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Glenn Beck

Giuliani, Edwards Drop out of Race; Caltrans Sends Mixed Messages to Minutemen; Dog the Bounty Hunter`s Legal Troubles Over; More Ledger Information

Aired January 30, 2008 - 19:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIKE BROOKS, HOST (voice-over): Tonight, is Mack really back?

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you.

BROOKS: After McCain`s victory in Florida, is the road to the White House open or can Romney still pull an upset?

Plus, Dog the Bounty Hunter`s legal troubles are over in Mexico. The question now is whether he can pull his career out of the pound.

And the police inquiry continues into the tragic death of Heath Ledger. We`ll have the latest details.

All this and more tonight.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROOKS: Hello, America. I`m Mike Brooks in for Glenn Beck.

After yesterday`s Florida primary, the herd of presidential candidates has thinned a bit. John McCain was the winner for the Republicans. Mitt Romney came in a close second, and Rudy Giuliani, his third-place finish effectively ended his campaign.

Let`s hear what the top three contenders had to say after the results were in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCCAIN: Our victory might not have reached landslide proportions, but it is sweet nonetheless.

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You guys are my heroes. You took this campaign from nowhere to the very top tier. You worked your hearts out and you made me a contender.

RUDY GIULIANI (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Elections are about a lot more than just candidates. Elections are about fighting for a cause larger than ourselves. They`re about identifying the great challenges of our time and proposing new solutions. Most of all, they`re about handing our nation to the next generation better than it was handed to us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROOKS: The impact of Giuliani`s expected endorsement of McCain remains to be seen.

As for the Democrats, Florida was stripped of its delegates for playing with their primary date, but that didn`t stop Hillary Clinton from declaring a landslide victory. I`ll have more on Hillary and John Edwards a little bit later in the show.

Joining me now for more on the winners and the losers and a look ahead to Super Tuesday, are author and editor of "The Daily Voice," Keith Boykin; Jonathan Allen, a reporter with the "Congressional Quarterly"; and Amanda Carpenter with TownHall.com.

Jonathan, in the aftermath, Romney says, you know, his chances of a two-horse race are embraced by the conservatives. Are they really?

JONATHAN ALLEN, "CONGRESSIONAL QUARTERLY": Well, he`s not going to get to find out for the moment. Mike Huckabee`s still in the race, and that`s part of the problem for Mitt Romney, that I think Huckabee cuts into a lot of the conservative base that Mitt Romney has been trying to get into. And as long as there are three horses in that race, even if Romney would win a two-horse race, we`re not going to know.

BROOKS: Now Amanda, you know, Huckabee he kind of splits the social conservatives here. If he does stay in -- do you think he`ll stay in? Who will his delegates go to?

AMANDA CARPENTER, TOWNHALL.COM: Well, I`m not sure he has the resources to actually even compete in the way that he`d like on Super Tuesday, but more interesting, I think, is the way that McCain beat Romney with economy voters in Florida.

I mean, Romney made this a huge centerpiece of his campaign, but yet McCain is winning consistently on this issue. I really think we need to explore why, even though he`s, you know, opposed to the Bush tax cuts and has this record of fighting with some groups like the Club for Growth and things like that.

BROOKS: Now Keith, how does Huckabee hurt or help McCain and Romney?

KEITH BOYKIN, "THE DAILY VOICE": Well, Huckabee`s presence in the race is an indeterminate right now. I think Huckabee has a good chance of stealing -- siphoning off some voters who might appeal to the conservative nature that you would give to Mitt Romney or something.

But the real truth is that the party is divided, because we don`t have a true conservative between Romney and McCain. And we have a party that`s at war with itself about economic conservatives, social conservatives and national security conservatives. And they`re trying to figure out which direction they`re coming in to go as a party.

BROOKS: Now Amanda, you know, Huckabee, if he -- if he decides to bow out, could he have a shot at vice president for possibly McCain? What do you think?

CARPENTER: I don`t think so. I think he has better prospects of becoming some kind of, you know, conservative media personality and actually kind of following, you know, his radio talk show back on a little bit. I don`t see him hopping on a ticket with McCain. I don`t really know where he`d go.

BROOKS: OK. Now where does a -- Keith. Keith and John, I`ll throw this out to both of you. Where does a Giuliani endorsement -- what does it do for John McCain?

BOYKIN: I`m not sure that it does a lot for John McCain, quite frankly. I think it might be the kiss of death. You now, obviously, it`s not going to his campaign, but the truth is that Giuliani, his voice is sort of a moderate voice in the party. There`s already what McCain represents.

I think what McCain needs to get in order to move forward is he needs to get the more conservative base. He needs to prove that he`s got his conservative credentials.

BROOKS: But he was putting everything on Florida. He was saying, OK, you know, this is make or break me in Florida. And even last night when he made his announcement, there was nobody there, John.

ALLEN: That`s right. There was -- there was nobody there. It was make or break, and the answer was break.

As far as what a Giuliani endorsement means, I think it means something for McCain, if Giuliani supporters, if his money backers, start giving to McCain.

And what we`ve seen is a little bit of a dichotomy from McCain. He`s going to be going after money from establishment Republicans, who are trying to hedge their bets now that he might be the nominee.

And then, at the same time, he`s going to do an appeal to social conservative voters on the basis of his actual campaign. You`re going to see him talking a lot more with the issues that they`re talking about, I think, and especially with Giuliani out of the race, no one else taking up the sort of moderate wing.

BROOKS: Amanda, do you agree with that?

CARPENTER: No, I don`t think Giuliani`s appeal, just because his 50- state strategy didn`t pay off, should be discounted. I think if Giuliani can make a very strong pitch for McCain, if he kind of stands next to him and makes, you know, the notion that I cleaned up New York, and I think John McCain is the guy to clean up Washington, I think that will really have strong appeal to Republican voters.

BROOKS: Yes, but if you look -- if you look at Giuliani. Let`s take -- he all -- and I think people really got tired of hearing about 9/11. And if you look at the leadership he had in place in New York City during 9/11, you know, his -- he doesn`t have a great track record with picking good people. I mean, look at Bernie Kerik.

BOYKIN: I think you`re exactly right, Mike. I don`t know who you`re throwing that up at.

I think you`re exactly right because what`s going on here is that when people saw Rudy Giuliani, the more they saw him, the less they liked him. America and Republican voters finally realized what the rest of New Yorkers already knew, which is that Rudy Giuliani is pretty much smoke and mirrors. He was trying to run his campaign based on one day`s performance, and that`s not a way to run a campaign.

ALLEN: The other problem for Giuliani is that, if you`re basing your campaign on one issue that is a big issue for your party, everyone else in the party is also taking a robust approach to foreign policy. Everyone else is talking about security issues. And so there wasn`t really an appeal for him beyond that, and everybody else had that same kind of appeal.

BROOKS: Now, you know, I mean, you look at Romney. Romney`s got more money. I mean, I wish I had his money. I`d take it and throw it in Columbus Circle. What I have in Columbus Circle.

But, you know, he`s hanging in there. What is it going to take for him to finally say, "OK, John McCain, you`ve got it, you`re the front- runner, you go ahead"?

Amanda, what do you think?

CARPENTER: I think it would be very hard to do. I mean, if you look at Romney`s resume, it`s hard to see where he`s ever failed at anything. So I really think, you know, he`s going to give it his best shot. I really think he`s going to open up his pocketbook as much as he can, you know. And it`s going to take the numbers where he`s down here and McCain`s up here to really -- for him to admit that he`s out.

BROOKS: You know, the first time I ever met Romney, I was at the winter games in Salt Lake City. And we were outside of the booth, and he was out there just chewing out one of his kids.

I went, "Whoa, this is not somebody you want to cross." You know, I definitely wouldn`t want to cross him. I`m 6`7." I said, "Whoa, he`s" -- he does -- I must say, the guy does have a presence.

Now yesterday, Keith, the exit polls -- you know, McCain has said in the past, you know, I`m not great on the economy. But look at the exit polls. McCain came out ahead of Romney, who`s the businessman, the numbers guy.

BOYKIN: I think Romney made a strategic mistake in making his campaign -- he started out by being this pretend -- pretend social conservative which was not true. He should have run as a business guy, like you were saying.

But he felt that he needed to appeal to the right. He needed to appeal to the social conservatives in the party, instead of appealing to the economic conservatives, which I think would have been a stronger argument for him.

So by the time he got down to Florida, nobody was really taking it seriously, because he`d already sort of pandered to so many different people and tried to be something he wasn`t.

You know, I hope -- I hope that Romney ends up staying in the race as long as possible because as a Democrat, I want to see the Republican Party fighting about this as long as they can. Because it looks like the Republican race may be settled before the Democratic race the way things are going right now. So I hope...

BROOKS: But, Jon, can -- we don`t have a whole lot of time, but can McCain appeal to social conservatives?

ALLEN: I think he absolutely can. Most of his record on socially conservative issues is socially conservative. There are a lot of reasons for him to not have played as well with them, like I think the Republican establishment in Washington doesn`t like him a lot so they beat up on him a lot. But if you look at his social issue record, it`s actually pretty conservative.

BROOKS: Interesting. Amanda, just ten seconds. Do you think he can appeal to social conservatives?

CARPENTER: Yes, he can. The problem with the Republican Party is more on issues like illegal immigration, campaign finance and CAFE standards. So it`s not a problem with social issues as much.

BROOKS: Keith, Jonathan, Amanda, thanks.

Coming up, some people call it the vigilantes, which may be at least one reason some critics don`t want the Minutemen adopting part of a California highway. I`ll have the details next.

And if there`s one thing Hollywood loves, it`s a comeback story. So now that Dog the Bounty Hunter`s name has been cleared by the Mexican courts, is it his turn?

Then, while friends and family continue to mourn the loss of Heath Ledger, the investigation into his shocking death also continues. More details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROOKS: Coming up, less than a week away from Super Tuesday, the Democratic race has been narrowed down to two as Hillary and Obama fight if out for John Edwards` supporters after he called it quits earlier today. We`ll take a stab -- hopefully, they won`t, because the Secret Service won`t like that -- at who will come out on top in just a bit.

But first, illegal immigration continues to be a problem in this country. And that`s why civilian groups like the Minutemen have cropped up to help do whatever they can to seal the border. The group seems to be gaining mainstream recognition.

Caltrans, the agency that oversees California`s highways, recently gave the San Diego chapter of the Minutemen a new stretch of road to clean up for the Adopt-a-Highway program. The original stretch of road was near a border checkpoint, and that had some immigration activists up in arms.

As a result, Caltrans changed their minds late yesterday for safety concerns and moved the group`s adopted highway to a quieter, less visible state highway. So who`s playing politics?

Let`s check in with Jim Gilchrist. He`s the founder of the Minutemen Project. And for some broader perspective, Mark Krikorian from the Center for Immigration Studies.

Guys, thanks for being with us.

JIM GILCHRIST, MINUTEMAN PROJECT: Thank you.

MARK KRIKORIAN, CENTER FOR IMMIGRATION STUDIES: Thank you.

BROOKS: Jim, what is going on here? Help me understand this.

GILCHRIST: It`s simply the same problem the Minutemen Project has had since its inception 3 1/2 years ago. It`s as much as a rule of law issue regarding the chaotic lack of enforcement of our immigration laws as it is a freedom of speech issue.

And there are certain interests in the United States of America, including the Border Angels group, which is sponsoring this attack against the San Diego Minutemen, who want to stifle and suppress free speech. It`s as simple as that.

I think -- I`m standing behind the San Diego Minutemen and certainly will help them in their court proceedings to -- to ensure that they have free speech like all Americans should have.

BROOKS: You know, they say -- they say, Mark, safety concerns. Help me understand what kind of safety concerns going out and picking up trash along the highway? You know, what is wrong with that? Safety concerns? I mean, you put a little vest on so the cars won`t hit you. That`s what normal people to when they`re involved in this Adopt-a-Highway. What -- you know, what do they think, they`re going to be out there directing traffic? Come on.

KRIKORIAN: Well, it`s just an excuse, but the bad guys here really isn`t Caltrans, the government bureaucrats. They`re just kind of timid bureaucrats, like most bureaucrats are, and they`ve been intimidated and cowed by these advocacy groups, by these open borders organizations.

And when you look at the issue on its face, you might think, well, it`s a little local issue. Why is it relevant for, you know, broader coverage?

But it really does tell us something about the broader immigration debate. And that is that the open borders side doesn`t want to have a debate. They essentially are bullying their way, attempting to bully their way into suppressing people`s opinions, into de-legitimizing, tainting anybody who opposes their views, just the way Senator McCain, for instance, did over the summer by calling his Senate colleagues who opposed his amnesty bill racists and xenophobes. It`s the same kind of thing.

When you have no argument, call your opponents racists and xenophobes. And it`s actually a sign, I think, that the pro-enforcement, pro-borders people are actually making progress, because the other side is scared.

BROOKS: Is -- that`s what it seems like. But, Jim...

GILCHRIST: Yes.

BROOKS: ... do you see that Caltrans is possibly bowing to special interest groups?

GILCHRIST: Absolutely. Now, I`m going to give you a precise example of a sign that I feel is perhaps a racist sign. It`s called La Raza Plaza. I believe it`s off Interstate 5 or Interstate 405 in downtown Los Angeles. La Raza Plaza.

Now, I could make the argument that this is a racist, hostile, violent group. I want that sign taken down. I choose not to. That`s La Raza`s privilege.

BROOKS: Just for our viewers, tell us about La Raza.

GILCHRIST: La Raza and Metro (ph) are, in my opinion, the largest organized racial supremacy group in the United States today. And if we`re going to have a La Raza Plaza sign, what`s next? A KKK Plaza sign, a Black Panther Plaza sign? This goes right to the heart of free speech.

And like Mark Krikorian, God bless that guy, said, this is a bogus excuse by those opposed to immigration law enforcement to spiteful free speech. It`s as simple as that. It really is simple.

BROOKS: Mark, you know, it sounds like -- La Raza Plaza. You know, if, in fact, this group, you know, as Jim says they are, what`s the problem with the Minutemen? You know, some people say, oh, they`re vigilantes. But the Minutemen, you know, are they -- some people say, oh, well, they`re a bunch of kooks. What do you say about that?

KRIKORIAN: Look, any large organization may well have some kooks here and there. There`s no question about it. But Minutemen, for the most part, are civic-minded retirees with lawn chairs and, you know, walkie- talkies.

BROOKS: Kind of like me in my neighborhood in the Crickle (ph) section of Atlanta.

KRIKORIAN: Sort of neighborhood watch kind of folks.

BROOKS: Exactly.

KRIKORIAN: That`s all it is. The interesting point here, if we`re talking about this issue of xenophobia and bigotry, is that obviously, it exists on both sides of this debate. There`s no denying that.

But on the pro control side, the pro borders side, the kooks and the racists are at the fringes. They`re not, you know, living in their mother`s basements.

On the open borders side, the racial chauvinism is right at the center and the leadership of the open borders movements. For instance, John McCain`s Hispanic outreach director for his candidate is a Hispanic chauvinist who actually was a Mexican government cabinet official and is now advising John McCain.

So frankly, this bigotry and chauvinism is in the driver`s seat on the open borders side of the debate. It`s at the fringes, at best, in the pro- control side of the debate.

BROOKS: Well, speaking about bigotry, Jim, I`ve read that the Anti- Defamation League, ADL, has gotten involved in this campaign. What Dog do they have in this fight?

GILCHRIST: Fundraising. Anti-Defamation League, like the Southern Poverty Law Center, are professional fundraising groups. And if they can proliferate hate by using people like Mark Krikorian and the Center for Immigration Studies or Jim Gilchrist, Minuteman Project, as a target for their hate, they can raise millions of dollars.

BROOKS: They monitor hate groups. They monitor hate groups.

GILCHRIST: They don`t. They participate in encouraging and proliferating hate. These are not groups that you want to get -- you rely on for any valid information.

Nor is McCain`s administer to whatever it is he`s advising him for. I`ve been on debate with Juan Hernandez. He`s a gentleman, certainly, but his agenda is identical to McCain`s agenda, and Giuliani`s agenda, and that`s to have open borders and no rule of law insofar as our immigration policy and an endless stream, and I mean endless, of millions upon millions of illegal aliens from all around the world coming in here.

BROOKS: Jim, I want to thank you. This is not the last, I`m sure, we`re going to hear of this whole issue. And not the end of illegal immigration discussion. Jim, Mark, thanks.

KRIKORIAN: Thank you.

BROOKS: Coming up, is the Dog finally out of the pound? Mexico says Dog the Bounty Hunter won`t have to go face any charges there. But can his career make a comeback?

And the latest on Heath Ledger. Reports surfacing about a history of illegal drug use as investigation into the actor`s tragic death continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROOKS: After months of legal wrangling on both sides of the border, Dog the Bounty Hunter is finally off the hook with the Mexican government. Back in 2003 Dog apprehended convicted serial rapist Andrew Luster in Mexico and brought him back to justice here in the United States.

South of the border, that got twisted into kidnapping. But yesterday, a Mexican judge ruled Duane "Dog" Chapman, along with his son and another associate, cannot be sent back to Mexico to face charges.

Jim Quadra is Dog`s attorney.

Jim, thanks for being with us.

JIM QUADRA, ATTORNEY FOR DUANE "DOG" CHAPMAN: Thank you, Mike. How are you?

BROOKS: Good, thanks. So he`s off the hook now.

QUADRA: Completely. Completely. Last year we got a victory from the court, the trial court, to dismiss all charges pending in mix coach. We then got a victory in Hawaii where there was an extradition proceeding pending. And now we have finally gotten the final victory, which is from the court of appeal in Mexico. A three-judge panel unanimously found that the charges should be dismissed.

BROOKS: Now, why did Mexico drop the claims?

QUADRA: Well, they didn`t drop them, actually. We brought a motion. We hired great lawyers in Mexico that worked with us on -- as a team. Alberto Zinser and Eduardo Amerena they worked with us. And they filed a great motion in Puerto Vallarta late -- middle of last year and obtained a victory on the statute of limitations.

And then that was appealed by the D.A. down there, and it went up to a three-judge panel. They agreed that the statute had run and that no charges could proceed.

BROOKS: Now how was it dealing with the Mexican government? You know, now we`ve got Corporal Cesar Laurean, who they`re looking for in Mexico right now. I want to talk a little bit more about that.

But it seemed like it took a long time, a very long time to get the wheels of the criminal justice system here in the United States to cooperate with the federales down there in the court systems. So how did your motion -- how -- I`d say that`s a victory just to get them off the center.

QUADRA: Well, to be honest with you, the system here doesn`t move much faster than it does in Mexico. I think any bureaucracy has got its own delays.

We were able, though, through the great assistance of, again, great lawyers in Mexico to get this motion heard very quickly, the first motion with the judge in Puerto Vallarta. And then that dismissal led to this appeal. And the appeal took, you know, a little bit of time, four or five months. But -- since we first filed our motions down there.

But they moved it along, and I think we`re happy that the Mexican justice system did what it was supposed to do and happy that the U.S. government -- well, in Hawaii, we were able to convince that judge to not go along with the government and dismiss the extradition.

BROOKS: I know -- I know Dog`s got a number of other issues pending right now, but can he take this one and totally put it behind him?

QUADRA: Completely. This shadow that`s been hanging over him and his family is completely gone. He can move forward and actually concentrate on the fact that what he really did was capture a horrible criminal, a convicted rapist, Luster, that had raped -- you know, 85 counts of rape. And now that person`s put away because of Dog, Tim and Leland`s efforts. And that`s what we should concentrate on.

BROOKS: Absolutely. I mean, this guy -- this guy was a seriously dangerous criminal. And I thought, you know, I thought Dog, hey, if they`re not going to take care of business, let somebody that`s going to take care of business go in there.

In fact, I would say, you know, if he didn`t think he was going to get in trouble again, hey, Dog, I`d be a heading to -- I`d be heading south of the border right now to look for Cesar Laurean, because it doesn`t sound like anybody else has -- has been able to have much luck with that.

QUADRA: I don`t know what Dog`s going do, but he is a great bounty hunter. So I think that, if he goes down to Mexico this time, he will have figured out exactly what to do and to do it right.

BROOKS: Yes. I hope so. But -- but, again, good luck. I hope that he makes a good comeback. Jim, thanks.

Coming up, John Edwards has dropped his run for the Democratic nomination. But how does that affect Clinton and Obama? Find out next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROOKS: Welcome back. I`m Mike Brooks sitting in for Glenn Beck tonight. Heath Ledger passed away a week ago, but the investigation surrounding the circumstances of the death continues. No illegal drug, but six different types of prescription medications were found. We`ve got all the details in just a bit.

But first, even though last night`s Florida primary was supposed to be all about the Republicans, Hillary Clinton has been around long enough to know that she can still milk a fake win for all its worth. Here she is at her, quote/unquote, victory party last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am thrilled to have had this vote of confidence that you have given me today and I promise you I will do everything I can to make sure not only are Florida`s Democratic delegates seated, but Florida is in the winning column for the Democrats in 2008.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROOKS: Instead of celebrating a meaningless win in one state where no one campaigned and the delegates didn`t count, perhaps Hillary Clinton should be instead celebrating that John Edwards has finally realized that he won`t be our next president. He matt announcement at an event in New Orleans this afternoon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN EDWARDS, (D) FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It is appropriate that I come here today. It`s time for me to step aside so that history can -- so that history can blaze its path. We do not know who will take the final steps to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. But what we do know is that our Democratic Party will make history.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROOKS: So now that the Democrats are down to a two horse race, who`s in best position going into tomorrow night`s CNN debate in Hollywood is this joining me again tonight for their thoughts are author and "Daily Voice" editor Jonathan Boykin - Keith Boykin, Jonathan Allen, a reporter with "Congressional Quarterly", and Amanda Carpenter, a political reporter for townhall.com.

Now that I`ve got everybody`s names straight, we`re good to go. So, Jonathan, Edwards, message of change, but also appeals to blue collar workers. What`s going to happen to his delegates and all his supporters?

JONATHAN ALLEN, CQPOLITICS.COM: Well, I think especially the supporters are the important thing at this point. We`ve had so few states that he`s really got a small delegate count and what you`re talking about is where do the John Edwards voters go, are they more likely to go to Obama or more likely to go to Clinton. I think the early handicapping is that they are more likely to go to Clinton, he`s been appealing to lower and middle income white folks and basically that`s along the lines of where Hillary Clinton`s been appealing. It`s been a group that Barack Obama`s had a little bit more trouble getting in to. Of course we`ll have to see on February 5th, but I think right now the main basic handicapping is this is a good thing for Hillary Clinton.

BROOKS: What do you think, Keith?

KEITH BOYKIN, "DAILY VOICE": Well, I`m not so shall you are about that because on the one hand, she does sort of -- he does sort of appeal to the same sort of people that she does in terms of the white voters but on the other hand, he`s also different because he so there is a sort of Barack element to it. So I`m not sure which way it works out in the end. And there`s also this whole sort of identity politics part because he`s a white man, which means he could go -- people who vote for him could be identifying him because he`s white or because he`s male, so it could go for Hillary or Barack so who knows what`s going to happen at this stage?

BROOKS: Amanda, we talk about the change voters. But what about the white male voter? Has everybody forgotten about them? We don`t hear much about that. Amanda?

AMANDA CARPENTER, TOWNHALL.COM: I think it`s going to more come down to where people that supported John Edwards agree with on message. If you look at what Edwards and Obama, the way they`ve been campaigning and talking about lobbyist money, there really is a winning issue to kind of be pro disclosure. I think they`ll go towards Obama. What should not be a ignored is what something Edwards`s senior advisor Mudcat Saunders said earlier today. He said that he would do everything in his power to make sure that Edwards would not endorse Clinton because Clinton has not been a friend of the poor voters.

So they want to be more vocal about this as Tuesday gets closer I think that could have significant impact.

BROOKS: It doesn`t look like Hillary`s been a friend to her own running partners either after that snub at the State of the Union message. But, Keith, why did Edwards drop out before Super Tuesday? Why not stick around until Super Tuesday and see what happens?

BOYKIN: I think he realized that he needed to drop out. His campaign wasn`t going anywhere. I think he feared that he was going to be a spoiler and he might be helping a candidate who didn`t want to win on Super Tuesday and I think he was actually hurting his chances to be taken seriously within the party. I don`t know if he was trying to run for vice president, I certainly hope not, quite frankly, but maybe he`s positioning himself so he`s on the good side for both of these candidates out there.

He doesn`t want to alienate either guy right now or either person.

BROOKS: Well, that`s a great point. Jonathan, do you think that he would if asked run as a vice president?

ALLEN: Oh, I think he would do it in a heartbeat. He wanted to be president. Last time he wanted to be vice president. I think the odds of that happening are extremely small.

BROOKS: Amanda, even with his wife`s failing health? She hasn`t be been well and for him to devote all his time as a vice president and continue on now, do you think that`s a smart thing to do?

CARPENTER: I don`t think it would be politically smart for anyone do. I don`t think Edwards would be a good vice president. I don`t think it would benefit Clinton or Obama to have him on the ticket.

BROOKS: Now, last night I found that a little funny, you know, Hillary coming out and declaring victory. Hello, there are no delegates here. But she came down to declare victory anyway. Jonathan, did you find this a little odd?

ALLEN: Well, it`s interesting. I mean, there are no delegates at the moment, but I think the Democratic Party would be hard pressed not to seek Florida`s delegation eight years after the 2000 election when they get to the national convention. I think it`s something that the national party is hoping that will be worked out by then so that they don`t have to face that possibility. The other thing here about Florida that`s interesting, obviously it doesn`t count at the moment for the delegates, but it`s the first state that we`ve seen that`s demographically representative or close to it of the rest of the country. Iowa is not. New Hampshire is not. South Carolina is not. And so there are going to be some extrapolations made of what happened in Florida to the rest of the country by strategists in all of the cam pains. They`re going to be able look inside the numbers and get a better idea of where they stand.

So to the extent that Florida is a little bit more representative of the rest of the country, this first large Hispanic population that you`ve seen voting, it`s important to look at from that perspective. Whether or not it`s a win for Hillary Clinton.

BOYKIN: I`m not so sure I agree with that, Jonathan. Because I think there are two issues. First, there was a Hispanic population that`s pretty substantial in Nevada when they voted. And, second, there was no active campaigning in Florida. So even though it may be representative, we don`t really know what it reflects in terms of how it would have played out if the candidates had been there competing against one another.

ALLEN: Is that a suggestion, Keith, that people in Florida don`t get television, that they are not watching the GLENN BECK SHOW or MSNBC? It would be hard not know who these candidates are and where they stand ...

BOYKIN: No, Jonathan, but I also understand that television advertising plays a big part of it. If not, then these candidates have been wasting hundreds of millions of dollars over the past year trying to get their message out. That influences the way voters actually made their decision.

ALLEN: Wouldn`t it have been amusing if they had just been pouring a couple hundred million dollars into the economy to not really change a whole lot? Who knows?

BROOKS: Now, what about the Hispanic vote in Florida? Amanda, who is going to play best to that, who is going to play best to the Hispanic vote?

CARPENTER: This is very interesting. Of course Florida is an imperfect race to evaluate the Democratic field, but there`s no doubt that Hillary Clinton has carried the Hispanic vote in Florida and Nevada. The Hispanic vote also propelled McCain to victory in Florida.

So -- one other thing that I think needs to be talked about. For all the talk that we`ve had about race in this election, there hasn`t been enough talk about the tensions between Hispanic and black community. Obviously these Hispanic votes are not going to Barack Obama and there might be some discussion coming forth about why that is.

BROOKS: Now, Keith, why wouldn`t the vote go toward Barack Obama with the Hispanics?

BOYKIN: Well, I think it`s a little fallacious, wrong, to assume that people automatically going to vote for Barack because he`s black or Hispanics are automatically going to vote for him because he`s black. I think what`s more likely is people will evaluate candidates. The reason why Hillary is doing better among Hispanics than Barack is is not because of his race but because people know her. She`s a more recognizable candidate. She`s been around the block. People know her and she has a track record that is established with the Hispanic community.

BROOKS: But everybody knows Obama now. And, Jon, why didn`t Obama show up down in Florida and say, hey, I`m down here?

ALLEN: Well, all the candidates pledged not to do that. In accordance with the party that`s why he didn`t go down there and he certainly wasn`t going to go after a loss to validate the victory that is being called faked of Hillary Clinton. But what I think the issue is here for Hillary Clinton as we said before, that she`s got a relationship with a lot of the Latino voters and a lot of the Latino community. So you can see Ted Kennedy, for instance, going and endorsing Obama and that`s an attempt, Kennedy having authored the immigration overhaul law or bill and that`s an attempt by him to get into the Hispanic community a little bit. But Hillary Clinton`s got the United Farm Workers.

BROOKS: Yeah. Absolutely.

ALLEN: Got a lot of endorsements from California Latino leaders. And that`s a really big deal that when somebody knocks your door, you`ve actually seen their face before.

BROOKS: Well, Super Tuesday should be very, very interesting. Keith, Jonathan, Amanda, thanks for being with us.

ALLEN: Thank you.

BROOKS: Coming up next, the latest details on the tragic death of actor Heath Ledger.

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BROOKS: While the official cause of death is still a mystery some disturbing details about the life of actor Heath Ledger are beginning to emerge.

According to reports in "US Weekly," ledger was a constant abuser of alcohol, cocaine, heroin and a variety of pills. Ledger`s former fiancee actress Michelle Williams says he refused treatment. Add to that claims that Ledger`s death may have been prevented if his masseuse had have called 911 sooner. And you had the makings of a full fledge celebrity scandal. Here with all the details is Julia Allison, editor at large of "Star" magazine and Tia Brown, senior editor at "In Touch Weekly." Ladies, thanks for joining us.

TIA BROWN, "IN TOUCH WEEKLY": Thank you.

BROOKS: New information coming out that we have not heard about so far. Julia, did he have a history of drug abuse?

JULIA ALLISON, "STAR" MAGAZINE: He absolutely did. In fact, Michelle left him in September of 2007 mainly because of his constant partying, constant drinking. And as such, you know, she feels really haunted by the whole thing because she feels like she could have done something to stop it. But she really, she tried. She tried for a long time.

BROOKS: What did she do to try?

ALLISON: Well, she talked to him constantly. You know, she`s a very good mother to her young daughter Matilda who is two years old. And by all accounts, our sources tell us that she had talked to him and talked to him and talked to him about changing his habits, stopping that high flouting (ph) lifestyle of the and he wasn`t interested. He`s a young, hot, movie star. And they tend to party.

BROOKS: So, Tia, you think that was the main reason that she just said, hey, I`ve tried, I can`t do anything, short of an intervention, I`m out of here.

BROWN: Yeah, I find now in Hollywood, it seems like unless drugs is kind of impeding your career, we don`t know about celebrities` drug issues. But our sources at "In Touch" do tell us that Michelle did try to take Heath to rehab and he told her that he would be able to deal with the habit on his own. We also learned that Heath was also dealing with other women during their relationship. So a combination of his drug addiction and his problem with fidelity did lead to them separating.

BROOKS: You look at people, one usually leads to the other. But, Julia, why did he refuse treatment? He had the world. He had everything. Why did he refuse treatment?

ALLISON: I think if you look at any of the stars who refused treatment, it`s very confusing.

BROOKS: It`s a list.

ALLISON: But the list is long -- we could sit here all day and read down the celebrities who have had issues with drugs and alcohol. I think it`s almost more rare to find a celebrity who doesn`t have an issue with drugs and alcohol.

But to answer your question specifically, we don`t know why he decided not do it. I assume that he felt he doesn`t have a problem. And Tia is absolutely right. He was seeing a lot of other women. He probably enjoyed that lifestyle.

BROOKS: And right after it happened, we were covering this on all the channels. And you look at interviews, recently with him, with some other different magazines and shows, and you see him with dirty hair. He`s picking at himself, just -- I`m saying to myself, this is not the actions of a normal guy. You know, but Julia, what do we know about his history with prescription medication?

ALLISON: Well, we do know that they found six anti-anxiety medications in the apartment. And we don`t know necessarily how long he had been taking them, but we do know that he had been having a lot of trouble ever since he -- even before he and Michelle broke up, but especially since they broke up really missing Michelle, missing Matilda, calling them constantly. And probably the anti-anxiety medications were for that. He also had trouble sleeping. He told the "New York Times" last fall that he had severe insomnia. And he mixed those drugs up pretty badly.

BROOKS: But he`s been working. He wrapped on the movie, you know, as the Joker. He was working on another project. He`d just gotten back from England. So it didn`t seem like it was affecting his work that much.

BROWN: And that`s why people don`t want to say that he committed suicide. His family says that he was happy even though he was depressed, he was able to stay focused on his career, which people who are often suffering from severe depression cannot do. And that he loved his daughter and he had so much to live for. But we do know that he was sad and that he really was taking a lot of different types of prescription medication.

BROOKS: But, Julia, with the prescription medication, has that really the first time, though, we`ve heard about his problems with cocaine and heroin?

ALLISON: There were always rumors. He`s actually quite well-known in New York for going out to the bars. You know, he saw Mary Kate Olsen, he saw Lindsay Lohan, he saw the model Jena Ward. He`s known for staying out late and drinking even sometimes by himself, which is I would say an indication of a problem.

BROOKS: You`d think especially in New York and Los Angeles, if he was abusing this and by it go from people, you`d think that your magazines would be coming you out and saying, hey, this guy had a problem.

ALLISON: Unless he`s making some sort of really crazy statement or doing something unknown to stars, I mean, God we have Britney Spears out there doing crazy stuff. Heath wasn`t doing anything in like that.

BROOKS: To say the least.

BROWN: Unfortunately, it`s kind of accepted in Hollywood that a lot of celebrities do take drugs. They use drugs. It`s offered to them at parties all the time. And unless they do something that really prevents them from working, people really just don`t notice.

BROOKS: Now, Mary Kate Olsen, that name came up, we heard about the 911 call. OK. The masseuse got there at about 2:45. Started to set up the table at about 3:00. She goes to wake him up. Unresponsive.

She calls Mary Kate Olsen not one, not two, not three, but four times. Finally, 3:26, she dials 911. And then at 3:33, the EMTs and the paramedics arrive. Come on, some people say early on. Well, that seemed suspicious to me. Was it because she didn`t have a license? Was it because they were trying to cover something up? It doesn`t sound suspicious to me, ladies. That sounds stupid.

BROWN: Most people think it`s more suspicious behavior because we do know that a lot of celebrities, again, take drugs. There`s been the rumor that Mary Kate kind of dished out the clean out crew.

BROOKS: But if I`m on the streets of New York and somebody drops down, please, dial 911.

ALLISON: But you have to remember, Tia is absolutely right here. Mary Kate Olsen, that masseuse knew that she was dealing with a celebrity. You wouldn`t necessarily expect that celebrity is going to be dead, but you might expect that they might have had a drug overdose.

BROOKS: She told Mary Kate Olsen, she couldn`t get him -- I can`t rouse him. The next time, I think he`s dead.

ALLISON: But the last thing that she would want as someone who works with Heath is to get him into all the tabloids as a drug user. So that`s why she called Mary Kate. Celebrities understand other celebrities` unique - and she has the power to help.

BROOKS: We have to wrap it up, but that masseuse, she`s far from being a celebrity. And we`re going to get the results of toxicology report probably back sometime this week or early next. Tia, Julia, thanks.

BROWN: Thank you.

ALLISON: Thank you.

BROOKS: Up next, need to get stoned but can`t find a dealer? How about a vending machine? Details next.

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BROOKS: They do things a little differently. No, a lot differently out in California. You can get drive through plastic surgery, they put avocados in almost everything, and they just legalized vending machines to sell pot. So is this progress for the medical marijuana movement or is it just plain old reefer madness? Jennifer Sabih from KCAL 9 News has this report.

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JENNIFER SABIH, KCAL TV: On the outside, it looks like a regular vending machine. There are numbers to press to pick your product, a place to pay, and a slot to pick up the purchase. But it`s what`s on the inside that makes this a vending machine like no other in the world.

VINCE MEHDIZADEH, OWNER, HERBAL NUTRITION CENTER: We`re going to have wild cherry .

SABIH: Not wild cherry soda, nor wild cherry Lifesaver, rather the wild cherry strain of marijuana.

MEHDIZADEH: We also have cripple Kush which is a heavy body, high -- it`s an indica, and that would be used for chronic pain.

SABIH: Starting Monday, Herbal Nutrition Center, a medical marijuana dispensary will do what it says has never been done before, allow patients to get prescriptions from a vending machine.

GEOFF DULEBOHN, HERBAL NUTRITION CENTER: It will dispense medications from antidepressants to pain medicines to Viagra to medical marijuana.

SABIH: Patients will come to the dispensary first, show their prescriptions and pick out the pot of their choice.

MEHDIZADEH: This is our best selling indica. Indica is made for pain relief.

SABIH: Then patients will be finger printed and given an access card.

MEHDIZADEH: They`ll slide a card to get in the store after hours. They`ll be greeted by a security guard right. They slide card in and they are finger printed to verify that it`s them. A camera takes a picture verifying they`re actually at the machine and they get the medicine and they move on.

SABIH: You may wonder what these guys are smoking, but owners insist buying buds from a vending machine will actually be safer, more convenient, and less expensive.

MEHDIZADEH: The great thing about this machine is that I`m going to pass the savings along to the patients much and the reason being is that there`s lower overhead so the patients get better savings.

SABIH (on camera): Two PDMs or prescription vending machines are open in Los Angeles on Monday, but the owner says it wouldn`t be long before all Californians can buy cannabis the same way they do a can of soda. In Los Angeles, I`m Jennifer Sabih, KCAL 9d news.

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BROOKS: And I guess right next to that they have another machine selling bongs, pipes and paper. Thanks for much with watching. I`m Mike Brooks in for Glenn Beck.

END