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Glenn Beck

Rosie Leaving "The View"; Dennis Kucinich Files Articles of Impeachment Against Cheney; New Planet Discovered

Aired March 25, 2007 - 19:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GLENN BECK, HOST (voice-over): Tonight, adieu to "The View". Why Rosie decided to mosey.

Plus, the amazing discovery of a new planet. Could alien life forms really exist? Or perhaps they`re already here, roaming the halls of Congress. I`ll tell you how these two stories are connected.

And a new polls shows 75 percent of Muslims say that attacks on civilians are un-Islamic. But wait a second, what about the other 25 percent? Yikes!

All this and more tonight.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BECK: All right. Even though we are in the middle of a war, our border is a revolving door and nut jobs from Iran to North Korea want to destroy us, here, believe it or not, is the big story in America today, and I hope you`re sitting down and keep your eye on Barbara Walters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROSIE O`DONNELL, CO-HOST, ABC`S "THE VIEW": I decided that we couldn`t come to terms with my deal with ABC, so next year I`m not going to be on "The View".

However, I will be coming back and guest hosting. I will be doing one-hour specials on autism and depression and stuff that I`m interested in. I`m just not going to do the every day thing. Because we couldn`t -- you know, they wanted three years. I wanted one year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: I`m really having a hard time holding it together here.

Here`s the point tonight. Don`t believe a word of what Rosie O`Donnell was just saying. She`s going to be back; she`s going to be bigger than ever. And believe it or not, that`s not an intentional or unintentional fat joke.

Let me start by saying, while I disagree with just about everything Rosie O`Donnell -- anything that`s ever spit out of her mouth, I could -- I could always count on Rosie O`Donnell saying something completely out of her mind insane every day. And for a guy who does three hours of radio every day, do you know how much money I`ve made off of that? And believe it or not, I believe in more speech, not less.

But Rosie -- Rosie O`Donnell`s announcement today was, quite honestly, just like everything else that she always says: it`s a total sack of crap. Let`s start off with her reasons for leaving.

She says it`s because ABC couldn`t agree on a contract with her. She wanted one year, and they insisted on three. Hang on just a second. They just signed a one-year deal last year. You really mean to tell you that ABC wouldn`t budge on a contract or contract length?

The ratings were up since Rosie joined the show. They would have done anything to keep her around, if they still really wanted her, which I`m not so sure they did.

Here`s the second gigantic lie.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARBARA WALTERS, CO-HOST, ABC`S "THE VIEW": I do not participate in the negotiations for Rosie.

O`DONNELL: Correct.

WALTERS: And it was ABC daytime. This is not -- and you know, I`m going read, oh, I did this and I did that, and it brings back a lot of other things that I was accused of doing and did not do. It was between your representatives.

O`DONNELL: My agents.

WALTERS: And ABC daytime.

O`DONNELL: Yes.

WALTERS: This is not my doing or my choice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: Really, Barbara? You had nothing to do with that? Yes. I bet they don`t even change the light bulbs at "The View" without checking with Barbara Walters. She is the first woman of ABC.

I believe she has become so increasingly uncomfortable with Rosie`s nut job theories and attacks, from questioning who was really behind 9/11 to accusing the president of treason, that she probably started to long for the calm and quiet days of the Star Jones era.

And finally, the third big lie here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

O`DONNELL: You know, when you`re on TV every day and when you say things that are provocative, many people come over to say, 99 percent of them nice, you know. But after, like, the sixth or seventh person at the mall, then she goes, "Why are these people talking to you?"

I said, "Honey, because of the job I go to in the morning."

She goes, "You`ve got to get rid of that thing."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: Gee, can`t relate to that one, Rosie. Let me just tell you this. Rosie is not leaving time to spend -- or not leaving to spend more time with her family or to spend more time on her blog. Darn it, I wish she would.

Mark my words: come September 2008, Rosie is going to be on the air again with her own show. And she`s going to be paid millions of dollars to do it, much more than she was getting paid on "The View" just to dump on our country.

So here`s what I know tonight. Everybody wanted Rosie out. Rosie wanted Rosie out, Barbara Walters, ABC. With her departure, everybody wins. ABC saves millions of dollars in salary, potential lawsuits, Doritos. Plus, they can save their credibility.

Rosie can go on and make her own crazy time, train wreck variety hour next fall. And Barbara Walters won`t have to cringe her way through the show every single day.

The next experiment on the show will do just as well.

Here`s what I don`t know. How much will Rosie make for her next gig? Will it be $10 million, $20 million, $50 million? And who will win the bidding?

Joining me now is entertainment reporter Katrina Szish and Penn Jillette, host of NBC`s "Identity" and "Penn and Teller B.S." on Showtime, which you`ve got to see. It`s great.

Penn, let me start with you. Do you believe any of the B.S. that Rosie and Barbara Walters said today?

PENN JILLETTE, HOST, NBC`S "IDENTITY": You know, I have another problem that`s kind of flushing over me, and that is what turns did I take in my life that I`m talking to you about Rosie O`Donnell? I`m trying to think I was a fire eater and a carnie. I`m a game show host.

BECK: Yes. I know. Penn, when I was...

JILLETTE: Now to talk to you, of all people, about Rosie O`Donnell.

BECK: When I was -- when I was preparing for this interview I`m thinking what am I going to ask Penn Jillette? That went through my mind. This is a low point in Penn Jillette`s career.

JILLETTE: I`m from a -- I`m from a good family. I`m from a good family. What turns did I take?

You know, I`ve done "The View", and I used to do "The View", and everybody on "The View" hated me. And then I had children, and everybody on "The View" loved me. So there is a purpose for children in this world. They`re not the future. They`ll get you to be treated civilly on "The View".

But last time we were on with Rosie, she seemed really happy. She seemed happy with her home life and happy with her kids. And as we all know, whenever a whack job gets happy, they get crazier in public. Wait until you get a little happy.

BECK: You know what? I`m perfectly happy. I`ve been happy for a long time.

JILLETTE: I know. But if you get a little happier...

BECK: Yes.

JILLETTE: ... you get crazier on the air. The only exception to that, of course, is Ann Coulter, but the rest of us, the happier we get the crazier we get. So backstage last time with Rosie, she was the most kind of happy and centered I`ve ever seen her, and that allowed her to be crazier on the air. And I think everything she said...

BECK: I just have to point out, Penn, that you didn`t answer the question. So I mean...

JILLETTE: Of course, I did.

BECK: No, you didn`t.

Katrina, $10 million is what she turned down from ABC. The question is does she make more or less in the future? And first of all, how much does Rachael Ray make?

KATRINA SZISH, ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: I have no idea, but I think it`s a lot, especially with her of her endorsement deals everywhere. She seems to be -- you can`t look around your shoulder without seeing Rachael Ray.

But with Rosie, I think she`s going to make more. And I think that, even if she doesn`t make a lot more, she`s going to be happy because she`s going to be able to do whatever she wants. She`s not going to be told that she needs to limit what she says, even though she doesn`t. She`s not going to be on the ABC leash, so to speak. It`s going to be the Rosie O`Donnell show, and that`s what she`s always wanted.

BECK: OK. But Penn, you know. I mean...

JILLETTE: She`s going to make more money. Was that the question? She`s going to make more money, yes.

BECK: No. That was her question. Your question is different. Play along! Penn, you have Penn and Teller. You know, I`ve seen your show, and I just love you guys.

SZISH: So do I.

BECK: It`s just not the same without Teller, even though he doesn`t say anything.

JILLETTE: Exactly.

BECK: Rosie, without the other two or the other three or however many are on, without that balance of her insanity lately, how do you make a show like that work if she goes out by herself?

JILLETTE: I have no idea. You know, that`s a really good point. The whack jobs that function absolutely alone are much rarer. And that show was a great show for her to be crazy on because it was so well -- so kind of bland otherwise, you know? It`s supposed to be just chattering, and she brought them into the news.

So I think that there`s a big problem with that. I do think it does kind of limit her more. Did I answer the real question?

BECK: You did and did a good job, too.

Katrina, any rumblings at all that you have heard that the -- that this is part of the culture of Imus? And I`m hoping that you say no.

SZISH: No. Not at all. You`re actually the first person who`s even made that comparison, that there`s even been something going with that. I don`t think so at all.

BECK: You know what comes to mind is last week I heard something from Tom DeLay and I about -- I about shot pizza through my nose.

SZISH: That would have been good TV.

BECK: That would have been. I couldn`t believe what I was hearing, that Tom DeLay would come out to say, "The next person, now that Imus is gone. Oh, yes? Then we should go after Rosie O`Donnell." That`s insanity.

SZISH: It is insanity.

BECK: So none of that played a role in this?

SZISH: I would find that very hard to believe. Again, I think people might chatter about it, but you know, at the end of day, absolutely not. It was really kind of what you pointed out, and it ended up good for everybody. She wanted out. They wanted her out. Everyone`s happy.

BECK: Penn?

Go ahead.

JILLETTE: I disagree a little bit. I think there is a sense now when the corporate wagons are circling, and no one wants to have the next person who says something that`s controversial in the exact wrong way. And the problem with being on TV and radio is you have to guess what`s going to be controversial next.

BECK: Tomorrow.

JILLETTE: It`s very possible that -- that, you know, her speaking at the dinner and dropping -- I hate to use the term, makes me feel like a child, but the "F"-bomb and doing those things, it`s very possible that it is -- I guess what you`re labeling the Imus effect, but people are scared to death.

CBS just put somebody else, Elvis and his crew, on the doghouse, put them on suspension for a bit that they taped earlier and that was -- it would have been considered, even five years ago, absolutely good-natured fun. Not that, you know -- not that it`s the kind of joke I would do, but we might just be going through a period that we`re setting up for another Lenny Bruce to come along.

BECK: So how do we -- go ahead.

SZISH: I was going say, but even before the so-called Imus effect, Rosie has been questioned for her controversial statements since she started on "The View". So this was a problem that Rosie had from day one. I don`t think it`s a result of what happened with Don Imus. It`s just the Rosie effect.

BECK: How do we protect speech on both sides? Because this really frightens me, and it should frighten every American. I do not want Rosie O`Donnell fired because of her point of view, no matter how insane I think it is.

We have the ACLU protecting the insane speech on the left, but you only have bashers on the insane speech on the right. How do we protect all unpopular speech?

JILLETTE: But first of all, make it really clear that you`re not talking about any assault whatsoever on freedom of speech. All they`re talking about is people being fired, which is absolutely the right of any corporation, and people to say they didn`t like someone that was on TV or radio which is absolutely their right.

Until the FCC gets involved or the government gets involved, using the word censorship is incorrect. Yes, Al Sharpton did say that the FCC should get involved. But they haven`t been yet.

So don`t be so easy to throw around the term freedom of speech. It`s a very important thing, and it`s very different from getting fired. You have a right to say what you want, but not say it on your job.

BECK: OK. I`ve got to run.

Katrina, thanks.

Penn, your low point in your career has not ended yet. Stay where you are.

Coming up, the Democrats have now turned their attention to the impeachment of Dick Cheney. Nancy Pelosi trying to get rid of incandescent light bulbs in the Capitol. Really? This is what America elected these guys to do?

Plus, the discovery of a new, earth-like planet raises questions about life as we know it. We`ll talk to an astronomer who won`t put you to sleep, I promise, coming up.

And, will there be justice for Dog the Bounty Hunter? His legal battle with Mexico continues. We`ll update you on the latest details of the case. Don`t miss it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Two stories came out today are not connected in any way, shape or form or are they?

First one, Dennis Kucinich has filed for articles of impeachment against Dick Cheney. The second story, scientists have discovered an earth-like planet, Gliese 581-C just outside our solar system that could possibly support human life.

Here`s what I think. Men are from Mars, women are from Venus, and Dennis Kucinich and Nancy Pelosi are from Gliese 581-C. I have no proof yet, but for -- as nuts as that might sound, it is actually easier for me to believe that insanity than it is for me to believe that these guys actually think that impeaching Dick Cheney and changing light bulbs in the Capitol building is what American voters actually elected them to do.

These are not the Democrats the country voted for last November. I`m not even sure at this point that they`re earthlings. With the discovery of the new planet, is it completely crazy to think that Dennis Kucinich in real life actually looks a little more like this? Oh, I`m just saying.

Still with us is comedian and host of "Identity", Penn Jillette -- Penn.

JILLETTE: Yes.

BECK: Dennis Kucinich, Midwesterner or extraterrestrial?

JILLETTE: Well, you know, they -- I think he may be from the Midwest.

BECK: But you`re not ruling -- you`re not ruling out that he may be from space, are you?

JILLETTE: All I`m say saying is I spend a little more time thinking about space than I do about the Midwest.

BECK: Sure.

JILLETTE: So I don`t know. You know, I don`t know.

I mean, I think that, you know, when the Clintons always talk about this vast right-wing conspiracy, they`re 100 percent right. As soon as you`re elected to anything, there are thousands of people whose full-time job it is to bring you down.

And that`s just -- there`s also a left-wing conspiracy. And part of your job, if you`re -- if you`re a Democrat is to try to bring down Republicans any way you can. And it certainly gets silly when you talk about impeachment like this.

BECK: All right. So, Penn, a serious question. I mean, I said yesterday on the TV show that I -- I think the reason why we`re so tired of hearing about the president`s poll numbers are so low or why we don`t care about Iraq anymore is because we pretty much know the answer. Americans know the answer.

You either get out right now and pull these troops out immediately or you fight it with everything you have and you fight to win. And we all know -- people in Washington are not going to do that. They`re not going do either one of those. And so it`s like common sense is dead.

How do we dig ourselves out of this hole that they have put us in?

JILLETTE: I think there`s this virus that we all believe that compromise is a good thing, and compromise is almost always a bad thing. If you`ve got two choices and you don`t know which one is right, the chances that the right answer is in the middle are almost zero.

Yes, in Iraq we should either fight or we should not fight, but going in the middle is the worst choice. And TV shows really push all the time this, well, we`ve got one nut over here and one nut over here. And we all know the truth is somewhere in the middle.

Often, the truth is over here or over here or over here or even over here or over here, and that`s what drives me crazy. When you deal with something like a war, going down the middle and fighting it half-assed is your worst idea.

BECK: I think the -- who was it that came out in -- it was Giuliani that came out today or yesterday and said that, you know, the Democrats will make us less safe.

You know, I heard that and I thought, OK, not that we`re not going get hit with another 9/11 if, you know, if the Republicans are in. We`re going get hit by another 9/11, too. It is inevitable. It`s a matter of when, not if. But there is, you know, a faster way to that nightmare.

But I`ve got news for you. I think the Republicans are doing the same darn thing. They`re not solving these issues. I don`t think -- I don`t think anybody in Washington actually wants to solve these issues because then people won`t need them. It`s like poverty, isn`t it?

JILLETTE: Well, yes. I think that once you have the war on something, you`re always talking about craziness. If you have a war, that`s one thing. The war on drugs, the war on poverty, the war on terrorism are just ways to keep people giving the government more power.

Terrorism -- there`s no way to just fight it globally. There`s no sort of pure safety from terrorism. It`s been around forever. It will be around forever, and there are ways to -- to make us a little safer, but there`s no sort of total fix. So we will go forever with those wars.

The war on poverty didn`t go away, even though obesity is a problem with the poor. The war on poverty still will keep going. And the war on drugs will keep going even when it seems everybody in the country smokes marijuana except me.

BECK: And you`re really telling me that there`s -- you`ve never seriously considered that James Carville is an alien?

JILLETTE: Oh!

BECK: Yes. And this is a man who`s never smoked dope in his life.

JILLETTE: I think that`s the kind of thing to say.

BECK: Penn Jillette. Thanks a lot. Comedian and host of NBC`s "Identity", Penn Jillette.

We`ll be back in a second. A new planet has been discovered that could possibly sustain life. What does that mean for life as we know it on this planet? More Reese`s Pieces? I don`t really know.

Plus, Governor Mike Huckabee claims he`s the only true conservative presidential candidate for `08. We`ll give him a chance to prove it. Don`t miss tonight`s "Real Story".

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Scientists have discovered life on another planet, and aliens will arrive by tomorrow morning. Now, back to the Rosie O`Donnell story.

No, actually, we did find another planet. Scientists are always looking for new planets, even though they kicked Pluto out of the club last year, but most aren`t enough like Earth to actually care about.

That is not the case with the latest planet that we found. It`s 20 light years away. It`s just outside of our Solar System. It`s a neighbor. It`s a rare planet that could support liquid water and harbor life just like the conditions here on earth.

Derrick Pitts is chief astronomer for the Franklin Institute and Science Museum.

Hello, sir, how are you?

DERRICK PITTS, CHIEF ASTRONOMER, FRANKLIN INSTITUTE AND SCIENCE MUSEUM: I`m fine, Glenn. How are you?

BECK: Very good. Gliese 518-C, are we really down to the Gliese names? How do we come up with that name?

PITTS: I guess we used up all the names of characters on all the television programs so we`re on to this now.

BECK: OK. We have no idea if this place even has water, do we?

PITTS: No, we really don`t.

BECK: Have we seen -- have we seen this with our eyes yet?

PITTS: No, we have not. We have not been able to image this planet directly. And that`s really an interesting testimony to how well our equipment works, is that we can figure out so much about these planets without even being able to see them.

But, you`re right. We don`t know that there`s water there. It`s just that the temperature might be nice enough that water could be a liquid if there were water there.

BECK: Well, I mean, it -- just because it`s 76 degrees doesn`t make it San Diego. I mean...

PITTS: You`re right, but I`ll take it.

BECK: How do we -- how do we -- what gives us reason to believe that this is great -- is it just temperature?

PITTS: Well, actually it`s a couple of things. No. 1, it`s the size of the planet. It`s small enough, and that give it is us a lot of good leeway for whether or not life could develop there. It`s the right size, and therefore, it could be the right distance from its parent star to have the proper temperature.

So those are two things that we haven`t been able to find in what are called extra solar planets before. So this is the reason why we`ve really jumped on this as being a significant find.

BECK: Have our -- like "I Love Lucy". Have they received "I Love Lucy" yet?

PITTS: Let`s see, they`re 20 light years away. Yes, they`ve already received "I Love Lucy". In fact, they think we`re space travelers because they`ve seen "Star Trek" already.

BECK: Really? They`ve seen -- so they`re probably, like at the "Love American Style" years, which got a little dicey?

PITTS: Let`s hope -- let`s hope they skipped that somehow.

BECK: Yes. I was going say, I`d like to apologize now, but it will be 20 light years before they ever hear that.

Is there -- do we have anything where we can now start to direct listening devices or receiving devices to this planet to be able to hear anything?

PITTS: Yes, we certainly do, Glenn. We have a system that is doing exactly that, looking at millions of frequencies per second all around the universe, trying to see if we can pick up any intelligent signals from anywhere else.

BECK: SETI, does that still exist?

PITTS: Yes, it really does exist.

BECK: I get all of my science news from "Contact", the Carl Sagan movies, which is great, because all we have to do is we have to build a device that a ball drops down, and we can go visit this planet.

PITTS: And I think that will be the next thing to do.

BECK: Right. Now do we -- do we honestly target a planet like this when we say this is a planet that could have life? Do we actually try to listen to it more than the others?

PITTS: Well, this would be a wonderful opportunity to try that, but, you know, we don`t know enough about this planet yet. We can certainly do a sweep and see if we find anything coming from that direction. That would be easy enough to do. But you know, in fact, if we haven`t heard anything from this planet by now, chances are we shouldn`t expect to hear anything, either.

BECK: Derrick, thanks a lot.

Coming up, the former governor Mike Huckabee claims he is the true conservative candidate, and we`re going to give him the opportunity to prove it. Don`t miss it. It`s "The Real Story", and it`s next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Earlier in the show, we talked about how the Democrats in Congress aren`t exactly doing the work of the American people, but is anybody really surprised by that? I`m not. And if you watch this show for more than 10 minutes, you`re not either. Here`s a clip from our real story. This is last Election Day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: If you`re concerned that too much might get done next year, don`t worry about that. Your new chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, John Conyers, has specifically said that we`ll spend lots of time doing investigations on the administration, on the war, and they will probably end in an impeachment hearing. Great!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: Here`s "The Real Story" tonight. This is exactly what we knew would happen if the Blue Dog Democrats got steamrolled over, and that`s why now, just five months later, you are seeing articles of impeachment against Dick Cheney, hearings for Alberto Gonzales, attempts at subpoenas for Karl Rove and Harriet Miers, the global warming hearings, war hearings on the truth about Jessica Lynch -- I can`t wait to get to the bottom of that one -- Pat Tillman. Now today, new subpoena demands for Condoleezza Rice about the yellowcake claim from about 400,000 years ago. Also, they want to hear from Andrew Card about the Valerie Plame CIA leak. Nobody cares about that. I don`t even think Valerie Plame cares about that one.

Is anyone else just so sick and tired of these clowns in Washington? I said last night we`re all getting war fatigue, sick of hearing about it. Is it any surprise? I don`t think it is. I mean, there are only two options when it comes to war. You fight with everything you`ve got or you pull out today. Not in October, today. It`s common sense, but right now the only uncommon thing in Washington is common sense.

Conservatives have been pulled in so many different directions, I don`t even know what they stand for anymore. You know what? Honestly, I don`t even know what the common sense conservative answers are anymore from the clowns in Washington. And, worse, I don`t know who the true conservative leaders are.

President Bush is a conservative? Not so much. I swear to you, give him another two weeks. He`ll start giving out prescription drug programs to illegal aliens and then arrest the border guards for giving them the prescription drugs. That`s about how conservative he seems to me right now.

What we need in 2008 is another real, actual conservative leader. We need another Ronald Reagan to snap us out of our trance, unite all of us, and say, "Guys, the answer is pretty simple. You need to use common sense, the common sense of our grandparents. What happened to it?"

But who is that person? I haven`t really seen them yet. I think we should start the resumes and the interview process right now. Next in line, former governor of Arkansas, Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee says that his presidency would be based on, quote, "genuine conservative leadership."

And, Governor, honestly, that sounds great, but I`ve been hearing from these Republicans who have betrayed me and all real conservatives for eight years. I feel like I`ve been lied to.

FORMER GOV. MIKE HUCKABEE (R), ARKANSAS: Well, Glenn, you know, I think a lot of Republicans are pretty frustrated right now, because there`s so much talk that doesn`t match the walk. And what people look for in leadership is not necessarily someone with whom they agree all of the time, but they want the leader to be consistent.

I say Republicans like their eggs sunny side up, not scrambled. We want optimistic, clear-cut leadership, not eggs that are all over the plate, and you have no idea what the positions are because they`ve all been so mixed up. One day it`s one thing, and then they run for another office, and it`s something else.

BECK: OK, just give me short answers, because I want to barrel through a few things with you. Short answers. Immigration, what is the real -- as you view it -- the real conservative point on immigration?

HUCKABEE: It starts with a secure border. Put a fence up. Make everybody go through the turnstile, just like you and I have to when we get on airplanes at the airport. And on the other side, make sure that there`s a process where it takes days, not years, to go through legally so you don`t almost frustrate people into trying to skip the system.

BECK: What do you do with the companies that are hiring these guys?

HUCKABEE: Well, you penalize them, if they knowingly and willingly hire people that are illegal. Now, if they are being tricked with false documents, then, you know, you have to hold the false document makers hostage -- or, rather, responsible, as well as the people who are guilty of human trafficking.

BECK: Fluorescent light bulbs on Capitol Hill because global warming is going to kill us?

HUCKABEE: Any light on Capitol Hill will be better than the darkness that`s there now, so I don`t care what kind of light it is. Just turn the lights on.

BECK: Give me the answer on global warming, real, not?

HUCKABEE: I`m a Christian. I think we ought to take good care of the Earth, not because Al Gore says so, but because God says it`s a planet we ought to turn in better shape to our kids. Do the old Boy Scout rule: Leave it in better shape for the next camper than you found it. But as far as blaming human beings for enjoying the environment, that`s a little bit extreme.

BECK: OK. What about Iraq?

HUCKABEE: Well, what we ought to be doing in Iraq is listening to the men and women who put their lives on the line by putting mud and blood on their boots. We`ve done a lot of listening, and we`ve followed the orders of civilians in nice suits and silk ties. And I`m afraid we`ve made some mistakes by not going in there with all of the force we needed early on. There`s an old saying in the South, Glenn. It takes more money to do it over than it does to do it right, and I`m afraid that`s what we`re finding out about Iraq.

BECK: You know, Nancy Pelosi didn`t even meet with Petraeus today, it`s my understanding. He came to Capitol Hill to talk with her...

HUCKABEE: Well, she`s too busy over there talking to the Syrians and wanting to have her own personal State Department, so I guess she was just too busy to go and meet with the very person that she has been so willing to criticize in public. It`s amazing to me.

BECK: What do you think about -- Rudy Giuliani said that the Democrats are going to make America -- make it more likely that we`ll have another 9/11 if we have Democrats in `08?

HUCKABEE: Well, rather than blame all Democrats, let`s blame the ones who want us to cut and run in Iraq, the ones who would let it turn into an absolute inferno of genocide. Let`s blame the ones who want to put a timetable on the end of the war, like it`s some kind of a ridiculous game, in which we say, OK, at 9:00, we`re finished. It doesn`t matter whether we`re ahead or behind in the scoreboard. It doesn`t matter where we are in the game.

If a high school football did that, then the other team doesn`t have to play well or even play. They just have to stay on the field until 9:00, and they`re going to win by default.

BECK: So, Mike, how do you get a guy like me? I`m not a Republican. I`ll vote for a Democrat if they have the right answer. I`ll vote for a Republican if they have the right answer, and I can`t...

HUCKABEE: Which means you`ll vote for Republicans about 90 percent of the time, right?

BECK: Yes, absolutely. I do. And I`ll admit that. However, I`m not a party guy. I`m a conservative, but I`m not -- I don`t have allegiance to one party. How do you, as a Republican, get me to vote for a Republican again? You guys told me you were conservatives, and I saw prescription drugs, I see what`s happening with the war, I see what`s happening with our border, and I don`t believe any of them anymore. How do you get me?

HUCKABEE: I think what you have to do is not listen just to what we`re saying now, but what we were saying two years ago, 10 years ago? And more importantly, what were we doing?

As a governor with a record of 10 and a half years, people can find out whether if I was really a conservative. They`re going to find out that I cut taxes. They`re going to find out that we did things in this state that improved education, that really made a difference for people with competent government, not just a bunch of empty promises. They`ll find out I`m pro-life, that I`m pro-traditional marriage, and that I absolutely understand and believe in protecting the Second Amendment.

BECK: OK. Governor, thanks a lot. And we will see you on the radio program tomorrow in hour three to finish this conversation.

By the way, Representative Conyers is not in the Senate. He`s in the House. Whew, I knew that.

Next, we talk about Americans and how they view Islam. That`s a hot topic on all television. How do we view Islam? But how do Muslims view America? There is a new world public opinion poll with some answers, but I`m warning you up front, I`m going to interpret the results for you, and it`s not going to be politically correct.

All right. First, they asked people in four prominent Muslim countries, "Do you approve on attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan?" Well, if you were thinking about vacationing at the pyramids, you might want to make other plans, because 91 percent of Egyptians say yes. I might say that you should, you know, head to Indonesia instead, since only 19 percent of them approve of attacks on our troops, but, unfortunately, a majority of Indonesians refuse to say that Islam, quote, "certainly opposes attacks on civilians." So our troops might be safer in Indonesia, but you`re definitely not.

Next -- and they wrote this like this was a good thing -- quote, "More than 75 percent of those surveyed in the four countries say that attacks on civilians is un-Islamic." Well, I mean, I`m no Matt Damon in "Good Will Hunting" here or anything, but I am a thinker. Doesn`t that leave 25 percent who say attacking civilians is in accordance with Islam?

Now, there is some good news, kind of, but you have to search for it. Majorities in three of the four countries say that they oppose Al Qaeda`s attacks on America. I know. That still leaves one country that doesn`t oppose their attacks, but the real story is that this is a classic example of how polls can be unbelievably misleading.

If you dig deeper, if you find two-thirds of those polled in Pakistan, which is the mystery country that supposedly supports Al Qaeda, refused to answer the question. Why? I believe it`s because they`re afraid. Remember, this is not exactly, you know -- this isn`t Pew Research calling you at night. These polls are done by people coming to your home, seeing what you look like, seeing your family.

Things are so upside down there that, for all you know, the pollster could be in Al Qaeda. Think about it. Think about it more like this, about the mob. You live in Sicily, and some Sicilian comes up, and he knocks on your door, and he says, "So you denounce the mob`s use of violence?" What are you going to say? I say, "Maybe, maybe not, what do you think? I`m going pass on that question, thank you."

And I think it`s the same thing with peace-loving moderate Muslims in the Middle East. What America needs to understand is that many in the Middle East are just as afraid of radicals as we are, because they know that, if their real opinions are ever known, if they stand up for the religion that they love against the ruthless, blood-thirsty monsters who have perverted it only for political purposes, then their only reward may be a starring role in the next Internet beheading video.

Unfortunately, as many Muslims have learned, sometimes the smartest short-term answer is to give no answer at all. We`ll be back in a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: You know, here`s the scary thing. He`s from outer space. Calling all Jazaliens (ph). I`m telling you, these guys are going start peeling back their skin. They`ll be lizard people by 5:00 this afternoon.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is my final plea. I am a Gecko, so stop calling me.

BECK: I will. They`ll be like -- that`s a real possibility.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: Just a quick programming reminder. On Wednesday, May 2nd, a week from today, we have that one-hour special you have to see. It`s called "Exposed: Climate of Fear," at it looks at the flipside of the global warming debate. Remember, there are two sides to every debate, and you`re just not getting the other side of the story. The implications are enormous. Do not miss it. Watch it with your family.

Over the past couple of months, I`ve been following a couple of stories closely on this program, and this is one of them. Duane Chapman, he`s Dog the Bounty Hunter to you and me, and he is a new kind of American hero. Everybody knows the larger-than-life persona of his television show. I mean, look at him. When you look past the long hair and the crazy outfits -- put a shirt on, man -- you find a guy who is passionate about finding fugitives from justice, getting them off the streets, and returning them to the authorities.

That`s what he did when he followed a lead south of the border to Mexico to find Andrew Luster, a dirt bag guy. He`s the MaxFactor heir who had been convicted on 86 counts of rape. Let go on one count, however. The Mexican government said that Dog overstepped his bounds and wanted to try him for deprivation of liberty. Mexico is a country where bounty hunting is illegal.

Well, finally, somebody in our government is stepping up to lend Dog a hand. Mark Shurtleff is the attorney general for the state of Utah.

Mark, you were actually listening to an interview I did with Dog on my radio program a couple of weeks ago. This is the first time we`ve had a chance to talk since that time. What is the development here?

MARK SHURTLEFF, UTAH ATTORNEY GENERAL: Well, thank you very much. You know, you put me in touch with Dog and Beth and the family. I`ve spoken to them several times. They`re sending me information. I`ve spoken with a number of their attorneys. They`ve got attorneys obviously representing them in Mexico. A&E has attorneys representing them. They`ve got problems here with our federal government, so it`s an all-out assault really, legally. My involvement only has been to try and use the contacts I`ve established within Mexico...

BECK: Because you have expertise in extradition. You`ve just received an award from Mexico on, you know, being a good neighbor, State Farm is there or whatever it is...

SHURTLEFF: Hablo espanol, tambien.

BECK: So you have a relationship with Mexico. What have you found? I told you when we spoke the first time, my spider senses are tingling. There is something going on. It`s secret combination stuff. What do you believe?

SHURTLEFF: Well, look, I think that by developing relationships is the way we`re going to resolve this or using those relationships. And, you know, we`ve done enough wrong here, I think our federal government, in changing that deprivation of liberty to a felony kidnapping. And somehow we can`t fix that here in our own system. But I don`t want to be tossing stones at them, you know, the whole glass houses thing. I want to make sure that we don`t come at with this, as criticizing them, and making...

(CROSSTALK)

BECK: No, no, wait, wait, wait. Hang on just a second. I`m not saying that it`s Mexico. I`m saying there`s something going on here that we don`t know about. There is something under -- you know, I don`t know how to describe it other than secret combinations. There`s something going on. Do you have that feeling at all or am I crazy?

SHURTLEFF: No, I think there is. And as you pointed out so many times before, if this can happen to somebody like Dog, you know, what about the rest of us?

BECK: Oh, we`d be toast.

SHURTLEFF: We would be toast. But that`s why I want to see if we can`t turn this positive, and say, look, this has got a lot of notoriety. A lot of people are involved, a lot of huge interests, obviously, particularly because of your show. But let`s turn it positive, and let`s let Mexico believe that there`s a way that they can take Dog and his notoriety and who he is and try and do something positive out of this.

That`s the message I`m going to take down with them. I`m going to meet with Dog`s attorney tomorrow morning, who`s representing them down in the Mexican courts there, and then hopefully be able to take a trip down there and work a contact. You know, we found in the Mexican government, in the office of the president, they actually have a person whose job it is to try and resolve problems like this. We had a good connection with the prior administration with Vicente Fox. There`s a new guy in there, but they do -- they are connected because of the same party, so we`re going to try and work that relationship.

BECK: I`ll tell you what. I`m going take the day off on Friday, so the first opportunity for you and I to speak is Monday. Can I have you on the radio and TV show on Monday to give me an update?

SHURTLEFF: Be happy to. And I really appreciate it. The fact that you keep making this known to people and asking them to support Dog, and, you know, I`m supporting him because I believe, as a law enforcement officer, there`s a real important role for bail bondsmen, for bail enforcement officers, and not only that, but he`s such a good guy, with the anti-drug message and the way he goes about things. And we need to support him.

BECK: Odds of getting him off?

SHURTLEFF: I think they`re pretty good, Glenn. I really do. I feel optimistic about it. And one way or another, I think we`re going to get him off. But we`ve got to keep at it.

BECK: Appreciate it, Mark. We`ll talk to you Monday.

Just a reminder, if you`d like to support Dog, visit his Web site, do it right now, please, DogtheBountyHunter.com, and click, and sign that petition. We`ll be back in just a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: All right. On this most somber of days, the day Rosie O`Donnell announced she was leaving "The View," this e-mail came in from Rafael in Wisconsin. He writes, "Glenn, now that Rosie O`Donnell is leaving "The View" in June, do you think there`s room for her on your show? It might be a ratings booster for you. I watch your show everyday, and I know how much you like her."

Look, Rafael, no time for jokes here. What`s next for Rosie, what`s next for me, for that matter, is a little too upsetting to focus on. Today, I think we just need to mourn our loss of Rosie O`Donnell from "The View." And earlier, I asked my radio listeners to get their cameras ready before I made the announcement of Rosie`s departure, because I knew the shock and despair that they`d be feeling. I asked them to send in their pictures of themselves right as they heard the news so we could document the emotions of a nation stunned in disbelief.

Too many pictures came in to be able to show you here, but this is a sampling of some of those photos on. This is America today. These are the faces of the people touched by the Rosie O`Donnell departure, regular people, teachers, bakers, factory workers, zoologists, barbers, people who dress up as fast food items and stand in front of the drive-thrus, even gingivitis sufferers, all experiencing the same American experience.

It`s in times like these that we can all come together, despite our differences, and join as one. Think about it: In 30, 40, 50 years, you`ll remember where you were when you heard the news that Rosie was leaving "The View." This is the sort of day that you will use as a marker, like, "I got my dog right after Rosie left," or, "I went blind in that industrial accident right before Rosie`s announcement."

It`s times like these when a story as huge as Rosie going from one talk show to probably just another talk show that we realize how trivial our everyday focus really is, stupid little things, like how to protect ourselves from Islamic extremism, or how to protect our kids from predators, or how to stop the bleeding at our borders, how to keep our country prosperous and safe. Can you believe it was just yesterday we cared about those things, when something like Rosie leaving "The View" was brewing all along?

It`s a tough day, America. But we can get through it. We can do it if we stay together. You can e-mail me your Rosie on "The View" eulogies at GlennBeck@CNN.com. From New York, good night. Courage.

END