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Glenn Beck
Documentary Shows Heroism in Baghdad E.R.; Anna Paquin Discusses "X- Men 3"
Aired May 26, 2006 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
GLENN BECK, HOST: In case you don`t know me, I`m extremely pro- troops. I believe in what we`re doing in the Middle East. I`m the guy who started the nationwide rallies for America, the ones "The New York Times" called jingoistic.
But what I`m about to show you in a few minutes is something that the pro-war camp says should never be seen. The antiwar people say you`ve got to see it, because it will change the way you look at the war. They`re both wrong. It is shocking and horrifying. However, I found it extraordinarily inspirational. You`ve been warned.
Well, here it is, Memorial Day weekend, and while most of us have plans to just enjoy the extra time off with our family, we should take some time to honor the meaning of this holiday.
On September 11, 2001, when the planes slammed into the buildings, I`m pretty sure I had the same thought that you had: "What the heck does this mean?" Where are we going from here? The tragedy came from a time when the youth of America had been bad-mouthed. They weren`t as responsible or as duty-bound as our grandparents were.
But every time I see the footage of Saddam Hussein, that statue coming down, or I hear the stories of bravery and courage from our soldiers overseas, I am filled with so much pride. You know, it`s not even pride. It`s hope. I`m filled with hope for the future.
You know, I know that my kids are going to grow up in an America that is much better than the one that we have today. The young people in this country who are risking their lives to keep us safe have just as much honor and compassion and commitment as our grandparents did. And that`s saying something. The greatest generation is alive today. They, like all of us, should be extremely proud.
On HBO, there`s a special called "Baghdad ER". I watched it last weekend. It gives the viewer an inside look at the horrors, and more importantly, the heroes of the war in Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BECK (voice-over): This past weekend, HBO aired a documentary called "Baghdad E.R." It`s a one-hour look inside of a Baghdad emergency room where U.S. soldiers and Iraqi civilians are taken in for treatment in the midst of war.
The footage is so graphic that the Army has cautioned soldiers that if they watch the film, they may experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress. The Pentagon was concerned about the images, worried about the political ramifications of the film.
But that`s not how I saw it. It`s not what I saw at all.
MAJOR DAVID SNYDER, HOSPITAL CHAPLAIN: Hey, Jeremy, I`m the hospital chaplain, come by every time they bring someone in.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What`s going on, sir?
SNYDER: You`re the one I`ve got to ask that to.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m doing fine. If God wanted me, he would have called me, but I guess I deserve to be here.
BECK: I saw young men leave their wives and their children, abandon everything they knew for a dangerous, uncertain future in a war-torn country. I saw young men transform into heroes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m in a hospital somewhere. I got hit by an IED today.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. Are you -- what`s wrong? How are you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m not too bad considering the way the vehicle looked.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, honey.
How you doing? I`m doing, you know, fine, but guess what? I got hit with IED and all I heard was the explosion. It happened so fast.
BECK: I saw doctors who are often thought of as stoic show their humanity. I watched as they attended to patients who were suffering the most gruesome injuries. I watched as healing tragedy became routine. Even doctors saw too much.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These guys have injuries all over the place. So, you have to prioritize what -- which injuries take precedence, life over limb.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m just a good west Texas boy. Back in west Texas we thought we were seeing some stuff, but out here, it`s all, a whole other ball game.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don`t think people can comprehend what we see here, even other health care providers, because like I said, when I first got here, even though, you guys had gotten here a month before me, I got here and I was, like, what in the (expletive deleted) am I looking at? This cannot be. Day after day, every day.
BECK: When things got too tough, when men couldn`t close their eyes because visions of what they had seen kept replaying in their own minds...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s OK to cry, it really is.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Worst thing I ever saw in my life, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What was that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My friend didn`t have a face.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can`t close my eyes without seeing it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know, I know.
BECK: Eighteen thousand eighty-eight Americans have been injured in this war, but I didn`t see a number. I saw stories. Stories of decency and true meaning of brotherhood. I saw honesty and genuine compassion in its purest form.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I absolutely will hold this period of my life very dear to my heart because I`ve had a chance to make a difference. I hope I`ve had a chance to make a difference.
BECK: The Pentagon said the thing to take away from this film is the survival rate among the injured soldiers, that 90 percent survive their injuries.
But it`s war. Men do die. And, surprisingly, I saw times when dying was not just OK. It was beautiful.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don`t want you to go. We want you to fight. We want you to fight, if you can. If you can. It`s OK to go. It`s OK to go. We`ll be right with you. You get better, or you could go.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`ll offer just a prayer for his life.
BECK: I saw beauty in the face of tragedy. Dignity in the face of death. Human spirit and kindness that was stronger than any explosive. This is the message that I take from this film, that there are heroes among us.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BECK: We are privileged to have Jon Alpert and Matthew O`Neil, the filmmakers who directed and produced "Baghdad E.R." to be on the set with us.
Hi, guys.
JON ALPERT, DIRECTOR/PRODUCER, "BAGHDAD E.R.": Hi.
MATTHEW O`NEILL, DIRECTOR/PRODUCER, "BAGHDAD E.R.": Thanks for having us.
BECK: Wow, what a powerful hour that I spent with HBO this last weekend. What was it like for you? How many months did you spend filming?
ALPERT: We were flying into Baghdad one year ago today.
O`NEILL: First weekend was Memorial Day.
ALPERT: And that`s sort of appropriate and, gosh, within the first hour, they brought in the first candidate for amputation. And I had never seen anything like that before.
BECK: What did you, what did this experience -- I know how -- I mean, I welled up just watching this. What did this do to you?
ALPERT: It gave us an appreciation for the sacrifices that are being made. It really gave us an appreciation for the doctors that were there. But it really also gave us a real lesson in what the cost of this war is. And that`s what we saw every day. We saw the cost of the war and the heroes that are being asked to fight it.
BECK: You know, I don`t know if you guys are pro-war or anti-war. I don`t really care. And I appreciate that you made this film, and I couldn`t tell.
Because what I appreciated in this film was that I did understand the cost of war, but I don`t understand -- you know, I have very little respect for anybody who says that they are pro-troops or pro-war and they don`t understand this. It was so powerful.
What I was shocked by was -- maybe shocked isn`t the right word. I was so inspired by what was the decency and the caring and the -- I mean, it was glorious. What you captured. I mean, there was an amputation I saw and it was shocking to see it on screen. And then it was glorious, within a flash.
O`NEILL: These soldiers treat each other like family. All the time. And they mourn like family when a soldier is lost, and they cry like family when the soldier dies. And I don`t know if what you see in this hospital can ever be called glorious. I mean, it`s inspiring.
ALPERT: But we both are going to disagree with you on the glorious part. It`s certainly inspiring but when you`ve seen an arm come off like that and it`s an 18-year-old kid, it`s something that you never, ever forget.
BECK: No, no, no. Don`t, don`t take me -- the blood on the floor is not.
The -- what`s internalized by these guys, what I saw from these individuals, their spirits are overwhelmingly glorious.
ALPERT: And that`s what enabled us to be able to walk in there where the blood is up, you know, riding over the top of your shoes and somebody screaming in the next room. And when you see the heroism that the doctors are working with and the sacrifices our soldiers are making, they`re making jokes about this. They`re doing their job. We had to do our job.
BECK: I think -- I don`t know, I think the Pentagon probably doesn`t -- is disturbed by this because some of the doctors are like, I hate war. But, you know what? I got to tell you, who likes it? You got to be, you`re sick if you like it.
O`NEILL: You`re never going to meet anyone who hates war more than a war surgeon. They see the absolute worst of it. And when you talk about people in the Pentagon, every person in uniform that`s seen this film has told us, and that`s from the highest general in the army to the lowest private, said they loved this film. So any of the critique that comes out, it`s not from the people who wear a uniform.
BECK: I think anybody in uniform, I want to remove them from uniform if they like war or if they think that it`s, you know, a great thing.
ALPERT: This is what`s interesting about this. Up to this particular point in the war, we haven`t seen coffins come off of airplanes. There have been certain images that have been kept to the side, and the Army wants people to see this. They really do. They wouldn`t have let us go over there and the cooperation we had from them was really quite surprising.
BECK: It makes everybody involved look good. It really does. They`re just -- I`m so proud of our troops and, gentlemen, I have to tell you, I`m -- I`m -- I thank you for bringing this.
ALPERT: Isn`t this what we like to do as reporters?
BECK: I`m not a reporter.
ALPERT: You know, it`s your job to bring certain information to the people.
BECK: Right.
ALPERT: And that`s why they watch because they`re going to see something they don`t normally get to see. And as horrific as this was, this was something that we were proud to do, to associate ourselves with them and to be able to have this job, to bring this information nobody`s seen before back and makes you feel really good about doing this.
BECK: Thank you. Thank you. Happy Memorial Day.
ALPERT: Thanks a lot.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: I got to tell you, "The Wall Street Journal", Joe Morgenstern, who is the -- I think he`s the most accurate movie critic out there. I agree with almost everything he says. He says it has gone from a franchise that`s pretty good to terrifically entertaining. I think this is the best "X-Men" that has been made. It`s been awhile since I`ve seen 1 and 2, but it`s just tremendous. And if you don`t sit through all of the credits, you are going to regret it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: I`m telling you, you will regret it. You`ve got to see the last 10 seconds after the credits.
Last night, yes, the kick-buttiest movie of the summer -- creepy, isn`t it -- "X-Men 3: The Last Stand." This movie is the movie I think I`ve been waiting for for awhile. It`s got lasers, fight scenes, mutants, Halle Berry in a tight leather suit, which is, you know, always a good thing.
The movie also has a message and usually, I stay away from those like the plague. But this message is kind of cool. If you are -- if you`re born different than everybody else and society doesn`t necessarily accept you, would you "cure" yourself to be like everyone else, or are you happy with who you are?
I have to tell you, it was strange. I was actually siding with Magneto on this one. Even though I`m, you know, tubby and weird looking, I am the way God made me and, you know, I could try those radical techniques, like, you know, exercise but I`m going to stay try to who I am. So what if I`m a pudgy, clammy and a freak? I`m proud of who I am.
Now Oscar-winning actress Anna Paquin plays X-woman Rogue in "X-Men 3: The Last Stand", which opens nationwide tonight. Here`s a look at her in action.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don`t seem fine. You seem like you`re avoiding me. I mean, something`s wrong.
ANNA PAQUIN, ACTRESS: What`s wrong is I can`t touch my boyfriend without killing him. Other than that`s I`m wonderful.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, I don`t think that`s fair. Have I put any pressure on you?
PAQUIN: You`re a guy, Bobby, your mind`s only on one thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: Anna, I saw the movie last night. Tremendous. Absolutely tremendous.
PAQUIN: Thank you.
BECK: I would -- have been reading the reviews back and forth and people are split on...
PAQUIN: I don`t read them.
BECK: You don`t read them? Well, people are split on, I liked the first one. I think this one is better than the other two. Have you actually watched them?
PAQUIN: Honestly, I don`t make a really, you know, big habit of watching my own movies.
BECK: Why?
PAQUIN: I find it really strange and creepy to watch my own face on screen. It`s kind of like listening to, like, your voice on an answering machine or something.
BECK: Yes.
PAQUIN: It`s always a little unnerving. But I don`t know. I mean, as far as this movie, I think it`s, I think it`s definitely bigger and more exciting and amazing. It`s hard as machine who`s part of them to be like, I like this one more than the other. I think it just built on what came before it each time.
BECK: I don`t think I`ve seen -- you know, because it`s a popcorn movie. You know, it`s a stupid popcorn movie. Two Oscar, two Oscar winners in this. I mean, that`s -- and it`s the same cast for all three. That`s pretty remarkable.
PAQUIN: Yes, yes, no. We, I feel like, you know, it rises above the stupid popcorn genre.
BECK: I don`t mean it that way. I mean, because I went back and looked at all the movies, the summer releases from the last three years. And I think it`s one of the best movies that`s been released. It`s the movie that I think America is like, OK, Hollywood, please give me a good movie. It is -- I think it`s that movie that we`ve been waiting for for awhile.
PAQUIN: I think that`s what we`ve always tried to do is, you know, have a combination of something that has a little bit more meat on its bones but also, that is exciting and entertaining and fun and a big summer movie. You know?
BECK: I was really nervous to see it because I can`t take another freaking message from Hollywood. You know, I don`t know if you`re for the war or against the war, I don`t care. I don`t want to know. You know what I mean? I just don`t want to go see these message movies all the time.
And when I read that this one has a message, blah, blah, blah, I thought, dear God help me. Please, I don`t think I could do it. I really -- I really liked this message. Because it didn`t propose an answer.
PAQUIN: Sure.
BECK: It made you think.
PAQUIN: I think what`s interesting and unique about "X-Men" both as a comic book and the movies is they raise questions about our society. I don`t think we pretend to have answers, but I think you walk out questioning, you know, how you feel about your individuality, how you feel about what makes you unique.
And I think that`s been in all three of the movies. I mean, sure, maybe this one it gets heightened, because the issue of a cure, would you change yourself? How badly do you need to fit in in order to be happy? But I think this has been the underlying theme of the comic book for 30 years.
BECK: Let me take one aside here for just a second. I have a daughter with disabilities, and if somebody asked me, would you, you know, at the time that she was born, would you have changed it, the answer would have been absolutely yes.
However, I`ve learned more from her they any other human alive. It is tremendous what people`s disabilities, quote unquote, actually bring to us. Have you actually thought of this? Just to say disabilities, would you cure disabilities?
PAQUIN: Me personally? I can`t say that I would. I think what makes us different and what makes us unique is what`s so beautiful, you know, about humanity. And I think if we were all the same, you know, what would be -- what`s the point?
BECK: Right. You won an Oscar when you were 10.
PAQUIN: Eleven.
BECK: Eleven, 11 years old. Did you ever think at, you know, 12, "Holy crap, I`ve peaked"?
PAQUIN: No.
BECK: No?
PAQUIN: No.
BECK: What disability -- Columbia graduate, right?
PAQUIN: Actually, I never really graduated, but I went there for a year.
BECK: I went to Yale. I didn`t graduate, either. All right!
PAQUIN: Yes, I`m an Ivy League drop-out.
BECK: I mean, you`re smart, good looking. You`re talented. You have an Oscar at 11 years old. What is it that you had to conquer?
PAQUIN: You know, I really couldn`t say there`s been anything on that sort of level that, you know, that I feel has been a gigantic obstacle in my life. I wouldn`t say that I had anything out of the ordinary aside from, you know, grow up, hit puberty, survive puberty, survive high school.
BECK: Right, right.
PAQUIN: I mean, I`ve had a pretty remarkably, you know, blessed life and, you know, I wouldn`t be so sort of bold as to say that any of those issues made me special in any way. I think everyone goes through that stuff.
BECK: I wish you the best of luck. It`s a tremendous movie. And if you don`t see it -- if you don`t see it, you`re missing out. It is the summer blockbuster, "X-3." Thanks a lot.
PAQUIN: Thank you so much.
BECK: Bye-bye.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: Well, welcome to today`s "Quality of Life" market update.
The official summer travel season gets under way today, driving the stock of people who enjoy waiting on lines at airports sky-high. And with the new travel season, comes the annual list of travel tips from the Transportation Security Administration. Are you ready?
According to the TSA, 80 percent of prohibited items surrendered at security checkpoints are lighters: 30,000 lighters every single day. Now, I`m going to go out on a limb here, just give I was quick tip. When you`re flying, don`t take a lighter.
A few more items banned by the TSA include scissors with blades more than four inches in length. I can take scissors at three inches of length? Except for plastic or round-bladed butter knives, you can`t take knives on. Crossbows, spear -- spear guns, flare guns, axes. Who`s on the plane, Jack Nicholson, man? Ice picks, crowbars, table saws. I can`t bring a meat cleaver. What is this country coming to when I can`t take a meat cleaver on the plane?
You also are not allowed to take plastic explosives, hand grenades, brass knuckles -- this is a serious list. I swear to you. It`s right here. Seriously. I`m sorry, Mr. Jones, you`re going to leave your plastic explosives here.
Nunchucks, black jacks, stun guns, Chinese throwing stars, blasting caps, gun powder, tear gas, dynamite, and finally, lacrosse sticks, golf clubs, pool cues, baseball bats, and ski poles.
Good news for all you nail clipper fans, nail clippers not so much. Not on the list any more. The TSA suggests you avoid wearing shoes that contain metal or Chinese throwing stars, I`m betting. They also say avoid the ones with thick soles or heels.
My suggestion, honestly, this weekend, bare feet. Shoes are so yesterday. Aren`t they?
One last tip, and this one comes directly from me. If you really want to avoid long lines at security gates, I`d leave the dynamite at home, Jethro.
Futures on lazy guys are soaring through the roof, thanks to one really lazy guy in Chickasaw, Alabama. Meet him. His name is Joe Tucker. He`s the kind of guy you don`t come across very often, but when you do, its usually on a really slow news day, like today, right before a big holiday weekend, when nothing`s really happening, and most news producers like the ones we`ve got here are just hoping to get done with the show as quickly as possible, you know, so they can go home and have three days where they don`t have to look at my fat face.
Where was I? Oh, yes. Yes, Joe Tucker, just your average guy, with a not so average dog.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE TUCKER, DOG OWNER: Get me a beer.
BECK: This is great.
TUCKER: Good boy. Good boy. How about a Dr. Pepper now? Get me a drink.
BECK: This is a recipe for an alcoholic. Wait, hang on just a second. Did he just say his dog`s name was Homeless? Play the clip again, will you?
TUCKER: Homeless, get me a beer.
BECK: He said "Homeless" didn`t he?
TUCKER: Good boy. Good boy. How about a Dr. Pepper now? Get me a drink.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: Stop it, stop it. It`s not humiliating enough that he makes his dog fetch his beer. He then has to name him Homeless? Where the hell is PETA when you actually need them?
Back in a minute.
No nunchucks. I mean it this time.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: We`ve got people who are killing people, and they`re getting nine years. How -- how does this -- you know what this is? I contend this is the hatred of the rich.
Where we should really put into perspective -- I mean, I have no problem with Jeffrey Skilling and 185 years. No problem with it. I don`t think that`s too lenient; I really don`t.
But when somebody is killing somebody and they get 10 years, when somebody is raping a child and they get an ankle bracelet for four months, what the hell is wrong with us?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: Warning: In about 30 seconds, my head is going to explode and yours will, too. This is how screwed up our legal system is.
In Nebraska, a convicted sex offender may not serve time because he`s too short. Five-foot, one-inch tall Richard Thompson sexually assaults his niece`s 12-year-old daughter, found guilty on two felony charges. In Nebraska, that can get you 10 years in jail. I`ve got a problem with that already.
Instead, the judge gives him 10 years probation because she`s worried he`s too small to survive very long in state prison. Don`t seem to have a problem with it.
Later today -- there we go, boom -- Nebraska`s attorney general promised to appeal the decision, saying, "I really don`t care if he`s three feet tall. If you abuse the child, you deserve the time behind bars."
Even the Nebraska ACLU doesn`t understand this one. Their legal director said, and I quote, "I`ve never heard of anything like this before." Can you imagine what they have heard of they`ve never heard of anything this nuts?
But the National Organization of Short Statured Adults is rallying to his defense. Joe Mangano, if you care, is 5`4" tall. He believes it`s about time somebody recognizes the challenges of poor, little convicted sexual deviants and the things that they face, saying, quote, "He would probably end up being someone`s woman," end quote.
I don`t even want to think about that, but I really don`t have a problem.
Wendy Murphy, former sex crimes prosecutor. Are we even on same planet anymore? How is it a guy can sexually assault a 12-year-old girl and then given probation because he`s too short?
WENDY MURPHY, FORMER PROSECUTOR: I don`t have an answer for that. I mean, the judge should actually answer your question, but I think she probably won`t.
You know, wouldn`t it be nice if every so often a judge worried about another kind of short person in society? We call them children. How about whacking a guy once, a little extra for picking on another type of short person, a kid?
I`m disgusted. I don`t even want to debate it. I don`t understand what the nature of the debate is. The judge should be taken off the bench.
BECK: Does anybody even recognize the fact or see the irony, that they`re worried about a small guy being mishandled in prison? What about the small 12-year-old girl? I mean, the irony is incredible.
MURPHY: You know, we don`t value kids enough. But, you know, I am so sick of hearing people say, "I`m too short. I`m too old. I`m too sick to go to prison." There`s no such thing as, you know, "I`m too anything" to go to prison. I don`t care if you`re on your deathbed, you can die behind bars. That`s how it works.
(CROSSTALK)
BECK: I don`t even understand how we are entering an age where you can be too beautiful to go to prison if you`ve slept with a kid, and now you can be too short if you`ve abused a kid. You know...
MURPHY: Glenn, I had a guy I prosecuted once, 88 years old, second offense, indecent assault, picked on a kid while she was visiting Nana at the nursing home. I prosecuted him. He came to court every day with his walker.
BECK: Good.
MURPHY: And his lawyer said, "He`s too old to go to prison." The judge was -- good for him -- said, "Uh-uh, if you`re young enough, healthy enough to do that to a child, you take your wrinkled, old body right to prison," and that`s where he went.
BECK: Exactly right. Now, this is what this judge is concerned about -- and it doesn`t bother me -- but I had a guy -- I talked about this on my radio show today -- and I had a guy call in. He said, "Glenn, I used to be in prison, and I found out about a guy who was, you know, in the population who had abused and raped children." Listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CALLER: I kind of made it my mission to make this guy`s life as miserable as could be. I mean, I`m a big guy, 6`1", 250 pounds. We literally beat him almost every day, urinated on him, you name it. Whatever we could do, we did it to this guy to make his life just miserable as possible. And...
BECK: How do you feel about that today?
CALLER: Embarrassed, in some ways. But and then in other ways, I`m not really sure, because child molesters, to me, are the worst scum on Earth. I have three daughters myself. And to think that anybody would ever do anything like that to one of my daughters is just something that would tear me up inside.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: Wendy, I got to tell you, I don`t agree with what he did. I mean, that`s a problem with the prison system. But, I mean, then put the guys in an isolation chamber, don`t you think?
MURPHY: Yes. I mean, if the prison system stinks for sex offenders - - and it does -- it`s a terrible place to go, which is why you shouldn`t commit crimes, if you don`t want to go -- then fix the prison system. Don`t give a guy like this, a rapist, a walk.
You know, I`ve got to tell you, this is not a judge who`s historically lenient, who just gives away the store all the time, because, guess what? Back in August of last year, she actually whacked a guy, gave him five to eight years for doing -- guess what -- stealing cows. Yes, she actually has expressed her feelings quite well. In her value system, cows being stolen is a more serious crime than a child being raped.
BECK: Unbelievable.
MURPHY: Remove her from the bench now is the only message.
BECK: Unbelievable. You know what? I`ve got to tell you. If I were Mini Me today, I`d be driving to Nebraska. I`d be getting into my little, teeny car, and I`d be driving to a giant bank. And I`d be taking it, because I`d hope to get this.
You know what? I tell you what. We actually looked at a bunch of people that are totally clear -- heading to Nebraska right now. Can we put them up on the screen, please? There they are. Prince, he`s 5`2". Paul Simon, 5`2". Martin Scorsese, he`s, I think, 5`1", or 5`2". Hey, man, have at it in Nebraska, because it apparently is absolutely OK. You ain`t doing jail time.
Let me ask you, Wendy, what is it that we can do besides just be outraged?
MURPHY: Yes, there are a lot of things we can do, and I wish that we were doing them more often. Three big things we can do.
First of all, let`s have mandatory sentences. Across the country, Jessica`s Law, no discretion for judges. Then we wouldn`t have these kinds of stories, because this judge wouldn`t be allowed to do the wrong thing.
Let`s have judicial report cards. This is a great idea. Pennsylvania and Virginia actually do this. I think it should be done across the country.
Annual automatic release of all the sentences judges give out in these kinds of cases, because sometimes these fly under the radar screen. We don`t find out about them. We can`t get outraged.
And, third -- and maybe more importantly -- we need more public protests. I mean, look what happened in the O.J. Simpson case. All his buddies created a mob at the courthouse. Look what he got. He got a walk because he had mobs at the gates protesting the system.
We need parents in particular protesting all the time when judges give out these kinds of sentences. I want to call on mothers in particular: Get out there right now. Get in front of this judge`s courthouse. Get signs. Call for her to be removed and do not go home until she steps down.
BECK: Wendy, great, love your passion. Thank you so much for being a part of the program. I will tell you, though, the protest thing, I mean, have you forgotten? We`re in America. Jeez, you know, that`s a job that an illegal alien should do, because most people are just too lazy.
All right, let`s go "Straight to the Hill" now, Erica Hill, the anchor on "PRIME NEWS," Headline News.
Hello, Erica, how are you?
ERICA HILL, CNN HEADLINE NEWS ANCHOR: Hello there. I`m doing well. How are you on a Friday?
BECK: I`m good.
HILL: Sound fired up.
BECK: I`m good. I`m a little fired up, because I just can`t understand our judicial system.
HILL: A lot of people are fired up about that story across the country, too.
BECK: It`s insanity.
HILL: We`ve heard a lot about it here at Headlines.
BECK: OK, so what`s on the plate?
HILL: A five-hour security scare on Capitol Hill. How about that as they`re getting ready for their Memorial Day weekend?
Well, it turns out it was likely the result of construction noise, not gunfire. That`s the latest from Capitol Police this afternoon. They were called there this morning. They were actually called this morning about possible gunfire in the Rayburn Office Building.
That call put an immediate lockdown into effect for everyone in that building, as well as other parts of the Capitol complex, including the Capitol itself.
BECK: OK...
HILL: Yes?
BECK: ... just let me just point this out. I think the Capitol police, they`ve got to do what they got to do. You think you hear a gunshot, yadda, yadda, yadda.
HILL: Absolutely.
BECK: You know the insane part of this story is...
HILL: You`re going to tell us.
BECK: I am. I am, and you`re going to not have an opinion, I`ll tell you that right now, little sister. The insane...
HILL: Glad that joke hasn`t gotten old for you.
BECK: The insane thing is, is that look at how much the network time has been spent on this story. I mean, we`ve gotten to the point to where we`ve almost had charts of the Rayburn Building, you know, those three- dimensional, where they go in and say, "And this is where the gun could have been found."
I mean, it`s nuts how much time we have spent on a story that is now, we find out, a non-story. So let`s move on.
HILL: All right, we`ll move on to the next one, which we`ll also get you fired up on a Friday. Immigration, of course, always a hot topic. Getting plenty of attention today after a big show of support for an immigration bill in the Senate last night. It passed by a vote of 62-36.
Essentially, this legislation increases border security, provides a path to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants. It also includes a guest-worker program, but there are some conflicts between this bill and the House version.
BECK: No!
HILL: Those are going to be need to be reconciled before a final bill can be sent to the president.
BECK: Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I swear to God, that`s all I hear on this immigration stuff. You know, when you want to get serious, Washington, you let me know.
And here`s how you let me know: You go after those companies that are hiring illegal immigrants. You go after them, and you find them, and put them out of business, if you have to. Then you can talk to me about your cute, little bill.
Thanks a lot, Erica. Have a great weekend.
HILL: Thanks.
BECK: Bye.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: All right. So the kickoff of the summer blockbuster movie season comes down to this, "X-Men," with Halle Berry and Anna Paquin, or "An Inconvenient Truth," starring Al Gore. Hmm, which one will I pick?
Christy Lemire, not French, a movie critic from the Associated Press. Hi, Christy, how are you?
CHRISTY LEMIRE, MOVIE CRITIC, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS: How`s it going?
BECK: Pretty good, except I understand you don`t like "X-Men."
LEMIRE: You know, the first two were so good, because they were meaty, because they were about something. Even though they were mutants, what made them great was their humanity.
BECK: Loved it.
LEMIRE: They had these powers they didn`t want. They didn`t know how to use them. They had anxieties and insecurities like you and I do, but you don`t.
BECK: I don`t. I`m fine, totally.
LEMIRE: But that was what was great; we could relate to them. And now it`s all about special effects. Brian Singer did the first two films, and now Brett Ratner, who is best known for the "Rush Hour" movies, has done this new one.
BECK: You know, I couldn`t disagree with you more. I liked this one better than the first two. I thought this thing moved quickly. I was expecting kind of a message film, which I would have -- I would have hung myself on.
But I thought it was really good. I really enjoyed it. You know what it is? It is a popcorn movie. It`s not a film. It`s not beautifully -- you know, "The cinematography and the score is delicious." It`s none of that, man. It`s just a good popcorn movie.
LEMIRE: Well, what`s funny, though, is it purports itself to be the meatiest and most relevant of the three, and it`s about how the government has developed this cure for mutancy and all the social ramifications that follow.
BECK: I thought it was.
LEMIRE: But it really skims the surface of that, I think. I mean, you have people with signs saying...
BECK: Thank God Hollywood is skimming the surface. Thank you, Hollywood.
LEMIRE: Why can`t we think with our summer blockbuster popcorn movies?
(CROSSTALK)
BECK: I don`t want to think. I don`t want to think.
LEMIRE: I`m going to quote you on that.
BECK: I`d go to Al Gore`s movie if I want to think.
LEMIRE: Oh, my gosh, yes, the Al Gore global warming documentary.
BECK: Good, bad?
LEMIRE: Sign me up for that. Well, the thing is, it`s scary as hell. It`s really, really scary, and yet you feel incredibly helpless.
BECK: Is that because you don`t think Al Gore will ever leave the screen? "I`m so helpless. He`s so big on the screen, and I never think it will end."
LEMIRE: "And he won`t stop talking."
BECK: Yes.
LEMIRE: No, but the thing is, he actually is much warmer and more charismatic than he ever was when he ran for president.
BECK: Right.
LEMIRE: And yet he insists that he`s not going to run in 2008, but this thing kind of plays like an extended campaign ad. It shows him in his absolute best light. This is totally in his wheelhouse. This is a subject he knows a lot about; he cares a lot about; he wants to save the planet.
And yet, he doesn`t provide any solutions. Like, you could go out and buy a Prius, but like certain doom is coming and that`s not really going to help.
BECK: Right. So when you say he`s warmer than he was during the campaign, so that`s like he`s a snow cone with shoes?
LEMIRE: Right, right. He never says the word "lock box" at any point in time.
BECK: Ay, ay, ay.
LEMIRE: But, you know, I just wonder who the film is for, because who`s going to go see it if you`re not already interested in this topic? He`s preaching to the choir here, I think.
BECK: Right. Great. Thank you so much, Christy, and we`ll see you next week.
LEMIRE: Thanks, bye.
BECK: You bet, bye-bye.
ANNOUNCER: This is GLENN BECK.
BECK: Couldn`t be more wrong. She just couldn`t be more wrong.
Now, my least favorite segment, and that`s saying something, because all of the segments involve me. "The Public Viewer" is here. He`s Brian Sack. He`s an independent viewer from the show. He brings up the viewer feedback and critiques from the previous week, which, somehow or another, is supposed to be different than hate mail, which is also coming up on tonight`s show.
BRIAN SACK, "THE PUBLIC VIEWER": It is, because hate mail isn`t constructive. This is constructive criticism.
BECK: Really? It feels kind of like you`re throwing me under the bus here, Brian.
SACK: No, sir. What does not kill you makes you stronger.
BECK: Right, OK.
SACK: Nietzsche said.
BECK: So go ahead and throw me under the bus.
SACK: Well, first of all, this week I noticed a pattern of your jokes not getting understood, which kind of bothered me a little bit, because they were actually funny. In the first case, we had the interview with Andy Ramirez and we`re going to roll some tape on this right now, and you`ll see here what happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: Andy, is there anybody -- well, let me ask you this question. How long have you been a hatemonger? You racist.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SACK: See, he totally did not get that you were joking. Did you see that?
BECK: I know. I did. I felt bad for him.
(CROSSTALK)
BECK: He was like, "What the -- how did this turn ugly on me?"
SACK: We might need some kind of a sarcasm alert, something -- you know, you`ve got the scroll here, the revolving Glenn bulb. And maybe we can have a flashing sarcasm alert.
BECK: I do talk to all of the guests before we go on the air. When we go to commercial break, I say, "I just want you to know, 90 percent of what I say I`m joking."
SACK: All righty.
BECK: Like right now, like I like you.
SACK: And that was not picked up by Kimberly Caldwell during her interview, which we have some footage of here. You made a little joke, a little self-deprecation. OK.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIMBERLY CALDWELL, FORMER "AMERICAN IDOL" CONTESTANT: The coin collection...
BECK: Don`t you hate it?
CALDWELL: Everything, yes.
BECK: I hate it when, you know, people like -- they`ll have a TV show, and then a radio show, and then a magazine, and a stage show.
CALDWELL: I`m just waiting for the little dolls, you know, like the little Ruben dolls, the little Clay dolls.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SACK: It was just a shame.
BECK: It was. It was.
SACK: Moving onward, we had an interview with an MIT Professor Lindzen, and that was very interesting. I`m just curious. I want to know, after watching this interview, what you have in the green room in Boston. Look at this guy. He`s asleep.
BECK: I needed -- I had a very hard time with this interview.
SACK: You`re talking about global warming. He`s falling asleep.
BECK: Oh, I know he is.
SACK: Al Gore would cry.
BECK: All right, next.
SACK: Moving onward. OK, we`ve got your William Shatner moment.
BECK: What`s my William Shatner moment?
SACK: Well, you`ll see in a second.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BECK (singing): Birds fly over the rainbow, which then, oh, why can`t I?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SACK: America wants to know if there`s an album.
BECK: Let me tell you something: Wolf Blitzer would never do that.
SACK: No, he wouldn`t.
BECK: No. Bill O`Reilly would never do that.
SACK: Why is it when someone gets on TV or gets in a movie, they want to put out an album immediately?
BECK: I`m just saying, not a bad thing.
SACK: I don`t know. And another thing -- and this comes actually from a viewer, Kristin in Texas. She has a problem with you saying, "I mean."
BECK: Oh, don`t start on this. You`re going to -- this, I am working so hard. It is such a bad crutch, isn`t it? Drives me nuts. I apologize, America.
SACK: We`ve prepared a little montage for your enjoyment.
BECK: Oh, no, don`t do this, no!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: I mean, I`ve had calls from people on my radio show. I mean, you`re on your deathbed. I mean, you are stunning. You`re beautiful. You`re a supermodel, blah blah blah. I mean, I see these people and I think, enjoy it, man. I mean, I think our kids are pretty well-adjusted. I mean, they`re not very good singers that I`ve heard all their boring stories.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: I mean, dude.
SACK: Dude, indeed, I mean.
BECK: I mean.
SACK: Anyway, a lot of...
BECK: It`s a bad problem.
SACK: A lot of e-mail came in this week, and a lot of it very positive. You had some negative stuff, of course. Some stuff was misdirected. They need help with TiVo.
BECK: Darn, we`re all out of time. Shoot.
SACK: All right. PublicViewer@glennbeck.com.
BECK: Start it. I wish we had more time for you, I mean that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: Ah, what better way to kick off a holiday weekend than read letters from complete strangers that hate you.
Jeff from Canada writes, "Glenn, maybe you should devote all your time to help build border fences to keep out illegal Mexican immigrants out. Better yet, built a fence on the Canadian border so you can`t come up here and stink up our country."
Hey, Jeff, here`s the really funny part: If people would start flooding into Canada, you probably would build a giant fence! Fortunately for you, there`s no real demand to trek into the land of ice and ice. So, Jeff, maybe someone from a country with so many French people shouldn`t be making jokes about body odor. Just a suggestion.
Next letter. "Glenn, I heard you`re coming to Nashville, Tennessee, on your stupid tour. We`re already flooded with country stars here, you know? I wish we could get someone with an I.Q. over 12 to visit us someday. Garrett, Nashville."
Yes, Garrett, I`m going to be there on June 17th on my Mid-Life Crisis Tour. And you can get the details at GlennBeck.com, you know, if you want to come by and say hello.
But maybe some of those, quote, "hick," end quote country stars will stop by in their Bentleys, as well. And, by the way, my I.Q. is over 12, by almost four points.
"Glenn, I can`t believe you got us all worked up about the bird flu and now nothing! Terrence, North Carolina."
Terrence, I`ve got to tell you. I don`t think I`ve ever seen anybody so disappointed that there aren`t 20 million people dying really fast. Well, I mean, maybe Stalin.
But don`t worry, Terrence, all is not lost! In the news just today, you`ve got two bird flu killings. They killed two siblings in Indonesia. The World Health Assembly and Bulgaria are speeding up their preparations for a bird flu pandemic.
There`s a fresh outbreak in Nigeria, and Romania is collecting birds as outbreaks are multiplying there, as well. So, despite the lack of a new bird flu TV movie this week, the risk is still there.
However, my recommendation: Take your Memorial Day weekend and relax. Eat what you want; drink what you want; spend time with your family; and don`t worry about the bird flu. I won`t be. I`m going to start worrying about scabies. You never know when the larvae of a mite is going to strike.
You can hate mail me at GlennBeck@CNN.com. Have a great weekend. Spend a few minutes thinking of why we have the extra day off, will you? See you Tuesday, you sick freak. Bye-bye.
END
