railways. They bombed purely civilian destinations. So basically, the purpose was to paralyze the Georgian economy, to cut the bloodlines, to destroy the Georgian army and of course our army in comparison with them is like 20 times more. To go after the Georgia government, and to basically end the Georgian independence.

And you know, so basically what we -- what it means now, what the Americans are doing, because they have been cutting our bloodlines and our efforts have been closed, our ports have been attacked. Americans are moving their ships into the ports to open the -- to have them -- to make them -- to have them open and to move in humanitarian supplies. They are starting some air lifts to the airports so that the airport can function, because the Russians is not even allowing Russian president to land at our airport. We have a new international airport, which they`ve been bombing for a few days.

So basically, what this means, the humanitarian assistance Americans are giving us, we are really grateful to the American people for that one. It cannot come too soon. We are -- too soon because we are really having, you know, 180,000 displaced persons in a country of less than five million people. Huge. It`s a huge humanitarian catastrophe.

BECK: Mr. -- Mr. President, we`re going to take a break here for just a second, and I want you to make the case to the American people, because I don`t think most people -- they don`t understand what this is even about. Most Americans don`t know your name.

I mean, I stumbled onto you about a year and a half ago, and I was amazed. You`re a guy who has cleaned up one of the most corrupt places in the world. And your people -- and I think I said this to you before when we were on, you sound -- the words that come out of your mouth many times sound like a Founding Father of ours. But most people don`t even know what this is about.

So I wanted to have you speak when we come back directly to the American people and make your case, why should Americans get involved? What does this mean to us? We`re so bogged down all around the world. Make your case, Mr. President. We`ll do that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: I`m back with the president of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili.

Mr. President, as I said to you before the break, most Americans, they don`t know, really, what Georgia is or couldn`t find it on a map, and they don`t know why we should be involved here. Make your case to the American people now, and tell people why. What`s this story really all about? And why should we be involved?

SAAKASHVILI: Well, you know, if you -- that depends on the angle from which you look. When Germany was going to attack Czechoslovakia in 1938, Neville Chamberlain, then the prime minister of the UK, said, why should we care about Czechoslovakia? It`s a far away country of which we know very little. I don`t want those words to apply to Georgia now. Because Czechoslovakia in 1938 was a struggling democracy, Georgia is a struggling democracy as well.

Georgia was part of the Soviet Union. We were occupied by Bolshevik Russia almost 100 years exactly in similar circumstances. They claimed to protect some minorities here, we went, and we went through 70 years of communist slavery, and basically, the (inaudible) of the communist society. We emerged from that to build a new country, a country that was -- you are right, initially very corrupt, very inefficient.

Now we are -- until now, one of the fastest growing economies in the region. We were getting the highest per capita rate of foreign investment. Why? Because we became one of free most known corrupt countries in Europe, according to the European bank. We became one of the top fighters -- one of the top governance places according to the World Bank. We became -- we became one of the top business climate destinations, ahead of many much well-known big economies.

So Georgia has really done this political transformation. We moved from society, from the lowliness of corruption to a society of rule of law and a society where there is freedom, but there is also responsibility.

So the point here is, Russia is controlled by people who are coming from KGB background. They -- one thing they hate most of all in the world is freedom. And of course, they hate most of all nations that want to be free.

Georgia was the jewel of the empire. It`s the most beautiful country in our former Soviet state. And they think that Georgia should belong to them. And what happened to Georgia that has no oil and gas like they have. Suddenly defied their rule and said, "Look, we don`t have oil and gas, but we have freedom and we have rule of law."

And you know what? Russian tanks were rolling into Georgia yesterday. And what we did, we staged huge rallies in downtown streets. People came out. We had biggest ever number of people waving Georgia flags and singing Georgian anthem. Democracies, they fight among each other, the politicians. But when the real struggle comes, people come out.

Unlike Russia, where there is war propaganda, there is media. We have free media. We have free society. What`s at stake here? You know, we are not a pro-American country. I mean, last time, we discussed, I read from time to time the Federalist Papers. Of course, I`m a big admirer of founding fathers.

I myself went to Columbia Law School and George Washington University in America. I practiced law in New York. One thing I learned from America, not to be pro-American. We are not pro-American. But some journalists said here, you know, we are building America. We are building a based -- society based on the same values as America.

And what we always thought, that those values are worthless unless the free world can stand up for that. If small country is being butchered just for the desire of being free, if they`re being butchered for the fact that we want to be closer to the United States.

You know, the bombs they have been throwing on our people, killing hundreds of civilians in the last few days. I`m afraid to say thousands but hundreds at least. I hope not the thousands. You know, they had inscription on them. This is for America. This is for NATO. This is for Bush.

I told President Bush about it today, by the way. So it`s -- Russians are fighting war not with us at this stage. They are fighting war with the ideas. They want the ideal of freedom and by proxy they may fight war with you, the United States.

BECK: Mr. President, first of all, Americans, if you didn`t see the HBO special on John Adams, I think there was a speech very similar to what you just heard when the Americans were making their case to the rest of the world.

Our president said he looked into the eyes of Vladimir Putin, and he saw a friend. John McCain said he looked into the eyes of Vladimir Putin and saw KGB. I believe Vladimir Putin is KGB. Nothing has changed. The Evil Empire is back. Would you say, sir, that Vladimir Putin and the Evil Empire, is bad and that is back?

SAAKASHVILI: Well, Glenn, you know, you should ask about this, the families, and I will be going tomorrow to the funerals. You know, they`ve been living in their residential areas. They didn`t expect anything, and bombs started to fall on them, and the Russian missiles started to be fired at them.

And I don`t know what else but if not -- if not it`s evil. And I don`t know whether it`s an empire and just evil persons doing that, if they would judge very badly, the poor, the people who perpetrate all the crimes for the last several days.

George Bush made brilliant statement today in the afternoon. I spoke to him. He told me he wasn`t sleeping for the last several days. Well, you mention Senator McCain. Senator McCain, as well as Senator Obama, made strong statements in regard to Georgia. Senator McCain said yesterday we are -- the Americans are all Georgians now. And you know what? Maybe these words of solidarity somehow sometimes count more than even planes or, you know, rifles Americans can send us. Because the point here is that we`re dealing with monster machine, and that machine is destroying. They don`t care about human life. They get a kick out of the fact that they cause mass destruction. They burn everything on their way. We`ve seen it first-hand these days.

One thing they`re really afraid of is international exposure. What I think they`re really afraid of is that, you know, for their also, people in the world to understand what they`re doing. So they`re relying on lies.

You know, when Poland was attacked by Germany in 1939, Germany said Poland attacked Germany, the country. When Finland was attacked by the Soviet Union, they claimed that Czechoslovakia in 1978 provoked them, that they went into attacks. This time, these people went to the world and said, "Look, Georgia invaded us. Georgia is committing ethnic cleansing, so we have to react to Georgia.

So basically, Russia is exercising self-defense, instead of stepping in Georgia territory and killing my people because we attack somebody. This is -- you are dealing with a system where, you know, we double speak. I mean, you are dealing with people for whom the lies -- lying is an instrument of communication. And evil is the normal way to operate.

And you know, we`ve seen this. We have looked into the eyes of this evil. But the wonderful thing about democracy and freedom is, you know, they tried to scare people. This city was bombed for the first time in the history. And you know, there were bombs falling in different parts of the city. Less excessive in other parts of Georgia, but even the capital was bombed.

And you know, you still look around, people go around. There are lights on. People, there are no lights for gas stations. People are organized, mobilized because that`s how democracies are. People -- we cannot call people to go out and, you know, jump on their tanks because that would be -- that would not help. Tanks would roll over them. Those who send those tanks don`t care about human life.

However, those people who live a normal life, it`s a worse response for them. What else is at stake for America? It`s the issue of freedom. America for us is a symbol of freedom worldwide.

You know, I grew up with ideals that America -- I grew up in Soviet communist society until the age of 20. I -- for me, from my only childhood, American was a dreamland. America was a place from which all the bright ideas came. America was the place where it was a great inspiration for me, too, in my childhood.

And you know, then when the Soviet Union collapsed, when the Cold War was over, when I went to study in the U.S. and finally I realized my dream, I never thought that this evil would come back again. I never thought the KGB people would again try to run the world. And that`s exactly what`s happening now. What`s at stake here is America`s -- America`s ideals. If it will collapse in Georgia, it will collapse in other countries and in other places as well.

BECK: Mr. President, back with final thoughts with you in just a second from Georgia.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Continuing my conversation now with the president of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili.

Mr. President, quickly if we can, you speak very frankly and say things -- I was listening to you in the last few minutes. And you don`t hear a politician speak the way you do in America. You just lay all your cards down on the table. This is you a couple days ago under flack jackets. You`re being targeted. Now you`re standing on an open roof.

Do you believe that -- do you believe that this will end -- Russia will end if you are dead?

SAAKASHVILI: Well, you know, it`s not the fact that I was targeted. My people has been targeted. I couldn`t care less whether I was targeted. The worst thing was that I was standing there with my people. They were bombed, and I was just like them. And I was elected president, officially in charge of their protection. I couldn`t do anything about it.

But the point here is, it`s not about me. It`s about the idea of freedom. It`s about the future of the whole region. It`s about the future of Europe and a new world order. And what I think is that, no matter what the Russians do, I told them, and I was asked what would be my message to the Russians. I kept repeating through all these days, no matter how much they bomb us, no matter how much destruction they inflict on us, no matter how they try to terrorize us, no matter how many tanks they bring in and how many more planes they send, one thing is clear.

Georgia will -- Georgians will lock their arms. Georgians will stand together. Georgians will overcome this war. Georgians will protect their territory. Georgians will rebuild, and rebuild a very, very successful country. And we -- because of that, because we know how important freedom is, how important our statehood is, how important our future is, we will never succumb to this pressure. We will never surrender.

BECK: Mr. President, one of the things that I -- I read the paper on -- I think it was on Monday, and I was ashamed. I really was. And for no other reason than the impression that we give off. We -- most Americans have not been up on this story at all, like I said, at the beginning.

And I read quotes from some of your people, where is America? Why won`t America help us? Where is NATO? If America won`t help us now, why were we helping them? What do they stand for? You yourself said today that America is losing the region.

First of all, sir, I apologize to your people for -- for us being slow, but what is it that the American people can do that you need?

SAAKASHVILI: What we need from American people is to understand what`s at stake here. I think freedom is at stake. I think everything America is all about is at stake here. I think Georgian people will stand up for its freedom. We don`t -- we need moral support. We are very grateful for humanitarian assistance.

We want Americans to know more about Georgia. And we want Americans to understand. We are not -- we don`t want any -- you know, any gratitude for what we`ve done for America in Iraq or for our soldiers in Iraq. This is not about this. You know, this is about our joint values and ideals. If those ideals and values collapse in Georgia, they will diminish worldwide. And that`s what America is all about. You know, for us, America is a beacon -- beacon of freedom, and beacon of freedom should never be extinguished by those bombs falling on our heads. That`s what`s at stake right now in Georgia.

BECK: Mr. President -- Mr. President, thank you so much. And I hope to have you again, and I hope to see you again. I appreciate it. And our prayers and thoughts are with you, sir. Thank you.

Back in a minute.

SAAKASHVILI: Thank you so much, sir.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Coming up, we all have skeletons in our closet, but then again, lucky for me, I`m not running for president of the United States. But Obama is. And I`ll peek inside his of closet with the author of "The Case against Barack Obama."

But first, welcome to "The Real Story."

I hate being the bearer of bad news, but -- no, who am I kidding. It`s what I do. Anyway, how about some good news for once? And the good news coming from the Mexican border; yes, believe it or not.

Heavier enforcement along the border may actually be working. Who would have seen that coming? This is working in the part where the fence has been completed. No.

Yes, like in Yuma, arrests have gone down now by as much as 72 percent. We`ve added 5,000 border patrol agents in two years. The government is even considering selling ad space on the fence. I love the smell of capitalism.

So even though the Mexican military units have free reign across the border to hold our agents at gunpoint a couple weeks ago or Mexican cartels are growing marijuana inside the U.S. or our border agents are so vastly outnumbered or in jail, despite all that, immigration officials now claim that illegals and drug smugglers are being forced to adapt to our increased security.

The problem is, they`re now they`re using the Gulf of Mexico to get in. I guess that`s the good news?

Well, here is the thing, if we can`t even build a fence and patrol our 1,900-mile border with Mexico, there`s no way in hell we`re going to be able to patrol -- oh, my goodness, you`ll hurt the little dolphins -- the 1,600 miles of Gulf line coastline.

So "The Real Story" is, no border fence or coastal patrol can stop people who are willing to traverse deserts or mountains and open waters just so they can live like slaves on the other side.

What will stop them, you say to yourself? How about a combined effort to close off illegal immigration routes while cutting the red tape to legal immigration and legal work in the U.S. by expanding and simplifying the visa process?

For this to happen, here is a crazy idea, the government needs to get the hell out of the people`s way on both issues. And you can`t help immigrants get the jobs the right way here in America without looking at the people who are doing the hiring.

Corporations are turning illegals into corporate slaves. They`re forced to live in unthinkable conditions for reprehensibly low wages, with no vacation, no health care and no recourse. Of course, these scum bag businesses love these people.

The current maximum fine for hiring illegals is a measly $16,000. Oh, that`ll stop the big ones, huh?

You really want to stop them? You want to stop illegal immigration? Cripple the companies that are running this modern day slave trade.

A border fence alone is not a strategy for stopping illegal immigration especially when the government keeps pushing back the construction deadlines. I have had contractors at my home that were horrible that were more efficient that this.

These are deadlines set in the 2006 Secure Fence Act; that`s a law. And until our leaders realize that it`s a law and start enforcing our own laws, you can expect our border to remain insecure and our foreign workers to continue to live like serfs.

Michael Chertoff is the secretary of Homeland Security. Mr. Secretary, you`re at the Border Governors` Conference, correct, sir?

MICHAEL CHERTOFF, SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: That`s right, Glenn.

BECK: And it`s in Hollywood. Please tell me this isn`t true that the theme is building greener economies?

CHERTOFF: Well, it`s not my theme, but it is the theme of the conference.

BECK: Well, it`s being held in Hollywood; it`s upside down.

There is good news, you say, on the border. That violence where the fence is being built and where we have border guards, that the violence is going down, right?

CHERTOFF: Well, actually, the fence is helping although the violence is going up. And we have violence, unfortunately, even where we have fencing as well.

BECK: We have violence unlike we have seen in a very long time. We have beheading -- I don`t think we have ever seen this. We have beheadings right on the other side of the border. Can you tell me a little bit about the Mexican army holding our own border agents at gunpoint? What was it, a week ago last Sunday?

CHERTOFF: Well, there was an issue about a week ago early in the morning where a number of people who we believe to be from the Mexican army came across the border, maybe about ten yards or so, wound up in a standoff with a border patrol agent. They eventually went back across the border.

There was back and forth. Nobody was hurt. We`re now investigating this with the Mexicans.

BECK: Ok, you have been out to the border, sir. You know these little Washington monuments are everywhere. There`s GPS. This was -- what do you think the odds are that this was a diversion? It`s the 43rd incursion like this from the Mexican military in the U.S. We had another significant one happening in Phoenix where they shot a U.S. home with like 100 bullets. I mean, this is either a diversion or this is happening now, that the military is crossing our borders.

CHERTOFF: Well, a lot of these incursions turn out to be in areas where as you point out, there`s a small mile marker that is very easy to miss.

By the way, I should say Glenn, we also sometimes stray into their part of the border. We had a recent incident where a border patrol jeep got on the other side of the border and had to be unstuck and then came back across.

To be honest, where we build fence, we avoid these issues because there`s no mistaking where the border is.

BECK: Well, tell me how the border is coming. The law says that we`re supposed to have 600 miles of it built by the end of this year. I think at the last Border Governor`s Conference, which I may have been at better tea parties theme last year, they said that we were supposed to have -- what was it -- 370 miles completed. How much of this have we actually completed?

CHERTOFF: We have built 338 miles and we have got about another 60 miles that are currently under construction, meaning we`re putting in the pilings and the various other parts of the fence. And we`re on track to get 670 miles done by the end of the year.

One of the big issues, one of the big potential issues is some of the legal wrangling we have down in Texas where a small number, but nevertheless, significant number of property owners are resisting a fence. And we`re spending a little too much time in the courtroom.

BECK: Have you looked into the Compean and Ramos case? Is there any kind of relief these guys are going to see?

CHERTOFF: You know, I have not, Glenn. This is a case in the Department of Justice. They were convicted by a jury in Texas. They`ve had their appeal. And the appeal court has ruled. I guess they can take a further appeal. This is in the hands of the criminal justice system there.

BECK: Ok, Mr. Secretary, thank you very much.

Our border agents, Jose Compean and Nacho Ramos, remain wrongfully imprisoned, and it looks like they`re going to be there for quite a while.

We went down and did one of the jailhouse interviews, not for television, no, no. For their security and their safety, we couldn`t bring any cameras in. No tape recorders for radio, but, Mr. Beck, you could bring a pencil. Oh, gee, thanks.

Now both of these interviews are going to be published exclusive in my up coming issues of my magazine, "Fusion" magazine. Look at that there. It`s the border fence that isn`t built.

You can get them by becoming a subscriber right now. Just visit glennbeck.com or for more information or to sign up just go to glennbeck.com or 888-glennbeck.

I don`t know if you watched the Olympics last night. The Olympic swimmer, Michael Phelps -- my gosh, this guy`s a machine -- fifth gold medal last night; the 11th of his career. Look at him.

You know, I sat there last night looking at that freakish body and thinking, good heavens, man. You are a fat marshmallow out of shape. Then I got up and had more marshmallows and doritos, and I was inspired, not to get in shape. You think I`m going to swim?

I was actually inspired because Michael Phelps is a shining example of just how great the power of the individual and the power of the individual American really is. It has become almost routine to hear complaints from everybody. Look at me. I have such a hard life. You don`t understand.

It`s also become routine to hear how these people turn to the government or attorneys for solutions. But while putting your hand out may be the easy answer, it`s not the one that`s going to make you a champion in the Olympics or in life.

Michael Phelps grew up in a broken family, in a blue collar town. His dad abandoned him and his sisters when he was 9. He was constantly made fun of at school because of his ears. Oh, look at his ears, they`re way too big. Or his arms were too big for his body.

He still talks about how deeply he was hurt by all of the teasing. Phelps also was diagnosed with ADHD, I got that too. I can`t stay quiet. I couldn`t sit still and neither can him.

When his mother, Debbie, tried to protest to his teacher by saying maybe your son is just bored. She was told, and I quote, "he`s not gifted. Your son will never be able to focus on anything." End quote.

That, of course, is the point where many people would have thrown in the towel, stuck their hand out. The government needs to help. Put some goodies in my hand, please.

But that`s not what Debbie Phelps did. She knew her son could focus. She gave him something to focus on. She said, "Hey, ADD boy, in the pool. He started to swim. She got him lessons, training lessons and soon the young Michael Phelps took all of that anger, all of that hurt, all of that ADHD-fueled energy and he channeled it right in the water.

You`ve seen the results. I saw him last night. Do you really think that 11 gold medals will be hanging around his neck if instead of going to the pool he ran to some government agency or some attorney to see who he could blame and get cash from?

Michael Phelps may have God-given talents and body fat that I`ll never have and most of us never will, but the most important gift that he has is one that all of us share equally but few of us will ever use, an unwavering dedication to the infinite power of the individual and the miracle of the American spirit.

Coming up, you think you know everything about Barack Obama? Better think again. "The Case against Barack Obama;" must read book and the author joins me, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Barack Obama is more than just a political candidate. And quite honestly, that`s kind of what scares me a little bit.

With his rock star persona, celebrity fan club, a socialist point of view, Obama feels a lot like he`s running for king over president. His policies are either insane or inconsistent. Based on just the friends that we have met over the last few months, he may also be the worst judge of character of all time.

I think this man is actually dangerous. But you don`t have to take my word for it. There are new books coming out on Barack Obama. Next guest has written one that digs the deepest. It`s titled "The Case against Barack Obama: The Unlikely Rise and Unexamined Agenda for the Media`s Favorite Candidate." The author is David Freddoso, and he is here with us.

David, the most important -- let me start here. If you can`t say something nice, you really haven`t done your homework enough. Can you tell me one thing that you walked away and went, wow, I didn`t know that? I like that.

DAVID FREDDOSO, AUTHOR "THE CASE AGAINST BARACK OBAMA": Senator Obama is a really good writer. Dreams from my father is an excellent book that I enjoyed thoroughly having a chance to read and research from cover to cover. There`s something nice. I also like the fact that he smokes or used to smoke.

BECK: Well, he still smokes. Why do you like that? Are you a smoker?

FREDDOSO: Yes. It certainly humanizes him.

BECK: Humanizes him. Like, yes, put your finger -- anyway, most important thing that you found out that you think Americans need to know.

FREDDOSO: Americans specifically need to know that the image Senator Obama has created for himself as a good government reformer is simply untrue. He has a long record in Chicago, in Springfield, in Washington, of embracing the same corrupt systemic arrangements that we have come to know and understand all too well in all of those places.

Chicago corruption is incredible. The problem is enormous. And Senator Obama, as members of the Chicago press note, never speaks out against it. The reason is that his friends and political allies are the problem.

He went to Springfield, and I identify in my book several ways in which Senator Obama helped his friends from Springfield. Everyone talks about, for example, Glenn, Tony Rezko and the land deal he had with Obama.

The land deal was not the big thing. The land deal is the culmination of a long working relationship in which Senator Obama sponsored and supported basically any bill that would help subsidize developers like Tony Rezko become millionaires.

Maybe it`s less surprising then once you see what I had to say in "The Case against Barack Obama" about that legislation. I think it`s less surprising to see that the two of them were engaged in the land deal.

BECK: So, let me ask you this. I think the guy, at least his wife, is a Marxist. And I believe he is far down that road. Is that unfair to say that about him?

FREDDOSO: I think a label like that is perhaps a little bit -- I mean, it`s loaded. People will take it the way they want to. Senator Obama does believe in property rights at some level, so I couldn`t agree with the Marxist. And his wife has certainly made a lot of money.

One of the interesting things about her is that salary suddenly went up at the University of Chicago Hospital as soon as he became a senator, and then he turned around and earmarked the first huge earmark for that institution. So that sounds like capitalism to me or at least corporatism.

BECK: Right, but he seems to be a guy who continues to talk about, we have to take from the rich and give to the poor. He has that deep, deep socialist mentality. And he also has one of the worst judgments I have ever seen, whether it be from the war in Iraq, he was wrong. He said he was a different kind of candidate. Yet he wouldn`t admit that he was wrong. He was all for ethanol, deeply into ethanol.

FREDDOSO: Yes.

BECK: His energy policies are all flip-flop upside down. I don`t even know what he stands for.

FREDDOSO: As far as, I think there is some consistency. It really depends on issue by issue with Obama. Senator Obama`s stance on what to do now in Iraq is, I think it`s changed quite a bit. Not to say that it`s necessarily wrong for it to change.

BECK: Right.

FREDDOSO: The situation on the ground could change.

BECK: Absolutely.

FREDDOSO: The main thing is though that Senator Obama, his point of view changes usually with the political calendar.

If you look back to 2006 when he was speaking out against any sort of timetable, immediately after the 2006 election, once the presidential cycle began and he was up against Hillary Clinton, suddenly it was time to withdraw immediately, within the same month; just then in November of 2006.

BECK: Real quick, I only have about 30 seconds left. I want to know if this is accurate.

He`s one of the only people in America that have actually gone past partial birth abortion. True or false? He says if a baby survives the partial birth abortion and is there on the sink or whatever and I born alive, he believes and voted for and fought for the doctors to starve the baby to death. True or false?

FREDDOSO: That`s basically correct, surprising as it seems. That was actually going on in Illinois at a hospital in the southwest suburbs. And this issue became known.

They tried to pass the -- the attorney general said this was perfectly legal. They tried to pass a law that would recognize these babies as persons so the premature babies couldn`t just be left to die after they survived abortions.

Senator Obama was the only member of the Illinois senate to speak against this. He would speak against it 2001, in 2002. In 2003 he would kill it in his committee.

The same bill came in front of the federal U.S. Senate and Barbara Boxer enthusiastically endorsed it and said I urge everyone to vote for this bill. It was. It was exactly the same bill that Senator Obama killed.

His position is, yes, he replaced her -- when he became a senator, he replaced her as the biggest advocate of abortion under all circumstances on demand.

BECK: David, best of luck. Thank you very much for stopping by. We`ll be back in just a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: If you watched the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympic Games -- if you`re anything like me -- you went, holy cow. Everything was flawless, wasn`t it? Even that cute little 9-year-old girl who sang the national anthem?

I don`t know if you heard the story yesterday but the little girl`s name was Lynn. 91,000 people in the stadium, billions watched worldwide as she sang the song to perfection. The only little problem was, it wasn`t her singing. There she is.

The music director of the ceremony, who, by the way, is a Frenchman, said in an interview that the state broadcaster in China that the actual singer was a different 7-year-old girl named Yang.

So why lip synch? Well, you can`t use that kid. Look at her. Yang apparently has, quote, a chubby face and uneven teeth. At nine? No. And was not attractive enough.

The music director, again a Frenchman said, quote, "the reason little Yang was not chosen was because we wanted to project the right image. We were thinking of what was best for the nation," end quote. The right image?

I`m sure little Yang feels great knowing that she`s just too ugly to represent the country of China. I doubt she`ll have to have any therapy or self-esteem issues dealt with later. The reason was for national interest.

Don`t worry, honey, you`re a good little girl, it`s just that you`re so hideously fat and ugly you violate the interest of our nation. That`s all.

By the way, it was a Communist politician that suggested the change. And by "suggested," I mean do it or I`ll kill you. Of course, killing people, you know, threatening to kill them is really kind of a step up for China with their human rights record. Honestly, child embarrassment? The least of the government`s worries here.

Can you imagine if the United States did this, if the United States actually did this to a kid?

Here`s the photo -- this is the Spanish basketball team with their picture taken for a promotion before going to play in China for the Olympics. The head coach responded by basically saying, if I go to play against a taller team and I stand on my tiptoes, that`s not offensive.

Yes. Not exactly the same thing. Some of the players apologized saying they just did what they were told and didn`t realize it was offensive. Aren`t you sad the summer Olympics come only once every four years?

Don`t forget there is time to get our exclusive interview with jailed border agents Compean and Ramos in my magazine "Fusion." You can sign up for it now at glennbeck.com or call 888-glennbeck.

From New York, good night, America.

END