Return to Transcripts main page

Glenn Beck

John Couey Jury Considers Sentencing; Pakistan Facing Threats from Islamic Extremists; HBO Documentary Looks at Addiction

Aired March 14, 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, is it possible to rehabilitate a child molester? No. Of course, you`re going to have to tell that to John Couey`s attorneys.
Plus Iranians are all up in arms over the new movie "300". I`ll tell you why next.

All day today 12 people sat in a room all by themselves. The jury, they had to decide whether or not the convicted child rapist and killer John Couey should be put to death for his heinous crimes or whether he should go to jail and be rehabilitated.

Here`s the point tonight. You cannot reform a monster who rapes and murders children. You either keep them in a pit forever or toss them into an incinerator, and here`s how I got there.

I want you to know I`m not in favor of the death penalty. Although it wouldn`t take a lot for you to talk me into harvesting this guy`s organs.

The prosecutor in this case reminded the jury what Couey did to a 9- year-old Jessica Lunsford after he viciously raped her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Knotting those bags, digging a hole in the ground, putting Jessie in the hole and then covering her up to die.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: This is the particular kind of evil that only the most repugnant monster is capable of. And certainly not one you want in your neighborhood ever, ever, ever.

In spite of this, John Couey`s lawyer said today in the closing arguments that Couey`s bad childhood was really to blame.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was born to an abusive alcoholic father who pushed him out of a moving car. He was born two months premature, and when she decides to better her life she takes him into another home where the stepfather abuses him. Again, no choice of Mr. Couey`s.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: Well, nobody told me THAT he was born two months premature. I didn`t have that fact.

Look, I don`t have the highest I.Q., as you know if you watch this show every night, and I`ve had tragic things happen in my childhood. Who hasn`t? But you know what? None of us murdered children after raping them because of it.

I am sick and tired of people using the excuse of their childhood to perform unspeakable acts. Evil is evil, and it needs to be punished and caged. Understanding them, a little lower down on my priority list.

There are 19 states right now in this country which have civil commitment programs for convicted sex offenders. These "programs," which include intensive therapy designed to cure and treat the pedophile, cost four times as much as prison. That`s $166,000 per pervert per year. That`s insanity, especially when you take into account that only a very small tiny fraction of these sex offenders are ever "cured" and released.

By the way, me personally, I`ll believe the pedophile is cured the day they die.

This is a game that we are all playing with ourselves. We`re making ourselves feel better by keeping the sex offenders in rehab. Oh, they`ve served their time. We just want to help them. What this amounts to is an obscenely expensive and cushy prison, because you don`t want these cats in your neighborhood.

Is there anybody within the sound of my voice that thinks that you can rape a kid and then after a few years be assimilated back into society? No. Can anyone, even in the darkest corner of their minds, think of a more heinous crime? When you violate a child, you scar them forever. You know what? I think it`s worse than murder.

Man up, America. Make the law stronger and up the penalty. Either you throw these guys into jail for the rest of their pathetic lives and protect our children and our neighborhoods, or if you live in a state that has the death penalty, then they deserve it! Sorry, no ankle bracelet for you in my world if you rape a child.

No posh digs with psychiatrists trying to get to the heart of your poor tormented childhood. And if we weren`t in an enlightened society John Couey would be buried alive in a sack of garbage, the same thing he did to Jessica Lunsford.

So tonight here`s what I know. America`s schizophrenia has gotten out of control. It`s starting to hack me off, America. Oh, yes, I`m coming for you.

We say we care about children, yet we sexualize them in movies and music and TV shows, everywhere. We say we`re trying to protect our families, but then we don`t demand new laws that put child molesters and killers away forever.

Here`s what I don`t know. How can anybody possibly claim that I`m wrong when today Jessica Lunsford would be at home with her family, with her father, doing her homework if we would have put John Couey away forever the first time he molested a child?

Pam Bondi, prosecutor for the state of Florida, and Michelle Sigona, she is a correspondent with "America`s Most Wanted". Both of you ladies, unfortunately, have had experiences with cases like this.

Pam, I want to -- I want to start with you. The emotion of the jury when they were hearing this testimony, what was it like today?

PAM BONDI, PROSECUTOR: Oh, Glenn, I talked to two reporters, Tom Cross and Anthony McCarthy from the "Tampa Tribune", who were in the courtroom. They said those jurors were so emotional throughout the trial and the penalty phase but especially when they heard the medical examiner.

And you called him the right name, what this monster did to little Jessica, how he put her in that garbage bag, and she tried to claw her way through it, because she was running out of oxygen. So I think this greatly impacted the jury, more than anything else in this case.

BECK: So why didn`t they have the dad speak? Why didn`t he stand up at this?

BONDI: You know, Glenn, these are great prosecutors on the case. I know Rick Ridgway, and what they`re doing is you know our laws, you know all the appeals that everybody gets on the death penalty, what they were doing was protecting the -- really Mark Lunsford in the long run.

They were trying to try a clean case so they didn`t have to prosecute this twice, and here`s why. The courtroom is a very sterile environment, and victims, witnesses, can`t be emotional on the stand, and they made that judgment call. If Mark Lunsford, bless his heart -- that man has been great -- but if he broke down on the stand, they may have to try that case all over again.

BECK: Oh, my gosh.

BONDI: And that`s the last thing anybody wants. I`ve had to retry a death penalty case that somebody else had tried 14 years ago, and it`s not easy. So they were really being cautious.

BECK: Michelle, somebody -- I didn`t watch the testimony today, but somebody who did see it today said that they thought that he acted more retarded today. Was he coloring in his book again?

MICHELLE SIGONA, CORRESPONDENT, "AMERICA`S MOST WANTED": Well, he has done that in the past, as you know, Glenn, and that`s what his lawyers are claiming, that he does suffer from some form of mental retardation and that could have contributed to this.

You know, the sad part is that he is a convicted sex offender, and as you mentioned, he should have been put behind bars. This should have been taken care of a long time ago, and it hasn`t. And that`s why John Walsh stepped up to the plate last summer and got the Adam Walsh bill passed.

The problem is now is that there isn`t enough money to kind of mend everything together and to keep the states unified.

BECK: So why -- and you would probably be -- you know, because you`ve worked with John Walsh who is I think just an amazing guy. Why -- why haven`t we as a country heard somebody like him stand up and say one strike, you`re out? Why don`t we have a one strike you`re out law in this country?

SIGONA: You know, it`s really hard to tell why, to tell why or how. John Walsh does stand up, and he does feel that strongly about things, and I tell you. He pounds down doors, and he is, you know, trailing his way up the steps of Congress all the time, trying to get things done.

And that`s what he did with this law. I mean, it`s passed. The president signed it. It`s in effect. The problem is, is that the country has not given the states enough money, enough funding to get out there and to keep the sex offenders from slipping through the cracks and to keep them registered from state to state.

BECK: Pam, do you believe at all that somebody who is a sex offender can be rehabilitated?

BONDI: No, and, Glenn, this is what the experts tell us. They say that you cannot rehabilitate a sex offender. You can only educate them to minimize them reoffending. So, no, and the experts tell us that. But no, I do not believe that, nor have I ever seen it, that you can rehabilitate a sex offender.

BECK: How do you it? I mean, you`re a prosecutor. How do you -- how do you go into the courtroom and you see this guy like this sitting there, and you just know you`ve got to -- you know, you`ve got to play ball, and you can see how this thing is being manipulated. How do you do it and stay sane?

BONDI: I don`t know if we all are anymore, but I`ve done it for a very long time and, you know, I was watching parts of Rick Ridgway`s argument today, and it brought tears to my eyes. I think it did to probably everybody in the country.

And, you know, you just know that you`re out there, and you`re fighting for victims like Jessica Lunsford and her father, Mark Lunsford, and I think these prosecutors did a tremendous job of keeping their cool and trying a clean case and looking 10 years down the road so they don`t have to prosecute it again.

But it`s tough, but...

BECK: Michelle, do you think that we -- I mean, we clearly failed Jessica by not getting this guy the first time. I mean, he`s been arrested 25 times. Do you think we made progress in correcting that today?

SIGONA: That`s definitely a tough word. I think progress will be made once everyone in the country is unified, and we aren`t able to let these accidents happen anymore.

BECK: They`re not accidents, and the country is unified. Unfortunately, lawmakers aren`t.

Michelle, Pam, thank you.

By the way, my producer Stu has his own idea of what to do with guys like this. We`ll give it to you here in a second.

But first, coming up, there are -- they are right on the front line of the war on terror and an ally, but they`re in danger. Why Islamic extremists threaten Pakistan`s very existence and what it means to us.

Plus Ohio is considering special license plates for sex offenders. Good. The ACLU says wait, wait, not so fast. Again, I`ve got to ask the question just how serious we are about protecting our kids. That`s in tonight`s "Real Story".

And the movie "300", a real box office success. Someone is whining about historical accuracy. You`ll never guess who.

So, my producer on the radio, Stu, years ago came up with an alternative solution dealing for convicted child molesters. I warn you, it`s not pretty, but it would be effective.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Molesters, molesters, molesters, what can you do with all of these molesters? Exploitico presents America`s Hottest Solution: the incinerator. It`s as easy to use as one, two, three.

First, acquire guilty child molester. Then insert molester into incinerator. Finally, sit back and enjoy while molestation magically disappears.

Ignite your problems away with the Incinerator, from the makers of the Torsinator. Not recommended for baking cookies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: I`ll tell you why we`re a joke to the world, because nobody believes we ever can finish anything. We are a country with ADD except this ADD is not caused by some mental imbalance. This is caused by politics, because our soldiers have turned into the ultimate political toy.

This war has turned into a way to get elected.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: It`s absolutely shameful what`s happening in Washington, and it all started on September 11.

September 11 changed the way we look at a lot of different things. In an instant, countries that we used to mention, honestly, only as punch lines to grade-school jokes suddenly became our closest allies, and we cared about them.

But one of them now is facing a crisis of their own. Pakistan, this is a country that is on the frontline of our war on terror, and our search for Osama bin Laden, and it is now being targeted by Islamic extremists. And they are on the inside.

In the last few weeks alone, that country has endured at least six different suicide bombings, killing scores of people. At least one security official believes that the attacks are being carried out by an Islamic militant group -- surprise, surprise -- linked to al Qaeda. They want to bring Sharia law to Pakistan, and I`m sure the people of Pakistan are glad to hear that.

Sometimes here in America we get so caught up in our own struggle, or the latest in the Anna Nicole Smith trial, that we literally can`t even see the forest for the trees. This is a global war on terror. We are all in this together. Like it or not, it`s still going on, and what happens in Pakistan definitely does not stay in Pakistan anymore.

So what really is going on over there, and how does it impact us? Zahid Hussain from -- Pakistani journalist and the author of the new book "Frontline Pakistan."

Zahid, what is the latest? What is going on?

ZAHID HUSSAIN, AUTHOR, "FRONTLINE PAKISTAN": There`s so much going on in Pakistan. There`s never a dull moment in Pakistan, and at the moment Musharraf is in a big mess. Politically he has sacked the chief justice of Pakistan and he`s also having an unending battle with the militants and sometimes the fighting and sometimes he`s making deal with them.

So the Pakistan situation is like -- there`s a huge problem and also external factor as the Afghanistan situation getting from bad to worse. So all that`s coming back to haunt us, the country which has long been seen as a center for Islamic militancy.

BECK: You know, I have to tell you, Zahid, I met President Musharraf, and I like him, but I can`t get past this feeling that he is kind of like Saudi Arabia. We`re in bed with somebody that, you know, we really wouldn`t be in bed with if it wasn`t for this global war on terror, that we -- that we have very little in common when it really comes down to it. Is that accurate or inaccurate?

HUSSAIN: Well, actually, it`s not completely accurate, I would say, because it`s a different country all together, and this has been your biggest ally where back in 1980 when you were fighting or we were fighting a common battle against the Soviet forces, against the communism. So alliance with Pakistan has not been new.

Pakistan has been the frontline state many times and fighting a common war with the United States, so that way that is not a new alliance, but definitely the alliance which has emerged after 9/11 has a different kind of alliance. One could say it was a shotgun alliance, different from the alliance than in 1980, a different convergence of interests.

BECK: The reason why -- the reason why I say it, there are signs conflicting at times that I think most Americans don`t understand. For instance, I mean, it`s pretty clear that there`s a good shot that Osama bin Laden, if he`s still alive, is in Pakistan.

The Taliban is regrouping, not only in Afghanistan, but in Pakistan, and there`s sections of Pakistan that Musharraf basically has said it`s a no-go zone. We can`t go in. You know, Pakistan won`t go in, and we know the bad guys aren`t there. Why won`t they just steamroll in?

Well, actually that`s a very difficult terrain if you have been to that area which is called North Waziristan and South Waziristan and the border area. It`s that kind of terrain where we have seen the British army fighting and losing war.

And the problem is that for last many years that area, and we have encouraged those Taliban to be there, and also even we start fighting them. It`s not going to be an easy battle. Osama bin Laden has been there for many, many years.

BECK: Right.

HUSSAIN: For almost five-and-a-half years, hunted by both Pakistani and Americans, has not produced any results. So that one can see actually it`s not just the failure of Pakistan.

BECK: Right.

HUSSAIN: It`s the failure of America, as well.

BECK: If -- if Pakistan falls to -- or Musharraf falls to the Islamic extremists, they have their hands on quite a few nukes. It totally changes everything, doesn`t it?

HUSSAIN: Well, I doubt -- I completely disagree with this incantation or assessment that after Musharraf the Islamic fundamentalists will take over Pakistan.

BECK: NO, I didn`t mean in an election. I mean, if there is -- if the Muslim extremists take over, they have their hands on a lot of nukes.

HUSSAIN: If this -- if they have, if they can take over, but there`s a big if, and I think they`re not in a position to take over the state power.

BECK: Let me tell you, that`s good news. Zahid, thank you very much.

Coming up now, a new HBO documentary takes a cutting edge look at addiction and how your children could be at risk.

Plus, New York City police are still on the hunt for a loser who beat and mugged a 101-year-old woman. We`ll have the latest details in tonight`s "Real Story". You don`t want to miss it. It`s coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: More than 23 million Americans currently battling drug or alcohol abuse, that is a problem. But what is even a bigger problem is only 10 percent of them are actually getting help.

Brother, I struggled with it myself. Get help. Your whole life changes. I`ve struggled with it my whole life. It`s also the topic now of a new film, "Addiction", on HBO. This film takes an honest look at the nature of addiction and has some surprising revelations. For example, teens.

A staggering two-and-a-half million kids between 12 and 17 report using drugs in the past 30 days. As a parent, that should horrify you. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I get up some mornings, and I`ll be like, man, today is going to suck, and I just have, like, you know, I put a little vodka in my coffee or some days if I have some prescription pills left over from the weekend I pop a couple of those.

MARK WILLENBRING, M.D.: This is a disorder of young people. Very little addiction starts after the age of 30. It almost always starts between the ages of 18 and 25.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: Joining me now is Jon Alpert. He`s the director of the film "Addiction".

Hi, Jon, how are you?

JON ALPERT, DIRECTOR, "ADDICTION": Hi. Thanks for having me on the show.

BECK: I`m not -- I`m not sure -- as an alcoholic I`m not sure that I agree with all of the conclusions in this movie. The first one is pretty much if you`re -- if you don`t drink or use drugs by the time you`re 25 or 30, you have a pretty good shot of never experiencing addiction?

ALPERT: I`m not sure that the film is saying that, but it`s calling everybody`s attention to the fact that a lot of the addictions start when you`re very young, and it`s important to deal with it.

When I was growing up, we were always taught that you had to wait for somebody just to get busted down to the curb, have no more hope, just be looking up at a dark hole, and that`s when you intervene. You have to do it as soon as possible.

BECK: They`re saying in this movie that this is a brain disorder. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m ashamed because I look into the eyes of my children, and that wasn`t enough to make me stop.

NORA VOLKOW, M.D.: How can we comprehend the concept of a person that wants to stop doing something and they cannot, despite catastrophic consequences? We`re not speaking of little consequences. These are catastrophic, and yet they cannot control their behavior.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: I`ve got to tell you, I mean, you just haven`t hit the right bottom. I looked in the eyes of my children and lied to my children, and that was my bottom. I mean, it`s different from other people. A brain disorder, doesn`t that kind of take responsibility out from the average person?

ALPERT: No, but what it does do is tells you how difficult it is to overcome some of these addictions.

In doing the research for this, they scared the hell out of me with this program. They showed me pictures of brains before addiction and after addiction, and there`s like a canal that gets cored through your brain that drags you to the addiction, and it`s very, very hard to reverse. The brain physiologically changes.

BECK: All right. But that`s during the addiction. That`s not -- I`m not born with that core.

ALPERT: No, often you`re not.

BECK: You know, whether it`s genetic or not doesn`t make any difference to me. It`s still a choice on what you do with it.

ALPERT: Right, but it`s very important we all talk about this. I`ve made half a dozen films for HBO, many of them dealing with drug addicts. And it`s sad to say that most of the people in this -- in these films that I made are dead now. And I spent more time with these people than I spent with my whole family. They became my friends, and they`re dead.

BECK: Jon, thanks a lot.

"Addiction" premiers on HBO this Thursday, March 15. We`ll be back in a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: All right. Welcome to the "Real Story." This is where we try to cut through the media spin to find out why a story is actually important to you.

Ohio lawmakers have proposed legislation that would force convicted sex offenders to be identified by a fluorescent green license plate on their cars. Good. Critics say the plan could unfairly brand people with a scarlet letter. Cry me a river.

The real story is, if we say we`re serious about protecting people against sexual predators, especially our children, then you`ve got to do whatever you have to do, including getting creative and using a solution like the one suggested here in Ohio. If it were up to me, oh, I`d tattoo a giant barcode on the forehead of every convicted sex crime scumbag out there so I can check them in and out of the neighborhoods like groceries.

I want to know where they are, who they are and, more importantly, I want them to know I`m watching them.

This license plate idea is not a scarlet letter. I`ll have to go back and check my Hawthorne, but I believe the letter was "A" for adultery, not "R" for child rapist. I know all about the mark of the beast, and I don`t want to hear any nonsense about Nazi Germany and the Jews being forced to wear yellow stars, either. Those comparisons don`t even become close it applying. If you don`t know the difference between a Jew in Nazi Germany and a child predator in your neighborhood, then you need to wear the letter "S" for stupid.

The rate of sex crime repeat offenders is much, much higher than any other criminal. These freaks do not usually stop. This is a case where the safety of our children and the public has got to come first. Compassion should not come at the cost of our children.

How many kids have to be raped, and tortured, and killed by dangerous monsters before we finally start worrying about the rights of the victims and protecting our families and not protecting convicted criminals? How many more John Coueys and John Mark Karrs do we have to read about before we treat sex crimes and child molestations like the epidemic and plagues that they are?

Ohio already forces convicted DUI offenders to have a little yellow license plate on their car. That`s great, sure, but Ohio, honestly. Which would you rather know about? The guy who has had too many at happy hour or the guy who preys on women and children using sex and violence to defile, degrade and destroy lives?

Kevin Coughlin, he`s an Ohio state senator. Do you think this is going to actually pass?

KEVIN COUGHLIN, OHIO STATE SENATOR: I think it has a very good shot. We have a large number of sex offender bills that have been introduced, and they`re going to be rolled together as a package, and I think this is going to be part of it.

BECK: OK. Who`s actually really against this?

COUGHLIN: Well, we`ve been hearing from groups like the ACLU and other civil liberties organizations.

BECK: I mean like real people that are against this.

COUGHLIN: Well, you know, there are some real people who think that it perhaps is overkill, but once they think about the issue and they hear the high rates of recidivism for these people -- 46 percent, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics -- 46 percent of rapists -- I`m sorry, rapists will commit their crimes at a rate of 46 percent again. Other sex crimes, 41 percent.

And that is way out of whack with the rest of the criminals. And as long as those rates remain that high, you`re right, we have a right to protect our families and our communities by providing information.

BECK: OK. The one argument I have heard about, heard on this, that I can at least see the other side, and that is vigilantism, I mean, people coming up and being just vigilantes and saying, hey, you know, child rapist, et cetera, et cetera. But doesn`t that make the case for changing the law and put these people in jail, child rapists, I`m speaking about, permanently?

COUGHLIN: Well, we are. And we`ve established a life sentence for people that rape children under the age of 13, from the range of 14 to 17, it`s 25 years.

BECK: Good for you.

COUGHLIN: But the fact is that we, under our justice system -- first of all, we have people that were convicted under the old laws that are going to be coming out into our community.

And, second, we have people who plead down to lower offenses. Our judges and our prosecutors like to have that flexibility and that discretion so that they can get convictions. And often you`ll have an offender who committed one crime but ends up pleading to another and ends up in prison for a shorter duration of time and then back out in our community.

We`ve tried to tighten that down in our laws, but, in reality, it happens and these offenders end up back with us.

BECK: All right, and this is not a retroactive law.

COUGHLIN: No.

BECK: I mean, if you`ve already been convicted, you don`t get the plates. This is just new offenders?

COUGHLIN: That`s right.

BECK: OK. Have you thought about the upside? I mean, for anybody who is watching and might be, you know, in this category, would get the plate, I`ve thought of an upside for you. Your kid will never say, "Dad, can I borrow the car?" I`m just saying.

Good luck, Senator. Appreciate it.

COUGHLIN: Thanks.

BECK: You bet.

You`ve probably seen this video by now, but I want you to take another look. This is the cowardly, low-life scumbag that smacked that 101-year- old woman, stole $33 and her house keys, then punches her again, knocking her down knocked her and her walker to the ground. He`s still on the loose.

The real story tonight is, dude, not only is there a special place in Hell for punks like you, but I`d say there`s a special place in jail, as well, a punishment that we should dole out specifically to those who prey on the weak and the defenseless. This video has been shown to every uniformed officer in New York City. Dozens of detectives have been assigned to the case.

You know, I`ve got to tell you, I`m a passionate supporter of the police, especially New York`s finest, but I`ve got to tell you, there`s a part of me, small part of me, that hopes an angry mob finds this guy. I know, I know, that`s not what Jesus would do, but Jesus doesn`t have his own talk show at night, does he? And if he did, he`d probably be on a network, not cable.

Here in New York City, this video is on TV every five minutes. There is a manhunt going on, and it ain`t just the cops doing the hunting. Many people believe this guy doesn`t need jail. He needs justice, you know, with a big baseball bat or something, really bad feelings about this guy in New York City.

For your own protection, you might want to turn yourself in soon.

Police also believe this same guy attacked an 85-year-old woman after he robbed the 101-year-old. That master heist got him another $32 bucks and the woman`s wedding band.

This case has inspired lawmakers in the New York State Senate to propose making it a felony to assault anyone older than 70. Currently those assaults are misdemeanors, punishable by no more than a year in jail. Does that seem like enough to you?

Pathetic cowards like this who specifically target the elderly and the weakest among us should receive a punishment that matches the true horrors of the crime. Vito Colucci, Jr., he`s a private detector formerly with the Connecticut Police Department, it`s good to know a guy named Vito is on this case.

VITO COLUCCI, PRIVATE DETECTIVE: Well, Glenn, a bunch of Vitos should get this guy, I`ll tell you, a bunch of Vito Coluccis, I`ll tell you that much.

BECK: Right.

COLUCCI: You know, let me say this, Glenn. All the years I was a cop, I worked narcotics, I worked undercover, organized crime. All those things I did, every time I see this video, I flinch, OK? A 101-year-old woman. My father is 95, and I know how fragile the bones are of these people. This is about as low as you can get, I`m telling you.

BECK: Vito, you know what is amazing? Did you see the interview with the 85-year-old woman? She is so sweet, and she said, "I hope they can find him and reform him because then, you know, there would be one less bad guy," and I`m like reform him?

COLUCCI: Well, she`s a devout Christian woman.

BECK: God bless her.

COLUCCI: She said she was going to pray for him. And the other one, 101, just wants to get back to church.

You know, but, you know, what`s going to happen on this? They increased the reward now to $29,000. That`s big. The TV stations need to keep saying that; it needs to be put on the front page of the paper. There is people or peoples out there that know who did this.

BECK: So why does it take a reward? I mean, it was $18,000; now you say it`s to 28,000. Who cashes in that? I mean, who knows about this crime and then says, "Wait a minute, they might be offering more"?

COLUCCI: Glenn, believe me, I`ve seen it over and over again. Somebody is going to turn their own uncle in. Someone is going to say my next door neighbor has that same unique color bicycle, OK?

All the cops, like you said before, they know this. They`re going to be looking. A rookie cop might solve this, seeing this bike behind a building some place, very unique color. And you want hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of leads to come in. You don`t want to feel "I don`t want to call the police"...

BECK: Oh, they`re coming in.

COLUCCI: ... "because this may not be important." All you need is the one, Glenn. This will be solved. I don`t have a doubt. Somebody is going to turn this guy in for $29,000, believe me.

BECK: So, Vito, this is where my profound respect for the cops come in, and I mean this sincerely. Because, you know, I`m a tough talker, but I`m a law guy. I don`t want anybody to kick the crap out of him. But if I were a cop, it would be really hard to capture this guy and not kick the crap out of him. You know what I mean?

COLUCCI: Well, if this was an episode of "Law & Order," you would see them beating him up, OK? Now, they have to be professional on this. Number one, this is a great collar, this is a great arrest. This will go into their file forever. This is the number-one enemy right now of the state, so you have to be professional.

On the other hand, Glenn, you`re saying to yourself -- believe me, I`ve been there -- take a swing at me. Resist me, OK? But they`re going to handle themselves professionally unless this guy tries to go punching them. I doubt it, because usually these type of people are cowards. They`re looking for old ladies to hit, Glenn.

BECK: May I play devil`s advocate? And I feel awful even saying this, because honestly my heart breaks every time I see this, and I see that woman just getting punched over and over again.

But we have -- I mean, New York is a big town. There`s a lot of bad crime that`s going on now in New York City. We`ve got murderers on the loose. How come this one -- I know why this one is getting all of the attention, because of the video and everybody`s heart breaks -- but is this the best way we should be spending our time?

COLUCCI: Well, you mean showing this over and over again?

BECK: No. I mean, this is a real manhunt. You just said he`s the number-one enemy in New York City, not really in the grand scheme of things.

COLUCCI: Well, you`re right. I mean, they`re not -- believe me. This is a great police department. They`re not going to put other things on the shelf. They`re reading this at every lineup. Everyone has a picture. While cops are walking the beat, they`re going to continually show this picture to somebody.

Work is going to continue on, but they really want to grab this guy, you know, because the public is scared. You`ve got people in that building, in the neighborhood, in the whole block, and miles and miles thinking this guy is going to strike at any time. So it`s a very unique thing, and you want to grab this guy.

BECK: Go get him, NYPD.

Thanks, Vito. That is "The Real Story" tonight. And if you would 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: My dog has been sick, and took him to the vet. He had a fever and everything else, and then they did all kinds of stuff. The vet looked at me with a straight face and said, "He needs to see the cardiologist." I laughed, and then I realized she was serious. I said, "The dog cardiologist?" "Yes." "They have those? A dog cardiologist, are you kidding me?" I can`t wait to see the bill.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: I don`t know why we`re not talking about universal health care for dogs; that`s something I could get behind.

Over the years, Hollywood has declared war on a lot of things -- global warming, family values, conservatives, and, of course, making good movies -- just saying, Hollywood. But Iran? Not so much. I think Hollywood would actually be on their side, you know, but not according to an Iranian newspaper. They say that the movie "300" is a direct assault on them, with Iran`s cultural adviser even going so far as to say the movie is "part of a comprehensive U.S. psychological war aimed at Iranian culture."

Right. No, seriously. You named that one, Mr. Cultural Adviser. What keeps us all up at night, you know, here in America? It`s not your nuclear program or your dream of turning the entire Middle East into an Islamic state. No, no, no. It`s definitely your culture.

Meanwhile, when the movie`s producers finally took a break from, you know, counting their $70 million opening weekend windfall, they responded by using the f-word: fiction. Look it up.

News flash, Iran: Superman doesn`t actually exist. Sorry to spoil it for you. Here`s a quick look at the psychological warfare, or as we like to call it movie, in question.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is where we hold them! This is where we fight! This is where they die! On these shields, boys! Remember this day, men, for it will be yours for all time!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: Victor Davis Hanson is senior fellow at Stanford University`s Hoover Institute and a military history expert. Hello, Victor. How are you, sir?

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON, HOOVER INSTITUTE: Fine, thank you for having me.

BECK: You bet. OK, so the Iranians are now really upset about the movie "300." Is there any fact to this movie at all that they should be upset about?

HANSON: Well, it`s a cartoon. It`s based on a graphic novel. It`s not based on the text of the ancient historian Herodotus. And in the text of Herodotus, the Persians invade with a massive force. And for three days, they can`t do anything against a very small force of Greeks. They finally win, and then they`ll go on to lose the Persian War.

But in the caricature of this comic, graphic medium, the Persians look pretty bad. They look sort of effeminate, Xerxes does. They have a lot of numbers and they can`t win.

But what`s baffling about all of this, we`ve been hearing from Mr. Ahmadinejad for years that Iran only existed when it accepted Islam in the seventh and eighth century. Everything before that didn`t exist. So suddenly he`s saying he`s not just a Shia, but he`s a Persian nationalist, even though this took place 1,100 years before Muhammad came on the scene.

I think it`s sort of indicative that he`s trying to appeal now to Persian nationalism with a bomb, the great ancestors of the Achimenes and the Persian Empire and Xerxes, because he wants to get everybody`s mind against the failed -- get their mind off the failed Islamic state that he`s governing.

BECK: It`s amazing, because they say that this is America`s shot at, you know, propaganda against Iran. It`s the Persians. And I`ll bet you 80 percent of America went, "Persia, I thought that was the carpet? They make those carpets in Iran?" I mean, most people would have no idea what Persia was.

HANSON: I think also he assumes that in the Middle East, when you have a TV show or a movie, it`s state-run and it`s state-funded and it`s state-censored. And he can`t comprehend the idea that a bunch of guys in Hollywood, like Frank Miller and Zack Snyder, who did "Dawn of the Dead," kind of off-the-wall, really creative young people, sort of on the outs of Hollywood -- they`re not establishment figures -- they go out, and take a big gamble, and make a very successful movie. And he has to think there`s some conspiracy behind it to blacken his name. It`s pathetic.

BECK: So how is this being received in Europe? It was huge here in America. How is it in Europe?

HANSON: Well, you know, at the initial showing in Berlin, we`re told hundreds walked out, and I think that`s indicative of the European unease with anything they call mannequian (ph), "good versus evil." The Greeks are free; the Persians are autocratic and dictatorial.

And in the post-modern European mind, they don`t want to make any distinction that requires sort of an absolutism. Everything for them is relative, complex, can`t judge, so they would be a little uneasy with it.

BECK: And I heard that they actually -- people were walking out. Was it because of that, where they don`t like the absolutes, that one side is good and one side is bad?

HANSON: Well, especially when we`re the people they think that are promulgating absolutes. They have this character of all Americans think that the world is divided into evil people and good people, which, in many ways, as you know, it is.

BECK: I was going to say, I`ve been covering the Couey trial today. I`m pretty much, you know, on par with that, I think, good and evil.

HANSON: I am, too. I think the Europeans should know about that more than anybody.

BECK: Yes. Victor, thanks a lot.

HANSON: Thank you.

BECK: We`ll be back with your e-mail here in a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: All right. Let`s get right to the e-mails. First one`s from Jim. "Glenn, after seeing the piece on our global warming meat footprint last week, I`ve got to ask: If we all quit eating animals, wouldn`t that leave more of them alive to create more of the dreaded gases? I say, eat more meat, and help reduce global warming."

Ah, Jim, Jim, Jim. Actually, that was my first thought, as well, but you have to think about supply and demand. If you want more meat, then they`re going to keep coming up with more cows, and that makes, you know, the penguins at the North or South Pole -- I don`t remember which -- they cry, the little penguin tears.

Although I`d have to put more thought into this, if you just hunted for your food and made sure that no new animals were born, you could have one heck of a barbecue until all the animals went extinct, and then we`d save the Earth. I`m just -- it`s a working theory. I`ll get back to you on it.

By the way, on the radio program tomorrow, we have PETA on to discuss the formation of a meat footprint calculation system. Find out what your meat footprint is. If you know a global warming activist that isn`t a vegan, oh, you make sure they`re listening to the radio program tomorrow. We`ll make them cry.

John in Illinois writes -- just like the penguins -- "Why am I a criminal if I smoke marijuana?" Well, John, interesting question that you probably were asking while you were craving snack foods. The answer is: Because it`s illegal.

And just like our illegal alien friends from "Mejijo," it would be nice if everybody just understood that, whether you agree with the law or not, is irrelevant. If it`s a law and you break it, you`re a criminal. Supreme Court backed that up today, I hear. Thanks for the question.

J.C. in Illinois writes, "Glenn, thanks for proving that I am not crazy and taking crazy pills because I think our society is on the brink of a Roman collapse. I may not agree with all you say, but I do agree that Americans care more about Britney than about what`s wrong with our society. Thanks for keeping us thinking, the few left that are doing so. I look forward to debating you in the future. Thanks, J.C."

J.C., you know what? I realized that the story of a formerly smoking hot woman in a Catholic school girl outfit that marries white-trash rappers, has two kids, and then goes out into rehab, and then back out and back in a dozen times in a week, might be a little more flashy than the intricacies of the U.S.-Mexican relationship, but I`d like to think that somebody cares about the less glamorous stuff, like the security of our borders and our national sovereignty, but maybe it`s just me.

You can send me the predictions of our collapse and the collapse of Western civilization. Write to GlennBeck@CNN.com. From New York, good night.

END