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Glenn Beck

Why are Children Being Sexualized?

Aired August 21, 2006 - 19:00   ET

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

GLENN BECK, HOST: Tonight coming up, the latest twist in the JonBenet Ramsey mystery. Are we giving pedophiles a shortcut to our kids? If you are a parent, sadly the answer is yes. And you do not want to miss why.
Plus, some experts say the world just might end tomorrow. Find out why, next.

ANNOUNCER: Tonight`s episode of GLENN BECK is brought to you by "molesters on a plane," starring John Mark Karr and Samuel L. Jackson. Rated NC-7. No children over 7 permitted.

BECK: I don`t know if you know this. Did you realize that Iran has been shelling Northern Iraq for the last four days? Iran has. Of course you didn`t know that. Why? Because of this guy, John Mark Karr, the lead suspect in the JonBenet Ramsey murder. He has pushed everything -- Iran, Iraq, Hezbollah, oil, everything -- to the back burner.

We`ll have more on some of those stories coming up a little later. But when the child molester is sitting in first class, drinking a nice chardonnay -- well, you know, I`ve got to say a little something on it.

Actually, I don`t have a problem with John Mark Karr flying first class to the states for a couple of reasons. First of all, if this dirtball -- whether or not he`s guilty, I don`t know. But he does freak me out. And if you were the guy who had to bring him to America and sit next to him the whole time over the Pacific, would you want to sit in coach next to him? I`d want the drink.

Also I think it was really smart for the authorities to fly him in first class. Give him some champagne, get him a little tipsy. Treat him like a star. You know what I mean? Become his friend, and maybe he`ll start to talk.

There are also a few bizarre details that have emerged over the weekend about John Mark Karr. Apparently, he was apparently seeing a doctor over in Thailand in order to have a sex-change operation.

This one I don`t even understand. I mean, you want to become a woman? If that`s true, why would you be interested in molesting little girls? It`s above my head.

Two, when comparing John Karr`s handwriting to the original ransom note, experts usually look for 15-20 matches minimum. According to one expert, there are only three or four matches, tops. Both of these things give me pause.

What I don`t get is why I`m so fascinated with this story, why this is such a huge story? I mean, a girl was murdered, and it was horrible. But it was horrible for the family.

What do we get out of it? Why are we watching it? Besides -- I mean, you want to talk about never getting clean. The idea of watching it as a side show, as entertainment. It`s distracting us from the larger picture. In an increasingly disturbed world, why are we sexualizing our children?

Here`s what I know tonight. Society is getting sicker and sicker. And you`ve got this weekend a New Jersey man charged with 429 counts of child sex abuse. You`ve got a lesbian gang in New York stabbing a guy with a steak knife. We live in a sick world, and unfortunately, all of these stories just seem like another sign of the times.

But I also know that, because of this sick world, kids have been turned into commodities. We are sexualizing our children to a dangerous degree, whether it`s on TV, in magazines or in beauty pageants. We`re just giving nut jobs easier access to the most vulnerable members of our society.

Let me ask you this. Do you think JonBenet still be alive today if her parents had never dressed her up like a beauty queen? Maybe. Maybe not. Did the parents play any role in this? We have information related to this coming up that, if you`re a parent, I`ve got to tell you, blood is going to shoot out of your eyes and your ears tonight. It`s frightening stuff. You must watch it. It`s coming up in about eight minutes.

Now here`s what I don`t know. I don`t know if technology has made things worse. Have all the web sites and the chat rooms out there empowered perverts to think, oh, gee, good it`s not just me. There`s a whole community of pedophiles in the world, and that somehow or another turns on their evil switch?

I also don`t know if John Mark Karr, is he guilty or not. Don`t get me wrong. He`s definitely a dirt bag who needs to be locked up for life. I don`t want this guy wandering the streets. But perhaps he`s just a pathetic freak who ever -- forever wants to be linked with JonBenet.

That`s frightening, and it`s frightening because the media and the public have rushed to judgment in this case, as we have done before. I ask myself are we doing it again? No, better yet, am I doing it again? Am I guilty of giving the guy everything he wants? Fame.

Dr. Fred Berlin is the founder of the sexual disorder clinic at Johns Hopkins.

Dr. Berlin, do you believe this guy -- just what you see on the surface, is this guy more apt to be guilty or a fame seeker?

DR. FRED BERLIN, FOUNDER, SEXUAL DISORDER CLINIC AT JOHNS HOPKINS: I don`t think we`re going to know the answer to that by doing psychological profiling. There may be an eyewitness that says he wasn`t there at the time. There may be DNA that doesn`t match. Those things are going to be far more important.

BECK: And is there a -- is there a reason for this sex change? Do you see people who want to change sex to become a pedophile? Is that normal?

BERLIN: I wouldn`t want to confuse pedophilia with people who feel that they`re trapped in the body of the wrong gender. Pedophilia refers to people who are sexually attracted to children, and it`s a completely separate issue.

BECK: Is there -- is there such a thing as a cure? I hear people all the time say, let`s -- they`ve spent their time in prison and paid their debt to society. You know, I don`t want these people living next to my kids. I`m not convinced there`s a cure. Is there one?

BERLIN: I don`t think there`s a cure, but that doesn`t mean some people can`t be successfully treated. It`s like asking what do we do with drunk drivers? There`s no one answer. At one end of the spectrum, there`s people that are too dangerous to out there on the street. On the other end are some people that really aren`t that dangerous. And then there`s the spectrum in between. So to expect one answer to that is unreasonable.

BECK: Tell me the -- tell me the least worrisome pedophile. To me, I mean, I`ve got kids. I don`t think there is one that I`m like, where he`s just a minor pedophile.

BERLIN: There is no least worrisome. But the fact of the matter is that a lot of child abuse that occurs within families. Some families want to stay together in spite of it. It`s not always a case of somebody kidnapping, sexually assaulting and murdering, which is the context within which most of this conversation tends to occur.

BECK: Well, I mean, there`s, you know, I mean, I guess you don`t have to murder, but you`re still -- you know, still interested sexually in a young child, which is just unbelievably destructive. I know you -- if this guy is guilty, you say -- you say let`s study him, because there`s a lot to be gained.

BERLIN: I don`t want to put it in quite that crass of a fashion. First of all, if he`s guilty I don`t think anyone is going to suggest he should be out there in the streets.

But if we can learn more about someone -- how someone became this kind of a person, if we can prevent other people from becoming that way, if we can learn how to intercede effectively for other individuals before they cross the line and hurt others, certainly, that kind of information would be extremely important.

BECK: Yes, I think there`s -- I mean, I -- if you`re talking about studying him in prison, I have no problem with that. I think that`s great. The more we learn -- I think that`s what they were doing on the plane this weekend. I think they were befriending him and trying to learn a little something about him.

BERLIN: Well, in that respect, as you said earlier, and I agree with you. There`s a child who`s dead here. There`s a family who was grieving. There`s been people who have been under the web of suspicion. And these are things where we just have to get all the facts, think it through carefully. And we`re not going to be able to make some generalization that says this is what we need to do.

BECK: So how long have you been studying this stuff?

BERLIN: I`ve been involved in this kind of work for over 20 years.

BECK: No offense, because I mean, somebody has to do it, but when did you get up in the morning and say, "You know what? I`m going to want to study these freaks that are into pedophilia"? I mean, how did that happen?

BERLIN: First of all, there`s parents that bring me their children. And the fellow -- parents will bring in a 9-year-old boy, and the boy insists that he -- like, he`s a girl and he wants to dress in girl`s clothing. I can`t just tell the parents you`ve got a freak for a child. They`re looking for help and I`m trying to assist them.

There`s troubled kids out there now who are, at the age of 17, privately aware of the fact that they`re attracted sexually to 5-year-olds. We need to get those people in before they act. You can`t punish that away.

BECK: Is there a trigger -- is there a trigger to this? Is there something that makes somebody who is 17 years old and they`re thinking man, that 5-year-old is hot. Is there something that happens?

BERLIN: It`s a good question. It`s like asking why am I attracted to women? Why are some people attracted to members of the same rather than the opposite gender?

I mean, I know it`s not because of a decision we make in childhood. We discover the kinds of partners we`re attracted to, but tragically some people are discovering they`re afflicted with this aberration of sexual makeup. They`re not just people choosing, because they`re bad children, to grow up to be different.

BECK: We are about to enter into a world that is just shocking and horrifying on the Internet with people just sexualizing their children and putting them up for sale to pedophiles. It`s frightening stuff.

Do you believe that society is becoming sicker, or has this always been this way?

BERLIN: It`s been out there. I mean, look at this horrible tragedy with the Catholic Church. Many of those cases were 10, 20, 30 years old. I think we`re just more aware of it.

But I do agree with you. We need to figure out how to educate our children, how to protect our children. The Internet, in effect, is bringing the outside into the privacy of children`s bedrooms. We need to have a dialogue and figure out how we`re going to deal with this in an effective fashion.

BECK: Right. Great. Doctor, thanks a lot. I appreciate it.

Coming up next, we`re going to try to do that creepy -- creepy, scary way that child molesters are circumventing the law. But first, I figure if you want to fly in style and you`re a pedophile, you`ve got to check out our new sponsor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You`re now free to confess your crime.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Each week tens of thousands of you download Glenn`s podcast. Some of you have been critiquing his performance. Well, this week Glenn has a few words he wants to say back.

BECK: Jay, we clicked on your name to find out what other podcasts you watch.

ANNOUNCER: "Ask Glenn". Download it on iTunes or on CNN.com.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: It`s absolutely kills me that this guy is being treated the way he is. He`s drinking and giving toasts now? I mean, I don`t think we should treat him like the best man at a wedding. We should treat him like the animal that he is. You know what? Instead of the champagne here`s a little dog food. Get in the cage underneath the plane. He should get in the cargo hold. This guy`s leading a better life than I am.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: All right. Just a radio note here. Anybody who listens to me on the radio, you know that Senator Joe Lieberman and I have a long history. We were very good friends. We had a falling out, and we haven`t spoken to each other in six years. But tomorrow on the radio show, we make kissy-face. You don`t want to miss it.

Now a while ago, somebody called my house and wondered my wife and I would be interested in having our 2-year-old do some modeling. Yes, not so much.

I mean, if you want to have your kid to be on the cover of "Parenting" magazine, good for you. But what comes to mind to me are a couple of things. One, why can`t we let our kids just be kids? My son`s going to play a sport, learn a musical instrument. You know, but I`m going to try to buck the trend and do my damnedest not to overschedule my kids so they`re running everywhere. And I really highly doubt that I`m going to be sending him to some weird photo shoot any time soon.

Even though there has been a crackdown on child pornography web sites, pedophiles are using MySpace and these child modeling web sites -- which are perfectly legal, or so they claim -- to further their own sick habits.

Kurt Eichenwald has been reporting on -- reporting on child pornography in a series for the "New York Times".

And I`ve got to tell you, I read it yesterday, Kurt, and it about peeled the skin off my face. It is frightening stuff. I can`t imagine being in on it, as you are, having to witness it firsthand

KURT EICHENWALD, "NEW YORK TIMES": They`re -- I`ve had a lot of sleepless nights.

BECK: I bet you have. What is the -- what`s the sickest or spookiest thing that you have found?

EICHENWALD: There have been -- there have been so many. Well, what you were talking about was the model sites, and those are -- those are pretty horrible.

I mean, what these are -- the past -- over the past year there`s been really a crack-down on child porn sites. A lot of them have disappeared. And -- but they`ve been replaced by these sites where they have kids as young as 2 wearing outfits that models for the "Sports Illustrated" swimsuit issue would be embarrassed to wear. I mean, very, very thin, undersized. You know, you have 3-year-olds wearing thongs and nothing else.

BECK: My God.

EICHENWALD: You have -- they are clearly intended for pedophiles. They are very sexualized, you know, images that focus -- you know, focus on the genitals that are behind this small piece of cloth.

BECK: Kurt...

EICHENWALD: With marketing that makes it -- that is -- that is unbelievably disturbing.

BECK: I don`t know. When I was reading your article yesterday, I don`t know which one I was more horrified by, the pedophiles or the parents that are selling these pictures of their children. I mean, they`re taking pictures by request.

EICHENWALD: Not all of them -- there are two categories here. There are people who are gaining access to children through ways we don`t know yet. And then there are parents...

BECK: Wait, wait, wait, what does that mean?

EICHENWALD: Well, in other words, we don`t know if these are -- if they are paying parents, if these are children who they somehow or other have under their control.

For example, there was a fellow -- one of the more prominent child porn victims was a little girl from Russia who was adopted by an American pedophile, and he photographed her.

BECK: I remember. She was in -- she testified in front of Congress, didn`t she?

EICHENWALD: Right. Right. That`s -- there have been these series of hearings that actually got spurred by some of the articles we were doing. But you`ve had -- you`ve had -- when you see a child, you don`t know exactly where that child is, how they`re doing it.

The sites that I found, I was able to trace down to a fellow in Florida. And I`ve yet to hear back from him. I -- he put a lot of effort into hiding his identity. But when I called him, I`ve never heard a response.

BECK: Are a spiritual man?

EICHENWALD: Yes.

BECK: Do you feel like you`ve been face-to-face or in -- I hate to use this language, but in bed with the devil? Do you believe that you have witnessed evil?

EICHENWALD: I have seen things over the past year that were evil. I have seen things that -- that are very disturbing.

But the other side of it is I`ve also seen some very tortured people. I mean, one of the things about these people, your earlier guest was saying they don`t choose this. They clearly don`t.

I mean, there was -- one of the more interesting groups I found was a Christian pedophile group, where these people are on -- I mean there was somebody who wrote a prayer -- prayer to God to kill him, because he can`t stop feeling the feelings he has. So these aren`t people who are choosing this, but they are choosing what they choose to do about it.

BECK: Yes. You know, I`m an alcoholic, I didn`t choose to become an alcoholic, but I chose to stop drinking.

EICHENWALD: Right, examining.

BECK: You know, the whole life is a choice, a series of choices, and you have to live with the consequences. You were really kind of the Woodruff or Bernstein of...

EICHENWALD: Of pedophilia?

BECK: Of pedophilia. I hate to break it to you, but you are...

EICHENWALD: What a horrible thing.

BECK: But you are -- you are on the cutting edge. I talk about these modeling sites. I think it was probably a couple years ago, and I know nobody was even paying attention to it. You`ve been on this forever, trying to get people to pay attention to it.

What is next? Does MySpace bother you at all? Do people know what they`re getting into with MySpace?

BECK: It`s interesting. When I started this a year and a half ago, nobody really understood what MySpace was. MySpace in its original -- as it existed a year and a half ago, was the pedophile`s Sears catalog. It was a mechanism for which they could go in, find kids, get in direct contact with them.

And oftentimes, you know, particularly if those kids had a web cam, get those kids to create pornography, trick them into it. And that -- that was probably one of the more dangerous things.

That has been focused on so much over the past year that I don`t think there`s anybody now who doesn`t realize the dangers of MySpace and how really careful you have to be. And even the folks at MySpace are making some efforts to make sure that that system is safer than it was a year ago.

BECK: I think you`d be surprised how many parents are unaware.

Kurt, thanks a lot. We`d love to have you on the radio show to talk some more about this.

Coming up later, what you didn`t hear about the war in Iraq and how Iran is now involved. The story broke this weekend. We`ll tell you more.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: This show`s creeping me out, man. We`ve got to -- you know, put some levity into it. Every day you can hear my radio show on great radio stations all across the country like 960 WELI in New Haven, 830-AM KLAA from Los Angeles. And from L.A. Is Brian Whitman.

Hello, Brian.

BRIAN WHITMAN, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Hello, again. How are you, my friend?

BECK: I was pretty good. You know, I was a little freaked out with the snake on a plane, John Mark Karr over the weekend.

WHITMAN: Yes.

BECK: You know, that footage. That guy just is creeping me out. Is he that way with you?

WHITMAN: You know, I saw that and I thought not the typical business class passenger.

BECK: You know, I think I would rather sit next to somebody with a screaming baby all the way to the Orient.

WHITMAN: I don`t know what it is, Glenn. Is it the Dockers yanked up over the navel, your grandfather`s look?

BECK: Could be.

WHITMAN: Perhaps it`s the golf shirt with the three buttons that he insists on fastening all the way to the top. That`s not a look that you see very commonly.

BECK: Part of me said that we should have -- we should have gotten like the two fattest -- like we should have gotten like Michael Moore and the current fat guy from "Saturday Night Live" and had him sit there in coach in between these two guys like this. Unfortunately I really -- when I think that through, he`s skinny enough to sit fully relaxed between two fat guys in coach and have enough room.

WHITMAN: Seriously, if you`re in coach or economy class, John Mark Karr is the guy you want to be sitting next to.

BECK: He is?

WHITMAN: Well, you`ve got a lot of elbow room there.

BECK: Right, right. You know, what`s interesting to me is his wife never turned him in. His wife said -- I mean, his ex-wife, who does not have a good relationship, is afraid of him, says that she -- she was with him. And I -- I think most people with an ex-, if they have the opportunity, they`d be like, wait a minute, if I don`t provide an alibi you`d put him in jail forever? I mean, how many people would say no, he wasn`t with me?

WHITMAN: Nope, don`t know him. I`ve never seen that man wearing the eyeliner. That`s weird.

BECK: Right. Did you see the study that says that married couples live longer than single people?

WHITMAN: I did see that, Glenn, and I thought, "You know what? That doesn`t surprise me because us single people, we`re more likely to live harder, to drink more, to drive faster. I`d rather have 60, 65 really intense years than, say, 85 really boring years.

BECK: Right. Yes, this is the guy who`s constantly on antidepressants. I don`t think I`m going to listen to you.

WHITMAN: You know, I think the single guy with the Wellbutrin, that helps out.

BECK: Sure.

WHITMAN: The once daily, I turned the corner, Glenn.

BECK: Really?

WHITMAN: Go ahead.

BECK: Actually, it`s because if you are married, you are living just a -- you`re living a better life. You become fatter, at least guys do. I mean, once guys get married, they`re thinking, you know, there`s no reason for me to eat salad anymore. She`s legally bound to have sex to me now.

WHITMAN: I`m the exception to that rule. I`m the fat single guy, which is a nice combo.

BECK: Good.

WHITMAN: You want to be both of those things.

BECK: Yes.

WHITMAN: I saw a survey that there are a billion fat people in the world and 800 million starving people. So the fatties are now outnumbering the starving people. And I have to say, as an overweight guy, I don`t know if the government needs to compel us to do it, but us fat people really need to kind of spread the food around.

BECK: We could just have a bunch of starving people eat you.

WHITMAN: That`s also an option.

BECK: Yes.

WHITMAN: But you know, the fat people really need to break loose with the Chips Ahoy and, you know, get some of them to the people who really need them.

BECK: Right. I don`t know if we should be sending Chips Ahoy to Ethiopia, but I appreciate the thought. Brian from Los Angeles, thank you so much, sir.

WHITMAN: Thank you, buddy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: All right, welcome to "The Real Story." This is the part of the show where we take a look at some of the stories that the media is reporting for what I think are all the wrong reasons. But before we get started, I want you to listen to a few comments that President Bush made earlier this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And, therefore, those who heralded the decision not to give law enforcement the tools necessary to protect the American people just simply don`t see the world the way we do. They see, you know, maybe these kind of isolated incidents. These aren`t isolated incidents. They`re tied together. There is a global war going on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: Thank you. Finally, finally somebody who knows a heck of a lot more than me confirming what I`ve been saying all along. What we`ve been seeing lately, all of these unrelated stories that are coming in from all over the world, they`re all connected. I swear to you, sometimes I feel like Russell Crowe in "A Beautiful Mind." I see yarn connecting everything. I really do.

Now, I want you to keep those comments in mind as I tell you these next two stories.

First, the big story today is John Mark Karr, the accused killer of JonBenet Ramsey, how he sipped champagne and ate cake during the extradition flight back to the U.S. Oh, the humanity.

But the real story here is more important, and it`s based on three separate headlines that have come out in the last few days. First, there was a little story buried on page eight of the "New York Times" on Sunday saying that Iran has apparently been shelling portions of northern Iraq with artillery for at least the past four days and, according to the article -- and I quote -- "it is unclear what weaponry or troops Iran has amassed along the border with Iraqi Kurdistan."

Next, also on Sunday, Iran launched tests of at least 10 surface-to- surface missiles near the Iraqi border.

And finally, just today, Iran has reportedly turned away U.N. inspectors who were there to examine an underground nuclear site, a clear violation of the nonproliferation treaty. All this, of course, comes on the eve of August 22nd, the day that Iran is supposed to formally give their answer to the world about their nuclear program, also the day that noted scholar Bernard Lewis thinks it just might be the end of the world.

Now, I`m not jumping on that bandwagon, but I do believe that Iran is ready to play their next card, and it may just be their ace. Watch what happens in Kurdistan.

Second story, it`s something you probably missed because it was buried inside of an article over the weekend. On Saturday, 1,200 Muslims turned out in London for a pro-Hezbollah rally organized by a group whose stated goal is to unite Muslims together under a state run by Islamic law.

Now, 1,200 Muslims protesting may not seem like a big deal to you, but the real story is that it is becoming apparent that this is not about the Arab world. This is the Islamic world.

In 1967, Israel fought and won a war against Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Iraq. Since then, Muslims have been looking for a rallying cry, a leader to unite them, again bring all of them together to go to war again against Israel and the West, a war not just to regain the land that they believe was stolen from them, but also to avenge the humiliation suffered at the hands of the Israelis almost 40 years ago.

Hezbollah`s defeat of Israel is that new Muslim rallying cry. You can hear it in Saudi Arabia and Egypt. And Iran is quickly becoming the leader.

So they are starting to unite. If you think 1,200 people marching in the streets of London is an isolated incident, I ask you to remember the words of the president this morning: We are in a global war. There is no such thing as an isolated incident. These stories are all connected.

Walid Phares, he`s the author of "Future Jihad: Terrorist Strategies against America."

Walid, the phrase, "We have no army but Hezbollah," is frightening on multiple levels. They are really starting to unite the entire Muslim world, are they not?

WALID PHARES, AUTHOR, "FUTURE JIHAD": Well, the jihadists, Glenn, are uniting themselves. They are projecting themselves as quote, unquote, "the army of the Muslim world." What they really want to see happening is the collapse of 21 Arab country governments and about 30 Muslim governments around the world -- and guess what? -- erect instead of these governments a superpower, a super-government they call the caliphate.

And that caliphate, in the mind of the jihadists, of course, (INAUDIBLE) would be equipped with weapons, will have all the oil of the region, and will pursue policies such as what`s happening in Lebanon and Israel, but also beyond.

BECK: Tomorrow, you know, it`s August 22nd. I don`t know. Do you buy into that August 22nd that something`s going to happen in the Muslim world?

PHARES: Well, what may happen is that the president of Iran will make a big declaration. He may also shoot a rocket or a missile, but basically what I believe has happened with the jihadists worldwide is that, if they acquire that weapon or that surprise, they will then look at the dates and then merge both. So we`re going to wait and see for tomorrow.

BECK: Right. On tomorrow`s radio program, I`m going to talk a little bit about what we should watch for in the future. And one of the signs that we`re going to talk about is watching Hezbollah take over Lebanon. That is a really bad sign.

Do you think that there`s a hostile takeover coming or some sort of an overthrow of Lebanon with Hezbollah, that they gained power somehow or another?

PHARES: Glenn, let me say it quickly, it has already started. Plan a of Hezbollah was when they attacked Israel that they will have a limited answer and then they will crumble the government, that Israel, you know, reacted very harshly, but also did not crumble Hezbollah. So what we`re going to see in the next few days, months, if the United Nations Security Council doesn`t send serious multinational forces...

BECK: That`s not going to happen.

PHARES: ... that a slow but sure takeover of the government, unfortunately, Glenn, as we`re seeing.

BECK: The Muslim world is -- I mean, most people see this, and there are still these people -- and I don`t even get it. How they can look at what`s happening over the Middle East and saying, "Oh, well, let`s -- this is all about oil, and we should get out of there." I mean, there`s really no escape here. What do you see happening in Europe? I mean, Europe is toast if this thing starts to happen.

PHARES: Well, all the European elites, establishments, governments, since at least 1973, where they wanted to ensure a cheap flow of oil, you know, committed a political suicide. They did not assist the real democracies in the region. They crumbled. And they considered Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and even Al Qaeda as freedom fighters. And then London, Madrid and possibly other places are going to be paying the price, unfortunately.

BECK: I`ve been doing my homework in the last few days, trying to talk to some real experts off-air to kind of pass on my theories and say, you know, before I present them on the radio tomorrow, where am I right? Where am I wrong? I talked to one guy today who said he believes that, if we don`t wake up soon, it`s the collapse of the West. Do you think that`s a possibility?

PHARES: Well, the collapse of the West, unfortunately, has started. I mean, these waves since the `20s, the `30s, and again the `80s, the `90s, all these attacks against the United States and Western targets, more important than the West to start with, the friends of the West have been abandoned for so many years.

I mean, the Iranian people, the Lebanese people, the Iraqi people have shown that they want a democracy, but they are crushed by jihadist regimes. This is where the West begin to feel that the next wave is going to be in Europe and the one after in the United States.

BECK: Our friends here in the United States, when we see people in Dearborn, Michigan -- I`ve only got about 20 seconds -- Dearborn, Michigan, are there enough good in those communicates to be able to crush the bad that are growing in those communities?

PHARES: Glenn, the majority of Muslims and Arabs are the good people, but the minority which has the control over the media, which in the Mideast has the control over terrorism, can deter them. We need to help the good people.

BECK: Good. Walid, thank you very much.

Now, as you may or may not know, we`ve been talking about it: August 22nd, possibly the end of the world. Iran`s president, "Ahmadimajob," has some pretty big plans in store for tomorrow. Oh, well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: In a world where every day may be your last comes a movie so frightening you`ll think it`s real. Actually, it is real. It`s the end of the world, directed by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and starring a cast of thousands, and thousands, and thousands. Opens tomorrow and closes tomorrow. This apocalypse has not yet been rated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: Oh, Erica, do you think anything`s going to happen tomorrow or is just tomorrow just another Tuesday?

ERICA HILL, CNN HEADLINE NEWS ANCHOR: It could just be another Tuesday.

BECK: Yes, they -- oh, look at that. No opinion really, because you`re a journalist. You know, they`re not...

HILL: It`s a tough job, Glenn, but somebody has to do it.

BECK: I know. I hear that they have not raised the terror threat tomorrow, which is good news. What is happening in the news, Erica?

HILL: Well, this one actually related to terror. In London, we`re learning today 11 of the 22 people who are still being held in connection with last month`s alleged plot to blow up American airliners officially charged today. They`re going to appear in court tomorrow.

Eight of them, Glenn, are charged with conspiracy to murder and preparing acts of terrorism. One, who is just 17 years old, is charged with possessing materials that can be used for acts of terrorism. The other two are charged with failing to disclose material assistance in preventing an act of terrorism.

One person was released, a woman, out of all the people who are being held. Police, by the way, have confiscated hundreds of computers and cell phones, as well as some of those so-called "martyrdom videos." But get this: They say it`s going to take months at this point to analyze all of that.

BECK: I will tell you that I really think that Osama bin Laden is now playing a back role. I think this guy is no longer the big player in this. It is quickly becoming Hezbollah, which is Iran. Do we have time for one more quick story?

HILL: I think we do.

BECK: OK, one more quick one.

HILL: You ready?

BECK: Yes.

HILL: President Bush, you mentioned that he spoke earlier today. I know you were just talking about that. Well, it was his first full-scale news conference in over a month, and he was calling for the quick deployment of an international force in southern Lebanon...

BECK: Oh...

HILL: ... of course, to uphold that fragile truce between Israel and Hezbollah. He also called Iran part of the problem, which you were also just speaking about, for sponsoring Hezbollah and said that he would continue to remind the world about the dangers of a nuclear-armed Iran.

BECK: Yes, yes, I have to tell you: America, rest well. When you`ve got the United Nations and France involved, everything will be OK.

Erica, thanks. Have a good night.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Now, I remember when my first daughter was born, and she was born -- she had several strokes. And people would come up to me and say, "Oh, I know how you`re feeling." And I would think to myself, "You have no frickin` clue how I`m feeling." How I was feeling was completely alone.

Well, we found a place where you don`t have to feel alone, where just spending time with other families going through the exact same ordeal creates an unspoken comfort. It`s called Camp Sunshine. It`s in Casco, Maine. And tonight it`s the focus of this week`s "Real America."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BECK (voice-over): Fabrizio and Matthew are best friends. They share everything.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pool, ping pong, and movies, and...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And foosball.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, I was going to say ping-pong.

BECK: They also share an extremely rare disease called fanconi anemia that leads to bone marrow failure. Since 1984, families with children who have this disease have come together to spend a week at Camp Sunshine in Casco, Maine. And while they`re here, it`s not about the hardships of the disease they face. It really is just about, well, camp.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You do normal camp activities, like archery, water fun. We have a pool. And they`re just kids. That`s all they`re doing, is being kids.

BECK: And I guess that`s what makes it work so well; being able to feel normal is a blessing for the families here, a feeling that most of us take for granted. Teens from across the country volunteer to be counselors here, and it`s tough to say who gets more out of the experience, the kids or the volunteers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The first year really hooked me. And I`ve been coming back every year. I think it`s the most amazing place I`ve ever been, the most meaningful thing I`ve ever done.

BECK: Visit Camp Sunshine and you`re more likely to get caught up in a volleyball game than think about the fact that these kids are sick. It`s easy to forget the reason that all these families came together. You see, the sadness you expect to feel here is replaced with strength. And for Matt and Fabrizio`s moms, camp has turned friends into family.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To think in the whole world there`s only 3,000 children that have this, but we`re all family. We have such a bond and a connection with one another. We have to be there for one another, and it really makes a difference. It makes you feel here so much better.

BECK: Camp Sunshine is completely free for families who want to attend. There are workshops for the parents where they can share knowledge about the disease, but don`t expect to see the doctors walking around in white coats. They`re more likely to be in shorts and sandals.

Don`t expect to see tears here, except, of course, when it`s time to go home. I guess in the end what you learn at Camp Sunshine is that courage and strength know no boundaries. Sometimes the smallest people can have the biggest impact.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There`s one little kid that`s really stuck in my heart. His name is Fabrizio. I`d love to see him against next year. And hopefully when I come back year after year hopefully he`ll be around every year.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BECK: Anna Gould, she`s the founder of Camp Sunshine, and she`s with us now. Anna, I have to tell you, when we sent producers up to Camp Sunshine, we had quite a bit of discussion beforehand how sad it would possibly be. The people who came back from the shoot were just ecstatic, said it was just such a joyful place.

ANNA GOULD, FOUNDER, CAMP SUNSHINE: It is, because that`s the environment that we try to create for these families is a safe haven and a place for the kids to have fun.

BECK: Now, you`re the founder. You don`t have anybody in your family with any kind of illness. You had this family camp, and you decided -- what did you see that made you say, "We want to do this"?

GOULD: Well, my husband and I saw a segment on a camp for terminal children, and we were just so taken back by the child that they interviewed that he was having to deal with a life-threatening situation at such a tender age. And we were fortunate that at that time we didn`t have anything in our family. We had healthy children, and we have this place in Maine. And we said, you know, we could do something like this. It`s time to give back.

BECK: It must have cost you a fortune originally. Now it is self- sufficient?

GOULD: Yes.

BECK: Because it doesn`t cost anybody any money, right?

GOULD: No, no, we never charge the families. They have certainly more than enough to deal with; they certainly don`t need to add a financial burden to it. So it`s always free to the families.

BECK: And people can come from anywhere? How would they find you?

GOULD: They find us on the Web. They find us through the local hospitals that they go to. We network through the social workers at the various centers, and from other parents because, as you said, only another parent really knows what they`re going through.

And it`s such a great place to be able to be in an environment where for them it`s a normal environment, and seeing other families, and really being able to talk to another mom and a dad who they can say, "I know what you`re going through," and they mean it.

BECK: So what do you get out of it?

GOULD: What do I get out of it?

BECK: Yes. I mean, is it...

GOULD: I get the joy, the joy of seeing the children smile, having those children run around and play like normal kids, like you see them on a playground, or you see them just enjoying themselves. And for a split second, for that little segment of time that they spend with us, they have a memory that they have formed and they`re able to take back and share with their family.

BECK: You know, my faith teaches us that we should be doing a lot of service for each other and helping each other out. And it`s like pulling teeth. I mean, anything bad for me I can do all the time. Anything good for me it`s like pulling teeth to get me to do it.

But every time I do, I leave there feeling better and thinking that I got more out of it than the people that I was serving. What do you get out of it, as far as a lesson? What have you learned? What`s the biggest thing that you`ve learned?

GOULD: What I`ve learned is that there is an endless amount of love and giving that we as human beings have to give to each other. And to be able to give it to a family who has a child who is ill, that there`s no greater gift that we can give another human being than a helping hand.

And it`s sort of, for me, you know, it reinforces my idea of what humanity really should be about. And that`s really helping each other. And if you know-- you know, we run the program with volunteers. And we have hundreds and hundreds of volunteers who come to give just because they want to help another human being.

BECK: Just another piece of the real America. Anna, thank you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Hello, I`m radio`s and television`s Glenn Beck. And today`s first e-mail comes from Martha. She writes, "Glenn, I have watched three of your shows, and I have come to a conclusion: You took drama somewhere. Calm down. You`ve got a great spin on all the subjects, but is it necessary for you to act the part? Martha."

Well, Martha, I have to admit that blowing other people up is inherently dramatic, but that`s not why I`m blabbing about it all the time. Believe me, I want, you know, to have a laid-back life. I want to sit at home, play with my kids, eat ice cream, relax with my wife. That`s my ideal life.

But I do think it`s important to point out that a lot of people in the world have a different idea of what a good time is, and it starts with you and me being really, really dead. That`s why I talk about these things, not for of the drama. But do join me for my new Shakespearean Thursday starting later this week.

Leo writes, "Glenn, I feel like Saudi Arabia screws us on oil prices. But that I can take. But when they try to steal the Little League World Series, I got to draw the line. Have you seen this `13-year-old` that is 6`8"? This is an obvious scam. Leo, Anaheim."

Now, I`ve got to tell you, Leo, I thought the same thing. This kid`s name is Aaron Durley. He is 6`8", 256 pounds at 13 years old. Right. For a bit of a comparison here, Shaq, when he was 13, he was two inches shorter and 33 pounds lighter.

At the moment, we have no reason to believe that he`s actually not 13 except for your general Saudi skepticism. Oh, yes, you know what I`m saying.

But I`m not telling you that it`s impossible for two people around the same age to be completely different sizes. Here it is: This is me and Dikembe Mutombo. Remember, I`m 6`3". You want to feel inadequate for a second? Try standing next to the guy who towers over you. He`s a world- class athlete, basically doubles his country`s GDP with charitable donations. Thanks, Dikembe. Thanks.

All right, on tomorrow`s radio program, a pretty big event for us. Senator Joe Lieberman, who`s been a friend of mine for years -- we had kind of a falling out years ago, and we haven`t talked to each other in quite a while. Oh, we play kissy-face and we talk like old friends. Coming up on the program tomorrow, we will talk about his race in Connecticut and so much more.

So we`ll see you on the radio tomorrow. Until then, you sick freak.

END