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Glenn Beck

Al Gore Wins Oscar; Iranian General Captured in Iraq; Store Owns Fights Back after Racist Attack

Aired February 26, 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: Oh, my gosh, have you heard? Al Gore has won an Oscar. Who would have seen that coming? Now he`s building an army of Hollywood liberals. Is he going to make a run for the White House?
Plus, the U.S. has arrested an Iranian general in Iraq. We`ll have details on that and a lot more, next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Tonight`s episode is brought to you by Glenn Beck`s Oscar Nausea Tonic. If the Academy Awards made you want to puke your guts out, try Glenn Beck`s Oscar Nausea Tonic, now available in new mango flavor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: Where do I even begin? Last night`s Academy Awards so thrilled of incredibly annoying moments. Celine Dion sang. Ellen wore the same red velvet tuxedo that I think I wore to my prom. But there was one moment that was above all really the moment that just made me shoot blood right directly out of my eyes all over my TV set. It was Al Gore, Oscar in hand.

Here`s the point tonight. Al has conquered Hollywood, but he`s building an army of crappy actors, doped up starlets and former Deaniacs, I believe, to help him take the White House maybe next year or in 12 -- 2012.

Here`s how I got there. Was anybody even remotely surprised that "An Inconvenient Truth" won the Oscar for best documentary last night? I mean, I wasn`t at all. I was surprised that it was in the documentary category, since it could have been put into the fiction category.

Let me make it clear. Robert Kennedy,, Jr., I`m not saying climate change isn`t real. I`m just wondering if we`re causing it and if we can solve it without resorting to global socialism.

Anywho, here`s the good news. Al has also been nominated for a Nobel Prize. Gee, I wonder what the odds are that he`ll win that one, too?

At the Oscars last night, Al Gore, you know, he did a little bit with Leonardo DiCaprio about global warming. Not really a good actor, I noticed last night. Leo, on the other hand, is a good actor, and he doesn`t make me want to vomit.

I believe Leonardo DiCaprio actually believes this stuff about global climate change. For one, he doesn`t fly on a private jet, and he drives a Prius. Now, his hair gel might be doing unspeakable damage to the ozone layer. I`m not really sure. But, he seems to practice what he preaches.

Al Gore, not so much. You know, "An Inconvenient Truth", part of it is filmed on a jet with the engines running. And in anther part, he`s giving a tour in brand new Lincoln town car with all of its horrible emissions. Al, you can`t drive the electric car just for the movie?

The thing is, if Al Gore had made a documentary on the mating habits of the common Rocky Mountain badger, I think he still would have won. Hollywood was dying to give this guy an award. The crowd erupted at Ellen De Generes`s joke of Al getting the most votes in 2000.

This was a way for Hollywood to send the message, "Al, we love you and the liberal Democrats. We always have. And we`ll follow you anywhere you go."

You know, after the 2000 election, Al Gore, I don`t mean to be unkind, because I`ve been there, Al, but you looked like you were, you know, on the doughnuts and Jack Daniels diet. Got all puffy, grew the beard.

I think, and this is just a guess, that Tipper finally told him, good heavens, man. Have some self respect. Shave and get a hobby. So he devoted his time to global warming. This is something he`s cared about for 30 years. He made a movie. And now he`s the golden child of the left.

All of the Deaniacs who were disenchanted by the "I have a scream" speech and were left in Nowheresville were hungry for a leader, and they flocked to Al Gore.

Then, last night, his movie wins an Oscar. And almost by accident, Al Gore finds himself in the center of attention, the man of the hour, the man with a plan, the crusader. And maybe, just maybe, the next president of the United States, who will heal the planet and save humanity, at least in his own mind.

Here`s what I know tonight. If the rest of the Democratic candidates implode, look for Al Gore to step in and make a real run. He`ll have a strong financial base that will be very, very, very young, due to his environmental message.

Plus, it will lean so heavily to the left that he`ll make Barack Obama look like Barry Goldwater. If he doesn`t run in `08, look for him to run in 2012. He has a constituency now. And even though he didn`t plan it, he`s now found himself in the middle of the campaign.

Here`s what I don`t know. Are there enough extreme liberals in the Vatican to canonize him Saint Al? Because after all, that`s all that`s left.

Mike Allen from the "Politico". Al Gore, do you think he`s going to run in `08?

MIKE ALLEN, "POLITICO": Glenn, I think I`d like to have some of that Oscar tonic that you`ve been drinking, because it`s...

BECK: Now in new mango flavor.

ALLEN: Right, exactly. I know that you are so excited by this. This is like Christmas in February for you.

BECK: No, you know what? I think Al Gore was the only one there that didn`t have butterflies in his stomach. Anybody who says, "My gosh, I`m shocked" -- you knew he was going to win.

ALLEN: The butterfly is an endangered species. I think you should be a little more sensitive with your analogies.

BECK: Right. So are you going to answer the question: do you think he`s going to run?

ALLEN: Yes. I think your assessment is very astute, that he is not now. There`s no authorized draft committee. There are no plans. There`s no discussion of a campaign.

But if there is a vacuum, if Senator Clinton and Senator Obama eat each other up, if there is an opening, I can absolutely imagine the vice president going in.

BECK: Right.

ALLEN: His people tell me that he could enter as late as September or October and still get the nomination. He`s so well-known he would raise money quickly. He had save the money from six months of campaigning. So he`s in a can`t lose position. With all this attention, he can sell a lot of bucks, sell a lot of movie tickets to you and your friends.

BECK: I would buy them up like crazy, by the dozens. Mike, I don`t think this guy planned it. I don`t want to make it sound nefarious. I really think that it`s almost a symptom of where we are as a society. We are looking for someone who actually believes in something. And I think he believes in this, and it`s connected on a genuine level and people started following him.

And now he`s found himself in a place where he`s like, holy cow, I`m cool all of a sudden?

ALLEN: Yes, well he probably doesn`t appreciate the holy cow references.

BECK: Let me make the fat jokes, will you? Geez.

ALLEN: But I think, no, I think that`s a very good point. I think the vice president has transcended the sort of Rodney Dangerfield of American politics role that he had.

Even his staff told me that in 2004 they were thinking, hell no. But now they think that he has found a following for this issue. He pursued it when it was kind of a lonely issue. Now it`s hot. Who would think that Al Gore was hot or cool or whatever he is. Now they even said that when they make the movie about him, the other movie about him, that he should be played by William Hung.

BECK: Oh, my.

ALLEN: Glenn, that`s the guy from "American Idol".

BECK: No, I know. I know.

Last night I was watching it, and I had a problem. My thought was, these guys are -- these Hollywood people, they`re such phonies. They`re all just, oh, we love you. I mean, they don`t -- they would have never thought about him running again.

And I really, truly believe it is this global warming thing is the Vietnam cause for the `60s generation. You know?

ALLEN: Come on. Even the president is now talking about climate change. He can`t bring himself to call it global warming. But even BP, the oil company, is now talking about climate change.

BECK: But I believe that this is the flower power cause. You know, the war, I don`t think, really connected. It connected with the Vietnam generation, but it didn`t really connect on a grass roots level on the colleges as much as global warming has or climate change. This is the cause that connects with the younger generation in college.

ALLEN: Well, of course, if it`s true. It`s not a bad cause, right?

BECK: Right, absolutely.

ALLEN: But in the spirit of Hollywood, maybe we should have, like, a bracelet or a pinpoint. What color do you think our global warming bracelets and pins should be?

BECK: It would be green.

ALLEN: That one is taken. High minded (ph) causes.

BECK: I actually thought of this. I`m watching it last night and I thought nobody is wearing ribbons. When did ribbons go out? Do you remember when...

ALLEN: Everybody in bracelets. I saw the bracelets.

BECK: Really?

ALLEN: Strapless -- strapless gowns but then the bracelets.

BECK: So is there a way to not believe, because this is really where I`m starting to lean on this global warming thing. Because I believe that climate change is happening, but I am starting to see it really as a Trojan horse for socialism. Al Gore really would make Barry Goldwater -- I mean, make Obama look like Barry Goldwater, don`t you think?

ALLEN: Who knows about that? But the vice president is going to be in the spotlight. He has a -- you remember, I know, another one of your favorite causes, Live Aid. We have Earth Aid coming up on July 7. Mark your calendar.

And he`s got a book out in May. And in March, he will be testifying on the Hill. So we can have a lot of fun then.

BECK: We`re looking forward to it. Mike, thanks a lot.

ALLEN: Have a good week, Glenn (ph).

BECK: You bet.

U.S. officials confirmed that they have arrested now an Iranian general in Iraq. What was he doing there? We`ll have the answer for you next.

Plus, bad weather continues to ground flights. I`ll tell you how the feds actually played a huge role in that JetBlue nightmare last week in "The Real Story".

And we`re joined by an ex-president. Gregory Itzin from "24" returns to tell us about his new role on TV`s most exciting show, "24".

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Now for weeks the Bush administration has said that Iranian special forces are believed to be supplying weapons to insurgents targeting and killing our soldiers in Iraq. Today they`re backing it up with some pretty big news.

U.S. officials have confirmed what has already been rumored in the news circles for a while. One of the Iranian operatives they caught last December was a brigadier general -- this is the No. 3 ranking officer -- in the Iranian Al Qods force. I`ll define that for you here in a second.

Let me repeat this. The United States has arrested an Iranian special force brigadier general inside Iraq. Bold move to say the least.

President Bush blames the Al Qods, the paramilitary arm of Iran`s Revolutionary Guards, for meddling in security situations in Iraq. Seems like he may be taking the gloves off now and is backing up tough talk with action. But what action is it, and how bad does it get from here?

Joining me now is retired General David Grange. He`s a military analyst, and Alireza Jafarzadeh. He is the author of "Iran Threat: President Ahmadinejad and the Coming Nuclear Crisis".

General, let me start with you. If this isn`t an act of war, what is an act of war?

GEN. DAVID GRANGE (RET.), U.S. ARMY: Well, it`s obvious that the special forces general from the Qods force is not there to coordinate, I think, any kind of domestic policy or reconstruction work. He`s there to advise on training, to move weaponry, ammunitions to be used against Americans or other threats that they identify.

BECK: I don`t see a happy ending on going into Iran or fighting a war with Iran. What -- how should we react to this?

GRANGE: Well, I believe that what`s happening right now -- in fact, it`s been going on for some time, it`s increased offensive operations to identify and target to capture or actually eliminate, if necessary, any illegal influence by Iran on the movement of Iraq to become -- you know, finish its free democratic governance type mission.

And they, maybe not directly kill Americans, but they provide a means to help kill Americans, both actually with any sect. It could be Shia or it could be Sunni. Many disagree with that. But, again, they provide -- they`re providing these type of munitions or weapons against Americans.

BECK: Alireza, what exactly is the Qods force? These are the nasty ones, aren`t they?

ALIREZA JAFARZADEH, MILITARY ANALYST: Glenn, Qods force is the most elite and the deadliest, nastiest force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, known as the red guards (ph). They were formed in the early `90s. They do nothing but terrorism. They`re heavily involved in Iraq. In fact, everything the Iranian regime force does in Iraq goes through the Qods force.

And they`ve been involved in Lebanon. They`ve been heavily involved in a number of major terrorist attacks, including the Khobar Tower bombing in Saudi Arabia and the Jushamin (ph) Center bombing in Argentina.

Right now the Qods force operatives are heavily involved all over the country, sending weapons, explosives, money, training. And the headquarters of the Qods force in Tehran also has a logistical base in -- near the border that monitors every activity.

And they`re on a constant day to day communication with their network inside Iraq that, by the way, operates under different covers. You know, they cover under benign looking front organizations in Najaf, in Karbala, down south in Qut and al-Amar and Basra. And they are the deadliest force, and they need to be confronted.

BECK: OK. You guys both are talking about these guys, that they`re involved in all kinds of things. And Iraq needs to be left to do, you know, the things they need to do to be a strong country.

Let me tell you something: there was a story in the "New York Times" that I read this weekend that puzzled me. And it was a story about how our guards caught somebody. He is the son of a top Shiite leader, political leader in Iraq. This man`s son was crossing back into Iraq when U.S. guards caught him. And it caused all -- just a political nightmare over the weekend for the guy.

This is why it makes sense that this now, this Iranian general is announced. We caught him in December. The reason why I think we captured this son and didn`t let him go is because we caught the general in that Shiite leader`s house in Iraq, the father`s house. He was spending time with this general.

I have a feeling we`re going to find that there are members of this parliament in Iraq that are in cahoots with Iran. Am I wrong? Is this nuts?

JAFARZADEH: Well, absolutely you`re correct, Glenn. In fact, I`m getting a lot of information from my sources inside Iran, sources associated with the main opposition, that revealed all the main nuclear sites of Iran, you know, the NCRI.

They suggest that right now there are at least 32,000 Iranian agents. I`m talking about Iraqis on the payroll of Tehran. Some of them actually sit on the Iranian parliament. And there are members of the security forces. There are members of the Tehran ministry, various ministries in the country there that really are running the whole operation. That needs to be stopped.

BECK: I`m almost out of time. General, one more thought from you. What is the thing that you look for, and what keeps you up at night when you say, "Oh, geez, I just hope this doesn`t happen?" Is there anything?

GRANGE: Well, yes, of course. One thing here on the Iraq piece. Right now American soldiers are dying because of this influence. If you look at the three things that would keep you up about this region of the world, three of them are really -- all three of them are produced by Iran.

One, Iran becomes a nuclear weaponry type power.

No. 2, their support of terrorism around the world, especially with Hamas, Hezbollah and others. And really, right now the close target, the thing that`s affecting us right now, is their influence in killing Americans and keeping Iraq from transitioning into the way we`re trying to get it to go to be successful.

BECK: OK. General, Alireza, thank you very much.

A quick programming note, there is a report that has come out today that New York City police are worried about attacks by Iranian sleeper agents here in the city. Tomorrow we`ll take a closer look at that closely.

Now we`ll do a segment we call "Missed by the Media". I want to show you a clip that ran on Channel 1 in Iran about two weeks ago. But in this country, you`re only going to see it here.

This is the Ayatollah Ahmed Janatee (ph). He`s the secretary of the Iranian Guardian Council. He had some frightening things to say about the war in Iraq. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (speaking foreign language)

GRAPHIC: Who told you the Americans will attack us? The Americans are stuck up to their knees in mud and filth in Iraq and cannot get out of it. They are stuck there, and are at a loss. Everybody has complaints about them, both within America and outside it. The entire world hates them because of their aggression towards the Iraqi people. How will they dare show up here?

Once they were beyond our firing range. Today the Americans are within our firing range.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: All right. When you own a 24-hour deli, chances are you get your fair share of dopes coming through the doors. But in Seattle two people took it way too far. They went on an alcohol and hate-fueled racist rampage against the store owner, Steven Saleh.

He is -- was standing there. He refuses to sell them a six pack of beer. He was being harassed for being Muslim. But then he fought back.

Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Go back to your own country, (expletive deleted) Arabian. Nobody wants you (expletive deleted), you piece of (expletive deleted).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: Classy customers. Now these customers are facing hate crime charges, and Saleh is back to work at his deli.

Steven, thanks for joining us.

STEVEN SALEH, STORE OWNER: Thank you.

BECK: Do you get this kind of treatment very often in Seattle?

SALEH: We`ve had it.

BECK: Have you really?

SALEH: Not as bad, though.

BECK: What have you -- what have you faced? Seattle is my hometown. There`s always been -- I mean, there`s a lot of people there just water logged. But generally speaking, it used to be a really tolerant, nice town.

SALEH: And it still is. That`s the first time that we`ve been physically attacked. We`ve been called names in previous incidents.

BECK: Where are you from originally?

SALEH: From Yemen.

BECK: And it`s beautiful, I hear, especially this time of year.

SALEH: It`s hot.

BECK: Are you a U.S. citizen now?

SALEH: Yes, I am.

BECK: Why did you come here?

SALEH: My dad sponsored us in the early `80s.

BECK: And what is it -- what is it that you have found here that you couldn`t find in Yemen?

SALEH: The opportunity to start a business and probably live a good life.

BECK: Yes.

SALEH: And also be next to my dad.

BECK: So how does it feel -- you`ve been a citizen for how long?

SALEH: Fifteen -- 15 years.

BECK: How does it feel to be -- to have somebody come up to you and say, "Go back to your country. You`re not American. We don`t want you here."

SALEH: Hurt and disappointed. We`re all Americans. We all immigrated, you know, to this country, whether 10 years or 100 years. But we are all American. No one is better.

BECK: What should happen to these people?

SALEH: Well, I think they should be taught a lesson. I mean, they broke the law, and they should be put in jail. They are in jail right now, as far as I know.

But they should be taught a lesson, that if you go to someone`s business or someone`s property and physically and verbally attack them because of their race, their religion or whatever, they should be taught a lesson.

BECK: You are a Muslim. How did you feel on September 11 as an American?

SALEH: Awful. Innocent people died. And I -- violence is violence.

BECK: Do you -- see, maybe I`m a different kind of guy. Do you ever think, man, I mean, bigots are just so stupid, because if you just get to know people you can hate them for real reasons?

SALEH: Well, certainly bigots and racists are stupid.

BECK: Yes. I mean, all you have to do is get to know somebody for a while, and you`ll find somebody to -- something to dislike about them.

Steven, thank you very much. I appreciate it. I`m sorry that you had to face that in Seattle.

SALEH: Thanks for having me.

BECK: You bet.

"Titanic" director James Cameron has rocked the religious world. He is claiming now he has found the tomb of Jesus, and Jesus was inside. You don`t want to miss this. Stick around. It`s coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: All right, welcome to tonight`s "Real Story."

JetBlue Airlines has made headlines all over the country with their Valentine`s Day hardship, when they had to cancel hundreds of flights and some passengers were stranded on their planes for up to 10 hours. But "The Real Story" is that JetBlue was as much as a victim in the ordeal as anyone else.

Full disclosure here. Dave Neeleman is the CEO of JetBlue, and he`s a very good friend of mine. He was on the show the day after JetBlue`s Valentine`s Day crisis. But even if Dave wasn`t a friend, I`d be doing this story anyway, because JetBlue was just one of the airlines that was unfairly blamed for the problems at JFK.

Look, we can all agree that air travel is a pain in the neck. Even at its best, security is a hassle. They`re not serving peanuts anymore. I usually end up getting stuck in the middle seat somewhere between a fat guy and an ADD-riddled 7-year-old, which is especially horrible, since I have ADD myself, riddled with it. And then there are the lovely delays.

Now, there are plenty of times when it is the airlines` fault and they should be held accountable. But it`s beginning to look like this wasn`t one of those times. It was a lot more than just a little snow and ice storm that doomed JetBlue to their cold day in Hell.

Just like you and me, the air traffic officials at New York`s JFK airport check the weather forecast and they plan ahead. Do you remember that "I Love Lucy" episode where Lucy can`t keep up the candy conveyor belt and the whole operation starts to fall apart? Well, if airport officials don`t keep track of every possible detail, especially the weather, the same thing would happen, only, instead of candy, you`d see a major pileup of hundreds of planes that, you know, flying in and out of JFK each and every day, and we`d be on one of them.

But on February 13th, that`s exactly what happened. A huge nor`easter was getting ready to dump snow, hail, and ice all over the New York City area. FAA officials in Virginia rejected JFK`s request to switch to a winter storm plan. The command center ordered one of the world`s busiest airports to operate as though it was business as usual. And it started to snow and hail, and the temperature dropped. Planes landed and couldn`t be deiced in time. And then the outgoing flights started getting cancelled by the dozens.

JFK`s runways turned into parking lots and passengers got screwed, just like the JetBlue officials who tried to avoid that very thing from happening by trying to act early. Now, acting early is exactly what they did today, and they`re still getting hammered for it in the media.

It started snowing again here in New York last night, and JetBlue responded by canceling the necessary flights so the whole domino effect didn`t happen again. A cancelled flight isn`t fun, but it`s a whole lot better than sitting on that runway for hours.

Now, to all those upset JetBlue customers and the FAA in Virginia, like it or not, that`s the inconvenient truth.

Anyone who got dragged to see "Titanic" or was subjected to repeated playings of that Celine Dion song that just made you beg for death and would never go away, while you`re moron friends kept shouting, "I`m the kind of the world" every time they found a good parking spot, you probably suspect what I`ve believed for years. Only a fierce of pure evil could have directed that film, oh, yes, perhaps even the anti-Christ.

Well, "The Real Story" tonight is that many people believe that James Cameron officially has tossed his hat in the ring today and is officially running for anti-Christ. It seems that the director of "Titanic," "Aliens," and "Piranha Part II: The Spawning," has a new project, "The Lost Tomb of Jesus," a documentary that claims the resurrection of Jesus never happened and that old Jim has found the coffins of Jesus and the whole Jesus family.

Here`s Cameron from this afternoon`s press conference.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES CAMERON, DIRECTOR: The simple fact is that there`s never been a shred of physical, archeological evidence to support that fact until right now. What this film and the investigation that the film shows is able to bring to light is, for the first time, tangible, physical, archeological, and, in some cases, forensic evidence, forensic evidence that can be analyzed scientifically in the same manner that one would in a criminal investigation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: James, quick question: Did you have to dress in all black for this? Just saying, not a good wardrobe choice.

Second thing, a criminal investigation? Really, Jim? Great, just what we need, "CSI: Jerusalem," only if this were "CSI," you`d be a hot chick.

Now, by asserting that Jesus wasn`t resurrected, James Cameron is boldly stating that the basis for one of the world`s largest religions is false. But what strikes me even more offensive is that this insult would be intolerable if it was said about any other religion. Can you imagine the firestorm if James Cameron would have said that, you know, I don`t know, the foundation of Buddhism was false? Can you imagine Richard Gere all hacked off? Or Islam?

Why is it that Christians are still fair game? The only group where repeated, vicious attacks are allowed. Write a best-selling book like "The Da Vinci Code" and you make millions of dollars. Publish a political cartoon about Muhammad and the world stops turning, as Muslims take to the streets, crying discrimination and intolerance.

There is a double standard in the world today. Treat Christians one way, but Heaven help you if you try that with anybody else`s religion.

So let me say what in today`s mainstream media is unsayable: I believe that Jesus is the messiah. He was resurrected, and that he is the son of God.

Now, what makes that so politically incorrect, to make a statement like that on national television? Oh, the horror of it all. I`m not ashamed of it. And I have to wonder: Why is it that, if I assert my faith in Jesus, it is such a volatile statement, yet you can be a Wiccan or worship any dime-store guru that you want, and the rest of us in the country are supposed to champion your freedom of religion? Shouldn`t it go both ways?

Joining me now is William Donohue. He is the president of the Catholic League.

Bill, this story today really isn`t a new one, is it? This tomb has been around for a long time.

WILLIAM DONOHUE, PRESIDENT, CATHOLIC LEAGUE: As a matter of fact, the BBC did a story about this back in 1996, and it was shown to be a fraud. As a matter of fact, this Professor Kloner, who was the one who back in 1980 who looked at this ossuary came out and said that there`s no evidence what Cameron and his friends are purporting to be is true. He said it`s impossible, it`s nonsense. So how come the archeologist who is the closest to the evidence is dismissing this?

Beyond that, in 2002, the Discovery Channel -- not exactly a disinterested partner in this, they`re the one putting it on next Sunday -- back in 2002, they said there was this ossuary of James, you know. And an Israeli panel of 15 experts looked at it, as well as people from Harvard in Tel Aviv University. They said it was all a forgery. In fact, there`s a trial going on right now about this. Who believes it? Sinka (ph), the guy who works with James Cameron.

Now, look, every single Lenten season this happens. Somebody is trying to -- trying to say, "Listen, I wonder if Jesus really was the son of God. I wonder if there really was a resurrection."

It`s the only religion that I know of that is put under this kind of microscopic scrutiny, and people are just puncturing kind of, you know, little seeds of doubt here and there, when in fact they don`t have any scientific evidence in the first place. They`re simply saying, "What if this were true? And then this were true? And then this were true, then could it be true?" I mean, come on.

BECK: You know, I was just in church this Sunday. And I teach a class on Sundays in my church. And, you know, I said -- we were talking about faith and what faith really means. I think this kind of stuff actually is a blessing to us, because it makes us reexamine what we believe and why we believe it. Isn`t this kind of stuff, in a way, in a way, good for people who believe in Jesus?

DONOHUE: Oh, I think it is, because I think more and more Christians need to become more attuned to the historical truth and to read the scriptures. My only objection -- I`m not objecting to, by the way, to the idea that maybe we should pursue this.

No, I want them to pursue it. Use all scientific evidence. I`m a social scientist, not a natural scientist, and I`m certainly not an archeologist, but I do believe in empirical evidence. I think we should look at it.

My only problem is this, Glenn, and you mentioned it at the beginning. Why is it that, you know, other religions aren`t held to the same degree of scrutiny? And after a while, a pattern begins to emerge, year after year after year after year. And you begin to say, you know, you guys have been in the business of trying to undermine the truth of Christianity for a long time. You`ve tried every little thing in the book to try and do it, and now we`re back, now with the biggest titanic fraud of them all.

BECK: Bill, you know, I`ve talked to -- I`m sure you know who Dominic Crossan is. He doesn`t believe in the resurrection, either. This guy is off the -- I think off-the-charts crazy.

DONOHUE: Yes, he`s part of that Jesus Seminar group.

BECK: Absolutely. Wait, wait, wait. Hang on. There`s a lot of people that are now believing that, you know, through "The Da Vinci Code" and everything else, that the resurrection isn`t important. Tell me why it is.

DONOHUE: Well, it`s essential teaching. If you look at the Nicene creed and you say, you know, Christ died for our sins and was resurrected and ascended into Heaven three days later, I mean, it`s the essential core of our belief.

And let me tell you something. Cameron and his friends, they know about this. They know what the core beliefs of Christianity are.

And I`m not saying that they go in there with a malicious motive. I am simply saying this: How come every single Lenten season Christians have to be treated to one more round of doubt, coming from people who don`t believe in anything in the first place?

BECK: All right, Bill, thank you very much. And I will have to tell you that it was a sick pleasure seeing you and Cameron in the makeup chair side by side. And we hope to get the other side of the story on radio tomorrow from James Cameron. Thank you very much, Bill.

If you`d like to read more about this or if you found a story of your own you`d like to tell us about, please visit glennbeck.com and click on the "Real Story" button. Back in a minute.

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BECK: Vegetarianism is the future. Rearing cattle produces more greenhouse gases than driving cars, says the U.N. Smarter production methods, including improved animal diets to reduce cow farts is urgently needed, according to the United Nations. Livestock, one of the most significant contributors to today`s most serious environmental problems.

I thought it was the circle of life. Oh, I hate this. Man, man making the cows have too many cow babies. That`s what it is.

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BECK: If you`re a fan of the hit TV show "24," then you know one of the creepiest presidents this side of Jimmy Carter has made a shocking return. Here is a look.

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GREGORY ITZIN, ACTOR, "24": I`m your best chance to get the information you need in the time frame you need it.

KIEFER SUTHERLAND, ACTOR, "24": What are you proposing?

ITZIN: That I speak to Markof (ph) myself in person.

SUTHERLAND: Why would Markof talk to you?

ITZIN: Because I have leverage. Markof was involved in the conspiracy that put me where I am today. I didn`t give him up, but he knows I still can.

SUTHERLAND: I don`t trust you.

ITZIN: If you want to find Gredenko, maybe it`s time you started.

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BECK: Don`t do it, Jack. Don`t do it. He`s evil. Former President Logan, AKA Emmy-nominee Gregory Itzin, shocking return to my favorite show. Good to see you again, sir.

ITZIN: Thank you, Glenn. I`m sorry that I can`t see you.

BECK: I know. Well, you don`t really mean that.

ITZIN: No, I do. I do. I`d love to be right there present so I could every nuance and turn of your head.

BECK: I know. All right. So, really, shocked last week when you showed up, and you had the beard going for you and everything, which tells me that you`re not with a beard today, which means you`re not on for very long in the show.

ITZIN: I`m on for a bit, not long enough for me, and hopefully not long enough for the fans, but I think we make a nice, little impression while I`m there.

BECK: Jean come back, Jean Smart, your wife...

ITZIN: My lovely wife, Jean, does come back, yes, indeed.

BECK: You shouldn`t tell us this thing. This is a test.

ITZIN: Actually, no, no, I`m telling you everything that I have read in the press. And if you`re really good, maybe a little bit more.

BECK: Really, OK. So when you came back, did you have to mentally -- or did the writers tell you this -- do you kind of mentally go through what your character had been doing since we last saw you?

ITZIN: I have to make up a certain amount of story, because, as you know, "24" is not about back story. It`s all about now. So for me, personally, I asked if I could have as much of the season as they had already shot, and so I think I make my appearance in episode 10, which is what last week was, so they shot me the DVDs for one through six, and I watched what was going on and read the scripts for everything after that.

And then I sort of thought about what it was I had been going through, because I have to make up how I am and everything else. And part of it, though -- my whole coming back and everything else was a plan that we had sort of hatched over the summer. We had talked about it.

They said, "We want you to come back. How are we going to do it?" And I thought -- I was thinking actually about ex-Vice President Gore and how after he lost the election he went away and grew that beard.

BECK: I wondered if that -- if he was your muse on that.

ITZIN: Yes, I was referencing that thing a little bit. He goes away, licks his wounds, and tries to figure out what`s going on in his life.

BECK: And then destroys us all, at least in your case.

ITZIN: OK.

BECK: So Kiefer is coming to our neck of the woods with West Point.

ITZIN: Yes, I heard about this.

BECK: Do you really think America is this stupid that we need these things? I mean, right now, there`s this big thing going on -- because America cheers every time Jack shoots somebody in the leg and, you know, takes a lamp cord and, you know, straps it to somebody`s nipples.

I don`t think America really -- I mean, America hopes that, if we`re in a bombing situation and a nuke is about to go off, you shoot him in the leg if you`ve got 45 seconds. Don`t you think most people know that we shouldn`t torture people?

ITZIN: I would hope so, Glenn. There`s a lot of anger and fear, though, you know, and that`s what you said happens does happen, that people go, "Yeah, Jack!" But hopefully we all know that this is a TV show and it`s a fantasy and et cetera.

But, I mean, I think one of your people asked me how I felt about that. If, indeed, there is a nuke, and it`s going to go off today, and you have somebody with information about it, don`t you want that information? I mean, I don`t know that it`s successful, you know. The military says it`s not.

BECK: In these situations, they`re always down to, you know, an hour away from the nuke.

ITZIN: Yes.

BECK: It`s not like, "Oh, well, let`s trying something else." I mean, you have an hour.

ITZIN: I would think that hopefully humanity or the American people would think, "Let`s stay away from torture if we possibly can."

BECK: Absolutely. You know, the other thing is, you know, last year, the Muslims were complaining, and, you know, there was a lesson to be learned in that. And then this year the torture, and the lesson to be learned in that.

ITZIN: Complaining about "24"?

BECK: Yes. Do you really think that there`s -- do you think "24" loses in these scenarios by any stretch of the imagination? When somebody complains against them, they just must be thrilled.

ITZIN: You know...

BECK: Try to answer that without a smile on your face.

ITZIN: Well, I think being, you know, morally responsible human beings, they go, "Yes," and they nod and say, "I understand your point," and, "Oh, we hadn`t thought of that," or, "If we have, we think about this as a TV show."

And then my guess is they go off behind closed doors and go, "Yes!" I mean, part of their job is to rattle the cage, isn`t it? I mean, that`s what makes this show successful is that you don`t know what`s coming next.

BECK: Gregory Itzin, always a pleasure. You were on our first show, and coincidentally here you are on our last show. No, I`m kidding.

ITZIN: I`m thinking something I didn`t know about. Glenn...

BECK: Appreciate it, sir.

ITZIN: Thank you, sir.

BECK: We`ll be back in just a minute.

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BECK: So Al Gore was the belle of the ball last night, wasn`t he? Let me ask you this: Does global warming cause weight gain? I`m just saying. Because if it does, I now have an excuse, you know, for my weight gain for my wife.

Al Gore went on stage with Leonardo DiCaprio to tell us that the Oscars had gone green. Now, in case you`re like me and you don`t know what that means, I looked it up. Basically, what it means is people from Hollywood take private jets to the airport, then take regular limos from the airport to their hotels, but then they take hybrids from the hotel to the red carpet. It`s great.

Actually, DiCaprio is one guy who I believe really does live the lifestyle. He`s at least consistent. But this was his message out on the red carpet before last night`s Oscars. Watch this.

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LEONARDO DICAPRIO, ACTOR: You know, it`s very rare within the Hollywood studio system that you get to do a film that has something pertinent about the world to say. You know, it`s a really relevant topic in conflict diamonds. And I really wanted to endorse that, and hopefully, you know, more movies like that will come out of the Hollywood studio system.

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BECK: Rare? Really? Soon the entire video store is going to be filled with either message movies or films starring Eddie Murphy as a loud, fat woman, or both. If I see a poster for "Norbit in Darfur," I`m not walking into another movie theater ever again.

Then there was Sherry Lansing. This is the woman from Paramount who was getting some humanitarian award, also from last night`s Oscars.

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SHERRY LANSING, FORMER HEAD OF PARAMOUNT PICTURES: But I also must admit that it feels a little strange to be singled out. So many of you have causes that you are equally passionate about; that is really what is so wonderful about the movie industry. Not only do we get to make films that matter, but we also work in a culture where we are encouraged to speak out.

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BECK: Nobody`s encouraging you. Shh! Hollywood, keep it down. I promise you, causes are not our favorite part about Hollywood. We use Hollywood to escape. We don`t want to escape, you know, wind up escaping into an impoverished village in Yemen to consider the pros and cons of stem-cell research.

When I`m watching the Oscars, I don`t think of stuff like that. You know what? This is what I thought. Is it me or did you see the woman who won the award for the best costume design? I like she looks like the lollypop guy from "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang." Look at the video, side by side. This is the Oscar footage last night. They`ve got the same neckwear.

You give her a few lollypops, and we`ve got a really creepy separate- at-birth situation to investigate, and I say we get Judge Seidlin from the Anna Nicole case involved on this. I`m not a DNA expert, but I am a thinker.

Send me your e-mail at GlennBeck@CNN.com. See you tomorrow.

END