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Glenn Beck

Civil Lawsuit Arises from School Assault of Handicapped Girl; "Rescue Me" Depicts Darker Side of Drama

Aired June 27, 2006 - 19:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: Are you wading to work in neck-high flood water? Has your home turned into a murky tub of feces and dead pets? If the recent deluge has got you under the weather, then build Noah`s Ark. Yes, we`ll give you everything you need to get started: lumber, more lumber and two of every animal. So don`t drown your sorrows. Build Noah`s Ark and ride out the end of the world in style. Allow six to eight months for delivery.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GLENN BECK, HOST: Let me tell you something. This global warming thing is really going to get to me if it wrecks my Fourth of July picnic. I`m just saying.

Great to be back. Thanks to everybody who came to my Midlife Crisis stage shows. Thank you, thank you, thank you. And sorry, no refunds.

By the way, Denis Leary is in the news for a scene that he has done on television, got a lot of people upset. We`re going to talk to him in just a second.

But first I want to tell you a story about something I feel passionately about. My faith teaches me that the handicapped are the most valiant among us. My gut tells me, after I volunteered for Special Olympics, that when we get to the end, when we go see God face to face, we`re going to realize that we`re the retarded ones, not those who are fighting with mental disabilities.

Kalie McArthur. She is 20 years old. She has an I.Q. of about 50. She`s basically a 4-year-old. She was assaulted in September 2004 at Rampart High School in Colorado by a 15-year-old boy assigned as a peer trainer.

This kid had been suspended 20 times in the previous year, had a grade point average of 0.0. The school didn`t train him. The school didn`t screen him. And making this horrific situation even worse, the district has refused to mediate a civil lawsuit as one of its experts called the attack pleasurable for Kalie.

People are wearing arm bands. They`re always saying what would Jesus do? You know what? Jesus was a man of peace. But a millstone around the neck comes to mind. I think he would take thing into his own hands and demand some action.

I want you to know right up front, I am not a crusader. I am not out there fighting for you. I am never going to call for a boycott. I`m basically a rodeo clown just trying to entertain you every night. But this particular story and stories like there are very personal to me. And I promise you we will be following this closely. If you do harm to kids, look out, because we will be relentless in our pursuit of you.

Joining me now is the victim`s mother, Cindy Starr.

Hi, Cindy, how are you?

CINDY STARR, VICTIM`S MOTHER: I`m good. How are you doing?

BECK: Very good. Thanks for being on the program. I know we flew you into Seattle from Alaska so you could be with us. You`ve been on the radio show a couple of times. I just need you to sum up the stairwell scene so people get an idea of what kind of a situation we`re dealing with here.

STARR: OK. Well, Kalie -- for those -- none of you know her, but she is a special educations student. And she`s very loving, very trusting, very -- just loves everybody and wants everybody to love her. And in a way that she`s just very friendly.

So she was with her peer buddy and trusted him and, like I said, she`s very simple. And he took her into a stairwell at her high school and basically sexual assaulted her. He took her pants off, and he had his off. And he was doing all kinds of thing to her that are just horrible and inappropriate. And...

BECK: What was she staying in the stairwell when the coach found her?

STARR: The coach found them and she was because she`s so simple. She was saying up and down, up and down. So I don`t know if he told her to do that or what, because she would not know how or what that was all about. So that`s horrifying.

BECK: So now you find out. The school calls you. You go in. You can`t imagine what horror lies in front of you. And it gets worse. Because you don`t -- you`re not the suing type.

STARR: No.

BECK: You are now suing. Why?

STARR: Well, basically the assault happened in September of 2004. And you know, we as parents felt maybe Kalie will just forget about this, because she`s so mentally challenged and will kind of fall, you know, under the rug and be gone.

But what happened was over the course of basically a year and a half, she got more and more problems from it. Basically she started -- initially she would, like, rip her skin open or wet her pants. She had, like, a 20- pound weight loss. She just had a lot of behavioral changes.

And then as the course of the year went on -- so, by May of the following year, so May of 2005, she was reported to us by her school that she was afraid of the men at the school.

Now we`ve been -- we don`t know if she`s afraid of the men or she gets anxiety around the men, and then she then will go and try to attack men or seek them out and she will try to hurt them.

So we`ve had all kinds of problems with her in school. She`s not doing well. Her school that she`s in is a transition program. They basically told us in May of 2006 that because she`s regressed so much, she no longer can function in their program unless she had a one-on-one female in her program.

BECK: And you have tried to work with the school. Right? But they - - but then they come out with this report that your daughter found this pleasurable.

STARR: Well, basically what`s happened is once the assault happened, Kalie went from high school into a transition program, because she was supposed to be in transition anyway. She had turned 18 during the year before. But she had such a great year and everybody loved her and she loved everybody, that they kept her in high school. And once the assault happened, then we moved her into transition.

And the transition people that are working are for the school district and the people that are working in the actual transition program have all reported she`s had so many changes and difficulties.

But the expert witness came out with a report in May of this year, saying that Kalie, who is mentally retarded and has an I.Q. of 50, who does not understand boundaries or anything like that, who would never understand any kind of sexual experience, found pleasure in the experience, which is horrifying to us.

BECK: Cindy, we want you to know that we`re going to follow this.

STARR: OK.

BECK: And we will make sure that action is taken, and we will also do our darndest to make sure that it doesn`t happen elsewhere, because there`s a lot of stuff going on that we`re going to get into in the next couple of days. This is -- your daughter, unfortunately, is not alone.

Cindy, thanks so much for being with us.

STARR: Thank you for having with me.

BECK: Now Wendy Murphy is here. She`s a former sex crimes prosecutor. She is a friend of the show and has been with us several times.

Wendy, the worst part of this story is the sentence of this 15-year- old: no training, no vetting, 20 school suspensions. He is somebody who now has spent his whole sentence of two weeks behind bars for raping this little girl. What -- what has happened to us? How does that even -- how does that even happen in America?

WENDY MURPHY, FORMER SEX CRIMES PROSECUTOR: Yes. Well, you know, it`s a question that, unfortunately, a lot of policy folks, legislators, law enforcement people around the country are afraid to answer.

You know, the ugly truth is, Glenn, especially when you`re talking about kids or disabled people, we don`t respect them nearly enough. It`s reflected in how we treat them, when bad things happen to them, and frankly, there is a solution, and it`s to make sure that states like Colorado and other states around the country that aren`t getting it right enact laws that make it clear there`s a mandatory punishment when you rape a child or a mandatory punishment when you rape someone who is effectively a child, which is true about this little girl.

BECK: Is there anything more offensive -- I mean, I`ve got to tell you, there are so many things to be concerned about in today`s world, but there is nothing that will put you at the gates of hell faster than raping a child or raping a handicap person. Nothing that will put you there faster.

And I got news for you, you don`t have to be the rapist. You just have to be the person who does nothing about it. That`s us.

MURPHY: That`s right. We should able to prosecute the school officials, as well, for putting her in the care and custody of someone who was clearly not capable and was potentially dangerous.

BECK: So what do we do? I mean, if here I am -- if I`m sitting at house right now, I would be -- my eyes would be open, my mouth would be down on the floor. But I would be thinking to myself, so what do I do about it? What good is this information for me?

MURPHY: Yes. There are a lot of things that the folks can do that they may not know about. One is to, you know, educate yourself. What are the laws in your state? And are they tough enough to handle these kinds of cases? Because in Colorado the laws are not tough enough.

So what`s the government doing? You know, what are the folks doing in the legislature who claim to care about protecting kids in vulnerable populations? Put them to the test, and don`t reelect them if they don`t get it right.

Or social protest. I`m a big fan of getting -- especially parents who care about kids, getting them to the courthouse. When a judge gives out a crummy sentence, get to the courthouse, write a protest sign and make a stink. It actually works.

BECK: Well, what about a protest in front of the school? On this...

MURPHY: Protest in front of the school.

BECK: I mean, on this particular case, I as a parent, I -- God bless Cindy and her husband. How they took it when they opened up that letter that said their daughter found this to be a pleasurable experience. We`re talking a rape.

MURPHY: Look, there`s no question. Parents with kids in that school district should be very afraid. And this is not uncommon, Glenn for a school to face scandal of this magnitude, what`s their best and first defense? Cover it up. Push it under the rug, try to blame the victim, even if she`s mentally retarded.

This kind of scandal should have the folks in that community up in arms. I don`t care if they don`t have children. Don`t they care about the integrity of their community? They should be at every school board meeting henceforth, demanding heads to roll and changes in policy. And there`s no execute for the public not to be doing their job when it comes to these important issues.

BECK: Wendy, thank you very much.

And just so the school knows, we are following this story. We are not going to let this story go away. You better step up to the plate and show America that it`s fixed. Show some respect.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: I`m on the Internet looking for the weather forecast for this weekend, yesterday. You know what was over Saturday? A question mark. A question mark? What kind of crappy weather system is that? But you can tell me that it`s -- we`re going into -- we`re going to burn to death? Oh, shoot. Now I`ve wrecked the end of the Al Gore movie for you. I`m sorry. I didn`t mean to -- it just came out. Should have said, "Spoiler alert. In case you`re going to see the Al Gore movie, we all burn to death in the end."

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BECK: Hope I didn`t wreck that for you. If there is a TV show that is out there pushing the edge week after week this summer, it is -- other than this one -- it has got to be "Rescue Me", in which Denis Leary plays a New York City firefighter who`s a recovering alcoholic with a pretty complicated life.

Let`s see. So far, Leary`s character Tommy Gavin has lost his son to a drunk driver, encouraged his uncle to kill the guy who ran him over, and in last week`s episode rattled a lot of people`s pages, including the "New York Post", who was talking about it today. Tommy seemed to rape his estranged wife.

Oh, and did I mention that Tommy and his godson are also having an affair with the same hot high school teacher?

On tonight`s episode there is also another disturbing twist there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi.

I think she raped Damian...

DENIS LEARY, ACTOR: Did Damian say that he was raped by her?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He doesn`t have to. I know how he feels about it. He spends all that time in detention.

LEARY: That`s a hell of a leap of faith to go from him being in detention with a teacher he likes to him getting raped by her. I mean, come on. I`ll talk to him. I`m sure...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dorene Sellick (ph) says that she gave them all Chlamydia.

LEARY: Gave who all?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dijiac Russo (ph), Rodney`s cousin. She said that Rodney and the two other boys, they all have Chlamydia.

LEARY: Did Damian say anything about it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why would he say something? You`re the one who just said that he wouldn`t be involved, so why would he...

LEARY: You`re answering your own question. I`ll talk to him. I`m sure he doesn`t even know what Chlamydia is. All right? Thanks for dropping by.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BECK: All right. Joining me now from location in New York is the man himself, Denis Leary.

Hello, Denis. How are you, sir?

LEARY: All right, Glenn. How are you?

BECK: Good. The first question is, is that make-up on the side of your face there or...?

LEARY: Yes, we`re in the middle of shooting -- we`re in the middle of shooting a scene where my character, Tommy Gavin, gets into a fight with his brother, who`s living with his ex-wife. So...

BECK: OK. You -- I assume you`ve seen the "New York Post" today. And it talks about...

LEARY: Yes, I think people are -- people -- actually, the "Post" was fairly supportive and calling it disingenuous, too, to call that scene a "rape." And anybody that -- I think there`s a lot knee-jerk reaction. If you take a look at that scene and you watch the dichotomy and you know the history of the relationship, it was anything but a rape. It starts rough, obviously. And...

BECK: I thought it was through the course of -- I`m sorry. I thought it was very interesting that the "Post" said in it, that the guys are just as abused as the women are in this show.

LEARY: Well, it`s sort of the torture of -- and the grief of what they`ve been through and what they go through on a regular basis. That`s kind of the core of the show. It`s where the humor comes from, as a defense mechanism for them. And at the same time the things that they go through in the course of doing their job can be fairly gruesome, you know.

But in terms of the relationship with his wife, that is a very tortured, passionate, fiery relationship. And it`s a -- it`s very interesting to listen to some of the critics call it a rape and other people see it for how it was written and how it was played, which is an escalation of the -- of the...

BECK: Did you write -- did you write this episode?

LEARY: This -- actually, Peter and I wrote this episode together, yes.

BECK: Because you -- I mean, you`re the creator. You`re the writer. You`re the director. I mean, you`re a spotlight hog. You do it all on this show.

Do you believe that there is such a thing as marital rape? And if so, what`s the difference? Because I didn`t see the scene. What is the difference?

LEARY: Well, the difference is -- there`s not a word spoken in the scene after a certain point. The two characters, Tommy Gavin and his ex- wife, reuniting in a way the spark their relationship has had from the beginning, which is really what carry -- that`s one of the reasons this relationship was so interesting, because it`s -- they can`t -- they`re like magnets. They can`t get away from each other.

Andrea Roth, the woman who plays my wife on the show, I thought it was some of the best work she`s every done on the show. It was really an incredible scene and which is why I think Peter and I were upset about people writing it off as a one-note thing, because it`s not. It`s a very, very complicated and very, very delicately balanced scene, and by the end of it, I think some people got it and some people didn`t it, you know.

But that`s fine. Because that`s the difference between the audience that should be watching the show and the audience that should be watching something else.

BECK: Right. There is -- this is a really -- it`s sounding like a really dark show in many ways. I mean, you are facing some real serious things. Alcoholism. You know what it is? It seems almost like the anti- hero that Tony Soprano is. You love Tony Soprano. But you don`t know why, because he`s really kind of a bad guy. Why do you think we`re -- why are we attracted to anti-heroes and what you`re doing?

LEARY: Well, I think it`s -- "The Sopranos" happens to be my favorite show on television. But I think it`s -- where the movies used to go -- in the movies that used to be made for $25 or $30 million, which were really interesting dramas. That has sort of gone away from the movie business, which has led a lot very talented actors and writers and directors into the hour-long dramas on cable television.

And I know that`s where my interest fall anyways as a viewer, and I think that`s where these stories are. I think it`s -- you know, we used to go to the movies and be able to see this. Now at the movies either $175 million budget of it`s a $3 million budget.

BECK: Right.

LEARY: So in between that is a lot of -- I mean, this is the heyday of the televised one-hour drama. I mean, our show, which I can`t speak for, because I`m biased, but I mean, "The Sopranos", "House", you know, "Gray`s Anatomy", you know, "Huff" on Showtime," which is a fabulous show. It`s really, really just some terrific work being done, and most of it falls on the dark side. You wouldn`t have seen a show -- you wouldn`t have seen a show like "House" on network television even five years ago.

BECK: Denis, I`ve only got about 10 seconds. Just quickly. I know you`re a parent and a good parent. Would you let your kids watch this show?

LEARY: My son watches it. He`s of age. But no, I`ve always been very, very careful about what my kids can watch and what they can`t watch, because most of my movies are made for adult audiences. So yes, I`ve always been -- I always still find it bizarre when a 7-year-old kid comes up to me and goes, "`The Ref` is my favorite movie."

And I go, "What are your parents doing?"

BECK: Denis, thanks a lot. Best of luck.

LEARY: Here`s my punk (ph).

ANNOUNCER: Later on GLENN BECK.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Well, every day if you`re here in Denver, you turn on the radio, you`ll hear my program on 630 KHOW right after Peter Boyles. He does the morning show there.

This has kind of been the all rape half hour. First we had a handicapped kid raped. Then we had Denis Leary in his TV show, raping his wife. And now we have Mr. Boyles, who is going to give us the information on Ward Churchill, who has been raping the Constitution for the last couple of years. They fired him finally, Peter.

PETER BOYLES, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Well, they`ve notified they`re going to fire him.

BECK: Yes.

BOYLES: Only academics Glenn. They told him, "We are going to fire you." Now you and I have been in this business a long time.

BECK: Yes.

BOYLES: Have you ever had the program director come in and say, "Glenn, in ten days..."

BECK: No. No, no.

BOYLES: Not at all.

BECK: They cut me loose.

BOYLES: They say, "Beck, you`re out of here."

BECK: So what does this mean? They`ve notified that they are going to fire him. Are they going to -- are they going to get away with it this time? Are they finally going to kick this guy out or is he going to get away with it again?

BOYLES: Well, I don`t think he gets away with it again. He has a pretty sharp attorney by the name of David Lane, and David says, "We`re going to go to the mats."

The interesting thing about this is he was offered a buyout back a few -- I guess six, eight months ago. And he said, "Oh, no, I`ll keep my job." Well, you know, C.U. has been through a tremendous scandal with the football coach and all the other stories.

And they brought in a former U.S. senator by the name of Hank Brown, who`s a remarkably fine man. Hank Brown has the helm up there. He`s a no nonsense guy. That was sort of the beginning of the end for Ward Churchill.

But as you know, Churchill compared the 911 victims to Adolf Eichmann and the murders at Auschwitz, which was an incredible thing. And once on the radio show, quick story, I had a father of a young man who was a brilliant young kid, Yale graduate. And he had dialed 911. I had him hooked, as you know, we can do it through the phone lines.

I said, "Go ahead, Ward, tell him that his kid was an Eichmann." Churchill said it to the father of the kid who died, and that was it.

BECK: I`ve got to tell you, I think one of the worst things that the country has ever come up with is tenure. I don`t know how that works in a capitalist system. I mean, I understand that you need to be able to protect thought, that you should be able to ask questions in an academic setting. But shouldn`t you be able to fire somebody like Ward Churchill?

BOYLES: I disagree -- well, there`s the great line. The only place that Marxism and Leninism remains alive is on campuses of the United States universities.

BECK: And you`ve got to ask why?

BOYLES: Well, again, tenure has an effect. And again, I call it the next man theory. Suppose there was a governor. Suppose there`s some talk show host. Suppose there`s some guy in a university setting who is writing about Bill Clinton and about Hillary Clinton and whatever it is. And the governor is a staunch Clinton supporter and decides to go after them. That`s why you have to be cautious. I mean, to take away...

BECK: But we`re getting the end -- you know what this is? We`re getting him on plagiarism.

BOYLES: Well, that`s how they should get him.

BECK: Is it really?

BOYLES: Sure.

BECK: I mean, it seems to me like we`re taking Al Capone out for income tax evasion.

BOYLES: No. No, again, you and I live by the First Amendment. Take the First Amendment away from us, and we`re going to be talking to people about their insurance needs.

Here`s the issue. It isn`t so much what he said. But when you go in and investigate, A, he`s certainly not an American Indian. Two, he plagiarized. Three, he -- I mean, he made up stories and then he ghosted stories and then he would cite his own faulty research in his articles. I mean, that`s -- that`s where you cross the line in academics.

BECK: Right. All right. Peter, thank you. I appreciate it.

BOYLES: God bless. Thank you.

BECK: Bye-bye.

BOYLES: All right.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: So what was "The New York Times`" ultimate argument for running yet another story about a top-secret government operation to stop Al Qaeda? Quote, "The administration`s extraordinary access to this vast repository of international financial data, however carefully targeted its use may be, is a matter of public interest," end quote.

If you want to go down the public interest route, "New York Times," why not run some hot pictures of Eva Longoria? Better yet, hot pictures of Eva Longoria with only two coconuts. It`s of public interest where she decides to put the two coconuts.

What does she do with the third place? I don`t know. Public interest, "New York Times."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: It kills me, man. Just kills me.

When President Bush and John Murtha agree on an issue, something remarkable is happening. When President Bush, John Murtha and I agree on something, I`m telling you, it`s like check for the red heifer, because the messiah is coming. That`s the perfect storm.

When we all think "The New York Times" shouldn`t have released the news that we`re trying to monitor the terrorists` financial doings, you`ve got something on your hands here. Here`s what the president had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Congress was briefed. And what we did was fully authorized under the law. And the disclosure of this program is disgraceful.

We`re at war with a bunch of people who want to hurt the United States of America. And for people to leak that program and for a newspaper to publish it does great harm to the United States of America. What we were doing was the right thing. Congress was aware of it, and we were within the law to do so.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: You know, what kills me is, they never said we were doing the wrong thing. Why did they publish this? I mean, what was their point other than, "Hey, look, look what we can do"? They don`t make any charges of anything illegal.

The real question is: Who benefits from this leak other than, you know, Osama bin Laden?

The press has the right to print whatever is factual. However, don`t some things need not to be printed? Somehow or another, if somebody is saying, "Hey, look, well, we can blow up national monuments if you just did this," shouldn`t you not print that information?

You have a responsibility not to publish it. Rights are only meaningful when they`re balanced with responsibility.

If we as a society can`t exercise morality and responsibility in everything we do, then our society is doomed. There is no hope for us. And that just ain`t the bandwagon I`m on.

ANNOUNCER: This is GLENN BECK.

BECK: Now, let`s move onto somebody who actually fought the war on terror, Lieutenant Ilario Pantano. He`s a married father of two. He served in Iraq. You probably know his name. He shot and killed two Iraqi insurgents, but instead of being celebrated as a hero, Lt. Pantano was court-martialed and charged with murder.

Remember him now? Ever since he was acquitted on all charges and he`s telling his book now -- his story in a new book, "Warlord: No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy."

Lt. Pantano joins us now. Hello, sir, how are you?

ILARIO PANTANO, AUTHOR, "WARLORD": Glenn, I`m terrific. Thank you.

BECK: You`ve seen the enemy eye to eye. Let me bring it back to the "New York Times." Which enemy -- where does the "New York Times" fall on an enemy list?

PANTANO: Well, I`ll tell you that there was a very interesting article about a month ago the "New York Times" ran, and it was decrying the methods of Task Force Black, the spec-ops guys that captured and killed Zarqawi. Of course, a month later, they captured and killed Zarqawi, and you don`t see an article saying, "Hey, these guys were right." So, you know, there`s one thing to think about.

Another is that everyone is always calling for the professional -- the responsibility of the troops to be precise as they employ their weapons. We forgot sometimes that words are weapons and have to be employed professionally and responsibly, and that doesn`t always happen either.

BECK: Words are incredible weapons, especially what you went through -- I mean, I don`t know where you stand on Abu Ghraib, but I thought it was an abomination. I don`t want to see our soldiers behave in a way in like they were.

I mean, for the first part, it was just unprofessional. I mean, there are thing that we have to do that we have to do. Let`s at least be professional about it.

But that was a calling card, that was a rallying cry with Abu Ghraib. What you went through, pretty much the same thing, and they were wrong on you.

PANTANO: You know, Glenn, they were indeed. And, in fact, you know, my book is about the five-day hearing and all of the Iraq story kind of happens as flashback.

And one of the things I talk about is Abu Ghraib, because, of course, I was in the first Fallujah fight and we had been fighting for our lives for months before Abu Ghraib.

And I think that sometimes, you know, things get politicized to a degree and we create incidents where there aren`t any. And I`m not suggesting that Abu Ghraib and incidents like it that create or ferment, you know, some hatred are not bad for our men and women in combat. But I am suggesting that often we create the fervor that we`re so afraid of.

And I`ll tell you, the enemy was very intent on killing myself and my men before the Abu Ghraib story ever broke, so the suggestion that it`s this kind of conduct that triggers that isn`t accurate.

BECK: I can`t believe that your trial lasted five days, because you were a calling card for quite a while, people saying, "Look at our bad, out of control soldiers."

PANTANO: You know, in fairness, Glenn, one of the things -- and I`m actually really honored to be here today -- and I say that because a year ago I was fighting for my life in a courtroom. Two years before that, I was fighting for my life in Iraq.

And here I am today as an advocate for the Marine Corps and for these men and women that are in combat saying to America at large: Hey, wait a minute. My case was called a pretty ugly case, too, when it broke.

And one of the reasons, of course, is the labels that were used, like "innocent" and "civilian." These guys were Al Qaeda. They were fleeing a weapons cache in a car with bomb compartments, and they attacked me. Yet somehow they still they maintain this label of innocent civilian. And those labels, again, come back to the words are weapons.

BECK: Let me bring it to Haditha then for a second.

PANTANO: Sure.

BECK: Because the way it`s been described in -- and I`m not going to try it here on TV. But the way it`s been described in, you know, the "Times" and elsewhere is that these were innocent people and we just went in and executed them.

And if that is, indeed, true, well, I think they should spend their time in an Iraq prison and get the justice that they deserve. However, what people don`t understand and what is never reported in American press is that, a week before, in the market in Haditha, they were selling a videotape of insurgents gutting our soldiers, and people were buying it in the marketplace. This isn`t a good place.

PANTANO: Glenn, there`s a lot things, candidly, that aren`t reported in the media that ought to be, and there`s a lot of details about this case that I`ve already been privy to that I suspect the public will be soon that are yet to be reported.

Now, the same way that I called for patience in not trying this case in the media, I don`t want to be a hypocrite and begin to go there. But what I will say is we have to give our men the benefit of the doubt.

And a place like Haditha, one of the things that was even reported by the "New York Times" is that those men were under fire with that first IED strike. Two units tried to respond to them in QRF, or quick response force, and the weren`t able to, because they were, in turn, under fire.

So the suggestion that this was a placid day and Marines were on a wanton spree, I think, is inappropriate, and there`s so many thing that get left out.

BECK: Ilario, thank you for your time. And thank you so much for your service, sir.

PANTANO: Thank you, Glenn.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Last week, when I was out in Fort Wayne, Indiana, I got a reminder that what most people care about often isn`t -- in fact, most times -- is not what`s happening in Washington; it`s what`s happening next door, literally.

In Columbia City, Indiana -- it`s about 20 miles from Fort Wayne, Indiana -- two neighbors have been hashing it out in a public feud over a dead dog, rabbits and a grandchild.

Now, here`s the story: On the evening of June 1st, Pam Castle let her two dogs out for bathroom breaks. One of them, her beagle, Jake, didn`t come home. According to Pam, her neighbor shot Jake, then put him in an incinerator and burned him.

But Larry Shrock, the neighbor, told the cops, "I warned the Castles: Keep your dogs at home." That way they wouldn`t attack his rabbit hutches.

Well, the Castles saw red -- paint, that is. They put up two signs along the road warning motorist there was a dog killer ahead.

The Shrocks shot back. "Neighbors Dog Killed By Pet Bunnies, Scared My Granddaughter. I warned them twice. Grandkid? That wasn`t mentioned in the police report. No rabbits were harmed, Larry, you worthless, lowlife scum."

OK. It`s not the Hatfield and McCoys yet, but it seems to be moving that direction. Pam Castle is with us now.

Pam, how long have you lived in Columbia City? It`s a quiet, little town.

PAM CASTLE, DOG SHOT BY NEIGHBOR: Yes, it is. That`s why we moved there. We moved there Labor Day of last year.

BECK: And you moved there so your dogs could have space to run. That`s what I read some place.

CASTLE: I`ve lived in the country pretty much my whole life. My dogs have always had room to run.

BECK: Right.

CASTLE: And then we moved to -- go ahead.

BECK: No, go ahead. This was a move to...

CASTLE: This was just a move to closer to family, closer to jobs.

BECK: OK. Have you had any problems with this neighbor before?

CASTLE: We haven`t lived there that long, and I didn`t know that there was a huge problem. I`ve never a problem with any of my neighbors in the past with any of my animals.

BECK: Right. Here`s the weird thing, that, I mean -- if the neighbor told you to keep the dog off the property -- I mean, you have a right to shoot the dog, but it gets creepy when he threw the dog into an incinerator and burned the dog.

CASTLE: Right. I`m not saying that I shouldn`t have let my dog cross the street. You know, that`s what he did. He crossed the street. There`s a cornfield there that butts up against his property.

I missed it. Within 10 minutes, you know, he went across the street. And, you know, God have mercy on me, but I didn`t know that...

BECK: But what did the police say when you said, you know, "My dog`s been incinerated by my neighbor"?

CASTLE: Nothing.

BECK: It`s totally cool in Indiana to incinerate a dog?

CASTLE: I don`t know if that`s the case or not. I kind of got the impression when I overheard the deputies talking was that, you know, he may have been a little over the top when he did that, but, you know, there`s no law against it. And I thought, "OK."

BECK: OK, so now you decide to go get red paint and you start painting signs?

CASTLE: Yes, I did.

BECK: What were you thinking there?

CASTLE: Actually, all I wanted to do was let people know, you know, in the vicinity, gosh, if you`re dogs get loose or -- you know, because I`ve got dogs that cross my property all the time, and I never really pay much attention to it, because they`re not really doing harm. They`re being dogs.

BECK: Well, I mean, look, Pam, I have to tell you, I side with you. I really do. I mean, the guy incinerated your dog. I think it makes him a psycho, quite honestly. But you can`t with a straight face come and say, "Well, I was just warning the neighbors." You signed it, you know, "you worthless, lowlife scum." I mean, that`s not really a warning sign, is it?

CASTLE: That`s just my opinion, I guess, or I should say my husband`s opinion.

BECK: So what did the neighbors say about all of this?

CASTLE: Well, basically what they`re saying is that -- they`re standing by the police report, which is entirely what they said. The police never even took a statement from us. And that they`re in fear for their lives and they have no comment.

BECK: Is there any -- a fear of their lives? They feel they`re afraid of this neighbor?

CASTLE: They`re in fear for their lives because of us, I guess, or me or my husband or whatever.

BECK: I just wanted to make sure I understand this. Are you saying they fear that you may retaliate against them or the Shrocks may retaliate against them?

CASTLE: They feel that we would retaliate against the Shrocks. That`s what they`re saying. The Shrocks are saying they`re in fear for their lives.

BECK: Is there any way that that is true? I mean, would you take this pass the sign?

CASTLE: Absolutely not. We`ve not even spoken to these people since before this happened.

BECK: OK, Pam, thank you so much. We`ll follow the story.

CASTLE: Thanks.

BECK: All right, now let`s bring in the reporter who broke the family feud to her readers in the "Fort Wayne Journal Gazette," Becky Manley.

Becky, this is a bizarre story. Can anybody sit down and solve this over a nice dinner of rabbit stew or not so much?

BECKY MANLEY, "FORT WAYNE JOURNAL GAZETTE": It`s an interesting story in the way the debate is being waged.

BECK: Yes, Larry Shrock, we invited him to be on the program. And he declined. He said everything he had to say was in the police report.

Again, the disturbing part is not that he killed the dog. You have the right to do that, I guess, you know, if you feel threatened or your animals are threatened. It`s probably what I would do if I was threatened by a dog. But don`t you think it`s a little weird that he then incinerated the dog, as well?

MANLEY: Well, I really have no opinion on that. I`m merely the person who reported the story in the first place.

BECK: Do you think -- most people in the neighborhood, are they -- did Pam reflect the neighbors, I mean, properly, that they`re all afraid of her?

MANLEY: I did not know that. I did attempt to contact some neighbors. However, my calls were not returned. So I have not had the opportunity to gauge how the neighbors are feeling in this situation either way.

BECK: And it`s totally fine what Shrock did, it`s totally legal?

MANLEY: Well, all I know is that no charges have been filed in this case against either the Castles or the Shrocks.

BECK: Now, I`ve got to tell you, maybe it`s, you know, Indiana, but, you know, here in New York there would be people with cardboard shoes from PETA coming up and beating a path to this guy`s door in any place in a major city. Have you not heard from any animal rights activists? Nobody has been on this? I never thought I would say, "Where`s PETA?" But, "Where is PETA on this?"

MANLEY: Well, I have not been contacted by any organizations that deal with animal rights.

BECK: OK. Becky, I appreciate it. Thank you very much for your time, and let us know if there`s any developments.

MANLEY: OK. Thank you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: I`m asking you to join me in a fight. A fight tonight against the penny.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: That`s right, America, I took a hard stand on our first show against the penny saying it needs to be eliminated. However, when you make a strong stand on an issue that is so near and dear to so many people`s hearts, you know you`re going to make some pretty big enemies. Political rivalries are not really new. There, of course, was Dewey versus Truman, Al Gore versus George W. Bush, and the newest political rivalry, myself and outspoken proponent of the penny, Kevin Federline. You know, the guy who Britney Spears pulled out of a trailer park.

Mr. K-Fed was in Manhattan suspiciously enough for Virgin Mobile while I was on the road to push for their text-message-for-a-penny plan. Of course, Virgin Mobile will most definitely reject your payment if you just send an envelope full of pennies to pay for it. Go ahead. Try it.

But why K-Fed? Why was he the pitchman for Virgin Mobile and pennies? You know, we`ll cut out the obvious jokes, like a penny was all they had to spend on a spokesperson, and that`s all K-Fed had in the bank account when he met Britney.

Instead, let`s focus on the heartfelt presentation for my worthy adversary. Listen to this, this guy...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN FEDERLINE, VIRGIN MOBILE SPOKESMAN: Hey, New York. I`m here with Virgin Mobile. We`re bringing power back to the penny.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: There`s like 12 people going, "Power to the penny what"? Dead silence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FEDERLINE: Man. I feel good about the penny.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: Oh, yes, no, don`t we all? Loser.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FEDERLINE: I love it. You know, I`m glad they`re giving back to these charities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: First of all, the penny. Who loves the penny? And it`s good that you`re supporting charities? Yes, I guess so, because you`re going to be needing one real soon, K-Fed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FEDERLINE: You know, it`s real wonderful to help the kids, the reorganization.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: Wait, wait, the what, the reorganization? Are you trying to say organization?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FEDERLINE: I`m going to do the first penny tax right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: I can`t wait. I love this part. Here he goes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FEDERLINE: Let`s do a big `96. We love you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: What, what? Let`s do a big `96? What does that even mean?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FEDERLINE: Virgin Mobile loves you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: Virgin Mobile loves me? Virgin Mobile doesn`t -- they don`t even know me.

K-Fed, let me ask you a question. Did John Lennon schlep rotary phones? I don`t think so.

K-Fed, this is just day one in my fight versus you and the penny. More to come as it happens.

By the way, you can hear me filling in on KFI Radio in Los Angeles, tomorrow, 3:00 to 6:00 Pacific in the afternoon, or hear it online at KFI640.com.

Until next time, do it big in `96. Virgin Mobile loves you, baby!

END