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Glenn Beck

Political Dimensions of Iraq War; Iran War Games Conflict with U.S.; "Heroes" Star Talks about the Show; Bank of American to Allow Serve Customers Without Social Security Numbers.

Aired February 19, 2007 - 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, the non-binding resolution condemning the president on the troop surge dies in the Senate. All right. What`s next?
Plus, has Britney Spears gone completely nuts? That and more next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Tonight`s episode is brought to you by Britney Spears Scalp Balm. If you`re planning on having a public meltdown, try Britney Spears Scalp Balm. From the makers of Lisa Nowak Adult Diapers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: So Senate Republicans lost the debate on a non-binding opposing President Bush`s decision to send more than 20,000 additional troops to Iraq.

Now the Democrats in the Senate are suggesting that they`re going to seek to limit the 2002 measure authorizing the president`s use of force against Saddam Hussein. What?

Basically, I think they`re pulling a John Kerry. They all want to vote against it after they already voted for it, which leads me to the point tonight.

Whether you are talking politics or actual war, it all came clear to me this weekend. Iraq is officially a lose/lose situation. Here`s how I got there.

Hillary Clinton doing this little tap dance on the campaign trail in New Hampshire this weekend. Did you see this in her little pant suit? She has refused to recant her pro war vote of 2002. Congratulations on that. But she then at the same time, unveiled a redeployment plan that will end the war within 90 days. This sounds like, you know, the TrimSpa plan for the war. Just give me 90 days and watch the pounds and our hopes for victory melt away.

On the other side of the coin and aisle is John McCain. Now here`s a guy who doesn`t think the troop surge is enough. He thinks we need more troops to win this war.

All right. Almost had me standing up to applaud for him. But he also in the same weekend didn`t vote yes on the resolution. He also didn`t vote no on that resolution. He didn`t vote at all. He didn`t show up.

Now watching both of these people, I believe they`re simultaneously saying what their constituents want to hear and what they don`t want to hear. Hillary says she wants to end the war within 90 days. Now that`s making Cindy Sheehan just jump for joy.

But then, Hillary won`t apologize for her vote on the war. That`s got to be hacking Michael Moore off, making donuts shoot out of his nose. Because for Hillary to admit that she was wrong, that would prove in their minds that they were right.

And for McCain, while he`s saying let`s go in and fight it with everything we`ve got and end this thing, he`s not going on the record voting for it. He`ll tell you it was because he was on the campaign trail. Was it? I wonder if he missed the boat because it was convenient for him not to be on the record.

It doesn`t really matter, because either way he and Hillary will not be able to win over their bases by trying to have it both ways. And quite honestly, I don`t think they`re going to be able to win their bases over by having it just one way.

I`m convinced that if you`re a current member of Congress you cannot be elected to president of the United States in `08. Because it doesn`t matter if you want more troops or less troops or, quite frankly, even a little of both. Nobody wants to hear it from these clowns anymore.

Everybody believes that the people in Washington, in Congress, and the White House are part of the problem. I believe America is going to go looking for an outsider, somebody who has absolutely nothing to do with this mess. That`s the political story.

But now let`s look at the story on the war itself. Do you hear anybody on either side talking specifically on how to win this war? McCain is about as good as it gets. But even he won`t recommend the use of overwhelming force. And Hillary, she`s just out there looking to save face and minimize the damage and play politics with them.

So here`s what I know tonight. In the next presidential election, I know that America will not want to hire from within. We want an outsider, somebody who`s untainted on this. I believe the outsider is going to be very plainspoken in one direction or another.

They`ll either say shut this thing down right now. Let`s all go home, or let`s go in and fight it with everything we`ve got and win.

Here`s what I don`t know. I don`t know which direction it`s going to be.

Joining me now, Douglas MacKinnon. He is a GOP strategist and author and retired lieutenant colonel, Robert Maginnis, Pentagon consultant.

Doug, I want to start with you. Revising the president`s authority for this war, what the heck does that even really mean?

DOUGLAS MACKINNON, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Glenn, it`s basically a disgrace. I mean, one of the reasons our troops are over in Iraq, our young men and women are over there fighting and dying for our country, is because Congress helped put them there.

They figured the best way to award that bravery of our troops is to offer a partisan, pathetic, non-binding resolutions here in Washington. I mean, I don`t know what they`re thinking, but basically, it`s time for a new special election.

BECK: OK. So let me go to you, Robert. I`m -- talk me down from this tree. I`m a guy who really, I think, understands what`s going on in the Middle East. I have been for this war.

But I made a promise to myself before we started that I wouldn`t be a part of the generation that created another round of Vietnam veterans, and I think we`re on the precipice of that.

How do we fight this war and keep our promise to ourselves that we won`t disgrace our soldiers or abandon them and fight this without anybody actually talking about winning the war?

ROBERT MAGINNIS, PENTAGON CONSULTANT: No, it is difficult, Glenn. You know, my conversations today with people in Iraq indicate that they`re frustrated. They see this waffle in Washington called the non-binding resolution, and they`re conflicted. They say, you know, you like us but you don`t want us to win. They don`t quite understand that.

You know, back when General Petraeus testified before the Congress he said, "Look, this is a battle of wills. You have to be with us. It`s going to take months. It`s going to take more people."

Now we`ve already flown in the brigade of the 82nd. We have another brigade arriving as we speak. There are others that are going to be on hand. It is a novel way of doing it, using the counter-insurgency doctrine that General Petraeus worked out.

The numbers may be somewhat deceptive and are criticized, but I don`t think people really know how to count. When you count the infrastructure people, when you count the inter-agency people that are going to come to the battle.

But they don`t -- they`re not door-knockers. They`re people that do different things in this very complex environment.

So yes, I just think it`s a big waffle. It`s unfortunate. It`s going to take more time. And perhaps patience is not our strongest virtue.

BECK: So Doug, Clinton, I -- for the life of me, I don`t even know where this one came from. Now she`s got a 90-day withdrawal plan. Is that going to serve anybody? I mean, she has no credibility with the extreme left on war. She`s not the anti-war candidate. But now she`s trying to convince everybody she is.

MACKINNON: Well, that`s what she`s doing, Glenn. She`s just reaching out to the far left of her party, trying to restabilize herself with that group.

And unfortunately, again, that rhetoric hurts our troops. You`re going to tell them, "Oh, we`re going to give you 90 days. Then we`re going to yank you out of there." That tells al Qaeda, that tells the insurgents, it tells the Iranians that, you know, get ready to go back in in 90 days because Hillary Clinton says they`re going to pull out.

BECK: But answer this question. Does anybody buy this? Does anybody -- except our enemies, does anybody believe this from her?

MACKINNON: Glenn, I don`t even think the far left of the Democratic Party buys into that. I think they realize she`s just pandering. She`s trying to get votes. She`s trying to separate herself from some of the other candidates, and it`s not going to work.

And too many people in the United States of America now think the government is broken and they think, basically, the people are really broken is Congress.

BECK: I`m got to go back to Robert. Is there anyone in Congress that is standing up and saying, let`s just use everything we have? Let`s overwhelming -- use overwhelming force and secure this place. Who is it that is fighting for a victory, not just a non-humiliation?

MAGINNIS: Well, I`m not -- given the recent debate, I would be hesitant to name names because I`m not sure of a lot of the positions up here any longer, Glenn.

The reality, though, is that, you know, the numbers just aren`t on our side if we wanted to radically increase our troops. You know, give General Petraeus. Actually, he had some pretty good ideas, but it`s going to take a little more time. We are going to flow more troops over there.

But some of the approaches just are not the typical type of approaches that people have often taken.

BECK: Doug, I started the monologue today with, I just don`t believe that -- if you`re in Congress, I don`t care what side of the issue you`re on, you`re just not going to be able to win, because I believe the people are going to say, you`re part of the problem. Can an insider win president in `08?

MACKINNON: I think it`s going to be very hard. And I think, you know, these guys are demonstrating why it`s so hard. Because they keep offering these pathetic non-binding resolutions. I think that plays into the hands of the government, Mitt Romney. It plays into the hands of Rudy Giuliani and it may play into the hands of Governor Tom Vilsack on the Democratic side, because they`re on the outside. They`re not part of the problem right now.

They`re trying to convince the American people that they have better ideas, that they`re not polluted with the mindset of Washington. And right now it`s probably going to work.

BECK: Thanks. Doug, Robert, appreciate it. Believe it or not, Iraq is not the only issue where Hillary seems to have a problem coming, you know, clean on. I think this woman might actually be calculating or just schizophrenic. No, really, I`m serious. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I want to do it the New Hampshire way.

I intend to do this the Iowa way.

By starting in New Hampshire...

And doing it the Iowa way one on one...

... is good for candidates, and it`s good for our process.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is GLENN BECK.

BECK: Coming up, Iran is 48 hours from being slapped with more sanctions for uranium enrichment. And yet, basically, they`re telling us go pound sand. Could our failures in Iraq actually be empowering them?

Plus, Dwayne "Dog" Chapman might be on his way to Mexico but not for the margaritas. There`s more to this story, which is in tonight`s "Real Story", coming up.

And Britney Spears takes it all off, well, her hair. But does that signify a cry for help? Is she going to be buying a house in the Bahamas soon? That and more, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: All right. Despite international pressure to suspend their nuclear program, Iran says they`re proceeding full steam ahead, even though we`re just two days away from applying additional U.N. sanctions against them.

Now, if you`ve been watching this program for the last few months, you know I`ve been talking quite a bit about Iran, especially since they`re fueling so much of the anti-American insurgency in Iraq. The rest of the media is finally catching up.

There was a story in the "New York Times" this weekend that made an interesting point, one that should sound a little familiar if you`re a fan of this show.

With a ruthless dictator like Saddam Hussein now out of the way, the Bush administration, according to "The New York Times" is hoping to blunt the influence of Iran`s radical Shiite leaders by encouraging Iraq to be a free Muslim society that doesn`t hate America.

To put it mildly, Iran sees things just a little bit differently, and they`ve got a rare opportunity here. Before 9/11 they were virtually surrounded by Sunni dominated states, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkey.

Now they`re keeping Iraq unstable to sectarian violence and all-out civil war. Iran has strengthened its ties with Syria, built up their Hezbollah militia and now hopes to recalibrate the balance of power in the Middle East. I think they smell our blood in the water.

Essentially, if America goes home, there goes the neighborhood. Iran is war gaming this out figuratively and this week literally.

Joining me now on the phone is Amir Taheri, a columnist for the "New York Post". This guy knows the story better than almost anybody.

Amir, what is the war game about? What message are they trying to send the world this week?

AMIR TAHERI, COLUMNIST, "NEW YORK POST": Well, Glenn, the message is clear. They think that they have to race President Bush out, because they think he`s an atypical American leader, and once he`s out of the way, they can dominate the Middle East and create the nucleus of an Islamic super power that the President Ahmadinejad has spoken about. They think that they have an alternative to offer the whole of mankind and that this is their trump.

BECK: They are -- Putin talked, I think it was last week a little bit about how there needs to be two powers of bipolar structure of power here on the planet. Ahmadinejad really thinks that that secondary power to balance ours is him, doesn`t he?

TAHERI: Yes, absolutely. Because at the moment, you know, Europe is very weak. Russia is very weak. China is busy with its own economic modernization. It doesn`t have any global and political ambitions as yet. That means especially in the Middle East it would have to be provided by the United States or Iran.

And the United States, because of its own domestic policies, so you know, this faction would have to be treated as an opportunity of power and he`s trying to exercise with that.

BECK: OK. So let me pick it up there. We are -- I mean, we`re sending all kinds of signals over to the Middle East that we`re getting ready to leave. If we would leave, does that create a Darfur? Or what exactly does that create with the Sunnis and the Shiites? Because they`ll just go at each other`s throats, will they not?

TAHERI: Not necessarily. Because, you know, if the U.S. leaves, all the U.S. allies in the region will collapse one after another. And the Iranians, with their allies in Syria, the Shiite militants in Saudi Arabia, and Lebanon could dominate the region.

BECK: So, in other words, you say if we leave, Egypt and Saudi Arabia and Pakistan would collapse?

TAHERI: Pakistan would not collapse. But the regions in the Persian Gulf could collapse. And then of course, their countries like Pakistan and Egypt are not strong enough in order to stand up to this new rising power speaking the name of Islam, saying it is the only true region. They have to dominate the whole world. It is very difficult for the Egyptian and the Pakistani regime to continue.

BECK: You know, I haven`t understood this. You know, we said that we didn`t want to force democracy on them and an American style democracy. I haven`t understood this.

But I`ve never trusted Maliki. He -- he actually was in exile for years over in Iran. What are the odds that there are sleepers in the government of Iraq now that come from Iran?

TAHERI: You know, the question for many Iraqis, including people in the Iraqi government, is whether the Americans come (ph) or not. If they don`t come, they will certainly not side with Iran, because they have the utmost contempt for the Iranian regime. The Iraqi Shiites believe that the Iraqi still can become the Shiite dominated power in the region. So they don`t want to be treated under Iran (ph).

But if the Americans run away, who is going to defend them? They will be forced to go to Iran.

BECK: OK.

TAHERI: So everything really goes back to Washington, just like in the old times, all the roads ended in Rome. Everything ends in Washington. If the Americans have the persistence to continue supporting their friends in the Middle East, nobody would make the deals with the Iranians. But very few people would.

But of course, if you are regarded as fickle, as an untrustworthy friend, and so on, you would have to make other arrangements.

BECK: Amir, thank you very much. I appreciate your insight on the -- on the Middle East.

If you`re a fan of the NBC hit TV show, "Heroes", don`t go anywhere. Back in a minute.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: The Oscars are this Sunday, but why wait until then when you can have Glenn give you all the results now?

BECK: And the winner will be -- no, really, I don`t care. No. I mean it. I don`t care.

ANNOUNCER: To watch Glenn`s complete Oscar preview, go to CNN.com/podcasts. Then download Glenn`s podcast, "Sick, Twisted Freak".

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: While we`re here on "Heroes", there`s a new TV show on NBC, breakout hit. It follows a group of regular people who suddenly find themselves out -- find out that they have super powers, like reading minds, stopping time, flying.

Take a sneak peek from tonight`s episode.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAWNY CYPRESS, ACTRESS: You need to go public. Call a press conference. Tell everybody about Peter`s condition.

ADRIAN PASDAR, ACTOR: Who are you going to believe? I can`t believe something can explode and destroy a city.

CYPRESS: Just tell them everything. Future hero, stopping time. Even you. What you all can do is incredible. It`s time people know what`s happening, the truth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: Adrian Pasdar is one of the stars of "Heroes". He plays a bad guy. How are you?

PASDAR: I`m really good.

BECK: I think you`re a bad guy, and don`t tell me a lot about the show. I`m actually a big fan. My wife and I watch it every week. It is - - to be honest with you, I`m afraid -- I just thought of it this week when I watched it. I`m afraid it could turn into "Lost". Can you guys keep this going?

PASDAR: Yes. I think they`ve learned -- the producers have learned a lesson from the frustration that a lot of the audience has felt from "Lost".

BECK: Yes.

PASDAR: When you posit questions, you need to have answers. And we have long arcs, but we also have short story arcs, which do get answered. So you do get rewarded for watching. It`s not like you have to just string you along for an entire season.

BECK: Yes, it is important that it get a little treat.

You know, "24" is like that. You know, I remember the first time I saw the first season of "24". I thought, I mean, can they do that again? And they do. They give you little treats. And the story line changes, et cetera, et cetera.

But this story line is really driven on -- and thank you for this -- New York City being vaporized. I mean, like, we live in New York. We don`t need that fear yet again from another TV show. I`m popping that out every night myself.

What -- what are you going to -- is that going to be solved this season?

PASDAR: Well, you know, it`s a danger a lot of these shows face is crumbling under their own weight.

BECK: Right.

PASDAR: This kind of show is -- and so when you bring up a huge issue like does New York vaporize, you certainly don`t want to answer that by saying yes right away.

BECK: Right.

PASDAR: You have to make that part of the story and drag it out a bit. I can`t give you the answers.

BECK: You know, it`s amazing. I mean, I don`t mean to get so deep into it. But it`s -- I appreciate not only really good writing, good acting, great story line.

But visually, I don`t know if anybody else has noticed this, the rooms are even painted in comic book colors. I mean, they`re very -- all of the sets are just very monochromatic.

PASDAR: Our sets are -- John Ashton and Nate Goodman, our D.P.s, and camera operations and the set people are just so very acutely aware of every tiny little thing. There`s no accidents on our show the way things look.

BECK: Right.

PASDAR: It`s very purposeful.

BECK: You can tell. They do a great job. When you got the script, did you know? Did you realize this is a hit? It`s a risky show.

PASDAR: Yes, it is. But when you get an idea, when you look at a script like this you get a real sense of whether it`s going to be something that`s good or something that`s less than good. And the things that separate those two are the people involved in the writing and the actors. And they went to no -- they spared no expense in getting the best.

BECK: You`re tremendous. The show is great. Please, pass it on to everybody. It`s just great stuff.

PASDAR: Thank you very much.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: All right. Welcome to "The Real Story". NFL refused to run an ad for the U.S. Border Patrol in their Super Bowl program because it was too controversial. Another story I told you about last week, Miller Brewing gave $30,000 to sponsor a pro-illegal immigrant demonstration to avoid boycotts of their beer. And then we had Bank of America expanding a program for people without Social Security numbers to open up checking accounts and obtain credit cards.

What do they all have in common? Money. These companies want that Hispanic market. They are afraid of Hispanic boycotts. And, worst of all, they know you`re not going to do jack about it.

Quite honestly, stories like these are just the very tip of the iceberg. So this week, I`m going to show you the whole thing, or, if you want to appeal to the Hispanic market, let me put it this way: We`re going to show you the whole enchilada.

On Friday, I had told you that I had planned to start naming companies that are selling us out tonight. But the more I thought about it this weekend, I realized that a better first step would be to explain why that`s so important.

The real story tonight is that companies don`t just benefit from selling products to illegal immigrants; they also benefit by using them to create products, as well. Cheap labor means large profits. And, once again, money trumps everything.

But how do these companies get away with it? I mean, if you take away the crack dealers, then there`s no more crack, and people eventually stop coming to your street corner to buy drugs. So why aren`t we just shutting the companies down that supply the crack -- these jobs -- to illegals?

Well, the answer is that the very people who we`re counting on to stop the problems, our weasel politicians, are actually the biggest part of the program. About eight years ago, the government actually decided to get tough on businesses hiring illegal workers, and they performed two major raids.

In the first one, they were targeting farm workers in Georgia. They found 4,000 illegal immigrants. The second one, they raided meat-packing plants in three states and found almost 4,500 more suspected illegal workers. Well, guess what happened next? Onion crops went unpicked; meat- packing plants started to shut down.

The farmers were sitting on a $90 million crop. They used their political power with their representatives, who, in turn, pressured Georgia senders, who then complained to the INS. Well, the raids suddenly stopped.

In Nebraska, which was one of the targeted meat-packing states, Congress was all for the raids. They thought this was great, until the plant started shutting down. Then, according to a former INS official, quote, "all hell broke loose." Lobbyists were hired. The governor formed a task force. And Senator Chuck Hagel complained to the Justice Department. The raids, which were so successful that they were about to be expanded nationally, once again quickly stopped.

In 1999, the government initiated fines against 417 companies for employing illegal immigrants. In 2004, they initiated three. Three.

The reason is clear: Companies buy congressman. Congressmen have power. And power controls policy. If you want to cut out all the middlemen, it`s simple: Companies control policy.

Meanwhile, Bank of America is hoping that this whole controversy goes away. They have zipped their lips. They aren`t talking to anybody. But their silence -- and, quite frankly, I think their arrogance -- is only making things worse.

One of the prominent anti-illegal immigration groups is now organizing a nationwide event called Operation Bankrupt, that will hopefully send a very strong message to Bank of America and their management that people are not going to remain silent and sit on their couches and just watch TV and say, "This is an outrage." People in America are going to fight back.

You can find more information about an event that they are sponsoring. The Web address is at the bottom of your screen.

Really, it`s too bad that I have to spend this time telling you about a boycott so you`ll respond to a company like Bank of America. But their silence at Bank of America leaves no choice, because, unfortunately for them, I don`t believe Americans are going away. And I know I`m not.

Next, with all the people coming here from Mexico, it`s easy to overlook the ones who are going to Mexico. But in the case of Duane "Dog, the Bounty Hunter" Chapman, it`s not exactly a voluntary trip. Reportedly, a Mexican district court has now ruled that the Dog can be extradited to Mexico because of his capture in 2003 of convicted rapist and Max Factor heir Andrew Luster. Apparently that thing was illegal.

Chapman has said he plans to appeal once the court`s ruling is made official. Now, I want you to put aside the fact that Andrew Luster had actually fled to Mexico to avoid his trial and that he was eventually convicted on 87 counts of rape and sentenced to 124-year prison term thanks to the Dog. But the real story is that Chapman`s extradition may actually be a part of a much, much larger, under-the-table agreement between the U.S. and Mexico.

I know, another conspiracy from the nut job on TV. But hear me out on this one, and then make up your own mind, because something just doesn`t add up for me.

The Luster incident happened back in 2003. But the Dog wasn`t arrested by the United States marshals for failing to appear until September 14, 2006, over three years later. Why?

Well, maybe this will explain it: Five days after the arrest, on September 19th, Mexico`s president, for the very first time ever, publicly made a commitment to extradite any drug lord in Mexican custody to the U.S. Wow. Isn`t that a coincidence?

Now, fast forward to last week. On Thursday, the Mexican court approved Dog`s extradition to Mexico. And the very next day, Friday, 11 drug dealers that the U.S. had wanted for years, including one whose cartel allegedly smuggled over four tons of cocaine, a month across our border, finally boarded a plane and landed in Texas to face U.S. justice.

A little pro quo at the highest level of our government, or just another stupid conspiracy theory from the boob on the boob tube?

Brook Hart is the attorney for Duane "Dog" Chapman. Hello, sir. How are you?

BROOK HART, "DOG`S" ATTORNEY: Fine, thank you.

BECK: Tell me, do you buy into the possibility that there is a little quid pro quo happening here?

HART: I haven`t had enough information to tell me that that is so. It`s possible; almost anything`s possible. But we are litigating in Mexico with the idea that justice can be had in Mexico and that the Mexican courts will do the right thing by Duane Chapman by resolving the case that`s pending against him.

BECK: OK. First of all, describe Luster. Tell me about this guy who the Dog went to arrest or to bring back.

HART: Well, Luster was about 38 years old. He lived in the Santa Barbara-Carpinteria area of California, in Ventura County. He would go to the bars, find women of his choice, get them drunk, take them back to his apartment, drug them, and then have sexual relations with them on camera. And during the sexual relations, he`d engage in many acts of impropriety, quite apart from the sex.

BECK: OK. Now, Dog arrested this guy, and he did it with a Mexican police officer with him, because he wanted to make sure that he wasn`t breaking the law, correct?

HART: Well, that`s exactly right. When Dog and Tim and Leland Chapman went to Mexico, they did it to follow the Mexican law. Now, the Mexican law prohibits bounty hunting, which is why they`re charged with deprivation of liberty of Luster. But Dog did it with a Mexican policeman, bringing the policeman with him when they captured Luster on a public street in Puerta Vallarta.

BECK: OK, so what went wrong? How come he`s being charged with this?

HART: Well, unfortunately, the Dog had some bad advice from a Mexican attorney. When the Dog was arrested for depriving Luster of his liberty, Dog was charged with deprivation of liberty, a Mexican crime not unlike false imprisonment in, say, Hawaii and other states.

BECK: And is that a misdemeanor?

HART: It`s interesting. In the United States, it`s a misdemeanor. In Mexico, it could be treated as a misdemeanor. The penalty is six months to four years. So it could also be treated as a felony.

BECK: So I just want to make sure...

HART: In any event, bail was set.

BECK: I just want to make sure I understand this. It`s a misdemeanor here in the United States, so that would be kind of like being an illegal alien in the United States, right? Because isn`t that a misdemeanor?

HART: No, it has -- oh, in terms of the punishment?

BECK: Yes.

HART: If merely being an illegal alien in the United States is a misdemeanor, it would be like that.

BECK: Yes.

HART: But I think that it`s a felony. So you have several federal statutes. We don`t have to go into that now. But it`s a misdemeanor in the United States, but it is a felony or it can be treated as a felony in Mexico. Bail was posted. Dog got the wrong advice. Instead of staying there and dealing with the charge, he left and came back to the United States.

BECK: OK. Brook, when do we hear the final answer on when he has to go back or not?

HART: We won`t hear the final answer probably for weeks. The district court is -- we expect it to rule this week, and then we will appeal to the circuit court. So we`re not approaching anything like an immediate return to Mexico. First, we`re going to trust the Mexican courts to do the right thing, and we very much hope they will.

BECK: Yes.

HART: I know you laugh, Glenn, but we believe that they can do it and that we hope that they will.

BECK: OK. Great, Brook. Thanks a lot. That`s the real story tonight. If you`d like to read more about this or if you`ve found a real story of your own that you`d like to tell us about, please visit glennbeck.com and click on the "Real Story" button. Back in a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: Hola, "Mejiho." I`m glad to see that you`ve gone the extra mile to continue your prosecution of Duane "Dog" Chapman. He is Dog the Bounty Hunter. Dog went down to Mexico to get the serial rapist, Andrew Luster. And he went down there, and apparently old "Mejiho" didn`t appreciate Dog taking the rapist off the street.

I know. I know. Technically, it was illegal. Oh, I`d say, come on, guys, can`t you give us a break on this one? Anyhoo, we`ll try to stop getting rapists off your streets, Mexico, because they`re your streets. We respect you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: No, I mean that, and there`s absolutely no sarcasm there whatsoever.

Switch gears. Britney Spears, not really a stranger to controversy since she strutted into pop culture wearing a Catholic schoolgirl`s uniform. She`s continuing to make headlines with her explicit lyrics, her dance moves, her occasionally bouts with marriage, and her alternative parenting techniques, you know, using your baby as a driver`s side air bag.

Until now, we`ve all kind of just chalked that up to crazy star in Hollywood trying to manage her celebrity status. But last week, it kind of took a turn for the weird.

Wednesday, Britney reportedly checked out of a rehab clinic, 24 hours after entering it. And then Friday, she checked into an L.A. hair salon and shaved her own head while rambling incoherently about her children. In the wake of Anna Nicole Smith and her tragic ending, is anybody around Britney starting to wonder if maybe she`s, you know, not only losing her hair, but also her mind?

Dr. Jeff Gardere, he is a clinical psychologist here in New York. Now, I know you haven`t examined Britney or spoken to Britney. But, I mean, really, in your professional opinion, chicks don`t shave their own heads.

JEFF GARDERE, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: When a woman shaves her head, it`s certainly a symbol, a signal, if you will, that there`s something going on. They want to change their identity. They want to be in control of their lives or in control of their body. So there`s usually something behind it. It`s not just about their losing their hair.

BECK: OK, so, I mean, if she`s trying to change and say, "Hey, you know, look at me, I`m all different," isn`t that, in her case, a little like moving the couch in a burning house?

GARDERE: Well, absolutely, Glenn. I mean, here`s the story. We know that, when she into this salon, she asked for her hair to be shaved. They said, "No, we`re not going to do it," so she decided to do it herself.

And so this tells me, when you look at all of the things that have been going on in her life, a lot of the destructive behaviors, this is someone who really wanted to hurt herself in a way, even if it`s about being angry with her mother, as some people have said, even if it`s about being angry with the world.

The fact is, you just don`t shave your own head when you walk into a salon. She could have done that at home, so she did that in front of a bunch of folks, so here, again, we hear a statement.

BECK: So, Jeff, what is the rehab thing? Everybody is going into rehab now. She was in for 24 hours. What`s that about?

GARDERE: Well, no one goes into rehab for just 24 hours unless they have an addiction to an aspirin. The bottom line is, you can`t just go into rehab and come out. And we don`t know what she`s being treated for, alcohol, drugs, who knows?

But you know, Glenn, that it`s not about just going in and coming right back out. It tells me perhaps she was not ready for this intervention and so acted out in the way that she did. She`s not stable emotionally. We see that.

BECK: When she was shaving her head, she was muttering about, "I know they`re going to come and take my kids. You know, I know they`re going to take my kids." Do you read anything into that? Why would she be saying that?

I mean, it sounds like -- I mean, the whole thing just sounds -- I feel the same way about Anna Nicole. We all laugh about it. We`re all like, "Hey, look at the freak." But isn`t there something a lot deeper here?

GARDERE: Well, I think so. And it seems like we haven`t learned our lesson from Anna Nicole. Certainly all of the things that she was doing, people stayed back, people enabled her to do what she did. And I hope people don`t make the same mistake here.

Yes, Britney is doing a little bit better today. Yes, she hung out a little bit after. But the fact is, when you look at all of these very destructive behaviors, one after another, muttering, what you said, "Oh, I`m going to lose my kids," is it over the divorce? Is it because she really screwed up once again?

Hey, folks, wake up. She needs help. Get it for her right now.

BECK: OK, so what do you do? If you`re a friend of Britney Spears, what do you do? How do you help her?

GARDERE: You do basically what her family has done. The mother has flown in to be by her side. It`s really about pulling her out of the media, getting her some respite, some clinical respite, getting back into rehab, and taking care of what she didn`t take care of before, but just giving her some time away from the public, and analyzing what`s happening, and finding out how to get this train wreck right back on the tracks before she completely destroys her career, her life, and that of her children.

BECK: Jeff, always a pleasure to have you on. Thank you very much.

GARDERE: My pleasure, Glenn. Thank you.

BECK: You bet.

Quick programming note. For complete coverage of Anna Nicole Smith`s hearings -- can anybody say O.J.? -- tune in right here, starting tomorrow on Headline News, at 9:30 a.m. Eastern.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: All right. Welcome to President`s Day e-mail. Now, some know President`s Day is a federal holiday, and they have it off, meaning they don`t work. They just stay at home and relax, play with their kids. Yes, some people get to do that. Not us here on the set. No, no, no.

But I give you this pledge, that I`m going to give you the sort of effort that makes you wish I would have stayed home. And that`s my promise to you.

Renee in North Carolina writes in, "Mr. Beck, do you think there will ever be a politician that will concentrate on important issues and not on what type of hidden trash they can find on opposing candidates?"

You know, that is a really good question on President`s Day. And, of course, the answer is no, not a chance. Nope.

Al in Houston writes, "Glenn, for President`s Day, can you tell me who the worst presidents of all time are?"

Yes, well, you know what? Good question. The key to finding out who the bad presidents are is -- well, you have to check and see if they have any car sales events named after them. You know, there`s always the Washington and Lincoln birthday sales event, but you`ve never really heard a James Buchanan or John Tyler`s Birthday Saleabration, have you? No.

But as far as the worst president of all time, it`s got to go to a guy who is always mentioned, Herbert Hoover. He`s remembered solely in insults now against other presidents. For instance, "This president`s economy is as bad as everyone since Herbert Hoover."

Then there was James Buchanan who did basically nothing to prevent the Civil War. You`d think that would be one you wouldn`t want to avoid. And, of course, you`ve got to throw in William Henry Harrison, who lasted only - - I think it was 30 days before he died of pneumonia.

So I put them all in the bottom five. And then, for the last two, I`d make both of them Jimmy Carter, but that`s just me.

By the way, I also wanted to take a moment to acknowledge a house that I pass on my way home in my neighborhood every night. It`s gone way above and beyond the call of duty for President`s Day. I took a snapshot of it. Yes, there they are, decorating their house with lights in the trees, just beautiful.

You know, I don`t know if you can see this, but they also have a beautiful President`s Day tree up in the front room. I mean, I`m sure it`s not that these people still haven`t taken their Christmas decorations down, right? I mean, there`s no possible way that that`s happening, is there? Obviously, there has to be some explanation other than that.

Of course, it`s because they`re remembering the one and only Millard Fillmore.

All of you Herbert Hoover apologists can send me your hate mail now at GlennBeck@CNN.com. We`ll see you back here tomorrow, you sick, twisted freak.

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