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Glenn Beck

Barack Obama, the P.C. Candidate; U.N. to Investigate Race Relations in U.S.

Aired May 20, 2008 - 19:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GLENN BECK, HOST (voice-over): Tonight the politically-correct president is already complaining about the focus on his wife.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They`re going to try to make Michelle an issue in this campaign. They should be careful.

BECK: Just how bad will things get if this guy become president?

Plus, when will these politicians learn? Congress is planning another sneak attack to get amnesty approved yet again.

And yours truly at the NRA convention.

Only in America.

I`ll show you some of the highlights of my speech on the Second Amendment and the future of our country.

All this and more tonight.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BECK: Hello America. You may have heard the news that Ted Kennedy is in the hospital. He had a seizure over the weekend. They found out that he has a malignant brain tumor.

You know, here`s a guy who I don`t agree with politically at all. It used to be that in America, you could fight all you want about politics, but in the end, we`re all Americans and we`re all humans, and we respect each other. It still is that way in my America. I hope that we all keep him in our thoughts and prayers, along with his family.

Now, primary night in Kentucky and Oregon. But before Barack Obama declares victory anywhere, he wants to make sure one thing is crystal clear for the remainder of the campaign. And that is, lay off my wife, Jack!

You know, Barack, I`m sorry. But if you and Michelle are going to dish it out, you`d better learn how to take it.

So here`s "The Point" tonight. Not only is Barack Obama an arrogant hypocrite, but if he gets elected, you`d better prepare yourself for the most politically correct -- militant politically correct -- presidency in history. And here`s how I got there.

The Tennessee Republican Party is currently running an ad that raises questions about Michelle Obama`s patriotism. Well, considering that she publicly said that her husband`s candidacy is the first time that she ever felt proud to be an American, and the relationship with Jeremiah Wright, I don`t know. I think questioning her patriotism seem perfectly reasonable.

But more importantly, Michelle Obama is known as what is a campaign surrogate, just like Bill or Chelsea Clinton and Cindy McCain. She`s sent around in the country in an official capacity to speak on behalf of her candidate husband. She stops being a family member and becomes a campaign staffer who is then fair game.

Surprise, surprise. Obama, the elitist, thinks the rules apply differently to him. Here he is -- listen to this -- laying down the law on ABC`s "Good Morning America."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: If they think that they`re going to try to make Michelle an issue in this campaign, they should be careful because that I find unacceptable. The notion that you start attacking my wife or my family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: OK. I`m sorry, Mr. Obama. This race is for the presidency of the United States and not one of your egomaniacal rallies. Nobody is fainting here.

Let`s cut right to the chase. Tonight, America, here`s what you need to know. On January 20, Barack Obama told ABC that Bill Clinton, quote, "continues to make statements that are not supported by the facts, that we have to directly confront Bill Clinton."

Then in March, Obama railed against Bill Clinton for making statements that questioned Barack`s patriotism. Besides his wife, there`s a laundry list of what is off-limits now to Chairman Obama. You can`t, for instance, call him a liberal, because Obama calls it, quote, "The same names and labels they pin on everybody."

You also cannot question his toughness on the war on terror, because Obama says it`s just an attempt to play on our fears. You also cannot question his extreme position on social issues, because Obama says it is, quote, "The same efforts to distract us from the issues that affect our lives and turn us against each other."

You cannot use his middle name. You can`t bring up his close relationships with accused extortionist Tony Rezko or the Weather Underground leader and Pentagon bomber William Ayers or the radical Reverend Jeremiah Wright or his Middle East adviser, who`s meeting with Hamas. Because Obama says, this represents, quote, "pouncing on every gaffe and association and fake controversy."

Well, I suppose we can get together and talk about the weather.

If Obama has this many gag orders during his candidacy, can you even begin to imagine how intolerant and suppressive he will be as president of the United States?

You know what? Mr. Obama, we the people will ask whatever the hell we want to ask. It is our country, after all. I understand you sticking up for your wife. Nobody wants to take a cheap shot at your wife. But if you don`t want your wife scrutinized, you`ve got to keep her off the campaign trail. Have her talking about cupcake recipes, not your policies.

I can`t figure out why you have no problem raising questions about Hillary Clinton`s spouse but you get so defensive when anybody raises questions about yours. Is it perhaps that Hillary Clinton`s spouse is a man and yours is a woman? My gosh, are you a sexist?

Arthur Brooks is the author of "Gross National Happiness," and Joe Hicks is a conservative commentator and radio talk show host on KFI 640 in Los Angeles.

Joe, let me -- let me start with you. Here is -- here`s what Michelle Obama has said in stump speeches. "This little 10-year-old girl knows what`s at stake. She knows that she is already five steps behind. She knows that her hopes for college are already dwindling. She feels the veil of impossibility, and it`s suffocating her." She said that on May 5.

She said, "The truth is someone is going to have to give up a piece of the pie so someone else can have more." She`s not talking about actual pie. She`s talking about policies. Fair game?

JOE HICKS, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Of course it is fair game. I`ve got another name for you. How about Teresa Heinz Kerry? Remember how she got savaged by the press and others because of the gaffes that she was publicly making?

Listen, she`s out there stumping for president. She`s fair game. I think what we`re being presented with here, what the candidate is saying, hands -- not only hands of my wife but hands off me, too. So I think that`s what we`re seeing here, I think, is the first politically-correct candidacy that, perhaps, we`ve seen in recent memory. And frankly, I think that the American public deserves some answers to all the things that you`ve mentioned a bit earlier.

BECK: You`re not going to get it. Arthur, let me give you another quote. This comes from Gordon Fischer. This is a former chair of the Iowa Democratic Party and part of Obama`s Iowa support team and Obama surrogate.

He said, quote, "Bill Clinton cannot possibly seriously believe Obama is not a patriot and can`t possibly said to be helping instead of hurting his own party." Wouldn`t be bad if he ended it there, but he didn`t. He said, "Bill Clinton should never be forgiven, period. This is a stain on his legacy, much worse, much deeper than the one on Monica`s blue dress."

That is where you cross the line into personal. This is -- they don`t seem to understand that they`re doing the same thing, if not worse.

ARTHUR BROOKS, AUTHOR, "GROSS NATIONAL HAPPINESS": They`re asking for a pretty sweet deal here. Because if you notice, Mr. Obama has a campaign strategy where he talks about pretty nice stuff: hope and change and things we can all get behind." His wife has a message that`s very important for his campaign.

She`s talking to people that will vote on the basis of feeling like victim, that feel like they have a sense of grievance. That`s a campaign message that, at the general level, just market tests horribly. Every time the Democratic Party is associated with being the party of bitterness and unhappiness, they lose elections.

So what do you want to do? You want to make sure that the happy part is scrutinized and the unhappy part to the very same candidate`s message is off-limits.

BECK: OK. Here`s -- here`s, Joe, what I -- everybody is going to be all up in arms when I say this. But these are the tactics of actual fascists, where they scare everybody away from asking any kind of questions. I don`t need to know about their sex life. I don`t need to know of anything else.

But there is seemingly code language, especially with Michelle Obama, that fits into the same kind of patterns and language of Jeremiah Wright, who we were accused of being racist and bigoted and taking out of context when we questioned him. And look what we found.

HICKS: Well, it`s important that we be critical of what Michelle Obama is saying, because you know, these people are married. They apparently share a great deal in common. So it`s almost like asking the same question that`s being asked about Jeremiah Wright.

How much of Michelle Obama`s very sort of victimized view of the world does Barack Obama embrace and endorse? If he does, we need to know that.

So I think in some -- in many ways, there`s a lot of very, you know, orthodox, left liberal kind of ideology being -- coming out of both of these individuals. And also, out of Barack Obama, we can`t forget here.

So I think this notion that we can`t be critical of the candidate`s wife while she`s stumping nationally and saying very provocative things, I think it`s just ludicrous.

BECK: Arthur, final word. How bad is this going to get if he`s president of the United States?

BROOKS: Well, I think it`s going to be bad for a while, because basically, he`s playing on the idea that if we`re a real -- really gentlemanly country, we can`t criticize his wife. But that`s going to come to a screeching halt sooner or later.

BECK: It`s not just his wife. I mean, it`s everything.

BROOKS: Yes, sure. But that`s going to end. And it certainly ended in the case of Bill Clinton. I mean, Hillary Clinton take a real beating as soon as Bill Clinton got into the White House. And that`s the same that`s going to happen with Barack Obama, I think.

BECK: OK. Thanks, guys.

Coming up, Congress has a new $300 billion plan to bail out mortgage borrowers who are in over their head. I know this is feel-good, but whose $300 billion is it? Oh, yes, "The Real Story" on your money coming up.

Plus, we`re going to continue this conversation. The United Nations is coming and swooping in to find out if we are a racist nation. We will tell you why they`re sending over an official U.N. observer to observe and investigate racism in America.

And just a reminder: tonight`s show is brought to you by the Sleep Number Bed by Select Comfort. The Sleep Number Bed; it`s the bed that counts.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Good news. Coming up, Congress is moving closer to a deal that will ensure $300 billion of refinance loans for homeowners who bought more house than they could afford. Guess who`s paying for it? You are. I`ll explain in just a bit.

Now, to put it mildly, if you watch this program every night you know the world is going to hell in a hand basket minus the hand basket. There`s war all over the place, our food and energy and economic problems. Having kind of a global impact. And "Two and a Half Men" still on television.

Now, I told you at the beginning of the program, Barack Obama, if he is elected, political correctness will be at an all-time high. So what do we do about it? We call on the United Nations. They have figured out how to solve all of these problems and so much more all over the world. Why not invite them here?

Well, they`re sending a special rapporteur -- wish I knew what that was -- to look into racism in the good old USA. The rapporteur is, I guess, like an extra fancy hall monitor who`s going to investigate, quote, "contemporary forms of racism." Instead of the good old-fashioned kind of racism? Racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance in a number of American cities.

You know what? If he`s looking for a list of cities, I think he should start in Chicago and talk to Oprah Winfrey, the richest woman in America. Then, of course, then he could head out to Oregon, where Barack Obama is going to his victory as the Democratic nominee for president of the United States.

Or he could go right on to Albany and interview the new governor of New York, David Paterson. From there, it`s just a quick train ride to Washington, D.C., where he can chat with some current and former high-level federal employees like Colin Powell or Condoleezza Rice or Carlos Gutierrez or Alberto Gonzales. Then, of course, there`s Elaine Chao. You know.

Then there`s the world of professional sports, Hollywood movies, popular music, you know, where plenty of African-Americans are setting new standards of popularity and success.

Never mind China, the Middle East, Africa, South America. You know, blame us. Like everybody else does.

Nile Gardiner is the director of the Heritage Foundation`s Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom, and he`s an expert on the United Nations. Did you get your doctorate in evil?

NILE GARDINER, HERITAGE FOUNDATION: I have my doctorate in history, actually.

BECK: All right. Who is -- who`s coming, exactly?

GARDINER: The U.N. is sending a fellow called Doudou Diene, who is a Senegalese lawyer. He`s a longtime U.N. bureaucrat, a very politically charged individual who goes around some of the freest societies in the world writing damning reports, accusing countries such as Japan, Canada, Switzerland, Denmark, for example, of institutionalized racism. He`s going to do the same thing here in the United States.

He`s here, actually, for three weeks. He`ll be touring around eight major U.S. cities conducting scores of interviews. And has probably in his mind already written the report, frankly.

BECK: Yes, Doudou has?

GARDINER: Doudou. Yes.

BECK: Yes. Doudou. Who`s footing the bill for this?

GARDINER: Well, the United States is certainly contributing. Although the U.S. actually currently boycotts the U.N. Human Rights Council, which is behind this investigation, the United States is still forced to actually subsidize the council through the U.N. general budget.

The United States pays over $5 billion a year into the U.N. system. We can`t control where all that money goes. Some of this money actually goes into the pot of the Human Rights Council.

BECK: Will we be paying for his transportation or his security here as taxpayers?

GARDINER: I would imagine the U.S. taxpayer will be footing a great deal of the bill and, certainly, I would hope that Congress would investigate actually how much money is actually being put forward towards funding this so-called investigation into U.S. racism.

BECK: Let me ask you this. Maybe it`s just me. But I tend to be a cynic. Is it a coincidence that he`s going to be here this summer investigating racism? I`m guessing the report may come out around October, or there might be some leaks about how racist we really are?

GARDINER: It`s rather interesting timing. And the United Nations has picked, of course, a highly contentious presidential election year in a racially-charged environment, it has to be said. And the U.N. does have, of course, a track record of interfering in U.S. presidential elections. It did so in the last presidential election.

BECK: In what way?

GARDINER: Well, the International Atomic Energy Agency, headed by Mohamed ElBaradei was widely accused of leaking information to "The New York Times" about some missing explosives in Iraq, and John Kerry used that information as a battering ram, of course, against President Bush at that stage. It was a major political storm.

BECK: Yes, but that was only the U.N. leaking it to "The New York Times." So "The New York Times," they don`t have an agenda at all.

GARDINER: No, of course. But I...

BECK: Again, I go back to Doudou. I`m sorry. You were saying?

GARDINER: I would expect that this report, which is due to be released sometime next year, is going to be heavily leaked in the months ahead of the presidential election.

BECK: Yes.

GARDINER: And it probably is going to be used as a battering ram against, certainly, the Bush administration and possibly going to Republicans, as well.

BECK: It`s a good thing that we`re not racist here. Thank you very much. Appreciate it, Nile.

Coming up, the White House -- the White House accuses NBC News of editing an interview with the president to fit an agenda that places the blame on its cable counterparts. Honestly, I blame Keith Olbermann, as well. My thoughts on that in just a bit.

And the illegal immigration debate reignites as a backdoor amnesty provision is quietly tacked onto an emergency war spending bill. Gee, who would have seen this coming besides everyone? The latest details in tonight`s "Real Story," coming up.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Imagine a world where humans interact with mean trolls, plotting witches, spiteful imps and jealous fairies, which actually is a lot like working in television. But that`s a different story.

More specifically, this is the setting for a series of fantastical books called "Fable Haven." The newest release is "Grip of the Shadow Plague." Its author is Brandon Mull. And Brandon, you`re like 12.

BRANDON MULL, AUTHOR: I`m 33. I`m 33.

BECK: Are you really?

MULL: I`m a young looking guy, but I`m 33.

BECK: You know what? I have not read this series, but my daughters have. And absolutely love it. They`re avid readers. In fact, my daughter tell me -- I`m a big fan of Terry Brooks and "The Sword of Shannara." And she says they`re very, very much like that.

MULL: Yes. I get really good feedback from fans of fantasy. I mean, the idea it being "Fable Haven" is kind of a wildlife park for magical creatures and it seem to get really good responses from both kids and adults.

BECK: So tell me. There`s another book out that is out now that I talked to last week, this author, another -- this one`s for, specifically, for boys, I think. And the -- there`s no sex in it. There`s no bad language. There`s nothing. And kids gobble it up. And I don`t mean kid kids. I mean, like you know, young adults. Your -- your readers.

You`re number four on "The New York Times" list for young readers. What is the secret to making a good story, one that`s not offensive to your parents?

MULL: It`s all about making a story tense or interesting. It isn`t necessarily about including sex or making the violence really gory. It`s more about having the characters face really interesting troubles.

And in "Fable Haven," I try really hard to have characters face really interesting troubles. And usually if those characters are conscientious characters, moral themes are going to bubble to the surface.

Like in book one, you end up with scenes like choice and consequences. Or in book two, it becomes like who do you trust? In book three, how do you discern between light and darkness or good and evil? And those kind of themes tend to arise as the characters in the books deal with the troubles that face them.

BECK: Right. And it`s -- you know, anything you do that to get your kids to read something like this instead of watching television. I mean, it`s amazing to me -- do you hear from parents who say, you know, "Gosh, thank you"?

Because I have a hard time, and I`m not kidding you. I have a hard time with my little kids, even now reading Winnie the Pooh, because it`s so washed and it`s void of any kind of right or wrong anymore. Do you hear from parents who say, thank you for having some right and wrong in the story?

MULL: Yes, I do. I get very good feedback on the books. In the areas where the books have been discovered, it`s the kind of book where it gets read by kids, it gets read by adults and it`s like the No. 1 in circulation in the libraries, you know, in the areas where that`s happening. And parents really have been responding to that fact that not only does it not have bad stuff in it. It`s got good stuff in it. And it`s a book that`s entertaining and fun and it proves to kids that reading can be a fun experience.

BECK: Yes. And I`ll tell you. When you find -- when you find a book like that and you`re a kid, there is just absolutely nothing better. And for me, at least, it was Sherlock Holmes. And it changed the course of my life. I hated to read until I read Sherlock Holmes.

The name of the book is Fable Haven." Brandon, thanks so much.

MULL: Yes. Thanks for having me.

BECK: You bet.

"Real Story" is coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Well, welcome to "The Real Story."

A long, long time ago, America used to be built -- this is a crazy thought -- that our representatives, get this, would represent our views. I know. I know, it is crazy and old-fashioned. But we the people just seem to be more of a nuisance lately.

The Senate is now debating an amendment to the Iraq war spending bill that has a little more to do with illegal immigration debate, which I thought we already had, than the war. Under the amendment, illegal immigrants who are currently doing those agricultural jobs -- you know, the ones that Americans just won`t do -- along with their families, would be given legal status for five years.

That means temporary amnesty for 1.35 million illegal immigrants without the American people ever having a say in it. What a great display of democracy, huh?

But the outrage over our slimy politicians going behind our backs is distracting us from where our real outrage should be. I feel, at least, "The Real Story" is, this bill represents nothing less than state- sanctioned modern-day slavery.

The oranges need picking. Better grant those visas. The price of strawberries, they`re up 3 cents. Oh, well, you`d better tell our border agents, look the other way. We need more workers.

The great economist Dr. Thomas Sowell once said blacks were not enslaved because they were black, but because they were available. Well, isn`t that exactly what illegal immigrants are? Available to pick our fruit?

Is this really the standard we want to live up to, the price of groceries? Is that the kind of country we want to be?

In the city of Westbury, New York, they have a median income of $83,000 a year. A couple of years ago, officials found 12 illegal immigrants living there in a basement flooded with sewage because that`s all they could afford.

In South Hampton, the median income, $64,000. Officials found immigrants living in sheds with no plumbing or heat.

In Newcastle, median income, $62,000. Officials estimated there were dozens of shift houses. This is where immigrants literally rent a dirty mattress for 10 or 12 hours a day to catch some sleep.

We may not be putting these people in physical chains, but we are putting them in financial ones. And that chicken is going to come home to roost.

I may be anti-illegal immigrant, but for the love of everything that is good and sacred, at least I am pro-human being.

Dan Patrick is a radio talk show host on my affiliate in Houston, Texas, KSEV. He is also a Texas state senator.

This is...

DAN PATRICK, TEXAS STATE SENATOR: Watch that "slimy" politician just a little bit. Some of us are trying to do it right, Glenn.

BECK: I have to tell you, Dan, this is amazing. An amazing example of slimy politicians, doing it in the cover of night on an emergency war spending bill.

PATRICK: And Glenn, this is why there is little faith and confidence in government from the people. That`s why the ratings of Congress are so low. That`s why people distrust elected official in government, because they do this end around.

The people have clearly spoken on this issue. They do not want any type of amnesty given to those who have come here illegally. And this is a way to sidestep the demand of the people.

And what really offends me, Glenn, think about if you`re a soldier in Iraq. I mean, this is going to be attached to a bill for spending to support our troops who are there defending our borders.

If you really get down to it, what are our troops defending? They`re defending our freedom, our democracy, our republic and our borders. So in a bill that we`re supporting our troops, we`re actually going to support those who have come here illegally.

BECK: It`s amazing.

PATRICK: That`s really offensive.

BECK: You know, here`s another reason why we don`t trust our elected officials. I`m going to give you something Senator Dianne Feinstein said. She said, "This is not the place for this bill. I believe it`s a mistake to pass this bill on an emergency supplemental... with our military fighting in extraordinary circumstances."

This is what she said in 2005 when they tried to do it. These -- the Republicans, they`ll do and say whatever they have to. Once they get in power, they flip. Same thing with the Democrats. They flip.

PATRICK: Absolutely.

BECK: What are we teaching our children?

PATRICK: Well, we`re teaching our children that maybe they don`t want to grow up to be politicians.

BECK: But we`re also teaching...

PATRICK: Or if they do, they need to be -- they need to be honorable people who, just because they`re in the public sector of being public servants, doesn`t mean they can start not upholding those values they were taught at home. Basic number one of telling the truth, be honest.

BECK: But what about hard work? We`re also teaching our kids there are jobs that you just don`t do.

I saw in the newspaper last week a story that said the government is being asked for billion of dollars to start work programs for teenagers this summer. Right next to it was a story that there is nobody to pick the fruit here in New York State.

PATRICK: Right.

BECK: What are you talking about?

PATRICK: Yes. And Glenn, going back to the point you made earlier about enslaving people into these jobs, when I talk about illegal immigration -- and I am one of those who believe we must secure the border now. But I also talk to Latinos. And we have, you know, a large population in Texas.

And when I speak to groups, I say, look, illegal immigration is also about Latinos coming here. Who wants to support a policy that makes you get to our country in the back of an 18-wheeler where you can suffocate to death?

BECK: They are slave ships.

PATRICK: Or crawl across -- that`s right. Or crawl across the desert. Or work for these impoverished wages.

BECK: Yes.

PATRICK: And let me tell you, Glenn, it also goes on once they get here. In the state of Texas, about half the children who enter the ninth grade, about half the children do not graduate from high school. Many of those are children of illegal immigrants, and many of those children are going to be destined -- destined to work at these low-wage jobs for the rest of their lives.

BECK: OK.

PATRICK: We have got to solve this issue, Glenn, on so many levels...

BECK: Right.

PATRICK: ... because everyone is losing. American are losing. The Latinos coming here are losing. Everyone loses.

BECK: Yes. Dan, I`ve got to run. Thank you very much.

PATRICK: Bye, Glenn.

BECK: And by the way, this goes into debate tomorrow. Please, if you still care, call.

Now, don`t you just love waking up in the morning and finding out, oh, my gosh, I`m on the hook for billions of dollars that I had nothing to do with? Well, that`s what happened yesterday in cute bipartisan fashion.

Look at Senator Dodd and Republican Senator Richard Shelby agreeing on a bill that would give the government $300 billion to bail out struggling homeowners. But don`t worry. Chris Dodd said, oh, this isn`t going to cost the American people a dime. Really?

"The Real Story" is that only in Washington could the government guarantee billions and pretend that nobody is going to have to pay a dime. According to the bill, initial losses on defaulted loans will be covered by -- drum roll, please -- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Well, there you go. That`s not the government.

True. But guess who guarantees their losses? Yes, you do.

Typical Washington bull crap. They may not be lying, but they`re not really telling the truth, either.

The bill also creates a powerful government agency to oversee Fannie and Freddie. God help us if they ever get together and have children.

Guess who`s going to fund that new agency? Yes, you again. Oh, but Glenn, this help the poor downtrodden homeowner.

Look, I get it. There is an emotional component to this. Nobody wants to put people out on the streets. Nobody wants to see people outside of their homes.

But a home is an investment. Investments are uncertain. Life is uncertain.

Where do we draw the line? If I borrowed too much, can I get on in this? If you buy a Picasso for $1 million and it`s devalued, should the government step in? Oh, no, no, no.

With Washington growing like the Incredible Hulk and the free market principle just vanishing in thin air, we may be headed down that path.

James Freeman is the assistant editor of The Wall Street Journal`s editorial page.

This is being billed as a compromise. Where is the compromise? We`re a third of the way to $1 trillion.

JAMES FREEMAN, "THE WALL STREET JOURNAL": Oh, well that`s easy. They compromise because the plan in the House was to put taxpayers on the hook for $300 billion in refinanced mortgages. And in the Senate they`ve cut that to $300 billion.

(LAUGHTER)

FREEMAN: So not much of a compromise there.

BECK: That`s that new math. That`s the new math that I just don`t -- OK.

Freddie and Fannie, these are government-backed institutions. These are the lenders of last resort. If you default here -- right?

FREEMAN: Well, they carry an implicit guarantee. In other words, everybody, including Wall Street, assumes that if they ever go bust, you and I, the taxpayers, will have to bail them out.

BECK: Right. So if the housing market goes down more, we`ve got -- that chicken will come home to roost, isn`t it?

FREEMAN: It is. And I think the projections of how much this is going to cost taxpayers could end up being very optimistic. But...

BECK: No.

FREEMAN: ... you know, I hate to tell you -- I hate to tell you, Glen, that it actually -- the story may be even worse than what you just described, because this new essentially tax on Fannie and Freddie that`s going to pay to in part defray the costs of the loans that go bad when the government takes them on....

BECK: You know, Jim, I would like to ask you a question. Help me out on this. What about us people who have lived by the rules?

We play the game the way we`re supposed to. We don`t overspend. We live responsibly. We live within our means. And we keep getting shoved right up the you know what.

Why?

FREEMAN: It`s a great question. I think it`s a great political question, because this was a moment where the Republicans who have seen their Republican brand tarnished really had an opportunity to see we`re the party of small government.

BECK: Exactly right.

FREEMAN: We`re not for bailouts. We`re not for putting the taxpayers on the hook when someone makes a mistake.

And they seem to be -- it`s unclear. I don`t -- we`ll see what the president the does.

BECK: Yes.

FREEMAN: But it looks like Republicans are missing a big opportunity to say no to bigger government.

BECK: Of course. They don`t even know who they are anymore.

James, thanks a lot.

That`s "The Real Story."

Back in a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Well, last Saturday night, I had the honor of giving a keynote address at the NRA`s annual members meeting in Louisville, Kentucky. Our Second Amendment is under attack from all sides like I`ve never seen before in my life. And people seem to be under the mistaken impression that our right to bear arms is somehow up for discussion or debate.

It is not. So, in this year`s speech, I decided to remind everybody where that right comes from. I started to talk about an insane new law being debated in Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: They want to pass a new law in Philadelphia to -- this is a quote -- to "ban the sale of contraband guns."

(LAUGHTER)

BECK: So I think that means it will be illegal to buy illegal guns. So you know, not kidding, the mayor said, we don`t expect this to work. We don`t expect this to work. We just hope it sparks a debate.

Do you want to talk about it? All right. Lets talk about it.

"No free man shall ever be debarred from the use of arms," Thomas Jefferson. "Arms in the hands of citizens may be used at individual discretion in private self-defense," John Adams.

(APPLAUSE)

BECK: "The Constitution shall never be construed to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms," Samuel Adams.

I ask, sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people. "To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them," George Mason.

We can talk all you want, but there is no debate.

(APPLAUSE)

BECK: Eight years ago, I couldn`t afford my rent of a small little cockroach-infested apartment that was $695 a month. Eight years ago.

My daughter and I were walking. She stopped and she turned to me and she said, what`s "What`s wrong, dad?"

I said, "Hannah, you have worked hard. You have worked hard and you`ve studied hard. And you`ve put yourself into a position to where you could go get an education in one of the finest institutions in the world. And your father has gone from not being able to afford $695 a month for rent to being able to write a check for four years of this education."

Only in America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: What a great country we live in.

Tonight I want to bring you some more of "The Real America" brought to you by CSX.

How many old cell phones do you have in your junk drawer? I think I have got a couple laying around. And you might be surprised to learn that those unused phones can actually help our troops. And believe it or not -- again, only in America -- it took two Massachusetts teenagers to figure out how.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BECK (voice over): Brittany and Robbie Bergquist are typical teenagers. They have school, sports and friends that keep them busy. And, oh, yeah, they also run a nonprofit organization.

ROBBIE BERGQUIST, CELL PHONES FOR SOLDIERS: Brittany and I heard a story about a soldier who had run up about an $8,000 cell phone bill trying to call home. And so Brittany and I talked and we were like, we have got to help out this soldier. So we ran upstairs and got $21 out of our own piggybanks and started this organization.

BECK: And that`s when Cell Phones for Soldiers was born, conceived four years ago, when Brittany and Robbie were just 13 and 12 years old.

BRITTANY BERGQUIST, CELL PHONES FOR SOLDIERS: We did a little bit of research, talked to our cousins who are in the military, and tried to figure out ways to help the troops call home and realized that phone cards were the best way.

R. BERGQUIST: And we talked to our parents and we figured out that we could recycle phones. And so it`s just jumped into this huge business.

BECK: Soon their home was filled with unused cell phone and chargers.

R. BERGQUIST: We had about 40 or 50 boxes filled with phones. I mean, the boxes are huge themselves. And it really -- it did look like a mountain. It really did.

And we couldn`t get -- we couldn`t get to our piano. I know, I`m an avid piano player. I don`t play the piano.

BECK: They get $5 for each recycled phone which they use to purchase prepaid calling cards.

R. BERGQUIST: We know that on average, it`s around 20,000 to 30,000 phones per month. And it`s changing every month.

B. BERGQUIST: And in January, we became the largest cell phone recycler in the country. We passed Vernon and Sprint. We recycled about 160,000 phones that month.

BECK: So what started with 21 bucks out of a piggybank has grown to raise almost $1 million in donations and distribute more than 400,000 prepaid calling cards to our troops.

B. BERGQUIST: It is really incredible to think that at 12 and 13, we had the ability to start a program like Cell Phones for Soldiers that has impacted so many people`s lives.

BECK: Leave to it two kids with big ideas and big hearts to figure out something the rest of us couldn`t.

B. BERGQUIST: There are about 500 million used cell phones out in the country right now that are just lying around and nobody is doing anything with. And if we do get just half of those, we could make it so that the troops never have to pay for another phone call home.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BECK: See, there are good stories on television once in a while.

If you would like to see more of these stories, click on CNN.com/glenn and look for the "Real America" section.

Tonight`s "Real America" sponsored by CSX. It`s how tomorrow moves.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Counselor to the president Ed Gillespie recently sent a letter to NBC News over the edits made with an interview with President Bush.

Here is the edited piece in question.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You said that negotiating with Iran is pointless. And then you went further. You said that it was appeasement.

Were you referring to Senator Barack Obama? He certainly thought you were.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You know, my policies haven`t changed. But evidently the political calendar has.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Negotiations with Iran, is that appeasement?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: OK. Now here`s the unedited piece.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: My policies haven`t changed. But evidently the political calendar has. People need to read the speech. You didn`t get it exactly right either.

What I said was, is that we need to take the words of people seriously. And when, you know, a leader of Iran says that they want to destroy Israel, you`ve got to take those words seriously.

And if you don`t take them seriously, then it hearkens back to a day when we didn`t take other words seriously. It was fitting that I talked about not taking the words of Adolf Hitler seriously on the floor of the Knesset. But I also talked about the needs to defend Israel, the need to not negotiate with the likes of al Qaeda and Hezbollah and Hamas, and the need to make sure Iran doesn`t get a nuclear weapon.

It was -- but I also talked about a vision of what`s possible in the Middle East.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: Besides adding context, Bush said that NBC didn`t get his comments right either. And that was erased.

Isn`t that kind of significant to keep in the interview? Maybe it`s just me here, but the whole question is based on a false controversy. If Barack Obama doesn`t want Bush criticizing him for hanging out with terrorist dictators, maybe he should make sure that he doesn`t advocate hanging out with terrorist dictators.

More important, was this criticism of NBC`s Iraq war coverage? Do you remember when NBC started calling it a civil war in 2006? Oh, it was a huge story. And Matt Lauer said we took careful deliberation on this.

Well, Gillespie points out in the letter, "I noticed that around September of 2007, your network quietly stopped referring to the conditions in Iraq as a `civil war.` Is it still NBC News` carefully deliberated opinion that Iraq is in the midst of a civil war? If not, will the network publicly declare that the civil war has ended or that it was wrong to declare it in the first place?"

NBC`s response denied that they were editing for political purposes. Mm-hmm. But it didn`t address the civil war question at all, only to say it would be wise to discuss those matters in a more appropriate forum.

When it`s found, we`ll let you know.

Good night, America.

END