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Glenn Beck

How Can U.S. Fix Airline Security?; What`s the Future for Security?

Aired August 15, 2006 - 19:00   ET

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

ANNOUNCER: Transportation for the Glenn Beck show provided by Derek`s Discount Airlines. No baggage restrictions, no long lines, and a 45 percent chance of not exploding mid-air. For travelers who think security checks are a nuisance, fly Derek, the subway of the skies.
GLENN BECK, HOST: All right. So this morning I`m driving in to work and I`m listening to the radio. I hear a bunch of yahoos talking about, "Oh, our airports aren`t safe." And I`m thinking to myself, no, you`re kidding. Why is this even news?

Since 9/11, whenever something happens like it did in London last week the media`s always on the same old "we`ve got to do something about airport security" song. They`re singing away for a few days. Then the media gets distracted by "look over here, something shiny, something shiny," and you don`t hear a fricking peep about airport security until the next terror plot, and then "we`ve got to do something about airport security!"

I get it. The airports aren`t safe. America knows that. Now, what are we going to do about it?

You know, here`s why our airports aren`t safe. Honestly, maybe it`s just me, but you want to wait in line at the airport for four hours and then get psychologically profiled by some guy saying, "And what exactly are you going to do in Minneapolis?" Come on.

That`s exactly what El Al airlines does. That`s the Israeli national airline. I`ve got to tell you, an Israeli national airline, is there a bigger target than that? I mean, they might as well just paint "Jew plane" and a giant target on the tail section.

In spite of the big, huge target thing, El Al is the safest airline up there. It hasn`t had an incident in 35 years.

A few years ago, I had to go to Israel to cover a news event, and I flew El Al. It was phenomenal. I mean, everything that could go wrong with me did go wrong. My passport had just recently been renewed. I didn`t book my own ticket. I didn`t know what hotel I was staying at. I was traveling with a colleague that we had just met up at the airport. Our stories weren`t really the same.

After several long hours and separate interrogations, I finally boarded the plane. Aside from asking me, "Why exactly are you going to Israel, why didn`t you book your own flight," they also asked me other questions. They asked me my thoughts on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: "How do you feel about Israeli statehood?"

Then they separated my companion and I and asked us the same questions to see if our stories match. It was long. It was thorough. It was exhausting. But I got on the plane.

And you know what? Once I was on board, not only could I use my Chapstick but I could also use hair gel, and I actually got to eat with a fricking steak knife, man. A metal steak knife. They came to me and handed me a steak knife, metal.

And I looked at them, and I realized -- it was then I sat there and I looked at my wife and I said, "You know what, this airline gets it." They know that silverware and Gatorade don`t kill people, terrorists kill people.

That`s why El Al has the authority to do whatever it can to keep nut jobs of the plane. Even if it`s a nuisance, even, yes, if it`s politically incorrect.

So here`s what I know about airport security tonight. If the TSA really wants to fix this, it needs to hire people who haven`t recently, you know, in the last year or so, uttered the phrase, "Oh, Theater Four? Yes, that`s the second one on your left."

They also need to hire people who are trained in behavioral and psychological profiling.

Beyond that, the TSA actually needs to give them authority to go with their gut. If somebody`s standing there and they`re talking to you and they`re saying you know what, you shouldn`t get on the plane, and the person doing the screening at the TSA shouldn`t have to worry about being sued.

If an El Al security officer has any doubts about the passenger at all, guess what? The passenger`s not getting on the plane, and that`s what we need here.

I also know we`re America. We should have more choices. You know, you should be able to fly Bob`s Airlines. No lines. Take whatever you want on board. And you just might not be on fire when you land. Or you can fly with real security and then not complain about spending the extra time at the airport.

I am so sick of hearing on television how our airports aren`t safe. I know! Fix it. Fix it for real, and then please shut the pie hole about it. Can the media just shut up so we can go back to hearing about, you know, the Olsen twins? One of them`s fat, and I hear the other one`s too skinny.

Here`s what I don`t know. Some people, you know, want to blow up the airplanes. They`re not going to be wearing burkas. In fact, just last week we found out that some of the people that want to blow up our airplanes look just like me and you, assuming that you`re fat, dumpy, and pasty-looking.

I also don`t know what kind of questions that you can ask the non- burka people. I mean, what do you say: "Are you a radical Islamicist?" Can you even ask that kind of a question in this country today? Can you ask -- I know I can`t ask somebody in a job interview, "Hey, how old are you?" I mean, you practically slap the cuffs and drag me away to jail for that. But we can ask somebody in the airport your thoughts on Hezbollah? Probably not.

I also don`t know if Americans are willing to go down the El Al road. It might make us safer. But will Americans really have the patience to put up with it?

Juval Aviv, he is a former Israeli secret service agent, a former security expert, an air marshal for El Al. He`s also an anti-terrorism consultant to Congress.

Juval, don`t mince words. How screwed are we in American airports?

JUVAL AVIV, FORMER ISRAELI SECRET SERVICE AGENT: Well, we are very, very screwed. You know, all you have to do is just watch what have happened in the last few days since the terrorist attempt attack in London. We are again reacting rather than preventing.

We had five years since 9/11 to think about -- we`re paying certain people to sit there and think about all the vulnerabilities that we have in airports and how to deal with them.

We can`t just get up in the morning and say, as of this very moment, you cannot take certain items that you could have taken a few months ago, a day before, and probably will be able to take a few weeks from now.

BECK: You know what kills me is El Al -- I mean, El Al`s doing it right. They`re -- the model is there. But let me ask you this: what kind of questions would you ask to be able to psychologically profile? If I`m standing in line and I`m -- you know, I`m going to Phoenix, what questions would you ask to psychologically see if I`m a killer?

AVIV: Well, Glenn, it`s a philosophical approach. In El Al we always thought you can`t be half pregnant; you either are or not. And security has to be security, less politician. Politics should stay out of security. We have designed a list of over 100 questions...

BECK: Give me...

AVIV: ... that every person can use...

BECK: So anybody who hasn`t flown El Al -- I`ve gone through the questioning. It`s amazing. Give me a couple of the questions that you would ask.

AVIV: Well, when you approach, when you arrive at the airport, we already have some intelligence on you on the way you bought the ticket. Is it a one-way ticket? Did you pay in cash? Do you know that -- what hotel you`re going to stay in? So we know that you already somehow are suspect.

BECK: Right.

AVIV: We bring you in, and we have 100 questions. And some of the questions would start with who are you? What profession are you in? What business are you in? Are you a lawyer, a doctor? When was the last time a doctor or lawyer kidnapped or hijacked an aircraft? You`re really less of a suspect right now.

Then I would ask you what kind of passport do you carry? Well, if you have an Iranian passport or Pakistani passport, I would want to know more about you.

I will then pick up your passport, and I will just open the passport and go through the pages, but I won`t look at the pages. I`m going to look at you. I want to see your reaction.

BECK: I will tell you, the guys that interviewed me in line at El Al, they were -- I mean, it was spooky. They -- they were such professionals. It`s not -- I mean, not -- I`ve met a lot of people who work at the TSA, and they`re doing a fabulous job, but I`ve also met some people at the TSA that I swear to you, I thought I just saw them at the parking garage taking my parking ticket.

AVIV: Some of them worked probably at McDonald`s and Burger Kings a week before. They`re getting a quarter more, and they`re now working there. They`re looking at screens. They don`t even know what they`re looking for. They are not equipped to do it. They`re not trained. El Al trains its security people six months.

BECK: So -- so who is stopping us from fixing this? Is it the average Joe that just -- I mean, because I don`t. I don`t want to stand in line forever. Is it the average Joe that doesn`t want to stand in line? Is it the airlines that say this is going to cost us too much money? Or is it the politicians in Washington?

AVIV: It`s the politician in Washington. We have no budgets to really train the people. We have no real budget to -- to look at the problem, assess the problem, dissect the problem, and find solution that exist in Israel, in Europe, in England. What we are experiencing now in America we have experienced 30 years ago in Israel.

BECK: Yes.

AVIV: We have developed unbelievable systems that no one wants to adopt. The egos -- egos are too big, and there`s no budget.

BECK: Juval, thank you so much. I really appreciate it.

We have somebody coming up in here in just a second that is going to tell us that -- hang on, check your watches, because it is coming at an airport near you.

The other part of this story that`s not getting a lot of play is the shortage of baggage screeners. Actually a big problem. Now, the TSA, you know, would like to recruit some baggage screeners. We have some unorthodox methods the TSA might be able to use.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Are you naturally curious? Do you enjoy standing? Are you eager to see other people see the world? Then why not consider an exciting career as a TSA baggage screener?

Be on the front line of the war against liquids, gels, and roll-on deodorants. If you take joy from looking through other people`s underwear and find touching the bare feet of complete strangers to be, well, kind of a turn-on, then this may be your dream job, become a baggage screener today.

It`s not just a job. It`s a job where you get to rub people between their legs with a metal wand. Oh, yes, baby.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: The thing with the security at the airports? Come on, man. Why is it we`re never ahead of them? Why is it that we`ve got guys with Gatorade and we`re like, "Wait a minute, he`s got explosive stuff in bottles. We should ban bottles"?

The next time I`m in an airport, I need duct tape to wrap my head up so it doesn`t explode when I see the sign, "Don`t bring fireworks on the plane." I get it! I`d like a sign that says don`t bring this on, because that`s what they`re probably working on next. Can we get ahead of these guys?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: You know, I`ve been saying it for the last month. I personally believe our biggest threat right now is Iran. But they`re all -- I mean, our threats are all around us. I really believe that Iran is going to step to the -- to the table and play a very dangerous card soon.

With that being said, the recent events have shown us, hey, let`s not forget about our old friend al Qaeda. Officials say there is a major al Qaeda link among those arrested in London last week. We really did destroy the al Qaeda that existed on 9/11.

Unfortunately for us, they`ve grown and mutated into something a little special extra creepy. It`s the new and improved al Qaeda. Bigger, badder, and wider in scope. And we just may be helping them out, as well.

Right before I came in the studio today I see this clip. I have to play this for you. Look at this clip from our incredible crack security team.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What I`m going to share with you in a minute is actual screen shots. It was until 15 minutes ago classified material, and we decided to declassify it because of the intense interest.

What you have here is a pair of photographs of a shoe with explosives in it and a shoe without explosives in it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: Stop. Stop, I can`t take it. I can`t take it. This is classified, but there`s a lot of interest. Why are we now showing that we can detect bombs in shoes? We`re either bluffing or we`re stupid.

Al Qaeda now has gone global. We need to recognize that. It`s a huge threat.

Lawrence Wright, the author of "Looming Tower: An In-Depth Look at al Qaeda."

Lawrence, what do you suppose the future holds for us? Are they -- did we -- did we thwart them here, or is this just one of many things they`re working on?

LAWRENCE WRIGHT, AUTHOR, "LOOMING TOWER": Well, Glenn, you know, the British alone are investigating as many as 70 different plots. So I think that there are many, many such efforts going on, not just in Britain but all over Europe, in the Middle East, and who knows, perhaps in our own country.

BECK: Now, you say that they are more dangerous than they were on 9/11. That`s just because they are -- they`re not tied down like they were during 9/11, and they are -- their reach is just enormous?

WRIGHT: Well, what`s happened since 9/11, Glenn, is that al Qaeda, the mother ship, has been pretty much contained, although certainly not entirely. It`s still active and still able to produce videos and give directions.

But the organization has mutated, and it`s not just smaller groups like we saw in England. All over the world there are groups that are connected loosely, tied through the Internet, seemingly now getting training in Pakistan again, which is a very dangerous development.

If you add to that the returning veterans from Iraq, who can bring an enormous amount of expertise to these homegrown groups, we could be looking at a lot of trouble for a long time.

BECK: I`m trying to figure out -- I can`t figure out for the life of me Pakistan. I mean, they`re an ally. Musharraf seems to be the bravest guy in the world. But everything stems -- I mean comes right out of Pakistan. Are they friend or foe, or what is the deal with Pakistan?

WRIGHT: I don`t think that friend or foe are good terms to use in the greater Middle East. We`re always trying to pin our alliances in one direction or another, and the truth is that they`re always shifting, and everybody`s always looking out for their interests.

Pakistan is a very rocky nation. It has a difficulty -- I mean, Musharraf has had several assassination attempts against him by al Qaeda. He would certainly like to eliminate al Qaeda. But he has quite a lot of internal resistance, even in his own army. So it`s a real difficult balancing act.

BECK: The No. 1 question that I hear from people on my radio show and when I meet people in the streets and stuff if you`re talking about this stuff is how close do you think we are?

I mean, there`s this -- Bernard Lewis says we should look to August 22 as a significant date. He`s not predicting anything`s going to happen, but he warns that we`re coming up to our five-year anniversary of 9/11. Are they tied to dates? Do you sense something big right around the corner, or...

WRIGHT: Well, it could have been that this attempt that was recently busted up by the British might have been that.

Yes, they are tied to dates. They are -- they like anniversaries. Even, for instance, going back to the embassy bombings in 1998. That was a date tied to the date in August when the American troops arrived in Saudi Arabia. There is a certain resonance. They like to commemorate things.

And -- but that doesn`t mean that they might not strike at any time. Nine eleven itself was kind of an arbitrary date picked by Mohammed Atta, the ring leader here in the U.S., because of a convergence of factors. Availability of flights and so on.

So I think if we`re just looking for special days, we might be blind to the danger on ordinary days.

BECK: Lawrence, I appreciate it. Thank you very much for your work, sir.

WRIGHT: Thank you, Glenn.

BECK: You bet.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Every day my national radio program can be heard on great radio stations like 1210 AM, WPHT in Philadelphia. And now 830 AM, KLAA in Los Angeles. Also 950 KPRC in Houston, Texas.

From Houston, KPRC, is Pat Gray.

Hello, Pat.

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

BECK: Tell me about the wussification of our children. I know you talked about that on your show today.

GRAY: I did. School`s already back in session here. I don`t know about in your area.

BECK: Not yet.

GRAY: We start early.

BECK: Yes.

GRAY: We start early here. This story was actually based in Boston, but I found it`s going on here, too, and it`s going on all over the country. Where -- where children are not allowed to experience actual life.

When you bring, like, let`s say a party invitation of any kind, whether it`s a birthday or just a special occasion, you can`t just invite your friends or those you want to invite. You`ve got to invite the whole class or you can`t bring any. If you bring Valentines on Valentine`s Day you have to bring Valentines for everybody, not just...

BECK: Well, seriously, that`s the way I hear they like it in Cuba.

GRAY: And look how well it works. Look how well it works. Why am I complaining?

BECK: I don`t know. I just like to complain about nonsense.

GRAY: Sure. So we`ve got that -- we have -- we`ve already talked about, you know, the red ink, which is too traumatizing to them. In sports they can`t compete anymore. We don`t keep score. There`s participation trophies for everybody.

We`re sensitizing their whole lives, rather than letting them experience disappointment, maybe a little failure, maybe learn how to overcome disappointment and failure and grow from it. Instead, we`re teaching them how to live in their parents` basement when they`re 36 years old and collect -- and collect "Star Trek" paraphernalia.

BECK: I will tell you this. We are training our kids to be mental cripples.

GRAY: We are.

BECK: There is no way that they could actually survive in the real world. I have this theory, that political correctness and all of this protecting your kids, you know, don`t ever let them skin their knees mentally, you know what it is? It`s like anti-bacterial soap.

It is going to make -- anti-bacterial soap will make our bodies so weak you won`t be able to handle a common cold, man. You`ve got to -- you`ve got to let those things -- let your kids skin their knees.

GRAY: Then we wonder why we`re getting our heads kicked in by the Chinese. Do you think they give out participation trophies?

BECK: No.

GRAY: No, they`re competing. They`re competing. It`s gotten so bad, and I want to get this straight.

BECK: Yes.

GRAY: It`s gotten so bad that in Arizona you know they passed a law there where you can`t -- they don`t allow junk food up to eighth grade. From kindergarten through eighth grade you can`t have junk food or soda.

But they determined that, for many school districts, French fries are to important a staple. It`s simply too much to ask them to give up French fries. So they found a way around it.

BECK: I -- you know what? I agree with that. Too much. Too much to ask me to give up ice cream and French fries. That`s two corners of the food pyramid in my life.

GRAY: Well, but when we were in school, did you have that choice? I didn`t even have the option.

BECK: No, no.

GRAY: They served us lard and they deep fat fried it, and then they took a clump of dirt and they deep fat fried that. And then they slapped it on a plate and I liked it.

BECK: That`s right. So wait a minute, what are they serving? Are they serving the French fries?

GRAY: Yes, they`re baking. They`re baking French fries. They`re molding them into what looks like a French fry. They`re calling them oven roasters or...

BECK: I`m telling you. We are destined to get our butts kicked. Thanks a lot, Pat.

GRAY: We already are.

BECK: Appreciate it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: All right. Welcome to "The Real Story." This is where every night I bring you a couple of stories that the media, I think, has just missed the mark on.

First up tonight is the continued fallout from the Mike Wallace interview with President Tom from Iran. After the interview, you remember, Wallace said, "President Tom seemed like a reasonable man and, gosh darn it, he`s smart as hell."

But the real story today is that President Nut Job, as I like to call him, is, well, actually a nut job. If you remember earlier this year, when the riots were taking place all over Europe and the Middle East after the newspapers published the cartoons depicting Muhammad wearing a bomb-shaped turban, in the midst of all of these riots, the Iranian newspaper, which I`m sure is definitely not controlled by the government at all, they decided to have a Holocaust cartoon contest -- that sounds funny -- where the artists could make fun of the whole Holocaust being just a giant myth. The point was apparently to show us Westerners how we`d react when confronted with something that shocks us to the core.

Well, this past Monday, 204 of those cartoons went on display at a museum in Tehran. And shock us they have. We are seeing an enormous backlash on these cartoons in cities all across the world. In fact, let me show you the riots that are taking place now in the streets of Paris which -- no? OK. It doesn`t look like riots in Paris. But let`s go to the live shot, please, of London. There it is. You can see -- OK, nothing really happening there.

You know why? There are no riots! There are no backlash! Nothing is happening. Why? Because we`re not crazy; we`re reasonable. And that, President Nut Job, is the difference between the civilized world and you.

And speaking of crazy, the headline in the "New York Times" this morning proclaimed, "Democrats Asserting Bush has Diminished U.S. Safety." The article talks about how the Democrats are now going on the offensive to say that they can keep us even more safe than the Republicans.

And to prove it, they`ve just launched an ad on their Web site showing an overseas terrorist attack -- yes -- and a video of Osama bin Laden, clearly implying that -- this is going to make blood shoot out of my eyes - - the Republicans are causing the apocalypse. All this, of course, comes on top of last week`s claims by the Republicans that Ned Lamont, the Democrat running against Joe Lieberman, doesn`t understand security and will never be able to keep us safe.

Now, here`s the real story on this one: It`s an election year. And for some reason, the strategists, and the consultants, and the advisers think that all the American people are so impressionable that we`ll just vote for whoever tells us they`ll protect us best. Yes, I`m a zombie.

I`ve got news for you: Both parties in Washington, stop playing political games with our security! I am so sick of the back and forth yelling at each other about our national security without actually ever getting anything done that I`d like to call the bunch in Washington a bunch of 2-year-olds, except that would be an insult to 2-year-olds.

You want to do something? You want my vote? Then that`s what you do: something. I don`t care about the R or the D after your name. You know what? In fact, Washington, come close, right up to the TV set. Listen up, because I`ve got a secret for you. It`s how you can win every election from now until eternity. OK? Here it is: Shut up and get something done, will you?

And while we`re at the subject of getting something done, here`s one. The border immigration debate that, oh, you guys in Washington are just sitting there with no progress, "We care about this." Yes, right. Let me give you at home another side of this story, the real story on just what a mess our border is.

Let me take you back to February 2005. Two U.S. border agents are in pursuit of a suspected Mexican drug smuggler. The smuggler ditches his van near a canal and begins to flee on foot. One of the agents hears a gunshot and sees the other agent down.

Just then, he sees the suspect through the dust ahead of him. The suspect turns around, and the agent sees what he thinks is a gun. The agent fires; the suspect flees. Two agents return back to the road, search the van. Inside the van, 700 pounds of pot. Two weeks later, a Department of Homeland Security investigator tracks down the suspect in Mexico.

This would be a happy ending, if it wasn`t that the guy was tracking him down not to arrest him, but instead to offer the drug smuggler full immunity in exchange for testifying against the border agents who shot at him. Turns out the smuggler had been hit by the bullet. Yes, yes, so they needed to treat him here in America and give him all kinds of medical money for it.

Now the agents have been convicted on charges of assault with serious bodily injury, assault with a deadly weapon, discharge of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence, and civil rights violations. The minimum sentence these guys can get is 10 years. The recommendation? Twenty years.

But as if all of this just wasn`t a happy enough package for you under the Christmas tree, listen to this: The assistant U.S. attorney told the jury that the Border Patrol agents are not even allowed to pursue fleeing suspects. And they also better not exceed the speed limit unless they get the supervisor`s approval first. And I`m not kidding.

What are we doing down on the border? Don`t sit there in Washington and tell me you`re serious about national security and protecting the border when you`re handcuffing the people on the front line every step of the way. This is a war on the border. You know, and like any war, except Vietnam, you give our soldiers the tools and the weapons they need to win it.

Ignacio Ramos and his attorney, Stephen Peters, join us now telephonically. That means "on the phone." Stephen...

STEPHEN PETERS, ATTORNEY FOR BORDER AGENT: Yes.

BECK: ... what happened with the judge? How did the jury actually come to this sentence or this conclusion?

PETERS: Well, I think government prosecutors can be very persuasive when they want to be. And they convinced the jury that the drug smuggler was telling the truth when he said he didn`t have a gun and that Mr. Ramos was lying when he said he thought he saw a gun.

BECK: Well, wait a minute. Hang on just a second. The guy`s a drug smuggler. He was running away from officers. I mean, don`t they have a right to say, "Hey, stop it"? If the guy happens to see a gun, whether he had one or not, what difference does it make?

PETERS: Well, it matters if Mr. Ramos thought that he had a gun, and if he did, then he would have been justified in shooting.

BECK: Right.

PETERS: The government didn`t believe Mr. Ramos; they chose to believe the drug smuggler.

BECK: Did the jury know this guy had 800 or 700 pounds of pot in the van?

PETERS: Well, the jury found that out. The government went to some effort to prevent the jury from finding out about it, but the judge let it in.

BECK: I understand this guy was just nabbed again for trying to smuggle more drugs.

PETERS: That I know nothing about.

BECK: Ignacio, how do you get up in the morning and think, "This is America"? How do you do that?

IGNACIO RAMOS, CONVICTED BORDER PATROL AGENT: It`s been very hard, and I felt abandoned for a very long time. It`s been hard to live with.

BECK: You`re facing the possibility of 20 years in prison. I know that, you know, you don`t -- I don`t even want to ask any question that might hurt you in the sentence process. So let me ask you this: The guys that you know that were working with you on the border, how apt are they to actually do anything to stop anybody on the border after they see you getting 20 years?

RAMOS: I couldn`t tell you. I just know it probably can`t be easy for them right now.

BECK: Steve, is it true? I have heard that the reason why we even found out about any of this is because the drug smuggler`s sister had a contact inside Border Patrol...

PETERS: The drug smuggler`s mother was a very close friend of a relative of another Border Patrol agent in Arizona. And the Border Patrol agent in Arizona contacted higher-ups in the Border Patrol and got this started.

BECK: And said what? "My son is a drug smuggler, and your people were shooting at him, and they`re not supposed to"? Is that what happened, basically?

PETERS: The drug smuggler was injured pretty badly. And, you know, the initial report that was given to the government was kind of twisted and didn`t exactly tell all the facts. And I think that what happened was that the government didn`t do a very good job initially of investigating the case.

BECK: All right. I`ve got to tell you, if the guy was hurt badly, I`d say, "One for the good guys." Stephen and Ignacio, thank you so much.

By the way, for all you conspiracy freaks out there, remember the day that I`ve been saying, according to the Islamic calendar, it could be the end of the world, August 22nd? Guess what day they`re going to sentence? Yes. Yes, August 22nd.

If you want to get involved, there is a way for you to help. You can call the White House and ask the president to pardon these two border guards or write a letter to the White House.

Up next, new threats on our southern border you cannot miss.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: It`s like this whole, "We`re going to fix the borders and immigration. We`re going to fix the" -- no, you`re not. You want to fix the airports? Great, let`s fix the airports. Until you`re really willing to actually fix the airports, shut up. Don`t waste my time, you know? Let`s stop, let`s stop all the hype on, "Our airports are a mess and America didn`t know." We all know; we`re all complicit in it. But you know why? Because most people don`t want to stand in line.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: You know, a few minutes ago I told you the story of two U.S. Border Patrol agents who are facing 20 years in prison for shooting at a fleeing, drug-smuggling illegal alien. Tomorrow on the radio show we`re going to have these guys on, and we`ll take it a little more in-depth and tell you how you can get involved.

But also tonight, let me give you the news that you can go right now to Grassfire.org and sign a petition that the president is going to be receiving. Grassfire.org, if you would like to help those Border Patrol agents out.

Now, today we get a couple of pieces of news in about our border. We hear that on Friday a guy from Afghanistan was arrested crossing the border. He was swimming across the river. What is he doing here? Also news that, according to a Census Bureau, the population of poorly educated, non-English-speaking Mexicans is exploding in states all across the country. But that`s not why you should care about our borders.

It`s not just about paying taxes and doing jobs that Americans won`t do; it`s about our national security. How can we ever really pretend to be a nation that`s safe when anyone -- and I mean anyone -- can simply cross into our country seemingly at will?

You know, I`m really not as worried about Maria and her three kids coming here as much as I am about the people who want to kill us by sneaking in through either the north or the south. Remember: We`ve got two borders in this country. That`s why I am fascinated by the plot of a new novel that comes out today.

"New York Times" best-selling author Ted Bell, his new book, "Spy," it creates a scenario in which Al Qaeda warriors are using the jungles of South and Central America to prepare for an all-out jihad against America. It is downright frightening! When they`re ready to strike, it`s the Mexican border they exploit.

Ted Bell now joins us. Ted...

TED BELL, AUTHOR, "SPY": Glenn, how are you?

BECK: Good. I have to tell you -- you know I`m a big fan of yours.

BELL: Thank you.

BECK: This is the best book that you have written. I mean, I was up at 2:00 in the morning, you know, trying to think, and I`ve got to go to bed. And I just couldn`t put the book down.

BELL: I love to hear that.

BECK: Tremendous stuff. I have to tell you, you should footnote this. How much of this book is real?

BELL: Well, Glenn, I like to think of these books as a house of fiction built on a firm foundation of fact. And I do a tremendous amount of research. I`ve built up a network of friends in the intelligence community and law enforcement community, State Department, and they point me in directions.

And then I follow those leads. A lot of times they tell me things, and I say, "Are you sure I can talk about this?" And they say, "You know, I hope somebody`s going to talk about it." So that`s kind of how I find things.

BECK: Right. And in the jungles of Central and South America, are these jihadists really there? Are there training camps there?

BELL: Yes, they`re really there. Glenn, I call them jihadistas, as a name I made up for jihadists in Latin America, South America. They actually came -- Hezbollah came to this area called the Triangle in 1972 on the heels of the Lebanese civil war. And they found it a great place to be, because it`s hidden. It`s a lawless part of the world. It`s a green canopy. You can`t see what they`re doing under there, endless supply of rural recruits to come in there. And a lot of friendly people to them, leftist guerillas and narcotraficantes.

BECK: And then the back door, if you will, of America sitting there wide open.

BELL: Yes, there you go.

BECK: I mean, you describe the border situation and how out of control. Is the border the way you describe it, as lawless and reckless and -- I mean, it`s like the Wild West. Frightening stuff. Is it really like that?

BELL: It is. I mean, in talking to Border Patrol -- and I sympathize with these poor guys that you were talking about earlier. I mean, it`s verging on chaos. An American law enforcement official would not feel comfortable going south of the border into Mexico for fear of getting shot at with heavy machine guns.

And the situation I describe is basically a wildfire out of control, and that`s the truth, Glenn. I mean, I`m talking to these guys, and this is what I`m hearing.

BECK: How likely, Ted, is the scenario -- and, again, this is a work of fiction, "Spy" -- but how likely is it that something like this could happen?

BELL: Well, there`s no question in my -- I mean, as long as we don`t secure our borders, we can`t even talk about security.

BECK: Right.

BELL: And there`s no question in my mind that not only are illegal Mexicans coming over, streaming over, but it`s just an open door for people to come, you know -- to come, walk into our country.

BECK: Ted, best of luck to you. This is going to be a best-seller again on the "New York Times." It`s called "Spy," Ted Bell.

Now, there is another threat to our country that I believe the media is completely overlooking. Just when you think things couldn`t get worse on our border, they do.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: The Mexican-American border, a threat to the economic well-being of our country, or perhaps a smoke screen? While politicians in Washington continue to focus their attention on our southern border, the real threat to our nation lies thousands of miles to the north, where insidious elements from a land called Canada have managed to infiltrate our country and our way of life.

The results, frankly, speak for themselves. Take a good look. Wow. Pretty scary stuff, huh? Especially this guy. So next time you think Canada is just a vast wasteland of tundra and caribou, think again, smarty pants.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: Tonight`s "Ask Glenn" comes from Paul in Minneapolis. He says, "Glenn, who`s the more pathetic English former pop star currently in trouble with the law? Is it Boy George or George Michael? Phil, Minneapolis."

Very solid question, Phil. Honestly, I mean, it`s tough to tell. George Michael is apparently suing a man that he was reportedly hooking up with in the bushes at 2:00 a.m. in a park, known more as an adult playground than one for kids.

And then there`s Boy George. He was arrested on cocaine charges and sentenced to this: sweeping and picking up garbage. Now, this actually happened yesterday. He was surrounded by reporters. And he flipped out just a little bit. Not to mention -- I mean, this is a terrible sweep job. He`s just spreading the pile all over the place. That`s what I did when my mom told me to sweep the kitchen when I was 6. The work ethic in this country, I`m telling you, it needs cleaning up.

So we know he can`t sing, and he can`t sweep. But here`s an update: Because of the problems yesterday, today he was moved into a fenced parking lot. I mean, this is sad. He`s standing there picking up garbage behind a fence. It looks like a zoo or maybe a circus, as all the photographers are around gathering and taking pictures.

So who`s more pathetic, George Michael or Boy George? Well, I mean, they`re both doing public service -- or, you know, service in public. But since it seems like Boy George is making the streets cleaner instead of our parks dirtier, I`d have to say George Michael is slightly more pathetic at the moment. But thanks for your concern.

Next question, from Paul in Sacramento, "Glenn, I`m dying to see you make a fool out of yourself interviewing Jessica Alba. I visited HelpGlennGetJessica.com, but what else can I do? I`m willing to protest, donate to charity, or simply visit Jessica at her home for a friendly conversation on your behalf. Let me know."

Paul, great thing. I mean, it`s a little stalkerish for my taste, but I appreciate it. You know, I don`t know why the fans are rallying around my potential interview with Jessica Alba. I mean, I don`t even know what I would talk to her -- I can`t picture, you know, talking about a surfing movie and me, you know, trying to work in Iran, and Syria, and Hezbollah.

But the guys here at Headline News have put together a montage of her acting credits and -- OK, I mean, this isn`t -- this is not -- OK, it is necessary. OK, we`re proving that if there`s a really hot "Flipper" remake, you`ve got your female lead.

So we`ll see you tomorrow, you sick, twisted freaks. Don`t miss us on the radio.

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