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Glenn Beck
Border Patrol Discovers Elaborate, Highly Sophisticated Tunnel From Mexico To Arizona; Chertoff Fights For His Authority To Inform Employers When Their Workers Don`t Have Valid Social Security Numbers
Aired October 01, 2007 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
GLENN BECK, CNN ANCHOR, GLENN BECK: Tonight, U.S. Border agents uncover a secret tunnel running between Mexico and Arizona. I`ll bring you exclusive photos of this amazing sophisticated smuggling operation. You are not going to believe your eyes.
Plus, the latest on the Nevada child sex tape. The dirt bag who says he found the tape in the desert turns himself in, while the other dirt bag, who allegedly appears on the tape, remains on the loose.
And the "Hype Report". A new survey blows the lid off the world`s most overrated people, places, and things, tonight.
Well, hello, America. For over a year now I`ve been telling you about how bad our border problem really is. But tonight, I`m going to show you. We have some pictures that were taken back September 17th, and once you see them I want you to ask yourself why haven`t I seen these on the front page of every newspaper in the country?
Two weeks ago. Why is no one talking about them except this crappy Glenn Beck program? Here`s the point tonight. Everybody says the number of illegal immigrants coming across the border is dropping. But the reality may just be that we`re catching fewer of them. And as you`re about to see, that`s because the ones that are trying to get across the border are smarter than ever before.
And here is how I got there. As of last week it is -- it`s obvious that some illegal immigrants have decided, you know, why bother climbing over the border when you can just dig under it? These shocking photos that you are about to see came to me from a source inside the U.S. Border Patrol. You are not going to see them anywhere else.
They show an elaborate and sophisticated tunnel from Mexico into Arizona; yet another of the more than 40 that have been discovered by police since the 9/11 attacks.
On September 17th this U.S. Border Patrol truck was doing regular maintenance when it seemed to get stuck in what they thought was a sink- hole. After the truck had been towed out agents examined the hole and suspected it could be part of a crude tunnel. Well, that turned out to be half right. The tunnel was anything but crude.
Once they started excavating, they unearthed an elaborate passageway five feet high and 250 feet long. The walls were shored up with closely spaced two-by-fours, and then they were lined with concrete. There was a ventilation system, electricity running the entire length of the tunnel. It didn`t take long for feds to figure out that the tunnel originated from two houses just 120 feet over the border on the Mexican side with the, thank goodness, assistance from the Mexican authorities, they entered the homes and found a professional work site.
This is a compound with living quarters and a system of using skateboards and pulleys for removing the sand from the tunnel. The exclusive photos make one thing perfectly clear -- when it comes to getting across our border, Mexicans have upped the ante.
So, tonight, here is what you need to know, America. Illegal immigration is a big business. And if you ever doubted that fact, here is your proof. You don`t take the risk to invest your time and money to build a tunnel like this unless you know it`s going to pay off big-time. Whoever built this tunnel would have made money from smuggling immigrants. The immigrants would have made money working here illegally. U.S. companies that hired the illegals would have made money in reduced labor costs.
The only people in this chain that actually lose money are people like you, taxpayers. Your social services suffer. Your security suffers. And it has got to stop. It may not have been just people going through that. We see how far illegal immigrants are willing to go to get here. Now, what are we willing to do to stop them?
Joe Arpaio, he is the sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, and Brandon Judd is the vice president of the National Border Control Council, Local 2544.
Brandon, let me start with you. September 17th this was found. This is the first time these pictures have been on national television, or in a newspaper, or anything like that. Why is that? How come this doesn`t get the coverage it deserves?
BRANDON JUDD, NTL. BORDER PATROL COUNCIL: It should get the coverage it deserves. I couldn`t answer as to why. But I do believe that the American public needs to know what`s happening on the borders. And I`d like to see this kind of information getting out.
BECK: I mean, I want to show, there`s one picture from the inside. Do we have that? Here it is. I don`t know if we can pull back. This is -- go back to that last picture, please. There`s a picture. This is from the inside of the house right there, from the inside of the house on the Mexican side. That`s poured concrete. I mean, this is a very elaborate system of tunnels. How much do you suppose something like this would cost, and who`s paying for this stuff?
JUDD: Well, the cartels who run the illegal immigration, the illegal drugs, they`re obviously the ones who`s paying for this. The cost of it, you have to understand when you`re looking at $1500 per person, that you bring across the border, the cost is very minimal. They`re going to make their money back in a very quick time.
And that`s just for illegal aliens. We`re not talking about drugs, we`re not talking about the possibility that weapons are coming across through that border -- through that tunnel. There are a lot of things that are going to be coming through that tunnel, and the cartels are going to make their money very quickly, it`s not going to cost them very much.
BECK: Sheriff Joe Arpaio, you`re a common sense guy on the border. When I see this, I think not only just of the illegal aliens, but this is really spooky stuff because it is cartel money involved here, it is -- you know drugs are coming through here. But worst case scenario, you can get anything through this tunnel.
SHERIFF JOE ARPAIO, MARICOPA COUNTY, ARIZ.: Yeah, that`s right. I spent many years at the border in Mexico, Texas, Arizona as head of the federal drug enforcement. I never saw anything like this. This is not the first tunnel that`s been discovered. There`s been several of them recent. Maybe because of the pressure on top they`re going underground.
But you have to understand, this is organized, organized gangs operating. It`s very lucrative, the drug and the illegal immigration situation. When they`re stupid enough to get into Maricopa County, we put them in jail. We don`t send them back to Mexico. So we`re doing our thing.
BECK: Do either of you guys know if the perpetrators on the other side of the border are being held? Do either of you know?
JUDD: Most --
BECK: Pardon me?
JUDD: Most likely not. I mean, let`s be honest. It would be difficult to do an operation on this grand of a scale without people knowing about it on the south side. So you have to -- you have to use a little bit of common sense, and you have to think that no, they`re not.
BECK: So Joe, this is huge, huge business. And I know you`re up in -- are you up in Canada right now?
ARPAIO: I`m here with the Toronto policemen, in court, on an assassination attempt on the sheriff. I`m talking about in Canada, not in Mexico, right now.
BECK: Right. But there have been threats on your very life because you go after people like this. There`s huge money to be made. And I think there`s huge money to be made, you know, on these Fortune 500 companies all the way down. How do you stop something like this?
ARPAIO: Well, you have to keep cracking down, at least on our side with informers, intelligence, and just immobilize these tunnels quickly when you find them. Don`t forget, fences don`t do any good. This proves you can go underground when you do have fences up. These people are very sophisticated. They`re going to find a way to get across that fence when we ever get the fences. But this shows you what they can do to get the drugs and illegal immigrants, across invading the United States of America.
BECK: Brandon, do we have any kind of seismic devices or anything that would -- I know there`s pictures included here, and we didn`t show them, the pictures that I got to my office, it shows us with -- it shows us with what do you call it? Sonar looking down into the ground and trying to find out. Do we do any of that stuff to find out if --
JUDD: We do have those devices, and those devices have been used extensively across the border. Unfortunately, there`s not enough of those devices, nor can those devices cover enough ground in enough time to really find these tunnels.
What Sheriff Arpaio hit the key aspect, we need a lot more intelligence. Intelligence is going to allow us to find these tunnels quicker, take down these tunnels faster. But yes, we do have the mechanism to find these tunnels above ground. It just takes an awful long time to do that.
BECK: Mexico is just out of control corrupt. You know it and I know it. Everybody knows it. Do you think that there is Mexican involvement, maybe not in this tunnel, but elaborate involvement on behalf of the Mexican government?
JUDD: As far as agents know, we know that when we catch illegal immigrants we catch certain groups that we know that they have paid government officials to be there to come across, and when we take them back we know that they`ve been paid, they`ve admitted to having paid government officials. So yes, it does happen.
BECK: OK. Guys, thank you very much. Best of luck to you both.
Finding the tunnel is proof on how huge of a hill we have to climb. Where am I wrong? I think everybody is dragging their feet on security on this border because there`s just too much money to be made. Do you agree or disagree? Go to cnn.com/glenn, right now and cast your vote.
Coming up, I`m going to speak with the secretary of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff, in just a minute, on how he plans to crack down on illegals both at the border and in the workplace.
Plus, oil at $100 per barrel. Some sunshine and lollipop analysts are saying that the economy could survive such a blow. Really? Tonight`s real story.
And "Radar" magazine has published a list of the most overrated things and people in the world. Want to make a bet, on whether I`m in it or not?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: Well, there`s a recent "Wall Street Journal" article that claims the economy can survive $100 per barrel oil. Unless -- I`ll give you, the unless, in the real story and see how familiar it sounds in just a minute.
First, as I mentioned at the start of the show, illegal immigrants are getting more and more daring, and why shouldn`t they? According to Mexican President Felipe Cauldron there`s nothing we can do about it. El presidente told a meeting of Mexican and U.S. governors that immigration is, and I quote, "Inevitable, a natural phenomenon that is socially and economically inevitable." Bull crap.
Mexico can`t take care of its own. Rampant corruption makes it impossible for their economy to generate new jobs. So they encourage their people to leave and come here. It`s just that simple. Of course, if we had some fences along our borders, it might make it a little harder for the half a million to sneak across every year.
We can talk about fences. We can talk about immigration policy all day long. But one thing that we really need to do, a big component of illegal immigration that needs addressing right now is demand. We also need to crack down on the employers who hire these illegals and make sure that the supply starts to dry up. There are so many special interests in this issue. Big business, organized labor. I begin to wonder, what about my special interests? My family, my country. Just like you and the ones, you know, that you love and you want to protect.
What about them? I want my family safe and secure for an America that can survive tomorrow. Not only are you and I not profiting from illegal immigration, we`re losing vital social services and risking national security along the way. One man who knows better than anybody else and is trying to do something about it is U.S. Secretary of homeland security, Michael Chertoff.
Mr. Secretary, first of all, let me say this. Last time you were on the program with me -- we -- I vented on you, and I want to be man enough to apologize to you publicly for venting on you. My frustration, and I think all of America feels it, on this whole border thing. It drives me crazy. Go ahead.
MICHAEL CHERTOFF, SEC. HOMELAND SECURITY: I accept your apology, first of all. I understand the frustration. I get frustrated, too. As you pointed out, we are often at the focal point where a lot of different special interests come together. And that`s one of the reasons we`ve had difficulty over the last 30 years getting this problem solved.
BECK: Yeah. Well, I will tell you I thought about you a lot today on this and thought you`re in a no win situation. Because here you are -- I`m quite honestly -- and you know this, I am mad as hell at Washington for not taking care of this a long time ago. And it all comes down onto your shoulders. And so I`m mad at you about it when probably you`re not the guy to be mad at. But then, on top of it, now all the special interest groups are mad at you because you`re trying to crack down on the other side of it, on the demand side. How are you expected to win in this?
CHERTOFF: Well, you know, I think that a lot of what I`m hoping to do is to demonstrate to the American public, first of all, that we are serious about doing what is within our power to control the border, but also to observe the fact that when we have obstacles thrown up in our way, you have the state of Illinois, for example, which is basically making it illegal for employers to cooperate with us on respecting the law, that is one of the reasons we`ve had a lot of difficulty over the last 30 years.
But I`m determined to show that we`re not going to back down. We`re going to use all the tools available to us to get control of the border and to do what the American public has demanded.
BECK: OK. I`ve got two issues here that I want to address with you. First of all, last time you were on we had a disagreement on the number of miles of fence that you had built. What are you up to now?
CHERTOFF: We have a total of 151 miles of pedestrian fence --
BECK: Does that include -- that you`ve built after the Secure Fence Act?
CHERTOFF: No, of which 74 or 75 have been built since the Secure Fence Act.
BECK: OK.
CHERTOFF: And we have about 115 miles of what I call vehicle fence.
BECK: OK, and is it the -- the 70 miles -- is it the double fence as required by law?
CHERTOFF: Some is double fence, some is not double fence.
BECK: Do you know how much?
CHERTOFF: It`s hard to say because we haven`t calculated the amount that`s double. It just depends on what the terrain is and what the border patrol requires.
BECK: And you have to have I think it`s 350 or something like that miles completed next year according to this law. Are you going to meet that?
CHERTOFF: We`re going to have 370 miles of pedestrian fence and 200 to 300 miles of vehicle fence by the end of next year, provided, Glenn, that Congress gives us the money. You know, every year Congress has to appropriate the money for this. Otherwise, you can pass all the laws you want, and we can`t pay to do the work. If we get the money, we`ll have a total of about 650 to 670 miles of fencing.
BECK: OK. Right now the unions have you in 9th Circuit Court of Appeals because you want to send out no match letters from the Social Security administration, which basically says this name and this number don`t match. What is the union thinking?
CHERTOFF: Well, I can`t speculate about what the union is thinking. But I`ll tell you this, the no match thing is very simple. If you`re a businessman and you get a notice from Social Security telling you that a large number of your workers don`t have numbers, Social Security numbers that match the names, it tells you you`ve got to look into the problem. You can`t just put your head in the sand.
And what we`ve done is put a regulation out that makes it very clear that if you do fix the problem and you pay attention to it, we`re not going to prosecute you or punish you in any way. But if you stick your head in the sand then you may be held liable if it turns out they`re illegal.
BECK: OK. So how is it that this isn`t automatic? Why isn`t anybody debating -- I mean, you send me names and numbers that don`t match up and I`m supposed to just put this number money into a number that didn`t match up. How did it stop that you were getting those letters?
CHERTOFF: You know, Glenn, that`s a great question. And a couple years ago when I arrived on the job I asked the question, because I assumed like everybody else if I got a letter like that I`d clear up what the mistake was. And if it was an innocent mistake, great. Or if it was an illegal worker, obviously, you`d have to fire the person.
But it`s turned out that not only did we have to pass a regulation to make it clear this was the obligation, but it then ignited a firestorm of response from the business community and organized labor. And, frankly, the business community was pretty up front that they were concerned this would result in requiring employers to fire illegal workers --
BECK: Good.
CHERTOFF: And that was going to be bad for the economy.
BECK: Well, that`s tough. Tough luck.
Secretary, let me just ask you this last question here. You in 2005, when you were trying to finish the San Diego fence, there was all kinds of environmental issues, you have the authority under the real I.D. act just to say you know, what the hell with you all, I`m just doing it, I have the authority to do it.
CHERTOFF: That`s right.
BECK: Why don`t you have the authority on this? Why can`t you just say you know, what we`re talking homeland security, I`m sending these notes out to you?
CHERTOFF: I actually think I have the authority. Evidently, the plaintiffs in the case do not think I have the authority. That`s why it`s in front of a judge.
BECK: When are you going to send them out? When are you going to test that?
CHERTOFF: Right now we`re under a court order that forbids us from sending them out. And there`s a hearing in front of a district judge going on today. If we prevail, we`re going to send the letters out. If we don`t prevail, we`re going to appeal it.
It seems to me common sense, we should be allowed to do this. And I`m going to fight hard in court to preserve my authority to do it.
BECK: Secretary Chertoff, thanks for being on the program.
Coming up, what do you do with a man who allegedly hung on to a sex tape of a three-year-old girl being raped? You throw him in jail for life. That`s what you do. Darren Tuck finally turned himself in to Vegas authorities, and we have the latest.
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BECK: Well, time for an update. Last week I told you about a guy who claims to have found a tape in the Nevada desert showing a three-year-old girl being sexually abused. One of my guests on the program last week said something doesn`t seem right here about this guy. And they were right.
Prosecutors believe now 26-year-old Darren Tuck may be held because he was holding on to this tape for as much as five months. Today they were set to formally charge him with possession of child pornography, and possibly promoting child pornography. He faces life in prison. That`s the good news.
The bad news is the alleged abuser is still at large. This is the guy on tape that was doing the deed. He`s been identified as 34-year-old Chester "Chet" Arthur Stiles. I can`t believe the guy was -- I mean, his real name is Chester the Molester. Though who know him say he`ll never be taken alive. As far as I`m concerned, lock and load. Bringing him in alive? OK? I mean, if you have to.
Here`s a further update with Ed Miller now. He`s a correspondent for "America`s Most Wanted."
Ed, first of all, the girl that is in the tape, we now know who she is because she was three at the time, but she`s seven now.
ED MILLER, CORRESPONDENT, "AMERICA`S MOST WANTED": Absolutely, right.
And it was an amazing piece of investigative work and the fact that America was so touched by this story, seeing the agony and the torture in this little girl`s eyes, that many, many people stepped up to the plate to try to help.
Just to give you a quick idea, the nightgown the little girl was wearing, the manufacturer of that nightgown went to police. And she said I know exactly where I made that nightgown, in South Carolina. I know the year I made it, we can pinpoint a timeline just by that. The television set in the background, that had on the tape, the manufacturer of that stepped up and said that television was made in 2004. In other words, people were so touched by this that they helped police, they rushed to it. This little child really meant a lot to people who have never met her.
BECK: Really quick because I want to get to the bad guys here. But really quick, she -- the parents didn`t know.
MILLER: Well, the mother says she did not know, and by her reaction police say they believe her, that they simply -- that she didn`t know this was going on.
BECK: Holy cow.
MILLER: Of course, that raises lots of questions. How did this guy get access to the child in the first place?
BECK: OK. Now, the guy who found the tape, why would you turn it in?
MILLER: Of course, that`s what he`s saying. Darrin Tuck says that he`s actually being made a scapegoat, because he says that he did the right thing, he went to the police and turned it in. Of course, he`s not answering the question, and we did an extensive interview with him, about why he held on to it for so long.
The speculation by police is that he felt for some reason that police were going to -- were closing in on him, and so he went to them thinking that, you know, before they went to him. So --
BECK: So they think that he was part of it with -- I mean, Chester the Molester. I can`t believe that name.
MILLER: Well, they think that maybe perhaps there was an indirect tie, not a direct tie but an indirect tie, that he knows something more about Chester the Molester, as you call him, than what he`s willing to say.
BECK: And this Chester guy, he`s a survivalist. And that`s why the friends say he`ll never be taken alive, he`ll be suicide by cop?
MILLER: Right. Right. That`s what they`re saying about him. But you know, he`s got ties to Texas, ties to Southern California. He could be living in the desert. He could be anywhere. But that`s what they`re saying about him, supposed tough guy.
BECK: Is there a sign-up sheet anywhere for cops? Because I`m -- I mean, I`m just guessing that cops will be like, oh, suicide by cop, where do I sign up?
MILLER: Yeah, well, we don`t want to talk about that, do we?
BECK: I don`t mind. But Ed, thank you very much. You`re going to have a special on I believe this Friday, with all of the interviews involved with this. An amazing story.
Coming up, oil prices rising, no end in sight, but can America find a way to survive the oil surge? That`s coming up in tonight`s "Real Story," coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: Panda bears, Twitter, steroid testing, that girl from the "Pirates of the Caribbean," what`s her name, Keira Knightley, and cupcakes, what do they all have in common? They`re overrated. I can`t believe I just said that cupcakes are overrated. Look at me. Do you think I believe that? I`ll tell you why, next.
But first, welcome to the "Real Story." The "Wall Street Journal" had an interesting article over the weekend concluding that our economy could withstand $100-a-barrel oil. I know what you`re thinking. Wait a minute. "Honey, what channel is the TV on? This Glenn Beck is giving me some good news." Yes, yes, that`s what it feels like, but boop, boop, boop, oh, sorry, not the case.
The "Real Story" is, the article said we could handle $100 oil quite well if certain conditions are met. Yes, too good to be true. Sorry. Mr. Reality is going to take over here for a second because the conditions are ridiculous. For example, we can survive $100 oil if the price rises slowly. It can`t just jump from $80 to $100, which is totally reasonable, as long as you forget about the oil shocks of `73 and `75 or, you know, `79 and `80 and `82, and I think there was one in `90 and `91. But that`ll never happen again.
Condition number two is that interest rates have to stay low. Sure. The current 4.75 percent federal fund rate looks like a typo compared to the 18 percent, 19 percent, and 20 percent rates of the early 1980s. But, you know, Reagan was in charge, and we all know he was loopy. You know, they`ll never go that high again.
And, finally, they say that oil-rich countries -- and this is my favorite -- which I think oil-rich countries is code words for dirt-bag countries, like Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, they all need to keep pumping their massive profits back into our economy. And that`s an easy one. I mean, if you can`t count on Middle Eastern dictators and psychotic socialists to keep our economy strong, well, who can you count on, you know?
I hate to ask the question that nobody else wants to, but what exactly happens if, instead of meeting all three conditions -- which I`m sure we will -- we meet let`s say none of them or one of them? Peter Schiff is president of Euro Pacific Capital and author of "Crash Proof."
Peter, you`re a little more pessimistic than I am, but when it comes to oil, I don`t see these things happening. First of all, let`s take them one by one. Gradual oil price increase? I mean, we`re talking now about the possibility of war with Iran.
PETER SCHIFF, PRESIDENT, EUROPAC: I don`t see what difference it makes. I mean, is it gradual? We`ve moved up from $20 a barrel to $80 a barrel in the last five years. I mean, is that gradual? I mean, based on that approach, we`ll be at $100 a barrel next year.
BECK: Right. But I think what they`re talking about -- and, you know, I talk about this on my radio program -- that it`s that shock to the system that the economy can`t take right now. There`s no more give in this economy.
SCHIFF: The real problem -- and, again, it goes to the premise of this whole article, which was completely ridiculous, that high oil prices don`t hurt us as long as we can borrow the money to pay for it, because borrowing isn`t free. We`ve got to pay this money back with interest. So just because we`ve found a way to postpone the pain doesn`t mean we`re not going to eventually feel it.
BECK: OK. So the second thing is modest inflation without major interest rate hikes. What are the odds of that happening?
SCHIFF: Well, first of all, we don`t have modest inflation. We have high inflation. That`s one of the reasons that oil prices are rising in the first place, because the federal reserve is creating too many dollars, they`re keeping interest rates too low, so prices are rising for everything, including oil.
BECK: Yeah. And then the oil-rich nations like Russia, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia keep investing in our economy?
SCHIFF: Well, that goes back to what I said about the people earning all this money loaning us back their profits. Again, we still have to pay back all the money that we`ve borrowed for $50 oil, for $60 oil, but if you look at what`s happening to the U.S. dollar, I think that Saudi Arabia and the rest of that gang is going to realize that they`re better off keeping their oil profits in euros, in yen, in gold, in anything but U.S. dollars, and that`s when the bill is really going to come and hit us hard.
BECK: See, Peter, I think this is where you become more optimistic than me. I don`t think it`s just that they`re going to look at it as an investment. I mean, you know, you had President Tom meeting with Chavez and Russia and everybody else. These people are looking at us as the enemy. They know that they`ve got us by the throat. What stops them from saying, "Just put the pressure on here, squeeze"?
SCHIFF: Nothing. And I think what people are starting to appreciate now more and more -- when I used to talk about this, you know, a year or two ago, people really laughed at it, but now more people are starting to accept this, is that the global economy can do very well without American consumers borrowing and spending money. There`s plenty of new domestic demand being created in places like China and in Eastern Europe, in India, that Saudi Arabia will have plenty of people to sell their oil to if Americans are too poor to afford it.
BECK: OK. Thank you very much, Peter. I appreciate your time.
Now, how many times over the last few years have you heard Democrats like Hillary Clinton complain about government spending and the deficit?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), NEW YORK: It breaks my heart that, in 2 1/2 years, we`ve gone back into huge deficits and debt and jobs are down and people are falling back into poverty. I just find that heartbreaking.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: Me, too. You know, the other thing I find heartbreaking is that Hillary never comes on this show. I mean, you know, let`s pretend, let`s pretend Hillary is here so I can ask her a couple of questions that have really been bothering me.
First, Ms. Clinton, if you hate deficits so much, then why are you so hell-bent on creating another massive entitlement program for health care that, by your own estimate, would cost more to run each year than the Departments of Homeland Security, the Department of Treasury, Labor, Energy, Transportation, and Justice combined? Yes, sorry to interrupt. But why, if you hate spending so much, did you propose this just last Friday?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: I like the idea of giving every baby born in America a $5,000 account that will grow over time so, when that young person turns 18, if they have finished high school, they will be able to access it to go to college, or maybe they will be able to put that down payment on their first home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: That is fantastic. I think we should give every 43-year-old, you know, quasi-news person on TV a new house. I love it. And considering this brainchild would cost more than it costs to run NASA every year -- and by the way, NASA currently trying to send people to Mars -- how would Hillary pay for it? How would you -- I think that`s a picture. I don`t think she`s actually really here.
The truth is: Hillary Clinton does not hate spending or deficits. The real story is: She loves them! Just as long as they`re part of a New Deal. It`s crippling government entitlement programs that Hillary really loves. I know Hillary doesn`t like to herself a liberal or even a Democrat. She`s a New Democrat -- no, no, no, the latest is she is a modern progressive.
Let me try to cut through the bull crap here and tell you what she really is: a socialist! These programs amount to nothing more than a systematic distribution of wealth. You take money and you redistribute it from one group to another. What else do you call that, if not socialism?
Even if her tax proposals are straight out of Marxist 101, she`ll deny it. You tax the rich, give it to the poor. Only one problem with that -- I don`t know if you`ve noticed -- it doesn`t work. The Bush tax cuts that she hates so much has resulted in the highest tax revenues in the history of the United States of America. Yes. See, the spending is the problem here. The spending is out of control. But she wants to spend even more money while decreasing the revenues. That`s definitely not the answer.
Now, granted, I`m not an economist; I`m just a thinker. So I decided to bring an economist on. Stephen Moore, senior economic writer for the "Wall Street Journal," Stephen, holy cow, I can`t believe the socialism that we`re getting jammed down our throat. What kind of tax rate are we looking at coming our way?
STEPHEN MOORE, "WALL STREET JOURNAL": Well, I kind of like this idea of the government giving out free $5,000 checks. I just wish, Glenn, I could get one of them.
BECK: I do, too.
MOORE: But here`s the problem. Here`s the problem. You know, we used to joke about liberals, that they want a cradle-to-grave dependency on government. Well, now we`ve got the cradle dependency, and they`re talking about $5,000 for every child. That would cost, by my estimates, about $20 billion a year. And Lord knows, Glenn, where that money is going to come from. I will tell you this, that it doesn`t -- money is not free in Washington. I know that`s the politicians` view. It`s going to come from your pocket and my pocket, so it`s just going to be a restriction of income.
BECK: Stephen, here is the interesting thing. Correct me if I`m wrong, because you`re a student of economic history, I`m not. I don`t remember "Leave It to Beaver" and having Ward Cleaver coming and going, "Hmm, we`ve got two boys going to college, it`s crippling, have you seen the price of college"? Wasn`t it government assistance that started these tuitions going right through the roof?
MOORE: Well, it really was. And what you get right now is government provides so much assistance to universities, if you provide more assistance, the universities just raise the tuition. That`s why tuitions are going through the roof.
You know, Hillary wrote a book a number of years ago. What was the title of it? "It Takes a Village to Raise a Child." And that`s just a philosophical divide between liberals and conservatives. Liberals really do believe that every responsibility that used to rest with parents is now the responsibility of government, whether it`s child care, health care, college tuition, now pensions, whatever it is, it`s the government`s responsibility, not parents.
BECK: Stephen, how do you get people to understand companies can`t afford this? I mean, she wants to take -- I`m quoting her -- the profits from these oil companies and seize them. How do they expect capitalism to work? How do companies survive currently the highest corporate tax rate in the world?
MOORE: Well, the irony here, Glenn, is that the very people like Hillary Clinton who are talking about these greedy oil companies and the high oil prices are the ones that want to tax them, that`s not going to make us less dependent on foreign oil. It`s going to make us more dependent on foreign oil. Therefore, our debts are going to go up. The best way to help our kids, Hillary, is to reduce the government deficit so we`re not passing these big debts on to our kids.
BECK: It really is immoral what we`re doing to our kids. Thank you very much, Stephen. And that is "The Real Story" tonight.
Coming up, the most overrated things in the world. I`m not sure if Keith Olbermann is on the list, but we`ll check.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: I figured the other day that I`m worth more dead than I am alive.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`ve been saying that for years.
BECK: Do you think my wife has figured that out?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, she married you, so I`d say yes. I would say that she figured that one out a long time ago.
BECK: I meant financially.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: There`s a lot of hype in this business. Life insurance, overrated. I mean, you`re alive. Who really cares when you`re alive? We work ourselves up to a frenzy over the person of the moment, forgetting that like two days ago they were a recovering alcoholic top 40 DJ. Wait a minute, that sounds like me.
"Radar" magazine has put together a list, the Hype Report, a list of the 100 most overrated people, places, and things. Fortunately, I`m not on the list, but that`s probably because you have to be rated before you can be overrated. So number one is -- well, I`ll let him tell you here in a second. But number two is cupcakes. How are cupcakes overrated?
Tyler Gray is here, "Radar`s" senior editor. Tyler, cupcakes overrated? What, are you mad, man?
TYLER GRAY, SR. EDITOR, "RADAR" MAGAZINE: Well, I`ve heard them called the number-one threat to health in this country. You know, it`s a cheap little piece of cake that you`re supposed to eat with tiny little kid fingers. And people are lining up around the block to order them from Magnolia Bakery here in Manhattan.
BECK: All right. Number one most over-hyped?
GRAY: Posh and Becks.
BECK: Couldn`t agree with you more. I don`t even get it.
GRAY: You know, these are hard-wired robots made for beautiful celebrity. And really, beyond that, there`s no soul. It`s all plastic and metal. And you think you`re going to open them up and there`s going to be some blinking lights and wires inside. I mean, they`re really good at looking good. But other than that...
BECK: You said number six is Oprah`s heart.
GRAY: Right. Well, you know, here`s a woman who surveyed the trouble in South Africa and decided the best thing for kids there would be L.L. Bean tote bags. So you know...
BECK: I don`t -- I mean, she is giving them an education.
GRAY: It`s true. It`s true.
BECK: Number seven is sex with virgins?
GRAY: Right. Anybody who`s ever, perhaps, let`s say gone there might attest to the difficulty and awkwardness in such a thing. And maybe that`s why 72 of them are promised to someone who martyrs themselves in the cause of religious extremism.
BECK: To me that sounds like hell. You have the cult of Stephen Colbert.
GRAY: Right. You know, Stephen`s a great example, you know, hilarious when he first came out, nuanced, funny, but then, you know, as time goes on, everyone just sort of gives him credit for being funny even when he whiffs.
BECK: I kind of feel bad for Jon Stewart, because Jon Stewart was -- he was like everywhere, and then Colbert came on, and you`re like, what happened to Jon Stewart?
GRAY: And he laughs about it, too, even when they`re together. But he`s the nuance. He`s the old way, the way of being not over-hyped and just a slow-burn kind of guy, and that`s what brought us to do this issue, was that, you know, there`s a lot of things out there that it`s the most amazing thing right now, and when everything`s amazing nothing is.
BECK: I see that Keith Olbermann had a special mention.
GRAY: It`s true. It`s true. It`s funny you should pick up on that.
BECK: It is funny, isn`t it? What a waste of skin that guy is. Oh, did I say that out loud? I`m sorry. So why is he overrated?
GRAY: Again, look, I mean, as a...
BECK: Look at you looking down. Look at you. You`re uncomfortable right now.
GRAY: Say what you will about the man`s skills as a broadcaster, but when he tries to inherit the, you know, the gifts of Edward R. Murrow, people start to wonder whether he lives up to that sort of label.
BECK: OK. So tell me the stuff that is underrated.
GRAY: Underrated. You know, oh, jeez, we could talk about...
BECK: I mean, I`ve got -- how about this one? I`ve got a list. I made a list. Are you ready? I`ll do your job for you. Here`s the most underrated. This is my list. It might be a little different than yours. The threat of Iran. Our founding fathers. Making ethanol from sugar. Possibility of terror attacks on our schools. Offensively colored shirts. Capitalism. God. The imminent collapse of our economy. And McGriddles.
GRAY: You know, you got me in stitches over here. I`m dying laughing at your...
BECK: Oh, that`s not comedy. I mean every single word of that.
GRAY: OK. Well, some of our unrated things -- you know, we talked about threats being overrated. I know it`s -- I don`t want to step on your toes here. But, for example, the threat of pedophiles. You know, it`s a huge, huge popular thing right now. You have to be scared of all the pedophiles. Now, it would be horrible if no one was scared of pedophiles, but the way it is now, you fear every guy on the street when, in fact, it`s probably your uncle.
BECK: Yes, we talked about that.
GRAY: Scary thing. Scary thing, but maybe not as scary as it`s made out to be.
BECK: OK. Underrated? You have nothing underrated.
GRAY: Nothing underrated...
(CROSSTALK)
BECK: No, I mean, you have nothing that is underrated that should be up at the top. What`s a thing that should be there?
GRAY: Well, I think a thing that should be at the top right now...
BECK: Yes.
GRAY: There`s so many listed on the underrated category...
BECK: You`re lying. Look at you. You`re making this up. You have nothing that you have praise for.
GRAY: And here`s the problem. The reason we came up with this is that there`s so much that`s overrated right now. That`s what inspired us to do this...
BECK: You`re saying Rosie O`Donnell is underrated or overrated?
GRAY: No, it`s more that what`s overrated is coming out of the closet, and Rosie O`Donnell is sort of the poster woman for that. And it didn`t really work out for her so much.
BECK: No, thank God. I`m really surprised that you say the Dalai Lama.
GRAY: OK, the guy -- how much was he charging for tickets at Radio City? And it`s like -- what is it, how much wisdom can you pack into...
BECK: Right. You know, the line I heard from you someplace just the other day was, I mean, free Tibet? It`s still, you know, bumper stickers are still valid.
GRAY: It`s a lot pricier than free Tibet these days.
BECK: OK, great, Tyler, thanks a lot. Coming up, top plays from this weekend, and none of them involve sports, just great videos of explosions, world records, and even a guy being shot out of a canyon. You want to see how all of this comes together and somehow makes sense, yeah.
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BECK: As you are probably aware if you watch this broadcast or listen to me on the radio, I am a huge sports fan. I am. But just because I`m not the most athletically inclined -- I know, hard to believe, isn`t it? -- doesn`t mean I can`t bring you some of the most exciting highlights from what was truly an amazing weekend in sports.
I want to start by paying a visit to the cutthroat world of competitive stone skipping. His name is Russ Byars. He is from Franklin, Pennsylvania. And since turning pro in 2002, he`s managed to turn the world of professional stone skipping upside down, and in the process he`s also won more than $12 in prize money. And here he is, with his world record-shattering toss of 51 skips. Here he goes. Watch him. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight -- whoa, whoa, whoa. That`s craziness. Somebody had to count all of those. And I`m sorry to point out here, ladies, he`s spoken for. I`m just saying.
Now on to Texas, where baseball has already taken a back seat to a far more exciting sport, quite frankly. Forget about the drama of the pennant race. For pure thrills, no sport can compare with the adrenaline rush that comes with getting yourself shot out of a 30-foot cannon. Yeah, here`s David "The Bullet" Smith, who over the weekend stole the show at the Texas state fair. Watch this.
Is he going to get in or -- whoa. That`s craziness. Oh. By the way, he is a second generation that did this. His father used to do this. So, you know, it runs in the family, and so does insanity.
Finally, let`s cross the pond over to England, where they had my number one highlight for the weekend. It`s a sport that combines two of my favorite hobbies: blowing things up and nuclear power. And here it is. This is the implosion of the world`s very first commercial nuclear power station. There she goes. Oh, boy. Gosh, we should have turned the thing off first, huh? Whoa, whoa, wait, I didn`t turn it off.
Now watch it in reverse. It`s almost as much fun as you -- here it goes. Ooh, isn`t that great? This doesn`t really look too sturdy. I`m kind of glad we took that one out, you know what I`m saying? Whoa, there they go again. Love the smell of uranium in the morning, don`t you?
Don`t forget, if you want to know what`s on tomorrow`s program or if you`d like a little more in-depth commentary on the news of the day, just sign up for my free daily e-mail newsletter at glennbeck.com. From New York, good night, America.
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