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Glenn Beck

Arrests of Terror Suspects Reveals Security Concerns; Palestinians Respond to Controversy Over Children`s Show; LAPD Under Fire for Response to Protestors

Aired May 09, 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: Tonight, home-grown terror. Do we even know who`s in this country? And why the Fort Dix terror arrests could mean big problems for our border security.

Plus, he looks like Mickey Mouse. Except this little rat teaches kids in the Middle East how to hate. An update on the controversial video.

And I`ll talk to Liev Schreiber about what it`s like to play a controversial talk radio host.

LIEV SCHREIBER, ACTOR: A big mouth, someone who isn`t afraid to tell it like it is, running his mouth on all those stations.

BECK: No, he`s not talking about me.

All this and more tonight.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BECK: The six men facing charges for planning to murder U.S. soldiers at Fort Dix face a bail hearing on Friday, but there`s one part of this whole terror plot that everybody in the media seems to be ignoring for some reason, and here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTOPHER CHRISTIE, U.S. ATTORNEY: Eljvir Duka, who was illegally here in the United States and was associated with a roofing business, along with his two brothers, Dritan Duka and Shain Duka, also both here illegally in the United States, and associated with the same roofing business.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: I swear to you, I don`t understand it. The media is focusing on the store clerk who tipped off authorities. That`s great and everything, but that`s not what this story is about. It`s not even what the terrorists wanted to do.

This story is about the fact that there are terrorists here, and three of them are illegal aliens. Here`s the point tonight.

Illegal immigration is not about race. It never has been. It never will be. It`s about security, and here`s how I got there.

I`ve got a quick message for illegal aliens if you happen to be watching. You better start packing your bags. And to the politicians in Washington who are soft on illegal immigration, start packing up your office, because when the terrorists strike, which they will, and we find out that they`re here illegally from some other country, we will be telling all of you to get the hell out.

I am not a mathematician, which is probably pretty obvious, but I do know this. The violent crime rate in America, relative to our population, is about half of 1 percent. That means for a population of 270 million people, there are about 1.5 million violent crimes every year here in America.

You take that number into account when you`re looking at 12 million illegal immigrants, people we don`t even know who they are. If only half a percent of that population committed violent crimes, it still comes out to grand total of over 50,000.

Now, this is not remotely scientific, and I know that, but it does make you think or it should. It`s hard enough to fight crime without adding potentially 50,000 violent people to that total.

And who knows who they are. Who knows where they`ve come from? Who knows how many of them are Muslim extremists?

I am so sick to death about people saying that being against illegal immigration is racist. That`s insanity. Just because I`m anti-illegal immigration, I`m pro law. Doesn`t mean that I hate Mexicans. These guys yesterday, from Cherry Hill, they`re not Hispanic.

Hmm, what do I do with my hate now? Oh, they`re terrorists, they`re Arabs. Wrong again. These guys were Albanians. So now what do you say about me? I`ve never been accused of having an anti-Albanian agenda, until now.

Here are the three suspects who were here illegally. Dritan Duka and his two brothers. Oh, and by the way, they didn`t just move here either. They have been here for a while. They`ve even graduated from our high schools. I am not anti-immigrant. I`m just pro not getting blown up by mortar fire from crazy people.

This is about security, plain and simple. There can be thousands of these guys living here in America, right now in your neighborhood, and we don`t know.

But, you know, it doesn`t take thousands of people to do something horrible in today`s world. It takes six. It takes 19. It might just take one.

Here`s what I know tonight. It is only a matter of time before America starts playing the "what did the president know and when did he know it" game? Oh, it`s going to happen, so let`s cut to the chase right now.

All of us know that there are terrorists who are here. They broke into our country illegally, and some of them want to kill us. When did we know it? It was late Monday night, May 7, 2007. Done. That`s when these guys were arrested. Now let`s fix it.

Here`s what I don`t know. Where are the others, exactly? Are they in my neighborhood, your neighborhood? Are they in the Bronx, Brooklyn, where? How many of them are here?

Joining me now is Ira Mehlman. He is the media director from FAIR.

Ira, how many illegal terrorists are we possibly talking about?

IRA MEHLMAN, MEDIA DIRECTOR, FEDERATION FOR AMERICAN IMMIGRATION REFORM: We have no idea, and that`s the scary thing. We have absolutely no idea who is here, how many of them are here. And the government, frankly, isn`t doing anything to find out. And that`s the really scary part.

Rather than using this as a signal to get down to work, to secure our borders, to start finding people who are in this country illegally, no, the Senate and President Bush, they`re going to get together behind closed doors next week and try to come up with an amnesty program and try to sell that to the American public.

BECK: Ira, I have to -- I have to ask you. Who`s more responsible? Is it really the government that is responsible for what is going to eventually come? I mean, we have our -- we have our visa problem, the one that caused 9/11 or allowed these guys to stay in here for 9/11. They were in visa violations.

That problem has doubled, but you know what? When we point it out on television, nobody cares. Nobody cares. I mean, who`s doing anything?

MEHLMAN: Nobody is. You know, once you get into this country, whether you sneak across the border, whether you come on a visa and overstay, you`re pretty much home free. You can get a job, you can go to school, you can rent an apartment. Bank of America will give you a credit card so you can charge your AK-47s.

Nobody is doing anything. It`s all about who can make a buck off it. And the government will not step in and do -- uphold its basic responsibility to secure the nation and to protect the interests of the American people.

BECK: It is truly amazing to me that we knew who these guys were. I mean, they were in our public schools. We educated them, and yet, I mean, you know, as they get a job, I`m sure they`re paying Social Security. I`m sure they`ve got fake I.D.`s or whatever.

We knew who they were. We don`t care. We just turn our back.

MEHLMAN: No, and we`re not going to care until, as you say, we have the next terrorist incident. And then everybody is going to look for somebody to blame.

Well, we ought to start blaming them right now. It is the government`s failure that has allowed these people to come here. They have turned a blind eye to the fact that they`re in the country. And even still they are doing nothing about it.

And, you know, this idea, Glenn, that if we bring them out of the shadows, somehow that`s going to make us more secure, well, the other three guys were here legally. They had green cards. One of them had become a citizen. It means the government had screened these people, and they still couldn`t figure out that they`re terrorists.

BECK: Yes. I think we`re -- the system is overloaded. The system doesn`t work, period. It was -- I mean, it was designed before 9/11, and I don`t think we`ve changed a damn thing.

Ira, thanks a lot.

ANNOUNCER: This is GLENN BECK.

BECK: People in the media seem somewhat relieved that the Fort Dix terror suspects were not apparently involved with Al Qaeda. Here`s another part of the story I look at and say are you this stupid?

I have news for you. That`s worse. That means there is no head of the snake. It means there could be thousands of heads on thousands of snakes. In this scenario, we don`t just go to a cave and look for their leader in Afghanistan.

Joining me now is Michael Scheuer. He is the -- from the CIA. He was one of the guys who went to look for Osama bin Laden in the cave.

If we`re not talking Al Qaeda, Mike, it is worse, isn`t it?

MICHAEL SCHEUER, FORMER CIA OPERATIVE: Well, sure it is, sir. It`s much worse, and I think the thing that we have to remember is that bin Laden`s goal, his primary objective all along, has been to inspire Muslims to attack the United States without any involvement at all from Al Qaeda except in terms of incitement.

So when you look at these guys in Fort Dix, they are the product of what Al Qaeda has wanted to do all along.

BECK: You know, Michael, last night I got a call from a listener who happened to watch Keith Olbermann last night and said, "Glenn" -- apparently I didn`t see it, but apparently he said, "Oh, this is just a right wing just whipping people up. There`s nothing to freak out about these guys. It`s just a bunch of stupid people." Are you kidding me?

What happened to the media that was freaked out about the militias after Oklahoma City? Do we have reason to be concerned here, Michael?

SCHEUER: Yes, of course we do, Glenn. It`s -- you know, people make a lot of disparaging comments about these people, because they looked very amateurish and non-professional, but as all things in life there`s a learning curve.

The first time Al Qaeda attacked us, for example, in 1992 in Yemen, they blew up themselves. Between 1992 and 2001, they learned quite a bit. And to take any solace in the fact that these guys were a bit amateurish is really whistling past the graveyard, because they`ll get it right.

BECK: They just assume that, because they`re not associated, and this goes all the way to the White House, that just because they`re not associated with Al Qaeda, makes it OK or makes it, you know, no big deal.

Here`s -- if I may give an example. You correct me where I`m wrong. People at first came out against that TV show "Jackass" and said, "Oh, look at how horrible this is."

Now we`ve got kids who are beating each other up, filming it with their cell phone and putting it on YouTube. And it`s like the president coming out and saying, "Well, those kids are not associated with `Jackass`." I`d rather if they were.

It`s worse. It shows that these people have learned here, and they`re doing it for their own purposes.

SCHEUER: They are -- they are, sir, and what really -- what it really shows is that our politicians, both Republicans and Democrats, have lied so long to the American people about what motivates our enemies, that they`re really -- they`re lost. They have no idea of the size and dimension of the group of people that America has to confront.

BECK: Michael, how do these people come into this country and they learn it this fast? I mean, these guys -- some of these guys, one came from Jordan. He lived here for -- since he was three years old. The illegal aliens just found Islam.

SCHEUER: Well, it`s a -- our culture, of course, is pervasive, sir, so if you know anything about television or the Internet, you get to know a lot before getting here. But getting into the country is very simple.

The politicians don`t care at all about enforcing the laws that they pass. And really there was nothing -- there`s very little you can do against Al Qaeda, but one of the two things you absolutely had to do after 9/11 was to close the borders. Otherwise, law enforcement doesn`t have a chance, except if they stumble onto something.

BECK: OK. Michael, thank you very much.

SCHEUER: Sir.

BECK: Coming up, new controversy over that video of the fake Mickey Mouse preaching hate in the Middle East. I`m going to look at the agendas on all sides of this story.

And more fallout for the LAPD over the marches in support of illegal immigrants. I`ll tell you who`s really at fault.

And he`s one of the finest actors I`ve ever seen live on stage. Liev Schreiber stops by to tell me about his Broadway play, "Talk Radio". If you`re a fan of actual talk radio, you don`t want to miss this interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Wonder what happens when the interview ends but the guest keeps talking? Then check out Glenn`s new podcast with screen legend Robert Duvall. Just go to CNN.com/podcasts or iTunes. Then download Glenn`s podcast, "Sick Twisted Freak".

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: You know, a lot of people say that the media is biased, that they have an agenda. I want you to take it from me, a conservative on CNN Headline News. Those people are dead wrong. The media is simply a collection and a reflection of individual people.

And, yes, some individuals do have agenda. Guess what? I`m one of them. The only difference is that, unlike a lot of others in this business, I don`t try to hide it.

I`m a conservative. I announce that proudly, but I try to be fair every night and let you make your own decisions. That is not always easy to do when it comes to radical Islam.

Last November, I ran a special exposing radical Islamists in the Middle East by showing you the video of them in their own words. It was a video that most people would rather just pretend it didn`t even exist.

That special made some people very angry and very uncomfortable, others very grateful, but either way, it finally got people talking about the subject, and that is what is important. Well, this week another clip from the Middle East came out and became extremely popular on U.S. television, because it featured a Mickey Mouse clone indoctrinating Palestinian children with anti-Israel and anti-western propaganda.

He was talking about AK-47s, teaching them about martyrdom, explaining that the goal was a worldwide caliphate or worldwide Islamic government.

Now last night I told you that there was a dispute about one line in this translation, and that this network pulled it as a precaution. What I didn`t know this morning was that they reinstated it a couple hours later, after they cleared that up.

Ultimately, all of this is a symptom of a larger problem, which is the way people make excuses and deflect blame onto others when confronted with propaganda like this. I want you to listen to the Palestinian minister of information address this controversy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Surrounded by the Israeli army from every direction, they are shot at when they try to fish. The passages are closed. People cannot move freely from -- in or out of Gaza.

It`s a situation of imprisonment for years. And that oppression, this Apartheid system, of course, drives people crazy and creates certain reactions as you have seen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: I`ve got to tell you. As long as propaganda, hate and violence are excused by leaders as rightful vengeance, as long as people in the media continue to justify or, worse, ignore what`s really going on, then the truth will continue to be ignored. And we`re all in trouble.

Maybe Winston Churchill said it best. Appeasers feed the crocodile, hoping it will eat them last. Well, I`m going after the crocodile.

Zuhdi Jasser, he is from the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, contributor to this program.

Zuhdi, I`ve got to tell you, what people don`t understand, at least -- correct me where I`m wrong. They don`t understand the forces that are at work on both sides of this issue to try to get people to not understand Islam.

You`ve got people here trying to get me to not say anything against the terrorists and against Islam that might be misunderstood. And you`ve got people coming after you, trying to shut you down from saying Islam is a religion of peace.

ZUHDI JASSER, AMERICAN ISLAMIC FORUM FOR DEMOCRACY: Exactly, and that what happens is -- and you know that they have a poor argument, because what they do is they deflect, they demonize the people they argue with. They try to deflect it to another issue.

With this Mickey Mouse video you see an icon of American compassion for children, et cetera, taken by fascists, used in a brainwashing manner to kids who are vulnerable.

And rather than address that issue, you have Al-Aksa TV, run by Hamas, that is abusing our faith, hijacking our faith for their own political fascism. And they`re trying to brainwash kids and they don`t want to address that issue.

No, they want to legitimize it somehow by some political grievances that they may have. And the issue is that doesn`t take away any legitimacy of their grievance.

However, the issue is how corrupt is what they`re doing to Islam? How corrupt is it to talk to children about President Bush, about Islamist supremacy, transnational supremacy of supposed theoma (ph), which now in today`s world shouldn`t exist, because we are part of our nations that they belong to. And they are trying to demagogue faith and brainwash kids.

BECK: We`ve got a situation in New York that we`re going to be covering here in the next couple of days. And Zuhdi, when we do, I want to have you back on this.

It`s an Arabic school. We have a principal at this school here in New York. They`re trying to open this school. This woman is praised, and I don`t know anything about her except this. She will not say that Hamas or Hezbollah is a terrorist organization, nor will she say who is responsible for 9/11. What kind of school is that in America?

JASSER: Well, that`s the issue, is that you have -- for example, this school may be well intended in that it is going to be teaching children Arabic, and we need better Arabic speakers that grew up in this environment to provide an alternative narrative to the narrative, the brainwash that the kids are getting from the Hamas supposed democracy.

So kids in our democracy from this type of school are so important. But yet they`re mixing politics of apologetics with Islam.

BECK: Zuhdi, got to run. Thank you. Have you back.

Back in a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Before we move on, I do want to mention that there is another Mickey Mouse Hamas video that you have been seeing that has been provided by a group called Palestinian Media Watch. CNN has not questioned any of the translation in that video.

All right. To Los Angeles we go. The police department there is facing a shakeup of an otherwise peaceful immigration rally turned ugly May 1. Officers were videotaped using batons and firing rubber bullets at demonstrators. Sixty complaints of police brutality have been filed and, according to the LAPD`s chief of police, William Bratton, 24 civilians were hurt.

Two of the LAPD`s highest ranking officers have since been demoted.

Doug McIntyre, talk show host 790 KABC-FM in Los Angeles.

Doug, the chief had a public hearing yesterday. What are they talking about? Bring me up to speed on this whole story. Because honestly, when I hear the LAPD, I`m like, say what a surprise?

DOUG MCINTYRE, TALK SHOW HOST: Well, this is a real disaster. May 1 was when the chickens came home to roost or, should I say, the poyos came home to roost, since it is L.A. we`re discussing.

You know, you had Ira Mehlman on earlier, talking about the failure of the federal government, which is well documented on the immigration issue. What happened on May 1 and the failure of the LAPD in this case, represents the failure of local government, specifically the largest sanctuary city in America, Los Angeles, which has been accommodating this kind of, you know, ski mask-clad thugs throwing frozen soda bottles and rocks at pro-America and pro...

BECK: I have to tell you, I think I love the direction that you`re going in here. Are you -- are you -- because you know, I was just at a rally with Al Sharpton, and I`ve never seen anything like it.

I watched the police in New York City. And they were getting hammered by the cameras, and the press screaming at them and battering cameras at the police. They were getting screamed at by the protesters. They had no way to win in this. Are you saying that this is not the...

MCINTYRE: But Glenn, this is a great way to lose, and one way to lose is to not arrest any of the ski-mask clad thugs who are throwing rocks and bottles and swing batons to the media tents, which is what happened.

And what essentially the LAPD did, and it`s tragic to report this, but they handed these characters $1 billion worth of free publicity to make it look like Los Angeles is a fascist state that is crushing brown-skinned people when it`s exactly the opposite politically, where you`ve got a political structure in Los Angeles that`s all but signed over the pink slip on the city to -- to activists for open borders.

BECK: OK.

MCINTYRE: It`s a disaster in that regard.

BECK: All right. So what is -- what is the solution here, because what they`re going to do is clean out the LAPD, right?

MCINTYRE: Yes, and, unfortunately, what -- what will happen as a result of this is more accommodation. This crowd, a small band of people who go to protest and throw rocks and bottles and frozen soda bottles at -- outside the federal building, for instance, when there`s a group of Minutemen there asking for sovereign borders. They`ve been doing this for years.

And yet the local media doesn`t show it, and the police haven`t busted up these groups. And now the police took the bait and, unfortunately, the pictures that are going around the world is the police department that`s out of control.

And the response to the local politicians will be more accommodation to a city that`s already the capital of the third world. It`s outrageous.

BECK: Thank you very much. I appreciate it. If you`re a cop in L.A., New York, you`re a border guard, I don`t know how you do it, why you do it, but God bless you.

Up next, domestic violence is a harsh reality for many American women. It could be worse if you`re a Muslim woman. I`ll explain in tonight`s "Real Story", and that`s right around the corner.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: All right. Before we get to "The Real Story," Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards says he wants to eradicate poverty, but he didn`t mind adding to his multimillions by working for a hedge fund. I`ll have more on his selfless public service coming up in just a bit.

But first, tonight`s "Real Story," courtesy of the "Washington Post." Sadly, too many women suffer from abuse by their husbands in this country. Some are calling it a domestic violence epidemic, with one report estimating that nearly three million women experience some sort of domestic violence every single year. It is a tragic statistic, but the real story is, if you`re a Muslim woman, the numbers could be even higher.

Well over 80 percent of Americans believe in God, and most of them subscribe to some sort of Christian faith, so while it`s against the law to commit violence against anyone in this country, especially your wife, it`s also against the fundamental tenets of the Bible. As for the Muslim Koran, well, this is where it gets sticky.

Some men actually interpret a passage in the Koran that says a husband may chastise a disobedient wife as permission straight from Allah to beat their wives. It`s disgusting and clearly not something the vast majority of Muslims believe, but, as the "Post" put it, quote, "Women from Muslim majority cultures face extra pressure to submit to violent husbands."

It`s basically just one more facet of Islamic extremism that we must abolish in this country. Some bizarro interpretation of the Koran may be the law, you know, in place like in Pakistan and Iran, but not here in America, not now, not ever.

And to the women suffering in those kinds of oppressive marriages, listen to me. Once we wake up in this country, once we finally wake up, help will be on the way.

Some Muslim women have their marriages arranged, shipped to their new American husbands from the Middle East, like they`re a product, not a person. They`ve been kept isolated from their families, denied any education. They`re not allowed to speak English. They have little rights in their own homes, living more like servants than spouses. From childhood, Muslim women raised in extremist families are taught that being a good Muslim means obeying the men in their lives, first their fathers, then their husbands, doing what they say when they say it, even if it means taking a beating.

I wonder where the National Organization of Women is? Why aren`t you speaking out about this? Silence on this issue is as much as condoning it. I implore them, please, stand up and speak out. Ladies, this program is available for you as a forum. Start the campaign. The key to defeating extremism is rights for women.

By not acting, the National Organization of Women, you`re showing yourselves as nothing more than a political organization, certainly not advocates for women.

Meanwhile, we still have to get it through some immigrants` heads that, while it`s great to hold onto some of your native culture once you come to the United States, smacking women around doesn`t fly here. I don`t care what book you think it says that it`s OK or who wrote it. America is a nation of laws, and you either live by them or you pack your things and you get the hell out.

There used to be a time in this country where people would say, "America, love it or leave it." You know what? Might be politically incorrect to say it, might seem a little old-fashioned by today`s standards, but I say we dust it off from time to time. This is America. Love it or leave it.

Brigitte Gabriel joins me now. She is the author of the "New York Times" bestseller "Because They Hate."

Brigitte, how prevalent is abuse against Muslim wives in America?

BRIGITTE GABRIEL, AMERICAN CONGRESS FOR TRUTH: Very prevalent. It`s all over the country. It is in Washington, D.C., in New York, in L.A., in Miami. We hear stories all over the country from Islamic communities where Muslim women are being basically beaten with the Koran over their heads, being told that, to be good Muslims, this is how you should behave. And sadly, Glenn, I have to break it to you, it is the truth. This is not the misinterpretation of the Koran. Here is what the Koran says. (speaking Arabic)

BECK: Oh, now I see. Now it`s clear. Brigitte, we don`t speak Arabic, for the love of Pete!

GABRIEL: I`m translating it.

BECK: Hang on. Hang on. First of all, I`m going to be fair here. Brigitte, you are not a Muslim. You are a Christian. I understand. I think you have a lot of credibility, et cetera, et cetera. But you are not a Muslim, and I also have to disagree with you. I know what the Koran says. I also know that, in the 15th and 16th century, a lot of tribal passion was put into the Koran that was not there, and so there are those who believe in this and there are those who do not.

GABRIEL: Exactly.

BECK: In the Middle East, it is rife in the Middle East with violence.

GABRIEL: Exactly.

BECK: And I get that.

GABRIEL: Exactly. But it is the Arabic writing of the Koran, regardless of if I was a Christian or a Muslim, I`m reading you what the Koran says in Arabic, in the language in which it was written. It says that men are the managers of the affairs of women, those you may fear, be rebellious, admonish them, and banish them to their couches and beat them. This is just simply translation.

BECK: I understand.

GABRIEL: The sad reality is, in Islamic cultures, be it in the Middle East or if Muslims come from Pakistan or from India, or wherever they come from, sadly, those radicals who are still practicing the 7th-century religion that has not been reformed like Christianity and Judaism have, those are the ones who are beating the Koran over their wives. And they`re telling them, in order for you to be a good Muslim, you have to behave that way, and you cannot rebel against me. And that`s what`s preventing many Muslim women in this country to pick up the phone and call 911 or reach out to many women`s organizations.

BECK: Well, I`ve got to tell you, there are very few women`s organizations that are speaking. The key to defeating Islamic extremism is women.

GABRIEL: That`s right.

BECK: You empower women and the whole world changes. And the National Organization of Women and others are not doing that campaign. And you know what? To their eternal shame and damnation, they are not standing up against this.

GABRIEL: Exactly, exactly, sadly. We need to empower the women from within to rise up, to speak up.

BECK: OK.

GABRIEL: We need to assure them that they will be OK, that they will be protected if they speak up.

BECK: But you know what, Brigitte? But they are not listening to this program. As I said in the opening monologue, a lot of them don`t speak English. They`re over here, and they are kept in fear. They are being told that you must do it this way, et cetera, et cetera. They`ve been isolated from their family.

You want to talk about -- I mean, look, there is abuse that runs in my family, and it is shameful, and I don`t understand it, but it always happens the same way. The individual is isolated from the family, and they are told things, and then they don`t feel like they have any place to go.

How do you get that message to the woman who doesn`t speak English, who is in a foreign country, who is living in a wild culture, being isolated by other people? How do you get that message to her that it`s safe, come out?

GABRIEL: You need the Muslim woman from within the Muslim world and the Muslim communities in this country to start working together and reforming together. Women need to empower each other, and this is the problem.

You have the Council on American Islamic Relations, for example, that is funded by governments from the Middle East. The Council on American Islamic Relations needs to have women`s chapters from within it to empower the women. But, sadly, Glenn, under Islam, they cannot do that because it contradicts Islamic teaching.

BECK: OK.

GABRIEL: And this is a disappointing fact.

BECK: All right. Brigitte, thanks very much.

GABRIEL: Thank you.

BECK: The British prison system has become a breeding ground for Islamic extremists of the future, but first an update. On Monday, I showed you a shocking video of the rap artist Akon who pulled a 14-year-old girl up on stage to dance with her during one of his songs. All of it took place at Club Zen in Port of Spain, Trinidad.

Here`s the real story. I may be the whitest white man in America, but I can still tell the difference between dancing and what Akon did to that helpless young girl. This can only be described as a simulated sex act. He tossed her around like a rag doll and put her in positions that, quite frankly, would make a porn star blush.

The young girl`s father is a minister and holds the nightclub responsible for letting such a lewd act happen to his daughter. And Trinidad`s prime minister? Launching a formal investigation into the matter. Now, I wanted to know what Reverend Al Sharpton had to say about the matter. If he was so upset about Don Imus` remark, I imagine he`d be outraged by Akon`s unforgivable behavior.

He seemed to be. He told me he`d look into the story. And although I haven`t heard from him yet, I`ll give him the benefit of the doubt. I`ll also ask him about those comments about Mitt Romney and the entire Mormon faith on tomorrow`s program. Don`t miss it.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: I want to talk to Al Sharpton about his statement on Mitt Romney.

THE REVEREND AL SHARPTON, CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST: And as for the one Mormon running for office, those that really believe in God will defeat him anyway, so don`t worry about that. That`s a temporary...

BECK: I don`t know how this is not a Mormon slam. We just should not tolerate this kind of Mormon hatred. They have people picketing the rap people. You know, no justice, no peace. I might organize a grand picket of Mormons in front of his office. We`ll all start chanting, "No Mormons, no pies. No Mormons, no pies," because we`re pretty good at making pies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: Well, as you probably know, in addition to doing the television program, also host a three-hour talk radio program every morning. Now, there is a revival of a Broadway show that deals with that unique world, and to say the least, I was a little skeptical about seeing it. "Talk Radio" was written in 1987 by writer and actor Eric Bogosian, and I couldn`t help feeling when I was standing in line, "Oh, jeez, is this going to be out of date? What is this going to be like? Did it have any relevance at all?"

I want you to watch a clip of this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LIEV SCHREIBER, ACTOR: It`s this country, where culture means pornography and slasher films, where ethics means payoffs, graft and insider trading, where integrity means lying, whoring and intoxication, this country is rotten to the core. This country is in deep trouble, and somebody better do something about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: I have to tell you, when I saw this thing, I could not believe how right on the money it was. Star of "Talk Radio" Liev Schreiber, how are you, sir?

SCHREIBER: I`m good. How are you?

BECK: Let me just start with this: awesome performance. You are -- I see a lot of Broadway shows. I have never seen anybody take the stage and command it like you do. That last 20, 30 minutes, I mean, I had chills the whole time. Fantastic.

SCHREIBER: It`s very funny, because watching your clip now it suddenly occurred to me that I based Barry Champlain on Glenn Beck. That`s very -- just realized that, yes.

BECK: Gee, thanks. Didn`t he die in horrible gunfire? When you took this on, did you realize how relevant it is? I mean, it`s -- what is it, 25, 30 years old?

SCHREIBER: Yes.

BECK: And it is everything about it, with Imus, with the shootings that have been going on. It`s all relevant today.

SCHREIBER: I think, I mean, that`s part of what I love so much about Eric`s writing. But I think any play now that sort of hits on media culture is pretty much on the money these days, I think, because we`re such a media culture. We`re such gluttons for this stuff. And I think that anybody who sort of deals with it in a compelling way, as I think Eric does, is going to be on the money these days.

BECK: It`s amazing. There was one thing, and I actually read it on the air the next day, and I said, "Listen to this," and it`s one of the last scenes where you`re talking about, "You`re pathetic. You need me. You want this garbage."

SCHREIBER: Yes.

BECK: How true is that? You know, I hear every time I go out, I hear people say, "Why are you covering Anna Nicole Smith?" Because you watch it.

SCHREIBER: That`s right, that`s right, that`s right. That`s one of the things I just don`t think people really realize, because we`ve had some talk backs now, and a lot of folks are sort of angry at people like Imus and a lot of sort of talk programming.

And one of the things that I personally think that Eric does really effectively is kind of remind you about ratings and that, at the end of the day, the real power is in the hands of the audience. You know, if you don`t want to listen to it, turn it off, and they`re going to get the message.

And I think even more so now, where a lot of these sort of independent little stations that used to maybe exist in the `80s that have been bought up by the goliaths like Clear Channel, it`s even more of an issue now.

BECK: Yes.

SCHREIBER: I mean, I think, you know, what happened to Imus happened not because of what he said, but because the advertisers said that they were going to pull their ads.

BECK: Oh, yes. Yes. Do you like this character? I mean, because he`s a despicable guy, but I sat in there, and I thought, "I don`t know if I -- I don`t know if I look at him as a heroic guy or a complete, tragic awful guy." I mean, I don`t know. I don`t know how I feel about him.

SCHREIBER: I love him. I love him. You know, I mean, to a large extent, as an actor, you have to find a reason why you identify with your character in order to play with him, but, you know, the more I kind of looked into the type of people who do this stuff, I realized that, in order to do it successfully...

BECK: Can you stop pointing to me when you`re like -- "and he was shot to death." Stop.

SCHREIBER: But there is something to be said for -- you know, as obnoxious as they may be or as offensive as they may be, they have to be very opinionated people.

BECK: Yes.

SCHREIBER: And that takes a certain level of sincerity. It takes a certain level of confidence. It takes a certain level of -- it`s brave to do. And I think now to what extent we should actually invest in what they say is another thing entirely, but you do need sort of interesting, entertaining, opinionated people to run these businesses.

BECK: You know, one of the truest lines in that -- and it`s just riddled, I mean, if you can`t get to New York and see it, rent the DVD and see it, although, I mean, you just -- you`re brilliant in it. One of the truest lines in it was the station manager said, "Sometimes they forget that it`s a job."

SCHREIBER: That`s right.

BECK: And it`s an interesting place to be in talk radio, because that is the secret, is to believe in something so much and have the passion to get it out, but to remember, "Who the hell am I?"

SCHREIBER: Right.

BECK: You know what I mean?

SCHREIBER: Right.

BECK: You start to believe it, and you become this monster.

SCHREIBER: That`s right, and it`s very isolating actually. It`s funny because almost all of the deejays that I`ve talked to have said that that line was the most powerful line.

BECK: It`s the truest.

SCHREIBER: And I guess there is something about this business that it`s sort of easy to lose touch.

BECK: How long are you on Broadway now for?

SCHREIBER: Until June 24th.

BECK: If you are anywhere in the area, buy tickets. You will not regret it. Man, it is a slice of life today. Tremendous.

SCHREIBER: Thanks so much.

BECK: Tremendous work. Thanks.

All right, we`ll see you back here in just a second. A little of your e-mail, and a little salute to John Edwards, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: And now, reasons I hate politics number 579. Presidential candidate John Edwards said that his working at a hedge fund full-time in between campaigns was that, that way, he could learn about financial markets and their relationship to poverty. John Edwards won`t say how much he got paid as a consultant to the Fortress Investment Group, but he did say that it was primarily to learn, but you know, making money was a good thing, too.

So what exactly did you learn about poverty, Senator Edwards, other than, you know, being poor sucks and everybody would rather work at a hedge fund? He says that he believes in two Americas, one for the rich and then the other one for everybody else. How many people in that second America work at hedge funds? How many, John?

Also, do people in that second America live in places like this? I mean, look at it. I love this. He`s got a buffer zone between himself and the poor. There`s a trailer park across the street. And, of course, everybody in the other America has their very own championship indoor basketball court.

John Edwards also says he cares about the environment, and I think he does. Look, all of that land, clear cut, so he clearly cares. I guess John Edwards does need to learn a little bit about poverty, because he`s clearly done everything in his power to isolate himself from that very concept. Surely, someone who understands the poor would never get a $400 haircut, not once, but a bunch of times, but learning about poverty from a hedge fund? I think it`s kind of like learning about fidelity from Heidi Fleiss. It`s like the Talmud from Mel Gibson.

I could go on, but, honey, I want you to know, that the women that are going to be with me tonight, they`re not hookers. They`re my tutors, I swear. By the way, the folks at the hedge fund, they happen to be major contributors to his presidential campaign, and he`s not in bed with big business at all.

The thing is, John, I actually agree with you. I think there are two Americas. There`s one America for the spoiled, hypocritical, shady, opportunistic fake tan politicians who will do or say anything to get elected while getting a $400 haircut and the America that comprises of the rest of us. I`m just saying.

From New York, good night.

END