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Glenn Beck
Encore Presentation - Border Crisis: True Stories from the Border
Aired November 30, 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): America`s border crisis. Rape, drugs, kidnapping, even murder. It is beginning to look a lot more like a border war.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People are afraid to the point that they are going to start shooting pretty soon.
BECK: We`ll also take you into the heart of the chaos and talk to the people on the front lines.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Left a little booby trap there. Anything to slow us down and speed them along.
BECK: These are the stories that you`ll see nowhere else. Stories some in our government hope you don`t see. It`s a special hour on our nation`s border crisis.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BECK: Hello, America.
In the next hour I`m going to show you a side of the border that you probably haven`t seen. Frightening, true stories of brutal attacks, shocking levels of violence, eyewitness accounts from people just trying to protect everyday Americans in what I consider to be an escalating war on the border.
I`m going to show you one border community that has been pushed to the brink. We`re going to put the drug cartels under the microscope tonight, follow the money that fuels the murder, the kidnapping, the beheading, the terror spilling into our country.
Some of these images I can`t show you, because our lawyers are still figuring out which ones we can show, which ones we`d be sued for. I just left a meeting just a couple minutes ago where I saw five heads laying down on a floor of a nightclub just on the other side of our border.
There are some pictures that have been cleared that I can show you like this one. This is an illegal alien that was left dead by the coyotes who brought him across the border. Congratulations. Welcome to America.
Or this one. An apparent message from another cartel to -- from one cartel to another. It`s a body wrapped in garbage bags and duct tape.
But despite how horrifying some of these images that I can and cannot show you tonight, at least, I think it`s important to put all of it into perspective, to understand that we are facing something right here at home.
Remember, we`re not changing our logo green tonight. This isn`t something that might, maybe could threaten us in 1,000 years. This one`s happening right here, right now. And nobody seems to want to talk about it. We will.
Joining us tonight is filmmaker Chris Burgard. He has a documentary out called "Border." Highlights many of the shocking details in that film. And Texas Congressman Ted Poe is also joining us here.
First, Chris, I want to start with you. I want to start with, first of all, we`ve talked about the rape trees before. And if we could just bring these rape trees up on one of the monitors so we can see them. Here`s a rape tree. Just explain quickly what this is.
CHRIS BURGARD, FILMMAKER: Well, the drug cartels are making as much money smuggling people as they are drugs. They use these fellows coyotes. They bring these groups across the border.
They`ll take some of these women, and they`ll rape them within earshot of their children, their husbands, the rest of the group. Then they make these women take their panties and hang them up on these trees. It`s now a trophy tree.
BECK: All right. Now let me go to something new that hasn`t been seen yet. This is -- this is in actually night vision. Explain what is -- what is happening here. What is this?
BURGARD: This is a group of mostly migrants coming across. There`s a fellow in the middle that`s wearing military fatigues. There`s 29 of them. We were about seven yards away as they walked across. We`re about a mile and I half north of the border here.
BECK: OK. Congressman, I mean, how many things do we need to have on tape, how many times do people have to be kidnapped from the United States before Congress does something, before the media wakes up and says, "My gosh, look what`s going on here"?
REP. TED POE (R), TEXAS: Well, it seems to me that Washington, D.C., is in blissful ignorance of what`s taking place, especially on the southern border, regarding the violence that takes place, the murders, the kidnappings, the drugs being brought into this country.
People here, for some reason, don`t want to believe the truth. And I`m not sure why that is. But we have to continue to keep the heat up, let people know up here in Washington.
Go to the Texas-Mexico border if you don`t believe how violent it is. And I`ve been down there a dozen times. I invite my fellow members of Congress to go. Many of them will go. A lot more will refuse to go.
BECK: Congressman, I have to tell you, and you know this to be true, we have -- in fact, I had a guy last night talk to me on a conference call last night. I begged the guy to come on. I said, "I`ll protect your identity. I`ll disguise your voice. Nobody will see your face." He`s an insider that knows what`s going on.
He said, "Glenn, I`ll be fired by the government if they ever find out I am giving any kind of information. They don`t want this stuff out." And he said, "Quite honestly, live down on the border. I`m dead, my family is dead if any of this comes out."
We have people that want to talk out -- speak out, but they`re afraid.
POE: Well, they are afraid. They`re afraid of not only the drug cartels and the violence, but border agents have talked to me, and they`re also afraid of being able to tell the truth.
BECK: Exactly right.
POE: The border agents themselves will do as good a job as we let them do. And it seems to me their supervisors keep them from enforcing the rule of law on the border, but they`re afraid they`ll lose their job if they talk about it. BECK: OK. Here`s what I`m afraid of, Chris. I`m afraid that we are -- we are turning into Mexico, where everybody is corrupt, where the whole system is corrupt. I`m going to show -- bring up the I.D. Explain what this is, Chris.
Do we have it? Do we have the I.D.? There it is.
BURGARD: There you go.
BECK: What is that?
BURGARD: That`s a Mexican military I.D. that was found near Dr. Michael Vicker`s ranch, Palperies (ph), Texas, 65 miles north of the border. And Doc Vickers has been taking a lot of heat, because he`s been reporting that people are coming through his property in uniforms and carrying weapons.
And he says, "These guys, they look military to me."
And they`re like, how do you know? Well, this year he found that.
BECK: OK. This is actual Mexican military I.D. And how far way is this ranch? Where did he -- how far way from the border did he find this?
BURGARD: Sixty-five miles.
BECK: Sixty-five miles. Congressman, we`re doing a break here in just a few minutes, where the Congress is giving -- is giving Mexico over a trillion dollars -- I`m sorry. Over a billion dollars in support.
POE: Right.
BECK: Do we have any idea that the Mexican government is not on the take, that the military can be trusted with our hardware?
POE: We have no clue. We`re giving money to Mexico with a blank check and very little of that, in my opinion, will be used to fight the drug cartels. You know, the Mexican government`s corrupt. They`re involved in our own prosecution of border agents on this side of the border.
Who knows where that money is going? It`s not going to be accounted for. That`s very disturbing that we`re just dumping this much money into Mexico.
BECK: You know and I know the Zetas were trained -- this is, by the way, we`ll explain in just a second who these people are. But they`re a very vicious group of people. They were trained by the U.S. We helped build what`s fighting us at the border right now. We`re about to do it again, plus give them surveillance equipment and give them helicopters?
POE: Yes. Who knows where that`s going? I would think it would probably go to the drug cartels. They`ll end up getting that because they have so many people in the Mexican government on the take anyway.
And of course, as you said, the Zetas were trained to be working for the military in Mexico. They flipped sides because there`s more money working for the drug cartel. And they`re the ones bringing over drugs into the United States.
They`re very violent. They involve kidnapping and murder of other members of drug cartels. They bring in, as said, bring in illegals as well as they bring in drugs, and we`re just trying to...
BURGARD: Congressman, who`s going to help these ranchers down in Texas? You know, I came to Washington, and besides yourself and a few other congressmen, Rohrabacher, Tancredo, we showed this movie to Congress, and let them know how bad it is down there, and they didn`t care. They didn`t come to see it.
What do you need to do to get the rest of Washington to know what you know?
POE: Well, we need to get the people of America upset more so than anything...
BECK: They are, though. Congressman, you know it and I know it. They are. They are upset. The people in Washington with an exception of a very few people like you, they don`t give a flying crap. And I`m telling you, it`s leading to real trouble.
Guys, we`ll be back in just a second.
Congressman, thank you very much.
Chris, you stick around.
Coming up, if you don`t think Americans are in danger in border towns, you wait until our next segment. Mexican drug gangs are running wild. They have become so brazen they`re videotaping kidnappings and murders and beheadings and posting them on the Internet.
And a shocking story about people being fed to the lions. Is it ancient Rome or modern-day Mexico? Don`t miss the next few minutes of the Glenn beck program. Back in a flash.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: "I cannot go out at night. There is no law." That is a quote from a resident of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. That`s a city right on our border. For all intents and purposes, it is run by drug cartels.
These are not your average drug pushers that we`re used to seeing in American cities. These are heavily armed, well-trained assassins that outgun both the police and the military. They use .50-caliber automatic weapons, AK-47s, rocket-propelled grenades, and it is all in an effort to control a drug pipeline that runs from Mexico to Dallas and then straight up through the heartland.
To put this into perspective on just how many people are being killed in Nuevo Laredo, consider that the murder capital of the United States last year was New Orleans, where about 65 people were killed for every 100,000 residents. In Nuevo Laredo the rate was 88. And many of these murders were carried out in unspeakably gruesome ways.
Last year, in a photo I have, I saw just before we went on the air, and I can`t show it to you yet, until it gets past standards and practices, but it`s a photo you need to see. Five local drug dealers were decapitated, and their heads were rolled onto a floor of a popular dance club just to send a message.
Those who have tried to stop the violence, from the police chief to federal officers, have been brutally executed, leaving very few people alive who are willing to speak out. But I`ve got a few people. My next guests, they`ll speak out.
Sheriff Arvin West, is a sheriff of Hudspeth County. And Chris Burgard is the filmmaker behind the documentary "Border." He`s also back with us. And we have many other people that are speaking out tonight for the very first time.
First, Sheriff, let me start with you. You are somewhat of a Texas legend. You actually fought the Mexican military. There was a standoff with the Mexican military as you were chasing drug -- a drug cartel back across the border. Is that true?
SHERIFF ARVIN WEST, HUDSPETH COUNTY, TEXAS: Yes, sir. I don`t know about the Texas legend part, but yes, sir.
BECK: Yes. Well, of course, that`s what a Texas legend would say: "Nah, just doing my duty."
Tell me how this happened. You caught them bringing the drugs in, and then they turned around and went back. And how did the military play a role?
WEST: Well, as the vehicles were heading back to Mexico because the officers were chasing them, just as they got on the river levee on the American side, they come around a bend in the levee, they were met by the Mexican military with .50-cal rifles, and of course these guys were in pursuit with .45 handguns. And the military held the officers off so the drug runners could get back into Mexico.
BECK: OK. So they`re actually protecting the drug runners?
WEST: Oh, yes.
BECK: And they were clear that this was -- these were drug runners?
WEST: Well, you know, the Mexican government come up and said, "Well, you know, how can you be 99 percent sure it`s Mexican military? You can`t prove beyond a reasonable doubt." And no, obviously, we can`t prove beyond a reasonable doubt.
Their first claim was it was people dressed as Mexican military.
BECK: Yes.
WEST: But being raised down there on the border and seeing these people and the way they operate for the last 42 years, I mean, this is -- there`s no doubt it was them.
BURGARD: Sheriff, was this the first time that you ran into military- type forces?
WEST: Oh, no. We`ve caught the guys. What they do is they dump these guys -- I say dump these guys. They put these military personnel out there, and they leave them without anything. So out there in the middle of the desert it`s 12 miles approximately to a truck stop out there. And we`ve caught the Mexican military coming into that truck stop area to buy groceries and things of that nature.
BECK: OK. Wait a minute. Hang on just a second. That is across our border?
WEST: Oh, yes, sir. About 12 miles in.
BECK: Fantastic. Sounds like an invasion to me. Sheriff, talk quickly to me about the Zetas. And this is a group that we trained to actually work against the drug cartel. How out of control are they? Tell me about the beheadings and everything else that`s going on.
WEST: Well, you know, they`re -- they`ve got cells all over Mexico, as well as in the United States. The guy next door could be -- could be one of them. They run real covert, as far as their tactics. Now, as far as their actions, they`re ruthless. I mean, these guys have no mercy.
BECK: Is it true that they`re -- that they are actually feeding people to lions?
WEST: The drug group, the cartel that was working in our area about, oh, 15, 18 miles south into Mexico, they had their compound down there, and within this compound was a couple of lions. Now, what they would do is they would kidnap people or grab people and take them to this compound. And actually, if they didn`t get what they wanted from these people, they`d feed them to the lions, literally.
BECK: Where is the media? Where is...
BURGARD: Where`s the media? Where`s the federal government? This is a local Texas sheriff who is going against troops from a foreign country, and he`s not getting any help.
BECK: Sheriff, you`ve been -- you`ve been to Washington to testify?
WEST: We`ve been to Washington collectively as a group, as the border -- Texas Border Sheriffs Coalition group. We`ve been there nine times, and each time we`ve gone up there, we`ve asked to speak with the president. We`ve even had senators that take the time and sent letters to the president to sit there and just have a round-table discussion with us to explain the actual facts of what`s going on. And he refuses to talk to us.
BECK: OK. Why? Why, sheriff?
WEST: I haven`t the foggiest idea.
BECK: Will anybody in the media down there -- I understand that in El Paso they`ve stopped covering all of this stuff.
WEST: It`s interesting you bring that up. KFOX was real hot and heavy on this. And they -- as a matter of fact, they covered it a couple days after the incident that we had with the military. And there was military right on the border then right after the Mexican government said they were not allowed within three miles or three kilometers from the border. But actually the next -- a couple days later they caught them right there on the border and videoed them.
Now, one of the reporters, the investigative reporters that worked for them, was told to back off because of threats and because of fear that they may do something to either the studio or the people at the studio.
BECK: I want to speak directly to anybody who`s living on the border right now, anybody in the media, anybody who is in homeland security. I`ve put -- I`ve made an e-mail address. It is Tips@GlennBeck.com. A lot of people are afraid to tell the story. A lot of people are freaking out.
You know what? What do I got to lose? We`re already taking on the government. We`re already taking on all of the weasels in Washington. We`re taking on Muslim extremists. Why not? Let`s really talk about security in our country.
You have a story to tell. I will protect your identity. Believe me, I will tell your story. I am sick and tired of losing my country and no one willing to stand up for it. If that`s you, if you`re willing just to tell us what you know, we`ll tell your story. Go to Tips@GlennBeck.com.
Let me -- let me show a couple of pieces of video. First of all, I think we showed this video a second ago. It`s a bunch of guys. These are drug cartel members from another rival drug cartel.
Sheriff, what is happening here? They`re being shown -- I`ve seen enough mob movies to see the black tarp behind them. This doesn`t end well, does it?
WEST: No. It never does.
BECK: And this is -- this is the stuff they put on the Internet, and then they execute them?
WEST: They`ll execute them. They`ll behead them. Just cross them, and you can count they`re going to kill you.
BECK: OK. And let me show you another video. This is video of a family, what appears to be a family, coming across. Chris, can you tell me what this video is?
BURGARD: You bet. This is -- these -- they were apprehended in Nogales. And what happens is when the kids come across it ties up the Border Patrol units for about 45 minutes while they do paperwork.
BECK: OK. These kids here. These are all kids.
BURGARD: It was a family unit from about halfway down to Mexico. And what happens is then, while they`re filling out the paperwork like this agent`s doing there, there were nine other hits along the border. They used these guys as a decoy.
And that fellow that was sitting in the truck, he had assaulted a federal agent. He just got sent back to Mexico. If you or I assaulted a federal agent, that`s an automatic five years.
BECK: OK. Sheriff, Chris, thank you. You`ll join us a little bit later on in the program.
Coming up, I`ve been telling you for a while now our sovereignty is being sold right down the river. I`ve got another example for you. Instead of using tax dollars to build a border fence or send weapons and troops down there, the White House wants to give the Mexican government a billion dollars to buy guns and helicopters. Details next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: During a meeting last March, Mexican President Calderon chastised President Bush for not supporting Mexico in their war on drugs.
Now, if I were the president, and this is probably one just small reason why I`m not president, I would have walked out of the room. Then I`m going to call the leaders of Congress and told them I want a double- layer fence within 12 months and I`d like the military down there on the border with guns that you can actually fire, with bullets in them. You know.
But instead the president went a different direction. He asked Congress for $1.4 billion to give to Mexico for training so they can buy more planes and helicopters and equipment. We`re going to share everything.
Perhaps someone should remind the president that many of the Zetas who are now responsible for most of the violence on the border are rumored to be ex-Mexican soldiers and officers who -- yes, you guessed it -- we trained here in America.
James Roberts is a research fellow at the Heritage Foundation.
James, $1.4 billion. We`re sharing, what is it, helicopters, and what else are we giving them?
JAMES ROBERTS, HERITAGE FOUNDATION: Well, you know, Glenn, this is not your father`s Mexico, really. Mexico has grown up. Mexico is an emerging market and a dynamic, globalized economy. There`s a strong, vibrant middle class that wants to do better.
They are sick of the corrupt politicians and bureaucrats in Mexico and drug lords. And they told Felipe Calderon get serious, work with the Americans and solve this problem. And that`s what he`s been doing.
BECK: I have nothing against the Mexican people. Nothing against the Mexican people. I believe you that they are just as sick of the corruption as I am, and the corruption in our own government.
I`m not talking about the Mexican government. I`m talking about -- or the Mexican people. I`m talking about the government, and I`m talking about the military, specifically at the border.
I notice that we`re giving them all kinds of programs that we can share, databases that we can share, and it`s in English, which I think is the first time the government has ever insisted that anything is in English in America.
What I`m specifically asking you is how could we possibly give them surveillance equipment and helicopters and work hand in hand with these people when the last time we did it the Zetas turned on us, and now they`re the most violent on the border?
ROBERTS: Well, you know, three words: end use monitoring. And this is the first time. It`s unheard of. Mexico has had many breakthroughs in their cooperation with the U.S.
Calderon is a serious business-like guy. He`s extradited drug kingpins. He`s even going to extradite a former governor in the state of Quintana Roo, where Cancun is, next week for drug trafficking. He`s seized almost 40 tons of cocaine, in the last two weeks 36 tons off the Pacific and Caribbean coasts. He`s cracked down. He seized $200 million in a basement of Mexico City of drug money. He has shown that he is serious and wants to work with us.
The prior approaches, admittedly, had problems. Under the Clinton administration the U.S. gave old, beat-up helicopters left over from the Vietnam War and didn`t give any training or maintenance. And they didn`t work, and it`s not surprising the Mexicans sent them back.
But now under this program eight brand-new Bell helicopters with training and maintenance provided and with -- accompanied by U.S. civilian advisers to make sure that they`re used properly. So I think we`re going to have more confidence this time around.
One point four billion over three years, but the first project (ph) is 550 million for Mexico and 50 million for Central America.
BECK: James, you`re more optimistic than I am. Thanks a lot.
Coming up there are a lot of problems along the border. There are thousands of miles that we share with Mexico. But no town feels it more acutely than Laredo, Texas. Kidnappings, drug smuggling, human trafficking. They deal with all of it. And I`m going to talk to the man charged with fighting those crimes in Laredo, Texas next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: Earlier in the show I told you about the horrific violence that has been taking place in Nuevo Laredo at the hands of drug cartels. I want you to take a look at this map. Here`s Laredo, Texas. And there`s Nuevo Laredo. Look at that. Only separated by a river. Ask yourself this question. Do you really think a few hundred yards of water is going to keep the violence confined to Mexico, especially when we`re the target of the drugs?
Of course not. In fact, it has already crossed over. In the last two years alone drug cartels have murdered at least seven people in Laredo. The media has shut their pieholes on all of this. They`ve kidnapped -- there, in fact, have been more Americans kidnapped than were taken hostage by the Iranians in 1979. Yet you hear nothing about it. Joining me now is Webb County Sheriff Rick Flores and Texas Congressman Henry Cuellar and Rusty Fleming. He`s the filmmaker behind "The Drug Wars: The Colombianization of Mexico."
Sheriff, I want to start with you. The Zetas are a horrific paramilitary group that is connected with a drug cartel. But there`s also something else that nobody wants to talk about, the rumors are that they are now being joined by a Leninist-Marxist group that is raising all kinds of terror all the way through Mexico as well. Can you confirm any of this?
SHERIFF RICK FLORES, WEBB COUNTY, TX.: The intelligence that we have is that the Zetas are now teaming up with the Kaibiles, who are Guatemalan jungle fighters, and training the Zetas. Of course, extending their training because the Zetas are fully trained and they were trained here in the United States.
But yes, they`re improving and growing in numbers and we don`t see anything in the future that we`re going to be able to control. It`s just going to get harder.
BECK: Rusty, you`ve been actually sitting down and talking to these people. You`re doing a film on the Zetas. What have you found?
RUSTY FLEMING, FILMMAKER: Well, Glenn, it`s pretty remarkable. I mean, what we found in the two-and-a-half years that we`ve been investigating this, these guys are completely the most ruthless killers ever in the narco-terrorism business. They have no compunction about killing women, children, whatever they have to do to get the job done, to protect the loads and to see it through.
BECK: First of all, Sheriff, let me go back to you. Let me just say this, and I`m sorry I didn`t say it when we first started. God bless you for what you`re doing. Not only are you fighting it every day, but you`re coming on national television. There`s a lot of people in your community that will not join me on national television. They`re afraid.
FLORES: Well, there`s a lot of people that don`t want to talk about the subject. You know, and I`m finally -- I`m glad that it`s finally coming out in the open because it`s a subject that is alive and well and it`s a subject that is -- that we need to pay attention to it.
And I`m a little concerned over the fact that we`ve got the Congress looking at sending $1.4 billion to train and professionalize Mexican law enforcement. The corruption has existed for many, many decades. It`s embedded in the culture, and there`s corruption all the way up to the top. And...
BECK: Gee, Sheriff, that...
FLORES: ... we`re concerned about...
BECK: If I said that, you know what would be said about me? You`re a racist. That sounds like a racist comment. You`re saying it`s embedded in the...
FLORES: I can tell you one thing. I can say this, that I applaud and I admire the president, President Calderon, because he has made a lot of changes since he has stepped into the presidency. But it`s not something you can change overnight. It`s not something you can change in a year. This has been going on for years. Years and years that corruption has existed in Mexico.
BECK: Congressman, let me bring you in. I`m sorry to be such a skeptic here on everybody in Washington and everybody in Mexico when it comes to their government and their military and their law enforcement, but I think the majority are weasels. Please tell me you`re not for sending $1.4 billion down to Mexico and give them surveillance technology so they can listen in. Are you telling me we really trust these people?
REP. HENRY CUELLAR (D), TEXAS: We have to do something. And my option is not to stand around and do nothing. We have to look at the big picture. We have to go to the root of the problem. And there is corruption, there are problems up there, but you`ve got a new president, President Calderon, that has taken some very brave and very bold steps to fight this.
This is a historic change, where Mexico is now asking for assistance. And we`ve got to keep in mind that it`s our own self-interest to help them. We help them stop the drugs on the other side, that means there will go less drugs coming over to the United States.
BECK: I`ve got to tell you, though, Congressman, my son asks to watch a movie at 9:00 at night, and I tell him you go to bed, you`re not watching a movie. Sometimes I don`t do what people have requested.
Sheriff, you know, the Congressman says I want to -- you know, I want to do something. What should Washington do?
FLORES: Well, instead of investing money in Mexico, they should start investing money on the U.S. side, on the U.S.-Mexican border, where we need financial assistance to be able to upgrade our departments and hire additional people to put additional boots on the ground. It seems like all the federal funding is going to federal law enforcement agencies.
And let us not forget. Let us not forget that anytime someone calls 911, who do you think is the one that`s responding to that call? It`s not Border Patrol. It`s not the FBI. It`s not CIA or ATF. It`s local law enforcement and the sheriff`s department who are responding to these calls.
BECK: Let me...
FLORES: And guess what? We...
BECK: Hang on just a second. Let me go to Rusty here for a second. I mean, I look at the sheriff, at the background there. I mean, he`s sitting there at the sheriff`s office. It doesn`t really look high-tech. Tell me about the conversation that you had with one of the drug cartels where you said, I need to have 500 pounds of crystal meth come across this border into Dallas, how long is it going to take you? What was the response?
FLEMING: Overnight. And it wasn`t 500 pounds, Glenn, it was 500 kilos. I specifically asked him, if I wanted those 500 kilos in Dallas tonight, how fast could you get it there? He said, they`d be there. They are plenty happy with the system.
(CROSSTALK)
BECK: Hang on, Sheriff. What do you mean they`re very happy with the system?
FLEMING: Look, they are so confident in their ability to compromise our system that they don`t want any changes. And let me just add one thing. We shouldn`t open the door of aid to Mexico, not one inch, until the door of the rule of law is opened on that side of the border.
Listen, I`m not one bit impressed that Calderon has made all these great attacks against the cartels and made some seizures. Yes, that`s all good. But I can tell you, we need to know where there`s -- there`s 51 of our sons and daughters missing in Mexico, and I guarantee you, you know, there are some answers to be had over there, but they`re not giving them to us.
And instead of just giving the aid, how about we give the aid, you know, contingent upon some of these answers for some of these missing sons and daughters we have?
BECK: OK. Rusty, thank you very much. Sheriff, Congressman, we`re going to be back -- hang on, Sheriff. We`ll be back with you just a second. I`ve got to take a break. We`re going to continue our conversation, talk about the Americans that Rusty was just talking about, that are the literal casualties of this border, in 60 seconds we`ll be back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: Our border is out of control. We`re talking about the violence on it right now. I want to go back to Sheriff Rick Flores. And I`m going to start with Texas Congressman Henry Cuellar. Before we talk about the hostages, which I want to get into next, I`ve got to say, what our last guest just said to everybody in government makes sense with, I believe everybody who is not in government, and that is, you know what, when you stop the trouble on the border, when you actually stop stuff coming from -- across, then we will help you on the other side.
But what are we doing? It would be better to take $1.4 billion and send troops down to the border.
CUELLAR: Well, first of all...
FLORES: Look, it`s very simple...
BECK: Hang on. Hang on. Sheriff, I`ve got to let the congressman respond to that.
CUELLAR: Thank you very much. First of all, we`re not going to send any troops down to the border. It`s not going to happen.
BECK: Yes, I know.
CUELLAR: But we have sent off, you know, FBI, ICE, Customs and other -- DEA agents down there...
BECK: They`ve got .50-caliber machine guns.
CUELLAR: And one of the things that we need to do is that, that`s exactly the point, is we`ve got to realize that the police and the people out there have been outnumbered by the drug cartels and the weapons. While the police are using guns, they`re using AK-44s (sic), they`re using other machine guns, and they`re just being out-powered.
We`re not going to give them a bag of dollars. We are going to ask for things in return. We have to look at the big picture.
BECK: I know. You tell me the next time -- you tell me, sir, the last time we won in anything with Mexico. You tell me the last time we actually got a fair shake, we actually got rule of law from Mexico. It doesn`t happen.
We bend over backwards for that fricking country, and I`ve had it up to here, and most of America has as well. Sheriff, I want to change the subject as well. And I`m sorry, I`ve got to go to the hostages. Can you please tell...
FLORES: OK. I need to say one -- I need to say one thing, Glenn.
BECK: OK.
FLORES: I want to ask the congressman, who is he representing, President Calderon or his district here in Laredo, Texas, where we haven`t received any resources at the local level to be able to combat the problems on the border?
CUELLAR: Well, first of all, let me say this, Mr. Sheriff, what we`re looking at is you have got more money than you`ve ever gotten in the past, and we`ve got to keep in mind that the border will be patrolled by the Border Patrol and by the federal agencies. We will work with the local law enforcement, and we represent, but your job is to be a county sheriff, not a U.S. congressman, which is a big difference.
My job is to look at the big picture. Your job is to look at the smaller picture. And I will do my job as long as you do your job.
BECK: Boy, Congressman, I don`t think I have ever...
FLORES: I`d like to find out how much money has a congressman allocated to our county. How much money have you allocated for border security for Webb County or from the counties from Brownsville all the way to California? How much money have they allocated for border security? Nothing. They`ve allocated money for...
BECK: Congressman, I`ve got to get to the hostages. Guys, I have to tell you, Congressman, shame on you for that response. That was the most belittling response I have ever heard. Shame on you.
CUELLAR: Well, let me tell you, let me...
BECK: No, sir, I`m going to change the subject now and I`m going to go to the hostages. You`ve had your piece. Let`s talk about the 70 people that have been kidnapped now. I know, sir, you have spoken out about this. Can you tell me about the progress with the 70 people that have disappeared on the American and Mexican side? They are Americans. Can you tell me a little bit about them, sir?
CUELLAR: Yes. As you know, we have set up a joint task force with the FBI and the Mexican law enforcement. They have started to investigate some of the law enforcement -- some of the cases we`ve had. As you know, Glenn, this is a different jurisdiction. You might call that a "fricking"country. And I appreciate your comments. But you`re wrong. We have to work with Mexicans to find answers, and that`s what we`ve been doing...
BECK: Yes, well, I...
(CROSSTALK)
CUELLAR: Glenn, let me finish. Let me finish, Glenn. I know it`s your show, but give your guests a little respect. And what we have to do is we have to make sure that we understand what has been happening down there. We have seen some progress. We need to do more. And we`ll continue doing that.
BECK: All right. Sheriff, please just tell me a little bit about the progress that has been made on the kidnappings. Can you tell me about that?
FLORES: Your answer is as good as mine, Glenn. We haven`t gotten anything regarding the missing Americans in Nuevo Laredo.
BECK: OK.
FLORES: And if the congressman is saying that we`re getting support from Mexico, please tell me who are the people that you`re working with across the border, because some of those people can`t even be trusted.
BECK: Sheriff, I have to tell you, sir, I appreciate your candid conversation here. I appreciate your bravery for coming on this and everything that you`re doing for our country.
Congressman, thank you for joining us as well.
Coming up, shocking stuff. Just to hear about people that have been snatched off our streets, Americans. But I`m going to talk to family members of two casualties of this border crisis gone missing without a trace, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: According to the FBI, at least 60 American citizens, 60, have been kidnapped in the Nuevo Laredo area since 2004. At least 21 of those cases remain unsolved. Danielle Ortiz is the wife of Sergio Ortiz, who went missing in 2003. And William Slemaker is the stepfather of Yvette Martinez, who went missing on a trip to Nuevo Laredo in 2004.
Danielle, I want to start with you. How helpful have the -- has the United States authorities been on helping find your husband?
DANIELLE ORTIZ, WIFE OF SERGIO ORTIZ: Up to right now they haven`t -- they have helping us, but at that point I feel that the authorities have failed to give me proper answer on the whereabouts of my husband, or in the negative part, finding the remains of my husband.
BECK: William, your stepdaughter, she went to a concert one night and never came back. She went with a friend. Rumor has it that she was given as a gift to a drug cartel, or a drug lord. What do you know about what`s going on, and how do you feel about the help you`ve received from the United States government?
WILLIAM SLEMAKER, STEPFATHER OF YVETTE MARTINEZ: Well, yes, that`s one thing that we heard, one of the many rumors that we have heard, is that she was given as a gift. And I know for a fact that she was pulled over by a Nuevo Laredo police officer and handed over to four individuals. As far as...
BECK: Hold it just a second. Are you saying that she was taken by Mexican authorities?
SLEMAKER: Oh, yes, sir. Most definitely, yes.
BECK: And how do you know that?
SLEMAKER: Without a doubt.
BECK: How do you feel -- let me ask you this question in the interest of time. Let me cut to the chase. How do you feel about what we were just talking about a minute ago where the United States government has given a billion-and-a-half dollars over to the Mexican government, to the police and the military to help them fight?
SLEMAKER: Oh, well, that concerns me greatly because I feel that our government has not learned from the help that they gave bin Laden. They helped Iran, Iraq, and everybody has turned against us. And they`re going to do the same with Mexico. And this money, I feel, is going to go to corrupt organizations that -- just to continue their enterprise.
And I just feel that it`s wrong and...
(CROSSTALK)
BECK: You know, I want you both to know -- I`m running out of time because that last segment ran so late. I want you to know, after the first of the year I am going to beat this drum night after night after night after night. We are going to get answers on your family members and find out what the hell happened to them and make sure that it doesn`t happen again.
Danielle, why do you suppose no one in the media is paying attention to this?
ORTIZ: Because like, example, I`m very glad and I`m very thankful to Sheriff Rick Flores, when he mentioned -- or he making comparison between one case in Aruba and so many cases on the border who haven`t been solved. The authorities, the media -- I mean, especially the authorities haven`t took the proper issue in consideration and really done what supposed to be done to look for those people.
BECK: Danielle, William, we will. I give you my word. I wish you the very best, and we will keep in touch.
And, America, we`ll keep you updated on this. Back for a final thought in just a minute.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: Well, over the last hour we`ve shown you the truth about what is actually happening on the border, but we haven`t even begun to scratch the surface. The most important question from this point is, why isn`t it being stopped? Believe me, America, I`m going to examine that in the coming weeks and the coming months until it will be on my last fricking breath on this program. But now Chris Burgard joins me once again.
You`ve been watching from the other room. Have you ever seen anything as arrogant?
CHRIS BURGARD, WWW.BORDERMOVIE.COM: Oh, yes. Yes, for the last two years in Washington that is pretty much what I`ve seen across the board.
BECK: We`re talking about the congressman that was on with us and said -- I don`t have the exact quote, but I believe it`s, you`re only a little sheriff, I`m a U.S. congressman. Good God almighty.
BURGARD: And it`s the sheriff that`s getting shot at. This is what I hear up and down the southern border from the American ranchers. The congressman very confidently said that will never happen, we`ll never put troops on the border.
There already are troops on the border, but they`re from Mexico. And most of the ranchers down there say we supported the president when he stood up and he said, we will send troops anywhere on the planet where American lives are in danger.
And what the ranchers al down there say, yes, anywhere but Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, or California. They have no one to help them. They have armed men coming down there. The citizens are being kidnapped. They`ve called the federal government for help. And they get the same kind of response that you saw from the congressman.
BECK: Is it too much for me to say -- I went to -- I visited Texas about a year ago, and I lived in Texas for a while. It`s a different place. But I felt a different -- I felt a different attitude that I`ve never felt ever before anywhere in America, and that was, when can I take my country back?
I felt real anger, disenfranchisement, people saying, I want my country back. And they`ll take it back. Do you feel the ticking time bomb that is...
BURGARD: You don`t mess with Texas.
BECK: You don`t?
BURGARD: I`ve got to tell you, what`s happening in Texas is different from the other border states because Texas people are very proud. And Texas people, in their constitution, they still have that thing in there that says they can succeed (sic) from the Union. And that`s not just legend to them. They are fed up.
You have Texas sheriffs like Rick Flores, Arvin West, Ziggy Gonzales, all these guys are taking the brunt of it and they say they`re tired of being the front line of defense for Iowa and North Carolina.
BECK: Chris, best of luck to you. Thank you very much. We will have you back on the program again.
America, we have only begun on this topic. Please continue to join us. Please, spread the word. America is at war on our border. From New York, good night.
END