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Glenn Beck

Is TV Bad for Kids?; Preview of Weekend Movies

Aired June 09, 2006 - 19:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

ANNOUNCER: Today`s episode of Glenn Beck is brought to you by the Barbra Streisand farewell tour. This is the last time, I swear. No, I really, really mean it. Maybe. Tickets start at $90,000.
GLENN BECK, HOST: The other night, my wife said to me that Raphe, my youngest son, was at home, and he saw me on TV, and he looked up at the TV, and he said, "Daddy!"

Raphe, I`m coming home soon.

There is nothing better than saying to my son three words: Sam I am. Wherever he is, I guarantee he`s watching right now, and he`s looking for it. I just have to say "Sam I am" and he reaches up and he grabs my big finger and he takes me either to his room or wherever we left it to this. This is tremendous. Not only does he love the book. I cherish the minute, just the minute of reading this with him. Doesn`t get any better than that, does it?

You know, it`s really hard to be a parent. It is exhausting. By the way, Raphe, I`ll be home soon, "Sam I Am".

It is -- there are times when I -- it`s tempting to leave my son, my kids in front of the tube and just soak up "Spongebob Squarepants" or my super sweet 16. God help us all, if you do that. I read some scary statistics the other day. Nearly half of infants, 50 percent of infants watch TV every single day. Kids under 6, a third of them have TVs in their bedroom. What are we doing, man?

You know, some of these shows and DVDs actually teach something. There`s "Sesame Street". There`s "Blues Clues". God help you on "Baby Einstein". I`m trying to figure out what that`s teaching my son. But in too many homes, the TV set has become a virtual nanny.

Robert Kesten, he`s head of something called the TV Turnoff Network that encourages people to chuck the remote one week every year. It`s ironic that you`re here on television saying turn the TV off, and I encourage you to do that, but not during this hour of television. Tell me, why do you hate TV so much?

ROBERT KESTEN, TV TURNOFF NETWORK: Well, one thing is we don`t hate TV at all.

BECK: Right.

KESTEN: And what we`re really looking for is encouraging balance in people`s lives. And the television and other technologies -- the computer, games, the iPod -- have really started to lead us, rather than us taking advantage of them.

BECK: Yes. It really -- television is -- and you know what is frightening to me, I`ve done radio for, I don`t know, 25, 27 years now, and we have our ratings. They`re called 12-plus. It means everybody over 12 that is listening to the radio. In television, it`s 2-plus. Everyone over 2 that is watching television.

One of the reasons I got out of top 40 radio is because of the -- the way we`re using kids to be able to get to dollars. It is really, truly obscene, and we do it on television, as well.

KESTEN: Well, even more so on television. A vast amount of advertising dollars is now targeted to the 2-year-old, because the 2-year- old is the best way to get expenditures from the entire family for outrageous amounts of money and what was something where the advertising community only spent a million or millions of dollars, they`re now spending billions of dollars reaching the 2-year-old market.

BECK: You see it. You go into a toy store, you go into -- I mean, you have -- you go to Babies `R` Us. Raphe`s favorite toys, and the toys that I love playing with Raphe -- Tupperware! We make them into, you know, come in, Raphe, come in, Commander Raphe. We do that with our hats. You know, they`re anything you want to do.

But everybody is going out and spending so much money on these wild toys and wild clothes, and I really think part of it has become because we see it on television. We say oh, we have to have that. That will enrich our experience.

KESTEN: Well, in the recent report that you referred to earlier, it stated that this one woman, I believe from Colorado, said if it wasn`t for television commercials, I would not know what to get my kids for Christmas.

BECK: Oh, that`s absolutely unbelievable.

KESTEN: It`s frightening that she doesn`t know her children well enough that she relies on commercials.

BECK: The thing, as a guy who`s been -- you know, in advertising in radio now for a few weeks at least in television, the way advertising works is I either have to create a hole or a need in you or exploit that hole or need in you. And I fear that`s what we`re doing to our kids at far too early of an age.

You know, I think it`s in Sweden, you can`t advertise to kids, I think it`s under 12 or 15?

KESTEN: There are a number of countries that limit advertising or ban advertising totally to young people.

BECK: I think that is absolutely tremendous.

Robert, real quick before you go. I gave up television just because I was going back to school for a year when I was 30. I was surprised at how much I noticed the violence and sex when I turned it back on. It was a shock at what you`re just used to having spill out into your living rooms.

KESTEN: The truth to the matter is, we need a lifestyle change in this country where we take control of the electronic media in our lives and stop letting it control us, and that`s the only way we`re going to get a handle on it.

If we don`t want our children doing drugs, smoking, drinking, having risky sexual activity, parents have to turn the TV off during dinner and turn it off during breakfast and actually have conversations with their children. It can`t be the babysitter, nor can the computer be the teacher. Parents have to be involved actively in their children`s lives, and we can`t have more parents saying, you know, excuse me for five minutes, I want to catch this on TV.

BECK: Right. Robert, thank you, I appreciate it.

Now for the defense. Let`s bring in Steve Burns. For six years, he was the host of the popular children`s TV show "Blues Clues". For the older viewers Mr. Rodgers with stunning good looks and a computer-generated blue dog.

You -- does your resume say electronic nanny anywhere, Steve?

STEVE BURNS, FORMER HOST OF "BLUES CLUES": No, it does not.

BECK: Really? Now, you left "Blues Clues" because you`re in music. I hear you`re actually really good.

BURNS: Thank you. I`ve heard that, too, thanks. No, I actually haven`t, but thank you.

BECK: So this is the first definitive study that says television is bad. You were part of television aimed directly to kids, but a good one.

BURNS: Well, let me start by saying that I actually agree with a lot of what you and Robert were saying. Television does exploit children.

BECK: Did you have any qualms at all about being involved in a show that was aimed right directly to the youngest?

BURNS: Absolutely. I mean, we took that so seriously, and it wasn`t just aimed at them. We actually tried to reach through the screen in many ways and sort of become a pretend friend.

BECK: Right. Wow, that`s weird, isn`t it? A pretend friend.

BURNS: Sure.

BECK: Have you seen "Baby Einstein"?

BURN: Sure.

BECK: Do you find any redeeming -- every time I see "Baby Einstein" I think to myself, those people are genius for the amount that -- they`ve taken everyday stuff. They spent about $4 on that, and they`re making millions.

BURNS: Right. Well, I think there`s a lot more research that goes into it.

BECK: Yes. To "Blues Clues" there`s something, but I have to tell you, again, I`m a capitalist. I`d like to show you a little something. I`ve made "Baby Beckstein." Can we roll that please, Ellie?

BURNS: Wow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: Hi, dark-haired Sally. How are things?

Oh, I`m pretty good -- ahhh!

It`s me, Steve the Stapler. Ahhhh!

Ahhh!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNS: I don`t know about you -- you know, that cost me, you know, quite a bit of dollars, but I think the lessons there are quite clear.

Thanks, Steve, appreciate it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CALLER: Hi, Glenn. I tell you what, I`ve been a listener to you since right after 9/11, and hearing you talk about wanting to hand out cake and celebrating Zarqawi`s death, I`m very disappointed, Glenn.

BECK: You are?

CALLER: I`m just really disappointed.

BECK: Really?

CALLER: Yes. Well, see, because you`re in New York and I`m in Ohio, and I can`t get any of it.

BECK: OK! There`s what, I`ll take that as one vote, no, we`re not above the Palestinians. That`s just one vote for that. Well, nobody -- you know, now he`s gone. Shoot, I should have asked him! We have to cancel that because I didn`t ask him the follow-up question: are you just a lover of cake? Maybe he`s just an enormous fat man that wanted cake.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: Bacon cake.

Great movie that`s coming out this weekend, one for the whole family. It`s a, you know, real-life lesson. It`s about a hotshot who thinks he`s living the dream life, until he gets lost, winds up in a sleepy, little town, where everybody could really care less about who he is, finds out maybe he`s not such a big deal after all. The only thing is, he`s a car.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY THE CABLE GUY, COMEDIAN: Shee, you`re in Radiator Springs.

OWEN WILSON, ACTOR: Just great.

LARRY THE CABLE GUY: Well, if you think that`s great, you should see the rest of the town.

WILSON: You know, I`d love to see the rest of the town!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Peter! What did I tell you about talking to the accused?

LARRY THE CABLE GUY: To not to.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, quit your yapping and tow this road hazard to traffic court.

LARRY THE CABLE GUY: We`ll talk later, mater.

Later, mater, that`s funny.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BECK: Ahh!

"Cars" is from the same people of "Finding Nemo" and "The Incredibles." Christy Lemire is the creator for the program, and she`s also with the Associated Press.

Looks a little better than David Hasselhoff`s talking car in "Knight Rider", Christy.

CHRISTY LEMIRE, MOVIE CRITIC: You know, it`s still better than most animated films, like "Shark Tale", like "Madagascar" where they just throw a bunch of pop culture references out there and they call it a script.

Having said that, it`s probably the weakest Pixar movie ever. You mentioned "Finding Nemo". We`ve also got the "Toy Story" movies and I love "Monsters Inc." I cried in "Monsters Inc." I`ll admit it.

BECK: I`ll tell you. One of my favorite lines of any movie of all time is "Kitty?" I love the ending of "Monsters Inc."

LEMIRE: Yes.

BECK: I have been looking forward to, you know, taking Raphe to see this. But he, I hear it`s, I hear it`s like the Peter Jackson of Pixar films?

LEMIRE: Yes, it`s two hours long. And I went to a screening of it and there were little kids running around toward the end. Maybe some kids can sit still for that long.

BECK: Two hours? I can`t sit still for two hours.

LEMIRE: Right, it`s long.

BECK: Do kids like it?

LEMIRE: I think so. It`s fast, it`s colorful, it`s funny. So kids will like it, yes. And DVD rental, definitely.

BECK: OK, what else is coming out this weekend?

LEMIRE: The other thing you`ve got is "A Prairie Home Companion", based on the NPR radio show by Garrison Keillor.

BECK: Love NPR.

LEMIRE: Yes, so, yes, this is very much catering to that audience.

BECK: Yes, OK, so it`s slow, just drive you out of your mind slow? I actually like "Prairie Home Companion". I think Garrison Keillor is great.

LEMIRE: Well, then you`ll love this movie.

BECK: Really?

LEMIRE: Also, it`s a Robert Altman movie, and so it is slow and meandering. You know, draggy, like little nuggets of greatness in between there, but you`ve got to wait for them.

BECK: Wow.

LEMIRE: And typical of Altman, it has a huge all-star cast. You`ve got Meryl Streep, Lindsay Lohan, Calvin Klein. Virginia Madsen, wondering around backstage in a white trench coat as the angel of death.

BECK: It`s amazing how many people are in this movie. It`s got everybody in Hollywood, and...

LEMIRE: Yes. Yes. Altman gets huge casts. If you love him, if you love this radio show, it`s very faithful to the show. Really silly songs and corny ads, and you know.

BECK: OK, good. And do we have anything that`s coming -- that`s good coming out on DVD?

LEMIRE: I don`t know if it`s good, but it`s a family-friendly thing. It`s "Glory Road", which is based on the true story of the 1956 Texas Western University basketball team that`s now University of Texas at El Paso, and the coach, Don Haskins, started five black players. Unprecedented. It`s a great story. It`s a true story, has enough innate drama in it, and then...

BECK: Saw "Hoosiers". Do I need to go any deeper than that?

LEMIRE: It`s not "Hoosiers". It`s really good, but also, it`s a Jerry Bruckheimer production. And so there`s no such thing as subtlety. So they can`t let the drama play out by itself. They have to, like, hammer you over the head.

BECK: Right. It`s a Bruckheimer film. There`s got to be somebody grappling down the side of the building and them blowing cars up.

LEMIRE: Knowingly. Knowingly.

BECK: I appreciate it, Christy. Thanks a lot. See you next week.

LEMIRE: Bye.

BECK: You bet.

ANNOUNCER: This is GLENN BECK.

BECK: Now, we`ve got -- we`ve got our good friend, Brian Sach, who`s here. I mean, movie critics, OK, I`m all right with that. Somebody who critiques me? Not so much. Especially when they`re claiming to be, you know, objective and independent. And Brian, I don`t think you are.

BRIAN SACH, THE PUBLIC VIEW: I am objective, I am independent, and I`m...

BECK: Come on.

SACH: Think of me as a therapist to you.

BECK: No. No, I appreciate that.

SACH: I guide you. I tell you what you`re doing right and wrong. And I can prescribe you medication.

BECK: Sure, OK, good. I`m about to have some. Go ahead and tell me what we did wrong this week?

SACH: What you did wrong this week. Well, I`m little concerned about the speed, the pacing of things. Because I think that, you know, this could lead to health problems, this hectic schedule you have, and I`ve prepared some video to show you what I mean to kind of highlight the potential problems.

BECK: Yes, go ahead.

SACH: When you`re constantly rushing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We won`t be able to do our job, which is to secure our country and to secure the integrity of our religion, which is what we consistently do.

BECK: Ahmed, I`ve got to run. Thank you so much, I appreciate it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Normal sexual development.

BECK: Right. Roger, I`ve got to run. We`ve got another guest waiting. I appreciate it. Thank you very much.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because the family really didn`t want life, but 30 years is not a walk in the park, either.

BECK: Judge, I`ve got to run. Thanks a lot. Appreciate it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You bet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: Brian, this is the only time that I do run.

SACH: Why don`t you take some time with these guys. Give them a little -- and the poor guy last night.

BECK: I wish I could. You know what, I can`t get enough stuff into this show.

SACH: You`re cramming too many people in the show.

BECK: Holy cow.

SACH: Give them a couple of minutes.

BECK: You know what? Then we can just move on from you.

SACH: Hey, let`s get going then.

Moving on with the exorcism piece you had on 6-6-06.

BECK: Hurry, because I`ve got to run.

SACH: The big nothing day.

BECK: Yes.

SACH: Well, first of all, I`m going to show you a clip here which I thought was really interesting. This falls under the obvious questions you should have asked department.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP0

BECK: What we`ve got here is the web clip.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I`ve, I`ve looked in the eyes of evil many a time. In that particular videotape, that person was involved with an ancient form of Macumba.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SACH: OK. Now Macumba, s that familiar to you? Because I don`t think anybody in the country knows what Macumba is. You didn`t ask any questions, you said sure.

BECK: I was going to, but I thought, "I`ve got other questions I have to ask." I could have spent 20 minutes on Macumba.

SACH: No time to go into Macumba?

BECK: I know. I said to them, I hate when they get into that. I did say that.

SACH: More interesting than that was the actual exorcism here.

BECK: Yes.

SACH: He`s performing this in an Olive Garden, apparently, and you don`t even notice. You don`t ask anything about the bottle of olive oil sitting there on the table. What does that have to do with an exorcism?

BECK: I think that`s for the holy anointing.

SACH: The holy anointing.

BECK: I think that`s what it is.

SACH: You didn`t feel like asking why that was there?

BECK: No. He spooked me a little bit, you know.

SACH: OK. A Caesar salad.

BECK: Anybody who`s doing like, hey, way the -- by the way, this weekend I`m doing some exorcisms as well.

SACH: Have some Caesar salad and get rid of a devil, all right.

BECK: Yes.

SACH: Moving on with Erica Hill, the lovely Erica Hill, who we have lots of e-mail on. People adore her. She`s gorgeous and friendly and nice and sweet and...

BECK: She hates me, I think.

SACH: Well, you know, that`s -- I just wonder, does your wife punch you during these segments, by any chance?

BECK: Yes, actually, she does, but why do you say that she does?

SACH: Well, I`m going to show you this one. This is from the other night. It`s you and Erica.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: Where are you going?

ERICA HILL, CNN HEADLINE NEWS ANCHOR: I`m heading home to Connecticut to my cousin`s wedding.

BECK: Really? I live in Connecticut. Maybe you could swing on by, and...

HILL: We`ll see.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: Here`s the thing, here`s the thing.

SACH: You know if it didn`t work in high school, it`s not going to work on national TV.

BECK: I know. Here`s the thing with Erica. I adore this woman. She is just so great.

SACH: Oh yes.

BECK: But she is -- she`s a journalist, so they`ve said to her, don`t move your eyes. Don`t do anything.

SACH: Don`t show any emotions.

BECK: I absolutely -- it is my mission to make her laugh. It`s my mission to have her move her eyes from time to time. Can`t get it done yet.

SACH: And moving on, I`m a little concerned we might be running out of guests if you continue to abuse them.

BECK: What do you mean? Only today. Today is the first day that I think I`ve abused...

SACH: Oh, really? Really?

BECK: Yes.

SACH: I think I have a videotape that might prove otherwise.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: I think you are a nut job, but strangely enough, a serious nut job.

You`re a bastard. With a head of hair like that. You`re a bastard.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They say life is a bitch, right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I got you one.

BECK: Shut up! This is an $11,000 pen.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Very beautiful.

BECK: Shut the hell up, is it really?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SACH: Shut the hell up, Molly Sims.

BECK: Well, you know, I`m not afraid to say it. Shut the hell up, Brian!

SACH: Are you talking to me?

BECK: I`m talking to you.

SACH: And another thing, if we have a little time for this. This would be -- Pat, we got some email on this, Pat Gray. And folks would like him to commit.

BECK: What do you mean?

SACH: To either shaving or growing the beard out. But they can not have the 50/50. He can not be libertarian on this issue. He kind of has to pick a side.

BECK: All right. I`ll let him know. He appreciates this moment, I`m sure.

SACH: I`m sure he will.

BECK: That`s great.

SACH: Well, that`s all I`ve got, actually.

BECK: OK.

SACH: Unless you want me to make stuff up.

BECK: No, no. And you`ve got a web address.

SACH: PublicViewer@GlennBeck.com.

BECK: I`ve got one, too. It`s me@GlennBeck.com. Send your critique of Brian to me at GlennBeck.com.

SACH: Kirk out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: All right, time now to check on the buzz in Houston with my best friend, Pat Gray. You can hear him mornings on 950 KPRC.

Hello, Pat.

PAT GRAY, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Hello, Glenn.

BECK: Did you see the lady we had on a couple of days ago? She was talking about sending bricks to Congress?

GRAY: No.

BECK: Did -- do you watch the show?

GRAY: I -- every chance I get.

BECK: This guy is my best friend.

GRAY: That particular night I just didn`t have the opportunity.

BECK: You just didn`t see it. Did you see the show last night?

GRAY: Not last night.

BECK: Wednesday?

GRAY: It`s Wednesday now.

BECK: Tuesday.

GRAY: No.

BECK: That was last night. Monday. When did you watch the show last, Pat?

GRAY: I think Friday. I think Friday night was the last show.

BECK: Really? That`s good. A lot of my friends will watch the show. And unfortunately for me, that`s about all that`s watching.

This lady was sending bricks. She has a web site. I think it`s SendABrick.com or whatever, and people are actually buying bricks and sending them to Congress, and they still don`t get the idea.

Now we need to build two fences, with what`s happening in Canada. We need a northern and a southern fence, do we not?

GRAY: Yes, yes. We absolutely do. We need to do something with the border on Canada. All you have to do is drive across the border, walk across the border. You show a driver`s license, you come on in. It`s a total mess on both ends of the border.

BECK: You know, you and I were having a conversation on your radio show in the morning a couple of -- what, about a week ago. And you were yelling at me. "I can`t believe you, going after Tony Snow, saying that it`s like a driver`s license." Whatever, I wasn`t really listening to you.

The thing that kills me, Pat, is we don`t need, really, any more laws. We just need to enforce the ones we already have, don`t we?

GRAY: You know, I`d be good with that. I really would. President Bush was in Laredo yesterday talking about this comprehensive plan, how we need the comprehensive plan or nothing at all. No, we don`t.

BECK: Let me give you a comprehensive plan. You tell me where this is wrong. Here`s the comprehensive plan we need. We need a fence in the north and the south. We need to cut the red tape for those people who want to come here to America, make it easier for them to get through. Cut the red tape. And the third thing? Oh, yes.

GRAY: Enforce the laws?

BECK: No, kill the employers -- I mean, not literally kill them. Fine the living bat crap out of those employers that are hiring these illegal aliens.

GRAY: Absolutely. And we have the laws on the books to do all of those things right now, and we just choose not to, without any comprehensive plan.

BECK: I don`t know why we need the comprehensive plan. Let me ask you the question on Sheila Jackson Lee.

GRAY: OK.

BECK: George Bush, you know, going on and, you know, "Hey, I think we`ve got the right thing." Trying to sell this to conservatives. Shouldn`t he use the Sheila Jackson Lee litmus test?

GRAY: If she agrees, it`s wrong?

BECK: Yes. Yes.

GRAY: That would be my litmus test.

BECK: It would be with me. I mean, there are people like Ted Kennedy. If Ted Kennedy is for something, I don`t even have to think about it, I`m automatically against it.

GRAY: Right.

BECK: The same thing with Sheila Jackson Lee. Do you think George Bush rolls around in bed at night? Does it keep him up for at least five minutes: "I agree with Sheila Jackson Lee. This can`t be right"?

GRAY: It should keep him up at night. I had her on the air this morning for about half an hour. She...

BECK: God bless. You need a medal.

GRAY: It was difficult. It was tough.

BECK: So does everybody in your audience.

GRAY: But -- but she referenced her support for his plan at least three times and maybe more than that. And I thought at the time, OK, that`s all we need to know. That`s all we need to know about how far off the mark George Bush is here.

BECK: All right. Pat, thanks a lot. You`ll see Pat tomorrow morning on KPRC in Houston, Texas. Thanks, Pat.

GRAY: Thanks.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: With everything that`s in the news today, it really does come down to one thing, doesn`t it? Our family and our kids. I don`t know if you feel this way, but I am absolutely terrified to send my kids to school every day: the violence, the crime, the drugs, just the general level of education.

It seems to me that, when it comes to our schools, common sense is dead sometimes, doesn`t it? Now, can you imagine sending your kids to school in Harlem? I fear it is as bad or worse than we could possibly imagine, until one guy decided to make a change.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BECK: It`s a typical day for these four-year-olds, reciting their French grammar. No, it`s not an exclusive, private school. It`s public, and it`s happening right here in Harlem, New York, as part of a charter school project.

Young hearts and minds are thriving today in what is historically one of New York`s most troubled neighborhoods, all thanks to one man.

GEOFFREY CANADA, HARLEM CHILDREN`S ZONE: How`s it going, guys? How are you doing?

BECK: Geoffrey Canada heads up the Harlem Children`s Zone. It`s a one-of-a-kind program that covers a 60-block area in Central Harlem. Its mission: Saving the zone`s 6,500 children, through education, one child at a time.

CANADA: There is no solution for dealing with the issues of poverty, for dealing with the issues of crime in this country, except education. If our schools don`t work, then the poor children in this country are simply not going to succeed.

BECK: He says the key is taking an all-encompassing approach.

CANADA: Why is it that we think that we could work with children only for a little period of time in these communities and then think they`re going to be OK? The truth of the matter is: Every single age is critical and important, and we have to provide support for this particular group of children throughout all of those ages.

BECK: The charter school is called the Promise Academy, but it`s only one part of the program. There`s also the baby college, which offers parenting skills to those who are pregnant or have kids under the age of three.

The Harlem Gems is a pre-kindergarten program, with an adult-to-child ratio of one to four, that aims to get kids school-ready. TRUCE and TRUCE Fitness, the youth development programs, offer free tutoring, regents prep courses, karate, dance, aerobics, drama club. They publish a newspaper and produce a cable TV program.

Canada says his drive comes from personal experience. He and his three brothers grew up in the impoverished South Bronx of the 1950s. His father left when they were infants. The boys were raised by a single mom, who at times had to turn to welfare.

CANADA: Part of being in the ghetto meant that you were trapped there. And I grew up wondering, why didn`t anybody do anything? Why didn`t the adults come and save us kids? That we had done nothing wrong, there was no reason that we should grow up without heat and hot water, with rats and roaches, living in filth and vermin. And I just wondered: Where are the heroes?

BECK: And it`s these firsthand experiences that allow Canada to connect with the kids he`s trying to save.

CANADA: They`re always shocked. Because, before kids know me, when they see me, I`m always in a suit and tie and jacket. And they think, "Oh, yes, this guy probably grew up somewhere." And then we begin to talk about how we grew up, and I began to share with them my own life story.

And I could see the recognition in their eyes. It touches them that I went through that same thing and made it out the other side. And they sit there and say, "He made it. He actually got out of that and did something."

BECK: And what he did was get himself a first-rate education, ending with a master`s degree from Harvard.

CANADA: I never had one doubt that I was going to come back and do this work. And if you look at my academic career in college and at graduate school, every single course I took was focused on trying to figure out how you could find solutions to the problems of inner-city, poor, minority children.

BECK: Though some people think his methods are unusual, Canada says he`s willing to do whatever it takes to motivate the kids, even bribing them with incentives, including a small cash prize for accomplishments like perfect attendance.

CANADA: These kids are poor; their parents have no money; money really matters to them. I think it`s totally acceptable to say, you know, "Here`s $10. You`ve really done great. We think that`s good." This is what will happen if you continue to do good: You will be able to legally earn money and have a good life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two positive integers...

BECK: And teachers that work for him get motivation of a different kind.

CANADA: I think our teachers are underpaid, and I think they`re undervalued. I think the people who are really working with the heart of this problem are some of really the great heroes and heroines in this country who are uncelebrated, but we also have a lot of folk who aren`t pulling their weight.

And we need to be able to make sure teachers who aren`t doing great things for children get retrained. And if they`re not able to be retrained, that they get let go, because we`re not going to be able to stay a first-rate country if we give our kids a second- or third-rate education.

BECK: For Canada, it`s about a promise kept.

CANADA: This is a funny thing about my mother -- and she`s probably going to beat me up for telling this -- but it`s true. When I was about 11 years old, my mother came to me and she said, "Geoff, I believe you have a special talent with relating and connecting with people. And you can use this for good, or you could use this for bad. If you decide to use this for bad, I`m going to disown you."

And I thought she was kidding! She was not kidding. I think she`s very proud of the way things have been developing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BECK: You, sir, I have wanted to shake your hands for a couple of weeks now. I asked our staff to look into you and do a piece on you, somebody who is making a difference, not taking no for an answer.

What is the most shocking thing that you`ve come up against? You know, we`re all trying and we`re struggling with our kids, trying to change the system, and it doesn`t want to change. What were you shocked by?

CANADA: Let me tell you the thing that really surprised me the most, Glenn. And people always come to me and say, "Boy, isn`t it so hard?" I am shocked by how little it takes sometimes to save a child: just by paying attention, just by asking the kind of things we take for granted.

You know, "How are you doing? How are you feeling? Are you scared? Is someone bothering you? Is there something you need?" That these common things don`t happen to a whole bunch of children in our city.

BECK: But you are taking on a system. I mean, you fired last year more teachers in your one school than the entire city of Manhattan. You`re taking on a system; that ain`t easy.

CANADA: Nope, it`s not easy, and it comes with some risk. And I admit there are some risks, but this is what I think.

When you look at what`s at stake -- so, if we let things continue going just the way they`re going, where are we going to end up? We`re going to end up spending $60,000 a year to lock these same kids up that we could have educated when they were in the second and third grade. It doesn`t make any sense to me.

So if you know that that system is broken and it doesn`t make any sense, and you just continue doing it, and we have -- look, there are schools that were around 30 years ago that are lousy. They were lousy 30 years ago; they are lousy today. How do we let that happen? How do we let that go on? We`ve got to change this.

BECK: It`s the system, man. It`s the system. And you going in and breaking the back of it, God bless you.

What can you tell us? If somebody`s watching in Omaha, Nebraska, and they`re looking at a failing school and their kid trapped in it -- I mean, I am lucky enough to live in a nice suburb, man. I don`t want to send my kids to those schools.

You`re sitting there with a trapped kid. What do you tell that parent? How do they break that open and start over again?

CANADA: Well, one of the things I think we have to do -- and people are going to have to just take this as part of the truth -- we`ve got to have politicians that have the moral courage to stand up to these bureaucracies and to these systems.

And we have one here in Mayor Bloomberg. You know, it just so happens that he is un-corruptible. People can`t influence him. He`s decided...

BECK: He`s a billionaire.

(LAUGHTER)

CANADA: ... he`s a billionaire -- education is going to change, and he has taken on the vested interest. See, so people thought it could not be done. It can be done, if you don`t sell out, if you`re prepared to be a man of principles, you can do this.

And this is the problem, when you look at the hundreds of thousands of children`s whose lives are wasted because people won`t take a stand and stand up and say, "No more of this." That`s a sin.

BECK: I could spend an hour with you. I hope to be able to spend some more time with you on the radio tomorrow. Thank you, sir.

CANADA: Thank you for having me on.

BECK: Thank you very much.

CANADA: My pleasure.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: OK, I have a new "Jeopardy" category for you. It is "Famous Faces." And here is the answer: Things that are not butter. Ah, yes? "Is it a stick?" Oh, sorry. Answer: Fabio.

Yes, but not for long. Like it or not, America, there is a new, hot hunk in the world of non-trans-fat, rich, buttery taste. He is soap opera star Greg Vaughn, chosen in a contest this week to succeed Fabio in the kitchen of amore. It is true: Fabio is leaving us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are only a select few in this world who have been blessed with the talent to elicit raw emotion in others. Some call them celebrities; others call them role models. We call them legends.

And when a legend retires, the world mourns, not for itself, but because it understands that future generations will be deprived of the experience.

Fabio Lanzoni, though your time to entertain and inspire us may be through, your legacy and your thick, lustrous hair lives on. By being a model, a humanitarian, and a butter derivative pitchman, you forever redefined the term "triple threat."

FABIO LANZONI, MALE MODEL: Better than the original?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The world took notice, Fabio, and it liked what it saw. We like the way you made us laugh. We admired you from afar, while still feeling like you were our best friend. And just when we thought there wasn`t any more of you to give, you got hit in the face by a bird.

Thank you, Fabio. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BECK: OK, I think I can go on. Joining me now, king of romance, actor, model, lover of stuff that`s not butter, Fabio. God, you`re a handsome man.

LANZONI: Wow, that was amazing.

BECK: It is your life, sir; it is your life.

LANZONI: Amazing. Wow. What a montage.

BECK: So what kind of a hell cross do you have to bear?

LANZONI: I`m not retiring. You know, actually, you know, it was like, "You know, I Can`t Believe It`s Not Butter has been like a family to me."

BECK: Bull crap. It`s paycheck. It`s a paycheck!

(CROSSTALK)

LANZONI: Yes, no, it`s not. You know, I`ve been with them for 10 years.

BECK: Hang on. Hang on. Hang on. Let me see if I can do this. Let me just look straight in the -- CNN is like a family. I can`t do it.

(LAUGHTER)

I can`t do it, man, you are good.

LANZONI: Well, you know, no, they`ve been really like a family to me. And they have many different products. And now they come out with a new one is called -- it`s the new and improved I Can`t Believe It`s Not Butter, so they`re looking for a youthful person. But trust me...

BECK: How much money is in the non-butter stuff?

LANZONI: A lot.

BECK: I bet.

LANZONI: Almost as much as CNN, almost as much.

(LAUGHTER)

BECK: It would make you feel like family. "Oh, this family, I`d like to have it all over me."

LANZONI: Well, I tell you (INAUDIBLE) I`m not retiring. Actually, next year I`m going to be back.

(CROSSTALK)

BECK: So you`re doing the calendar, still?

LANZONI: Yes.

BECK: OK...

(CROSSTALK)

LANZONI: I have a clothing line and...

BECK: Really?

LANZONI: Yes.

BECK: Are you going to do the books still? Do you do the cover of the books still?

LANZONI: Not so much the books anymore.

BECK: Not so much?

LANZONI: Not so much.

BECK: You know what? A lot of people don`t know this about me, but I actually started -- I did book covers for a while, as well.

LANZONI: Did you write the books or were you on the covers?

BECK: No, I mean, I did the covers, you know, a little like you. A little like you.

LANZONI: You know, as a matter of fact, you know, it`s like, when I came in, you looked familiar. I thought you looked like...

BECK: Yes, no, "Lord of the Hissy Fit." That was me. That was me.

Let me ask you something: What kind of a hell life have you had with that head of hair? I can`t tell you how much I hate you.

LANZONI: Incredible. I mean, you know, it`s like I`ve been very blessed. You know...

BECK: You`re a bastard...

LANZONI: I know.

BECK: ... with a head of hair like that. You`re a bastard.

LANZONI: They say life is a bitch, right?

BECK: You know, you are a foreigner? They tell me that.

LANZONI: I`m from Brooklyn.

BECK: Yes, OK. You`re legally here?

LANZONI: I`m very legal.

BECK: Yes, what the hell is up with the World Cup thing?

LANZONI: Legally blonde.

BECK: Yes, I can`t bring myself to care about the World Cup. Do you care?

LANZONI: You know what? My favorite sport is motorcycles and American football. And, yes, you know, I follow a little bit soccer but, you know, it`s not like.

BECK: You`re an American then. Are you an American?

LANZONI: Oh, yes. You know, I`ve been in this country for, you know, a long time.

BECK: You ever thought about running for president? Oh, I forgot, you can`t. All right.

(LAUGHTER)

LANZONI: I think Arnold is before me.

BECK: What country are you from?

LANZONI: Italy.

BECK: Italy, the people that brought us the Fiat.

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

BECK: I have some yes or no questions for you, OK? Kind of get to know you.

LANZONI: Yes, yes.

BECK: You`re a nice guy.

LANZONI: Thank you, man. You, too.

BECK: Do you mean that?

LANZONI: Yes.

BECK: Yes or no question.

LANZONI: I do.

BECK: Good. That`s the way we play the game. Here we go. You ready?

LANZONI: Yes.

BECK: Chest waxing?

LANZONI: Yes.

BECK: I can`t tell you how many women right now are going, "Oh, show it to me, baby."

LANZONI: Here.

BECK: No, no, please. Attack Iran?

LANZONI: Attack Iran?

BECK: Attack Iran. You know, lob some missiles their way, yes or no? Iran, the country.

LANZONI: Oh, attack Iran? Right away.

(LAUGHTER)

BECK: Wow. Nipple rouge?

LANZONI: Nuke `em.

BECK: Nipple rouge?

LANZONI: I don`t know what it is.

BECK: Yes, right. Border fence?

LANZONI: Definitely.

BECK: Gay marriage?

LANZONI: You know...

BECK: Whatever?

LANZONI: Whatever.

BECK: You`re nuke Iran, but whatever.

LANZONI: The world is beautiful because it`s colorful, you know?

BECK: All right. Butter?

LANZONI: Not.

BECK: Al Gore in `08?

LANZONI: Al Gore?

BECK: In `08?

LANZONI: Hillary.

BECK: Wow, really? Metric system?

LANZONI: Yes.

BECK: $2.50 a gallon gas, yes or no? Going to ever see it again?

LANZONI: Yes.

BECK: Drill in the ANWR?

LANZONI: Alternative cars.

BECK: Really? Lather, rinse and repeat?

LANZONI: What was that? Can you repeat the last question?

BECK: Well, we`re out of time now.

(LAUGHTER)

Fabio, it`s been great.

LANZONI: Oh, please, it`s my pleasure, man. It was great. That was fun. This was fun!

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: What is global warming?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hmm.

BECK: Does it sound like a good thing or a bad thing?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bad thing.

BECK: What do you think it is?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s when, like, cars, they -- all the gas that goes out into the air that makes it really hot.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s like what`s -- how much percent does one thing make the world`s temperature go up, I think, yes.

BECK: So, like, your barbecue in the backyard?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I think more of something like natural, like...

BECK: Burning trees?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

BECK: What`s global warming?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s like when the -- what do you call it -- the things on the back of our car, like, when the gas is coming out, it`s like the air is getting warmer, so the plants and the South Pole and the North Pole, the ice is melting now.

BECK: Are you pretty sure that that is from the car or do you think there might be penguins with space heaters?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think from the cars.

BECK: You`re thinking right now I`m a silly man, aren`t you? I have a theory, just a theory: Polar bears are building fires, giant campfires.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How do they do that?

BECK: What should we do about global warming?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don`t use cars.

BECK: How would we get places?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Walk.

BECK: Walk? It`s a long way from, like, here to there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know.

BECK: You like summer, don`t you? Summer all the time sounds sweet, doesn`t it? Yes, although it might pose a problem for Santa. Wouldn`t it be great if we had summer all the time?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. I would get so bored.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Hi, I`m television`s Glenn Beck, and I`m sitting down to make you more comfortable. And in a soothing tone, it`s time for today`s "Ask Glenn."

"Hey, Glenn, why are there so many polls about everything? And what do they really prove and mean anyway? Unless they start polling everybody in America, maybe they should stop the poll mania. Mike, Ohio."

Great question, Mike. And the funny thing is, even if they did poll everybody in America, it still wouldn`t solve the problem.

Let me paint the picture for you here. Let`s say George Bush has ditched his SUV to save the environment, and he`s walking next to a 12-lane highway, and there, in the distance, he sees a litter of puppies in a paper bag, lying in the middle of the road.

He runs full speed, dodges 12 cars, and safely rescues the puppies. Then he stops and hands the puppies to a bunch of needy orphan children. "Thank you, Mr. President." He catches his breath and then rattles off the cure for cancer.

Then, some TV network calls everybody in America and asks this question: "Was George Bush right to save the puppies and cure cancer?" Do you really think that Cindy Sheehan is going to say, "Yes, I might have been wrong about him"? No! In fact, at this point, this guy might not even clear 50 percent.

No, he has. Wait a minute, congratulations, elephants, he has cleared 50 percent.

Here`s problem number one with the polls: People lie. They sometimes vote for who they want to win or sometimes they just, you know, answer for the way they want it reported. It`s human nature.

The next problem is sampling error. For a poll of 1,000 people to work to project the entire country, it has to be truly random, which opinion polls never are. Just a few years ago, about 6 percent of people didn`t even have phones. How do you call them? Then, also, people that are left out, people who work at night, people who screen their calls, and people who actually have what I like to call "a life."

Problem three is the way you ask the question. Let me show you the difference. It just is in tone. "Hey, did you try that pizza over there?" Or, "Hey, did you try that pizza over there?" I mean, there`s differences in the wording, too. "Did you try that pizza over there, the one that`s infected with the smallpox and covered in yak skin?"

You see? Ask the same question, do it in a different way, and you get a completely different result. So when you see a poll, remember that big pile of B.S. that goes into making every single one, just for you.

All right. Out of time. We`ll see you tomorrow. You know, unless a poll tells us we shouldn`t come back, then, you know, we wouldn`t be here, you know. We`ll watch the polls.

END