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Glenn Beck

What Do Kids Learn from Media?; Charity Builds Homes for Wounded Soldiers; Book Proposes Charity Tradition for Christmas

Aired December 20, 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: Coming up, who did your kids admire? Teachers, parents? No, the answer is going to shock and hopefully disturb you a little bit.
Plus the highlights from our Christmas comedy tour. That and more next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Tonight`s episode is brought to you by the Glenn Beck staff. We look forward to scaring the crap out of you again in `07. Merry Christmas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: Oh, yes. It`s going to be a bigger, scarier year next year. Don`t miss a single episode.

Well, as we get closer to the holiday here, we`re going to start gathering our families together. And I want you to try to keep this in the back of your mind through Christmas.

A recent poll taken by "The Daily Mail" in the U.K. said that children under 10 think that being a celebrity is the very best thing in the world. As Casey Kasem would say, coming in at No. 2 and No. 3 in our countdown, being good looking and being rich.

Way down on the list at number 10, God. Not really a great showing for the almighty this year.

Here, unfortunately, is the point tonight. We have slowly but surely sold ourselves out to money, to fame, to commercialism. But we can recover. And the first step to recovery is admitting we have a problem and, boy, do we have a problem.

Here`s how I got there. Sure, kids have always looked up to celebrities and role models. I`m sure that, you know, those kids in the 1930s probably would rather have Babe Ruth over FDR as a role model, and Babe Ruth, as we know now, not exactly a good guy. He was an alcoholic that cheated on his wife.

But the difference between Babe Ruth and, let`s say, Paris Hilton is that he didn`t exploit his bad guy tendencies to be popular. In fact, at his time, the exposure of his bad behavior would have ruined him. Plus, unlike Paris Hilton, I think Babe Ruth generally wore underpants, at least from time to time.

So why are kids so misguided? You know, it`s easy for people like me on TV to blame one thing or another. But it`s not really just one thing. Whether it`s the commercials on TV, the Internet, the 500 TV channels, shows like this one, whatever it is, our kids are bombarded with images our grandparents and our parents would have never let into the living room. Now we allow these images right into our children`s bedroom.

When I was growing up, there wasn`t an oral sex problem among sixth graders. There were no songs glorifying the mistreatment of women. There weren`t TV shows that featured people eating cow anus for fame or cash. It`s everywhere now.

The one thing there was when I was growing up that we don`t seem to have an awful lot of now: parents who know the difference between right and wrong. And those parents that have the courage to not be best friends with their kids.

The best Christmas present you could possibly get for your kid this year, it isn`t made by Sony; it`s this. One, admit that we have a problem. And, two, start building an environment at home where your kids aren`t being targeted and constantly bombarded. Kind of a dome of safety where you spend time with your children, rather than plopping them in front of a TV or whatever and letting them stare at Britney Spears` crotch all night.

We can`t just point the finger at one thing, because it`s not one thing. It`s not just the media or just the magazines or the crappy music. It`s everything, including us, you and me as parents. We are telling ourselves the same lie that we tell our kids, that we could have everything.

And you know what? We can`t. In our quest to obtain everything, something is about to slip through our fingers. In this case, what`s slipping through our grasp is our children`s ability to see what`s truly important.

Let me -- let me share a personal story with you. This past May I thought I was having a heart attack. I woke up in the middle of the night and my wife looked at me and said, "Are you having a heart attack?" Turns out I had just eaten to much sausage, I believe.

But nevertheless, as I was being driven to the hospital by my wife, I know this sounds trite, but it is so true. I was not thinking about the house, my ambition, the TV show, my possession. All I was thinking about was my children and my family and how much I loved them and how I would have read that one last story to my son Rafe that night.

It shouldn`t take a trip to the hospital for us to realize what really matters. Unfortunately, sometimes it does.

Here`s what I know tonight. America, hello, got a problem. When Miss USA is rewarded for staying out all night, reportedly snorting coke and making out with Miss Teen USA, sends a message to our kids, and they are reading it loud and clear.

We have become a society that is built on the transient sand of glamour rather than solid granite of value. What made us great was not caring about people what Carnegie or Rockefeller or Bill Gates dressed in but what they actually accomplished in life.

Now here`s what I don`t know. I don`t know what kind of adults our kids will grow up to be if we don`t admit that we have a problem. David Marshall, he`s a professor of communication studies at Northeastern University and an author of "The Celebrity Culture Reader".

What am I -- what am I missing, David?

DAVID MARSHALL, PROFESSOR, NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY: Well, you -- you`ve identified a lot of things. I think the thing that`s happening in contemporary culture is that we`re using celebrities to debate all sorts of political and cultural issues.

And in that use of them with all of the strange Paris Hilton stories or missing underwear, as you point out, we`re allowing that to percolate down to our children. Also, viewing these same things.

And what it probably means is that we`re less clear about what you`re describing. The notion of cultural values is actually up for grabs in a way. And we`re -- or the political and cultural landscape is not as solid. It`s a much more lava kind of surface. And so...

BECK: Is that...

MARSHALL: So...

BECK: Is that a problem, David, because our kids don`t know the difference between -- they don`t know the difference between Spongebob and "The Sopranos." TV is TV. Their brains haven`t fully developed, as I understand it, where they can -- they can see the difference between some of these things. Am I wrong?

MARSHALL: You are -- you are right in the sense one of the things that, you know, child psychologists deal with is when people make the distinction between real and fantasy.

When they make the distinction -- when children make the distinction between something animated and some sort of real action and then not just real action on television and then the idea that this is dramatic and not related to your real life.

And children don`t make those lines as clearly as adults do. But we`ve allowed in a sense our entire culture to be something where they`re trying to make -- make those distinctions.

And maybe that survey that you quoted from the U.K. indicates that ability that they see the value of things roughly on the same plain, whether it`s politics or medical discoveries or celebrities, they all see them as equal. Yet in our culture, I would say that we have intensified celebrities, so that we see them even more than any of the other kinds of things that you might see as significant or important, maybe to our children more than anybody else.

BECK: I am -- I have three daughters. And the one thing I won`t allow in my house or fashion magazines. I -- I don`t want my children consuming those images of what women are supposed to look like when it`s not realistic, it`s not healthy in any stretch of the imagination.

And I`m struck by how many people don`t even realize how many images are spilling out into their house through TV, through music, through magazines, whatever it is. There is no safe shelter anymore. And most people don`t even realize the infection that is coming into their house constantly.

MARSHALL: It`s -- Glenn, I don`t know if it`s totally the infection. It`s actually what you do with them in your household. And it sounds like you`ve made some choices around that.

I think it`s interesting to look at Fergie and "Fergalicious" as something that has sort of permeated the entire culture. I don`t know if you know that music. But you would not say it`s a music designed for a 7- year-old or 8-year-old or even a 12-year-old probably, and yet they are singing along about making the boys go loco.

BECK: Right.

MARSHALL: So what we have here is probably the idea that parents are maybe also not connected or involved with making those decisions about where this should be located or whether it should be seen by their children in this environment.

BECK: Well, I will tell you this...

MARSHALL: I think celebrities -- go ahead.

BECK: I was just going to say, I disagree with you on one point. I thought, how can I restrict some things from my children. If my children - - for instance, I wouldn`t let my children watch "The Sopranos."

But if they come down and I`m watching "The Sopranos," I`m endorsing this for them. You know what I mean? They learn more from what you do than what you tell them to do. Am I wrong?

MARSHALL: Yes, well, I think it`s a matter of being engaged all the time. And it`s difficult because of our media world being so dispersed. In other words, whether, you know, they`re watching it on one screen or another, Internet, television, listening to it. It`s hard.

But it requires a constant kind of engagement and determining what they`re investing in. And maybe it is sometimes ridiculing what you are looking at, at that particular time. "The Sopranos" is not real, and it`s not significant.

BECK: All right. David, I thank you very much for your time. I`d love to continue this conversation with you some time. I think we really disagree on being able to teach our children while we`re consuming it. You know, that`s really wrong behavior. I don`t know if that really works. But David, thanks a lot.

Recognizing the extreme sacrifices of our troops. The most amazing way just in time for the holidays.

Plus lots of headlines and big, splashy news events of 2006. But just how many of them really meet the measure of a real story? I`ll give you a hint: Britney Spears` underpants, not really one of them.

And an incredible story of hope. One woman`s quest to create an atmosphere of warmth and healing for terminally ill kids through art. It will put everything into perspective. Don`t miss it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: Bush is talking about sending more troops to Iraq.

Hey, can I ask a question? Why would we send more troops to Iraq? Now, I`m a guy who`s been saying I think we need more troops in Iraq. But why would we send them? I don`t think we should send them -- yet. I think we should unleash the troops we have. Why should we send one more soldier, let alone 40,000 more soldiers?

Our soldiers have the training, they have the weapons, they have the heart to do the job. We need the politicians that understand it`s the military, not the politicians that are going to win and fight this thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: I don`t know about you. I`m looking forward to this Christmas. I`m going to take a break from the end of the world, just for a couple of weeks. Spend some time with the family. Reflect on the things in life that truly matter and, of course, eat my weight in double-stuffed Oreos, which my wife stops hiding from me tonight, while I watch "A Christmas Story" on an endless loop.

Sure, action-packed vacation for me. However, the comforts of home can sometimes be easy to take for granted. You know, for one, having a family home for the holidays is the greatest gift one can possibly ever imagine.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BECK (voice-over): Melanie Luce didn`t wait around for a marriage proposal. Instead, she took matters into her own hands.

MELANIE LUCE, WIFE OF WOUNDED MARINE: We went to high school together. He was a grade above me, and he was my best friend forever until he went to boot camp and I realized I kind of like him more than a friend. And so in boot camp, I said, "Let`s get married."

He said, "OK, cool."

BECK: She didn`t have an over-the-top wedding ceremony either. In jeans and a T-shirt, she married her high school sweetheart, Jared, before he was deployed to serve in the Marines.

Nine years later, the couple, now with three young boys, are living in the same Connecticut town they grew up in. They were living the lives they had dreamt about in high school.

Then Jared was called for his third tour of duty and sent to Iraq. Weeks later, their fairy tale life became a nightmare.

JARED LUCE, U.S. MARINE CORPS: I was thrown from the truck and said some things in my mind that I probably can`t say right here as I was flying. I landed, I stood up, I tried to find my rifle. And as soon as I stood up, I fell back over.

I had shrapnel that cut my eye open. I had -- my hand was just basically jacked up. This was missing. These were both shattered in multiple places. Both of my legs from the knee down was shattered.

M. LUCE: They came to my house, so immediately, I thought that he was dead and I didn`t believe them. Like I watched them walk up to my house and I -- which is like, no, no.

And when they opened door they kind of -- when I opened the door, I looked at them, like, when you say it, will you not be standing here much longer. I just -- he was alive. I didn`t care about anything else.

And then my main concern was getting to him. I knew where he was going to be. And he got hurt on a Wednesday, and by Friday I was by his bedside.

BECK: The young guy that could never sit still was now confined to a wheelchair, left to deal with phantom leg pains and too many surgeries on his hand to count. The rehabilitation process proved difficult.

But even tougher, the places that Jarrett called home was not longer accessible to him. Even the simplest things were insurmountable. He couldn`t climb the chairs. His wheelchair wouldn`t fit through the doorway into his bathroom. He had no home to go home to. And that`s when Melanie decided to take a chance.

M. LUCE: I said, you know, I really need a home. And they said, "Well, try this organization." You know, so I e-mailed them. They e- mailed me back and sent me an application, and I filled it out. It was really simple.

And I guess it was just dumb luck that I stumbled upon them. But they`re awesome.

BECK: The "awesome" organization Melanie found is Home for Our Troops. It`s made up of volunteers, and their only goal is to custom build homes for solders wounded in the line of duty.

JOHN GONSALVES, FOUNDER, HOMES FOR OUR TROOPS: To take this one part and just give them this freedom to have a home that is accessible to them and let him focus on the important things, raising their three young boys and thinking about a college education for them, and all that is going to take as much of a burden off of them as we can possibly do.

BECK: A new home means a new life for the Luce (ph) family. It`s a gift that is still sometimes hard to grasp.

J. LUCE: I knew when I was getting ready to go back down to Bethesda for another surgery.

BECK: But even as this new chapter begins, Jarrett is still committed to his past. He remains in active duty as a Marine.

J. LUCE: I guess it`s like a brotherhood of sorts. You know, I mean if somebody needs something, I`m there for them. If they need it or if I need it. I mean, the ramps outside of this house became, like the week I got hurt, they came and built the ramps. It`s just -- it`s like a huge, extended family to me. And we just happen to be the best.

BECK: The easy going couple that got married a decade ago in their jeans, still the same at heart. More than a new house and the opportunities it will provide them, it`s the love that they have for each other and their family that matters most. I guess in the end, that`s what makes this house a home.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BECK: If you want to find out more about Homes for Our Troops, or if you want to volunteer to help build a home in your area, please check out their web site at HomesForOurTroops.org. Currently, the organization has built homes in 15 states, with plans to expand further next year.

Back in a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: As you know, I just finished my Christmas comedy tour: two hours filled with the all the crap that drives me nuts about the holidays. And people actually pay for it. It`s weird, yes. You`re going to see some of it coming up free in a minute; my free gift to you. Now how much would you pay?

But out of all of the things that make me crazy, shopping, wrapping, gift cards -- such a scam -- there is one thing that keeps me grounded, and it is my family.

A couple of years ago, we started a new Christmas tradition. And we found it in a book. It is a really simple concept we discovered in a holiday story called "Christmas Jars". Jason Wright wrote it. He`s now a friend of mine.

Jason, tell me quickly about "Christmas Jars".

JASON WRIGHT, AUTHOR, "CHRISTMAS JARS": Sure. "Christmas Jars" is -- it`s about giving. It`s about daily sacrifice. It`s a jar that you put on your counter at home, a mayonnaise jar, a pickle jar, you know, a peanut butter jar.

Every day you put your spare change in it, and on Christmas Eve you sit down with your family, your loved ones, your friends, you look around at your life and find someone that might be just the right recipient of said Christmas jar. It`s real exciting.

BECK: Yes, I will tell you, first of all, tremendous, tremendous, book.

WRIGHT: Thank you.

BECK: It is a Christmas classic. It is something that you can pass - - I think it is...

WRIGHT: Thank you.

BECK: I think it`s something that you can pass to people. I read it and then gave it to my wife. And she read it and we both devoured it in like a day. And went out to the book store and bought every copy we could and send them to every friend that we had. Just tremendous.

Last year, my two daughters, my older daughters and I, we took our Christmas jar, and we went to people`s house that we knew were in need. And we had -- it was the best tradition ever.

WRIGHT: Yes.

BECK: It was Christmas Eve, and I parked halfway down the block, and the girls got out of the car. And they ran and they put the Christmas jar on the doorstep, rang the doorbell. And we ran. And it`s tremendous. It`s tremendous.

WRIGHT: You will never forget that. You talk to them in 10, 15, 20 years, they will remember that night for the rest of their lives.

BECK: You told me a story. I talked to you on the air on radio yesterday. You told me a story about a child that was recipient of a Christmas jar that was an incredible story. Can you tell that again?

WRIGHT: Sure. A young man by the name of Cameron Birch had been suffering from brain cancer for the better part of a year. Just a sweet, sweet young man. Prognosis didn`t look really good. A year ago right now, in fact, it didn`t look really good at all. He had been sent home from the hospital.

And they got a knock at their door on Christmas Eve. They opened the door. There were two giant Christmas jars with a copy of the book and a little note. And the note said the family could do what they liked with the money.

And really, the parents left the decision up to him and said, "This really belongs to you. These jars are for you. People care about you, and they love you, and they`re watching you."

And this young man, when given this choice, decided that the money was better spent by going to a toy store and buying toys for the other kids at the cancer center where he was being treated. New toys for the waiting room, a puzzle, a racetrack, you know, dolls and tool bench.

A decision that light of people I don`t know would have made. Even at my age I don`t know I would have made such an amazing decision. So that`s the spirit of "Christmas Jars" as captured in that little boy.

BECK: Yes. Well, this is actually our second -- we made it a little more politically correct. This is our Ramahanakwanzmas jar, so no one is offended by it. But that`s our second jar that we started here in the office.

And the name of the book is "Christmas Jars". It is tremendous. I can`t recommend it highly enough.

WRIGHT: Thanks, Glenn. And kids, now that you`ve seen me, kids, go to bed right now.

BECK: Thanks for joining us.

Back in a second.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Welcome to "The Real Story."

Since we`re closing in on the end of the year, I decided to take a look back at some of the big headlines from the last 12 months, and the real story is just how short of an attention span this country really has. It`s like -- I mean, I`m riddled with ADD. I think the whole country is. Hey, look, over here, something shiny.

Just to keep our attention, we treat stories just as entertainment, without really learning any lessons from them. Listen to just a few of the big headlines from last year. And for each of these, ask yourself, in hindsight, was that really that big of a story, or was the media using it for ratings, or is there an agenda behind the story?

First, let`s start with Mark Foley. That story kind of fizzled out, huh? I mean, wait a minute. Hold it. Didn`t it just disappear right after the election. I bet you didn`t even hear that the House Ethics panel concluded there was no GOP cover-up. What? Yes, you probably didn`t hear that because the elections were already over.

And while we`re talking about sex scandals before elections, remember Ted Haggard? This is the guy who was that leader of the church in the Denver area. He resigned. And, you know, he had sexual misconduct allegations, yadda, yadda, yadda. Not only has that story gone away, I bet you didn`t hear yesterday that the head of the same church`s young adult ministry resigned after he also admitted sexual misconduct. Well, why wasn`t that on the front page of every paper? Oh, I bet it has something to do with it`s December 19th when it happened, not November 6th.

Same with illegal immigration. Before the election, huge problem. Now, I guess we must`ve built that 2,000-mile fence in the last month, solved absolutely everything, because I haven`t heard a word about it in weeks.

Well, what about John Mark Karr, Captain Highpants? Huge story, right? In retrospect, he was never charged with a crime. Talk about not learning anything. We constantly give soft sentences to sexual predators, and then we all look at each other like we`re shocked. "Did you see he got out of jail and molested and killed another child?" Well, what do you expect?

Then there are the kinds of stories that are stories just because they scare us. E. coli is in the spinach; the bird flu is coming; mad cow hits America; Arab country wants to run our ports; hurricane season going to be catastrophic. Not so much.

Or how about this summer when the British foiled that big plot to blow up multiple planes? I guess the lesson we learned there is that bringing three ounces of hair gel in a clear, plastic bag will stop future terrorist attacks, is that right?

What about oil prices? Earlier this year, they were so high, everybody, "We`ve got to start looking seriously at alternative energies. No more foreign dependence on oil. It`s for our national security." Now, "I don`t know. Prices are pretty reasonable. You know, finding new energy seems like a lot of work."

And then there was Chavez calling Bush the devil. Tom DeLay, Andrew Card, Porter Goss resigning, Mel Gibson hating Jews, Michael Richards hating blacks, Madonna going shopping for a baby, John Kerry saying our soldiers are dumb, and the NSA wiretapping our phones.

The real story is very few stories are actually real. Unfortunately, only in time do we really understand the agenda behind these stories. And even worse, sometimes, most often, the agenda turns out to be nothing more than our own entertainment. Christian, meet lion.

Now, forget everything I just said, because the next story is important. Iran said today they`re now a "nuclear power." Yay. And their president said that this country, along with a few others, will, quote, "disappear," end quote, because we`re godless societies.

The real story is, quite honestly, I can`t talk about the end of the world another day. Can`t do it. Can`t do it. It`s Christmas right around the corner. I`ve got shopping to do. No, I do. Really, I was out on tour for a while. Didn`t get any of the shopping done. In fact, we talked about it recently on my Christmas comedy tour. Wanted to give you a peak tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BECK: Right before I went on tour, it was two weeks ago from today, I wake up. It`s 3:00 in the morning, got to get out to the plane and head out for the tour. And my alarm goes off. And Tania wakes up, and I hit the snooze alarm. And she rolls over, right next to me, right behind me, and she grabs on to me, and kind of holds me from behind, and she puts her cheek right here.

And she held me for the longest time, and she just said, "Honey, you have got to stop doing these tours. You`ve got to stop doing these Christmas tours." My wife`s cheek is next to mine, and I`m thinking about all of the things that are going to happen in the next two weeks, how I`m going to miss her, how I`m going to miss the kids. And Tania says, "Because there`s just so much to do."

(LAUGHTER)

It`s like I couldn`t get clean. "We got to make lists. We got to go shopping." Oh, I realized I wasn`t missing out; I was escaping!

(LAUGHTER)

She didn`t want me around; she wanted a personal assistant. "There`s just so much to do. Come on! Come on. It will be fun. Let`s go shopping. Come on. It will put you in the Christmas mood." "Why? Are bullets on sale?"

(LAUGHTER)

Oh. "Come on."

We went to the mall. It was like in June or July. And I`m, you know, in the mall with her, just trying to figure out what size coffin I want to be buried in.

(LAUGHTER)

And I`m sitting there. And she`s at this big table of like cashmere scarves, and she`s, "Hmm. I don`t know." "What is it you don`t know, honey?" "I don`t know. You think Bob would like this scarf?" "In June?" "No, for Christmas." "Oh, sorry, I couldn`t put the psycho thoughts together."

"Hmm, I think he`ll like that. I`m going to get that for Bob. What do you think?" "I think that`s good, honey." "What about Nancy? Do you think Nancy" -- "Who the hell is Nancy?" "You know, Nancy, she lived next door to my great-grandmother`s neighbor for a while." "I don`t know. Is Nancy even alive still?" "What if she is?" "What if she isn`t?" "Fine, I`m going to get them both for Bob and Nancy."

And I know -- I know like in two years, oh, yes, oh, I`m going to be looking for something in a linen closet some place, I`m going to reach out, "What the hell is this?" "Oh, those are the scarves we were supposed to give Bob and Nancy."

(LAUGHTER)

"Well, we can wrap them up now and give them this year." "Yes, I think they`re both dead now!" "Well, maybe if I had some little help around the house, maybe if somebody would help wrapping." "Oh, don`t start." "Come on, let`s wrap presents together. It will be fun."

"Come on. Go ahead. Wrap." "OK." "Not like that!"

(LAUGHTER)

"OK, sweetie." "Oh, don`t use so much tape." "I worked 40 hours this week just so I could buy as much freaking tape as I want!" "No, no. Let me show you. You take it like this. You put it over. And then you -- hold on to it -- don`t use tape. Hold onto it. And then fold in the sides like this. You fold the bottom, and you fold the top. Little more of the tape. Little more tape. Turn it around. Cut, cut, cut, cut here. Hold it, hold it, hold it. There!"

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BECK: That is the "Real Story" tonight. And thanks to all of those who came out this year to my shows, this year, and help my Christmas be so very, very merry. I am starting tomorrow going to spend the time home with my wife wrapping fricking presents.

Back in a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: When you travel, tipping will drive you out of your mind. You`ve got to tip the guy at the curb, who loads your bags onto one of the luggage carts. Then you got to tip the kid who brings the cart to the room and shows you where the closet is.

I love this. They bring up into the room. They`re like, "Do you need anything? Can I show you the closet?" "No, I`m assuming that it`s the only door besides the bathroom door that`s the closet." I think I can figure -- I`ve been in a room before. "This is the bathroom. Show you how this works." "I don`t think I really need you to show me how the bathroom works. I have one at my own home. I`m rich like that, I guess."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: This next story truly embodies what is important about the Christmas season. I don`t know if you`ve sensed the theme on the show today. It seems to be a little bit about Christmas. The next story is about a young woman who has turned a tragic loss into an opportunity to touch thousands of lives.

It is a story about giving thanks and about bringing joy in the hearts of families in the face of extraordinary and sometimes heartbreaking obstacles.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BECK (voice-over): It`s a story that sadly starts in a hospital. Naomi Cohain, a 15-year-old girl struggles for her life, a battle against bone cancer. Her cousin, Daniela Mendelson, remembers it all too well.

DANIELA MENDELSON, COUSIN OF NAOMI COHAIN: I used to go every week. And we`d go to the hospital, hang out with her. And she was very into, you know, the arts, and to jewelry, and to rock music, your typical 15-year- old.

BECK: Naomi passed her days in the hospital making artwork and jewelry for friends and family. Her spirit and her will to live were strong.

MENDELSON: Seeing the courage and the dignity and the grace that she had in those final moments, and that stuck with me. That will stick with me for a lifetime.

BECK: And Daniela, who was 17 at the time, watched her cousin fight, but finally give into her cancer. On her death bed, Naomi had only one wish: to never be forgotten. Daniela took that to heart.

MENDELSON: I thought I could do something in the memory of Naomi.

BECK: And so Artworks, the Naomi Cohain Foundation, was born, a foundation based on the joy of art of all kinds, a foundation that gives hospitals art cards so that children battling life-threatening diseases can lose themselves in the simple joy of creating.

MENDELSON: Most of these kids are in and out of the hospital for treatments. You know, what they have to look forward to is the next round of chemotherapy. It`s not what every child should be worrying about.

BECK: George Ferez (ph) is one of those kids that benefits from the program. He`s only 11, but he spends three days a week in Saint Joe`s Children`s Hospital getting treatment for kidney failure.

TIFFANY ANDILORO, ARTWORKS FOUNDATION: Do you want to take that one with you?

BECK: His child life specialist Tiffany said artwork put some joy into his visits.

ANDILORO: I`ve known George for many years. And one of the ways that George is able to cope through his hospital stay is through artwork and Lego building.

BECK: As a matter of fact, George made this Lego sports car, which he plans to show off at a big yearly artworks event. He`s just one of the hundreds of children who will take part.

This is the heart of the foundation, an event called Express Yourself.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That`s beautiful!

BECK: Kids from all of the hospitals and their families flock here to show off their artwork and to perform.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good to see you.

BECK: It`s like their very own special Oscars.

MENDELSON: That is what I`m trying to do, is to give these children, whose days are so difficult and so painful, and to give them a moment to shine, a moment to feel on top of the world.

BECK: Take a look at the artwork. You can see all of the trials in their life played out in the art, painting about blood transfusion and cancer blockers. But they`re here, all decked out in their Sunday best, smiles on their faces. For Victor Ararome (ph), artwork was an important part of his battle with eye cancer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They always convinced me good things, like to keep my head up and stuff like that. So I got through it easily.

BECK: He`s in remission now, but he still comes to the Artworks events to show his extraordinary ability on the drums. He`s just one of so many. Kristen Fielder is here today because Artworks meant so much to her son, Zachary, who battled cancer for much of his short life.

KRISTEN FIELDER, SON DIED OF CANCER: He passed away after two years fighting his cancer. And it was still important for us to come and support Daniela in Artworks and let her know that this is really an important thing that she`s doing.

BECK: She made a book of her son`s art.

FIELDER: This piece was the last piece that he created.

BECK: It`s her way of honoring and remembering his life. It`s stories like these that make Daniela know she`s done the right thing.

MENDELSON: I guess I walk away with seeing at least I did what I could to give them a moment to feel normal, because that`s what these events do. They make every single person smile. You may have tears in your eyes, but you smile.

BECK: Helping and inspiring others and, all the while, keeping that promise to her cousin.

MENDELSON: It feeds my soul. And at the end of the day, I`m doing something that I know is making a difference in other`s lives.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BECK: She is making a difference. And if you would like to do the same, if you would like to help Artworks or learn more about it, log onto the Web site at www.artworksfoundation.org.

Back in a second.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Welcome to the e-mail. First, Dennis in Arizona writes in, "Terrell Owens, what a joke. Fined $35,000 for spitting on another player? To put this in perspective, I`m a retired schoolteacher, and if I were fined a proportionate amount of my income, it would be $4.50."

Dennis, you`re right on the money. We`ve covered it in sports before -- we just covered it yesterday with the Miss USA pageant. No consequences anymore for your actions in this country. But, come on, what`s a little spitting in the face between friends, huh?

Teresa in Atlanta writes in, "GLENN BECK is the best thing on television, period." Teresa, thanks for the compliment, but we actually try to be factual here on the program. So let`s be honest, "24"? Come on. Better than this show. Then there`s "House," "Heroes," "Grey`s Anatomy," "Simpsons," "American Idol," "The Office," "Boston Legal." There`s that one really cool episode of "Mega Disasters," where they show that giant volcano collapsing into the sea and causing a mega-tsunami that moves as fast as a plane and wipes out dozens of cities. That was way better than this show. But thanks.

Jason in Indiana writes, "Is it true, Glenn? Were you really on TV before you conned Headline News into giving you a show? I saw an old episode of `Cheers` the other day, and I could have sworn that you were in the background. Is that you?"

Yes, Jason it is. I made my acting debut way in the background of an episode of "Cheers," called "Severe Crane Damage." You can see me, plus about 40 pounds, drinking, laughing, and trying to act natural. Someone has actually put together a montage of all the times I`m on the screen in that episode. Apparently it`s on at YouTube if you have absolutely no life.

Pete writes in, "Was that `ho, ho, ho` tie a subliminal message during the Miss USA segment on last night`s show?"

No, I thought it was pretty clear, quite honestly. In fact, we had a lot of reaction on the tie, most of it -- to be accurate, all of it was negative.

Now, on a personal note, before I leave you tonight, this past year, I have had so many great changes in my life. I`ve moved to a new city, new house, had a new baby, started a new job. All the while one thing has remained consistent: the support of my family, the support of the people who actually watch and listen to this show every day, and, more importantly, the support of an amazing staff.

I was really concerned, to be honest with you, at the beginning of the year about taking our little radio family and adding so many new members to it in the TV world. In our wildest dreams, we couldn`t have imagined a better group of people. Because of them, it is going to be a very merry Christmas at my home and, even better, it`s going to be a great 2007.

I thank them for all of their hard work. And I thank you, I guess, for all of the hard work of watching every night. We`ll see you next year.

END