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Glenn Beck

Tough Questions about Kidnapped British Marines, 9/11 Conspiracies, Mel Gibson Controversy

Aired March 23, 2007 - 19:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GLENN BECK, HOST (voice-over): Tonight British sailors captured by Iran.

And the House votes on a timetable for Iraq.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As I made clear for weeks, I will veto it if it comes to my desk.

BECK: And more fallout from the deadly student-teacher love triangle. How at risk are our kids from teacher sex predators?

Plus, what do Rosie and Charlie Sheen have in common? You`re not going to believe what they`re both saying about 9/11. Yes, it was all a conspiracy, you know?

Tonight honest questions on these stories and more.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BECK: As you know, by the time I get to Friday, we`ve done, I don`t even know, 15 shows between radio and television, and I`m sleepy, and so I have to sit down at a table and ask honest questions. Sometimes it`s a heated debate. Maybe tonight, I don`t know, looking at our suspects here tonight we may have a heated debate.

A variety of topics. We will start with the big news out of the Middle East. Fifteen British sailors and marines were captured by Iran`s revolutionary guard this morning. Apparently, the marines were taken shortly after competing -- completing a routine inspection of an Iraqi ship in the Persian Gulf.

The British government has demanded their safe return.

We are talking about something that could be very serious, or is it run of the mill? We`ve been at war with these people since 1979.

Joining me now for the full hour is civil rights leader and former presidential candidate, Reverend Al Sharpton, as well as GOP strategist Margaret Hoover. And to talk about where we go from here within regards to Iran is Ilan Berman. He`s with the American Foreign Policy Council.

Ilan, let me start with you. What happened today?

ILAN BERMAN, AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY COUNCIL: Well, I think that`s a very good question. What we`re seeing in the Persian Gulf is obviously everyone is on pins and needles.

There is a great deal of hardware, you could say, that`s being deployed in the gulf, both ours and as part of the coalition, and also Iranian hardware. And the ability of a miscalculation here, I think, is very great.

And what we saw today was that Iran has no problem with escalation. Iran is sending a signal both to us, to the coalition, to say that, you know, the nuclear crisis could spiral out of control in a very bad way.

But it`s sending an equally important signal to the countries of the Persian Gulf, which is, as this nuclear crisis deepens, you guys better make sure that you`ve picked the right side.

BECK: So what is the worst thing that could happen? Where do we go from here?

BERMAN: Well, I think it`s -- this is -- this has potential international implications. The British soldiers were -- British sailors were seized in violation of international law in Iraqi territorial waters. This is -- has diplomatic incident written all over it.

But it`s also, I think, very important to put in the context of what`s going to happen tomorrow. Tomorrow the United Nations Security Council is going to vote on a new batch of sanctions.

BECK: You know, let me stop you here because we were -- Ahmadinejad was flying into America. He asked for, I think it was 23 visas. We issued those in Geneva. He asked for an additional 35. They were in the midst of doing that.

And then, all of a sudden,unite he comes out today and says, "I couldn`t get any visas from the United States. They won`t let me in, so we`re not coming."

What does that mean? Where is that coming from?

BERMAN: I think he`s discovering that discretion is the better part of valor. There is obviously a diplomatic incident brewing in the Persian Gulf, and it perhaps might not be the best time to come visit the U.N., visit Turtle Bay.

BECK: Al.

REV. AL SHARPTON, CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST: I think that we don`t know what`s going on. First of all, we have to see in the next few hours what really is the position of a lot of this.

Again, we don`t know what the British report is, whether or not, in fact, that`s all that we need to know. Clearly, Iran, I don`t disagree with Ilan that there`s a diplomatic showdown coming, but that`s also why I think that we had a responsibility to have our respect at the United Nations or somewhere where the international community can kind of sort these things out.

It`s interesting to me how we want the world community to feel that we`re being fair and balanced and that these guys are bad guys, but we slapped the world community around when we get ready and come back now saying, "Oh, why don`t you help us condemn them?"

We`ve given visas. They`re in international waters. I mean, this is the country that has a unilateral foreign policy that`s asking for multi- lateral outreach.

BECK: Wait a minute. Hang on. This is -- you`re -- I mean, you`re really turning this around on us?

SHARPTON: No.

BECK: Hang on, hang on. You just said -- would you say this -- would you say...

SHARPTON: I am saying that we should learn our lessons.

BECK: Let me just take a quick poll. Ahmadinejad, evil?

MARGARET HOOVER, GOP STRATEGIST: Crazy.

BECK: Not evil?

HOOVER: Possibly evil. I think that he`s crazy.

BECK: Crazy, evil?

SHARPTON: Maybe sly as a fox, maybe. Maybe evil.

BECK: Ilan, evil?

BERMAN: You know, I tend to agree with the Reverend on this one. I think he`s crazy like a fox. I think he knows exactly what`s he doing. And he`s...

BECK: Look at this. There`s nobody here is willing -- America, I`m willing to tell you Ahmadinejad, evil. The people that are running -- let me go a step above. Khameini, evil?

SHARPTON: Khomeini was evil.

BECK: Evil?

HOOVER: Evil.

BECK: Ilan?

BERMAN: Absolutely, absolutely.

BECK: OK. I mean, let`s call it by its name. This is not a country that -- you said, I know...

SHARPTON: Just because Khomeini and him come out of the same country don`t make both of them evil.

BECK: They`re in bed together right now.

HOOVER: I kind of can`t believe this is where the conversation is going, just because this guy is so clearly not acting in a way that has deserved respect of all the nations around the world.

Why do we need to bow down to him and respect him and give him a seat at the United Nations? This is somebody who wants to wipe Israel off the map.

SHARPTON: Maybe because it is the United Nations, and maybe if you`re going to have a place called the United Nations, you want all nations at the table. Not just nations that you agree with.

BECK: OK. All right. I am a bridge builder. Let`s build a bridge. OK?

SHARPTON: OK.

BECK: You say if you`re going to have a place called the United Nations, you should have all the countries at the table, right? I`ll agree with that.

SHARPTON: All right.

BECK: So if I`ll give you that, why don`t you give me there shouldn`t be a place called the United Nations?

SHARPTON: Why?

BECK: Why? Tell me what they`ve done, with the exception of the smallpox thing. Tell me what the United Nations has done that`s been good. It is a -- it`s an organization that doesn`t answer to anyone.

SHARPTON: No, I think it`s an organization that doesn`t agree with the United States a lot, and I think therein lies a lot of the problem.

And I think now a lot of the United States government -- this administration particularly -- that has done everything from just ignore the United Nations in terms of our debt all the way to our unilateral policies, are now finding ourselves in an awkward position of hoping that they will see that Iran is wrong.

And Iran may be wrong, but it`s kind of difficult to go to the table and ask to have a fair hearing when you missed the last few hearings, saying I`m going to do it my way or the highway.

HOOVER: I can appreciate that, and I think that`s a very fair point. What we`re talking about, though, here is 15 British soldiers that are, you know, have been taken hostage by the Iranians. And we don`t know if, you know -- if they`re going to be treated diplomatically. We don`t know what the issues are.

Hard to -- hard to say that this guy is acting in a, you know, diplomatic way right now.

BECK: Let me -- let me change gears here.

SHARPTON: I agree with that, if that`s the facts.

BECK: Let me change gears. The bill that just went through the House, closed vote. The Iraqi emergency spending bill, anybody here feel a little dirty by that? Is anybody...

HOOVER: By a $24 billion in...

BECK: By the $24 billion, which -- which they`re bribes to get people to vote for it.

I mean, should it be -- when we`re talking about life and death, shouldn`t there just be a simple bill that says we pull out or we fight it with everything we got?

SHARPTON: I would go with that.

HOOVER: Absolutely.

SHARPTON: I think that the question is that they`re playing politics on both sides. I unequivocally as you know, and you and I have fought on this many times, feel that we should pull out.

I think some people on my sides of the aisle don`t have the courage to say that.

BECK: Thank you.

SHARPTON: I think other people on the other side of the aisle say that we`re in this and we don`t care how much we messed up. We`re going to stay in until...

BECK: I know. I think the other side, Al, is the other side. My side doesn`t have the courage now to say fight it with everything you got.

SHARPTON: I think they don`t.

BECK: Why?

SHARPTON: Well, I think the problem with that is that your side has given so many -- you know, we`re about, what, three years since your side claimed victory, and we`re still in the red. You know? So I think there`s a lot...

BECK: That`s between military victory, which was the fastest toppling of any major government the world has ever seen, the fastest advancement. It was a victory there.

We, as always, we win the war, and we lose the peace.

All right. Got to go back.

SHARPTON: Mission accomplished didn`t exactly say that, but...

BECK: Come back in just a second. More honest questions -- try this one on for size. Nine eleven, a government conspiracy? Believe it or not, Rosie O`Donnell and Charlie Sheen are independently confirming this insanity.

And the tragic murder of a student who had a sexual relationship with his teacher. Why it may not be so hard for you to sympathize with the man who killed him. We`ll explain. Stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Still with Reverend Al Sharpton, Republican strategist Margaret Hoover -- you`re related to Herbert Hoover.

HOOVER: I am related to Herbert Hoover.

BECK: You know this president lost more jobs than Herbert Hoover?

HOOVER: This president, huh?

BECK: That`s right. How much did you hate that when you were...

HOOVER: Growing up learning my great-grandfather caused the Depression?

BECK: Yes.

HOOVER: Didn`t go over so well in eighth grade.

BECK: And we also have Democratic strategist Julie Roginsky.

Hi, Julie.

JULIE ROGINSKY: Hi, Glenn. How are you?

BECK: I`m really good. I`m a little upset with the Rosie O`Donnell and -- and what`s his other name -- Charlie Sheen. They`re coming out. I read on Rosie`s blog -- believe me, somebody sent it to me. I`m not checking it, although it`s very nice. Nice recipes.

She said on it that the government...

SHARPTON: That wasn`t nice, by the way, but go ahead.

ROGINSKY: I agree. Thank you.

BECK: All right. The World Trade Center No. 7 was taken down by the United States government.

Now, Charlie Sheen is going to Mark Cuban, or Cuban, right, the guy who owns the -- yes -- and saying that his company, Magnolia Films, should make "Loose Change", make it right -- "Loose Change" is this wild conspiracy video that says the United States government did it. And they`re spewing this.

Anybody have -- Mark Cuban says there is another side to 9/11, and you should show the other side. Can we all not agree there is no other side to 9/11? The United States didn`t do this?

ROGINSKY: Glenn, this is like Holocaust denying. This is unacceptable.

Look, you know, I think people can have different views on a variety of different topics, but we all know who was responsible for 9/11. I don`t care if you`re from the right or the left. Osama bin Laden was responsible for it. Frankly that`s why we should be going after him and not in Iraq. But that`s a separate issue.

But yes, absolutely. I think we`re all -- I`m at least in agreement with you. This is unacceptable. We cannot continue to talk about this as a real theory.

BECK: So why can someone -- I mean, Charlie Sheen -- no, you know what? Charlie Sheen is -- has a big sit-com on television. I mean, he`s an actual force.

SHARPTON: The fact that he may have views you, or even I, may not agree with shouldn`t knock out his sit-com, but I think that the real challenge...

BECK: Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Let`s talk about -- let`s talk about political correctness.

SHARPTON: No, we`re not talking about political correctness. We`re not talking about he has called someone a name based on their religion or their nationality.

BECK: What`s wrong? What is...

SHARPTON: We`re talking about he believes -- let`s put it this way...

BECK: He believes -- he is spouting a view -- and I`m not saying he should lose his show for this.

SHARPTON: Right. That`s all I said.

BECK: He`s spouting a view that the government of the United States - - and wants to make a movie on it, et cetera, et cetera. And, yet, the left does not ostracize these people.

SHARPTON: I agree with Julie. I mean, we know who is responsible. Come, on Glenn.

What fuels this is there were guys that had us looking for weapons of mass destruction that wasn`t there when we should have been going after bin Laden and we still haven`t...

BECK: Oh, come on.

SHARPTON: If bin Laden had been captured, you wouldn`t have to worry about Rosie`s blog.

HOOVER: This is so typical of the American Hollywood elite left. They blame America first always, and you just can`t look at something. Exactly, it`s like Holocaust denying. You just can`t blame the United States for the...

SHARPTON: Hollywood, I have never been accused of many things. But Hollywood I`ve never been accused of. I am not...

(CROSSTALK)

SHARPTON: I`m saying that, again, none of these people -- Mr. Sheen or Rosie -- have the authority to send one troop anywhere. The real people that went for conspiracy theory are the people that sent us into Iraq on false pretenses.

BECK: What are you doing? What are you doing? You`re not -- you`re a Democratic strategist.

ROGINSKY: I am.

BECK: You`re not going take this lying and try to throw the president under the bus or anybody else.

SHARPTON: Under the bus?

BECK: Come on. For a...

ROGINSKY: What are you talking about? For what? Reverend -- Reverend Sharpton is absolutely right. I think people are frustrated because if you wanted to talk about...

BECK: You`re telling me that Rosie O`Donnell and Charlie Sheen.

ROGINSKY: I don`t care what Rosie O`Donnell thinks, Glenn. Rosie O`Donnell is an actress. Charlie Sheen is an actor. What do I care?

BECK: All right. So wait a minute. So wait a minute. Are you telling me, two people from the left, that Margaret could get on today and say, "The Bible tells me homosexuality is wrong." She can be saying it on "The View" every day and make a big deal out of it.

And you guys will say, "Hey, that`s absolutely" -- and you`ll stand up and fight for that right?

ROGINSKY: I don`t really care what -- of course.

SHARPTON: ... to say it. I may not agree with it. She has the right and Pat Robertson.

BECK: That`s not how America works today.

ROGINSKY: We`ve a First Amendment, my friend. You got to respect it. There`s a First Amendment out there.

BECK: I do respect it.

HOOVER: He can say what he wants to say.

SHARPTON: Thank you.

HOOVER: He just happens to be wrong, and it happens to be extremely offensive.

ROGINSKY: That I agree with. It is offensive, but he has the right to say it.

BECK: Guys, I cannot believe you two are going to sit here with a straight face and tell me that if I -- because I`ve had the fascist comments come my way from Robert F. Kennedy. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. called me a fascist for questioning global warming. I`m a fascist for that.

ROGINSKY: Glenn, he has the right to say it, and you have a right to question global warming. I don`t agree with you that global warming is questionable. It`s obviously a fact. But he has the right to call you what he wants, and you`ve got the right to question global warming. We`ve got a First Amendment.

My point is...

SHARPTON: But all -- go ahead, Julie. I`m sorry.

ROGINSKY: All I was going to say is my point is who cares what Rosie O`Donnell says. She`s an actress. She`s a comedian. I mean...

BECK: I am going to put you guys...

HOOVER: Who cares what Charlie Sheen says?

ROGINSKY: I agree. Who cares?

BECK: I am going to remind...

SHARPTON: I wish I could say...

BECK: ... you of this conversation.

SHARPTON: I wish I could say who cares what George Bush says? But unfortunately, he`s the commander in chief. I wish I could -- and that is why it is more important to me that he believe that weapons of mass destruction than in Charlie Sheen believing in a conspiracy theory.

BECK: You tell me -- you tell me why the liberal organizations come out of the woodwork every time I get on the air and say terrorists and Muslim extremists, kill them before they kill us? Kill them. Shoot them in the head.

SHARPTON: Who is Rosie and Charlie calling to be killed?

BECK: I`m saying...

SHARPTON: You just said you wanted somebody killed.

BECK: I`m saying Muslim extremists that are targeting us. Yes, damn right I`m saying it.

SHARPTON: You are calling for an aggressive policy based on your view on what is a threat. They are saying there is the threat, and they`re not calling for -- I mean, you`re trying to...

BECK: They`re saying that the United States government is a threat. They killed 3,000 people.

BECK: Therefore go kill somebody. I`m sure a lot of people would denounce that. They`re giving an opinion. You`re calling for an action. An action that this government has, in many cases, done on false pretenses.

And if you want to call something wrong, which Margaret has said -- and I think Julie and I agree that it`s wrong. Why do you want to stop wrong with just some actresses in Hollywood? Wrong also goes to the government, where there was the conspiracy of weapons of mass destruction. That was wrong. Will you admit that, Glenn?

ROGINSKY: Glenn...

BECK: I will admit that the conspiracy was done by Saddam Hussein to cover up his tracks to make sure he had power in the world.

SHARPTON: And he covered up so well that he couldn`t...

(CROSSTALK)

ROGINSKY: You still believe this?

BECK: I`m not -- you know what, I`m not -- guys -- guys...

SHARPTON: You believe in weapons of mass destruction?

BECK: We are at this point...

SHARPTON: Greatest achievement. You`re still alive. We haven`t killed you all yet. Is that your defense for the Bush administration?

SHARPTON: No, I believe, sir that, we are in the fight of our life on several fronts, and the biggest thing that is going to kill us is not Muslim extremists.

What has to -- what our biggest war is right now is on political correctness, and that`s the point of the Rosie O`Donnell statement.

ROGINSKY: Glenn, it was a -- it was a...

SHARPTON: We are not in the ring with the people that are fighting us, because Bin Laden is still wandering around somewhere, and you`re fighting guys that are not fighting us.

ROGINSKY: That`s right.

BECK: Julie, thank you. Coming up...

ROGINSKY: Thank you.

BECK: ... Mel Gibson strikes again. What do you tell the "Apocalypto" director after he said at a California conference that they should shut the "F" up and make their own movie? We`ll give you this, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: A story that broke this afternoon. Mel Gibson was speaking about his latest film, "Apocalypto". He was at Cal State University at North Ridge, and several members of the audience began questioning his film`s representation of the Mayan culture. A professor, Alicia Estrada, pressed Mel Gibson about his inaccurate depiction of Mayan sacrifices.

Gibson looked at her and said, "Lady, `F` off." Then there were some other colorful language, and the professor and several other students were escorted out. Gibson answered a few more questions.

He ended the program by apologizing and saying, "These people just sneak up on you and they ambush you." Thoughts?

HOOVER: Yes. Hard to say what happened here. You know, you don`t know if this is classic case of hecklers trying to make a point, having their own political agenda. They`re trying to use the forum of Mel Gibson being there to make a point.

Also, could be that, you know...

BECK: Rehab didn`t work for Mel.

HOOVER: And he twisted off again.

SHARPTON: I agree. You don`t know if anger management doesn`t work for him, or you don`t -- I mean, there are people that know how to push those buttons, make their point and use the fact that he is who he is to get over. I think it`s -- it`s too early to tell.

BECK: See, this is the kind of thing. Let`s just -- let`s just say that it was for this debate, that it was just a bunch of hecklers came in and are just pushing their point down your throat.

This is kind of the thing that we were talking about a few minutes ago with political correctness of people just -- on all sides, we are shutting conversation down. And people get to a boiling point to where they`re like, you know what?

Because what he said at the end was make your own freaking movie.

HOOVER: Right.

BECK: You want to put it a different way, make your own movie.

HOOVER: The problem with the political discourse today is that it`s been so difficult to have civil debate about opposing ideas, and civil discussion is the heart of democracy.

So to have this Rosie O`Donnell says one thing, somebody else doesn`t agree, and she shuts them down, or in this case Mel Gibson says, "`F` off." This isn`t fostering civil debate.

SHARPTON: But you know, I can`t believe that you nice right wingers here act like the left is the one shutting down debates.

BECK: I`ll absolutely throw the -- some people on the right. Goes both ways.

HOOVER: Goes both ways.

BECK: You know what, Reverend Sharpton, you and I have talked about this. And while you`ll never admit it on the air, because your constituency would hate you for it.

SHARPTON: Conservatives in America.

BECK: You and I disagree. You think that`s a brown jacket. I`m telling you it`s a blue jacket. We don`t agree on anything.

SHARPTON: I know, but the difference between you and I is you -- I will say it`s a brown jacket. You will say it`s blue, but you will change the lens to change the color to make me a liar, when we all know it`s a brown jacket.

See? We can get along if the right wing wouldn`t just play with the facts.

HOOVER: If the right wing could just agree with the left.

SHARPTON: Just play fair.

BECK: No. But the thing is -- absolutely -- is that we -- you and I -- I respect you. I believe you believe it, and I believe you`re open to having a conversation with me, and I hope -- I think you feel the same way about me. That`s what we have to get back to. We`re dividing ourselves.

SHARPTON: But see, the thing I think that is very important is you and I have not only have done your show sometimes and you`ve done my radio show -- is that we`ve to get to where in America where we are not concerned about is my crowd going to get mad that I respect Beck or Beck`s crowd me. We`ve got to talk. We fundamentally disagree, but we don`t have to be disagreeable.

BECK: OK. More honest questions when we come back. Keep it where it is. Back in a few.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Yesterday, Eric McLean, the man accused of killing his wife`s teen lover and student -- got it? -- broke his silence yesterday for the hard-hitting interview on "The Today Show" with Matt Lauer.

Here`s a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC MCLEAN, ACCUSED OF SHOOTING WIFE`S LOVER: I think about it all the time.

MATT LAUER, CO-HOST, NBC`S "THE TODAY SHOW": And finally, do the parents of the family of Shawn Powell...

MCLEAN: Every day I think -- I feel -- I think about Shawn`s family, and I feel really horrible. I pray for him and his family and just wish that -- I wish that none of this had happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: OK. We have Margaret Hoover here, Al Sharpton.

Wendy Murphy, I`m going to start with you because you`re our law expert. Wendy, I mean, I feel bad for him. I mean, it`s got to be horrible to kill another human being.

WENDY MURPHY, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Yes. More horrible for the dead guy.

BECK: Yes. More -- you know, the dead is dead, murder is murder. I don`t really understand the whole "feel really bad for me because I just shot a teenage kid."

MURPHY: Yes. You know, it`s a really strange interview. I don`t think a lot of people are going to feel bad for him.

And the weird thing is he`s sort of suggesting that, you know, he was just a jilted husband, jealous, outraged, provoked, and couldn`t help himself.

What he really was, was the husband of a woman who was essentially raping her student. He knew about it for a long time and did nothing about it, let himself fester, erupt, explode, and commit the crime of murder. He blew it.

I mean, everybody was bad in this scene, and, you know, his wife is the primary bad guy, but -- but he should have seen it for what it was. A teacher, his wife, having an inappropriate, highly exploitive relationship with one of her students. He let it go on, let himself get rageful (sic) and then killed the kid.

SHARPTON: I think Wendy is right. I think this guy would have been far more credible if he had turned his wife in or if he had done something to stop it. I don`t think that he`s a figure of sympathy.

HOOVER: It`s an act of vengeance. There`s no respect in act of vengeance.

BECK: I have to tell you, I have been surprised at how many adults I have passed in the hallway of this building who have said, "Hey, you can understand how the guy snapped."

And I always want to say, "Dot, dot, dot, but you don`t understand how he got the gun, loaded it and shot the kid in the car." Isn`t that kind of what separates us from animals?

SHARPTON: I think so. I mean, we live in a society of laws, and he broke the law. But even beyond that, I mean, if we start understanding guys like that, then what are our crimes of passion? I mean, who decides where that goes?

This guy, clearly, to me, might have lost it, but he should pay for it, and I don`t think that sympathy is something that`s in order here.

HOOVER: Yes. You can be upset. You can be jealous that your wife had an affair, but to kill another human being?

BECK: So Wendy, what is it -- what is it...

MURPHY: He killed the victim. It`s not like he killed a robber breaking into his House. He killed a kid who was being victimized.

BECK: You can even understand maybe being angry with the wife.

MURPHY: Yes.

BECK: What`s -- what is the difference between a crime of passion and murder? I understand the crime -- see, as I understand it, and I was told I was wrong on my radio show today.

As I understand it, a crime of passion, if I am in an argument or something happens and I just find out that somebody, you know, is -- my wife has just been raped and the guy is standing there and I have a gun, and I pull it, and I shoot it. But this may not be the case here.

MURPHY: This is so not the case. I mean, the notion of a crime of passion came from the idea of a guy coming home early from work one day and catching his wife in the sack with, you know, the postman and becoming out of control and rageful (sic) and expressing that in the bullet.

That`s not even really acceptable in a civilized society. Killing somebody in even that kind of situation really should make us angry, because if you`re a grown-up, control yourself. Call the police. Kick somebody in the butt, but, you know, killing is just so unacceptable.

This isn`t that. The kid was in a car. He wasn`t kissing his wife. He wasn`t doing anything remotely provocative. There is no defense. That`s why he was on "The Today Show".

SHARPTON: There was no act, going on when he did it. But again, I think Wendy made the real point. This kid legally was raped. I mean, this was -- here`s a kid whose teacher rapes him, and her husband kills him.

BECK: It`s a family affair.

But wait a minute. This is kind of jammed down our throats in a way with our own culture. This comes -- here we are in a culture that is already double standard.

How many times have you heard about all the hot teachers and say, "Hey, you know, look at that -- I`m not going to be traumatized if my fourth grade teacher would have done that to me."

MURPHY: And how disrespectful of boys that we do that to them, because the nature of the crime doesn`t care if you`re a boy student or a girl student. The adult teacher in a trust relationship taking sexual advantage, knowing damn well they shouldn`t be doing it, knowing it`s harmful.

You know, the kids don`t suffer less if the teacher is cute and more if the teacher is fat and ugly.

BECK: Well, now...

MURPHY: That`s not what the harm is all about.

BECK: See, that joke is what I`m talking about. I just did it. But that`s the way it is.

MURPHY: It`s wrong. That`s not right. It`s disrespectful that the suffering boys go through, that we make fun of it instead of saying we know that you`ve been exploited.

HOOVER: I have a hard time believing that an 18-year-old boy feels that he was raped by his teacher. I mean, 18-year-old guys are...

BECK: Can you show me the picture of the teacher again? There she is.

SHARPTON: Yes, but the Danger here is that you, again -- it`s a society of laws. Either 18-year-olds are under age or not. Whether we believe an 18-year-old guy is raped or not, then if it was an 18-year-old girl, would we be arguing it?

BECK: WE would be -- we would be...

SHARPTON: I think you`ve got to have one standard here.

BECK: You know, my daughter -- my daughters -- I know that they`re smart, and they`re not going to get into a relationship unless they want to.

But that`s different, having a caring relationship with somebody that you`re relatively your own age, and being raped or having someone of great power or age difference spread. That is a rape situation.

MURPHY: Of course it is.

HOOVER: It`s a rape situation, but I do think you have to acknowledge that there is societally a double standard for a reason. Guys generally think it`s cool to get in the sack with an older woman. Look at Demi Moore. Look at sort of the influences the media is having on our society.

MURPHY: You know, that`s not true. That is so not true. Look, here`s what we do. We think about the genitals of the female and the genitals of the male, and we go, oh, the guy gets all tingly and it feels really good so it can`t be harmful. It is harmful even when the boy feels sexual pleasure.

Look, boys like to do a lot of things like feel all tingly, like overdrinking and driving fast. We don`t say to them, well, because it feels so good, why don`t we just let you do it?

It`s so disrespectful to say to a boy -- and it`s purely cultural myth -- "We think because you felt all tingly, and she was a cute teacher. Boy, you must have liked it."

Ted Bundy was cute too. Do you think his rape victims felt any better about it?

HOOVER: I`m not suggesting that, you know, one way or the other. I`m just saying, you know, to assume it`s rape and to call it rape, you know, it might be going a little too far. Do we know that t wasn`t consensual?

MURPHY: It can`t be consensual. It`s a teacher-student.

SHARPTON: Especially given his age.

BECK: I think -- you would know that. At 17 -- because I think it started when he was 17. That`s consensual, is it not?

MURPHY: No, not when a teacher and student.

BECK: Right, OK.

MURPHY: By definition, that is per se not lawful behavior. Age is irrelevant when it`s the teacher. Just like a doctor, a therapist, teacher.

HOOVER: It`s not lawful, but it isn`t rape.

MURPHY: It is rape.

BECK: The -- the next area I want to go to on this particular topic is the teacher and the fact that why is it this is happening so much? Is it worse than it ever has been? Is it getting worse? Or are we just talking about it now?

SHARPTON: I don`t know if it`s -- if we`re talking about it more or we have more knowledge. I think with more mass communications and technology, maybe we`re hearing about it more. I don`t know. I don`t know.

HOOVER: I think it`s happening more. I`d be willing to bet that it`s actually happening more.

You -- you`ve seen a slow degradation of sort of moral fiber in this country. The family of parents being involved in students` lives and their kids` lives. Teachers being in touch with parents. You just...

BECK: You have a problem with -- when it comes to the teacher, you not only have the family falling apart, but at the same time you can`t -- I mean, try to fire a teacher here in New York City. Try to fire them.

We are -- were are protecting, in some cases, Dangerous people in jobs where they should -- our prize possession -- I don`t think there`s a soul within the sound of my voice that disagree with our prize possessions are our children. That is the -- that`s the light of our life. And, yet we don`t protect them. We protect the jobs, in some cases, of very dangerous people.

MURPHY: And can I just say something? We not only don`t protect the children when they`re in school. We don`t spend enough money screening for good teachers to begin with.

Isn`t it interesting that, in every one of these so-called blonde bombshell teacher cases, immediately out of the box someone goes, oh, well, you know, she had a mental illness.

Well, if she had such an obvious mental illness, how come we didn`t screen her out in the beginning?

SHARPTON: The overwhelming majority of teachers should be -- I mean, there are teachers that are the difference between light and darkness for a lot of people.

BECK: Absolutely.

SHARPTON: Don`t act like because we`ve got a few nuts, you shouldn`t protect teachers.

BECK: No, no. We`re talking about unions getting out of control.

Margaret, Wendy, Reverend Al Sharpton, thank you so much for joining us.

Back in just a minute with our final installment of our week-long series "Special Ops: Combat Search and Rescue". We`ll be back in a flash.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: There will come a day where right is wrong and wrong is right, and one side won`t even understand the other side. They`ll be so far down the road -- there`ll be a fork in the road. They`ll be so far down the road that right will look at wrong and wrong will look at right and they`ll say, "What are we even talking about?"

And I couldn`t understand, I couldn`t believe that that period would ever come. We`re living it right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: All week we`ve been bringing you an exclusive look at the Special Ops forces who are specifically trained to get U.S. troops out of hostile territory under the most extreme conditions and circumstances.

Tonight we conclude our series with a look at stories of breathtaking rescues and survival that could only come from the elite pararescuemen of Combat Search and Rescue.

CNN correspondent Alex Quade has their stories.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEX QUADE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Combat Search and Rescue.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We can roll into anything, because we train in so many different scenarios.

QUADE: Each based on real war zone embeds. Urban rescues.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rescue, rescue.

QUADE: Water rescues.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everyone is willing to give their life. They`ll sacrifice to try to save someone else`s.

QUADE: Ground rescues.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Those two aircraft come and pick us up. That was one of the best sights I`ve ever seen in my life.

QUADE: And special covert missions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Troops in the tree line.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All of this is geared towards getting back one person.

QUADE: Like A-10 pilot call sign Chalks, his head (ph) display, or cockpit video, seen now for the first time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is some breaking news coming out of CentCom.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The A-10 Warthog or tank buster, the one that was seen or like it over the skies of Baghdad this morning, has crashed.

QUADE: Chalks, hit by a SAM, surface-to-air missile, during shock and awe.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was pow. I mean, it hit. It was like a big hand was out in the sky and just swatted the airplane.

QUADE: His wing man Dono (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`ve never seen an airplane do this before, but he`s actually flying sideways. The airplane rolling over inverted straight into the ground and makes a big explosion.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: CentCom saying that the pilot did eject from the plane before it crashed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s -- wow. You know, pulled the handles and, you know, it`s gone. The canopy pops up. There`s a big pop, and the lock and loader ignites, and you`re out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn`t know if he was alive or dead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You hit the ground. Pow. You know, hard.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Behind enemy lines, Chalks hears gunfire and yelling.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Initially they`re going to that plane, but now I see the footprints across the field, and I just thought to myself, "Oh, (expletive deleted), because now they`re going to know where to come looking for me."

QUADE: His SERE, Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape training, kicks in and what should he do when he comes under fire. More on his story later.

His training and that of the PJs, or pararescuemen, is the key to survivors coming home. PJ Will takes us on immediate action drills. Translation, enemy contact.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Out of the rear. Down in the rear.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We did take fire, and we hit the ground. Take efforts as quickly as possible and break off, break contact.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bravo. Six. (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was screaming and yelling to command, saying, you know, go left, go right, go straight, go back, and throw smoke, engage.

Something PJ Mark has seen for real, which I ask him about while his PJs keep training.

QUADE: How important is that feeling that if things get really bad, you`re watching each other`s back?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it helps you get a little bit closer to the edge. Knowing that there`s someone waiting dedicated just to recover you when things go wrong, I think it allows you to move forward a little bit more.

QUADE: Which brings us back to A-10 pilot Chalks, hiding, waiting for extraction.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The guy just ejected. We got to go.

QUADE: Rescue helicopter pilot call sign T.C.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Somebody came over the radio and said, "That others may live."

We`re like, "That`s it, we`re going. Rock on. We`re out of here."

QUADE: U.S. soldiers fighting nearby find Chalks and alerted T.C.`s team.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I said PJ`s, if you have to, you take them by force.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He came busting in. He`s like, "We are out of here." You know, he almost -- he almost grabbed me. I was, like, well, hold on a second.

"No, we have to go."

Seeing a PJ, it`s literally a relief. That vulnerability, you know, the -- thinking that I`m going to get tortured, exploited, you know, it evaporates.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: CentCom saying that the pilot had been safely rescued.

QUADE: But not before getting shot at again, this time in T.C.`s rescue helicopter, or Jolly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All of a sudden, beep, beep, beep, boom. Things start flying off the airplane, and you`re jigging and jiving again. The battle doesn`t end just because you get to sit down in -- you know, in the jolly.

He told me, he says, "The only thing that was going through my mind was, oh, lord, everything that happened to me today, I`m going to die in the back of this helicopter with these guys."

QUADE: Chalks` wing man, Dono (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When he got in the helicopter, I was just so happy to see him. Just to see my best friend come back was amazing.

QUADE: Chalks and others alive today because of combat search and rescue teams, like these soldiers whose Chinook crashed in a sandstorm in Iraq. The cousin and former U.S. vice president, Al Gore, whose convoy was attacked. In Afghanistan a Navy SEAL hiding in a village after an ambushing shootout killed his team. And British paratroopers in a mine field. Limbs missing, all critical.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What`s the price of a life? My opinion is how important this is. We do not want to leave anybody behind.

QUADE: Including their own.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The search and rescue operation is underway. The Chinook helicopter crashes in rocky terrain. U.S. military reports eight American soldiers dead, 14 wounded.

QUADE: Among them, one PJ killed, Air Force Tech Sergeant Scott Duffman, and two PJs critically injured. PJ Dan, training for Afghanistan, was one of those hurt.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We put our own lives on the line. You know, we`ll live up to our motto, "that others may live."

QUADE: While Dan`s recovering, his fellow warriors are on alert everywhere U.S. troops are fighting.

And they`re ready to help back home: from Hurricane Katrina to Mount Hood.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A rescue effort is underway as we speak for three climbers.

QUADE: To standing by for every NASA shuttle mission to rescue or recover astronauts.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wherever people can go, we can get there and get them out.

QUADE: Which is why they train for everything.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Someone is having their worst day, we need to be having our best day.

QUADE: Combat search and rescuemen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re not in it to be on camera. We`re not in it for the thank yous. We do it because in our hearts it`s the right thing to do.

QUADE: So that others may live.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bottom line is they`re coming home.

QUADE: Alex Quade for Glenn Beck, Rudy (ph) Air Force Base, Georgia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: It`s time for your e-mail. I figure, you know, I`ve spent five hours of TV this week, 15 hours on radio, ranting about my opinions. I figure it`s only fair that I give you 2.5 minutes on a Friday to respond, you know, when everybody is out to dinner or a movie. It`s only fair, and that`s what I`m all about.

Alvin in California writes in, "Hey, leave Al Gore alone. Maybe what he`s doing isn`t right and what you think should happen, but guess what? At least he`s trying. We all need to try, because this is serious. Think about it, Glenn."

Alvin, you don`t want my life. You don`t know how much time I`ve thought about this. My head hurts from thinking about it.

The problem with global warming is that most people don`t think about it. They say that -- things like you just did. Hey, at least he`s trying.

The point is not to just try. You don`t spend trillions of dollars to prove your lofty intentions or the purity of your feelings. It`s about results, tied to those trillions of dollars.

Asking people to change their lives while using 20 times the amount of energy as the average person and then trying to buy some weird special dispensation via carbon offsets is disingenuous, and stupid, quite frankly.

Asking people to switch to a hybrid while still eating meat, even though the U.N. says pork chops are worse for the environment than all the transportation on the planet, is also disingenuous and stupid.

By the way, I`m wondering if Al Gore takes the tax credit when he buys a hybrid? I hope so, because that means my tax dollars are not only going to prop up failed social programs, they`re also going to transport Al Gore to Congress to ask for more tax increases.

I just so love what we`ve done with the place. Don`t you? Welcome to America. Our Founding Fathers would be proud.

Dan in Idaho writes, "So Glenn, can we obtain world peace? Are we truly sovereign without world peace? How would you go about obtaining world peace?"

Dan, it`s Friday, man. Good God in heaven. That`s way too deep for the beginning of a weekend. I`m -- I`m more thinking about death by chocolate than obtaining world peace.

You know, actually maybe the path to peace is death by chocolate. They`re beheading people. We`re saying, "Oh, yes, do it again and it will be death by chocolate, or maybe a yummy key lime pie."

Hey, I`m not Henry Kissinger, but I am a thinker.

We`ll see you back here Monday. Good night.

END