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Glenn Beck
Fallout Continues on Steroids in Baseball; Whose Game is it in Iowa?; Environmentalist Proposes Tax on Babies
Aired December 14, 2007 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE PAGLIARULO, HOST (voice-over): Tonight, fallout from the Mitchell report as players express outrage over accusations of steroid use. Or is that roid rage?
Plus, could Hillary`s run be coming to an end? A surprising new poll puts Obama on top. So what`s changing people`s minds?
And only in New York. Meet some folks for whom working with poles has nothing to do with politics.
All this and more, tonight.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
Hello, America. I`m Joe Pagliarulo, Joe Pags, in for Glenn Beck one more time. He`ll be back on Monday.
Even though it`s December, baseball is the big story around the country today, and that`s not a good thing. Fallout from the Mitchell report is still spreading. Even President Bush chimed in this morning with his thoughts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As you know, I`m a baseball fan. I love the sport. I love the game. Like many fans, I`ve been troubled by the steroid allegations. I think it`s best that all of us not jump to any conclusions on any individual player`s name.
But we can jump to this conclusion, that steroids have sullied the game. And players and owners must take the Mitchell report seriously.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAGLIARULO: Well, the president may not want to jump to conclusions here on individual players, but it`s virtually impossible to ignore the fact that some of the game`s most prominent players, like for instance, 11- time all-star, seven-time Cy Young award winner, two-time World Series champion and former American League most valuable player Roger Clemens was mentioned prominently.
Aside from Barry Bonds, who has more evidence against him than the BTK Killer here, Clemens` name came up more than any other player, 82 times. But that`s not stopping him from coming out with heated denials.
Here`s his attorney, Rusty Hardin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUSTY HARDIN, MANAGER FOR ROGER CLEMENS: Roger Clemens adamantly, vehemently, and whatever other adjectives can be used, denies that he has ever used steroids or whatever the word is for improper substances.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAGLIARULO: Yes, but Rusty or Roger, this isn`t Jose Canseco putting your name in his book. This is a formal investigation by a former U.S. senator, complete with documentation and eyewitness testimonials. You`re going to have to do a little bit better than a statement through your attorney.
But Hardin didn`t stop with simple outrage. He also tried to play the sympathy card.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARDIN: We don`t quarrel with Senator Mitchell`s engaging in an investigation. But stop and think, if you were the person, if the listening public or the reading public was the person.
If an allegation is made against you that is not going to result in any criminal charge, that is not going to result in any trial that you can challenge it, it is simply laid on the public airwaves, how do you recover from that?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAGLIARULO: OK, not so fast. You can start recovering by, I don`t know, getting out of the way and having the Rocket actually stick up for himself.
That said, here are the facts, folks. The eyewitnesses cited in this report -- a well-investigated, well-written report -- are flawed. Whether we like it or not, unless the player admits to taking the drugs or there`s a positive blood test or, I don`t know, photographic evidence, this is going to be he said/he said and nothing more.
There will be no criminal charges, and in fact, Mitchell himself has suggested to Commissioner Bud Selig that he take no disciplinary action against most of the named players.
So what did we get out of this exhaustive report? What we got here is that there has been, for a long time, a drug culture in baseball. And as a result, a bunch of cheating cheaters of the game.
The players named have two choices here to keep the fans on their sides. No. 1, admit that you did it and explain that there was no hard and fast rule in baseball that was being enforced and that the game itself turned a blind eye as you did it or, two, vehemently deny the charges.
Mark Fainaru-Wada, the author of "Game of Shadows" and an investigative reporter for ESPN. And Michael O`Keeffe is an investigative sports reporter for the "New York Daily News."
Gentlemen, welcome. Mike, I want to start with you. Here in New York, this is where Roger Clemens plays. As a matter of fact, I think we have a graphic that we can put up of the teams that were most cited in this report. The New York Yankees on the top of this graphic, 22 players, either former players or current players on the Yankees on this list, followed closely by the Orioles with 18, 16 with the Angels.
New York is going to go nuts over this story, especially when spring training starts back up. Tell me what`s happening from your perspective here in the big city.
MICHAEL O`KEEFFE, REPORTER, "NEW YORK DAILY NEWS": Well, people are already going nuts. You should see the e-mails and hear the phone calls that we`ve received.
PAGLIARULO: Right.
O`KEEFFE: But the fact is that Mitchell, he was limited in terms of what he could do because of access. The players didn`t want to talk to him. And he said that was understandable. The players` association had pointed out that some of the evidence could be used in criminal prosecutions later.
So Mitchell had really kind of limited sources of information. Two of them were guys who were connected to New York, Kurt Radomski, who was a steroid dealer. He pleaded guilty to steroid distribution earlier this year, and he`ll be sentenced, I think, in February. He, as part of his plea bargain, he agreed to cooperate with Mitchell.
The other guy who also agreed to cooperate with Mitchell is a trainer named Brian McNamee, who had worked with Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte for a number of years. So this really -- it doesn`t reflect an anti-New York bias so much as what Mitchell had to work with.
PAGLIARULO: I`m going to come back to you in a second, because I`ve got to find out if you think Joe Torre knew anything about this, if him getting out of town right now was great timing.
I do want to go to you, Mark. When your book came out, Barry Bonds said that you guys were making stuff up, you were a bunch of liars. He was going to sue you guys, and he never did. This, at least, if nothing else, has to for you say, "Look, we wrote the book and this just bolsters what we`ve been saying the whole time," right?
MARK FAINARU-WADA, CO-AUTHOR, "GAME OF SHADOWS": Well, I don`t think we ever really thought of it in that terms. I think we felt strong in the reporting all throughout. And actually, there have been no challenges.
When Bonds threatened to sue us and ultimately did, the lawsuit was not rooted in questioning the accuracy of the reporting. The questioning was how did we get the material and should we have gotten it.
PAGLIARULO: Right.
FAINARU-WADA: He never said we`ve lied. And I think that`s been the strength throughout. Is this is a federal prosecution driven by, as with the stuff in the Mitchell report -- it`s driven by federal prosecutions that are generating, people testifying under oath, documents being generated as a result of these investigations. And it`s sort of hard to get away from that.
PAGLIARULO: And I agree with you, the name of the book is "Game of Shadows," but this is really -- it`s right out in the open now. And what I said in the very beginning, Mark, I stand behind.
Nothing can really happen to these players, save for maybe Barry Bonds, who`s alleged to have lied under oath. These other players didn`t go under oath. These other players didn`t cooperate with Mitchell.
The only thing that`s really out there is what Roger Clemens` lawyer said. It`s just something in the public fair now that people have to make their own decision about, right?
FAINARU-WADA: Well, I think there`s some truth to that, but certainly the commissioner could make some decisions that would impact these players. And the players, I suppose, if they believe that they`ve been wrongfully accused, certainly have recourse in the courts to deal with that. If they have proof that they did not use these substances, they can try and go after these people for slander.
Again, though, you`ve got federal witnesses who are testifying, essentially, in front of Mitchell with other federal agents in the room with them, saying, "Look, if you lie you`re going to face some serious consequences."
So you know, the players have some recourse, but the bigger issue is what does the commissioner do with all of this, both as it relates to the testing policy and baseball and steroids and as it relates to the athletes themselves?
PAGLIARULO: And we`ll talk about that in a second.
Mike, back to you. Got to wonder, Joe Torre and these teams that won a bunch of World Series, do you think a manager is in a place where he can know about things like this. How about the Steinbrenners and the entire organization?
And I don`t mean just to pick on the Yankees. Happens to be my favorite team. I`m very unhappy about this whole thing.
All of these players, all of these teams, all of these managers, all of these owners, you almost have to, when you walk away -- because Mitchell said you have to -- make the decision that they all knew about this. It was an effort for all of them to do it to bring people back to baseball.
What`s going to -- when Giambi came back, the fans in New York were chanting "steroids" and "drug user." What`s going to happen next year?
O`KEEFFE: Well, I tell you, Andy Pettitte is going to have a real interesting spring training. I can assure you of that. There`s going to be a lot of questions. I don`t know if he`s going to make any public appearances before February. But if he doesn`t, the spring training, when pitchers and catchers return to Florida for spring training, that`s going to be a real interesting scene.
And you talk about what people should have known and shouldn`t have known, and I think that`s a fair question. Why weren`t managers and GMs and team owners asking questions about increased power, about guys getting bigger, really bigger before our eyes?
PAGLIARULO: Right.
O`KEEFFE: You know, I think that`s a fair question to ask of Joe Torre. And I would also say it`s a fair question to ask of President Bush, because he was the owner of the Texas Rangers, or one of the owners of the Texas Rangers...
PAGLIARULO: Right.
O`KEEFFE: In the 1990s, when as Jose Canseco wrote in his book, steroids were a big problem with that team.
PAGLIARULO: Hey, gentlemen, I`ve got to go. There`s going to be much more conversation about this, certainly.
Mark, in a two-second answer, why does Bud -- Bud Selig still have a job?
FAINARU-WADA: Well, because the owners are paying him and the owners are happy with what he`s done, and he`s got $6 billion in revenue and record attendance to cite.
PAGLIARULO: And it doesn`t matter that a bunch of other people might have been cheating.
All right, Mark, Michael, we appreciate it. Could Hillary`s drive for the White House be ready to crash? Some political types are saying she`s toast unless she wins Iowa. I`ll explain.
Also, Glenn will be back in a special segment that will make your blood boil. He`ll introduce you to a guy who went from cop killer to international celebrity. Only in America, folks. Only in America.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PAGLIARULO: In just a bit Glenn will be making a cameo appearance on his own show with a story that, as he says, makes blood shoot out of his eyes. Where else but in this country could a convicted cop killer become a global celebrity with hundreds of adoring fans? You do not want to miss this one.
But first, this week in presidential primary campaigning has seen not one but two sleep-inducing debates -- sorry if I made you yawn -- thinly- veiled attacks on religion and resulting apologies; disparaging comments about past drug use and resulting adviser resignations and apologies.
But unfortunately for the candidates, it`s arguably the last week they`ll have the voters` undivided attention before the Iowa caucuses on January 3. And it seems the impressions the frontrunners have left with them are uninspired at best.
Although still enjoying double-digit leads in national polling, Clinton is seeing considerable and consistent slides in polling within key states like Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.
Barack Obama making significant gains in all three of those early voting states, even pulling ahead of Senator Clinton in New Hampshire, according to a new poll released today. And while his 32 percent to her 31 percent may not seem like much, the implications of his upward momentum are not going unnoticed elsewhere.
Like for example, South Carolina. Oprah`s stumping notwithstanding, African-American voters there are starting to pull their support from Clinton and throw it behind Obama to the tune of 51 percent to 27 percent according to the latest Rasmussen poll.
Some analysts are even suggesting that this is a direct result of his rise up north. And when we try to figure out what it all means for the Clinton camp, if Iowa goes to Obama, will the other states follow suit? And without Clinton as the Democratic nominee, who will the Republicans have to rally their base behind?
Here to help me out with all of that, Mike Allen, senior political correspondent with "The Politico"; CNN political analyst Amy Holmes; and Democratic strategist Peter Fenn.
OK. There was a lot to get through. And there`s a lot going on in Iowa, almost ready for the caucus. I`ve got to wonder, though, I mean, Obama, I always thought he was as a candidate. I always thought he was pretty energetic and electrifying when he speaks.
How is it that he was so looked past and that we`re all so startled now that he`s making this seemingly huge comeback, Mike?
MIKE ALLEN, SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, "THE POLITICO": Well, Joe, this is a great example of something that you`ve long believed but now has been demonstrated for all to see, and that`s reporters are always wrong. Or very often so.
Somebody drew the analogy for me. They said the idiotic thing that the press did in this race was they looked at the football game at halftime and fought that that was the result. And I think one of the great lessons in this campaign is to look back and see why the tiers were set the way they were.
Why did Mike Huckabee never get serious coverage? Why did Senator Biden never get serious coverage? There were these early tiers, based primarily on money and expectations.
And I think one of the greatest stories about the Huckabee rise is it proves that it is not just about the money. Here`s a guy going around to Hampton Inns, taking in his own laundry, basically running his campaign from TV studios, and it`s worked. And he`s reached out to constituency that felt left out.
PAGLIARULO: I`ve got to get back to Huckabee in a second. Amy, I`m going to skip you for a second, and then I`ll get right back to you so you can tell us the real story.
Peter, you`re the Democrat here. Which -- who do you want? You want Clinton or Obama? And please don`t tell me, "I want the Democrat."
PETER FENN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Listen, listen, I wrote a column for "The Politico," for Mike`s paper, saying, "Look, I`ll take any of these guys. They`re all my friends. I like them all."
PAGLIARULO: Here it is. Which one? Come on.
FENN: I`m not -- I`m not endorsing anybody in this race. I`ll tell what you I think, though. I think either one of them, top tier, would be terrific as a candidate in the general election.
But you know, look, if you`re concerned right now about, you know, oh, my God, Hillary`s dead, it`s over, which a lot of people are now saying, it`s the same people, as Mike said, who were coronating her six months ago.
PAGLIARULO: Yes.
FENN: A lot of us have said this is very fluid. The electorate has not made up their minds. Fifty percent of those in Iowa have not. They say 60 percent in New Hampshire. But the problem now is this is compressed. So this is going to be like a wave.
If there`s a solid victory, for example, by Obama in Iowa, I think it`s going to wash over New Hampshire and make things pretty tough.
PAGLIARULO: That`s an interesting pick. Amy, the Republicans have focused an awful lot of attention on Senator Clinton, because I think they assumed -- maybe they could have believed us, the reporters, and the media -- they assumed that she was the heir apparent here. Now that she`s wavering, do they switch their strategy?
ARMY HOLMES, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, I mean, I can tell you that I know that the RNC has been counting on a Senator Clinton nomination and basing their strategy for the general around that possibility.
Looking at Obama, you know, if you have to sort of look at the game all over again and set a new strategy if he ends up being the person. And CNN had a poll this week that showed, interestingly, that among the Democratic candidates, Obama was the favorite among Republican voters.
PAGLIARULO: That`s interesting.
HOLMES: So he could actually -- he`s someone who could pull Republicans over to his side. This is very exciting.
But you know what, Joe? I`ll tell you, I think historians will look back on the moment when Hillary dragged her poor old mother into a campaign ad as the beginning of the end. As one wag said, "Does Hillary have a mom? Who is this woman? We`ve never heard of her before."
PAGLIARULO: All of a sudden she`s got a mother and she is a mother. She`s trying to smile more.
HOLMES: I thought she sprung out of Zeus` head. So...
ALLEN: Joe, just to build on Amy`s point about Republicans...
PAGLIARULO: Go ahead.
ALLEN: ... something very interesting a Republican said to me is they can -- this is a Bushy, hardcore Republican who said that they listened to Senator Obama, and nothing that he says offends them.
And what`s fascinating about that is I don`t think you`re going to get a lot of Bushies voting for Senator Obama, but if they`re not offended by him, they`re not going to come out and work for, give money for, try to push over the finish line a Republican that you can see they`re unexcited about.
HOLMES: Well, but I would say, Mike, that we would go back and look at Obama`s record, which tends to be sort of a very conventional liberal voting record on liberal positions. And so if he were to win the nomination, in the general, certainly Republicans are going to go after that record.
PAGLIARULO: Well, I`ve got to tell you this. Obama doesn`t offend me either, but he also is dead wrong on a lot of -- on a lot of the issues, in my opinion.
Peter, I`ve got to go back to you. You said that Hillary, this could wash over New Hampshire. Remember that, you know, Obama winning a couple of primaries or a caucus doesn`t really matter if you look at Howard Dean four years ago, right?
FENN: Well, you look what happened to him. He sank like a rock.
PAGLIARULO: Right.
FENN: I don`t think that`s going to happen to Hillary. Here`s the thing that I think is interesting, though. You know, a lot of these folks go from the limelight to the spotlight. You know, in other words, the power on the microscope gets turned up for some of these lesser-known candidates. It`s happening to Huckabee. It`s going to happen to Obama if it`s a one-on-one race.
The interesting thing will be to see what happens in January, whether these things get settled early or whether voters do want to take a breath, take a look at the candidates, figure it out. It`s true on the Republican side as well as the Democratic side.
But we are frontloaded here. The media is focusing on a winner, winner, winner. And you know, the question is whether you even get to February 5, to the Super Tuesday, where over half the delegates are going to be picked (ph).
PAGLIARULO: I think we`re definitely getting there, and here`s the reason why. I think that people are focusing attention, the candidates are anyway, on national elections and not just on the local.
Very quickly, I want to go down the line here. Mike, national, does it matter as much as local? Or local, local, local only here? Mike, Amy, and Peter in that -- and very quickly if you could.
ALLEN: No, of course national matters because it fuels perceptions. Republicans want someone that can win the national numbers, the national coverage, makes them think that Governor Huckabee can win.
PAGLIARULO: Amy?
HOLMES: Nationals matter, but I would say momentum is what we should be looking at. We should be looking at trends.
PAGLIARULO: Very good point. Peter?
FENN: I think that`s absolutely right. You go local for the trends in the immediate, but mostly Mike`s right. Both parties want a winner; they want someone who can go all the way. This is a sprint.
This is like the college football stuff. You know, everybody`s predicting who`s going to be the NCAA champion.
PAGLIARULO: Right.
FENN: It ain`t happening.
PAGLIARULO: My pleasure. Amy, Peter, Mike, thank you so much.
Up next, another example of just how crazy the global warming crowd can be. I`ll tell you about one guy who wants to slap a carbon tax on newborn babies. Details coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PAGLIARULO: Well, just when you thought Al Gore and his posse couldn`t push the envelope on global warming any further, along comes Barry Walters, a professor in Australia who is proposing -- get this -- a baby tax to help save the planet.
The professor wants to charge parents 5,000 Australian dollars -- that`s a little over 4,000 U.S. -- for every child after their second and about $700 U.S. every year for life. Better yet, under his plan couples, who get sterilized would be eligible for carbon credits. Yay.
Joining me now from Pittsburgh is the host of this very show and the author of "An Inconvenient Book," Glenn Beck.
Glenn, I have three kids. You have four. You know, we`ve got a little something extra now. If our kids are acting up, we can say, "We had you even though we know we were killing the planet."
GLENN BECK, HOST: Yes.
PAGLIARULO: This guy is out of his mind. No?
BECK: Yes. This is insane. You know, a lot of these environmentalists absolutely hate people.
There is a story that I gave on the radio show a couple of weeks ago about a woman who was sterilized, had an abortion because she was hurting the planet. And her, I believe he`s now her husband, gives her a card every year on the anniversary of the abortion, saying, "Congratulations, you helped the planet."
A lot of these people just hate people. And I`ve got to tell you, wouldn`t this place be perfect if just all the people were dead?
PAGLIARULO: It would be so much better. The birds could sing.
BECK: Yes.
PAGLIARULO: The trees could flourish; the cows could fart all they wanted. I mean, it would be fine.
BECK: You know, people don`t understand. Humans are part of the circle of life. You know, it`s these same kind of environmentalists that took the wolves out of Yellowstone Park and said, "Oh, it would be so much better without the wolves." Well, they shipped them up to Canada. Now they had to put them back into the wildlife...
PAGLIARULO: Right.
BECK: ... because it`s part of the circle of life. We are animals ourselves.
PAGLIARULO: Well, it`s all a pretty good design. Right, Glenn? I mean, I`m not sure why these people -- honestly, I do understand why they think that more people would hurt the planet. Why not off themselves? And I`m not suggesting suicide to anybody, but I mean, come on.
BECK: No, look, here`s the thing. This is all -- you notice, it`s taxes. You notice it`s about penalizing people with taxes.
PAGLIARULO: Right.
BECK: This is -- and I talk about it in the book. The first chapter, in 21 pages I can tell you exactly what the global warming thing is really all about. And it boils down to this. Internationalism, loss of sovereignty and taxes. Period. It is a redistribution of wealth.
If you really care about the planet, stop having yourself sterilized. You`re a freak. And actually, you, maybe you should get yourself sterilized if you think that`s what it`s going to take.
If you really want to change the planet, stop talking to me about taxes and moving wealth from one place to another. And do yourself a favor. Become a vegan. If you really want to save the planet, look at the IPCC report. Become a vegan.
PAGLIARULO: Right.
BECK: That`s the -- that`s the thing you can do that would have the most impact. But they`re not doing that.
PAGLIARULO: Yes.
BECK: Because this isn`t really about saving the planet. This is all about redistribution of wealth.
PAGLIARULO: I wish more people would become vegans, because then there would be more meat for me.
Listen, we are actually being out-birthed. I mean, you`re looking at -- you talk about this a lot. We`re not having enough babies. Now we`ve got nut jobs who, allegedly, in the western world, who say don`t have any babies.
BECK: Look, I`ve got to tell you, we are killing ourselves. We are - - we are -- some day historians will look back and say, "Look at the demise of the west. And look how they brought it upon themselves."
We are facing a perfect storm. One of them -- read about it in Mark Steyn`s book, "America Alone." The population numbers alone, we are erasing Europe, and we`re erasing America. Have more babies, not fewer.
PAGLIARULO: All right, Glenn. Glenn Beck, host of this very program, thank you, Glenn, for everything you`ve done for me.
"An Inconvenient Book" is the book. Go and get it.
Up next, real outrage. The story of a murdered cop and his celebrity killer. Stick around.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: Twenty-six years ago on a cold December night like this one, Philadelphia police officer Danny Faulkner pulled a car over for a routine traffic stop. A few minutes later he was shot right between the eyes and killed. Philadelphia native Wesley Cook, who is better known as Mumia, was arrested for the killing. Convicted by a jury of his peers and sentenced to death.
Unfortunately, that`s not where this story ends. In fact, it`s where the story really begins because Mumia quickly became the poster child for the anti-death penalty movement. Despite overwhelming evidence against him, including eyewitness testimony, Hollywood celebrities took up the free Mumia case and death penalty opponents from all around the world rallied to his defense.
He`s now an honorary citizen of France, believe it or not. But lost in all of this attention and controversy around Mumia, a convicted killer, is somebody else, Danny Faulkner, 25-year-old police officer who was murdered in cold blood. Now Danny`s widow, Maureen Faulkner, along with attorney and WPHT talk show host Michael Smerconish are getting the other side out with a new book entitled "Murdered by Mumia." Joining me is Maureen Faulkner, Danny`s widow, and Michael Smerconish from WPHT in Philadelphia, who co-authored the book, "Murdered by Mumia."
Maureen, let me start with you. This has got to be a never-ending nightmare for you.
MAUREEN FAULKNER, WIDOW OF DANNY FAULKNER: It has, Glenn. It has been 25 years. And I and Michael finally decided that we were going to write this book and tell the story of what I have gone through over the past quarter of a century.
BECK: I want to make this very clear up front. You`re not here on my show peddling a book because you guys are going to get rich off of this book. Neither of you are accepting a dime of this book, right?
FAULKNER: That`s true, Glenn, 100 percent of our proceeds is going to the Daniel Faulkner Educational Grant Fund, that what we do is parents who have been murdered, we educate the children who have lost a parent from crime. So 100 percent of our proceeds of the book are going to that. I`ve never profited off the Daniel Faulkner.
BECK: No, I know that. I used to live in Philadelphia, and I know this story quite well. And America doesn`t. And you should know this story because it is just horrific at every turn of the -- in the road.
Michael, I want to go to you. And explain to the viewers that there is no doubt, this was a very bad man. Give me his history before he shot.
MICHAEL SMERCONISH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Well, he was an activist with the Black Panthers who years before he murdered Maureen`s police officer husband had written in a Black Panther publication, for which he has minister of public affairs, or some such thing, "let`s write epitaphs for cops."
So the idea that years later he would murder a Philadelphia police officer is not all that much of a surprise. I mean, he`s someone who said that power grows from the barrel of a gun. And ultimately, he looked down the barrel of his gun as he shot Maureen`s husband literally between the eyes.
BECK: Maureen, how did Hollywood get involved? When did that turn? Hollywood -- I mean, it was Ed Asner, right, Michael? Was it.
SMERCONISH: Whoopi Goldberg, Mike Farrell -- it was and it still is. It`s frightening. Spike Lee. I mean, the list is -- they took out a full page ad in The New York Times, a laundry list of A-list Hollywood celebrities. The Beastie Boys and Rage Against the Machine played a 16,000-person sold-out concert at the Continental Airlines Arena in Newark, New Jersey, 16,000 young people showed up, and the proceeds went to the Abu Jamal Defense Fund. That`s how crazy this has become.
BECK: How did this happen, Maureen? How did they get involved? How did it go from your police officer husband shot to a big Hollywood agenda piece?
FAULKNER: I think a lot of these people were against capital punishment, and they saw Mumia Abu Jamal as their darling, someone that they could put up on a pedestal, they could make into a hero. And they started -- Leonard Weinglass, back in the early 1990s started to go around to college campuses and preach that Mumia Abu Jamal was innocent of murdering my husband. And eventually, he went around the world doing this. So it has been years and years of lies and.
BECK: Has he -- Michael, has he ever said anything at any time other than "I`m not guilty"?
SMERCONISH: No. That`s the amazing thing about this. He, of course, has a Fifth Amendment right. He can`t be compelled to testify against himself. But you would think that before lending their names to this individual, the Hollywood celebrities would demand of him an accounting of what was he doing if not murdering her husband? He has written four or five books. He has a radio show. NPR came to him and wanted to effectively syndicate him nationally. He has been a commencement speaker, Glenn.
BECK: Wait, wait, wait, he`s in prison.
SMERCONISH: Yes. And from death row via Memorex, he has been a commencement speaker, does a regular radio commentary. She can tell you about driving down the 405 one day in Southern California and having an emotional collapse because the voice coming through her radio is the man who murdered her husband.
BECK: What was he saying, Maureen?
FAULKNER: He was doing commentaries out on a California radio station, KPFK. I was driving down the 405, and all of the sudden I heard this haunting voice on the radio, and I literally had to pull over to the side of the road, I was shaking so bad. I absolutely could not believe that the man that murdered my husband -- brutally murdered my husband, was doing commentaries over the radio.
SMERCONISH: And, Glenn.
FAULKNER: . on death row.
SMERCONISH: . if you`ll permit me, if you`ll permit me, so you`ve now hit the nail on the head. In 26 years of being very active behind bars, he has never offered an accounting of what transpired December 9th, 1981. At the time of the murder there was someone else present. It was Abu Jamal`s brother. His traffic stop by Maureen`s husband is what began this series of events.
The brother has never said anything other than, I ain`t got nothing to do with it. But don`t you think if your brother were on death row for a murder he didn`t commit, he`d say something?
BECK: OK, but wait a minute. Let me go back to this. I think the bigger issue is, what is the real agenda here? Because it`s not just about anti-death penalty, because there`s a lot of -- we could go into -- Hollywood could grab any of this DNA evidence and say look at how bad the death penalty is.
This is a bad guy. Whether he murdered or not, let`s just start there, he`s not the poster child of somebody that you want to stand up and say, look at this innocent man. And yet he`s been made into a hero. So what`s the agenda from the extreme left to make this man into a poster child?
SMERCONISH: Well, I think initially they bought into this case because there are shreds of truth to this and a lot of lies. But if you cobble together the shreds of truth, it can sound like a pretty compelling story if told in sound bites.
For example, haven`t you heard that one of the critical eyewitnesses was a hooker? And another guy once threw a Molotov cocktail. And it sounds compelling. You say, well, my God, is that true?
Well, yes, but wait a minute, at 10 minutes of 4:00 in the red light district of Philadelphia on a Tuesday night, you know, all the priests and the choir boys have gone home. It was a hooker area, a red light district. So if offered the chance to refute every one of those lies, we can do so. And that`s what this book is all about.
She wanted to create a permanent record, a response to every one of those canards, those red herrings that has been floated and sound convincing if you put them together.
BECK: Maureen, Michael, thank you very much. It is a compelling book, a compelling story, that America needs to hear. "Murdered by Mumia." Back in just a minute.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JOE PAGLIARULO, GUEST HOST: The incarceration of former Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean has been politely called a miscarriage of justice. But I`m not so polite. I think it`s a bunch of crap. In case you`ve been under a rock, let me remind you, Ramos and Compean were sentenced to 11 years and 12 years in prison, respectively, for violating the civil rights of a drug smuggler they shot in the butt in 2005 after witnessing him trying to sneak across the border, probably with a bunch of drugs.
Now while they wait for a ruling on a recent appeal, several Congress members are trying a different approach here. They`re introducing a resolution asking the president to commute their sentences. Maybe, just maybe, sanity will prevail here and these brave men can get home to their families for the holidays. Texas Congressman John Culberson is a co- sponsor of the resolution. And Mike Cutler (ph) is a former special agent for the INS and is now a senior fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies.
Congressman, let me start with you. This isn`t the first time legislation has been proposed. Last time it hit a road block. The president won`t talk about it. Do you think it`s going to have a chance this time?
REP. JOHN CULBERSON (R), TEXAS: I hope so. We have tried every legislative avenue available to us, Joe. I`m very proud of Chairman Delahunt. And he has filed this resolution along with me and a group of Republicans and Democrats asking the president to commute the sentences of Ramos and Compean.
The president needs to "Scooter-ize" Ramos and Compean, for the same reason he commuted the sentence of Scooter Libby. These agents.
PAGLIARULO: That`s a great term. I love that, "Scooter-ize." I`m going to use it on my radio shows. Are you kidding me?
CULBERSON: Please do, absolutely.
PAGLIARULO: To commute this guy -- Scooter Libby sentence made sense to a lot of us. Why won`t the president even answer? Can you get a one- on-one conversation with him, Congressman? Can you sit down and talk to him?
CULBERSON: No.
PAGLIARULO: (INAUDIBLE) through Dana Perino, how does this work? How do we get to him?
CULBERSON: We, all of us as a nation, need to continue the letters, the phone calls, the e-mails to the White House demanding that Ramos and Compean have their sentences commuted for the same reason Scooter Libby had his sentence commuted.
This case is a gross miscarriage of justice for these two agents. And it also symbolizes what`s wrong with our borders. The White House, the Border -- Homeland Security will not enforce the law. They`re not securing the border, which is insane when you`re at war with terrorists who we know are sneaking over that border.
And we will never win the war on terror until we have secured that border. And it`s the highest priority of my constituents. And in Texas, we understand how important a secure border is. And the Hispanic community supports the enforcement of the existing law.
PAGLIARULO: They absolutely do. We`ll talk about -- more about that in a second.
Mike, what is the impetus for anybody, anybody to go be an INS agent or ICE agent, or a Border Patrol agent knowing that there`s a good chance your government is not going to back you when you do your job?
MICHAEL CUTLER, CENTER FOR IMMIGRATION STUDIES: You`re exactly right. I mean, boy oh boy, you have to wonder about the sanity of anybody who would take that job knowing that if they don`t get killed by the smugglers, that they`re going to be imprisoned by their own government.
And I want that to thank Congressman Culberson for his support for these agents and his support for securing the borders. Because you`re right, a country without secure borders can`t win a war on terror. It`s remarkable that Border Patrol agents, in fact, were sent to Iraq to secure the Iraqi border while our border remains a literal sieve.
PAGLIARULO: Right. I think that`s absolutely insane. When it comes to what happened last week, Congressman, you had Ramos and Compean had a great day in court. The U.S. attorney had to admit that their star witness is a big, fat, lying liar. That is the first thing.
The second thing was, the judge said, listen, you guys piled on. You charged them with a weapons charge. Isn`t that their job to carry a weapon? What can be made out of that? Will the appeal go forward? And why aren`t these guys out pending that appeal?
CULBERSON: The -- in fact, the trial judge denied an appeal bond, which is done for every low-life criminal in the country. They get an appeal bond, a chance to.
PAGLIARULO: Why?
CULBERSON: You know, who knows? So I am convinced that this prosecution was done, Joe, to placate the Mexican government, which adds to the outrage. I think these agents, our law enforcement officers on the border face the threat of being prosecuted at the request of the Mexican government, essentially. And it is just an outrage.
And in fact, the -- you`re right, the court of appeals oral argument was very encouraging. The judges recognized the government overreached and in fact there are interviews with three of the jurors in this case who said that if they`d known that this drug dealer was running other loads into the country while he was under this immunity agreement, they would have acquitted, they would have voted to have found Ramos and Compean not guilty.
And I think the court of appeals is going to zero in on the fact that drug dealer was a low-life and a liar. He was running loads under immunity. And he lied under oath and dismissed this conviction. And they need to be freed immediately, whether by the president or the court of appeals.
PAGLIARULO: Yes. Hey, Mike, so what is it that people who are on the border trying to protect our sovereignty here face the most? Is it the fact that the Mexican government will back up a Mexican national no matter if he`s a drug smuggler or a father trying to make a better life for his wife and kids?
CUTLER: Either way.
PAGLIARULO: Well, what is it that they`re facing the most?
CUTLER: Well, either way, money is going back to Mexico. Look, last year $22 billion was wired. That`s the money that`s visible. You know what`s really remarkable though about Johnny Sutton, the prosecutor, he blames the Congress and says, well, you know, Congress needs to change the penalties when we convict people for these crimes.
PAGLIARULO: Well, he`s the one who trumped up the charges. He is the one that did it.
CUTLER: But -- right. And by the way, he had prosecutorial discretion. He didn`t have to bring those charges. We used to try to get cases accepted for prosecution for immigration law violations and very often, because of prosecutorial discretion, the U.S. Attorney`s Office in New York would not accept the case.
PAGLIARULO: Hey, Congressman, I`m wondering, when it comes to Johnny Sutton and what happened here, he admitted -- or his office admitted that this guy lied on the stand. They had to know what he was going to say on the stand, right? What are they hiding here? Is this some big cover-up that we don`t see?
CULBERSON: Listen, in fact, I think we should have an investigation on Johnny Sutton`s office and the way he has handled this prosecution. There was a deputy sheriff, Hernandez, from Rock Springs, Texas, Joe, who was prosecuted by Johnny Sutton for shooting at a vehicle that almost ran him over. And unknown to him, there were people in the back, and a bullet goes in the trunk and grazes a woman`s cheek. The Mexican government demands and got the prosecution by Johnny Sutton of this deputy sheriff, Hernandez.
This prosecutor has gone way over the line. It looks like he is basically prosecuting U.S. law enforcement officers at the request of the Mexican government. We need to investigate. Congress needs to know what did Johnny Sutton know and when he did know it about this drug dealer lying and abusing this immunity agreement?
PAGLIARULO: Keep us updated. Congressman, Mike, thank you very much.
CULBERSON: We will never give up.
CUTLER: Thanks for having me.
PAGLIARULO: All right. Thank you.
It`s time now for tonight`s "Real America," bought to you this evening by CSX. Joe Piscopo, you all know him. Well, he knows how to make people laugh. But tonight we see a side of Piscopo that many don`t often see.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAGLIARULO (voice-over): He`s a comedian, best known for his celebrity impersonations, going back to his days on "Saturday Night Live." So why is Joe Piscopo talking about kids, guns, drugs and crime? Well, he says, because no one else is.
JOE PISCOPO, COMEDIAN: People don`t want to hear it. Someone is popped right on the street out here. They`re selling drugs two blocks away, $100 million a year, selling drugs, drug dealers paying off people just to keep their mouth shut.
You know what? You have got to look at yourself. Would you be in that situation?
How are you doing, good to see everybody. Hi, guys.
PAGLIARULO: Piscopo decided the best way he could help was to use his influence to shine a light on organizations reaching kids at risk. So he started the Positive Impact Foundation.
PISCOPO: Positive Impact Foundation creates positive media for at- risk children. That`s the way to reach the kids is to portray a positive message that will portray hope, that will teach self-esteem and character to these kids. Because when you put the camera on these kids, you say, you know, you`re doing good things.
PAGLIARULO: One organization Joe`s foundation supports is the United Community Center in Camden, New Jersey. Ranked as the fifth most dangerous city in the entire country, Camden has its problems, but when you step through these doors, you wouldn`t know it.
ROBERT DICKINSON, UNITED COMMUNITY CENTER: In 1983, myself, my wife, Wanda Dickinson (ph), we wanted to do something for the community here in Camden, New Jersey. We decided to start off programs that we believed that would draw the children and we thought the performing arts was the best.
We`ve been really -- a lot of great accomplishments that we have had in that area was due to the discipline courses or the martial arts, the cultural experience.
PAGLIARULO: Since 1984, Dickinson says that 10,000 children have come through the center and believes they have touched more than 30,000 kids through their work with churches, YMCAs, and the Boys and Girls Clubs.
PISCOPO: There`s crime all around them, yet they stay centered and take these kids in, in a storefront.
AYANNA DICKERSON, ATTENDS UNITED COMMUNITY CENTER: I lost a lot of friends to violence, guns, all sorts of things. So I`m thinking, like, that could have been me if I wasn`t in the community.
MUNIR GRIFFIN, ATTENDS UNITED COMMUNITY CENTER: I`d be on the street, like getting in trouble, selling drugs, probably getting shot, in a graveyard. It`s a savior.
PISCOPO: This is something that completely humbles me as a human being and gives you a purpose as a human being.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PAGLIARULO: Tonight`s "Real America," sponsored by CSX, "How Tomorrow Moves."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PAGLIARULO: Time for today`s "Only in New York" moment. So what do you get when you combine four musical theater performers, a $10,000 contest prize, and a little exotic dancing? Well, you get a very interesting ride in the subway.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARISSA LUPP, DANCER: So we did not mean to cause a stir.
KEMBERLY RICHARDSON, WABC REPORTER (voice-over): The type of tension subway riders overwhelmingly want more of.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I had to pause for a second. I said, wow, Union Square? Whew!
RICHARDSON: They`re now four-star hits on YouTube. This group of friends who decided these back-breaking leg-bending moves done on the N train could win them first prize, $10,000 in an online pole-dancing contest. They were right.
LUPP: Honestly, I was the one that held back at first. But as you see the tape, I was the one that was like jumping all over everyone. Like legs over the top of my head.
RICHARDSON: That`s Marissa in the black and white top. Three of the four girls, all musical theater performers, met us at the scene of the scene.
JESSICA WU, DANCER: It`s not about us being like sexy or lewd or anything. It`s about people, about their reaction. Some people are like in complete disbelief. And a lot of people really loved it.
LAURA ANDERSON, DANCER: It just got really fun like playing with the people a little bit, kind of like ruffling some feathers in a sense just to kind of like break the tension.
RICHARDSON: Or create some. The MTA has pulled out its rules of conduct, saying riders are not allowed to engage in any non-transit activities on subway cars, use sound production devices, do anything that may annoy, alarm, or inconvenience anybody, adding, this is disorderly conduct.
Does he look agitated?
(on camera): So far transit has not filed a complaint. Police say unless that happens, and even if it does, the ladies will probably not receive summons.
(voice-over): Would you ever do it?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Depending on the circumstances. I think it`s pretty cool.
RICHARDSON (voice-over): The ladies gave part of the prize money to charity. The rest went towards rent. And we did find one person that agreed with the MTA, this 10-year-old boy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Disgusting.
RICHARDSON: This is more his speed.
Kemberley Richardson, Channel 7 Eyewitness News.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PAGLIARULO: Very upset those dancers completely stole my idea. I was going to go on the -- thanks a lot for watching. Joe Pagliarulo, Joe Pags in for Glenn Beck from New York. Good night.
END
